Chapter 21:

It's Too Late To Apologize

After the argument with Kate, Rick had no idea how to feel, much less what to do. He was left utterly confused by her reaction and began to replay in his head the conversation from start to finish. He was trying to come up with what he had said that upset her, and found none. Shaking his head, he decided that he needed to go for a walk on the beach to clear his head, thinking that maybe some time and space would let Kate be able to recover and that they could work this out. She had been so distraught! He couldn't get the pained look on her face out of his head.

By the time he had returned to the house, the sun was beginning to set. He had stopped by a local flower shop in order to bring her a peace offering. He had expected to find her reading or doing something to release some steam, but as he walked through the house, something didn't feel right. As he rounded the corner to the bedroom, he noticed one of her bras lying on the floor. This was particularly unlike her to leave clothing out, but he thought that maybe she was doing laundry. Picking it up, he went to the door and knocked on it. However, it wasn't fully closed, and it swung open to reveal it completely empty and barren of her belongings. He began to check closets and the armoires, slowly becoming worried. He pulled out his cell phone to call her. Nothing happened. It just went straight to voicemail.

"Kate, it's me," he said, trying to hide the worry in his voice. "Please call me. Where are you?"

He then called Lanie, thinking that maybe she would know something about her friend. Lanie was less than happy when she picked up the phone.

"What do you want?" she demanded harshly.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but Kate's missing. I can't seem to find her anywhere. Her stuff is gone."

He heard her sigh on the other end, as if exasperated. "Look, I don't know what you did, because she won't tell me. But obviously you did something, because she's on her way home. She has made it perfectly clear that she doesn't want to have anything to do with you. So you, Writer Boy, are in deep shit. Now, what exactly did you do? I thought you guys were getting along great and having fun….and maybe getting a little freaky."

"I don't really know. I've spent all day literally going over the conversation we had in my head, and I can't exactly see where I went wrong. I know I obviously hurt her, but what the hell?"

"Well, start talking. Maybe I can help you. I am a girl, after all."

"Well, she was naked on the kitchen table, taunting me. So, naturally, I started taunting her. I told her that no one has ever made me feel the way she has. No one could ever make me react the way she can. Not even Meredith or Gina. I mean, sure….I was married to them and was attracted to both of them at one point, but I have never felt anything even remotely close to the way she makes me feel. So I naturally expressed this to her. Then, all hell broke loose. She got mad at me and went into the bedroom and slammed the door. I haven't seen her since. I went to take a walk to blow off some steam and to give her some space, but then I come home to find that she's not here. What the hell did I do?"

"I can tell you for a fact what your problem is," Lanie began. "You basically compared her to Meredith and Gina. I know you didn't mean to, but a girl likes to know, or at least think, that the relationship they have with their guy is different than any one they have ever had in the past. So whether you did it intentionally or not, you basically made her feel like your relationship with her is only temporary and doesn't mean anything to you. Which, I know isn't true on your end. You've been chasing after her since the day you met her, like a dog chasing after a meat truck. She loves you."

"What can I do to get her to talk to me? Is there something you can think of? Because as it stands, I think she is pretty much ignoring me."

"Don't feel bad. She does this to everyone. When something happens to her, something inside of her makes her shut off from all people. Eventually, she'll snap out of it, but it might be a bit of a wait. The point is, are you willing to wait and see how long it takes for her to let you back in? Your relationship with her might be over, but who knows? She's not really telling me a whole lot about what happened, either. All I managed to get out of her was that she wanted to come home. It doesn't take rocket science for me to figure out that something went wrong between you two. I'm just glad you told me the whole story."

"Do you think I should bother going to the precinct on Monday, then? I don't want to go and then have her give me the cold shoulder the entire time that I'm there. I want her to be comfortable. Plus, knowing her, she probably has told Esposito and Ryan to give me the cold shoulder as well."

"I can't help you there. As for Esposito and Ryan, you know how protective they are of her. She's like their baby sister, and you're unfortunately a person she likes, so they're naturally going to do everything in their power to keep her from getting hurt."

"Lanie, you have to believe me. I didn't mean to hurt her."

"I know that now, but she doesn't. My advice is for you to come home as soon as you can and see if she will talk to you. If she won't right now, wait a few days and try again. She can't ignore or avoid you for long. Eventually, she's going to have to face you."

"I'll head home tonight. I want to try to make this right as soon as possible. Will you help me?"

"I'll try to help where I can, but I can't make any promises that she'll be willing to hear me out. She knows that I pretty much have been advocating your relationship since day one, so she might shut me out for that very reason."

"Hey, that's all I ask. I'm grateful to have a friend like you."

"You owe me big time for this, Writer Boy. You have no idea how much."

After hanging up the phone with Lanie, Castle felt better about what was going on with Kate. He knew he had a lot of work ahead of him if things were ever going to be okay between them. However, he felt like she was worth the fight, and was willing to do whatever it took to win her heart again. He quickly packed his belongings, threw everything in the car, and drove as fast as he could toward home.

A/N: Another chapter, my lovelies! I decided that I was on a roll with this segment, and didn't particularly want to put off posting the rest. Let's hope I don't have any more bouts of writer's block! You guys have been so supportive of me throughout this entire adventure, and I really appreciate it. Your reviews are what encourages me to keep writing, so press that little button and leave me some love!