A/N: Here's the fourth chapter for the story. There is a bit of OOCness in this one, but hey epiphanies can make anyone act differently.

Please Review, I love hearing what you think!

Disclaimer: no closer to ownership.

Eight o'clock Tuesday evening found Kate Beckett curled up on her couch in black sweatpants and a white tank top. The letter that Alexis had left at the precinct sat on her coffee table beside a glass of merlot, the scarlet invitation clasped in her hands.

The silver words were now engrained in her subconscious from the numerous times she had studied the card. Those very words in the last few hours had caused her head to spin out of control in a whirlwind of emotions.

Kate hated him for digging into her past without her permission and against the only order she thought she was perfectly clear about. Even so she found herself clinging to anything that reminded her of the author. His books seemed to have increased in sentimental value ten fold and the red dress from the MADT charity ball still hung on the back of her bedroom door so that she could admire it and the evening of memories it was attached to every night before falling asleep.

Of course Castle had annoyed the hell out of her to begin with but after about a month of having him around she had found him a welcome distraction from the ordinary. Also he had helped her team solve some of the hardest cases that had ever been thrown at them while still being just as childish and charming.

Interrupting her thoughts was the sound of someone knocking on her front door. Getting up from the couch she thought, 'Who the hell is knocking on my door at this time in the middle of the week?' Looking through the peephole her question was answered, 'Lanie'. Unbolting the door Kate pulled it open.

"You look stressed." Lanie said as she came through the door, kicking off her shoes and hanging her coat on the stand beside the door.

"No hello?" Kate questioned, relocking the door then following her friend back into her apartment.

Lanie was in the kitchen wineglass in hand "Long time no see so I thought I would drop by for a visit." She said, grabbing the bottle of wine from the fridge and pouring herself a glass. "You need more?" holding up the bottle.

" No I'm fine at the moment and I saw you yesterday at the crime scene."

"Okay you got me there but can't a girlfriend come by just to talk… about things un-work related?"

"Of course you can."

Lanie had made her way into the living room grabbing the invitation off the coffee table and examining it. "Yours has silver writing, wonder what it means?"

"Does it really matter?" Sighing Kate curled up on the opposite end of the couch, her arms wrapped protectively around her ankles.

"It ain't gonna be that bad." Lanie said, taking a sip of her wine.

Beckett glared at a piece of hair that had come un-tucked from behind her ear.

"Hey, just because you're lovesick doesn't mean you shouldn't go."

"I am no-" Lanie raised her eyebrows, silencing her friend in the process. "Am not" Kate mumbled childishly, biting her lip.

"Girl, do you really need me to point it out?" Getting no response she continued, "You've been in love with his books for years. When you met him, sure he was a bit annoying, but the adorkable kind of annoying. He grew on you and as much as you tried to push him away and you're still trying, he managed to find his way to your heart… And as for your mother's case… he knew the risks and he still took them…takes a true friend to do something like that."

In that moment everything made perfect sense. Love.

It wasn't something she had seriously considered before. High school crush had been though, the kind where the levelheaded mathlete falls in love with the flamboyant head of the basketball team and it stayed like that, just a crush never going any further than that. Now it felt like a light bulb had just been turned on, allowing her to see her actual feelings, not just stumble around them in the dark.

"Kate?"

Looking up at her friend, she smiled, really truly smiled for the first time in months. "I…think I,"

"Yes?" said Lanie, urging her to go on.

"Love him?" It almost sounded like a foreign language on her tongue it had been such a long time since she had actually said the word and thus it came out as more of a question than statement.

The eruption from Lanie sounded like something only a teenage girl would be able to muster. The next moment Kate found herself in a very tight hug, still smiling and feeling light as a feather.