181. Chapter 181

After Food to Die For, Again

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I'd (GULP!) die if I claimed to own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Breakfast

"I did not see that coming, bro. I truly did not."

Ryan ate another mouthful of scrambled eggs. "Are you sure all you want is coffee and a donut? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know."

Espo shook his head. "You're just going to sit there and stuff your face?"

Ryan smiled and took a bite of bacon. "Is there some reason I shouldn't be eating?"

"No. Not if you were paying attention to what's going on around you and not just stuffing yourself."

Ryan put down his fork. "Okay. What is it?"

"What is it, the man asks? It's Beckett and Demming. I just didn't see it coming. I still don't understand it."

"Is there something wrong with Demming?"Ryan asked, beginning to worry about his boss. "He seems like a nice enough guy. The guys in Robbery said he's a stand up guy."

"Hey, Demming is a friend of mine. I mean, I like the guy. But for some reason I just can't see them together. I thought it'd be Castle."

Ryan went back to his eggs. "Why Castle? I mean I like the guy, he's a damned good detective, a nice guy, if a little over the top sometimes, but I don't see him and Beckett as a couple. Let's face it. Castle is looking for a good time. A nice rich, gorgeous society babe he can show off on Page Six. Beckett, if she ever decides to look for someone, wants a one and done. That's not our boy Castle."

"You remember what Beckett was like before Castle."

Ryan nodded. "Sure. All work and no play."

"And once Castle showed up she started smiling. She laughs at his dumb jokes."

Ryan shrugged. "I laugh at his dumb jokes, but I don't want to date him."

"Not funny, bro. Not funny at all."

"So what's your worst case scenario, Javi? Beckett goes out with Demming, it doesn't work out. Beckett goes back to what she was BC, before Castle. Castle cheers her up again. Best case scenario, Beckett and Demming live happily ever after. We have to break in a new boss. We don't live happily ever after. Castle goes back to the good life. So?"

"All I can say is that it just doesn't feel right. Beckett and Demming. Not like Beckett and Castle."

Lunch

"You're not eating, Castle."

"I had a big meal last night." He looked around him and shuddered, over dramatically. "Besides, eating in a morgue isn't my first choice. I mean how many five star morgues are there?"

"You're upset about Beckett and Demming." Lanie said.

Castle did his best to look puzzled by her statement. "Why would I be upset? I have no say in Beckett's life. In case you've been deaf and blind this past year, I'm not exactly her favorite person. Oh, I will admit she tolerates me as a partner on cases. She maybe even likes having crime solving Castle around. But, otherwise…Well, we're not pals. Of course, I like Beckett. I like her a lot. Actually, I like her too much. I'm not what Beckett is looking for. If I tried to have a relationship with Beckett, we'd both get hurt. I've screwed up every serious relationship I've ever been in and I really can't handle any more. And I can't put Beckett through something like that. She's already had too much pain and misery in her life.

"Don't be too sure about that. She's changed a lot since she met you. Changed for the better."

Castle laughed, self-consciously. "Yeah, now she feels able to date Tom Demming."

"There's more to it than that."

"Really? Let's consider lunch. Beckett and Demming took off for lunch almost an hour and a half ago. When we eat, I get bitched at for being slow if I take more than fifteen minutes to gobble down my food. I admit it's a small thing, but it's telling."

"She does like you, Castle. She really does."

"She likes a lot of things right now." She likes Castle and she likes Demming. Which one will she choose? That's obvious. She'll make the same decision that Cecily made. She'll go with the safe choice. She'll go with Mr. Dependable Demming and leave Mr. Heart Breaker Castle alone. The heart does want what the heart wants, but Beckett will always go with her head, not her heart. It's funny, though. One of the things that attracted me to her is her heart. How much she cares. How badly she feels for those who have been hurt, in spite of how she's been hurt. Maybe that's the problem. What did Yeats write? "Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart." Poor Kate. So hurt. So alone. Has her heart turned to stone? Maybe she's made the right decision. I hate it, but maybe it's right.

"You okay, Castle?"

He nodded, then smiled. "You know, some good mood lighting and little color would help this place immensely." He gestured to the lockers where the dead waited. "And a better clientele."

Dinner

"How did you find this place, Tom?"

"Pure dumb luck. I had this informant who knew a guy who'd stolen a bunch of expensive commercial kitchen equipment. It turned out it'd been stolen from this place. I got it back for them."

"Well, it's lovely."

"As is my dinner companion." Tom bowed slightly to her.

Kate blushed slightly. "Thank you." Now if I was with Castle, I'd have to make a snarky remark. With Tom I can be myself. I can accept a compliment knowing that he won't twist it all around and make something that it's not.

"So your murderer was his friend? Wolfe got the friend's girlfriend pregnant and the guy killed him?"

Kate nodded. "It's sad, really. She had two possibilities. The man she'd been with and who she knew loved her and would always stay with her. Then she made a stupid mistake with a man who would have broken her heart in the end. She did make the right choice, to stay with David and get forget about Wolfe. But David couldn't handle it and killed Wolfe. Now Cecily has no one. Wolfe is dead and David is going to jail. Everybody loses. I won't have that problem. I won't ever get pregnant by Castle and Tom will never kill Castle in a jealous rage. I'll have a good meaningful relationship with Tom, I hope. And I can still be friends with Castle. The heart wants what the heart wants he said. My heart wants to remain unbroken. I'm doing the right thing.

Midnight snack

"I'd suggest the rocky road." Rick said, leaning against Kate as she scanned the contents of the freezer.

"You always suggest ice cream. Don't you want something that isn't fattening?"

"The stomach wants what the stomach wants." He felt Kate stiffen. "What is it?"

"I ran into Madison Queller a couple of days ago. She hadn't heard what happened to Wolfe's killer. David plead out to manslaughter. He'll be in prison for a long time. Cecily had the baby, but moved away from New York. I don't know where. Like a lot of what we deal with it's just too damned sad and too damned unnecessary."

"Maybe we should have some carrots?"

Kate elbowed him in the ribs. "Are you crazy, Writer Boy? We're having a Giant Castleicious Sundae for two."