For Kate Beckett's entire adult life, she has been guarding her heart with emotional walls and by by keeping one foot out the door in every relationship she's had. But what she really wants, is to have someone with whom she can dive fully into life. When she has her chance at fulfilling her dream, will she be willing to take the plunge?

This is fluffy, fun, semi-A/U scenario for the finale/premier. I hope you enjoy it.

Rated: T

Disclaimer: I am both a share holder in and a writer for ABC's Castle. Well... in my dreams I am. Reality may not back that claim up, but hey, I'm a dreamer.

"Diving In With Both Feet"

by DeBo81

The moment Kate stepped out of her car, she spotted Rick at the swings (their swings), looking serious, thoughtful... hurt. Her stomach dropped a little farther in her body. It's sudden sense of weight, made it feel as if her gut was lined with lead. She had to swallow the bile that rose up her throat, threatening to gag her, and remind herself to breathe.

Instinctively, she knew that he knew, she was there, although nothing in his posture indicated it. He sat almost motionless, staring forward at something that wasn't there, centered in a world of thought.

As she closed the distance between them, she silently begged him to look at her, to smile, to give her some hope that everything was going to be OK. She craved his reassurance because her own sense of guilt ate at her. Despite the fact that she never planned to hurt him, she had, and now was the time to own her actions.

When she reached the bike path, only feet now from her point of reckoning, Kate briefly but nervously tucked her lips between her teeth in a last attempt to reign in the feelings she was struggling with.

By the time she sat down in the swing next to the man she loved, unshed tears stung her eyes. The sounds of the busy park around her faded away and the pounding of her pulse drummed a violent staccato in her ears. Rick's only acknowledgment of her arrival was a half glance in her direction and then to again look away. He couldn't or wouldn't look her in the eyes. Normally that would make her mad, but today it ripped her heart out and tossed it on the grass. She'd never meant any harm.

"I'm sorry." She told him honestly, but even to her ears it sounded trite. "I shouldn't have kept secrets."

He nodded in acceptance but she knew it did little to heal the wound. "It's who you are. You don't let people in..."

His comment was fair but it twisted the proverbial knife in her chest.

"...I've had to scratch and claw for every inch."

"Castle..." Kate interrupted. She could see where this conversation was going, and she had to try to stop it before everything unraveled. She wanted to explain it all to him, to get it all out on the table, hoping that he'd accept her apology for admittedly handling the situation foolishly. Then maybe they could talk about the underlying issues that caused all of this... the fears, the insecurities, the lack of communication.

"Please let me finish."

She glanced up at him, surprised. Rarely was he so stoic or determined. In an oddly bittersweet way she momentarily found it charming, until she remembered the breadth and the depth of their current situation, causing her to fully sober.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking about us. About our relationship; what we have, where we're headed." Rick's voice was deep with emotion, hooking Kate onto every word. And with every sentence, she began to believe more and more that this might not just be a conversation about their relationship. It might be a talk about ending their relationship. A new wave of an old fear began to boil inside her.

"I've decided I want more," he stated simply.

That's when it really hit her. He'd made up his mind; he was going to follow through with his decision. And apparently he couldn't even look her in the eyes while he did.

"We both deserve more."

Yes, they did, and as sure as she was that he was about to break up with her, she was just as sure she wouldn't let it happen. Kate wanted more... more of him, more with him, more of them, together.

Somewhere between desperation and determination she answered, "I agree", and then wracked her brain for something to say that might change Rick's mind.

He continued to talk though, plunging forward in his speech."So whatever happens, and wherever you decide..."

Kate began to fight her tears in earnest now, bracing for what was sure to come next.

"...Katherine Houghton Beckett," Rick continued, as he dropped to one knee, and held out a radiant diamond ring, "Will you marry me?"

Not a single cell in her body was prepared for the question just presented to her. It was one she'd both dreamed of and feared for more years than she'd ever willingly admit, but never in all that time had she expected it like this.

Time had seemingly slowed to almost a standstill. Kate searched Rick's eyes, which were as serious and hopeful as she'd ever seen. Then she dropped her stare to the breathtaking band clasped between his slightly trembling fingers. This was real.

