1. It feels like it's been a long time.
2. There are parts of this I really love
3. Read on.
Libraries & Bookshelves
Rick could think of no other place he wanted to take her than the library.
Ever since he was a little kid, the library had been his haven. When his mother would spend long hours at shows, she would allow him to spend that time at the library. Sometimes on her days off, she would go with him, knowing how much he loved the place.
It was perfect. How much trouble could he get into at a library?
The answer? Quite a bit.
He thought about the things he could do all the time, the pranks he could play on the old librarians that worked there involving carts and switching around books on the shelves and unsavory things getting put into the return books slot. There were so many places to hide away in a place so big.
But he couldn't do it, couldn't pull any of them off. The place was too sacred, the books too important to mess around with. It would be a crime to try and play tricks on the books.
He taught himself to read in the Children's section with the help of an elderly librarian who kept an eye on him whenever she was working.
As soon as he realized that Kate loved books, he wanted to bring her here. He was sure she'd been here before. Was it even possible to be a college student in New York City and not take advantage of the publicl system? He even had his suspicions that she spent a lot of time there as a child. He could imagine young Katherine Beckett rummaging through the very Children's section he taught himself to read in with Johanna sitting at one of the well-lit tables, flipping through pages of law books for research for a case. He could see her sitting with her back against the shelves with her nose in a book, her long legs awkwardly folded underneath her as she lost herself in the words on the page.
He had seen the way her eyes lit up when she was at the loft, looking at the shelves of books that lined his office. He wanted to see it again, and on a much larger scale. They'd gone to a few bookstores together, but they had never gotten a chance to actually peruse because they had always gone in with a purpose, in and out within ten minutes.
And the library was much more personal than a bookstore. He had memories, cherished memories nestled between the pages of these books. He wanted to share this with her.
And can't you get married at the library? Oh, it would be perfect. They could keep the wedding relatively small, only the most important people would be there, which is what Kate would want. The writer and the muse getting married surrounded by word. His books brought them together in the first place. It's only fitting that they get married near them.
But, he was clearly getting ahead of himself. No more talk about marriage and weddings.
Give it a little more time.
He was perfectly content to be where he was right then, her back against his chest as her eyes scanned the shelves for titles she hadn't seen before, his chin resting on her shoulder.
He looked down at the book she was holding in her hand, The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. He watched as she flipped open the cover, her eyes darting across the front flap, reading the summary. She closed the book, running her fingers over the cover before making a move to put it back on the shelf. She paused halfway there, biting her lip before bringing the book back towards her again, flipping through the pages to get to the start of the first chapter, her fingers lying softly against the paper, keeping the book level.
He smiled. She was so adorable.
"Ah," he said into her ear, "A romantic at heart, are you Detective?"
She shifted from side to side, relieving some of her weight off of her feet. She tilted her head to the side, knocking against his gently.
"Shh," she scolded teasingly, "I'm reading."
He read over her shoulder as she flipped through the pages. Despite his qualms over the writer's last name, he really had to admire his courage in the language he used. It was gruesome and terrifying and horrifically honest and he couldn't tear his eyes away from the page.
They were almost to the end of the first chapter when he heard a voice beside him.
"Excuse me."
Both Kate and Rick removed their gazes from the book she held in front of them, to look up and see who spoke.
It was a man, probably in his mid-twenties, who had spoken to them. In his arms, he held a stack of books, one in his hand. At first, Rick thought he was a student at NYU, perhaps even a grad student, but then he saw the New York Public Library lanyard hanging out of his jean pockets.
Ah, he was a library aide, just putting books back on the shelves.
Without moving away from Rick, Kate stepped to the side with a small smile, making room for the library aide to let him get to the shelf. He ducked into the space that was left behind, putting the book he held in his hand back on the shelf near her hip.
"The Gargoyle?" the young man questioned as he stood upright again, "That's a great book."
Kate looked up from the pages again, smiling again.
"Really?" she said, her voice dripping with enthusiasm that made Rick smile, "Have you read it?"
He heard the young man clear his throat and Rick looked back at him. The library aide colored, his cheeks turning pink as he shifted back and forth on his feet.
"Well…" he sputtered, "I've never actually read it. But… but I heard it was really… good."
Kate hummed, disappointed, and turned back to the book in her hands.
"Do you need any help?"
Kate just shook her head.
"No, we're good."
Rick had to bit his lip to keep himself from laughing.
It's just so… cute: A young man who gets thrown off his game by a beautiful woman.
His beautiful woman.
Rick let his eyes drift away from the pages to look back towards the shelf. His eyes narrowed when something caught his eye.
They were in the fiction section, the authors with the last name starting with "D".
