AN: I am honestly blown away by the amount of story alerts and favorites and even author alerts and favorites that this story has gotten! I am especially grateful to all of you who reviewed: LoveJessieLou, LittleLizzieZentara, BoneyCastle237, huddy-lover-gregandlisaforever, Kate Beckett 24, and Audrey J1. You guys all just make my day! Anyway, this chapter is a little longer than the previous ones. I'm really happy about that, because I always find myself writing super-short chapters! It's also taken a bit longer than I had planned. I had a lot of schoolwork to get through, and even when I attempted to work on it, nothing good was coming out of my mind. But I'm pretty happy with the way that it finally turned out. I hope you all enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I'm not rich enough to live in the Hamptons, so please don't sue me.

A moment later, Beckett found herself buying a bottle of wine to take to the Hamptons. She hardly gave herself time to wonder just what she was getting into before she cranked up the radio and sped out of the city.

Chapter Three- The Hamptons

Beckett looked at the clock. It was after six. She sighed, realizing that in all her excitement she had definitely underestimated the amount of time it would take to get to the Hamptons. Calculating quickly, she decided that if she just pushed the speed limit a little bit she would be able to get there by seven. Unfortunately she didn't factor in the sirens and flashing lights that gained on her as she flew past a traffic cop.

"Dammit!" she shouted as she pulled over.

"License and registration please," the policeman said through her window. She pulled out her drivers' license and flashed her badge.

"Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD," She said, slightly annoyed. He smiled at her.

"Sorry, Detective, but you were still speeding." He began to write out a ticket. She groaned and tossed her badge back into her purse. "Be a little more careful next time Detective. Have a nice day!" The policeman returned to his car and Beckett tucked the ticket next to her bag. After a nice twenty minute delay she knew there was no way she could get there by seven, so she decided to make a quick detour. She pulled into a small pastry shop. She bought a half-dozen glazed donuts and was quickly back on the road.

Finally, at 7:45, she pulled onto the road leading to Castle's house. She got out of her car and all of a sudden stopped. Standing completely still, Beckett's heart began to pound again. She was here. She was here at Castle's house in the Hamptons holding a bottle of wine and a bag of donuts. Before she could turn around and leave, she strode up and rang the doorbell. Her heart felt like it was going to fly out of her chest in the moment that she waited for an answer, but when Castle answered it the look on his face washed all of her nervousness away.

"Kate! I was worried you weren't going to come!" His blue eyes lit up as she smiled and stepped inside.

"Well, I'm here! And I brought wine and donuts." They smiled at each other. While the two of them were normally comfortable together, there was underlying 'first date' awkwardness in the room. "Let's have a drink," Beckett headed toward the kitchen. "And I will tell you all about why I'm late!"

Castle grabbed two glasses out of the cupboard and Beckett uncorked the bottle and poured. After a moment of drinking a comfortable silence, Castle spoke up.

"Alright, so tell me why you are here almost three hours late!" Beckett rolled her eyes.

"Well, I didn't get home until three and I didn't really think about how long it would take me to get here. I was about an hour out so I may have been a little over the speed limit…"

"Kate Beckett! Did you get pulled over? Oh, that is so going to show up in the next Nikki Heat book!"

Kate lightly slapped him on the arm.

"Owww! Kate, you are going to seriously injure me one of these days!" She rolled her eyes.

"Castle, I am not planning on injuring you anytime soon. If I did, I wouldn't get to come to the Hamptons anymore!" They both laughed. "Anyway…I'm sorry if I ruined your plans for the day." Beckett gave him a small smile. Castle hesitated.

"Well…If you want to stay until tomorrow we should be able to do everything I had planned…" Beckett smiled.

"That sounds great."

"Really?

"Yes, Castle. Gates gave me the day off tomorrow so I'm free to go along with your plans." Beckett said, staring down her glass of wine.

"So you'll stay?" Castle asked. She looked up quickly.

