I was watching Driven again and the scene when she takes him to the spot where he was camping out on that beach struck a nerve. I felt so bad for Kate and she needed a hug. So I'm fixing it.
"None of this looks familiar," he tells her honestly, because it doesn't. Her face is so blank and empty and he hates that he doesn't know what happened in those two months he was gone.
"Castle, just tell me the truth," says Kate. She gives him a smile that doesn't even reach her eyes when she continues, "You owe me that much."
He feels like he's drowning, like he stepped in quicksand and can't pull himself out of it, because ever since he woke up from that car accident his fiancé - she's supposed to be his wife by now - looks at him like she doesn't know him, like she thinks he didn't want their wedding as much as she did, as if he left her on purpose. And she's wrong, she's so wrong.
"I am telling you the truth. I was not here."
His words mean nothing to her, he can see it in her expression. She's tired and weary of him, and it's not even his fault. Why would he want to do this to her?
"Well your clothes were here. Your watch was here, your tuxedo. The one you were gonna wear when you married me," she grits out, the last words so unsure. He wanted to marry her. He wants to. And she doesn't believe that anymore. It rips through him every time he looks at her.
"It must have been planted here, you know, along with-"
"Nothing was planted here, Castle, it was you. It was your DNA, your prints."
"It must have been a mistake at the lab. There have been numerous-"
"I believed in you," she cuts him off, voice wavering, "I- I convinced myself that the evidence didn't matter, that everything so obvious couldn't possibly be true. I was searching for you, I didn't even know if you were alive, or if you were dead, and you were right here, right where you wanted to be."
"I promise you," he begins, hates that she won't even look at him, "Where I wanted to be, Kate, was with you."
Her eyes snap to his and she's mad, but anger he can work with, anger he can manage, just as long as she feels something again, as long as she's not this empty shell of the woman he was supposed to marry two months ago.
"Then why weren't you?" she asks, swipes at the tear running down her cheek with the back of her hand. "Why weren't you there, Rick?"
His heart shatters, he swears he can hear the pieces falling through his body, tinkling against his organs as they tumble to the ground. He steps towards her, ignores the way she puts her hands up to try to keep him away, but she's hurting and he can't just watch her fall apart because she thinks he didn't want to marry her. He pulls her against his body, avoids the shove she gives him.
"Kate."
She lets out a puff of air that sounds more like a sob, fingers eventually clinging to his jacket, as if she's afraid he's going to disappear again. His fingers find her hair, shorter than it was before, sliding through the locks to try and soothe her.
"I'm sorry," he whispers, holds her tighter. "I'm so sorry."
"Sorry doesn't give me answers," she gets out. "Sorry doesn't make up for two months of lost time. Two months that I was supposed to be spending with my husband."
"I know, I know. You're right. But, Kate, I can't change what happened. I don't know why it happened, but I do know that I wanted nothing more than to get married to you. I wouldn't have left you like that. You know me."
She doesn't say anything, but her body relaxes against his own after a moment or two.
"I defended you the whole time," she admits quietly. "Everyone else was losing hope, kept bringing up cold feet. I lost hope sometimes too. But I just- I do know you. That's what kept me going."
He lets out a sigh, presses a kiss to her hair.
"We'll figure it out. Whatever happened, I'm here now, and we will figure this out, Kate."
"Okay."
She pulls away, gives him a small smile, just a quick upturn of her lips, but it reaches her eyes this time. He takes a chance and presses a kiss to her mouth, the first time he's done so since they found him. He keeps it light, just four heartbeats long.
"Hey," he grabs her attention before she can back away, "I love you."
"I love you too," she tells him, eyes filling up with the emotion, and he knows she believes him, that they'll figure it out. Not only his disappearance, but their relationship too.
