Chapter 8

Standing in the lobby of her parent's apartment building, Kate anxiously shifted her weight back and forth from her right side to her left chewing on her bottom lip all the while. She knew she didn't have to wait for Rick in the lobby of her building; he was obviously capable of following the directions to her apartment, but she also was not sure if he would still be using his crutch and thus need help. Plus, between her anxious energy and her mother's nerves, she was actually grateful for the several minute break away from her parents.

All in all, their Christmas had been just as wonderful as she hoped it would be. They had a delicious meal, exchanged gifts, watched more Christmas movies, and best of all, swapped some of their favorite stories from years' past. She didn't think a better last Christmas for them could have existed and the week would be made even better by the arrival of her mystery writer guest.

As per their agreement, Kate called Rick mid-morning on the twenty-sixth and he seemed genuinely pleased to hear from her. He told her that despite having many exciting plans with his daughter, he'd left the twenty-seventh relatively open, not sure when would be best for her mother's dialysis schedule, because of course he wished for her to watch him sign her book in person. Kate requested that he come over at ten since her mother had to leave no later than noon for her dialysis and he happily agreed. With their plans set, Kate finally revealed her secondary Christmas gift to her mother and to say that Johanna had been excited would have been an understatement.

Promptly at ten, Kate watched Castle enter the building lobby and was pleased to see that he wasn't using his crutch. He did, however, seem to be wearing a scowl instead of a smile, which had her concerned. "Hey—thanks for coming. Is…everything okay?"

He appeared a bit startled to see her and did a double-take. "K-Kate—oh! Hi… I'm sorry—I didn't expect to see you in the lobby." Once he'd recovered, he swooped in and greeted her with a quick one-armed hug.

"No, no it's fine. I actually thought you might have your crutch and—well, never mind. I'm glad you're here; I really, really appreciate it, but don't worry; we won't keep you long. I'm sure you have plenty of things to do."

He shook his head. "Don't be silly—I can absolutely stay until your mother leaves for dialysis. I just…I apologize. I received a voicemail from Gina and stupidly I listened to it on the way over here."

Kate cringed. "Oh. I'm sorry."

He shook off her concern. "No, no, just forget about it. Shall we?" He swept his hand towards the elevator and they both walked towards it.

"How's your leg?"

"Good—real good. This is actually the first morning that I can tell it's definitely on the mend."

"Great!" she said, very glad to hear that he was not suffering any long-term ill-effects of their crash.

He smiled at her as the elevator doors closed in front of them. "Good Christmas?"

"Oh, yeah. It was…it was really nice. How about yours?"

"Good, good. Alexis loved all her presents…and I already kind of broke mine."

Kate laughed. "Did you really?"

"It was a toy helicopter…long story, but I think I can get it fixed next week."

"Well…I hope you can fix it…" she said, not really knowing what else to say to a man in his late thirties who broke a toy helicopter on Christmas.

A moment later, the elevator doors opened on the third floor of the building and Kate led the way to her parent's apartment. She let them both inside and then walked into the living area were both her parents were seated. She then proceeded to do the introductions; amusingly, her mother seemed rather flustered.

"It is so nice to meet you, Mr. Castle," Joanna said as she shook the author's hand while blushing furiously.

"Please, call me Rick."

"Rick," she echoed with a near chortle. "It's just such a pleasure; I love all your books. Oh! Oh and of course—we are so thankful that you helped Katie get home to us."

"Mom," Kate said in a warning tone. They had a discussion the night before about treating Rick like a person and not a celebrity and, most importantly, not talking too much about their crash.

"Well, one could argue it was my fault we were in that predicament to begin with…but nevertheless it wasn't a problem; I always love doing nice things for people around the holidays. Oh! Speaking of…" He walked over to the coffee table where his inaugural book, Flowers for Your Grave, sat on the nearest corner. The cover was tattered and torn around the edges and the pages were well dog-eared, but Kate didn't think he would mind as she believed the fact that the book had been read dozens of times would be a compliment to him.

"Is this one your favorite?" he asked Johanna while dipping his hand into his blazer pocket and pulling out a black sharpie.

"Oh well…I don't know about that—it's so hard to choose a favorite! It's one of my top few, for sure. Actually, it's the first one I read."

He smiled as he finished signing his name and then turned to her and asked, "Really? Did you read them all in order?"

