Ten

When Kate arrived at Castle's apartment on Wednesday morning, the first thing she did was ask if he'd written chapter four of Code Cracker. Much to her disappointment, he had not. In fact, he had not done any writing or outlining the night before. Instead, he ordered two candles from Paul's mother's website, and spent over two hours watching a variety of YouTube videos giving instructions for homemade scented candles. While Kate did not appreciate how off-task he had been, she did have to commend him on his honesty.

Before they set to work on the revisions she was suggesting for the first three chapters, she informed Castle that she would be taking a lunch break that day as she had already agreed to meet her mother at a café near Castle's apartment. She explained that while she and Paul would be having a goodbye dinner with the Becketts that weekend, her mother wanted some one-on-one time with her daughter.

Castle, of course, had no problem with this plan. He told her to enjoy her lunch and that when she got back he would probably have something for her to read. Maybe—he didn't want to make too many promises.

Promptly at twelve-thirty, Kate met her mother at a café near Castle's loft. Thought it was late July, the day was unseasonably cool with temperatures in the mid-eighties and a gentle breeze wafting through the air. They chose to eat outside and ordered their meals quickly so they would not have to wait too long.

"How are things going with Mr. Castle?" her mother questioned as she squeezed some lemon into her iced tea and swirled it around with her straw.

"Good, actually. He seems really excited about this new book, though I don't want to get too excited yet. He wrote three chapters right off the bat but nothing since. I just hope he doesn't start over again," she added with a groan.

"Well, you'll have to thank him for letting you escape for an hour or two."

Kate chuckled lightly. "You'll probably be able to do that yourself."

Her mother tiled her head to the side, obviously confused. "Why do you say that?"

"Because," she explained. "When I told Castle I was leaving, I also told him where I was going and I have a feeling he'll show up."

"Why?" her mother asked.

Kate sighed and picked up her glass of water. "Because it seems like something he'd do."

Her mother merely nodded. "So are you and Paul all packed?"

"Ah, mostly. I just have a few more boxes, but I'm sure I'll finish those this weekend. Then, it'll be suitcase living until we leave—fun, fun," she added with notable sarcasm.

"Yes, I know moving is a pain, but it'll be worth it once you're all settled in Champagne. Just think—you'll have a yard!"

"Yeah," Kate laughed at the concept so novel to a Manhattanite. "Except I've never used a lawn mower—thank god Paul has!"

After a waiter delivered their salads, they ate and chatted, covering a variety of topics. They were so engrossed in discussing how Kate was going to run her class during the fall semester that she almost forgot about the possible visit from her mystery writer cohort. That is until she heard a familiar voice calling from the busy streets beside them.

"Kate?" he said with the fakest chuckle she'd ever heard from him. "I had no idea you were coming here for lunch! I was just out getting a bite myself."

"Drop the charade, Castle," she said in a tone full of annoyance. "We both know you heard me say where I was going."

"Which I'm sure you did because you subconsciously wanted me to join you," he said. Then, stepping over to the table, he turned to the older woman. "You must be Kate's mother; Richard Castle."

"Johanna Beckett," she said, shaking the writer's hand. "It's a pleasure."

"Ah, but the pleasure is all mine. And, may I just say, it's clear to see where your daughter's beauty came from."

"Castle," Kate said warningly. The last thing she needed was to watch him flirt—or, attempt to flirt—with her mother.

"Why don't you join us?" Johanna suggested, gesturing towards the empty chair at their table.

"Alright!" he agreed happily. "But just for a few minutes—I don't want to intrude."

"Of course you do," Kate muttered.

Castle ignored her. "So, Johanna, are you a professor too?"

"Actually yes; I'm a law professor at NYU. So is my husband."

"Really? Both parents are lawyers; interesting," Castle said in Kate's general direction. She gave him a curt smile. "Why didn't you pursue law, Kate?"

"She intended to," her mother answered for her.

"But then I went to school and found literature more interesting," Kate concluded.

