Welcome to Chapter 1!
This story is the sequel to 'Blizzard'. If you havent' read 'Blizzard', you may want to go back to my profile and read that fic first; I'm sure this one will make more sense then. If you don't want to read that one, or want a little recap, here it is:
Timeframe is from mid-season 3, and we're assuming that she'd broken up with Josh already. Obviously, there was still a Montgomery at this point. Obviously, we're going AU here. Alexis has asked Beckett for help with her French, and Beckett goes with the family to take refuge from a Blizzard at their house in the Hamptons. While there, Beckett and Castle stumble into a kiss. Kate tries to resist, but she finds resisting increasingly difficult as they spend more time together. Alexis leaves and goes to an impromptu sleepover at her friend's house, and Martha, after witnessing them getting closer, strategically fakes illness to have an excuse to stay out of their way. During the blizzard, Kate trips and badly sprains her ankle, and has to rely on Castle to help her since she now can't move very easily. He helps her and takes care of her, but she feels very uncomfortable accepting his help even though she needs it. A few sweet moments and makeout sessions occur. Eventually, after the blizzard, he takes her to the ER and she's told that it may take 4 weeks for her ankle to heal, which she's not happy about. When they return to New York, she finds that the elevator in her building isn't working, and since she can't handle the stairs on crutches, she agrees to stay with the Castles until she's more mobile. She freaks about their new relationship and tries to play it off as a vacation thing, but he pushes and won't let run away from it. Then she agrees to go on a date with him. Later she realizes that she might be developing some really deep feelings for him. She admits to him that she's scared she's going to mess something up, and that they'll lose the friendship and partnership that they have. He convinces her to take a chance, that it'll be worth it and that they can make it work. He promises to go slowly and not push, and she promises to try.
Now, that synopsis was really dry, so I think you really should go read Blizzard if you haven't yet. A lot more happened in that story, and there are a lot of Casketty moments so if you don't read that, you'll be missing all of those (and that would be a real shame!).
We pick up this story soon after Blizzard leaves off.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Sprained ankles were not fun. Kate was finding that out. There was the pain of the ankle itself, but then there was all of the other collateral damage to her life, to her daily routines that went along with it. Having only one lower limb when you were used to having two was a harder thing to get accustomed to than she'd ever thought. So not only did she have to get used to her new limited mobility-which if the original doctor from the ER could be believed, would last for several weeks-but she had to get used to her limited mobility while living with the Castles until the elevator in her building was fixed. It almost sounded like a bad reality TV show...'Living with the Castles'. Granted, Rick had been really wonderful since she'd sprained her ankle during the blizzard in the Hamptons, but she just really hated to have to rely on him. And it made it worse when he was just so damn...eager...to help her. She could probably sit on his couch and demand bon bons and he'd happily bring them to her. And now that they'd gotten closer and had crossed the line into being tentative romantic partners and she'd actually agreed to date the man...that just added a new wrinkle into her life. Of course, when he was kissing her, she didn't think of it much like a wrinkle at all. When he was kissing her, she found that she really didn't think of much of anything except for kissing him back.
True to his word, Castle had gotten her an appointment with a prominent orthopedic surgeon on Monday morning. He told her he 'knew a guy', and he wasn't kidding. She was somewhat skeptical of using his connections to 'jump the line', so to speak, but she was torn because the doctor was supposed to be very good, and she wanted her ankle fixed already. Well, not exactly. She wanted it healed, hopefully without the need for any "'fixing' that required a surgical intervention. She just wanted to be normal again.
For such a sought-after doctor, she didn't expect the man she got. And she didn't expect the appointment she got. She'd already predicted that the man would most likely barely look at her foot, prescribe some physical therapy and be on is way in 2.5 seconds flat. So she was unprepared when the man came in the room with a big grin for Castle and a heartfelt-sounding greeting, a firm handshake and smile for her.
He unwrapped her ankle and poked at it gently, asking her what hurt. He even asked her to take the shoe and sock off her other foot so he could compare them. He asked her to move the injured limb, and she hesitantly moved the ankle from side to side and straightened her foot. There was some mild pain and a lot of stiffness, but she was pleasantly surprised to feel that she could move it a small amount now without pain, whereas a few days ago she couldn't without a lot of pain and stiffness. She realized then that she hadn't even tried to move it lately, and the words that the Emergency Room doctor had spoken to her popped back into her mind...she was unconsciously babying it.
