Chapter Sixteen:

Alexis looked between her father and Kate. Something was going on and it was important. The vibe they were sharing wasn't just about the music. Something big was happening and Alexis couldn't bring herself to leave the room.

As her father's fingers started to slowly play the piano again, she waited on the edge of the couch with bated breath. Soon the melancholy sound of Kate's cello joined in and Alexis immediately felt the air fill almost tangibly with the sound of lost lovers and heartbreak.

Alexis was well aware that her father was an amazingly proficient piano player. He played for Grams all the time and sometimes she would find him just messing around on the grand when she came home from school. But her father had played almost exclusively upbeat songs. This was one of the first sad songs she had ever heard him play.

And just as his face always mirrored the tones of his joyful songs when he played them, right now his face was the embodiment of a longing ache. Looking into his eyes from the couch, she could see that they were fixed on Kate, not his hands. Alexis allowed a small smile onto her face. He was so obviously in love with her.

For her part, Kate wasn't looking at anything put the insides of her eyelids. Her long eyelashes were casting shadows down her cheeks in the low lighting and Alexis was once again stunned by her beauty. She couldn't understand how her dad hadn't told Kate how he felt yet. With every draw of her bow against the strings, Kate seemed to be pouring out her heart and letting the air fill with the emotions she always kept so tightly bottled.

By the end of the song, Alexis had soft tears glistening on her cheeks. The beauty of the song mixed with the obvious passion and longing between the two adults was too much. She was blown away. The last few notes were played and a heavy silence filled the air unlike any other Alexis had ever experienced.

Kate looked over at her dad and the two stared into each other's eyes. They both seemed to have forgotten her presence and Alexis could sense with every fiber of her being that something huge had just shifted in the room. Standing from the couch, she quietly ebbed from the room and headed up the stairs to let them be alone. She probably could have left with a parade of the Ringling Brothers and they still wouldn't have noticed the departure.

...

The silence was too loud.

Kate had to break the eye contact. She had too. She could feel herself giving away too many emotions. Her veil had fallen. It had been blown down by the power of the song and the look in Castle's eyes as he watched her play. Now everything she felt was out there for him to see because she just couldn't seem to remember how to cover it up anymore.

So far she was having no luck drawing her eyes away from his. It was as if some sort of magnet had just locked them into place and it was against the laws of physics and nature for them to be pulled apart again. Castle didn't even look like he wanted to break the eye contact. It occurred to her that he was pouring out the same volume of emotions with his eyes as she was. Taking a second to forget about her own, she focused on his and her heart sped at what she saw.

"Come with me somewhere. I have something to show you."

Nodding her head because she couldn't remember what words were, she rose from her chair to follow him anywhere.

He held up a hand to stop her from coming into his office and said, "Wait right here. I'll be right back. Right back."

He ran in and shut the door with her on the other side. Through the door she could hear the sound of a printer and her curiosity and confusion rose to a whole new level. He was back in a flash, his cheeks either rosy from excitement or the speed with which he had moved. Probably both.

"Come on," he said. He grabbed her hand like it was something they did all the time and led her out the front door. Her shock that had somewhat dissipated when it had been replaced by confusion at the printer, returned full force the moment his hand had enveloped hers. The feel of his large, warm hand holding her was indescribable. They fit together so well.

When they got into the elevator, she was surprised yet again when he pressed the "R" button for the roof instead of heading downwards where she had expected. He seemed to notice her silence. She hadn't spoken since before they had started to play Oblivion.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." She took a deep breath, but didn't quite look at him. He had let go of her hand when they entered the elevator and she was a little discomfited by how much she missed it already. She subconsciously (or consciously, but in denial) let the backs of her knuckles brush against his. He looked down at her, but she still stared straight ahead at the elevator doors. Waiting for them to open up to the roof.

When they finally did, they were released into a small hallway with only one door at the end. Right here. Right here was where she had to make the decision once and for all. She could take the elevator back down to her safe and familiar life. Back to the ground floor. Into a taxi. Straight to her apartment.

Or…

Or she could walk down that one-way hallway. The one that had only one door at the end that led to only one possible outcome. She could let Castle take her out into the New York night air and into the unknown.

...

