AN: Hey all, I wrote this a while ago... It was meant to be a one-shot AU for 6x01 ... but I wanted to post some of it and see what you guys thought first... If you like it, I'll post the rest... it will probably only be like 2/3 'chapters' at most...
She… she said no.
Well, she didn't really say no, but she might as well have. "I need to let this play out Rick, I need to see where this job can go." It had been like a punch to his gut, he didn't know what to say, he just nodded, tried for words, but couldn't find any. "You know I love you Rick, isn't that enough for now?" It was enough, but it still hurt that despite his earnest proposal, his love for her, she wanted to go to DC, alone.
"Okay." He had said before he walked away.
~WB~
The rain was falling heavily, much like the night she had returned to him a year prior. He sat at the bar of The Old Haunt, well after closing, drinking away his sorrows for the night. Eventually, he decided he needed some music to cheer himself up. He went to the pricey sound system he had had installed for the occasional party, flipping it on to the last thing that had been playing and turning up the volume. Out came the belting notes of Miley Cyrus, what the hell…?, he thought. He tried to skip past the song, but ended up restarting it, only then did he pause, the lyrics hitting a little too close to home.
(lyrics) – Omitted for your sanity.
He continued listening to the song, sipping his whiskey as it went. He grabbed the remote, putting the song on repeat. Who would have ever thought- Bestselling author Richard Castle would wallow in his whiskey while listening to Miley Cyrus? He thought to himself with a chuckle. He was well past the halfway point on the bottle of whiskey he had grabbed from behind the bar, and decided he didn't need the glass anymore, he'd just finish off the bottle, maybe go grab another one for his walk home, he didn't want to take a cab tonight, he wanted the rain to wash away his pain. He up-ended the bottle, letting the fluid burn its way down his throat, warming him against the cold he'd felt since the afternoon. With the first bottle empty, he grabbed another from behind the bar, turned off the sound system, and made his way out the door. He locked it behind him and stepped out from under the awning into the pouring rain.
The song continued to run through his head as he started his walk back home to the loft. The more he thought about the song and its lyrics, the less he could fight the smile on his face, despite how sad the lyrics were, the tune was infectious, and he could hardly contain the laugh that wanted to burst through his lips at the realization. How could he be so depressed by the situation, and yet made so happy by a song that described it perfectly? He must not have been going the direction he had intended, because suddenly he was back at the park. He avoided the swings like the plague, sitting on the playground for a short while and taking a few more sips from the bottle in his hand. He hadn't been publicly intoxicated in quite some time, but tonight seemed justified. He spied a tire swing swaying slightly over a large puddle and was drawn to it inexplicably.
~WB~
She shouldn't have put it that way, she should have told him that she loved him, she would marry him in an instant, but she wanted to try out the job in DC as well. She couldn't think straight in her apartment, all she could think of was the fight that they had had there earlier in the day, she needed to get out of there. The swings. She would go to the swings. She went there a year ago in the pouring rain and they had given her a solution, maybe if she went there again they would offer up another answer. She made her way to the door, grabbing her keys and placing her phone on the table by the door, no need to ruin it the thing while she sat out in the rain.
She made her way to the park through the heavy rain, feeling almost giddy, remembering what had happened after the last time she had done this. Last time her life had changed drastically for the better- maybe that was what would happen now. She made her way to the swings, not noticing the man swinging around slowly on the tire swing across the park, the rain was too heavy to see him. She sat on her swing staring at her hands in her lap, thinking. He looked so hurt, what I said didn't come out right. I kept saying 'I' instead of 'we', I should have said 'we', would he have taken it better if I had said 'we'? What exactly should I have said? Yes, obviously. I should have explained myself before I let him walk away. I do want to go to DC… but I want him to come with me, I want to start fresh with him; new city, new job, new life, maybe he would be willing to do that with me. Maybe if I just go to the loft now, I might be able to convince him, I might still be able to fix this. I will fix this.
With her mind made up, she got up off the swing, much like she had a year before, soaking wet, and determined to find the man she loved.
~WB~
"I came in like a wrecking ball!" He sang into the night at the top of his lungs, his face turned up into the rain, "I never hit so hard in love…" It was true, it was all so true. "All I wanted was to break your walls!" Her damn walls, that's what this was about. "All you ever did was wr-e-eck me!" He was completely broken, shattered at her feet, he would never be able to love another like he had loved her. "Yeah you, you wr-e-eck me!" He knew no one would hear him over the sound of the storm.
