AN: Apparently, I don't have the willpower for a long hiatus.

So, I'm back. Only a brief interlude between stories, as it turned out, but since I had a holiday, and got through Christmas without any major family bust ups (if you knew my family, you'd know that peace is a rare occurrence), and now it's been 2012 for 21 hours. So I figure, it's time for me to get over my weird and oddly dramatic melancholy, and post a new story.

This is a ridiculously cute one-shot, like everything I write, but I hope you enjoy it none-the-less.

I'm SimoneLouise_XX on Twitter, you should follow me! ;)

IBYL
xo

Disclaimer: Don't own them. That's ABC Studios and AWM's privilege, not mine.

It was a quiet Tuesday morning, and Detective Kate Beckett was revelling in a rare day off. They had no major open cases at work at the moment, and she'd worked late the day before to complete all of her paperwork early. When she announced this to Captain Permafrost, the vile woman begrudgingly allowed her the day off, causing Beckett to bask a little in her own personal triumph. Beckett didn't have any specific plans, so she slept in late (it was only until 9am but still, that was a sleep-in by her usual standards), did the grocery shopping that she'd neglected for over a week, and now she was deciding how to indulge herself for the day.

A knock on the door interrupted her pondering, and she frowned before realising she'd missed one crucial step in her decision to take a day off – Castle hadn't been in yesterday. He'd had back to back publishers meeting's, and she'd forgotten to let him know she wasn't heading to the precinct. She carefully looked through the peephole and sure enough, Castle was standing outside her door, looking mildly concerned, and holding two coffee cups. Beckett bit her lip to hold back a smile before carefully opening her door.

"Hey, Castle." She said. "Sorry for the impromptu day off." She said genuinely, and he smiled, clearly relieved that she didn't seem remotely ill.

"That's alright. How'd you manage it?" He asked, surprised she'd been able to get away at all.

"Well, my partner wasn't around to bug me yesterday so I got a tonne of paperwork done." She teased, and he smirked.

"Bet Gates didn't like that." He said, grinning as he pictured her face, the grin widening when Kate joined in with a cheeky smile of her own.

"She wasn't what you'd call pleased." She said with a smile, before taking her coffee from Castle and gesturing toward the couch in invitation. He took a seat, and Kate followed.

"So any plans for your day off?" He asked, and she shook her head.

"Nope. I was just deciding what to do when you knocked." She said.

"Does that mean I can offer my company?" He asked with a nervous smile, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Don't you have more Black Pawn stuff to do today?" She asked. Usually after he had a day full of publishers meeting's, he wasn't available for a couple of days while he panicked about deadlines and word counts. He shook his head, a proud grin gracing his face.

"No, I'm actually ahead of schedule this time around. I've already completed my outline for the next book. Yesterday's meetings were actually about an extension to the Nikki Heat series."

"Really? They want more?"

"The books are a huge success, Kate. They're bigger than Derrick Storm. Heat Rises alone has made more than the last three Storm novels. Black Pawn are greedy, after all. And if people still want to read about Nikki, I'm more than happy to keep writing. They're just figuring out the details for me." He said, and she smiled.

"Well, we should celebrate or something. Probably a bit early for a drink, though." She teased, and he grinned.

"You make a good point. I, however, am craving a hot dog. A big one. From Central Park." He said with a childish grin, and she couldn't help the laughter that bubbled from her throat.

"Central Park it is." She said, picking up her coffee and purse before heading for the door.

XXX

Castle took his first bite of his hot dog and moaned a little as he chewed.

"That's the stuff." He said with a contented sigh, and Kate shook her head a little before taking a bite of her own hot dog.

"So melodramatic, Castle." She murmured, and he looked affronted, before laughing.

"Hey, I can't help it. You've met my mother." He said, and she nodded, acquiescing.

"Fair point. God, it's nice to be outside and not chasing criminals." She said, and he laughed.

"That it is. You should do it more often." He said, and she raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"Take more days off? And risk the wrath of Gates? I don't think so." She scoffed, and he smiled widely. Kate raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You just have the best vocabulary. Who uses words like wrath anymore?" He said excitedly, and she laughed.

