A/N Sorry for the wait! Life happened. Enjoy.


He feels as if his heart has stopped dead, and then suddenly it's revived, galloping and wild in his chest as they head down the sidewalk. He has been waiting so long, paying close attention to her signs, her clues, hoping that soon-very soon the day would come when they can be more. Trusting that all these months they were working up to the right time, hoping she will realize that her mother's case doesn't need to be complete for them to be together. He is willing to go through thick and thin with her. He just wishes so badly she would let him be completely with her in every sense, as they move forward.

They follow the sidewalk straight ahead for several minutes. The evening air cooling, the majority of the after-work crowd dispersed, leaving the streets quieter than when they first stepped outside.

They end up at the swings, their swings. The same spot they were at not quite a year ago when she cryptically asked him to wait for her. She can't help but think how different things are now, her perspective has changed so much since that day. In a way it feels right, that they have found themselves here again tonight.

They each take a swing, Beckett pumping her feet, moving back and forth while Castle is still and simply watches her, admires her long legs, her hair blowing in the breeze she creates as she swings. After a few minutes she slows down and asks, "So how's Alexis doing? Is the internship with Lanie still going well?"

He has always appreciated the way that Beckett has been interested in and cared for his daughter. "I think she's enjoying it, but she has definitely crossed over into our work space. I think she is getting to know a little too much about her old man."

"It was quite the outburst you had in the morgue the other day Castle," she needles him with a smirk.

"Me, outburst-what about you!?" He says both teasing and searching for truth, "If you hadn't been so jealous-"

"What!" she gasps, "I was not…!" She shrieks back at him her mouth open in surprise at his accusation.

"Um, yeah. You were and by the way, Alexis never would have heard anything about it if you didn't keep bringing it up...I know what jealousy looks like Beckett," he's outright flirting with her now, maybe even trying to get a confession out of her.

Ok, so maybe she was jealous but she couldn't just admit that to him. Could she? Kate finds herself biting her lip again, something that keeps happening when she's near him, and he can tell she's trying not to smile.

Thinking back to Sofia, even just the name now makes her stomach churn, she finds herself reflecting over the last few days. They had been through a lot with this case. For some reason it's hitting her harder than usual. She's realizing just how much danger they were really in, how close they came to not surviving.

Flashes of being trapped in her cruiser together, the car sinking to the bottom of the river. The water rising and Rick going under to look for her gun. The pure panic she felt when he didn't come up. Sofia's hand just a millisecond away from pulling the trigger. A flood of feelings overcome her. Suddenly the fact shines through the fiction in her mind between what she thought she needed and what she really needs, wants even. She really wants him.

"You ok?" he asks, ever attentive, noticing the change in her features, her brow creased and serious.

"Actually, I was just thinking about everything that has happened during this case." He watches her suck in a deep breath, glance towards the sky before looking back to him.

"I was really worried I was going to lose you this time Rick," she said. He can see the fullness forming in her gorgeous eyes and his heart begins to ache for her, with her. He almost lost her too.

"I know we've had some close calls over the years, but when I didn't see you come up from going under water and then the next day… one more second and she, she was going to kill you," she barely manages to get out. He's never seen her like this before. She's actually letting him in, sharing her feelings.

"I can't lose you Rick," she whispers and she's surprised by the tear that rolls down her cheek. She quickly swipes at the offending streak, tries to make disappear. She was supposed to be making him feel better tonight, she hadn't realized how much this was what she needed too.

But he sees, he knows her so well. Her openness tonight is making him feel bold and he decides to act on it. Castle quickly stands, his abandoned swing propelled backwards.

He walks up to her, looking so calm and sure, though inside he feels anything but. Castle reaches out his hands to her and after a moment's pause she takes them. He draws her up to her feet, gently pulls her towards his chest and embraces her.

Finally Kate allows it, she lets herself sink into the warmth of his broad chest and be comforted by him. Her tall, slender frame fitting perfectly in his arms. She feels safe in away she only feels in his presence.

"Hey," he says rubbing his hand slowly up and down the line of her back, "I'm not going anywhere. You are not going to get rid of me that easily," he tries to reassure her. The truth is he was scared of losing her, too. Scared of leaving Alexis behind without her father.