The doctor ordered an MRI, just to be on the safe side and so he could know exactly what he was dealing with. But after a lot of crinkled-brow looks from the doctor, and more poking and prodding and manipulating of her ankle, she couldn't stand it any longer and asked, "So do you think I'll need surgery?" She was dismayed to find that she was almost holding her breath after asking the question.
"Well...Detective, is it?" Kate nodded. "Well, Detective, I'd say that your detecting is going to be done from a chair for at least the next several weeks." She felt some air whoosh out of her lungs as the orthopedist confirmed what the ER doctor had already told her. "You do have a pretty good sprain, grade 2 or grade 3. I should be able to tell from the MRI exactly which it is. But really, the treatment is pretty much the same. And in answer to your question, we rarely do surgery on ankle injuries. But it does require a commitment from you. Two things: one, you have to give yourself time to heal, and not overdo it." She kept her face fixed on the doctor, but she could hear Castle almost snort as she figured he was trying to resist the urge to make some kind of Castle-like comment. Without missing a beat and with her eyes never wavering from the doctor's, she said, "Zip it, Castle." The doctor shot a quick glance over at his friend, and she could see the sides of his mouth twitching upward in the beginnings of a smile. But after that look, he met her eyes again and carried on with his second recommendation. "And two, you'll need to start some physical therapy soon. Regularly, but under the guidance of a trained therapist. No going off on your own and pushing it before your therapist gives you the okay. Because if you push it before it's ready, you could end up damaging it more, and then yes, you could be talking about surgery in that case..."
Kate nodded, and then a thought came to her. "What about driving? When will I be able to do that safely? The ER doctor that I saw on Saturday said that it may be several weeks." The tone of her voice indicated that she found that idea more than distasteful.
"I'd say he's basically right, give or take. The problem is that sprains are tricky. You just have to let them tell you how they are, and do the rehab exercises, but don't overdo it. If something hurts beyond normal stiffness, then it's too much. You'll get to know the difference. And about the driving, I'm going to give you a boot that you can wear in a few days, when you feel comfortable to bear full weight and walk. It'll keep the ankle immobile when you're not doing your exercises, but it'll protect it so you can try walking. That way you'll at least get some mobility back. But it's too big and clunky for you to drive a car safely wearing it."
Damn. That was so not what she wanted to hear. "Are you sure you don't have any magic ligament healing pills that you can give me?"
The doctor smiled at her. "Nope, clean out of those. Sorry," he told her with a smile.
Castle interrupted and addressed the doctor. "So, Paul, is there anything that you can recommend to speed this recovery along? Detective Beckett is very...active...in her job," he clarified hastily, "and obviously is not used to physical limitations like this. So anything we...uh, she...can do to help her get better faster, we'll do. Uh, she'll do," he clarified again. He didn't look at her, but he could feel Beckett giving him a little glare from where she sat on the exam table, although he wasn't sure if it was for him asking the question or for his inadvertent use of the 'we' pronoun so much.
As the doctor rewrapped her foot, he told them, "Although it was most important in the first forty-eight hours or so, ice and elevation are still your friends until that swelling is totally gone. But really, other than taking it easy and letting it heal, and then doing the prescribed PT...there really isn't much more. It just takes time. That's why a lot of times, people say that a sprain is far worse than a break."
"I can see that," Kate said lowly, to no one in particular.
Rick stood up and shook the doctor's hand. "Thanks, Paul. It was nice of you to fit us in on such short notice."
"No problem. How's the new book coming? Need any more insight?"
"Nah. I haven't broken anyone's fictional bones lately. But when I do, I'll know who to call."
"Sounds good. But just make sure to make it a little more believable next time, okay? I mean, running eight weeks after a compound fracture? Come on!"
"Hey! You did say it was possible..."
"In about one percent of cases, and only with about five other conditions being met."
"But he had to escape from the Columbian Drug Lords!" Rick protested. "He couldn't let a little thing like recovery from a compound fracture hold him back."
Kate was listening to their exchange with an interested ear. It was much more entertaining than her ankle, and far less depressing anyway. And as they talked more, her memory clicked into place and she remembered the specific Derek Storm novel that had the compound fracture. Wow. Funny to think that the man who'd just looked at her ankle had been the expert consultant for that section.
Now the doctor was reaching out a hand to her, and she gave him a polite smile in return. "It was nice to meet you, Detective. I only wish it had been under better circumstances. Stop at the desk on the way out and they can schedule your MRI and also set you up with some physical therapy in a couple of days. Now don't overdo it, okay?"
