The Old Haunt has started filling up but the drinks have been flowing for a good few hours for Beckett, Castle, Ryan, Esposito, Lanie and the rest of the precinct staff. They'd had a major breakthrough that morning and they had the perp in custody by lunchtime. Beckett got a confession and they were out of the office by 5.
Since then it has been celebration time for the team. It's been a while since they last had such a lucky break and with Castle's advance for a new Nikki Heat novel he had no problem getting multiple rounds in. They've been out for almost 4 hours and Beckett and Castle especially are starting to look particularly worse for wear.
It is the first night Castle and Beckett have properly been out together with their friends since that night after Alexis' graduation. Any nervousness they had about keeping their newfound status as a couple secret had disappeared after the first few rounds and now they are relaxed in each others arms, laughing at an awful joke from Esposito.
The game of Never Have I Ever had gone interestingly for them both. They had certainly found out a lot more about each other's lives before they met and narrowly avoided disclosing how close they had got to each other over the past few months. Still, whatever transpires over the night can be blamed on their alcohol consumption, and for once Beckett is really enjoying herself after work.
By 10pm the Old Haunt is almost full and the precinct team are starting to finish their last drinks. Despite the successful case, they know that Gates will want them in at a reasonable time the next morning, and crossing Gates is not something anyone wants to do, especially since Beckett's brief suspension.
Castle finishes settling his tab with the barman and everyone else starts putting their coats on. With a friendly wave Castle thanks the barman and heads back over to his colleagues and friends. It's the usual crowd, plus a few extras who came in to help with the big case, all nice enough but they were Beckett's friends, not his. Tory, the new tech girl, knew Lanie quite well, and seemed to look over at him a lot, yet now he only has eyes for Beckett the attention doesn't intrigue him.
They stumble out of the door of the Old Haunt and Beckett reaches out for Castle to steady herself, teetering on her high heels. He gladly takes her arm and they giggle together, walking down the street like lovestruct teenagers, all inhibitions forgotten.
Behind them are Lanie and Tory, deep in conversation.
"Hey, you're close to Beckett, right?" Tory says tentatively, lowering her voice.
"Yeah, we've been friends for years, why?" Lanie replies. She'd noticed Tory's frequent glances at her best friend all night and is unsure over what exactly the new girl was looking at.
"Are her and Castle..." Tory pauses before continuing, "Are they, you know, together?" She blushes, unsure whether she has crossed a line.
Lanie isn't sure how to respond. Of course Beckett had told her about getting together with Castle and, as best friends, Lanie knew from the moment Kate came into work almost glowing after her suspension that they'd finally admitted their feelings for each other. But, since they still work together, it definitely isn't common knowledge and telling the tech girl is not something a best friend would do. She looks forward at Kate and her partner. They are wrapped in each others arms, laughing together and clearly heading back to the same apartment, although they've refrained from openly kissing in front of any of the others. A few drinks inside them and they have clearly forgotten any attempt they might have had to keep the relationship silent. Telling Tory anything different would be a blatant lie.
"Well..." Lanie begins, "Looking at them, I can't really say no. But it's totally under wraps, OK? If Gates finds out they'll lose their jobs."
Tory nods rapidly. "Of course, of course," she replies hurriedly, "I just wondered, having seen them together at work and stuff, they just seemed very close. I wouldn't tell anyone. It's just odd them keeping it so secret, you know besides from the Gates thing. They're together ALL the time. It's not really surprising" Her voice tails off, aware of Lanie's disapproving look.
"Look honey, I can't tell you why they're doing it, but it's something they're doing and you gotta respect that. We all know they're crazy about each other but if they don't wanna let us know they realise that then we just have to accept it. But between you and me, I'm already planning my wedding outfit." Lanie smiles and Tory smiles shyly back at her.
"Oh, well thanks, my house is this way." Tory veers towards the road to their right, "I'll see you around."
"Bye, Tory!" Lanie shouts as her new friend meanders down the street to her house. She is stopped long enough for the boys to catch up and they pat her on the back as they go past.
"Hey Lanie!" Espo says joyfully, "You two looked deep in conversation, any juicy gossip?" Ryan scoffs at his side, unsteady on his feet.
"Girl stuff, nothing you boys need to know about." Lanie laughs, "Now why don't we get Ryan back home to Jenny and then go back to yours?" Esposito doesn't need asking twice and wraps his arm around her waist.
Castle and Beckett are long gone by the time the party reach Ryan's place. Esposito waves goodbye and then draws Lanie close. Once they're round the corner they stop and Esposito whispers in her ear. "What's going on with Castle and Beckett?"