Beckett appeared in the entrance, coming to stand next to her friend, holding a glass of wine and her eyes met Castle's. Lanie turned around to look at her, too. Then, much to Castle's surprise and without his perceiving anything passing between the two women, Lanie grabbed a jacket and her keys.

"I think I'm gonna go for a while. I'll see you later."

"Lanie, you don't have to go."

"Sure I do, it's high time you two solved whatever you got going on here."d

Lanie smiled at her and brushed past Castle without another glance before disappearing at the end of the hallway.

"What do you want, Castle? Aren't you supposed to be heading to the Hamptons?"

"Well, weren't you supposed to be off with Demming for the week-end?"

Apparently noticing that they were still standing at the door, Kate finally moved away from the door and gestured for the writer to come in. He followed the detective to the living room where an open bottle of wine and a second glass of wine vouched for Lanie's attempt to cheer up her friend.

"So?" Castle asked.

Beckett looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"So, what?"

"Why didn't you go with Demming?"

"I have to work…"

"Stop that. Enough already. You seemed ready to come to the Hamptons, then you say no because you have to work, then it turns out you already have a week-end planned with…Schlemming, and suddenly you want to come to the Hamptons. What is going on here?"

Castle's tone had turned out harsher than he meant but he decided that he would not apologize for it. Enough was enough; Lanie was right: it was high time they were honest with each other.

Kate sighed and sat on the sofa occupying the middle of the room. She was intently staring at her hands and would not look up.

"I broke up with Tom. Why aren't you with Gina?"

"I don't think I can handle a whole summer with her. Asking her was a huge mistake."

"Then why did you?"

"I don't know. I didn't want to go on my own, I guess. And since you had plans, I felt like I needed some too."

Man, this honesty thing was not easy but it did feel sort of good to finally put all that out there.

"And if Gina had said no, were there other choices on the list?"

Apparently, she had caught on the honest mood but seriously, was that what she thought of him?

"That's really what you think? I asked you to come with me to the Hamptons because you happened to be around and when you said no, I just switched to plan B? You really don't know me, then."

"Oh, yes, I know you!"

The writer started when she suddenly stood up and almost yelled her answer. She went to lean on the window frame and finally looked at him. Her eyes were burning.

"I know guys like you. I know them very well. They're charming and funny and they make you feel special. Then, some day, they get tired of you, they move on to the next one and you end up feeling like the biggest idiot on the planet. I know how to recognize guys like that. And apparently, I was right since as soon as I turned you down, you ran to the first woman you could think of to keep you company!"

Rick was too appalled to speak. He was trying his best to gather his thoughts and take in what he had just heard. This was wrong. This was very wrong. And where did that come from? What had he ever done for her to distrust him so much? Confusion written all over his face, he tried to speak.

"What? How can you… This was not what happened! I asked you about a thousand times and you, you were the one who had plans with Schlemming. Yes, I asked Gina after you turned me down. But she's not exactly a random woman or a one-night stand. We were married. You can't blame me for trying to have a nice holiday after you turn me down!"

He was still standing at the entrance of the room, not far from the front door.

"I think I'll go. I'm sorry for… whatever you seem to be accusing me of."

He turned around and had his hand on the handle when she called him back. He was kind of hoping she would but was ready to storm out if she had nothing more to say.

"Castle."

A/N: It turned out a bit OOC, I'm sorry about that. More to come very soon.
Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed or added the story to your favourites or alerts.
I would really appreciate feedback on this one, so it would be great if you could let me know what you think, good or bad.