Surprisingly, he made it to the church with time to spare – the promise of a generous tip to the taxi driver seemed to have been enough to coax him into putting his foot down.
Passing through the solid church doors, Castle saw Lanie and Esposito exchanging not-so-quiet words about their respective plus ones.
"We broke up two months ago, so unless you think I joined a convent…." Lanie goaded.
Esposito wasn't quite sure how to respond to that and Castle took it as his cue to steer clear and avoid that 'third wheel' feeling. He wasn't much a fan of standing alone in the foyer of a church full of people he barely knew, but he'd take that option over third wheeling any day.
"Castle, you look like a lost puppy." Saved by Beckett. Castle thanked his lucky stars. "Where's your date?"
"At a Lady Gaga concert with a teenage boy. How can I compete with that?"
"Ooh, I dunno, Castle, maybe you could become a best-selling novelist and turn your book into a movie? Oh wait, didn't you already do that?" she ribbed. "Never mind, better luck next time."
"Haaa haaa, you're so funny, Beckett." Castle replied, clearly not appreciating her humorous jibe. "Maybe," he continued, "I could move to Italy, that way she wouldn't know any teenage boys to take her to Lady Gaga concerts."
Beckett's highly attuned ears zeroed in on Castle, unsure of where he was going with this.
"On second thoughts, maybe that isn't such a good idea."
"Realised how crazy that idea is hey, Castle."
"Well, we both know how Italian boys can be around beautiful American girls, don't we, Detective." Always one for dramatics, he paused to let his words sink in, stared her down. "Hey look who's here!" Over Beckett's shoulder, Ryan appeared.
"Aww, he looks so happy" Beckett cooed.
"Hey guys, thanks for being here" Ryan said gratefully, reaching over to give Beckett a hug.
"Where else would I be?" she grinned back at him as she pulled out of the embrace.
"So, you ready for this bro?" Esposito asked joining the group.
"More than anyth-"
Ryan was interrupted by the gasps of his friends. "What? What is it?" he asked, turning to face whatever it was that they were all staring at.
"Woah, no! You can't see her yet!" Esposito called, stepping in his friend's line of vision.
"Jenny, you look beautiful." Castle announced as Beckett snapped a picture.
"Thank you, Rick" the expectation and excitement radiated from her flawless face.
"Show time." Espo called and shepherded Ryan towards the front of the church leaving Castle and Beckett at the bottom of the stairs.
"Shall we?" Castle asked as he offered his arm to her. With only a momentary hesitation to process the pros and cons of walking down an aisle with Richard Castle – writer extraordinaire and talented annoyance – she linked her arm through his own to 'escape the stigma of singledom' she reasoned with herself.
Once they and the other guests had taken their seats, the bridal march began. The entire congregation craned their necks to get their first glimpse of the procession. Using this as a perfect excuse, Beckett leant in close to Castle's ear.
"How's that deadline coming?" she whispered.
"Better than you know." He winked back at her and tapped his jacket pocket. Beckett narrowed her eyes, both curious and shaken by his confidence.
"We are gathered here today to celebrate the joining of Kevin Ryan and Jennifer Scout Duffy O'Malley in the presence of the Lord." The Priests voice rang out.
"So..."
"So, what?" Castle asked. Beckett gave him her 'you-know-what' look, the kind she normally threw his way when he was in some kind of trouble. "Oooh, you wanna know now?" to which Beckett responded with a short, obvious nod.
As the congregation rose for the first hymn, Castle slipped the envelope from his pocket and into the pages of Beckett's hymn book.
"Tell me I'm wrong" he dared, knowing how incensed she would be at the cunning of sealing his findings in the envelope. Beckett kicked herself for not fighting him harder for it earlier. She had been so close!
"If anyone knows of any lawful reason…" the Priest carried on.
The duo continued to sit side by side throughout the ceremony – him with a smug grin across his face, her seething inside yet appearing jubilant to the outside world.
Their debate was disrupted by another hymn and they dutifully stood among Kevin and Jenny's families, singing with both amusement and frustration. Now that they were getting to the business end of the ceremony, they wordlessly agreed to put their own spat momentarily on hold.
"…and Kevin, do you take Jennifer to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do"
You could almost hear the collective sigh of the romantics in the congregation, the flutter of hearts that skipped a beat in such a moment of beauty as the couple exchanged rings and gazed longingly into the eyes of the other before soaking up each other's essence with their first married kiss.
Ryan was right – they are nauseating.
Castle turned back to Beckett and spoke softly in her ear.
"You're doing very well at controlling yourself, Beckett. I'd have thought you'd have wanted a piece of the lip-locking goodness that's on display."
