She didn't know what to think, or what to say. Katherine Beckett just did.
"Rick." She paused. "I love you"
TWO DAYS EARLIER….
"Rick, let's go. We're goanna be late to work." Kate was in such a hurry she almost forgot to brush her teeth.
"I'm comin' Kate. Hold on I just gotta grab something. Rick walked over to "his drawer", the one Kate had given him on Valentines Day. He pulled out a small white box with a heart on it. Inside lay a 14k gold promise ring with a green stone the color of Kate's eyes.
"Castle Come on!" Kate really couldn't wait any longer. Her team was expecting them in 10 minutes and her house was 15-20 minutes from the station.
"I'm right here Kate." Rick said as he walked out of their bedroom.
"You're such an ass." Kate laughed and grabbed his arm. She slipped her arm into his and linked them together. She rose up on her toes and gave Rick a little peck on the lips and smiled.
The precinct was the one place where Kate and Rick could not show their relationship.
"Well all I can say is that we all learned the hard way not to leave all our paper work till last minutes. I really wanted three days off instead of two." Ryan said.
"You and my both bro." Esposito said. Looking at Beckett in a "unlike Katherine Beckett" glare.
"I choose to dedicate most of my days to work so…." Kate said trying to defend herself.
Castle smiled and looked at Kate with his big blue eyes. He reached down and felt the promise ring he had slipped into his pocket and smiled.
"Castle!" Beckett screamed
"Yes. I'm sorry did you say something?" Rick asked. He had been too busy thinking about how much he loved and cared for Kate, that he didn't realize she was talking to him.
"Yes. Let's go to lunch." Kate said. With that she stood up and walked out the door. As she walked to the elevator she could feel Castle was close behind her. The doors opened and Castle pushed Beckett inside.
"Castle we're…"
Kate tried to talk but Castle's mouth came crashing down on hers. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. They separated for air and then all of a sudden the elevator door opened and Beckett backed away. Her lips were all swollen from their hot make out session in the elevator.
They walked to her car. It was silent. Kate didn't know why it was but she felt awkward. Castle opened her door for her and let her slide in. Then he walked over to his side and got in.
"Where too?" Kate asked.
"Remy's?" Rick asked.
"Sounds good!" Kate said.
They had finished lunch and went back to the precinct and now it was 11:30 at night.
"This house was bombed but all I can say is that there are two victims, one female and one male. Their names' are Jen and Mike Roadland." Dr. Lanie Parish M.E said.
"I want to go inside and look. There's a traffic cam right on that lamp post I would like to pull the footage from there." Kate said. And with that she was off walking into the house with Castle following her.
As Kate entered she saw Ryan and Esposito standing around talking to the neighbor, who claimed she saw no one leaving or entering the house.
"Kate there's nothing here we can do. I think Ryan and Espo got it. Lets go home and get some rest and tomorrow morning the footage should be ready." Castle suggested.
Kate looked down at her feet and began to think. She was tired and didn't really want to be here. She wanted to be asleep in the arms of the man she loved.
"Ok Castle let's go home."
They quietly entered the loft. Kate didn't want to drive back to her house. Castle's was closer to the crime scene. They fell asleep in each other's arms.
Castle was the first to wake. He got up and walked over to the kitchen to make coffee and grab the newspaper. He placed the newspaper and two cups of coffee with foam hearts (took him 6 minutes to make each one) and a rose and carried it to their bedroom. As he walked in he saw his sleeping Beckett. She was so beautiful lying there. All he could think about was how he was going to give her that promise ring.
Kate opened her eyes.
"Hey." She said warmly.
"Hi." He said back.
"We got home late last night." He said.
"Oh yeah. Lemme see if that traffic cam footage is ready for me to view." As Beckett said that her phone rang.
"Beckett. Yes. Ok. We'll be right over. Thank you." She hung up. "That was Ryan. The footage is ready."
Kate began to get out of bed and walk away. Castle pulled her around and looked at her.
"Esposito and Ryan can look at it. I feel like we haven't really seen each other in so long." He said,
"Oh yeah. Well then…" Kate said. She began to sit into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Remember when we first met?" Castle asked.
"Yeah. Hahaha I kinda thought you were an ass." Kate giggled and smiled. Katherine Beckett never giggles.
