Thursday had crept up on them with alarming speed. It was like he blinked and days had passed them by. Somehow, they had lived a lifetime in those short days.

It's the Love Haze, his mother had declared confidently and, for once in his life, he didn't argue. Time means nothing when you're in love. You can spend every second of every day together and it's never enough.

She had requested he fill her in on what had been happening while she spent time visiting a friend in France and, expectedly, he talked non-stop about Kate. The fact that he hadn't argued - hadn't so much as scoffed, or rolled his eyes, or called his mother dramatic - must have shown his two favourite redheads exactly how gone he was for the woman because they exchanged a conspiratorial glance and, just moments later, Alexis insisted that she missed her grandmother so much she desperately needed Gram Time, all but kicking him out of his own home. He'd been staying with Kate all week.

In just a few days they had managed to fall into quite the morning routine. He woke when she did, despite her insistence that he didn't have to get up so early just because she did. He didn't mind, though. He liked the extra time with her.

While she showered and got herself ready for the day, he'd make a light breakfast for them both.

Kate always insisted on stacking their few dishes into the dishwasher - "It's the least I can do." - while he quickly changed out of his pyjamas. Then, they'd share a cab to a little café near the precinct where Rick would treat her to a vanilla latte and a pastry for her to snack on in throughout the day. Paying for her sugary sustenance began the three minute countdown until he'd have to kiss her goodbye and head back to his loft.

Yes, he had timed it: it took them exactly three minutes to walk from the café to the precinct.

They were already forty-seven seconds into that too-short walk when she asked him, "Are you nervous for your interview?"

"Not at all." It was a lie, but she didn't need to know that. "Are you?"

Kate looked at her feet, as if suddenly worried she would trip over them, and shrugged. "A little."

Rick's stomach clenched - okay, now he was nervous - and he reached out for her hand. "If you've changed your mind-"

"No," Kate said and gently shook her head. "I just-" She sighed and laced her fingers through his. "I wish I knew what to expect. I mean, will nothing change? Will everything change? Half your fans want to marry you: they're going to hate me."

"Seriously, Kate, if you need more time I understand," he insisted. "I won't be upset if you've changed your mind."

"I haven't," she assured him. "Unless... you have," she added quietly.

Rick stopped and pulled on her hand until she stopped, too. A few pedestrians pushed past them, grumbling their discontent at the couple who so selfishly stopped in the middle of the busy sidewalk, but Rick ignored them.

"I've had years to adjust to the attention," he said plainly. No sugar-coating it: it is an adjustment. "And it's attention that I wanted, attention that I asked for. You didn't."

Before Kate could say anything - if she had planned on saying anything, that was - someone bumped into Rick, throwing him slightly off balance.

"Seriously?" they grumbled as they pushed past him.

"Get out of the way!" another barked.

He would be mad (or at least a little frustrated) if it hadn't made Kate's mouth curve into a small, amused smile. She took a few steps backward, pulling him along with her, until she was backed up against the stone wall of the building. She looked up at him and, too soon, her smile faded.

"You can tell me if you're not ready," he said softly.

She forced a smile; he hated that.

"Aren't you getting tired of my backtracking?" she joked, trying to bring some levity to the situation.

"You want my honest answer?"

"Preferably."

"One tiny step backward, like changing your mind about going public, is a hell of a lot better than me publicly declaring my love for you only for you to freak out and push me away again."

In an instant, that fake smile disappeared.

Shit.

"Is that what you plan on doing?" she asked, her voice a near whisper. "Declaring your love for me?"

He placed his take-away coffee cup on the window ledge beside Kate's head so that he could hold her face (because he sure as hell wasn't going to drop her hand) and leant in close enough he could feel the warmth of her body against his.

"I am madly in love with you," he said with dedicated reverence. "But my declarations are for only you. I don't need to make a show of this. I want the world to know that I am seeing someone, someone truly wonderful, and I am incredibly happy but we deserve a little privacy."

And then he closed the small amount of distance between them and kissed her, right there, in the not-at-all-private street.

"Yo, Beckett!"

Kate turned to find Esposito approaching from the other end of the street. He weaved through the shuffling crowd, his eyes fixed on where she and Rick stood outside of the precinct.

They had arrived just a few minutes ago but had been procrastinating, prolonging their goodbye's. God, what was happening to her? She had spent almost every non-working moment with Rick since the weekend, yet it didn't feel like anywhere near enough. She had insisted he didn't have to walk her to work each morning but she would be lying if she said she hadn't been secretly thrilled when he ignored her protests. She wondered how long this feeling would last; how long until the desire to be by his side 24/7 would fade?

"Hey Espo," she greeted once he was closer. "What's up?"

Espo looked at Rick, gave him a once over before his brows pulled together. "What is it bring your pet to work day or something?"

Honestly, there was a small, needy part of her that wished she could keep Rick here at the precinct with her. She'd happily pull a chair up to her desk and have him sit there, watching over her as she worked. She had no doubt that he'd be a terrific (if not somewhat unconventional) addition to the team. He was smart, and he thought outside of the box: that was a good trait to have, especially when it came to some of their more puzzling cases. And with his twisted sense of humour, she had no doubt he would blend seamlessly with the people she worked with.

