AN: Fanfiction about the ending of season 2. Beckett breaks up with Demming and Castle hadn't reconnected with Gina. Does Kate tell him the truth about possibly wanting to go to the Hamptons? Will or won't she back out? Castle believes that Kate's still in a relationship. The ball's in her court now.
Castle season 2 finale:
Kate had just broken up with her boyfriend in the precinct hallways. No one had seen or heard anything, that's at least what she thought.
She headed to the bathroom as Lanie approached her. "Girl, what did I just hear? What's going on?" Kate was slightly flustered because she hadn't heard her friend sneaking up on her like that.
"I don't know Lanie, I really don't..." she said, sitting down at her desk with her hands in her hair. "I really really liked him. It just wasn't enough."
"Girl, that isn't the only reason, is it?" Lanie stated with her all knowing look. "Castle asked you to go to the Hamptons with him..."
"Yeah, but I didn't accept it." Kate answered. "And why is that?" Her friend asked. "I don't want to lose what we already have." Kate said in an unconvincing tone.
"And what is it that you have?" Lanie asked carefully.
"A friendship."
"Girl, what you and I have is a friendship." She stated and pointed at the two of them. "What you and Castle have is the push and pull, the finishing of each other's sentences.."
"Yeah I know Lanie, but.."
"Hey Lanie, Beckett! How's it going?" Castle interrupted their private conversation as if nothing had happened.
"Lanie just came by to talk to us about the case."
"Yes, but I'll be gone in a minute, bye!" She clearly wanted to get the two of them together, alone.
"So, you're leaving for the Hamptons tonight?" Kate asked, wondering if she was daring enough to tell him the truth. The one she'd been struggling with for a while now and was afraid of.
"Yeah, it's just gonna be me and my books." Castle had pushed enough, he thought. He wasn't going to remind her of the weekend getaway anymore. He wasn't done, he just wanted to give her the space and for all he knew, Kate and Demming were still dating.
"So, uhm, Castle I wanted to tell you something." She said, feeling a little more confident.
"Sure, what's up?" All of a sudden he got all of his attention focused on her.
"I know I don't always led on what's on my mind, but I had a really great time these past two years. I don't have an easy job Castle, and working with you just makes it a little better. So I was wondering -" and in that exact moment her brave persona inside of her got interrupted by Castle's phone.
He looked at the screen and said: "Oh.. I'm sorry I really have to take this, Kate." The call had been his publisher, and conveniently his ex-wife Gina, to talk about a next book tour.
Kate just nodded as he answered the call.
After Rick was done explaining to Gina that he wouldn't be able to do all the book signings that she scheduled for him, Kate's hope and bravery was now tightly put away into a small box that she called The Confusion About Castle Box. A little box in her mind where she put the things that she really admired, but also feared.
"So what were you going to say before I took the call?" Castle asked, seemingly very interested.
"Yeah uhm, I was wondering when the next Nikki Heat would be published." She lied, of course she did. She lied to protect herself.
"Oh well, that'll be in roughly three months I believe." He had a slight confused look on his face as Kate never really asked about these things.
"Great." She just smiled.
"So, I'll get going I think.." Castle said.
"Yeah, well good luck with the book."
"Thanks Kate."
And there it was, the moment that she had so carefully been waiting for had passed. Damn it Kate.
Castle was on his way to the loft as he got a call. Not Gina again, he thought.. No, this time it was someone entirely else. Someone that Castle wouldn't normally see pop up on his phone screen. Lanie.
"Hey Lanie, what's up?" He said, mostly confused about the whole situation.
"Nothing much. Just one thing actually. You talked to Beckett right?"
"Yeah sure." 'What was Kate hiding from me' he thought.
"Well, did she happen to mention that something has changed?"
"Lanie, what's up?" His tone became serious.
"Kate broke up with Demming." Lanie blurted out.
"Oh, she did?" He sounded rather surprised and maybe even a little happy.
"Yes. I shouldn't be the one telling you but... She told me that liking him wasn't enough. But I can tell you, I think there's more going on than she's willing to admit. I believe she wanted to go with you.. this weekend. I'm willing to bet that she is scared."