"I believe so, yes. At least—I tried to. Flowers for Your Grave was the first I read—I remember we were on vacation and I popped into the first book store I found and there it was sitting on a shelf all by itself. After I finished it I liked it so much I tried to find others you wrote but there was only one other."

Rick's brow rose. "Wow—that must have been twelve, thirteen years ago."

Johanna nodded. "Katie was in high school so that sounds about right—and I've read every one you've written since!"

Kate let out a breathy chuckle and said quietly, "Told you she was a fan…"

Rick merely grinned at her before turning back to Johanna. "I'm very pleased to hear that, but I must admit to being a little surprised. Often times when I run into those in law enforcement or legal careers they don't like to read about topics that hit so close to home, shall we say…"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Oh that doesn't bother me."

"She likes to read them and find all the mistakes the authors made," Jim pointed out wisely.

"Jim!"

"Uh oh," Rick said in a sing-song tone before glancing at Jim and Kate briefly before turning back to Johanna. Kate covered her face with embarrassment as her mother attempted to defend herself.

"I don't read them solely for that, but…I have found mistakes on occasion. Not too many in yours, though."

Rick placed his palm flat on his chest. "Well I'm very relieved to hear that. I do pride myself on how much research I do; I feel accuracy really crafts the best, most believable, and sometimes scariest stories."

"Well I assure you—you succeed!"

He nodded to her graciously before an unreadable smile crossed his face. "Thank you, but actually that brings me to an interesting point… On the way over here, I was wondering if you might be willing to let me interview you."

Johanna nearly fell off the couch. "Me!?"

"Yes, you! As I said: I pride myself on research and I love to dive into anything I can, even if I'm not going to use it until a later date. I was actually thinking about asking Kate, but…" he paused to give her a quick nod. "Well, it's a little bit more impractical to shadow her all the way in San Francisco…"

"Shadow?"

He bobbed his head. "If you're up to it. My schedule is entirely flexible and of course I'd never want to interfere with any of your doctor appointments or anything like that, but if you'd let me, I'd really like to dive in and see things from your perspective."

"Oh. Well." Johanna's eyes widened and she rested her hands on her chest. "I…I suppose we can work something out if that's what you really want."

"I do, and I appreciate your consideration very much," he said. Then, turning to the youngest female in the room he asked, "You don't mind, do you Kate?"

"I…well, no." She stumbled a bit, caught off guard by her inquiry. Why would she mind that he wanted to ask her mother some research questions? Considering how thrilled her mother would be about it, Kate was nothing but happy to hear this news. Though they hadn't known each other very long, she did believe he was a man of his word. That was: if he was asking for an interview, he intended to follow through. However, she couldn't imagine their time together would last more than a few hours—how much research would someone was knowledgeable as him need to do? Still, she knew whatever time he spent with her mother—whether ten minutes or several hours—it would definitely be one of the highlights of her life.

"Mom'll be a much better interviewee than me," she added with a soft smile.

His gaze softened and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle under the intensity of his azure stare. "Oh, I don't know about that," he spoke in a soft rumble. Then he looked away and broke the spell of their moment. Dipping his hand back into his blazer pocket he pulled out a business card and reached past Kate to press it into her mother's palm. "There's my number—give me a call after the first of the year and we'll see what we can set up. I'm looking forward to it."

"Oh—me too! Thank you so much—I'm really flattered."

He winked at her. "You should be. I can only imagine a woman as wonderful as Kate comes from equally wonderful parents."

A chuckle escaped Kate's lips before she could hold it in. When he gazed over at her, she said pointed, "You are on a roll today, Rick."

He gave her an equally pointed look. "Only speaking the truth, Kate."

She grumbled, slightly embarrassed as she turned her gaze down towards her lap. "Yes…well…" she muttered, hoping the subject would soon be changed.

For another twenty minutes Rick and Johanna carried most of the conversation before Rick ultimately announced it was time for him to leave as he didn't want to take up any more of their time. Kate was quick to jump up and offer to walk him out, but really she had ulterior motives. Though on some level she knew it was unnecessary, Kate still felt compelled to thank Rick for stopping by the apartment that morning even if it was in a small way; she simply couldn't get over how kind he was being and wanted to pay him back. Plus an excuse for a brief escape was certainly not a bad thing by that point in her visit.

"Listen I…I really, really appreciate you doing this for her; you have no idea."

