It's been ages since I last updated this fic. Therefore I decided to take some time to write another chapter, but it's only short. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or any of the characters.
Chapter 4 - Awkward
Fact: Richard Castle was madly in love with Detective Kate Beckett, his best friend and muse.
Dilemma: Detective Kate Beckett was emotionally distant which meant that he had no idea if she returned his feelings. She'd also been single for several weeks, even though she didn't know he'd found out. (He owed Lanie immensely).
Solution: After 3 years of wondering, today was the day that he was going to reveal exactly how he felt about her, regardless of her own emotions. After all, it was about time one of the broke the stalemate, and in no uncertain terms, his mother had told him to 'get his girl'.
Naturally he was nervous. He was about to pour his heart out to the woman he loved. At least he was trying to. More that 3 opportunities had presented themselves to him in the day, and each time, either a body, Ryan and Esposito, or Kate herself had ruined the moment, which left a very annoyed Castle wondering whether it was a good idea at all.
"We'll be right there."
The Writer was startled from his thoughts by Kate putting the phone down rather noisily to purposely catch his attention. He'd been quiet all day, which raised very loud alarm bells in her head. She knew him. He'd talk when he was ready, which hopefully would be soon. She wanted her Castle back.
"Perlmutter wants us at the morgue, he's found something useful to the case." She stood up as she was speaking. "You comin'?"
He made a small sound of agreement and followed closely behind her to the elevator. As the doors closed, Castle figured he had enough time left in the day to give his mission one last shot.
He cleared his throat noisily and furrowed his eyebrows, drawing Kate's attention.
"Spit it out, Castle. You've been quiet all day."
"You sure? I can't take it back afterwards."
Now she was confused, but she nodded for him to continue.
"I've been trying to tell you something all day and naturally, being me and you, something keeps interrupting at the worst time."
The elevator doors opened again, signalling they were almost at the morgue. Kate got out first and walked briskly towards the doors where Perlmutter awaited them.
"Castle, can we talk about this later?"
He reached out and grabbed her wrist before turning her round to face him.
"No, we can't. I won't wait any longer to tell you."
She rolled her eyes at him but on the inside, her heart was beating just as furiously as his was.
"I've been here for 3 years now and I must admit, they're probably the best three years of my life. At first it was the murders that drew me in, then it was the rush of victory you get when you nail a killer, but then I started coming back everyday because you needed me. Whether you needed me to help solve a case, help you go rogue, to tease Ryan and Esposito or just to cheer you up. And now after working with you for all this time, I find myself needing you too."
While he was speaking, the hand that had been holding her wrist had moved to her hand to inter twine their fingers. His body as a whole had moved a lot closer and his voice had gone softer, even though it still had the obvious nervous tone to it.
"I don't wanna wait for another bullet to take you down before I say this again. I love you, Kate. So much."
She wasn't expecting that. She was staring wide-eyed at him, mouth slightly open in shock and her breathing may have gone a little shallower.
"Say something. Please."
Even after spending her days trying to tease Castle until he was speechless, she was a little confused at the invisible barrier that was seemingly halting the words forming in her throat from leaving her mouth as speech.
She felt the same way. God, did she ever. She knew he had feelings for her, love even, but she was not expecting his sudden admission in a dimly lit hallway in the basement of a Manhattan building with dead bodies on ice just next door. It was so...
Them.
Before Castle could apologise and ask for forgiveness for his outburst, he felt her hands on either side of his face, her gaze meeting his and her breath warm on his lips.
"I feel it too, Rick."
The corners of his mouth quirked up.
"Yeah?"
She bit her lip before replying.
"Yeah."
He leant closer to her, preparing himself for the kiss of a lifetime, but she moved her face and shook her head.
"Not here."
She looked around her, saw that no one was present and opened the janitor's closet close by. He was alarmed at her strength as she pushed him in and closed the door behind them. In the darkness, he felt her lips on his, soft and sweet.
As they parted, she grabbed the lapels of his coat and forced him to press her against the wall, all the time trying to part his lips with her tongue. It didn't take long. Before they knew it, they wrapped in each other, grasping clothing with their hands.
It didn't register to them that the light had been turned on until they heard a very familiar, "Ahem."
Breaking apart quickly, they turned to see equally flustered Lanie and Esposito, who was holding the cord for the light that dangled by the door. They were probably in the closet for the same reason.
Lanie shot raised eyebrows at Kate, Kate shot an angry glare at Esposito, Esposito wore an amused look in Castle's direction and Castle was trying to hard to catch his breath and keep his hold on the woman he had pressed against the wall.
A few seconds were spent flattening clothes and tidying hair.
"Well, this kinda awkward," Castle remarked.
Stood back in the hallway, Kate stood close to them and said in a whisper, "This never happened."
She turned to go to the morgue leaving a confused Castle to get probed by the questioning looks of Esplanie.
The next day, Kate walked into the Precinct to see the boys, Castle and Lanie leaning against a desk and admiring the door in front of them.
Interested to see what was the object of their attention, she saw that the sign 'Janitor' had been removed from the bull pen's closet door and replaced with a rather nice 'Caskett' sign.