This was just beautiful!

Such a clever idea too - just brilliant.

This should have happened! Rah!

No, seriously. Right now he - and she just -...well, you know what I mean. -sigh-

And yeah, that line in the acknowledgements. When I read it, I nearly just...wow.

thanks for writing :)

So I loved your story... It was so accurate as to the situations of the characters and how they'd respond. You didn't just wrap it up with a "happy ending" because that's not where they were in the story yet. Great job!

I was also listening to Rihanna's "We Found Love" which fits this so well it just made your story all that more poignant. Thanks for writing this and not giving it the Hollywood ending! I look forward to reading more from you.

I really loved your insight into why Kate is holding back. It's not just about being "scared." Really good analysis of how she got involved with Royce, and NOT wanting to do that with Castle. It's not about being selfish, it's about wanting the best for him... She's not dealing with the situation between them perfectly, but falling into his arms right now would in fact be more self-serving and in the long-run more destructive to them both. Bravo!

Well, this was a fantastic story and then some. I'm not sure how you did it but you combined some Castle fanfiction classics (songs make sense, Kate having read Castle's books, Kate knowing) with your own original story and it was amazing. There was so much emotion, such intensity and force in the story that it just swept me away. Both Kate and Castle were in character and you managed to stay in canon while moving them towards where they should be, so it was just perfect.

This fanfiction is just so honest, real, pure... I don't have enough words to describe it. I can feel everthing Kate is feeling. It's really one of the best fics out there that's so close to the characters! Great work!

Oh, my gosh... This is amazing. THIS IS SO AMAZING. I can't... I just... It's incomprehensible how incredibly heartfelt, and realistic, and just amazing this is! You were able to conveyed your plot and the characters so well. I don't know if this may be a bit of a bias opinion, but it might be, because it so sadly drew parallels to a part of my past that didn't work out too well... But these characters are...characters. And their ending is more hopeful.(: Hahaha

ANYWAYS. Wow, that was completely irrelevant. Back to story talk!

I don't know if you had ee cummings in mind at all when you had written this, but gosh darn it... I immediately thought of "somewhere I have never travelled" when I read this line:

"He pours his love into it, a nectar brimming into the cup of her parted, petal lips."

The flower petals as a metaphor was cute, and that was not exactly the context of ee cummings' poem, but it was similar.. Hahaha

Uhmm... Yep, that's all. I think I've humiliated myself enough with this fangirlness. (: lol

This makes me feel like snuggling down. Myes, very good, will there be a continuance of some sort when she can finally say it?

I will now be going back to my copy of Heat Rises to study it much more closely then the first time; I definately got a few references, but boy did your story make me rethink every single moment in it. The ending was heartbreaking and beautiful all at once. I hope we get a moment of clarity like that soon.

Oh my god, you made me cry!

That was sensational. I've just read all seven chapters in one sitting and I'm overwhelmed.

Your writing was beautiful, and though it's fiction about fiction, there was a real truth to what you've written, if that makes any sense.

I love your style. I just loved it. I'll definitely be reading more of your work. Thanks to DaphneBeauty for the heads up.

Liv x

OMG how do you do this? Honest you are amazing! You made Heat Rises 100 times better with this story. This story is just *shakes head* OMG Amazing. Brilliant. Fantastic. Just no words.

Impressive. I love this chapter as much as I love the other chapters. Check out my profile, you're in the list of noted authors. I'm serious, I think you're that great that out of the hundreds of authors I've read on this site over two to three years now, you're in that list. Can I ask a favour? Could you tell me what you think of my only fanfic, the Castle fic? Be brutally honest. Please.

I haven't gotten around to Heat Rises just yet, but this is one of my favorite stories you have written. Beautiful and perfect. Ending with the story of their first meeting? Brilliant! Not only a gift to Rick but to the readers as well. I've always hoped the writers would bring that part of the Caskett story back around; then again, they couldn't do it as well as you have here. Fantastic job!

What it is is hot and wretched and overpowering. It's intense, painful, soul-stripping. – Oh boy! *fans self*

Castle is half standing to get at her mouth, and she raises up as well, chair clattering, her hands at his back, tugging him closer to her. – Hee!

She's hurt him, but she can heal him too. She erase those three months with the wild pressure of her body arching into his. – Awesome.

She favors his bottom lip and he's content to let her lead, the stroke of her tongue along his, the edge of her hip bones, the path of her fingers under his shirt. She rocks against him, the bookcase hard at his back, her teeth nibbling, her thumb pressing against his rib. – Delicious!

She shudders on a breath, like coming down after a crying jag, and he feels her curl into him, her arms along his chest as she strokes her fingers against his face. – Lovely.

