24 HOURS
Part II

He hadn't meant to leave the leather-bound journal in her hospital room at the end of the bed. Not really.

It was sort of one of those "accidentally on purpose" type things. Half of him wanted her to read the entry. To understand how he really felt about her. To know that he, Richard Castle, loved her with all his heart. He wouldn't have minded even if she read the entire journal. Most of the entries were about her anyway. But the other half of him was afraid. Afraid of the unknown. He didn't want to ruin their relationship if she didn't feel the same way.

But the deed was done, and there was no turning back now.

He had only left her room for a second, leaving the journal unattended at the end of the bed. When he returned only minutes later, he found her engrossed in the journal as if it were one of his novels. So engrossed, she hadn't even noticed him come back into the room.

She read page after page, almost feeling a twinge of guilt for prying so deeply in what appeared to be his... ever-so manly journal as he called it. But... she had almost died, if that didn't call for reading it, what did? You only live once, right? At least, that's the excuse she gave herself. As the entries wore on and on, she found that they... were all about her. Beckett and I did this today. Beckett and I did that. Beckett and I almost died. Beckett looked hot.

Every entry somehow involved her.

He wrote about everything that had ever happened between them, from their first meeting four years earlier... to now. He wrote about that time they had been locked in the freezer, how they had almost died together.

Everything.

But nothing prepared her for the very last entry, dated yesterday. According to the time, while she'd been in surgery. It's been hell, Kate. Utter hell. It almost read as a letter to her. Maybe he had left it here on purpose, maybe he wanted her to read it. She continued on the entry, scanning through guilt free.

I love you? So she hadn't been imagining things.

Castle studied her every emotion. He could see she had been reading the entire journal; although it shouldn't've come as much of a surprise since she didn't know to turn to the last page. But he could just tell when she got to the entry he had been waiting for. The look on her face changed from a woman looking back on fond memories, and the not-so-fond ones... to sheer and utter surprise.

Finally finished reading, she slowly closed the journal and fell back against her bed, eyes closed. She let out a heavy sigh. Her eyes snapped open as she realized Castle was sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. "Castle... I-" she stuttered.

He stood up and brought a finger to his lips. Then walked to the side of her bed, and smirked. "You don't have to say anything."

Kate shook her head, "Yes I do, especially after what... what I just read.

Castle sighed. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, he thought. He considered trying to explain himself, or to at least give some sort of rational excuse for what he wrote in his journal only hours ago. But nothing excuse-worthy came to mind, so he convinced himself he did the right thing, and decided to just go with the truth. "I was scared, Kate. I didn't want to lose you. I still don't want to lose you. But everything I wrote in that journal was the truth. Is the truth. And nothing can change my mind."

Kate stayed silent for awhile, the words truly sinking in. It was one thing to read them on paper, but it was another to hear them out loud; it made the words real. Castle finally spoke, turning into the Castle she knew and loved, "Was that too cheesy? Should I have put a disclaimer at the top saying; Beware the Cheese?" As joking as he meant it, he genuinely wanted to know.

She laughed. "No, it-" she sighed, and admitted, "A little."

Castle sighed, "Well, it was a major attention grabber, wasn't it?"

"It certainly was." she replied, smiling. "But I know it... came... from the heart. But when did you become such a-"

"Hopeless romantic?"

Kate smirked, "I'm sorry for being nosy... well not really since you never gave me that courtesy," she joked. "But I read all the other entries. Everything was about... about me. How you felt... how we deal with things. Together, as a team, as partners."

Castle sighed, "Yeah. I know... it is a journal after all. Look, I'm sorry for-"

"I think I love you too."

Castle stopped mid-sentence. He was almost waiting for that "just kidding" to come out of her mouth. He stared at her... and wondered why he was so surprised the she really did feel the same way.

"Come on, Castle," she said with a smirk. "I say I feel the same way and you look at me like I'm crazy!"

He laughed. But merely stared into her light brown eyes, noticing how they lit up as he inched closer to her. Both of their hearts started to beat outside of their chest's. Face to face, staring intently at each other, Castle moved slowly into her waiting lips.

Suddenly a mixture of applause and cat-calls rang out. Kate and Castle pulled away from each other, surprised at the sudden noise. Looking away from each other, they noticed everyone standing in the corner of the room; Martha, Alexis, Jim, Lanie, Esposito, and Ryan.

Kate found that her face had turned a bright shade of red, but Castle laughed murmuring in her ear, "Somebody's embarrassed." Castle merely shrugged his shoulders and pulled her back into his embrace, giving her gentle kisses along her lips.

More applause rang out, but this time the couple didn't stop nor look away from each other.

"Took you long enough," said Lanie with a smirk.

Ryan was the only one who looked upset... or at least disgruntled by the current situation. He forced a sigh, and reluctantly took out his wallet from the inside of his jacket pocket. He turned to Esposito, "How much do I owe you?"

"Let's see," he replied smugly. He began mentally doing the math, counting on his fingers and such. Convinced he had calculated it correctly, he looked dead onto Ryan's face, and grinned devilishly, "Two-Hundred big ones!"

"Two-Hundred bucks!" gasped Ryan. "You're kidding, right?"

"I'm afraid not, bro..." Esposito said with a smirk.

The couple pulled away from each other. "Betting on me and Castle, are you?" chuckled Kate, attempting an angry look on her face.

"It's all for you, Beckett." replied Esposito.

"Oh yes," Ryan added sarcastically. "Of course it is." He pulled a wad of bills from the inside of his wallet and counted out two-hundred dollars. He took in a deep breath, and wiped a fake tear from his eye. "Good-bye little buddies, it was nice knowing ya."

Esposito rolled his eyes, and held out his hand. "Oh just pass 'em over!"

"Just give me a sec, bro." Ryan kissed the money numerous times, and slowly passed them over to his greedy partner.

Kate laughed, but ignored the remarks of her two detective colleagues. She turned to Castle, and whispered quietly in his ear, "I really am glad we got to talk, Castle. I... I love you."

Castle smiled, and whispered back, "I love you too."