AN: Chapter Five! Yay! I would like to add a disclaimer and say that I am by no means a professional writer and as you might have noticed English isn't my mother tongue so some facts might be inaccurate. Happy reading!
It can't be a Castle fanfiction without a murder, so let's see if it's an interesting one!
7:30 AM. Beckett got called into work for a case. She drove up to the crime scene, an apartment closeby the precinct. The boys had already arrived and were filling her in on the case. "Morning Beckett" Castle walked up to her with a cup of coffee, a grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar-free vanilla. He knew her usual drink, of course.
"Thanks Castle." Pretending like nothing was going on was apparently pretty easy for now.
"So our vic is Andy Marrel. He lives here." Espo said while walking up the flights of stairs.
"What happened?" Castle asked.
"We found the body with a gun laying next to it. Looks like a suicide, but some things indicate that it is in fact a homicide." Ryan explained.
As they walked trough the door of the apartment, crossed the yellow tape, and put on their gloves Lanie greeted them, or just Beckett this time. "Hey girl, how's it going?" She grinned at her best friend, knowing very well what was going on.
Beckett just smiled and switched subjects. "So what's the COD?"
"Well, it seems to be a suicide at first glance.. He was shot with a .38, here's the gunshot wound." She pointed to the side of the victim's head.
"But it's not a suicide?" Castle asked her.
"No, and I'll explain you why." Lanie told him. "There wasn't any gunshot residue found on the clothing of the victim. He could not have fired the gun himself. I'll have to take him to the lab to get you more details." As she explained further, the boys looked around the apartment for clues.
"Canvas this apartment block, people must have heard something." Beckett told the guys.
Kate was at her desk, grabbed the crime scene photos and put them on the murder board.
"Andy, Andy, what did you get yourself into?" Castle asked out loud.
"We'll find that out soon." As she was writing down his information on the white board, Castle leaned in a little. Not too close to seem suspicious, but close enough so that only Kate could hear him. "Want to get together tonight?"
"Castle!" She whispered with a mad undertone.
"What?"
"No talking about us in the precinct, okay?"
He just grinned as Lanie walked in. Usually Lanie did not go down to the precinct to share information, but this time she did it 'for the information' of course. She would not admit it to herself, but she just wanted to talk to her best friend.
"Hey Lane, so have you got some more information for us?" Beckett asked.
"Actually, yes. The toxicology report came back and he had quite the amount of alcohol in his system."
"Alcohol huh?" Beckett had to proces it for a moment.
"Yes, it's that liquid that makes you feel all giddy inside." Castle said out of sarcasm. He received a glare from both women.
"The rest of the tests haven't come back yet." Lanie explained.
"So you just came here to tell us about the alcohol? Lanie, you could've just called me." Kate knew what she was up to.
"I know girl, but I wanted to see you." She grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her to the empty break room.
"Finally I get to talk to you! So tell me, how was your weekend with Castle?" She practically whispered, knowing that Kate wasn't ready for the reveal to the whole precinct. Espo and Ryan she could handle, but the whole precinct? No, that didn't feel right.
"I am really glad you interfered. I know that I usually wouldn't say so, but I am." Kate smiled.
"Ahwww I'm so happy for the two of you!" Lanie had the biggest smile on her face.
"Thanks Lane. Could we maybe discuss this at my place over a glass of wine?" She suggested. The precinct was rather odd to have this conversation.
"Sure girl! When would you wanna get together?"
"I don't know. Would tonight work?"
"Yes of course! But won't you be with Castle?"
"Yeah we were going to get together, but we can meet after out little girls night."
"Great!"
"Okay, be at my place at 8?" Kate asked.
"Sure, see you tonight! And I wanna hear alllll about it."
"Alright then!" They said their goodbyes and Kate went back to the case.
When it was time for Kate to leave, Castle walked her out of the precinct and luckily no one was around. He put his hand on her back.
"So, when I am taking you an a proper date here in the city?" He asked.
"Lanie's coming over tonight, you could come over afterwards?" Of course he'd like that, he stopped her on the sidewalk and faced her.
