Thank you yet again to everyone reading this and to those who have reviewed/followed/favourited it, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

No spoilers for season 8.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.

They took their assigned seats at the table, Castle on her left and Hayley on her right. Glancing around the table, Beckett realised she knew everyone there. There were ten people at the table in total, five of them being friends from college. Sitting on Hayley's other side was her husband, Harry, then going anticlockwise there was George and Emily, who she just heard say both their partners couldn't make it to the wedding due to work. Further around there was Rob and his boyfriend Charlie, and then finally on Castle's left, was Ben and his wife.

It startled Beckett to realise that she was the only one of the group not currently dating anyone or married. Her friends of course didn't know that with Castle sitting by her side which she was grateful for but she couldn't help feeling slightly lonely at the thought. The thought of Castle made her glance to her left and the loneliness vanished as affection swelled in her chest as she watched Castle talk animatedly to the table, already entertaining the group with his stories.

She knew then that if it had been Josh sitting by her side, she wouldn't be feeling even half of what she did for the man who was currently at her side. Josh had been a safe choice, one she never had to invest herself too much in because she never saw a future with him. With Castle, it was the complete opposite, she could see a future with him, and that terrified her completely. That's why she's been so hesitant with him, not sure if she's ready to make that commitment and open up to him completely.

It was then that she tuned in to what Castle had actually been saying and that she realised he was talking about her, well them, and their work together. And he was currently telling the whole table how badass he thought she was.

"It did not happen like that," Beckett scoffed, interrupting Castle, causing everyone to laugh.

"Okay, maybe I embellished the story a bit but she was still awesome," Castle said to the rest of the group, grinning at Beckett as he did and no one could deny how proud his expression was when he looked over at her.

"Stop lying to my friends, Rick," Beckett answered, shaking her head at Castle, grinning nonetheless.

"Enough about us anyway, I need stories about a young Kate Beckett," everyone laughed at him again.

People dissolved into their own conversation after that, catching up with their friends around the table, Castle turning to talk to Ben while Hayley started talking to her.

"You guys work at the precinct together then?" Hayley asked, giving her a curious look, it was good to see her friend again.

"Yeah, he originally started shadowing me for his new book but he's my partner now," Beckett replied, amazed that it hadn't actually been that long since they'd started working together and already he was her best friend.

"He's Richard Castle," Hayley suddenly said, realising why she recognised her friends partner, "I thought he looked familiar." And then she lowered her voice, speaking quietly so only Beckett could hear, "he's very handsome in person."

"He is." Both girls giggled, causing castle to flash his eyes over to them even though he was still deep in conversation with Ben and she wondered what exactly they were talking about.

They spent the rest of the meal chatting easily with everyone, catching up on the past few years of everyone's lives. Castle told them more stories about their adventures in the city, making Beckett sound a lot more heroic than she deserved and she was quick to point out that he was just as heroic as she was.

Castle had been talking with Rob across the table after they'd all finished eating but suddenly, without any warning, he turned to her, completely invading her personal space, leaning in to whisper in her ear, lips almost brushing her ear as he spoke, "Are you okay?"

He'd noticed than on and off during their meal she'd been just sitting in silence, seemingly lost in thought and Castle wondered if everything was alright.

He pulled back after he'd spoken, looking in her eyes as he waited for her to answer, realising too late that that put their faces just a few inches apart and it took all his strength not to glance down at her lips.

Beckett's breath had caught when he'd leaned into her and now she was really struggling to breathe as he was so close to her and it would be so very easy to close the distance and press her lips to his.

She tried to think about what he'd asked, needed to form a response soon before she did just that and crossed a line in their friendship that would be hard to undo.

But then her eyes slipped down to his lips of their own accord and her heart started beating even faster as she thought about what it would be like to kiss him, the memory of their undercover kiss now fresh in her mind.

Her eyes flickered back up to his and she was well aware that they were staring at each other and she found she didn't care, maybe she was finally ready to take that step into a relationship with him.

Castle looked away before she could decide exactly what she was going to do, regret slicing through her hot and fast as she realised that she had wanted to kiss him and would've if he hadn't pulled away. And not just because she found him attractive but because she was in love with him and it wouldn't be easy, but with his help, she thinks that she could finally be ready to let him in so they could be more together.

Castle hadn't wanted to look away, not wanting to make her uncomfortable in front of her friends. He had wanted to kiss her, but he wanted her to be the one to take the first step, didn't want to take advantage of her under the guise of a fake relationship in case that's all she thought it was. The first time he kissed her, well the next time, he wanted her to have no doubt in her mind that he meant it.

"I'm fine," Beckett replied, voice stronger than she felt, finally answering his question even though her answer wasn't exactly true. She knew one thing for sure now, next time she got the opportunity to kiss him, she wasn't going to let it pass her by again.

Thoughts after this chapter?