EDIT: THANKS TO JAREYA, I MADE A LITTLE ADDITION TO "IN THE WARM, RED GLOW". SNAPS FOR JAREYA.

Disclaimer: This piece of fan fiction is for entertainment purposes only. I am not seeking a profit and assert that the characters and universe do not belong to me. Any similarity between my own ideas and ones that end up on Castle will be celebrated. Even if I could afford to sue, I never would. That would be stupid.

I just want to say that I am very grateful to every single person who follows this fic. Every time I get that alert e-mail, I get all warm and fuzzy. I take it very seriously and do my best to deliver the best stories I can. I know I'm not perfect and there's stuff I've had to work on. I really think I'm improving my proof-reading, but if you have a problem with my story to the point that you're ready to leave, can you at least tell me why first so I understand? I lost a follower today and it made me sad. I feel like I let that person down; that I wasn't good enough for them. Part of the reason the review system is there is to point out my flaws. I don't mind. I actually love it. It helps me improve.

I know you can't please everyone but obviously this person was following my story for a reason. I just want to know what changed.

Anyway, enough of my self-obsessed gloominess. Let's move on.

Upload Date: 21.03.13

Chapter Rating: T

Summary:

Fluffy proposal scenarios.

#65
In the Warm, Red Glow

#66
String Theory

#67
That's New

#68
Being Practical

#69

Latte Art

#65

There was nothing particularly special about this specific evening. They more or less followed routine: solving a case, making the decision to go home together, ordering Chinese and going to bed. They hadn't made love tonight and that wasn't too unusual lately. Sleeping together was no longer solely about sex; the connection, the intimacy of sleeping side by side was the important part.

They'd been at this stage for a while; on the surface, nothing further seemed to have changed. She didn't quite know what it was. He often fell asleep first. It usually took her a while to turn off her brain.

She would usually spend these moments in which he slept while she was still very much awake on her side, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest as her oblivious lover bathed in peaceful slumber. Tonight was no different. Castle had only managed to take off his coat and shoes before crashing on top of the covers. Beckett had undone the top button for him to make his sleep more comfortable.

She had brushed her teeth, taken off all her clothes except her panties and slipped on a small grey-blue t-shirt she often slept in. She wasn't quite ready to turn her lamp off yet. The new red lamp-shade she'd recently purchased gave the room a soft, warm glow.

She wasn't sure if it was out of the blue or if it had been more gradual. She had been thinking about this for a while, knew it was something she wanted to do - something she was prepared to do, but not something she needed to do. Up until now she hadn't felt ready.

For some reason, on this night, she felt ready. She felt this all-consuming certainty enveloping her and she knew; she just knew. It was time.

Grabbing her necklace from the drawer she had placed it in a few minutes earlier, Beckett removed her mother's ring from its chain, placed it on her finger and put the chain back around her neck.

He started to stir as she slowly and gently climbed on top of him.

She smiled down at him as she brushed his hair out of his face.

Castle blinked a few times as he slowly awoke, staring up at her when the whole scene started to sink in.

She leant down as if to kiss him, but pulled her head back at the last second, letting him chase her. She grinned silently as he gave her a searching smile and proceeded to unbutton his shirt. His hands wandered beneath her shirt but she gently pulled them down, guiding them to her hips.

He followed her lead willingly. When she had removed his shirt, he could feel something gliding across his chest as she moved back down to him.

It was her chain. She occasionally forgot to take it off before bed; he knew that. But... that was strange.

"Kate, did you lose - "

Beckett shook her head, smiling from ear to ear as she showed him her hand.

"Castle, you know why I wear this."

"For the life you lost."

"Right. My Mom. I never thought I'd stop wearing it because I always felt like I was keeping a part of her closer to my heart. But I've reached a point where I don't want to wear it any more."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to wear it. That way it'll always be close to my heart, because my heart is with you."

He didn't reply at first - at least, not with words. His face said it all. Finally he managed to squeeze some words out.
"Not that I'm complaining but where is this all coming from?"

Beckett inhaled slightly.

"Castle, will you marry me?"

Of all the things, he might have been expecting, it wasn't that.

