Thank you to everyone who read the first chapter, I know there wasn't too much action in it but this is where the good stuff really starts, so here's chapter 2!
Disclaimer: After the perfection that was the 100th episode, I think it's safe to say there is no way I'm capable of owning a brilliant show like Castle.
To Have and to Hold
I need a coffee.
That's what Kate Beckett thought as she finally finished signing the last bit of paperwork from the monster of a case her team had just wrapped up. She hadn't had more than a couple hours sleep in the last three days and now she needed a caffeine boost to keep her awake long enough to get home and get to bed.
She made her way to the empty break room, most people had wrapped up and gone home already, and she was about to pour herself a cup when she realised the pot was empty. Typical.
She debated for a second about whether to start a new pot before deciding she'd rather just go home. It tastes like crap anyway.
After collecting her things from her desk, she made the journey through the precinct and to her car, staying conscious long enough to drive herself back to her apartment. She winced at the bright morning light, I must have been longer than I thought, today was Friday and she thanked God that the Captain had given her and her team until Monday off to recuperate and reenergise.
When she entered her apartment she started making her way towards her bedroom, only pausing when she debated whether to eat first since she hadn't since yesterday lunch when Ryan brought in takeout for the team, but the comforting call of her bed was just too strong, so she bypassed food and ended up collapsing on top of her mattress, fully clothed, full make up, but she didn't even care because she was fast asleep before her head even hit the pillow.
It was the shrill ringing of her phone that woke Kate.
"Ugh. Who's calling me at-" she checked the clock on her bedside table, "8pm?" She couldn't believe she had slept the entire day! She picked up the phone and answered without checking the caller id.
"Beckett."
"Hi sweetie, it's me!" A cheery voice replied.
"Sophie?" She hadn't heard from her long-time friend in weeks. Kate and Sophie had been friends since Kate had transferred from Stanford to NYU after her mother's death. Sophie was a year older and had sort of taken Kate under her wing during that difficult time. They'd remained friends ever since and were actually quite close, although their busy schedules prevented them from seeing each other as much as they'd like, usually they made do with their weekly phone calls, but Sophie hadn't called for a little while now, and Kate had been too busy to really notice lately. She was glad to hear her friend's voice though.
"Yes, it's Sophie. I know I haven't called for a while, but I didn't think you'd forget about me so quickly," she teased.
"As if I could ever forget you, Soph."
"Well I should hope not. I mean we've only been friends for 8 years!" They both chuckled softly before Sophie carried on, "So listen, Kate, I actually called because I have to ask you something."
"Oh no, you don't want me to make a parking ticket disappear again, do you?" Kate sat up in bed, cringing when she saw her make up smudged appearance in the mirror opposite.
"Hey, that was one time! No, I called to ask if you thought you'd be able to take a break from catching killers to come to a wedding."
"Oh, do you need someone to go with? Why don't you ask that guy you've been seeing, Rich?"
"Rick, and he'll be there, it's his wedding."
Now Kate was confused, "But how-" and then her sleep fogged brain finally caught on, "Oh my God! Sophie, you're getting married?"
"Yes!" Kate could tell her friend was over the moon, and she was happy for her, really, but she knew her friend had a tendency to jump into things without really thinking them through, and as far as she could tell, Sophie hadn't known this Rick guy for all that long.
"Sophie, I'm so happy for you, I really am, and don't take this the wrong way but, don't you think you're rushing into things a bit?"
"Not at all," she said unfazed, "Kate, I love him and he loves me. We want to spend the rest of our life together, and I think that's all that really matters, not how long we've been together."
"Well if you're sure then, congratulations!"
"And that's not all," Sophie carried on.
"You're not pregnant are you?" Kate wondered if maybe that was one of the reasons for the soon engagement.
"No! Trust me, if I was, it wouldn't take this long to get to my point. Kate,"
"Hmmm?"
"Would you please be my Maid of Honour?"
Oh. Kate had already been a Bridesmaid six times and after the first couple it had started to lose its appeal, and to be honest, after a while it got a little depressing; always a Bridesmaid, never a Bride. However, she loved Sophie and she'd always been there for Kate, so really, would it be that difficult to do this one thing for her? Being someone's Maid of Honour was supposed to be exactly that, an honour, and who knows? Maybe it would be fun?
"Of course Soph, if you want me to be you're Maid of Honour, I'll do it." Kate then proceeded to be deafened by her friend's excited squeal.
"Oh Kate, thank you! It's going to be great! I really wouldn't have wanted anyone other than you to do it." Sophie sounded so happy, and Kate knew she'd made the right decision.
"So what does a Maid of Honour do anyway?" Despite being a Bridesmaid several times, Kate had never actually been the Maid of Honour.
"Well, you help me pick dresses, the venue, flowers, but you can start by coming to the engagement party tomorrow night, if you can get time off?"
"Yeah, we just finished a big case so the Captain told us not to come in till Monday."
"Perfect! We're having dinner at Angelo's at 7."
