Authors Note: I kept wondering what Beckett was thinking about when she took her seat. This is what I came up with.
Title: A Mutual Understanding
Author: Eyrianone
Rating: K
Spoilers: Tag line for 'The Dead Pool.
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me.
Summary: Beckett's thoughts as she watches Castle watching her from the seat beside her desk.
She can sense him from the corner of her eye, watching her read over the arrest report she's already prepared, double checking that nothing is missing before she submits it into the court system. The smile playing softly around the upturned corners of his mouth is doing its usual number on her stomach and she wonders for the thousandth time why making him happy, making him smile has such a physical effect on her.
She wonders about it, but somewhere deep inside, buried in a place she's still afraid to look at she does know. It's love.
Love made her push him until he admitted to his jealous behavior.
Love made her think it was sweet that he was feeling threatened.
Love made her quick to reassure him, to wipe the tension from his shoulders, the panic from his gaze, and see them replaced by that soft smile, and that warm glow in the depths of his hypnotic eyes.
Love made her promise him he had nothing to worry about when it came to her spending time with another author – and on some level she already comprehends that her promise extends to other men. Josh is still involved in her life . . . but the clock is ticking, and she can hear it.
Love made her tell him 'always'. Always is theirs. It's a code. It's a promise. It's a vow. It's a commitment. It's an undercover communication each of them wonders if the other understands.
Beckett understands. Always means 'I love you.'
