Love's Journey 2

by Castlefan6

Authors Note This is the continuation of Love's Journey, originally authored by The Muse of Apollo, chapters 1-7 all following are work of Castlefan6' IF you haven't read the original Love's Journey please do so before proceeding with this,

I don't own Castle, I only use the characters for amusement purposes only

Chapter 2

Previously

Their conversation is interrupted by the ringing of Kate's phone, "Beckett, oh hi Jenny yea I think we are all set for Saturday, Lanie is right here and just finished putting the fear of God into Javi so I think there won't be any leaks." "Remember Jess was adamant, no presents only contributions to Lost Innocence Project in honor of Rick, yeah, well I think we will meet a Lanie's then grab a cab from there to Ricks. They are expecting us for drinks at 6:00 so let's be at Lanie's by 5:15PM OK," Lanie is shaking her head in affirmation, "Yea Lanes is good with it, Great See you Saturday Jenny,"

Castle's Loft

Saturday 5:00 PM

"Hey Jess, are you sure you don't want me to order anything to go with the drinks, you know the gang will be here soon, and Javi can eat a man out of house and home by himself?"

"No Rick, just the drinks and light snacks we have out, I think Lanie has got Javi on a diet, before he starts showing" as they both laugh. "Relax Sweetie, it will be fine, it's just our friends, no need to be nervous,"

"I'm not nervous," "REALLY?" Jess replies "OK can how do you do that, pick up on everything, even if I don't say a word you know how I feel"

"I'm your soul mate Rick, what touches your soul touches mine, and it's funny but I used to laugh at friends who claimed they had found theirs, now I know they were right"

Rick walks by and steals a kiss as he checks of the bar for the hundredth time in the last hour, "Sweetie, Calm Down what has got you so uptight tonight?"

"Jess, I don't know it's just the first time Kate has joined more than just us, and I don't want her or anyone to feel uncomfortable."

"Rick, Kate and I talked, I explained to her that there would be no hard feelings if she wanted to pass, and she is fine with this, I think she is even beginning to be happy for us as strange as that might seem"

Jess snuggles into Rick on the couch and whispers, "Besides after drinks tonight you might get to play a double header" and pulls him in for a long, slow passionate kiss that only Jess could deliver.

"God how do you do that, I am destroyed, and I can't stand up just thinking about running the bases tonight" as Jess lets out a deep laugh and hugs him even tighter.

Rick decides to save himself embarrassment when he must answer the door, he should excuse himself to the office to double check on his last drafts for Lost Innocence. It won't be long now that he can officially start submitting material to First American Publishing and keeping Black Pawn as a memory.

6:00 PM

On the dot the buzzer for the door rings as well as Lanie's distinctive tap tap tap knocking. Rick gathers Jess by the hand and together they open the door to their guests. Jess pulls Kate in for a tight hug, and asks, "How are you doing Kate, anything we can do, still going well?" Kate smiles at Jess, this time more genuine that anyone has seen in a long while, "It's getting better day by day Jess, Thanks for being so sweet"

Rick has hugged Lanie and Jenny and about to start shaking the guys hands when Jess gently turns him in the direction of Kate, "Kate you look great, it's good to see you, we're so glad you could come" as he pulls her in for a quick embrace and to his surprise she returns it with a very brief kiss on his cheek,

"Great to see you as well Rick, you look like things are going good, and Jess has been taking great care of you" she smiles.

The guys complete their greetings ending in the traditional feed the bird and fist bumps that the ladies could never understand, Jess just stands and smiles. It's great to see the little boy in Rick slowly but surely start to return.

Jess has guided them all into the dining room where the drinks have been poured, and she then raises her glass "I'd like to make a toast if I may, First to Good Friends and long friendships, may they outlive any troubles in our lives, and next to Richard Castle on his 25th Best Seller, Final Heat. Thanks to you all, for making this book possible, I'm sure that there were times when you all wanted to tar and feather him, but thank you for taking such great care of him" Salute

Glasses are clinked, and drinks are consumed, and Kate feels more peaceful than she had thought she would in this group dynamic, she is aware that both Jess and Rick are keeping keen eyes of her for any sign of sadness or depression.

"Guys, I am fine, this is a party so let's party" Kate yells as she hugs Jess and shoots Rick the look that I'm doing great. After the third round, once again Jess steps up and hugs Rick,

"Sweetie, I know you said you didn't want anything big, so the girls and I set up dinner tonight at Gillette's at 8:00 PM, we have the private hall and entrance so please don't be upset with me, please?"

Rick looks at Jess, and the room gets quiet and now the tension is building, "Jess, Thank you and also Lanie, Kate, and Jenny for setting this up, it's perfect", As Jess begins to breathe again she pokes Rick in the ribs and replies, "I thought I had really made you angry, don't do that again buster", as she kisses him and breaks into laughter.

Jess's cell phone buzzes and she answers advising the car service they would be right down. As they all head to the elevator, Kate has just a momentary flashback to the good days, when Rick was her lover, smiles briefly then pushes that thought out of her head and proceeded to the Limo.

Dinner was fantastic and really just what Rick needed, he had been pushing himself for so long it felt good to pause and celebrate a success with the woman he loved, and his very closest friends.

