So here it is the last chapter. The ending didn't even come to me until last night. If only writing and reading a story took the same amount of time. Only a few days left until the LA episode. Writing this has made the waiting easier to handle.

Disclaimer: Do I really need to put one of these in each chapter? Probably not, but to be on the safe side, I do not own Castle, I'm just a devoted shipper.

Kate's POV

Kate was at a loss at how to handle the situation. She may have been able to come up with something if her lips weren't still tingling from the kiss and if her body hadn't been screaming at her to repeat the experience. Or if the intent look in his eyes hadn't made it so hard to think straight. Because at the moment the steely glint in his blue orbs reminded her of the moment right before he'd first kissed her all those months ago.

Then he lifted his hand and cupped the side of her head, his fingers tangled in her hair the exact same way he had right before that first kiss. "It." he said in that determined tone before covering her lips with his and kissing her the exact same way as that first time. Like before, he pulled back after a few moments. Kate didn't have time to catch her breath before he continued, "Was." He then touched her lips with his own and gave her the same type of kiss again. Kate was barely able to bite back a whimper of protest at the loss of contact when he pulled away. "Real." He finished. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next. And she was right. Once again, the kiss matched the undercover one; but this time, it matched the second rather than the first.

That did it. There was only so much a woman could take. She was done fighting it. She was done hiding it. Her heart wanted Castle. No, more than that, her heart needed Castle. She had known that in her relationship with Josh she had kept one foot out the door. What she hadn't realized until this exact moment was that her whole relationship with Josh had been her way of keeping one foot out of the door with Castle. Having another relationship had kept her from taking the risk of diving into things with the man she really longed for. So the question was, was a relationship with Rick Castle worth the risk?

"Yes," she moaned at the same point in the kiss where she had let out a small moan before, a response both to her question and his.

Unlike the first time, Castle was the one that pulled away from the kiss. The stunned but hopeful expression on his face gave her the added courage she needed.

"It was real," she whispered. When it looked like Castle was about to say something, she put a finger to his lips. "Please, I need to say this." At his slight nod, she began to explain. "You have no idea how long I've had to fight the temptation to kiss you. When I realized what your plan b was for distracting the guard, part of me wanted to run and another part of me was relieved there was finally a legitimate excuse. And then I almost lost my focus, almost forgot about Ryan and Esposito. If the guard hadn't reacted the way he had, if that hadn't been enough to distract me, I don't know how long it would have been before I remembered the real reason for what we were doing.

"And then, tonight. I was terrified I was going to give too much away. It's gotten so difficult to hide my emotions lately that I wasn't sure how much self-control I'd be able to maintain. But when you only kissed me on the cheek, I started to wonder if all of the flirting, all of the innuenendoes, didn't really mean anything. I'd let myself start to hope that you were feeling the same way I was, but then I started to think that maybe I was wrong, that maybe you didn't want me after all."

"You're kidding, right?" Castle asked incredulously. "There is no way a man could not want you. Least of all me"

"Castle, I'm not just talking about physically," Kate was quick to point out.

"Neither am I," Castle said. "I don't think you have any idea how special you are to me. I would do anything for you, Kate. And there are only three people I can say that about: you, my mother, and Alexis. I know you often think of me as acting like a kid on a sugar rush, which sometimes I do. And other times you see me as this playboy out to get as many women as I can, which is highly exaggerated media hype. More than any of that, I am the man who loves you."

"I love you, too, Rick," Kate whispered, hardly able to get the words out through the lump of emotion in her throat. Needing the closeness, the comfort of his arms around her, Kate closed the little distance between them and rested her head against his chest with a contented sigh. Finally they were on the same page.

So there you go. (I just realized that's what Kate said after telling Castle about watching Temptation Lane. I think a lot of their way of saying things has crept into my everyday speech-and writing. That's a good thing, though-it makes it easier to write their dialogue that way.) I just need to make sure I watch out for that when I start writing my own stuff again.