Chapter Twelve
"Good evening, m'lady." Rick Castle bowed his chest and dipped his chin as he held out a single long-stemmed red rose to his date of the evening.
"Rick." Kate laughed and took the flower. "What are you doing?"
"What do you mean what am I doing?" he asked, his voice ringing with an innocence both of them knew to be a lie. Of course Kate knew he was taking her out in celebration of her twenty-first birthday, but she had no idea what surprises that evening had in store for her—and that was precisely Rick's plan. Though her birthday had technically been four days earlier, their official celebration could not occur until that night due to his complex—and timely—plans. Despite her insistence that an extra special celebration was unnecessary, Rick could not have disagreed more. After everything she'd been through, she was lucky he wasn't throwing her an event to rival the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Despite the rough start, Kate's attitude and emotional state had improved steadily since her father entered rehab six weeks prior. Every now and then receiving a letter from him would set her back a few steps, but Jim seemed to be doing well. At least, the few letters Kate had allowed Rick to read seemed positive and, with each reassurance he was doing well, Kate's smile grew a little big larger, her laugh a little bit bolder.
As he possessed no official training in psychology or anything remotely similar, Rick could not say for certain, but he could not help but think her confession about her mother on the day her father entered rehab helped to lighten her emotional load. He had always known she was closed off and held her emotions tightly together, but hearing just how much she had been burdened, just how much she'd struggled made him realize just how strong she was, but also how suffocated. Not only had she told him about her mother that day, but she had also spoken about her several times since, and Rick couldn't have been happier about it.
At the onset of November Rick began thinking about what he could do for her twenty-first birthday. Considering that her father was in rehab for alcoholism, he doubted she would be up for the traditional celebrations he was used to with his buddies: twenty-one shots, a twenty-one bar crawl, twenty-one keg stands…the alcohol-fueled list was endless. He would never have dared suggesting such an event to her and, frankly, that didn't bother him one bit. After everything he'd seen Jim go through over the prior few months, drinking to excess had lost all appeal to him. Hell, as of late, he rarely felt the need for a third beer let alone anything else. Maybe if he was at a bar watching a game with his buddies, but even then he maxed out at three or four.
With an alcohol-centric event removed from the list of possibilities, Rick began to think about something he could do for her that was unique but also enjoyable. Almost as if fate had heard him, Kate let slip that magic used to be her favorite thing growing up. Evidently, her now deceased grandfather would take her to a magic shop one Saturday morning a month and they would explore for several hours. The moment he heard this, an alarm sounded in Rick's head. Bingo!
Using his New York theater knowledgebase (aka his mother), Rick found a magic show in the city the weekend after Kate's birthday. Amazingly, the hands of fate had worked again in his favor for the show happened to be taking place at a theater his mother had frequented during her years on the stage. Using those connections, he contacted the magician and made a deal with the man to bring Kate on stage during the show. He wanted to be sure she would not be subjected to something embarrassing like being hypnotized and forced to squawk like a chicken in front of an audience of a few hundred. Ideally, she would get to see something behind the scenes, so to speak. The magician agreed to his terms and the plan was set.
As they entered the restaurant (a steakhouse per Kate's request; she hadn't had steak in a long time due to her poor college student budget) butterflies tumbled around in Rick's stomach. He wanted the night to go well so badly—not for him, but for her. She deserved a break, she deserved a wonderful birthday and since she did not know about the magic show her enjoyment factor was absolutely up in the air.
They took their seats and ordered despite Kate being alarmed at the prices she saw on the menu. He assured her it was fine, joking his book would be finished any day and he could pay off his credit card once the advance check cleared. They sipped wine as they waited and commented on how strange it was to be drinking fancy and expensive wine like adults instead of wine coolers and cheap beer like college students.
"So…where are we going now?" Kate asked when they left the restaurant, both their bellies full. Rick was actually impressed at the fact that Kate had finished her entire steak. Naturally he had finished his, but she was so much smaller and, as such, typically ate only half as much as he.
"You don't like the term 'surprise' very much, do you?" he returned with a side-eye.
"Hey—I didn't pester you too much this week, did I?"
"No." He conceded with a shake of his head. "You were actually very good. Okay, okay—we're going to see a magician."
Her brow wrinkled. "A magician? What kind of magician?"
"One who frequents kids' birthday parties. You like rabbits being pulled out of hats, right?" He teased and she gave him a look. Laughing, he added, "You're going to like it; I promise."