"Apparently it's just you and me, Castle."

"Rick." He said quickly.

"What?" She asked, clearly losing his train of thought.

"My name's Rick." He said with a shrug. "Try it every once in a while."

"Okay… Rick." She said, the name rolling off her tongue awkwardly as they descended into silence. They finished eating and Castle stood up abruptly, holding out his hand. Kate looked at him carefully before offering him her own hand, as he pulled her up from the bench they'd been sitting on. He dropped her hand and took her rubbish, dumping it into a nearby bin before walking back to where she was standing, simply taking in her surroundings. She looked so innocent, he thought, and he decided that today he would make something change. That wall might not come down entirely until her mother's murder was solved, but what did it matter if a brick or two went missing? He walked over to her and took her hand once again, intertwining their fingers and catching her by surprise. Her jaw dropped a little but she said nothing, deciding instead to 'roll with it', and she anchored her hand to his as they strolled through the park. When she next looked up, she couldn't help but giggle at the look of pure joy on Rick's face. When she laughed, he looked down.

"What's funny?" He asked, and she smiled.

"Just you, Rick." She replied, squeezing his hand gently but dropping it. He pouted. "Don't pout. We're getting ice-cream." She said, nodding to an ice-cream parlour just across the road from the entrance to Central Park. He grinned.

"Mmm, Chocolate." He said excitedly as he wandered towards the road. She smiled and followed.

XXX

They sat in the ice-cream parlour, Kate holding a modest cone with two scoops of Choc Mint ice-cream. Rick, however, childish as he was, was now juggling 4 scoops of various chocolate-based and vanilla-based flavours, all of which were currently balancing precariously on a waffle cone. He took a careful lick and grinned when nothing collapsed.

"Success!" He said excitedly, and Kate laughed.

"Not yet. It won't be deemed successful until the entire sculpture is gone, without making a mess."

"I'll show you!" He said, his ever-present competitive streak flaring.

"Sure thing, writer boy." She murmured with a smirk, as she paused to enjoy her ice-cream. "But don't whinge to me when you're in pain later from the sugar overload."

Twenty minutes later, they were back strolling through Central Park, and Rick was busting out his patented happy dance, which had Kate doubled over in laughter. When he stopped dancing and she recovered, she wiped a rogue tear from her eyes.

"You're just something, aren't you?" She said, giggling again. He beamed at the almost-compliment as they continued walking through the park.

"That I am. Plus, it was a victory dance. I told you I could eat that ice-cream!" He said excitedly, making her laugh more.

"God, you really are nine years old, aren't you? Yes, you finished the ice-cream." She teased gently, before looping her arm through his crooked elbow. "Come on, I think you should walk me home."

"Probably a good idea since that's where my car is." He said blandly, and she grinned.

XXX

"Thank you for my little interlude today, Rick." She said, as they walked towards her apartment.

"You're welcome. I'm nothing if not a distraction." He said, mocking himself a little, and Kate frowned.

"You're the best kind of distraction." She said softly, leaning up to kiss his cheek quickly. "Bye." She said as she opened her door and slipped inside. She peeked back out through the peephole and smiled when she saw a still-beaming Rick frozen outside her door with a giant grin on his face. She chuckled a little.

Kate had only been home about half an hour when her phone chimed with an incoming text. It was from Rick.

Hey, sneaky. Any chance you'd like to come over for dinner tonight?

She laughed a little at that, before pondering the offer. She had only just said she would 'roll with it', after all. And dinner at the Castle loft was always good fun. She smiled and tapped out a reply.

Sneaky, me? Never! But thanks for the offer, I'd love to come to dinner. What time and what can I bring?

She put her phone down and picked up her book again, only to be interrupted seconds later. He had lightning fingers, after all.

Just after 6? And I would say you can't bring anything but I'm guessing you won't listen, so you're in charge of dessert. No ice-cream though? Not sure I can handle it.

She grinned.

