AN: Alright guys, this will be the final chapter of If Only. This chapter is set one week after Esposito and Ryan caught their colleagues at Remy's. The boys are sharing the Ferrari for the week, as a bribe to not tell the whole precinct that there's a new couple at work. Oh and, for the story, let's just pretend that four people can fit in Castle's Ferrari.

"Oh come on Kate, you gotta join us, the paperwork can wait!" Lanie told her and basically dragged her by the arm to the break room.

"I'm not sure, Lanie. Montgomery is going to want this on his desk by tonight..-" She was trying to avoid going out, she would rather spend the night at home with Castle.

"Oh what a load of bullshit. Come on, we're all going to go." Castle appeared with Ryan and Esposito from the back and Lanie asked him, "Castle, you wanna go out with us tonight? All of us?"

"Ohh yes that sounds like fun!" He said all excited about their night out.

"See, he's fun!" Lanie looked over at her friend with her most convincing begging look on her face.

"Alright then! I'll go." Kate wasn't too excited about it, but wanted to spend her free night with her boyfriend anyways.

"Yes! Great!" Lanie was excited about it.

Esposito chimed in, looked at the couple, and said, "Oh and we will pick you up at nine tonight, in your Ferrari."

"Yeah, I'm taking a cab." Lanie said.

"Oh are you serious? I'm not going to sit in the back of my own car." Castle turned to face Espo as Ryan stood next to them, dying of laughter.

"Yeah well, do you want the whole precinct to know that you two-" he pointed at Castle and Beckett - "are a couple?" Espo was being a little loud and Kate slapped him on the arm because of it.

"No, we don't. Come on Castle." Kate said.

"See you tonight!" He managed to say before Kate dragged him along to her desk.

It was 8PM and they were getting ready at the loft. First they went over to Kate's apartment to grab her clothes and purse and they decided to get ready together.

"They didn't even tell us where we are going, did they?" Castle remembered as he saw Kate walking out of the bathroom, wearing only a bathrobe.

"No, they didn't. Lanie just told me to 'wear something nice'." She walked over to the bed where she had put her clothing.

"Well I'd rather have you wear just this." He grabbed her by the arm and turned her around, facing him.

"Yeah I bet." She gave him a peck on the lips before heading back into the bathroom. Normally she would not mind changing in front of her boyfriend, but her and Castle hadn't slept together yet and she didn't want to distract him from going out tonight. She had set her mind on having fun, after all, they were her best friends.

"They're here!" Kate said as she grabbed her purse.

Castle was mumbling to himself when he grabbed his wallet and phone.

"What's that?" Kate opened to door to leave. "Oh Castle don't be annoying okay, you'll get your car back in a week."

"It's fine." He pulled the door closed behind him.

While they walked out of the apartment building, they noticed that Espo and Ryan had double parked the car.

"Hey, if I get a fine, it's yours to pay!" Castle said as he opened the door for Kate.

"We're not going to get a fine!" Ryan exclaimed.

"So, where are we going?" Kate leaned forward between Ryan and Esposito.

"Ahhh we've got something fun planned, trust me." Ryan said and got all excited.

About 20 minutes later and taking the time to find a parking spot, they arrived at a bar that at first thought, only Esposito knew.

"Wait, that's the Old Haunt?" Castle said, pointing at the bar across the street.

"You know about this place?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, of course! It is known for its amazing history, it's one of the coolest bars in the city. I used to get a lot of my writing done here, before I had Alexis."

"Now I'm curious." Kate said as they crossed the street. Castle was right, The Old Haunt had this mystique and dark vibe. As they chose a booth to sit at, Lanie entered the bar. "Hi guys!"

"Hi Lane!" She hugged her best friend. "Apparently Castle knows all about this bar." Kate said.

"Ouch and I thought that we had something original going on here." She made a pouty face to her friend as she sat down. "They have the most amazing cocktails here girl. You should try the Moscow Mule, you'll love it!"

After the gang had their orders ready Lanie had the best idea, as so she thought. "Let's play truth or drink!"

"We have to work tomorrow, should we really-" Kate got interrupted.

