Richard Castle was determined to find this evidence he knew existed. He was going to solve this case by himself. Kate was going to be angry, very angry, that he entered the suspect's apartment without her, but he wanted to solve this. The hardest part of all of this was going to not leave any evidence behind that showed he was there if the suspect was innocent. He knew that she wasn't though and he was going to prove it.
He entered the apartment, by using the key that was not so secretly hidden, and went into the bedroom first. He thought the main evidence would be there. He took out his phone and used it as a flashlight to look underneath the bed. He pulled out the first container he saw. It had nothing but winter clothes that were packed away and no longer needed. He pulled out the next box. It held old CD's. One was a mixed tape that someone made for her.
He looked at the songs that were listed and laughed. "Obviously, he did not love you. These songs are the worst." He threw it in the trash. She would thank him in the future.
He got up from the floor and checked her closet. After moving all the high heels out of the way he saw there was nothing hidden on the floor. He moved the trench coats, the leather jackets, her work pants, her button down tops, and her dresses to make sure there was nothing on the walls of her closet. He checked the few shoe boxes she had stacked up in her closet, but they just held her boots. He sighed and closed the closet's doors.
He then went to check the night stand drawer. Tissues, a jewelry box, an extra iPhone charger, and lotion. Nothing useful. Next spot was the dresser drawers. He opened the first one. It held just a bunch of socks, which were now miss matched thanks to him. Next drawer was the underwear drawer. If Beckett wasn't mad when he told her he went into the suspect's apartment alone she would be mad now if she found out he went through the suspect's underwear. Again, the drawer held nothing. He didn't even bother with the last drawer. The bedroom was a bust.
He went back into the living room, not wanting to give up on finding evidence. Something had to be here. He pulled the photo album out, that was underneath the coffee table. He flipped through the pages. No hidden notes, no secret pictures, nothing. He put the photo album back and headed over to the bookshelf. He looked through every book, not just his. He got excited when something fell out of the one book, but his smile faded when he saw it was just a bookmark. He opened up one of his books and that was when he found what he was looking for. He smiled. She was guilty and he knew it. He now had proof. He solved the case all by himself and he was going to show Kate the evidence.
He then heard the door being unlocked. Oh crap, he was screwed. She was going to catch him and she was going to kill him. He looked towards the fire escape, but there wasn't enough time. The door opened and he knew he was dead.
"Castle? What are you doing here?!" said a confused Kate Beckett.
"You are so guilty!"
"Coming from the man that broke into my apartment?"
"Not breaking in if I used a key, that you said I could use. Besides, I found the evidence I was looking for. You are guilty."
"Of what?" she said after closing the door.
"You did fall for me first and this book has all the evidence I need to prove my point." He opened the book . "From the library of Katherine Beckett." He smiled. "It's touching you want people to know you read and own my books."
"How does that prove your theory, Castle?"
"Oh, I'm not done." He flipped the page. "To Kate. Thanks for being a fan and serving our city. Also, tell your boyfriend standing in line paid off and you're not crazy for waiting. -Rick Castle 2000." He closed the book. "You liked me before I even knew who you really were. You waited in line for hours to see me because you liked me. You fell for me first."
"You went through my stuff?"
"Not everything...just everything in the bedroom and the living room."
"You went through..."
"The closet, the drawers. By the way, when did you get that mint green bra?"
"Castle, I'm going to kill you."
"Yea, I know. But I'll die happy because I know you liked me first."
"I was a fan of the genre."
"So then why aren't your Patterson books signed."
"His lines are always longer than yours." She smirked.
"That one hurt, Beckett."
"Well it should, considering you went through my things." She spotted the CD in the trash when she entered the bedroom to see the damage Castle caused. "Really, you threw that out?"
"Oh, come on. Those songs are terrible and that was a horrible valentine's gift from Doctor Motorcycle Boy."
"Castle, did you even look inside the CD case?"
"No..."
She shook her head and smirked. "Lanie made that. It was a joke. The songs are meant to be terrible."
"Do I get to live for not playing the CD?"
"I'll keep it in mind." She opened the sock drawer and saw how unorganized he left it. "Really, Castle?"
"I was on a mission." She rolled her eyes as she fixed her socks. "Why didn't you tell me we met before?"
"It was never the right time to tell you. Especially, after you thinking I fell for you first."
"Anything else I should know about our past prior to the lovely day we met at my book launch party?"
She bit her inner, bottom, lip. "Your books helped me a lot when I was dealing with my mom's death. I don't know why, considering they were about murder, but they did."
"It was because you liked me." He grinned as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm glad I could have been there for you, even back then."
"Me too." She kissed his lips softly. "This doesn't mean I'm not still mad about you sneaking in here."
"I know." He sighed. "How about I make you dinner. I'll even wash the dishes afterward. Then can we call it even?"
"Deal." She smirked as he went into the kitchen. She headed out of her room and to where her computer was. She moved the mouse to see that it was still off. He had not tried to log in and see if he could find any "evidence". She smiled. She would have been extremely guilty if he saw the journal she had on there. He would never know about how she wrote down how excited she was to be interrogating him. Of course, she then wrote how much he acted like an ass afterward. It still would have been enough evidence Castle would have needed to prove he was right.
"Kate, you're not planning my death are you? It's too quite over there. "
She smiled. "No, Castle. I'll keep you around for awhile," She said before heading into the kitchen to see what Castle was cooking. They may never agree upon who fell for who first but if this was the only thing they would have to argue about during their relationship they would be considered lucky.