Questions and answers both bounced around her mind like ping pong balls in a blender. Yes! No! Why? When? Are you serious? Is it this or nothing? Will this even work?

Kate opened her mouth to say something, anything, but instead of words coming out, she gasped for air to fill her lungs. Panic began its slow grip on her. Her eyes dilated, her hands grew clammy and began to shake. Her world began to spin. She stood up from the swing she had been perched in, and took a few steps away, hoping a little distance would afford her the space she needed to breathe. Rick Castle asked her to marry him!

"Kate!" Rick's familiar baritone voice called after her. She turned and saw him standing now but still where she'd left him. The ring was out of sight now, most likely clenched in his white knuckled fist, but it was the tremendous pain in his eyes that held her complete attention. "Kate, I asked you a question. Don't run away. If you don't want to marry me, if DC was your way of backing out of what we've got, tell me now. I'll walk away. But don't hide from me."

"You think I'm considering DC to leave you?" She retraced two or three steps, narrowing the gap between them.

"No." He shook his his head, then paused and looked somewhere over her shoulder. "Maybe. I don't know. All I know is that I love you and if you feel the same way, which I think you do, I don't want to lose you. Not to fear. Not to stupid relationship politics. Not to a job. I love you and I will happily go with you wherever you want to be. New York, Washington, London, Timbuktu, I don't care."

Two more of her steps brought them closer still. "Rick, I do love you. I love you so much. And I wasn't trying to run away. I didn't go looking for this opportunity, it came to me, and I had to check it out. I didn't tell you, cuz I never really planned to take it so I didn't want you to worry, and I didn't want to add complications to our relationship unnecessarily. But I handled it all wrong. I should have told you and talked it out with you. But we never really talk about our future and I, I was scared."

Now it was his turn to take another step closer. They could touch now, if either stretched out their arms.

"Scared of what?"

When she hesitated, he took another step closer. They were now only a swing width apart. She could feel the heat of his body radiating against hers, warming her from the outside, in. His proximity alone fed her strength. Several years earlier she'd been told that Castle's feelings for her made him brave. She'd inwardly denied it, because of both the source and because then she'd have to admit it worked the other way too; that he made her feel brave, but he did. And right now she needed to summon that courage because it was time for the conversation she'd come here to have.

"What am I scared of?" Kate rolled her eyes upward and chuckled ironically. "When my mom was killed, I felt the deepest pain of my life. It was worse than anything I'd felt before and worse than anything I've ever felt since; even more than being shot. And from that moment, I've spent my life guarding myself from ever feeling something like that again. I built my walls and defenses. I kept one foot out the door in every friendship and relationship I made. I never really let anyone in. Why? Because the risk of losing them and feeling that pain again was greater than the reward of being all in. And then I met you. And yes we've argued about who fell for who first, but the reason I didn't fall on that first day is because I knew from the start you were different from everyone else; that the rewards and risks were so much higher. The electricity between us, the look in your eyes. The way you saw through my walls and into my soul... that scared the hell out of me. So I held you at arms length for as long as I could, because if I let you in and it didn't work, a part of my heart and soul would be stolen from me like it was that January day my mom was stabbed."

Rick reached out and rubbed her arm. "Kate..."

"Please, let me finish," she echoed his words back to him.

He nodded but closed the space so that their bodies touched at several points.

"So when you say you fought and scratched for every inch, you're right. You did. And sometimes I hid from that and sometimes I secretly championed you to continue to do so, cuz no one's ever cared enough to push past all my crap and really love me like that. And when you broke through, it felt so, refreshing to finally be free to live and love the way I wanted to, a part of me could picture a future for us together. Happily ever afters didn't seem so far away. The other part though, holds on tight to the "what if's." What if this feeling fades? What if you get hurt following me? What if I'm not cut out to be the woman you need? What if I'm destined to be another ex? What if the only thing I have control over is my career? What if it's easier to live without love than to lose it down the road? So when you ask what I'm scared of, I'll tell you. I'm scared that it's too late to turn back now, even if I wanted to. I'm scared that somehow, somewhere, I'll lose you and lose myself in the process. I'm scared that if I choose one thing in my life, I have to let go of another. And up to this point I've been scared that if I told you any of this, I'd push you away and ruin the best thing I've ever had. THAT is what I'm scared of."

