CHAPTER TWELVE – TO BE CONTINUED….

Beckett stood outside of Castle's door and sucked in a huge breath. She couldn't believe she was here, ready to take probably the biggest leap of her life. The entire way here, she had considered what she would say or do when she saw him.

As she stood outside of his door, she felt the butterflies in her stomach and grinned. He had an incredible effect on her, and as much as she hated not being in total control, this was a feeling she didn't mind so much.

Kate summoned all of the courage she had in her and knocked on his door. Her grin spread into a glowing smile as she waited for him to open the door.

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Castle heard a knock at the door and jumped up to answer it. A smile spread across his face as he opened the door.

"Here's your room service order, Mr. Castle." The hotel bellhop greeted Rick. "And may I say, I hope you enjoy your time here in England."

Castle moved out of the way to let the bellhop in, revealing his lavish hotel room.

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"Beckett?" Martha was surprised to see the detective when she opened the door to her son's apartment. "What brings you by, my dear?"

Kate smiled. "Hi, Martha. I was actually coming by to talk to Castle before he leaves on his trip. Is he not home yet?"

"Oh my," Martha started, realizing this was going to be awkward. "Richard and Alexis are already gone. I'm sorry, Kate, I know my son's not the best at goodbyes, but I can't believe he didn't stop by to see you on his way out..."

Beckett's smile faded and her brow furrowed out of confusion. "Gone? But he said his flight was at nine o'clock…"

"It was, my dear. Nine o'clock this morning…" Martha could tell by the look on her face that Kate was stunned by the news. "They should be settled in by now, though, so he'll be calling here soon. Did you want to come in and wait to talk to him, or can I give him a message for you?" Martha offered.

Beckett stood silent for a moment, not even sure herself what she would have said to him. She opened her mouth to say something but then closed it again, swallowing hard to keep the emotion out of her voice before she spoke. "Thank you, Martha, but that's okay. I'll just see him when he gets home."

Martha watched as Kate backed away slowly from the door.

"Goodnight, Martha, and have a nice summer."

"Thank you, and same to you, my dear."

Kate turned around and walked down the hallway, tears starting to form in her eyes. She stepped onto the elevator and exhaled deeply as the doors closed, hiding her behind them.

TO BE CONTINUED….

I know it's not the happy ending that we would all love to see between Castle and Beckett, but I think our favourite couple still have a ways to go before they can really have a shot at getting (and staying) together. So I hope you enjoyed my take on this!

Thanks again for all of your reviews and to everyone who took the time to read this!! You are all so wonderful, and I feel so welcomed as a new fanfic writer!!