Another Auld Lang Syne Chapter 9, a castle fanfic

Another Auld Lang Syne

by Castlefan6

Authors Note: Based loosely on the song Same Auld Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg and incorporates scenes from Food to Die For. Beckett meets Brent Edwards at her HS Reunion, delaying Caskett if not derailing it completely. Also, we may take liberties with the events and timeline from Canon and use events to make this a more believable fiction, Warning THIS IS AU, with only brief flashes of Canon.

I don't own Castle; I use the characters for amusement purposes only, except the ones I create.

Previously

"I know also that you went out of your way each day to start mine off on a happy note, your coffee each morning was our greeting, almost our silent acknowledgment of friendship, or more, and I'm so sorry I never properly thanked you for making my happiness a priority in your life.

"It's hard to believe it will soon be three years since you left the station, three years since I have spoken, or heard from you, I'm sorry, please forgive me for not making any effort to talk to you before the wedding, and why I did what I did.

"In short, he's a con man, and I was so gullible. He pulled out the old memories and made me feel safe as I did when Mom was still alive. You were my partner, in every sense of the word, and you deserved to hear what was happening from me, I failed you, so I ask for your forgiveness.

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Chapter 9

San Clemente, California

Via Escorial Drive

Casa Castle Estate

Three Days Later

Rick and Gina had worked out the entire book release project, scheduled 10 signings, arranged for the cover art, and Gina had ordered the promotional materials for the signings, including the Life Size images of the "New Rick" slimmed down and longer hair, with just the hint of a 5:00 o'clock shadow.

"Hey, you promised to feed me once we finished, so where are we going?" she asked as she poked him kiddingly,

"Well, do you want formal sit-down where we have to get ready for, casual eat in, or take out, your choice my lady," He asked, always giving her the option since he could be ready in 5 minutes, but Gina wouldn't leave without her makeup perfect.

"Hey, they have that new place, Nicks of San Clemente, how does that sound", Rick asked

He was shocked when she answered "Sounds perfect, I just need to grab my purse, and I'm ready to go, how about you? Why are you looking like that? Is there something wrong with the way I look?"

"No, but you know it's upscale, a sit-down restaurant, right. You typically want to do your hair and makeup, before we leave for a place like that" Rick, said as delicately as any man who had ever been in a relationship would say.

"I know, don't I look OK Rick?" Gina asked,

"To me, you always look OK, more than OK, let's go, maybe we can beat the rush get there between lunch and dinner crowds,"

Rick drove and Gina reviewed their proposed itinerary with him as he navigated the mountain roads. They planned on staying at the Loft, meeting Alexis, and Martha there for Christmas holiday, upholding the Castle traditions, of glug, and stockings at midnight Christmas Eve, presents on Christmas morning, visiting Gina's sister and her family the day after Christmas, then 3 book signings on Saturday including Diane's Barnes and Noble, then off a few days to just do what they wanted. They would then travel to the other boroughs to do 2 signings each day, for two days, finally back at the loft for New Year's Eve, then fly back to California on New Year's Day.

They arrived at the restaurant and as hoped they were between the rush hours, so they had a great brunch, relaxing in the VIP private room and just enjoying getting out of the house and planning on the book release. Rick still couldn't believe she had hidden it from him as well as she did.

The last few days had been great; they had fallen back into a routine where they worked so well together, they could almost anticipate the other's actions. Gina made no pretense, she went home once and returned with more clothes, no questions were asked, as Rick just smiled.

Rick pulled into the garage, and as he and Gina exited the car, they noticed a special delivery envelope tucked into their security dropbox. The gated community was good for signing for special delivery and registered letters so the residents wouldn't be inconvenienced by another trip to the Post Office.

"Are you expecting anything registered Gina? Rick asked,

"Not me, all our paperwork is completed, and the cut-outs of you are being sent directly to the bookstores after they send the scan for my approval." She said as he retrieved the letter,

He knew the handwriting the moment he saw it, the return address label just confirmed that Lanie Parrish had indeed sent the letter. His only question was why? He had talked to her 3 days ago and she seemed fine, and no mention of mailing him anything.

"Who's it from sweetie, can you tell?" Gina asked,

"Yeah, Lanie Parrish which is weird." He said

"Didn't you just speak with her last week, I hope everything is Ok?" Gina's concern was sincere.

"Well, let's get into the house and we'll find out soon enough, I'm sure it's just something she wanted to surprise me with, she has the number to call if anything was wrong."