The book that the library aide just put back on the shelf about the Zooxanthellae in coral reefs clearly did not belong there.
Either this library aide knew nothing at all about the library and the Dewey Decimal system, or he had purposefully put it there to get a chance to talk to Kate.
Rick clenched his jaw.
It wasn't so cute anymore.
He moved one of his hands from her hips and wrapped it around her stomach, hugging her closer to him. She didn't respond, just leaned in a little closer into his touch.
He shot a quick glance towards the young man who looked increasingly more uncomfortable.
Rick buried his face in Kate's hair, trying to hide his smirk.
As if the library aide could beat the author for the muse.
As if the library aide actually thought there was a chance of getting the muse.
Well, that's unfair. There's a possibility he might have had a chance. He was a good looking guy, nice and tall, broad shoulders. His glasses made him look young, but he had a nice smile. He worked as a library aide, so he was either desperate for money or really liked books, so Rick figured he probably had some level of intelligence even if he wasn't demonstrating it right then.
But for this library aide to think he was going to get this muse? Nikki Heat?
It was downright laughable.
"Are you sure there's nothing else I can help you with?"
He heard Kate huff in annoyance, but before she could respond, he cut in, pulling away from her and moving so he could look at her in the eye.
"Hey," Rick said, looking at Kate, "you're into mystery right?"
Kate raised an eyebrow, but thankfully played along.
"I'm a fan of the genre, yes," Kate said, narrowing her eyes so infinitesimally that if it was anyone else, Rick probably wouldn't have noticed, "Why?"
Rick smiled but he was sure she could see the darkness in his eyes before he grabbed the book from her hands and piled it onto the stack the flustered library aide. He reached out and held her hand and tugged on it.
"Come on," he said excitedly, pulling her away from the annoying Library aide without giving her a chance to say goodbye, "I just heard of this author and I've heard great things about him. I'm sure they have his books here."
"Who is he?" Kate asked as he worked his way through the shelves towards the mystery section, genuinely curious.
Rick just shook his head.
"Not until we get there," Rick said, looking back at her, "I don't want you to get your hopes up if all of his books are checked out. He's supposedly really good, so it wouldn't surprise me."
Kate narrowed her eyes again suspiciously, but by then Rick had already turned around, still holding her hand as he walked quickly towards the shelves.
Moments later he pulled her in front of the mystery shelves, looking through them theatrically before spinning around quickly.
"Close your eyes?"
Kate didn't move.
"Please?"
She sighed, not resisting the urge to roll her eyes at her excitable boyfriend before closing them with a sigh. She heard him moving towards the shelves, the distinctive sound of book covers against book covers as he slid the book off the shelf.
"Hold out your hands."
She did, and a few seconds passed before she felt the familiar weight of a book in her hands. She opened her eyes and promptly rolled them, but she couldn't stop the amused smile that teased the corner of her lips.
"Richard Castle, huh?" she said, turning the library's copy of Heat Wave over in her hands, "I've never heard of him."
Rick shrugged, "I hadn't either, but I did some research and this guy is pretty serious. I heard he even shadows an NYPD detective for this book series," he said, gesturing towards the book in her hands.
Kate hummed, flipping through the first few pages, "What kind of name is Nikki Heat?"
"A good one," Rick says immediately, "But I heard this Richard Castle takes his work very seriously."
"Really?" Kate said, taking her eyes off the silhouette on the cover and meeting Rick's eyes for the first time since he gave her the book, "I've heard he's like a nine year old on a sugar rush."
"So you have heard of him?" Rick said, raising an eyebrow.
Kate pursed her lips teasingly, "Nothing but bad things, I can assure you."
Rick took a step towards her and closed the small space that was between them, using his height to get her to move. He shifted the two of them before he backed her up against the shelves, her shoulders hitting them with a soft thud.
He moved into her space again, the book pressed in between both of their chests, one of his feet pressed in between hers, her hips nestled comfortably against his own.
He leaned down and nudged her earlobe with his nose.
"From what I've heard, you two are very similar."
"Who?" she murmured, her thoughts no longer following their conversation as his tongue darted out and teased the hollow of her ear. She felt the book between them sliding against her chest and she watched with unfocused eyes as he held it in one hand.
"Nikki Heat," he said, and dammit she can hear the smile in his voice.
"How so?" she gasped as his teeth closed around her earlobe, nibbling on it slightly before he pulled back and nuzzled his face into her, his nose in her hair and his lips against her neck. He put the book back on the shelf behind her without looking and moved both hands to grip her sides.
"Well, for one," he said between kisses on her neck, "I hear she's pretty hot… Something about haunting good looks and fuck me heels that she can run in..."
"Is that so?" Kate breathed.