"Well then let's just take little sips." She really wanted to get some more spicy information out of her friends, especially Kate.

With all of them nodding in agreement, Kate gave in. "Alright then, I'll start." She decided to start off easy. "Lanie, what's the biggest lie you've ever told your parents?"

"Ohhh that's an easy one!" She laughed. "This one time in high school, I really wanted to see this boy. My mom had overheard me on the phone talking to him, and she told me that I couldn't go. So I asked one of my best friends that lived a few blocks away from us to come ring at our door, to ask if I wanted to help her with an upcoming chemistry quiz. My mom let me go with her and of course, as we got closer to her place, I just took the subway to go see him. I got home a couple hours later and they didn't even ask me about the chemistry quiz."

"Yeah I could imagine you doing that." Kate laughed.

"And they didn't even find out! I think..." The guys laughed and so did Castle. Lanie found her first victim to asked a question.

She turned to face Castle, trying to come up with a juicy question. "Have you ever read your girlfriend's texts over their shoulder?"

"Ohh I like this question." Kate bumped her shoulder to his, sitting right next to him.

"Alright, yes I have."

"Castle!" Kate pretended to be shocked.

"But it was just the one time in The Hamptons when you texted Lanie about us."

"Wait, chica, you knew and didn't tell us?" Esposito asked, a little hurt.

"My best friend asked me to, sorry guys." She said.

"Okay then." Castle said, interrupting the rather awkward moment. He was already thinking about who was going to be his next victim. "Kevin, what's the biggest age gap you've ever had with a partner?"

Esposito couldn't hold in his laugher. "Dude." Kevin just responded by giving him a look.

"Wait, I want to know!" Kate said, getting all excited. In the precinct she's their superior, but when they're off work there was no difference to be found, they were her best friends. Detective Beckett never treated them differently at work and her colleagues quite respected her for it.

"Okay, during my time at the Academy I had this job on Saturdays. I worked as security guard at the local library, it wasn't my favorite job, it was straight up boring, but at least I got paid."

Javier couldn't keep his laugher in. "Oh so you know this story huh?" Castle asked him. "I sure do." He replied. "By all means, go on Kevin." He said, feeling a little bad for his partner.

"At night, students would come to the library to study and during one of my night shifts I met this woman. She told me that she was in college studying Anthropology and a couple nights later we hooked up. She forgot to mention that her college classes were after work and that she was 17 years older than me. In my defense, she really didn't look her age." Kevin turned bright red, having to confess the story, but he felt relieved too, finally getting to laugh about it.

"Oh my god are you serious? And you really didn't notice? Wow I'm glad you got a proper Psychology class during your time at the Academy so you can read people a little better now." Kate just giggled, hearing him confess the story.

"Kate." Kevin just said. And from the look on his face, Kate was going to be tortured with the next question.

"What was your wild child phase like?" He asked with a devilish grin on his face.

"Oh no." Kate buried her head in her hands. Over the years she had dropped some hints about a 'wild child phase', but she never discussed it with anyone. Anyone but Lanie.

"Oh girl just tell them about the one time-" Lanie should've seen this coming, Kate put her hand over Lanie's mouth, gesturing that she should basically shut up.

She thought it over for a minute and came up with a suitable story to tell. "I'll tell you this one story, but you gotta promise that no one ever finds out, okay?" They all nodded, knowing very well that certain stories could cost you your job as a cop.

"Alright, when I was in college, pre-law, I spent most of my time at the dorms or at the library studying. I took those courses very seriously, but of course, a girl needs to blow off steam every once in a while." They were all hanging on her lips as she told them.

"So this one night, my friends and I decided that it would be a good idea to have some older friends buy us alcohol and head to the rooftop of our dorm. It wasn't necessarily easy to access, but to make a long story short, we made it work. It was an all-girls floor, but eventually some guys got invited to join us. After a while I snuck off with this one boy to his dorm and a professor that luckily didn't know that I was pre-law, catches us running to his dorm together, with me, carrying a bottle of liquor. He wanted to get the both of us suspended, but our drunk selves remembered that we had seen him sneaking around campus with another professor, one that was definitely married and not to him. So we basically blackmailed him into keeping quiet."

