Author's Note: Okay, I did a similar idea with another show's ship, but this is turning out to be so much more fun than that one! I hope you enjoy it, because I'm really enjoying writing it. Review if you would like to let me know what you're thoughts are!

Disclaimer: If I owned them… I'd have at least two houses somewhere warm to escape all this freaking snow!

It had been a particularly long few weeks with the case they were pursuing… it seemed like every time they caught a break, it went in another direction and they were forced to go another way. It was right after the New Year, and Gates even acknowledged the fact that it was a crappy way to start off that January.

The whole team was given the weekend off, so Castle took a chance and asked Kate over for a movie night and Chinese. They were moving toward something. He hadn't confronted her about the fact that he knew she had heard him when she was shot. He was angry when he heard her tell the suspect that she had remembered every detail, but then took a step back to realize that she must have had her reasons. Kate was never one to jump into anything when it really involved her heart, and it had taken them this long to get to the point where they could talk about the bigger issues. She needed more time.

She agreed to the movie and dinner, which had surprised him. So they sat side by side on the couch, watching a movie while Castle went through all of the demons in his head telling him that maybe she wasn't ever going to be ready for them. He had that inner battle until halfway through the movie, when she fell asleep and was currently cutting off the circulation in his arm. He knew in that instant that she was comfortable with him and allowing him to see her so vulnerable after such a hard week was new for her.

Looking down, he notices the stray lock of hair that falls across her face, and dares to tuck it behind her ear. After which he takes in the rest of her beauty… something that he could certainly spend the rest of his life staring at.

She stirs almost immediately after the gesture, almost sensing him watching her for a moment, "Castle?"

"You had a piece of hair in your face… I uh… I didn't want it to bother you…" he says, trying to back up his actions with a logical explanation.

"I fell asleep?" she asks, still not making a move to remove herself from the comfort of his half embrace. It felt to warm to leave there, she thought… warm and safe.

"You did. It was a long week… I don't blame you."

"You take such good care of me Castle."

"Always." He says simply.

He doesn't notice that her eyes come fully alert at that statement, looking up at his face with a look that even she can't explain herself. It had been their thing as long as she could remember, the word that meant much more than the two syllables it actually was.

She can't help herself when she closes the distance between them, and notices the shock on his face before their lips meet.

It was tentative at first, nothing like the kiss they shared when trying to save their partners from harm. It was sweet and promising and everything that she wanted from someone.

"Kate?" he questions, when they pull back after a slow minute of lips dancing, breathless.

"I'm sorry… I shouldn't have." She says quickly, starting to sit up before he pulls her back to him.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, with his hand drawing lazy circles up and down her arms, "You don't have to apologize for that, Kate."

"If I really tell you something… will you promise to not take any offense to it?" she asks.

"I don't know… based on how you just phrased that question, I'm wondering if I should be nervous." He replies, turning a bit to see the look on her face.

She pauses for a moment, biting her lip in that way that drives him crazy, before starting what would probably be the hardest conversation of her life up until that point. "What if the tension is really all there is? What if everything between the two of us is based on the fact that we want to see how the other scratches that itch?"

He stares at her for a moment, thinking to himself that while she may have been right three years ago with that statement, how could she think that after all these years… after all they've been through? She was so much more to him than a conquest. Hadn't she learned that the playboy act was just that…an act?

"You might not be aware of this, but I know… I know that you remember everything. So where is this coming from?"

Her eyes go wide at this, not ready to think or talk about this part of their relationship, just wanting to delve over what she thought was the easy part. Sex was easy… love and the actual relationship was the hard part… the part she always ran from.

"I love you Kate… I told you that months ago, and you haven't said anything… you've lied and said that you didn't remember anything. I've respected that fact, knowing that you needed time, but now this…"

"I wasn't ready for that, Castle… I'm still not ready for that."

"Kate, I love you." He says again.

"…and I'm wondering if you love me or you love the idea of me." She says with a shrug and looks to the floor with an almost shy glance.

Everyone had told her at some point that there was more to the two of them. Esposito told her that a million books could be written, but he was still there. Lanie pointed out that the two of them would be perfect together, and when Roy Montgomery was alive he told her that Castle was good for her. He was, but maybe it wasn't as deep as they all thought it was. Maybe their friendship was all they needed.

"Okay… so how do I prove it to you?" he asks.

"I don't need to you prove anything to me, but I think that we should entertain the thought that this could just be about sex." She says looking back up to him, trying to dispel her thoughts.

"And how do we entertain that thought?"

At that, she just raises an eyebrow and the slightest of smirks comes to her face. If she's being honest with herself, she's thought about this more than she should admit. They could be explosive in bed… or he could be just like every other man she's ever been with and her point will be proven… it isn't love… they're just good friends.

"One night… no expectations… no declarations…"

"And what if this changes everything?"

"Castle, it's not going to change the fact that you're one of my best friends, that I care about you, and that you're my partner. We go back to normal…"

"And if you want more than normal? If I do after this?" he asks, knowing damn well that he was in love with every part of her… not just her body. He wouldn't be able to go back to just normal because he knew that they were more than that.

"I can tell you right now Castle, that I'm not ready for that…. I'm still figuring out everything that I need to be free of some of my demons. I'm not ready for a relationship with you like that… but maybe this will help me realize what could be."

He sits for a moment, contemplating her suggestion… really thinking that maybe this was it. Maybe this was the only chance he was going to get to show this woman how much he loves her in the romantic way. He also thinks that maybe this could be the absolute worst idea in both their lives. If he gave in to this, he was just like every other guy she had ever been with, and that wasn't what he wanted.

"Deal…. On one condition."

She's almost surprised when he puts his hand out to shake hers in the age old act of making a deal with someone. She never thought he would actually go for it…. And now she doesn't know if this is such a good idea.

"You were bluffing…" he says simply, dropping his hand and his eyes.

"I thought I was at the beginning… but now… not so much." She says, pulling on his hand and kissing him with all that she has.

"One night?" he asks.

"One night. Conditions?"

"Kate, I know that I just told you this, but I do need you to know that right now… in my gut, this isn't going to be just sex for me. Maybe we do the deed and I realize that it wasn't what I made it to be in my head. Or maybe I realize how much more you are to me with this. If we do this, you said no declarations… well, since it isn't a new declaration, I'm going to tell you again, that I love you. If you can handle that… then we do this. I don't want you to ever feel like I just wanted to use you for sex."

"Castle, that is not what I think, but I do think that maybe we've built this up in our heads and it could be the opposite of what we actually want."

"Then we agree?"

She nods.