AN: Hey! Let me know what you think of this wild side of Beckett and please review if you want another chapter! :)
Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine.
I woke up as an 18-year-old girl with one hell of a hangover. I didn't know what had happened after I got in the car to come home. Maybe we stopped somewhere to eat or something? I really had no idea. As a matter of fact, I don't know how I handled my parents either. Were they awake waiting for me? Did they get mad at me?
I stretched my arm out to grab my phone which was, for whatever reason, underneath my blanket. Oh, well. At least I woke up alone, and that's always a plus. I then decided to check the time.
It was 1:30PM and I had received 23 texts.
I scrolled down to see who had sent them and, as I imagined, it had been Maddi. They read: "hey becks, hope you're not too hungover" and then "we had a great time last night but you sure were out of control", "do you even remember what you did?" "so sorry, we couldn't really stop you", "anyways", "give me a call when you get up" and things of the sort. What the fuck? I was out of control and untamed, apparently. Ah, I wish I could remember what it was that I did. Maybe it's best I don't know, actually.
A few texts came from group chats saying we should hang out to celebrate my birthday more often… but then there was a weird one from a number that wasn't saved in my contact list.
I opened it.
"Good morning, Kate. I had a lot of fun with you last night. Wanna meet me for a coffee at 3PM? Richard Castle."
Huh. Richard Castle. I think that was the guy I danced with most of last night. But that's all we did, really. Maybe kissed? Yeah. I remember that now.
I guess he was really good looking and it wouldn't hurt to hear from his perspective what I really did last night. Plus, I could use some coffee.
I just couldn't take too much time, since I'd go out with my parents tonight for dinner. And I really wanted to spend more time with them too. Even though I'd gone all "rebel", they still made sure to keep me around for family reunions and they worried about me. Even though I still live with them for the next month or so, I kinda have my own life.
"Sure. How about this coffee shop by my house?" I hit send and texted him the address. That way, even if we did take long – which I'm sure we wouldn't – I would still be in time to meet my parents at home to go to the restaurant together.
I grabbed a towel and headed towards the bathroom to take a shower and get ready. I looked like crap from last night. I had blurred eyeliner all over my face.
"Katie?" I heard my mom say and turned around in the hallway to give her my full attention.
I smiled. "Hey, mom. I'm going out to meet up a friend, but I won't be long."
She shook her head at me, but seemed ok with it. "Remember we're having dinner together tonight, don't be late."
I made my way to the bathroom and turned the lights on. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
That was it. My relationship with my mom: always so peaceful to one another. Even though I'm sure she was mad at me for partying all the time, she kept her patience.
I got out of the shower, dried my hair and decided what to wear. Black skinny jeans, a tight white shirt and a long blue necklace. The necklace was the best part of my outfit, the colorful part of it. And then I chose to wear its matching earrings, along with blue shoes.
As far as makeup goes, I applied my favorite everyday makeup, which consists of eyeliner, lipstick and mascara. I chose my dark purple lipstick, just because.
I checked my phone to see if Rick/Castle had replied. I don't what how to call him, is that gonna be a problem? Sigh. He had replied "perfect, meet you there at 4". It was already 3:55, so I thought it'd be best to start walking to the coffee shop and hope he was a punctual guy.
I said goodbye to my parents with the promise of being home by 5:30PM so we could get ready for dinner, then walked toward the coffee shop.
Within about 8 minutes, I'd got there and walked in to see if I could recognize this guy. It had only been a few hours since we met, but I did get high. So that confuses things a bit. As I walked in, though, I saw a good looking guy come up to meet me. I just assumed it was him. He was wearing a green and blue t-shirt and jeans. But oh the way his hair looked…
"Kate? How are you?" He kissed me on the cheek and I smiled at him.
Rick/Castle/Whatever escorted me to our table for two and I started laughing. "I'm sorry, it's just I don't know what to call you. Did I call you Rick last night?"
He laughed as well and this was mortifying. You don't just ask someone what to call them first thing, not after you kissed them and spent a night dancing with them. But in my head, it needed to be done. I just had to ask.
"Fuzzy memories of last night, I see?" He gave me one of those charming smiles that you can't fight against, just have to embrace them.
I ran a hand through my hair and watched it fall over my face in the way that I intended it to. "To be honest, it's part of why I'm here. I was hoping you could tell me more about what I did last night."
He seemed to think that was interesting, the way he kept looking at me. With interest? I don't know. I guess.
"Well, for starters, you called me Castle. You said it reminded you of castles and princesses and princes. You might have suggested that I'm your prince," he chuckled.
Oh no. I put both my hands on my face, trying to hide from this embarrassment. "Did I really call you a prince?"
Castle waved his hand away. "Nah, I just wanted to embarrass you because it seems I have so much power to do that now."
I couldn't believe this guy. Really? I knew I wouldn't have called him a prince. It just isn't like me. And yes, of course I have a list of thing that I do that I wouldn't normally do when I get drunk and high, but being romantic is not on that list.
"You think you're funny, Castle." He kept smiling, happiest guy on earth.
He grabbed the menu and handed me one, "How about we order first and then you find out more of my many qualities?"
