Building Birthdays, Breaking Walls
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never have been mine. Never will be mine. Sad face.
Summary: Rick has a plan to make this birthday one she'll never forget.
Author's Note: I watched "Knockout" with a friend today and I had way too many feelings to work on my post-Knockout fic, so I wrote this instead. It's so fluffy, you're gonna die! No seriously. Takes place Season 5.
"SURPRISE!"
Kate Beckett jumped backwards into her boyfriend's arms as the Old Haunt came to life with her family and friends, and choruses of "Happy Birthdays" rang out around her.
"When did this happen?" She asked with a suspicious smile, turning to face him with a light slap to his arm.
"Remember when you were 'accidentally' shoved inside the utility closet with the broken lock and we couldn't find a locksmith for hours…" he trailed off.
"Wait. WHAT? Castle…" He shut his eyes for the punch he feared was coming, but it never came. He opened his eyes to find Kate's signature glare staring back at him, but there was a small twinkle in her eye that told him she wasn't actually mad.
"You're not going to kill me?" He timidly tried, still very worried about certain parts of his anatomy. Kate smiled.
"Let's just say you're lucky you're so ruggedly handsome." Kate turned with a wink and left Castle's arms to go great her friends. The truth was, even as frustrating as being locked in a closet by her own friends was, this was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her, and she treasured Castle for it.
Meanwhile, Rick Castle had recovered from the surge of…emotion…that Kate's wink inspired and was now surveying the premises, planning the next stage of his best-birthday-bash for the love of his life. He needed everything to go perfectly or he'd lose her: his one-and-done, his third time charm. He smiled as he looked over, past the presents table and saw said charm dancing with his daughter, Alexis. They looked so happy, and Castle couldn't help but want to see that scene everyday for the rest of their lives. Rest of their lives…right…the plan.
"Hey, Ryan!" Castle shouted. The smiling detective excused himself from a conversation with Jenny and Martha and ran over to his friend.
"What's up?" Ryan asked with a bounce in his step. Castle leaned in so they wouldn't be overheard.
"I'm going down to my office for a few minutes. If Kate asks where I am, can you make sure she doesn't come looking for me?"
Ryan beamed. He knew what Castle was planning, but he and Esposito were so sure he wasn't going to go through with it.
"You're really gonna do it then?" Ryan asked. Castle looked over at Kate and took a deep breath.
"Yeah. Yeah I am."
"Present time!" Martha seemed to sing out over the group. Kate smiled as Castle rolled his eyes at his mother's dramatic nature. She squeezed his arm and gave him a small tug towards the table in the front. Castle quickly followed along and escorted his birthday girl to her presents. Despite her bad-cop demeanor, Kate was still terribly shy in front of crowds, and it warmed Castle's heart to know that she felt safe when he was up there beside her.
Kate was overwhelmed when she saw the mile-high pile of gifts and had absolutely no idea where to start. Luckily, she didn't have to choose.
"Open mine first, Kate!" Alexis said excitedly, pointing the detective towards a surprisingly large and heavy box. Of course the wrapping was pristine, Kate laughed to herself. Alexis' perfection seemed to even stretch into her present-wrapping skills.
Delicately, so as not to tear the beautiful, golden wrapping paper, Kate removed the wrapping to reveal a basic brown box covered in additional, perfectly-placed tape. Kate grinned at Alexis' blush at her own over-excitement and peeled back the box flaps.
At seeing the contents, Kate Beckett squealed in delight! Before her sat the entire DVD series of "Temptation Lane".
"Alexis! Thank you! I love it!" Kate crushed the girl in an enveloping Castle-hug – the kind she'd only learned to love in the months since she and Rick had started dating.
"I'm so glad!" Alexis replied. "I thought, maybe we could watch them together? I've never seen the show before and…" she trailed off softly. Kate felt her heart melt.
"I'd love that." Kate said.
"Really?" Alexis asked hopefully. She'd been so worried about overstepping on Kate's tradition with her own mom, but she really wanted Kate to know that over the past few months, she'd come to consider her as a mom herself.
"Of course!" Kate replied. "I couldn't imagine anyone better to share them with."
Alexis beamed and pulled Kate into another hug while Castle and Jim Beckett shared a heartfelt look.
Pulling back, Alexis smiled at Kate again before moving aside for the next person.
"Which one next?" Kate asked through misty eyes.
"Ooh! Open mine, next, girl." Lanie offered. She moved forward and grabbed a pink bag off the table and held it out to her best friend.
Kate took the bag cautiously. Lanie had been threatening her with a certain gift for weeks, but there was no way she'd give it to her in front of everyone, especially her dad…
"Lanie!" Kate chided affectionately when she saw what was in the bag.
