Authors Note: Wow guys! you totally blew my mind! 43 reviews for one chapter! That has NEVER happened to me before! I was so inspired that I wrote this chapter and decided to post it today instead of waiting until tomorrow. Why torture you guys?

Again, thank you to alwayscastle2 for reading this. And be sure to check out her post finale fic, It Was Supposed to be Always. It's amazing, just like she is!

Reviews are love, leave some!

-Krystle

"When the world wants too much

and it feels cold and out of touch

its a beautiful place

when you kiss my face

the woman in me

needs you to be

the man in my arms

to hold tenderly

'cause I'm a woman in love

And it's you I run to

Yeah, the woman in me,

Needs the man in you"

Back at the house, Alexis is immediately bombarded by her grandmother, Lanie, Ryan and Esposito. All of them talking at the same time, and Alexis doesn't know who to answer first. She tries to speak over them, tries to get them to stop talking long enough for her to get a word in, but that clearly isn't happening anytime soon. She brings her thumb and pointer finger to her mouth and lets out a very loud whistle.

The group of people in front of her jump and simultaneously cover their ears. She takes a deep breath and says, "Thank you. I will answer your questions. One at a time. Starting with Gram."

"What happened, darling?" Martha asks, wringing her hands.

"Dad was in a car accident. A car ran him off the road, the Mercedes is totaled, other than a mild concussion, Dad's fine."

"Does he know who it was?" Ryan asks.

Alexis shakes her head, "Black SUV, tinted windows. He doesn't remember the plate number."

"How's Kate?" Lanie asks, in all their friendship she's never seen Kate as scared as she was when she ran out of the house and to the Rolls Royce.

"She's dealing. I think she's fine knowing that Dad is alive. She's not leaving the hospital until he does. She's scared, worried, but she's not letting that show. She's trying to be strong."

"What do they need us to do, Little Chica?" Javi asks.

Alexis smiles. "Dad and Kate want us to explain what happened, to the guests, and put them up in the hotel in town, pay the caterers double, and get the house ready for a wedding. Since Dad is staying over night, the wedding has been moved to tomorrow."

It takes a couple hours to get all the out of town friends and family to the hotel, checked in and settled. Martha tips the hotel generously for taking in the three-hundred or so wedding guests on such short notice. Alexis, meanwhile, is dealing with the caterers. She pays them the amount that her father told her, and they put the food in the back of their trucks, promising that tomorrow, given the circumstances, they will bring fresh food back instead of using what had already been cooked.

Lanie comes down stairs with an over night bag and a garment bag and places them by the door. She finds Alexis, and asks her if there is anything her father might want.

Shaking her head in the negative, she says, "Honestly, as long as he's got Kate with him, I don't think he could want anything else."

"Those two really are too cheesy for their own good," Lanie says with a smile. "What room are they in?"

CB

A light tapping on the door causes Kate to look up. Rick has been sleeping for the better part of four hours; she however couldn't manage to keep her eyes closed. Every time she closes her eyes she sees the burning car, and feels the panic and fear rise up in her chest at the thought of Rick being dead.

When the door opens, Lanie pops her head in. "Hey girl."

Kate smiles weakly at her friend. "Hey."

The door clicks closed behind her and she places the bags in a nearby chair. Walking over to the side of the bed Kate is laying on, she offers her hand to her best friend who instantly grabs it. "How is he?"

A fresh batch of tears pool in Kate's eyes, and she shudders out a breath. "He's alive."

"Honey-"

"I don't think I've ever been that scared, Lanie," Kate admits. Shaking her head, she looks at her sleeping fiancé. "When I got the call, and they told me there was an accident…I got there and saw the Mercedes off the small cliff on fire…I really thought I lost him this time."

"But you didn't," Lanie reminds her, squeezing her hand. "He's here, he's alive."

Kate nods, "I know; and I thank God he got out of that car before it blew. I don't know what I would have done if -" She shakes her head, and buries her face in the crook of his neck and inhales deeply.

"And you won't have to find out," Lanie says, wiping at her own tears that have fallen. "Richard Castle is as stubborn as you are, Kate, it's going to take more than a car wreck to keep him from you."

Kate gives Lanie a half smile. "What's in the bag?"

"I brought you a change of clothes, and your tooth brush and tooth paste. I also brought the garment bag for your dress. I'll take it back to the house and clean it up so it'll be perfect for tomorrow."

Kate looks over at Rick. She doesn't want to leave him, but she knows that she needs to change clothes. She looks up at Lanie, "Stay with him?"

Lanie smiles, "Of course."

Very gently, Kate slips out from under Rick's arms and stands by his bed for a moment. Before she retrieves her bag from the chair, she turns to her friend and gives her a tight hug, trying desperately not to lose her bearings. Lanie hugs her back, rubbing her back soothingly.

"It's okay, Kate," she whispers.

Kate nods. She knows that he's fine. He's here, he's alive, he's breathing. But still the realization that he could have been taken from her makes her sick to her stomach. She grabs her bag and walks to the bathroom in his hospital room, and locks the door. She stares at herself in the mirror. Her hair is disheveled, her make up is destroyed, her eyes, red and puffy from the crying she's done.

Sighing, she brings her hand up to the pins in her hair, and removes them. Shaking out her curls so they fall down her back. She wets a paper towel and gets as much of her smudged make up off her face as she can. Another sigh escapes her lips as she reaches for the zipper on her dress.

A fresh batch of tears spring to her eyes. Rick is supposed to be taking her dress off, not her. His hands should be tugging the zipper down, pushing her dress down, not her. This whole day has turned into a nightmare.

She composes herself and changes into the clothes that Lanie brought for her. She gathers her dress, and carefully places it on the hanger. She runs her hand down the fabric; smiling softly at the thought that her mother once wore this dress; her something old. Zipping up the garment bag, she walks back into the room.

"Hey, there you are," Rick says with a smile.

Her eyes meet his, and she smiles back at him. "Hey, you're awake."

He nods, "Yeah, Lanie was informing me that everything was taken care of."

Making her way back over to his bed, she climbs into his arms again. "I can't thank you guys enough for taking care of everything."

"Girl, it's no problem. You just relax. You're still the bride," Lanie smiles.

Kate gives her a weak smile in return and Rick kisses her head, and squints to the TV that is on in the corner. "Hey, turn that up please?"

Kate reaches over for the remote and increases the volume.

"…appears to be a structure fire off of route 84. Firefighters have contained the blaze, local police say that it was arson. I just received word that a body has been discovered inside, no word yet on who it may be."

"As if this day couldn't get any worse," Rick mumbles, "now there's another murder in the Hampton's when we're here."

Kate rolls her eyes, "Well, at least I know you won't be wanting to help our friend Chief Brady this time."

Rick shakes his head, "Nope. I came here with one goal in mind."

"Oh really?"

"Yep," he smiles. "My goal is to make you my wife. It's going to happen."

Lanie rolls her eyes at her friends as Kate smiles at her fiancé, and leans up to kiss him. "It will. Even if we have to go to the court house. I'm done waiting."