A/N- Huge thanks goes out to Airbefore for once again being my Beta

Disclaimer: If I owned Castle I would have my own house on the coast of California not living with my parents


He finished buttoning the cuff of his dress shirt as he strolled into her kitchen, stopping mid stride when he saw her. She looked absolutely stunning in the dark purple dress, one of his favorites because of the way it hugged her body in all the right places. Castle continued to watch her from afar as she dug into her purse and pulled out her wallet. After emptying the contents she muttered something under her breath as she tossed it aside and ran her fingers through her hair.

Castle walked over to her, a soft smile on his face. "What are you doing?"

Kate dumped her purse out onto the counter, the contents scattering. "Trying to find my credit card," she said, as she sifted through her stuff.

"Why do you need your credit card?"

"So I can pay for dinner," she said, not bothering to look up at him.

"Don't worry about it. I'll pay."

Kate looked up at him. "No. It was my idea to get together with our parents for dinner so I'm going to pay." She checked inside her purse again. "Did I leave it at your place?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

Kate sighed, running her fingers through her hair as she slid off the bar stool and headed for her bedroom.

Castle leaned forward against the counter, rolling a tube of cherry lip gloss over the stainless steel as he looked over the random assortment of objects. He had never thought of Kate as a purse carrying type, but he found out soon after they became a couple that she loved purses, almost as much as she loved stilettos.

He caught sight of her license out of the corner of his eye and quickly abandoned the lip gloss. Picking it up he skimmed over it, Katherine H. Beckett. He's always loved her middle name, Houghton. It's unique and beautiful, like her. Castle has always wondered though what the story behind it was. Surprisingly they have never talked about it, although he has wanted to ask but just never found the right moment.

"What are you doing?"

He turned around at the sound of her voice. "Uh…" He looked at her then glanced at her license that he still held in his right hand. "I was waiting for you and I got bored."

"Obviously." Kate walked over and snatched her license from his hand, "What did I tell you about touching my stuff?"

"I don't know I wasn't listening. Did you find it?"

"Yeah," she said, gathering up her things and stuffing them back into her purse.

"So, Houghton-"

She stopped and looked up at him, face scrunched in confusion. "What?"

"Your middle name."

"What about it?"

"I take your parents were Katharine Hepburn fans."

Brushing her hair back, Kate smiled. "My mom was."

She paused and he watched her intently, saw a wistful smile come over her face.

"She had this stack of VHS tapes of all her movies, and sometimes on the weekends we would curl up on the couch together, and have our own little marathon."

Castle loves these moments when she opens up, shares a piece of her past with him. He has always been intrigued by that part of her, who she was before her world was shattered the night her mother was murdered. She never has been much of an open book so he treasures these precious few moments she does share with him.

"Her favorite was Without Love, I remember my dad use to tease her because she could recite every line of that movie. The smile suddenly faded and she grew quiet for a moment, when she spoke again her voice was soft. "About a month after she died I stumbled across it on TV one day. I hadn't seen it in years and sitting there watching it, it made me feel close to her." She shook her head a little sadly.

He can see her eyes glistening as her gaze met his. Moving across the room, he wrapped his arms around her.

"You know what?"

She looked up at him, "Hmm?"

"You remind me a lot of Katharine Hepburn," he said before he pressed his lips to hers in a long, tender kiss.

She hummed against his lips. "Yeah?"

"Mhmm. You're both smart, classy, and not to mention sexy," he said with a smirk, watching as a broad smile swept across her lips.

She leaned in and captured his lips, her arms reaching up to wrap around his neck. She pulled back after a moment. "We need to go or we're going to be late."

"They can wait," he mumbled, dropping his mouth to her neck.

"The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back," she whispered before leaning in and kissing him once more. "And finish this."

Leaning back, he took in the twinkle in her eyes, the sultry pout of her lips.

"I'll get our coats."