After spending the entire day Sunday relaxing with Rick and Alexis, Kate had spent Sunday evening at home before having to go back to work on Monday. She arrived at the precinct expecting to have a case waiting and was surprised to find that the team hadn't picked one up all weekend.
"Sometimes we're just lucky like that," Blythe said to her. "But I can guarantee we'll have a body before lunch."
"Right," Kate said. "Well, I'm going to go up to the gym. Call me if we catch anything."
She had decided that while she had a few hours to spare, she would use them wisely and get some extra training in. After about an hour she felt like she'd done enough and went to have her shower before returning to her desk. Taking the last few steps down to the homicide floor she noticed someone sitting at her desk. It only took a few seconds for her to realise who it was.
"Rick?" she said walking towards him. "What are you doing here?"
"I brought you coffee," he said, turning towards her voice with a take away coffee cup in his hand. "Grande skim latte, two pumps sugar-free vanilla, just how you like it."
"You've memorised my coffee order?" she said taking the cup.
"Yeah. You'd be surprised at all the little things I've noticed and remembered about you," he said. "Like your favourite colour is purple, you enjoy strawberry milkshakes, your favourite flower is the gerbera because they're bright and lively, you bite your bottom lip, like you are now, when you're either nervous or when you're…"
"Okay," she said stopping him before he finished the sentence. "Thank you."
"So, you got a case? Anything I can help with?" he asked with excitement.
"You really want in on a case, don't you?"
He nodded with a huge grin.
"Sorry to disappoint you Castle, no case at the moment."
"Maybe another time then?" he asked hopefully.
Kate narrowed her eyes at him. She knew exactly what he was up to. She remembered him mentioning a ride along back when they were in the Hamptons and she had a feeling he was searching for an invitation to join them on a case.
"We'll see. But if you've got nothing to do at the moment, I'd love for you to come with me somewhere."
"Where?"
"Trust me, you'll love this place. It's right up your alley."
"What are we waiting for then? Let's go."
Kate quickly found Blythe and told him where she was going and that she would be back shortly. A few minutes later, she was leading Rick away from the homicide floor to go and visit Lanie.
When Kate entered the morgue Lanie was just writing up some details from an autopsy.
"Hey Lanie," Kate called out.
"Hey girl," Lanie said jumping slightly in surprise. "I wasn't expecting you this morning. What's up?"
"Not much," Kate said. "We don't have a case so I thought I'd stop by and see…"
"Kate," Lanie said, stopping Kate mid sentence. "Don't look now, but there's a guy just out the door, and he looks just like that author, you know the one? He writes murder mysteries. Really good looking and known to be quite the lady's man. What's his name?" She paused for a second, "Richard Castle, that's the one. Oh, and he's coming this way."
Lanie looked like she was going to burst watching Rick and trying to decide if he was just another nice looking man or if he really was this author that she thought he looked like. She didn't like the fact that Lanie had used the words 'lady's man' to describe him, but she knew him better than that. Nevertheless, Kate couldn't wait to see Lanie's reaction when she discovered why he was there.
Kate could hear footsteps behind her and she knew Rick had entered the room. Lanie stood in a stunned silence, her eyes looking like they were almost ready to pop out of her head as Kate heard Rick getting closer to them.
She quickly turned to face him before he got too close. "Rick, I thought I told you to wait outside. I was going to come back to get you," she smiled.
"But why would I wait outside, when all the dead bodies are in here," he said quickly walking over to some of the instruments on Lanie's desk. "This is so cool," he said enthusiastically picking one up and studying it.
Lanie finally found her voice again and was able to move. She took the couple of steps towards Kate and placed her hands on her arms. "That is your Rick?" she said quietly.
Kate nodded and bit on her bottom lip. "That's my Rick."
"Richard Castle is your Rick? Why didn't you say that? Oh my goodness. Seriously girl. He is fine."
Rick couldn't help but overhear the ladies talking and went to join them. "Hi, you must be Lanie," he said holding his hand out to shake it.
"Lanie, this is Rick. Rick… Lanie," Kate said as they shook hands.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Rick said and then moved to stand beside Kate with his hand resting on the small of her back.
"You too," Lanie nodded.
"So, you're a medical examiner right?" Rick asked. "Got any dead bodies in here?"
"Castle!" Kate scolded.
"What?" he asked. "I thought maybe I could do some research while I'm here."
"We came to meet Lanie, not to pick her brain."
"Oh, I don't need to pick her brain. I'd like to pick a dead persons brain though. Seriously, how awesome would that be."
"That's disgusting," she said shaking her head.
"Oh, I know," he said not losing any excitement.
