A/N: Feel free to skip this...So I basically abandoned this story over a year ago. When these episodes were airing I really hated them. I especially hated Castle's character, and I was ready to quit watching the show altogether. Castle really was a jerk and I cringed every time he came on screen. So I lost the mojo to even finish this, but I promised myself that if even 1 person asked, I would complete it . Lo and behold along comes Firtree like a bajillion years after I left it and he/she asked. So here it is. Haven't written since, so I hope its not too bad.

Yes, I kept watching.

Kate was home. Alone. "Of course", she thought. She had a quick drink with Inspector Hunt before he caught the redeye back to London. When she'd walked into the bar to meet him he'd called her out about Castle almost immediately, but then with that easy smile he'd assured her that he really didn't mind being her 'Plan B' for the evening. Though initially she tried to deny it, eventually she'd simply asked him if they could talk about anything but him, and he'd readily agreed. He was a nice guy, and they'd had a nice time. When she could focus on what he was saying and not on what Castle might be up to.

With no active case to work, she had no viable excuse to return to the precinct at this time of the night, but she was restless and had no real desire to be at home either. She was feeling particularly...unsettled, recently. She needed something to do, and she needed to quit thinking about him.

Not so easy. She had worked so hard in therapy to let go of her need to continue grieving her mother, to finally move past her death, stop letting it define her. Stop allowing it to dictate her life, her future. She'd put her case aside, for the short term anyway, at Castle's suggestion. She had other things, live things, to concentrate on, right? She needed to step away, to get her head together, see who she could be without the specter of Her Case consuming her.

To finally let Castle in.

Concentrate on the living, and on living her life, was what Burke had said. "Yeah. Right", she thought with a bitter smile.

Recently, with Burke, she had felt like she was coming to the end of a long hard obstacle course. It'd taken a Herculean effort on her part just to survive it, to get through it. To keep showing up in his office, to keep putting in the work. To get to the place where she felt she needed to be. Sessions with Burke left her raw, frayed, and more often than not, exhausted. But she believed it would be worth it in the end.

To get to be with him.

Finally, to be with him.

Only, when she crossed the finish line, finally feeling like she was ready to hold up her end of a relationship, instead of being able to claim her prize, to jump in with Castle with both feet, she stood alone. And she truly had no idea why.

She'd asked him; multiple times, in fact. She'd been made to feel like she had something to apologize for, but she didn't know what, and he wasn't talking. Not about that at least. He was more than willing to talk about stewardesses and lunch dates and Ferraris and Vegas, but every time she tried to ask him what was going on with him, why he seemed so upset with her, he shut her down and walked away. Although tonight when she had asked, he at least gave her an answer. Just not at all what she wanted to hear. "Fun and uncomplicated. I think that's what my life needs right now."

Wow.

Clearly, she was dismissed.

She'd never been left so utterly speechless than when he'd tossed that off so casually over his shoulder as he'd left tonight. There was just no way he didn't know how much that would hurt. But, hey Jacinda was double parked in the Ferrari, so, yeah, gotta go…. Douche.

And Jacinda.

What the hell kind of name was that anyway? Ugh.

She felt...cheated on. She knew that technically they weren't together. Yet. But still, it felt like he was hers, and he was cheating. And he was rubbing her nose in it. He had said he loved her. He was supposed to be waiting for her dammit!

Obviously, his plans had changed, and he was done. So done, he wasn't even willing to give her a chance to fight for them by simply telling her what was wrong.

So, as she topped off her glass of Cabernet and waited for her laptop to boot, she thought, why bother? Why put in any more time with Burke? Or any more effort with Castle for that matter? Screw him!

Still, it bothered her that he seemed so upset with her. Why not just tell her he was done waiting and leave it at that? He'd dated other women in the past and still maintained the status quo with her. Why was this time different? She was definitely missing something.

It was like he was punishing her. Intentionally bringing the stewardess around the precinct, around her crime scenes, for Pete's sake, to throw in her face! She'd been wracking her brain to figure out why, what she could've done,or not done, but for the life of her she had no idea. And Castle wasn't talking.

Obviously, their relationship wasn't that important to him if he wouldn't even make the effort to tell her what she'd done that was so terrible he was willing to toss it all away, with no discussion!

But, enough of that tonight. She had a case she could focus on to occupy her mind. She was tired of spinning her wheels where he was concerned anyway. She couldn't make it right until he told her what was wrong. And tonight, she had the financials of an Arson Investigator to get through.