Shorter than the first two chapters, but this just flowed out freely and I didn't want to force anything else.
As usual, I don't own Castle.
She's not entirely sure why but she doesn't take a cab, rather enjoying the way the rain feels against her skin as she slowly walks through the city. Tomorrow she'll probably be so sick she will hate herself for this - tonight she doesn't care.
After walking for ten minutes she arrives at the hospital, knowing that Josh is working a double shift. It feels wrong, finding him at work and doing this but she knows she has to. She has to make this right, she has to get the ring off her finger and their stuff out of each other's apartments. She doesn't want to completely remove him from her life but she knows that they won't be able to stay friends, not after what she's about to do.
"Hey, Kate." It's Lily, the ER receptionist that sees her first and takes in her appearance, her eyes creasing with worry instantly. "Are you okay? Should I page Josh?"
Guilt pools in her stomach as she hears the sincere worry in the girl's voice, knowing that she doesn't know what she's about to get them all into. With a slight nod, she finds herself collapsing in the closest chair she can find as she listens to Lily paging Josh.
She's ceased trying to figure out how to word what she needed to say, finding that she rather go on instinct and just let the words flow freely. It's only then that she realizes that the ring isn't on her finger anymore, but rather curled into the palm of her hand. Her eyes stare at the simple silver band, numbness ruling out any other feeling that she may have felt any other time.
"Katie, sweetie." His to her side in an instant as she squeezes her eyes shut, she's always hated how he's called her that. Katie. That was what her mom had called her. She couldn't blame him though, he still didn't know. Without warning, the words started spilling out of her mouth.
"My mom was murdered."
Confusion flashes across his face as he takes in her words, lips turning down into a frown. "You told me it was an accident."
"I didn't want to tell you," she started slowly. "And over time it was just easier not to talk about it."
"I'm glad you told me, but what does this have-"
"I'm not finished, just.. Hear me out." She offers him a weak smile as she stares back down at the hand that's clutching onto the ring. "She was murdered and they never caught the guy. We still haven't caught the guy." Her voice catches for a moment before she pushes on. "We've been together for over two years and I never told you."
"Katie, it's ok-"
"No, it's not. I never told you and we're engaged but.. I told Castle after only knowing him for a little while." She looks up in time to see the hurt pass through his eyes before he quickly brushes it away. "Castle knows not to call me Katie because it reminds me of my mom, he knows when to push my buttons and when not to. Hell, he knows me better than I know myself half the time."
Her leg starts to twitch and she pushes herself out of her seat, pacing in front of the man still sitting where she had left him. Her hand is still firmly clenched around the ring and she feels like it's burning a hole into the palm of her hand. Glancing around them, she shakes her head before holding her hand out for him. When he lifts his own to meet hers, she opens her clenched fist and watches as the ring falls from her hand.
And with it, the weight hanging around her neck strangling her falls as well.
"I'm so sorry, Josh. I thought we could make this work, I thought that whatever I may or may not have felt for Castle would go away. I willed it to go away, I stopped hanging around him so much, I threw everything I had into this relationship.."
"But it's him," he stated for her quietly as he looked up at her with hurt etched into his face.
"The heart wants what the heart wants," she responded with a softness in her voice that he - nor she, for that matter - had ever heard before.
She stepped back as he stood up, her eyes moving to linger on the floor as she readied for the yelling or the argument to get her to stay. Instead she felt his finger underneath her chin as he forced her eyes to meet his, a weak smile on his lips.
"He's your one and done."
She nods her head and the tears are back, slipping down her face as she watches him accept it in his own way. He pulls her into a hug, wrapping his large arms around her smaller body. A kiss is placed to her temple before she feels lips next to her ear.
"Let him make you happy, Kate. Let him make you happy like you never let me. You deserve that."
He's pulling back now and she realizes the tears have stopped and her heart isn't pounding in her chest like she had expected it to be. Instead she feels a relatively new calm as she nods and watches him walk away, leaving her standing there.
She's not sure how long she stands there before she starts to feel the eyes of someone on her and she turns to find Lily staring at her with a sort of shy smile. Without a second thought she turns on her heels and leaves, walking back out into the storm that continued to war on outside.