869. Chapter 869

After Watershed

Episode 5.24

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I've scratched and clawed and I still don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

She got out of her car and walked to the swings. Castle was already there. When she sat down, she saw how serious he was. He didn't look at her as she sat there for several long seconds. This is just what I expected. She thought. "I'm sorry." She stopped for a second, "I shouldn't have kept secrets."

He still didn't look at her and his expression was grim. "It's who you are. You don't let people in. I've had to scratch and claw for every inch."

God, how could I have screwed this up so badly? Why the hell do I have to be like that? All I had to do was talk to the man I love. Maybe he'd still want to break up with me, but at least I could have tried. "Castle…." She began.

"Please let me finish." She stays silent. "I've been doing a lot of thinking about us. About our relationship, what we have, where we're headed." Castle shook his head, still not looking at her. "I've decided I want more. We both deserve more."

"I agree." She said. And before Castle could say another word, she jumped out of the swing and kissed him, throwing her arms around his neck and keeping him from saying anything. He didn't respond to the kiss, but she didn't need him to respond. Not right now. She just needed for him not to break up with her.

She broke the kiss, but put her hand over his mouth. "I will not let you do this to me. I will not let you do this to us. I will not let you break up with me." He tried to say something, so she pressed her hand against his lips. "No. Just listen to me. We love each other. I love you and you love me. We love each other. Yes, I know I screwed up. I should have talked to you about the job in DC the very first time that Stack mentioned it to me. Maybe you'd still be mad at me and maybe you'd still want to break up with me, but I should have talked to you. I know that. So, we'll talk now. Or rather, I'll talk. Castle, I got the job in DC. And yes, it'll be hard at first because I'll be busy. But people all over the world manage to stay together even though they have to work apart. We can do this. Do you know why? Because I'm remarkable. Richard Castle told me I'm remarkable and Richard Castle is pretty remarkable as well. We're remarkable enough to make this work."

Castle tried to say something, so Kate kissed him again. This time he responded and kissed her back. She smiled at him. "See? You don't really want to leave me, do you? Look at everything we've been through together. The danger we've been in, the problems we've faced. And I admit that a lot of them were my fault. I should have been more honest with you and with myself from the beginning. Who knows where we'd be by now? We'd probably have been together for years. I should have gone to the Hamptons with you that summer. I should have told you I heard you when I was shot. I didn't, but I'm not going to be too late now."

Kate dropped to one knee in front of him. "Richard Edgar Castle, will you marry me?"

Castle looked down at her with the oddest look on his face. "Kate, you don't have…"

She cut him off. "I know. I don't have a ring. Silly, isn't it? You're supposed to offer your love a ring when you propose, and I thought about it. But, I just couldn't make myself buy my own engagement ring. I just felt silly even thinking about it. I did actually look in a jewelry store, but the salesman kept asking me when my fiancé would be in."

Castle reached in his pocket and held out a ring. "You could use this one." He smiled down at her.

"Why do you have an engagement ring with you?" She asked, feeling foolish the second the words were out of her mouth.

"Oh, just in case I run across some random woman and want to ask her to marry me."

She was angry, then embarrassed and then happy in the course of about two seconds. "You were going to propose to me? You weren't going to dump me?"

"Kate, I can't imagine my life without you. Well, that's not entirely accurate. I have a really great imagination, so just let me say that the life I imagine without you wouldn't be worth living."

"So, you will marry me?" Kate felt a weight she hadn't known she was carrying slide off of her.

"Kate, when our little grandchildren climb up on my lap and say, "Grandad, how did you and Granny Kate get married?" I am not going to say, "Granny Kate was so worried that I was about to break up with me that she got down on her hands and knees and begged me to marry her." That's not the way that kick ass Detective Kate Beckett, the inspiration for Nikki Heat, would do things. Rather I'll look down at the little ruggedly handsome and/or gorgeous little tykes and say, "I wanted Granny Kate to marry me so badly that I got down on my hands and knees and begged her to marry me. Granny Kate wasn't too sure about that, since your old Grandad has always been a handful, but eventually, after I begged and cried, she agreed to marry me and I've been ecstatically happy from that day to this. And the little tykes will say, "Oh, that is so romantic, Grandad. And you're so lucky to have Granny Kate." And I'll nod and say, "Luckier than you could ever imagine."

Kate smiled at him. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Get back on the swing and forget that was said after "We both deserve more." Okay?"

Kate got back on the swing seat and watched as Castle got down on one knee and held the ring out to her. "Katherine Houghton Beckett will you marry me?"

Kate batted her eyes at him. "Why, Rick, this is so unexpected. I don't know what to say."

"Just remember we don't want to keep the grandkids up all night while I give them a blow by blow description of the proposal."

"In that case, Richard Edgar Alexander Rodgers Castle, yes. I will marry you."

They both stood up and kissed, then Rick put the ring on her finger.

As they walked away from the swings, hand in hand, Rick spoke. "You know, I can write anywhere. There's no need for me to stay in New York if you're in DC. I'll fly down to DC with you and look for a place while you settle into your new job."

Kate smiled and leaned into him. "Thank you."

"Always."