Previously:

Kate gives him a tender smile and moves closer, grasping one of her hands in his, intertwining their fingers. With her other hand, she gently cups his cheek, bringing their faces close.

"Rick, that wall?" She whispers. "It's not coming down."

He flicks his eyes to his lap, letting a disappointed sigh escape his lips. She tugs his face back up, close to her. Kate gives him a small smile.

"It's already in crumbles, because of you."

She reaches up, cupping the back of his neck with her other hand and pulling Castle to her, placing a light kiss on his lips, so tender. After a few more sweet kisses, she pulls back once again to rest her forehead against his.

"I am so in love with you Rick."

Chapter 7

He sat there, stunned. As soon as his brain registered her words, he was left speechless.

Kate sat next to him will a tender smile on her face, slowly caressing his cheek. Castle closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers.

"Say it again." He whispered. "Please."

She swiped the pad of her thumb under his eye and softly pecked his lips. Pulling back, she made sure that his eyes met hers before she spoke. Kate wanted it to be clear how serious she was.

"I love you, Castle. So, so much." She said strongly.

He tugged her into his lap and squeezed her tight, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her neck. Kate hugged him back just as tightly, kissing the side of his head and whispering tender words in his ears.

Finally pulling back to look at her, both of his hands came up to frame her face. He leaned in and placed a long, hard kiss against her lips. Sighing in content, he pressed his forehead to hers.

"I love you too, Kate."

Though she already knew that he loves her, Kate couldn't help but release a stuttering breath, her heart fluttering with his words.

The smiles that paints her face is wide and unwavering and Castle couldn't help but grin back at her.

"God this is so nice, being able to tell you that…to, to kiss you, hug you." Rick said gratefully.

"No more hiding okay? I'm ready for this—to dive in with you. God, Rick, I am so ready." She couldn't resist, and leaned in to kiss him again, just because she can.

"I'm never gonna get used to that." He murmured against her lips.

"Well you better get used to it because I plan on kissing you all the time now."

"Oh, do you?" He smirked.

"Yup. But just one condition though…let's keep it to a minimum at the precinct okay? Gates already doesn't like you, we don't need to give her more ammunition."

"So are you saying that you just want to keep this….relationship between the two of us for now?"

"It's okay to say it Rick. We're dating. Boyfriend-girlfriend. Partners. Official." She murmured. "And I'd like to tell my dad, and I'm assuming you want to tell Martha and Alexis, which is completely fine. But maybe for now we can wait on telling Lanie and the boys?" She asked nervously.

He nods, but doesn't say anything further. She senses that he's hurt, and knows that he's insecure about them, but she needs to quickly change that.

"It's not because I'm ashamed of you, or because I don't want our friends to know." Kate said hastily, leaning in to give him a reassuring kiss. "I'd just like to not worry about any pressure or teasing from Lanie and the boys. And I'm not saying forever. We can tell them when we're ready, when we're more secure about our relationship. This is really important to me Rick." She paused, reaching down to intertwine their fingers, before looking back up again. "This is it for me."

Castle opened and closed his mouth, not sure how to reply to what she said. It shocked him how serious she was about this. He felt the same way. That their relationship was really important, and this was definitely it for him. To hear her willingly voice this though was something he was not expecting.

In a rush of excitement and love, he leaned in and kissed her hard, threading his fingers through her hair, tugging her close. Kate moaned into his mouth and wound her arms around his neck, savoring the moment.

They both pulled away after a minute, out of breath, with giant grins on their faces.

"So we're good?" She asked with a smile.

"Oh we are better than good." Castle said, leaning in to kiss her again.

After sitting together for a while, sharing kisses, they decide to put on a movie and snuggle on the couch together.

So many times in the past he's wanted to pull her close with an arm around her shoulders, Kate's head resting on his chest. Now, he's able to do that, and he doesn't even have to ask. She sidles right up, cozying into him, placing a soft kiss on his chest. Just being there, watching a movie with her, was one of the best feelings he's had in a long time.

About halfway through the movie, he felt the pressure against his chest increase, and her deep breaths evening out. She had fallen asleep against him, and it melted Castle's heart.

He let her sleep for the remainder of the movie, but when the credits started to roll, he figured he should wake her up and get her to bed so she wasn't sore in the morning.

"Kate." Castle whispered quietly, rubbing her back.

"Mmm, Castle?" She mumbled, burrowing deeper into his chest.

"It's late. You should go to bed so you're not sore tomorrow."

"M'comfortable here." Kate said.

Castle chuckled quietly, deciding the best way to do this was to just carry her to bed. Placing his hands under her knees and under her shoulders, he gently lifted her into his arms.

"Castle?" She questioned, stirring slightly. "What're you doin?"

"Taking you to bed."

"I can walk you know." She mumbled against his neck as he carried her into the bedroom.

"Hush. I'm being a gentlemen." Castle said teasingly.

Kate laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck and placing a tender kiss against it.

Castle gently placed Kate on the bed and began to stand up, only to be held back by the tightening of her arms around his neck.

"Kate—"

"Stay. Please." She said quietly, looking into his eyes.

He looked at her reluctantly. Kate leaned up to place a reassuring kiss against his lips. "Just to sleep. I don't wanna be alone tonight."

Castle gave her another quick kiss and nodded his head. He stood back and quickly shed his jeans and dress shirt while Kate took off her sweater and yoga pants to reveal her tank top and panties.

Pulling back the covers, Kate looked at him expectantly. He smiled shyly at her before crawling next to her in bed and wrapping his arm around her waist. She moved closer so her back was flush against his chest. Intertwining their fingers together on her stomach, Kate pulled their arms snug against her chest and sighed contently. Castle placed a kiss against the exposed skin on her neck.

Looking at him over her shoulder, Kate gave Castle a smile and leaned in for a brief kiss.

"I love you, Kate." He whispered against her lips.

She smiled and kissed him once more. "I love you, too. So much." Kate whispered.

I hope you enjoyed chapter 7! Let me know if you think I should continue this story or end it here.

If you do want it to continue, I'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.

-S