A/N: I have no excuses that can make up for this. Quarantine has me doing some crazy things: like picking up old habits again. I really hope that you are all doing well. I've already had Corona at 25 and it's not the flu like some people out there believe, so unless you want to ruin your lungs... Stay home and stay safe. x

I'm going to need another drink. He said to himself, downing his glass.

There she was. In front of him, dancing as if her life depended on it. It made him realise a couple of things he should've known already. First of all, Kate Beckett had absolutely needed a night off from everything going on at home. She deserved it. The second thing was that he was in awe about every single thing that she did. At this particular moment he was captivated by her dance moves. Lastly; Kate Beckett really was extremely hot.

That, and that he really needed to buy his jeans a size bigger in the future, but that might have some other reasons then his horrible dieting habit.

He could feel their eyes on her.

Rick really wished that he was the kind of guy that could bust out some awesome dance moves, but he really wasn't that kind of guy. Instead of joining the girls on the dance floor, he had stayed behind at their VIP table, nursing a scotch.

He flagged a waiter and ordered another round for the table. As the waiter left to fulfill the order, Kate settled in beside him, heavily leaning against him.

She grinned at him, oh yeah she was definitely a bit tipsy. ''You know, the staring gets old.''

He pulled her even further into his side, his mouth near her ear. ''You want me to do something about it?''

''I haven't decided yet.'' She said, trying to keep a straight face. He pulled her even close and kissed the top of her head.

''Well then, I'm just going to keep doing it.''

''It's not like you would actually stop if I told you to.'' He shook his head; she was probably right anyway. She hesitated for a second. ''Why don't you join me on the dance floor?''

''I don't dance-'' He saw the look on her face and completely forgot that he, in fact, had two left feet. Screw it, he said, loud enough for her to hear. He pulled her up and walked over to where her friends were dancing.

He tried to keep his distance, he really did, but there is only so much self-control that a man can truly have. It didn't help that Kate had grabbed his hands and guided them to her hips. Though he thoroughly enjoyed dancing with Kate this intimately, there was a small voice in the back of his mind telling him that she might have had a bit too much to drink.

Kate saw a flash from the corner of her eye, but didn't pay any attention to it, not with him so close to her. The music was deafening, and she couldn't hear what he was saying. She turned in his arms and found him holding her gaze.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her even closer. He leaned into her, planning on telling her that was going to take a sip of his drink. Mainly to let himself, and his thoughts, cool down. Kate, on the other hand, had other ideas.

Kate claimed his mouth swiftly. Gone was the soft peck they had shared a few weeks ago. Rick had to take a step back to deal with his surprise. Once recovered he kissed her back as passionately as she had. His tongue traced her lower lip to get access to her mouth. She quickly granted him access. His hand had moved from her hip onto her lower back. He pulled back to watch her and she slowly opened her eyes again. She could see the lust in his eyes, testing the waters he softly bit her lower lip. He kissed her again before pulling back.

They could hear people 'woo-ing' in the background and they quickly looked around them to find her friends staring at them intently.

''We aren't dating, huh?'' Lanie threw her own words back at her while smiling. Javier had come up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and had laid his head on her shoulder.

Kate bit on her lip to keep herself from lashing out to Lanie. This was so not the place nor the time to have this conversation. Castle figured it would be a good idea to kiss her on the top of her head again. She let herself relax in his arms again. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to their table in the corner of the crowded room. Kate put her hand firmly on his thigh and it made him jump. He was about to say something when they were rudely interrupted by Kate's friends who had joined them at the table. The empty glasses had already been replaced by full ones. The group sat down and Lanie immediately turned to her friend.

''At this rate I'm not so sure how I'm going to pay for my share of liquor this evening.'' She laughed as she took another sip of her cocktail. Kate suddenly became quite pale. ''Kate, what's wrong?'' Lanie shook her softly.

''Honestly, I don't feel too good.'' Kate managed to get out as she quickly stood up. Rick was right behind her

''Easy girl.'' He grabbed her by her waist. ''Let's get out of here. Do you remember where you left your purse?'' Kate shook her head. Lanie held up the purse and immediately handed it to Rick. He mouthed a thank you and started heading to the exit.

It didn't take long for Kate to empty her stomach once they'd made it out of the club. He could hear her mumble something that sounded like a sorry and he wanted to say that she shouldn't be, but he had lost his words as he looked at her and held her hair back. He hailed a cab and told the man his address. Kate was surprisingly quiet as he sat down next to her. He put his arm around the headrest, letting her curl up into his side.

''Rick, I-'' She grabbed her head and leaned forward on the couch. If her head wasn't trying to kill her, she probably would've made a joke about him taking her home. He sat down in front of her, gently taking her hands from her head and intertwined their fingers together.

''We were both there Kate, there's nothing to be sorry for. Hell, I've had a few drinks too, but something tells me that you don't do this quite often.'' She laughed and immediately grimaced. He kissed her hand gently. ''Now listen, I'm going to run you a bath and make some coffee. Maybe get something to eat. There must still be a place open to deliver some food on an early Saturday morning.''

''Shit, is it that late?'' Rick just nodded, a small smile on his lips. ''Fuck Rick, I have to work tomorrow.''

''We'll see about that, won't we?'' At this point he wouldn't even want to think about what Jim and Johanna had to say about this situation. ''I think that you've just had the worst part of the pre-hangover so let's get you settled.''

''I- Thank you.'' He left her alone for a minute, only to return with a bottle of Gatorade and a few aspirin. ''It's a nice place you've got here.'' She joked.

