Castle 1. Ricky Rodgers and Katie Beckett

**Castle: When Ricky Met Katie**

_Summary: A Castle & Beckett spin on the classic rom-com "When Harry Met Sally". AU of course, starts with Rick and Kate in college and there are time jumps from there as we navigate through their lives and they continue to cross paths. Lots of bickering and banter between our favourite duo. A few laughs, and eventually, a love story. PS: You don't need to know the movie to enjoy this fic._

**Chapter 1: Ricky Rodgers and Katie Beckett**

_A/N: Yes, I'm back! I've had this idea in my head for a long while now and have been working on it on and off for quite some time. Basic concept of the movie is the same. If you haven't seen it, you really should! However it's not necessary to know the film to enjoy this fic. Castle and Beckett's personal lives will stay relatively canon to the show, such as some of their relationships and family members but I've tweaked a few details. For starters Johanna Beckett was never murdered and therefore Kate pursued her career as a lawyer rather than a homicide detective, but don't worry, that didn't stop me from including our boys Ryan and Esposito in this fic! For the sake of this story Castle and Beckett are close in age as they are attending university at the same time. Castle is only 2 years older than Beckett so we begin with a 23 year old Castle and a 21 year old Beckett. Read on and enjoy...  
_

* * *

_**[May 1999, Chicago, Illinois]**_

It was an unusually warm May afternoon in the Windy City and the hot sun peered in through the light shades as Kate Beckett stood in her now empty dorm room at NorthWestern University taking one last look around and basking in the nostalgia of what she was about to leave behind.

This had been home for the last three years of her life, save for the occasional down time they received for summer and Christmas breaks where she'd fly home to spend time with her parents in New York. She'd been studying pre-law here and received her undergrad degree but after this summer break she would be headed off to Stanford to get her full Law degree. She can easily recall the excitement in her parent's voices as she told them over the phone about her acceptance to Stanford. Over the moon didn't begin to describe the pride and excitement they held for their little girl and a smile creased her lips as the memory from just a few months ago flooded back to her.

She reached the front door and cast one final look over the room to ensure she hadn't forgotten anything before reaching down to pick up her suitcases and heading out into the hallway, letting the door close firmly behind her.

Stopping a few feet down the dimly lit dorm hallway at the door of room 12 she set her luggage down and rapped her knuckles against the door.

"Kyra" she called out but got no response.

She could hear giggling from inside the room and she knew unmistakably that it was her friend Kyra Blaine. She could also tell by the occasional chuckles of a much deeper voice that Kyra's boyfriend was also in the room. Doing what, well, she probably didn't want to know so she knocked again, a little harder this time.

"Kyra?" She called out once more against the closed door.

"Shhh" she could hear Kyra mutter from inside; followed by another bout of laughter which was quickly silenced, followed by some heavy breathing and muffled groans suffocated between what she could safely assume was kissing.

_Great. _

"Kyra, its Katie, are you guys coming?" she regretted the choice of words the moment it left her lips but it was too late, it was already out there.

"Not yet, but give us a minute would you?" the male voice called out and she could hear Kyra gasp in embarrassment, followed by a slap and then more laughing.

_Seriously?_

"I'm sorry Katie" Kyra called out, and then more giggling. "We'll be out in a minute okay?"

"Okay" Kate sighed, unamused.

"You're so bad" she heard Kyra mumble quietly.

"I thought you liked it when I was bad?" the deep voice practically growled in return.

_Oh for crying out loud._

"I'll be in the car" Kate called out, and although they couldn't actually see her rolling her eyes she's sure they could hear it in her voice.

* * *

Well this was going to be just peachy, Kate thought to herself as she headed for the exit. She had yet to have an actual conversation with Kyra's new beau, only seeing him in passing and saying a quick hello as he would be seen coming and going from Kyra's room at random hours over the last few weeks since they'd gotten together. Yesterday she had the added bonus of seeing him in nothing but his boxer shorts as he snuck quietly out of Kyra's room a little past 6a.m. Kate had just headed out into the hallway to take a quick morning run before an exam but practically stumbled onto her backside as she turned away from her door and walked straight smack into the hard naked chest of a blue eyed stranger.

"_Owww" she groaned; rubbing her nose with her hand._

"_Gosh, I'm so sorry" a voice mumbled oddly and she looked up to see a green toothbrush dangling out of his mouth. He pulled the toothbrush from his mouth and nodded at her apologetically "Sorry" he said again. _

"_It's fine, I'm fine" she assured him; taking a moment to look him up and down, having to supress a laugh as her gaze fell to his oddly large feet stuffed into Kyra's pink flip flops she wore when she went to the shower room._

"_Nice flip flops" she commented and he shrugged, apparently not at all embarrassed. Then again, why would he be? Here he was in the middle of the dorm hallway in his underwear, hair all mussed and sticking up every which way and a look in his eyes that said 'I just got lucky'. Clearly the man had no shame._

"_You're Kyra's friend, right? Katie?" he asked and she nodded. _

"_Yes. You must be the famous Ricky she won't stop going on about"_

"_Guilty as charged" he smirked at her._

_She forced a smile back at him and gave a quick nod before brushing past him and heading down the hallway toward the exit. It was all too awkward to have a conversation with her friends boyfriend while he stood there in his underwear and she had a feeling she wasn't hiding her embarrassment very well by the way he gave her that smug smirk every time she accidentally let her eyes wander over him. _

It was later that day when Kyra had come to Kate's room with her _'wonderful_' idea. Apparently Captain Underpants there had told Kyra of their little run in and Kyra had been instantly struck with what she could only conclude was the best idea she's ever had. She explained to Kate that Ricky was going to New York this summer as well and was also headed there the next day but would be taking the train as he didn't have a car of his own here in Chicago. Kyra decided that the idea was absurd and that since they were both travelling to the same place, why wouldn't they travel together? Kate tried to protest but Kyra wouldn't hear of it.

