In A Heart Beat (a Castle Fan Fiction)

Chapter 1: Before the Iron Gates

"Castle, have you seen my other shoe?" Beckett called from the bedroom in the apartment. Richard and she overslept since the alarm clock didn't go off that morning, and only the sound of their phones both going off woke them up. Ryan and Esposito had been calling all morning long. Considering Gates still didn't know they were going out by some miracle of fate, this would look extremely suspicious.

"No, sorry. Can't say I have." Rick replied from the kitchen, preoccupied with the cooking he was doing.

She then double checked for no apparent reason, "Are you sure?"

"It's the black heel with the buckle on the side that you always wear with those slacks and the white shirt, right?" He knew her too well.

Smiling, thinking that was probably a good thing and knowing she was far enough away from him to keep her from seeing, she answered "Yeah."

Rick then replied, "I haven't seen it since you let Alexis borrow them to go out with Max."

"Oh, yeah, that's right. So it must be in her room upstairs." Kate frantically rushed through the loft from the downstairs bedroom that both he and Kate occasionally shared to the room Alexis had vacated upstairs. No one was around, but it was habit now to walk across the hard wood floors as quietly and quickly as she could.

Having the apartment to themselves was a dream come true for a whole six weeks while Martha was on a mini tour with Alexis through Africa. But they'd be coming back in a few days, and Castle would have to get used to sharing the space with his mother and without Beckett again.

Several times he'd thought about taking Beckett on a European tour. Touring the world for two months, seeing everything there was to see, and saving the best for last. Italy. The place he'd decided would end the trip and where he'd propose to her in a beautiful field. The sun would set on their couple's picnic atop a hill surrounded by flowers and nature. He would get out his phone and hit play to some classic Italian music, stand, and ask her to dance. She'd take his hand and stand with him. They'd gaze into each other lovingly, and then, looking at her smile, and him smiling as well, giggle a little. She'd ask, "What?" and he'd smile back into her. Then, he'd spin her out, take the ring out of his pocket, spin her into a dip, and ask her to marry him. He'd bring her up and she'd say yes, and they'd kiss just as the sun fell and the stars' lights began to lighten the newly navy sky.

In fact, he'd had the ring for a while, after his mother gave him his grandmother's engagement ring to use, saying, "I was waiting for you to meet the right girl. Kate is that girl." It'd been three months since then, and Martha had urged him to propose all the way up until the time of her departure. Since then, nearly every night before he'd gone to bed, Castle had looked at the ring he'd been keeping in his coat pocket, and smiled. Now he knew that this time it would be forever. He knew that this time, nothing could screw anything up. Because this time, love had been fated since day one, conquered so much, and beyond all odds, survived the bony hands of death nearly twenty times in all.

Coming back down the stairs making relatively no sound, Beckett told him, "I found it. It was under her bed."

"Good. I wouldn't want you to have to wear different shoes and change things up," he said jokingly. From the middle landing looking gorgeous as ever, Kate made a ha-ha-very-funny face in response to his remark. He made one back as she entered the kitchen. His shirt was still unbuttoned, and his feet still naked, but he wasn't in nearly the rush she was. He decided to hold off for an hour or two while Beckett made her way to the precinct.

As she grabbed her badge, keys, and gun from the counter, Castle pulled her in for one last kiss goodbye. A comfortable kiss, like they would be doing this all their lives. Kate then turned, grabbed her coat off the couch, and walked out the door with a simple, "Bye, love you. See you in an hour."