hi! I just wanted to say a few things. First of all... THANK YOU! i have 50 alerts on this story! i can't begin to express how happy you all make me with your alerts, favorites and reviews! even if you just read, it makes me want to do a happy dance :DDDDD So thank you! you encourage me to keep writing :D
As promised, chapter 4 :3... i'm a little unsure about this one... my muse decided to go on vacations so please let me know what you think?
Also, i'm working on the next chapter but mother's day is this weekend so i'll probably will be posting it sometime on Monday!
Happy reading!
Disclaimer: Don't own Castle :c
He wanted her to love him and she did. Then why when he said it, even as a game, she froze? She couldn't think. She could've said some witty response to make him forget or joke about it. But she had frozen. Why? 'Because you're scared' said the little voice on her head that sounded way too much like Lanie. But, of what? Lord knows we've been to hell and back, several times.
He said he would wait for her.
She believed him.
And that kiss was… there were no words; the connection, the passion, the tenderness, the love. It had been one of the most emotional moments in her life and still she was afraid. It made no sense, what so ever. She was sure he was going to say that he loved her before she interrupted him, she was not, is not, ready for the commitment that would mean love from both parts.
But why? Was it the job? Like Royce said? The risk of losing him while they were in a relationship? That couldn't be, not entirely, she loved him, losing him would be as painful now as if they were together. Even greater because of the 'what if'
This was frustrating! She had so much on her mind that it felt crowded. She needed to rest; she needed to fish without fishing.
….
On New York Rick was about to shoot himself. A slip of the tongue! But he didn't get it. There had been slips before, she had never EVER frozen, he'd even said 'I love you' to her once. Ok, granted, he was reading a letter and all of that but he said it looking at her straight on the eyes. Ok, they hadn't kissed at the time and he wasn't in love with her per say in that particular moment. But they had always moved past the 'moments' with some joke or something case related, or Esposito interrupting them…
And yet she had called him Rick.
There was hope; maybe he hadn't screwed it so badly after all. He needed some inside information and he knew just the person to talk to.
….
Back at the 12th…
"Yo, Ryan, have you talked to Becket or Castle since she left?"
"No. You?"
"Nah, but Lanie told me something pretty interesting last night"
"Don't tell me mom and dad are fighting again"
"On the contrary, Lanie said they had gone to dinner last night"
"Really?" – asked a very shocked Ryan.
"Oh yeah"
"Damn it"
"What?"
"Agh, my money was on after the summer. I lost like 50 bucks"
Esposito looked at him funny, trying to hide the amusement on his eyes.
"You won, didn't you?" – Ryan asked, feeling defeated.
"Who? Me?" – said Esposito, he couldn't suppress the big grin on his face
Ryan turned around to his desk and muttered some unintelligible words while exchanging some papers to the other side of his desk, rather forcefully.
"Detectives"
It was the voice of the new Captain.
"Yeah, Captain" – Esposito said in a very serious tone.
Ryan calmed down immediately and looked at her with his best innocent look.
"Come to my office, please"
Both detectives followed her, a little worried. After reaching her office and indicating Esposito to close the door behind them she sat down.
They were standing, looking like some kids who just got called to the principal's office.
"Sit down boys; I'm not going to scold you. We have a high profile case"
They sat, still remarkably quiet.
"One of the Commissioner's nieces was killed at 8 pm last night. Since you, besides Beckett, have the highest close rate in the city you'll be leading the case. Karpovsky and her team will be assisting you. I want this thing solved and don't even think about consulting the writer. As I said to Detective Beckett, unless he is with her he will not consult or visit the 12th. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes ma'am" – both detectives responded at unison, trying to conceal the shock from their faces.
"Go. Karpovsky already has the basics of the scene and is currently building the board"
Both men nodded and left.
That night they already had a suspect and were about to get a warrant for his arrest. Apparently the ex-boyfriend, who was on a mental facility after the break up, still, had a thing for her.
"Yo, so, the judge already left for the day, there is nothing we can do tonight so why don't we all go home early and start fresh tomorrow" – said Esposito to Ryan, Karpovsky and her team.
"Can't complain about that, Espo" – said Beltran, one of the detectives.
"See ya all sharp tomorrow, good night everybody" – said Ryan while getting up and getting his things.
They all said their goodnights and went home.
Ryan was next to Esposito on the elevator when his phone rang.
"Ryan" – He answered.
"Hey, man. What's up?"
"Castle, nice to hear from ya"
"You too, any interesting cases?"
"Not really, we got lead on a high profile one, but it's pretty straight forward"
"Congratz, Ryan. You two deserve it."
"Thanks, man"
"Hey, listen. You wanna come to my place for a poker game? You can bring Jenny and Espo can bring Lanie"
"Yeah, sure, let me ask him"
"Hey, Castle is inviting us to a poker game with the ladies. Wanna go?" – He said, placing a hand over the phone and whispering to Javier.
Esposito nodded and got his phone to text to Lanie.
"Be there in about an hour?" – Ryan asked to Castle.
"Ok, see you in an hour"
After saying their goodbyes Ryan called jenny to let her know about their plans.
"Do you think we should be teasing him before or after the poker game?" – Esposito asked his partner.
"With Lanie during the game. It would break his focus, I could use the money"
"Good thinking, bro"
….