"I'll do my best, doctor."
"Oh, it's Paul. Any friend of Rick's is a friend of mine."
"Well, Paul...thank you."
"My pleasure. Take care, both of you." And with that, he was out the door, leaving Kate and Rick sitting there looking at each other. Well, Castle started out standing, but after the doctor left, he came over and sat down next to her on the exam table.
After the better part of a minute, she told him, "He's...not what I expected."
"He's a good guy. I've known him for a while. Are you mad at him?"
She looked at him like he had two heads. "Mad at him? Castle, why in the world would I be mad at him?"
"Because he told you some things that I know for a fact that you didn't want to hear, and the last time that happened-when I took you to the ER after the blizzard-you looked like you were trying to do a crutch-hopping marathon in my vacation house, and then you tried to climb on my library ladder like it was a jungle gym!"
She just stared at him, glared at him with pursed lips.
"Come on, Beckett. You were sca-RY," he emphasized.
"Gee, thanks Castle," she replied sarcastically. "Very complimentary of you, you know."
"Come on! You were! I was afraid you were going to sprain or break something else." His voice lowered then and took on a more serious tone as the smile left his face. "It was bad enough seeing you in the amount of pain that you were already in. I just didn't want anything else to happen to you."
She was surprised by his abrupt change in demeanor, all joking one minute and serious and concerned the next. She knew how to deal with joking Castle a lot better than serious and concerned Castle. "I...uh..." she stammered, not really knowing how to continue, but still knowing that she needed to say something. "Castle, I told you before that it was my own stupid fault for getting hurt. I'm sorry that you were worried about me. I shouldn't have done what I did. And it's not an excuse, but you know I just don't deal with limitations very well."
"You?" he asked innocently, and obviously she knew that it was his turn for a little sarcasm. But then once again, he got serious. "Just follow orders so you can get better, okay?" he said almost pleadingly.
"I'll try," she agreed.
The smile lit his face. "Good. That's all I can ask." He looked thoughtful for a moment and then, with a smile and a waggle of his eyebrows, he said, "Well, there is one other thing I can ask."
She looked at him, trying to anticipate the many possiblities of what off-beat (or off-color) request might come out of his mouth next. "I know I may regret this, but what is it?"
"Will you go to lunch with me?"
She looked at him and blinked. Lunch? That was it? "Seriously?" she asked.
"Seriously." He smiled and shrugged.
She held up her foot and pointed to it, and then the crutches. They both knew that moving around was now considerably slower for her with the crutches. "Seriously?" she asked again.
"Beckett...seriously."
"I don't know...maybe we should just go back to the loft. I don't know if I'm up to having you schlep me around New York City looking for a place to eat that doesn't require a lot of walking."
He smiled. "Don't worry about that. I have just the place. Very minimal walking involved. Let me make a call."
"Let me guess...you know a guy? Like the doctor?"
"Of course I know a guy. But trust me, Nico is nothing like Paul. So...?" he prompted.
"Sure, why not. I have to eat, and as long as it doesn't involve me hobbling all over the city on these things-if you're sure about that-I guess that'll be fine." As she got off the table and reached for her crutches, she added under her breath, "It's not like I can do anything else right now."
"Beckett." Castle's voice was stern for him, and it made her look up at him. "Are we feeling a little pouty again?"
"Pouty?"
"Yes, pouty. You're making comments under your breath. Comments which, of course, my excellent hearing can still pick up. Comments regarding your temporarily limited mobility. Or would you prefer it if I changed the adjective from 'pouty' to 'whiny'?"
"Whiny, Castle?" she asked while giving him a scary glare. "No. And no to pouty also. I don't whine. And I wasn't pouting. I was merely stating the facts of the situation."
"No, you were pouting. Under your breath. Or whining. Or whatever you call it, because the facts are that you can still do plenty, but you just have to do it from a desk." Then he gave her a little glare back. "And you know, Kate? I'm really getting tired of having to say the same thing over and over and over again. If you don't cut this out, I'm going to march you down the hall and take you to an audiologist to have your hearing tested."
Ignoring the highly obvious comment that she couldn't march, she rolled her eyes at him and then gave him another warning glare. "Castle..."
He cut her off by turning toward her and putting his hands on her shoulders, rubbing her collarbone lightly with his thumbs. "It bites, Kate, I know that. I know you're frustrated and you wanted Paul to say something different. But you're going to have to deal with it. Don't let it get the better of you. And I know that if there's anyone who can put her mind to it and make lemonade, it's you."
