This just came to me out of no where after episode 3x11 (which I loved) so I hurried and wrote it out. Mistakes are mine! But I hope you like it!

Major fluff!

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle.

"Will you marry me?"

Her eyes traveled upward until they locked with his. While she looked amused and almost intrigued he felt taken aback and pleasantly flustered. The implications of the look they shared was not missed by either of them.

It was almost expectant and weighted. An indicator of what was to come.

It was brief and it was fleeting. But it was enough… Enough for Castle to see it all.

He saw them, he and Beckett, in a hazy future, alone this time, and happy. They were performing their usual banter over dinner at the loft. They had gotten home late (because yes, they lived together now) due to a long and stumbling case that left them exhausted and starving. With no new leads they had decided to call it quits early and get some dinner and much needed sleep. Although Kate (because he was allowed to call her Kate now) was cranky and frustrated when they first walked in the door her mood began to lift when Rick sent her to take a bubble bath and relax with the promise of dinner by the time she was through.

Sure enough, when she emerged a half hour later, there on the coffee table was the most beautiful meal Kate had ever seen: Chinese food from her favorite Chinese restaurant. He had laid it all out on platters with fortune cookies strewn about, chopsticks for eating, and a single candle to set the mood (he couldn't resist). He had even pulled a couple couch cushions off the sofa to use as seats. He smiled smugly as she slightly stumbled into the room with a genuine smile on her face.

"Wow Castle. What's the occasion?" she asked, slightly suspiciously.

"No occasion. Just thought I'd treat you to a little rest and recuperation. It's been a long week. We could use a break." He replied, shrugging his shoulders.

And it was true. There was no ulterior motive here. He simply wanted to give her the chance to sit and breathe and rest for five minutes. Something she rarely did. Since they had gotten together he had taken it upon himself to take care of her adamantly since she so rarely did it herself.

She too shrugged her shoulders as she sat down in Indian style and reached for some ham fried rice.

"I guess your right." She mumbled distractedly as she filled her plate with food. "No harm in eating dinner."

He smiled successfully as he too began to fill his plate. "Well dig in! It still amazes me how little it takes to please you. But I'm not complaining." He added, winking.

She rolled her eyes, but smiled at him, and it wasn't hard to see her appreciation for the simple gesture.

It was at this moment, as she smiled at him, that Castle found he couldn't breath. He loved Kate. He had known this for what felt like forever, and she had known it for about nine months now, but it was shock to his system every now and again. It was at times like this, when it was quiet and simple and true that he would catch his breath in awe. She was his, and just as assuredly, he was hers. That was it. There didn't need to be anymore than that.

Suddenly he was on his feet.

"What are you doing?" she asked, perplexed.

"I—I um, I'll be right back." He stammered, already on his way to his office.

"It's time." He thought to himself as he opened the middle drawer on the left side of his desk. He just knew it. Looking at her across their coffee table, in sweats, on a Friday night, he just knew it. His hand wrapped around the small velvet box and he quickly pulled it out. With shaky hands he opened it and pulled out the simple, yet elegant diamond ring. It was perfect.

He had bought the ring 3 weeks ago and had just been waiting for the right time. As typical Castle ideas go, he had immediately begun orchestrating over the top ideas of ways to propose. There was the helicopter ride (he just couldn't let that go), the surprise party in the Old Haunt, the "relive the first time they went to Remy's" idea, but nothing seemed to fit. As his mind continued to whir with ideas it had drifted to that day so many months before when Ryan was preparing to propose to Jenny. He had just asked. That was all. He had just done it when it felt right and suddenly he knew, that was what he was going to do too.

However, he had never expected "the right time" to be this moment. As he walked back to the living room with the ring clutched in his right hand he couldn't believe that the "elaborate, charming Richard Castle" was about to propose to the true love of his life in sweat pants over luke warm Chinese food, and yet, here he was.

"You better get back here and eat." Kate said, hearing him approach. "I've already eaten all the Mongolian beef and I'm moving on to the orange chicken."

When he didn't answer right away she looked up to see him staring at her. Before she could say anything, however, Rick started to speak.

"You know, I'm known in this world for my thrilling novels, my outgoing and slightly eccentric personality, my elaborate parties, and of course my ruggedly handsome good looks." He stated, still eyeing her curiously.

"Okay…" she answered, completely at a loss as to where this was going.

"And yet, here I am eating Chinese food with you, Katherine Beckett, in pajamas, on a Friday night at 9pm, and there's no where else I'd rather be."

She stared at him.

"There's never been anywhere else I wanted to be since you sauntered away from me that fateful day 4 years ago. I was hooked. I may not have realized it at the time, but at that moment it was all over for me." He continued, his face taking on a dream-like, thoughtful quality. "Life as I knew it had changed for good."

"Rick, what's—" Kate started, but he cut her off.

"And so, with that being said…" he took a deep breath and dropped to his knees, holding out the ring in the palm of his hand to her.

He saw her blink rapidly at a sudden onslaught of tears. With his free hand he cupped her face.

"Kate, I love you. I think I've loved you my whole life and just didn't know it. As I looked at you across our coffee table tonight I just knew. I knew I couldn't go another second without asking you."

The tears were pouring silently down her face now and she was smiling at him in that way that always took his breath away. He reminded himself to inhale once more.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes." She said, without missing a beat.

Silently he slipped the ring on her finger, and then cupping her face with both hands he kissed her with as much love and tenderness as he could muster.

It was simple, it was intimate, it was very un-Castle like, but it was perfect.

Ryan took the ring back, effectively breaking the moment.

"And helicopter rides are intimate." Castle stated, stumbling slightly as he tried to bring himself back to the present moment.

"Yeah, if you want to share the most romantic moment of your life with Reggie the chopper pilot." Beckett replied a little disbelievingly as she looked at the two of them with raised eyebrows and then turned toward the crime scene.

As quickly as it had come, the moment was gone. Yet, Castle couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, he might get to ask her that question again some day. And at that time it would be as perfect as he had just imagined it.

Smiling to himself, he hurried after her to check out the latest murder.

Thoughts? Reviews are love!