But what an absurd wish, to have him shadow her while she worked purely because she craved his company. On what planet would that ever be allowed?

"Did you want something?" she asked him, ignoring his pet comment.

She did, however, quickly glance at Rick to make sure he hadn't taken the comment to heart.

He seemed unfazed.

"I do," Espo admitted. "It's about Lanie-"

Kate shook her head, cutting him off before he could even finish his sentence. "I'm staying out of it, Javi. Whatever's going on, you guys need to figure it out yourselves."

Whatever's going on... She felt a small stab of guilt at the lie: she knew exactly what was going on and she couldn't help but feel partly (mostly) responsible. Lanie had told her, months ago, that she and Espo had been talking about moving in together. But then Kate's life had crumbled and Lanie, being the selfless friend she is, had put those plans on hold. Last month, when Kate had moved out again, Espo had assumed the plan was back on but when his lease came up for renewal and Lanie hadn't so much as mentioned him moving in with her, he signed a new lease. Lanie saw this as a sign that Espo had changed his mind and rather than actually talking to each other, they allowed the tension between them to build and bubble over.

It was stupid and immature - but Kate wasn't exactly in a position to judge.

"I love you both," she added to the end of her refusal to help him, hoping it would soften the blow a little bit.

It seemed to work, judging by Esposito's thankful smile. "I know you do. Lanie and I are good," he assured her. "Well, we're well on our way to being good. But I, uh- I may have messed up again."

Kate sighed but before she could even ask what he had done, he continued.

"As you know, it's Lanie's birthday next weekend." Kate nodded slowly, worried as to where this was headed. "And I had planned a romantic getaway for her."

Lanie had told her all about Esposito's plans; she had been so excited, which only caused Kate's stomach to knot nervously.

"I may have cancelled all our reservations," he confessed with a pained grimace.

Rick sucked in a sharp breath. "Weren't you guys only broken up for, like, three days?" he asked, earning him a poisonous glare from Esposito.

"It's the end of Summer break," Espo told Kate, his voice pleading. "Literally everywhere is booked out. You know her better than anyone: is there anything I can do to make her forgive me for ruining her birthday?"

Her heart shattered for him; it was obvious he was trying. And as much as Lanie would pretend she was fine, she would inevitably be devastated to learn the trip she had been so excited for was no longer going to happen.

"I'm sorry."

Espo visibly deflated. "She already fell in love with that villa. Even if you could help, it wouldn't be the same."

"She didn't care where you were taking her, Javi," Kate said, trying to reassure him. "She was just excited to be going somewhere with you."

"Screwed that up, didn't I?" he tried to joke, but it broke Kate's heart. "Don't sweat it. I'll figure something out."

"I mean," Rick started, hesitantly, drawing the detectives' attention. "If the where doesn't matter, you can stay at my place."

Kate and Espo both looked at him with puzzled expressions.

"Thanks, bro, but I don't think SoHo is the change of scenery she was hoping for."

"Oh, no, I meant my place in the Hamptons."

"You have a place in the Hamptons?" Kate asked him, surprised by the fact that she didn't know this.

"Yeah. We usually spend most of the Summer there but Alexis has been so busy and I..." His words trailed off as he realised it didn't really matter why he hadn't spent his Summer there. What mattered was the fact that Espo needed help and he might actually be able to help him. "It's all yours, if you want it," he tells Espo. "Right on the beach, only a ten minute walk from the centre of town but property is pretty large, it feels quite secluded."

"You serious?"

Rick nodded and Espo slapped a palm to his shoulder.

"You're a lifesaver, bro!" Espo let out a heavy, relieved sigh. "Seriously, I owe you big time!"

And then he rushed off, into the precinct.

"I guess I'll just text him later with actual details," Rick mumbled, mostly to himself, and Kate laughed.

"Thank you for that," she said, her tone warm and genuinely thankful. Rick shrugged casually. "You're amazing. Did you know that?"

"I really didn't do anything," he insisted.

But Kate shook her head. "You didn't have to open your home to them," she said. "It's definitely not nothing."

"Lanie deserves it," Rick justified.

Kate agreed wholeheartedly, but something told her that wasn't the entire truth behind why he had offered his home.

She arched her brow and stared at him. It only took a second for him to cave under pressure.

"And I want Espo to like me," Rick admitted.

Kate smirked. "He likes you."

"He called me your pet," he reminded her. "I feel like he's just waiting for me to screw things up so he has a valid reason to pummel me."

She couldn't hold back her laughter. "Teasing is Espo's main form of communication," she tried to reassure Rick but he just gave her a sceptical look. She rolled her eyes. "He's a little... protective."

"Tell me about it," Rick grumbled.

"But he likes you," she promised. "I don't think there will be any pummelling."

Rick narrowed his eyes at Kate. "Now you're teasing me."

"What?" She feigned offence. "I would never."

With a quick kiss on the cheek, they parted ways for the day.

And Kate found herself counting down the hours until the end of her shift.