Hi everyone,

This one took a little longer due to not having much time to write this weekend. So here we are, Rick's and Kate's first date. Since this one got longer than planned, I split it in two parts. Hope you won't kill me for that….

Enjoy the update.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

Chapter 12

Kate was late.

Rushing around in her apartment while cursing under her breath, Kate tried to catch up with the time she lost by staying a little longer at work. They had a big trial coming up and she wanted to finish some paperwork, losing track of time. She was sure the boys would tease her tomorrow about her hasty departure.

Glancing back at the clock hanging on the wall, Kate sighed. Rick should be here any minute. She walked towards her bathroom to finish with her make-up.

The days after her lunch with Rick had been very stressful. Kate had buried herself in the case with the poor girl whom had lost her father. She had given her everything to find the killer and bring their victim justice.

And she had been successful.

Sadly, while the feeling of satisfaction had spread through her like it always did when she caught yet another killer, there was also the knowledge that in the end the girl's dad was still dead.

And nothing would bring him back.

Kate had spent the days afterwards musing about this case, drawing parallels to the case of her mother's death. She was still intent of finding her mother's killer, but just like their latest victim, her mother wouldn't come back after bringing her mother's killer to justice.

She had had dinner with her dad that day, wanting to be close to the last part of her family. Kate had to admit that he had looked good. Definitely better than two years ago when he had started to get clean, and she was happy that he had caught himself again.

There had been a little family in the restaurant, a little girl with her parents. They had been sitting two tables from theirs. The girl talked about something which Kate couldn't hear due the distance, and the parents laughed at what the girl was saying, sharing glances and smiles now and then. They were a happy family.

She wanted that.

Kate wanted to have someone she could lean on when she felt she couldn't take it anymore. She had always been independent, had never felt like she needed someone in her life. At least not in the role of the protective male, looking after her. Kate was perfectly fine doing that herself.

No, she wanted the kind of relationship these young parents seemed to have. Sharing happy times with one another and being there if one needed help because they stumbled on something and couldn't get up again without a helping hand.

But most of all she wanted a life without the pain she was feeling since her mother had died. Yet Kate knew that she'd never get back the part that had died with Johanna Beckett. She had stumbled back then and struggled her way back up by herself. However since the case with Coonan, Kate felt like she was struggling again, the fall surely to come.

Maybe it would help if she had someone who'd walk next to her, ready to catch her in time. Keep her grounded, and give her encouraging words. Or just calm her with his presence.

The similarity of the case of the orphaned girl and her mother's, and the scene with the family in the restaurant resulted in making Kate slow down a little. She knew she'll always keep searching for answers for her mother's death, but maybe it was time to gear down on the speed in regards of finding the killer. Life was rushing past her and while she may have not realized it fully yet, she'd probably regret it to have lost so much time for dead ends.

Her mother would want for her to live her life.

So that was what she'd do for now.

Live.

Rick's call had caught her off-guard. Sure, she had thought about him from time to time. Had actually almost called him twice, but in both times something came up, blocking her plan on calling him up.

He was kind, smart, funny and good-looking. She liked him, there was no denying that. So as he had called her at the beginning of this week Kate had been elated. His call showed her that this attraction wasn't just one-sided, that he was as interested as she was.

A knock on her front door tore her out of her thoughts, making her way to the door she didn't even need to look through the peephole to know that it was him. With a smile on her face Kate opened the door, revealing a very handsome Lieutenant Rick Rodgers. Dressed in a nice purple shirt, black pants and a black leather jacket, Rick smiled at her. "Hi."

"Hey. You look very beautiful." Rick commented, letting his eyes wander from her wavy hair over her simple yet stunning black dress to her killer heels. Rick was always fascinated how women could walk in those shoes.

Kate smiled, feeling the beginning of a blush spreading over her cheeks. "Thanks. You're looking handsome yourself."

"I got you some flowers." Kate glanced surprised to his right hand. She hadn't noticed them until now, but he must have hidden them successfully behind himself and the doorframe he was leaning against.