"_It'll be way cheaper, you guys can split the cost on everything. And just think, you'd only have to do half the driving"_ she had explained. _"And it doesn't have to be weird, I mean I know you guys don't actually know each other but he means a lot to me, and you mean a lot to me! I want you guys to get to know each other, and this is perfect!"_

Kate knew that once Kyra had her mind made up there was no sense arguing with her. She also didn't have the heart to tell her that the chances of her and Ricky's relationship surviving this split was slim to none. Kyra was a Chicago native and still had two years of school ahead of her so it wasn't like she'd be shacking up with underwear boy in New York any time soon and honestly, they'd only been together a few weeks and if his reputation held true, he didn't stay tied down too long.

So finally deciding not to argue the inevitable anymore Kate agreed to Kyra's idea and they had set a time for them to leave the following morning and Kyra was to fill Ricky in on all the plans later that evening.

* * *

Sitting in the old but reliable Volvo sedan that once belonged to her father, Kate waited for her travel companion to arrive. Her luggage was already neatly tucked away in the trunk and her fingers continued drumming over the steering wheel as she waited anxiously; noting how they were already nearly a half hour off schedule. She hated being late.

A sharp scream followed by a loud bout of laughter shook Kate out of her daze and she adjusted her rear-view mirror to see what all the commotion was about. She watched as Ricky had unceremoniously bent over and hooked his arm around the back of Kyra's knees and swooped her up and over his shoulder into a fireman's carry and began running towards the car with her safely secured to him in one hand and his oversized duffel bag in the other.

"Ricky you're going to drop me" she said through another bought of laughter; her fists pounding lightly against his back. "Put me down"

"Kay" he smirked as they reached the back of the car and Kate could still see them in her mirror. He dropped his duffel and slowly slid her down the front of him until her backside came to rest on the trunk of the car and he stood between her legs. He grinned before leaning down and kissing her.

The kiss seemed to last hours; at least to Kate it did as she tried not to watch in her rear-view mirror. She groaned though when she looked up and saw Kyra wrap her legs around his middle, tugging him closer to her and his hands came down on top of the trunk on either side of her as she slowly slunk her back down against the trunk and rear window, bringing him with her.

'_Yeah, not going to happen on my car' _Kate grumbled to herself as her hands slammed down on the horn and startled the two of them apart.

"Whoops, sorry" Kate shrugged, looking out the window at the two lovebirds. "Slipped"

"Well," Ricky cleared his throat as he straightened himself up. "I guess I should probably get going, huh?" he mentioned and Kyra pouted as she slid off the hood and stood in front of him, taking his hands in hers and swinging them back and forth between their bodies.

"I'm going to miss you!" Kyra sighed.

"I miss you already" he countered and Kate couldn't help the audible groan that escaped her.

_Are these two for real?_

"Oh my goodness I almost forgot!" Kyra gasped before reaching into the pocket of her jeans and fishing out a cassette and placing it into Ricky's hand.

"You made me a mixed tape?" He had a goofy smile on his face as his thumb traced over the label, no doubt covered with doodles of hearts and various combinations of both their names.

"Yeah I did. It's all our songs" she smiled sweetly at him.

_Good grief. How could they have songs, plural? They'd been dating for five minutes. _She loved Kyra to death but she had a tendancy to dive in head first into relationships and Kate was the one who she'd call at midnight to come over for some therapy courtesy of Ben & Jerry's.

"Call me when you get there?" Kyra asked, bottom lip held out in a pout.

"I'll call you before then" again, that trademark smirk of his appeared before Kyra kissed it away.

"I love you Ricky" she mumbled against his lips.

"Back at ya babe" he told her before capturing her lips again.

Another blast of the horn startled them again and they scrambled a few feet back from each other.

"Alright, alright" Rick called out to Kate. "Sorry, I'm coming"

"I really gotta go now babe" he told Kyra softly as he pressed one last kiss to her forehead, tucked a few stray strands of dark brown hair behind her ear and then left her side and headed for the passenger's side door of the Volvo.

"Have a safe trip you guys, and call me sometime, okay Katie?" Kyra called out and Kate turned to her and smiled.

"I will"

"Bye Ricky!" Kyra shouted dramatically; jumping up and down while waving at him. "Bye!"

"Bye" he smiled at her and blew a kiss and Beckett could only roll her eyes as she watched Kyra grasping out at thin air and closing her fist before bringing it to rest over her heart.

Finally he opened the car door and lazily tossed his duffel over the front seat and onto the back before plunking himself down in the passenger seat.

"Oh, I left a space for your things in the trunk. I took up one half of it, but the other half is…"

"It's fine, back seat works" he shrugged before reaching for his seat belt and fastening it.