Kate did like it. In fact, she loved it. When they settled into their seats and she casually reviewed the pamphlet with the magician's bio and some information about the theater, Rick knew she had absolutely no inkling about what was going to happen. Despite the fact that his stomach buzzed even more with nerves he could not have been more thrilled.
About twenty minutes into the show, the magician announced he was going to need an audience member to help him with a trick. He said he would not take volunteers, but instead would divine the name of a person sitting in the theater and that person would be the one destined to help him. Rick knew exactly which name he would "magically" come up with, but he had to admit the guy put on a very good show.
When the magician announced Kate's name, Rick felt her jump in her seat beside him. Playing innocent, he looked at her, jaw open in shock, but she was too smart for him. He heard her accuse, "What did you do?" just as the magician's assistants pulled her from her seat and led her back stage.
Kate was gone for only seven or eight minutes when the magician placed a pretty blonde woman in a box, made a production of locking and shutting the doors before sliding various swords through them, pretending to struggle as he presumably punctured his assistant-turned-victim. Much to Rick's delight, when the box opened again, it was Kate who exited; the blonde came out from backstage and ushered Kate to her seat a moment later. As she descended the stairs to the audience, Rick had never seen her smile so big; he absolutely loved it.
During the intermission Rick began peppering her with questions about her experience and how the trick had worked, but despite his confession that yes of course he had arranged for her to be the audience member pulled on stage she would not reveal the trick's secret for him. Rick was crushed and hoped he would be able to annoy her into responding, but she continually refused—and clearly enjoyed every moment of it.
"So," Rick asked, reaching down and snagging her hand as they exited the theater, "did you enjoy your birthday presents?"
Kate didn't even consider pulling away when his hand closed around hers. She squeezed his fingertips and looked over at him, amazed. What he had given her was beyond her wildest imaginations; it was incredible, just like he was.
Despite it being a milestone year, Kate had been very hesitant to celebrate her birthday, particularly with her father in rehab. Every year—ever since she could remember—she had celebrated her birthday with her parents. Sometimes they would go out, but most times they would stay in, but there would always be chocolate cake. Even after her mother passed, her father had celebrated the day with her sober—at least until after she went to bed. Without her father around she was really just ready to skip over the day all together, but Rick had insisted. And, if she had learned one thing over their prior nine months of knowing one another, it was that once he insisted upon something Rick rarely backed down.
Originally, they were just supposed to go to a simple dinner, and she didn't feel the need to fight that too hard. One night at a real restaurant and not eating in the student union? Yeah, she could "suffer" through that. But then he changed the plans—dinner wouldn't be on her actual birthday, but the Friday after. Oh, and they would be doing something special afterwards. After the prior few hours she didn't think "special" even came close to the correct description; he had gone above and beyond in every conceivable way.
"It was wonderful, Rick. Thank you. Truly."
He grinned. "So your twenty-first might be one for the record books?"
"Might be." She echoed with a laugh. "Honestly at this point my only complaint is that these new boots I bought myself—they are killing my feet! Guess that's what I get for a spur of the moment purchase…"
"Then my final gift to you will be a foot rub."
"Wha—no!" No, she stammered out. She hadn't been hinting for him to offer that up at all! He had simply asked as they were walking and the pinch in her toes reminded her with every step the impromptu fashion error in judgement she had made. "I wasn't looking for you to-"
"I know, but I don't mind."
She should have turned him down, but each step was torture. And, damn, now her arch was hurting along with the toes. Really, it would have been silly to turn him down. "Okay…if you want."
To save her feet, they hailed a cab, which she appreciated greatly, though she was reminded once again of her poor decision as they trekked to her second floor room. Once inside, they were met by a frowning Abby, who collected her books and disappeared down to the common room. Though she and Kate continually battled on the Rick-entering-their-room issue, Abby had conceded to his presence that night on the account of it being Kate's birthday.
Once inside, Rick shrugged off his jacket and sighed. "She's never going to like me, is she?"
Kate winced as she sat down on her bed and took the weight off her feet. "Not unless you can change your gender."
Rick shook his head as he gazed towards Abby's empty bed. "I'm sorry that someone hurt her that badly."
She let out a small whimper as she pulled her left boot off. Her two smallest toes were bright red and throbbing; she suspected a blister might appear by morning. She tossed the left boot aside and turned to the right to repeat the process.
