Disclaimer: I do not own Castle in any way.

A/N: My first Castle fic. Hope you enjoy!

"It's about what?" Javier looked up at his partner in shock.

"About you - about us," Ryan said quietly. He handed the book to Javier, who took it cautiously.

"Nikki Heat is kidnapped in the third chapter, and we don't see her again until the third to last chapter. So the story focuses on the life of Detective Carlos Martinez - and his partner Evan Bryan."

"Well, your name is almost the same," Javier acknowledged with a laugh. "But my name? Could Castle get any more stereotypical."

"It's pretty normal fare for a while… Bryan and Martinez are really good friends, banter a lot like we do… But then."

"What?" Javier waited for the punchline… Then realized how nervous Kevin looked.

"Do you die?" Javier asked worriedly.

"No," Kevin said quickly.

"Do I die?"

"You should just… read it. Tonight. And call me when you're done, if you, uh, want to." Kevin high tailed it out of the office, leaving his partner quite confused.

Later on that night, Javier settled into bed and began to read the novel.

There was nothing unusual about the story - it was typical Castle fare, a good mystery, excellent dialogue… Bryan and Martinez reminded Javier very strongly of Kevin and himself - Castle really knew how to write them, he admitted.

At first a couple little things caught his notice, but Javier brushed it off.

Sure, after Martinez' former partner (who had turned dirty) had to be caught and imprisoned, the way Castle wrote about Bryan and Martinez holding hands sounded a little gay… But it was probably nothing. They were probably just really good friends, like he was with Kevin, Javier thought.

"I thought I'd lost you."

"Never," Evan swore.

It wasn't until Heat cleared her throat that the two men stepped back from their fierce embrace.

"Normal," Javier reassured himself. When he had thought he'd lost Kevin - too many times to count… well, seven, actually, he realized - he'd wanted to do just the same. It was just his pride that kept him back from it.

Finally he reached the last chapter. It turned out that the caterer was the murdering cousin's accomplice - and he had captured Evan Bryan and was holding him hostage… somewhere.

After pages of searching, and dead ends, and Martinez drinking whiskey on duty - and getting reprimanded by Heat for it… Javier's heart was racing, and then Martinez found his partner - amazingly enough, alive.

"Evan," Martinez breathed, falling to his knees beside his partner, checking his pulse with one hand as he sliced through the rope with the knife in his other hand. "Talk to me."

"Mmm," Evan Bryan said weakly, as Carlos rolled him to his back and gently ran his hands over his chest.

"You're not shot." The relief hits Carlos powerfully, and he just wants to lay down, it exhausts him so much.

"Just a little beat up," his partner says, and Carlos grabs his hand and squeezes it tightly.

"Heat's getting the fucker right now. He's going away for good."

"'s good," Evan agreed, his head lolling slightly. "Carlos…"

"I've got you, don't worry, partner," Carlos spoke softly.

"I thought about you. When I thought I was going to die." Evan's eyes darted back and forth, as if he couldn't look Carlos in the eye.

"Yeah?"

"I knew… I can't do this again. Not without telling you."

Carlos' heart was beginning to race.

"I have to, and I'm sorry if this ruins everything, but I love - "

Carlos cut him off with a fierce kiss.

Young Detective Jessica Finn stared at the two men, partly out of curiosity but mostly out of arousal. She'd never seen a kiss so passionate, so desperate before. She'd always idealized those perfect kisses everyone sees in the movies... But those actors had nothing on her fellow officers.

"You?" Evan breathed.

"The same, partner," Carlos vowed. "Time to get you to a fucking doctor. I need you to be okay."

"As long as you're here - I will be."

Javier couldn't finish the rest of the chapter.

They had kissed. They were in love. Bryan and Martinez, the characters obviously fashioned after Kevin and him, were madly in love.

Looking back on the rest of the novel, it all made sense. After everything they'd done, everything they'd said, and what they hadn't…

Of course they were in love.

Of course he was in love with his partner.

Javier flipped through the book, and looked, for the first time, at the dedication.

To K. I hope this gives you the courage… And to J - I hope this opens your eyes.

Javier read those few sentences about five times before he grabbed his cell phone, hit 1, and speed dialed.

"Esposito?" His partner's voice wavered.

"Kevin, get over here now," he said roughly, and hung up.

When Kevin Ryan showed up on his partner's door step, he was terrified. If he'd read the dedication, surely Javier would figure out that Kevin had talked to Castle about how he felt about his partner.

He half expected Javier to yell at him, maybe request a change in partner.

The more logical half of his brain expected Javier to let him down gently, and remind him they'd always be friends no matter how gay Kevin was for him…

He certainly wasn't expecting Javier to open the door, haul him inside, shove him against the wall, and shove his tongue into his mouth.

After the first moments of shock, Kevin relaxed and began to give as got as he was getting.

"You?" Kevin gasped, when Javier released him and began to yank on his shirt.

"The same, partner," Javier growled, and proceeded to make Kevin's wildest dreams come true.

"So… do we tell Castle that his book worked?" Kevin wondered later, as they lay in bed, kissing softly, their bare limbs intertwined.

"I'd rather let him wonder for a while…" Javier thought aloud. "But I'd rather let everyone know you're mine."

"Like fucking me in the firing range?" Kevin asked slyly.

Javier's mind just disappeared into fantasy.

"Where'd you come up with that one? I'm pretty sure that would be very much against the rules," Javier said dazedly.

"Didn't you read the last chapter of Heat of the Moment?" Kevin queried.

"They fucked in the firing range?" Javier said disbelieving.

"It was delightfully explicit," Kevin purred.

"Castle wrote gay porn?"

"Nah, apparently Beckett wrote that scene for him."

"What!"

"Just kidding, Javi," Kevin chuckled.

Javier sighed as Kevin began laying kisses along his chest.

"Isn't he worried about it not selling?"

"Actually, its sold very well already, and its just in its first week. The LGBT community is raving about it, and Castle's quite excited to bring in more readership."

"I imagine some people won't read it, though."

"Castle said what I was thinking - screw the homophobes."

"I'd rather screw you," Javier said candidly.

"I like the sound of that," Kevin groaned.

Needless to say, the next morning they both came in to work just a little late - both looking thoroughly well-fucked.

Nobody at the station was surprised.

When Beckett caught them kissing in the firing range, she nearly dropped her coffee.

"Is that what Castle based that sex scene on?" She wondered aloud.

Javier yanked away from the kiss as Kevin flushed.

"Wait - WHAT?"