She adjusted her rear-view mirror and while doing so caught a glimpse of his bag tossed carelessly in the back seat; covered in a light dusting of dirt after he had dropped it on the ground earlier and it was half on the floor, half hanging over the seat. One zipper wasn't completely closed all the way and there was what looked to be a dirty sock hanging out from the side of it. She let out a small huff and rolled her eyes before straightening the mirror and then throwing the car into drive as the made their way off the campus grounds, the sight of Kyra continuing to jump up and down dramatically waving at them still evident in her rearview.

_Great. _This was going to be the longest thirteen hours of her life.

* * *

_A/N: Well? How do you like it so far? This was just a quick little introduction, the next chapter plans to be more about their journey from Chicago to New York and them getting to know each other a little better. There will be a lot of banter and bickering between them, but it'll be light and fun. Oh, and they won't always go by 'Katie' and 'Ricky', I'm just using that now while they're younger, which is why Beckett is referred to as 'Kate' out of dialogue in this chapter (because this chapter is from her POV). Drop me a line and let me know what you're thinking of the story so far. I'd love to hear from you!_


	2. Just Friends Or not

**Castle: When Ricky Met Katie**

**Chapter 2: Just Friends. Or not.  
**

_A/N: Thank you for all the feedback from the first chapter! I will be "borrowing" some dialogue from the movie, but also adding in a lot of my own as well to twist the story into their characters better. Hope you enjoy it…_

* * *

_**[still May 1999, somewhere between Chicago and New York]**_

They were only a few minutes into their journey when Rick suddenly unfastened his seat belt, turned himself around and leaned over into the back seat to start rummaging through his duffel bag. Kate scrunched her face up as Rick continued fidgeting beside her, his backside a little too close to her face for her comfort as he seemingly ransacked the back seat looking for god knows what.

"What are you doing?" she finally asked a few moments later, watching him in the rear view mirror as he pulled out socks and t shirts and boxers from his bag and tossed them carelessly on the back seat and floor of her otherwise neatly kept vehicle.

"Ah, found it!" he declared victoriously before turning around and slumping back into seat with a grin plastered on face.

"Found what?" Kate wondered cautiously.

"My beef jerky, I knew I threw some in there last week" he smiled to himself as he tore off a piece of the wrapper and shoved it into his mouth; ripping off a large portion with his teeth.

"Want a bite?" he mumbled through his chewing as he shoved the offensive smelling snack towards Kate's face.

She quickly turned her nose up and shook her head. "No, thanks…" she grimaced before lightly pushing his hand away from her face.

"Your loss" he simply shrugged before taking another large bite; his open mouthed chewing was loud and not unlike a cow munching on fresh grass. Kate had to hold in her sigh of contempt.

"So, tell me the story of your life" he said casually, still chewing obnoxiously.

"The story of my life?" she questioned; stealing a glance away from the road ahead of her to look at him for a brief moment.

"Yeah, I figure we've got thirteen hours to kill" he simply shrugged.

"The story of my life won't get us through Chicago" she replied honestly. "Nothing's really happened to me yet, that's why I'm going to Stanford in the fall"

"So something will happen to you…" he stated, almost as a question.

"So I can become a lawyer" she corrected with a smile of confidence.

"So you can argue about things that happened to other people"

She rolled her eyes at that. He was getting irritating.

"Okay, Mister big shot, what about you?"

"What about me?" he repeated.

"Yes, what makes your life so special? Why are you going to New York?"

"I'm a writer" he told her confidently and her brow furrowed in confusion.

"A writer?" it almost came out as a scoff, though she didn't mean it to.

"Yes, a writer. Is that so hard to believe?"

"And what is it that you write about?"

"Mystery, Murder, the macabre. You know, all that dark and twisty stuff" he smirked and waggled his eyebrows at her as if she should be impressed. She wasn't. In fact, she didn't really understand why someone would want to write about such things either so she simply shook her head and looked away, back towards the road in front of her.

"Let me guess" he began again a moment later. "You're more into sappy love stories or inspirational animal tales or something right?"

"Why would you say that?" she practically huffed at him.

"It's true isn't it?"

"Well, I… Sometimes… I…" she stuttered and tripped over her words as she tried to come up with a valid argument.

"Busted" he smirked at her before letting out a small chuckle. "Do you ever think about death?" he asked as if it was as natural a question as 'how about this weather?' and it took her by surprise.

"Um, I guess, no?..." she was unsure how to answer the question.

"I do" he simply replied. "I think about death all the time" his tone was light and she couldn't quite figure this guy out. He seemed like your everyday average frat boy, knew how to have a good time, probably the life of the party, but here he was going on about death in what would be considered their first official conversation.

"Well, everybody has a dark side I guess" she simply shrugged for arguments sake.

He laughed. _Wait,_ why was he laughing?

"What?" she asked, looking over to see him shaking his head.

"_You_, do _not_ have a dark side"

"Yes I do" she huffed at the accusation.

"No you don't"

"It just so happens that I have a very dark side" she stated confidently; why, she had no idea. She had no evidence to back that up with but for some reason she felt compelled to win every argument with him.

Probably because he was driving her crazy.

He studied her for a moment before beginning his argument. "When I get a new book, I always read the last page first. That way, if I die before I finish it I know how it ends. That my dear, is a dark side" he explained calmly and she narrowed her eyes at him as if that was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard.

