I debated a lot about where I left this, but I know that I could never ever, ever do justice to a Castle/Beckett wedding, and I must have heard this song about three times today, so yeah, it ends where it ends. I might do an epilogue, if enough people ask me.

It's a beautiful night

We're looking for something dumb to do

Hey baby

I think I wanna marry you

He wakes with the idea of marriage. It's not exactly a stranger to him, married twice, divorced twice, and it's not the first time he's woken with the image of Kate Beckett in a flowing white dress in his mind, making her way down the aisle on the arm of Jim Beckett, her smile wide, and her eyes overflowing with emotion, with love and just a little bit of sadness, but she's happy. They're happy, and he's so proud of her, of all them for getting through this, for beating the odds and coming out stronger. And right now, she's asleep on her side of the bed, her features slack against the pillows, her hair a dark waterfall against her pale skin. And he wants to marry her. He's itchy with it, the need to make her Mrs Katherine Castle burning in his veins like wildfire. He can't say how many times he's thought about asking her, thought about buying a ring and asking her and he's backed out of at the last minute because he's terrified of it ending the way it did with Meredith and Gina. Except… Kate doesn't have a director she can cheat on him with, and she's nothing at all like Gina. No, third time lucky. She's his third time lucky. He just… he really needs to marry her.

Is it the look in your eyes

Or is it this dancing juice?

Who cares, baby

I think I want to marry you

He wasn't entirely aware of his feet when she'd pulled him up and out of his seat and dragged him over to the dance floor. It's not a particularly dance-y tune, and they're really just pretending to waltz in a very strange way, but if she wants to dance, then he's not one to tell her no. Not like he can ever deny her anything she wants. And not when she's looking at him like he's the most important person on the world, like the universe revolves him and everything's okay as long as he's around. And maybe it's that, or maybe it's the fact they're waltzing around an almost deserted dance floor and acting like idiots for all the world to see, but he can't stop the words rising up in his throat and they're tripping over his tongue before he has a chance to swallow them down and then it's… "Marry me."

He expects her to jerk backwards, to look at him like he's crazy and he's grown another head, to tell him he's being ridiculous, but then she's cradling his head in her hands and kissing him, her lips soft against his, and she tastes like the richest red wine, the hint of her lipstick, the spice from the pasta dish she'd eaten for dinner and he thinks it's a consolation kiss, and she's going to tell him she loves him, she does, but she can't marry him. She loves him but she can't marry him, and that's okay, isn't it? She loves him, he doesn't have to marry her (but he does, he does) and he shouldn't be so disappointed.

"I'll marry you." She whispers against his mouth, quiet so it stays that one thing for just them. It's not outlandish, or public, or in front of Reggie the chopper pilot, it's just… completely perfect. And then of course, he has to open his mouth and ruin it all.

"Now. I want to marry you now."

Well, I know this little chapel

On the boulevard we can go

No one will know

Oh, come on girl

She agreed. She actually agreed? She laughed and she said okay, and he had to kiss her again, kiss her like he's drowning and she's drown land, and it's not wrong, because she is. He didn't realise just how little he was stuck, how he was going from book to party to signing to party to signing to book, a monotonous day after day routine. A play boy image that he hated, but the people that he surrounded himself with made it seem like that's all who he was. Except he's not. He knows he's not. He never was, and he doesn't have to be that person. Not with Kate. She doesn't care for the money, or the cars and the big houses. She just wants him. The man who can make her feel safe, who can build up walls of safety around them with nothing but words, who can make the Detective stop at the door, drop all of the murder and just let her be Kate Beckett.

They're actually getting into a taxi and they're actually going to find a chapel and they're actually… he's going to go tonight with a ring on his finger and she's going to go home Mrs Katherine Castle (providing she takes his name, of course). This is crazy. Crazy and awesome and scary and fantastic, and she actually is going to marry him. In secret. Is it secret? Maybe they should do this and have a reception with everyone in a few weeks. Lanie's going to kill him. Alexis, his mother. They're all going to kill him. Oh, but he doesn't care. Kate Beckett just agreed to marry him.

I'll go get a ring

Let the choir bells sing like

Ooh, so what ya gonna do?

Let's just run, girl

They spend half an hour giddily looking at rings on display in a jewellery store. He goes for something plain, a gold band that probably won't fit at first, but he can get that changed. Kate is practically giddy with excitement, that bright eyed look that he usually associates with fever, but she's not feverish (he thinks, anyway. Oh god, don't let her be getting ill), she's just… she's excited, she's so excited because he just asked her to marry her and she said yes and they're getting married now. In the end, she opts for a nine carat, white gold, crossover ring inlaid with diamonds. Perfect. It's perfect. Everything is perfect. She's perfect and this whole night, this night was originally just a meal out is now turning into the best night of his life. And maybe it's not a church with a white dress, and tuxedo's and bridesmaid and best men, there's no hen night or stag do, but they've never been good at ordinary. He never wanted ordinary, not when he could have magic. And that's what she is, she's magic.e do