"You don't have to say yes. I'm perfectly content spending the rest of my life with you without a piece of paper. But if, like me, the idea of us committing to each other in front of all our close friends and family, two weeks of fabulous honeymoon sex, not being compelled to testify against each other if one of us is put on trial - and with us that's a very real possibility - and having the ability to call each other husband and wife appeals to you, now's your opportunity to say yes."

"Am I... dreaming right now?"

"Definitely not, Castle. I want to marry you. I love you. So, what do you say?"

"Yes, Kate... I - I would be honoured."

Beckett's eyes sparkled with joy as she put her ring finger in her mouth, pulling the ring off with her teeth and lips, grabbing his hand and sensuously sucking on it, sliding the ring onto his pinky.

"This is temporary, by the way. You can wear it on my chain. I just really wanted to do that."

"I'm glad you did."

"You liked that?"

"Sexiest proposal ever," Castle said in awe.

Beckett grinned again then leaned back down to seal it with a kiss.

#66

She woke up to a flustered Castle quickly hiding something behind his back.

"Castle?" she yawned in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"What's that behind your back?"

"Behind my back? Er, I don't - " he laughed awkwardly, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

She narrowed her eyebrows and reached behind his back. He jumped off the bed.

"Castle, what the hell is going on? You're really starting to freak me out."

Castle stared at her for a long moment, sighed, sat back down on the bed and showed her.

It was a piece of string with a loop tied in it.

"What were you doing, Castle?"

"Measuring circumference."

She stared at the small loop.

"Well, I don't think you're using a very effective method 'cause that measurement is way off."

"No, I wasn't measuring me, I was measuring... you."

"Why?"

Castle sighed.
"To get your ring size."

Beckett's mouth fell open.

"It was supposed to be a secret; I was gonna go to the jeweller's tomorrow and then next week..."

"You were going to propose."

"Well, I'm still going to propose. That's if you're planning on saying yes."

Beckett took the string from Castle.
"There's just one way to find out."

She reached into her drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors, cutting the end off so it was just a loop, which she gave to Castle.

"Ask me now."

Castle raised his eyebrows.

"But I had a plan - "

"You can still go through with the plan. That'll be your official proposal. But I don't want to wait that long to be engaged to you. I love you."

Castle's features slowly crept into a small smile.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Positive."

Castle took a deep breath.
"OK."

He pecked her on the cheek and climbed off the bed so he was kneeling on one knee in front of her.

Beckett inched closer to the foot of the bed.

Holding the small piece of string with both thumbs, he looked up at her.

"Kate, will you marry me?"

Beckett beamed down at him.
"Yes."

She held her hand out to him, allowing him to slip the modest string onto her finger. The next day, she'd go with him to pick out a ring - the best way to determine ring size was to do it there at the jewellers anyway - then he would have his big moment, and it would probably be very romantic and emotional. It would be the story they told everyone who asked.

But to Beckett, his real proposal would always be kneeling at the foot of her bed in his boxers with a piece of string. To her, that was the perfect moment. That story would be kept just for therm.

#67

It was odd. There was something familiar about this place. It was closed.

"Detective Beckett, I presume?"

"Uh, yes. I'm here to talk to a Tina Mel. "

"Of course," the manager said, opening the door for her. "She's working on the roof. Just go straight up those stairs."

"Thanks."

Beckett clutched her gun for security. There was definitely something fishy going on, and she needed to be prepared.

However, nothing in the world could have prepared her for what she found at the top of those stairs.

They led to a rooftop, where Castle was waiting for her, dressed in a tuxedo, in front of a table with candles, flowers and Champagne.

"Castle? What are you doing here?"

She'd thought he was out of town on business.

"What's the most important ingredient in a successful partnership?"

That's when she realised where she knew this place from. This was the place where she and Castle had first met.

Beckett stared, trying to absorb the situation.
"Um..."

"I think it's compromise," said Castle, moving towards her.

"Castle, I'm here to interview a witness."

"No, Esposito just told you that because I asked him to," Castle replied, slowly closing the gap between them. "I needed to get you here. A lot of planning went into this; paying the manager to let me use the place for the whole night; getting Esposito to lie to you, making you believe I was out of town. But now we've gotten here, it's just you and me, standing on the rooftop where you first found me; and I can't think of anything more intimate."

He bent down on one knee.