Hate to say I told you so, but… I told you so. See you at 6, Rick.

XXX

The time before Kate would have to leave for dinner passed extremely quickly. She read for a while, did a few more chores, and then organised herself to go over to Castle's place. Rick's place, she corrected in her mind, before sighing. In the space of one day, he'd gone from Castle to Rick. It was a seamless transition. She pulled herself into her car and headed for the loft, desperately trying to stop thinking about how easy everything had been today.

Not long after, she was at the loft, pressing the doorbell and trying not to be nervous. It was just dinner, for goodness sake! She did this all the time! Kate didn't have long to ponder the predicament she found herself in, as the door flung open to reveal Rick himself.

"Hey, you made it! Come in, come in." He said, gesturing toward the kitchen. He closed the door and scarpered off towards the stove, stirring something quickly. As Kate was pretty familiar with the loft, she dropped her bag by the door and wandered towards the kitchen, taking a seat at the island and stealing a tomato from the waiting salad.

"So what are we eating?" She asked, and Rick smiled to her.

"I went easy – pasta and salad. Looks like it's just you and me tonight." He said, and Kate raised an eyebrow.

"Where are the ladies of the manor?" She asked easily.

"Alexis is, surprise surprise, over at Paige's house again, discussing yet another boy conundrum. And Mother has hit it off with my banker, and has finally accepted his invitation to dinner." He said, and Kate laughed.

"Your mother is amazing, Rick. Who walks out of a hostage situation with a date?" She asked rhetorically, and he nodded in acknowledgement as he served up dinner. He took both plates and nodded towards the already set table. Kate smiled and followed him to the table.

Over an hour later, Kate and Rick had slouched to the lounge room. Kate sat heavily on the couch and sighed.

"I feel like I'm about to explode." Kate moaned, and Rick laughed.

"Me too. I always make too much pasta, it's a curse."

"I love the indulgence, I just hate the feeling afterwards. I will be hitting the gym tomorrow, I think." She said with a self-deprecating laugh, and Rick frowned.

"You know you don't need it, right?" He asked and she smiled.

"Thanks for that compliment, Rick. But I don't use the gym because I'm vain – I kind of need to be fit, since… you know… homicide detective." She said, and he blushed a little.

"Yeah, I knew that." He said bashfully, and she giggled. "But, you know… you're beautiful. You always will be. You don't need the gym for that." He said matter-of-factly, and Kate blushed a bright shade of red.

"You're sweet." She murmured in response, unconsciously shifting a little closer to him on the couch. He hesitated, but threw his arm around her shoulder, bumping her head in the process and making her move. She turned to look at him and it was his turn to blush.

"Apparently I'm 14 again." He said sadly, shaking his head at his not-so-suave move. She laughed, before guiding his arm around her shoulders safely and without further injury.

"It's all good, Rick." She said, leaning into his embrace before nabbing the remote and turning the TV on, turning quickly to once again indulge in the giant smile gracing his face. She found a brainless documentary and settled into Rick's embrace, enjoying the peace of the moment.

XXX

A few hours later, the TV was off and Rick and Kate were hovering by the door of the loft, both knowing that they needed to part ways for the evening, but neither really having the willpower to do so. After a few minutes of silence, it was Kate who addressed it.

"I wish I could stay, Rick, but I have to be at the precinct early tomorrow." She said, and he could hear the honesty in her voice.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked hopefully. Usually she wouldn't ask him to come in if there wasn't a case but… something had shifted today.

"Sure, if you want to come in." She said, covering her bases but smiling when he nodded enthusiastically.

"I'll be there." He said, as she turned the doorknob and took a step. "Well… uh… until tomorrow." He murmured, and she smiled, turning back to face him.

"Hey, Rick?" She said, and his eyes locked with hers. "Thank you for a perfect day." She whispered, leaning in and softly pressing her lips to his, before pulling away with a blush and an awkward wave. She was already at the elevator when Rick had recovered, so he simply closed the door after her and smiled to himself.

One perfect day.

He hoped it would be one of many.

THE END.
(For Now)

Review? x