He lets the moment spool out, drag through the minutes, until even the arousal has mellowed into a kind of quiet hum in his blood. – Such pretty words.

"When I was. . .at my worst, when I was so low. . .because of my mom, I found your books with her things. On a shelf." – Ooooh, she’s FINALLY telling him. Awesome.

"That's where I first found you, Castle. At the beginning of it all." – Oh my goodness.

"Even then, you had me. Your novels made the world right again, put light back into it. They illuminated the darkness. I wouldn't be. . .half of what I am without those books. Without you." He rocks forward, shuddering on the wide, dark edge of his love for her, overcome by the strength of her, the will to battle back, awed and humbled that somehow the things he'd written so blithely, so unknowingly, had helped to rebuild a young Kate Beckett. – Sigh. You are just… so so good at this.

He closes his eyes, relief and horror and tenderness nearly choking him. – Lovely.

"I wrote it on an index card and kept it taped up to my bathroom mirror. . .for years." – Aww, Kate!

He might break at the adoration in her voice. How has he missed this all this time? How much she clung to his books. . .it's humbling and amazing and she's so very beautiful it hurts. – I’m pretty much quoting this entire chapter right back to you. But seriously… I wish I wrote like this. I wish I THOUGHT like this.

"Kate," he says, his voice low, ragged with her story. "I love you. I love you, Kate." – Oh man, just like he said in the cemetery. AHHH! So good.

She looks at him, at first, like he's crazy, like she can't understand why he'd say that, and then it breaks across her face - understanding - and she opens her mouth on a smile. "Not yet, Castle." – Jeez. You’re just… wow.

"Just keep telling me that, Kate. Tell me that until you don't have to anymore." – Awesome.

Seriously, I am IN AWE of you. I wish I had your talent. I wish I could spin such lovely scenes with words the way you do. It's like... getting to read a new book from my favorite author, except I already am in love with the characters. You're just... a delicious writer. I love your words. :)

I saved this one to read last because I am most excited for this one, though I’m not sure why. It’s just… so interesting and yeah… I am excited to read the conclusion! TWO chapters to catch up on! YAY! :)

Her hair is soft around her face; she glows like the moon, warm milk before bed. – Love this.

She looks like she has a plan, like things are going according to that plan too. – YAY! :)

"Corn?" He studies the omelette with interest. – Hahaha. Interesting.

"I've noticed the former. But your police reports are totally respectable." – Haha. I love his humor.

"Are you saying I cheated?" – LOL!

But he also isn't about to pour out his heart to this woman again. – Oh man.

"You said you had a wall, Kate. I'm trying to respect that." – Castttttle! Such a sweet man.

"I'm not. . .the person I want to be." She's got her fists clenched next to her plate, and suddenly her eyes are on his, intense and focused. Determined. "For you, Castle." – Ahhhhhhh! :) :)

"I'm good with you now. As you are." - Aww!

"I don't know what we are either, but it's - it's there." – OMGGGGGG I love this! That you brought that up again. I like the tie-in.

"I didn't think about anyone else but myself this summer. I needed that time, but I didn't think what it was doing. To you." – Oh man.

"This is. . .more than I ever ask of anyone. Have ever. . .I shouldn't. But I'm asking you to wait. I'm - I'm asking you to wait for me, Castle." – Oh man, I am like so nervous!

"I'm already waiting, Kate." She lifts her chin, swallows. "I know. I. . .but will you be okay?" – Oh jeez!

"Look, Kate. You want me to wait for you? I'm already doing that. You don't need to ask. And if I get a little miserable with it, that's my problem, okay? Let me deal with it." She shakes her head and when she lifts her eyes to his, he sees the lines, the shimmer. It hurts her to know this. Well. He can't do much about that. – My heart is breaaaaaaaaaaaaaking.

"I mean, you've drawn a pretty clear line here. I want to bulldoze right through that line, but I can't. I won't." – Seriously, my heart is like squeezed in my chest.

The things you've already said. – OH SHIT!

So there it is. Between them. – It hurts!

She clears her throat. "You can say it. I just. . .can't say it. Not yet." – Bawww!

"Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Just a friendly warning."

She blinks. "Yeah?"

"I'm gonna have to kiss you now." – AMAZING! HAHAH.

I am so excited for the last chapter. Here I goooooooooo…..

P.S. THis chapter was AMAZEBALLS. I KNEW I saved it for last for a reason. :D

Loved every word, every sentence, every chapter. I desperately wanted to know how Kate would react to reading Heat Rises, with all of its subtext and innuendo. And you have given us a very real and very honest account of who his words would have made her feel. Even if you take them a bit further at the end than I think they would have gone on their own, it still feels genuine. Thank you for filling in those holes.