I'm late, I'm late, I know I'm late. I have four thousand legitimate excuses so I'm going to post this and get back to them. Anyways, you are finally getting your wish so don't complain...I want to see some cheering.

Also, I want to see if some of you can come up with 'the banana story' let me know if you can think of something really good.

Please review and as always you can follow me on twitter you can find me at vatrask

Enjoy 3

They had been together for six months; six gloriously, ridiculously challenging months filled with angst and stolen kisses. Ryan had managed to keep his discovery of their relationship to himself so that when Kate finally returned to the precinct (as Castle predicted) no one knew they were together and things went back to a strained form of normal. It took some clever last minute plans to reunite Ryan and Esposito after their all-out but they also worked their problems out so that the only person who had a problem was Captain 'Iron' Gates who had every single one of them on probation via her standards meaning...things were tense to say the least. It seemed appropriate at the time not to tell anyone that she and Castle were together but it definitely made things hard when they couldn't so much as look at each other without Gates peering at them from her fortress.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be a fairytale romance where Rick would sweep her off her feet and take her home every day so they could just be together instead of this sneaking around at the precinct and getting home at god awful late hours and having to spend the night alone in her apartment because things were a little awkward between her and Alexis since she'd discovered they were in a relationship. When she had returned home from her all-nighter post-grad celebration Alexis hadn't been able to find her dad and so called his cell only to have Kate answer thinking it was hers in her post-coital haze. That was not the way Alexis had intended to find out about any of her dad's relationships and that was certainly not how Kate or Rick had intended to tell her. But it happened and now Kate felt like little Castle didn't trust her at all.

Six months later things still weren't quite okay with them but at least they'd found their rhythm at the precinct. Soon, they were shamelessly flirting and solving crimes like they used to before...well before everything...with the added bonus of giving off those meaningful glances knowing that they could actually follow through on them instead of their ridiculous eye-sex.

Surprisingly Rick was the one who stuck to their no PDA rule. He was sickeningly sweet and could whisper things in her ear that would have made a hooker blush but he never touched her - not even hand holding. It seemed that after four years of curbing his desire for her - relatively speaking - it wasn't that hard for him to turn the switch off. Kate, however, was having a hard time, wanting so much to have that relationship that she'd seen with her parents and read about in books - hell even their alter egos were in a better relationship than they were. But she was determined to make it work so she threw herself into both sides of the relationship - radio silence when they were at work and then making it up to him when they were alone. Sadly, only one of those worked. Not that Rick was complaining.

Their cases got weirder and harder and yet they seemed perfectly normal for them - she'd missed the freaky ones lately. That was until she stepped over the crime scene tape surrounding a 30-something year old woman with ebony skin and striking green eyes hanging from a tree in Central Park by her ankles and then she was almost sick. "Guy, you gotta take point on this one." She called from across the scene and all three boys and the M.E. looked up in shock and concern.

"Why?"

"I knew the victim."

Gates did not enjoy Kate stepping back from a case but she abided it because for once, the detective was going by the book. So Kate took a pop and drop homicide that took her all of a day to solve – they didn't even need the forensic evidence – leaving her alone to her paperwork; and to worry about the woman in the park hanging upside down and bound with a thick hangman's rope. Rick, ever vigilant of his girlfriend's moods, brought her a cup of hot chocolate instead of her usual coffee, knowing that she needed a dose of sweetness and since he could touch her, he figured the sugar would get to her. She smiled sadly at him when he handed her the cup, letting the warmth seep into her skin and she hummed in surprise when she realized what he'd given her. The man really was good for her. "Thank you Castle."

He took his usual seat, their thighs brushing lightly – the chair had slowly inched closer to her over the last six months and she'd noticed but chose not to comment on it – and watched her for a moment before she looked over at him expectantly. "How long had you known Jessica?"

She closed her eyes, willing herself not to look at the murder board in the corner that the boys had set up "we met in Junior High. She was one of my best friends until the end of high school and then we sort of just drifted apart. We tried to keep in touch while I was at Stanford but after my mom died…" she took a deep breath, reminding herself not to linger on that fact "we just didn't keep in touch. I haven't seen her in almost twenty years."

"You guys didn't reconnect at your high school reunion or anything?"

She shook her head slowly "I was uh, I was working; I didn't go to my high school reunion." He clicked his tongue in mock disappointment but he was still looking at her with shining eyes.

"I'm sorry Kate." He whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

"Thanks Rick."

It was less than a week before Kate subtly involved herself in the investigation of Jessica Adams, peeking up at the murder board while she did paperwork and waited for another body to drop, looking over their shoulders whenever they were reading a file related to the case. Rick tried his best to keep her occupied with crazy theories and antics about unrelated things but she wasn't biting – the theories…she wasn't biting the theories – so after week two of Beckett basically acting like Castle, Gates asked her to assist in the investigation. With the four of them working together, they had the case solved and the killer in jail by the end of the third week. Now all that was left to do was drink to Jessica and decompress after another case. That led to six friends in the corner booth at the 'Old Haunt' drinking free beer and fruity cocktails, getting as drunk as possible without going overboard. Of course overboard meant different things to different people; 'Within reason' meant Lanie was grinding against her ex-boyfriend/booty-call Javier while they stood at the bar, waiting to get the next round of drinks. 'Within reason' meant Kevin and his wife Jenny were taking part in a drinking contest that no one knew the rules of – all they knew was that when an Irish couple start trying to drink each other under the table, it should not be that adorable. 'Within reason' meant Kate was tracing lazy circles higher and higher on her boyfriend's thigh who in turn was basically massaging her butt under the table. Overall, it was a pretty damn good time all around – the first in a long time.

