Prompt: What if Castle didn't leave with his ex-wife in 2x23 and Beckett told him what she wanted and they became a couple in season 3?

Beckett walked into the room, went directly to the bottles and grabbed a beer.

"Oh! Look who's off duty," Castle mocked, a bit surprised by her actions though.

To be honest he had thought she had already left with Demming.

"Yeah, well, Castle, I'm not all work," she teased and the room chuckled.

"Don't get into a drinking contest with her. She can take you," Lanie warned with a meaningful gaze.

"Thank you," he had a feeling he should take her warning serious.

Still he couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like to have a drinking contest with just him and her.

"Oh, I don't need to drink to take him," she challenged with a smirk which had him stop in his movements and the rest in the room chuckled.

"Ooh! What's gotten into you?" Lanie questioned in a shocked but impressed tone.

Beckett ignored her best friend, already knowing exactly what questions she would have to answer the next time she got her alone, and walked right up to stand beside Castle.

"Castle, do you have a second?" she asked with a sincere voice, feeling the shyness fill her body.

How could he make me feel this nervous?

"Of course. Yeah," he immediately stood up and followed her outside the room.

He noticed she closed the door after them and wondered what she could possibly have on her mind that she didn't want to bring up in front of everyone else.

"What's up?"

She took a deep breath, couldn't help but fiddle on the bottle because of the nervousness in filling inside her body.

"Look," she started and decides to just let go," I know that I'm not the easiest person to get to know, and I don't always let on what's on my mind." She took another breath, "but this past year, working with you, I've had a really good time."

Her eyes told him she wanted to say more, but he could see she was hesitating.

"Yeah. Me, too," he said, as in to help her to resume talking.

"So, I'm just gonna say this and I'd really appreciated it if you don't laugh."

She looked up at him, avoiding his eyes and finding herself stuck at his lips. He nodded, adding a "promise" and her eyes snapped to his eyes.

"I-uh, I'm not going to the beach house with Demming. Actually," she found herself taking yet another breath, "we broke up."

His eyes widened. She felt the need to look away, she felt so vulnerable and she didn't like it one bit, yet her eyes were stuck in his, reading him.

"Why?" he felt obligated to ask, even though he was pretty sure he could read it in her eyes.

"Like I said, I've had a really good time with you and I just... I don't want it to end, so... ask me again," she said with a low, careful voice.

He looked at her, now really confused. What did she want him to ask her about? She could see he wasn't following her. How could he be so smart yet so clueless at the same time?

"So I'm not going away for the weekend anymore and I don't need to work, ask me again," she said, trying to make him understand without needing to say it herself.

Something clicked and a bright smile could be spotted in his eyes, not wanting to reveal it yet he had to focus on his lips to prevent them from turn up wide. He looked into her green eyes and saw them sparkle with excitement.

"Do you want to come with me to the Hamptons for the weekend?" he asked and she showed her teeth in the big smile she couldn't hold back.

"Yes, I accept," she said happily.

She felt eyes on her, and even though she knew he was watching her she could feel it wasn't just his pair of eyes prying to know what they were talking about. When she looked towards the room their coworkers still sat in she could see they were immediately trying to make it look like they'd been chatting the whole time, but it was obvious they just turned from watching her and the writer they all adored.

"Lets keep this between you and me, if that's alright with you? They'll just bomb us with questions otherwise," she suggested carefully, not sure if he were willing to go along with the secrecy.

His eyes followed hers and he understood exactly what she was saying. Plus he was not at all interested getting held back by the people in that room if it meant he would be able to go away earlier with the extraordinary woman in front of him.

"Of course! No problemo, as far as they're concerned I'm going to Hamptons alone and you're going away with Demming," he said with question embedded in his voice.

"Yes, that sounds good," she smiled and held out her hand for him to take.

He looked a bit confused but covered her hand with his.

"Tell them I couldn't stay longer, that I needed to go to catch up with Demming, when do we leave?" she asked, shaking his hand.

"Does 7 sound good? Is that enough time for you to pack?" he asked and she nodded.

"Definitely, see you tonight," she felt happier than ever before right that second.

Their hands parted and she set off towards the elevator while he returned to the party in the room. They all looked at him with questions written in the faces.

"What was that about? Where is she going? What she say? Come on, answer now writer-boy," Lanie was the first to voice her questions.