Beckett gasped.

"Compromise." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small navy blue box.

"Castle."

"Katherine Houghton Beckett."

"Oh, my God."

He opened the box to reveal a platinum diamond ring in a classic solitaire setting.

Beckett merely stared, shaking and on the verge of tears.

"Will you do me the great honour of being my wife?"

"Yes," she finally managed to come out with.

"Yes?"

She nodded through the tears that finally broke through.
"Yes."

"Oh, thank God," he said, heaving a huge sigh of relief, sliding the ring onto her finger.

She knelt down before him, flinging her arms around him, the box falling to the ground as she pressed her lips firmly to his, a big fat grin on her face.

"Hmm, I've gotta get back to the case."

Castle broke off, smirking.
"Case? You seriously think you don't have the night off? Esposito and Ryan can take care of it tonight."

Beckett nodded.
"So..." she started to giggle, almost giddy.

"What?"

"We're engaged!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Mmhmm.," he grinned.

"I'm engaged..." She leant her forehead against his, staring into his eyes because she was allowed to be a little clichéd and sentimental at a time like this. "To the man I love."

Castle sighed in contentment at her words as he wiped a stray piece of hair out of her forehead.

"Yes, you're my fiancé.'

"Mm-hmm, and you're mine. Hmm."

"What?"

"Well, once we're... married," she couldn't say the word without smiling, "we won't be living in sin any more."

"We can still live in sin; we can just make sure we do all the dirty stuff the bible says is evil."

#68

She wasn't there when he woke up. It was gradual - a twitch of the hand, a flutter of eye lids, odd vocal noises. It took him several days to come out of his coma. It wasn't like on tv where the patient miraculously and suddenly recovered. Real life was a bit more complicated.

Because she wasn't a relative, Alexis and Martha had to explain what had happened to him . It wasn't until he'd been taken out of intensive care that Beckett was finally allowed to see him.

"Hey, she said softly, rushing to his side, sitting by the bed and stroking his hair, staring at him like she hadn't seen him in years.

"How're you doin'?"

"Good."

"That's good." She paused. "Marry me.'

"Sorry, I must be hallucinating from all the drugs they're giving me. What did you say?"

"Marry me, Castle."

He stared at her.

"Are you for real?"

"Yes, Castle. This past week, not being able to see you, having to rely on Martha and Alexis for updates... it's not acceptable. I've been thinking about it. I want to be your wife because... I love you so much and I can't lose you and when things like this happen we need to be together."

"Now I know I'm hallucinating 'cause it sounds like you just said you love me."

"I do love you, Castle, I love you every day. I love you when things are going amazing, and I love you when there's a crisis, I love you when everything's completely boring. I love you through thick and thin and we always have each other's backs. That's marriage. It's time."

"Uh..."

Wow, she seemed so serious.

"Kate, I've been married twice before."

"Not to me. I don't care about your past; I want to be a part of your future. So... will you marry me?"

Castle smiled.

"Yes."

#69

"So, you finally got to meet Stan Lee," said Beckett, barely looking up from her work when he put her latte down in front of her. "How do you feel?"

"How do you feel? You're just as big a comic-book nerd as I am."

"It was amazing," she smiled."You know, they say you should never meet your heroes."

"That's a load of crap. Because I not only met my hero, but I fell in love with her, too."

Beckett narrowed her eyebrows and looked up at him.

"I thought we were talking about Stan Lee."

"You're my hero, Kate," he stated plainly.

She stopped working all together, staring at his love-filled eyes.

"I - "

"Here, have some coffee."

She looked down and was even more shocked to discover what it read:

Will you marry me? was there in silky white letters.

She lifted the cup and realised it felt weird.

She checked the bottom to find a ring taped to it.

She looked back up t see his questioning gaze.

"Castle... this is amazing. I... wow, I love you."

Well, she was relieved she said it before they were engaged.

"Is that a yes?"

She smiled, slipping it on her finger.
"That's a yes."

Castle stood up.

"That's a yes. She said yes!"

Suddenly, all the staff she'd thought had been ignoring them cheered, and some gave Castle high-fives and fist-bumps while others congratulated her.

Beckett shook her head, a smile on her lips. How many girls got to meet Stan Lee and get proposed
to in one day?