"Would love to. I'll take you out another night and I promise, we're going to have the best time." Castle kissed Kate on the cheek and it made her blush. Her own boyfriend made her blush. Somehow it might have all been a little rushed, but it felt completely right. They had been connecting on a deeper lever for a while now, which only helped their relationship. They didn't feel like they had to explain themselves to one another or be someone that they're not.
"Can't wait!" She said and gave him a shy grin. She walked off to her apartment and to him she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He'd risk anything to be able to stay with her, although he did not want to rush anything. Being with her was more than enough for now and for that he was extremely grateful.
Around 8 o'clock Kate heard a knock at her door. She looked through the peephole of her door and let her best friend in.
"Hey Kate!" Lanie walked in the door, carrying a bottle of wine and hugged her.
"Hi!" Kate hugged her back and realized how much she needed a girl talk.
Lanie handed her the bottle of red wine and as Kate grabbed some glasses and she leaned on the countertop.
"Girl, I've already said this, but I'm so happy for the two of you. Now tell me all about your little getaway." Kate handed Lanie a glass and they walked back to the couch to get comfortable.
"Alright then." Kate said as they sat down and drank from her wine. "So he came over to my place and told me that it could just be a little weekend getaway among friends. I found it really kind of him to say that, but I knew if I went that we were automatically crossing that line. I was willing to try because it was to important not to."
"Girl, I kind of told him to say something similar. I knew you would probably go. Glad you gave it a chance."
"Me too." She slyly giggled and sipped some more wine. Lanie did the same.
"So how'd you have your first kiss? You've kissed right?" Lanie was all too curious.
"Yeah we have." She smiled. "We were in the pool and I had my hair in a bun, the hair tie got stuck, he helped me get it loose, as he was so close we couldn't resist and kissed."
"Ooffff girl! And did - you know - anything more happen?" Lanie gave her a saucy look.
'No, not yet. We had an amazing weekend, we're dating but we don't want to rush into things. We'd want to see how things would go back here in the city."
"And how are they going?" She pried.
"I mean we've only been working together for a day now and it's been fine. Thank god!" Kate laughed. It had been a while since Lanie had seen her friend so happy.
A few glasses of wine later, mostly emptied by Kate, she was going on and on about her and Castle's playful romantic phase. Lanie did not mind the gossip and she was just happy for her friend. Kate wasn't drunk, she would never get totally drunk because of what happened to her dad. The woman definitely knew what she was doing, but she was more than a little tipsy. Alcohol made her become more talkative and overall giggly.
"He's just such a great kisser Lane." She emphasized the 'such' to make sure that her friend got it.
"I bet! You really deserve this." Lanie emptied her glass.
There was a knock on the door, Kate got up and answered it. She had totally forgotten that Castle would come over at 11.
"Hey Castle!" Tipsy Kate swung her arms around him and planted a kiss on his lips, embracing him for a hug. She rested her head on his chest for a second. "We forgot track of time." Kate released from the hug and walked him into the living room, where Lanie was sitting.
"Hey Castle! It's my cue to go now. She had a couple glasses of wine." Lanie pointed at the bottle on the table and giggled.
"I figured." He just smiled. "Can I get you a cab?" He asked.
"No, it's alright thanks! I'm fine, Kate had more to drink than me." She looked at her friend who was basically buried into her boyfriend's chest.
"Hey!" Kate just said. "Okay it's true." One other thing that alcohol did to Kate was that it made her honest as hell.
"I had a great time girl, I'm happy for the two of you." She told Kate.
"Thank you." Kate and Rick basically said in unison.
Lanie let herself out and Castle wanted to know what details she had been discussing with her friend.
"So, what did you tell Lanie? All good things I hope?" He sat down on the couch.
Kate, sitting down next to him and resting her head and shoulders in his lap, answered honestly. "That you're a very good kisser."
"Oh I am, aren't I." He caressed her arm and gave her a peck on the cheek. She just swatted him with her hand on his arm.
"Ouch." He said unconvincingly.
AN: So this was more of an 'in between' chapter, that is why I decided to keep it a little shorter as well. I really wanted to capture Kate's feelings about the weekend getaway some more, since we didn't get that whole image of her in the previous chapters. Castle of course is crazy about her and always had been, but now there definitely are feelings developing from her side as well.
Hope you enjoyed!