A few minutes later Rick was on the couch, Gina had just brought him a glass of wine, and sat in the chair across from him rather than next to him.

"Hey what are you doing over there? Get over here, please?" he kidded her

"Rick, you do have a life, a private life, I was just giving you privacy, so why don't you open the letter then we can talk, if you want to, OK?"

"Gina, Please, sit here" as he patted the seat beside him

She walked over and took her seat as he ripped the envelope open to find not one, but two letters, one had big letters, READ THIS FIRST marked on it in several places.

"What the hell?" he opened the letter that was clearly from Lanie, but why two envelopes. He started to read,

"Dear Rick,

I know I promised not to give out your contact information, I never promised not to send you something I thought you needed, well should read. PLEASE don't get angry, but Kate wrote a letter, she needed to say somethings I guess to make sure you knew she was sorry for what happened, anyway, not my story.

"I 'm sorry if I made you angry, but Writer Man, I did what you made me promise, so please don't cut me out of the communication loop. I'll call on Thursday as usual, if you'll still take my calls, Rick, you always said I'm sorry, Kate never did, give her a chance to do so for once in her life. I can tell you she really means it.

I Love You, and hope you still love me, come on now, you know you do, anyway, talk soon, DD"

Love Lanie

"Rick, why did she put DD at the end of her letter if I may ask?" Gina asked more to shake him out of the shock than anything else.

"It's my nickname for her, she called me Writer Man, I called her Dr. Death or DD for short because she's the doctor for the dead"

He was quiet, just staring at the other unopened envelope, his eyes full of pain.

"Rick, I'm right here sweetie, I know Lanie wouldn't have sent anything to deliberately hurt you, so why don't you give Kate the chance to say her I'm sorry, it's OK, I'm right here," Gina said, patting his hand gently,

"She hurt me Genes, more than Kyra, more than Mer, hell a hundred times more than you, I don't know if I even want to go back there, I mean"

"Rick, where would we have been if you hadn't said I'm sorry to me, where would I be after Richie, it all worked out for a reason sweetheart, please trust the universe as you would say, I'm right here, I won't let you fall, I promise you."

He picked her up and sat her in his lap, almost like he needed a defense against what he was about to read. Gina knew him, she knew his heart, and for the first time, she had true doubts if he could forgive Kate enough to allow her to work her way back into his life, and eventually his heart.

He gently slid his finger under the envelope flap and opened it gently to see two pages of the stationary she had used for her letter to Walt Austin. He took the pages out, carefully, almost like they were an explosive capable of blowing the two of them up at any minute,

Finally, he smoothed the pages out, they were in full view of Gina, who chose to bury her head into his neck rather than intrude, this was the first step, perhaps the last in Kate's attempt to woo him back into her life somehow.

He began to read, and his hands started to shake, making Gina turn her head,

"Rick, it's OK baby, just breathe, it's OK, read it slowly, I'm right here," she recognized he was on the verge of a full panic attack, one he hadn't had in over two and a half years.

His eyes scanned the letter, when he reached the part.

His body flinched, and Gina, rubbed his shoulders still facing away from the letter, this was his and Kate's business, not hers, and if it was impacting this severely, she wasn't sure she had made the right decision encouraging him to read the damn thing.

Gina continued to sit on his lap, rubbing his shoulders gently, and laying her head on the crevice of his neck, she always felt better and stronger when she felt his touch, perhaps he did too. She heard him take a deep breath and sigh, and then heard the pages drop to the floor, after he read the last line aloud.

"I sincerely wish you continued luck and success, and once again, if you could spare just 15 minutes for me, I would appreciate it, if you ever get back to New York. Give my regards to Gina, and take care of yourself, you're special to many of us,"

She sat still waiting for him to collect himself, finally, about ten minutes later she felt him gently pull her face to his and kiss her,

"Thanks for being here, it wasn't as bad as I thought, I guess I had myself more concerned than I should have been, I'm sorry to have worried you," Rick said quietly,

"Hey, nothing to be sorry for Rick, I mean I was wishing for a minute that I hadn't encouraged you to read it, but now that you have, and survived, I'm glad I did. It's your first step to either recovery or reuniting." She said quietly,

"Gina, please, promise you won't set up any meetings with her when we're in New York, I mean I'm not ready to see her, hell, I'm not sure I even want to at this point." Rick panicked, eyes open wide, and sweat beating down his brow,

"Hey, hey, I may do a lot of things, but I promise you I would never do or allow that to happen if I know about it. You see her when you want to, Rick, give it some time, let go of the hurt sweetie, and just remember we gave each other second, third and even fourth chances. She did forgive you once, I'm just saying so remember, on your time schedule, no one else's, I promise." She calmed him by holding his hand and gently massaging his fingers, as she talked to him.

