THAT WAS AMAZING! I'm really nervous for this chapter, I felt a lot of pressure to get it right and I hope you end up liking it!

This chapter and fic as a whole assumes that Ryan & Javi & Kate have all reconciled, Kate works at the 12th again, and all is right with the world…

XO

Their night was spent exactly like that, Kate curled up next to Rick on the couch, her legs folded up under her, her head resting on his shoulder. Every once in awhile he would try to scare her during suspenseful scenes, but it turned out Kate was better at scaring him than he was at scaring her. Their burgers, fries, and shakes arrived and they ate them on the couch, still sitting as close as possible, their attention focused on the Walking Dead, with Rick's eyes occasionally sneaking a peek at her.

Kate fell asleep with her head in his lap about half way through their third episode. Rick continued to stroke her hair until the episode finished. He lightly tapped the tip of her nose to ease her out of sleep. "It's time for bed, love."

She blinked her eyes and looked up at him, giving him a little smile. "Mmk," she mumbled, "just another minute." Rick smiled back at her as she resumed the position she was just in, closing her eyes again. His fingers still absentmindedly raking through her dark hair, he could notice her breathing evening out again signaling her return to a deep slumber. Deciding not to wake her again, Rick carefully picked her head up off his lap so he could stand and then tucked one arm behind her back and the other under her folded knees. He lifted her up, cradling her against his chest, her head lolling until it found a home on his shoulder, her warm breath tickling his neck.

Rick carried her to their bedroom, lightly placing her on her side. She had changed into jeans and an old NYPD t-shirt earlier in the night, so before bringing the covers up over her, he gently unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down her legs. He knew she didn't like to sleep completely clothed, so he left her in the t-shirt and underwear before pulling the sheet and comforter up over her body. She snuggled into them almost immediately. Rick went off to the bathroom to prepare himself for bed before returning in just his boxers, lying down under the covers next to Kate. She turned over to face him, eyes still closed, reaching for his warmth. She unconsciously mixed her legs with his under the covers, her left hand coming up to run across his chest and side, her head pillowed on his chest. He leant down to press a kiss to her hair, and Kate mumbled again, "I love you."

With another soft kiss to her head, Rick replied, "I love you too, Katie."

XO

They awoke the next morning in a different position, both facing the same direction, Rick's chest pressed firmly against Kate's back, her hand wrapped around his, tucked close to her heart. They were warm, comfortable. She woke up first, her eyes blinking rapidly to become used to the brightness of the sun streaming through one of the windows in their bedroom. Kate gently turned in Rick's arms to face him. Her eyes traveled from his closed lids and eyelashes, to the hair drooped over his forehead, and finally to his lips, slightly parted, breathing small puffs of air. She smiled, taking him in. This was love, what she had desperately wanted for years. Leaning in, she pressed her lips to his urging him to wake. He finally responded after Kate grazed her tongue lightly over his lower lip. Rick's hand left her waist to cup her cheek, to deepen their kiss. He loved her and she loved him. Always.

They broke apart after a couple minutes. "You said you'd have another note?" Kate asked as she sat up in bed.

"Oh yeah," he replied before rolling on his side to open the drawer in his bedside table. He pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. She snuggled back into his side and opened it. They read it silently, together.

XO

Katie-

You said you were in control. But you were never in control of them. Clearly, no one is. I kept a secret from you for 11 months. I kept Mr. Smith, Montgomery's files, and dark meetings a secret from you. Because I love you. I will never apologize for loving you, but I am sorry I pushed you away again. I couldn't watch you die and despite the fact that I asked you, if you felt anything at all for me, to not go after them, you did anyway. And so I left and I really thought we were over forever.

Four years. I was right there. Four years, I was right there just waiting for you to open your eyes and see that I was right there. And I was more than a partner. Every morning I brought you a cup of coffee just so I could see a smile on your face. But you did open your eyes. And I continued to bring you those coffees and I still do. Because I still think you're the most remarkable, maddening, challenging, frustrating person I have ever met. And I love you.

You told me later that you went to your mother's grave that day. You hadn't been there in over a year. And since that day, I was privileged to go with you to visit your mother, meet her in a sense, and read the words engraved on her headstone: vincit omnia veritas. Yet another thing you let me in on, something that spoke volumes about the person you are. "Truth conquers all things," lives forever on your mother's grave. She taught you that the truth is still your weapon to wield, that the truth can never hurt you. And that is why you are who you are, Kate. Because you fight for the truth, just like your mother did up until her dying day.

Cole Maddox shot you. And then a year later, he tried to choke you and throw you off the roof of a building. He got away. I know you and Javi felt betrayed for awhile when Ryan went to Gates against your wishes. But he saved your life, Kate, caught you just in time and pulled you up. He said you were calling for me, you thought I was the one who caught you. And if it weren't for my stupidity and refusing to answer Ryan's call, I would have been there. I thank Ryan everyday for saving your life, so that we can have us.

