Castle stood there, not knowing what to do with himself. Beckett had just left and he missed her already. At that moment Alexis chose to breeze through the door, her smile faltering slightly when she saw her dad standing in the middle of their living room, not doing anything.
'Dad, what are you doing?' She frowned, dumping her bag and coat by the door. Castle quickly jumped to life, walking round his couch to bring his daughter into a bone crushing hug.
'Alexis, you're home earlier than I thought you'd be! How was your evening?' He asked, thinking about how much of a close call that had been. He steered her towards the breakfast bar, suddenly noticing that he'd left his and Beckett's coffee mugs out. He inwardly cringed and hoped his daughter wouldn't notice.
'Dad, I know you said you'd be fine last night, but you don't have to lie to me,' She sighed looking up at him, shining her usual puppy-dog eyes at him.
'Alexis I was fine, really. I promise,' He replied, looking confused at her.
'Dad, you don't have to lie to me! I know that you barely slept last night. There are two coffee mugs out and you never have two cups unless you're super tired and when I walked in, you were just standing, staring.' She embraced him again. Castle thought this might be the perfect opportunity to disguise his new relationship with Beckett. Alexis was his daughter after all, she'd work this sort of stuff out pretty quickly. He pulled away from her before saying,
'Ok sweetie, it wasn't the best of nights but I'm glad you're home now,' He gave her a sad smile, getting into character, secretly laughing to himself.
'Oh dad, I'm going to stay home tonight. We can spend some time together; you need me more than Paige does!' She grinned up at him.
'NO.' He yelled a little too quickly. Alexis frowned up at him with her mouth open in surprise, a look of hurt flashing across her face, before starting to pull away. 'Oh sweetie, no I don't mean I don't want to spend time with you, it's just that I don't want you to be saddled with your old dad when you could be out with your friends having fun!' He babbled. All he could think about was Kate; he could still taste her and smell her, all he wanted was to see her again. His heart physically hurt thinking about her. He felt bad rejecting Alexis but they could spend time together another time, but it was all so new with Kate and he wanted to make sure they worked out. He was addicted to her already.
'Ok...Dad are you sure you're ok? Is there something you're not telling me? You're acting weird.' She sat down, raising her eye brow at him. Castle quickly shot back a grin, quickly depositing the mugs in the sink and running his hands through his hair.
'Really, I'm fine. I'll probably do another movie night. Maybe Lord of the Rings this time. What do you think? Anyway let me change quickly and then we can head out,' He said as he headed towards his bedroom.
'Sure dad.' She replied, still frowning at him but feeling slightly more positive that he wasn't about to have a nervous breakdown. 'I want to charge my camera so Paige and I can take some pictures tonight. Do you know where the charger is?' She asked.
'I think it's in my office desk pumpkin,' he shouted through his bedroom door. Castle was pulling on his jeans when his phone buzzed with a text message. Beckett. He smiled and opened it.
'Did you by any chance find my panties?'
His eyes bulged out of his head. She went home without any on. Oh god he was going to need another shower. He quickly sent back a reply.
'Please don't tell me you're going commando at the moment.' Her reply buzzed through a minute later.
';) no but seriously Castle, did you find them?'
Yep. He was definitely going to need that shower. He had a quick scan of his bedroom but couldn't see them anywhere. He shrugged and sent back his reply.
'Sorry, nope. But I'm not complaining if you ever decide to not wear them again ;)' He smirked, pulling on his coat.
'DAAAADDDD. Oh my God. Can you please not leave things like this lying around the house?' He heard Alexis groan. He wondered what she was talking about as he walked into his office to find his daughter holding Detective Beckett's panties on the end of a pencil. His face blushed crimson as he stuttered for words to explain this to his daughter.
'Err, um sorry. Um, yes, those. Um are from ages ago. Sorry. Sorry,' He stuttered out. Alexis gestured for him to take them and he hastily grabbed the scrap of lace off the end of the pencil and pocketed them quickly.
'Ok I'm going to forget this ever happened and go and freshen up real quick before we go,' she said, grimacing at him as she ran up the stairs. As soon as she disappeared, Castle let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. He picked up his phone and pressed his speed dial. She picked up after the second ring.
'I've found them,' He told her.
'Good, thanks. Why are you calling me Castle? Not that I don't want to talk to you,' She asked. He could hear the chuckle in her voice.
'Well. I lied actually. I didn't find them. Alexis did, in my office.' He said. There was a long pause before she simply uttered,
'Shit. Rick, are you joking? What did you say? What did she say? Does she know they're mine? Oh god, Castle,' She panicked down the phone. He could see she was on the verge of a mini mental breakdown so he hushed her.
'Kate, calm down. I've got them now. She doesn't know they're yours. She was just a bit grossed out.' Stop worrying.
'Ok, thank god. Sorry.' She murmured back. There was silence on both ends where both of them were breathing heavily. 'I miss you,' She whispered to him, scared she was revealing too much of her emotions. He sighed deeply too.
'Oh Kate, I miss you already. I wish I could see you now,' He whispered back, hearing her hum in agreement.
'I'll see you later though. Only a few hours.' She told him. God, she never thought she'd be so dependent on a man, literally not knowing what to do with herself without him. 'Have fun with Alexis, Castle. I'll see you later, ok?'
'Ok. See you later Kate,' he said smiling through the phone to her. He hung up and pocketed the phone as Alexis appeared.
'Ready?' He asked her.
'Yep,' She grinned back as he put his arm round her shoulders, shutting the door to the loft behind them.
Sorry there isn't much to this chapter, Castle/Beckett wise. But next chapter should hold some Lanie/Kate interaction and maybe more if I have time – exams sorry! Please review.