Chapter 25 Long Gone and Moved On

After Kate taped up the latest cardboard box containing her belongings, she sat down and sighed. Moving was such a troublesome ordeal and only a third of the battle was over. She still needed to physically move all her things to the new apartment then unpack everything and get situated into the new place. It was her own personal Herculean labor.

Each box contained a portion of her things either from her previous apartment or items that she had bought after the explosion. Kate hoped that by moving all her belongings to her new apartment she would be reminded of Rick less.

A new setting, a new place to call home, would be the perfect atmosphere for a fresh start. It was just what she needed to get away from the complicated mess that was her "relationship" with Richard Castle, the playboy extraordinaire. The immature, annoying man child who drove her crazy on a daily basis yet somehow made her crazy about him. The one who had forgotten about her at home while he was away gallivanting with debutantes in Europe.

She felt a familiar pang in her chest when she thought about him. The sound of her cellphone's ringtone chirping pulled Kate out from her thoughts.

Kate picked up automatically, without checking the number first. "Beckett," she answered curtly, on instinct.

"Hey Kate," the voice on the other line started. "It's Tom."

"Oh hey," she greeted the robbery detective with a warmer tone. They had a nice dinner together after their friendly little sparring match, but Kate hadn't been in contact with him since.

"How have you been?"

"Good, you?" Kate answered.

"Great. You know, I had a good time with you on our dinner date…" Demming started.

"Oh, I did too," Kate replied.

"Hmm…" he pondered. "So why haven't you called me since then?" Tom inquired.

Crap, she thought. Kate had totally forgotten about that. Well not completely forgotten per se, but she had put it in the back of her mind.

Kate had been primarily preoccupied with work and moving as of late and hadn't gotten a chance to call Demming back. She also didn't know where things were going with him. He seemed like a great guy, but she wasn't exactly ready for another relationship right now.

"Oh, I'm really sorry I haven't gotten a chance to call you back. I've, uh, been really busy lately…" Kate trailed off.

"Hmm, that seems to be a common answer with you," Tom noted. "If you don't want to see me again, you can just say so," he graciously offered her a way out.

"No, no it's not that," Kate insisted. "I have been busy with apartment hunting and now packing."

"Oh, you're looking for a new apartment? Are you moving?"

"Yeah, I just found a place in Midtown. I signed the lease a few days ago. Now I'm currently packing up my stuff to make the move out there."

"So I take it you aren't free for dinner tonight?" Demming asked, slightly disappointed.

"No, sorry. I've still got a few boxes to pack then I'm going to move them all to my new place," Kate explained.

"Well how about a helping hand then?" Demming offered. "Not that you aren't capable of moving your stuff on your own. But it's quite the endeavor and I'm sure you wouldn't mind some extra muscle," Tom grinned.

Kate couldn't help but smile at his persistence. He was such a chivalrous guy. And that pearly white smile… Kate definitely could use an extra pair of hands to move her belongings and she wouldn't mind the company.

In fact, Kate welcomed it. She needed a distraction from all the thoughts of missing a certain mystery novelist. A tall, dark, and handsome distraction too. She definitely didn't mind at all.

"Actually that would be great," Kate accepted. "Are you sure you have nothing better to do on a Friday night?"

"Nope my schedule's all free. You've got yourself a strongman to do all your heavy lifting."

"Alright iron man," she teased. "I'm at 425 Broome St right now. After we load up all my stuff, we can drive over to my new apartment together."

"Okay," Demming confirmed, scribbling down the address. "See you in a bit."

"Mmkay. See you."

Twenty-five minutes later, Demming arrived at the loft with a pickup truck he had borrowed from a friend. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best he could do on such short notice. It wouldn't be a problem if they had to make a few trips back and forth.

He was greeted at the door by a casually dressed Beckett who was grateful to see him.

"Hey," Kate grinned.

"Hey back at you," he smiled at her, entering the apartment. "This is for you," he said as he handed Kate a bottle of red wine. "A little housewarming gift."

"Thank you," she accepted graciously. "And thanks again for doing this."

"My pleasure. This is a nice place," Tom remarked, surveying the tastefully decorated apartment. "Why are you moving out of here?" he asked.

"Oh, this isn't my apartment. It's uh… a friend's place," Kate explained. "I've been staying here on the interim, after the explosion."

"Explosion?" Demming asked, taken aback.

"Yeah, it's kind of a long story," Kate trailed off.

"That sounds like an interesting story. I've got time to listen."

Kate considered the proposition. She could tell him about the case and the explosion, but would need to leave out the details where she moved in with Castle and started a friends with benefits relationship with him.

