AN- sorry it's so long :p If you don't care, skip it.

I always save my ANs for last, mostly because I will think of something in the middle of writing and forget to add it in, but also because I like to think it more of a personal address to my readers, something I like to do with the ending in mind (mostly it's the first one, I'm not going to pretend to be deep here, I am forgetful). But this time, I am writing it with nothing but white space on the other side of the cursor. This, I fear, is the end. I didn't say anything in my last chapter, but it is. However perfect the last ending (I was beside myself over it, and I am damn proud), I decided this story needed one more chapter, a final say. That is why the Writing Gods created Epilogues, so here is mine. It may also have to do with the fact that I just love this fic to pieces and I don't really want it to end.

Thanks, first and foremost, to my readers. Seriously, all the favorites, story alerts, subscriptions and reviews, especially reviews, are what have kept me writing this 'one-or two-shot-tops,' for as long as I have, and for that, I thank you. This journey has been a wonderful one.

Thanks to Emily (phalangesbyfive) for being sexy, for being honest, for being helpful, and mostly sexy. And for being my number one fan, first general and trashcan of love.(and sexy). .

Thanks Andy (Bugg), for your creative input, your craziness, and your curse words, cause they make me giggle. Thanks Susan (insert occupation here), for putting up with me, for bribing me with fic updates, and mostly for your insane rhyming skills. Seriously. Thanks AC (), for rocking, and for keeping me in line. (and for reading, sheesh!)

And now, I will write the epilogue.

Epilogue

Richard Castle stood in his bedroom, slipping one arm into his jacket, and then his other. He grabbed the Italian suit by the lapels, tugging it forwards and smoothing it down, admiring the way it flattered his frame. He opened the dresser's top drawer, taking in his large inventory of ties before picking up a black bow tie and draping it around his neck, tucking the silk fabric under the collar of the white shirt. He was just beginning to tie it when a woman's voice rang out from the bathroom.

"Rick!" Kate called, annoyance and frustration evident in her voice. She was in front of the sink, using the large mirror above it to perfect her look, bare feet planted flat against the cold tile of the floor. In the mirror she saw him enter the bathroom, leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets, smiling at her. He was looking rather smashing in his tux, the dark fabric suiting him. She couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face.

She looked stunning.
Simply stunning.

The strapless Di Milo dress she was sporting was a light, emerald green that illuminated her eyes, a sleek fit. It fell nearly to her knees, the hemline slanting slightly to one side, the silk material all gathered in an elegant knot on the side of her waist. Her hair was done up, the long strands hanging in loose curls from a clip.

Castle took a minute to take her in, starting at her mile-long legs and resting on her face in the mirror. He couldn't tell if she was blushing or it was the makeup, but she was gorgeous. He stepped closer, abandoning his spot in the doorway to stand behind her. His hands wrapped around her waist, slowly, pulling her backwards to rest against his body. He dipped his head, finding the juncture where her neck met her shoulder and planting a kiss there. His arms made it full circle around her waist so he was holding her against him, his mouth now making a trail up her neck and to her jaw. He smiled into the caress when the moan she released vibrated against his mouth before continuing his journey until at last he reached her mouth, humming into the kiss.

The position maybe have been slightly awkward if it hadn't felt so good. She lifted an arm up to hold him onto her before the need for oxygen prompted them apart, his lips hovering over hers as they both caught their breath. He loved that she could do that.

She loved that she could do that, too.

"What, dear?" he replied, not quite ready to release her.

"Fix my damn necklace," she replied, her lips brushing his only slightly before retracting her hand from his hair and facing the mirror full on. He smiled again, releasing her long enough to scoop her necklace off the sink counter and wrap it around her neck, linking the clasp behind and letting it fall, the perfect touch.

She slipped in her earrings, her hands traveling up to her hair to redo it when she felt his hands cover hers, bringing them down to her side, wrapping them around her waist again, this time with their fingers still entwined.

"Don't," he murmured, because he was close enough. "It's perfect." He was kissing her neck again, and she let her eyes close because it felt so good.

"Stop," she said, coming to her senses. There was just enough laughter in her voice that he dared continue."We are going to be late," she said again, when he did continue. She turned around in his arms, pushing him away far enough so she could reach between them, grabbing a hold of his tie, tying it for him. He smiled when she finished, straightening it and patting his chest.