I didn't take the menu, "I already know what I want."
Once again, he seemed interested by my comment. "You come here often?"
I nodded, "it's close to where I live and I drink coffee a lot."
The waitress came to our table and took our orders. I asked her for the usual.
"What is the usual?" He asked, intrigued.
It was my turn to smile and be the one holding all the power. "Wait and see."
The power of not telling him my order. Great one.
"So, Castle. What do you do?"
"I'm a mystery writer. I told you that last night, but I'm guessing we'll have to do a repeat here." There it was. The cocky, self-assured smiled that I had flashes of in my memory.
I smiled back. "That's an extraordinary career path. Mystery is my favorite genre."
"Why, do we have a fan here?" He PROPPED his head forward, getting eager and closer to me.
I brought my hands together and raised one eyebrow. "That depends, you got anything published?"
He bit his bottom lip, playfully angry. "Damn. Not yet, but soon."
That's when I saw Ellen, the waitress, approach with our drinks.
"Thanks, El," I said as I grabbed it from the table and took the first sip. Castle did the same.
"Anyway, I want you to tell me what I did last night. Or. Rather. What we did." I looked anywhere but at him. Fucking awkward.
He chuckled softly, like it was nothing. "We danced a lot. You're a very good dancer."
I swallowed hard. "Thanks. But what else?"
"We kissed at the end of the party, when you had to leave. Very good kisser too."
Now that was it. I wasn't blushing before, but now I definitely was. "Be serious. What wild thing did I do?"
He ran a hand through his hair this time. "Don't you think it's wild enough the fact that you don't remember it? I mean, you were seriously on something…"
I interrupted him. "That's not what I meant. I know, Castle, I got high. I mean, did we have sex?"
He seemed surprised. So that's good. "What? No. Kate, I wouldn't do that to you, not like that…"
"It's just that I know a lot of guys who would. I just wanted to know if you wore a condom and stuff." My turn to reach for the coffee again.
He was acting all serious now. His facial expressions changed from "playful and cocky" to "serious and concerned". Which, really, was unnecessary in my opinion.
"Yeah, I'm not of them. Just so you know."
"Right. Cool. So I didn't do anything wild when I was with you, then." I tried to think.
He shook his head. "Not with me, you didn't."
Now that was beyond us, I decided to go with a lighter subject. "So, when are you getting your first book published?"
He smiled softly, "Soon. Like really soon. They're editing it for me now and then it should be good to go."
I drank some of my coffee before asking, "what is it about?"
Castle went on and on about his mystery book, which I seemed to think was very interesting and "why didn't it get published before?!" kind of deal. He really had great ideas, very creative and goofy man.
After a good time talking about his other books and the ones we liked in common, I realized it was time to go. I had a few minutes to pay the bill and start heading home.
"Well, I should get going, but it was great to meet you, Castle," I offered him my hand, which he ignored as he pulled in to kiss me on the cheek again. Damn.
"It was great to meet you too, Kate. As fun as you are when you're drunk, I loved meeting the sober version of you." He had one of those charming smiles going again.
I laughed in discomfort.
"Hey, uh, which way are you headed?" he asked.
I pointed to the direction to my house and he walked my way. "I can walk you home, how's that?"
I shook my head, "you really don't have to."
That didn't seem to matter. "I'm going that way anyways. So, how often do you and Maddi party?"
I smiled at him, because it was really every weekend. And it was really so much all the time. "Every weekend, sometimes both Saturday and Sunday."
He chuckled. "Sunday, huh? I didn't know they had good enough parties on Sundays."
I looked both ways as we crossed the street. "Come on, Castle. It's New York City. There's always a good enough party, any day of the week."
"Maybe you should take me to one so I could verify that statement."
I shook my head as I smiled. All I did was smile. What was going on. "I don't know. Are you sure you can handle parties with me again?"
He looked me in the eye, "I had a great time last night. I wouldn't suggest that if couldn't handle it."
Challenge accepted.
"Well, in that case, I'll let you know when something good comes up."
"Hey, you never told me what you do." He stopped walking for a second.
I looked back at him. "What?"
"I told you I'm a mystery writer, but I still don't know what you do."
I smiled, seductively, a girl of many mysteries of my own. "I party, Castle. That's mostly what I do."
I couldn't afford to tell him that I was going to start off college in a month and was only (just barely) 18 years old. Not when he must be like, what, 25? That would only get in the way. So yes, I chose to not go there.
Besides, he saw me at a club last night celebrating my birthday with my friends. Maybe he thinks I'm 22, 23. At least 21, to be able to get in. So yeah.
And I had my reasons. I didn't want to lose him. Not that we had anything to lose yet, but it was nice to hang out with someone that cared about something other than what my body had to offer. Among other things. I felt like he cared. Maybe not, but maybe yes. I wanted to focus on the "maybe yes" part of it, and try not to fuck it all up by saying "hey, I'm not even legal to go to clubs yet".
I feel like the way I looked at him must've hypnotized him or something because he kept staring at me and didn't ask any further questions. He could have asked me what I do on weekdays, been a little pushier, but he chose not to, for which I'm grateful.
