A/N: I haven't written any fanfics in two years, never in english and never about Castle before. Since I'm no native speaker and I don't have a beta yet I hope the language is alright. Well, I hope you guys like it, I don't quite know how long it's going to be, probably 2 or 3 more chapters. I'll be happy about any kind of review, so tell me what you think right away. Have fun :)

Giving In

When their eyes meet, she feels the corners of her mouth lift into a smile. He gives her one of his astonishing smiles as well, as they move closer and finally stand in front of each other.
"Beckett! Hey. I was just on my way to the precinct. I figured you'd be working. It's good to see you."
An overwhelming warmth runs trough her body and finally rests in her stomach when she hears his voice the first time after two weeks.

"Yes, I wanted to, but Gates sent me home, she said I should get some rest after working three days without getting more than a few naps in the break room. Got a tough case. A little girl and her mother have been killed and so far evidence points to the father but my gut tells me he didn't do it. So, how was L.A.?"

Castle thinks for a moment, before he says, "Well, mostly boring. No murders. Why don't we get a cup of coffee. You could fill me in on the case and I could tell you about my trip."

She is tired. Although she told everyone she wanted to stay and finally get something on the case, another lead, another suspect, whatever, she kind of felt relieved, when she left the precinct. She already can feel the warm water soothing around her restless body, the hot bath giving her the relaxation she needs so badly. "Actually, I was heading home hoping to get some sleep before getting back to work…" His smile turnes into a slightly disappointed but understanding expression. Then she sees the longing look in his eyes and can't resist. "Okay, let's go." She really missed him.

They sit down next to each other in a booth in a silent corner of the little café and order their coffees after taking off their coats.
"So, Nikki is getting another movie?", Kate asks after telling him the details of the case.

"Looks like. She did well last time."

"Did you have a nice trip?", she asks, adding the question if he met someone in her head. Why does it even bother her?

"Yeah, you know, as I said, it was kind of boring, loads of meetings about the formalities, stuff like that. Anyway, it reminded me of our time in L.A., I indeed stood at the same hotel, got the same room. It was like a déjà-vu… Without the charming company of course."

Kate smiles at the memory of the two of them sitting in the big living room of the suite, she was so close to loosing control over herself, actually would have if he still had been there when she came back. It could have changed everything. She thought about that for a moment. Everything? Or would it just have been the last obvious step into their relationship? Sure, she was with Josh at that point, but it didn't seem to matter, she'd probably given into it although she wasn't the cheating kind of girl.

Meanwhile, Castle lost himself in the thoughts about a moment two weeks earlier, when she dropped him of at the airport, placing a tiny goodbye kiss on his cheek before wishing him a good journey. He often caught himself mindlessly running his fingers over the piece of skin where her lips had rested just a second longer than necessary.
He told himself to wait. As long as she needed until she was ready. If he just could get something that showed him it was worth it like that small kiss from time to time.

Both of them are interrupted in their thoughts when the waiter brings their coffees. They take a shy look at each others eyes, wondering whether the other one knew, what they were just thinking about. Without even noticing, they draw closer to each other, their eyes locked. Castle thinks about steeling a kiss from her. Only a little one. He really does consider it, weighs the pleasure of her mouth on his against the danger of being shot. But then he reminds himself not to push it and takes the cup of coffee, taking a sip. He let's out a little "Ouch!", when burning his tongue from the hot liquid, his hand immediately rising to touch his lips.

Kate wass so sure he was going to kiss her. She wishes he would have. It is time, she knows it. If she doesn't give in to it soon, he is probably not going to wait much longer. And she couldn't even be mad at him since everything he did for the past year or even longer was waiting for her to heal and be ready to give them a chance.

She takes a second to think about it. What are they waiting for? He, of course, is waiting for her. But she? That's the moment she realizes, that all this time she was denying her feelings for him because she thought she wasn't able to take the emotional risk of getting into a relationship with someone she really cared about. Which is kind of ironic, if she can't get this working with someone she trusts, someone she knows will always have her back, someone who makes her smile when the world seems to be teaming up against her, if she can't do this with someone like him, then who the hell can she do this with?