"Katherine Beckett." Castle said, just not believing that young Kate would've done something like that. Himself, sure, but he didn't suspect his girlfriend of such things.

"No way. That could've cost you your enrollment at Stanford." Esposito said, not really believing her.

"Trust me Espo, I'm not making this up." Kate laughed, remembering her college days.

"Well I never suspected you to be the blackmailing type. At work, possibly." She slapped him on the arm.

"Ouch, but not when there's so much at stake at least." Castle admitted as he laughed.

"Well, you've still got a lot to learn about me, Castle." She said, winking at him.

"Javi." Kate said as the looked him straight in the eye. Kate knew her two male co-workers pretty well, they were like big brothers to her. "Would you kiss anyone at this table if you had to?" She knew very well that him and Lanie had some tension between them during the past month, she just didn't know if he'd admit to it. Him and Lanie had kissed once during a drunk night out, she had even witnessed it.

"If I would really have to choose someone, I'd choose Lanie. We've kissed before and it would be the least awkward." He confessed.

Lanie looked at him, not sure what to make of his confession. Did this spark an interest from her side?

Raunchier questions came up and some decided to skip them, so they had to drink. They were comfortable around each other and enjoying themselves quite well, so they were all drinking casually, but not that comfortable to share all their little secrets.

"Do you have a bucket list? And if so, what is on it?" Ryan asked Castle. It was a simple question after all.

"Oh yeah I want to know too! You were folding up that little piece of paper so neatly last week that I couldn't even read it." Kate chimed in, not knowing what she had gotten herself into.

Castle gave in, knowing that he could also just take a sip from his drink, but that Kate would find out eventually.

"Ohhh wait, what are you hiding from my girl, Castle?" Lanie shot him a look.

He grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket, took the piece of paper out and handed it to Kate. "You read it."

She unfolded the post-it note and her eyes scanned the top part of the paper.

"Castle's Bucket List." She said aloud. As she read his number one, Kate was stunned.

"Be with Kate?" She asked in a soft voice, turning to face him. "That's your number one?" She even got a little emotional.

"Hey, I can cross that one off!" He said, pointing at the piece of paper, knowing all too well what he had written and how it would affect her.

"Castle, when did you write this?" Kate asked, getting teary eyes.

"A little while after you barely survived your apartment explosion. I just.. I felt a need to protect you." He admitted, making every single one of their friends look at the couple in awe.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him ever so tightly. "If you hadn't warned me about the killer, I probably wouldn't be here right now." She whispered.

She released from the hug as he said, "But we are." and smiled.

"We sure are." She admitted, giving him a peck on the lips, grabbing his hand while doing so.

She couldn't and wouldn't admit it to him in that exact moment, but knowing how he really felt about her before their weekend to The Hamptons made her feelings for him grow even stronger. She knew that she could trust him in this relationship and that it wasn't something short term to him. Deep down she was already aware of that, but it reassured her even more to know.

When their game of truth or drink had finished, Castle went to order one last round for the group at the bar. Kate grabbed Lanie by the arm, leading her to the bathroom.

She let go of her friend's arm as they reached the woman's bathroom. "I'm glad you convinced me to come Lane." Kate admitted, washing her hands.

"Me too. We've both got some things to ponder over." Lanie said as she thought about Javi's confession. "Do you think it means something?"

"What Javi said? Yeah I think it might. I mean the way he looks at you Lanie.."

"Okay, maybe... good to know. And you? Girl, writer-boy's bucket list was the most adorable thing I've even seen a guy do."

"Yeah, me too." Kate turned all red. She was definitely falling for him.

"So how are you? Feelings and all?" She knew how to get information out of her friend.

"God Lanie.." Kate didn't even know what to say. It had only been a couple weeks since she and Castle had their first kiss, but her feelings had definitely been growing stronger. She knew that he was dependable and how he felt about her. Now she just needed to admit how she felt about him. "You know, the bucket list, no one has ever done or said something similar to me. What he did, and not even subconsciously... I mean he tried to hide the note from me at home, it wasn't his plan to tell me. This can only tell me that he didn't want me to feel too overwhelmed by all this. But somehow, I don't." Kate admitted.