"Yeah well that was different, no I guess it wasn't but well, oh hell, why does she still want to meet? It's not like we had anything going on between us anyway, she made sure of that." He asked as he raked his hands through his hair, a habit he did when he was upset.

"Rick, she knew you had feelings for her, hell we all did, and still do. WHY do you think I told you, this could always only be temporary, a loving physical relationship? She will always be the love that completes you, if you let it, both of you, your soul mate. You just have to get over the hurt and start again, if your heart tells you it's worth it. NO one can do that but you, so at least you know she's truly sorry for her actions."

"I know Gina, I know, but it's been three years, why, and why now?" He asked almost in tears,

"Rick, those are questions you need to ask her, anyone else is only giving their opinion. I thought I heard you say she was married for less than a year and spent the remainder of the time in courts. That's a question you need to ask her, but of course, that would mean you either write her or call, I mean it's up to you."

"Gina, I'm not ready to see her, you know the reaction I had just opening her letter, I'm sorry, but no, not now. I'm not ready."

"Rick, you know you should acknowledge you got her letter, I'm sure she's wondering if you even read it, knowing Kate only as I do I know that took a lot of courage for her to reach out like that."

"You're right Gina, I do owe an acknowledgment that I received her letter," he paused, opened his phone and selected a contact from his list, and typed out a quick message,

"Lanie got your letter and Kate's, read them both, tell Kate time's not right now to talk, we'll see how it goes, and Lanie, never do that again, or you'll never hear from me again,

Three Months Later

Castle's Loft

New York

They decided after the book launch that was so successful in Los Angeles, to spend the entire month of December in New York, Gina added 10 more signings in addition to a belated launch party at the Four Seasons. It seemed that the books were flying off the shelves, and just the thought that he was coming back to New York spiked sales to record levels.

Beckett had seen the promotional material, even the cutout life-sized figure of Rick in her Barnes and Noble with the sign, New York's own coming soon, Richard Castle special signing TBA. She had to fight back tears the first time she saw it, he, rather the replica of him looked so much different than the man she last remembered seeing.

His hair was longer and styled in a California style, his skin was toned and tanned, he was wearing a tight golf shirt, not his normal sport coat, and he looked healthy. He was fit, very fit even through the shirt his abs showed great definition.

She noticed his eyes, they seemed to be far away, like they often were when he was trying to deal with something unpleasant when they worked together. Back then it was usually something he was worried about for Alexis, but she was a Junior in college now, so something else was concerning him, was it her?

She was still smarting from the text Lanie received, at least he acknowledged receiving the letter, but his message was clear, no more Kate or Lanie would be on the outside as well. She really didn't blame him, one letter, three years, after what she had done? Hell, she probably wouldn't have even read it.

Lanie had done her best to help, fixing her up with a fireman, Brad Decker, who was a great looking guy, hell he was on the calendar for July, but he was so full of himself, Kate excused herself and faked a call from the station before desert. She had enough of guys like that.

She had gone out a few times with a surgeon she had met during Bike Week run, and he had asked to partner with her during the Christmas Teddy Bear run, where the HOG group, (Harley Owner Group) distributed toys and teddy bears to the sick and needy kids.

He was nice, out of the country a lot, which suited her fine, but when it came to the next step, she just froze, she couldn't do it. God, she wasn't a nun but even a good-looking doctor couldn't get her to bed, she finally admitted the reason, Rick. She loved Rick, and told Josh, he was wasting his time, she was in love with someone else. He beat a path from her door and never looked back.

Now all she had to do was bump Gina off, get Rick alone, talk to him, or drag him to bed and fuck his brains out to show how much she cared for him, a great fantasy she thought Kate, keep dreaming. She noticed a new sign in the B&N display windows on her walk this morning, they had announced the date, it was this Friday for Rick to be there from 10:00 Am till 3:00 PM.

She was halfway to her desk later that morning before the idea hit her, she knew she shouldn't but hell what did she have to lose. It was this or nothing, now all she had to do was wait.

TBC