SURROUNDED BY MY FAVORITE VIEW

And I need a hand to hold
Someone to tell the truth
Would it be okay if I came home to you?

Home to You - Sigrid

He feels her hand tighten around his bicep when people turn their heads to look at them. He doesn't care, of course, is thrilled that she's walking with him arm-in-arm into the chapel. Kate looks amazing, not that he's surprised. Any man would be lucky to have her sit next to him.

He tries to pay attention to the ceremony, but he doesn't, not very well, not when his partner is radiating nothing but warmth and happiness next to him. He sees the shimmer in her eyes when the priest announces Kevin and Jenny's union, and after the couple passes them on their way out of the room she glances at him, her smile as wide as he's ever seen.

He wonders if her mind had wandered, too. If, during the vows, she'd imagined standing at the altar with him. If she'd imagined slipping a ring on his finger. He had; he imagines her in a white dress, lace-trimmed maybe, her hair framing her face as she beams at him. Much like she is now.

Who knows, Castle. Maybe third time's the charm.

Yeah, could be.

With her, it would be. He's sure of it.

"Hey. Castle."

The nudge of her elbow into his side interrupts his thoughts, and he feels his face flush at the amused lift of her brow. "Beautiful ceremony," he says after clearing his throat.

Kate just smirks at him. "It was, wasn't it?" She steps out of the pew. "Shall we?"

"Hmm?"

"The reception."

"Right." Castle holds his arm out for her once again, tells himself not to pass out with happiness when she takes it.

"I don't know about you," Castle mutters as he hands Kate a glass of wine, "but I'm starving."

Kate glances at him from beneath her lashes as she takes a sip. Rick's been acting strange this afternoon: quiet, almost contemplative. A quip about being hungry isn't something she would have expected from a man with two dozen best selling novels, but she doesn't let him onto her thoughts, just goes with it.

"I am too," she admits. "Do you know if they did assigned seating?"

Castle shrugs. "Beats me. If they did, we should totally move our place cards."

"Why, so we're by the bar?" Kate teases, nudging his arm with her elbow.

Her heart almost stops when he turns his gaze to her. He looks at her like she's the only other person in the room.

"No," he says quietly, "so we're sitting next to each other."

Before she can think of a response the doors to the reception hall open, and someone she barely recognizes - Jenny's brother, she thinks - announces that they can go in and find their assigned seats.

She follows him as he circles around the room, presumably looking for their names. It isn't until they reach one of the tables near the front that he stops. He shows her the name card that reads her own name and, with a smile, lifts the one next to it.

She smiles and shakes her head.

Of course they're sitting next to each other.

Castle pulls out her chair and motions towards it. "M'lady," he announces with a slight bow.

Kate rolls her eyes, but sits anyway, pulls her chair in while Castle takes his place next to her. It doesn't take long for everyone to sit and for the wedding party, with Kevin and Jenny last, to make their entrance. Lanie's seat is next to her and they chat while Castle makes friends with the old woman on his other side. But Kate barely pays attention to Lanie; the chairs are close enough that her thigh is pressed against Castle's, and all she can focus on is the heat from his body, practically scalding her.

Maybe it's the warm room, or the wine she'd had on an empty stomach. But when their table is released for the buffet she stumbles while standing up, and has to grab onto Castle's arm to steady herself. She ignores the knowing look that Lanie gives her and just leans into the solid man at her side.

"Whoa, careful," Castle murmurs, his mouth close to her ear. She wonders if he feels her shiver; judging by the sharp inhale she hears, he must have. "Why don't I get you a plate?" he offers, looking in her eyes.

With her heels on they're almost the same height, and she straightens to meet his gaze. "Thanks, but I'm fine. Just stood up too fast."

Castle gives her a long look, then quirks a brow and nods. "Alright. But I've got my eye on you." He keeps his hand on the small of her back as they walk, steading her, guiding her. "You're usually fine after one glass," he observes as they stand in line. "Did you get a head start or something?"

"Funny," she shoots back, her teasing tone matching him. "No, I just haven't eaten in awhile."

"Ah." Castle motions for her to go in front of him. "So you go first then."

Kate nudges his arm when she steps in front of him. "You just want an excuse to check me out, don't you?" she teases. When his eyes darken, though, she knows she isn't wrong. It wasn't the first thing on his mind - probably - but it certainly was there.

The reception moves along quickly, and before she knows it the newlywed couple has had their first dance, and the dance floor is opened up to everyone. Lanie and Esposito pair up immediately, but Kate doesn't move towards Castle, isn't sure if them dancing together would cross some kind of invisible line. They've danced, but it was early in their partnership, and they'd been undercover, so she doesn't count it.

Like she doesn't count the dozens of times they've gone for drinks, or a meal, or coffee, or their hands have brushed together, or he's helped her into her coat or saved her life.

Like she doesn't count the time they'd kissed.

Castle returns from getting them fresh drinks, and she smiles her thanks, takes a large gulp of the wine. It makes her brave, and she stands, reaches for his arm.

"Come dance," she says, her hand sliding up his forearm to grip his elbow.

He's taken off his jacket, and his arm is solid and firm under the crisp white shirt. The open collar of his shirt is enticing, and her fingers itch to unbutton it further, to touch the skin she uncovers. She won't, though. She just pulls him to the dance floor, and prays to the wedding reception gods that he'll unbutton it himself when he gets warm.