"No you totally felt things for me." Rick said.
"No I didn't. You really do believe that." Kate said.
"Come on Rick lets go." She stood up and kissed him really quick on the lips and walked away to get ready.
"Kate come on." He said.
She ran back and kissed him once more.
They walked up to the third floor apartment. Beckett and the boys had seen a man leave on the footage and I.D came back positive to a one Zac Haze.
"Search the whole house. I wanna know everything." Kate said.
She began walking around to the other side of the island table in the dinning room. Then all of a sudden, CLICK. She froze. As she looked down, that's when she realized what she was standing on. It was a bomb.
"Castle. Don't move. I'm…I'm standing on a bomb." Kate said as she looked at him with sad scared eyes.
Castle ran and told the bomb squad which was already there because of the house bomb and they had just began searching but Kate had found the bomb first.
"She's right here." Castle screamed as he ran over and showed the bomb squad agent where she was.
"How long do I have agent?" She asked.
"Detective you are standing on a bomb. Right now we don't know how long you may have or what kind of bomb it is and how to stop it." The agent responded.
"Kate. Everything's going to be ok." Rick said.
"Rick. Remember the first time we met? I want to say that I didn't fall for you then. It was after." She said.
"Yeah ok Detective Beckett." He joked.
"Castle you need to leave. If this bomb explodes you will die. And you have Alexis and Maratha waiting at home for you." Kate said.
"NO KATE I'M NOT LEAVING YOU!" He screamed.
"Castle please, for me?" Kate pleated.
"Kate there are so many things I want to say to you. There are so many things we need to do." He stared to tear up.
"No regrets. I think we've had a great run." Kate said.
"I wish…I wish I could kiss you." Rick said.
"Go now Castle." She said.
He turned around and began to walk away.
"Rick." She paused. "I love you." Kate was crying. She loved him so much and if she died she wouldn't ever see him again.
"I love you too." Rick said. He smiled and then turned back around.
Kate mouthed the word, Always.
That's it. He walked right back in after twenty minutes of being gone. He had gotten coffee and come back.
"Castle I told you to…" He cut her off.
"Yes but I had to come back. Brought coffee."
Then the bomb began to beep. It said it had 5 minutes remaining. Castle didn't know what to do so he picked up the phone and called Ryan. Ryan answered.
"Hey Castle I was just about to call. I found out that Zac had a son. His name is William." Ryan said.
"That's it! That's the key to the bomb. Punch it in and it will cancel it. Or it could go off but…" Castle thought. He has 3 minutes left. The problem is the bomb has a five-digit code, so it can't be William. No, but it can be Billy.
Out of his last hope he typed in B-I-L-L-Y.
"Castle NO!" Beckett screamed.
Then it was silent. The bomb was off.
Kate began to walk off of it. As soon as her foot lifted off she ran over to Castle and wraped her arms around him.
Gates and the boys had come over to greet Beckett coming out of the apartment.
"Detective Beckett its great to see you alive and well. Mr. Castle you too I guess." Gates said.
They looked at each other and smiled. Gates noticed this and then she said it.
"Oh go on Beckett kiss the man"
Beckett looked and Gates and so did everyone else in total shock. She knew. She knew all this time that they were
together.
"Excuse me Sir but you know?" Beckett asked.
"Yes. I am not stupid Detectives." And with that she walked away.
They were at home in the loft. Castle had made dinner and they were getting ready to watch a movie when Castle said he had to get something.
Beckett just sat there waiting for Castle to come back. She was wondering what the hell he was doing.
"Castle!" She shouted.
"Coming." He said back.
He was ready. He had the ring and everything. He walked into the living room. He sat down on the couch next to Beckett.
"I know we are partners not just at work, but in life. I want to say that I love you Katherine Beckett and today you told me you loved me too. And so I want to promise you that I will love you and will always be here for you." He got on the floor and pulled the box out. Beckett looked up at him in shock. Was he proposing?
"Beckett? Will you accept this promise ring?" And with that he opened the box to show her the ring inside.
She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"YES! Castle I will. I love you so much. Always."
She took it and placed it on her finger. It was beautiful. Then she reached over and kissed him. He stood up and then helped her stand and they walked into the bedroom and everything went…STILL.