"I can't believe you actually want to pick at a dead persons brain," Kate said screwing up her nose. She saw dead bodies all the time, but did not understand Rick's fascination with wanting to study them.
"I can't believe you love me, but you do," Rick shrugged and Kate couldn't help but find him endearing. "Some things are just inexplicable"
"You are a strange man," Kate said swinging herself around to stand before him and she wrapped her arms around his middle, "but you're right, I do love you." She reached up on her toes and kissed him before resting her forehead against his, completely forgetting where they were and who was around them.
Lanie had watched them stunned. She couldn't believe Kate hadn't mentioned that her Rick was the famous author, Richard Castle. She had to admit though, they were very cute together, and so very much in love. It was obvious they were meant for each other. Even when Kate was trying to be angry, annoyed or disgusted with Rick, it was obvious she actually found him charming.
Kate and Rick were not aware of how long they stood together but when they heard Lanie clear her throat they quickly parted remembering where they were.
"As cute as you two are and all," Lanie said. "I actually have a job to get back to."
"Sorry Lanie." Kate said. "I should probably get back to the precinct. We just wanted to stop by quickly to say hi."
Lanie smiled at her friend. "Thanks. Drinks again this week?" she asked.
"Hey, if you're not doing anything Thursday night," Rick said. "We're having family dinner if you'd like to join us."
Kate looked wide-eyed at Rick.
"If that's okay with Kate," Lanie said noticing the look she had given Rick.
"Yeah, that's fine." Kate said turning to Lanie with a smile.
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to be intruding."
"Yeah, no, it's fine. I guess Rick here just surprised me when he asked you. I'd love you to join us."
"Great!" Rick said, making it final. "I'll see you Thursday Lanie. I'm sure Kate can give you the details later."
"Thanks."
As they left the room, Kate turned to Rick, "You invited her to family dinner?" she said.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I can find some way to take the offer back if you'd like. I didn't think you'd mind."
"No, it's great Rick. It's like I said to Lanie, you surprised me. I just wasn't expecting it. I never really expected you to want to be friends with my friends, it's actually really sweet. Thank you."
Kate smiled as she wove her fingers through Ricks, and placed a kiss to the back of his hand.
Rick turned and kissed her temple. "Always."
The next few days flew by fairly fast, Kate had picked up a new case Monday morning, just before lunch as Blythe had expected and it kept her busy most of Monday afternoon and night. She knew she had to try and do a better job of balancing her work and her life than she had done previously so she made sure she left work at a reasonable time on Tuesday to have dinner and stay the night with Rick. She was waiting outside the loft when Rick arrived home from a meeting and she knew immediately that he had been a little upset that she hadn't used her key to get in. She just couldn't bring herself to use it just yet. She'd held it in the palm of her hand thinking about it for a while, but for some reason she just couldn't convince herself to actually use it. As much as the loft felt like home, she could only focus on one thing at a time, and she was trying to focus on the balancing of work and life. She couldn't focus on moving in or taking steps towards that right now. She knew it was stupid and she knew she couldn't keep holding back from Rick, that she had to give him something after everything he was giving her, but she really hoped he would continue to be patient and she would get there.
Wednesday they had been chasing down leads all day and she was exhausted by the time she was leaving the precinct, so she had just gone straight home to bed.
Thursday morning came quickly, and she thought she was doing a fairly good job balancing everything. There was time for work, time for rest and time for Rick. She'd even managed to fit a phone call in with her father.
Rick had come into the precinct every morning with a coffee, even on Wednesday morning after she'd spent the evening with him. He said he enjoyed bringing her coffee because he loved to see the smile on her face when she took it from him. Kate thought it had more to do with him wanting to help with the case. Each time he came he asked the same questions. 'Can I help?', 'Is there anything I can do?'. He occasionally saw the white board and sprouted some wild theories about who he thought the killer could be. His favourite was 'the butler did it' but when Kate asked him why, his answer was simply, 'it's always the butler.'
Kate would never admit it to Rick but some of his insights had actually been quite helpful and she'd made sure to follow up a few things that she would never have thought of herself. Unfortunately, it still hadn't solved their case by Thursday evening like Kate had hoped. The open case wasn't going to stop her from going to family dinner this week though. She was determined to be there for the entire dinner this time.
She packed up what she had been working on and closed her computer down but was called into the Captains office before she left.
"Detective Beckett?" he said. "Going home?"
"Yes sir, I have family dinner. I can't miss this one."
Captain Montgomery smiled and Kate was a little shocked. She thought, for sure, he was going to make her stay when he had called her into the office.
"Well, I wont be keeping you long. I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done this week."
"But sir, we haven't even solved the case?"
