This is my first attempt at FanFic, so be gentle with me. LOL I don't have a Beta, so all mistakes are my own.

Enjoy and please review.

*Ashlee*

P.S. - I'm probably going to end up being a slow updater, but I will try to get things up a.s.a.p. :)\

P.P.S. - I don't own Castle or any of the characters, if I did... well, you know.

The Next Step

Chapter 1

Beckett sat unmoving at her desk in the bull-pin, her eyes locked on the man who just walked off of the elevator.

He came bearing coffee in the traditional paper cup, but something was different today. His purple shirt and dark suit looked impeccable as usual, but still, something seemed off somehow.

"Hmm?" she pondered under her breath.

"What was that?" Castle inquired as he approached her desk.

"Absolutely nothing. What brings you here this morning Castle? Just couldn't stay away huh?"

"Yep, that's it exactly. I couldn't with-stand you magnetic presence. Just had to see you."

Beckett gave him an eye roll and returned her gaze to the report on her computer screen.

Castle plopped down into his chair by her desk and began the usual "stare session".

"Would you stop that!"

"What!" Castle exclaimed looking around him as though he wasn't doing anything wrong.

"Stop staring at me!"

"Beckett, we go through this all the time. I stare. You yell. I continue to stare. The sooner you except this and move on the better," he said.

She shook her head and again tried to return the report she had been working on. Castle, smiling to himself, settled into his chair, and broke out his phone to begin his Monday morning routine.

He looked at Beckett without turning his head. He loved observing her, he thought to himself.

Though they didn't have a case this morning, he couldn't stay away from the precinct. Somewhere along the way, in the last three years, he had fallen head over heels in love with her. This realization had hit him over the weekend like a Mack truck.

They had crossed a line in their relationship, not just a physical line (the doozey that it was), but an emotional line. When she had proclaimed him someone she trusted in the cafe, his heart had leaped in his chest.

Her mother's killer had kept them insanely busy that week, but when he finally got some down time, he had focused on the events and realized how much her trust had meant to him.

Their partnership, and that is truly what it was now, he was her partner in every way spare the badge, had finally evolved. She was letting him in, and he couldn't be more excited.

"Castle… Castle. Rick!"

"Hmm?"

Castle looked up from his thoughts to find Kate's face only inches from his own.

"Are you okay?"

She looked at him curiously, still wondering what was different about him today.

"Oh. Uhm. Yeah, I'm fine. What did you need?"

"We've got a body."

On the way to the crime scene, Kate observed Castle, still trying to put her finger on the change. He sat in his seat and stared out the window, idly lost in thought as he had been earlier back at the station.

She rarely let herself stare at him with such blatant appreciation, and only did so now because he was lost in a world all his own. She wondered what had him so distracted, and then blushed when she considered the possibilities.

Beckett had purposely avoided talking about that night in the alley and to her surprise; Castle had up to this points let it go. To her surprise, that thought saddened her. His usual barbs would have no doubt made it harder to ignore, but she was suddenly wondering if she wanted to ignore this most recent development in their partnership.

A realization washed over her at this thought. Nothing had changed about Castle; she was only finally seeing him in a complete light. She had let him in, and the thought scared the shit out of her.

He had truly demonstrated his loyalty through his help on her mother's case and she could finally trust him completely.

On top of all of his attractive qualities, this trust, this dependability, sealed the deal for her and she wasn't sure how on earth she would resist him now.