Chapter 11

Beckett was just unlocking the door to her apartment when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Years of practice made it instinctive as she grabbed that hand and spun her body around so that she ended up behind her attacker, his arm now twisted up behind his back.

"Apples, apples, apples!" he shouted.

She let go of him quickly once she realized exactly who the 'attacker' was. "Jeez Castle, don't scare me like that. Haven't you learnt not to sneak up on a cop by now? You're lucky I didn't break your arm."

"Sorry, I won't do it again. Though I'm not sure why I'm apologizing, seeing as I'm the one with the dead arm." He shook it a few times, trying to relieve the ache in his shoulder.

Although she felt guilty about causing him pain, she didn't let that show in her face. "Stop being a baby about it, there's no permanent damage. And what are you doing here anyway? You should have called instead of just turning up uninvited."

"Well I just got back into town a couple of hours ago and I wanted to talk to you. I would have called but I figured that your phone mustn't be working. There couldn't be any other reason for why I haven't been able to get hold of you at all for the last week."

She gave a little shake of the head to acknowledge the sarcasm in his last sentence. They both knew that she'd been screening out his calls. "Fine, let's talk then."

"Can we please at least go inside first? I really don't want to do this in your hallway."

There was a pause as if she was considering leaving him just standing there, before she finally conceded and opened the door. "Fine, come in then," she said ungraciously as she walked in first. She dropped her gym bag beside the door and then turned to look at him. She didn't ask him to sit down or offer him a drink, she just watched him with a steady gaze as he fidgeted under her scrutiny.

"I missed you Kate."

Crap, she thought, how was it that he could always get around her defenses. That one sentence alone chipped away at the residual anger she still felt for the way he'd left. "You certainly have a funny way of showing it then Castle. I didn't hear a thing from you for the first two weeks." She tried to remind herself that she had a right to be angry, he wasn't going to get off that easily.

"I know, I shouldn't have done that and I wanted to say that I'm sorry. Forgive me, please?"

She gave a big sigh, it was very hard to have an argument with someone who kept on agreeing with you. If he'd come here and tried to justify his actions then she would have been prepared to blast him out of the water but she had no counter to this humble apology.

"Ok, but don't you ever do that again or I swear to God I will shoot you."

"I promise I won't," he said as he crossed his heart. "And look, as an apology gift I got you a pony."

She looked at the stuffed animal he held out to her, the laugh escaped from her mouth despite her effort to suppress it.

He grinned at her response, she couldn't be all that mad at him if she was laughing. "Is it cute or what? The gift shop person said that his mane is long enough to actually braid if you like. Girls love that kind of crap."

"God Castle, that is so sexist and a big generalization."

"Come on, admit it Beckett. I bet that you probably pestered your parents about getting you a pony when you were a little girl."

There wasn't anyway that she could refute his argument without lying, so she just settled for shaking her head. "Thank you," she said as she took the gift from him. She pretended to study the stuffed animal for a bit. "This looks more like a jackass than a pony though. Maybe I should call it Rick?"

"Oh you wound me detective," he clutched his hands over his heart. "Besides, you normally call me a smartass not a jackass. I'd like to think that there is a small but subtle difference between the two."

It felt good to joke and tease with him, to hold her own against his quips and repartee. She'd missed his quick wit and the banter that they shared, it was surprising how much she'd come to rely on him to brighten her day. She had only appreciated the extent of it once he'd gone.

"There's a second part to my apology gift."

"Don't tell me that it comes with horse riding lessons."

"No, but I could get you some gift vouchers for that if you want. No, seriously, I was hoping to buy you dinner. That's if you haven't eaten already."

"Sure, I'm starving actually. Have you got somewhere particular in mind?"

"Well I made a booking at Le Bernardin in about an hour, so we've got plenty of time to get there."

"Huh. That was a bit arrogant of you wasn't it? What if I hadn't forgiven you?"

"If you'd been able to withstand my charm and the lure of a really good meal, then I did have a plan B."

"And what would that be?"

"I was going to lie down on the floor, kicking and screaming like a four year old having a temper tantrum until you gave in."

"And you thought that that would work?"

"Well it does for the kids in the candy aisle at the supermarket. Plus I've pulled that trick a few times on Alexis and she always gives in. The last time I used it was to convince her to go Segway racing with me."

Somehow she could just imagine Castle pulling a fake tantrum as his mature teenage daughter just looked on. "That poor child must be severely traumatized, she probably needs therapy after having witnessed that."

