Writing the Wrong

Author's Note: Last chapter! Thank you so much for reading! I own nothing.

From last time…

The last thing he expected happened next. Kate scooted closer to him on the sofa and turned to face him then leaned forward and kissed him. Not a peck, not a platonic thank you kiss. A soft but opened lip kiss followed by her hands on his neck pulling him closer. Before he could catch up, however, she pulled back.

"So tell me, Rick, how long have you been in love with me?"

Chapter 5

He didn't waiver, he didn't blink, but delivered a completely straight-faced, "How do you know that I am?"

She smiled and reached back to pull the book out of her bag. "Because your love letter tells me so."

Castle looked down at his hands, and peeked back up, "Did you like it?"

"Are you going to answer my question?"

"For a long, long time. Before Josh, before Demming."

"I loved the story," she responded. "You gave me something I've been searching for for over ten years. Closure. I still want to, but I don't know if we'll ever find her killer but I think this," she held the book up in her hands for emphasis, "gives her new life, and will let Dad and I move on."

"After I read the letter in the scrapbook, I felt so guilty. You're my best friend and I knew her loss was profound. But in typical Castle fashion, I teased you and annoyed you without regard for all the pain you went through. I felt like I had let you down."

"But in typical Castle fashion, you also supported me, saved my life on numerous occasions, made me laugh…made me eat."

"I'm really glad you liked the book," Rick said looking down at his hands once again.

A pregnant pause settled over the room, leaving Beckett a bit perplexed.

"That's it?"

"I'm sorry, did you want that drink now?"

"Castle?" the confusion was etched across her face.

"What?"

"You admitted that you loved me! Don't you want to know how I feel about you?"

"Not really, no."

Another pause lingered as she studied his face, but she found no evidence of any emotion, love or otherwise. He looked stoic, which was unusual.

"Do you want me to go?"

He didn't answer. The man that had a witty response for every occasion couldn't be bothered to even answer her question? This was not how she had expected this visit to end.

"Ok," she said quietly, picked up her bag and headed toward the door, trying to process what had been said and where the conversation had gone wrong.

She pulled his front door toward her but before she could step through, felt the door slam closed and her body turned and pushed flat against the inside of the door. His lips were on hers and the hand that wasn't caressing her body pulled the bag from her shoulder and dropped it on the ground.

His lips travelled from her mouth along her jaw and down her neck and she heard his whisper of 'please don't go' over and over.

"Rick, wait," she moaned as he did magical things with his tongue at the base of her neck.

He moaned in return but pulled back, resting his forehead on her shoulder.

"Look at me."

He braced both arms against the door on either side of her head and gave her the eye contact she'd requested.

"I'm in love with you too, ok? I love you, too," she whispered and nodded, and smiled when he nodded in return, the relief evident on his face.

He leaned in again but much softer this time, with less frantic nips which produced much longer moans. After a few minutes, he drew back, reached down for her bag and then pulled her into his bedroom. He stopped long enough to shut the double doors that served as the entry for the master suite, but didn't stop at all after that.

CCCCCCCCC

In a mess of sheets and feet, the couple was spooned together in a haze of pleasant exhaustion.

"Kate?"

"Hmm?" she uttered, eyes closed but holding on to the forearm that was wrapped around her.

"I'm claiming you as mine now. I just want you to know."

"Okay, Mr. Caveman. Just remember that I can break any of your limbs if you try to pull me by the hair."

"I just stood by while you dated all those other men."

"There were only three."

"There were four."

"I thought you didn't know about—"

"I did."

"So I'm yours now?"

"Yes, and don't tease, I'm serious. I hated myself for never stepping forward and telling you how I felt, but I'm not going to be the nice guy that stays out of the way from now on."

Kate turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around him. "I knew you wanted me, but I didn't know it was anything more than lust."

"It's been love for quite a while."

She leaned up to kiss his chin and then snuggled back in. "So that means if I see any blonde women hanging all over you I can remove them as I see fit?"

"Yes, please do."

The couple napped for a while, both incredibly happy with the turn of events, but Kate woke a little later with another thought on her mind.

"Rick?"

"Hmm?"

"About the book? When is it going to be published?"

"It's not, unless you ask me to. It's yours. There's only the one copy."

"Thank you for writing it."

"You're welcome," he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you, Kate."

She laced her fingers through his and pulled his arm tighter around her. "I love you, too."

The End

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