I am so sorry, faithful readers. I had exams last week and all week I kept planning to write but it never happened and I am deeply shamed. Here is the new chapter of Glass Slipper getting us that little bit closer to the inevitable reunion of Allison and Rick.

And if you guys have any scenes from season 2-4 that you really want to see just let me know in the REVIEW (hint hint) or drop me a PM.

Please review and as always you can follow me on twitter you can find me at vatrask

Enjoy 3


He almost left her; the bastard. And this time she didn't want him to leave – or maybe she did, she still wasn't sure. Either way, it was not his decision to make; she was his muse and she was the one who got to decide if he was uninspired or not. But no he had to go behind her back and decide to get an offer on another book deal instead of consulting her first on whether or not she wanted another book written about her…which she didn't obviously; I mean who would want to be subjected to that much publicity and scrutiny because some lame-ass writer decided to exploit her family history for a half-done crime scene and a smoking hot sex scene – yes, alright, the sex scene kept her up once or twice, fantasizing about a certain writer in place of Nikki and Jamie but that was all.

I mean who did he think he was a famous novelist? Oh, right; still, that was no excuse to go trampling around in her life and then walk out without even asking her if she had gotten used to him being around all the time like a little lost puppy who brought her coffee and made her smile. Man, she hated him.

And he didn't even tell her himself that he was going to write another book; she had to hear it from Captain Montgomery who enjoyed giving her pointed looks whenever the subject of Mr. Castle came up. It was only when she asked him outright that he even told her he was writing another book about…not her.

It finally sunk in that he wasn't writing another book about his fantasy about her, he was writing a book about a certain British secret agent – she chastised herself for not being able to even think the name – and as soon as he got the offer he was gone from her life for good and her adventure with her favourite author turned devoted puppy would be over.

And that sucked. Why it sucked she still couldn't figure out but boy did it suck just thinking about not seeing him every day. And it bothered her that it sucked and it bothered her that she didn't know why it bothered her that it sucked and the whole thing bothered her just thinking about that man which led to an over abundance of confused hatred. God did she hate this man.

But she didn't really hate him because hatred would imply that she thought about him often enough to develop such strong feelings for him which she didn't…obviously. No, she only disliked him enough that when he had the audacity to leave her without her permission, it bugged her.

But then they got back into their playful banter and all distasteful thoughts she had about him flew out the window along with her sanity because goodness, she loved this foreplay-BANTER, she meant banter. Banter was fun and playful and something done between friends who are perfectly acceptable to hate when it comes to the subject of running off without so much as a goodbye. Yes, friends play with each other – friends do things for each other like bring each other coffee and offer parental advice – friends show up at their friend's book launch parties wearing an expensive, revealing dress in the hopes of attracting said friend into staying. Right; this was going to go well.

She showed up at the party anyways because god-knows she's a fool in a skimpy but stylish dress and Captain Montgomery was there with his pointed looks and everyone was there taking pictures of "Nikki Heat" as though her real life had been splashed on the pages of "Heat Wave" instead of some made-up fantasy that her writer FRIEND thought up during a night of too much drinking. She was going to tell him tonight; let him have a piece of her mind like nothing else and when she was done, he'd be dying to either run for the hills or stay chained to her side forever – she still hadn't decided. Either way, he'd be eating out of the palm of her hand.

She read the dedication to Heat Wave; damn it. Damn that man; she hated his guts. For all he was worth, she hated him. He had to go and say probably the sweetest thing she'd ever heard for all the world to see because only the two of them understood its true meaning; Will was shot and she hated herself so much for all she'd put her ex through. But Castle – oh that Castle – he knew just what to say, like he always does. He called her driven and passionate and everything powerful and wonderful in the world with only a simple word that even now made her heart skip a beat. He called her extraordinary; like it was any other word in the dictionary. And here it was again; splashed on the pages of her life like it was just a word and not something that meant the world to her. Damn that man.

And he approached her while she was in the middle of blushing over his gentle words with a light in his eyes that she rarely saw and it gave her hope – not that she would admit it – hope that maybe he would do the fighting for her. She wouldn't have to give him a piece of her mind because she'd forgotten her argument the moment she flipped open that page and he would make the decision to stay or leave for her. He would tell her that he was going to stay so he could be inspired again by his muse and maybe write another Nikki Heat novel. Because, in the state she was in, she was just waiting for the dedication of his next book and half praying that it would be as extraordinary was this one. Because if he decided to leave, she had no doubt his book would be amazing but she might not read the dedication knowing that it could have been about her.

The light in his eyes was all wrong; he was thinking about the case and it took her a moment to recover and return to work mode instead of "please tell me you'll stay" mode. That was okay because once she was in the right mode, they were bantering and theorizing just like friends do and yes it panged a little; but she felt her confidence returning knowing that he might be leaving her but at least they would have this case together; their last case.

So they went back to work and they solved the case of the heartless villain killing a determined woman over a child that had a mixed up destiny – almost poetic and just righteous enough for a happy ending; a good place to end the story of the detective and the writer. She looked into his eyes as they stood at the bottom of those stairs and saw his eyes light up again but this time, the case was over and that hope suddenly fluttered back into her chest that he might make a decision for her instead of forcing her to grin and bear the decision he'd obviously made. God his eyes were blue.

He started to speak but they were interrupted by a ringing cell phone; and then another. They played it back and forth as she waited to be transferred to Captain Montgomery while he told her something about sales that she tried to be supportive of but she just couldn't get over the fact that he was going to leave her –the man who flew into her life and was suddenly flying out. She was pulled out of her thoughts by her Captain who told her about a little arrangement that had been made behind her back regarding Nikki Heat. The publishing house wanted Mr. Castle to shadow the good detective for the length of three books and-what the hell? Who decided that her life was on display and anyone could jump in at any time as long as they had connections with the mayor. Who the hell did Richard Castle think he was? If he thought he could just waltz into her life and…he was getting the same news and he looked up at her like a deer in the headlights – like he knew nothing about this – and that did nothing to ease her mind. People were making decisions without her knowledge and it was really starting to bug her; a lot. Of course accidentally threatening your Captain with murder always helps your cause; so she hung up and pooled all of her anger and frustration into glaring at Castle and making him wince, bringing a satisfactory smile to her face.

But she was still mad at him; how dare he…do things. At this point, she was too frustrated to think straight. Bah, she'd come up with her list of reasons to hate him later. Now, she'd focus on whatever Esposito was telling her about another body drop. Great, she stormed off through the lobby of the apartment building/hotel already missing the warmth his presence at her back provided. And then she remembered that was allowed to feel that warmth again and yes, it brought another satisfactory smile to her face – glad she didn't have to make the decision.

"You coming, Castle?"