To the ACC, who are always around when I'm bored outta my brain on Friday nights and who I can ALWAYS count on for Facebook likes and comments to my random Castle status updates (and the honorary members who aren't Aussies, but are often included in our convos anyway).

This one's for Sam, who was my 300th reviewer. Always with nice things to say, and always with a prod and words of encouragement. Mostly the prod to get writing again. And the encouragement.

Victoria, who taught me everything I know about fanfic.

This is unbeta'd.

Enjoy =D

Chick Magnet

"He knows just what to say, when it comes to the ladies
knows how to make a girl smile
how to drive a girl crazy"

With the fan-girls and groupies, all it takes is one well-placed charming smile and look over the top of his (ridiculous, when he's inside) shades. Sometimes, he doesn't even need that. He's had girls flock to him simple because it's him. He's never questioned it, just abused his status, dating whomever and whenever he's wanted (as long as it doesn't clash with something Alexis wants to do with him. He can never say no to his little girl). The footloose-and-fancy-free lifestyle suited him. Alexis didn't get attached to random women who were only there for a good time, and he didn't fall for them and get his heart crushed in the process. It was easy and it was fun and it was what he wanted.

But with her his usual tricks haven't worked. It's like she's immune to his plots and ploys and as time's gone on, he's realised that he loves that. He has to be smarter, work harder, prove himself as a man, not just as someone who'll be there for the good times.

He's beginning to think he's winning her over.

…

With his mother all he's ever needed was a cheeky grin. It didn't matter what he'd done as a child, bringing out that smile, with his dimples, always made her forget. He could use any amount of words (well thought out and put together or otherwise), but even for him, they never worked as well without the smile. For years she had wanted him to follow in her footsteps, but he fell in love with the written word long before he realised what being in the public eye meant. He sometimes wonders what life would be like if he had followed his mother's footsteps. He'd be richer and far more famous than he was now. There'd be more girls and more parties and more fun.

But with her the smile just causes exasperation, an eye-roll, and (sometimes) an ear pinch. It's like she sees through the facade and the deflection that smile is meant to bring about. He either has to stop being a pain, or find a way to apologise properly; he's never been good at doing what he's told, so he's found a million different ways to make it up to her.

He's hoping he can find a million more.

…

With his daughter he's been a mother father, brother, sister, best friend and confidant. He's spent hours playing dolls, braiding hair, in play grounds, dressing up, dressing down… He's watched his way through every Disney movie ever made at least ten times. He's shifted from being a pillow to a blanket to a teddy bear and back again in the space of five seconds flat. He's had is heart broken by one red head more times than he can count, but he keeps going back because he knows without a doubt that Alexis is the best thing that's ever happened to him. He once wondered what it would be like to be a single father to a son, if that would be easier because he was a boy once too. He wouldn't have to worry about boys; he wouldn't know the different circumstances for different flavoured ice-cream. He wouldn't have to worry about his little girl getting hurt by anyone.

But with her he's never really sure what he is. It's like she changes her opinion of him several times a minute, shifting from one need to another. He knows they're friends. She's told him that a few times. He knows they're work partners. She may have only admitted it once, but once was enough. He knows he annoys her endlessly. She's complained often enough. He knows she trusts him with things she trusts no one else with. Johanna Beckett's case-file still sits on the desk in his home office.

He knows what he wants to be, but isn't sure she wants him to be that man.

XXX

Secretly, she gets a kick out of seeing him in his element. Watching him with his fans always brings a slow smile to her face. She can see just how much he loves talking to the less crazy ones. And, she's noticed his interactions with them have become more and more professional. She'll never admit to the ridiculous jealousy she used to feel when he chatted up other women. Just like she'll never admit to the perverse glee she feels when he shakes his head and refuses to sign some random woman's chest.

There's something inside her that twists when he smiles at her. She can feel a faint (very faint) blush creep up her neck when he looks at her over the top of his (ridiculous, when they're inside) shades. As time's gone on, she's realised that his plots and ploys make her squirm and smile and feel.

She's beginning to see the man behind the playboy writer.

…

Secretly, she's always been a little jealous of his relationship with his mother. She hates the twinge she occasionally feels when she sees them together. It's not his fault her mother was taken, but it is totally his fault she's never missed her mother more. She wouldn't ever hold it against him, because she can see the effort and the work they've put into their relationship. The more time she spends with them, the more similarities she sees in them, the more she sees between herself and her mother. She wonders if either of them realise that it's because of their easy relationship that she feels less and less guilty about not being able to close her own mother's case.

