Chapter 2

I never thought that I would get a response like this when I started writing, but seeing how many people actually thought it was good and are interested in a second chapter, I tried my best to give everyone what they wanted. I just hope that anyone who reads this enjoys my first story.

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"Who can I make it out to?" Castle asks fan after fan the next day as he sits behind a desk of his own and signs copy after copy of Dying Heat. His question was always asked with a smile plastered on his face as he counted down the minutes until it was over and he could go home to the peace and quiet of his loft. Every time he asked the question, he was awarded with a different response, with occasionally having to apologize and asking the fan how to spell that.

All of the names were starting to blend together by the time they closed the line to new fans. There were maybe only twenty to twenty-five people left in line for autographs when his questioned was answered not by a name, but by something else.

"Who can I make it out to?" He asks picking up another book and opening it to the front cover while he grabbed a new sharpie. He was looking at the inside cover when he heard a voice he thought he would never hear again.

"The one who broke your heart." She says, "You can make it out to the one who broke your heart."

The second he hears her voice; he looks up to find her as beautiful as she was the last time he saw her when she refused to back down. When he walked out of her life because her mother's case was more important to her than he thought he would ever be. His mouth gapes open, clearly shocked at the sight in front of him.

Quickly writing her name on the front cover and signing his own, he closes the book and hands it to her before looking past her at the next fan in line. Understanding crosses her face as she steps to the side to allow him to move on. Clutching the book to her chest, she makes her way out of the book store.

Thirty minutes later, Castle is shaking hands with the store owner and finishing up a conversation with Paula as they exit the book store. Castle gets a sense of Déjà Vu when he sees her leaning against the brick wall clutching his book. She waited for him, again.

She doesn't see him walk up, picking at the corner of one of her fingernails and trying to keep her nerves in check. It had been almost ten years since he walked out of her life because she couldn't see what was right in front of her.

"Hey." He says slowly approaching her.

Looking up, a small smile graces her face when she hears his voice. She didn't know what she was expecting when he walked out of the bookstore, but if the past was any clue, this wasn't what she was expecting.

"Hey," She says trying to casually brush a strand of hair out of her face. It was a little shorter than he remembers, but her curls still prominent as ever. "You look good."

"So do you." Castle starts before rubbing his hand over his mouth, "Kate, I…."

"Castle I…."

Of course in true fashion, they both let out a short laugh because even after that much time had passed, they were still in sync. Nodding his head, Castle swallows before waving his hand in front of himself and saying, "Sorry, go ahead."

"I saw the show last night." Beckett says quietly and quickly before she loses her courage.

Castle slowly nods his head in realization before he speaks, "You used to watch the show with your mom. I can't believe I forgot. Look Beckett, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up the past. I…."

"Castle! I'm glad you did," Beckett says, reaching out a hand to his shoulder to interrupt. "You know, when I heard that you were going to be on the show, I almost didn't watch. It would have been the first time in since my mom died I missed a show. But I'm glad I watched."

"You are?"

Nodding her head, Beckett looks around them trying to get up the nerve to say what needs to be said. "Yeah. Your words, the way you talked about the situation, they were too kind. I didn't deserve it. I'm the one who screwed up. I'm the one who didn't understand what was right in front of me."

"Kate," Castle says, giving Beckett chills up her spine. Her name had never sounded so good coming out of his mouth as it did right then. "Every word I said last night was the truth. I was selfish. I should have been more understanding. I got to grow up with a mother who while she wasn't perfect, was there. I had it in my head that as long as your mother's case was a part of your life, I was never going to be able to give you everything you deserved. So I took the cowards way out and left. I don't think there was anything you could have done to stop me from walking out."

Castle watches her nod her head a couple of times before looking away from him. His eyebrows scrunch a little when he watches her face and he can tell that she is fighting with herself, the same way she did the night they fought. If she was anything like she was when he knew her, this was a fight she needed to work through on her own. So he let her. Castle moved to her side to lean up against the brick wall and waited for her to be ready.

"You're wrong." She finally says and her words were spoken so quietly that he wasn't sure she had said anything at all. "There was so much I could have done to stop you."

"Look Beckett…"

"No, Castle please. I need to say this to you." Beckett pushes off of the wall to stand up straight and finally looked Castle in the eyes. "Last night on air you indirectly told the world that you once loved me. You also told the world that you thought I didn't love you back. You were wrong."

There is a deafening silence between the two, neither knowing where to really go from there. Beckett had just admitted to him that once upon a time, she did love him back.

"You," He stutters a bit when he finally was able to speak, "You felt the same?"

Beckett nods her head before ducking her face behind a few strands of hair before continuing to speak, "I didn't realize how much I loved you until after you left. God, I almost died Castle, and all I could think about was you. I just wanted you."

Once again, confusion was showing on his face, how could she have almost died and not told him? He was her partner, her best friend, how could she not tell him? But then the realization dawned on him, he walked out, of course she wouldn't tell him. He made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with her.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry." He says turning to face her again and bringing a hand up to cover his mouth for a second. "Had I known you almost died,"

"I went to see you that night. But when you sent my call straight to voicemail, I started to question everything. I stood in front of your door for so long. I'm pretty sure that one of your neighbors thought I was crazy."

"Why didn't you knock?" Castle asks bringing his hands together and then pulling them apart to stick them half in the front pockets of his pants, unsure what to really do with them.

"I was scared. You had walked out on me and I thought that meant you didn't love me anymore. I thought I had messed up too much and you finally had enough. I thought it was all in my head. I thought I had to move on. And so I tried." She admits, letting her head bow down and strands of hair fall to cover her face.

Castle doesn't even realize he does it until it's too late. His hand slips from his pocket and brushes the loose strands back behind her ear. This has her immediately look back up at him and their eyes catch the other's. the intensity and passion they found in a split second jolted them both back ten years to all the stolen moments they almost had before one moment ruined them. When Castle sees her eyes slightly falter and slip down to his lips, he drops his hand back down to his side, quietly muttering an apology.

Clutching his book in her one arm, Beckett turns her other hand around to grasp his before asking, "Castle, I know that it's been almost ten years, and a lot has changed for both of us, but can I buy you a coffee?"

"I'd love that." Castle smiles before he jokingly adds, "You only owe me about a hundred."