Thanks are still going to Madsthenerdygirl who is wasting her own potential writing time on my ramblings...
Keep Showing Up
Chapter 11
Beckett slept in late the next morning. Even after she woke she was happy to laze in bed for half an hour; her mind drifting. Finally her need for coffee (and to use the bathroom) dragged her from under the covers.
The melody from one of the songs she'd had on repeat the night before tugged at her. While the coffee brewed she grabbed her guitar and tried to capture the chords. She didn't quite have it, so she decided to delay breakfast and carried her coffee mug and guitar over to the sunlit couch and tweaked at it some more.
A crick in her neck finally pulled her away from the music. Over breakfast she debated between going for a run and doing an hour of yoga; the yoga won. She felt so good afterwards she slogged through five reps of a dozen crunches and pull-ups. Then she lay on her back and, puffing, stared at the ceiling for a good five minutes.
She had a quick shower, shaved her legs, washed her hair, put on a load of laundry, and then sat down with another coffee and made a grocery list. Half way through the grocery list she decided she was kidding herself and she sent a text to Lanie.
Hey, Lanie. You working tonight?
She added toothpaste, orange juice, and eggs to the list while she waited for a reply.
Hey, girl! I'm hoping 2B out of here by 5. I've made plans for the night but can cancel if U need some girl time.
Beckett's face wrinkled in disappointment.
No, don't cancel your plans. I had nothing special in mind.
With that plan crossed off her mental list of things to do to keep busy she opened the web browser on her phone and checked to see what was playing at the Angelika.
Lanie's reply came through mid-search.
Don't tell me U got nothing planned for UR time off! U make me wanna smack U! I though writer boy was getting back today?
He is.
She didn't bother going back to the Angelika's website. Now that Lanie was on her case she knew the next text wouldn't be far away.
I give him 5min after he lands til he's on the phone to U. U might want to keep the evening free.
That's the whole point. I don't want to keep the evening free. I might catch a show somewhere instead.
Her phone rang almost as soon as she hit send.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing's going on."
"Girl, you've got five minutes to spill; I've got a body on the way."
"Lanie, nothing's going on. Not everything has to involve Castle."
"I can think of a few things that should involve Castle."
"Yeah, well, I'm going to head into the village, maybe see what's on at the Angelika."
"Why don't you come out with us?"
"Us who? You and Espo?" Kate cringed at the thought.
"Why not?"
"Talk about a third wheel!"
"Bring Castle."
"Not going to happen."
"Are you determined to make yourself miserable?"
"I'm going to let you get back to your dead body. "
"I'll call you later; we'll head out for drinks tomorrow night."
"Sounds good. Thanks, Lanie."
Kate didn't bother wasting any more time; she rinsed her coffee mug in the sink and headed upstairs to get ready to head out.
###
With no set plans Beckett found her feet carried her to the metro station. A few hours wandering through The Met suddenly seemed like the perfect way to spend the afternoon. Recalling her plan earlier in the week to see the exhibits with Alexis she debated asking the girl to join her; but spending the day with Alexis would only result in her spending the afternoon with Castle and that would disprove her theory that not everything had to involve Castle.
Getting off at 72nd St she took her time walking through Central Park. The sun was warm and Beckett took off her coat and pushed her sleeves up enjoying the feeling of freedom it gave her; simply strolling through the park without the weight of a murder to solve or conspiracies to uncover.
The hours spent wandering through the museum's vaulted chambers admiring brightly colourful North Indian art, puzzling over satirical sketches, and marvelling at the rich diversity of human creativity were almost successful in banishing thoughts of Rick Castle. Except that she laughed even more at the humour found in human expression knowing he would also appreciate the cartoons, and she paused at Bearden's tableau and wondered what Castle would make of the collection.
A glance at her watch told her that his plane would have landed nearly two hours ago and she couldn't help checking her phone to see if she'd missed a text. By the time her phone did ring, another hour later, she'd given up on the pretext of not wanting to see him.
"Hey, Beckett, you're not at the precinct?"
"I told you we had a couple of days off."
"Yeah, but to Detective Becket – workaholic – having a couple of days off and actually taking a couple of days off is a different matter."
"I can do downtime with the best of them, Castle."
"Where are you?"
"I'm at The Met."
"Nice, did you see the guy with nose?"
Beckett laughed. Of the countless paintings and drawings his comment could have referred to she knew exactly which one he meant, "I did. I'm not surprised you liked that one." She caught the sound of Karpowski yelling in the background and asked, "Where are you?"
"I'm at the station."
"Why?"
"I was looking for you," he said as if it were obvious.
"Well you're looking in the wrong place."
"Clearly. Lanie said you had no plans for the night."
Beckett had to fight a groan, "When did you see Lanie?"
"I ran into her here while I was trying to hide from Gates. I don't think she likes me wandering the halls unescorted."
"I can see how that would make her nervous."
"Anyway, tonight, you should join us for dinner. I have something for you."
Beckett felt the composure she'd worked hard to achieve throughout the day deteriorating. She was working on a way to suggest lunch tomorrow instead when she found herself agreeing, "What time?"