"Do I need to bring anything?" Kate realised she didn't really have much time to buy an engagement present.
"No, sweetie, don't worry about it. Just bring yourself and that's all I'll need."
"Okay, see you tomorrow Soph."
"Bye Kate, love you!"
The alarm went off at 7am and Rick woke with his arms wrapped around his fiancé of 2 weeks. Today was Saturday and that night they were going to have the engagement party with their closest friends and family. They broke the news of their engagement a couple of days after he proposed and their friends (particularly hers) appeared to be pleased for them. His mother had some doubts when she first heard the news but she had just smiled and told him 'as long as you're happy, darling' when he questioned her about it. He was happy. Really.
He realised that his butterflies had just been a result of nervousness over proposing. He did love Sophie and he did want to marry her; she was exactly what he and Alexis needed.
"Mmm," the sleeping woman in his arms began to rouse, "Morning sweetheart." She leaned over and kissed him. Something stirred inside him and he deepened the kiss, turning over so that he was leaning over her and eliciting a small moan from her. He smiled against her lips. How could I have doubted my feelings for this beautiful woman?
They continued for a few more minutes before she eventually broke away, "As much as I'd love to keep going with this, I can't." Rick sighed and moved away, "I have a meeting at 9 and another one after and I need to get ready."
"Oh, okay, what time will you be home?"
"Don't worry; I'll be back with plenty of time to get ready before we go to dinner." She gave him a final kiss and made her way to the bathroom to start getting ready.
Rick moved to put on his robe a couple of minutes later, deciding he might as well start breakfast.
When he got to the kitchen he saw that Alexis was already up and watching cartoons on the couch.
"Hey pumpkin, have you been up long?" He greeted. When she saw him she made her way over to sit on a stool at the kitchen counter while he began preparing breakfast.
"No, only about 15 minutes. Are we having pancakes?"
"Of course! You know Saturday is our designated pancake day!"
"Can we have strawberry smiley face pancakes?"
"Is there any other kind?" She smiled at his reply, enjoying their father-daughter tradition.
He dished up three plates and the two of them started eating just as Sophie made her way from the bedroom, now fully dressed.
"Hey I made pancakes," he gestured to her plate as she walked over.
"Thanks honey but I've got to run, or I'll be late." She kissed him quickly before walking over to the door. "Have a nice day, both of you."
Rick noticed that Alexis had become quiet when Sophie appeared. He knew that Alexis felt a little awkward around his Bride-to-be, and he knew that the feeling was mutual on Sophie's end. It wasn't that they didn't like each other; it was just that Sophie didn't really have much experience with kids and although she tried, she just found it hard to find something in common with his daughter to talk about. But Sophie knew that Alexis was first in his life and he appreciated that she made an effort with her, it was more than most of his past girlfriends did.
"So, Alexis, what are we gonna do today? Laser tag? Fencing? Or maybe we could go to the park, or museum?" he listed the possibilities, his childlike excitement growing as the list grew longer. Honestly, Alexis thought that sometime she was the more grown up of the two.
"Sorry dad but you're on your own today. Remember? I'm going to Paige's house. Her dad's coming to pick me up at 10 and bringing me back home before the party tonight."
"Oh yeah." He quickly deflated and she felt bad.
"Don't worry, dad. I'm sure you'll find something to do. And maybe we can do all that stuff next weekend?"
"Sure sweetie." He smiled at his amazingly responsible and caring daughter and couldn't help but wonder how he got so lucky.
Kate was not used to having so much free time. Her job usually required her to work all hours of the day and night and now after having slept most of yesterday and with the party not being until that night, she found herself full of energy with nothing to do.
It was only noon and she had already cleaned her entire apartment, taken a shower and got dressed, and even done a little grocery shopping (she'd finally gotten rid of the takeout temple in her fridge). There was nothing on TV at this time of day and all her friends already had plans. She was bored.
Then she realised that she hadn't had much to eat in the last 24 hours. She'd checked her fridge for a late dinner last night after her phone call with Sophie but nothing seemed particularly appetising (that was when she'd decided to bite the bullet and go grocery shopping) so she'd just ended up eating a bowl of cereal. And then this morning she'd forgotten about breakfast (she needed to stop doing that) because she'd been preoccupied with her morning activities. All of a sudden her stomach growled and she decided she might as well head out for a good old Remy's burger and shake.
Remy's was fairly busy when she got there, after all it was lunch hour, so she decided to sit at the counter, so as not to take up an entire booth when she was only eating by herself.
She sighed. By myself. Normally Kate didn't mind solitude but the news of Sophie's engagement really made her realise that she wasn't anywhere close to being engaged, she hadn't even been seeing anyone since Will left six months ago. She missed the companionship and happiness that came with being in a relationship but she just never seemed to have time to date, she was pondering whether she should make more of an effort when a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Uh, hi, do you mind if I sit here?"
She looked up to see a familiar looking man, with thick brown hair and brilliant blue eyes pointing to the empty seat next to her.
"Go ahead." She said and he sat down just as her food arrived.
