12th Precinct

After finishing the case Castle approaches Ryan and Esposito "You guys seen Beckett? I wanted to congratulate her. She's the one who cracked this one open."

Ryan turns towards him "I think she's in the back processing the charges."

Castle thanks him as both Ryan and Esposito toss their fast food wrappers in the trash. He then turns walking down the hall and finds Beckett facing a doorway. He is just about to say something when he sees Demming step out from a doorway and kiss her. He feels like he has been punched in the gut all the air has left him. Before either one of them notices him he quickly turns around heading for the nearest stairwell. He doesn't notice Ryan and Esposito watching as he quickly slides through the door and makes his way out of the building.

After finishing their kiss, Beckett lets Demming know she will talk to him later as he heads down the hall back the robbery division and she turns back towards the bullpen in search of Castle. She wanted to wish him goodnight before she left for the evening.

As she approaches the boys who are themselves getting ready to head out she asks "Have you guys seen Castle?"

Esposito turns towards her replying "Yeah he left out down the stairwell two minutes ago. Didn't he find you? He was headed to the back to congratulate you?"

Caught off guard by his reply she starts wondering if Castle saw her and Tom together. Putting this out of her mind she quickly replies "No, he didn't. I guess we must have missed each other. Anyway, I'm heading out I'll catch you two in the morning."

"Night Beckett" they reply as she heads towards the elevator.

As soon as Castle exits the twelfth he flags down a cab and quickly jumps in. Not wanting to head home he gives the driver the address of the Old Haunt. He is not sure what he is exactly feeling, but he knows he needs to go somewhere where he can have a drink and sort out his feelings without his mother or Alexis hovering over him.

The Old Haunt

He enters the Bar and makes his way to a booth in the far corner away from the normal clientele. Thank God it is both a weeknight and still early enough for the place to be not too crowded. As the waitress makes her way over he orders a double scotch. While waiting on his drink he starts processing what he knows and how he is feeling after seeing Kate with Demming.

He knows that when he first met her two years ago he felt an immediate attraction and originally saw her as a conquest.

He knows that over that time his feelings changed and he began to see her as his friend, confidant, and partner.

He knows that he truly cares about her.

He knows ever since the Paul Finch case he has been jealous over Demming.

He knows that he feels like Beckett is replacing him. They no longer have their playful banter and innuendos. And every chance she gets she is now spending her time building theory with the robbery detective.

But how does he truly feel? When Demming approached him to ask if there was something between him and Kate he told him no. But the past few weeks have been hard to stomach. And then seeing them kiss….

He is interrupted when the waitress return with his drink, placing it in front of him as she smiles then turns back to the other customers.

He quickly picks it up and downs it, signaling her for another. He keeps going through everything in his head. Just as she brings him another it finally hits him; he is falling for Kate Beckett.

Beckett's Apartment

Beckett enters her new apartment looking forward to a nice hot bath, a book and a glass of wine. She is still trying to get used to it here. She loved her old apartment and misses it. She wished she could have kept looking instead of settling, but she was starting to find herself getting too comfortable staying with Castle after her the Dunn case.

She originally was going to meet Tom for dinner but he called to let her know he caught a case and asked for a rain check. She didn't mind knowing what a cop's life entails. Sliding into the tub she couldn't help thinking back to today. She didn't know what to make of the obvious competition going on between her writer and boyfriend. They both seemed to try to one up each other for her attention. She knew things would change between her and Castle after she started seeing Tom, but she never expected this. She was not looking forward to it but maybe she should talk to him tomorrow.

12th Precinct

Three days… Has it really been three days since she last saw or heard from Castle. She knew he didn't always come in, especially if there was no case. But this was not normal… even when she was just doing paper work he showed up and sat in his chair watching/ staring at her when he didn't think she noticed. Yes it was creepy, but it didn't bother her as much as it used too.

When he first started shadowing her he was nothing but an egotistical, self-centered, jackass. She could barely stand being in the same room with him. But in the two years they have been partnered together, she has seen more of the real Richard Castle; The loving son and father, caring and loyal partner and friend.

That is why she could tell something is definitely wrong with his prolonged absence. By the second day she was being thrown questioning looks by both the boys and Lanie… and all she could do was shrug. She figured if she didn't hear from him by today she would either call or stop by his place tonight. After all, Tom was still tied up with his recent case.

She was just on her way to the break room to fix herself another cup of coffee (something she was also missing with Castle's absence) when Captain Montgomery called her into his office.

Castle's Loft

Ever since coming to his realization, Castle had no idea what he was going to do. He loved being with her at the 12th, working on cases helping bring people the closure she still didn't have. He loved spending time with Ryan, Esposito and Lanie. He never had people he truly could call his friends. He knew that a lot of his so called friends only wanted to hang out with him do to his celebrity status.

But he also knew that he could not sit back and watch the woman he was falling for be with somebody else. As a result he spent the last three days at the loft trying to convince his mother and daughter that he was behind on Naked Heat and needed to get some chapters done. It wasn't a lie… he was behind but they didn't need to know the other reason.

He had been writing trying to get his mind off of his muse. This is funny considering that his main character is based off the person he was trying to forget. He was able to get some chapters done, but then they wouldn't do what he wanted them to and Nikki and Rook ended up at odds. She ended up going out to a romantic dinner with Detective Schlemming, while Rook retreated to his loft.

After a while he knew he was just avoiding the inevitable. His mind and heart had made the decision for him and he picked up his cell phone, scrolling through his contacts until he found who he was looking for.

Taking a calming breath he hit send and waited for the phone to ring.

"Captain Montgomery"

"Hey Captain its Castle"

"Castle, where have you been? Is everything all right? Is Martha and Alexis okay?" Quickly comes out of his mouth not even giving Castle a chance to respond.

"No, no everything is just fine."

"O…Okay, I know Beckett hasn't had a case, but you are usually here anyway. So tell me what's going on."

Castle starts to fidget; he is not ready for the Captain's straight forwardness and just decides to come right to the point. "I'm calling to let you know I will no longer be shadowing Detective Beckett."

A/N: I know I haven't written anything in a long time. In fact I still have a few stories that I eventually need to finish. But I was watching Overkill recently and decided to go with something different from kiss onward. Let me know what you think and whether you'd like me to continue.

Thanks.