"California!" Gina screeched in his ear. "You're moving to California?" Castle knew there was a reason he had been dreading this conversation. It had only been three days since he'd actually decided, personally he thought Gina should be grateful that he was letting her know so soon.

"That's the plan," Castle muttered, wondering how much more of this horrendous screeching he was going to have to endure. He had wanted to send an email but Alexis hadn't let him. Damn his responsible daughter, she wasn't one sitting though this.

"And in two weeks?! Jesus Christ, Rick, what the hell are you thinking! You can't move to California, especially not on such short notice!"

"Why not?" Castle asked, though he knew Gina was bound to have a million and one reasons as to why he couldn't move.

"Oh well, for one you have commitments, Richard, you are contracted to write me another two Nikki Heat books-"

"Oh silly me, I forgot I can't write in LA!" He said sarcastically, which only angered Gina more.

"Richard Castle I swear to god you better be joking!"

"No, Gina, I'm not joking. I'm moving to LA in two weeks and there's nothing you can do about it. I've thought it through, I can write anywhere and I can email you the chapters when they're done. We have phones and email, you can reach me anytime."

"And what about when something goes wrong? What about when I need you to come in for meetings or to sign things and book launches and book parties and-"

"Gina," Castle interrupted sharply. "For the meetings, we can Skype - I'm moving to California, not Calcutta, it's a three hour time difference," he explained calmly. "Anything that needs signing can be air mailed to me by overnight courier. I can fly back for any pre-arranged book launches and signings, my mother will still be here anyway and I'm sure Alexis will miss her."

"You're not giving in on this are you?" Gina asked, seemingly to finally accept defeat.

"Nope," Castle grinned.

"Look, I know it makes some things a little inconvenient but how much am I even here anyway? Most of my work is done from home and it just so happens that my new home is on the other side of the country." This had actually been a little easier than he had expected.. "And look on the bright side - if I'm in LA, I can make regular visits to the movie sets when they're filming the next Nikki Heat movie!"

"Hmm, well what I'm thinking is that if you're moving to LA, is there going to be any more Nikki Heat?"

Castle couldn't help but think she could be right - what kind of a future did Nikki have if he was essentially cutting off the possibility of a future for him and Beckett?

"Alexis!" Castle called up the stairs, "where do you want these books?"

"Hang on dad, I'll be down in a sec!" She shouted back.

Castle chuckled, she was definitely his daughter alright - the amount of books she wanted to pack with her for college.

"Oh I forgot about those!" Alexis whined as she came bounding down the stairs and spotted the books her father was on about. "I have no room for them!" They'd sent most of their belongings to California yesterday by overnight plane, each of them just taking the essentials and a suitcase of clothes each.

Most of it they were leaving here - his mother was still going to be here and they'd be back to visit for a weekend every now and then and back for the holidays, so it made sense to start again in a California, with all new furniture and belongings. Castle had found an apartment to rent, right near the beach with a wonderful view of the ocean.

"Do you really need to take them?" Castle asked, looking to the small pile of books Alexis was fretting about. "We're coming back at Christmas - and I bet we'll be back for a weekend at least twice before then, are you going to need them?"

"No, I guess not," Alexis muttered, putting the books to the side. "So..I guess we're almost ready to go then!"

"Yep, looks like it!" Castle grinned. He couldn't believe they were actually going! "I'm pretty excited about being near the ocean..writing with a view like that is going to be amazing!"

"Yeah, I'll be down every weekend just to see that view," Alexis joked. She was heading to Stanford whilst her father was moving to LA. It was only an hour by plane and it meant she could go to the college of her dreams and still be close enough to her father to not worry about him. It wasn't that she needed him to move with her so that she could go there, she probably would have gone anyway, but she had to admit she felt a lot better knowing he was going too, even if it was only at first.

"You'll be welcome anytime, Pumpkin," he promised. "We can go for walks along the beach and go surfing - oh my god I can learn to surf!"

"Mm, and put your back out in the process?" Alexis said.

"I'm not that old, you know!" Castle said indignantly. "I can still surf."

"Mmhmm, if you say so," Alexis winked. "Oh daddy I'm so excited! I can't believe I'm actually off to college!"

"Now that's making me feel old," Castle grumbled. "But I know what you mean..I'm excited too, I love LA!"

"I know you do," his daughter replied. "But uh..you know you can come back go New York anytime you like, right? And you know I'll be okay?"

"I know, Pumpkin, but I won't. I'm making a fresh start, away from here and away from everything - can't do that from New York, can I?"

She appreciated everything she did for her, she really did, but with this, she was standing her ground, needed him to know exactly how she felt before he made that move. "Dad, look," she began. "I absolutely love that you're coming with me and I feel so much happier that you are and that I don't have to leave you here alone but I don't think you're making the right decision." There we go, she'd said it. "I know you want a fresh start and I completely understand why, trust me I do, but is it really what you should be doing?"

"Alexis-"

"No dad, I need you to listen. You have a life here, you have friends here - grams is still here! And you're giving all of that up to drop everything and move to the other side of the country with me?"

Her stubbornness over this was really reminding him of Beckett right now. "Pumpkin, I appreciate your concern but it's okay, really. I want to do this, I want to move with you. And yeah, you're right, I am giving up a lot but I have to do this if I want to move on..New York is filled with far too many memories, not all of them good and if you're not here, why do I need to be?"

"Okay dad, you win, I'll drop it." Personally, she still wasn't convinced it was the right decision for him but she had to let him make that decision on his own. Beckett played a huge part in it, she was sure of that. She wasn't stupid, no matter how much her dad tried to play off that he was fine and didn't want to go back, she knew he did. It was only natural, he'd worked with them for three years and to suddenly give all of that up must be a huge shock to the system.

And dammit she knew he loved Beckett, of course he did, no matter how much he argued it. She was about 98% sure that if they just sat down and talked whatever their problems were through, they could move on and pursue whatever relationship they'd been avoiding for the past three years.

"What, you're just dropping it like that?" Castle asked incredulously.

"Yes dad, I am" Alexis sighed. "Because although I might not agree with your decisions or think you're doing the right thing, you have never once stood in the way of me or what I want to do and so I'm doing that now. You have supported me and stood by me no matter what so what kind of a daughter would I be if I didn't stand by you?"

"Thank you, Pumpkin," Castle smiled. She might be right, he could quite possibly be making the worst decision of his entire life by moving to California, but it was the only option he could see right now. He loved Beckett but they weren't meant to be and it was just too hard sticking around with the memories of her so present, it damn near killed him everyday.

"Come on then, one last New York burger before we head to the airport?" Castle said. "Gotta say goodbye to your grandmother too.." Goodness knows how dramatic she was going to make that.

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