When she was done venting, Kate's chest heaved from the exertion of letting it all out. Her hands shook and her vision blurred in a momentary wave of weakness that almost brought her to her knees. But she never buckled because Rick's strong frame was suddenly wrapped around her, holding her, supporting her, pulling her snug to his chest.

"Thank you for telling me. I had no idea just how deep this all went. I've been scared too. I've been too scared to push for more, knowing you need to do things in your own time. It's taken so long to get to where we are, I didn't want to push you away with my excitement. I'm scared that maybe I'm not the man you need me to be; that one day you'll look at me and wonder what you ever saw in a guy like me. And I'm scared that maybe I'm just a failure at relationships, and that no matter how hard I'd try, I'd end up disappointing you. I just want you to be happy, Kate. You make me that man I want to be. So I'm laying it all there. What I feel for you doesn't compare to what I've ever felt before in my life, and I'm not going anywhere without you. I don't want you to give up one thing for another, I want to give you the world. If the job in DC will make you happy, then I'll be happy too cuz I'll go with you. If you want to run the NYPD, I'll stand beside you as you climb that ladder. If you want to put it all behind you and travel the world, I'll start booking tickets and packing bags. Whatever happens, wherever we are, whatever the future holds, I just want to do it together. Is that too much to ask?"

"No, it's not." Her lips quirked up involuntarily. "I want that too."

"You do?"

Kate nodded and then rested her cheek in Rick's palm, which he'd brought up to push her hair behind her ear. She closed her eyes briefly to just absorb the feel of his touch. She'd been so upset thinking that they were splitting, that she needed the comfort of his skin touching hers.

When she opened her eyes again, the first thing that came into focus was the diamond adorned platinum band. He held it between them, silently, hopefully, waiting for her to react.

"I'm not taking the job," she sputtered. Immediately she kicked herself but that was the first thing that came to mind.

"Well, OK," Rick answered. "I didn't really think of marriage to me as a job, but I suppose it would certainly feel like it some days. Did I mention the benefits? I provide excellent medical, dental and retirement plans."

Kate bit her lip and swatted lightly at his chest. "No, I mean you don't have to propose to keep me here. I'm not going to Washington."

"Kate, I'm not asking you so that I can keep you here," he gestured to the towering city surrounding them, then moved his hand to his heart. "I asked, because no mater where we are, you're already here."

Her breathing picked up and shallowed out, hovering just outside of hyperventilation. "I, I don't know what to say."

Rick seemed to be getting his confidence back so he kissed her quickly but with fire, and dropped back

to his knee. "Say yes, Kate. Say, you'll make me the happiest, luckiest man in New York. Tell me that we won't let anything stand between us anymore."

A smile, both nervous and excited tipped the corners of her mouth. A nod, ever so slight, bounced her long wavy hair. "Yes," she whispered at first, then repeated a bit louder. "Yes, I'll marry you."

The kiss and embrace they shared at that moment could only be described as passionate and crushing. Before he could even slide the ring on her finger, they flew to each other, locked in a moment of deep joy.

When they finally broke apart, he took her hand in his and poised the piece of jewelry at the tip of her forth finger. "I didn't realize how much I really wanted to do this until I thought I might lose you. Then I couldn't picture my life without you by my side."

He slid the band smoothly over her longer finger until it rested in place, glittering in the sunlight, just like in the movies.

She stared at her newly adorned hand while Rick nibbled playfully at her shoulder. "I can't believe we're getting married," Kate whispered in surreal awe.

He tugged her even closer and let his hand slip under her jacket to wrap around her ribs. "And the sooner the better. I can't wait to call you my wife."

"In a perfect world, we'd just be able to go do it now and skip all the nerves and wedding planing and formalities. I'm not looking forward to that."

He moved so he could meet her gaze, and already his blue eyes were sparkling like sapphires. "Then why don't we? Right now, you and I? I'll call Markaway and we will skip all the fanfare, or least put it off til later."

"I was joking! We can't just go get married!"

"Sure we can."

