OOH, I really don't like you right now! When you said angst...this is definitely not what I was expecting. There's no way this can end without some tears shed from probably everyone involved. I'm sticking with you, but this is hella painful right now.

Rochelle

Why... Oh my I could KILL you right now. Why on EARTH would you make that scene with Kyra?! I loved Kyra. She gave Castle to Kate. And now THIS? Do you want me to kill you? Because I'm not so sure Castle would do that to Beckett. Give up after only a few months? I'm sorry I'm threatening. But, come on. There's a reason behind this, uhm, THING, with Kyra, and please, enlighten me.

Another magnificent chapter. I felt as torn as Castle, wanting him to find comfort with Kyra, but not wanting to give up on Kate. Can't wait to read more

OMG. Shut your face. I wasn't expecting kyra in this but I love what you did with her. Cannot wait to see what's next.

Thank you SO MUCH for not killing her. As fictional as they may be, I just can't stand the idea of either of those characters being dead, especially Kate...the reunion is going to be awkward as hell though...Can't wait for the next chapter!

This is good. I'm glad you had him "try" to move on. And I love that you brought back Kyra. Can't wait to see where you take this, you have me intrigued. I don't think Kate will be angry, just in need of her rock, helping her back to her old self and her old life.

Somehow I saw this coming. My heart is seriously hurting right now. Idk what im going to do with you Jules. I really dont know...

Thank You,

AC

Wow. I...almost...shut this down, but you write the emotions so beautifully...LONG road ahead though. You get an A for Ambition. ;)

Why did he have to sleep with Kyra? It still feels like he cheated on Kate, she's been alive this whole time and probably wishing and dreaming of him and he has been sleeping with another woman when he finds out she is still out there. Now what happens? WILL Lyra do the right thing and step aside gracefully so he can be with the love of his life, will Kate even take him back when she find out he slept with Kyra? She is gonna be so happy to see him and then crushed to know what has happened over the last two years.

Phew... that is some very intense fiction! I think I actually got my heart rate up a bit, just reading...
Can't wait for the next update!

YESSSSSSSS!

It's the end of summer; when he finally steps out of the metro at the stop where Alexis said she'd be waiting for him, the air is fresh and crisp, the leaves a delicate harmony of green and pale orange. - This is such a gorgeous description. I love it.

It's only then that he realizes what he's done, what his careless behavior must have felt like to her. Oh, god. He's broken them, hasn't he? Or he might have if his daughter didn't have the most loving, forgiving heart on the entire planet. Out of nowhere a memory surges, twelve-year-old Alexis complaining about not being able to hold a grudge, and then he's crushing her in his arms, his cheek crushed against her temple. - I love the parallels to Jim and what Kate must have gone through when Johanna died. And just this realization of how much he must have hurt his daughter.

And he thinks, maybe, maybe-
his life is still worth living after all. - CAN I HUG HIM?

He skims through them, smiling at the most ridiculous ones, and it makes it all the more painful when he finally looks up from his laptop to find the loft silent and deserted - There's a part of me that almost wants to see this play out. Just the sheer desperation and sadness of it and how brilliantly it would be portrayed.

The words won't come. He's not sure they'll ever come again. - can I send you my therapy bills? This story. I swear.

accompanied by Paula's colorful exhortations to go and have fun - Hahaha so colorful. I love her.

"Rick Castle."

He turns with a surprised flutter of his heart, moved by the genuine tenderness he hears in that once-familiar voice. Well. That's unexpected.

"Kyra." - YESSSSSS KYRA!

Kyra gives him a knowing grin. "Well. I'm here because I had to escape my mother's claws for a few hours, or there might've been another murder for the NYPD to solve."

The moment the words come out of her mouth, her smile falls off her face, eyes widening as she realizes what she's said. So - she knows. Of course. - This is perfect. The awkward transition into this.

She presses her mouth together, looks obstinately at her glass. "Yeah, well. I guess these things happen." And then she lifts her chin, meets his gaze with that openness he's always loved about her. "I'm sorry about Kate, too." - This is so heartbreaking to me. The direction their lives have taken. I don't know. It really just sucker punches you.

"Were you guys..." Kyra doesn't finish her sentence, but she doesn't need to. He knows what she means.

He takes a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah, we'd been - together - for five months. It was still-"

New? Wonderful? Fragile? - FYI at my desk at work and about to cry so THATS COOL.

He can't help but remember the way they were at twenty, smart and happy and so arrogant, confident that they could be anything they wanted, anything they set their minds to. - I love this SO much. It's flawless.

He'd often ask her to sing when they were together; he would request songs in the darkness of his bedroom and then listen to her, fingers skimming over her bare skin - Such a gorgeous quiet image.i love this glimpse into their former life.

BTW anytime I watch A Rose for Everafter I always think this is canon. It affected me that much.

Of course, the only thing he can think of after that is the way Kate's puckered scar felt under his fingers that very first time, how she let him touch, guided his hand between her breasts. - UGH NOOOOO

He's pathetically thankful he has a friend again. - LET ME TEND TO HIS WOUNDED HEART

"Serendipitous," Kyra says with that cute knowing grin, a wiggle of her eyebrow. And though he's aware she's only doing it because she knows how much he loves five-syllable words, he can't help the deep hum of appreciation in his chest. - LOVE that detail about five syllable words. It's so perfectly in character.

His hand lifts of his own accord, curls around her neck; he strokes his thumb over her ear and kisses her back, just for a second, just to see. It takes like betrayal, his mind protesting his treachery, screaming in revolt - but his body tells another story. His body craves this, her, the kinship and comfort of a woman's touch, soft skin pressed against his. Need throbs in his blood, a sharp burn, and he drops his head, breaking away in shame. - I love the sadness in this. It just shows how lonely he is and it's both pathetic and heart wrenching.

He might only have spent a couple months dating Kate, but he was in love with her for years leading up to that (he likes to think that some part of her was in love with him, too). And Kate Beckett - Kate Beckett ruined him. - Perfectly sums them up.

The first time they have sex, it's Kate's name in his mouth when he comes, hoarse and breaking, his body bent over Kyra's. - YOU SUCK THIS HURTS I DON'T LIKE YOU IM THROWING A TANTRUM (but I love that it's Kyra. I love how real it is. I love that you have the ability to hurt me.)

The call comes almost two years after the bridge. Six hundred and ninety-seven days of missing Kate, of trying to make a life without her. - AMAZING

"You should sit down," Shaw suggests gently, and when is Shaw ever gentle? Shit. Shit- "We found her too," she says, a mixture of exhaustion and triumph coloring the words. "We found Beckett. He kept her in his basement, locked away as a sort of prisoner. She's alive, Castle. Not in the best shape, but she's alive." - FLAILING SCREAMS GURLLLLL

This story is the BEST. love love love love x a trillion.

Oh my god... I could totally kill you right now! I mean the writing is amazing, but STILL! Ah! How could you do this to us!

OMG THIS STORY. I can't even be coherent but just know that I love the everliving daylights out of it.

WHAT THE F***! This is really Carto and a torture Beckett fic? What did you do to her? And now poor castle sleeping with Kyra! Oh the feels. And to think just yesterday I told myself I wasn't going to read this until you posted it all. Horrible self control today. But 2 years! Can someone ever really recover from that? OMG that almost ripped my heart out. Amazing storytelling as usual, but every 3 days is more than I can take for a story like this. Holy crap. What do I have to pay you to read it all now?

OOOOOOH GOD! I'm still trusting you...Please don't knock Kyra up. PLEASE...I'm begging you...