I know it's a little repetitive, but this is an argument and these two aren't the best at communicating about their feelings, so please, indulge me.
"OK. Time out. I have a few questions,something's bugging me."
"Shoot."
"Just to make sure, where do you keep your gun?"
"Cut to the chase, Castle."
And try not to screw up this time.
"OK, fine. So, had it not been for Sch… Demming, you would have come to the Hamptons?"
"Probably, yes."
"You wanted to?"
She hesitated for a second.
"Yes."
"And you realized that… something might happen between us?"
"I kind of assumed this was your plan."
He shot her a hurt look and she corrected herself –
"Yes, I did realize this was a possibility."
"Is that the real reason why you turned me down? Not because you had to work or even because you were with Demming?"
"Maybe. Yes. Partly."
If any of them had been able to notice, they would probably both have enjoyed the uncanny similarity with their daily interviews with suspects
"Now, when you said you wouldn't be another of my conquests, what did you mean?"
"You know what I meant."
"No, I don't actually. That's the part I don't get. So I need you to enlighten me on this. What do you think would have happened if we had slept together while in the Hamptons?"
She looked a little awed by his sheer honesty and bluntness.
"Well, I don't know how you usually proceed, but I assume I would be back in New-York by the following day with a thank you and a good-bye. Or are you the kind who mysteriously disappears in the morning never to return?"
If asked, Castle could probably never admit or even find words to express how much this hurt him. Was this really the image he had given her? He knew he was not always the most reliable person in the world, especially with women, it was true but he assumed he had proved himself to be more than that in the past year. He was not sure he was going to walk out of this talk safe and sound.
"So that's what you meant when you were talking of that list and being one of my conquests. That I would disappear and you'd never hear from me again? That I could just have sex with you and then just throw you away when I was done?"
Well, there was definitely something in his tone and she was not so sure anymore.
"What on earth could possibly give you this idea?"
"That's not very hard, you were very happy to provide the details of some of your encounters with whatever girl…"
This was ridiculous.
"But you're not whatever girl!" He finally let out, once again too loudly.
For one of the smartest persons he had ever met, she could truly be quite obtuse sometimes.
"What does that mean?"
"It means you can't possibly compare yourself with those girls I slept with, who by the way knew exactly what they were getting into and were more than happy to tell everyone they had banged the guy who created Derek Storm. It means that I would never, never do something like that to you."
"But why would I be any different?"
"Because I love you! And I don't want you to be one of my conquests and I don't want to be one of yours. If we had slept together, I would never have left or asked you to leave afterwards. I could never do that. And that's because I love you and I want to be with you and this whole… thing here between us, it's killing me. So you need to stop thinking that you're just any girl that would come and go. How could you not see that?"
Oh. Man. The silence following his outburst was awful. He wanted to take it back so bad. Why the hell did he have to come and demand an explanation? He had ruined everything. Sure enough, after standing for a while with a shocked expression on her face and her mouth slightly gaping, she stormed out of the apartment without a word or a backward glance.
Well done, Rick. Really, good job, you fucking genius.
I need to stop listening to The Swell Season while writing. It makes me want to torture characters.
More to come next week-end.