A little filler scene from a longer fic I'm writing. Thought it might be a nice change from the last chapter. More chapters to come soon, I promise.
Nikki Heat
She looked up from the file she had been perusing - his eyes, expectant, on hers. "What is this?" She asked, regarding the heavy binder folder he had dropped dramatically on her desk.
"It's the latest Heat novel." He said, as if the answer had been obvious.
"You finished it?" She sat up straighter, her eyes dropping to the folder, interest piqued. She was usually one of the first to receive a copy of his novels - but every other time, it had been presented to her in the form of a perfectly polished, fresh from the press, paperback. Something about being handed a binder of his printed manuscript felt so... intimate.
"Yeah, did my final edits just this morning. I thought maybe you'd like to read it before I sent it to my editor." By opening that door, inviting her to step through and see his writing completely raw... untouched by countless editors and beta readers - he was allowing her to see him vulnerable... something neither of them would usually do voluntarily. But this didn't come as a surprise. Not really. They had both sensed the shift between them and - while they were both currently in relationships - they knew this was more than just partnership.
"Doesn't Alexis usually read it first?" Was all she managed to reply with. She, of course, wasn't declining his offer... she just wanted to make sure it was what he really wanted.
"She will. But..." he walked around the desk, sitting in his spot near her. "I was hoping... I mean, I want you to be a part of this. I should have done this from the very start. I mean, I know... and you know... that what I put into these books isn't you. But it's something that you'll forever be associated with. You should have had final say on what makes the cut from the very start. I'm sorry."
She could sense the urgency in his apology. He needed her to know that he had never intended any harm when declaring her his muse. The invasion of privacy was an obvious oversight, looking back now. And he had tried to remedy that since then, preaching the many ways in which Nikki was not the same as the now semi-renowned detective. She even saw it in his writing... the way he had strayed from scattering vaguely disguised details of her personal life throughout his story. But having publicly announced her as the inspiration behind his newest character, neither one of them could change how the public perceived her. They couldn't force people to separate Heat and Beckett... and that was just something she would have to learn to live with.
"I appreciate that. Thank you." She grabbed the folder, to put it away somewhere out of sight and Castle rose from his seat, walking away without another word.
This small exchange - something that might seem so insignificant to others - meant the world to her. To her, this was proof. Proof that she meant something to him. Something more than just a hot - his words, not hers - cop to help him bring his character to life.
They were partners.
Friends.