"Well isn't that nice; a family full of professors. You must have the most interesting dinner conversations," Castle smiled at the elder woman.

She chuckled. "We do indeed." She was silent for a moment before a teenage-esque smile crossed her face. "I'm sorry, Mr. Castle-"

"Rick, please."

"Rick…but, I must tell you I have read all your books and I've thoroughly enjoyed each one."

Castle's eyes brightened. "Is that so? Well, it's always nice to meet a fan, especially one as lovely as you." While Johanna smiled, Castle caught Kate's eye roll from the corner of his field of vision. Taking the cue, he stood from his seat and bid his adieus. "I don't want to take up any more of your precious mother-daughter time. Johanna, it was lovely to meet you. Kate, I'll see you in a little bit."

"Well," Johanna concluded once he'd left the restaurant, "he certainly is a charmer."

"Oh he's something, alright," she grumbled.

Her mother rested her chin on her fist and gazed over at her daughter. "You like him." Kate gave her mother a perfect teenager "as if!" expression. "Kate," her mother continued.

"Okay, fine, he's okay-ish when he's being a normal person, but when he's being all 'Oooh I'm Richard Castle, famous writer,'" she mocked in a manly tone, "I just want to punch him."

Johanna chuckled. "I can see that."

"He's just," Kate shook her head and sighed. "He's too much. He's way, way, too much, which is why I will be very glad when this week is over."

"Will you?"

"Yes!" she insisted, though her voice did not sound as certain as she intended it to.

For both Kate and Castle the final two days of their partnership flew by despite not actually getting very much work done. Much to Kate's annoyance, Castle did not complete chapter four. In fact, as of Thursday evening, he had yet to start it. She hoped Friday morning would bring some progress, but when she arrived at his apartment she discovered that was not the case.

When she asked if he began chapter four, he ignored her question and instead said, "I got you something."

She blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

"I got you a gift—a thank you gift," he clarified with a smile.

"But," she protested, "You're paying me."

"Black Pawn is paying you."

"Same thing."

He grumbled and handed her a rectangular box wrapped in the front page of the prior morning's New York Times. "Just open it."

Gazing at him suspiciously, she ripped the wrapping off the gift and inside discovered a box of a dozen red pens. She laughed and smiled at him. "Perfect; thank you."

He nodded. "You can think of me every time you use them."

"I will. Did you start chapter four?" she asked as she tucked the pens into her purse.

"No, but I made a lot of progress on the outline. In fact, I think it's mostly finished."

"Great! Can I see it?"

"No."

Her brow wrinkled. "No?"

"Not yet, I mean," he corrected. "This one…its different." He walked over to his desk and sat on the corner. "I'm not sure…I'm not sure of everything that's going to happen yet, but I have a good feeling. A really good feeling. It feels like the beginning of Derrick Storm, which means its going to a really good place."

She smiled at him. "That's great, Castle; I'm very happy for you." They stared at each other silently for a moment before she said, "So, if you're not going to let me see your outline, what are we going to do today?"

"Ah!" he held up his index finger. "I have questions."

"Questions?" she echoed.

"About being a professor. I really want this part to be authentic. Actually," he sighed with an air of disappointment. "I wish I could observe a few of your classes."

"Fly to Illinois and you can," she responded without thinking.

He leaned towards her. "Is that an invitation?"

Kate felt some heat creep up on her cheeks. She certainly hadn't meant it to be an invitation. Recovering quickly she said, "I, um, I'm sure there's plenty of professor in this city that would let you observe a class or two. Heck, find one big enough and they won't actually know you're there," she said, thinking of NYU's several hundred student filled lecture halls.

"But none of them are you."

From his tone and the way he was looking at her, Kate was forced to turn away lest he see how ruddy her cheeks were actually becoming.

Realizing he'd embarrassed her, which was not his intention, Castle cleared his throat and quickly suggested, "Why don't we go for a walk? We can talk about life as a professor as we go."

"But," she said, turning back to him as the heat on her face subsided, "then you can't write anything down."

He shrugged. "I'll remember."