"Yes! Don't worry, Castle. I'm used to being stuck with you all the time." She smiled playfully. Castle smiled back. Their eyes met and they held eye contact for a moment, forgetting everything around them. Beckett found herself inexplicably lost in Castle's blue eyes, until her phone rang loudly, startling them both. She laughed nervously.

"Um...I should take this..."

"Yes! Of course. You can go out onto the porch, if you want," Castle said, pointing at a set of French doors leading out of the kitchen.

"Thanks. I'll be right back." Beckett hurried out onto the porch and answered her phone.

"Beckett."

"Hey, I'm...uh...really sorry to bother you but can I have your opinion on something?"

"Sure Esposito. What do you need?" There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Well..." Esposito gave a little nervous cough. "Lanie and I are at dinner right now, well she's in the bathroom at the moment, but I'm...I mean, I guess…" Beckett cut through his stammering with a small laugh.

"Espo, Lanie loves you. She really does. I'm sure she will love whatever gift you got her."

"It's a ring." Beckett's jaw dropped.

"A ring...as in...Engagement ring?"

"Yes…" There was a moment of stunned silence. "Beckett?" She took a deep breath.

"Sorry. I'm just thinking. I'm assuming you want to know how I think Lanie will react? Well, I stand by what I said before. She loves you and I'm sure she will love what you got her," She told him encouragingly.

"Thanks Beckett. I hope you're right. Ay dios mio, here she comes. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!" She said, but the line was already dead. She smiled to herself. Lanie was going to say yes, she just knew it. Beckett leaned on the railing at the corner of the porch and admired the view. It was dark and cold out. She hadn't thought about how long she'd be outside she realized, shivering. But the view…If nothing else came out of this she could survive for her whole life on the sight that lay before her. The beach was smooth and white, bathed in the lights of the houses. Dark waves crashed onto the shore. The noise calmed her more than the wine had. The most beautiful part of all, though, was the moon. It was about half full, but it was brighter than she had ever seen.

Beckett was used to the streetlights of the city, and to see so many glittering stars in the massive black sky made her feel very small. She shivered again, but this time felt warm arms wrap around her from behind. Any other time she would have probably hit him, but she found herself relaxing and leaning back into Castle's chest. She felt him inhale deeply before whispering in her ear.

"You smell like cherries." She smiled at the feeling of his breath on her ear and shivered again, but this time not from the cold.

"It's so beautiful. The moon and the stars…" she said quietly. She felt Castle begin to pull her towards the house.

"Grab your coat. Let's go for a walk," He said. Beckett looked at him and saw the moon reflected in his eyes. Smiling weakly, she nodded and hurried inside. She rushed into the bathroom and locked the door. She could feel herself shaking all over even though it was warm inside the house.

Get a grip, Kate. It's just a walk, what's the big deal. Oh, but it wasn't the suggestion of a walk that did this was it? More like his strong arms, and the rise and fall of his chest, and the way he whispered in your ear, and then his eyes…

Beckett splashed ice cold water onto her face in an attempt to silence her mind.

What are you even doing here? You're partners, and that's worked just fine for four years. Why are you even here?

She answered her own question by pulling the letter out of her pocket. She read it again and this time was unable to stop the tears rolling down her cheeks. Beckett had thrown caution to the wind when she received that letter, speeding out to the Hamptons and then allowing him to hold her like that. She thought for a moment and decided that there was no better way to figure out why she was here by staying here and just seeing what played out.

Drying her eyes quickly, she left the bathroom and grabbed her coat. Castle was waiting out on the porch. They smiled at each other and Castle offered his arm.

"Shall we stroll, milady?" Beckett scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Ridiculous as always, aren't you?" But she took his arm. They walked down the beach, their shoes sinking into the cold wet sand. The two walked in silence for several minutes before Castle spoke.

"Who was on the phone?"

"Esposito. He wanted my opinion...He was about to propose to Lanie," She told him.

"Awww. How do you think it went?"

