Wow, that was intense. . .you did a great job making Kate start to understand where Rick's been coming from all this time. Thanks.

Gloria

Oh oh oh.. I sense trouble brewing for these two. Wonder how Kate's gonna deal with finding out Castle HAS been keeping a secret from her (from his book, no less) together with her guilt. Best deconstruction of Heat Rises ever.

Here’s something that makes me chuckle and feel all giddy inside: When I get to the point in my day that I can catch up on fanfic… that’s the point in your day when you’ve finished chapters and are ready to update. So I read the chapters you posted after I went to bed the night before, and then I go back to my e-mail… and there’s another chapter alert. It’s so exciting! Haha. Like a never-ending cycle of Chez! :)

After her grief has mellowed into merely a deep ache, Castle murmurs something about his writing being so bad it's made her cry, which of course, makes her laugh. – Aw!

"It's always been what I need." She's said too much. But. He deserves to know. He ought to know. – Buh! I wish she could tell him.

His thumb makes occasional circles along her shirt, around her belly button, constantly nudging her consciousness. – This makes me all warm and fuzzy! Haha.

Maybe she'll just give him the book wordlessly, let him leaf through the pages she's marked up. A way of telling him she gets it, she understands. But she just can't say it. Can't be for him what he needs, not like she is. He deserves better. – No, Kate! No, he doesn’t. You’re the best. I love this section, the idea of her marking things and letting him read so she doesn’t have to say it. Awesome.

After the whole italics section, with Kate relating sections in the book to their life… I am definitely going to have to go get this book now. Sigh. Haha.

Castle carrying her out of the hangar, cocooning her against the side of the car, holding her as she broke. – Oh, and I just wanted to mention this. This scene, on the show, was one of my all-time fave Castle moments. I loved it so much! I’ve watched it, oh… maybe 100 times. That’s all. ;)

Did Montgomery do the same? Is this a piece of real life that Castle cannibalized? She hasn't seen anything like that, but it would be something her Captain would do. Has Castle gotten some additional information, some clue that she hasn't? – Uh-oh!

It's possible though, that she might cry for Richard Castle. Who had to wait. Cold and alone and lonely. Because she was a coward. – Oh man! So sad.

What has she done? What has she done to him? – The question is, Kate, what are you going to DO about it? :)

This was an awesome chapter. So good! I love it. Can’t wait for the next chapter.

Love the emotion.

Kate blows out a breath and teeters on the edge, very close to breaking, only she doesn't want to do that in front of him. No one else would fall into a pit of grief at the end of this chapter; it's only because she's lived that scene, lived that desolation. Still. Neither does she want to ignore the fact that Castle manages to get everything exactly right; somehow, she's got to explain what that means to her. If she can't acknowledge his feelings, she can at least acknowledge this. – Awesomesauce.

"About 15 more pages. . .I don't think you're going to want me here for that." She reaches for the book, opens it to skim ahead, but he presses his hand over the pages and catches her eyes. "Kate. I don't know that *I* can be here for that." – Oh, poop. What’s this? *Dammit, do I need to go get this book or what? LOL.*

It's almost exactly fifteen pages later that it gets uncomfortable, if only because she longs for it, for the way Nikki can walk into Rook's hug at the end of the day and smell his neck, rest there, safe. – Aww!

Is this how she sounds to everyone else? To Castle? Is this how she sounded to Captain Montgomery in his last moments? Petulant and stubborn, unable to look away, not even to save her own life. – Awww. (And yeah, kinda sorta. In a way. LOL.)

She scoots closer and shares the book, putting her back against his side, letting her head hit his shoulder. She seems to have stunned him both speechless and immobile. – Well, hell yeah you did! HAHA. Awesome.

Heat envisioned a map of the park, and one word popped into her mind: Castle. – Oh, oh!

Kate sobs when they find Montrose dead. – I don’t want to quote all of it, but the WHOLE end… after this sentence… is… beautiful. Haunting. Gut-wrenching. Painfully sad. I love it. So good. Nice work!

"Castle."

Oh, the imagery of that for both Nikki's fight to survive and Kate's. Brilliant. I loved the affect it had on her even though it makes my heart break for our girl.

Loving what you have going here...interesting concept!

I am currently reading this book, and I am up to where Kate is thus far. I must say, I was in Mcdonalds reading and laughed out loud when I got to the Castle part. It reminds me of how Hitchcock had a cameo in all his movies, and I think Stephen King does also. Keep going, please.

Oh Wow...

I'll admit this is slightly confusing for me since I haven't read the book (or any of them, actually) but I'm enjoying this.

wow can't wait for next chapter

I always love reading about how Castle and Beckett deal with the novels, because they're so very obviously drawn from their shared experiences and one has to imagine that must be awkward and painful, to see what a writer really thinks and feels about you there on the page.

I think this is really beautiful, as a whole. The concept is interesting and I can see it, so vividly, and the entire thing is quite quiet, which I like. And that last scene? Silent man tears slay me every time. Every time.

Anyway, this is lovely and done with such skill and I can't wait to read more.

Fabulous chapter. Of course, you sent it in the middle of the afternoon, and I had to take a break from editing to read it. Shame on you. (Or would that be shame on ME? lol)

Wow! Terrific idea! I thought the exact same thing when I read castle in that scene. Can't wait for more.

the end almost made me cry!awesome