A/N: Is anybody even still reading this? I guess you must be, if you're seeing this A/N, or else you've just found it for the first time and read the first twelve chapters. Either way, that's cool. If you actually have been waiting for an update, I'm SO sorry... I haven't been at all consistent about updating this, and I completely understand if people have given up on it. But I haven't forgotten about it and I haven't abandoned it. It's still coming... albeit somewhat randomly. New chapters tend to come when they want rather than I (or you) might want them. Anyway. If you're trying to pick this story back up with this chapter and not just reading it for the first time, I recommend going back to the last chapter and rereading the note Kate wrote to her mom at the very end. It comes up again, and I didn't think completely reproducing it would make much sense, but it would probably be better if it was fresh in your mind. Just a little tip. :) I hope you enjoy the chapter!

One of New York's Most Famous Bachelors: A Bachelor No More?

Spotted last night leaving one of New York's newest and hippest restaurants was novelist Richard Castle. The well-known bachelor was not alone, but accompanied by a woman who appeared to be Detective Kate Beckett, the inspiration behind Castle's popular character Nikki Heat. Speculation of an impending relationship between Castle and Beckett has been on and off for a number of years, but this picture might be just the thing to finally put those rumors to rest. A source at the restaurant tells us that Castle referred to the woman he was with as his "girlfriend," and in this picture they appear to be holding hands. Sorry ladies, but it seems that the literati playboy might finally be off the market.

"Death," he moaned, looking up to meet his mother's gaze.

"Oh, come now, darling," Martha said, putting on a sympathetic face that would've been quite effective if it managed to cover up the grin that lurked beneath the surface. It didn't. "She might not actually kill you."

"Death," he repeated, his face becoming more like that of a mournful puppy dog by the second. "Bloody and slow."

"Well, you said she enjoyed the date, didn't you?" Martha asked. "Remind her of that. Then maybe you can persuade her to just shoot you. Make it quick."

"Always appreciate your help, Mother." He got up from his seat at the counter and left the kitchen with a heavy sigh. He couldn't hide forever. He had to go to the precinct.

How it was possible for a newspaper to weigh more than two full coffee cups, Castle wasn't sure. But the arm carrying the paper felt like it would've rather stayed in the elevator by itself while the rest of him exited into the bullpen. The arm with the coffee was eager as always to find his detective.

Unable to spontaneously split into two and unwilling to cut either of his arms off, he decided to follow the coffee-bearing arm to Beckett's desk. He slid hers to her, and she smiled and wordlessly took a long sip.

Good, he thought. Drink the coffee. Remember that you like me.

"Morning, Castle," she said, setting the cup back down on her desk.

"Morning," he repeated. She looked happy enough. Not ready to kill him yet. She must not have seen it. "You didn't happen to see the paper yet today, did you?" he asked, clutching the one he carried just a little tighter.

"No." Suddenly she was eyeing him warily, and she noticed the one that he was holding. "Why?"

"There's just… There's an article in there that I, uh… that you might be interested in."

She raised an eyebrow. "What about?"

He sighed and handed her the paper, pointing out the short article his mother had showed him earlier. She was going to see it eventually anyway.

She took the paper. As she read, her curious grin faded. She considered the page carefully, and then finally looked up at him sideways. "'Literati playboy'?" she quoted with a roll of her eyes. "Really?"

He gaped at her for a second, confused by her reaction. "But… it's out. Everyone will know."

She smiled. "That we're together? Okay. We are, aren't we?"

"Of course. But I thought you didn't want…?"

She shrugged. "Well, it doesn't much matter what I wanted. It's out now. At least we don't have to worry about it anymore."

"Does this mean we can…" he began, hopefully inching his hand toward hers.

"No." She quickly swatted it away, but she did grant him a tiny flirtatious smile. "This is work, Castle. Some amount of professionalism, please."

"But I'm only an amateur cop," he tried.

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Save the PDA for after hours."

"Tonight?"

"We'll see."

But the set of her face, the way she smiled, not patronizing or teasing but happy, told him that his chances were good.

"God, it's late," Kate sighed as she unlocked the door to her apartment. "You should've just gone home."

Rick walked in behind her with a pizza box. "It's not that late. It's barely nine-thirty. And I thought you wanted pizza."

"I did. I mean, I do. I'm tired, though. It's been a long day. You're not gonna stay long."

"I don't believe I ever expressed any intention of staying for too long."

She rolled her eyes. "I know you."

He smiled and set the pizza down on the coffee table. "What's wrong with wanting to spend time with my girlfriend?"

"Nothing, but we spent the whole day together at work. You do have a family, or have you forgotten about them?"

"I haven't, but trust me, they see enough of me. They're sick of me by now. And," he put his hand behind her back to stop her progress toward the kitchen and looked her in the eye, "when we're at work, you won't let me do this." He let his lips meet hers.

"This is true," she said, pulling away but smiling girlishly. She held up a hand to stop him from going in for another round. "Let me get some plates. The pizza's gonna get cold."

"We can heat it up," he murmured.

"Yes, but I'm hungry, and you tongue isn't going to satisfy my appetite."

He put on his best kicked-puppy face.

She rolled her eyes. "Different appetite. What are you, twelve?" She pushed his shoulder playfully and went to the kitchen. She came back out with two plates and two bottles of beer, handed Castle one of each and sat down.

He put a couple of slices of pizza on each of the plates, and she watched him, yawning. "What, did I keep you out too late last night?" he teased.

"No, last night was fun." She smiled. "It's just been a long day."

"We do tend to get those. At least we closed the case, though. That's always good."

"Makes tomorrow a paperwork day," Beckett sighed. "Will I even see you?"

Rick grinned. "Would you like to see me?"

