Castle's Loft

Hey, Pumpkin. I thought you would still be with Lanie.

No, she told me I could leave after I finished the report I was working on. Why are you home so early? I thought you guys had caught a new case. Did Beckett and the guys already solve it?

No, I came home to get ready for my date.

A date? With whom?

I'm meeting Jacinda at her hotel in about an hour. Why?

Jacinda? Really?

She's a very nice girl. We have fun together. And she is the complete opposite of Beckett.

What are you doing?

What do you mean?

Where did this Jacinda person come from? What about Beck...I mean Kate?

I don't want to talk about Beckett.

Why?

Not discussing it!

Father!

Don't father me. I am the parent here!

Maybe you should start acting like it then!

What is that supposed to mean?

You know exactly what it means Dad!

Why don't you clue me in.

Why are you running around with women half your age at all hours of the day and night?

She is not half my age! You don't even know her. Surely she isn't that young? Did I even ask?

No, but I have seen her! She can't be that much older than me!

You've seen her? Where? When? Shit, she came to meet me for lunch at the precinct so I could flaunt her in front of Kate.

Dad, I know she showed up at work. Everyone was talking about, and I quote, "Did you see the perky, young blonde that showed up in Castle's Ferrari for lunch the other day?".

I...

How does Kate feel about all of this?

So, she's Kate now? I did tell her to call her that.

You, yourself, told me to call her Kate away from work and that I should give her a chance. You told me at the scholarship dinner that you were in love with her and that you wanted a relationship with her. What happened from then to now?

She lied to me?

What did she lie about? Maybe you need to clue me in because the last time we talked about her, you basically pleaded with me to give her, you and her a chance. How can you go from being hopelessly in love with her to running around the bimbos half your age in the course of two weeks?

Alexis, I am not going to discuss this with you. It is bad enough that grandmother knows what happened.

Wait, you've talked to Grams about this and not me? Really? Do I need to ask Dr. Parrish what is going on? I'm sure that she would be more than happy to fill me in on your relationship status with a certain detective. I wonder how much she knows and I wonder why she hasn't brought it up at work.

You can't talk to her about this either! This is personal.

I can and I will if you don't start talking!

Fine! I will tell you, but it goes no farther than this room. You are not to repeat this to Lanie, the boys or anyone else for that matter. Are we clear young lady?

What did she lie about?

I said something to her when she was shot and she claimed for ten months not to remember what I said to her.

What did you say to her?

It's not important what I said. What is important is that she lied to me for almost a year.

How do you know that she lied?

I heard her admit it in front of a suspect during the bombing case.

In front of a suspect?

Yes, I was watching her interrogation from observation. She got angry and told the suspect that he didn't get to use trauma as an excuse for not remembering what happened. Her exact words were, " I was shot in the chest and I remember every second of it!"

Does she know that you heard her?

No. I wasn't there yet that morning when she started questioning him.

Why did she lie?

Good question. I have my theories about that and none of them excuse her from the lie.

Have you asked her why she lied?

No. It's not important anymore. It's driving me freaking crazy!

I beg to differ, Dad. If it wasn't important you wouldn't still be angry at her.

I feel like such a fool Alexis.

What did you tell her that she claims not to remember? Maybe if I know what you said, maybe I can help you figure out why she lied, since you refuse to just ask the one person who really knows the answer.

I told her that I loved her when she was shot.

I thought...

I know I told you that neither one of us had said those three little words. At the time, when I told you that, I was under the impression that she didn't remember me saying it and I didn't want you to accidentally slip up around her about what I had said while she was bleeding out in my arms.

You actually told her that you loved her when you thought she was going to die? Seriously? I thought that only happened in soap operas.

What? I didn't want her to die not knowing how I felt.

It's no wonder she claimed not to remember. You can't hold someone to a deathbed confession.

I never thought I would see her again. I wanted her to know how I felt. If only I had told her that night we fought at her apartment before Montgomery was killed.

Dad, have you said it to her since that day?

No. I... I didn't want to push her. I told her I would wait for her.

Did it ever occur to you that she lied to protect your feelings?

Yes, I think she lied because she doesn't love me. She doesn't return my feelings. She spent the whole summer knowing how I felt and didn't even call once.

You said yourself that she went through so much, with her captain dying, her getting shot and nearly dying herself. Isn't it understandable that she just couldn't deal with your feelings on top of everything else? If she was as broken after her shooting as you were, I can see why she pretended to forget.

I could have helped her recover Alexis. I would have done anything for her. I needed to help her heal for her and for me. It was my fault she was shot in the first place! Selfish much?

Maybe that's why she didn't call you. Maybe she thought you said it out of guilt. Maybe she was scared that you didn't really mean it.

Of course I meant it. I still mean it! I said always.

Then drop the playboy crap and tell her again!

I can't. She lied and it hurts too much.

Is that your pride talking or your heart?

Both.

You said that you forgave her for not calling. Can you forgive her for this?

I don't know.

I guess what you need to ask yourself is this. Do you love her enough to let her explain or do you walk away never knowing for sure?

You should go to law school, Pumpkin. You made a pretty convincing argument for someone who just a few weeks ago didn't want to be in the same room with Beckett.

That was before I spent that entire evening watching you hold Kate in your arms and be happier than I have ever seen you. If she's the person who makes you happy then how could I stand in the way of that? I know that I should be angry with her because she hurt you with this lie, but I think I know her well enough to know that she would never intentionally hurt you. I am sure if you gave her a chance to explain you would not only understand why she did it but you would forgive her for it too.

I thought she was the one I could be happy with.

Don't you want to know for sure? I can't believe your curiosity hasn't forced you to confront her.

I think my pride is winning that battle right now.

Is your love stronger than pride?

God, I hope so because no matter what I do I can't get her out of my heart.

Then follow your heart instead of your head.

How did you get so smart?

Genius skips a generation.

I hope you aren't implying that your grandmother is a genius?

Okay, so maybe it skips more than one generation!

You've given me a lot to think about Alexis.

I hope so. Can you do me a favor? Two actually.

Anything, Pumpkin.

Stop running around like a teenager and talk to Kate. You owe her a chance to explain herself. She has forgiven you on several occasions too. Didn't he look into her mom's case once before? He's doing it again too. Doesn't he see that what he is doing is a lie of omission?

I'll try.

Don't wait too long.

I just need some time to clear my head. I'm going to go write for a bit.

Oh, and Dad. You may want to consider having an apology ready to go when you talk to her.

Why?

You've kind of starred in your own episode of "Bimbos on Parade".

Alexis!

Just saying!

I love you Pumpkin.

I love you too.