Work Text:
It was like once Frank met Karen properly, he saw her everywhere.
He ran into her in the Journalism building, at the little coffee shop he frequented nearby, even at Local 92, his favorite middle-eastern restaurant he stopped at on his way home sometimes when he didn’t feel like cooking.
She always smiled when she noticed him, made quick small talk, and Frank was always so fascinated by her. She was a grad student, turned out, focusing on investigative journalism. She was from a small town in Vermont. She and Sarah had been roommates in undergrad.
Her eyes always got real wide when she laughed. She had a hard time hiding a smile. She was intuitive and smart. She swayed when she stood in line. She played with her hair when she was thinking.
Every time he saw her, he wanted to know more about her, wanted more time with her.
Six weeks after Halloween, Sarah threw a dinner party. She invited Frank, and he said yes, genuinely excited to spend more time with her and David, who were becoming his first civilian friends since he joined the Corps. It was different, making friends when you weren’t stuck together fourteen hours a day. Felt more genuine, which he was finding he liked.
He decided to make a thing of it, the dinner party. Took a page from Billy’s book and put quite a bit of effort into how he looked. He may have even called Billy, asking for help.
“That dark blue sweater, wear that, yeah. And uh, you got some dark jeans? Maybe washed-out black ones? And no fucking combat boots, Frankie, Jesus, wear the ones I bought you for your birthday, the ones still in the box at the back of your closet, yeah I know you’ve never worn ‘em.” Billy was tinny and broken up over the phone, out at his brand new duty station in Diego Garcia. “Get a haircut. Go to my guy, get the fade you used to get but keep the length on top. Bring a good bottle of wine, and flowers, alright? You’re gonna do great. Say hello for me. I gotta go, I’ll email you.” And with a click, he was gone.
Frank did as he was told, and dug those boots out of his closet. He’d looked them up when he’d unwrapped them, and had promptly put them back, deeming them too expensive to wear. Fucking Billy and his peacocking ways. But now he pulled them on, walking around his apartment to break them in, and could admit that they were worth the money. They were comfortable, seemed durable, and looked damn good. The Beaut was right again.
So, Saturday evening rolled around and Frank got on the train, his bottle of wine and his bouquet of gardenias and anemones held tightly as he navigated his way uptown to David and Sarah’s.
When he knocked, wine now cradled in the arm holding the flowers, he was already a little nervous. It’d been a long time since he’d done something as routine as a dinner party, and even then he’d always been the plus one, never the invitee. He didn’t want to mess this up.
He knew he was in trouble the second the door opened and it wasn’t Sarah or David on the other side, but Karen.
She took his breath away.
By the way she paused, her inhale quick but audible as she took him in, he thought maybe he took her breath away, too.
She recovered quickly though. “Frank!” She said brightly, reaching out to hug him with one arm, pulling him into the apartment. “I didn’t know you were coming! It’s good to see you.” She smiled at him, God, she smiled at him, and he was a goner. That beauty mark deserved a kiss every second of every day.
“Hey, Karen,” he said, trying to get his shit together. “It’s good to see you, too.”
Karen tucked her hand under his elbow and very efficiently tugged him along into the apartment, where he greeted David and Sarah, handing off his wine and flowers, respectively.
“My God, Frank, you clean up good,” Sarah said, giving him an appreciative once-over that had his cheeks burning. It’d been a long time since someone made him blush. He’d taken Billy’s advice, gotten himself a good haircut and a hot shave. He was in a blue sweater that had been far too expensive, but was warm and fit him perfectly. His jacket was black leather, built like a flight jacket, with brown shearling lining it and on the lapels, knitted cuffs keeping the sleeves from riding up. Add in his washed-out black jeans and those expensive boots, and he had to admit, he’d felt incredibly good as he’d looked himself over before leaving the apartment.
He saw the way Karen’s eyes lingered on him, the line of his jaw, the breadth of his shoulders, and he almost felt like preening.
