Its taken me a little while to figure out where I want this story to go from here, but I think I have it all figured out now. So, here you go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle

Chapter 10: Whisper the sweetest words

Kate Beckett woke up in her apartment the next day. After her talk (or love declaration) with Castle, she had headed back to the precinct to work on the case. Castle, on the other hand decided to stay home. They had both agreed that he was in no condition to be anywhere near the precinct. The man wasn't able to go 2 minutes without taking her hand, kissing her cheek, playing with her hair, or just touching her in some way (all innocent, of course).

Despite Castle's absence, the boys and her had been able to solve the case. It turned out the boyfriend's sister had gotten a little jealous of the time the vic had been spending with her brother and figured her father's gun would solve the problem. Needless to say, the sister would now be seeing a lot less of her brother then she had hoped… visiting hours in prisons were not ideal.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. There were no clouds in the sky, the sun was shining, and everything just seemed brighter. Kate grimaced at her own thoughts… she sounded like a teenager in love for the first time. But wasn't that essentially what she was? Besides the teenager part, Kate had never been in love like this before… it made her giddy.

Kate succumbed to her inner desires. She sighed at her lack of self-control as she picked up the phone to dial her boyfriend. Somehow the word 'boyfriend' seemed so menial when describing her relationship with Rick. Given the choice, she would much rather use words that actually described their relationship. Partner, soul mate, love of her life… all those seemed like much better titles for Rick then just boyfriend. Once again Kate felt disgusted with herself. What happened to no-nonsense, hard edged detective she had once been? She needed to pull herself together and stop acting so damn childish.

Rick answered on the first ring—almost as though he had been waiting by the phone for her to call. "Hey, baby." She heard on the other line right after he picked up. Kate frowned at the phone. "Who are you calling 'baby'?" She asked, clearly not enjoying the pet name he had come up with. She didn't like pet names as a rule, but God, he was a writer! Couldn't he come up with something more original then baby?

"I'm calling you baby. What, you don't like it?" He asked, sounding a little hurt. He thought they had made so much progress… what if she changed her mind about them? He didn't think he could go through that. He continued to worry until he heard her laugh on the other end. "Don't get offended, Rick. I'm just not a pet name kind of girl. You can call me Kate, or Beckett when we are at the precinct." Kate smiled at the fact that she could practically hear him pouting through the phone.

"Can we discuss this in person? I want to see you… its been too long. Besides, you don't have a case right now, correct?" It was true that he had missed her last night. Given the chance he would have done anything to have her fall asleep in his arms. It was crazy how little he cared about sex with her. Sure, he wanted it, he knew it would be fantastic with her, but more then anything he just wanted to hold her, to talk to her until they both fell asleep.

"Sure, do you mind coming over here? I'm on call and I might have to leave at any moment. If a body drops it would be easier to just give you a ride, so wear something you wouldn't mind going to a crime scene in." He was about to give a sexual innuendo when Kate interrupted him. "Don't even think about it, Castle. I know exactly what you were going to say." He laughed at how well she knew him.

"Wow detective, this is so cool, we are so in sync! I'll be over in 20. I'll bring breakfast since I assume you haven't had any yet." He hung up before she could protest. That man… how did she ever get so lucky? She was walking toward her bookshelf when she made the mistake of checking her reflection in the mirror. Castle would be there in 20 minutes and she looked like this? She bolted to her bathroom to put some makeup on… only a little, she wanted it to seem like she woke up like that, all radiant and bright—better then dull eyes with dark circles underneath.

She spent the last of her 20 minutes trying to figure out what to wear. She obviously had to look casual, like she had just thrown something together, but she wanted to impress him as well. She settled for a white v-neck and jeans, a combination she knew he liked when they were in LA. She was brushing her hair when the writer knocked on her door. She took a few calming breaths before answering his impatient knocks.

He was standing there with 3 roses and a big brown paper bag that she knew contained her breakfast. "For you, my lady." He said, handing her the roses while he stepped into her apartment. She smiled and stood on her toes in order to give him a kiss on the cheek. She really liked the fact that they were able to do this now. She laughed when Rick got straight to business. "So, I'm thinking we should compromise. I get one pet name of my choice and I won't address you with it at work, or in front of any of our friends." He set down her breakfast on her counter so he could grab her hips and bring her toward him. "Common, you know it's a good deal." He said in the best seductive voice he could generate.

She had to mentally kick herself a few times in order to maintain her resolve. "No pet names, Castle. I've never had one before and I don't want one now." Castle looked at her as though she had just spoken German. He spoke slowly when he said, "you've never had a pet name?" He refused to accept that in the duration of her entire life she had never been given a pet name.

"One boyfriend used to call me 'Lover Chunks' but I dumped him before he could ever use the name again." She shivered at the memory, a little embarrassed about the story she had just shared. Castle out right laughed at her admission. "Well I wasn't going to be that cruel! Just something normal like Hun, Babe, Baby, Love… you know, normal pet names?" She just shook her head at him. She knew he wasn't going to stop trying but she still didn't want to give in.

"Fine." He said, not wanting to get into a disagreement so soon in their relationship. "But this isn't over." He said with finality. Kate had no idea how she was going to get out of this. Grabbing her breakfast, she led Rick to the couch where they both sat down. She was delighted to find a cherry danish and bear claw resting in the bottom of the bag.

Rick just sat and watched as Kate ate. How could someone manage to look beautiful while chewing on a bear claw? He watched her intently until she unknowingly left a little bit of powdered sugar on her cheek. He was about to tell her about it when he stopped himself. I'm her boyfriend now; I no longer have to hold myself back! He thought to his delight. He leaned in and kissed the sugar off her cheek, smiling because he could do it without her threatening to kill him. He truly was the luckiest man on earth.

Kate was enjoying herself. They were sitting in silence, yet somehow it wasn't awkward. She knew he was watching her eat, yet somehow it didn't feel uncomfortable. It felt right, like this was what they were meant to be doing from the start. Just when Kate was about to open her mouth and speak, her phone started to ring. She groaned while seriously considering throwing it at a wall. She knew, however, that Gates would have her head if she didn't answer it.

"Beckett." Rick loved the way she answered her phone, right off the bat she intimidated people. There was no friendliness to her voice, and anyone who didn't know her probably got a little scared whenever she answered. He studied her face as she nodded into the phone. He could tell from the expression she was wearing that a body had been found. Her eyes held sadness and a little disappointment. Rick knew that every time she got a phone call informing her that a new body had been found it briefly brought her back to the night her mother was killed.

Kate hung up the phone, all business now. "Common, Castle. We've got a crime scene to check out." Kate was struck with an idea then. She wasn't too sure how Castle would react, but figured it was worth a shot anyway. "Remember when Lanie and Espo started dating and they tried to keep it a secret for a little while?" Rick's face dropped a little when she said this so she hurried along. She didn't want to give him the wrong impression. "I don't want to hide it from them, I promise. I was just thinking that since they don't know… it couldn't hurt to have a little fun with them while we can!" She laughed when his eyes lit up again.

"Hun, that is a great idea." Kate narrowed her eyes at him. If he thought he was going to hide a pet name with a compliment he was sadly mistaken. "Castle—" he dropped his head, pretending to be upset. "Yeah, yeah, I know. No pet names." She laughed and patted him on the head. "Good boy."