"Ah but Beckett, that's the fun of having children. One day, when she's all grown up, I'll be able to point to her and say 'all those hang ups that she has, they're all because of me.' It will be my finest moment."

She had to laugh because it was so blatantly untrue. Castle would bend over backwards to make sure that Alexis had a stable safe upbringing. "I'm just going to shower and get changed out of my gym clothes. Make yourself at home, there are drinks in the fridge if you want. I shouldn't be too long, say thirty minutes and then we can go," she said as she wandered off down to the bathroom.

He was watching some television when he heard her come back into the lounge. "Have you ever seen this program before? It is so cool, Bear Grylls is like my new hero," he said pointing to the man on screen.

"No, what's it about?" she asked as she came around the sofa to join him.

"He's like an wilderness guru, and they drop him off in these different hostile environments and he teaches you how to survive them. So far he's eaten some ugly looking sea slugs and collected fresh water using …" His train of thought was derailed when he finally turned to look at her. "Wow, you look …amazing."

Embarrassed by his compliment she looked down at the ensemble that had elicited such praise. The pale blue chiffon dress was a lot more feminine than the suits he normally saw her in. "Yeah, well I thought this would be appropriate. I know how fancy that restaurant is. By the way how did you manage to get a reservation at Le Bernardin at such short notice? Aren't they normally booked out weeks in advance?"

He'd noted her subtle change of topics. She was a rarity, a truly beautiful woman who didn't know how to accept a compliment. But since it was obviously making her uncomfortable, he didn't mention it again. "The maitre d'hotel is a big fan, I promised her an advance copy of the next Nikki Heat novel. So are you ready to go? The car service should be ready downstairs by now."

She patted the pockets of her coat quickly; keys, purse and phone. "Yeah, I'm ready."

It felt like a date, from the way he opened the door of the town car for her, to the way he'd steered her to the bar with his hand in the small of her back. She wasn't sure if that was his intention, or maybe this was really just an apology and he'd moved on in the weeks that they spent apart. And she wasn't sure which of the two scenarios she was more nervous about.

"What can I get for guys?" asked the barman.

"I'll have a chocolate martini thanks," she said.

"Do you have any Grey Goose vodka? Great, I'll have some on ice please."

"What are you smiling about Castle?"

"Nothing. It's just that a chocolate martini is a very girly drink. Between that and the dress I feel like I am seeing a different side of you tonight, that's all."

"Well, it might have escaped your notice, but I am a girl."

"No, I've definitely noticed that you aren't one of the 'boys'. My mother gave me that talk about the difference between boys and girls when I was about eight." There was a sparkle in his eye as he remembered the one time he'd been able to see all the differences between them, up close and personal. "Of course by then, Bobby Cowan, who was my best friend at the time, had already filled me on all the important stuff."

"Why doesn't it surprise me that you were a pervert at eight?"

"Not a pervert. I just like to think that I was just advanced for my years. So tell me Beckett, when you did you discover that little boys and little girls were different?"

"It was when I was a mature ten year old. My friend Abby Miller told me that Patrick Kelly had kissed her on the mouth. I remember thinking how revolting that was at the time."

"All I can say is thank goodness that it was only a passing phase and that you've grown out of it by now."

"Who says that I didn't find kissing you revolting?" she teased him. They were straying into dangerous waters now, but she didn't care because she was enjoying this.

The maitre d'hotel chose that moment to interrupt them. "Sorry to have kept you waiting. Your table is ready now, if you'd like to follow me. Your drinks will be brought to the table when they are ready."

Beckett admired that fashionable décor as they steered around the tables of other diners . She thought that she'd recognized a few famous faces amongst the mix of people; a couple of high profile athletes, a few actors and the senator for New York. It was funny to think that by being here with Castle, she was just as likely to have her photo appear in tomorrow's paper as they were.

To be honest, the thought of that freaked her out a bit. She pushed her hair behind her ear and bit her bottom lip, an automatic gesture that she sometimes did when she was nervous and was totally unaware of.

But he certainly did notice, he glanced around the room trying to figure out what had made her uneasy. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

She looked across the table at his concerned face and made a decision. She was over-thinking everything; date or apology, it didn't really matter. Let the night play out in whatever way it would, she was just going to enjoy some good food with some good company.

"No, there's nothing wrong. In fact everything is just perfect."

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. I wasn't sure that I was channelling Lanie very well. I find her harder to write than the others so it's nice to hear that you guys thought that she was in character. And I hope that you enjoy this little pre-Easter offering, I am so looking forward to a holiday, might even get a bit more work done on the next chapter with the free time : )