A/N: Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone from Tumblr that suggested songs for our couple to dance to. They were all wonderful, but I thought of one in the middle of the night that worked out perfectly, in my opinion. You were all amazing to have taken the time to suggest songs!

Disclaimer: Castle and it's characters belong to Andrew Marlowe. Since I am not Andrew Marlowe, they are not mine.

The night had lightened up after her speech. The big band had gotten everyone out on the dance floor, mixing jazzed-up Top 40 songs with tunes from past decades. After half an hour of dancing, the sidebar filled with desserts.

Kate sat at the table, pushing the honeydew melon aside in her bowl of fruit salad. She had danced for the first few songs until her feet hurt, then she grabbed some fruit, slipped her heels off under the table, and settled in to watch the dance floor. She was eating the fruit in rainbow order, the last of the watermelon stabbed onto her fork. It was halfway to her mouth when the chair next to her scraped back.

"You okay?"

She turned, placing the watermelon back in the bowl. "As fine as I can be tonight." When Castle's face fell a little, she rested her hand on his forearm. "Tonight meaning January 9th. This event, though, it…" she paused, looking for the words, "it brightens the mood a little. Tonight will never be a flawless night for me because she'll never be here for it. But that's not your fault. There's nothing I would change about this event, Rick."

"I'm glad, then."

Kate popped the watermelon into her mouth, letting the taste of summer trickle down her throat. She was left contemplating either the mandarin oranges or cantaloupe, her fork hovering over a wedge of orange. Her eyes lifted to the side where Castle was still sitting, watching her. "What are you still doing here?"

"Umm… I'm not sure, actually."

She could tell he knew exactly why he was still sitting next to her. "Okay then." The mandarin orange slice was next to go. He was twisting his hands together, nervously tugging at the sleeves of his jacket. Kate set the fork on the table, turning in the seat to face him. "Seriously, Castle."

He stood up, pulling his jacket straighter. "Beckett, could I have this dance?"

She took a moment to reflect on how much he resembled a teenage boy at prom asking his crush for the first slow dance of the night and wasn't sure if she was entirely comfortable with the metaphor. But he was being sweet and it was one night, a single dance. A single slow dance wouldn't change their relationship. Kate smiled, placing her hand on his arm as she stood up, leaving the black heels under the table. "It would be my pleasure, Castle."

It wasn't like a high school dance where, once a slow song started playing, the floor cleared out. As the band played the first notes, many of the dancers already there partnered up. Hands rested on waists and shoulders, linked behind necks, heads settling onto men's chests.

Kate suddenly felt butterflies erupting in her stomach, her eyes scanning the crowd of couples as she licked her lips nervously. She felt Castle's hand tug hers gently, spinning her to face him. Without her heels, she was five inches shorter than him. He took her fingertips, placing them on his upper arm. "Breathe, Kate," he whispered as the band started playing. "Relax."

The lead singer was swaying along with the dancers as he started the first verse, imitating the original artist with a low, husky, "Wise men say, only fools rush in…"

He kept the steps simpler than the ones from the fundraiser he had dragged her to three years ago. She looked past his arm at the other people, but could feel his eyes on her as they moved in little circles.

"You sure you're okay?"

When she looked up, his blue eyes were a mix of concern and something that had her heart beating just a little faster. "Right now? Just fine." After years of playing it safe, of protecting her heart with a fortress of steel, Kate decided to take a chance and risk her heart.

As the singer crooned out "Take my hand, take my whole life, too…", Kate laid her head on Castle's chest, flattening the curls that she had spent half an hour teasing to perfection. She felt him jump a little, the steps of their small dance falter, and his heartbeat start to race.

"Kate, I-"

"Shh… "

Castle could feel the eyes of everyone on them. Part of the staring had to do with the fact that the host and hostess were dancing. The other part came from the family at the Twelfth. The two pairs had stopped dancing on the side of the floor and were now busy exchanging money. Lanie and Esposito looked pleased while Ryan kept shooting glares in their direction, Jenny watching the three people around her with a mixture of amusement and confusion.

He looked down at the head of brown curls resting on his chest. With her body pressed so closely to his, he could hear her heartbeat. It was steady, as was her breathing.

Her eyes were closed, relaying completely on him to guide the dance. It was such a reversal from how their strange partnership normally ran; he'd throw his heart out in front of her and she'd pretend she didn't see it. Now, it was up to him. This time, it was her heart lying at his feet – he could either pick it up and protect it as his own or ignore it, his own heart too broken from her past actions to care about hers.

She felt his hand leave her waist, the area suddenly colder. Then, he was running that hand through her hair, her right arm that had been resting on his bicep curling onto his chest. "Rick…" The hand froze at her neck.

"What? What's wrong?"

He felt the vibration of her laugh through his chest. "Nothing's wrong." She shifted her head without lifting it. "The song's over is all."

She was right. The singer had faded out the last note of the song, people clapping appreciatively while he made a little bow before turning to discuss the next song with the band members.

Kate stepped back a step, her left hand still holding onto his shoulder. She took a deep breath, then looked up into his eyes, a little frightened at the possibility of what she could see there. What emotion hit her from his blue eyes had her reeling.

She closed her eyes, then turned away, letting her fingers trail down his arm as she ran from the ballroom. She faintly heard him calling out her name, people's eyes shifting to watch her, but she ignored them all.

The lobby was partially empty – the bartenders from the cocktail party earlier were cleaning up before everyone left. She paused on the soft green carpet, her eyes glancing for a place to hide. The hint of a hallway to her right had her pivoting. The hallway was deserted, the light marble still polished in the darkness. Kate slowed to a jog, stopping only when she was halfway down the hall and less visible from the entrance before she collapsed against the wall.

