A/N: a little bit of filler before the final chapter.
Three weeks later...
"I am so ready to go home," Castle whispered as he leaned across the desk and collected her empty coffee mug. "Boy, do I have big plans for us tonight," he whispered low enough that no one else would hear.
He stood, eyebrows waggling suggestively before he turned and headed toward the break room to wash up their mugs.
She hung her head and focused on the papers in her hand, hoping the burning in her cheeks wasn't as visible as the smirk she couldn't stop in time.
"You want to grab a drink?" Esposito asked Ryan as they packed up the files they had been working on.
It was knock off time and, after the long week they'd all had, he was ready to unwind.
His phone dinged.
"Lanie is in," he said, reading her text message. "You should ask Jenny to come."
"Yeah, sounds like a plan."
Ryan pulled out his phone and began typing out a text, presumably to Jenny.
"You guys going on double dates now?" Beckett asked with a smirk, expecting Esposito to squirm, his relationship with Lanie still in that undefined stage.
But he wasn't shaken.
"We could always make it a triple date if you and Writer Boy want to join," he replied instantly with a proud smile.
Ryan's speedy thumbs halted, his eyes tearing away from his phone to watch for Beckett's reaction.
They had been speculating for weeks now. At first, they had assumed their match making antics had had lacklustre results; but Lanie had commented that the radio silence on both Beckett and Castle's account said so much more than words ever could.
That one statement had fuelled a fire for the boys, and they had been silently watching, waiting, ever since.
Castle stepped out of the break, fidgeting with the buttons on his jacket sleeve.
"What do you say, Writer Boy?" Esposito asked him.
"Huh?" he looked up, confused, his eyes shifting to Beckett for clarification.
"Drinks with team," Beckett explained, standing and packing up her desk. "Can your plans be... postponed?"
Not cancelled. Definitely not cancelled.
He held his wrist up, checking his watch with dramatic flare. "Sure, I've got a little time."
"Gee, glad you could squeeze us in," Ryan joked.
Castle picked up Beckett's jacket from the back of her chair, held it open for her to slip her arms in.
"Jenny will be there, right?" he asked enthusiastically, toying with Ryan's 'newly in love' insecurities as he and Espo often did.
Beckett smirked when Ryan's face dropped, pressing her fingers to her lips to suppress a laugh.
When they arrived at the usual watering hole, Lanie and Jenny were already waiting in the team's usual table.
They all slipped into the booth - Ryan slid in beside Jenny, Esposito next to him, Beckett took her place beside Lanie across from them - except for Castle.
"First round is on me," he declared. "What's everyone drinking?"
They passed on their orders, and Castle left for the bar. Beckett's eyes followed his path, watching as he leant against the bar.
Her eyes peeled away from him, looking around the table to find five sets of eyes on her.
"What?" she asked, pointedly avoiding meeting anyone's attention.
Even Jenny, the newest addition to their social outings, picked up on the lingering stares. She didn't comment, just smiled and exchanged knowing looks with the rest of the group.
"Nothing," Lanie sung with a smirk that brought out Beckett's own embarrassed smile.
She was thankful when her friend seemingly dropped the subject, starting casual conversation with the others at the table.
After a few minutes, Castle returned with their drinks, slipping into the empty spot beside her.
Outside, the sun was sitting low and the sky began to grow darker.
Castle and Esposito - being seated on the edges of the booth - took turns going up to the bar for each round of drinks. Each time Castle returned, he would slip just that little bit further into the booth until he and Beckett were sitting flush against one another.
As conversation continued, she moved her hand across the booth, touching it to his. He linked his pinky with hers, testing the waters, before deciding to dive right in. When his fingers laced through hers and he pulled their hands into his lap, she had to bite the inside of her lip to hide the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth.
They sat for hours; chatting, laughing and having a great time. Waves of patrons had come and gone; the crowd around them slowly morphing from suits getting after work drinks to younger party-goers preparing for a night out on the town.
A small group of men pushed through the door, talking loudly and drawing the groups attention.
Beckett instantly recognised them from the precinct. She knew the team, knew who would be following closely behind.
She pulled her hand from Castle's, reaching out for her drink and sinking down into the booth - a feeble attempt to fade away...
"Seriously?" he mumbled as he looked across the bar, seeing what she had so hastily dropped his hand in reaction to.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, trying not to draw the attention of their friends.
"Is it him? Or is it just because they're from the 12th?"
Her not wanting anyone from the precinct to see them getting too cosy made perfect sense. That was something he could understand, something he could support.
"Both, maybe?"
Demming spotted her as soon as he entered. As her glance involuntarily flickered in his direction, his darted away, and for a moment she was relieved in the seemingly unspoken agreement to steer clear of each other.
But then he approached, and she regretted her decision to come here tonight.
She should have just gone home, spent the night in the privacy of her apartment, or Castle's loft, soaking up all this new relationship bliss.
"Hey," he greeted with a soft smile.
"Hey."
They hadn't spoken since the night he asked her out, almost four weeks ago.
She had been busy, he had been busy, it was easy to convince herself there was nothing more too it, that their 'friendship' hadn't all been riding on expectation.
But the tension that had already built up behind this interaction was making that harder to believe.
