Chapter 2

Richard Castle yawned, and brushed his hand through his hair. Shifting uncomfortably in the driver's seat of his Mercedes S400, he glanced over at Gina in the passenger seat, debating whether to honk again or not. He decided against it, given as how honking the previous time -or the two hundred times before that- hadn't worked. It seemed all of Manhattan's elite was heading down to the Hamptons for the extended weekend, and the route to the expressway was clogged.

Gina had been nothing but entertaining all evening, regaling him with anecdotes from the red carpet in Paris or Milan or some other place. He really hadn't been paying much attention. He'd been staring out the window most of the time. He was tired from working the case all day and he missed Alexis. This was supposed to be their father-daughter kick-off to summer weekend. How it had morphed into a possible romantic reunion with his ex-wife cum publisher, he really didn't know. It all seemed like a blur. Still, he was grateful for the company, and glad to get away from the city and his muse for a while. He needed the break to write since he'd been lagging behind on his deadlines. Proximity to his muse clearly hadn't been much of an inspiration. Maybe distance would work.

The trunk of the silver sedan was crammed with the illegal fireworks that he had bought for Alexis. He wasn't sure he was ready to burst them without her. Sure, a summer programme for High School students at Princeton, her prospective college, was a big deal for her. But he had never spent a Memorial Day weekend without her, and it upset him- the fact that their little family rituals were slowly disappearing one by one, as she tried to find her own place in the world. Pretty soon, she would be off to college. What was he going to do then? Just the notion scared him.

His thoughts were interrupted by loud honking from the cars behind him, beckoning him to inch forward a few feet. Suppressing the urge to slam down on the accelerator, he begrudgingly advanced the car ahead, before traffic came to a standstill again. He sighed in frustration, his patience wearing thin and his eyes struggling to stay open. He tried his best to suppress a yawn but failed miserably.

"Rick, have you even been listening to a word I've been saying?" Gina's voice cut through, eager to grasp his attention.

He was caught off guard for a moment with no excuse at hand.

"No…uh…I'm sorry Gina, it's just been a long day-err-rough case but go ahead, I'm listening now."

"Well, I just got this E-vite. It's a barbecue over at Douglas Shapiro's place on Sunday evening. I think we should go."

"Hmm, Dougie has been bugging me to come over for ages."

"And this would be perfect. Think about it."

"It's-It's just that I was kind of hoping to lay low, you know, less socializing and more writing."

"Oh, come on, Richard, it's just one night. It'll be fun. Don't worry. We'll leave early so you can burst all the crackers you've got stashed in the trunk." She winked at him.

He managed a grateful smile.

"Well, alright. I don't wanna be a killjoy. That's Beckett's department. Tell Doug I'm in. And tell him his party had better live up to his name, seeing as how the road is basically flooded with all his invitees."

"That's more like the Richard Castle I know," she said, grinning mischievously as she pulled out her phone to RSVP.

He could only offer an uncontrollable yawn in reply.

"Rick, you've had a few beers and I really don't fancy the prospect of you falling asleep at the wheel. How about you let me drive?"

"Yeah, okay. I'll pull over."

He couldn't believe he was surrendering the wheel without a word of protest (even though he was tired) or agreeing to attend a barbecue full of enthusiastic people wanting to chat him up about his life in the city (which he was trying to escape from in the first place, for God's sakes). If it had been Beckett, he would have forgotten his exhaustion, and fought her tooth and nail to assert his right. With Gina, he just shrugged and relinquished control, like he'd done ever since he'd known her. It was easier that way. That's how it had always been in their relationship. She'd been the driver, controlling the wheel, dictating the terms, and he'd be too mesmerised by her command to object. But when it came to Alexis, his silly paternal protective instinct dictated the terms, and that had destroyed his and his daughter's relationship with Gina.

It was different with Beckett, it was a challenge; they were equals. With Beckett…

He shouldn't have been thinking about Beckett at all, because thinking about her hurt too much. She'd spurned him, after all. But he couldn't help it; images of her, and her charming robbery detective boyfriend kept making their way into his brain. Right at that moment she would've been on her way to his fishing cabin, and he would've been putting the moves on her. He would've been kiss—Stop right there! He didn't want to think about it. In fact, he didn't want to think about pretty much anything related to New York. So he tried to picture fireworks and barbecued chicken on the beach instead, reclining his seat further, and folding his hands across his chest, giving in to the sleep that tugged at his eyelids.

He didn't even flinch when Gina had to swerve the car sharply to avoid a speeding motorcyclist or when the landscape changed from grey concrete to clear skies, calm waters and green meadows as their car picked up speed on the expressway, leaving New York far behind.

When the car finally came to a halt, he jerked awake with a kink in his neck. He rubbed his eyes and looked out of the window to see the familiar gravel driveway, the white roof shimmering in the dark, the stolid brick walls, and the lush green of the well kempt lawn with the shadow of the sprawling mansion looming upon it. He stepped out of the car to feel the cool breeze on his skin, and he looked up at the moon and took it all in. He felt liberated as he listened to the distant sound of the waves crashing upon the shore, reassured that getting out of New York had been the best decision he'd made in a very long time.

Xxx

A/n: Thank you to Indrani for the beta. We will switch from Kate's POV to Castle's POV so we can see both sides of the story.