"You don't because you're falling for him too?"

Kate smiled and it already answered Lanie's question non-verbally. "At first, I tried to deny it, you know.. but I didn't want to waste time anymore."

The Old Haunt was getting emptier by the minute as the gang finished their drinks. Castle had his arm wrapped around Kate's lower back, caressing her softly and she laid her hand on his leg. It was clear that they did not want to leave each other's side tonight.

Lanie took the last sip of her drink and put her glass on the table. "Alright, it was a great night guys, but I'm exhausted. Got an early day at the lab tomorrow."

"Yeah, let's just hope that our boss doesn't call us in too early tomorrow." Ryan said, looking over at Beckett.

"She probably won't you know.. She'll have someone else on her mind." Espo said, grinning at his partner.

"Hey!" Kate just said, turning all red, as Lanie laughed.

"It's true though?" Castle looked at her.

"Yeah it is." She said to him and stood up as all of them were putting on their coats.

Castle, as the gentleman he is, grabbed her coat and helped her in it. Lanie closely watched his gestures. She hadn't seen them together as a couple and she was genuinely happy for her friend.

"Thanks Castle." Kate said as she put on her coat and walked out of The Old Haunt. The boys said their goodbyes as Lanie hugged her friend as she said, "You've got a keeper girl. I've never seen you this genuinely happy."

"Thanks Lanie. You're the kindest and you're right. He's definitely a keeper." Kate said as she released from the hug and admiring her boyfriend from afar.

Castle and Beckett decided to take a subway and walk home since the bar wasn't tool far from his loft. Ryan and Espo just made a couple extra turns when they were driving his Ferrari earlier.

"I had a great night." Kate admitted. It wasn't her plan to go out, but she surely enjoyed their company.

"Me too, but you know that would make it even better!" He pointed at this little food stand on the side of the road. New York was filled with these little stands for a midnight snack that could completely fulfill you.

They both bought a soft shell taco and ate it on their way back. The food sobered them up quickly.

"My god this is so delicious." Kate said as she ate the last of her taco.

"You're delicious!" He gave her a kiss on the cheek as he grabbed her hand.

"You couldn't not say this, could you?" Kate just laughed at his comment.

"Sorry, but you are." He winked at her and they walked back to the loft.

They were standing in the elevator on their way up to the loft, holding hands, as Kate spoke. "Castle, that note in your wallet about wanting to be with me, it was the nicest and most romantic thing someone has ever done for me. I know you didn't mean for me to see it but still." She rested her head in the crook of his neck.

"Somehow, I'm glad you saw it too." He leaned in for a kiss, and their lips barely touched as the elevator door opened.

Kate grabbed his hand silently and Castle opened the door to his loft. "You're staying with me tonight right?" Castle asked making his pouty face. They had been switching between sleeping at their own places and sharing the bed.

"Yeah, well if that is what you want." She said, wanting to be with him as much as he wanted her and added, "Do you mind if we continued this, because our elevator kiss got interrupted earlier." She leaned in, kissing him on the lips again, implying that she wanted to be close to him.

"I really-" kiss "don't-" kiss "mind." He said with an emphasis on 'really'. She had her hands on his hips, sliding up to his arms and neck. Holding him so close to her was all she ever wanted and she only realized it recently. Their kiss got more heated as he was fiddling with her coat, taking it off and throwing it on the couch. She pulled off his coat and worked on the buttons of his shirt as he rested his hand on her back and led her to the bedroom. Halfway, he softly pulled apart. "Castle, what-" She giggled as he interrupted her and picked her up bridal style.

"I'm so happy you're mine." He whispered into her ear.

"Me too, writer-boy." She smiled into the crook of his neck.

"Hey, it's writer-man to you and I'll prove that just now." He said as he laid her down on his bed, both ready to truly connect to one another.

AN: So that was it for the very last chapter of If Only. I hope you loved the extra long chapter, I definitely wanted to give you guys some more to read towards the end. Thank you for reading! J