He hummed against her neck, the vibrations of his lips shooting straight through her as she bit her lip to keep herself quiet.
"Apparently has this reporter guy falling all over her."
This time she hummed as his teeth scraped the skin of her neck.
"She's smart," he continued, ignoring the hitch in her breathing, "Brilliant, actually. Knows how to control herself and everyone else in the room."
He moved his lips down to the juncture of her neck and her shoulder and nibbled on the skin.
She couldn't help it. One of her hands came up from her side and moved into his hair, fisting the strands lightly.
"She's strong. Can easily take out a man twice her size," he said, moving his lips down towards her collarbone.
"She has a lot of stamina," he murmured, slipping his hands under her shirt and running his fingers over her abdomen. She arched away from his touch and shivered but he moved with her, never losing contact. He settled his hands on her side, hooking his index fingers in the belt loops on her jeans and pulling her hips back tighter against his.
He bit down on the skin above her collarbone again and she pushed herself up on her toes, desperate to be closer to his lips. She heard him chuckle and opened her eyes, not realizing that she had let them close.
"But do you want to know," he murmured, pulling away from her skin to look her in the eye, "how I think you're most similar?"
Her eyes focused on his after a moment, and she was almost surprised to see how dark his eyes were. But then again, she was pressed so closely against him that she could feel every inch of him, the tension in his muscles, the way his hands clung to her ribs.
Kate took a shallow breath.
"How?"
He leaned his head towards her again and brushed his nose against hers, she closed her eyes again as he breathed against his lips, unconsciously moving towards him as she felt him pull away.
"Both of you," he said, his voice deep and low, "have someone who's so in love with you that they're not ever going to let you go."
She opened her eyes, and met his gaze again, the intensity in his eyes making her swallow.
"And what if Nikki doesn't want to stay?"
Rick shook his head, "She does. She loves him so much it scares her. She's in too deep."
"So she's stuck with him?"
Rick pulled away from her slightly, his fingers playing around the top of her jeans, brushing against the skin there.
"Looks like it."
She pushed herself off of the shelf, lifting her shoulders off of the bookshelf for the first time since he backed her against it, pressing her chest against his. She stood up on her toes again, her flats putting her at a height disadvantage, and rubbed her nose against his, just like he had to her. She leaned in and nipped at his lower lip, reveling in his slight intake of breath.
"Rick?" she said against his lips.
He hummed in response, his eyes closing in response to her presence.
However, she was sure that even with his eyes closed he could feel her smile against his lips. She certainly felt his at her words.
"I don't think she minds."
She barely finished her thought before Rick fused his lips to hers, pushing her back against the shelf again. A gasp of surprise burst past her lips and Rick tilted his head, immediately pushing his tongue into her mouth. Her gasp turned into a moan, and he ran the tip of his tongue over the roof of her mouth, running his hand down her side. She pushed against him but he didn't let her move, his hand running down her hip. He reached her denim clad thigh and quickly pulled her leg up, hitching it around his hip. He moaned as she pushed herself closer against him, her hand tightening almost painfully in his hair.
He needed her closer. Kate – his beautiful, intelligent, sexy, mind-blowing muse.
As her free arm wrapped around his neck, anchoring him to her, he had to fight back a smile.
Apparently the feeling was mutual.
Rick moved his other hand down her side, intent on lifting her up so she could wrap both of her legs around his waist.
He heard someone clearing their throat and Rick felt Kate startle against him. He sighed, removing his lips from hers reluctantly and looked at the person off to the side.
And there was that damn library aide again, standing there with a hidden smirk in his eyes, sans books or any real purpose of being there, his arms folded over his chest.
Yeah. It was official. Rick really disliked this kid.
He knew what he should've done. He should've grabbed Kate's hand, apologized, and left without making a scene. He should've been the bigger person.
But that stupid library aide was just standing there trying to look way too innocent for Rick to do nothing.
Kate's leg had fallen from around his waist, so he removed his hips from hers (not because he wanted to) and her arms fell away from him. He grabbed one of her hands in his and tugged her away from the shelf. He immediately pulled her against his chest, murmuring a kiss against her forehead before maneuvering them so she was tucked into his side. With his free hand, he reached out towards the shelf and picked up Heat Wave from where he left it after he had taken it from Kate.
He strolled over towards the library aide and handed him the book, back cover up so the young man would see his picture on the back cover. He watched as recognition flooded over the young man's face, but Rick was already moving to pass him. He clapped a hand on the library aide's shoulder, shaking him slightly before he spoke, his voice low, a smirk on the corner of his lips.
"Reality? So much better than fiction."
4. I had an Oceans exam on Zooxanthellae. They're what gives coral its color.
5. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson is my absolute favorite book of all time. I highly recommend it.
