I know there's a million finale-centric fics out there already (which I have enjoyed reading all day) but I cranked this out earlier so I decided I mine as well share .
Kate, I love you.
For Richard Castle, 'Always' didn't mean 'I love You'. 'I Love You' meant 'Always'.
'I love you' he mused, was not as much a sure thing. Because I love you is something defined by the person saying it.
To the young couple strolling in the park it means, ' I could maybe see myself spending my life with you'.
To the elderly woman sitting next to her husband's hospital bed it means, 'Thank you for every moment'.
To the frat boy it means, 'You look hot in that dress'.
He had first told her 'Always' because Kate Beckett seemed the kind f girl to have watched a few 'I Love You's ' go sour.
And because as a writer he realized how important that definition was, he wanted her to know the difference.
But somewhere their words had crossed the line, erased the line, and became so much more than they masqueraded as.
Much in the same way that the depth in their glances could fill the pages of endless books.
So when he tells her those three little words, what he's not reassuring her of is how he feels.
She knows that already.
He's reassuring her that this, that they, could be real. That there's something to hold on for.
He thinks she sees it, for that brief moment where he could swear her lips were pulling upwards into the slightest smile. He fancies she's seeing the same thing he is, like a movie playing between their two faces.
Images of their future. When he sees the little girl with her wavy brown hair and his blue eyes, he knows she has to survive. Because, he knows it will be very hard to believe in anything at all if she doesn't.
I love you, Kate.
Hope you enjoyed my little insight.