Kate rushed into the bathroom after throwing on a pair of gray sweatpants and a dark fitted t-shirt. It was late, nearly 11:45, and there really was no reason to dress up, but at the sight of her splotchy face, Beckett forgot completely about being reasonable.
She quickly added a few soft curls to her hair, dabbed a bit of lipstick on her lips (wouldn't Lanie approve?), and wiped away at the few tear stains on her cheeks.
Regardless of whether she'd seen it coming or not, breakups did suck and she did hurt. Josh had left on good terms, but still he had left, and that always, no matter how much it needed to happen, was painful.
When she glanced down at her watch, the detective realized that Rick would be here, if his timing was right, in only 5 minutes. She took one last look at her appearance and walked confidently into the living room.
No matter how run-down she felt, she could at least act as though she thought she looked good.
For some reason, Kate found that she wanted to look good for Castle. She had always felt that way, from the time that she had first met him and they had been nothing more than disgruntled acquaintances.
Rick Castle was just the sort of man that you wanted to impress.
As if on a cue, Beckett heard a quiet knock on the door. She swung it open to reveal Castle, bottle of wine and filled shopping bag of food in hand. Kate had already had a glass of wine, but more alcohol sounded very soothing on a night like this.
Castle wore a soft smile on his face, as if he was afraid to look too happy about being at Kate's apartment on these terms.
Beckett returned his expression and stepped aside to let the writer in. "Thanks for coming over so late, Castle. You really didn't have to." Her voice was low, and she spoke in an almost ashamed tone.
"It's no trouble at all." He smiled more openly as he walked into the small kitchen and held up the wine bottle. "Shall we?" He asked, pulling two wine glasses from the cabinet.
Beckett ignored the fact that he somehow made himself so naturally at home and nodded.
"Do you… want to talk about it?" Castle asked hesitantly, handing Kate one of the glasses and taking a seat next to the one she'd taken on the couch.
"There's really nothing to talk about." She replied, taking a long drink. In an instant, she had downed her entire glass. The thought of Josh made her want to drink. He was wasted time, and she wanted to drink away wasted time.
"You sure about that?" Castle raised an eyebrow at her hurried consumption of the drink.
Kate blushed slightly under his scrutiny. "Shut up," She mumbled as she poured herself another glass. "There's really nothing to talk about. It was a breakup. I'm sure you know how those go. Or has the great Richard Castle never been broken up with?" She asked, again finishing her drink with record speed. Castle's expression noticably fell and Kate felt instantly guilty. "Can we just talk about something else?"
"Sure… Yeah." Castle said as he averted his eyes from the third drink that Beckett was now pouring. "I brought chocolate!" He said lightly, holding up the bag that he'd set on the table. He spilled the contents in front of them, and revealed various types of chocolate bars, a bag of gummy worms, a bag of potato chips, and an apple.
Beckett shot him a questioning look.
"I didn't know what you were in the mood for." He answered with a shrug.
His thoughtfulness struck the detective as she was once again reminded at just how sweet he could be. "Castle, you didn't have to do all this, you know." A glance at her watch reminded her of how late it was and the guilt exploded even more within her.
"Kate," His voice was soft as he set his wine glass down and folded his hands in his lap. "We're partners, right? Partners, friends… This is what friends do for each other. Now, I brought entertainment!"
Immediately Castle shifted the mood with a bright smile. He reached into the bottom of the shopping bag and pulled out a thick DVD. With a closer look Kate saw that he was holding season six of The X-Files.
"Season six instead of one?" She asked, taking the DVD out of his hand to look it over.
"I snuck into Alexis' room just to get this, I'll have you know. It was dark and I just took what I could reach! Besides, her room is freaky at night. I'm serious!" His tone was playfully defensive as he snatched the DVD back and hopped off the couch to pop it into the DVD player.
"By the way, the first disk is missing, so again, we'll just watch random episodes." Castle sat back on the couch. This time he was considerably closer to Kate, but she didn't say a word. His warmth was calming, and as the show played, she had a hard time paying attention to anything else.
As the scenes passed on the screen, Beckett continued to drink. She scarcely slowed down as she went through glass after glass. Castle tried to ignore it, but he found himself watching Kate more than the television.
After an entire episode of silence, Castle finally spoke. "Were you serious about needing a date to the wedding?" He spoke quickly, as if he'd been contemplating the question for some time.
Beckett shifted to better look at the writer. "Maybe," She said, taking another drink from her glass of wine. She had lost count of her drinks by now and was feeling loopy. In truth, she wasn't feeling much of anything. Instead of letting herself feel any guilt for drinking, she had tried to keep in mind that she'd just been through a breakup. That deserved a couple of drinks. And then, maybe, a couple more.
Dramatically, breaking her thoughts, Rick pulled himself off of the couch and knelt on one knee in front of Beckett.
"Katherine Beckett," he said; his face stoic. "Will you do me the great pleasure of being my date to Kevin Ryan's wedding?"
Beckett couldn't help but giggle at his serious expression. "Date?" She asked, her eyebrow rising.
Castle sighed. "Plus one?" He tried with a small smile.