He couldn't help but chuckle at her questions, praying he wouldn't screw this up and reveal them before they even had a chance.

"She had to go, she just wanted to say a proper goodbye before running off to Demming and their weekend getaway," Castle answered, sounding a bit moody just to be able to try and make it believable.

"She left?!" Esposito almost choked on the beer he was drinking, earning a few dunks on his back from his partner as he coughed.

"Yeah... which is my cue to leave as well, I'm gonna miss you guys," Castle said with a sad face.

"What? No, don't leave already," Ryan complained. "You can still hang out with us, you're one of us."

"Yeah bro, come on, stay, have another beer," Esposito pitched in, and they could all hear the sentimentality in his voice.

"Nah, I need to get to the Hamptons, it's been a long day," Castle answered, grateful for the guys' encouragement.

The guys looked down for a second before they looked up at their friend. Lanie stood up and Castle was surprised when she put her arms around him, giving him a friendly hug.

"Don't hesitate to call us every now and then, especially Kate, I know she wouldn't admit to it but she'd appreciate it," the last she only whispered in his ear, to make sure the other men in the room wouldn't hear.

He was surprised by her statement and he knew she could see his surprise when she pulled away. Before he knew it he had hugged every single one of them in the room, including captain Montgomery who told him he was welcome back whenever he wanted back again.

"Bye guys, see you," Castle said when he left the bullpen.

The second he was in the elevator he found himself not wanting to wait till seven to go to Beckett's apartment. He couldn't believe what she had said earlier was true, had he imagined it all? Had she really broken up with Demming and accepted his offer? Or was it him daydreaming when she actually just told him a simple goodbye after a long partnership? He decided to try not to think more about it. Either she would open the door when he got to her place at seven or she would already be long gone with Demming, he'd just have to wait and see. He easily hailed a cab and went home, Alexis and Martha had already left when he got there and he was actually kind of relieved. He knew that if one of them had been home he would've told them about the conversation he'd had with Beckett and he wasn't sure if she would approve of that yet, or even if it was real. Walking around the loft he tried to make sure he had everything he needed. Of course he already had the essentials at his vacation house, such as clothes, toothbrushes, etc. but he still needed to pack his laptop, his chargers, his notes and everything else that could help him write the book. Even though he had a feeling he wouldn't get much writing done now that Beckett was coming with him he'd still be at the house after she had to return to work on Monday.

At the same time in a smaller apartment Beckett was running around her place cursing for accepting his offer. Now that she had some time alone she couldn't help but wonder what had gotten into her when she said those things. She had meant every word, yes, but now she was freaking out because she wasn't sure of what clothes to pack or if she should pack a bikini or a swimsuit, should she grab a robe or did he have robes he lent out to guests? What if he would take things further and ask her on a date, what clothes should she grab then? Should it be fancy or simple? Dress or no dress? This was going to be a hell of a weekend. She went through her closet, spreading out almost every clothe she owned on her bed in order to pack down the ones she knew she wanted. After a couple of hours of only packing, unpacking and then packing again she finally decided to try her best and bring two things to each option. She brought both a bikini and a swimsuit, both a fancy and a simple dress, both skirts and jeans. Before she knew it there was a knock at the door and when she checked the clock on her wrist she could tell he was right on time. When she opened the door she could see his eyes widen in shock.

"Hi," he said with surprise evident in his voice.

"Hi, come on in, I'm almost done," she said, trying hard not to let the shyness show through her tone.

He walked in and she closed the door behind him, she told him he could wait there if he wanted or he could sit on the couch or whatever. Told him to feel like home without too much thought about it. He watched her walk in the direction of her bedroom and he couldn't help but take a deep breath, smelling her new-showered scent. He waited for a minute in her living room before he took up on her offer to feel like home and decided to follow her into her bedroom, just to make sure she didn't need his help. She had just closed her bag when a cleared throat had her spin around in immediate response, cop senses.

"God, don't scare me like that, I sleep with a gun you know," she warned him and he chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure all those clothes disagree with you," he commented pointing to all the clothes that didn't make her take-along cut, still laying on her bed on full display.

"Shut up," she mumbled then and he chuckled louder.

He settled down quickly after seeing her giving him a look.

"You wanna put away the clothes now or go for the Hamptons right away?" he asked with a small and nervous smile.

She tried to stop the smile forming by biting her lip, she looked down and then up to meet his asking gaze.