She smilingly accepted the bouquet of various colorful flowers. Opening the door a little wider, Kate invited him in. "Come in. I'll just put them in a vase and finish up my make-up."

"Sure. Don't worry." Rick replied while looking curiously around her apartment. It looked nice, very tidy. An open kitchen area on the one side of the room and the other side was occupied by a couch and an armchair. Kate disappeared through a door on the left side, and Rick guessed that it lead to the bedroom and bathroom. "You have a nice apartment. Definitely better furnished than the last one I saw." Rick called out jokingly.

"Yeah well, I'll have you know that I loved my last place. You should've seen it. It was really beautiful…. before it exploded." Kate replied from the bathroom.

Eyeing Kate's huge bookshelf next to the couch, Rick walked over to look at her collection. There were a vast number of books, a varied selection of genres. Just like himself, Kate seemed to be an avid reader. There were some classics and some books he'd never had guessed she'd own.

As Rick browsed through her selection he stopped suddenly as something caught his eye. There in the middle of it stood his book, In a Hail of Bullets. But it wasn't the only one. The row continued on with his books and if he'd actually take his time and count them, Rick was sure he'd find a copy of any book he had written to date.

Now he was a little thrilled. It wasn't often he was meeting someone who'd read his books, all of them. They seemed to be ordered in the same order he had written them, some of them looking well-worn, indicating that she must've read them quite often. He was seriously interested about her thoughts about them.

On the other hand he got nervous now. What would Kate say when she'll learn that he was Richard Castle. Would she behave different, look at him different? He didn't want that. He wanted her to keep seeing him as Richard Rodgers, not Richard Castle.

"He's one of my favorite writers." Startled, Rick turned around and saw Kate standing behind him, smiling at him.

Rick hummed, not really comfortable with their new topic. But Kate wasn't deterred by his lack of response, oblivious of his discomfort as she glanced over his books. Yet as much as he didn't want to talk about his other persona with Kate while she didn't really know that he was one and the same, it was clear that those books held a special place in her life and he was inclined to learn more about it. Besides, it was a miracle that his books survived the explosion. Rick had been sure that nothing had come out unscathed.

Kate's eyes made their way back to his. "It would be great to meet the person behind these words. Castle must be a great person. I mean, not everyone would be able to form such words, spin such stories that can pull you in like that."

"Wow, you seem to but him or her on a high pedestal. Aren't you a bit worried that the writer could let you down? That he or she isn't that great?" He asked, but wasn't able to look her in the eyes while forming his question. He really should change the topic. Soon.

Kate shrugged. "Well, I guess I'll never know. No one knows the person behind these books. No pictures, no name, nothing. The writer is a ghost. There's no way I'll ever meet him…. or her. But it would be great. And besides, I can't imagine that a person who can spin such great stories could be a complete disappointment."

"Well, Dr. House solves all of his cases too, all the while being a complete jackass." Rick reasoned.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes at him, completely enjoying the conversation. "Dr. House is a fictional character on a TV show."

"I'm just saying." He started to have fun with this. Loved the quick back and forth of their conversation. Especially how passionate she got, defending her choice of favorite writer. There was definitely a story behind it.

"The author probably lives a normal life, walking amongst us and no one knows that he wrote dozens of bestsellers."

"Maybe the writer lives in a huge mansion, living an excessive life."

"I don't think he does."

"Or she."

Kate shook her head relenting while she turned around to get her coat. "Or she. But I think it's a man."

Rick followed her and took her coat from her, holding it out for her to slip in. That motion was rewarded with one of her breath-taking smiles. "What makes you think that?"

"I don't know. It's mostly a hunch. But it's also his words, you know. Besides there's his dedication. His favorite two red-heads? Totally a man."

"Or the writer wants to confuse everyone." Rick responded as he followed Kate out of the apartment. He really had fun finding ways to disprove her reasoning. The way she wrinkled her nose at times, or rolling her hazel eyes at him. He really liked her silent responses.