"That doesn't make you deep or anything"

"I'm just saying I spend a lot of time thinking about death, while you spend a lot of time thinking about…" he paused as he wrapped his thumb and index finger around his chin, "puppies and sunshines and rainbows"

"Okay fine" she huffed. "Yes, generally I'm a pretty happy person, is there something wrong with that?" Her tone was accusatory and most unlike her usual self but she couldn't bring herself to care at the moment.

"Nope" he simply shrugged. "Not me though"

"Oh yes of course, you're all gloom and doom all the time right?" she was rolling her eyes as she spoke to him.

"It's an occupational hazard"

"Oh, right, your big writing career. And exactly how many books have you published?" She was being rude now and she instantly regretted it. Under normal circumstances she never acted like this but something about him just brought it out in her and she had trouble controlling it.

It didn't seem to phase him though as he responded quite confidently "I've written three, got tons of ideas for several others. I'm going to New York to hopefully get published. I've got some feelers out already and appointments next week to meet with a few publishing houses" he shrugged.

"Well, good for you, good luck" she said honestly. Yeah, that was more her style.

* * *

A few hours had passed and as the sun began to set over the horizon in front of them Kate decided now was a good time to stop for some dinner and relinquish the driver's seat to her travelling companion for a few hours, the conversation still flowing easily between them as they continued to find new things to argue about.

"So you're telling me that you would have chosen to get on the raft with the fiancé rather than going back for Jack?" Rick asked; practically appalled as he'd never heard a woman make that argument before regarding what could safely be called the classic love story of their time.

"Yeah, I guess so" she shrugged with indifference.

"But why? He was a jerk! And Jack, he's so dreamy" he sighed, putting a hand over his heart mockingly and it made her laugh.

"Well he may have been acting like a jerk but it was because he loved her, he was trying to keep her safe. A lifetime with Jack would mean a lifetime of struggle. Women are very practical, which is why Titanic is a _movie_, because no woman in her right mind would leave her family and everything she knows behind because of one little fling with a peasant"

She pulled the car to a stop in front of a small diner and killed the engine before they both stepped outside.

"So you're saying you would leave behind the man that you had the best sex of your life with, just because it makes more _practical_ sense to stay with your rich stuffy fiancé?" Rick continued the argument as they headed into the front doors of the quaint diner.

She took a quick moment to ponder that. "Yes" she finally decided with a confident nod. Noticing the sign asking them to seat themselves, Kate started walking towards a booth in the middle of the dining area.

Rick stopped for a moment in his tracks and pointed his index finger in the air as if a light bulb had just went off in his head.

"Ah, I get it now" he nodded as he slid into the bench seat across from her.

"What?"

"You've never had great sex" he stated matter-of-factly.

"Excuse me?" she asked; mouth partially agape in shock at his candidness.

"It's okay" he shrugged. "You're young, there's still time"

"It just so happens that I have had _plenty_ of great sex" she argued.

"Okay, sure" he half-heartedly shrugged at her.

"I'm serious!"

"Alright, fine" he sighed and she was more than happy the subject seemed to have dropped.

"With whom?" he muttered a moment later; not bothering to look up from the plastic menu in his hands.

"What?" she asked, the question throwing her off guard.

"With _whom_ did you have this great sex?" he clarified, finally bringing his gaze up to lock with hers.

She gasped at him. "I'm not telling you that"

"Alright fine" he shrugged again and she could tell he still didn't believe her.

"Glen Davis" she stated a few moments later; apparently pleased with herself as she smiled and folded her arms on top of the table in front of her.

He brought his gaze up from his menu to study her cocky smirk for a moment before shaking his head.

"No" he stated simply.

"No?"

"Yeah, no" he confirmed.

"Are you saying I imagined this sex?" she huffed in annoyance.

"No, I'm saying you did not have _great_ sex with Glen Davis"

"Well, why not?" she asked, genuinely intrigued on how he came to this conclusion without even knowing the person she was referring to.

"For starters, you have a terrible poker face" he began and she frowned. "Secondly, it took you almost two minutes to come up with that name, if it was so great, you wouldn't have forgotten it so easily"

She narrowed her eyes at him. She wanted to throw something at that big stupid head of his but thankfully an elderly waitress arrived just in the time to break the tension.

"Hey folks, what are we having tonight?" she asked politely and Kate decided to let their previous conversation go and hoped he wouldn't bring it up again either.

Their food arrived shortly afterwards and they ate mostly in silence, other than Ricky's occasional comments about how she chose to eat her food and his inability to understand why the peas and the carrots need to be separated from each other before being eaten.

When the bill arrived Kate picked it up off the table and began going over the math in her head while Rick watched her amused with his chin resting on his closed fist.

"Thirteen dollars, plus your share of the tip makes it…" she mumbled quietly to herself before looking up at him and saying in a clearer tone "your share is $15.92"

He was still staring at her, a small smirk playing on his lips and she looked at him rather confused.

"What?" she asked, his stare remained fixed on her.

"Do I have something on my face?" she asked, slightly embarrassed as she dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a napkin.

"Ricky, what!? Why are you staring at me?"

"The way your brow furrows, when you're thinking like that" he began to explain quietly, "It's _really_ cute"

Her jaw dropped open slightly as she stared at him in shock. "Ricky!" she practically hissed his name.

