Just so you guys know, the Lanie scene was a product of popular demand. To be perfectly honest, I kind of forgot about her. Fortunately you guys didn't. And it's a good thing, because without it this chapter wouldn't have been nearly long enough. So thank you again, awesome reviewers! :)

As promised, this is the last chapter. I have sooo many mixed feelings about this and I'm going to blather a bit. So, fair warning. This was my first multi-chapter Castle story, and yeah, I'm attached to it. It's more than a little sad to see it end. But at the same time, I'm excited that I actually managed to finish a story. I'm the kind of writer that's good at coming up with ideas for stories and starting them... but not so good at following through. I have tons of stories on my laptop, as well as my computer at home, that I started but abandoned. My attention span is short. I think that the last time I actually did finish a multi-chapter story was something like three years ago. So the fact that I actually did manage to wrap it up and that I'm actually happy with the ending... it's big. And I owe so much to all of you, especially those of you who've reviewed. You make me want to keep writing.

Another good thing is that finishing this will give me some time and space to work on some other stories I have going. There's one in particular that I started, but I've been waiting to post until this one was done, just because I don't want to have too many different things going at once. Then I start getting confused between stories... and it's just bad. So in case you're interested, the new story will be called "Daylight" and the first chapter will probably go up either tonight or tomorrow afternoon. If you're really interested, I have little blurbs in my profile about all the stories I'm working on, and I'm going to update them as soon as I'm done posting this, so they'll be current.

Okay. Back to the story you're actually reading right now. This chapter was really fun to write. I tend to listen to music that fits the mood of what I'm writing to keep me focused and to help me get the tone right, so when I was writing this (the second part, mostly...) I got to listen to lots of happy, sappy love songs, which was fun just on its own. And I always enjoy writing Lanie. She's a fun character. So I REALLY hope you like this chapter, since it's the last one, and I hope you'll review and let me know! Thanks so much!

The text from Lanie had come at a ridiculously inopportune time. As always, the period of time that she didn't have a case had been short, and as soon as they arrived back at the precinct from a new crime scene her phone started going off. "Get down here NOW," the M.E. had written simply.

So before she'd even had the chance to write anything on the murder board, she was on her way to the morgue with Castle in tow.

"How could you have found something so quickly?" she asked Lanie as soon as she spotted her, not bothering with any form of actual greeting. "I'm surprised the body's even here yet." She looked at the woman on the table and frowned. "That's not even my vic."

"No, this isn't about a body." Lanie raised her eyebrows threateningly at her friend. "At least, not yet. Castle, get out of here."

The look on his face was akin to a puppy who'd just been hit with a newspaper. "Why?"

"Because if I have to hurt her, I don't want any witnesses."

Castle was defiant, but with a combination of force and logic (one, Lanie wasn't actually going to hurt her, and two, even if she tried, Beckett was well trained in self-defense and could take her) Beckett managed to shoo him out of the room and was finally left alone with her friend. Well, alone if you didn't count the dead woman on the table. "Lanie, what's this about?" she asked. "And can you make it quick? Because I have a case to get back to."

"What's this about?" Lanie repeated impatiently. "Beckett, is there something you forgot to tell me?"

"You're gonna have to help me out here. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Making out in the interrogation room? And you don't think I'm going to hear about that?"

"We weren't making out," she protested, rolling her eyes.

Lanie tipped her chin down raised her eyebrows.

Beckett smiled. "Okay, we kinda were. Did Esposito tell you?"

"I don't think I'm at liberty to say. But the point is that you didn't tell me. Don't you think your best friend has the right to know certain things? Like who you're making out with in front of the entire homicide unit?"

"It's not like I planned it. It just sort of happened."

"Oh, I see," Lanie fired back, tone dripping with sarcasm. "It just sort of happened. And you couldn't have called to tell me it just sort of happened? I don't like being the last person to know things, Beckett. Especially when those things involve my best friend and her love life. And speaking of which, last I heard you were still with Josh."

"We broke up. Saturday."

"Saturday. Two days ago, and you're already hooking up with writer boy? Don't get me wrong, it's been a long time coming, but two days and you never bothered to tell me?"

"I'm sorry, I've just been busy. And we didn't hook up, we just kissed."

"Just kissed. Still pretty big news coming from a couple of people who've been completely denying their feelings for two years. So what now?"

"We're going to dinner tonight after work." She couldn't help but smile. She and Castle were actually going to dinner. And not just to grab burgers on the way home. A real date.

