56. Chapter 56

AU After Flowers for Your Grave

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Not mine, even in another universe. Rating M. Time: An AU After Flowers for Your Grave.

Kate Beckett woke up and stretched. She opened her eyes and realized she was not in her own bed.

"What the hell?" She muttered. Then she remembered. Castle! She was in his bed and they had…Oh no! How could I?" She thought.

She jumped out of the bed and headed for the door. Maybe she could leave without Castle noticing. As she reached the door, it opened and there stood Castle.

"Hi. I'm making breakfast. I heard you moving around in here and thought you'd like some coffee." He held out a large cup of coffee that did smell delicious.

She shook her head. "No. I have to be going. Just get out of my way."

Castle smirked. "You do realize you have no clothes on."

Kate looked down and blushed deeply. She tried unsuccessfully to cover herself with her hands, then looked up and glared at Castle.

"You do know I've seen all of that? Up close and personal?" He said, wiggling his eyebrows.

The previous night's events came back to her. After the Tisdale murder, he'd asked her out to dinner. She'd almost turned him down. For some reason, she'd said yes at the last second. She wondered for the next several days why she'd accepted. Especially when she found out that he'd be shadowing her for his latest novels. When the day of their date arrived, Kate decided that while she would be polite and friendly, she would not flirt in any way and when the evening was over, she'd never see Castle socially again.

She was surprised at the restaurant that Castle had picked. She expected someplace trendy and expensive where they'd be sure to be seen by Page Six, or some other celebrity site. But, they had gone to a Chinese restaurant near his loft. Kate, who loved Chinese food, was very impressed with the food served by this local, family restaurant. What impressed her more, was that everyone working there, even the dishwashers seemed to know and like Castle. They all came by to talk and joke with him.

Castle himself was different than she had expected. While he was funny and entertaining, he was also serious, knowledgeable about even obscure aspects of police work, concerned and caring. He also could display a self-deprecating sense of humor as well. Kate had found herself opening up to Castle, telling him about her mom's murder, her dad's problems with alcohol, her decision to become a cop, her problems being the "hot rookie" and her eventual promotion to detective and assignment to homicide.

She found that they had talked until after midnight, well after the restaurant's usual closing time. Castle had apologized profusely to the owners and offered to pay extra for their time. The husband and wife who owned the place had just laughed and told them how much they enjoyed having such a nice couple with them. Kate was surprised that she and Castle would be considered a couple. Then she decided that being a couple might be fun. And she needed fun.

As they walked towards his car so that he could take her home, he had put his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and relaxed. When they came to a stop light and stopped, she turned so she faced him. She looked up at him and then kissed him. He didn't respond for a second and then his kiss was tentative.

"Something wrong?" She asked, starting to worry that she had done something wrong.

"No. I just didn't expect this from you. Not so soon anyway."

"Then shut up and kiss back." She said, kissing him again and running her tongue against his teeth until he also opened his mouth. She pressed her boobs against his chest and then ground them against him. She rubbed the inside of her thigh against his leg. She moaned into his mouth, then broke the kiss. "How far is your place?'

"Four blocks. Short blocks."

She kissed him again. "Take me there."

Castle had made the trip in record time, and in no time she had found herself in his loft, then in his bed. She found he was an experienced, passionate and considerate lover who had brought her to a climax several times. She had intended to go home, but had fallen asleep in his arms instead.

Now she stood facing her lover of the night before. "Look, Castle, you got what you wanted, just let me get dressed and go home."

He shook his head. "I didn't get what I wanted."

She was furious. "What the hell do you think I am? Your personal sex toy? Tell me where my damned clothes are, Castle, so I can get the hell out of here."

"I've hidden your clothes."

"What? I'll...I'll…" She stopped, realizing how absurd she must look, threatening him without any clothes on.

"What I want is to talk to you. You're a remarkable person. Absolutely fascinating. I want to get to know you. I want to be your friend, if you'll allow that."

She stared at him. "You want…to be my friend?"

"That's right." He said quietly. They stood there and looked at each other until he spoke again. "Look, Kate, if talking to me is just that revolting to you, then leave. I hung your clothes up in my closet this morning. Your underwear is on the shelf on the left in the closet, your shoes are on the floor. But, I'd rather you take a shower, get dressed and have breakfast with me. It should be ready by the time you're dressed. Please?"