I don't know exactly what Maddox did to you on that roof, but I saw the bruises. On your wrists, your thighs, your back…your neck. Your fingers were scraped, raw for days, the effects of hanging from the side of a building, hundreds of feet up in the air, grasping for life. You told me you didn't want to die like that, after surviving a bullet to the heart, a tiger on the prowl, a freezer. You didn't want to die alone, crushed on the pavement. You told me that just when you were losing grip and hope, you called for me. You didn't want to die without me, without telling me how you felt, without loving me first. You didn't want to die there that day for the same reason I had to tell you how I felt when you were shot. I didn't want you to die without knowing that I loved you. I thank the heavens that you didn't, that we are together everyday. I thank the heavens that you love me back.

Alexis' valedictorian speech was brilliant. Here's a little snippet:

"There is a universal truth we all have to face, whether we want to or not. Everything eventually ends. As much as I've looked forward to this day, I've always disliked endings: last day of summer, the final chapter of a great book, parting ways with a close friend. But endings are inevitable. Leaves fall, you close the book, you say goodbye. Today is one of those days for us. Today we say goodbye to everything that was familiar, everything that was comfortable. We're moving on, but just because we're leaving, and that hurts, there are some people who are so much a part of us, they'll be with us no matter what. They are our solid ground, our North Star, and the small clear voices in our hearts that will be with us. Always."

You came to me, knocked on my door with confidence. You left what was familiar and comfortable to come to me, to dive in. You were soaking wet. I later learned that you had gone back to the swings at "our" park, sat there in the rain, remembering all that had happened and so desperately wanting something more. So you moved on, we moved into the future.

I asked you want you wanted. "You."

And then you were kissing me, your hands resting on my cheeks, your thumb rubbing under my eye. Your lips on mine felt right. I had missed that feeling. I didn't want to pull away but I had to. I had to know. I had to know what happened, why you came back. We couldn't just jump each other without full knowledge of what we were doing.

"I'm so sorry, Castle. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

He got away and you didn't care. You almost died and all you could think about was me. You just wanted me.

And so it happened. We finally got to where we both wanted to be. I saw your scar, the puckered flesh where that man tried to take you away from me. I kissed it and held my hand there, feeling your heart beat steadily under it. You looked me in the eye and smiled, took my hand and led us to our forever. Our always.

I love you, Kate. And now, if you don't mind, I'd like you to stand up.

Rick

XO

She finished reading and looked up at him, butterflies swirling in her belly. He started to move away from her; she hesitated a moment, watching him open his bedside drawer again as she stood up, planted in her spot next to the bed. Kate stood there in only her oversized NYPD t-shirt, the hem hitting her mid thigh. He was still in only his boxers as he rounded the bed to come and take one of her hands in his.

"Kate," he started, "you're in my veins. I want to be your one and done, the one you come home to, the one you start a family with, the one who chases you around the loft with a laser gun. I want to bring you coffee every morning, I want to see you pregnant, I want my muse by my side. I want forever Kate. And when I think about my future, the years to come, all I can think about is you." He blinked hard, took a deep breath, and moved to kneel one knee on the floor in front of her. "So, Kate, will you be my third time's charm? Will you marry me?"

Kate looked deep into his blue eyes, the eyes of the man she loved with all her heart. She had trouble getting words out, but nodded her head over and over again with a huge smile plastered across her face. "Yes," she managed to say as he pulled a ring from a tiny sky blue box. He slipped it on her finger and kissed the knuckle right above it before coming back to his feet. She grabbed his face, just as she did their first night together, and kissed him hard, pouring all of her love into him.

He had just taken her through a scavenger hunt through their lives together, the cases, the hardships, the happiness. And he finished it with a ring. A ring to symbolize their forever, the life they would lead together, as one.

They pulled back from each other and she looked down at her left hand, at the ring he had placed there. It was gorgeous; a white gold band with three diamonds in the center, smaller diamonds running down the sides. It wasn't over the top, it wasn't gaudy; it was perfect for her, worked well with her style and her job. It wouldn't get in the way of her job and it would always sit there to remind her of the man that made her unbelievably happy. The man who told her he would be there always, that he loved her always. It wasn't the beginning or the end of the story of them, it was simply just another chapter.

XO

I realllllly hope I did this justice. I was rewatching Always while writing and I can only hope that this chapter has lived up to your expectations! Please let me know and review!

And don't forget to put me on author alert! More stories are coming soon! I'd like to do daily updates (or at least try) until the September premiere, so stay tuned!

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