She arched one eyebrow. "Will you?"

"Maybe not. But then I'll have an excuse to call you."

She laughed. "You can't call me; you don't have my number."

He tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, why is that?"

Bemused, she folded her arms over her chest. "Is this you asking for my number?"

"I suppose so." He let the conclusion hanging in the air for a moment before formalizing it. "Kate, may I please have your number? And your email address."

"My email?"

He nodded. "Yes, how else am I going to send you chapters to review?"

"You still want that?" she asked with genuine interest. Quit honestly, she figured after that day they would be completely through.

He took a step towards her. "Yes, I want your reviews. And, by that, I mean I want you to tear my chapters limb from limb and point out everything that's stupid."

She could not help but smile. "Well, that is the best part of my day."

His expression mirrored hers. "So, can I?"

She nodded her head so vigorously that a chunk of hair fell into her eyes. She tucked it back behind her ear and said, "Yeah, I'll give you my number and my email."

Strolling down the streets of Manhattan for nearly two hours, Kate gave Castle a brief history of how she went from being a low-level editor in the San Francisco office of Black Pawn, where she worked an ungodly number of hours and was thoroughly unhappy to being a happy, well-adjusted PhD holder back in her hometown. The story, she told him, was not all that interesting. She was missing her home, so she got a job at a publisher in Manhattan only to realize that modern literature wasn't the thing that would make her happy for the rest of her life. She'd already been toying with the idea of grad school, but with her parents both working at NYU the practically free tuition was too good of a deal to pass up.

The program Kate was in throughout her tenure at the prestigious school allowed her to take classes and pursue her degree while being a teacher's assistant and then, after getting her masters, a lecturer of her own class. Granted, it was a basic level English course during which her students treated her like a piece of gum they'd discovered on their shoe after riding the subway, but it was still teaching. Despite a rocky start, she really loved what she was doing, and was all too happy to pursue it as a lifelong career.

After they grabbed lunch, their conversation topic switched to their favorite places in the city—many of which they, surprisingly, had in common. Castle told her about the first time he took Alexis to iconic places like the Empire State Building and Ellis Island, and how much fun it was to experience those things again through the eyes of a child. Kate loved listening to his stories and even shared some of her own.

At the end of the afternoon, they returned to the loft and, though neither of them openly admitted it, both were reluctant to say goodbye.

"Thank you, Kate," Castle said genuinely, "for all your help over the past three weeks."

"Oh," she said with a humble shake of her head. "Was I really that much help?"

"You were instrumental."

"And you don't think Gina will be mad your book still isn't finished?"

He shrugged. "Of course she will be, but I'll make sure she knows it's my fault not yours."

Kate folded her arms loosely across the front of her body. "You think you'll make the end of summer deadline?"

"Sure," he said in a tone that indicated he believed the goal had fifty-fifty odds.

She smiled. "At least you're confident. Good luck."

"Good luck with your move. Email me and tell me what it's like in Illinois, okay?"

She nodded. "I will. It's ah," she rocked back on her heels and shook her head. "Been interesting."

"It has."

She held her hand out for him to shake, but he shook his head, seeing such an impersonal goodbye as ill-fitting. Instead, he opened up his arms and welcomed her in for a hug. She stepped willingly into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his back and feeling the warmth of his body around hers. She noticed that they oddly shared the perfect height difference for a hug, as her chin fit neatly into the crook of his neck.

Though the typical duration of hugs between non-romantic male and female participants usually hovered around the one-to-two second mark, Kate felt herself holding on past the three second mark. Castle, it seemed, was in no hurry to rush away, so they squeezed for five seconds before sliding apart. When Kate caught his eye, she found he was gazing at her with what she deemed to be great admiration, though she could not imagine what warranted such a feeling.

She took two steps towards the door of his apartment before turning back and saying, "I'll be waiting for chapter four."

He simply nodded. "I'll talk to you soon, Kate."

She smiled back at him before turning and walking out of the apartment.

End of Part 1

A/N: Don't worry guys, there's a Part 2 :)