I'm so glad you all liked the first chapter! 16abennett requested Beckett be next so here it is! Which character do you want to hear from next? Have fun reading!

Beckett—Two weeks earlier

"I can't watch this," I announce to an empty apartment.

I take the remote control and turn off The Wedding Planner. Just my luck, the next channel is showing The Wedding Date, the next My Best Friend's Wedding.

"Seriously?" I mumble to myself, "He'll never love you, Julia."

And, as if for the grand finale, on the next channel is Castle himself. He's being interviewed by none other than Jessica Hudson, the woman New York magazine declared the hottest woman on daytime TV.

To be fair, though, daytime is not that competitive. She's basically only up against newscasters and talk show hosts. That's it. And how hard is it to be hotter than Barbara Walters? It's like one step above a competition for the best-looking radio show host.

And, if you ask me, her face would be better off on the radio.

There, I've said it.

She crosses her bony legs and tosses her hair to the side before reading her next question for Castle.

"So, Ricky—is it alright if I call you Ricky?" Jessica asks.

"Everybody does." He responds.

"What? Nobody calls you that," I say to the TV.

"The question on everyone's mind—why did you kill off Nikki Heat?" Jessica asks.

Castle takes a dramatic pause before answering, "Nikki and I had a good run together. But I just felt that our relationship had run its course. The spark I had with her was gone. It was time to spend more time with a newer, fresher character."

"Like our top witness in the Wiley case." I say.

"But to kill Nikki at her own wedding to that gorgeous journalist,"

"Gorgeous?" I say.

"It just seemed so cruel." Jessica says.

"Well first of all, Spoiler Alert," Castle says directly into the camera. He laughs at his own joke and turns back to Jessica, "But seriously, I loved Nikki. I loved Nikki for years and I don't think anything will ever change that. And I just wanted to leave her the best way I knew how."

"By killing her in a violent attack by the best man during the father-daughter dance?" Jessica says.

"It's a metaphor." Castle says.

"For?" Jessica says.

"The way those you love the most can turn on you when you least expect it. If I could tell her one thing, I would just want to say that I never meant to hurt Ka-Nikki.

"Kenickie?—from Grease?" Jessica says.

"Uh," he clears his throat, "Nikki, I never meant to hurt Nikki."

"Oh, I thought you said—"

"I said Nikki!" Castle insists, "But I did. And there are times I'm so sorry I hurt her."

"So do you think we might ever see her again?" Jessica says.

He nods, "I hope so. Because despite everything, I love Kate very much."

"Who's Kate?" Jessica says.

"Hmm?" Castle says.

"You said Kate." Jessica says.

"Um…Pretty sure I said Nikki."

"No, you said Kate."

"Oh-can we edit that out?"

"We're on live."

"Is that a 'no'?"

I turn off the TV and try to process what he just said.

I don't get it. After everything—leaving me for that Wiley witness, the cancelled wedding, that horrible night I spent packing up my things from his place. Why say something now? Why announce on national television what he couldn't say to my face.

I try to force him out of my head. I promised myself I would never trust him again. He's nothing more than a boy in a grown man's body. He can't take anything or anyone seriously.

I deserve better.

I pull out my phone and text Luke to stop by on his way home from work. If Castle can move on with his life so can I.

But that night when the doorbell rings, it's not Luke standing in the doorway.

"Castle?" I say "What are you doing here?"

He holds up a brown paper bag, "I brought Chinese."

"I'm not hungry." I say.

"Come on, you can have my fortune cookie."

"Castle…"

"And I had them throw in extra little soy sauce packets just for you."

"I don't know."

"Can I at least come in for a minute?"

I slide open the creaky door and Castle steps into my apartment.

"Wow, I love what you've done with the place."

"It looks exactly the same, Castle."

He shrugs, "It's just something people say."

He puts down the brown bag on the table.

"It's a nice TV you have. You didn't happen to be watching it this afternoon were you?"

I nod, "So you killed Nikki Heat?"

"I didn't. The best man did."

Castle takes the white cartons from the bag and starts dividing rice and noodles between two paper plates. He gestures to the chair across from him.

"Take a seat." He says.

I hand him a drink and comply, "So Ricky, how was it working with Jessica Hudson?"

He smiles, "She's good at reading questions off a cue card."

"Did you mean what you said?"

"About what?"

"Do you still love…Nikki?"

He looks up at me, "I've always loved you."

I look down at the floor, "Not the Wiley witness?"

He puts his hand under my chin and leads my eyes up to his, "She's not you."

He holds out his hand and I take hold, letting him guide me to the couch. He pushes my hair behind my ear.

"And what about you?" he says.

"What about me?"

"How's your new friend, Luke."

I cup his face in my hand and bring him closer to me, "I don't want to talk about Luke."

I press my lips against his, taking in the sharp scent of his cologne, his stubble against my smooth face. And for a moment, it's like no time has gone by.

He puts his hand against the small of my back and leans me down against the couch cushions.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asks.

I kiss him again, "We never should have stopped."