"No, but your work. It's different. You seem to be more focused and relaxed, you're getting more rest which is good to see, I was always a little worried when you stayed so late, and well, this week you've been different and you've even come up with some interesting ideas. You've got an open mind and are thinking outside the box. I like that. It'll be very useful when it comes to leading your own cases."
"Thank you sir, but I actually believe you should be congratulating Rick. He's been stopping in every morning and seeing things that we've missed. Admittedly, some of his ideas are completely crazy, but some, not so crazy, so I've followed them up. "
"Well then, make sure you pass on my thanks. And now, I guess I should let you get to dinner. Have a great night detective."
"Thank you Captain," Kate said as she turned to leave.
Just before she stepped out of the office, the captain called out to her again.
"Beckett."
"Yes sir," she responded turning her head towards him.
"I hope Rick knows how lucky he is."
"No sir, I'm the lucky one."
Kate stood outside Rick's door for a moment. She could hear voices inside, it sounded like her father was there making Alexis giggle the way she remembered she giggled when she was younger. She pulled out the key she had placed in her pocket and stared at it. It was only a key. It didn't mean she was saying yes to moving in right away, it didn't mean anything more than what she already knew. Rick cared for her, he wanted her to feel welcome at all times. He wanted his home to be comfortable for her, that's all it was. And when she thought about it, that's exactly how she felt. She always felt welcome and was just as comfortable there as she was in her own apartment. It was just a key. She placed it in the door and turned, slowly pushing the door open.
Kate had expected Alexis to come running at her as soon as she walked in the door, but she was still pre occupied. Instead, she was met by Rick, who quietly walked towards her with a tender smile.
"You used your key," he said as he brushed her hair behind her ear and the cupped her cheek in his hand.
"I used my key," Kate repeated placing her hand over his.
Rick could sense her nervousness. Using a key probably shouldn't have been a big deal, but for them it was. It was like climbing up one more rung on a ladder, closer to the end goal.
"One step at a time," Rick said before leaning in to taste her lips.
They separated before either could lose themselves in the kiss knowing there were other family members nearby and Rick went back to the kitchen while Kate went to say hi to the others.
After Kate had said hi to Martha and Alexis, Jim pulled her aside for a minute. "I couldn't help but notice you used your key, Katie. Does this mean…?"
"No," Kate stopped him. "I still don't know about that. I'm thinking about it. I want to, and I know I will, I just don't know if I'm ready yet. We're just taking it step at a time. Let me get used to having a key, and then I'll think about what comes next," she said.
Jim kissed his daughter on the cheek and let her go again. He understood what she was doing. She'd been in relationships before where they had exchanged keys, but moving in was completely different. She'd never gotten to that stage before, so he could understand her uncertainty. It was a big step for her to have to let go of her own apartment and a lot of her belongings, especially when the relationship still was quite new. He had a feeling it wouldn't be long before she was ready to take that step, but he also knew she had to get there herself.
Kate went to join Rick in the kitchen to see what she could do to help but found that Rick was just about finished with getting the food ready.
"What time is Lanie coming?" Rick asked.
"She should be here any minute."
"Great. Dinner is just about ready. I hope you're hungry. I may have gone a little overboard again."
Kate laughed. "Isn't that what you always do?"
Rick lifted one arm over Kate's shoulders and pulled her into his side. "I guess I do."
Kate remained under Ricks arm and they worked together to put the finishing touches on the meal. It was like they were one body working together.
"The captain called me into his office today, before I left," Kate said suddenly.
"Really? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, he wanted to congratulate me."
"You solved the case?"
"No, he said I was thinking outside the box."
"Oh, you were, were you?"
"Don't worry. I told him it was all you. And I guess I just wanted to say thanks. We may not have solved the case, but your ideas have given us leads I don't think we would have found without you," she said honestly. "You're actually more helpful than I thought you'd be," Kate added now pulling away from his body and looking up at him surprising herself that she was admitting such a thing.
"Well, you know I'd still love that ride along."
Kate rolled her eyes. "We'll see. Let's just give it some time okay."
Just as they were about to start carrying the food over to the table there was a knock at the door.
"Kate, could you like to get that?"
As Kate made her way to the door, it dawned on her that she was now answering not her door, but his. It didn't matter that it was her friend coming to join them, this was still Rick's loft. She hadn't said yes to moving in yet, and she was already answering his door.
"Don't think I'm not on to you, Mr Castle!" Kate said as she reached the door.
Well Lanie finally met Rick. YAY! I know Kate is taking her time with the moving in thing but don't worry... I'm sure she'll get there.
I have lots of sewing to do over the weekend, and rehearsals for the show our creative arts academy is putting on... I'm hoping that I'll still be able to get some writing done as well.. it's going to be busy busy busy! Let's hope I get some sleep in there too!
