Hi there!

I want to apologize for being so absent, but midterms and running have taken over my life at the moment. I finally found a little bit of time to write a one shot for you guys. So sorry for the delay and for not doing the prompts in order. I'm going to do as many as I can when I get the time. Right now is just not the best time. Please bear with me, though, because I love so many of the prompts I've been spent and I want to make you all happy.

Thank you to everyone who continues to review, favorite, follow, and send me ideas!

Prompt by Xientia: Explaining why Beckett is always wearing her engagement ring now.

Enjoy!

Castle stood in the doorway watching Kate as she sat on the edge of their bed. He'd caught her a lot recently, sitting off by herself. It wasn't out of sadness or anxiousness, or anything to be concerned about for that matter, but rather a time of reflection. Because after a moment to herself, she would always return to her rightful place in their life together and carry on as they always had. This time, though, he noticed that she was staring at her ring, twisting it around her finger.

"Hey."

She turned toward him and smiled at him, showing off her teeth. "Hey yourself."

"What are you up to?" Castle walked over to where she was sitting. He didn't take a position next to her, though. Instead, he stood, waiting for her answer.

She secured the ring on her finger. "Just thinking. Nothing important, what's up?"

Rick let out a breath. "Can I ask you something?" He stood, still in front of her, his hands finding their way to his pockets.

"Sure." She nodded, a curious look on her face. Kate patted the space to her left and Castle took it, sitting close to her.

"Before I disappeared, you rarely wore your ring. I know it was because of work, but now that I'm back it seems like you never take it off. Why is that?" He tried to look her in the eyes, but her gaze was set on her hands in her lap.

Kate took a deep breath and finally found Castle's eyes, looking at him intensely. "I had realized that it was more than just a ring to me."

He gave her a puzzled look, so she continued.

"I was so excited to marry you that day that you disappeared. We had waited so long and gone through so much shit. And then you were gone. In the blink of an eye it went from the happiest day of my life to one of the worst. If I hadn't wanted to marry you before, I wanted nothing more than to marry you then. I wanted that closure of being able to finally call you mine and have you call me yours. I was so angry that that day was robbed from us. I finally found someone that gave me the ability to be myself and accepted me for me. And I wanted to finally have that peace, that closure, from one phase of life to the next."

She stopped for a second, looked at her hands again, and then back at Castle. "And remember those rituals that I was telling you about?"

He nodded, and gently tucked a stray curl behind her ear.

She looked at the engagement ring again. "I made the ring one of them. I would wake up in the morning and go to my jewelry box. I had a picture of you in there. I would pull that out first and look at it. I would tell myself that you were going to come home, I just needed to put the pieces together. I needed to think like you and find the missing link. I would slip on my dad's watch first, and then my ring. It was as if it were you saying to keep going, pushing me to look harder, to never give up. It was a promise that you would be back and that we would get married. It gave me hope." Kate stopped and ran a tender hand along his cheek and down his jawline, inspecting every inch of his eyes.

"It turned into you in a way. It was a piece of you that was only for me. Usually I have you, the real, physical you. But when you were gone, I didn't. I had nothing other than this. Now I realize that I always want to have that piece with me as a reminder to what we went through. Things can go so bad, but if you have hope, you can regain that stability and carry on."

Kate straddled his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're right about me wearing it everywhere now. Because even though you're back, I never want to have the uncertainty of losing you again. I would never take you for granted, but I lost the significance of wearing my engagement ring. I want to show the world that, no we aren't married just yet, but yes, I'm so ready, so excited, and so proud to be called your fiancé. We've been through a world of pain, but none of that matters now; we're alright."

Castle pulled her closer to him, in awe of his KB. "You still find ways to absolutely dazzle me, you know that, right?"

She smiled, her face just inches from his. "Well you deserve it."

"I deserve none of the acclaim that you give me." He widened his gaze.

She combed through his hair, a grin toying at the corners of her lip, showing how unconditionally she loved him. "Well after everything you've helped me through over the years I think you do."

"Ove the last six years we've helped each other." He smiled as well, running his hand up and down her spine, making her shiver into him.

Kate let her head rest on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart so close to hers. She was still so, so thankful that he was back in her arms. "And that's why we make such a great team."

"The best I've ever and will ever be a part of." He held onto her, breathing in her perfume as she laid into him.

Kate sat up, then, and found his eyes as his did hers. "I love you so, so much."

Rick kissed he forehead slowly, cupping her face in his hands. "I love you more than you will ever know."

A sly smile found its way to Kate's mouth. She leaned close to him, their lips almost touching. Her voice was barely a whisper when she said, "Well you can show me, if you want, so I can know a little better."

Castle matched her tone, murmuring, "I like your thinking, detective," before falling into the bed with Kate right by his side.

Please review!

xoxo