Kate Beckett's POV
I came back to my office by 10:30 and I put some of the papers on my desk. I tightened my ponytail and sighed. It was never that easy to answer all personal questions kids often came up with. If I was lucky the personal questions usually was something like what my favorite color was and so on but sometimes it was questions like if I still visited my parents, if I had siblings and stuff. Those questions were always a little too close to home, but I had come up with answers I always went with. Answers which wouldn't lead to further questions about it. Answers which weren't as painful as it could've been. Answers that wouldn't hurt me since I've said them so many times. I ran a hand across my face and sat down behind my desk. I opened the computer and checked how many kids who had gotten called in sick today by their parents. Then I started with the planning, checking the calendar and checking all the annual visits we use to do with the kids. My list involved a lot of museums along with a few amusement parks. I was so focused on my work that I didn't hear when someone knocked on the door and went inside, so when a hand set a coffee on my desk I jumped high and looked up at the man in front of me. I put my hand on my chest and took a deep breath.
"Sorry, but I did knock" mr Castle said and sat down in the chair in front of me.
"Mr Castle, have you ever heard of the fact that someone has to answer before you enter when you knock on a door?" I asked with annoyance in my voice.
He looked at me and I could see he had a hard time keeping back from chuckling. I narrowed my eyes at him, he settled down and pointed to the coffee he had put on my desk.
"Brought you the coffee you wanted" he said and I looked at it.
I took it up and put it to my lips, a little skeptical he had gotten it right. But when the warm liquid went down my throat it was exactly the one I wanted. I sat the cup down and looked at it, there was something written on it. As I looked at it I read 'Principal Beckett' on it. I looked up at him and I saw him watching my every move.
"Principal Beckett, was that really necessary?" I criticized with a raised eyebrow.
"Yup, figured you would like it, now, where's that 'thank you' principal?" he asked and I took another sip of my coffee.
"Thank you, mr Castle" I said and he rolled his eyes.
"Why do you keep calling me mister all the time?" he asked and I shrugged sarcastically.
"I don't know, maybe because it's my job" I said like it was obvious.
"It's your job to call me mister?" he questioned and I rolled my eyes.
"You are one of my students parent, so yes, it's my job" I explained and I looked at my computer again.
"You still working?" he asked surprised.
"Yeah, no time to rest here" I said and he gave me a wondering look.
"You never take a break?" he asked and I shook my head.
"Nope, not much time for that" I said and he looked at me with disbelief.
"You know, you should really get out of here. You gotta have some lunch time, right?" he said and without really thinking I nodded.
I immediately froze and cursed myself for my stupid mistake.
"How long and when does it start?" he asked with a small smile on his lips.
I had to admit his smile was kind of cute, but I tried my best to get rid of that thought.
"Not long" I answered and I continued with the planning.
If I changed the date for the 9 year olds's trip to the military museum to the 7th September it wouldn't be cold too cold for them and that would mean I could move the...
"You know what?" mr Castle interrupted my thoughts and when I looked at him he wasn't seated anymore.
I watched him as he went around my desk and placed himself only a few inches away from me. I tried not to react too much on his nearness as I looked up with him with a glare.
"Excuse me, but no one is allowed behind my desk except me" I said with my most strict voice.
He raised one of his eyebrows before he bent down so his face was close to mine. I started to feel my heart beat faster and I couldn't think one thing straight.
"Let's go, principal" he said and took my hand before pulling me out of the seat.
I was too shocked to fight him and only followed him as he led me out of my office and out of the entrance to the school. My shocked state disappeard the second we got to what seemed to be his car. I pulled away my hand from his and he looked at me.
"What are you doing?" I snapped and he looked at me with a confused look.
I glared at him and I could see he bit his inside cheek.
"Come on, principal. You can't skip lunch today, I'll pay" he said with a shy smile.
I narrowed my eyes at him and I could see he was starting to get nervous I would reject his kind gesture. I didn't know if it would be a bad idea or not, probably would but somehow I felt like I wanted to go. Like there was something pulling me towards him. And it didn't make sense.
