a/n: I have yet to come across another person in all my Castle travels whose favorite episode is also 2x24. If you're out there, I have a special bit of love saved just for you.

Chapter 1

Lanie watched with a smirk as Kate pulled a black bikini from her dresser drawer and tried nonchalantly to tuck it into her bag along with the rest of the summery wardrobe items she'd chosen for the weekend. "But this is just a friends thing, right?" she said, knowing better but anxious for the reply.

"What else would it be, Lanie? That is what Castle and I are."

"Sure it is," Lanie replied with a hum of pronounced dismissal. "Silly me, I guess my friendships just usually involve a bit more fabric, but you go ahead and keep telling yourself that." She pushed from the edge of the bed and stepped up to Kate's side. "Planning on packing the red lipstick, too?"

"Would you just shut up, please? You're not helping." She moved for the bathroom with her toiletry bag in hand and Lanie close behind. "It actually is possible for a woman and a man to be friends without sex being involved, you know. We've managed to do it for almost two years."

"Are you forgetting how the movie went, Detective? Harry definitely did a lot more than just meet Sally, and are you honestly going to tell me that if Castle finally made a move, you wouldn't jump at that?" Kate turned and looked back over her shoulder with a crinkled expression. "What, Ms. Always In Control likes to be in charge in the bedroom, too? I'm sure he wouldn't mind at all if you made the first move."

"Neither of those things is going to happen, Lanie, and this conversation is starting to get on my nerves."

"And why is that, because I struck one?" She reached around and swiped the bag out of Kate's hands to a huff of aggravation. "Look, I don't know who it is you think you're fooling, but it sure ain't me. I'm your best friend and I've seen it. Hell, you turned down that hot robbery cop when he asked you out. That's all the proof I need. You're a world-class detective, Kate, but you need to get yourself a clue."

Kate stood alone in the bathroom for a long moment after Lanie walked out, her pulse palpably elevated. She made it sound so easy, as though nothing had come before him, as though she hadn't been broken into a thousand pieces and put back together with glue still sticky in its extraordinary task. Of course she'd thought about it, about Rick and about what it might be like to be with him in a moment two people get to share just once, but they were friends, and more than that, they were partners, and even the possibility that she could lose either by injecting fantasy into reality terrified her.

"You should pack that yellow sundress," Lanie told her once she emerged from the bathroom. "You look gorgeous in that color and it's perfect for the beach."

"I forgot I even had that," Kate said, scanning the hangers in her armoire.

"I just want you to be happy, Kate. I hope you know that. You're one of the best people I've ever known and you deserve it, no matter what your head tries to tell you, and I know possibility can be scary because it comes with risk, but where would any of us be without it?"

"I know," Kate replied softly without turning around. "I know."

xxxx

They were able to duck out of the precinct shortly after 4PM that Friday, the traffic ahead of them as awful as Rick imagined it might be given the added holiday travelers. The back seat was buried beneath their weekend bags and canvas bags of food, more than they could possibly eat in just a few days, and he was behind the wheel with an expression of contentment Kate found impossible to ignore.

"You're thinking about how hot I look when I drive, aren't you?" he said, his eyes never veering from the road, yet perfectly aware of her attention. "If you enjoy it so much, maybe you should let me do it more often."

Kate rolled her eyes, couldn't help but chuckle. "As usual, Castle, your outlandish theories amuse and annoy, emphasis on the latter, and the day I let you sit in my seat in my car is the day you win a Pulitzer."

He snapped his head in her direction as they slowly rolled to a stop at the red light. "Ouch, Detective, but l guess I'll consider that a challenge and accept it gracefully. You think Nikki Heat has a Pulitzer in her?" he asked, eyeing her suggestively. "I mean, besides Jameson Rook's, that is."

"You do plan on engaging me in an adult conversation at some point this weekend, right, Castle?"

"Worry not, Ms. Beckett. I'll engage you in any way you like this weekend." He stepped on the gas and returned his focus to the road. "But, I assure you I meant what I said, no funny stuff. I'll be a perfect gentleman."

Kate released a tiny burst of laughter. "Is that what you tell all the girls you bring out here?"

"No, that's what I'm telling you," he said in earnest tone. "Besides, I haven't brought any girls out here in a couple of years, well, unless you count Mother and Alexis." Kate's face read surprised and he caught it. "What? Is that so hard to believe?"

Her brain was screaming 'Yes!' but she didn't want to tell him so. "I guess, I don't know, Castle. It's really none of my business." Honestly, she didn't know, nor did she want to hear about it, for reasons she understood well and for reasons she hadn't fully allowed herself to accept.

"Then maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do," he said with a perceived hint of a bite. "And maybe this weekend will help fix that."

