Hey everyone. This is my first Castle Fanfiction - Well at least the first one I am posting here. I hope you like it. It takes place during the episode they shot in LA and after their certain Talk. Enjoy reading and please let me know what you think.

Thank you to Ash for beta reading :)

California dreaming

Kate leaned against the doorframe, and she swore that she could hear him breathing against the wooden door from outside. Still, she didnt move. She had no idea what just happened. Their talk had started out so innocent and then - suddenly he mentioned the kiss, leaving her confused and stunned. He was right of course, they had never talked about the the moment their lips had met, but that was purely because Kate thought there was nothing to talk about. They had been on a secret mission and their cover was about to blow when he pressed his warm lips on hers. Even after the case was closed they had never talked about those 30 seconds in which they had been making out heatedly. After awhile, she thought that maybe, it really had just been a cover.

Until now. The anger in his eyes, the frustration and the hurt made it pretty obvious that the kiss meant more to him then she originally anticipated. Now she was sitting on the floor of her LA hotel room, her head in her hands trying to figure out what the hell that kiss meant.

It was true that she was a rational person. She grew up in a pretty perfect household and got raised to be a good person, to understand the difference between right and wrong and to be polite and nice. And of course she lived up to the expectations - up until the point where her dad and she got home from the restaurant they were supposed to have dinner at and found a Policemen at the door telling them that her mother was murdered.

At this point she changed. Not her whole persona, but while she used to be pretty calm and outgoing - she became determined and guarded about her feelings. Honestly from that time on, she closed the door to her heart and banished every feeling she ever had altogether.

This is why it was so hard for her to not only let people in, but also to admit certain feelings to herself.

A drink would be nice, she thought as she tried to lift herself up from the ground about half an hour later. Catching her breath she opened the door but as expected, she found the living room empty and her heart sunk. She had no idea what she would have told him, what she would have done but the fact that she opened the door, that Kate wanted to see him, made her finally realize what she tried to hide for so long.

With a sigh she closed the door and walked over to the queen sized bend in the middle of the room, lying down. As she looked up at the ceiling she bit her lip. She hated that Richard Castle had that much power over her. And she hated that with some words he could make her whole world turn and on top of that she hated that as much as she hated all those facts it just made her realize even more that she was utterly and completely in love with this man.

Her heart skiped a gentle beat as for the first time the thought clouds her mind, embraces all of her thoughts completely. Kates stomach feels mushy, a warm feeling takes over her whole body and she had to admit that she liked it. Shed like not feeling empty, sad, afraid, frustrated, and distracted. For once her thoughts are clear. For once she knew what she wanted. Now she just needed to find a way to let him know.

Little by little, the sun filled the room and it was covered in the nicest shade of orange. Kate groaned softly as she opened her eyes, holding her hand in front of them, because it was so bright and it was early, and she was sleepy and overall the sun didn't really suit her mood.

Groaning she lifted herself up and walked into the bathroom, startled when in that moment, Richard Castle decided to step out of the shower. Naked.

"I...uh... Sorry!"

Kate whispered turning beet red although she normally wasn't embarrassed easily. Once again she covered her eyes with her hands although she left a little space to spy through, not really able to keep herself from doing that.

Castle grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself in a hurry "like you didn't do this on purpose" he said only half joking.

"What? Are you kidding? Like my life revolves around seeing you naked?" she asked and was suddenly not embarrassed but mad at him. Not only had he practically yelled at her last night, leaving her with a mess in her head to figure out, now he was also suggesting that she was after his body.

Okay his body looked good, really good and everything else did look good too but still she hadn't stepped into the bathroom just to see his well formed ass.

Castle sighed softly "I am sorry... I just... never mind" he told her and she looked up.

"I am sorry too, you know … Not only for walking in on you naked but also about last night. I shouldn't have brought it up" she whispered and looked down

"Kate!" Castle said, using her first name on purpose "I wasn't mad that you brought it up, I was mad that it took you months. Months Kate. I was going crazy in my mind. Do you have any idea how often I thought about the kiss, or how I almost died with you in my arms?" he shook his head "I just ... you should know what I feel about you by now. Gosh you are a detective for crying out loud, you should be able to read people."

Beckett sighed softly and shrugged her shoulders. "I am, and I do. Mostly I do. You though, I can't figure out. Trust me I tried but whenever I think I finally understand what you are talking about, you do something to throw me off completely and i am more confused then before."

Castle rolled his eyes and took a deep breath "I know that sometimes I am a bit... Weird" he admitted "But I have never really been weird about you. I was always pretty open, you just didn't see it. Like you have a wall up or some blindfolds on your eyes" he stopped, his thoughts suddenly going to some dark dirty place where she was handcuffed to the bed with blindfolds covering her eyes and he was on top of her, doing wicket things with his tongue and hands and he cleared his throat when he realized he must have been silent for a couple of minutes because she was starring at him like he had done something weird, again.

"Sorry, daydreaming" he told her and heard her sighing "What I wanted to say is. I ... I do have feelings for you, and if you would just admit it to yourself and would get your ass out of your head you could see that you have feelings for me too"

For the first time in her life, Katherine Beckett was loss for words. Of course she had suspected that he had feelings for her and of course she had seen it in his eyes, but him flat out telling her was more than she could handle.

"Say something" Rick told her "I am standing in front of you, vulnerable and open about my feelings so for god sake, say something" he told her and finally she looked up. Her look was blank, but was soon replaced by a sparkle in her eyes and a smile appeared on her lips as she closed the bathroom door behind her before she finally took his face into her hands and kissed him.

Surprised at first, it took him a second to react but finally he did and he pushed her softly up against the door, pressing her body into hers as the kiss got more passionate and hell he had waited 3 years for that to happen and he wanted her to feel it.

And so they stayed right there, their lips glued together in a heated kiss, their hands starting their own journey, their minds finally closing down and their hearts opening up - a new beginning.

The end - or TBC? You decide. Let me know what you think

love Suz