AN: So sorry for taking so long guys! Life and school have been crazy so I haven't had much time to write.
Hope you like this one!
That night, neither Castle nor Beckett are able to find sleep, their minds too busy conjuring up images of what they were and what could've been. With their respective couples, of course.
After hours of drifting in and out of consciousness, Beckett rolls to her side to look at the time and decides to get up. It's just after the break of dawn and she's exhausted. She needs coffee.
She's quick to get dressed and when she goes out to the living room she's genuinely surprised to see the novelist drag his feet out of his room, looking in no better shape than she does. He hasn't dressed up yet and his hair is up in odd points.
"Hey"
"Hey" he lifts his head and gives his bodyguard a small smile.
"I… I was planning on going out for some coffee, want some?"
"Sure" he shrugs, getting his wallet. He hands her some money and says, "Get some for Ryan too"
She nods and quickly gets out of the room.
The novelist is left standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, not knowing what to do with himself. He stretches his arms and yawns before he heads to the room and puts some clothes on, deciding to go and take a walk around the hotel.
He actually has to work today, and the thought of hours on end of signing books and meeting way too eager fans is enough to make him feel worn out.
As he walks the never-changing halls of the hotel his mind wanders. Suddenly he notices someone and he groans.
As luck would have it, Sorenson seems to be out for an early walk too.
The novelist grunts to himself but puts a forced smile on his face. "Will" he nods in acknowledgment.
"Rick" Sorenson nods too.
"So you used to work with Beckett?" Castle's curiosity wins over the urge to punch the Agent as they stand in the middle of the hallway.
"Long time ago" Will has long since moved on. Or at least that's what he wants to believe. Beckett's not really the kind of girl you can get over easily.
"Running into your ex-girlfriend just as you're about to get married…"
"To someone who also happens to run into her ex…" Sorenson points out. His and Beckett's reunion was not the only one that took place this weekend.
"I'm just sayin'. Hell of a coincidence"
"Just like Beckett being your bodyguard"
The novelist narrows his eyes, not seeing where Will wants to go with this.
"You've written, what, 20 best-sellers?"
"23, but who's counting?" Castle chuckles. He's definitely counting.
"And you've always had raving lunatics following you around. Why the sudden need to hire a bodyguard?"
"Do you have a point?" the novelist gets defensive.
"With all the old, bald musclemen bodyguards you end up hiring her?"
"Must be fate" Castle says getting cocky, finally catching onto the fact that the Agent's jealous.
"Must be" Sorenson tilts his head to the side, disbelief written all over his face.
Beckett makes quick work of getting their coffee, but when she gets back into the suite and she doesn't find her boss alarm bells immediately go off in her head.
"Hey Beckett" Ryan gets out of his room, looking rested and ready for action.
"Where's Castle?"
"I… I don't know" he didn't even know they were all already up.
She leaves the coffee cups on the table and quickly rushes back out. He might run into Will and things could get hairy. She figures he's most likely downstairs at the lobby so she heads to the elevator.
She presses the down button and waits until the familiar ding announces that the car is on her floor. She takes a step toward the doors, but she immediately comes to a halt when she notices who is inside.
"Hey" Kyra says, remembering the bodyguard.
"Hey" Beckett half-smiles and steps in. Her stance is tense. All business. But Kyra has other ideas.
"I- It's Beckett, right?"
"Kate. Kate Beckett" the bodyguard nods.
"I feel like I know you a little" Kyra chuckles nervously. "Rick told me all about you" she explains when she sees Beckett's confused look.
"Oh"
"He talks about you like you're some kind of superhero" Kyra says, and Beckett can almost swear that she heard sadness in the bride-to-be's tone.
"Yeah, well, I'm just doing what Castle pays me to do. Just doin' my job" Beckett shrugs. He needs to stop describing her as more than just his employee.
"Hmm" Kyra smiles. "It's funny that you call him that, Castle" she shakes her head. "When I knew him, he was just Rick, fresh off his first best-seller"
Beckett nods.
"Well" Kyra turns to face her. "Regardless of the fact that he pays you, the way he talked about you… He only talks like that about people he really cares for"
That's when the elevator dings again, and Kyra smiles at the bodyguard before stepping out, leaving Beckett with her thoughts.
Why does everyone keep telling that to her?
Oh, she knows exactly why.
She finally finds them in the second floor and the tension's palpable from where she is.
They drop the pissing contest when they see Beckett jog toward them.
"What's going on?" she makes sure that they're both intact.
"Just talkin'" Castle shrugs.
"I was actually going to find Kyra" Sorenson explains with a smile. "See ya" he turns around and leaves.
"What was that all about?" she asks his boss.
"Nothing"
She hums unconvinced.
She gets him back to the suite before they all leave for the Boston Public Library.
When they walk out of the lobby and onto the sidewalk, Castle gets out his phone and he accidentally drops it. He swears under his breath and bends over to pick it up.