There was a strong wind that flurried about the roof of Castle's building. It played with her hair, lifting it up and then whipping it across her face lightly. The air was chilly, but it felt good around her bare legs as it flirted with the skirt of her dress, a strong reminder that she was not in a dream. She walked wordlessly to the edge of the roof, leaning against the hip-height brick wall that separated them from the abyss below.

The sound of some lonely crickets calling to each other in the night seemed to carry on the duet that Kate and Castle had ended down in the loft, playing the harmony alongside the soft bubbling of a fountain. Kate closed her eyes to listen as she leaned over the edge of the building just a little—just to feel the wind.

She began to focus on the sound of the trees that were also on the roof in large pots. The leaves of the trees whispered their secrets in an ancient tongue that she wished she could understand. They held an intimate conversation with the wind that Kate envied. Soon her ear was filled with an entirely different type of whisper. This one was warm and filled her simultaneously with nerves and desire.

"What are you thinking about?" Castle had walked up behind her and was impossibly close. Not quite touching her, she could still feel the heat from his body.

"The wind."

He didn't respond, but placed his hands on her upper arms and gently turned her. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a folded piece of paper. She could only guess that it was what he had so hurriedly printed out earlier.

"I got you something."

"You got me something?"

"Yeah. I just…you've been so great with Alexis and I felt like I should thank you."

"Oh…"

He shook his head almost violently. "No. No actually that's not why I got it. I got it because…well. I don't know. Here." He shoved the piece of paper into her hands his eyes skittering out at the skyline looking more nervous than she had ever seen him.

She unfolded it slowly and started to read the words on the page. Confused, she looked up at him.

"Castle, what is this?"

"It's silly. It's stupid, really." He turned to lean on the wall and looked up at the sky. His eyes found the full moon and her gaze followed his to look at it.

"I'm sure it's neither of those things, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at right now. What is it?"

He took a deep breath but didn't turn away from the moon. She stared at his handsome profile as he spoke.

"It's a property deed. I bought you a little plot of land."

"Excuse me!" Her voice was high in disbelief.

"It's in the perfect spot. Overlooks a beautiful sea."

Kate was gaping at him. She grabbed his arm and yanked so that he would look at her.

"Explain," she demanded.

"It's the plot of lunar land right next to mine. On the Sea of Nectar." He looked deeply into her eyes that were now sparkling with some sort of recognition and awe. "I would have given you the whole moon if I could, but this is the best I could do."

Kate was speechless. He was amazing. He was amazing and she was in love with him.

"This way, when the inevitable happens and the robots finally organize their uprising and enslave mankind, you and I can escape and live out our days on the moon."

She smiled that secret smile of hers.

"You got me the moon."

He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, still not sure if her lack of words was a good sign.

"Yeah."

"You got me the moon, Castle."

Her eyes shining with unshed tears, she looked deeply into the eyes of the extraordinary man in front of her.

Here she was, standing in the deepest part of the river, thinking about diving in. It was all she had ever wanted and now she was staring directly into the eyes of the one man she wanted to dive in with. She imagined how the current would overtake her and how easy it would be to disappear. To just let herself be consumed and swept away by all of the emotions that were pushing and pulling at her.

As if the current she had imagined was real, she felt herself being pulled towards Castle. Bringing her hands up, she rested them on his chest. Feeling the clean, white material beneath her fingertips she twisted one of his buttons between her fingers, before looking up into his eyes again. She could see that he wasn't breathing, but his heart was beating impossibly fast beneath her palm.

Leaning in, her eyes fixed on his lips instead. They were slightly parted and incredibly inviting. Taking one last peek in his eyes, she saw him staring at her lips. Needing no other sign of encouragement, she brought her lips softly to his.

...

The whisper of her lips against his made him see stars.

He was too afraid to kiss her back. It was just too perfect and he didn't want to lose that feeling of…completion that he was feeling. Didn't want to ruin it by moving an inch.

She pressed her lips infinitesimally closer. He could feel her soft breath against his lips and he closed his eyes. Sharing the very air she was breathing was perhaps the most intimate feeling he had ever had with a woman. He could taste her and they hadn't even made undeniable, outright contact yet. It was still just the hint of a kiss. The promise.

She sighed almost imperceptibly and then let her lips slide like a puzzle piece around his lower lip.

He couldn't remain passive any longer. Closing around her soft upper lip, he kissed her back. She tasted incredible. Castle wanted more. He wanted to flood all his senses with Kate. Her taste, her smell, her feel. It was all incredible. He let his tongue slip out and tentatively touch her lip, just to intensify that taste that he wished he could devour.