"Scared about what exactly?" He asked and wondered why Kate could be scared of going with him.
"About how things would change between the two of you." Lanie said carefully.
"She does know that I would never push her into a certain direction, right? She could just join me for the weekend and we could see what would happen. If it's a friendship and nothing more, then that would be fine. It's her decision."
"Well maybe you should tell her that Castle." Lanie gave him a little hint and it worked.
"I'll go by her place before I leave. Then she'll be able to make her own decision."
They both hung up and Castle knew his plan. He wasn't going to push her, he was going to explain that it could just be a friendly weekend getaway if she wanted to.
Half an hour later he showed up at her front door. "Castle?" Kate said and looked at him with a confused look. "Shouldn't you be heading to the Hamptons right about now?"
"Yes normally I should've.. Kate can we talk?" Oh no. This could not have been good. He sounds mad.
"Sure, come on in." She heard her own hesitation in her voice.
"Thanks. I'm just going to get to it, you know that my offer to go to the Hamptons with me is purely with friendly intentions right?"
There it was. A confrontation that she wasn't exactly ready for yet. But it happened and it had to be discussed.
"Well.. Honestly Castle, I'm just not too sure about going-" He interrupted her in a friendly manner.
"And what if I told you that this weekend would just be two friends going to the Hamptons. Because that's what it is, nothing more. You can tell Demming that if you want." He knew that they'd broken up, but he wanted to start this part of the conversation.
She hesitated to tell him, but the secret would be out soon anyways. "Demming and I broke up." Kate felt rather awkward telling him, but he had the right to know, considering he basically asked about the guy.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, are you okay?" This time, he actually meant what he said.
"Yes, I am. I'll be okay." She admitted this, knowing that it just wasn't right between them.
"You know what Castle.. I'll go with you." She smiled to the ground, rather shy.
A couple hours later they arrived at Castle's house. It could better be described as a small mansion out in the Hamptons. The place had multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, but it was modest enough to be able to enjoy being there with just the two of them.
"It's really pretty out here." She said as he gave her the grand tour of the house.
"Yeah, it is. When Alexis was younger, we came out here every weekend. We would have the best time, oh and she loves the chocolate shakes that they serve in town. I need to show you sometime."
"That sounds great, Castle." She actually meant it and smiled at him. The fact that she felt great around him made it even better. If only he knew how scared she was about their possible future.
"I'll let you pick your room, let go upstairs." The gentleman he is, he carried her bags into the hallway and pointed at a room at the far end of the corridor. "That's my room." He said. "It has a beautiful view of the water and it's where the sun comes up in the morning. You've got a couple to choose from." He walked down the hallway, carrying her bags and pointed to the other rooms. "This used to be Alexis' room. You might be able to tell from the pink walls." He chuckled and said: "You might want to take this room." He pointed at the one next to his. "It's close to my room so if you ever get scared at night, I'm right there. And there's also a hot tub." He joked, but she went with it.
"So if I get lonely at night, I'll be in the room right next to you." She used her sarcasm on him and it clearly worked. At first he didn't notice her joke and as she started smiling he knew.
"Alright Beckett, just take any room you want for any reason." He said and only slightly moved her bags to the door next to his room.
"Fine, you've got me convinced. I'll take this one Castle." It didn't really matter to Kate which room she had to stay in, she just wanted to spend some time Castle him to figure out what was going on.
"Alright then, I'll let you get settled and maybe let's meet downstairs in like half an hour to eat?" He asked as he handed her the bags.
"Yeah that sounds great."
As Kate unpacked her bags she thought about the different routes that this weekend could take. If she didn't make a move this weekend, this might be it for them. It may be the best chance ever for them to really connect and get to know each other on a deeper level. Castle knew so much about her already, some of her deep, dark and twisted secrets included. Or maybe so he thought. She never one hundred percent opened up to him, and maybe this weekend she would. In the following 48 hours she might be revealing one of her biggest secrets yet, the one where she has feelings for her ruggedly handsome coworker.
AN: So that was it for the first chapter! I hope you liked it and are excited to find out what will happennext. Much love, @caughtbycastle