He laughed softly. ''I wish you could have seen it under different circumstances.''

''Are you telling me that we had your apartment for ourselves, but I'm too hangover to act on it?'' She groaned. ''I said that out loud, didn't I?''

Uncharacteristically for Rick, he decided not to react. He had trouble hiding his cocky smile, however.

''Alright, just drink this, will you?'' She grabbed the bottle from his hand and greedily took a gulp. ''The food will be here in half an hour, so how about you go and take that bath? I left some clothes for you to wear on my bed and there's even an extra toothbrush in case you need one.''

''Thank you.''

The bath had definitely worked for Kate. She felt a lot better, but it was then that her stomach reminded her of the food she had been promised. She heard him knock on the door softly. ''Beckett, dinner is here. Or, well, breakfast. Depends on how you want to see it.''

''I'll be right there.'' Kate stepped out of the bathtub and dried herself before she wrapped the towel around herself. She quickly realized that she'd forgotten to take his clothes into the bathroom with her.

Kate opened the door to look at a very surprised Rick standing next to the pile of clothes.

''Wow. I uh- forgot to grab you some socks.'' He stammered as he ran his hand through his hair. ''I'll be over there.'' He moved towards the door but turned around at the last moment. ''Hold up, I just have to look at you one more time.''

She laughed. ''Stop it. I'll be right there.''

He'd seen her half naked and he'd managed to find some words. Not the most intelligent ones he'd ever spoken, but at least some words came out. When she walked into the kitchen wearing nothing but his boxers and an extra-large plain black shirt, Rick was unable to find any word whatsoever. It made him smile even more when he realized that she'd left off the pajamas shorts he'd left of the bed for her.

Instead he just handed her a box of food and tried to dig in himself. Except he wasn't that hungry anymore. Kate had dug in immediately and sat down on one of the bar stools. He decided to follow here example and sat down next to her.

He scraped his throat, hoping it would help his brain function again. ''I wasn't sure what you wanted so I got a bit of everything. There's also a pizza if you'd prefer that. I even got the restaurant to make some fries if you preferred that instead.''

''You got a Chinese restaurant to make you pizza and fries?'' He nodded with a grin on his face. ''Do I wanna know?''

''I know a guy and he happened to owe me a favour.'' He stated smugly.

They ate dinner slash breakfast in silence. It was close to four a.m. and Kate was starting to break down again. Thankfully, the carbs had soaked up most of the alcohol. Or at least, she'd liked to believe that it had. Once done, Rick taken the rest of the food and put it in the fridge. After having cleaned the counter and making a fresh batch of coffee, Rick sat down

''I can't believe I'm going to ask you this, but did your parents expect you to come home tonight?''

''I told them I would stay at Lanie's before we left.''

He raised his brow. ''And she bought that?''

''Well, Rick, that was my actual plan until you showed up at my door and joined us.''

''I'm sorry for ruining your night.''

Giving the headache that Kate was nursing, it came out a little more agitated than it should've. She immediately realized her mistake. ''Oh no, that's not how I meant that.''

''You wanted a night out with friends, I get it. Don't worry about it.''

She turned the bar stool to look at him, but he was doing a good job of avoiding eye contact with her. ''Really, Rick, baby- that's not how I meant it. It came out wrong. I really loved that you went out with us. It was nice to see that side of you as well.''

''Kate. Did you just call me baby?'' He turned his chair to face her.

She chuckled. ''That's what you picked up from that?''

A smile began to form on his face again. ''Well, yeah.'' She had unconsciously moved her hand onto his thigh. She'd been doing that a lot this evening, he realized.

''I'll get us some coffee, and then we're going to try to sleep.'' He said as he stood up from his place, desperate to calm his mind. ''Separately. Katherine Beckett- I never-''

Kate stood up from her place as well and sat down on the counter opposite of Rick. She waited patiently as he grabbed two mugs and filled them up with coffee. He stepped in front of her view for a second before smugly handing her the mug.

She took a sip and was surprised by the flavor. ''You have sugar-free vanilla syrup at home?'' He shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. She put her mug down next to her and gently pulled at his shirt for him to step closer as well. She took the mug from his hand and set it down next to her. She opened her legs for him to step between them. Instinctively, he laid his hands on her thighs, copying her move from earlier. Kate was still pulling at his shirt until he couldn't step any closer. She put her arms around his neck and slowly went in for the kiss.

Rick, who was already on the verge of losing his cool, kissed her back passionately as he moved his hands to her waist. Kate grabbed a hand full of his hair and pulled him even closer. Their bodies connected and Rick couldn't help but stifle a moan. She felt him pressing against her desperately and bucked against him. Kate moaned at the contact. His hands moved onto her ass, squeezing her cheeks and pressing her tightly against him.

''We have to stop. Not because I want to, but you know-'' He looked down awkwardly. She followed his eyes and blushed. ''And you're still not completely sober. Neither am I now that I've come to think of it.''

Both of them tried to catch their breath as they avoided eye contact. That was a new one. They hadn't crossed this boundary before.

''Let's talk sleeping arrangements.'' He took a deep breath. ''I'm going to sleep on the couch, because frankly I don't trust myself right now.'' He said honestly.

''Rick, I'm tired. You're tired. You're not sleeping on the couch, we're adults and we can share a bed. Have you seen the actual size of your bed?''

He stayed silent for a moment. ''I'm not entirely sure I can say no to anything you ask me at this point.''

''That's good, because I've really wanted a puppy for quite a long time now.'' He laughed as she grabbed his hand and let him to his bedroom.

The coffee stood forgotten on the counter.