"Is this more research?" She asked suspiciously.

He nodded. "To some extent it is, but really, I do want to know you better. You really are a remarkable person, Kate." He smiled at her. "And I really think you do enjoy my company. Especially last night."

She blushed. "You want to talk?"

"While you're fully dressed. How do you like your eggs?"

Without thinking she replied, "Sunny side up."

"Great. Shower and get dressed. I'll be making breakfast." He turned and left the room. Kate stood there for a second or two, then headed for the bathroom.

When she came back out, fully dressed, he was just putting their breakfasts onto the counter in the kitchen. "I poured you another cup of coffee. Would you like some OJ as well?"

Kate stopped by the stool by her plate, not sitting down. "Where are your daughter and your mother?"

"Martha is visiting friends in Boston for the weekend. Alexis is on a school trip for the weekend. And you're off for the weekend, or so you told me."

Kate sat down and started to eat. After several bites, she said, "You cooked this?"

"Sure."

"You're a good cook, Castle. Something else I didn't expect."

"Martha is a terrible cook. I had to learn in self defense." Castle took a bite of his eggs. "Um! Try the eggs. Did I get them right for you?"

Kate had to admit the whole breakfast was excellent. Here was something else about Castle she hadn't expected. He was turning out to be much different than she had initially expected.

"Look, about our…relationship. It's a bad idea for me to be sleeping with someone I'm working with. I mean, last night was great but you're…"

"Richard Castle, who signs women's boobs and has a new super model on his arm every night?" He said with a smile. "So you don't trust me."

"No, it's…It's not that I don't trust you….It's…"

"That you don't trust me." He finished for her. "What if I give you a written guarantee?"

"A what?" She asked, but he had grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and was busily writing.

"There." He handed her the paper.

"I, Richard Castle," She read, "guarantee that I will not try to make love, or do anything that might lead to sex, with Detective Kate Beckett." He had signed and dated it. He looked at him and then back down to the paper. "This is hardly an enforceable contract." As she said that, she saw his smile and realized how silly this was. She started giggling. "All right, Mr. Richard Castle, we won't have sex and we will talk, and maybe we'll be friends."

He leaned into her and for a second she thought he might be trying to kiss her, but he didn't. "Tell me about your mom."

"Okay, but you have to tell me about Martha. I'm not going to be the only one talking, Castle."

Several weeks later, Kate got into her car after a long day. Castle got in on the passenger side. "Thanks for the ride home, Beckett."

She smiled. They were Castle and Beckett almost everywhere now. They were only Rick and Kate in his loft or her apartment. "No problem." She started the car, but didn't put it into gear. "Would you like to come back to my place and have a drink? After trading gunshots with a Nigerian killer, I could use a drink, but after what alcohol did to my dad, I really hate to drink alone."

"Sure. I could use a drink myself after that."

Once at her apartment, Rick sat on her couch while Kate poured two glasses of wine. They sat together and he raised his glass. "A toast. To the remarkable Kate Beckett."

She smiled at him. "And to the remarkable Rick Castle." They drank.

Kate reached over to the end table and handed Rick a piece of paper. He recognized it at once.

"I'm giving you back your guarantee. I'm cancelling our deal." She said.

"Hey! Wait! Without even talking about it? Kate! Tell me what I did wrong, at least."

She smiled. "It's what you haven't been doing." She stood up. "My bedroom is this way." She held out her hand and he took it.

Much later, Kate relaxed in Rick's arms. "Rick, I want you to know that I know this can't last."

"Why not?"

"Really? Why not?" She said quietly. "You're Richard Castle, world famous author, millionaire, playboy, and I'm just a cop."

"Come on, Kate. Don't you believe in magic?"

MARCH 2014

"Dad, what's this?" Alexis walked into Rick's office carrying a piece of paper.

Rick took the paper and held it to his forehead. "My magic powers tell me it's a piece of paper. I'm surprised you didn't figure that out for yourself. How much am I paying Columbia anyway?"

Alexis shook her head. "Very funny. This is some sort of guarantee that you won't have sex with Mom. What's that all about?"

"That's from when we first met. It's an interesting story, actually."

"It would be a better story if you'd honored the agreement." Alexis said with a smile.

Rick frowned. "How so?"

"Well, then little Johanna would have resulted from an immaculate conception."