"How have you been?" He pushed through the awkwardness, determined to have whatever conversation he had planned before approaching.
She glanced around the table, trying to quickly read if the tension was as palpable as she felt it was. Everyone seemed unbothered.
"I've been good," she answered as she turned her attention back to him. "You?"
"Busy," he said, almost too quickly. "There's been a string of break-ins. The teams been flat out for weeks, but we finally cracked the case so we're celebrating." He motioned back to his team, gathered around a booth across the bar.
"I heard about that, actually. I was talking to Porter about it just the other day." She waved to the aforementioned detective. "Seemed like a tough one, I'm glad you finally cracked it."
"It was a tough one," he agreed. "Kept us all really busy."
"You mentioned that," Castle muttered under his breath, taking a sip of his drink.
She kicked his foot under the table, and he uttered a quiet apology in response.
Demming looked at Castle before his eyes returned to Beckett, despondent.
"I just didn't want you to think I've been avoiding you," he admitted.
"Oh, no, of course." She waved her hand, dismissing the idea with a smile. "I didn't think that."
She had, though. And, to be honest, she wasn't in any rush to see him, either. This conversation being the exact reason why.
"Okay, good."
He looked around the table, smiling courteously to everyone that was gathered.
"Well, I'm gonna go, I'll let you get back to your conversation. It was good to see you, though."
"Yeah, you too." She waved her hand before dropping it back down to Castle's lap once Tom had walked away.
But his hand wasn't there, his fingers weren't waiting to be entangled in hers again. She gently squeezed his thigh, the closest thing to an apology she could give right now.
She sighed a breath of relief when his hand encased hers.
"You know he's totally been avoiding you, right?" Lanie asked with a slight chuckle to her tone.
"Why would he be avoiding her?" Esposito asked, but everyone knew he wasn't that blind.
He had caught wind of something he could hang over both of his friends heads, fuel for his jesting and jibes. She knew he wouldn't drop it, especially with Lanie - two drinks past her two drink limit - giggling along.
So, reluctantly, Beckett answered his question.
"Tom asked me out," she sighed. She squeezed Castle's hand; a silent 'stay with me'.
"What? When?"
"Careful, Castle. Your jealousy is showing," Esposito remarked with a smirk.
"Jealous? Of Demming?" He forced a laugh - a punctuated ha! - but the man's name still left a bitter taste on his tongue. He turned back to Beckett. "But, seriously, when did this happen?"
Beckett shrugged. "A few weeks ago."
"Mustn't have gone to plan if he's been avoiding you ever since," Castle mused, suddenly overjoyed with the knowledge that she had picked him.
"Well, considering I said I wasn't looking to date anyone right now, only to end up at dinner with you two nights later; yeah, I think it's safe to say it didn't go to plan."
"You know, you never told us how that date went?" Lanie jumped on the segue before Castle had the chance to comment.
"Oh, you mean the ambush?" Castle laughed, deflecting.
"Call it what you want, Castle, but don't think I can't see you guys holding hands under the table."
Ryan and Esposito looked to the couple, jaws dropped in what Castle couldn't quite decipher as being surprise or excitement.
Ryan practically folded himself in half trying to sneak a look under the table between them, confirming that - yes! - they were holding hands.
Castle looked at Beckett, whose cheeks were rapidly turning a soft shade of pink. But she didn't drop his hand.
"I think they might be onto us," he whispered, leaning toward her and bumping his shoulder to hers.
"Come on, girl!" Lanie mimicked Castle's movement, bumping her shoulder against Beckett's. "I know you wanna dish."
"Fine," she said through pursed lips. "Dinner went well."
"You know what I want to hear," Lanie sung, teasingly.
"Nuh-uh." Beckett shook her head.
But Lanie doubled down.
"I can keep hounding you with questions," she threatened. "Or, you could just say it."
Beckett inhaled through her nose, let the breath back out through her mouth.
"Thank you, Lanie," she started, almost robotically. "I owe you, big time."'
Lanie smiled like the Cheshire Cat. "I told you this one would be worth it," she gloated.
"That's still to be decided," Beckett said in jest, smiling brightly at Castle.
but he took it in his stride, coming back with a simple yet confident: "I'll convince you."
"Oh yeah, how do you plan on doing that?" Lanie asked.
"Well, step one is to get her to agree to come to the Hamptons with me next weekend."
Lanie nudged her friend's arm. "Ooh, that could be fun," she encouraged.
Beckett toyed with her now-empty glass, twisting it in circles on the table. "I'm working the holiday, I already told you that, Castle."
"Yeah, on the Monday," he argued. "That still gives you two days off."
She shook her head. "I'm on call on Sunday, meaning I have to be in the city."
Castle's shoulders slumped, visibly disheartened by the revelation. "Damn."
"I'm sorry," she said, leaning against his side.
"I can cover," Esposito offered out of nowhere.
Beckett and Castle both looked at him, surprised by his generosity.
"I mean, only if you want," he said with a shrug. "I don't mind."
She looked at Castle, his eyes filled with a newfound hopefulness. He just wanted to spend time with her, just the two of them, no distractions.
"Are you sure?" she asked as she turned her focus back to Esposito.
He sipped from his beer casually as he nodded his confirmation.
"Thanks, Espo. I owe you one."