"Remember when you told me you just wanted someone to be there for you and you could be there for him, and just dive into it together? We have that. Let's stop running in circles and just make the dive."

"Seriously? You want to just run off and get married?"

"I do," Rick laughed.

"That's completely insane. I can't believe I'm thinking about this."

"No, don't think. That gets us into too much trouble, let's just do it."

"I don't do things like elope on a whim. Why am I even considering this?"

Rick squeezed her tightly."Because you're a future Castle and spontaneity is something we Castles embrace."

"What about our family and friends?"

"What about them?"

"I think they'd really be hurt if they weren't at our wedding."

"We'll have a big wedding later, and invite everyone. As for today, we'll call our parents and Alexis and Lanie and the boys and have them meet us..."

Kate sobered quickly."Wait, what about Alexis? This isn't really fair to her. One day her dad isn't even engaged and suddenly he's married without warning."

Rick stroked her hair back from her face and dropped a kiss on her lips. "Have I told you how much I love you? I love that you care so much about my daughter that you would put her feelings first. But rest assured, this isn't completely out of the blue for her. She and I talked before I bought the ring. The timing might surprise her, but know that when it comes to the marriage, we have her blessing."

Relief washed through her, but now that she was thinking more, reality began to intercede. Rick saw the change in her expression and began to shake his head. "You're thinking too hard. I want to marry you; you want to marry me. What more it there to think about? We've been side by side for five years. We WORK together. We've been each other's closest friend for four years, We KNOW each other. We've been dating for over a year. We LOVE each other. Will taking a year or six months to plan out a ceremony and a party make that better? Just this once, let's throw caution to the wind and just do this. This morning you woke up as Katherine Beckett. Tomorrow you could wake up as Katherine Castle."

Kate's bottom lip was tucked so firmly between her teeth that it almost hurt. Her heart and her head battled for dominance, while her mouth simply stated, "I'm not changing my last name, at least not professionally."

"Fine," Rick rolled his eyes. "Then wake up as Mrs. Katherine Beckett."

Kate's heart began to thud in her chest as excitement welled. He was right, what difference would a few months of planning do to add to their relationship after all this time. They were practically living together anyway, and chances were, after today he'd want her to move in anyway. And it wasn't like they'd be able to hide their engagement for the sake of their partnership, after this public proposal and giant ring on her finger. Her excitement began to evolve into almost giddy anticipation and she knew at that moment her heart had won. "Let's do it."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. But lets do it now before I change my mind."

Rick pulled her to him and began to feather kisses over her face and neck while he kept talking. "I love you." Kiss. "I can't believe we're doing this." Kiss. "Do you want to go get ready and find a dress or something while I make arrangements?" Kiss.

Kate finally silenced him with a passionate, mouth melting kiss on the lips that promised more than what was possible in a public park.

"It's already after two. You take care of the details and let me know when and where to meet you. I'm gonna call Lanie and my Dad."

"I can't believe we're doing this," he said, as he finally stepped back.

"Me either."

The couple stood, staring into each other's eyes for a full minute before he finally squeezed her hand. "We better go. We have a lot to do."

She nodded and gave him one last kiss before jogging back to her car. In a few hours, she, Kate Beckett, was going to be a married woman.

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A/N: OK... OK... Admittedly, this is not a probable scenario, but I just couldn't help myself from wondering, 'What if...?'. I love to try and figure out how AM and company will surprise us... how they'll keep us completely on our toes. And when I was thinking about this, the thought of a possible elopement just grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I told myself it wasn't plausible, and only marginally even believable. I told my Beta what I was thinking, and she agreed that it wouldn't work. But you see, I'd already written most of this chapter out on paper and in my head, and it wouldn't go away. So I typed it all out and gave it a chance. After all, isn't that what fanfic is all about? When I sent this chapter to my Beta, she told me I'd changed her mind, and I better keep writing cuz she wanted more. So I did. And now that I'm happy with my little tale, I'm giving it to you. It's short (3 chapters), so you'll have it all in the next couple days. And I think it's fun, so I think you'll smile. If you'd like to let me know what you think though, please drop me a note. I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Cya soon with chapter 2,

DeBo81