"Just give me a few minutes and I'll be ready," she said and he nodded as she started to grab the clothes on her bed. "While you're here, is there anything specific that I should be taking with me?" she asked, feeling his eyes constantly following her every move.

"Uhm, something to bathe in would be good, unless you wanna skinny dip of course," he added the last part in a half teasing half sarcastic tone.

"Well, you can't handle me skinny dipping, so bathing suit already packed," she teased back with a wink.

It only took her five minutes to throw the clothes into her closet, she felt like she had way too many of her clothes packed down. What if she brought too many clothes? And more embarrassing, what if he mocked her for taking so many clothes?

"You could bring a book if you're reading one at the moment, I don't exactly have anything planned out but if all else fails reading a book while laying on a blanket in the grass is always relaxing," he suggested as she was about to take her bag.

She looked at him and couldn't help the smile that formed again, what was up with all the smiling lately? It was like she couldn't stop!

"I've actually finished the book I was reading, but I'm always open to the idea of reading a certain book I've heard you're working on right now."

She could see him gulp and she chuckled. She grabbed the bag and managed to only carry it to the door before he took it from her, indicating he should carry it for her. She tried to argue but realized soon enough there was no point, especially since he just continued walking away from her as she tried to talk some sense into him. She silently let go of a deep breath before she took her phone and her keys. She locked the door and followed him down to his car. He opened the door for her before putting her luggage in the trunk. Always the gentleman nowadays. She was impressed by his change, when they had met he was just a rich playboy, a nine year old on a sugar rush as she had described him to her captain, but now he was different somehow. If it was him just simply growing up, the cases they worked or her that made it possible, she had no idea. They didn't say much for the whole car ride, it sure was a long ride but both of them had other things on their minds. He was still thinking about her small speech at the precinct, wondering what it meant and what laid ahead for them this weekend. She was trying to not freak out at the fact that she was actually on her way to the Hamptons. With him. She had put her head aside and followed her heart only a couple hours earlier, dumped her boyfriend, ex-boyfriend now, and followed the man who seemed to have slowly stolen pieces of her heart since the first time they met. When he had driven about half the way to his Hamptons getaway house he glanced a look at his partner only to find her with her head leaned into the window, taking deep breaths, fast asleep. He couldn't help but steal a few glances every now and then, trying to print the view into his mind. An idea hit him out of the blue, an idea on how he would be able to really keep the view forever. He looked behind in the rearview mirror and since there were no cars neither behind them nor in front of them he carefully slowed down and pulled over as gently as he could, not wanting to wake her up. The second the car stopped he took up his phone, turned off his sound and snapped a few perfect pictures of the woman he had fallen for. When he was sure he'd gotten at least five amazing shots of her sleeping soul he put down the phone again to be able to continue their car ride. He could've never had imagined she would be one of those who fell asleep during long rides, ever. Would've never figured her for one to let her guard down like that. He didn't wake her, decided to let her sleep for as long as she could, she'd had much going on earlier and there was no way he was going to disturb her rest. He didn't really want to wake her even when he had stopped the car in front of his house. With the engine turned off he could hear her breathing and couldn't stand the thought of disrupting it. He was enchanted by her looks in the moonlight that had snuck onto the sky not that long ago.

"Staring is creepy Castle," her mumbling and hoarse voice snapped him out of his trance.

"I wasn't staring," he stuttered and looked away.

He started to open his car door and felt her glance at him.

"Mhmm, sure," her voice sleepy with a hint of sarcasm.

He jumped out the car and chuckled nervously for himself when he'd closed the door. He steered his steps around the car and carefully opened the door for her, she was yawning and covered it with her mouth as she jumped out. She thanked him and looked at the house.

"Wow," her voice was pure surprise, she turned to him after a couple of seconds of ogling, "you rich or something?" she teased with a genuine smile.

He smirked before he answered, "well I'm not James Patterson-rich but I do okay." She couldn't help but chuckle at that, and he felt warmth spread in his body knowing he was the one who caused the glimpse of happiness he hadn't seen in her face before. He went to get her and his bags from the trunk before he stood beside her looking at the house along with her.

"You wanna go inside? Or do you prefer stand out here in the moon?" he asked carefully, not wanting to disturb her thoughts but knew they couldn't stay out there all night.