"What do you do on the weekends?" Not exactly changing the subject, was I? But I wanted to know, and I was almost home anyway, so I'd rather know about him than have him know about me in these last few minutes.
He shrugged. "I mostly stay home, go out with my friends to watch a game or go to a bar. I don't usually do your kind of partying, though. Yours is too hardcore for me."
I chuckled. "Like I said, if you don't think you can handle it, you don't have to come with me."
"No, I'll think of it more as a challenge. And the fact that you don't think I can handle it just makes things much more interesting." He said in a playful tone, like all afternoon. The guy can't get serious for once.
"Whatever, Castle."
They walked a few more steps and I stopped. This was it. I'd gotten home. "This is it," I said.
"Damn, I wish you lived further from the coffee shop." He bit his bottom lip.
"Why is that?" I already knew the answer, but it'd be good for my ego.
He smiled and leaned close to me. Was he going to kiss me? That's not-
"So that we could talk for longer." He was looking at my lips in a way that was just- Did he not think I could see him? Really, not very discreet. Or maybe it was just my dark purple lipstick, but, I don't know, something tells me it was just my lips in general.
I pulled away, not giving him the satisfaction. I may be a whore when I'm high, but definitely not when I'm sober.
"I'll see you around," I smiled at him as I opened up the door with the key.
As I was about to go inside, I heard "Hey," which made me turn around.
Cute looking man. Goofy. Charming. "What?" I simply asked.
"Let me know when a good party comes up." He smiled again. We're all about the smiles.
This time I did turn around and closed the door after saying "I sure will."
"Mom? Dad? I'm home!" I said, dropping the key on the table and making my way inside the house.
My Mom came from the kitchen. "Thank God you're here, right on time."
"What is it?" I asked, sitting on the couch to take off my shoes and jewelry.
She looked far from being ready, wearing the same clothes she had been before. It was a Sunday in which my mom didn't have to work; rare Sundays. And so we could, for sure, get some dinner as a family. I always loved those nights.
"Jim!" She called for my father, who came down the stairs wearing a t-shirt and shorts, pretty much matching my mom. I guess we're not going out to dinner?
"Hi, Katie, you're home."
"Yes, I just got here, but I can be ready in 20 minutes. Where are we going?" I held my shoes and jewelry as I got up to get ready.
Mom interfered, "actually, honey, we were thinking we should stay in and have dinner here. We've both been so tired. We ordered pizza."
"Hope you don't mind," dad said.
That's actually a better plan. "No, it's okay. It's works better for me too."
Even though it was my birthday yesterday and all that, I'd much rather spend Sunday home with my parents than having to go through the trouble of getting ready to go out and eat at some fancy restaurant. Truth is, I was still a little hungover and had already gone out that day. My birthday celebration with my friends turned out to be so "hardcore", as Castle put it, that I don't think I could handle that kind of birthday celebration with my parents.
"We don't want you to think we don't care for you, honey, bec-"
"No, Mom, don't worry. I'd rather stay home with you guys, talk for a bit. I am tired myself too." No comments about what I did last night, but it was implied. They knew it, but it didn't exactly scream "birthday celebration" talk to any of us.
Dad handed me a plate with 3 slices of pizza and we all sat down. He'd gotten glasses of water for the three of us.
As we started eating, he asked, "Katie, where did you go today?"
I knew that was going to come up eventually, so why avoid it? "I went to the coffee shop with a friend. Just to talk."
"Huh. Was it Maddi?" Mom didn't like Maddi very much. Probably because my worst stories involved her. We did persuade each other to do "bad things" all the time I guess.
"No. Which reminds me I have to call her." Shit. It's been hours since Maddi texted me, I really should text back, or call, or… something. Especially to hear from her what "wild and crazy thing I did last night. Since it wasn't with Castle.
"Who was it, then?" Dad, prying. He always did that. It's just his way of being protective, and I know he only does it because he cares about me.
"This guy, Castle." I answered, shoving a big piece of pizza in my mouth to buy me some time in case the next question was awkward.
"Have you heard of him, Jo? I haven't." Ah, dad. Prying.
Mom smiled, awfully excited about someone that, for all she knows, could be the stereotyped punk kid that she wouldn't exactly approve of.
But one can dream.
"No, I haven't. Who is he, Kate?" She reached for another slice.
"He's this writer guy I met last night," that should cover all of the next questions. A) what does he do? And B) why haven't we met him?
Mom seemed pleased with the fact that he was a writer, and not a tattoo artist or a hippie nature enthusiast like my previous boyfriends.
I don't care.
"Why don't you bring him home for dinner some time?" Mom asked, even though I thought I'd covered that question. I'd just met the guy. No bringing him home for dinner. That was not in my plans.
I should have lied and said it was Maddi.
Although they wouldn't be pleased with that.
Dad just looked at me waiting for an answer, as if agreeing with mom.
"You guys, I just met him."
Dad picked up our plates after we finished dinner and kissed the top of my head. "You never know, Katie. I have a feeling we might like this one."
Yeah, dad, I thought.
I have a feeling you would like him.
AN: Please review if you'd like more of this or if you have any ideas for upcoming chapters! Thanks so much for reading xx