She doesn't have to wait long. The song changes to YMCA, and the dance floor is soon overflowing, pushing her into him.

Castle laughs, some of their awkwardness disappearing, and he just steps back to give her a little more room as they dance. He undoes the second button on his shirt partway through the song, and Kate tries not to stare at the newly exposed skin.

God, maybe three glasses of wine is her limit tonight, she thinks, her mind immediately shifting. What she wouldn't give to be alone with him, to take his shirt off all the way-

Get a hold of yourself. You are at your friend's wedding, she chastises herself, tearing her gaze from his torso. She tries to play it off like she was looking around, but when her eyes meet his again, there's a glint in his gaze that tells her he noticed where her attention was.

Of course, he noticed. He notices everything.

After a few more songs she has to take a break. Her feet are killing her, and she's thirsty. She taps Castle's arm and leans into him, so her mouth is by his ear and he can hear her over the loud music. "I gotta sit."

Castle nods. "I'll come with."

"No, you stay. I'll come back out in a bit." Kate does detour by the bar to get a drink in addition to water, and she almost collapses into her chair, resists the temptation to take off her shoes.

Lanie joins her just a few minutes later. "Good lord, I'm out of shape," she pants, reaching for her glass. "And I wore the wrong damn shoes to be dancing like that."

Kate chuckles at her best friend's sentiments. "Same. I wish I'd thought about function over fashion."

"Girl, please," Lanie scoffs, glancing at Kate. "You could've worn sweats and slippers and you'd still be the only woman in here to him."

"What are you talking about?"

"You cannot tell me you wore that skintight dress and those fine-ass shoes for Jenny and Kev."

Kate feels her face flush from more than the warmth. Lanie's right; she'd had a certain handsome, blue-eyed writer on her mind while shopping for the outfit.

"And he's noticed," another voice pipes up.

Kate and Lanie glance over at the older lady, the only other occupant at the table. She's Jenny's grandmother, she'd learned over dinner, and has been flirting with Castle for the whole evening.

"Who's noticed?" Kate asks, knowing full well who she means.

Mrs. O'Malley scoots to take Castle's chair so she's next to Kate. "That boyfriend of yours. He can't keep his eyes off of you."

Kate ignores the loud snicker on her other side. "Oh, he's-"

Before she can continue, the man in question is at the table, his face red, a light sheen of sweat on his forehead from dancing. "Hey," he greets them, "I need a break. Do any of you lovely ladies need a fresh beverage?" he asks, his gaze switching between all three of them, landing on Kate the longest. At their negative responses, he walks behind them, his hand brushing Kate's shoulder as he passes. "'kay. I'll be back."

"He's such a sweet man," Mrs. O'Malley continues, as if they hadn't been interrupted. She focuses on Kate. "You're lucky you snatched him up, young lady. He's a keeper."

Kate reaches for her wine, all of a sudden unsure of what to say. She takes a long sip before she can respond, opts to ignore the misunderstanding about her and Castle's relationship. "Yeah, he's a great guy."

"Real great," Lanie pipes up.

"And he's infatuated with you." Mrs. O'Malley pokes Kate's arm. "I'm telling you, you may as well be the only woman here."

Before Kate can be embarrassed anymore she spots Castle coming back into the room, and she takes advantage of the opportunity to leave Mrs. O'Malley and Lanie. She hears the music change to a slower song, but she doesn't care if it will make dancing awkward, just intercepts Castle halfway to their table. "Let's dance," she says, perhaps more harsh than she'd intended. But he still lets her take his hand and follows her.

Slow dancing with him won't exactly shut up the peanut gallery, but they hit it a little too close to home. Lanie knows how she feels about Castle - hell, she probably knows how Castle feels, too - but Mrs. O'Malley had known them for two hours. Is Castle that obvious?

Is she?

Castle squeezes her hand and leads her to the side of the room before they reach the dance floor. "Hey," he says when they're in a quiet spot and can actually hear each other talk. "Is everything okay?"

Kate meets his gaze. He looks worried, his eyes searching hers, traveling along her face, probably looking for signs of a panic attack. But she's much more calm than she would have thought, so he won't find anything. "Yeah," she assures him, "everything's okay. I just wanted to dance is all."

"Sure. Okay." Castle's hand is still in hers, she notices, but she doesn't pull away, just shifts her grip so she can thread her fingers through his. The way Castle's face lights up at the touch makes her weak at the knees.

It makes her forget all about her walls.

"I don't want to leave yet," she continues, motioning to the room with a jerk of her head. "But when it wraps up, or tomorrow if it's too late, can we go somewhere and talk?"

"Of course," Castle says with a soft voice.

They spend most of the evening dancing to fast songs and slow alike; Kate relaxes even during the slow songs, all of her nerves melting away, as he holds her close. She gets a knowing look from Lanie, but she ignores her.

A few hours later, they find an all night coffee shop. And when late turns to early, when the sun is rising and Castle is kissing her in front of her building, she finally admits to herself that Mrs. O'Malley - and Lanie - were right. Rick Castle only has eyes for her, and she needs to snatch him up.

Well, she only has eyes for him, too.

She still has to work on opening up, emotionally, but with him by her side, she'll get there.

A/N: Hopefully there are no mistakes but if there are, they're mine. This was inspired by a brief Twitter conversation over 2 years ago. Twitter dot com /ipreferwestside/status/979093527601688576?s=19