She blushed, as though just now realizing what she'd said. "Well… yeah. I'd like to."

"So just because we're dating now, you think I'm gonna start helping you with paperwork?" He might've been baiting her a little, because he found her squirming adorable.

"No, but—well—you could at least come keep me company."

"Are there not plenty of other cops at the twelfth for you to hang out with?"

"Are you coming or not?"

He took a thoughtful bite of his pizza, biding his time. "Alexis has a half day of school tomorrow," he finally said. I was gonna take her to lunch."

"I thought she was sick of you."

"Apparently you're not?"

She let a tiny smile creep across her face. "Apparently I'm not."

"I'll try to come in after lunch. How's that? Alexis and I are overdue for some bonding time."

Kate smirked. "If the two of you were any more bound, you'd never separate."

"Yeah, well. She's gonna be starting college before long. I want to hang out with her while she's around."

"I get that. And you know you don't necessarily have to come to the precinct every day. It's my job, not yours."

He raised his eyebrows. "Do you want me there or not?"

"It's up to you. You're always welcome."

"You want me there," he teased. "You know you do."

"I don't need you to do my job."

He grinned. "But you like me."

He could've sworn she blushed, although barely perceptibly. "Eat your pizza," she instructed with a roll of her eyes.

"I'll clean this up," Castle offered when they'd finished eating. "You relax."

"You're offering to do my dishes?" Beckett asked, not bothering to hide her surprise. "You don't even do your own dishes."

"It's two plates and some leftover pizza. I can handle it." He felt a lot more energetic than his partner looked, and anyway, he'd eaten here too. He could help clean up.

"You sure?"

He nodded and gathered the plates and the pizza box and started toward the kitchen. He moved around a few of the takeout containers that already filled Kate's fridge to make a place for the pizza box and then slid it onto the shelf before proceeding to rinse the plates.

When he reemerged in the living room, he smiled at the scene he found. Kate was slumped on the couch where he'd left her. Her notebook lay open on the coffee table as if she'd been planning to write in it, but at some point she must have given up and turned the TV on. The subdued lights from the news program reflected off of her closed eyelids, and her chest rose and fell regularly. She really must have been tired.

Taking care not to wake her, he picked up the notebook, curious if she'd written anything before she'd fallen asleep. He did find an entry he hadn't yet read, but it was dated from the day before. Figuring she'd written something she'd forgotten to show him, he started reading.

He smiled when he noticed the format, different from anything she'd written before. She'd written it as a letter to her mother. It crossed his mind that she probably hadn't intended for him to read it, and he considered putting it back down out of respect for her privacy, but then his eye flicked ahead of its own accord and he realized that it was about him.

Curiosity overtook him, and he began reading quickly and greedily, needing desperately to know what Kate wanted to tell her mother about him.

The further he read, the more evident it became that she hadn't intended for him to ever read this. He felt the muscles in his throat starting to constrict. He makes me happy, she'd written. Happier than I think I've ever been. That was something he knew she'd never have told him directly. He couldn't believe she'd even written it. But it was obviously sincere. And he couldn't have asked for more than that.

"What are you doing?"

Roused from the page he'd been lost in by her groggy voice, he felt like he jumped about a foot in the air. "Nothing," he said quickly, putting the notebook down. All of a sudden she was off the couch, standing in front of him. "I was just, um, reading."

She studied his face. He refused to meet her eyes. "You saw it, didn't you?"

"What?" he asked. But he still couldn't bring himself to make eye contact.

"The last thing I wrote. You read it. You weren't supposed to read it. You said you didn't have to read everything I wrote in here."

"Well, you didn't tell me you'd written anything you didn't want me to read."

"And? If I had, you'd have wanted to read it even more."

He bit back a retort, realizing that she was right. "Well, you knew I was used to reading what you wrote in that book. If you really didn't want me to see it, you should've written it somewhere else."

"You're the one who keeps telling me this is my book and my project and that I should write whatever I feel."

"So…" he asked, a bit timidly, "…this is what you felt?"

She looked down, not responding.

"I wish I could've met her too."

"She would've loved you," Kate said, softening but still looking at the floor. "I'm pretty sure of that."

"Look, you have every right to be mad at me," Castle admitted. "I'm sorry I read it. I could tell I wasn't supposed to and I did anyway."

She shrugged. "I guess it's okay that you did. It's just… a little embarrassing."

He smiled. "Take a second and think about who you're talking to. You don't ever have to be embarrassed in front of me."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not mad."

"You sure? Because it's okay if you are. Even though we're dating now I'm still gonna drive you crazy from time to time." He smirked. "Maybe more so than before."

She smirked. "Oh, I don't doubt that. But I think I'll save my anger for more serious infractions. Besides," she nodded toward the kitchen, "how can I stay mad at you when you did my dishes?"

"Well, you certainly shouldn't." He grinned and then turned to go. "Get some sleep. I'll see you later."

"Rick," she said, stopping him.

He raised his eyebrows, nonverbally asking what she wanted.

She took a step toward him, closing the gap he'd created when he'd started for the door, leaned forward just enough to make up the difference between their heights, and kissed his lips.

He felt a little stupefied when she pulled away. He hadn't been expecting that. Although she'd said she wasn't mad, he hadn't completely believed her, at least not until that moment. "We've gotta work on your PDA rules," he managed to murmur.

She smiled. "Nice try."

A/N: So Kate didn't really write anything new in this chapter... I know the whole idea behind this story was to have her do that, but... I don't know. It didn't really work out in this chapter. Next time. Hopefully it worked as it was.

Reviews are always nice. I mean, I'm going to keep working on this story anyway, but it would help to know whether anyone is actually still reading it. Thanks so much! :)