"Yeah," Kate said, sounding contrite, "maybe it will."

xxxx

The trip that normally took him two hours took them nearly three with the Memorial Day traffic, and the sun had turned from a soft yellow to a bright orange by the time they arrived at the house. Kate had only seen one photograph of it before she found herself standing within its walls, and she couldn't possibly have imagined the extent of its beauty and its elegance. It was all at once everything she hoped for and nothing she expected, its polish unlike that of his loft yet definitively his, and she felt more and more welcomed by it as she moved deeper inside.

"What do you think?" Rick asked, having made a second trip back out to the car to gather up the remaining bags of supplies. "Do you like it?"

"No, Castle, I don't like it, I love it. It's gorgeous." He kept moving past her and she followed him into the kitchen. "You might have a tough time kicking me out of here on Monday," she teased, though not entirely.

"You can stay forever," Rick replied absent thought, freeing his hands of the packages before realizing exactly what it was he'd said. "Can I, um, a drink, maybe?"

Kate swallowed a grin at his obvious abashment and pulled out one of the stools at the counter to sit. "Maybe just some water for now, thanks." He stepped backwards for the refrigerator and grabbed them each a cold bottle. "Castle, how many other people did you invite to help us eat all this food?"

"We're it for the weekend, Detective, unless you want to call some friends or-"

"No, no," she said, jumping in too quickly, "that's okay."

He began pulling stuff out of the bags and gathering it on the counter. "I always end up buying too much stuff because I can never remember what's already here," he explained. "Hence the six boxes of wine crackers."

"Old age?" she quipped.

Rick exhaled a phony guffaw. "And you call me a wiseass. Remind me to keep you away from this wine. God only knows what'll come of things."

Kate felt a blush at the swift and unexpected path her brain traveled with his suggestion, one she was certain only hers had traveled, and she silently scolded herself for allowing the thought to invade. "Sounds like a really fun weekend, Dad," she said with a smile, shaking it off. "So, hey, since you haven't offered, how much for the fifty-cent tour of the castle, Castle?"

"Sorry, yeah, let's do it." He put down the bottles in his hands and came around the island. "Of course, it's always free for New York's finest so no need for the wallet, and let me just say what a treat it'll be to have you following me around for a change. Just remember to keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times. Things can get a bit bumpy, sometimes."

"You're tellin' me," she said softly, trailing his lead.

xxxx

"This was nice, thank you," Rick said pushing back in his chair, wine glass in hand. "It's been a long time since someone cooked dinner for me, at least one this good."

"I told you, Castle, you drove and dealt with the traffic, so it seemed only fair, and it was just pasta. It wasn't like I slaved away in the kitchen all day. And before you even say it," she went on, practically jumping on her own words, "no, that's not an option."

He released the excited breath he'd inhaled and downed another sip. "Party pooper," he grumbled. "You know, it's kind of funny, though."

"What is?" Kate asked, sampling from her own glass.

"That you don't really notice how little you do something until you finally do it. I mean, I've spent nearly every day of the past two years with you and we've rarely shared a meal, certainly not just the two of us. That seems so strange to me, all of a sudden."

"You've seen the inside of my refrigerator, Castle, and like you said, you're with me most of the time. You know what my schedule's like. I don't have a lot of time to do much of anything outside of work." His eyes were fixated off into the distance somewhere, as though he was stuck in the thought. "But, I guess maybe it is a little bit strange. That is something friends do tend to do."

"Well, we should try to change that then. We're friends, right? We like to eat, right?"

"We are absolutely friends who like to eat, yes," Kate agreed energetically, wondering all the while why the hell the word friends suddenly sounded so awkward.

Their eyes met but neither said anything right away. "Yeah, we'll change that," Rick said, at a loss for any words of actual value. "So, um, are you okay with staying in the guest room downstairs?" he followed in an abrupt left turn. "I was thinking you might like the extra privacy. I don't want you to feel like you have to spend every minute with me while we're here."

Kate peered at him over the rim of her glass. "Is that a backhanded way of telling me you need your alone time, Castle?"

"What? Me? No. I want to be with you. That's why I asked you to come." His eyes grew wide with the sound of his words, the second occasion he found himself speaking before thinking in an unforgivably short period of time. "I'm sorry," he said, his speech deliberately calmed. "That's not, of course I want to hang out with you as much as you'd like." He was attempting breezy, but he was backtracking poorly and he knew it. "I don't want you to feel obligated is all I meant."

"I was kidding, Castle. Relax, okay, this is supposed to be a vacation." She was quite happy not to be the only one struggling for casual. "And, just so you know, in all honesty, I agreed to come when you asked because I really wanted a ride to the beach so I could work on my tan." A wide grin broke across her face almost immediately, his expression only serving to fuel its growth. "Vacation, Castle," she reminded him again with a shake of her head. "And I wanted to spend time with you, too, away from work for a change."

"Well, that's good, I'm glad," Rick said, extending his glass. "To time together away from work, Detective."

"Cheers," she said, tapping his glass with her own. "But, since we're away from work, Castle, how about you try calling me Kate."

"Deal," he said with a smile and they both drank.