"Anytime. Come over when you're done uptown if you like."
Beckett weighed her options; going straight there meant more time having to remind herself why hanging out at his loft was a bad idea, going home first meant she'd end up with six outfits laid out on the bed for what was, essentially, a casual dinner with a friend. Neither option made her feel in control. She went with the option that sounded like more fun, "I'll grab a bottle of wine on the way over."
"Grab two; Mother will be joining us. Oh, and Beckett..."
"Yeah?"
"I like the addition to the murderboard." He'd seen the A4 printout of Sidekicks.
"Me too,' she grinned, "See you later."
Beckett gave herself another hour at The Met before she caught the subway down to Spring St.
###
They'd spoken so many times over the past few days that it wasn't until he opened the door that she realised she may have overestimated her ability to compartmentalise. He'd dressed casually in a fitted t-shirt and well-worn jeans; a look she so rarely got to see, and she remembered immediately that the last time they were together the feel of him beside her had her so aching and wet she'd barely made it home before getting herself off alone in her bedroom to thoughts of him naked against her.
Her cheeks flooded with warmth at the memory and Beckett awkwardly handed over the bottles of wine with a mumbled, "Hey, Castle," before she stepped a wide arc passed him and headed for the kitchen.
She removed her coat and draped it over the back of a stool. Castle cursed the bottles of wine that prevented him from helping and he quickly found a place to leave them in case his hands were given the chance at greater purpose again.
"Can I just grab a glass of water?"
"Sure, help yourself. Has it warmed up that much outside?" Castle came to stand on the other side of the kitchen bench while Kate found a glass and filled it with filtered water from the fridge.
"I spent a while wandering around in the park; spring is certainly on its way." With both hands wrapped around the cool glass Kate took up residence directly opposite him and leaned on the counter.
"You might have gotten a little sunburned," he commented, noticing the flush of pink on her cheeks.
"What about you? You get any time in the sun?" She redirected him.
"As a matter of fact, I did. Would you like to see photos?"
"Not of you getting a tan, Castle, but I'd love to see some from the event."
"Grab a seat in the lounge, or in the study, whichever; I'm going to get us some snacks," he had a bounce in his step as he rounded the bench.
He reminded Kate of a kid with a new toy who couldn't wait to show his friends, and she stayed at her place leaning on the counter for a moment longer enjoying his energy. He took two bowls down from the cabinets and disappeared briefly into the pantry. Kate chose that moment to head to the lounge.
Castle came back through the glass doors as she made her way passed the end of the bar. He was still moving with a jump in his step and Kate paused to let him go through. Her hand swung up to stop him from crashing into her and he swung a casual arm out that trailed from the corner of her hip and around to her back; there was nothing intimate about it, merely two friends assuring themselves they were not going to collide. He continued, unconcerned, into the kitchen with a packet of chips in one hand and some salsa in the other. Kate turned and walked towards the couch.
The butterflies had started already; she wondered if he were as acutely aware of her body as she was of him and if so when he became so adept at concealing his attraction towards her. She wondered even more when she had lost the ability to control her own responses to him, and why, in this moment, she couldn't seem to care less.
Castle placed the bowls on one end of the coffee table and continued into his office. Beckett followed his progress with her eyes and tried to wrestle with the fight or flight reflex that was kicking in. She took a mouthful of cool water and grabbed a chip from the bowl; it was just adrenaline, and she had plenty of practice working through an adrenaline surge.
She reminded herself that she could walk out the door and head home for another night alone in her apartment any time she wanted. Even apart from the fact that she never got around to shopping and was ridiculously low on food she knew she wanted to be here; she wanted to be sitting on the couch with Castle. Even if she wasn't sure how to step forward she wanted to stop pulling away.
She sat back in her usual corner seat on the couch and took a bite of the chip; munching slowly.
With his open laptop in hand Castle wandered back into the room and set it down next to the snacks.
"Where's Martha and Alexis?" Kate asked. She wasn't sure if being alone with him right now would be good or bad, but she felt she needed to know either way.
"Alexis is upstairs on the phone, and you just missed Mother; she had to meet up with a new friend for drinks," he said with an eyebrow wiggle that redefined the word 'friend', and made Kate smile.
"More wine for us?" she asked.
"Don't get your hopes up. I think she'll be back after dinner."
His finger swirled and tapped its way across the touchpad until he found the album he wanted. Beckett shuffled closer so she could see the screen.
"You have to see this one," he said after a minute, scrolling to mid-way in the series of thumbnails, "Oh, hang on, this one's better..."
"Just start at the beginning."
"Okay, but wait until you see the costumes."
"Why were there costumes?"
"Mmmmm, I don't know, I didn't think to ask." He double tapped to enlarge the first photo and the stories began.
###
A/N- Warning: fluffy Caskett moments ahead. If you're here for the thrillingly intricate *snort* crime stories then you can back out now... what? No one is here to see justice served to the great folk of NYC? Whatever is the world coming to...
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I should have the next piece posted soon, just tweaking...