"Hmm… maybe after we move all my stuff," she offered.

"Okay," Demming said, satisfied. "So what do you need moving? I'm at your service." He rolled up his sleeves, ready to get to work.

She motioned to the stack of boxes in the living room. "Those… and the rest of the stuff is upstairs."

"Any furniture?" he inquired.

"The apartment comes with some basic furnishings, so I don't have any big items to move right now. Besides, none of the furniture here is mine."

"Got it," Demming affirmed, picking up two boxes with a firm grip.

"Well let's get to it."

Two hours and several trips back and forth between apartments later, Demming plunked down the last box into the living room of Kate's new apartment with a grunt. Kate's apartment had warmly polished wood floors and a decent set of furniture to match. The place was pristine and quite empty, save for the boxes of her stuff that they had lugged into the living room.

It felt a bit foreign to her now, but with a little TLC and personalized decorations, it would feel like home in no time.

"I think that's the last one," Demming let out a breath of air.

Kate set down a box, equally as exhausted. "Yeah, that looks like everything."

"I am so thankful we have the modern convenience of elevators... But your apartment does have quite a nice view," Demming remarked, surveying the view.

The living room had wide windows that spanned the width of the room, affording a panoramic view overlooking the Manhattan skyline. From that vantage point, they could see the bright lights of the city that never slept and the endless bustle of people living fast paced lives.

"Mhm, that's one of the things I like best about the place." New York City was and always would be home to her.

Demming's stomach grumbled. "Mmm… I'm starving. Want to order some takeout?" he suggested.

"Sure."

"What do you feel like having? Chinese food?"

"That's my favorite," Kate grinned.

"I know a great place that delivers. I'll order in for us." Demming stepped aside for a minute and placed a quick dinner order for the two of them.

He ended the call on his phone as he returned to the living room where Kate was. "It'll be about 30 minutes. Want me to help you unpack while we wait for food?"

"You've already been such a big help by moving the boxes and driving me back and forth between apartments," Kate started. "Are you sure you don't mind unpacking too?"

"Of course not. As long as I get to spend time with you," Demming grinned widely.

Kate felt a smile tugging at the corner of her lips at his comment. Demming was such a genuine guy. He knew all the right things to say and do to make a girl feel special.

"Hmm, alright. We can start with these boxes." She plopped down in front of an assortment of boxes and expertly cut one open with a box cutter.

They spent half an hour chatting about work while they unpacked her things. Demming helped Kate unpack her kitchen necessities and electronics, placing them accordingly. They were just about to put up some of her decorations when the food came. Demming went downstairs to get the food and pay the delivery guy.

"Hey let's take a break," Demming enticed, carrying the takeout over into the kitchen.

"Alright," Kate agreed. She trekked into the sparsely furnished kitchen to join him for dinner.

"Hong's?" she inquired, eyeing the takeout bag. "They don't deliver."

Demming grinned. "He does for me."

"No way, what's the story behind that?"

"A few years back, his store got robbed. They took some cash, kitchen appliances, and whatnot but the thing that mattered most to Mr. Hong was this 15th century Ming dynasty medal that was passed down between generations in his family. I eventually found the perps and recovered his family's heirloom. And now since I delivered, so does he." Demming opened up the takeout containers and they helped themselves to delicious food.

"Wow," Beckett admired. "Why'd you get into robbery anyways? With your keen skills you'd make a great homicide detective."

"Hmmm…" Demming pondered. "Let's just say that I have a knack for finding things that are lost. I know how to make connections and which buttons to push. I've built up a large pool of favors to cash in too when the time is necessary. I guess I'm just better at finding lost things rather than lost people," he explained.

"What about you?" Demming inquired. "Why homicide? That seems like a bit of a somber path to travel down."

Beckett went quiet for a moment. She thought about the dark truth to that question. The real answer was because of her mother's unsolved murder which is what constantly drove her to put all her effort into finding closure for the families of the victims. But she didn't want to share about her mother with him. She wasn't ready for him to know yet.

"It is a really heavy responsibility a lot of the time," she started. "But when justice is brought to the victim's families, when I bring them closure, it's all worth it. Everyone deserves that. Each person has a story to be told and it's up to me to discover it and let the victims be heard when they can't speak for themselves."

Demming detected a hint of strain in her voice but didn't question it. It was understandably a stressful job. She invested so much in each case, which is what made her such a good detective but also drained her emotionally with every case.

"Well from what I've seen, you're one of the best detectives in the department," he complimented her, trying to lighten the mood. "We need more detectives like you. Ones who care more about the people than clearance rates."

"I do my best," she said humbly.

