Happy birthday, Beckett!

[thebestseller]

WHO: Castle thebestseller, Beckett themuse, and you!
WHAT: It's Beckett's birthday, so Castle feels like she needs a little fun and decides to throw a party for her. The fact that she doesn't know about it is just a bonus.
WHEN: Backdated slightly to November 17th
WHERE: The conference room at the precinct
WARNINGS: Everyone on the island is invited, so please, feel free to show up and mingle. There won't be any alcohol, as it's at the police station, unless someone brings it, but then you might get arrested for disorderly conduct, oh, my...

---

Keeping secrets was one of Castle's skills, he thought. And keeping them from Beckett was a nearly impossible task, so when he was able to actually do it, he felt quite proud of himself.

It was sheer luck that he managed to smuggle an entire party into the precinct under her nose, however- but then again, it wasn't much, because he knew she wouldn't want much, and the part where he was even throwing her a surprise party could be delicate to begin with. But there was cake- two cakes, in fact, a handsome red velvet and a chocolate cake Castle had baked himself- some sandwiches and other assorted snacks, and coffee, and hot chocolate, and balloons and presents.

It wasn't the grand party he felt like she deserved, but he hoped she would, at least, enjoy herself.

Now he had to hope people showed up.

Comments

[themuse]

"Yeah, but at least you had the guts to say it." Sure, because she was dying and there was a good chance he'd never get to say it again and that makes for some pretty high emotions mixed with pretty low possibility of it coming back to bite him in the ass. Kate had spent a good chunk of those three months trying to be angry at him for choosing that moment, of all moments, to say it. She wanted to be angry because it felt like a cop-out, or a knee-jerk reaction and it wasn't fair because he waited until the safest moment possible to tell her how he felt and what was she supposed to do with that information? She wanted to be angry for him making it about him again but... She couldn't.

Because the side of her - the annoying side that had, on occasion, tried to tell him how she felt - reminded her this wasn't surprise information. That stolen kiss, the hand holdings, the nearly dying with each other, the cup of coffee he brought her every single morning... He wrote her a three-book long love letter, for Christ's sake. Kate might not have been good at dealing with emotions, but she wasn't stupid.

"You made it pretty clear, Castle," she told him. "You told me plenty of times. I just wasn't ready to hear it yet."

[thebestseller]

Castle put one hand on the side of Kate's face, then leaned in and nuzzled against her softly.

"You don't need to keep making excuses for how you behaved," he replied. "You had to do what was best for you. Sure, it was frustrating sometimes, I'm not going to lie. I would have come back to you and waited for you no matter what, though. Because every minute of this has been worth it for me. Knowing that I'm yours, and that you're mine. It's what I've wanted, what I've hoped for, and the reward has been so much sweeter than I pictured."

[themuse]

"Castle," she breathed. Damn, him being this close in proximity really muddled her mind sometimes, especially now. Especially when he was saying everything right and somehow managing to break her heart and put it all back together at the same time. But it had always been like that with him. At some point, he learned how to say just the right thing to fix her when she needed it the most.

"Thank you," she said. It's what she had trained herself so say when she really meant I love you. "Thank you for being so persistent and so aggravating and not giving up on me. I don't think I could have done this without you."

[thebestseller]

"It's who I am," Castle replied, giving her a soft kiss on the mouth this time. "As you've reminded me before- I'm stubborn and aggravating and don't know when to give up. Now, come on... let's go to the station and find something for me to poke my nose into."

[themuse]

"I'm sure you'll have no problem finding places to stick your nose where it doesn't belong," she teased.

As if she didn't care they were in public anymore - which, she didn't - she put an arm around him and pulled him to her to kiss him deeply. When she backed away, she took his hand and led him towards the precinct.