Some asked for another chapter to go with it and this is what I came up with. It sucks, I know, but I didn't really know how to do this correctly. Sooooo, yeah.

Enjoy, I guess!

He sat in the dark study, a tumbler of whiskey in his hand as he stares out the window at the darkened skyline of New York. He had been released yesterday, them having found enough evidence to clear his name.

He hadn't seen her since. He doesn't want to.

Emptying the glass, he shut his eyes as the warm liquid ran down his throat, numbing the pain in his chest.

Four years. Four years wiped out so quickly.

Ryan had been sympathetic, the trust in his bright blue eyes smoked out when he had searched through his own friend's home for evidence.

Esposito was unbreakable. Castle had to admit that he admired the man's objectiveness and strong will, but the loyalty that Esposito had been rooting for so long was gone.

Beckett…Beckett was Beckett. She was no longer the Kate that he brought to his Hamptons home. She was no longer the Kate that woke up with him the morning after and smiled, kissing him before they went to work. She was no longer his.

Turning around in his office, he stared at the cover art for Frozen Heat, anger rising up in him as he threw his glass at it. The sound of glass shattering and the board tipping over brought déjà vu, the feeling so strong it brought him down to his chair. He remembered how his mother flew into the room when he had thrown an identical glass to the Heat Rises poster.

But his mother wasn't going to waltz into the study and talk to him.

Neither was his daughter.

They were both gone. His mother with her friends in Las Vegas for the week, his daughter at the movies with her friends for the night.

He was alone.

At least, he thought he was until she walked into the room.

"Beckett, what do you want?" He sighed, his shoulders slumping in resignation.

"You."

That word had brought them together the first time, but it wouldn't this time.

He lifted a hand between them, halting her advance towards him.

"You don't get to do that," his jaw clenched, his eyes cold and boring into hers.

"Rick, I'm –"

"You don't get to apologize either," he shook his head. "You don't get it, do you?"

"No, I don't. Help me because I really don't get it, Castle." She stood her ground. Not running like he expected her to, like she used to do.

"Beckett, you arrested me. You interrogated me. You doubted me. And now you think you could just waltz in here and say one word and I'd come back to you?" His voice rose with the next statement. "I've come back to you enough. I'm human. I can only take so much, Kate. I've waited so long for you. I've been so patient. I've risked everything for you. And you, and everyone else in that precinct, threw it away."

Her eyes were shining with unshed tears as she took her bottom lip in between her teeth. She looked to the ground, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. It was a moment before she spoke up in a small voice.

"Castle, I need you to understand that I made a mistake. This," she gestured between them, "is new to me. I don't know how to do this and I am trying."

"Yeah, if trying means that you arrest me and accuse me of cheating on you." He's angry.

"I said I made a mistake. But I can't apologize for arresting you. It's my job. It's all our jobs." She's adamant, but her hands are running through her hair, her eyes pleading with him to understand.

"It wasn't your job to accuse me of cheating on you. You knew where I was that night. I kept that a secret for you. But you still doubted me." He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, moving to walk past her to the door of his study. "Look, I don't want to do this."

"Do what, Castle? Fix our relationship?" Her voice his incredulous, her hand on his forearm keeping him from moving.

"Kate," his voice is resigned. He gave up. He gave up on them.

"No, Rick. You listen to me. I waited four years for you. I wanted you for so long but it took me almost dying to realize that I need you. You can't look me in the eye and tell me that you can just let this go after how far we've gotten." Her hand slid down to his, intertwining their fingers together and pulling him closer to her.

His eyes are shut as she leans up to put her lips to his. He doesn't respond. She rests her forehead on his chest, her breathing ragged.

"I don't know if I can move past this." His voice is rasp as it cuts through the silence after a few moments.

"You don't have to. We can do this together, Rick. Together."