Her trance got broken and she looked at the writer beside her. Her writer. He felt her eyes on him and turned his head towards her. She carefully took her bag from his hands to replace it with her own, she felt her heart skip a beat at the feeling of their skin touching. She saw his eyes glimpse with something that could only be described as mixed surprise and excitement. They walked into the house, hand in hand, and after a quick round-tour of the downstairs he led her to the room that was supposed to be hers for the weekend.

"Is this the guest room?" she questioned when they stood in the big bed room.

"Yeah, why?" he asked back confused, not sure of why she seemed so upset.

Perhaps upset wasn't the right words but she did seem a bit shaken by surprise.

"It's... it's just so huge," she looked around in the room, "you're not giving me your own room right?"

"What? No! Well, if you want my room you could have it but then you'd have to share it cause it's the only one where the bed has been carefully formed for my body in specific for years," he suggested with a shrug of his shoulders, he pretended to mean it as a real suggestion even though he was sarcastic.

She gave him her look and he shook his head, trying to keep his smile from getting any bigger. She let go of his hand to walk over and sit on the bed, feeling the soft material as she let her back fall onto it. He observed her from the doorway, and she turned her head at the feel of his eyes. She had put her hands on her belly and twined them together. They watched each other, as they had done so many times lately, and before any of them knew it they had been staring at each other way too long. They both jumped when his phone called and she immediately focused her eyes on the ceiling as he took up his phone to see the face of their Irish friend.

"It's... it's Ryan!" he exclaimed with shock and she bolted up from the bed in sitting position.

"What?!" she looked at him with wide eyes. "Don't answer it!" she added.

He gave her a look, "I have to, otherwise they'll know something's up," he said and holding up his hand as he slid his finger across the phone. "Castle."

She raised from the bed and walked over to him quietly, deciding to try and find out what their mutual friend wanted.

"What? Why?" Castle asked, running his hands through his hair.

Whatever they were talking about she could tell it was nothing good, she reached his side and leaned in to be able to hear the conversation.

"We're just around the corner now, just thought we could give you a small heads up," Ryan's voice said and she felt her body freeze.

What the hell? He ended the call and looked at her with an apologetic look.

"They're almost here."

She felt a small panic run through her body.

"Here?!" she questioned and he nodded.

"Apparently they thought it would be a shame for me to be here on my own so Montgomery agreed they could have one half-day off tomorrow so they could keep me company," he said and then he added, "why is it so hard to believe I could be on my own?"

If it wasn't for the panic she felt she would laugh at that, mock him with some sassy comment about all the times they had left him alone and it hadn't exactly worked out like it should've.

"Oh my god," she breathed out running her hand down her face.

"What are we going to say?What..." he rambled, getting frightened she might want to leave.

She looked up into his eyes and saw the fear. She wasn't sure what he was afraid of but she could figure it out. Sometimes it was like they could read each other, they didn't need to talk to know exactly what the other was thinking. She broke their eye contact to look down at the floor while she tried to think out their move, a plan that would work. She took a couple of deep breaths to steady her thoughts before she turned back to him.

"Do you have any more guest rooms?" she asked and he shook his head to try gather his thoughts.

"Uhm, no, I have two in total, this is one of them," he answered. "I don't think it would be a good idea to let them sleep in Alexis or my mother's room," he added apologetically.

She licked her lips and bit the lower before she voiced her next question, afraid of what he might say.

"Your offer of sharing your room still stands?"

Her voice seemed small, as if it was the scariest question she had ever asked, which it was. She didn't want him to think less of her. At the same time the bare thought of sharing a bed with him, even just for sleeping, brought butterflies to her belly and her mind went dizzy. He couldn't believe his ears. Was she really considering staying in his bed? With him?

"Are you sure?" his voice was filled with confusion.

She nodded slowly and his eyes widened but he immediately said an 'ok' and grabbed her bag again to guide her towards his bedroom instead. She followed him without hesitation and he told her she could unpack and put the clothes in the empty drawers. Just as he was about to show her exactly which drawers were empty there was a honk outside the house and they both looked towards the windows.

"I'll go stall them, you unpack and then come down," he said heading for the door, "if you want them to know you're here that is," he added with an unsure look back before he disappeared out the room.

She took a wavy breath before she chuckled and muttered an 'oh my god'. Without exactly knowing which drawers he had meant she started opening drawers a little here and there, suddenly looking straight at his boxers. The first she did was close the drawer again and considered not opening another drawer. Then she heard the mumbles of the guys downstairs, so she quickly did what he had told her to do.

