Scarred Heart presents
Making Up Time

Epilogue

"Kate!" he says. She is coming. She always comes. She came last year, she'll come this year. There is a party passing them by, as they glance into each other's eyes every second moment. There is champagne being drunk, and people being drunk. Not too many. Rick suspects it has something to do with his mother being there.

"Come with me," she replies. She is pulling him by his wrist, playful pull. Pulling them towards their own little balcony. They were there last New Year's Eve, making out like teenagers. She thanks God every day that they managed to get their hormones into control eventually.

They are there. Standing there, under the moonlight, they day before the new year, with a year behind them.

"You've been waiting to get me alone all night, Rick. What are you hiding?" she asks. He thinks about making a crude remark. That thought is squashed by her raised eyebrow, and the curiosity in her eyes. He can't deny her. Really.

"It was supposed to be a surprise," he says. "I had it all planned out."

She cocks her head, her expression unchanged.

"Kate, this year… it's been amazing. We've had some tough times. For sure. We caught him, Kate. We caught him, but all I could think about the whole time was you, and how it was affecting you," he says. He begins. He can see her running onto the proverbial road, and the headlights are definitely coming. He takes her hands, encloses them in his own.

"Last year, today. I made you a promise. Remember?" he asks. He is soft. Voice, hands.

"Forever and always. You said you were my speechless author. Forever and always," Kate says. The words are more breath than speech.

"I meant that. And I'm a man of my words," Rick says. And without another word, or any hesitation, he drops her hands, letting them fall to her side, and even as her lips part in shock, he sinks to one knee, and withdraws a small, blue box.

"I thought about what to say here for months. I thought about grandiose words and beautiful imagery. And then I realised something. We don't say it. We never say it," he says, taking one of her hands into one of his, and drawing her hand to the box.

"But it's true. You're you, I'm me, and we're us. And that's all we've ever needed, and that's all I'll ever need. I was going to tell you how wonderful, kind and beautiful you are, but there aren't words. I'll stick to my original extraordinary," he says. Rick uses her hand to open the box that will change their lives, even as he asks the question that she will never forget.

"So, Katherine Beckett, will you be mine forever and always?"

He's repeating words. He never repeats words. Well, almost never. Always was a word he repeated more often than I love you, concerning her.

Her brown eyes are wide, and staring straight into his. They are seeing each other's souls. His hand is holding hers, keeping it on the back of the blue box. She sees it now. The ring. Simple, and diamond, it is almost a replica of the ring she no longer wears around her neck.

And then she sinks to her knees, and their eyes are level, and all the emotion that flows between them is almost palpable in the night air. She says one word, because all they've ever needed is one word. Normally, that word is always. Here and now, that word is something different, but something equally as important.

"Yes."

And even as they kiss, a coroner is refraining from cheering in the onlooking crowd. She doesn't want to incur Beckett's wrath a second time, after all.

AN:

The story is over. Yay. Finished. Finally. I have a few things to say to a few people, and then even the AN will be over.

To some people, I said there would be a confrontation between Beckett and Lanie. I referenced it in the last line, of course, but I couldn't find a place for the whole thing in this story. I didn't want it in this epilogue, for sure, and I just couldn't find a place for it in any of the other chapters, to tell you the truth. I didn't feel like it would work in any of them. So, apologies.

To those of you who were hoping to read the Castle Christmas event, apologies. I didn't really feel like including it in this story, and I'm glad it ended this way.

To the large number of you who have added this story to your story alert list, or favourite story list, I thank you for coming and enjoying this story. It would make my day if some of you reviewed this last chapter.

To those of you that have reviewed, thanks for that. I don't know how many of you have stories here of your own, but to those of you who do, you know that reviews are appreciated. To those of you don't, we writers like to hear things about our work.

Reviews, good, bad and constructive are always appreciated.

Happy slightly belated Christmas to all of you reading this!

and

Happy New Year to all of you!

I wish all of you the best of luck in your new year, and hope that I'll see some of you again for me next story, which will be coming during January.