"What?" The ME asked innocently, "I know you wanted it…" she added with a lilt of sass and seduction. Her tone caught Castle's attention and he peered over Kate's shoulder to look inside the bag. Kate pushed him away with a promising look in her eyes that said "I'll show you later." He was more than content with that. Hopefully, they'd have more to celebrate than just her birthday by the time they got home…
Kate gleefully opened gift after gift, laughing at Ryan and Esposito's gag gifts and crying at the more heartfelt ones from Martha and her dad.
Finally, Castle's was the only one left.
Kate turned at looked at him expectantly, and his heart soared, but when everyone else turned to him as well, Castle felt a wave of nervousness flood his body. He took a deep breath and took the last rectangular box from the table. He cradled it for a minute before gingerly handing it to a slightly confused Kate. As she took it from him, Kate's confusion only grew. It weighed a ton! What the heck was in this?
"Castle?" She asked.
"Just open it, I'll explain in a minute." He rattled off with a short burst of breath.
Kate shrugged and ripped the wrapping paper off, pausing when she saw she was holding an old, red brick.
"Oh…Rick…you shouldn't have?" She was horrible at masking her disappointment, but Castle didn't seemed deterred. Instead, she noted, his palms were sweaty and his hands were shaking. She'd never seen him so nervous.
"Rick?" She asked, concerned.
"Kate, just listen. Please." He spurted out just as quickly. He needed to get his breathing under control.
Kate was baffled, but he clearly had his reasons, so she stayed silent and allowed her boyfriend to gather his words.
"Kate." He began, "I…um…"
"Lost for words, writer-man?" Kate asked lovingly. Her caring jibe seemed to calm him, and Castle started again.
"Kate, two and a half years ago, I was sitting on a swing, listening to a beautiful woman talk about the terrifying wall holding her back from her life. I listened, but I don't think I really wanted to believe what she was saying. I knew she was scared, I knew she'd been through a lot, but I couldn't believe there was an actual wall to scale before she'd be allowed to love." He knew he sounded ridiculously corny, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
"Over the past two and a half years, I've come to realize the power of her words, and…and I've come to see just how strong that wall could be." He paused, trying to gather his thoughts and forcing himself to find the part of his brain that remembered how to articulate sentences.
"Kate, I'm not gonna lie, it's been rough. I can't tell you how scared I was of losing you last year, and I'm so sorry that you ended up on the wrong side of that fear. I don't know that I'll ever be able to make up for how I behaved." Kate looked like she wanted to say something, but he kept going.
"What I do know, is that I wouldn't trade one minute of our time together for anything on this earth. Over the past five months, I've been so honored to have you in my life; as my partner, as my lover, and most importantly, as my best friend. It's taken time, but together, we've conquered every hurdle the world has thrown at us; we've broken down brick after brick of that horrible wall." Everyone in the room had tears in their eyes as Rick held Kate's hands to help her support the old, crumbling brick.
"Kate, this is the last brick in the wall. The last hurdle to jump, the last demon to face. I love you so much, and I don't want to push anything on you that you're not ready for, so I'm giving the decision to you." Kate looked into his eyes. "Inside this brick is an engagement ring, my promise to you that you are my one and done." Kate's eyes were huge. "You're it for me, Kate. All the songs make sense when you're with me, and will spend the rest of my life trying to show you just how much I love you." Castle felt tears pooling in his eyes, but he had to finish. "When you're ready, you can be the one to break the last piece. I don't care if it's right now or five years from now, but I needed you to know that I would wait a lifetime if it meant eternity with you. I love you, Katherine Beckett."
Castle held his breath while his words floated the room. This was it. This decided everything. This was the final test in how far she'd come, and how long she was willing to run. He couldn't look at anyone except the woman in front of him, but he knew the rest of his family and friends were holding their breaths just as worriedly.
Finally, after an eternity of silence, Kate stepped back from Castle.
His heart broke. She wasn't ready. He was too soon, and now she was going to run again…maybe forever. He should have waited, he should have asked her when they were alone, he should have…wait, what was she doing?
Kate had stopped after two steps and was holding the brick out in front of her, gazing at Castle and waiting for him to look at her.
"Kate, what?" He asked, confused.
"I love you, Rick." She said simply as she let her arms fall to her sides. There was a crash, and Rick stared at her dumbfounded until he finally registered what she'd done. The floor was covered in red dust. Kate smiled at him through the rubble as he knelt down to grasp the shining diamond peeking out from the rust.
"Are you sure?" Castle asked.
"Always." Kate whispered.
SO FLUFFY! Hope you enjoyed! Drop me a line. =D