~WB~
She froze. That voice, slurred and muffled by the storm as it was, she would recognize anywhere. She spun around, searching through the downpour for the source of the singing. Squinting her eyes, she saw a dim light moving around on the other side of the park. She made her way toward the light, shaking her head as he continued to belt out the lyrics at the top of his lungs.
"Kate!" He yelled, causing her to freeze in place once again. "What is the point of having a cell phone if you never answer it?" He pulled the phone away from his face again, the light illuminating the lines on his face, then, "Oh well… Kate, I have a song for you!" He began belting out the song again. She only caught the last part, "I can't live a lie, running for my life… I will always want you," before she started moving toward him at a much quicker pace, she was running for him, her life. "I came in like a wrecking ball!" She was on the verge of tears, "I never hit so hard in love!" She knew the next line, and she knew how they applied to them, "All I wanted was to break your walls!"
"Rick," she called out over the space and the rain between them, "you did." She said when he looked up at her in wonder. He pulled the phone away from his face again, looking from it to her and back before reaching up to press the end call button with his other hand, the bottle of whiskey sloshing as he poked the phone with his index finger. She slid closer to him slowly, hoping he would receive her well. "Are you… Rick! Are you naked?"
"Pretty much." He shrugged, he was still wearing his boxers.
"Why?!" She questioned, exasperated.
"Seemed fitting, she was naked in the music video…" He smiled and shrugged.
"You're going to get sick out here naked in the rain!" A car passed by, "Or worse, caught naked on a children's playground, Rick, I'm not going to marry a sex-offender."
"You weren't going to marry me anyway, why should I care?" He slurred, slipping off the tire swing and taking another swig from the bottle in his hand.
"Rick, stop it!" She said, grabbing for the bottle, "This isn't going to fix anything!" She couldn't believe that he would resort to this, knowing what alcoholism had done to her father, but he dodged her and held the bottle high, out of her reach. "Seriously Rick, give me the bottle."
"Why should I give you anything now? You wouldn't take what I tried to give you earlier." He knew somewhere deep inside himself that this was not the way he wanted to have this conversation, but he was powerless to his thoughts, they couldn't be stopped. The alcohol wasn't lessening the pain, just removing his filter, and taking away any way for him to shield himself from it.
"Rick- I…" She began.
"Don't bother, I'll get out of here, don't want you to have to file any more paperwork before you leave for DC." He reached for his clothes, haphazardly throwing them on, not bothering to button his shirt or trousers, and slipping his feet into his shoes sans socks.
"Rick!" She called as he started to walk away. "Wait!" She caught up to him quickly, he wasn't moving very fast, she grabbed his arm. "Rick, seriously, stop."
"You said I would get sick. I'm getting out of the rain." He pulled his arm away from her grip with a bit too much force, pulling her into him by accident. She stumbled forward into him, a wet slapping sound as they collided. "Sorry." He said, steadying her despite his inebriation, his eyes shining briefly with concern over her.
"Fine, we'll get out of the rain, but you're coming with me." She said firmly, wrapping her arm through his and tugging him along before he could argue. He stumbled along next to her, shirt still open under his blazer, bottle still in his hand. He didn't know what to think about the situation, she was obviously mad, but he was too far gone to figure out why, so he just let her lead him back to her apartment without any further argument.
Once they got inside the door of her apartment, she let go of his arm, putting a hand on his bare chest. "Strip." She commanded. He didn't think, just did as he was told, setting the bottle down on the side table next to her phone, which reminded him, he pulled out his own and placed it down there as well. He was once again naked, still soaking wet, and now that he was inside the cool apartment, he was starting to feel quite cold. He shivered, goose bumps rising all over his body, his nipples growing pointed. He hadn't noticed, but she had been stripping as well, she now stood nude in front of him, not so much a surprise as a shock. "Come on, we'll go hop in the hot shower for a couple minutes, dry off and get into some fresh clothes." He just nodded and followed, stumbling along behind her, grabbing his bottle when her back was to him.
When they got to the bathroom she looked at him quizzically, "Really Rick? What are you going to do, drink the whiskey in the shower? Put it down." He shook his head, handing the bottle to her.
"I don't need any more of it anyway," he decided, handing her the bottle, "that's the second bottle." He slurred. He took a step back from her, suddenly angry again, she was treating him like a child. His foot slipped on the tile and he fell backward, hitting his head on the side of the tub.
"Rick!" She exclaimed as the world went dark.
AN: So...? Let me know if you want more of this by reviewing or sending me a tweet on Twitter... ( msmorg)
I'll try to get Knocked Out updated this week, I have a few days off for Thanksgiving... I hope I can get back into a writing mood!
If not that, maybe I can give you guys a bit more of this or His Side of the Bed...?
~MsMorg