"Oh, please. He wants to live a normal life, not make a mystery out of his person."

This time it was Rick whom shook his head. She was something else. "You should watch out, you know. Starting to sound like a huge fan girl. You seem to have analyzed every little detail you got."

"I don't care." Kate shrugged.

Rick beckoned a cab for them and opened the door for Kate, before he settled in next to her. They were sitting rather close to each other, yet not quite touching. But he could feel the warmth of her closeness. She was staring softly at him, waiting for him to tell the driver where to go to and Rick had to snap himself out of his haze.

It was unbelievable how the fact of her sitting close to him, glancing up at him like that could render him speechless.

"I even send out an inquiry for his name and contact data last year." Kate started a few minutes into their drive, resuming their conversation.

Rick whipped his head around at that. Thinking back he couldn't remember Gina ever mentioning something. "You did?!"

"Yeah," Kate nodded. "Because of a case. Somebody copied murder scenes out of his books. But Castle's publisher, Black Pawn, declined my request pretty quickly."

"Huh." Rick replied deep in thoughts. If he'd have known that the police had wanted him to consult on a case, he would have done so. They would have found a way for him to help the police and keep his true identity hidden. "Did you catch the killer?"

"Yes, it was a family thing. The usual. The killer just used the other victims to make it look like we were searching for a serial killer."

"I'm glad you could catch him."

Kate hummed and pursed her lips, glancing sideways at him. "So where are we exactly going to?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Detective?" Rick smirked and glanced playfully back at her. He was taking her to a little Italian restaurant he had gone to in the past, mostly with Alexis. It wasn't overrun and quite cozy. The food was great and he knew the owners of the restaurant.

"Not even a hint?"

"We'll be there soon. It's not that far."

"Okay." Kate breathed, staring curiously out of the widow.

"How long did it take you to find a new apartment?"

Kate turned back to her companion and sighed. "A few weeks. I think the hardest part of it all was that I didn't move by choice. I loved my last apartment, so I compared every apartment I had looked at with my former apartment. There was always something that made it feel wrong. But at the end I had to admit that I could look at dozens of new apartments, I'll never find the same one I had lost. After that, it was pretty quickly."

Feeling like the mood just turned a little somber, Rick thought of something he could say to change that again. He hadn't wanted to make her sad with his question. But it hadn't just been the apartment itself, but everything in it Kate had also lost. Certainly a few sentimental belongings no one would ever be able to replace. "Did you keep the bathtub? It did bring you look."

Kate chuckled at that, a slight blush creeping its way on her cheeks and Rick guessed that she was just thinking back to that night they had met. Her laying naked in her bathtub, slightly covered soot.

Yeah, he'd never forget that night.

"It did, didn't it?" Kate replied and bit onto her lower lip, pondering about something. He waited a few seconds until she had decided how to voice her thought and when she did, her voice was quiet and hesitant, yet steady and soft. "I kind of think often about that night. Not just because of the case we had worked on…"

She glanced almost shyly up at him with her hazel eyes, the golden flecks in them sparkling. Her stiff posture and the slight catch of her breath made him realize that she had just put herself out of her comfort zone.

His heart beat faster.

Rick smiled gently at her, trying to reassure her. Showing her that she wasn't the only one, because she wasn't. He remembered every second of it. "Me, too."

She lowered briefly her head before lifting it again, revealing one of the most beautiful smiles he'd ever seen. Her hand found his bigger one and squeezed it before she withdrew it again, staring back out of the window.

Yes, Rick thought, this evening will be amazing.

So, there it is, the first part of their date. More to follow.

For those who wondered about Rick's injury, he'd still on leave. It had been just a few days after the incident after all. He was just too stubborn to wear his sling on his date with Kate. But that's something that will come up in the next chapter.

Please leave a review on your way out. Thank you :D

Have a great start into a new week.