He shrugged his right shoulder. "It was no problem, honestly."

"Can I buy you a coffee or something as a thank you? There's a great shop right across the street."

"Oh." His brow rose with obvious surprised. He stared at her for several seconds to the point where she was certain he was going to turn her down, but then he finally said, "Sure if you want."

"Great!" She reached out for her coat on the nearby hook and began tugging it on. "Let's go."

"Once again: I really can't thank you enough for making her last Christmas this special."

Castle accepted the coffee cup that Kate handed him with a quiet thank you while his brain focused on her words. He had absolutely no problem doing kind things for his fans; he felt it was his duty as a person with reasonable notoriety. Besides, it made him happy, thus he had absolutely no problem visiting Kate's mother and signing a book for her. What made his heart sink deep in his ribcage, however, was the notion that he would be one of the highlights on what could be her last major holiday on this planet. Such a notion was almost too painful to bear.

"She needs a kidney transplant, right? Sorry, I don't want to pry," he added quickly at her hesitant gaze from across their two-seater table, "but I was doing a little research…"

She gazed at him for another moment before dropping her chin towards her chest. "Yeah, yeah—a transplant. My dad and I were tested a year ago, but we're not matches and it's really, really hard to get a donor because so many people need kidneys."

Castle pressed his lips together tightly; hating that there was a solution, but an unattainable one. "Is there anything you can do to get higher on the transplant list? Is there anything I can do?"

She shook her head and curled her fingers more snugly around her coffee cup. "No, no, please Rick; you've done enough."

He shook his head. "I don't mind. I'd be more than willing to-"

"You've done enough." She cut him off in a conclusive though not unkind manner. "Besides, even if you wanted you—Oh. Sorry." She apologized quickly when her ringing cellphone interrupted them.

"Go ahead; take it," he said, leaning back in his seat and taking a sip of coffee.

She shook her head and pressed a button on the side of the phone to silence it. "No, no; it's just Chris—I'll call him back."

"Chris is your boyfriend, right?" As they had spent nearly twenty-four hours straight attached at the hip, Castle had heard her mention a boyfriend a few times, particularly when talking about calling or texting him. He couldn't quite recall the exact name of said gentleman—assuming she told him at all—but given the context he merely deduced.

"Yep."

"He's back in San Francisco?"

She nodded. "Yeah we're not…we haven't really been together that long and, to be honest, I don't know how much longer we'll be together. The past week has been very eye opening and I…sorry."

He shook off her rosy-cheeked apology. "No, please. If anyone understands relationship problems, it's me." She gave him a skeptical look, so he continued encouragingly, "Seriously—my soon-to-be-ex-wife called and left me a message asking me to pack up her things and ship them to her new address. She has a strange amount of faith that they'll arrive unbroken."

"Jeez!"

Taking another sip of coffee, Castle huffed out a breath and drummed his fingers against the table. He wasn't that type of person—not really. He hadn't been when Meredith left him and so he'd take the high road with Gina too, but he faced many moments when checking his anger seemed like the hardest thing in the world—and he knew there were many more to come. "I'm kidding…mostly. Gina's also my agent at Black Pawn so I suppose we must remain at least reasonably civil for the time being. Point is: lay it on me." Actually, hearing about Kate's relationship dilemmas—which were sure to be less complicated than his—would be a nice change of pace.

She held herself practically frozen for several seconds before letting out a breath, rounding her shoulders, and leaning her forearms heavily against the table. "I…I don't even know where to begin, really. Chris is also a lawyer, though we work at different firms. We're both really busy; we barely see each other. At first, I really liked that—that we both had our own thing and how we really only had one night a week to be together. It helped me do what I always do and keep one foot out the door…."

"And why would you do that?" he asked when she said that statement with a hint of self-annoyance.

She gave a helpless little shrug. "Ah…because I've never been good at relationships, opening up to people…"

He leaned away, surprised by her statement as she had seemed reasonably open with him, particularly given that they hadn't yet known each other a week. "I don't think that's true."

"We barely know each other," she pointed out with a shrug, further reinforcing his thought.

"And yet we're having this conversation."

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Well, you're an impartial third party and I'm looking for advice."

