Chapter 13

After their discussion in the garden, Castle steered clear of Kate for the remainder of the afternoon and all the way up until dinner. Quite honestly he was angry with her—angry that she was putting up with William's negative comments and not fighting back or at least attempting to voice her disagreement. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he never would have believed the woman he knew for a decade would put up with something like that. The Kate he thought he knew should have spoken up for herself, yet she said nothing.

At dinner, Castle sat with Kate's father at the opposite end of the table from the future newlyweds. He and Jim had a nice conversation as they always did when they were together, but were unable to talk about the Fitzgeralds as they sat just a few feet away. Still, Castle considered it to be the best meal he had since jumping the pond.

With a mostly restful seven hours sleep behind him, Castle awoke Friday morning prepared for battle. Little more than twenty-four hours remained before the "I dos" and his mission had reached DEFCON 1 status. Quite honestly, as he reached the third week anniversary of learning of the engagement, Castle was growing quite exhausted with the whole situation, but as the clocked ticked closer and closer to zero, he knew he'd fight his way through—all the way to the very end.

Brightening the morning was the arrival of Javier, Kevin and Jenny, the only other American wedding attendees. Though she had awoken that morning with a scowl, Kate managed a smile when her slightly bedraggled friends arrived after their all night flight from New York. They exchanged hugs and cheek kisses before Kate stepped back, gazed down at their luggage and then back up at her guests expectantly. "Where's my dress?"

The men exchanged glances. "What dress?"

"My wedding dress," she clarified, her tone clearly irritated.

Javier looked at Kevin, who shrugged. Looking back to Kate he said, "We don't have your wedding dress."

Her brow knitted tightly together. "What do you mean…Castle?"

Hearing his name the writer looked up from his phone. "What?"

Kate planted her fists at her hips, her heart rate beginning to increase. "Why don't they have my wedding dress?"

Completely baffled, the writer replied. "Why would they?"

"You said it wasn't ready yet! You said it was coming Friday!" Kate's tone had reached near shrieking levels and all three men took a step back. Meanwhile, in female solidarity, Jenny's arms crossed tightly over her chest as she stared down the men.

"Yes…," Castle said slowly, "but I never said with them." He very, very clearly remembered his trip to Dream Brides the morning before his flight to London. When he inquired at the receptionist for the gown, he thought nothing of the woman's pale expression and excuse that she needed to find the store manager for him to speak with. His brain was focused on packing, the trip ahead, and coming to grips with the fact that he was picking up his best friend's wedding dress, meaning there was a possibility she could marry William after all. Plus, as it was the first he was involved with, he was too naïve about weddings to be suspicious.

When the apologetic store manager appeared and informed him that, despite their promise, the dress was not ready, his rage kicked in and he became the bridezilla Kate had not been (well, bridezilla by proxy). Despite his anger and the store manager's apologies, there was nothing that could be done. The seamstress had a family emergency and had been unable to complete the work. They promised, however, the dress would be ready by the end of the following day. After making a snippy remark about broken promises, Castle phoned Kate's father for a proper address, not wanting to worry the bride herself.

"It's coming Fed Ex," he continued. Keeping with the worry-free plan, Castle had negotiated that, as it was their broken promise putting the wedding in this tight position, the bridal shop would ship the dress to the Fitzgerald residence on their own dime as soon as the dress was ready with Friday as the guaranteed delivery date. So as not to worry her, Castle merely told Kate that the dress would arrive Friday, but had not clarified the "how" portion. He assumed this was how she guessed the boys would be bringing it with them.

Kate chewed at her bottom lip. "So it's coming today then?"

"Does Fed Ex deliver to castles?" Kevin asked.

After shooting him an annoyed look, Castle pulled up his email inbox on his phone. "Hold on, just let me check the tracking number."

"Sorry guys," Kate laughed, sliding her hands down into her back jean pockets, "Just a little edgy, I guess."

Jenny smiled and patted her arm. "No problem; it's perfectly understandable."

"Uh oh."

The sound that escaped the writer's lips pulled the attention of everyone else in the room. Kate's blood pressure spiked again as she practically jumped in his direction. "Uh oh? Uh oh?! What does uh oh mean?!"

This wasn't happening. This could not be happening. Castle continued to stare down at the Fed Ex tracking page with pure horror. Surely it was a joke; surely he was reading it wrong because this absolutely, positively, could not be reality. "Hold on a second let me call the-"

"No! Not until you explain what 'uh oh' means." Kate demanded of her maid of honor.

Castle let out a long sigh and let his arm fall limp at his sides. Meeting her furious gaze, he confessed, "I…according to this, your dress was re-routed back to New York, but I'm sure that's just some kind of system error."

Kate clapped both of her hands against her cheeks. "Oh god, oh god." Her wedding dress! Only the most important part of her wedding. How in the hell was she supposed to get married in twenty-four hours without a wedding dress?!

Jumping in, Jenny stepped up behind Kate and guided her to a nearby chair. "Here, just sit down Kate; let Rick figure it out."