"What? I'm just saying, you're very attractive"

"You're dating Kyra!" she felt the need to remind him.

"So" he shrugged.

"So, you're hitting on me!" she huffed, standing up from the booth and putting her money down on the table before turning away towards the exit.

Rick quickly pulled a twenty from his wallet and dropped it off the table before sprinting after her.

"I was _not_ hitting on you" he scoffed as they reached the front door and pushed it open, stepping into the cool evening air.

She turned to him and gave her best scowl.

"What, a guy can't say another girl is attractive without it being a come on?"

"Can we just drop it" she huffed, heading towards the passenger side door of the car.

"Alright fine, consider it dropped. I hereby proclaim it dropped" he said, throwing his hands up in defeat before ducking into the driver's seat.

"Thank you" she huffed in response as she climbed into the passenger seat and yanked the seat belt across her front.

"I bet you're real bossy in the bedroom too aren't you?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows at her.

"Ricky!" she gasped in horror at his audacity.

"See what I did there" he was smirking at her, a smirk that she wanted to just smack off his face. "I didn't drop it" he shrugged, letting out a small laugh before putting the car into gear and pulling out of the parking lot and back towards the freeway.

"Look, you and I, are friends. That's it" she stated matter-of-factly with a firm nod of her head as he headed into the light traffic of the main highway.

"Right. Friends, sure" he agreed with an easy shrug of his shoulders, and she was actually surprised he seemed to have left it at that.

Then of course he spoke again.

"Of course you do know that men and women can never actually _be_ friends, right?" he stated casually and she shifted herself slightly in her seat to better face him.

"What?" She asked; utterly confused by his statement.

"I'm just saying that men and women can never be just friends because, and this is not me hitting on you in any way" he was sure to point out before continuing, "because the sex part always gets in the way"

Kate could do little but stare at him, her mouth slightly agape as words seemed to have escaped her for the time being.

_Was this guy for real?_

"You're serious?" She finally managed to get out.

"Yes" he stated with a firm nod of confirmation.

"Well I happen to have several men in my life whom I'm just friends with" she stated triumphantly.

"No you don't" he simply shook his head at her.

"Yes, I do"

"No, you don't" he corrected once more and she huffed an exasperated sigh.

"Are you saying I'm having sex with these men against my knowledge?" she asked flatly and Rick couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at that.

"No, I'm saying they all _want_ to have sex with you"

Kate gasped. "No they… That can't… That's not true. Is it?" she asked, genuinely curious now.

"Yes. I'm gonna let you in a little secret here Katie, men can never be _just friends_ with a woman he finds attractive because he'll always want to sleep with her"

She looked at him with a hint of disgust before a realization dawned on her.

"So then by your theory a man can be just friends with a woman he finds _unattractive_" she asked to clarify and he shrugged.

"Nah, you pretty much wanna bang them too"

Another gasp escaped her. This couldn't be true…

"Well… what if, I don't want to have sex with them" she asked pointedly, shaping her shoulders up as if she was getting ready to settle in to make her argument stand.

"Doesn't matter" he shrugged with indifference. "Cuz the sex thing is already out there"

"Well… surely all men don't think like that" she argued; arms folding across her chest.

"No, trust me, we do"

Kate allowed all that knowledge to sink in for a moment before responding, "well, I guess we won't be friends then"

"Guess not" he let out a soft sigh. "Too bad though, 'cause you're the only person I know in New York" he shrugged.

"Oh please, your _charming_ personality," she couldn't help but roll her eyes as she spoke, the words bitter on her tongue.

"I'm sure you'll make lots of _friends_ in no time"

"I think that's the nicest mean thing you've said to me yet" he offered with a small grin. He couldn't help it, he loved aggravating her to no end.

Kate only huffed at him in response before adjusting herself on her seat so that she was curled up against the door, facing away from Rick in hopes of getting at least a couple hours of sleep before it was her shift to drive again.

* * *

Back in the driver's seat Kate pulled into the parking lot of a low rent apartment building in the lower East Village that Rick had directed her to by the directions he had scribbled down on a crumpled up piece of paper he pulled from his back pocket when they finally reached New York City.

"Is this it?" Kate questioned as she looked up at the mid-rise building through the front windshield.

"Guess so" Rick sighed happily at the sight. "Home sweet home, right?"

"Yeah well, try not to get murdered" Kate deadpanned as she took in her unfamiliar surroundings.

"Okay miss Stanford, we don't all have rich lawyers for parents and million dollar apartments with doormen and…"

"Electricity, running water?" she joked again and he frowned.

"Ha ha. Very funny. This is only temporary, don't you worry about me, I'm gonna make it in this town" he said confidently and her eyes involuntarily rolled back in her head.

"Oh trust me, I wasn't going to worry" she gave him her best fake smile and he returned with one of his own.

"Well thanks for the ride it was…" he paused as he searched for the right word. "Interesting" he said with a slight nod and a genuine smile of gratitude.

"Do you need a hand with anything?" she asked, suddenly feeling a little guilty for being so impolite with him.

"No thanks, I got it" he assured her as he reached into the back seat and grabbed his duffel before throwing open the car door and stepping out onto the pavement. He looked around for a moment, taking in all his surroundings and taking his first breath of New York City air, cherishing the moment before heading over to the driver's side of the car.