Rick was typing away on his studio trying to come up with a way to focus on something other than Kate for more than 2 minutes… So far it wasn't working. He was almost done with the final touches of the editing of heat rises but it reminded him of Beckett too much. He was thinking of ways to kill his victims for the 4th Nikki Heat, so far nothing. All the ways he thought were from cases with Beckett.
'Saved by the bell' he thought as he heard the bell and went to open the door.
Esposito and Lanie arrived a few minutes before the agreed time, which was exactly what Rick wanted. After greeting, Castle let Esposito play Halo while he made the refreshments for the night. He grabbed Lanie and led her to the kitchen.
"What's up, writer-boy?"- she asked a little confused at her friend's actions.
"I think I screwed up and I have nobody to talk to" – he said while taking some snacks from the kitchen drawers.
"Is this about Kate? Castle, what did you do?"
She was in protective mode, folding her arms across her chest.
"I, well, I kind of told her I wanted her to love me over the phone" – he winced in anticipation of the ME's reaction.
"That you did what! – She asked, screaming the last word.
He explained the whole conversation, that it was a slip of the tongue. He told her about the last time he did something like that and about what happened at dinner. Not going into any details about the kiss, just that it happened. By the end Lanie seemed less dangerous and maybe a little more compassionate.
"Oh honey, she freaked"
"That I know, Lanie. She told me she would call, that was this morning. I don't want to pressure her, but I don't know what to do. I don't want to screw this up. I need your insights on Kate's mind"
Lanie Parish was not a softy, she had seen her share of ugly things because of her job to make her as cold hearted as ice, but the hurt on Castle's face and sadness of his eyes was enough to make her heart break a little. She wouldn't betray Kate's trust but she had to lift his spirit a bit.
"Look, Castle, she is scared. Don't ask me of what, because I don't know, but she is. She will come to her senses but she unconsciously asked you for space, you need to give it to her. She will call. I know her, she will. Just not for a while"
She placed a comforting hand on his arm and he smiled at her, with a little more hope and peace of mind. He would wait, as long as it took. He had promised her that and she was worth it.
"Thank you, Lanie" – he said as he hugged her.
She was a little surprised but hugged him back nonetheless. She had realized a while back that Castle was good to her girl but seeing him tonight like that, well, all doubts that had ever existed had vanished as quick as lightning.
Not long after that Ryan and Jenny arrived. Everyone greeted and Ryan went directly to where Esposito was playing Halo, making the girls roll their eyes at their boyish ways.
Rick finished setting the poker table, refreshments and snacks. He went to call the boys but ended playing a round or two of Halo.
After practically dragging the three stooges (as Lanie so fondly called them) out of Rick's studio they began to play.
They had played around three hands (Rick being the winner of all of them), talking and having fun when Ryan looked knowingly at Esposito. The game was on.
"So, Castle. We heard something really interesting today" – said Ryan while calling the hand.
"Yeah?" – Asked Rick, a little insecure. He didn't like his friend's tone. He felt the sudden need to run and hide.
"Yeah, bro – interrupted Esposito – "Should I tell him or should you?" – He asked looking at Ryan, a mischievous grin on his face.
"Oh, be my guest"
"Thanks, man"
While this was happening Rick looked at Lanie who was glaring at Esposito. 'Yeap', the writer thought, 'she told Espo about dinner'.
"We heard from an anonymous source that you had gone on a date with a certain Detective yesterday, is there something you want to share with the class?"
"Uh, no?"
"Come on, man. We're your buddies, you can tell us anything" – said Ryan.
"There is nothing to tell; we ate, we had a few laughs and I came home" – he said nonchalantly. It was those moments when he was grateful for his acting genes.
Lanie who was sitting next to Esposito gave him a quick kick on the calf and a glare that clearly said 'drop it or I'll withhold sex for a month' at witch Esposito widened his eyes and slightly nodded.
"Ok bro, be like that, we'll know the truth sooner or later, right now let's play"
Ryan gave him a confused look but after receiving a death glare from both Lanie and Jenny he focused on the game again. Rick couldn't be more grateful at both women.
Just as was predicted Castle lost his focus and the winner turned out to be Ryan, followed closely by Lanie, Esposito, Jenny (who had a very good poker face for a first timer) and finally Rick.
At approximately 10 pm they decided to end the night, the boys had to work on that high profile early in the morning and both Lanie and Jenny had early shifts.
Alexis had stayed at Paige's house for the night to study for some crazy exam she had the next day and Martha wouldn't be home for at least another hour. He decided to call it a night and try to get some sleep.
As he usually went to bed a little after 12, he was up at the ungodly hour of 6 am. The sun was barely up and the house was extremely quiet. He checked his phone; No messages or missed calls, he sighed loudly, frustration filling him.
After breakfast was made and eaten it wasn't even 7 and he had already nothing to do for the rest of the day, or week, or month for that matter.
He went to his bookshelf and decided to grab something from Poe. He was his favorite author and primal inspiration for becoming a writer.
He settled with a collection of his favorite's stories and went to his studio, got his iPod and listened to some hard rock. He wasn't a fan of reading and listening to something as hard core as AC/DC but in this case he needed to stop thinking, and what better way than reading Poe and listening to the gracious tunes of Angus Young and his killer guitar solos.
It was going to be a long couple of months.
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