"I know, but to be fair I'm not sure how big of a men fan she was before the attack. I heard her and one of her fellow feminist studies majors going on the other day. Yikes." She cringed in recollection. As she too had been through an assault, she totally understood the urge to shy away from the male gender, or at least maintain an elevated level of caution, but she did not understand their default hatred. Yes, some men were bad—as were some women—but others were wonderful, like the man who sat down on the bed beside her and eagerly pulled one of her aching feet into his lap.
When Rick's thumb dug unto a particularly tight part of her mid-foot Kate let out a moan and relaxed back against her pillows. "You're kind of awesome at this."
He chuckled as he looked at her. "Thanks, I'll be sure to put that on my resume."
She mirrored his smile. "You should."
They sat in a companionable silence for several minutes as Kate lay back, listening to the sounds of chatter coming from the halls of her dorm on that Friday evening. She was reflecting on a particularly interesting moment of the magic show when Rick switched from her left foot to her right. In doing so, his hand brushed up her bare leg and she could feel sparks shoot up her skin and land directly in her belly.
Oh. Well. That was different.
Gazing over at him skimming his hands over her feet she felt not just love, but desire. An ember previously flickering in her chest grew to a full flame and she could feel the tingles in her belly spiral around before settling between her legs and—oh, shit, she was really attracted to him, wasn't she?
From the first day they met Kate had recognized Rick's handsomeness, but at the time it was mitigated greatly by his annoyingness. As the year progressed too much happened to her to emotionally be in that space, but still she had fallen in love with him as a friend, knowing that deep down it was more. In the two months since realizing she loved him, Kate had tried to open herself up to him more every day and she finally felt as though she was approaching a place where she would be able to be in a relationship with someone, to be someone's girlfriend, as terrifying as that seemed.
Delicately, she pulled her foot from his lap and sat up on the bed, swinging her legs to the ground so they sat side by side. He gazed at her curiously and she gave a tentative smile. "I need to thank you, Rick. Not just for making me celebrate my birthday, but for everything else you've done. I know that I thank you a lot, but somehow it still never seems enough."
"It's more than enough," he promised.
"It's just…you might have realized this, but I don't like to let people in my life a lot. Everything that happened with my mom and then my dad…it was hard for me. I…I thought if I can't trust my father then who can I trust not to hurt me? For a long time, I thought the answer was no one. Now, I know that's not true."
She paused and looked up at him. Seeing that he watched her with intensity, she continued. "I'm trying to be more open, to get to a better place, but it's been difficult for me and…well, I guess you could say I'm a work in progress, but nights like these really help and I thank you for that."
She wasn't ready to say the words directly yet—they came with too much weight, too much responsibility—but she needed him to know how much she cared. How much he meant to her. How she couldn't imagine her life without him. From the look that reflected back in his eyes, she felt confident she succeeded.
"Any time, Kate." He offered a smile and then pushed himself to a standing position. "I guess I'll, uh-"
"Wait." She stood and lifted herself up on her toes so she could wrap her arms around his shoulders. It was difficult in her bare feet as he had nearly five inches on her, but she managed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she sunk against him.
They had been hugging more and more, particularly as a greeting or goodbye, but those were mostly quick, one-armed hugs as they took place outside of classrooms or the dining hall. This hug, however, was different. It was one of the few in which she'd held him as tightly as her arms would allow. She tucked her face into his neck, caught a whiff of his aftershave, and the tingles were back, that time flowing down her neck and straight to her heart.
Kate pulled back a few inches so that she could press her lips against his cheek. He squeezed her waist a bit tighter and she just knew; it was time.
Very cautiously, she loosened her grip on his shoulders and leaned back a few inches further until she could press her lips against his. She felt him lean his face into hers for the most innocent of first kisses, but it was enough to fill her heart with more joy than she ever imagined possible.
Lowering herself to her flat feet, Kate offered him a small smile. "Goodnight, Rick."
"I-" His voice came out as a squeak so he cleared his throat and continued with, "Uh, yeah, goodnight."
He grabbed his jacket and walked towards the exit, his eyes never leaving her. When he groped for the handle and pulled the door open, he accidentally smashed himself in the forehead with it. At this unexpected action, Kate let out a blip of laughter mostly from the stunned look on his face. After insisting he was fine, he scurried from the room and Kate turned back to her bed still wearing the ear-to-ear grin, knowing it wouldn't leave her face until morning.
A/N: hope everyone has enjoyed the "slow burn" happening in this fic. As always, thank you so much for your reviews!