There was another knock on the door and Karen went to answer, obviously comfortable in the apartment. Frank watched her go as he sipped the drink David handed him, tracking her over his friend’s shoulder. The blue of her dress made her skin glow, and the length made her legs look even longer than usual, as did her heels. Frank loved that she was a tall woman who wore tall heels. He loved the confidence, the self-assuredness it showed, and it made her even more attractive.
“It’s Karen, isn’t it?” David asked, interrupting Frank’s thoughts. Frank re-focused himself on his friend, who had a shit-eating grin on his face. “She’s ‘Sweetheart,’ isn’t she? The one you’ve dedicated songs to. Hah!”
Frank looked around, shushing David insistently. “Keep it down, man, be cool. Jesus.” He moved them a little farther away from the hall, where he knew Karen would be appearing any moment as she walked whoever had arrived into the living room. “Okay, listen,” Frank started, and David lit up like he was a high school girl getting the latest gossip. “Okay, I may have a bit of...an infatuation with Karen. She’s gorgeous, and she seems nice. But that’s it, okay? It’s been a long, long time since I was in any place long enough to take someone out on a date, let alone anything more than that. Just…” He trailed off, caught by the sight of Karen again, but this time it felt a little like he’d missed a step, and not in a good way.
She was walking back up the hallway, next to the same man who had been so familiar with her at Halloween, and she had this soft little smile on her face, was leaning in towards him as they walked up the hall, and Frank knew then that even as he’d been telling David it was nothing, he’d maybe been hoping it could someday be something because the sight of her with whoever this guy was...it felt like a balloon deflating inside his chest, the hope that he didn’t realize he had fading away.
David looked over his shoulder, clearly trying to figure out why Frank had stopped mid-sentence and made a scoffing noise when he saw Karen and the other man walking back up the hall. “Oh. That’s Matt Murdock.” He turned back to Frank, waving his hand dismissively. “I wouldn’t worry too much about him. Sanctimonious law student. She’ll figure out soon enough that he’s not worth her time.”
Karen and Murdock went to Sarah first, and Frank excused himself to the bathroom and then went to refresh his drink, neatly avoiding having to meet this other man just yet. He was a little surprised how much he didn’t want to talk to him, and chided himself for this judgemental attitude he had towards him. “Get it together, Castle,” he muttered under his breath. “She’s not your girl. You got no right to be acting like this.”
By the time he emerged, it looked as though the last guest had arrived, because Sarah was herding them all toward the small dining room, telling them to look for place cards with their names on them. Frank ended up placed between the shaggy-haired man he remembered from Halloween (“Foggy Nelson, nice to meet you!”) and Sarah, with Karen and Murdock on the opposite side of the table, and David on the other end, opposite Sarah. He pulled Sarah’s chair out for her, earning a small smile, which he returned with one of his own and a quiet, “ma’am.”
He caught Karen watching him with Sarah, a tiny smile playing in the corners of her generous mouth, and he felt his ears get a little hot at the tips. He kept her in his periphery while he made his way to his chair and slid his jacket off his shoulders, hanging it over the back of his chair. He was glad he was watching because the way her eyes widened and her cheeks blushed hotly as she took in how he filled out his sweater was such an ego boost he couldn’t help but smirk a bit more.
Dinner itself was delicious. Sarah had outdone herself, and Frank made sure to tell her so, expressing his appreciation enthusiastically.
The company was…mostly fine.
Murdock, though.
If Frank had to listen to him “Well, actually,” Karen one more time he might lose it.
Karen was so fucking smart, and Frank was hanging on her every word, or he would be if Murdock didn’t have to interrupt her constantly to repeat the same thing she’d already said in a slightly different way. Frank was too polite to come right out and say it, but the disrespect was wearing on him.
Talk turned to travel at one point, and Karen mentioned how she’d been obsessed with Russia as a little girl because of Anastasia. Frank opened his mouth to reply, but Murdock chimed in. “You don’t want to go to Russia, Karen. It’s expensive, and the weather is terrible. Besides, the roads are a disaster and the food leaves a lot to be desired.”
