AN: I'm slowly turning into the fluffy one-shot obsessive, I know, but I hope you're still enjoying them. This one is obviously some more Castle/Beckett friendship fluff, something that I truly love writing and I sincerely hope you love reading. So, here we go again, please let me know what you think of it!

IBYL
xo

The Old Haunt was empty, save for the five of us. Myself, Castle, Ryan, Esposito and Lanie were sitting around 'our' booth in Castle's bar, sharing a relaxing drink to end our horror week. What appeared to be a pretty simple 'pop and drop' case became more complicated when Lanie found a whole bunch of toxins in his system. The man was poisoned, then shot to make sure he was dead, and then dumped. Although it turned out to be a jilted lover, it was a tough case and when Castle suggested a quiet drink, we leapt at the chance. My own week was especially hard, as Josh had left for Haiti, telling me not to wait for him. I couldn't blame him – that was his calling, and I certainly wasn't going to stop him when I wasn't sure if we'd even work out. I deliberately hadn't told anyone at work, but Castle had cornered me in the break room this morning, asking what was wrong. I don't even know how he figured it out, but he did – and he didn't even gloat when I told him what had happened. He made me a coffee, and squeezed my hand gently, before heading back towards my desk. I was a little stunned, but mostly I was just happy. I shouldn't be, considering that a 7-month relationship had just ended, but Castle had miraculously made me feel better. I was pulled from my daydreaming by Lanie giggling at Ryan and Esposito. Castle stood from his seat and sent a knowing glance to me, ushering me towards the bar.

"Help me grab some drinks?" He asked quickly, and I nodded, leaving my seat and joining Castle at the bar. After ordering another round, Castle turned to me.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked gently. I looked at him, studying his face. He looked genuinely concerned and I thought I should put his mind at ease.

"I'm fine, Castle. I was just thinking how glad I am that this case is over." I said.

"There's more to it than that." He replied, and I looked up at him, stunned.

"How the hell did you pick that?" I asked, still shocked.

"I can read you like a book, Kate. So, what aren't you telling me?"

"I was thinking about how happy I am, which is pretty weird given the situation I've been in this week. I just ended a relationship, and I don't really care all that much." I sighed, and Castle put his arm around my shoulder, giving me a gentle hug.

"I did the same thing when Gina and I ended things a few weeks ago. Maybe you're not upset because you knew it wasn't right." He smiled at me, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"You know what? I think you're right."

"Four words that I will savour forever, since I know better than to assume you will ever say them again." He said with a smirk, and I laughed.

"What can I say? At least you're a realist in this situation." I smiled genuinely, before grabbing the drinks and heading back towards the group.

Two hours and a few more drinks later, Lanie and Esposito had mumbled their goodbyes and left together, while Ryan had headed home to his girl. My eyes wandered around the quiet bar, finally coming to rest on Castle. He had officially closed the place half an hour ago, sending everyone home – pretty thoughtful of him really. He started putting chairs on tables and I got up to help. When all the chairs were away, he walked towards his office, and I followed. I wasn't quite ready to leave yet, knowing that after a night of fun and laughter with friends, all that I was going home to was an empty apartment. I wandered in and saw him over at the desk, reading some papers. As I was walking towards him I stopped to look at the photos on the wall of the office. There was tons of him and Alexis, and a gorgeous one of himself, Alexis and Martha cuddled up together on their couch. I smiled gently – they were a beautiful little family. As I walked along, watching Alexis grow up before my very eyes, I noticed something. They were in chronological order, and I kept watching before I stopped suddenly. The photos of him, Alexis and Martha together had stopped, and many of the photos included another person – me. There was one of the two of us together, just standing at the precinct – I have no idea who managed to take that photo. There was another photo from the stupid Cosmo shoot he made me do, except in this one I was legitimately smiling. A few more photos of Alexis cropped up, and then my breath hitched. The last two photos were from a few weeks ago, on the night the Old Haunt was officially declared as Castle's. We had all enjoyed a few drinks to celebrate, and there was a great group shot of the 12th precinct folk, but that wasn't what had caused me to falter. Next to the group photo, there was a picture of the two of us. His hands were wrapped around my waist, holding me close, and his head was leaning on my shoulder. He was grinning a cheeky grin, and I was smiling brightly. We weren't looking at the camera, but at each other – and I couldn't for the life of me remember who would have taken such a candid photo of Castle and I. While I was thinking, I felt him slip behind me.

"It's my favourite photo." He said quietly, following my gaze.

"Who took it?" I asked gently.

"Lanie. She sent it to me the day after our celebrations. I just put it in a frame."

"There are photos of me in your office." I said, still slightly confused.

"I consider you to be my best friend, Kate. You deserved a few photos. There are others in my study at home as well."

"You're my best friend too." I said quietly. I hadn't even realised until that moment, but he was. He was always there for me. He was my rock. Richard Castle, author extraordinaire, was my best friend in this crazy world, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Really?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes, really. Remind me to ask Lanie for a copy of that photo."

"Why?"

"Well I don't have an office or a study, but I have a few pictures on a corkboard in my room – I'd like to add this one to it." I smiled.

"Am I already on this corkboard?" He asked, grinning when I flushed a bright shade of red. "I so am. That's it, we're going to your place tonight. I have to see these photos." He smiled and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the door.