"Thanks again. It was nice uh, knowing you, I guess" he told her, holding his hand out to her.

"Yeah, you too. Good luck with your books" she told him sincerely as she accepted his hand and gave it a quick shake before letting go.

"Good luck with Stanford" he smiled back at her before grabbing for his duffel at his feet and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Bye" she said, giving him a small smile as she pulled the car back into drive.

"Bye" he nodded back to her before turning away and heading towards the front steps of what he would be calling home for the next considerable amount of time.

He stopped at the last step and his hand rested on the door as he looked back to the street to see her Volvo pulling out into the heavy afternoon traffic, disappearing from his view after only a few moments and just like that, Katie Beckett was gone from his life.

* * *

_A/N: Well I hope you're all still enjoying this so far. Of course it's not the end (far from it!) The next chapter will jump ahead a few years as our duo is unexpectedly reunited again so stay tuned for that. Also, for those that noticed, yes I changed the movie they discussed from Casablanca to Titanic because well, it seemed relevant to the time line, definitely more-so than Casablanca would. Reviews are love!_


	3. In-Flight Entertainment

**Castle: When Ricky Met Katie**

**Chapter 3: In-Flight Entertainment  
**

* * *

_**[January 2005 New York, New York]**_

Standing in the crowded lounge of busy commuters just outside the gate for terminal 3 at John F. Kennedy Airport, Kate Beckett wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's neck and entwined her fingers as she brought him closer for one last kiss before the final boarding call could be announced over the speaker.

His lips met hers and he smiled into the kiss as his hands found their place at her hips and he held her close to him. It amazed her how she still felt that shock of electricity go through her every time he kissed her and how no matter how busy life was going on around her, time seemed to stop in those few stolen moments she had with him.

"I'll miss you" he mumbled against her lips.

"I'll be back in a few days" she reminded him with a smirk.

"Mmm, still going to miss you" he chuckled as he caught her lips for what was meant to be just one more quick kiss but as it had a tendency to do, the kiss deepened and she was once again lost in him.

That was until an unannounced and uninvited stranger interrupted them.

"Will? Will Sorenson!" a surprised voice called out to them, startling them apart as Kate quickly put a hand to her mouth as if it would somehow erase the fact that several strangers had just witnessed their very public display of affection.

She looked to her left to see the voice of the unwelcomed interruption and her eyes widened in horror as they fell upon a slightly older yet just as smug looking Ricky Rodgers.

"Rick, hey!" Will greeted him enthusiastically with a bright smile as he reached his hand out to accept Rick's. "How've you been man?" he asked and Kate merely stood back and watched the exchange between the two men, still not over the initial shock of seeing this man again.

"Great, really great" he smiled back at Will sincerely before looking over to Kate for a brief moment, doing a quick double-take when his eyes met hers.

_Crap. _

"Oh, I'm sorry where are my manners" Will quickly shook his head as he took a step to stand directly at Kate's side, wrapping a protective arm around her waist.

"Rick this is my girlfriend, Kate Beckett. Kate this is Rick Castle, he's a writer and did some research with my team at the agency a couple years back. Those books I gave you to read, they're his books!" Will stated proudly as his eyes darted back and forth between the two of them.

Wait Rick _Castle_? He wrote those books? Will had brought her over a few manuscripts once when he was telling her about the time he had a young writer researching at the FBI with him but they weren't official copies so no picture of the author and of course his name had changed so she would have never made the connection.

Holy crap, _he_ was Richard Castle? She had a decision to make, and she quickly made it.

"Kate, nice to meet you" she said smiling at him as she held out her hand as if meeting him for the first time. Her hair was shorter now and her looks had certainly matured and she silently prayed he hadn't remembered her.

It didn't seem to phase him in the least and his hand quickly came out to meet hers. "Rick" he smiled politely before turning his attention back to Will.

"Well, it was really great running into you but, I guess I have a plane to catch"

"Yeah, great seeing you too man, take care" Will nodded as Rick graciously took his leave from them and headed into the heavy herd of foot traffic at the security check point a few yards away.

"Ugh, thank God he couldn't place me" Kate huffed as she let her head fall against Will's shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Will asked with a slight chuckle, taking his index finger and tipping her chin upwards to look her in the eyes.

"We drove from Chicago to New York together after college and it was the longest night of my life" she groaned as she craned her neck around to glance over to where Ricky _Rick, rather,_ stood in line at security.

"Really?" Will asked surprised. "You never told me you knew him"

"Well I didn't know it was him, he was Ricky Rodgers back then" she said with a slight chuckle at how ridiculous the name sounded to her now as she thought of him as the one and only Richard Castle.

"You guys didn't…" Will treaded cautiously as his eyes searched hers for some kind of answer to his unasked question.

"Oh no, no, god no" she quickly clarified with a shake of her head. "He was dating my friend Kyra, we all went to North Western together and I did her a favor by giving him a ride back to New York the summer after graduation" she explained and Will let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"He did make a pass at me though" she recalled after a moment.

"Really?" Will asked, less than amused.

"Yeah but I said no, we could just be friends and then this much I do remember, he said that men and women can never really be friends…" she mentioned with her brow furrowed as she recalled the conversation she had just over five years ago.

"Do you think that's true?" she asked, snapping out of her daze to look up at Will.

"What?"

"That men and women can't be friends" she clarified.