She continued to glare at him. Once again, he was right. It just burned a little bit to have the first diagnosis confirmed by a second physician. She wasn't looking forward to her forced limitations, that was for sure. But he was right. And pouting or whining or whatever he called it was not her style. So she forced a bit of a smile on her face and said, "Lemonade, Castle?"
He grinned back at her. "Well, yeah. 'When life gives you lemons...', you know..."
"Make lemonade," she finished. "God, that just sounds so incredibly perky. Annoyingly perky."
"Well, you've always said that I annoy you. So why would I want to stop now?" The he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, enjoying the fact that he could do that now. And he enjoyed it even more when he realized that she responded with a fast little pucker of her own. But, having vowed not to push, he pulled back after the quick kiss and asked, "So are you ready to head out to the desk? While you make your arrangements for physical theray, I'll make the arrangements for lunch. Deal?"
He had a way of simplifying things, didn't he? And right now, she needed that simplification. One step at a time, right? So she looked up at him and gave a simple answer. "Deal."
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"I have to hand it to you, Rick. This is really nice," Kate told him as she broke off a piece of bread and popped it into her mouth. After she swallowed it, she asked, "So how did you find this place anyway?"
"Would you believe that it was preschool?"
"Preschool? What, you and Nico used to do the playgroup scene together while you were part of the diaper brigade? You go back that far?"
He gave her a withering look. "Not me, Alexis. And Bella, his youngest daughter. They got to be friends, and Nico and I got to talking about the restaurant once. Came in to try it out...Alexis always loved italian food when she was little. Still does, in fact." He took a sip of water and then continued. "He uses this room for private parties sometimes, but most of the time it's empty unless you ask for it." They were sitting in a private room at the back of the restaurant. The back of the restaurant opened onto an alley, and there were a couple of parking spaces there. Rick simply called ahead to make sure a space was open, and then he and Kate had a table reserved for them that was only steps from that back door. When describing it to her, he'd called it a little gem, and it was perfect for when he wanted a good meal out, but didn't want to deal with the public, the press, or schmoozing. And it was perfect for her with the crutches; only two steps up into the restaurant from that back door and then a few more steps to their table.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a waiter bringing two plates of steaming food and the heavenly aromas that were coming from those plates were enough to make her stomach growl appreciatively. But she was confused, because they'd only been there for a few minutes, and though the waiter had brought them the bread and a carafe of water, they hadn't even placed their order yet.
Before she could voice her thoughts, Rick said simply, "I ordered over the phone when I called for the table. I can almost guarantee you'll like it, but if not, you can order something else and I'll have them box this up for Alexis."
He ordered for her? He ordered her lunch for her? And she hadn't even looked to see what was on the menu? Not to mention the fact that he hadn't even been given a menu because he ordered for her already? She looked at him, and then looked down at the food, which she had to admit really did look appetizing. But she didn't say anything as she waged her own internal battle of whether she should just shut up and eat or say something to him about trying to take over, purely on principle. Sure, he knew her tastes in food. Sure, they often ordered the same or similar entrees if they went somewhere other than Remy's. But even though she might have a bum ankle, she might be stuck at her desk at work for a month, and she might not be able to drive, damn it, she could still read a menu and pick out her own food! She didn't need him to do that too!
"You really ordered my food for me." The words were more of a statement than a question. And hearing them as a statement gave them a decidely more ominous tone.
He must have sensed something was wrong with the situation, or at least with her perception of the situation, because he continued talking, explaining, "I just thought it would be better to have things ready when we got here," he started. He tried to inject some nonchalance into the words, but she heard something else in his tone too, something almost...apologetic, and a little uncomfortable. "I kind of...uh...thought you'd just like to eat quickly and go home...uh...back to the loft and not linger over lunch. So it seemed like I should try to make it as quick as possible. But really," he offered again, "if you don't like it, you can order whatever you want." He lifted his hands, palms outward, in a surrender type of motion. "Totally up to you. We could even sit here all afternoon if you want to and we could order a lot of different things..." he trailed off, looking definitely uncomfortable now, after he continued to explain and she still didn't say anything.
But she let herself listen to his reasoning, and his reasoning did make a bit of sense. A bit, and only because she was used to his particular brand of logic, even though she may not agree with it all the time. And she supposed that his intentions were noble...to try to make things easier for her. But it still annoyed her; not so much that he'd ordered, but that she hadn't had a choice in the matter. Through the aromas wafting up at her and during his fumbling but sincere explanation, she realized that a lot of her initial burst of anger had dissipated. But still, she couldn't let him off scot-free, could she?