Frank took a deep breath before speaking. “Well, actually,” he started, and he heard David snort into his glass of wine. “I found Russia to be beautiful.”
Karen’s eye’s lit up. “You’ve been to Russia?”
Frank smiled and nodded, saying, “Da. Ya prozhil tam dva goda. Ya rabotal v posol'stve v Moskve, a zatem v General'nom konsul'stve vo Vladivostoke.” Karen looked impressed but confused, and Frank laughed a little before translating. “Yes. I lived there for two years. I was stationed at the embassy in Moscow, and then the Consulate General in Vladivostok. I loved it.”
“Stationed?” Karen was watching him with those blue eyes of hers, and he was mesmerized.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m a Marine. I left active duty a couple of years ago, decided to go back to school for something more useful than Military Science.” He sipped his drink slowly, watching her. Karen leaned forward, elbows on the table, the picture of an interested listener.
“Military Science, huh. That’s an interesting choice.” Murdock’s voice was dismissive, clearly thinking Frank a dumb jarhead.
“Well, I always wanted to be a Marine. So it was the most applicable degree at the time. Besides, GWU is a great school, and its program was one of the best. Plus, they’re a good school for vets, which I appreciated even before I was one.” Frank addressed Murdock directly, even knowing the other man couldn’t see him. He was one for respect regardless of the situation.
Sarah made an impressed little hum, eyeing Frank with raised brows. “I didn’t know you went to GWU, Frank. You’re full of surprises.”
Frank smiled at her, a little flirtatiously. “You’re right about that.”
Karen laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear and watching him from the corner of her eye.
Frank kept the eye contact over the rim of his glass, a little flutter in his stomach.
It was official.
He had a crush.
—
The next time he saw Karen was that first Thursday after the dinner party, at the cafe where he’d run into her a few times before. She was sitting at a table, papers spread out around her laptop, hair twisted up with a pencil at the back of her head.
He was going to leave her to it, knowing someone who was busy when he saw them and went to stand in line before hunting down a table for himself, but she looked up and smiled that smile at him again, and he was drawn to her, pulled into her orbit and he didn’t want to fight it.
“Hey, Frank,” she said, pretty eye’s crinkling as she greeted him.
He pulled his headphones out of his ears, smiling back at her and tucking them in his pocket. “Hey, Karen. How you doing?”
She widened her eyes and blew out a huge breath between her lips. “Oh. Well. If I can get this done on time, I’ll be doing alright. I planned on having it done earlier but well. Life, you know?”
He nodded wryly. He did know.
“Oh! Did you wanna sit down?” She asked, suddenly looking around and noticing the distinct lack of tables. She was the only one with any space left, but it looked like the spread of papers and Karen’s general air of wild-eyed intensity had scared people off.
“Oh, uh, yeah. If you don’t mind?”
She waved away his mild protests and moved a few things over, reorganizing several stacks of paper to make room.
They chatted for a moment before Frank pulled out his notebook, releasing Karen from any kind of societal expectation of talking to your tablemate. She clearly had work to do, and he did too, and so for the next two hours or so they worked in companionable silence, Frank taking the initiative to get their drinks refilled since his work was far less engrossing than Karen's seems to be.
The cafe was open late (being this close to campus it only made sense) but they managed to stay long enough that Frank could see the staff starting to wipe tables and chairs, and knew that was their cue. He reached out and touched Karen’s elbow gently, and even so, she startled. Her hair was a mess, wild and frizzy from the way she was running her hands through it and twirling it around her fingers. She had blue ink smudged on her nose and a tiny bit of dried foam at the corner of her mouth from her last drink.
The only thought in Frank's head was how fucking beautiful she was.
“Hey,” he said quietly, smiling softly. “They’re closing shop. We should probably get going.”
