Because the BTS pics of Stana going around tumblr look a lot like those pre-ceremony "getting ready" pictures that wedding photographers take: breathlifein dot tumblr dot com / post / 85613580441
I apologize for any grammatical errors. There are real tears on my keyboard.
She gets an email from the wedding photographer a week after the accident.
She had booked the photographer herself – an old friend from NYU. He had made a name for himself professionally, and promised to be discrete but thorough. You won't even know I was there til you have photographic evidence of every last detail of your big day, I guarantee it.
She's not sure if he really was that good at his job, or if the last several days have forced every good memory of that day from her mind. Either way, the email was a surprise.
Dear Kate,
I can't imagine how difficult this time is for you so I will be brief. It didn't feel appropriate to stay at the venue after what happened, so I only have a few pre-ceremony photos of the bridal party, as well as the venue and the arriving guests. I wasn't sure if you'd want them, but it felt wrong not to send them to you, and it felt wrong to send them to anyone else. Please accept the refund for my services that I have arranged with Ms. Parrish.
I am so sorry for your loss, Kate. You were a beautiful bride.
Best,
Craig Roberson
Simple Moments Photography
She refuses to open the attachments.
They are not pre-ceremony photos because there was no ceremony.
She was not a beautiful bride because there was never a groom.
Two weeks later Lanie brings the forensic dentist to the loft.
She knew how this story would end ever since a firefighter knelt next to her and handed her the still warm pair of rings from the melted remains of a cupholder. But they've finally managed to confirm his identity from dental records, and Lanie tells her she needs the closure.
The closure they couldn't have at a funeral, because there was nothing left of him to bury. Nothing but bones in a morgue being picked over to verify that no, there was absolutely, positively, unquestionably no happy ending for Katherine Beckett and Richard Castle.
Nothing but his bones. And teeth.
Beckett pushes the x-rays back across the coffee table and tells them to leave.
She drinks that night until she can't remember what his smile looks like.
How the lower incisors were all a bit crooked, how his lip curved over the upper row with that boyish grin he flashed so often.
She drinks until she forgets how much he hated his stupid teeth. How he always tried to smile with his mouth closed. How the smile became so real and so brilliant when he couldn't help but let out a deep laugh, the corners of his mouth crinkling with mirth. How she made him promise to smile like that in their wedding photos.
Only with you, Kate.
She downs another three fingers of scotch and stumbles to her laptop. She pulls open her email and skips over all the bolded, unread "Sincerest Condolences" subject lines until she finds the photographer's email again.
She deletes every picture without ever looking at them.
She drinks until she passes out on what was supposed to be their bed.
She only ever wanted pictures of both of them.
A/N: I'm sorry. Wasn't thrilled with the ep, but thinking about the aftermath is killing me, and I had to get it out. I know Castle isn't dead, but my bet is that Tyson is faking it to torture them both.
Reviews and criticism are great.
Also, thanks a zillion to those who read, reviewed, and/or voted for Exercising the Heart to win a Castle Fanfic Writers Guild Award. I don't even know what to say. I still feel like a bit of a trespasser in the world of fanfiction, but you all are fantastic and I really appreciate your encouragement.