Lanie's face softened. Irritated or not, she was still a romantic. "Look how happy you are," she said, reaching out her hand to touch her friend's arm. "I'm so glad. Where are you going?"

"What does that matter? We haven't talked about it yet."

"I'm just saying, that man is loaded. If he's paying, you might as well go someplace nice."

"We're going after work, so it probably won't be anywhere too fancy."

"Well, I'm sure he'll let you go home and change first."

"Lanie. I don't know where we're going, okay?"

"Okay, jeez. But you'd better call me and give me details."

"I'll call you tonight."

"Or maybe tomorrow," she said pointedly, with a little smirk.

Beckett rolled her eyes. "I will call you."

"You'd better," Lanie called as Beckett started toward the door, "or the next body on this table is going to be yours."

"I doubt they'd let you do the autopsy if you killed me."

"Have a little faith. No one would know it was me."

"I'm gonna go back to work now," she said, pushing open the doors, "if that's okay with you."

"Yeah yeah, enjoy. But do not leave me out of the loop like this again," she warned as Beckett left, meeting a very confused Castle outside of the doors.

Kate Beckett paced around her small apartment, trying to squash down her nerves. Lanie had been right. She'd gone home to change, and then Castle was coming to pick her up for their date. Their date. She couldn't get used to that thought, as often as she'd thought it in the past few hours.

She couldn't figure out why she was nervous, either. It wasn't like she was someone who got nervous easily. As a cop, she couldn't afford to be that kind of person. But she hadn't been like that even before she became a cop. She'd always been fairly confident in dating situations. And she saw Castle almost daily. She'd spent most of the weekend with him. He'd been to her apartment, and she'd been to his. They knew each other well. So why in the world were there butterflies—actual goddamn butterflies—in her stomach now?

Three years ago, she would never have believed that she'd one day be dating Richard Castle. For so many years, her only connection with the man had been through his books. She'd immersed herself in the sheer detail of each book he wrote, and when she finished she'd make a small note on her calendar, reminding her when the next book would be released. More than any other author she'd read, his books rang true to her life. They helped her to understand the motives of the people she despised most, which didn't make her despise them any less, but it did make it a little easier to sleep at night. They helped her to get through some of her toughest moments. They helped her to validate some of the choices she'd made in her life.

But from the first time they'd met, she'd felt something more than admiration for his writing. As much as he'd annoyed her, there had been some sort of undeniable chemistry between the two of them. She'd denied it anyway of course, denied it for two whole years. But now… now all of that was changing.

Who would ever have thought that getting sick would be the thing that would give her the final push, that would show her how much he really cared for her—and she cared for him? It was such an ordinary event. Everyone got sick from time to time. It was a fact of life, and a rather unpleasant one, actually. How had it become such a turning point?

Her doorbell rang and the butterflies, which had begun to land, started flapping again with renewed vigor. Calm down, she told herself. It's just Castle.

She opened the door and found that, for once, what she was trying to tell herself was accurate. It was just Castle. Actually seeing him, a little more dressed up than he would've been at work but still very much Castle, relaxed her considerably.

"You look absolutely beautiful," he told her, handing her the bouquet of flowers he was holding. It was fairly simple, but it made her smile.

"Thanks," she said, nodding for him to come in. "Let me just find a vase for these and we'll go."

"Alexis wanted me to tell you thanks for helping her study," he said as she filled the vase she found with water. "She says she thinks she did well on her test."

"I'm sure she did, she knew that stuff backwards and forwards." She trimmed about an inch from the stem of each flower and set them in the vase. "She's a smart kid."

"She also wanted me to tell you that she and Ash are going to watch that movie you gave her tonight."

She smiled. "Aw, I'm glad."

"You ready?"

She nodded. "We're really doing this, huh?"

He looped his arm through hers and led her to the door. "We're really doing this." They got to the door and she closed it behind them. "And I'm driving."

She laughed. "I can live with that."

As she got into his car, she no longer felt any nervousness at all. They'd known each other for so long, were so familiar with each other's nuances, that it really bore very little resemblance to a first date, besides the flowers and the fact that he was driving. And both of those were elements that she could get used to.

"So, we're not at work," he reasoned as he started the car. "Do you have any more rules about public displays of affection for me?"

She bit her lip, thinking, as a smile lit her face. "Just one. Don't hold back."

One last thank you for all of your support with this story! It means a lot. Okay, I'm done being sentimental now. I swear.