She moaned slightly as she took the first bite of her burger, they were just so good, which seemed to catch the attention of the man now sat next to her.
"That good, huh?" He questioned with a slight chuckle.
She blushed slightly at his words, "Uh, yeah," she replied somewhat awkwardly, trying to concentrate on eating her food and letting her long wavy brown hair curtain her face, so he couldn't see the pink twinge on her cheeks.
"Hey, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to embarrass you, although you do look cute when you blush."
She looked at him again, surprised at his blunt words, and she couldn't ignore the slight increased rate of her heart when he smiled a boyish smile at her. God, he's cute.
"I wasn't embarrassed," she tried to defend.
"Oh really? It sure looked like it," he challenged, a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Maybe I was just warm, and that's why you thought I was blushing," she tried to convince.
"It's February. It's freezing outside."
"It's warm in here."
"You don't give up easily, do you?" He pointed out, a curious look on his face. No wonder he's looking at you that way, you're bickering about blushing, for goodness' sake!
"No I don't. Especially when I'm right." No point backing out now.
"Okay, whatever you say." They were quiet for a moment, the debate settled, before he said, "So, judging by that moan which you weren't embarrassed about," she narrowed her eyes at him slightly in annoyance, "You think I should order a burger?"
"Definitely. Remy's burgers are the best. Haven't you been here before?"
"No, first time. I just found it while I was wandering around the city, bored." So I don't recognise him from here. Where have I seen him? Kate thought.
"Well in that case, I think you should be aware that the shakes here are to die for as well."
"I guess I have no choice then. I can't go on another day not knowing the awesomeness of a Remy's burger and chocolate shake," he said in a deadly seriously voice.
Kate laughed, "You should be glad that I was here to point you in the right direction, otherwise you could have ended up with a hardly satisfying hotdog and soda, and then where would you be? But I need to fulfil the rest of my duty and tell you that strawberry shakes are the best." She picked up her drink and took a long sip to prove her point.
"What? No way! Chocolate's always best!" he said with a childlike enthusiasm.
"Suit yourself, just don't come crying to me when your chocolate milkshake doesn't even compare to my strawberry one."
"But I won't know will I? Because I've never tried the strawberry one to be able to compare them." He pointed out with an air of victory, "Unless…"
"Unless what?" she asked, feeling a sense of dread forming in her stomach, or was that anticipation?
"Unless, you let me taste yours."
"What?!"
"Come on! I'll get the chocolate, you have the strawberry. I'll show you mine if you show me yours!" he said, a playful smile on his face.
"No way!"
"Why not?" he whined like a child who'd just had his toy taken away, "It's the only way you can prove you're right."
"I don't care. We don't even know each other!" Honestly, this man was unlike any other she'd met. How could someone seem so childish and so manly at the same time?
"So?"
"So," she mimicked exasperatedly, "I don't know where your mouth has been." She almost laughed at the way his face fell when she said this.
"I don't know where yours has been either!"
"Well I'm not the one who wants to swap straw saliva with a stranger," she pointed out.
"Come on, it's no grosser than, uh, kissing a stranger."
"Who said anything about being willing to kiss you?" Honestly she wouldn't mind kissing him, but he didn't need to know that.
"I'll have you know lots of women would want to kiss a ruggedly handsome stranger like me," he said with an air of arrogance.
"Oh really?"
"Yes, really."
After he said this, they seemed to enter some sort of stare off, neither willing to be the first one to break their gaze. Wow, he really does have nice eyes.
The moment was broken by his phone, signalling he had a text message. He reached into his pocket to check it before sighing and standing up.
"Looks like I'll have to wait to try one of those burgers, I've got to go, uh-"
"Kate," she supplied.
"Kate. I'm Rick by the way. It was nice meeting you."
"You too."
"Maybe I'll see you around?"
"Yeah, maybe." They shared a somewhat flirtatious smile before he turned and left the diner.
Kate was left to eat the rest of her lunch in a decidedly good mood, Rick had really seemed to leave an impression on her, and she thought that maybe he felt the same about her. It was strange really; they'd never met before and here they'd been, bickering about blushing and milkshakes like they'd known each other for a long time. She also realised that they'd even been flirting a little. She smiled at the memory and really hoped she would in fact see him again.
She still couldn't shake the feeling that she'd seen him before though. She knew she didn't know him from Remy's, and he definitely didn't seem like a criminal she'd come across at work, so what could it be? And then it hit her. Brown hair, blue eyes, boyish smile, Rick.
"Oh my God," she said as realisation dawned on her. She recognised him because she'd seen him on the jackets of her numerous copies of his books, how could she not have seen it straight away?
She'd just met and flirted with Richard freaking Castle!
There we go! I can't believe how long this one ended up being (for me), but I wasn't really sure where the cut-off point should be. Anyway, hopefully now you can see how Kate is linked to Sophie and Rick. Let me know what you thought.
Next chapter's the engagement party. I wonder how Rick and Kate will react when they realise who the person they each met in the diner really is? You'll just have to see…