She wonders if he realises he uses the same smile when he's trying to win her over, as he does when he's trying to suck up to his mother. At first it kind of worried her, that he may see her as some sort of mother figure. But she's come to realise it's her authority that he reacts to. She wonders if he realises just how much he's changed since he started following her. He's less annoying and more helpful and far better at recognising when he's gone too far. She rolls her eyes far less during the day and has had to threaten him with physical pain on fewer occasions. She idly wonders if she's becoming so used to his million-and-one-ways-to-annoy-Kate-Beckett game that he can't annoy her anymore.

She's actually looking forward to him finding a million more.

…

Secretly, she fell for him the minute she saw him with his daughter. Though she'll never tell him, she's always been a sucker for a guy who was openly great with kids (yeah, bad boys are fun. But they're bad). She'll never admit to the surprise she felt when she realised just how well adjusted his daughter is, considering who her father is. She'll never admit that knowing he did almost all of it on his own made her heart break just a little for them. His capacity for innocence still surprises her sometimes, but she enjoys his child-like wonder and excitement for life.

She wonders if he knows just how much he means to her. She's jaded and cynical but she can feel the small changes in herself. She's often stumbled upon random things in her day-to-day life and imagined what his reaction would be. And when she imagines his reaction, she's realised she ends up wearing that same childish grin. She looks forward to seeing him every day, and she wonders if he realises just how much light he's brought into her life.

She wonders if he realises he's the kind of man she's always wanted.

XXX

There's something depressing about the way fan-girls and groupies still flock to him. He can't lose his winning smile or his trademark (ridiculous, when inside) shades, because they're a big part of Rick Castle: author, even if they have nothing to do with Rick Castle: man. He remembers dating whomever and whenever, as long as those dates didn't clash with an Alexis date. He had a lot of fun during his footloose-and-fancy-free days. Alexis didn't get attached and he didn't get hurt and it had been what he wanted. At the time.

But, that life pales in comparison to the one he's living now. He was smart and he worked hard and he proved himself. He was there for the good times, and he held her through the bad and he finally won her over.

She doesn't bother to hide the jealous gleam when women hang off him, just like she doesn't hide the perverted glee she feels when they realise he's with her. She doesn't even hide the blush that creeps up her neck when he looks at her over the top of his ridiculous shades, because she loves the man behind the playboy writer.

…

There's something endearing in the way his mother still mothers him. She fusses and bothers and flaps around him, and he just sits (or stands) there wearing that little boy grin and let's her. They both think they're humouring the other. That he lets her act like that, because she didn't do it enough when he was a kid. That she does it because it's what she thinks he has come to expect, and he teases her just for this reaction. That his little boy grin is his way of telling her everything is fine, and will always be fine. He doesn't realise that his words have a far greater effect on her. It's his words that alert her to his happiness or his pain.

It doesn't take long, but she finds that the jealously she sometimes felt is completely miss-placed. Not only does his mother dote on him and his daughter, she soon realises that the older woman dotes on her, too. She receives tight hugs and light arm pats. She sees the grateful looks and realises his mother puts a lot of faith in her, in the field. She realises that even if he comes home safe every night, his mother isn't completely satisfied until he tells her that she's safe, too. That gaping hole in her heart has slowly been closed with the love from three of the most unlikely people.

She pretends things annoy her, just to see their smiles.

…

There's something about a father and daughter together that tugs at everyone's heart strings. He would do anything for his little girl, if it meant keeping her safe and happy. He'd go to the ends of the earth and back a million and seventy times if it meant he got to see her smile. The one thing he couldn't do was make her mother stay, and he hates that he can still see the fat tears that rolled down her face. He remembers every single time she broke down, after realising her mother wouldn't be there for Christmas, or a birthday, or a performance. It's the only area he feels like he's ever failed his daughter. That's why he kept the girls away. But she is so different, and they get along so well, and he doesn't know what he'd do if she hadn't been there for them. Offering advice or regaling them with anecdotes from her younger years.

She sees a little (really, very little) bit of herself in his daughter. She doesn't know why or how it's there, but it is and it makes her wonder. He told her once before that should anything happen to him, he wants her to look after his daughter. At the time she felt like it was a hell of a lot of trust placed upon shoulders that weren't ready. But after spending hours with the two of them, she can see what he saw. The girl looked up to her, and they had filled a void in each other's lives that neither were fully aware was missing.

It took a while, but they finally realised they were each other's perfect.

He drives her crazy, but he makes her smile. He lit up her life, and she's finally realising that she's done the same for him. He may have had women throwing themselves at him, but there's only three he let fully into his life. And he chose her.

Chick Magnet – MxPx

(p.s. not entirely sure I like this one, but I'll leave it up to you guys...)
(OH! And, totally saw these guys sing this song live way back in March... Was sooo epic!)