"No. Uh…" he seemed to ponder it for a second. "No"

"Do _you_ have any women friends?"

"Um... No." He sighed. "But, I will get one if it's important to you" he smiled adoringly at her and she beamed back at him before pulling him in for one last kiss as her boarding call was made over the speaker system.

"Have a safe flight" he told her as he regretfully pulled away. "I love you"

"You do?" She asked with a shy smile. It was the first time he'd ever said those words to her and it made her heart flutter like something she'd never felt before.

"Yes" he replied truthfully; running his hands over her shoulders.

"I... love you too" she smiled at him before gripping her suitcase and heading towards the gate, turning back to send one last wave towards Will who stood watch as she walked away into the busy crowd of travellers.

* * *

Already settled into her seat Kate brought her wrist up to look at her watch. The plane would be leaving shortly and in a few hours she would be arriving at LAX to meet with the partners at her firms Los Angeles office. She still had the same dopey grin on her face that she had the moment Will had uttered the words 'I love you' but she didn't care, it was a feeling she didn't want to let go of.

"Oops, pardon, excuse me" she heard a low voice mumbling and she knew unmistakably that it was him, Ricky. _Rick,_ as he apparently goes by now. _God that would take some getting used to. Richard freaking Castle._

Of course, just when she thought she was having the best day of her life he had to be on her flight. Great. Just great.

Keeping her head down and her gaze fixated on her watch she hoped he wouldn't notice her as he walked past to find his seat but as fate would have it he seemed to stop at the row directly behind her and began stuffing his bag into the overhead compartment before taking a seat behind her.

_Perfect _she sighed_._ Oh well, maybe he didn't recognize her. Maybe she could get through this flight with some peace and quiet. Thank God the plane seemed to be full and there was already a stranger on either side of her and no room for her former travel companion.

A few minutes went by and her anxiety started to subside. She eased herself back into the seat and closed her eyes in hopes to get some rest during the flight.

"North Western University, right?" a voice began behind her and she instantly rolled her eyes before turning her head back to see him up out of his chair and leaning over the back of hers.

"Right" she conceded, plastering on her best fake smile before returning her attention to the back of the seat in front of her and hoping he'd take the hint.

"I knew you looked familiar" he continued without missing a beat and suddenly she knew this was going to be a very long flight.

She turned back slightly and noticed him still staring at her with amusement from over the back of her chair.

"Hey so did we ever…" he began, before twitching his eyebrows up at her and she simply gasped in horror.

"What? No!" she hissed at him. "No, I, we didn't" she confirmed, this time looking to her left at the stranger occupying the seat next to her who seemed to be completely uninterested but she felt the need to explain herself to him anyway so she continued. "We drove from college to New York together, that's all, it was a long time ago"

"Would you two, like to sit together?" The man beside her asked and both Kate and Rick answered simultaneously.

"No"

"Yes! Great, thank you"

Kate glared up at Rick who had a ridiculous smirk on his face as he accepted the strangers invitation and before she had a chance to say another word he was slumping himself into the seat next to her with that grin still plastered on his face.

"Hi" he greeted her.

"Hi" she grumbled in return.

"You were friends with um… with um…" he bit his lower lip as the name seemed to escape him and she looked at him mild shock.

_Seriously? He had forgotten her name?_

"Kyra" Kate stated firmly; shaking her head at his audacity. "I can't believe you don't even remember her name"

"What, I remember, it was Kyra. Kyra Blake" he nodded naturally.

"Kyra _Blaine_" she corrected sternly.

"Blaine right, that's what I said" he shrugged and she rolled her eyes. "How is she these days anyway?"

"I have no idea" Kate answered honestly. God it's been years since her and Kyra had spoken and she suddenly felt guilty for that, though she really didn't have a reason to, after all that's what happens after college. Except apparently in the case of Rick Castle, apparently there was no escaping him.

"You have no idea?" he practically gasped the words at her as if she should be ashamed of herself. "You two were such great friends" he continued. "We didn't make it because you were such good friends"

_Is he serious?_

"You dated her" she felt the need to remind him.

"And was it worth it?" he asked with a slight shake of his head. "The sacrifice for a friend who you don't even keep in touch with?" She could see the corner of his lip curling up into a grin and she rolled her eyes.

"Ricky, you may not believe this, but I _never_ considered not sleeping with you a sacrifice"

"Fair enough" he smirked, surprisingly letting the subject drop. "And, it's just Rick now Katie" he corrected lightly.

"Right" she nodded. "It's just Kate now" she also explained and he grinned.

"Look at us, all grown up"

"Yep" she nodded, settling back into the chair as Rick stopped the flight attendant passing by to place a drink order.

"So" he turned back to her a moment later and she was now convinced she wasn't going to get even a minute of peace and quiet on this flight.

"You were going to be a lifeguard"

"Lawyer" she corrected with a roll of her eyes.

"Right that's what I said. And?"

"And, I am" she stated proudly. "I'm a junior associate with a decent sized firm in New York City and I'm actually flying out to L.A. today to meet with some of the other partners and associates because we're collaborating on a big case that's coming up"

"Great, that's great news" he commended with an easy smile. "And you're with Will now, that's great"

"Yeah, yeah it is" the dopey smile was back before she could even control it from happening.

"You've been together what, six, seven weeks?"