Kate had one of her feelings that something was amiss, she just couldn't put her finger on it, so she dismissed it as her nerves and the party carried on. At the end of the evening Rick had arranged for transportation home for all, including a private car for Kate, just to insure safety. Jess hugged Kate as she was entering the car and whispered "text me when you get home safe" to which Kate nodded.

The next morning the house phone was ringing at 7:00 AM, and as Jess rolled over with a very sleepy "Hello", her ear drums were almost perforated with that nasal tone of Paula yelling how could you let this happen, it wouldn't while I was there," silently Jess handed the phone to Rick, who had been awakened by her shrill voice and volume.

"Slow Down Paula, back to the top" as Rick controlled the conversation he covered the phone and asked Jess to turn on TMZ. There on the TV screen were the images Paula was freaking out about. "OK Paula, here is what you do, get a handle on it, kill the story, and keep Jess in the loop on every development,"

As they were talking TMZ repeated showing a few of the grainy photos with a statement that read Richard Castle Enterprises has cleaned house, including his publisher, agent and now it appears his muse and rumored former love interest has also been sacked. Pictured above is the new Executive VP of RCE, and rumored new girlfriend looking anything but friendly to NYPD Detective Kate Beckett, who was rumored to be romantically linked to Mr. Castle before her own alleged sex scandal broke last year. We will bring you developments as they occur,

He was quiet as something was being said by Paula, and then Rick erupted, "Listen Paula, either you work for Jess or you won't work in New York cleaning toilets, don't ever threaten me or anyone I love, especially Jess again, you understand. Do what you have to do, and get legal involved for Kate, she has a suit since her case was sealed and was not to be brought out in public, tell them they have 15 minutes to issue an ON-AIR apology or Judge Marquette is going to make a Sunday House Call. Call Jess NOT me, you work for her now until she fires your ass, understand? As he slams the phone down.

Ten minutes later Paula calls Jess with the full explanation, and as they are talking TMZ breaks in to issue the apology citing fraudulent sources,

One of the servers had apparently run into some financial issues due to bad picks at the race track, so to recoup some losses he had arranged for a paparazzi to be stationed as one of the wait staff. Hundreds of pictures all innocent by any standards were snapped, and finally he got the picture he was looking for, one of Rick, Kate, and Jess together.

Kate had lost a contact, and Jess helped her find it and reclean it by steadying her shoulders as she leaned back to reinsert it, but the picture looked like they were trying to pull each other apart. The friends continued to dine for a few hours longer oblivious to the shots already being sold to the local Rag Magazine.

Jess rolls over and grabs her phone, "I gotta call Kate, she can't get hit with this after all the BS she has been through. Kate's phone chirps with Jess's ring tone, and she thinks to herself, Girl what is wrong with you, it's Sunday and she knew how much Rick used to love Sunday activities, push that out of your head Kate, "Hey Jess what's up is everything OK, it's early for Sunday?"

Jess explains what happened how Rick had handled it, and now they had Paula back on the payroll to handle incidents like this, "Kate, I'm so sorry you had to hear this or even see it, I should have done a better job vetting the venue, I'm sorry."

"Jess, first of all no more I'm sorry, we all vetted the venue, that's why you had three of us check to work, so no one's fault, second, Hun after the Demming disgrace, this is a walk in the park, I do appreciate the heads up so I can notify my Union Rep and my Captain, I doubt I will hear another word about it."

"Jess, can I ask you something, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but How's Rick in all of this, he always takes the weight of the world on his shoulders and blames himself, Is he OK?"

"That's sweet Kate, I know what you mean, and yes he is OK now, he was PISSED before, I hope he never gets that angry at me, but he warns everyone don't mess with people he loves"

"Jess please reassure him that we are all OK, no harm, no foul, just some stupid pictures on a show that airs at 6:30 AM on Sunday Morning, not exactly primetime if you know what I mean" she laughs and puts Jess's mind to rest.

"Kate, call us, either of us if anything comes up, I know Rick Loves you in a special way, and I have grown fond of you myself"

"I don't know how you do it, you must be related to Mother Theresa, but Thank You Jess, I know you don't have to share that part of his life with me, but you do, I really can't say that I would be near as gracious as you."

"Yeah well just don't push it sister" Jess drawls out making Kate burst out in laughter, "Seriously Kate, I love Rick and will do anything to make him happy, part of that means caring for those he loves, you included.

I told him no long embraces hands kept where they should be and no eye sex, and we will be fine, oh yea I caught that kiss on the cheek tonight Kate, and that is fine as well, it looked like you were kissing a dodgy old Uncle" she laughs and Kate is now laughing like she hasn't laughed in months.

Rick is lying next to Jess just amazed at the depth of this woman's ability to love when Jess catches him looking down on her, "I gotta go Girlfriend, call me, Rick sends his love to, Bye" and ends the call. Jess looks into his eyes, "What, you do love her in that special way, and she kissed you like a dodgy old uncle, you better save all the good stuff for me, as she draws him into their own Sunday routine, Rick could swear they played two double headers the rest of the day,

A/N Good Place to stop, we have developed that Kate is now a Friend, and Jess and Rick will be getting busy on new projects soon. Seems like life is looking up for everyone but Demming, never liked him or the character anyway