Until Javier returned with the drinks and Rick removed his hand from his girlfriend's ass long enough to propose a toast. "To Jessica, may she rest in peace." Everyone solemnly echoed the sentiment though there was a still a buzz of liveliness around the booth so the somber note didn't last long.

Kate couldn't handle the silence "you know it shouldn't surprise me that she got mixed up in gangs," she swallowed another glass of beer "Jessica was the troublemaker of our group. I remember this one time she convinced me to sneak into a frat party when were in our Junior Year of high school and she got so drunk I had to sneak her into my house and she slept on the couch all. My dad was so pissed but my mom just made her breakfast in the morning and sent us off to school." She ended with a sad laugh that did nothing to lighten the mood.

Lanie to the rescue "see, I was a good kid; I didn't do any of that sneaking around."

"Until you were in college." Javier shot.

"Well duh, what else are you supposed to do there?"

"Learn?" Kevin hiccupped, the effects of the alcohol only now slapping him lightly in the face.

"See," Jenny reached over and squished her husband's face "my Kevin was a good kid."

Javier barked in laughter "oh I doubt it; I've heard some of the stories, I know my boy was a bad boy."

"Well not as bad as Castle." Kevin quickly diverted the conversation before anything got out of hand. "I bet you did some crazy stuff, man."

And thus the stories began and the sadness of the past faded away to two hours of sheer laughter ending with Castle's story – one that sounded vaguely familiar to Kate. "Oh you did not do that to that poor boy."

"I swear it's true. He couldn't eat bananas for months afterwards."

"Oh…" her voice trailed off as she heard an echo – a sense of déjà vu – of this conversation.

"Man that's a crazy story; I can't believe I've never heard that before." But, if Castle hadn't told that story to the precinct crew…

"What can I say; my first year of college was pretty crazy." First year…. Her eyes widened but no one seemed to notice.

"Ri-Castle," she looked over at him "how old were you?"

He gave her a confused look which quickly melted into a leer "how old do you think I was?"

"I-I don't want to guess, I'm terrible at that game." She tried to smile but she was literally shaking. No freaking way.

"I was twenty-one."

She echoed his answer, the gears turning in her head "right before you got together with Kyra."

The table had grown silent. "Yeah, how did you know that?"

She took a deep breath, not quite meeting his eyes but not looking away, licking her lips before she dared to look him in the eye "can talk to you for a second, Castle?"

"Oooh, chica's gonna see writer boy in the back room." Lanie was a little too drunk so Kate ignored her cheering from the other side of the bench.

"Rick?"

He saw the concern and apprehension in her eyes and swiftly nodded, trying to prepare himself for the worst. What had he said to make her so upset? Whatever it was, he would figure out how to fix it and fast.

She practically pulled him around the corner to the hallway leading towards the washrooms. At this time of night, no one who went in would likely becoming out any time soon so she figured they would have relative privacy. She was still trying to wrap her head around it – it was just so crazy. I mean, it didn't make much of a difference now, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to laugh at the situation.

So the words were lodged in her throat and she found herself simply staring at him. "Do I have something on my face?" He lifted a hand to brush his check but she caught his wrist, staring with a new found intensity into those baby blues of his – how did she not figure it out before? Well she probably wasn't thinking about that Rick when she had this Rick in front of her. "Kate, what's wrong? You're really starting to freak me out."

She stared at him for a moment longer. "I'm Allison." She finally spouted.

"No, you're Kate." He took both of her wrists, ducking his head to be at her eye-level; he loved when she didn't wear heels but it made serious conversations a little difficult. "I think you've had too much to drink."

"No," she pulled her hands from his, standing straighter as she regained her senses "when you were in college, you went to a party and you met a girl names Allison. Do you remember that at all?" Before he could open his mouth, she continued to ramble "I know you probably don't remember me because I'm sure you met a lot of girls in college and it was just one party but I was just thinking and you remember that story about Jessica taking me to that frat party? Well while she was getting drunk I was talking to this guy named Rick and I really liked him but then I didn't have the guts to tell him my real name so I told him my name was Allison but then I never saw him again and I lost his number and completely forgot about it until a little while later and by then it was too late and then I met you and it didn't even occur to me that you were the Rick I'd met at the party until you were telling that story about the banana and I'm pretty positive it was you but now I'm not sure if I'm just telling you a random story and the Rick I met wasn't you in which case I'm going to feel really awkward but mhmmm…" she was cut off by the familiar feel of Rick's lips over hers with an added sense of awe in the dance they'd developed. After she finally remembered to close her eyes and enjoy the moment – because she was allowed to do that now – she wound her arms around his neck, pulling him impossibly close while she backed him against he nearest wall while they continued to devour each other. She didn't even know what had brought on the kiss but she was going to revel in the moment.

It was Rick who finally pulled her back so she was at arms length and relatively free from temptation, their heaving breaths in sync with each other. She tried to ask him why he'd done that but her brain was still too fogged. He was just staring at her in awe. "Kate Beckett, I've been in love with you for twenty years."

There. We're done. Wasn't that a nice story? Thanks for stopping by. Wait, you want another chapter? Okay. Epilogue to come this week. Thanks for reading guys, you have no idea how much love I have for you all.