Took me a while to get this chapter and the next where I wanted them. Still working on the next one, but wanted to get this one up. (Actually, this one just started getting too long, so I tried to break it up a bit to allow me to get this to you sooner.)

Chapter 20 – First comes love

Castle pulled up to park alongside along the curb opposite Kate's apartment building. They hadn't spoken during the ten minute ride back to her place. No music. No touches. No tears. Just silence as Rick drove and Kate stared out the window.

Rick popped the trunk and reached in to grab his bag. He'd taken to keeping spare clothes in his trunk as well as at the precinct—a habit he'd picked up from Beckett that he was very much appreciating at the moment. It was only misting now, but he was thoroughly soaked, so it didn't matter. He went around to the passenger side, a little surprised that Kate hadn't leapt from the car's confines seeking escape. He opened the door and lightly touched her shoulder.

"Come on, Kate."

She stood, and allowed him to guide her to across the street, to the elevator, into her apartment. Once inside, she walked, stopping in the walkway between her counter and couch. Castle stepped into her hall bathroom to change out of his wet clothes, thinking Beckett would do the same.

Kate, though, was suddenly struck by how little of her mother there was left. When she'd died, it hadn't made sense to keep her clothes, so they'd been donated. When her father moved, more things had been donated. She'd been so angry with him when he decided to leave the townhouse she'd grown up in—where they'd all lived and been happy together. It was the one time she could remember her father yelling at her after her mother's death. She wasn't the one living there with the ghost of Johanna Beckett. She wasn't the one that retired each night to room they once shared. She wasn't the one who still reached into the cupboard for two coffee mugs each morning. It was too big, too empty. She'd been angry, but she had to admit, it had been a turning point for her father.

Johanna Beckett hadn't collected things, so there wasn't a lot that was meaningful to save. Sure, Kate had Christmas ornaments she'd made for her mother and pictures she'd drawn that her mother had saved. She had photos, of course, a metal bookmark engraved with "Johanna," and many of her mother's books. She had emerald-colored salt and pepper shakers that her mother and her father had received as a wedding gift. Her mother thought they were too pretty to use, so instead, they collected dust on a shelf. Still, her mother had saved them, so she did, too. Most of what she'd collected about her mother were stories, mostly told to her by other people. They helped fill in the gaps and she never tired of hearing about her mother.

But, the one thing she'd had that she knew meant something to her mother was that silver band with the small diamond solitaire. And now it was gone.

As a little girl, she'd begged her mother to tell her about the ring. "First comes love, Katie." She'd smile, tucking her little girl's hair behind her ears. "One day you're walking alone, and the boy you've known your whole life starts walking with you. You might not even realize it at first, but then, one day, while you're walking, this boy you've known your whole life reaches out to hold your hand. You let him, and you keep walking, but you're walking together now. At some point, while you're walking, you look over, and realize that the boy who is holding your hand is now a man. And just when you start to wonder if he's ever going to let go of your hand, he squeezes it harder, and tugs you along with him."

"You keep walking. You have a lot of paths to choose from, but you find you want to walk them together. Somehow, you never get tired of walking and talking with one another. Then, late one afternoon, while you're out walking, he leads you to a spot on a hill. You see a blanket, a basket, a bottle of wine. He asks if you'd care to join him for dinner? You say 'Yes', of course. Your picnic dinner is perfect—except he forgot the wine opener. As you watch the sun set, he whispers to you, "You're the light that guides my path. My love for you lasts longer and burns brighter than the sun." He holds out an object between his two fingers, capturing the sun in its center. "Like the circle of the sun, my love for you is unending." He kneels in front of you and says, "I want this ring to remind you of that, Johanna, when you wear it." He never actually asks you to marry him and you never actually say yes, but you both know. Everyone knows. A few months later, you walk down the aisle. You both say "I do." And that, my dear Katie, is the story of us and the start of beautiful you."

Castle stood watching her. Still no tears. He could see her trying to bottle things up, partition her pain away in a little corner where she wouldn't have to deal with it. But she was failing. He could see it. She was drowning in unshed tears.

And she looked as if someone had tried to drown her. Her clothes sagged heavily from her body. She hadn't moved to change. He watched her shiver again. She had to get out of those wet clothes.

"Beckett?" No response.

"Kate!" She jolted, and looked up at him.

"Beckett, you need to change. Take a warm shower. You're gonna get sick." She'd faded back into her thoughts before he finished speaking.

Castle stepped toward her quickly until he was standing right in front of her.

"I swear to God, Beckett, if you don't start getting out of those clothes, I'm going to help you."

Still Kate didn't move. He had to push her. He needed her to react. He couldn't handle her gloomy cataleptic state. That's it, he thought to himself. Prepare to die Richard Castle.

He reached out his hands for her top button, not even trying to be gentle or discreet. Half way through her first button, Kate snapped to.

"What the hell, Castle? Get your hands off me!"

"I warned you, Beckett. Now, go change."

"Why are you even here?"

"I'm here to make sure you take care of yourself."

"I always take care of myself."

"Then go. Change."

""This is my house, Castle. Where do you get off telling me what to do?"

"Like I get off on telling you what to do."

"Then stop telling me what to do!"

"You need to calm down." Yeah, that would really piss her off.

"Don't tell me to 'calm down'!" Beckett yelled, shoving at his chest.

"Fine! You want to scream? You want to yell? Have at it, Detective!"

"CASTLE!" Kate stepped toward him and reached out, looking like she wanted to slug someone or something. She wasn't going to hit him, she just wanted to shake him, maybe pound on him. Castle didn't know that though. He really thought she was going to hit him, and that it would be undeserved.

Kate watched him step back from her. She was appalled. She'd made Castle believe she was going to hit him.

"Dammit, Castle!"

Her anger boiled over. She turned to the counter, swiping everything from its surface. Her mail basket and all its contents scattered. Her glass from yesterday shattered. Her whole body tensed. Her hands curled into fists and she shook them violently in the air at her sides while screaming through her clenched jaw. And just like that, her shoulders slumped, and she stalked off to her bedroom.

Success, Castle thought. He set about cleaning up the mess Kate had made.

Well? What say you? I'd be happy to know if you like the momentum, pace, etc., if you have the time. Thanks for reading!