Sealed Lips

Chapter Three

Castle takes the coffees from the counter with a smile of thanks to the barista. Beckett has been in somewhat of a mood this morning and he's anxious to subdue her with coffee – funny how it works like that – before the day progresses any further. He spins and finds himself face to face with Josh. Oh. Great, that's not awkward at all. He curves his lips upwards in the makings of a polite smile. Josh responds in kind.

"Rick," he offers with a brisk nod.

"Hi Josh," Castle replies, keeping his expression neutral. He's kind of hoping the, 'I'm with Beckett, she loves me, I win, I win,' that's bouncing round in his brain isn't transferring to his expression at all. Josh opens his mouth, like he's about to say something. Castle gets it, really he does, he'd want to know how Beckett was doing too. But, Josh seems to think better of it and draws his lips back together. Mmm, yeah, it's really not so bad. Castle just needs to throw out some sort of farewell and he can be on his way, the strained interaction already forgotten. Solid plan.

There's a tinkle of a bell as the door opens, alerting the admittance of a new customer. Castle doesn't even have to time to blink before Beckett in on him, her lips pressed fiercely to his. Her hands rise to steady the coffee so that she can press her lithe body further into his.

"Castle," she breathes, "you went to get me coffee. You beautiful man. Keep this up and I'll let you get to second base in the supply closet," she teases, her tone rich and sultry. She raises their joined hands to sip the coffee intertwined between them. "Thank you, love you," she sighs as the liquid scalds her throat in a manner that isn't at all unpleasant. Castle has remained steadfastly silent which is about as far from typical as he can be. She pulls back far enough to settle her gaze on him quizzically. Probably a little curious as to why he isn't kissing her back with the same level of enthusiasm as per usual. His eyes are fixed over her shoulder, unblinking. He has a weirdly apologetic expression that's infused with sheer uncomfortableness. Odd. Actually, now that she draws back from the single-minded focus of caffeine, she can hear the tail end of an odd high pitched groan being emitted from somewhere behind her. She pulls her coffee fully from Castle's grip and manoeuvres herself to his side to investigate just where that odd noise is coming from and why Castle looks like he's about to have a – smug? – coronary.

Oh god.

Josh. Her ex-excuse-of-a-boyfriend is standing before them, staring at their exchange with a somewhat strangled expression. She must have breezed straight past him as she rushed for coffee. She didn't recognise her own ex from behind? She'd just locked eyes with Castle – and possibly her caffeine fix – and the rest of the shop had faded away. How embarrassing. Honestly, she'd never counted on seeing Josh again. There was no need to. She'd thought the city was big enough for them to both go on with their lives – uninterrupted and unencumbered. Apparently not.

She offered Josh a weak and oh so tentative smile. They hadn't exactly parted amicably. Something about Beckett moaning, "I love you too, Castle," every time she drifted off into feverish post-surgery sleep. It wasn't something Josh entirely appreciated from his girlfriend. He'd thrown out an ultimatum in the heat of moment. Beckett hadn't taken even a moment to think it over – him, always him. She hadn't known about the dreams and sleep talking until that point, it was something Josh had spat out at her as they argued. She was secretly pleased that at least unconsciously she had her priorities straightened out, not the mention the sense to say it back. She'd kept that one bottled up way too long. At least they were here now. An awkward encounter with her ex didn't change anything. Still, both the men had their eyes trained on her. Clearly expecting her to direct – or mediate – or something – the conversation. She chewed her bottom lip –

"Hi…Josh…how have you been?" she mumbles reluctantly, instinctively leaning into Castle for support. He shudders nervously for a moment under her touch, Josh's eyes burning with unwarranted distaste. Screw him. Beckett is his. Or, more accurately, she'd chosen him. He relaxed into her side and wound an arm tightly around her waist. She lifted the corner of her lip in a tiny smile of appreciation aimed exclusively at him.

"Fine," Josh grunted in response, before clearing his throat and adopting a polite tone. "Really well, thanks, Kate. How was your recovery?" Beckett feels Castle's hand tighten almost imperceptivity on her waist at that. They haven't really discussed Beckett's break up with Josh and she can tell he's trying to keep from beaming at the news that Josh wasn't around as Beckett's bullet wound healed. A little bit of residual angst from the summer they shared apart fades away at the knowledge. Beckett grimaces slightly as Josh's question causes her to relive memories of the dark days of her recovery, but after a moment a smile breaks through.

"It got a lot easier after the third month," she admits, nudging Castle gently with her shoulder. He can't mask his grin at that. He trails his fingers along her side, a silent thank you for her admission. She has to bite down on the inside of her lip to stop the delighted shiver that wants to break free at his gentle, grateful touch. Josh doesn't exactly miss the exchange…

"Good…" he smiles vacantly.

"Mmm. We've got to get back to the precinct," Beckett prompts, tugging Castle's hand from her waist to interlink their fingers between them. "See you," she offers to Josh.

"Uh, bye, Kate. It's nice to see you so happy," he acknowledges reluctantly, stepping past them to order at the counter.

"Bye," Castle echoes as Beckett leads him to the door. He jolts to a stop on the sidewalk, still in full view of the coffee shop. He yanks Beckett fiercely to him, kissing her possessively. It's hard and sloppy but neither of them care. "I never liked that guy," he declares as they rest their foreheads together, catching their breath.

"Neither did I," Beckett teases, brushing her fingertips over his lips. He growls a little at that, before branding her with his mouth once again. They pull back and simultaneously glance at the window to ensure that they look put together before returning to work. Beyond the thin plane of glass showcasing their reflections they meet the gaze of a profusely blushing Josh.

"Whoops," Beckett sighs, immediately averting her eyes as if burned. Castle keeps his gaze steady and releases a slow grin.

"Serves him right," he mutters gleefully, "all those times he touched you in front of me…" He trails away as Beckett levels him with a fierce glare.

"Play nicely, Castle," she murmurs, before matching his grin and seductively brushing her fingertips over the corner of his mouth to rub her lip-gloss from his skin.

"Hypocrite," Castle beams, lacing their fingers once again and starting in the direction of the precinct without so much as a second glance behind them. What does it matter what Josh thinks of them anyway? He's merely a fragment of the past with no influence over their future.

AN: I don't like to commit to a multi-chapter fic unless I can update it daily – or near to – however, this one is about to become a little longer between updates. Hang in there! I just need to write an essay or two and then I'll be back. Feel free to suggest people/situations… To the anon reviewers who I'm unable to thank personally, I so appreciate your input! Thank you!