I couldn't believe it when I saw how many Alerts received this story! I couldn't even count them! Thanks a lot, really. I'll try to update fairly regularly (up to a point), but I can't promise anything. This chapter is short, but I guessed it was better having shorter chapters more frequently. Besides I change chapter when the POV changes. So far I alternated Beckett's and Castle's POV (which means this is Castle's).
Enough with the blabbering.
Enjoy!
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Chapter 2
I'm just entering the precinct with a big smile on my face. Today is a special day, and nothing is going to spoil my mood. I have something all planned out for tonight. Something big.
(Well, not that big, but it's very important nonetheless.)
The only thing I still need to do is dragging Detective Beckett away from work at a decent hour.
It's not Valentine's Day, nor our first date (which happened to be five days ago), but today it's our first anniversary. Three hundred and sixty-five days ago I turned around expecting the umpteenth fan waiting for an autograph and instead I found her, with her badge and her sarcastic remarks. And I so want to celebrate that.
Cheesy?
Maybe, but it doesn't matter.
The only thing standing in our way is this damn case. It is a tricky one, one I'd usually like, but not when it's interrupting my long awaited first date with Beckett and preventing us from scheduling a second.
Five days ago I was blissfully happy in front of a stunning Kate Beckett when her damn phone rings and she's called in.
Yes! Just like that!
Until that moment our date had been wonderful. I may be biased, but we talked a lot, and I told her stories and jokes about my past and she laughed. From the first time I witnessed the event I try to have a repeat performance every chance I get. And Thursday night I planned on making her laugh for at least two more hours when we've been interrupted.
Instead of eating dessert (cakes in that place are awfully good!) we ended up watching a body glued under one of the bridges in Central Park. Literally glued! That was a first even for Detective Beckett…
Ryan and Esposito noticed us arriving together at the crime scene all dressed up, and probably Lanie waited the first chance she got to grill Kate about it, but it wasn't overly suspicious either.
It wasn't the fist time we carpooled after all.
Actually it wasn't even the first time we showed up together after a date (at that time not with each other).
Since then we've crashed in a chain of dead ends and story twists. All the tension we accumulated would be great in a novel, but now, in reality, it's just annoying.
Every time I manage to drag her out to eat outside of this building we either talk about the case or the guys tag along or my family shows up (on Monday even all of the above).
Annoying, really.
And every night, after dinner, she wants to come back here and work a little more.
Most nights I keep her company until 10 p.m., then I force her to go home and get some sleep, only to find her here by 7 a.m. looking intently at the headboard again.
Very annoying.
But the worst thing is, I hadn't even kissed her yet! How could I, when the only time we are alone we're looking at pictures of dead bodies or when I leave her home, so tired she can barely stand on her feet?
Once or twice it might have crossed my mind the idea of sweeping her up and carrying her inside her apartment bride-style, and then proceed to kiss her senseless, but I didn't want to make a fool of myself by tripping over my own feet. Besides I want to show her that I can be patient.
But, really, I can be only so much patient.
And my patience is reaching its limit.
I even began to wonder if that date had to be a one time thing, or if I had imagined it at all, but then her lips morphs into a smile when she sees me, or her eyes relax when she spots me, and my spirits are lifted. Even if the looking relaxed part is probably due to her not trusting me to stay out of trouble without her around. Or even with her around.
But five days of bad luck have to be enough, and today I'm more hopeful than usual.
This morning, at breakfast, I had a little brainstorming session with Alexis that left me with lots of ideas to catch our killer.
Today we're going to crack this case, I'll make sure of that.
