Kate resigned herself to life at work without Castle. She missed his coffee, his smile, his banter, the way he looked at her when he didn't think she noticed – she missed him. She tried to stop searching for him because she didn't know what she would say when she found him. What she couldn't stop was the ache in her heart and the grief over her missed opportunities. No matter where she was she would see a man Castle's height and she'd do a double take. She would see his jacket and take a longer look, hoping it would be him. She longed to call him each and every time she got a call about a new case, but she forced herself to push those thoughts aside.

The mood at the office was more somber now. Everyone felt it and the boys still held it against her slightly. They never knew what had happened to bring about Castle's departure, but they were not stupid in the ways of relationships and they knew it had to be big for Castle to walk away. Even Gates seemed surprised about the change in the atmosphere at the precinct and she had been Castle's biggest opponent. However, she would never admit that she missed his presence.

If the boys had been able to maintain contact with Castle, Kate was unaware of it and she didn't think they would hide something that big from her. A part of her believed that they felt loyal to her and wouldn't cavort with him after hours while they still had to work with her day in and day out. That loyalty put more pressure on her at work than she had ever put on herself.

Lanie was little help to Beckett. She didn't have the right words to say especially since she had been urging Kate to get with Castle for years now. She watched as Kate slowly withdrew from what little life outside the job she had cultivated and she felt helpless to stop it.

Despite downloading all of Castle's murderboard information Kate had not been able to sniff out even one lead to help her and she felt lost and alone without Castle by her side working the case. She cursed herself for becoming so dependent on him. She had never felt this way at the end of a relationship before. She spent hours by herself pondering the meaning of her feelings.

The more time she spent by herself thinking brought back the memories of Castle coming to the hospital when her betrayal began. It seemed so simple to just tell him she didn't remember anything about the shooting. How could she deal with Castle's declaration of love when she had just risen from the dead, lost her mentor, and was with someone else? She had convinced herself that her need for time was more important that Castle's needs and she held onto that belief every time she felt a twinge of guilt over her secret. She should have know the truth would come out, she just assumed it would be revealed face-to-face and from her. Back then she hadn't planned to keep Castle at bay for three months and she never dreamed that he would stay faithful to her and the case during her silence. It still made her eyes water to think of his loyalty and his words when he first saw her in the hospital, "I just never thought I'd see you again." He loved her and she had taken it for granted. Taken every generous act he offered and gave him nothing in return.

Time passed slowly for Kate and work became her only interaction with the world. She could clearly see herself going down a new rabbit-hole, but she felt unable to do anything to stop it. Finally, her desperation led her to make one last-ditch effort to get Castle back. She didn't know what would happen if it didn't work, she didn't know how to get over him, but she wasn't going to think about the worst case scenario now. She had to believe that the best could and would happen for her. She picked up her phone and dialed the all too familiar number to Castle's cell. It had been three months since he had walked out of her life and the significance of that time frame was not lost on her, she hoped Castle would take note of it as well. The phone rang and continued until his familiar voice answered via voice message. Involuntarily she gasped at the sound of his voice, it had been too long. She waited impatiently for the message to end and the signal that it was her turn to talk. At the beep she cleared her voice and said simply, "Castle, I love you too."

She ended the call and let the phone drop to her lap. Every fiber in her being wanted to crawl under the covers and wait for a call back from him, but she knew she couldn't give into those feelings any longer. She had timed the call so that she would be ready for the day and would have to go to the precinct and work in order to get her mind off of the vulnerability she had shown in that phone call.

Castle picked up his phone on the first ring. He breathed deeply when he saw Beckett's picture fill the screen. He had not bothered to change the photo and he was taken back by her beauty even after all this time. Even though he wanted to answer the call and talk to her, he let the phone drop back to the desk and he tried to focus on writing. Less than a minute passed and the familiar beep from his phone told him that he had a new message waiting. He wasted no time dialing for voice mail and a huge grin crossed his face as he heard her voice say the sweetest and most sought after sentence in the world.

Without hesitation, Castle forgot his writing, stood up, and glanced at the clock. He easily recalled Beckett's routine and knew where she would be at this time of the morning, he reached for his jacket and he headed to the 12th.

THE END

A/N: Not my favorite chapter, but I needed to finish this story and had no other ideas. Thank you for reading.