Chapter 3, Friday Night by RGoodfellow64

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Castle or any character from the show. ABC lets me borrow them from time to time in my stories and I thank them very much.

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He was sitting in the dark, the only light coming from the screen saver on his laptop. "You Should Be Writing" marching across the screen every twenty seconds. He didn't feel like writing, he didn't feel like doing anything. He thought about having a drink but didn't have the energy to get up from his chair.

He didn't even have enough emotion to be glad that Alexis or his mother were gone for the weekend to not see him like this. He needed time. He'd probably need the whole weekend to put his 'game face' back on.

Right now though, right now he couldn't muster the energy to even shed a tear. He didn't believe he would ever smile again, at least not honestly. He continued to stare into the darkness of his study, unaware of the passing of time; feeling alone. For the first time since he was a boy, he felt so alone, dejected, unwanted.

His phone rang. Instantly he knew who was calling, it was her special ring tone. He looked at the screen, at the photo of the Nikki Heat cover and debated whether to answer or not. Without thinking he picked it up and pressed the receive button, he always answered when she called, and despite what happened this afternoon he knew he always will.

"Castle" he said.

Then the words that changed everything...

"Rick? So do I."

He stopped breathing. His mouth was open and his brain could not process what he just heard.

"Rick?"

"Rick."

"Castle! Breathe!"

He gasped as his lungs started to work again. His mind though was still trying to process what she said, and the first thing he thought to say was "Um".

He heard a chuckle over the phone and he smiled, his smile seemed to stretch further than it ever had before as he said, "Kate?"

When he heard her 'umm hmm' he said, "Would you say that again please? I need to make sure I heard it right."

He knew she was smiling when he heard her take a deep breath and in a strong but caring voice, enunciating each word separately, repeated, "Rick. So. Do. I."

He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and said, "Oh God Kate, those are the most wonderful words I've heard since the doctor said 'It's a girl.' I never believed I could ever feel happier than that, but you...Kate, you just did."

He heard her soft laugh over the phone, and realized he was still grinning like a loon. He knew his face was going to hurt tomorrow, but right now he didn't care. Kate Beckett, THE Kate Beckett wanted to be with HIM, wanted to see if they could be what the other needed...forever. FOREVER!

He forced his mind back to earth and said, "So, are you hungry?" When she replied yes he said, "How about something simple, Remy's? I bet our table will be free and they know what we like."

Her voice sounded thoughtful as she replied, "'Our' table Rick? At 'our' restaurant? Knowing what 'we' like?"

He wasn't sure where she was going with this so he just said, "Uh huh."

She started speaking softly, "I'm looking at the signed cast photo from Temptation Lane, I have it framed hanging by the door so I see it every time I go out. That's how important it is to me. I'm wearing my Dad's watch, all repaired and shiny after last years explosion, and I'm thinking of the man who ran in to save me."

He heard her take another breath and she continued, "Till you spoke this afternoon I could not believe that Richard Castle would want to seriously be with me. I'm no one special, just a cop with a lot of baggage, trying to do the best she can. And you, you're Richard Castle, famous author, man about town, friend to mayors and mobsters. "

He tried to interrupt, "Kate." But she kept on speaking.

"There were so many ways you showed me how much you cared, taking out a hit man with your fists, keeping me alive in the freezer and when I stood there with you in front of that bomb and looked in your eyes..." she took another breath and softly continued.

"You're the only person since my Mom who ever bothered to learn how I like my coffee. Until you spoke today, I didn't connect the dots. As much as I wanted this, I didn't want to fool myself that you cared for me as much as you seemed to. I didn't want to fool myself into believing something that wasn't true."

"Kate" he said, "It is true. So very true."

'I know Rick. Now I know. But when you said 'our table' at Remy's it made me realize how we've been more like a couple than partners for quite a while."

She laughed and said, "I am so blind. How could I not see it?"

Castle smiled and said, "Well Kate, you caught on to my plan."

By her tone of voice, he knew she was falling back into their regular pattern, "Plan Castle?"

He had to stop and calm his heart, 'their regular pattern'. They were so much a couple already.

"Yes Detective, Plan, with a capital P. After all, it doesn't matter how long a 'date' is, just how good it is."

"Date, Rick? Really, all these years and all we've been through has been a date?"

"Yep." He replied, sensing the old familiar, 'their' normal give and take, falling back into place. It felt at once intimate, friendly, playful, comforting; it felt like them. "A mere three years Kate, just the beginning of 'our' date."

"Wow Castle, I always thought you might go overboard with a date, but three years?"

He heard a delighted kind of chuckle he'd never heard from her before, almost...wickedly delightful as she said, "Race you to Remy's!" and hung up the phone.

He held the phone out to look at the Nikki Heat photo, smiled warmly and said in a soft voice, "Oh Kate, you've no idea" before he went to grab his keys.

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Authors Note: The chronology for this story is Chapter 1, Friday afternoon and evening, Chapter 2, the following Monday morning, and Chapter 3, back to Friday evening. This was only supposed to be a one shot but more ideas kept coming, and I honestly have no idea if any more chapters will come. Thank you to all who sent such nice reviews, they are very much appreciated.