For quite possibly the most agonizing seven minutes of her life Kate sat in a wildly uncomfortable antique chair as Jenny crouched beside her, rubbing her back and telling her everything would be fine. Javier and Kevin stood awkwardly beside their luggage knowing there was nothing they could do to help the situation. Finally, Castle, who had stepped outside to make the phone call, returned with an expression not unlike those seen during funerals.

His heart sinking down past his knees, he began, "Um Kate."

She stood up so quickly that she nearly knocked Jenny over in her haste. "Where's the dress?"

With a tone of utmost remorse the writer said, "It's in New York."

Kate fought the urge to vomit. "W-what?"

Castle's shattered heart fractured into more pieces as he took a step towards her, her haunted tone clawing at his soul. Yes, he wanted to stop the wedding, but hurting Kate in the process was never part of the deal. "Kate I am so sorry. I swear I wrote down the address right—I swear I did but…But Fed Ex said there was no such deliverable address so it was returned to sender."

Oh yeah, okay, she was definitely going to throw up. Her hands covering her mouth, she mumbled out, "Wha," unable to complete the full syllable.

Castle clasped his fingers together and held them out, begging her for forgiveness. "Kate, oh my god Kate; I am so sorry."

Kate took three in-and-out breaths through her nose as she tried to formulate a response. Gulping down the bile rising in her throat, she stepped towards him. "Castle! I'm getting married tomorrow and that was my wedding dress. You're my maid of honor!"

Castle shut his eyes and dropped his chin to his chest. It had been so long since Kate was honestly, truly mad at him, he'd forgotten just how painful it was to be at the receiving end of her rage; the absolute last thing he wanted was to hurt her in any way. "I know, I know and I'm so sor-"

"Well you know what?" she snapped at him. "Sorry isn't good enough."

Castle's regret faded at the sharpness of her tone. Okay, maybe he had given Fed Ex the wrong address. If that was the case, he certainly hadn't done so maliciously. She had the right to be upset, but not flat out deny his request for forgiveness. A brief burst of annoyance bursting through his curtain of remorse he snipped, "Then maybe you should take this as a sign."

Not expecting this response, Kate blinked. "A sign of what?"

"A sign that you're not supposed to get married tomorrow."

No one in the entryway moved, spoke or breathed for thirty seconds as Kate and Castle stared each other down, both challenging the other to be the next to make a move. Finally, to ease the tension, Jenny stepped forward. "Hey Kate you know what? It's fine. Totally fine. We're an hour away from London, right? One of the biggest cities in the world. We can go find a wedding dress there, okay?"

Kate glanced over at her friend as though she'd just awaken from a trance. "Yeah…I…okay…"

"Holy shit bro," Javier began once the two ladies had left on their journey to the city. "This certainly was an interesting plot twist."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Castle began to pace back and forth. "I didn't plan this! I didn't! I wrote that address down—god, what does it even matter? The dress isn't here…Jesus I ruined everything."

"Um…wasn't that the point of this?" Kevin chimed in with confusion.

"No! The point was the make her realize William is wrong for her—not lose her damn wedding dress! Now she hates me."

"Well I'm thinking that comment about the missing dress being a sign she shouldn't get married tomorrow didn't exactly help your case," Kevin said pointedly. Then, at the writer's expression he added, "Yeah I know I'm not helping. Okay how about this: she just needed to be mad at someone, right? She'll come around. I'm sure Jenny will help her find a nice dress."

Javier stepped forward and tapped Castle on the right shoulder. "Let's get to the real issue here, bro. She'll be married in twenty-four hours. What the hell are you going to do about it?"

Castle opened his arms, palms up, and shrugged. "I have no idea." Truly, he didn't. As the wedding drew nearer, his internal debate grew more and more aggressive. Yes, he felt William was the wrong man for her. Yes, he wanted her for himself, but he also wanted her to be happy. Kate's happiness was paramount and just because he believed she would be happier with him than William didn't mean that was actually what would happen (his opinion was, after all, slightly bias).

In the three weeks since their engagement he'd given Kate multiple opportunities to see the differences between William and herself, but they seemed just as together as ever. Even the less-than-perfect meeting between her father and his parents had not swayed her. Maybe nothing would.

Javier clicked his tongue angrily. "I have one: tell her how you feel."

Castle blinked as though his friend had just suggested he attend the wedding in a SCUBA suit rather than his morning coat. "What…like, just tell her?"

"Uh, yeah!"

Castle shrugged and slipped his hands down into his pockets. "I…I dunno."

"Oh!" Kevin jumped in. "Write her a note – writing's more your wheelhouse anyway, right?"

The author's chin lifted a bit higher on this suggestion. "Yeah…I could…"

"Well pick something and do it. Time's running out, bro. Unless you're going to pull one of those, "Speak now or forever hold your peace," interruptions."

Castle shook his head at Javier. "That's a terrible idea and it only works in movies." Then, after considering all the ideas that had been thrown at him he stood up a bit straighter, resigned to the idea they'd have to hash it out face-to-face. "You guys are right–I need to talk to her as soon as possible."