"I don't know...I haven't heard from either of them yet. I'm hoping that means Esposito is in her bedroom and not in her morgue..." They both laughed.

"I'm sure she'll say yes. You saw them at Kevin and Jenny's wedding. They're completely in love." Beckett made a noise of assent, but she hadn't really heard him. A small beachside boutique had caught her eye. It was late, so it was closed, but the windows were still lit up. One of them held a necklace with a single deep blue gemstone in the center.

"Do you think that's a real sapphire? She dragged Castle closer and indicated the necklace.

"Well, not to sound haughty, but this is the Hamptons. Of course they're real." He smiled at her.

"It's beautiful. Sapphires were my mother's favorite gem. My father even had the diamond on her engagement ring replaced with a sapphire before he proposed." Castle watched her as she stared at the necklace. It was simple, just a silver chain and the stone.

"It looks like something you would like." Beckett looked at him in surprise. Of course she liked it, but what did he mean by that? "It's not flashy or overly apparent. Just sort of minimalistic and pretty," He said. She smiled at him and took his arm again.

"It's getting late. We should probably head back."

They walked back up the beach to Castle's house. Before they went up the stairs to the porch, he stopped.

"While it's still Valentine's Day, I want to give you your present." Beckett's heart missed a beat.

"Castle, you already gave me a rose and chocolates…" she said quietly.

"I know, but this is your real present." He pulled a red velvet box out of his coat pocket and handed it to Beckett. Her hands were shaking as she untied the royal blue ribbon.

"Oh my God, Rick, how?" She said breathlessly, taking out the exact necklace she had just been looking at in the boutique. She looked up at him. His blue eyes sparkled and he was grinning from ear to ear.

"I got it a few days ago. Like I said, it just looked like something you would like."

"Rick… I love it. Thank you so much." She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He returned the hug and they stood there for a moment, content with just holding each other.

When they finally pulled apart and headed into the house, Beckett's phone rang again.

"Oh- It's Lanie!" Castle looked seconds away from squealing like a girl, so she quickly answered it.

"Beck-"

"HE PROPOSED! Oh my God, Kate, Javier proposed to me! At dinner! I came back from the bathroom and he got down on one knee and he pulled out a ring and he asked me to marry him!" Lanie's voice rushed through the phone, loud and excited.

"What did you say?" Beckett asked, just as excited.

"I said yes! Of course I said yes, oh my God I said yes. Kate, I'm getting married! I am going to marry Javier Esposito. I-I-I just can't believe it. This is really happening." Beckett smiled.

"Oh Lanie, I'm so happy for you! You two are just perfect for each other."

"Thanks Kate. God, I still can't believe it. You'll be the maid of honor, right?" Beckett's smile stretched even wider.

"Of course I will! Oh, Lanie. Congratulations! Tell Esposito I said congratulations too."

"I will Kate. Thanks so much. Well I gotta go now. But you and writer boy have fun tomorrow. Ok? Promise me you're going to have fun?" Beckett laughed.

"I promise. Congrats again Lanie!"

"Thanks again! See you on Thursday."

Beckett hung up and turned to Castle. He was smiling like a kid in a candy store. Beckett laughed, but it quickly turned into a yawn.

"Sorry," Beckett laughed.

"Don't be, it's late. Come on, you can have the guest room with the balcony." Castle led the way upstairs. Beckett was granted with yet another amazing sight. She saw at least five guest rooms, along with rooms that looked like they were frequently used- for Martha, Alexis, and Castle himself she assumed. Across from Castle's room was his office, and next to that was the room that he led her to. The walls were a pretty light yellow and the sheets were blue, matching the curtains that she pulled aside to see the balcony. There were two chairs out there, both with the same incredible view as the chairs on the back porch.

She put her bag on the bed and went back into the hall to say good night to Castle.

"Good night," she said, giving him a quick hug. She turned and went back into the room. Before shutting the door she looked out into the hallway once more. "Thanks, Rick...for everything."