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The scent of every breakfast food imaginable swirled through the air as Rick made breakfast for everyone. Rick, she definitely wasn't used to calling him that but somehow it just felt right. She wouldn't call him that on the job, he would stay Castle and she would be Beckett. But when they weren't working, or rather she wasn't working, she could very easily become attached to calling him Rick. She loved to call him that because she had to work to get to there, it was a major part of their journey. For most people who spent as much time together as them being on a first name basis was nothing, it was normal. But they were different, a first name basis was indicative of something more, something much more intimate. It was a symbol of how far they'd come and where their future was heading. Truthfully she had no clue where their journey would end up, but she was confident that in the end she would be in his arms. Those arms made her forget her problems, supported her when she couldn't hold on anymore and most importantly the owner of those arms loved her. And that was before they were even officially together. Truth is, the two had been together in some way before either would even admit it.
Before they had even met he had been part of her journey. Through his words she found peace, a sense of security and closure she could get nowhere else. Yes, she tried to find that feeling in many other places but nothing could make the hurt fade like his books. The emptiness didn't fade away completely, it never would, but making it even a little bit better was a gift she could never repay him for. And then they had actually met face to face and not through the pages of a book. Whether she liked it or not he had infiltrated her world completely, it wasn't just his words anymore it was his entire being. No matter how much she had tried to hide herself from him he had seen the real her, the layers of the Beckett onion peeled back to reveal her raw form. He had become a large part of her world, and she knew now that the same had happened for him. They had started on their journey long before this point the only difference is that now neither of them was running from the inevitable. In fact, they welcomed it.
She studied the way he moved about the kitchen from her perch by the counter. The way his brow knitted together when he was flipping the pancakes was a sign of pure concentration and determination. How he had tried so hard not cry when he chopped up the onions for the omelets, his eyes welling up with tears he refused to shed. The movement of his muscles as he stretched his neck or his back every so often. She tried to commit it all to memory, she knew now that the little things were often the stuff that you missed.
"Here," he interrupted her memorization as he held out a piece of pancake on a fork, "try this."
"It's just a pancake, Rick." She loved his name rolling off of her tongue. He leaned away from her feigning hurt as he stared at her in mock horror.
"Just a pancake? Did you actually just call this just a pancake? I'm hurt. I happen to be a pancake master believe it or not. Ask Alexis, my pancakes are like no other you have ever tasted." He waved the morsel in front of her face; one eyebrow rose daring her to challenge him on his pancake cooking skills.
"You're such a child," She replied before capturing the sample between her teeth and slowly chewing contemplatively just to tease him. "however your pancakes are delicious!" She looked back up at him only to find his face mere inches from her own. His eyes bore into hers and her tongue unconsciously darted out to wet her lips. A few minutes passed but neither moved, their heavy breathing the only sound in the room. She began lightly chewing on her bottom lip, something she did when she was either thinking very hard or repressing the urge to do something. In this situation the reason was the latter one.
"God, you're sexy as hell when you do that." He almost grunted as a puzzled look crossed her face.
"What?" Now she was just confused, she wasn't doing anything. His voice had gotten much huskier since he had last spoken and the change was driving her crazy; feeding the fire that was already flaming within her.
"When you bite your lip like that," he replied now staring at her mouth, "I can barely fight the urge to kiss you senseless."
"Why are you fighting it?" She whispered as the burning fire in her stomach floated downwards.
Just as the words slipped out of her mouth his mouth was on hers. This kiss was nothing like the one earlier this morning, this one was full of passion and urgency. They battled for dominance using their lips, tongues and teeth as soldiers. Control switched between the two as they fought, one almost winning just as the other snatched victory away. It was a torturous game, but it had always been that way with them. Then she felt his hands grasp the bottom of her thighs and suddenly her feet were no longer on the ground. She was placed on the top of the counter his hands now on her ass as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Oh god, she couldn't take it anymore. Her hands, which had been roaming his chest, started to undo the buttons of his shirt just so she could feel his bare skin and not the fabric clothing it. She heard groans, growls and moans but wasn't sure which sounds came from whom. Her fingers had succeeded in undoing three buttons when one of his hands came up to tangle itself in her hair.