Castle had every intention of speaking with Kate the moment she returned from dress shopping in London, but that was easier said than done. He waited outside in the garden until he spotted their car returning almost five hours after they'd left. Though he hurried to meet them at the front of the house, Kate practically sprinted inside with her large garment bag, not once looking at him.

Still determined, he gave her half an hour to settle back in before trying again only to be intercepted by William, his least favorite person at the moment. William suggested that Castle had upset Kate enough for once day and perhaps it would be best if he left her alone until that evening when they would be having their brief wedding rehearsal followed by a dinner.

As Kate's wedding schedule had come with an American versus British weddings informational section, Castle was already aware that British weddings did not have a traditional rehearsal followed by a rehearsal dinner like they did in America. For those in the UK, the rehearsal was not followed by any sort of formal meal. However, since the wedding party and the American guests were staying at the Fitzgerald home and they all needed to eat, they were, in a way, having a rehearsal dinner anyway.

Down but not out, Castle asked Kevin to ask Jenny to ask Kate to speak with him as soon as she could, preferably before the rehearsal. Of course Castle put very little stock in William's opinion and in any other circumstance would have found no issue in shoving the man aside (physically, if necessary) and marching up to Kate himself, but he felt he'd already done enough damage for one day. As he was trying to win her over, he thought it best not to stir the pot any more than he had to.

As he readied himself for that night's dinner, Castle decided he needed to practice what he would say to Kate. He knew at that point, after making more than a few anti-William comments and inadvertently losing her wedding dress he would only have one shot—one chance to convince her that they were the ones who belong together; she didn't belong with William.

With his writing, Castle could tap out some notes on his keyboard, let them ruminate for a day or two as he went about his day-to-day tasks (or surfed the internet for hours on end). He would then write them out in a proper structure with paragraphs of direction and spoken dialog. He'd stare at those too, change, rewrite, go back, read them again, and rewrite them as many times necessary until he got them just the way he wanted. Real life wasn't like that. Once you spoke words they were out there never to be rescinded.

Staring into the mirror above the dresser in his bedroom, Castle began to speak his thoughts aloud. "You can't marry him, Kate. You just can't. He's not right for you—you have to see that. I don't know if you love him, I don't think you do. I think you think you love him or you've convinced yourself you do because you want to marry him for…for some reason but I have no idea what that could be and…no, no, no; that's not right."

He shook his head, took a deep breath and started again. "I know you think you'll be happy, but Kate you wouldn't be… Your life is in New York—everything you know. Your job. Your friends. Your family. Me. And Kate, I…I can't face it without you. Besides my mother, you're the most important person in my life. No, no—forget mother." He shook his head and spoke with even more determination.

"You are the most important person in my life, Kate. I don't know how I'd get through a week—a day—without texting you. I dedicated my next book to you. I wasn't going to tell you—I was going to let you see it when you bought it as a surprise, but I did. I couldn't have written it without you. Your support. Your friendship. Because Kate I—Kate!" Castle jumped when he spotted the brunette's reflection in the mirror. He whipped around to face her, but her expression remained just as stern as it had been when she walked in the room a few moments earlier.

Folding her arms over her chest, Kate commented, "Interesting speech."

Castle felt his cheeks begin to heat and a few droplets of sweat form on his brow. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough." Then, after a beat she snipped, "What? Are you looking for applause or something?"

Castle swallowed hard and took a step towards her. "Kate, please let me-"

She stopped him with her right hand raised, palm facing him. "No, you know what Castle? Just don't." She took a step into the room and spoke in very slow, controlled words. "The past few weeks I thought you'd lost your mind. Ever since I came back from London and everything that's happened since…I don't know if I—no, you know what?" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter; I can't. After today I'm done. I'm just…done."

Her defeated tone made him nauseous. "Kate about the dress-"

She shook her head, cutting him off once more. "I know when you're lying Castle and I know it's not about this. It was a genuine mistake and I can't hate you for that. I'm upset, but I'll live. The dress we found today is…fine." She admitted with a shrug. Yes, she wanted to be furious at him, but she'd seen the nauseated look on his face when he delivered the news; he was just as upset as she was.

"But-"

"Look, it's become clear that you don't like William and that's ok. You don't have to like him. You just have to tolerate him: tonight and tomorrow and that's it." She was a fool to think that William could fold into her group of close friends easily. Yes, it would have been nice, but it was clear now that they were just too different and that was okay; not everyone always had to be best friends with everyone else. Politeness, however, was a requirement.

Castle could hardly believe what he was hearing—this was not how he wanted this to go! It sounded like Kate was saying goodbye and that was definitely not something he wanted to face. "But Kate that's not-"

"Save it Castle. I just can't do this anymore." With that, she spun on her heel and took a step towards the door. With her hand on the frame, she paused, and turned to look back over her shoulder at him. "You know what would have been interesting? What might have happened if you ever had the guts to say those things to my face." And, with that, she walked out the door.