Beckett's raised eyebrows in conjunction with her tightly pressed lips made no secret of her displeasure and she wanted to make sure he knew what he was in for.
"There's still time to get in on the action, champ."
"Optimism looks good on you" he winked, purely to wind her up even more. He couldn't help adding "Sexy, even", either.
"Twenty one" she spat out. Castle wasn't sure he'd heard her right. Did Beckett just tell him it was sixteen?!
"Sorry?" he returned in hushed tones.
"Magic number, twenty one." She murmured again.
"Twenty one?!" All eyes within five rows were now focussed on Castle – even Ryan and Jenny had separated long enough to glare at his disruption.
Oops. That was a bit louder than anticipated.
He raised his hands apologetically and silently urged the Priest to continue.
"It now gives me great pleasure to present to you for the first time, Mr and Mrs Kevin Ryan."
The organ sounded as Ryan and Jenny took their first steps as man and wife, down the aisle towards the church doors and their new life together. All the heads in the congregation turned to watch the glowing faces of the newlyweds as they passed by, all except Castle and Beckett.
"No! How? When?!" his voice had returned to somewhat more hushed tones but was still louder than was appropriate.
"Ssssh!" Kate hissed at him. "Not me, you!"
"Me, what?"
"Your number. Twenty one."
Now it was Castle raising an eyebrow in her direction.
"I would say I'm impressed, but I'm not."
"Oh?" Now it was Beckett's turn to be confused.
"You're wrong."
"I am not wrong." She was becoming indignant now.
"Sure you are." He not-so subtly steered the conversation to his advantage. "Seventeen" he declared, recalling her videoed escapades.
"Now who's wrong?!" Beckett scoffed, not realising he'd flipped topics.
"Oh, I am most definitely right." He tapped the envelope she had yet to open. "Freshman year. Big party. I hear you set yourself a new record."
The Chesire Cat-like grin he flashed along with his remark soon disappeared when Beckett saw the contents of his envelope.
"Oh my god, Castle!" Now she was truly enraged. "Where the hell did you even get this?! This was not part of the deal!"
"Of course it is. What fun is just a list of names? All the fun is in the story." He said matter-of-factly, wary that the ice beneath his feet was wearing thin so he had to be sure to tread carefully here. "The names, by the way…" he turned the photo in her hand over so she could inspect the list he'd compiled. "…is on the back." He whispered his latest comment behind his hand, all in the spirit of treading lightly.
"There is no story, Castle!" she stared at the list of seven names Castle had accumulated on his 'Beckett List' and transferred to the back of the photo.
Castle let his head hang to the side, he'd said it a thousand times before – how could she not know by now?!
"There's always a story, Kate."
Ok, so she should have seen that one coming, but right now all she could see was red.
By this point, the wedding party, the Priest and the parents and grandparents of the bride and groom had all followed the happy couple towards the exit. It was time for Castle and Beckett to make nice and keep up appearances while they exited as well.
Arm in arm, just as before, the duo plastered faux-grins over their faces and began their stroll back towards the real world of murder and mayhem that infiltrated their daily lives.
"Gina Cowell" Beckett began, her lips unmoving, her smile fixed in place.
"Gina?!"
"and there's the 'Deep-fried Twinkie'"
"Ohh, you remembered. So touching that you listen to me when I moan about my ex-wife." Beckett ignored him and carried on.
"Sophia Turner…" she spouted a new name every couple of steps. "…and your interior designer…eurgh and that actress Ellie Monroe who totally had you hoodwinked…Mae Anderson…oh not forgetting 'the one that got away'… and Laurie Bartridge…" the names were coming thick and fast, she'd thrown out fifteen already and didn't show any signs of stopping. With each name, Beckett's smile grew more genuine – pleased at being able to pull one back after having lost a fair amount of ground to Castle these past few days. Castle on the other hand…
"Ashley Piesco, Suzanne Roberts…" Beckett was picking up speed now, they were almost out of the church and this wasn't a conversation she fancied having within earshot of Lanie and Espo and especially not in front of the Priest who was bidding farewell to everyone on their way out as they waited for Ryan and Jenny's big exit.
"Wait…Suzanne? I don't remember that one."
"San Diego, the waitress from the pizza place you then bumped into at a bar…" she waited for the penny to drop but it didn't come. "You missed your flight back to New York the next morning…"
"Ahhh, yes." There came the penny. "How could I forget that night?!"
Choosing not to dignify that particular question with an answer, Beckett pressed on. "Earlie Lindall, Kittie Irsik, Darcie Kerchal and Brenna Lockne" She was quite satisfied by her performance – some days she had trouble remembering the names of some of the beat cops that were in and out of the Precinct, so to remember so many names at once was quite an accomplishment in her book.