"Dad? Are you down here, dad?" They flew apart, him jumping backwards as she flew off of the counter and towards the opposite side of the room. While she frantically tried to fix her hair he quickly buttoned his shirt back up.
"In here, pumpkin!" He yelled back to the teenager as he smoothed his shirt. What the hell was she thinking? Anybody could have walked in on them, in fact someone almost did, and she would never have heard the end of it.
The young girl skipped into the room her fiery hair bouncing up and down with each movement. The girl grinned excitedly at the sight of the expansive breakfast menu and sat down on one of the stools at the counter.
"Morning. Did you guys sleep well?" Alexis asked as she popped a piece of bacon into her mouth.
"Not really," she answered first trying to make everything seem normal, "I was kind of tossing and turning all night."
"Me too, and I have a feeling that I'll be getting very little sleep tonight as well." He looked over at her, waggling his eyebrows only slightly so his daughter wouldn't see.
"Why?" The evidence of Alexis' confusion clearly written all over her face as she curiously peered at her father.
"I seem to be getting a lot of inspiration today." He replied as she saw him steal another glance at her while she blushed.
"Oh," the energetic teenager seemed to understand now, "you're starting your third Nikki Heat book already? Great! I'm going to see if Gram's up." And with that the girl hopped out of her seat and ran out of the room calling out for her grandmother.
Oh, thank god. She didn't think she could handle it if Alexis knew just yet that something was going on between her and her father. Especially if she found out by walking in on a heated make out session. Then she realized if she couldn't even wrap her head around Rick's daughter knowing then how was she supposed to come to terms with everyone knowing? And when she said everyone she did mean everyone. Not just the precinct, not just their families and not just the people they knew because sooner or later the press would get a hold of this and then her relationship would be spread across page six for everyone to read about. She would never have any privacy if the paparazzi caught wind of this and she would never hear the end of it if her friends knew. She wasn't ready for that yet, she needed time.
"You were wrong, Rick." She said looking at him seriously.
"Huh? What was I wrong about?" Confusion was the main expression on his face as he turned towards her. She stepped closer to him and put one hand on his chest, tracing small circles.
"You will be getting plenty of sleep tonight because I'm going to be spending the night in the guest bedroom like last night. Unless of course you were actually serious about writing, in which case knock yourself out." Her tone was playful but her eyes were serious as they communicated that she was not going to change her mind.
"Why do that? I had so many activities planned." He was clearly not going to give up so easily, but should she have thought any different?
"Rick," her tone transferred from playful to serious to match her eyes, "I'm not ready for everyone to know about us yet. I want this to just be ours for a little bit longer, something only between us. I know we'll have to tell everyone eventually, and I don't plan to wait long, I just need a little time to take this all in. Once our relationship is public I'll have to adjust to a whole new normal. The press will be hounding me, I'll never hear the end of it from everyone at the precinct and then there are your dedicated fans that already ask me for autographs sometimes. I just want this to be ours for a little while. I just need some time to get used to this before everything changes." He brought his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly against him as her arms circled his neck. She looked into his eyes pleading with him to understand where she was coming from and to get why she needed this.
"I get it," she breathed a sigh of relief at those words, "I'll give you the time you need, don't worry. I just want you to know that not everything is going to change; you and I will still be the same. We'll still be the same people with the same feelings and nothing could ever change that. I'll always love you, no matter what anybody else thinks."
"Thanks, Rick." She brought her lips up, searching for his as she gave him a quick kiss.
"Kate?" He asked when her mouth released his.
"Hmm?" She was much too content and relaxed in his arms to form actual words. He understood why she needed this and he was going to give it to her. Being private for a while was completely okay with him, and to be honest that had been one of her concerns. Rick could be over the top and extravagant and she didn't want that right off the bat.
"You do realize that all of our friends are currently living with us right. How the hell are we supposed to slip this little development by them?" He was smirking now, "They are very perceptive you know."
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