They finished up the rest of the Chinese food and cleaned up the kitchen table together.

"Back to unpacking?" Demming asked.

"I think I'm done for tonight. I've gotten most of the basic stuff out. The rest can wait until later."

"How about we open that bottle of wine then?" Demming suggested instead.

"Sounds great. Can you get two glasses while I find a bottle opener?" Kate instructed.

"Sure thing."

A few minutes later they were cozied up on the couch in the living room, relaxing in the dim glow from the kitchen light. They sipped lazily at their wine glasses, enjoying each other's company.

"So I'm still waiting to hear that bomb story…" Demming prompted. He was quite curious about what happened to her old apartment.

"Ah yes," Kate remembered. "Well it all started with a victim we found at Grand Central Station…"

She relayed the thrilling story, even borrowing some of Castle's phrases or extravagant descriptions from time to time when he told the story to Alexis over breakfast. Kate made an effort to only hit the high points, detailing their reluctant alliance with the FBI, the explosion, and the culmination of the case which involved Agent Shaw's kidnapping, so as to not dominate the conversation. She also deliberately left out the details of her post-explosion domicile situation.

"So that's how my apartment got blown up…" Kate said as she finished the story.

"Wow. That's the craziest case I've ever heard of," Demming replied astonished. "Talk about job hazards…"

"Yeah, that one hit a little too close to home. Literally," she sighed.

"I'm really glad that you're okay," Demming said genuinely. "Here's to living to fight another day," he raised his glass in a salute.

Kate mirrored his actions and downed the last aliquot of her wine.

Demming glanced at his watch casually and noticed that they'd been talking for nearly two hours. "Oh wow, it's really late."

"Sorry the story ran long," Kate apologized.

"Don't be. It was really interesting. I'd love to hear about your other thrilling cases sometime."

"Hmm, yeah maybe some other time" Kate mused.

Demming got up to grab his keys and moved towards the front door as Kate followed suit.

"Thank you again for all your help."

"Of course. Feel free to call if you need anything else moved. Or if you need another sparring partner," Demming offered, grinning.

"I might just take you up on that," Kate smiled back at him.

"Don't forget to call next time…"

"I won't," Kate chuckled.

She looked up into his sparkling hazel eyes as he held her gaze intently. He leaned in slowly and cupped her cheek, tilting her chin up to let her lips meet his. Her eyes fluttered close as their lips met. He kissed her gently, enjoying the feeling of her soft lips against his. It was as sweet as a first kiss could be.

When they parted, Demming paused tentatively, unsure if he should kiss her again. Kate pulled away in response and blushed.

He tried searching her eyes for a response, but to no avail as she was averting her eyes from his.

Demming saw how Kate was avoiding his eyes and he started to doubt his actions. "Was that the wrong move?" he inquired.

"No, no," she replied.

"Then…?" he sighed. "I really like you Kate and I thought things were going well," Demming posited, utterly confused.

"They are. I mean, I like you too Tom. It's just…" Kate sighed heavily, trying to come up with a proper explanation for her reaction. "I just had a messy relationship with someone that didn't end up so well… I don't think I'm ready for anything new right now."

"So what exactly are you saying?"

Kate thought for a moment. "I'm not saying no… but I'm not saying yes either. I just need some time to figure things out by myself first."

"Okay, fair enough. Do you still want to spend some time together or should I give you some space?"

"Umm… I think I need a little time to myself right now. But I'll give you a call sometime."

"Alright."

"Drive safely, okay?" she said softly.

"Will do. Good night Kate."

"Good night."

Kate closed the door and went to the living room to retrieve the wine glasses. After she brought them to the sink and rinsed them, she returned to the living room to arrange some stuff and clear up the clutter.

Kate was absentmindedly stacking up some books into a neat pile when she caught a glimpse of the novel she was holding. Heat Wave. She flipped to the back panel to look at the author bio and the accompanying picture. Kate bit her lip as she gazed upon the handsome picture of Richard Castle.

She knew exactly what, or rather who, was keeping her from pursuing things with Demming and she was looking right at him. Kate couldn't ease the qualms lingering in the back of her mind whenever she was with Demming. She knew that it was because she hadn't ended it with Castle officially or in so many words, which wasn't fair to either Castle or Demming.

Kate made up her mind once and for all. She would end things with Castle whenever he got back so that she could give Demming a chance. With her decision made, Kate set the novel on the pile, turned off the lights, and went to her new bedroom to sleep.

A/N: Don't even know why I'm still writing this story. It's been so long. Happy new year~

He might just make me smile
But the whole time I'm wishing he were you instead