Again, the characters are not mine and I do not own the show Castle, just a fan. Here is the second chapter to the story. This chapter has a little flirty banter but nothing too extravagant. I promise it will pick up soon.

They land and head to baggage claim, Castle is busy talking away about his house, how she will love it, and how much fun they are going to have. He is thrilled to have the girl of his dreams coming with him to the Hamptons. He is so caught up in the thought of going; he doesn't notice Beckett busy texting away on her phone.

She hears him, but isn't listening. She doesn't have to. His voice is calming, and soothing like an expensive massage. She could listen to him go on forever. She was texting Lanie about her upcoming trip that spontaneously got planned.

-hey, just landed back in JFK

-hey! How was your vacay with writer boy?

-better than I thought. guess what I just agreed to?

-a week off of work and a weekend for two at the spa?

-No haha. A weekend in the Hampton's with Castle

-Wow that is pretty surprising. What about Josh?

-Don't think its going to work out with us. He's great, but its too hard to spend time together.

-very true. You and castle are a much better match. We've all been waiting for this for a long time!

-We aren't together. We'll just see how this weekend goes.

-Well just saying… Its about time you guys were together. Go for it Kate!

-Thanks. Do me a favor and keep this between us?

-Of course! C u soon!

After leaving baggage claim they start to head to the street to hail a taxi. Just as they get ready to walk outside, Kate still looking down at her phone bumps into someone

"I'm sorry I wasn't paying…."

"Kate? "

"Josh, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing"

"It's….uhh…it's a long story"

Castle sensing the awkwardness, "I'll just give you guys a minute" He steps away a few feet, deciding to force himself not to eavesdrop by calling Alexis. Maybe talking to her will distract him from a conversation he knew he wanted to hear.

"Care to give me the short version? I've been calling you for days, trying to get ahold of you.

"We were catching my friend's murderer in LA. Where are you going?"

"Somalia, for Doctors without Borders"

"Off to save the world again?"

"Yeah pretty much"

"Listen, we need to talk. I know you're a great guy, but this is way too hard. We shouldn't have to struggle so much just to spend time with each other. I wish this could work out but I just don't think it can. I'm sorry"

"You're right. It is too hard. We both deserve better. Besides, I think I know what you've been after all along"

"And what is that?"

"Apparently you found it in LA"

She paused, turned and faced Castle. Still on the phone, he gave her a glance, searching her expression to make sure everything was ok. Her smile reassured him, she turned back around, stares at the ground blushing and pushing her hair back around her ear

"Yeah…" she replies, "...I guess I did"

Back at the 12th everything has quieted down with Royce's murder solved. The week goes by, and no new murders. It's Thursday and Castle hasn't been there all week. Beckett missed his quirks and his wild theories. She just missed him in the chair beside her desk. It made her uneasy to see that chair empty. Esposito and Ryan seem to be waiting for Beckett to tell them something. She set a few folders down on her desk, put her hands on her hips and glared at the two of them. She let a long sigh escape and rolled her eyes.

"What?"

"We were just wondering if you had any plans this weekend" Esposito said with the worst poker face imaginable.

Beckett glares at the duo, "Who told you?"

"Told us what?" Ryan responds, "we just thought that this weekend you might have some special plans like oh, I don't know, going somewhere with someone…?"

"No, I don't have any plans, and even if I were, how is it your business who I…" she pauses mid-sentence like she forgot was she was saying, something had caught her eye. She sees him walking off the elevator and towards the now speechless detective. The one person in the world who can take her breathe away and give her new life.

"Yeah you're right, it's definitely none of our business" Ryan says over her shoulder, walking behind her, laughing at her being caught with her foot-in-her-mouth.

"Good Afternoon detective" he says as he places a warm, fresh cup of coffee in her hand. He loved to hand her a warm cup of joy. He did it just to see that beautiful smile illuminate her and give a glimpse of the wonderful personality she so desperately attempted to conceal.

"Hey Castle, what are you doing here? There haven't been any cases all week. Finally here to do your share of paper work?"

"Ha, only if by do it, you mean completely ignore it" he jokes, but actually serious "No, truth be told, I had a bit of writers block so I thought I'd come down here and see if there was a murder I could distract myself with"

"Sorry Castle, no dead bodies to distract yourself with today. We've been pretty murder free this week; it's a nice change of pace. I can get home at a decent hour." Kate is standing over her desk, moving things around, organizing the endless stacks of paper work. Castle comes over and sits in his chair next to her desk, which always grabbed her attention, at least for a second. And he knew it too, because he always cracked a half smile and observed her after sitting down, unless something was wrong.

"That must be quite a change for you. No murders…and you? Getting home at a decent hour? The world must be coming to an end. Just be ready for more murders when the zombies rise from their graves"

"Ok, but even if zombies existed, I wouldn't be worried, because unlike you, I…" she slams a stack of papers right by him "…have a gun"

"Hmm…good point. Looks like I'll have to be very close to you when this goes down"

"I don't think you'll have to worry about it for quite some time Castle" she jokes.

Their flirtatious banter always got the better of them both, and even on the topic of something as crazy as zombies got them flustered and blushing. They found such comfort in those conversations. At certain points in extremely hard cases it was a great break and quite soothing for their nerves like a therapeutic bubble bath.

"So…" he says, seizing the moment of attraction between them. She looked just to the left, inquisitively his way. "Are we still going to the Hamptons for vacation this weekend?"

"Castle, I don't know. Wouldn't that make it look like we were dating or something? Me going with you to the Hamptons for the weekend? I mean, Ryan and Esposito already know. I think it would be a little weird."

"Wait…How do they know?" He pauses for a second and looks at Beckett.

"Lanie" they both say at the same time, smiling at their mutual thoughts they so often had.

"Are you suggesting that dating me would be so bad?"

"Of course not, it's just that…"

"Look, if you want to go to the Hamptons, then go. Don't worry about what everyone else thinks. This is your decision. If you want to go, go. If not, then don't. It's not like my place in the Hamptons is going anywhere" He pauses "at least I hope not."

She smiled at the immaturity in his tone, and said "you know what? Yeah, let's do it"

"Great. I'll pick you up from work tomorrow afternoon"

Hope everyone is liking where this story is going. Let me know any thoughts or anything. I promise that where the story goes from here will surprise you.