WEEKEND IN LAS VEGAS
Castle's apartment – Friday
On a crisp fall morning, a cold breeze hit New York City waking up its residents. Castle woke to the sound of roaring winds howling at his window. He tilted his head up, wrinkled his face to see the digits 4:00:00 a.m. on his clock radio. Exhaling a deep sigh, he pushed himself up with his arms and headed for the kitchen. There, he made some omelettes, carried them back to his room and continued on his second Nikki Heat novel.
12th Precinct – Friday
Beckett, who also suffered slight insomnia in the early hours of that morning, came in to the precinct early. She had gotten up just a little after Castle and found difficulty in regaining sleep. This place was after all, her home away from home and she felt comfort and safety in her work. It was towards the lunch hour that Ryan caught her glancing around the room every ten minutes and couldn't resist.
"Looking for Castle?"
"No" she said only slightly convincingly. Ryan and Esposito had made a pact to hide the truth for a bit longer before telling her, but Ryan crumbled easily.
"Where is he anyway?" questioned Beckett as her eyes returned to the computer pretending to focus on the screen.
"I don't know. Maybe he had a big night with a curvy blond. Are you feeling a little lonely without Castle by your side?" Ryan said staring at the ceiling enviously.
"Maybe we should strap you to this precinct with piles of paper work for the rest of the day?"
Ryan's eyes showed defeat and fear.
"He called in sick today. I didn't know he could do that, but I guess he's not paid or anything so he's free to take off whenever he likes," he said in one breath. Ryan dashed off to resume his work leaving Beckett sitting at her desk feeling slightly insecure. He didn't seem sick yesterday, she thought.
After lunch, she could no longer focus on work. Instead, her eyes fixated on the phone hoping for one of two options, for a murder to be called in or for Castle to call, but neither happened. Just as she picked up the phone, Montgomery approached her.
"Bored today Beckett?" He said staring at her blankly.
"Uh, just a little, Sir. But there is tonnes of paper work to keep me busy. And Castle's not here to distract me, so all is good," she replied with a forced smile.
"Look, why don't you take the rest of the day off? You've been here since 6 a.m." And before she could respond, "And go check out how Castle is, we don't want our number one writer to be sick for too long, we need him to solve murders!"
Solve murders? She thought to herself. He has been nothing but in the way with his endless questions and whining, since the day he joined the team. Not to mention that having him around is like having a child strapped to you 24/7. She rolled her eyes and left the precinct.
Castle's apartment – Friday
High up on a ladder stood Castle as he tried hang the letter 'B' on to the top of the window frame. A knock was heard at the door.
"Wait a minute," he said at the top of his lungs as he tip toed to reach the top. Beckett waited impatiently as Castle sounded a bit off tune. He soon came to the door and opened it. There stood Beckett, with worry written all over her face. She leaned forward and examined Castle's face.
"Are you feeling ok?"
"Super! Why?" beamed Castle. Beckett's face immediately changed from worried to annoyed. He was fine, and she had worried for nothing whilst pretending not to worry. She pushed him in from the door frame.
"Then why didn't you come to work today? You think you can just drop all your responsibilities like you drop your women?" She narrowed her eyes at him and said half out of breath, "Shadowing me everyday, that's a job Castle, not a game. Just as Beckett started to fold her arms, Castle grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her in for a gentle hug.
"Did you miss me today or were you just worried that I was really sick?" He said still beaming with his eyes closed. To his surprise, she didn't struggle to free herself out of the hug, instead she remained there with him feeling slightly awkward.
"Not at all, but I know you can't bear one day without me. You would've eventually come crawling for attention." And now she was smiling with satisfaction. She knew Castle couldn't stay away for long, but what was he doing today? Shifting away from the hug, she noticed big gold letters stuck on the wall. It spelt out HAPPY…
"Whose birthday is it?" she queried, finally breaking the bond between them.
"Mine" he said smiling and now showing teeth, "I'm turning thirty-something on Monday."
"Thirty something? That's not a real number."
"Like I'm going to tell you my real age, Ms 'I don't share anything', I have secrets too." She smirked at him and then went to the kitchen to grab herself a drink with Castle watching her in delight. From just one sleep over, she had become so familiar with his home, almost as if they cohabited. Castle enjoyed that thought for a moment before joining her in his study. She examined his interactive electronic board once again in fascination. If only they had one like his at the precinct, thought Beckett as she pressed all over the screen.
"That's expensive you know, detective. Not a toy. You'll have to pay for a replacement if you break it." She looked at him playfully whilst she ran the palm of her hand all over the board, exciting Castle slightly.
"Or, you can just pay me with gestures of love." He said smirking and walking over to her. She saw the look in his eyes, that playful, flirty look that Castle gave with perfection. She suddenly realised the intimate zone that the two of them had stepped in, and started to walk out of the room. Castle grabbed her gently from behind and pulled her in until her back was against his chest.
"Where are you going? We were just having some fun." Beckett felt herself fill with glee as her ploy of playing hard to get had finally paid off. After the events of last week, Castle had started to crave more from her, but she couldn't give in. Not until she was sure that she wasn't his 'flavour of the month'. She turned around, arched an eyebrow, and stared at him with a sarcastic smirk.
"I'm not here for fun, Castle. I was just checking in to see if you're okay."
"I'm better, now that you're here to cook me a delicious lunch" he said with a smile.