The room has been swallowed by a dim light and the atmosphere is rather melancholic. Castle is sitting silently on his chair by Beckett's table. He' staring at Kate cleaning the whiteboard, erasing the victim's name for good. She looks beautiful, as always. Her brown hair is swinging from side to side, brushing the blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Suddenly, he stands up and goes to the board. He is holding her hand now.
"Cast-… What..?" she asks in confusion. The precinct is full of people doing their paperwork and she's afraind someone might see it.
"I just want to thank you, Beckett. Thanks for saving my butt once again," he gives her a crooked smile, one of those Kate knows well.
"Always," she replies squeezing the hand tightly, releasing it a few moments later.
What the hell was he thinking of, huh? He didn't want to thank her for saving his butt. He wanted to thank her for being in his life. The tension is unbearable. He can't go on like this.
They are gazing at the white board without saying a word to each other.
"Castle, I know this was a hell of a case. Go home, get some rest," Beckett interrupts the silence.
"No, I'll help you with the paperwork." Sure, this is just an excuse to stay with her a little longer.
"What? You never help with the paperwork, Castle!" she laughs taking a seat.
"Well, not this time," a warm smile appears on his sad face. He sits down again, unbuttons the very top button on that brown shirt he wears only because of her. He rests his head on his hand and glares at her passionately. She must have noticed that. No doubts. He takes a pile of papers and starts to organize them, so that he can be at least somehow useful. He reads the name of the victim out loud.
"You know, her story makes me think about my life. She died because of nothing; she had plans and now, everything's gone." Castle says sadly. Kate is now fully focused on Castle.
"Look, Kate…" He gasps. Beckett's heart is pounding like a church bell-he has called her Kate! She observes his sky blue eyes and takes a deep breath. "There is something I need to tell you. I just.. "
"Hola, you two!" calls Espo, even though he is standing right above them. "I thought you've already left. And Castle! Am I dreaming? Are you doing the paperwork?" he laughs and shouts to Ryan to come and see that. Ryan almost slips as he hurries to Espo. They make a few jokes to embarrass Castle, but Beckett interrupts them.
"Guys! Let's call it a night. We can finish this tomorrow." Espo and Ryan disappeared as quickly as a flash.
"Castle, what was it you wanted to tell me?" she asks curiously.
"Nah, that can wait." Castle gives a forced smile. She can see that there is something going on, but has no idea what it could be. He slips into his jacket and turns his back to her.
"Are you sure?"
He stops, takes a moment for himself and then turns back to face her.
"Yeah, absolutely."
"Okay. See you tomorrow," says Kate trying to smile.
"See you." Castle responses and walks towards the elevator.
Kate watches him leave, like she always does. When he turns his face to see Beckett for the last time their eyes meet. She is not that stupid to believe that everything is okay. She can see something in his hopeless eyes, something that hurts him. He keeps her gaze and then the elevator door closes. He puts his head against the wall. Desperate. He smashes the fist against that wall and then quickly runs hands through his short, brown hair. She has been driving him crazy for a long time, but this is too much. He can clearly see that she will never be his, even though he thought she liked him, too. Somewhere deep in his soul, he felt that she felt the same. He thought he could see sparkles in her hazel eyes when he got to work in the morning. 'You made this up Castle. Just because you want to believe she loves you, too. That's so stupid,' he thought.
Beckett is looking for Castle the next morning without a result. 'He has definitely changed his mind about the paperwork' she says to herself and chuckles. However, Castle doesn't show up at work the day after. Beckett feels that something has gone wrong. She picks up her phone and calls him immediately.
"You've reached Richard Castle… Lucky you!"
"Damn Castle, where the hell are you?"