For once, she realized what Castle felt like every time he held his heart out to her and she turned away to go out to dinner with Tom or Josh. She felt like her world was crumbling in while the walls around her heart built up again, stronger than before. It wasn't the same – the love she had seen in his eyes surely wasn't present in hers when he looked at her for those past months. She didn't know what she had expected to come of their dance, but this surge of emotions wasn't it. She let her head fall back against the marble wall, the sharp pain of the motion cutting through the cloud of emotions.

"Kate?"

His voice echoed down the hall. She twisted her head and saw his figure framed in the light from the lobby and held her breath, praying he'd leave. Her luck on this night every year was never deep, she thought, as she watched him step down the hallway tentatively, his dress shoes clicking slightly.

He called out her name again. She squeezed her eyes close and clenched her fingers around the material of her dress. "Go away, Castle." She hated how weak her voice sounded to her ears.

"No." He stepped up next to her, his hand reaching out to touch her wrist, but he hesitated. "Listen, I'm sorry if that went too far. Tonight especially."

Uncomfortable with the fact that she wanted him to wrap his arms around her, Kate walked across the hall, holding her elbows in her hands. "It's not your fault, really. I'm not used to being out in public tonight, never mind the centerpiece."

"Which I should have known. I'm sorry."

She covered her face with her hands, wiping at stray tears that had escaped. When he stepped forward, she took a corresponding step backwards, her back hitting the wall. "No. Just… hold on." He didn't stop. A second later, she found herself pressed against him, the wall supporting her. His hands were on either side of her shoulders, holding her in place. "Castle, get off!"

"Kate, I know what you did back there. I'm not completely stupid yet. Furthermore, I know what it took for you to do that." When she gave a short, humorless laugh, he tilted her chin up with a finger. "I do. You don't think I've done the same thing countless times over the past three years? I recognize the motions."

Kate swallowed down the ball of guilt that had built itself up in her throat. "So? What are you going to do now that you're in my position?"

"This." He leaned down, his finger still holding her chin, and brushed his lips across hers. He paused, savoring the breath that escaped her. Taking a chance, he moved back in, this one more substantial. He moved his hand to cradle the back of her head, deepening the kiss enough to draw a soft moan from her.

"Castle…" He drew back an inch, his lips still impossibly close to hers. His eyes traveled up to meet hers, saw they were cloudy and darker than usual. "Don't stop."

It was the permission he had been waiting for. With one hand still holding her head, the pins from her hair poking him, he let the other one sweep down her back, pulling her off the wall and closer to him. It rested at the small of her back as their lips met again. She lifted herself up on her toes, pressing her lips against his. Without the light, they relied on their sense of touch. Her fingers curled around the lapels of the suit jacket as her tongue danced along his lips. The hand at her back skimmed down to the hem of her dress, inching it up slowly.

"Oh my god, Kate," he sighed as she nipped at his lower lip. He darted his own tongue out, tasting the fruit from earlier in her mouth. Her hands ran through his hair, pulling lightly on the fistfuls of dark brown hair.

Suddenly, she pulled back, her breathing heavy. "Stop." Her lips felt swollen when she reached up to push her now-tangled hair back from her face. "I can't, Castle." When his face fell, she placed a hand on the side of his face, turning it back to meet her eyes. "Not tonight. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon."

"Okay." He bent his head so their foreheads met, their noses brushing. "I can wait, you know. I'll always be here whenever you're ready."

"I know." She pushed up, brushing her lips across his one last time. "Can we go enjoy the rest of Mom's party now?"

His hands trailed down her arms, one of his pinkies catching in hers. "Definitely."

The bartenders had gone, the lights that dotted the green path dimmed. The spinning lights from a cruiser driving by lit up the area. He held the door to the ballroom open for her, but she kept walking past it.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

She spun a little. "Fix my hair." When he looked skeptical, she smiled. "I'll be back. Promise."

As she walked to the bathroom, she pulled the hairpins out, letting her hair down completely. She ran her hands through it, hoping to get the tangles out or make it look like it was supposed to be a mess. It didn't look bad, but Lanie would definitely be able to notice the difference.

She paused on the carpet outside the ballroom again, curling her toes into the plush fibers. Kate looked down, her hair falling on either side of her face as she slipped the sapphire ring onto her pinky. "Mom, I think I'm in love. It just happened, but I guess that's the way it always works. You don't expect it, you can't prepare for it. It throws itself at you and you can either let it in or push it away. I've pushed him away enough. It's time to let him in."

With a little nod, she slipped her finger out of the ring, letting it fall back onto her chest. "Okay…"

He wasn't at their table, but Lanie was. The medical examiner was picking through the fruit Kate had left on the table. When Kate sat down, pulling the bowl from Lanie, her friend grabbed her hand. "Girl, what happened to your hair?"

"Nothing," she replied with a teasing smile. "Let's go dance."

As they walked around the tables to the dance floor, Kate searched the crowd for him. He was standing with the mayor, a hand on the man's shoulder as they shared a joke. He looked up just as her eyes met his.

Soon.

A/N: This one was tough to finish. We all know that Beckett plays it close to the vest, but I didn't think I'd have to pry out her feelings like I did. There were points where I was literally yelling at her to just tell me what she wanted to say. But in the end, I think it came out well.

The song, if none of you caught the lyrics, was Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love with You." I thought it fit them perfectly.

Of course, I adore reviews. You can agree or disagree - I love hearing both sides (honestly, I do). Plus, I'll need to get used to hearing criticism, since I'm taking a creative writing class this fall and there might be a lot of criticism from classmates and the professor. I'd better get used to that now with my fun drabbles than with bad grades on assignments. So please, take the few minutes to write something after you click that "Review this Story" button right at the bottom of the page - they truly make my day.