Even though he tried to be 100% professional, I think it was more believable that he cracked a little seeing her wounds. You do enjoy making Castle cry. And Beckett was trying to make him feel better about it. And she even said something about their sexual future. "Better not be the only places you kiss me, Castle." STEAMY!
Nice mention of the nightlight. Liked the throwback of Jim and Castle's conversation about Kate staring down the dark. And Castle thinking about how much this has done to her, Castle saying he leaves the light on as well. That means the world when you know you have someone who understands and more importantly doesn't judge.
And the KB Milestones. Ha! Some were tender and some were highly amusing. Like Kate eating off of Castle's fork and him having yet to wash it. Sorta gross yet sweet. And a another milestone Kate can lay on her side. Which means spooning. Yes! But no forking. Damn! (Smiled like a fool over the "no forking" line). Do you ever laugh at your stuff you write? Like Mr. Roper laughing at his on jokes on Three's Company?
You do go to great lengths to weed out Alexis in your stories. Day-camp summer program for inner-city kids in Boston until late August. C'mon, you are getting out of hand. I'm surprised you don't having her working at the soup kitchen for one of your Christmas or Thanksgiving stories. Just so you don't have to include her with the family. Lol
So glad that Kate is 10 days ahead of her Labor Day goal. Loved how even though it wasn't as gentle as I thought it was going to be (due to her shooting). I still felt how much they love each other. And her thanking him for bringing her back. Just so touching. Gave me warm fuzzy feelings.

How sweet! They had some snuggle time. Even if she wasn't up to snuffle. Lol And she has some dirrrty goals set by Labor Day.
Is Charlie Brownie ice cream something you made up? Love, brownies but not to crazy with peanuts mixed in.
Just thoroughly enjoyed the little trip down memory lane with thoughts of Demming and Gina. "The heart wants what the heart wants." Ugh! I still feel the sting of that line. I actually thought that was after Demming. And Kate saying that the ice cream was heavenly, and she came pretty close to heaven. Than Castle said, "I'm glad you turned around." I smiled like an imbecile for like 10 minutes over that. It could not have been sweeter.
Baby steps!? That's a HUGE step for Beckett. She wants/needs his help. And she must be uncomfortable letting him see her that way. Who wouldn't? I'm sure Castle will be sweet as pie.
There's much more that I'd love to dissect but I'm deliriously tired.

I know it would of been out of character for Beckett to open up to Castle the way she is in this story. But I wish she would of been considerate of his feelings and at least tried to stick around and be his friend and let him take care of her.
Just really enjoy the shyness and the joy she feels with thinking about and seeing Castle. So thrilled she told him she remembers him saying, I love you. And she said it back! I do think that got her through a lot of rough times during those 3 months of solitude. I don't know if he was close to actually saying those 3 words if she wasn't laying on the ground bleeding out though. And I don't think she would of reciprocated it back, even though I think they were both feeling that way probably since early S3.
Why am I babbling on about the show? I should be leaving a review of this chapter!
Loved the March 9, 2020 thrown in there. And even more that she picked up on the fact it would be 11yrs since they met. And even more importantly she was more than okay thinking long-term for their relationship. And he finds her sexy in her hospital gown. If that isn't love, I don't know what is. Oh, yeah! They kissed as well. Can't wait for their full-blown kiss later :-)
Loved the musings of Castle wondering how she falls asleep and if she snuggles or would curl up next to him. How sweet he wants her to recuperate at his place. And he's thinking about her possibly staying there for good. I hope so. And NO he's not sleeping in the guest room, he's going to be in his bed with her snuggled up (like 2 cats).

This is my favorite chapter so far. I just loved their emotional talk & struggles. Enjoyed that she agreed that Castle knows her better than Josh did. And how she hid in a nowhere relationship with Josh (loved that fight in canon!)
Just loved that her favorite book as a child was, Charlotte's Web. Heck, I still love it. Always upsets me when she dies at the end. Sniff. I actually loved that whole paragraph, I went from being squeamish one second to turning into goo with the talk about the book, and Castle saying that he knew he loved her at that moment.
Hallelujah! She broke up with jerk-off. And they admitted they want a chance with each other. You always write Kate more fun-loving, playful and open than she was on the show. Did her walls and being somewhat distant, turn you off or annoy you? Just wondering..
This is the 2nd story where you mentioned that Castle is the one who's been making Kate's coffee all this time. Do you really think that? It goes from so optimistic, upbeat to thoughts of how much of an uphill battle she has ahead of her. And would she ever be the same? Physically? Mentally? It's just terrible when you're flying high one minute to literally having the wind takin out of your sails the next. Written exceptionally well. So very, very relatable.
Glad that it ended on a positive note. With Castle coming back to his usual optimistic self and gave himself a pep talk. I needed that. Lol