She looked around, noticing the staff closing up around them, and swore. “I didn’t mean to stay this late. Normally I can’t sit still this long and focus.” Her eyes crinkled and her lips curled sweetly as she looked at him, and Frank felt his heart speed up. “Seems like you’re a calming influence, Castle. Might have to make this a regular thing.”
He chuckled softly, gathering the last of her things and handing them to her, standing just a little closer than is strictly polite between two relatively new acquaintances. “I’d like that,” he said, voice a rumble in his chest. He wondered if she could feel it. He wondered if she’d like to. Her eyes were so blue as she looked at him, and he never wanted to look away. “Anytime you want, you just let me know.”
Her eyes never left his as she tilted her head, nose scrunching a little as she smiled. “I’d like that, too.” She turned to dig through her purse, grabbing her phone and handing it to him. “Can I get your number? Then we can set it up.”
If it’s a line or a move, it’s smooth as fuck, and Frank couldn’t help but admire her for it. He took the phone from her, hands big and rough against her delicate ones, her fingers long and delicate against the thickness of his own. He tapped his name and number into the contact screen she had opened and then handed her the phone back, lips quirked, the energy buzzing between them, and he couldn’t be the only one feeling this.
She looked at the screen, taps a few times, and he felt his own phone start buzzing in his pocket. “Now you’ve got mine, too.” She put her phone away and grabbed her bag from the table, and they headed out together, Frank’s whole body vibrating with the intensity of his infatuation.
When they got to the sidewalk, he offered to walk Karen to her building, or her station at the very least. She smiled and shook her head, saying it's not far and she’s okay. He took her at her word and nodded, stepping back. “You have a good night, Karen. I’ll see you around.”
She waved at him, taking her own step back, headed in the opposite direction down the sidewalk. “You, too, Frank. I’ll call you about studying, okay?”
“Anytime,” he told her, meaning it completely. He nodded one last time before waving and turning away, digging his headphones out of his pocket.
He smiled the whole way home.
—
He was still floating on air the next night when he arrived at the studio. Karen had texted him that morning, another expression of enjoyment at their impromptu study session the night before. They’d traded a few messages throughout the day, and Frank felt like he was sixteen again, butterflies having taken up permanent residency in his stomach, coming to life every time her name popped up on his screen.
“New York, I love you,” he said, happiness evident in his voice. “I hope you’ve all had a great week, and that this weekend you take some time off, recharge, relax, enjoy the last lull before we all descend into the madness of finals.” He hummed to himself, making sure the mic picks it up, the rumble sounding loud in his headphones.
“I myself have had a great week, you know?” he said. “Saw my little shimmer-trap again, and New York, I am smitten, let me tell you. So, I have one quick little message, okay?” He breathed in slowly, closing his eyes and imagining Karen in front of him, looking at him with her eyes and her smile and that distracting beauty mark.
“Sweetheart, oh, sweetheart,” he said, voice soft and dreamy like he’s only half focused on what he’s doing, what he’s saying. Like he can’t think of anyone but her, which is mostly true, anyway. “I am in a tailspin about you, sweetheart. God, you’re so smart. You have the cutest laugh I’ve ever heard. And you are wasting your time with him, I promise you. You deserve the moon and the stars and someone who will treat you with the respect and reverence you deserve, and I can tell ya right now, he won’t be the one to do it.” He smiled bashfully, even though no one was there to see him, could feel himself blushing as though he was admitting all of this to Karen’s face instead of just out over the airwaves. “I’m not saying it has to be me, but.
“Anyway. I cannot stop thinking about you. Getting to know you has made this infatuation turn into a full-blown crush. I feel like a teenager. So, just in case you didn’t already know, which, I feel like I’m so obvious about it, how could you not? Anyway. In case you don’t already know how I feel,” He dropped the needle on the record, the iconic intro to The Kinks “You Really Got Me” starting low in the background. “Sweetheart, this one’s for you.”