Grin returning to his face, Castle leaned in so he could pay close attention; he loved giving advice! "I'm listening…"

She picked at her left thumb nail for a moment before beginning her story quietly. "Eight years ago—almost exactly—was my mother's attack; it happened in early January. I was going to school at Stanford at that time and even though she was still in the hospital at the time, and had just had her kidney removed, I still went back for the spring semester. She told me to. My dad told me to. Actually I think he might have carried me to the airport on his back if I hadn't agreed to go on my own..." She added with a small laugh.

"They told me to focus on school because they'd be fine. And they were but…it just never sat well with me, you know? I know being alone while my mother was still recovering put a huge burden on my dad. I had so much guilt over those months thinking about how horribly selfish I was being. I didn't want to be a semester behind in school so I let them talk me into going on with my schoolwork while my mom was so sick."

"Well, I understand your urge to feel guilty, but your parents did encourage you to go," he pointed out.

"I know that and I know they're not upset with me for going back to school and they don't resent me for it. Actually, I think they're proud I was able to keep my grades up at the same level even with all the ups and downs of my mother's recovery. Still…I…I don't know." She dropped her chin all the way to her chest and raked her fingers back through the curtain of hair that had fallen down with her actions. Looking back up she skimmed her fingers over her lips and gazed over at him. "Rational or not, I do still feel guilty about it. I should have been here helping, transferred to one of the schools in the city if that's what it took, but I didn't and…and now I feel like maybe this is my chance to do it differently."

Rick hummed to himself as he considered her words. "So you…want to move back to New York?"

She nodded. "I've been thinking about it. I mean, yeah I'll lose three years' worth of hard work at my firm in San Francisco, but there are plenty of firms here."

"Well it's not like you're moving to Manhattan, Kansas," he joked in hopes of getting a smile out of her. It worked and she let out an audible blip of laughter.

"Right."

They were silent for a few moments before Castle told her, "Well, if you're looking for my advice, I'm not entirely sure what to tell you—only you know what decision is best for you and your life, but I am a big believer in listening to your gut…and that things happen for a reason."

Her brow wrinkled. "What like…my mom got sick so I'd have to move back here?"

"No, no—I meant the plan crash; to give you clarity."

She gestured towards him with both of her hands. "See that's just it! We both could have died in that crash, just like the pilot and that's why I want to make the best of the time I have now and… I don't know. I'm usually a much more rational thinker than this."

He tilted his head to the side as he gazed at her as her comment struck him as incorrect. "Who says you're not being rational? You seem to be thinking this through quite well as far as I can tell." He let a few moments of silence pass by before asking, "Have you spoke to anyone else about this? Like…Chris, perhaps?"

Her eyes went wide and she stared a bit too intensely at her coffee cup. "Um, no. He doesn't know any of this. I…I didn't know how to bring it up especially since I don't think we have something that would work long distance. He's…I just don't think he's the type of guy I'd want to be in a plane crash with."

By her wry smile, Castle could tell she was partially joking, but wanted to play along so he asked very seriously, "Just how many more crashes to you plan on being in, Kate?"

"Hopefully zero."

He winked at her. "Just checking."

"Yes well…I'm still thinking everything over, obviously. At least I'll have something to do on what is hopefully a very uneventful flight back to San Francisco."

"Oh, well I'll drink to that." He lifted his coffee cup and held it out to her. She laughed and tapped her cup against his before taking a drink. "And, you know, if you ever want to talk again you have my number."

She appeared confused for a moment, but then highly amused. "Seriously?!"

"What?"

She shrugged and traced the rim of her cup with her index finger. "I don't know I just…I kind of thought we…we'd go our separate ways now."

He blinked, surprised she'd have such a thought. "Is that what you want?"

"Not necessarily. I just…can we be friends?"

"Why can't we?"

She shrugged. "Do we have much in common?"

"Sure; we both survived a plane crash. We both love my books."

She laughed and rolled her eyes slightly. "Right."

"Those are factual statements, are they not?" he asked. She nodded, though suspiciously so. "Thus, we have a foundation to build our friendship on."

She took a sip of coffee then leaned back in her seat, clearly amused. "Whatever you say, Rick."

Feeling his heart flutter at the way her lips curled after she spoke his name, he leaned across the table, bringing his face mush closer to hers, as he promised, "I'm serious Kate. Our story—it's only just begun."

A/N: Merry Christmas to all my readers - thank you so much for taking this 8 day journey with me.

You guys wouldn't be interested in a sequel would you? No? Maybe?

haha just kidding of course there's a sequel. Side by Side will start on Saturday :)