Her lack of shoes gave him a good few inches height over her, something she secretly loved. She felt his hands travel from her waist, up her back, her neck, her hair- she slapped his shoulder. "Stop it, you will mess it up," she warned him, using her own hand to check the back of her head, making sure he didn't do just that.

"That was kind of the point," he mumbled into her ear in a low voice. She couldn't bring herself to hit him again so instead opted to let loose the smile she would normally abolish and planted a brief kiss on his lips before pulling away completely, making her way to the bedroom.

Castle stood in the bathroom a moment longer, smoothing down his shirt and doing a precursory check for lipstick stains in the mirror, before joining her in the bedroom. Kate was seated on their bed, pulling on black heels.

Castle wasn't sure when his bed became theirs or the left side became hers, but it had. His closet was filled with her clothes- it was more hers than his, really. She stayed most nights, eating there, sleeping there, showering there. Last week, Castle pointed this out.

"I just feel like you're here all the time, and your apartment gets neglected," he told her, as they washed the dishes after a particularly fabulous stir fry meal. She looked at him, eyebrow arched high on her head.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked him, looking hurt and angry at the same time.

She was getting the wrong impression and he needed desperately to amend that.

"No, no- I just mean you are here, and your apartment has necessary maintenance things, things you can't be taking care of if you're over here all the time, and that could be really bad, I mean- and I just feel like you're paying rent on a place that your never at, and-" he was rambling and his words were coming out in one long run-on sentence, a sentence with no perceivable end in sight. Words, the ones that have served him so well over the years, escaping him.

"Castle," she asked, cutting off his babbling, a hint of a smile pulling at her mouth. "If you want me to move in, all you have to do it ask."

He recalled the memory with a small smile, not even minding the last of the many brown boxes that littered one corner of the bedroom. Their bedroom. He made his way to his nightstand, pulling out his watch and closing it around his wrist before he made his way to the bed to join her.

Shoes strapped, she straightened, resting a hand on Rick's leg, warmly. "You nervous?" she asked, to which he shrugged, indifferently.

"Not really. After the first few they all kind of run together," he admitted.

Despite the honesty in the last sentence, she could tell he was a little nervous. He always was.

She honestly hadn't been looking forward to tonight- she was never really about the public party scene, but the closer the evening came the more she accepted it. Book signings, promotional parties, publishing open houses, public appearances- it was something she would get used to if it killed her. It wouldn't stop her from complaining about it, but all the same.

"It won't be so bad," she assured him. Three days ago it was the other way around. "Alexis and Martha are going to meet us there, Ryan and Espo said they were planning on making an appearance," she searched her mind, listing off the positives of the evening.

"I would much rather stay in bed with you," he told her, planting a kiss on her bare shoulder.

"Yes, well," she said, trying and failing to fight her smile. "You know what's more fun than me in this dress?" she asked him.

"What's that?" He asked, placing another kiss in the same place.

"Getting me out of it," she murmured in his ear. He smiled broadly.

"You are quite the seductress, aren't you?" he asked her, taking her laugh as his answer before leaping up. "I will go call the car-Let's get this damn thing over with."

She watched him, shamelessly admiring his build as he made it all the way to the door before turning around.

"Do you think my shoes match my shirt?" He asked her, brow furrowed as he tugged on his jacket, nervously.

She looked as his shoes, then his shirt, then his shoes again, inadvertently giving him the up-down. She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could get out her response, his face broke out in a devilish grin.

"Yeah," he replied, opening the bedroom door. "I see you checking me out." And with those words he disappeared into the hall, closing the door with a click behind him.

Just as they were making their way out the front door, a little card on his door step made Castle stop short.

"That's weird," he said, picking up the card. "The mail goes through the boxes downstairs, not directly to the doors."

"What is it?" Kate asked, when he examined it closer. Even in her heels she had to crane her neck to see over his broad shoulder. When he turned to face her, he was grinning, hugely. "What?" She repeated.

In reply, he read directly off the card. "We at Rudolf Steiner High School would like to invite Richard Castle to the class of '88 High School Reunion."