AN: Thank you guys so much for reviewing and following this story! Your words and flails and everything are what make writing so much fun and rewarding. Again, I just want to reassure anyone who isn't a big fan of angst, I'm not that cruel! I swear :) Not everything is what it seems in the first chapter so hang in there! Notice, I never once said Kate was dead ;) Now, we're going back in time to explore the story a little more. So here's chapter 2...

Disclaimer: I'm anxiously and excitedly awaiting the Season 5 promo tonight right along with everyone else!

Chapter 2

6 Months Earlier

The moonlight streaming in from his window cast a soft glow along the length of her back, stretched bare across his bed.

God, she was so beautiful, he thought.

He felt his breath catch in his throat as he allowed his eyes to trail the long line of her body, covered only by the white sheet draped loosely across her lower back. His pulse quickened as he recalled the events from only an hour before. He could still feel her body flush against his, arching under his touch, spurring him on, further, deeper. His gasp of surprise as she suddenly flipped the two of them. His entire body thrumming with desire as she pinned him beneath her, trailing open-mouthed kisses further and further down his chest. Edging closer to the brink of sensory overload. He swallowed back a wave of arousal and focused on the steady rise and fall of her breathing.

He sighed contentedly. Even in her sleep, she still managed to leave him breathless, speechless, completely undone.

He treasured these few, rare moments when she fell asleep before he did. The way he could so freely observe, truly absorb everything she meant to him. Maybe it was the writer in him. He wanted…no, needed to file this all away. Every quiet detail, every part of their story. He never wanted to miss these moments.

Sure, he did his fair share of staring during the day, despite her threats...

"How many times do I have to tell you how creepy that is, Castle?!" she'd warn, with a smirk that didn't quite reach her eyes anymore.

And it didn't exactly stop him from letting his eyes linger an extra few seconds at work or while she was moving about his loft or her apartment. But there were the moments like this…when she was draped across his bed so peaceful in sleep, her body canted slightly toward his side of the mattress. These were the moments that tugged at his heart.

No one saw else saw this side of Kate Beckett. No one else had memorized the way her hair fell across her forehead when she was curled up on her side. No one else saw the gold flecks in her green eyes as they darkened with desire. No one else felt her soft laughter against his cheek as she tried to persuade him to wake up in the mornings.

His heart swelled with the knowledge that these were things reserved for him alone. That Kate Beckett trusted him with this side of herself that so few had ever seen. He'd known for some time that she was it for him. That no matter what happened between them, he could never love another woman more than he loved her. Never the way he loved her.

But recently, she'd been allowing him more and more of these moments. Kate was a frustratingly stubborn and independent woman. They'd fought like crazy at times. And at first he'd struggled with the fear that she'd run. That her need for independence clashed too much with his desire to wrap her in his arms and shield her from the world.

Somehow, slowly, through it all, they'd found their rhythm. Just like they had at work. Just like they always did when it truly mattered. Partners. And Rick had learned that by giving her the space that she needed, they'd grown infinitely closer.

Just a week ago, she'd had a particularly horrific case. He'd been stuck in meetings with Black Pawn for three straight days so he'd not been able to spend much time at the precinct. He knew that her natural instinct after a bad day was to hole herself up in her apartment. She'd basically admitted to him as much. That it was just too much to deal with anyone after the long days with dead ends and the grisly details of death. However, on the first night of investigating that double homicide, she'd called him and said the words that still made his heart swell… "I'll be home soon." And every night that week she came home, to him.

And it was in these times he truly realized that he was it for her too. That now, when she ran, it was him she'd chosen to run to. His loft, his bathtub, his bed. No longer his but theirs. He felt it more and more. They were almost there.

He trailed his fingers lightly down her side, completely mesmerized. He'd never understand how he got so lucky. Maybe Kate didn't believe in fate or magic but there was just too much beauty in the way they fit together, too much he couldn't explain about the pull of her to him…he'd spend the rest of his life trying to figure it out.

"Mmm, staring is still creepy, Rick," she mumbled sleepily, as she reached to entwine her fingers with his, pulling his arm across her waist. He noted the hint of a smile on her face though, so he took the opportunity to pull her closer and planted light kisses across her bare shoulder, reveling in the intimacy.

"Just collecting more inspiration from my muse," he said grinning into her neck.

"She walks in beauty, like the night. Of cloudless climes and starry skies. And all that's best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes…" he recited softly into her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

"Seriously, Castle…Lord Byron? Are you going to turn Rook into a total sap like you?" she asked, laughing quietly, doing her best to suppress her body's reaction to his breath against her skin.

"You wound me, Beckett!" he retorted. "Why can't Rook be sensitive and charming and enjoy a little Lord Byron?"

"You're ridiculous," she replied as she rolled over to face him.

"You mean ridiculously good looking right? Ridiculously charming? No wait, ridiculously good in bed?" he joked.

He succeeded in getting a playful shove and an eye roll for that. He saw her glance at the clock on the nightstand. When she noticed the time, her eyes narrowed slightly, in concern.

"Hey, why are you still awake? Everything ok?" she asked.

"Everything is perfect. I just…I love you," he breathed. "Just thinking about how lucky I am to have made it here."

Her eyes softened and she smiled that smile he loved the absolute most. The one that lit up her whole face. "We, Rick. We made it here. I love you too…so much," she said as she leaned in and kissed him slowly, gently, as if to cement her words.

"There's no where else I'd rather be," she said, closing her eyes again contentedly.

And once again, she took his breath away.

Thoughts?