"We got beer!" Esposito said as Castle opened the front door.

Castle tried smiling through the nervousness as he opened the door wider to let them inside. Once they were in he closed the door and led them towards the bar he had set up in the open living room.

"I can't believe you guys drove here, how did you even know where to find me?" Castle questioned as he took accepted a beer held out for him.

"Dude, we're cops," Esposito gave him a meaningful look.

"We just searched for your properties," Ryan shrugged his shoulders and they clinked their bottles before taking a sip.

Castle offered to turn on the tv knowing there was a football game going on, and he knew that would give Beckett some time to do what she needed to do upstairs without worrying they heard her. As soon as the tv was on the three men went silent, eyes glued to the screen. Well, all eyes except for the writer's, those blue eyes kept glancing backwards towards the stairs, wondering when and if his muse would show up. He wouldn't blame her if she would hide in his room until the guys went home the next day, after all she had asked him to keep them a secret for now. Whatever they were. He was actually not even sure if he could call them for 'them', there had been indication that she wanted to give 'them' a try but... how could he be sure? They hadn't always been so great at communicating so why would they be any good at all now? In the first commercial Esposito took a deep sigh of disappointment and turned towards the writer.

"I'm sorry bro, I tried talking some sense into Beckett, I really thought I got through to her," he said in a grumpy tone, "never thought she'd run away with Demming after that," he snorted.

Castle was surprised by his words. His confession.

"What do you mean?" Castle voiced his thought.

"Well, she was all about you coming back after the summer, that there was no doubt, and I couldn't just stand her not knowing what this 'break' was. You're like a brother to us now, and she's like a sister, can't stand the thought of you two with broken hearts," Esposito revealed and Castle felt shocked at that.

Esposito had talked to Beckett? Was that the reason she changed her mind? What did that mean?

"Uhm, it's okay Espo," he said, knowing that whatever had happened happened and right now the woman of their conversation was in his bedroom.

She had gone with him. She had chosen him after having a wake up call from her brother in arm.

"No, it's not. Even I've seen it. She doesn't love him, how can she not see that she has feelings for you?" Ryan shipped in and Castle felt his heart race.

What if Beckett was to come down and hear what they were saying? To his relief the game begun again and the two men turned their gazes back to the tv. Castle let go of a silent breath, now he just hoped she hadn't heard anything. He turned his head to look towards the stairs, and the smile forming on his lips was pure. Beckett was sneaking down the stairs, he was surprised by the fact that she had switched clothes and the fact that she had been in his bedroom when doing so caused his thoughts to go to places they shouldn't. Beckett immediately noticed his eyes on her clothes and she shook her head at him, she had put on a sweatshirt instead of the blouse she had earlier, thinking it would be comfier especially considering all the questions that awaited them. She walked as quietly as she could, nearing the couch the three men sat in. She took a deep breath in a try to prepare herself.

"Hey," she tried to greet as normal as she could and her two partners flew up from the couch turning towards her in a cop-like reaction.

They hadn't heard her so of course they would react as cops, always ready to defend themselves and whoever would be in the crosshairs.

"Beckett?!" Esposito was the one to shriek her name in a question that held so many more.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan asked and she crossed her arms in front of her chest, as if to protect herself.

"I-uh, I listened to Espo. I broke it off and asked Castle to cover for me," she said meeting their shocked gazes.

She looked at Castle who just grinned at her. He was smitten by her, he knew it could break his heart but at that moment he didn't care.

"Bu... what are you doing here?" Ryan repeated himself, not knowing how to accept what he was seeing.

She took a deep breath and bit her inside cheek. She didn't want to talk too much about it, it scared her, and she was afraid that if she started talking she would find herself running away.

"How about we just skip the questions for today? Just let it be," Castle suggested, her eyes giving away the fright.

He wasn't sure her brothers noticed but he did, and he didn't want to loose her when he was so close to getting her. Surprisingly they agreed, they sat down in the couch again after asking their sister to join in. She gave Castle a grateful look before she walked over to the couch and sunk down beside him, earning a small glance from her partners. And that's where they stayed, the whole evening, her slowly allowing her body leaning closer and closer to her writer. None of them had any idea how this would work, both scared what would happen, but they were sure of one thing. This was just the beginning of a long story.

The End