Waiting
by Tanya Reed
Notes: This was written as a part of the LAS_ABC challenge on LiveJournal. The challenge was to write a story 100-1000 words long with the prompt of diner/drive-in/dive
Spoilers for the end of season two and the beginning of season three.
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle. I make no profit with this story.
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Rick Castle sat in the small booth, twirling the straw on his large strawberry milkshake. The thick pink liquid swirled, making abstract designs through the clear glass. He watched it absently, his mind a million miles away.
It had been two weeks. Two weeks since he had packed up his summer life and trudged back to his life in New York. Two weeks since he'd eagerly started waiting for her to call. Two weeks since he had realized that Beckett had probably forgotten all about him.
That's why he was here. It was the third time in two weeks that he had come to this diner and ordered a hamburger and a milkshake because this place reminded him of her. Once, after a strange case and disastrous dates with other people, they had found themselves here, eating and laughing.
Rick sighed and dropped the straw. For a couple of seconds afterwards, the liquid continued to spin. It reminded him of his own thoughts. In one way, he was glad Beckett had found someone to keep her so happy that she hadn't bothered to call him. In another, very selfish way, he missed her so much that it had caused a permanent ache deep in his chest. He'd give anything if she would just call and say she needed him. He'd even settle for knowing that she still wanted him around. But the phone never rang.
Several times over the previous four months, he had been tempted to call her. He found himself reaching for his phone, craving the sound of her voice. One thought stopped him. It was that image he had in his mind of Beckett and Demming. Rick was afraid that it would kill him if she just brushed him off or if he heard Demming in the background.
It wasn't that Kate was in a relationship, Rick told himself, taking another bite of a hamburger that had started to taste like sawdust. After all, he was in a relationship, of sorts, himself. It was the feeling that she didn't want or need him anymore. That cut him. It hurt more than he would have ever expected it to.
As he sadly ate the rest of his hamburger, he wondered if she'd ever call. He wondered what he'd say to her if she did. Most of all, he wondered what he'd do if she didn't call.
On that depressing thought, he got to his feet. After taking one more last drink of his milkshake, he threw enough money on the table to cover his tab and leave a generous tip.
He walked through the door, forcing his mind to think of Gina and book tours and a Nikki Heat that was separate from Kate. The air was crisp as it brushed his face and full of the smells of fall.
In the distance, Rick could hear the wail of a police siren. His thoughts flashed to a picture of her getting out of her car, her expression intent, her green eyes unreadable. He had seen this picture many times over the year and a half he had shadowed her. This time, though, the picture in his mind was different.
This time, the person getting out of the other side of her car wasn't him.
The End