Josh is a disgusting pig. He deserved so much more than a broken nose. Loved the icy, calculated tone to Castle. It takes a lot to piss him off, but when that switch is flipped, I totally believe he can be frightening. Really loved how he mentioned the security cameras, so Josh wouldn't press charges. Sometimes you have to be a d*** to people to get your point across.
Nicely written how he had to get away and regroup outside. He is a naturally sweet-natured person, he was just pushed, pushed until he snapped. And he sees the EMT who helped save Beckett, which makes him even more shook-up.
Laughed out loud with Castle's line, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was this late. I had to step away for a few minutes." Step away and beat the crap out of a member of staff. And the lines about him worrying about abandoning Beckett with the nurse were sooo sweet as well.
Liked his sweet note, and the X by his name. I thought the X means kiss and the O means hug. And what a little trooper Castle is having decaf since Beckett can't have the good stuff.
Believe it or not, I've never had decaf.
Damn it! Josh went to go see Kate again! And squealed to Kate that Castle broke his nose. What an a**hole!

Really enjoyed that they had a conversation,instead of Beckett hiding in her father's cabin for 3 months. Although, the scene where Castle tells her off at the book signing, is one of my favorite scenes. OFF TOPIC AGAIN!
Anywho, really just LOVED when she said, that the flowers are beautiful. And he said, "So are you." God! I think I turned into a big marshmallow! I'm even grinning like a fool as I'm writing this. Lol
Loved how remorseful, guilty Castle felt for Kate being shot. And how quickly Kate shut him down for thinking that way. So glad she has Castle's back and not Josh's. Ha! Ha!
Very sweet that he was replicating a meal they shared months back. Castle clearly stuffed himself silly. Good to know he's an emotional eater. And another shout-out to the cinnamon-raisin toast/bagel. Ugh! You must really love that flavor. You need to put some delicious Funyuns in your next story. Yum!
We had Castle crooning to some Lionel Ritchie. What song was that? Loved, "Hello" by him. Loved that she mentioned him knocking her down. Thought he deserved more recognition for what he did in canon. I believe she would have done the same for him. So many things touched on here that were neglected in canon, you made it so heartfelt and moving. (Believe me, I'm not easily moved).
So, so happy she actually called him back. That meant the world to him. Those 3 months must of been hell not hearing from her in the show. I know she was shot but I found it cold and a little cruel with the silence on her end. Send a text or a letter or smoke signals. Anything! Now I'm pissed off all over again! Even though Beckett was my favorite, sometimes I wanted to shake her.
C'mon! Now Josh is back. Take a hike already. I guess his beatdown is on its way. I've definitely rambled on too much. I feel like I need professional help.
Such a great chapter!

She doesn't want Josh's help she wants her dad or Castle. That's not at all awkward. And he was a turd about it as well. Nice. Give her 5 minutes, she just had surgery. Jeez!
Good Ol' Ryan having to confess to what happened between Josh and Castle. He is just so sweet and uncomfortable with the whole thing. Lol
Oh, boy! She confronts Josh. And he calls Castle a shitty little snitch. I'm not happy about this! Someone better push him down the stairs. Or at the very least give him a humongous dose of Ex-Lax.
Uh oh. Castle finally made an appearance. Naturally, it's at a terrible time. Sh** is going to hit the fan.

When did they mention Beckett's birthday being in November? It is usually put in most FF stories I've read. Does that make her a Scorpio? Lol
That must of been horrific and traumatizing for Castle in the back of that ambulance with all the blood and her flatlining twice. I understand why they didn't show that scene but it would've been a monumental scene for Castle's character to have some struggles and issues with what he witnessed mixed with his guilt afterward.
Never thought of Josh as a bad guy. But I thought him trying to be a tough guy in the hospital was so inappropriate. We had a little bit of Jim, hope I read more of him. I always felt (the little bit he was used) he was just going through the motions, I could practically see the sadness radiating off of him.
At least it ended with a somewhat happy note. She asked for Castle :-)

You know these characters sooo well. Thank you.

Great fic

I read this once before. Now I am re-reading it and I still love it. I read only Castle.

Oh This is super fantaastic! It is so written well and the emotions are so Nathan and Stana. We read only Castle.

The last time I read this, the last chapter was chapter 3. So I am re-reading the first chapters since it is now complete. It was excellent then. It is superlatively excellent now. We read only Castle.

Really nice... :)

Omg, if you had only wrote for the show