She moaned.

He flew.

Her lips fell open and she touched her own tongue to his lips. He was so dizzy he didn't even think he could remember which direction was up if it wasn't for the shine of the moon on his eyelids.

Having Kate Beckett wrap her arms around him was the single best feeling he'd ever experienced in his life. That was, until he felt her breasts against his chest. And even that was outdone by the feeling of her tongue sliding into his mouth and against his own. This time, he was the one that moaned and he glided his hands around her sides along the slick fabric of her creamy dress. He pulled her closer to him and tried to memorize the feel of her hot skin beneath cool silk.

She pulled away first. The world could have gone up in flames and he still wouldn't have stopped kissing her voluntarily.

Both of their chests heaved with excited respirations. Her eyes were still closed but he couldn't more pull his eyes from her face than he could grow wings and fly away. Pulling his hands from her waist he framed her face with them and ran his thumbs across her cheeks. She felt like a rose petal.

Brushing her windblown hair from her face, he inhaled the air that hung between them and found the intoxicating mixture of his own scent and her cherries.

"Kate…" he whispered.

"I can't believe you got me the moon." She opened her eyes slowly and her lashes batted together a few times before a slow and shy smile graced her features.

"I hear some of the stars are up for grabs now. Do you want those too? Heaven and Earth, Kate. Whatever you want, it's yours." He stroked her cheek again and then leaned in to press a gentle kiss to the beauty mark that had always intrigued him so much.

"Whatever I want?" she asked, transforming her shy smile into a sly one.

"Anything and everything." He meant it.

From her lips he heard her say, "Can I have you?"

"Oh, Kate. You've always had me."

And with that he kissed her again until neither of them remembered that there even was a Heaven, earth, moon, or stars, because surely they could be the only two things that existed.

...

The End

A/N: Well, guys. I don't even know what to say here. I'm so sad to let this one go. I mean, I know there's a sequel and all, but this one was my baby. I really hope you liked the ending, because I do. I sort of tied some things back to the namesake song "And the World Turned" by The Gabe Dixon Band to give it a more circular feeling. CHECK OUT MY TUMBLR if you want to hear Oblivion and/or And the World Turned. I've also got another picture of me up there to appease those who asked for it. I've also got a brand spankin new Twitter (daphnebeauty) and have no followers yet. I don't reeeeally know the ropes yet, but if you wanna follow me, go for it.

Put me up on your Author Alerts if you wanna catch the sequel when I start posting it. I am preeeettty sure it's going to be called "Russian Roulette" but that may or may not stick. Good news for you guys, I've written a few one shots (and short multichapfics) that I will be posting to hold you guys off until I have a bit more written on the sequel.

Thank you to every single reviewer and reader and follower and fan and squealy obsessee. I absolutely adore you guys and probably would never ever have the guts to be posting future fics if it hadn't been for the amazing response I got on this one. A special thanks to my sister who read through every single chapter and fixed my atrocious comma habits (she's a real life author and lawyer so yeah...she has that shit down).

I have two questions for you so pretty please answer them.
1) How do you guys feel about M ratings?
2) I've got another pretty-much-finished super long multichap (longer than this story). I am not sure how I feel about it...Would you guys want me to start posting chapters of that? Or hurry up and start cranking through the sequel to "And the World Turns"?

Reviews that made my day: Rose Hartree I am pretty sure my inner voice sounds exactly like yours. Very disjointed and incredibly excited. I loved your review! Thanks for leaving it. And yeah, Beckett + bathing suit = MIND BLOWN. Also AllusionToAnIllusion...I love that you speak fluent Poe. I am thoroughly up for polygamy. Or at least a torrid affair. I woke up this morning and read a few of my favorite Poe stories and then spent the rest of the morning trying to convince myself that I was not, in fact, insane or about to murder someone. Poe has that effect on me. Turns out, later that day (today), I ended up the prime suspect in a homicide investigation. I'm not joking. I was swarmed and surrounded by cops. The full story will be on my Tumblr soon. I'm still adjusting.

Sorry this was so long. See you in my next story!

DO NOT WORRY ABOUT SOME OF THE LOOSE ENDS IN THIS STORY! I know they are there and they will be addressed in the sequel.