"Only if we stop for food on the way, I'm starving." I said with a grin, and skipped towards the car. He laughed audibly and mimicked my movement, slipping into the passenger seat of my car.

Half an hour later, and with a pizza, we arrived at my apartment. Castle put the pizza down on the coffee table and sat on the couch, patting the space next to him. I sat, and we quickly fell into an easy banter about life in general. We sat around for a while, just enjoying each other's company. After a little while, I could tell he was anxious, so I stood up and offered him my hand. He took it and stood up, smiling.

"Come on. Pictures await." I smiled brightly before heading towards my bedroom. Just before I stepped in he stopped suddenly.

"I've never been in your room before, it feels like I'm crossing a line." He said with a grin.

"Just get in here, Castle." I said, and yanked him through the door. My room was pretty basic – I had a comfortable bed and clothes storage, but that's about it – the only thing that really made it mine was the corkboard full of photos. I pulled it off the wall and placed it on my bed, patting the spot next to me. He sat down and began looking at the photos. The top line was full of pictures of my mum and dad with me when I was younger, and Castle had fun cooing over me as a youngster. The next line was photos from late high school and early college – the only people he recognised here were my old friend Madison and a younger Lanie Parrish. He smiled at those ones, of a slightly more rebellious me. Then the photos from my life now began – one of me as a uniform cop, one of me and Lanie in the morgue on the first case we'd officially worked together. Next came a few more photos with Ryan and Esposito as they entered the fold, and then the first group photo with Castle, Ryan and Esposito. I followed his gaze and smiled, as he carefully regarded each picture. When he reached one of the pair of us sitting at my desk, I smiled.

"That photo is very us. Coffee, a murder board, and our respective chairs – it's very you and me, Castle." He looked up at me and nodded.

"It is, isn't it? I don't remember when this was even taken."

"Neither do I. Apparently Esposito was playing with my camera one day and told us to smile, so we did. I found it a month later and asked him about it. It's one of my favourites." He put his arm around me and pulled me into a warm hug. I melted a little in his arms, and found myself wondering why I'd denied myself of this for so long. My thoughts were broken by Castle clearing his throat.

"Hey, Kate?"

"Yeah, Castle?"

"I love hanging out with you like this." He said with a grin. I couldn't help my own smile.

"I love it too, Castle." He went quiet for a while, and I broke away from him. "Spill it. What's going on in that head of yours?"

"You probably won't like it." He said quietly. I sucked in a deep breath.

"Tell me anyway." He looked at me. "Come on, Rick, you've never had problems talking to me before."

"This is different."

"Then spit it out and we'll talk through it." I squeezed his hand and he looked at me.

"I like you, Kate. I really, really like you. You're my best friend and I can always turn to you, and I love that, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like if we were something more. I've thought about it a lot, and I really think we could be great. You and I, we're already great partners and…" he trailed off. I took a deep breath – I was ready to take this step last year, why shouldn't we try now?

"I've thought about it too. I'm not going to lie, Castle – I'm scared. What if it doesn't work out? Losing my best friend and a lover in one fell swoop is a little too much for me." I said gently, and I knew he recognised the sincerity in my voice.

"What if we're completely perfect for each other, Kate? What if we're brilliant together? I really think we could be." He held my hands and I bit my lip. I was attracted to him, no doubt – but could I trust him? Of course I could. Richard Castle wasn't really a media playboy, and he wasn't going to let me down again.

"Ok." I said quietly.

"Ok? Really? You'll try this."

"Yeah, Castle. But on a few conditions."

"Like what?"

"I don't want this to interfere at work – we'll still be Castle and Beckett."

"Can I add a condition?"

"What, Castle?"

"You have to call me Rick when we're away from the precinct."

"That's really your only condition?"

"Yeah." He said with a shrug, and I laughed.

"Well that was easy."

"So we're together?" He asked gently.

"Yeah, we are."

"Can I kiss you now?" He said with a smirk.

"I thought you'd never ask." I smiled, and finally, finally, our lips connected. It was soft and sweet, and his lips felt so nice on mine. His tongue darted out and I eagerly allowed it entry, losing myself in the kiss. All too soon the need for air became too great and we pulled away gasping.

"I… um… ah… wow." He spluttered, and I laughed.

"I know what you mean." I smiled brightly and he wrapped an arm around my waist. We sat there together for a while until I had an idea. I slipped out of his grasp and went to my closet, rummaging through until I found my old Polaroid camera. Wandering back over to the bed, Rick was grinning like a fool and I took an impromptu photo, before sitting next to him and snapping one of us together. We chatted as the photos developed and I smiled – even in a terrible quality picture, we looked good together. I stuck both photos at the bottom of my corkboard and smiled up at him, before putting it back on the wall. He grabbed my camera again and pulled me into his lap. I laughed and he snapped the photo quickly.

"I love candid shots." Rick said with a grin, and we waited for it again. This time you could see us cuddled together and I was smiling widely. Rick was grinning his trademark 'trickster' grin and we looked happy. We were happy. I smiled at Rick and kissed him lightly.

"That photo is also very us."

"I'm glad it is, Kate. So glad." He smiled and I kissed him again, this time pulling him closer in the process.

"Me too, Rick. Me too."

THE END.
Hope you enjoyed it, now you can let me know what you think! Be honest :D

IBYL
xo