"Eight…" she answered uneasily. "How did you know that?"

"I'm good at reading people, it's what I do" he shrugged. "So, you going to marry him?" he asked naturally and it took her aback.

"What? We… I… I don't know" she tripped and stumbled over her words as the startling question continued to swirl through her head.

"Why don't you know? Will's a great guy" Rick shrugged.

"Look, we have only known each other a couple of months and neither of us are looking to get married right now" she answered firmly, finally finding the steadiness in her voice again.

"Hmmm" he shrugged. "I'm getting married" he mentioned casually and her eyes widened.

"_You_ are?" She felt the need to clarify.

"Yeah" he shrugged again.

"To who?"

"Meredith Reynolds. She's an actress"

Kate couldn't hold back her laughter any longer and Rick simply regarded her while she tried to fight to regain some composure.

"I'm sorry" she finally spoke as her giggling began to subside. "_You're_ getting married?"

"Still not getting the joke here Kate" he replied as her soft chuckling continued.

"Mr. Gloom and Doom is getting married" she shook her head at the thought. "It's just so optimistic of you Rick. Wow"

"Yeah well you'd be surprised at what following madly in love can do for you" he explained earnestly and it took her slightly by surprise.

"Well, good for you Rick. I'm happy for you" she told him with a sincere smile.

"Besides I have to make an honest woman of her or my mother would probably disown me" he added and she furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Oh, here," he continued a moment later, reaching into his back pocket and fishing out his wallet. He handed her a piece of paper and she unfolded it revealing a black and white sonogram photograph.

"Oh my gosh Rick" she gasped slightly. "Is that?"

"My little boy, yep" he smiled proudly. "Well, at least It will be, right now it kinda looks more like a jelly bean but I had the doctors double check that it was in fact a really tiny human"

She chuckled. "That's amazing, congratulations"

"Thank you" he smiled in return.

They continued chatting during the short flight, Rick sharing his ideas for baby names that mostly consisted of various Star Wars characters or other fictional yet equally outlandish choices.

"You cannot name your child Spartacus" Kate sighed.

"What, why not? Guaranteed nobody would mess with my boy on the playground"

"How do you even know it's a boy? There's no way the doctors can tell what the gender of that little jelly bean is yet"

"Of course it's a boy" Rick shook his head as if it were obvious.

"Yeah well call me when you're dashing out to the mall the day after the baby is born and filling your cart with little pink onesies so I can say I told ya so"

"Trust me, I'm having a boy. It has to be, I need someone to carry on the Castle legacy"

"You mean your made up legacy, _Rodgers_?"

"Well… I… Yeah" he sighed with defeat and it made her laugh.

* * *

A few hours later the aircraft had touched down safely at LAX and after retrieving her luggage from the baggage claim Kate was off toward the main terminal to catch a taxi to her hotel. She had lost sight of Rick somewhere amongst the hustle and bustle of travellers but she wasn't terribly disappointed by that, it was the first moment of peace she had had all afternoon.

"Hey" Rick's slightly out of breath voice called out to her as he sprinted up beside her on the escalator.

"Hi" she regarded him awkwardly.

"You staying in town overnight?"

"Yeah"

"Yeah me too, do you want to get dinner?"

_What? Dinner?_ She looked at him oddly and he instantly picked up on it.

"Just as friends" he quickly amended.

Not this again.

"I thought you said men and women can't be friends?" she reminded him and he quirked an eyebrow at her in confusion for a brief moment.

"I never said that"

"Yes you did" she explained.

He remained silent for a moment before speaking. "Yes, you're right, I did. They can't be friends. Unless both of them are already_ in_ relationships, it serves as an amendment to the earlier rule. If the two people are already in relationships then the pressure to remain _just friends_ is lifted" he explained routinely and she shook his head at him. This man had an answer for everything.

"Actually, that doesn't work either" he continued a beat later. "Because then the person you're involved with can't understand why you need to be friends with the person you're just friends with, like something is missing from the relationship and you have to go outside to get it. Then when you try to explain to them that no, nothing is missing from the relationship they then accuse you of being secretly attracted to the person you're just friends with. Which, let's face it, you probably are, I mean who are we kidding right? Which brings us back to the original rule that men and women cannot be friends" he finished letting out a puff of air at the end and Kate's fairly certain he managed to communicate that entire ridiculous theory all in a single breath.

She shook her head. "Rick, goodbye" she stated with a slightly forced smile but he didn't seem to notice or care, just smiled in return and nodded.

"Goodbye Kate"

And with that Kate hustled up the last couple steps of the escalator and headed towards the exit doors to set about her business in Los Angeles and decidedly putting Rick Castle out of sight and out mind for the final time.

Or so she thought…

* * *

_A/N: Well that's chapter three folks. Hope you're still enjoying this. Again, some of the dialogue is fairly close to the actual dialogue from the movie but I'm trying to mix it up a bit as much as I can without changing too much of the original premise of the film. Of course in the movie Harry doesn't have a child and I debated whether or not to include Alexis in this story, but as a wise person once told me "having Castle without Alexis is like having peanut butter without jelly. Yes, it's good by itself, but together it's SO much better" (this chapter is for you Jamie). Also, according to IMDB (and my own memory) I don't believe Meredith actually has a last name on the show so I made one up. If I stand to be corrected on this, please let me know in a review :)  
_


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