"I'm here, I'm here," he murmurs to her softly as she rests her head on his shoulder and breaths him in.

They stay like that for a few moments, and they serve her well. It makes her brave to be close to him like this and she starts to wonder why she hasn't let him be this close before. Why she has been fighting it for so long?

It no longer feels like all the work she has been doing should lead to him as a final destination. Being with him should be part of it. At the end of the day he is her partner, he is her best friend. Why should she keep shutting him out when letting him in feels so right. She wants this, she wants him so badly and she doesn't want to wait for another life endangering moment to happen for her to tell him.

Kate, slides her hand from where it's been tucked around his waist and runs it up his chest. She stops near his heart and she can feel the moment his heart rate picks up speed and the calm moment they had quickly turns into tender wanting and desire. She keeps her hand there, gently stroking her thumb back and forth gathering up the rest of her courage.

"Kate..?" He asks, taking a risk and breaking the silence, his voice deep and rich. She lifts her hazel gaze to meet his eyes, the tension between lasting only a second before she reaches her hand up to his face and urges him down to meet her lips with his own.

For a moment he doubts that this is really happening. He didn't really die during this case, right? He's not in heaven or just dreaming that Kate Beckett is kissing him right now? But her warm silky lips are moving, sliding over his and he's jolted back to reality.

He suddenly comes alive at her touch, tugs the hand at her waist, seals her body to his own and brings his other hand up to caress her face, raises her jaw as he seeks permission to deepen the kiss. He knew they would be great, he knew kissing her for real would be amazing but this, this is beyond even his writer's imagination.

She can feel her whole body come alight with just the spark of his lips. The fire growing with the slick of his tongue chasing after her own and his strong arm holding her so tightly against him. She moans, lists her body closer to his and it's perfect. But it's so much more than just physical desire, for both of them.

They slow and part the kiss naturally, ever like them, in sync, and Rick rests his forehead against hers as he catches his breath. He rubs his hands tenderly against her sides but keeps her close. Kate works on steadying her own pulse, just enough so she can tell him what she's wanted to for what seems like such a long time now, what's been in her heart.

"Rick, I don't want to wait anymore. I just-I just want you."

The words are so soothing, reassuring to his heart. He didn't make it up, he didn't just imagine what they've been working towards.

"I just want you, Kate," he says his voice velvety and soft as he whispers back to her. "But, I want to makes sure you're in this. It's not just adrenaline from the last few days, right? What about that wall you mentioned?" He wants to believe with all his heart that this is their moment but he needs to expel any misinterpretation.

"I'm sorry that I've made you wait so long, that I've made you doubt," she says as she sees the apprehension written all over his face. She never meant to take so long, or to hurt him, but she knows she has. "I'm ready, I want this and maybe what we've gone through is helping me move forward, but forward with you is where I've wanted to be for a really long time," she says framing his face with her hands, the move causing him to take a deep breath. His eyes shine with love, longing and she's pretty sure that's what hers reflect back to him.

"Take me home, Rick. Come home with me. Let me show you how ready, how in this I really am," she says skimming her hand from his face, down his arm until she can twine her hands with his. The connection just as intoxicating as the kiss was, so intimate and right.

"Are you sure?" he hopes out loud.

She tugs his hands, brings him in for another kiss, deep and passionate. Before they become indecent, she stops and with short breath says, "Let me prove it to you."

That's all he needs to take her hand again and move forward, encouraging them to run to find a cab. She laughs at his eagerness, though she feels the same, feels the deep need to be with him. The desire to make love and then talk all night about all she's kept inside; it all just brimming at the surface, the desire to share everything with her best friend. As they get closer to the cross walk, where a few cabs are stopped waiting for the next fare, he suddenly stops, pulls her in tight to his body and kisses her deeply, sensually. Smiles burst onto both of their faces when they part.

"I've been waiting so long to be able to do this. I'm not sure I'll be able to stop," he says when he leaves her lips, her eyes barely opening from the pure pleasure of the moment.

She slides her hands onto his waist and pulls him back in for another kiss, "Then don't, don't ever stop."