"Ah! You missed one! There was another one between Darcie and Brenna! Ha! Told you you were wrong." That smug feeling was beginning to return to him and Beckett could sense it. She jammed her elbow into his ribs. All of their 'keeping up appearances' was going out the window now
"Please, 'Joanna'?" she said, complete with the best air quotes she could managed with an arm pinned to Castle's side, "doesn't count. An interrupted would-be quickie with the cute woman that worked at one of the bookstores you did a signing at does not constitute a notch on your bedpost."
"Maybe not, but I bet there's a notch on hers…so I get to count it too." the cocky twinkle had definitely resumed residence in his eyes. "I'm quite the catch, Detective. Same story goes for Sarah, Keisha and Lavinia. I do believe that that makes a nice round twenty-five" he smirked, the nine year old on a sugar rush totally taking a backseat and the ladies' man in him taking centre stage.
Beckett's elbow made sharp contact with Castle's ribs again. She didn't agree with his calculations.
"Will you cut that out?"
"I will…right about the time that you quit b-"
"Father!" Castle cut her off before she had time to cuss him in the presence of the Priest. "What a beautiful service." He grinned, summoning up all of his charm for damage limitation.
"I'm surprised you had time to enjoy it between your little quarrels." The Priest replied, not maliciously but casually, as if his parishioners regularly partook in such activities during his services. His eyes dropped to Castle and Beckett's hands. "Not married yet I see. No ring at all. That shocks me somewhat, you have all the hallmarks of a married couple." He chuckled to himself, making light of the situation in a way only a Priest can. "Although, your 'we're not arguing' act when in public could use some work."
"Oh no, we're not 'together'" Beckett tried to explain.
"Thank you, Father. We'll keep working on it, and we thank you for your guidance" Castle really was in charm overload.
"Enjoy the rest of your day" he smiled back, gesturing the pair out the door so he could have a few words with the next people.
They had said no more about it at the church, they didn't want to completely upstage Ryan and Jenny's day like they seemed so unintentionally good at so far. After the throwing of the confetti as the newlyweds left the church and a plethora of photographs (in which Castle and Beckett were respectfully well behaved) to commemorate the day's events, the entire wedding party headed over to the reception venue.
The Bridal Party had a series of swanky cars, but the remaining mass of guests had to flag down cabs or take the subway to make their way across town. Half of the crowd had disappeared by the time Beckett decided hailed a cab for herself and Castle (who was flirting shamelessly in his oh so charming way with some of Jenny's friends from her book club – all big fans, no doubt).
The detective strutted up behind the writer, declaring "Play time's over, Writer Boy" and apologising to the women she was steering him away from. "Ricky can come out to play in a little while" the sarcasm oozed from her every pore and painted her features. "Isn't that right, Castle?"
He knew better than to disagree at this point so he nodded in affirmation. "I'll catch you later, ladies"
'Enough already' was all that filled Beckett's head as she dipped into her bag of tricks and pulled out the trusty ear-grab. Taking Castle by the ear – yet again – she dragged him to the cab and all but threw him in.
They only had a short way to go before they reached the Reception so they had to get this over with and fast.
"Why do you always have to do that?"
"Do what?" Beckett answered nonchalantly.
"That ear pinch/grab/tug thing that you do! Use your words, Beckett – most of the time they're less painful on the ears."
"I find actions speak louder than words." She retorted.
A few blocks passed as they sat ignoring each other in the back of the taxi. Eventually, Castle gave in and broke the silence.
"Why are you mad?"
"I'm not mad." Her response was short and sharp.
"But if you were, you'd tell me?"
"I'm not mad."
"But if you were-"
"Castle! I'm not mad." She snapped.
"Easy tiger, you might be more convincing if your bite wasn't so sharp."
He always could soften her up. She didn't know how or why, but somehow, he just knew what to say to melt away some of that ice she'd built up into a sometimes frosty exterior. She let out a slight chuckle. Why was she mad?
"Hey, a smile!" Castle cheered. "Your wounds can't be that bad – your bark really is worse than your bite."
She couldn't contain it anymore. That mini, half-hearted smile that sat on one corner of her mouth began to spread like wild fire until it took her over. There was something about Castle that just made her grin from ear to ear and she couldn't explain it.
"You know you did better than I thought you would, right?" she thumbed the photographs in her hand, still in disbelief that he had actually uncovered these.
"I gathered that from the reaction and all that ear-pinching" he laughed back, the mood between the two having totally shifted from the annoyance that weighed on them earlier to friendly fun-ness that lifted the two of them now.
"Yeah, well…" Beckett didn't really have anything to say to that except the roar of laughter that escaped her. It's true what they say, laughing is contagious – even the taxi driver was cracking into a smile now.