"Fine, but only this one time, and nowhere fancy" I warned before I jumped into the unlocked car.
It took a minute for mr Castle to keep up with what just happened but as soon as it got into his head that I was actually in the car he jumped inside and drove off to wherever he was thinking about taking me. The car ride was silent and there was a few moments when I thought about trying to start a conversation but I decided to keep my mouth shut, I didn't want him to get any ideas. Suddenly the car came to a stop and I looked out.
"Before you say anything, you did say nothing fancy, so here we are" he said as my eyes wandered to the Burger King restaurant in front of the parking lot we were in.
I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
"You wanna make me fat?" I asked and looked at him.
He gave me shocked look before he started shaking his head violently.
"No, you look perfect" he said and then his eyes widened. "I mean, you don't look fat, and you won't get fat after one meal here" he added quick.
I couldn't help but giggle as I felt my cheeks get warm.
"Don't worry Castle, I get what you mean" I bit my lip as I opened the door and jumped out.
I immediately set my pace towards the restaurant and soon I heard his door close before footsteps appeared behind me. He quickly caught up with my pace and I could feel his eyes on me. As I glanced at him he instantly looked ahead of us, not meeting my gaze. We walked into the restaurant and we ordered, to my surprise mr Castle did pay for my food and even bought a big pommes frites and a big soda.
"You really are trying to make me fat huh?" I said when we sat down in a booth and started packing up our food.
I immediately saw his body tense and I started laughing.
"No, I promise..." he started but I held up a hand, shaking my head with a smile on my lips.
"I'm just messing with you, Castle" I said and he smirked at me. "What?" I asked confused.
"No, nothing" he said and dug into his food.
I eyed him suspiciously before I myself started eating. After just a few minutes of silence Castle opened his mouth, and not because he was going to take a bite of his burger.
"So what made you become a principal?" he asked and I ate some pommes frites before I decided to answer.
"I just felt like I belonged there, I wanted to help kids" I said short.
I didn't want him to dig into it and I didn't want to tell him more either. I continued eating and I could see he was a little disappointed by my short answer but I tried to ignore it. An awkward silence fell down upon us and it was actually kind of hard to sit there and not say anything so I tried my best to come up with something to ask. Just something. Anything at all.
"So what do you do?" I asked, I couldn't come up with anything better so I chose one of the obvious questions.
He looked up at me and smiled.
"I'm actually a writer" he said and I looked at him with disbelief.
"Yeah, sure you are" I said and he looked at me with a shocked expression.
"You haven't heard of me? You haven't heard of Derrick Storm?" he asked surprised and I felt my jaw dropping.
"Wait. Are you telling me you're THE Richard Castle?" I asked doubtful.
"Yes" he said and that's when I saw it, I had recognized his face when we first met but I hadn't been able to see the connection.
"Oh my god" I whispered under my breath, hoping he wouldn't hear me.
"So you're a fan then?" he asked and I immediately got my pokerface and shook my head while taking the last of my burger into my mouth. "You are! Don't deny it" he mocked and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"No, I'm not. But I do admit I've read one of your books" I said and drank of my soda.
It was a lie. A big lie. I had read every single one of his books. His books had helped me distract myself when I needed a distraction. But that was nothing he would need to know, ever. When I met his eyes I could see he didn't believe me. Somehow I could see that he knew I had read them all. Somehow it felt like he could see right through my soul.
"I'm gonna let you in on a secret" he suddenly said and I saw something change in his eyes.
I raised my eyebrow and ate the rest of my food.
"Next book" he said and then he quickly looked around to check no one could hear.
What secret could this be? Some sort of spoiler? What the next book would be about? Who the killer would be? Thoughts of different answers ran around my mind but none could prepare me for what he was actually going to tell me.
"Next book will be the last one" he said in a low voice and I felt my eyes widen in a stare.