"So, is this you 'not pushing' and letting me do things for myself? I mean, geez, Castle...I can order my own food, you know. It doesn't require any ankle muscles at all," she said sarcastically.
He still looked a little worried, but he gave her a somewhat exasperated look. "I didn't push," he defended. "I just tried to make something easier for you. And it's only lunch," he said somewhat dejectedly. "So do you want to order something else? Because that's really okay, you know."
She made a show of taking another look at the plate of food in front of her. Then she picked up her fork and took a small bite. When her tastebuds registered what she was tasting, it was all she could do to not moan out loud at how good it tasted. But she schooled her features so hopefully, they didn't give too much away, and she just looked at him and said, "This will be fine, Castle." Then, if the look on his face was any indication, he was surprised when she leaned toward him with narrowed eyes and pointed her fork at him. "But if you think this is how things are going to go now, you, sir, are sorely mistaken. Remember that talk we had about you doing things for me? Or more specifically, you not doing things for me? About you letting me ask if I needed help?"
"Hey," he interrupted, "it was only lunch. And I said you could order something else if you wanted to, so that totally negates me ordering for you in the first place. And I didn't order for you, anyway. I just ordered two meals, things that I know you and I both like. So we could even switch if that'll make you feel better. And if you recall, yesterday I let you climb the stairs to your apartment totally by yourself. That was way bigger than this, if you ask me. So, uh, Beckett? Would you just shut up and eat? I don't want Nico to think that my new girlfriend doesn't like his specialty."
Her stomach gave an internal flip when she heard him refer to her as his girlfriend so easily. How could he do that so casually, when she was still getting used to the idea? It was only the night before when they'd agreed to try 'dating'. Now he jumps to calling her his girlfriend like it was the most natural thing in the world. And then telling her to shut up and eat! "Castle..." she started to protest.
"Beckett," he interrupted, "just eat. You know it's good. Or you can have mine if you want...I don't care. I wasn't trying to step on your toes, or take over, or anything like that. I just wanted to make things easier and quicker so you could get back to the loft sooner. And you have to remember that I've been coming here for years, so I know just about everything on the menu and I know what dishes are the best. So don't worry about it, okay?"
She knew she would feel petty if she argued with him any more about the lunches. So she let that slide as she took another bite of food. God, it really was good! "Fine, Castle. You win. As long as you promise that you're not going to try to charm me into depending on you even more than I have to right now. We've already had this talk, right?"
"You think I'm charming?" he asked with a grin. Her only response was to roll her eyes at him. But then he got serious and said, "Honestly, Kate, I didn't even think twice about it. I've ordered for you before. It's not some nefarious plot to take all of your autonomy. And I wouldn't want to do that anyway because you'd be really boring then. And I much prefer my Kate, the one that can keep me on my toes."
First 'girlfriend', and then 'his' Kate? Boy, he was just diving into the deep end of this dating thing, wasn't he? She took a breath and looked at him. "And 'girlfriend'?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow.
He grinned at her. "Yeah. Gotta start trying that out more now, right? And I kind of like the sound of that, at least as it refers to you. In relation to me. Or to me, about you. Oh, you know what I mean." He took a quick bite of his entree, and then asked her, "So since you went back to that little moniker from a while ago, can I correctly assume that you're not going to protest anymore about me ordering lunch for you? That you're just going to eat now?"
"Yes, Castle. I'll eat. But in return, can you promise to shut up and not gloat for a while?"
He looked at her quizzically. "How long?"
"Castle!" she warned.
"Right. Eat. Shut up. Got it." But he still looked over at her and gave her a disarming grin right before he took a large bite of his pasta. "When my girlfriend asks me so nicely, how could I refuse?"
She just shook her head as she looked down at her own dish of pasta. The man just never quit, did he?
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Well, yes, he did quit, she found out that afternoon.
The rest of the afternoon progressed rather uneventfully. They got back to the loft and after hanging up their coats and stowing the leftovers in the refrigerator, Rick had told her that he was going to go work in his office for a bit. He cheerily told her to help herself to anything she wanted, and to let him know if she needed anything, but then he was gone. In fact, he escaped to his office so fast that she just stood there, staring after him, until she was staring at nothing except for his closed office door.