"By the way, what made you decide to hunt for my number?"
"It's only fair. You were digging for mine, it's only right I get to dig for yours. Not that it took much effort, page six is like your biography."
"How many times have I told you – all a woman has to do is ask. I'd have happily told you if I thought you wanted to know."
"Now where's the fun in that, Ricky?" she teased "The thrill is in the hunt."
She had a point.
"I know I'm right. Your number is twenty-one isn't it."
"Ah! Twenty five" he corrected, but soon retracted his statement on receiving the 'who-are-you-kidding' look from Beckett. "Eurgh, fine. Twenty one… but twenty five sounds so much better – that's like an entire baseball team! ...I shall now have to settle for a Chinese Dragon Boat Race team instead, although, that doesn't sound anywhere near as cool."
"Hmm, I dunno, Castle. How many people can say they've slept with enough people to race a Dragon Boat?"
"Hugh Hefner, Tiger Woods, Fidel Castro…but for him that would be too much power for a Dragon Boat, more like a small country..." he took a second to think some more.
"Rhetorical question, Castle. Thought you said you were a top-rated novelist?"
"A smile and some humour! My dear Detective, are you feeling ok?" he ribbed, placing the back of his hand against Beckett's forehead.
"Behave," she said, swiping his hand away. "So tell me, how'd you end up with your 'guess-timate'"
"Oh, it's not a 'guess-timate'. It's spot on. You've slept with enough people to make a water polo team...or a Quidditch team!"
"Confident are we?"
"110%"
Castle went on to recall his tales of the past few days, some of which Beckett was already privy to but she loved his stories so much that she let him tell her those bits again – just because his words had a way of making her insides ache for him.
So beautiful. So strong. So touching.
They reached their destination without even having registered the latter part of the journey. Time just didn't seem to exist when the two of them were alone. Castle paid the taxi driver – 'insisted' is more like it – and he and Beckett headed into the venue and towards the bar where Lanie and Esposito had said they would meet them.
"…then last night I found your Italian 'friend' online and he gave me plenty to go on." Castle was winding his story to a close now. "I'm telling you, there's no doubt in my mind now that you were once a wild child, Kate Beckett. I've heard exactly what you were like in college!"
"'Were' a wild child? Kids grow out of braces and cheerleading, but some things…" she leant over to his ear and whispered, "…some things a girl can never grow out of."
It was lucky he was already propping himself up against the bar by this stage, otherwise Castle wasn't sure he'd still be standing after that gem of a comment Beckett had just dropped.
"What aren't you telling me?!" he managed.
"Oh, sooo much, Castle." She turned to the barman and ordered for the two of them. "Tequila please, seven."
That was all the confirmation Castle needed to be sure his List was correct, well that and the wink she gave him as she ordered. One tequila for each member of her 'Quidditch' team.
"So how about it, Kate – fancy rubbing some salt into those wounds of yours and telling me the whole story?" he tapped the photo of the video snapshot he'd given her, wanting to know more tales behind the wild, carefree Kate that existed before the death of her mother. He slid the salt along the bar to her, along with the lime chunks that the barman had placed in front of him.
Beckett obediently licked the web of her hand and poured the salt between her thumb and forefinger. She stood confidently with lime at the ready, daring him to take her on.
"I'll tell you one of mine if you tell me one of yours" she purred, "Loser has to take the extra shot" she said on completing her first, dropping the remnants of the lime in the empty shot glass.
Castle stared at her, mesmerised. Was this really happening? He pinched himself to be sure. Owww! Yup, definitely real.
"What's the matter, Ricky? Scared?"
Eurgh, she was getting under his skin more now than during their poker games. It was unfair, how easily she could do that.
"Scared? I live for scared." He hesitated a second, realising that his latest attempt at 'trash talk' didn't really make all that much sense. He covered his tracks by downing not one, but two of his tequila slammers in quick succession. He was determined now. "You're on."
And just like that they'd closed the door on one challenge and thrown down the gauntlet for the next: Castle was going to peel back the layers of the Beckett onion despite the likelihood of it costing him his dignity...and his ears.
A/N:
So there you go guys, all finished :) I hope you liked it and just want to say a big thank you to you all for reading it and leaving such wonderful comments. I'm working on something new at the moment so hopefully I'll be 'seeing' some of you again soon over on that story when I post it.
Thanks again for joining me on this ride, I hope I managed to make you all smile at least once - that's all I set out to do.
Happy Hiatus everyone
A
A/N2: For those asking, I wasn't planning on doing a follow up with another challenge, but since so many people have asked, I'm considering it. If inspiration strikes and I get a few good ideas, I'll do it and be sure to let you all know. In the mean time, if you have any suggestions, I'm all for it!