"Date," Beckett nodded with a smile and a small shrug. "Sure, Rick." She said his name with force, clicking her tongue for emphasis. The alcohol was causing her head to go fuzzy but she took another drink.
Castle grinned and sat back on the couch. "Maybe we should cut you off," He said, glancing over to see Kate beginning to pour yet another glass. He reached to take the bottle out of her hand.
"Castle…" She whined, leaning into his chest and reaching out for the bottle that he was holding out of her reach.
Kate wriggled until she was lying fully across him, her hand outstretched towards the bottle. Her usual reserved manner towards him was gone as alcohol pulsed through her system. A sly smile crossed her lips and she brought her face closer to Castle's.
"Can't we make some sort of a trade for that bottle?" She asked, shifting on top of him. Her voice was low and seductive as she leaned towards him.
Castle found himself fighting every immoral thought he had as he gently grasped Beckett's waist and easily placed her light body back on the seat beside him.
"Definitely cutting you off," He said as she leaned against his shoulder and shut her eyes. She was obviously tired of fighting for another drink.
"Thank you, Castle," She slurred against his arm.
"For?" He said, looking down at the detective.
"For being here, you know." She said, snuggling closer to her partner.
"Yeah, well, when you wake up tomorrow morning, you'll probably kill me for letting you drink so much, but I appreciate your thanks now. Even though I have said… you really don't need to thank me for anything."
"No, no, no…" Beckett reached to place a finger over Rick's lips. "No, I do need to thank you. You didn't even like Josh. You… you're glad that we broke up."
Castle mentally tried to remember when Kate had gotten so drunk, but he pushed the thought away and focused on the conversation at hand. "That… is not true!" He said defiantly. "Josh was… fine."
"But you are glad that we broke up?" Beckett said, leaning up to catch Castle's eye contact.
"I didn't say that," He leaned against the couch, a guilty look plastered on his face.
Instead of pressing further, Beckett leaned back against Rick and closed her eyes. "You're a good friend, Castle," She muttered.
"Don't I know it," Castle chuckled, and shifted slightly, remembering the feel of Kate on top of him, and how hard it had been to pass up the opportunity that he'd been wishing to have for years.
They were more than just a quick fling; Castle knew that now. In the quiet, Castle realized that the TV was still on. A random episode of The X-Files played.
Scully's voice rang clearly from the speakers.
"It seems to me that the best relationships, the ones that last, are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like, a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is… suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with."
He sat, lost in thoughts, for several minutes before glancing at the clock on the wall. It was late. Beckett was asleep beside him, but he knew that the next morning at the precinct would be rough for both of them, especially if Castle didn't get home to get some sleep.
He tried to slide away from Kate, grabbing a nearby throw pillow to support her head where his shoulder was absent. He was careful to be quiet, but her eyes cracked open at the movement as he slid away from her.
The sleep had sobered her, but only a bit. She still she reached for Castle in an uncharacteristic way as he stood up. "You're leaving?" She said, with a tight hold on his arm.
"It's late," Castle nodded, standing up and pulling away from her grip. "Get some sleep, Kate." He said softly as he turned for the door.
"Castle," Beckett said, sitting up fully. "Stay." Her eyes flicked to the bedroom in a silent invitation for more.
With one simple word, the writer stopped in his tracks. He turned around to take in all of Kate's beautiful, expectant face. She would probably shoot him tomorrow, but for now, he wanted to remember the scene perfectly. He gazed at her for a moment before speaking.
"I can't…" He said, betraying what he truly wanted. "Kate, this isn't what you want."
"It is," She answered quickly. "Yes, I want you, Castle. It is what I want."
The breath left Rick in a swooping gasp as Beckett spoke. "No…" He shook his head and took a step towards the door, still facing the detective. "You've definitely had too much to drink. It's been a long night, okay? We both need some sleep."
"You're a good friend…" was all that Kate quietly said as she laid her head on the pillow and shut her eyes.
Castle remained in the room, looking at her, for a moment. He seriously considered finding a way to get her to sleep in her bed but decided that because intoxicated Kate seemed to really want some of him, going anywhere near a bed probably wasn't the brightest idea. His resolve could only hold out for so long.
He opened the door and left to go home. On his way he pondered how awkward the precinct would most likely be in the morning. He considered not going in to shadow Beckett, but ultimately figured that would just prove more awkward. They would do what they always did. They would banter and talk like usual, and skip over all of the serious, emotional stuff.
It wasn't something that had to be handled now. She was, after all, his wedding date now. They couldn't screw things up too badly before then.
Author's Note: Bam, said the lady! So, there we have it. Just so everyone is aware, expect a time jump in this story. It won't actually be 2 weeks until we see wedding scenes. :) And who loved that X-Files quote? It's SO Castle and Beckett, right? I just had to include it, even if it was quite random. As always, please let me know what you think of this with a comment!
Also, I would REALLY appreciate it if you could all follow these links and vote for my stories. I'm nominated for 2 Awards and it would mean the world to win.
Just go to and click Vote Now. From there go to the Fan Fiction topic. Click "Awards Topic" and vote for "Damsel in Distress". Also, click "Long Story" and vote for "After the Storm".
A million thanks. You can also read both of those stories on my page if you're interested. The next update for this will be up soon!