She made her way over to the couch and sat down. What had just happened? She'd fully expected him to hover, especially now, with her still being hurt. He always hovered. She thought she'd have to entertain him, which would basically amount to him trying to entertain her to make himself feel useful and like he was being a good host. But she'd never expected him to just...leave. But he'd escaped into his office-albeit cheerily-so fast that she couldn't even formulate a response besides a quick, "Okay...sure," comment.
But what was she complaining about, anyway? Wasn't this what she wanted? Hadn't she been telling him not to push, not to do everything for her? Wasn't leaving her alone exactly the type of thing that she was telling herself that she wished he would do?
So why did she feel like she'd just been ditched?
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Rick knew he would have his work cut out for him, keeping his distance and not pushing, not trying to do things for her. He just genuinely wanted to help her, make things easier for her in any way that he could. He really hadn't meant anything by ordering their meals when he called to reserve the table, but she'd certainly taken it badly. Now, with hindsight being 20/20, he could see how not letting her do even a small thing like ordering her own meal could be perceived badly, especially now that she was back in New York and was now directly facing all of the things that she could NOT do. Heck, she couldn't even live in her own apartment! He supposed the meal was just one more thing to pile onto her list. He didn't mean it that way at all, and he hoped he conveyed that. She seemed to let it go eventually, and that was good, but he hoped she wasn't still thinking about it.
But to hedge his bets and make sure that he didn't do any more damage, he went against every instinct that he had and as soon as they'd gotten back to the loft, he'd let her be. He put some distance between them. He'd gone into his office to 'do some work', as he told her, and he'd forced himself to stay in there. He wasn't going to hover, he wasn't going to ask her if she needed anything, and he certainly wasn't going to do anything for her. At least right now. Even if he wanted to do all of those three things more than anything right now. He just wanted to take care of her and be with her, but the independent Kate Beckett didn't need that right now. But she was probably still smarting from the lunch thing, as unintentional as it was on his part, and he didn't want to even give the tiniest glimmer of doing anything that would upset her or put her on edge any more. And he figured the best way to do that was to stay away for a while...give her some space. Let her get used to things here. That was reasonable, right? So he sat in his office and typed a paragraph for the new Nikki Heat novel. Then he erased it and typed something else. Then he erased that and started to type more, until he realized that he wasn't going to do any actual writing today. Well, he wasn't going to do any actual writing that he'd ever want anyone to read. So he opened another document and decided to work on the more in-depth outline for one of his upcoming chapters. Even if he couldn't write, maybe he could at least work through some plot ideas.
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Three hours. Three long hours, and barely a peep from him. She'd looked at his coffee table books. She'd stretched out on his sofa and tried to take a nap. When the nap didn't work, she'd turned on the television, softly, and found that Temptation Lane wasn't even on...it was preempted by a golf match. She turned the television off and with a huff, picked up one of the other coffee table books.
He'd come out once, one hour and forty three minutes after he'd gone into his office, ostensibly to get a glass of water. He greeted her, and they had a very brief, superficial conversation about the outline for a chapter. He was cheery, like he was before he went into his office...one hour and forty three minutes before. And then, once again, he was back in his office with the door closed and she was left sitting there on the couch with only the coffee table books for company.
And he didn't even offer her a glass of water!
This was stupid. Purely on principle, she got up and went to the kitchen to get her own damn glass of water. After drinking it down, she thought enough was enough. He was obviously content to be holed up in his office. Well, she wasn't content to be out here any longer. Alone.
So she grabbed her phone and the key to the loft that he'd given her earlier. And she hobbled over to the door and let herself out of the loft, letting the door close silently behind her.
There it is...hope you enjoyed it.
If anyone is wondering, I do have plans with where I'll be taking this story and some of the twists and turns I'll be taking on the way. That's not to say that I won't get more ideas along the way, but I have a much better idea of where this will be heading than I ever did with 'The Plan' or with 'Blizzard'.
I hope I portrayed Kate's frustration in at least a reasonably realistic way. She's so used to Castle hovering that she tells him not to, but then when he listens to her, she's annoyed because she misses him (although she won't admit it). So it's that, and their inherent communication issues, like it was like in 'The Dead Pool' with the introduction of Alex Conrad and the 'Fine...Fine...It's so not fine' conversation (only that was Castle, but same idea).
So with the start of any new fanfic that I know is going to be many chapters, I'd REALLY appreciate your feedback as to whether you like it or not. Let me know what you think!
(And for 'Plan' fans, I posted the first epilogue to that story a few days ago, so go read that if you haven't already.)