A/N: I'm sorry this is so long, but I couldn't break it up, I felt it needed to happen all at once. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

It was December 23 and that night, the precinct was holding its annual Christmas party. Everyone was required to wear either red or green and bring one item for the party. Even though Castle technically didn't work at the precinct, he was still invited because he had become part of the family. Everyone was there glowing in various shades of red and green. Everyone that is except for Beckett, which was odd because she's never late for anything. No one really seemed to notice her delayed appearance except for Castle.

The elevator doors opened and there she was. She ran a hand through her luscious locks as she stepped out of the elevator. She was wearing a skin tight, short-sleeved, red dress that came down to less than halfway between her hip and knee. It hugged her figure perfectly. Accompanying this outfit was a pair of black 5 inch heels that gave her the stature of a goddess. Her hair slowly floated up and down as she made her way towards everyone. Castle of course was the only one to notice the magnitude of her entrance.

However, despite her omnipotent beauty, there was something different about her. She smiled as she approached Lanie, but it was weakened, it was empty. But once again, only Castle noticed.

She laughed, it was a sound he loved. It usually enraptured him, but now it seemed forced. Something was wrong.

Castle had been talking to Ryan, Esposito, and the Captain, but lost interest the moment Beckett entered the room. The men noticed, but chose not to say anything.

Beckett made her way towards the group of men. Castle's chest tightened and heart pounded. He was madly in love with Katherine Beckett, but was in no position to reveal it to anyone.

"Hey guys," Beckett said with a smile.

"Woah, chica, you look great!" Esposito said raising his eyebrows up and down.

"Imma smack you!" Lanie said, playfully hitting Esposito's shoulder.

They all laughed. They talked for a few minutes, but almost as if planned, everyone moved on to talk to other people, leaving Castle and Beckett alone.

He stared deep into her green eyes with his charming smile. She smiled half-heartedly at him. She felt a tightening in her stomach. The way he looked at her make her heart beat faster. She felt her cheeks flood with heat. Her smile faded and her eyes widened slightly in shock at her reaction to a simple smile. Then she returned to the solemn look she sported earlier, but tried to quickly cover it up. She could tell he was reading her.

Castle's brow furrowed. "Hey," he said in almost a whisper.

"Hey," she smiled weakly.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

Beckett stared at the floor and swallowed. "Yeah, everything's fine," she said quickly and softly. She looked up at him and tried to cover everything up with her dazzling smile.

Her cover up did work, momentarily. Her smile made Castle forget his own name. Once he recovered from her smile, he remembered what the basis of the conversation was and asked, "Are you sure? You seem a little off tonight."

Beckett knew that her "cover was blown." She had to leave before Castle got even deeper into her conscious, but she couldn't leave, she just got there 10 minutes ago. Her eyes became moist at the thought of what had happened earlier that day. She had to thwart this conversation.

"I'm fine, Castle, really," she said again with a weakened smile.

One hour later…

To put it simply, eggnog was a very popular drink that night. Everyone, had quite a few glasses except for Beckett. She slowly enjoyed a single glass, while watching the eggnog's potency take its effect on her colleagues/friends. Castle also, managed to control his intake. As amusing as it was to watch Ryan and Esposito play eggnog-pong, a game she never even knew existed, Beckett wasn't enjoying herself. It wasn't for a lack of trying either. She really tried to have a good time, but she was too hurt, emotionally, to do so. To make things worse, she felt Castle's heavy gaze the entire night. She hadn't convinced him earlier, and it just reminded her of the reason why she was trying to avoid him and that just brought up the emotions she was trying to hide. She didn't know how much longer she was going to be able to hold it in.

When she thought she had found the opportune time when no one was paying attention, she slipped away and stepped in the elevator. She pressed the button to take her to the garage floor. The elevator doors began to close and Beckett stared at the ground, but when they were a mere inch from one another, a hand squeezed its way through, causing the doors to open back up. Beckett looked up, only to see Castle step into the elevator and press the "close doors" button.

"Castle, p-" Beckett began.

"Kate, what's wrong?"he asked softly as the elevator began its descent.

Beckett swallowed and stared at the elevator doors, "Castle, there's nothing to talk-," she began again, staring into his eyes.

"Damn it, Kate," Castle yelled, slamming the emergency stop button. Beckett jumped at the slam of the button. The elevator stopped.

"Kate, I'm sick of you bottling up your emotions! Could you just say what's bothering you instead of having everyone around you walk on eggshells until you decide that everything can return to normal?" he scoured.

Beckett's eye widened with anger. Not so much anger at Castle yelling at him, but more anger towards the truthfulness of his words. She wanted to scream back at him, but she couldn't. She let everything go and instead of harsh, loud words coming out of her mouth, tears began running down her face. Castle watched the tears racing to fall, to see which could reach her jawbone quicker. She shook as her sobs grew. Castle was taken aback. He had never seen Beckett so raw with emotion before. He wasn't quite sure what to do, so he settled for a hug.

He put his big, strong arms around her tiny frame and held her. She put her arms around his waist and cried into his chest. His shirt, drenched in her tears. He soothed her and let her spill everything.

After her sobs calmed, she whispered, "Josh broke up with me this afternoon."

Castle heart fluttered at what she just said.

"He broke up with you?" he asked in surprise that the roles hadn't been reversed.

Castle's arms moved around her waist as she pulled back slightly to look up at him and nod, all the while never losing contact.

He looked into her eyes. They were even greener, soaked in her tears. She looked so beautiful even when she was an emotional wreck. She was so vulnerable. She had no idea how much he appreciated the fact that she "revealed" herself to him. She let him in.

"Why did he break up with you?" Castle asked.

"It doesn't matter why-" Beckett began.

"Kate," Castle insisted.

She broke the eye contact and stared at Castle's chest. "He broke up with me," she smiled," Because I was too obsessed with my job," she laughed at the ridiculousness of what her ex had said.

"You're obsessed with your job? He's never here! He's always in some foreign country saving the world!" Castle exclaimed.

"I know, but it's deeper than that, and it's true that I was never here when he was either," Beckett admitted.

"Kate, you and I both know that you have put your all into this relationship and he's the one responsible for the distance in it."

Beckett nodded in agreement as she rested her head on Castle's chest. Castle pulled her in closer. He sensed that that wasn't all she had to say.

"What else?" he asked.

Beckett took in a deep breath as she lifted her head from his chest and stared at it.

"He said…he said I was obsessed with my job because of you. He said I was in love with you" She looked up at him. Castle didn't respond, knowing that if he said the wrong thing, he'd lose her forever. He moved his hands up and down her back, in an effort to comfort her.

"And how did you feel about that?" he whispered.

After a few moments, "I-I-I….agreed," she looked back at his chest. She couldn't believe she was saying these things. Right then and there, thoughts flew through her mind. She thought of the countless times he brought her coffee, the countless times he'd saved her, the countless times he had comforted her about her mother's murder, the countless times he had been the person to confide in, the time they kissed, the time they were stuck in the freezer, and she came to a realization. He was always there for her, he cared about her. She came to the realization that she was in love with Richard Castle, and he reciprocated those feelings.

Castle couldn't believe it. He had just torn down the walls around her heart that she had spent the last three years building. He cracked her shell. She just admitted that she loved him. It was the thing that had waited the longest to hear. He put a hand on the nape of her neck and wrapped his hands in her hair. He pulled her in and gave her a long, deep kiss. She melted in his arms. He arms moved up and brushed through his hair.

Then, after what seemed like an eternity, the kiss ended, but they held their embrace. They smiled.