Beckett rolls her eyes and Ryan – who was a few feet behind them – joins them. "What happened?"
"Busted his phone" Beckett says simply as the novelist gets up and inspects the damage. "How bad is it?"
"Uh, will definitely have to get a new one but it'll work for now" the screen is busted but it still works. He can wait until he gets back to New York to get a new one.
The rest of the day is uneventful. That is until they come back to the hotel and Castle decides to stop at the bar for a while. This time, Beckett sticks around.
The novelist is assaulted by his thoughts again.
Beckett just casually throws sideways glances at him from her spot a few feet away from him and can't help but feel for the guy. He looks really troubled by something and she can't seem to shake the need to comfort him in some way off, even when she's constantly reminding herself that that's not her job.
There was a time when total professionalism dictated the way she dealt with Castle. Yes, sir. No, sir. Very good, sir. But that didn't last long.
The longer she works for him and his family, the more she speaks her mind. Her attitude doesn't mean she doesn't take her job seriously. It just means that she has an outlet for her irritation she feels around him when he's being his usual childish obnoxious self. And because Castle's a bored rich guy who refuses to play by the rules, a smart-ass bodyguard suits him just fine.
Good thing, because if she had to hold her tongue around him, she'd probably end up killing him herself.
And that's all fun and laughs when it's just shallow witty banter. The problem comes in when it starts getting personal. That is a line that she desperately needs to keep in place, but her control over it slips farther away from her every day.
So now she just stares at her boss wallow in his sorrow and holds her tongue.
Suddenly she notices Ryan casually shifting his body from his position suspiciously closer to her. Beckett rolls her eyes. "What is it Ryan?"
He tries to look innocent but quickly drops when he realizes he wasn't as subtle as he thought he was being. "So" he steps closer to her and she knows what's coming by the way he's looking at her. "Your ex is marrying his ex"
"Yeah. So?" she does little effort to hide her annoyance.
"Does it bother you?"
"Why would it bother me?"
"Well… It's bothering him" Ryan points his head toward the novelist.
"So? He's a touchy-feely hopeless romantic. I'm not"
Ryan nods. He has to give that to her. You can say a lot of things about Beckett and touchy-feely ain't one of them. He's not even sure romantic is in her vocabulary.
Beckett is immediately on high alert when she hears a group of men making their way to the bar, recognizing one of their voices as Sorenson's. They're obviously drunk and she'd rather not have an encore of Castle and Will's encounter.
She gets close to her boss and says quietly, "Castle, we should probably go"
He lifts his gaze, which moments ago was intently staring at his glass, to meet hers. "Why?"
Before she has a chance to say anything, the group of men reaches the bar and start getting their orders in, though this is probably not their first drink. Or the fifth.
"Oh" Castle chuckles. "Will needs to get drunk the night before he gets married. Huh. He sure seems to like the idea of spending the rest of his life with Kyra" he says loudly enough for Sorenson to hear him. And he heard him, alright.
"What did you say, Castle?" Will yells from where he is before he makes his way to the writer.
Beckett sighs in frustration and Ryan quickly reaches his boss.
"You're saying I don't want to get married just because I'm having a bit of fun? A couple dozen best-sellers don't make you an expert psychoanalyst" Sorenson's ready for a fight, but he still keeps his distance.
"I also don't need a weatherman to tell me that the sky's blue" Castle quips.
"Oh, for god's sakes, why don't you both just drop your pants and get it over with?" Beckett rolls her eyes, completely done with the pissing contest.
"I'm game" Castle shrugs.
"No matter how big of a fan of his you are, he doesn't need you to defend him" Sorenson's all fueled up and fighting.
"Fine. You know what? That's fine" Castle doesn't want any more problems… But he has to ask. "Uh, just for the record, though… How big of a fan is she?"
"Castle, come on" Beckett takes him by the arm and drags him out of there. Ryan stays in place, just in case Will is thinking about following them.
"Yeah, Castle. Listen to your boss lady. God knows you wouldn't be able to take care of yourself" Sorenson shouts after him.
Castle was planning on being the bigger man, but he's just crossed a line. He spins around and storms back toward the FBI agent, but Ryan stops him before he's able to throw his punch. The bodyguard stands between the writer and Sorenson holding his arms out preventing them from getting any closer.
Beckett rushes back after him and huffs in frustration. Men.
Seeing the anger in Castle's eyes only fuels Will's drunken outburst. "What, are you jealous that I hooked her, Castle?" he grin.
The novelist stops struggling against Ryan. "What is there to be jealous about? You couldn't reel her in"
"What are you talking about? I'm marrying her!"
That makes Beckett freeze. She was trying to get her boss' attention and now she's staring at him dumfounded, the meaning of his words hitting her like a ton of bricks.
Fact is, there's only one reason why Castle's jealous of Will Sorenson. And it has nothing to do with Kyra Blaine.
"Sure you are" Castle mutters to himself, realizing his mishap, but downplaying it not-so-masterfully. Some writer.