She awoke to familiar fingers fluttering along her forehead, smoothing her bangs from her face and tracing the curve of her eyebrow. Kate turned into the touch, smiled softly when his palm cupped her cheek. But there was an odd smell in the air, something like… smoke?

Her nose scrunched and her eyes slipped open.

"Is there a fire?" she rasped and Castle chuckled, rubbing at his eyes with his free hand.

"No, my mother tried to cook dinner, remember?"

"Oh no," she whispered, unable to stop the laugh from rising up and out of her mouth, her hand lifting to her lips to stop more amusement from escaping.

"I ordered a pizza, should be here in about five minutes," he sighed and Kate's stomach growled at the thought of a good slice of deep dish Manhattan pizza. "Apparently, it was the right choice," he smirked.

She hummed, taking in the warm blue sweater he had changed into, the worn looking jeans, liking the transition. Kate pushed into a sitting position, stretching her arms above her head and popping her back before arching an eyebrow when she noticed him staring at her with hidden concern.

"I'm okay, Castle," she said quietly.

"You're not," he refuted softly, and maybe he was right, but she still slipped free of the covers and abandoned the comfort of his bed to stand beside him. Her toes curled against the coolness of the hardwood beneath her bare feet, but she lifted on them to capture his lips, to let him know that she did remember what she had said before falling asleep with him and she stood by it.

She loved him.

"But I will be."

Everything wasn't okay, she still felt pieces of her heart shredded and stinging over losing Dick Coonan, the first solid lead she had had in years, but for tonight, she could have pizza with his family, exist contently with him and forget about how her day had brought her here.

Satisfied with her form of reassurance, Castle found her hand, linked their fingers and led her out of his bedroom with a dopey smile on his face. Kate had to bite her lip when they entered the living room and she caught sight of Martha fanning away the endless billows of smoke escaping the opened hatch of the oven. Alexis looked on in pity from the bar, a textbook open in front of her.

"I'm surprised you slept through the smoke alarm," Castle rumbled in her ear and the chuckle she had been suppressing at the scene tumbled free, gaining both redheads' attention.

"Hey, Kate," Alexis said with a smile, but there was a timid tint to the girl's eyes and Kate momentarily worried she had overstepped by being here, by walking out of Castle's bedroom in his clothes and with his hand clasped in hers, but when Alexis caught sight of their hands, her small smile actually seemed to grow, and she jumped down from the barstool, met Kate with a hug when they reached the kitchen. "Dad explained what happened today and we're glad you're okay," she whispered when Castle stepped away and Kate hugged his daughter back, stroked her fingers through the long locks of her fiery hair.

"Me too," she murmured into the top of her head, sensing Castle's eyes on her.

The doorbell rang and Alexis was the one to volunteer to answer, slipping free from Kate's embrace and strolling happily to the front door to retrieve their dinner.

The four of them ate in the living room, Alexis and Martha both in separate armchairs while Castle stretched himself out on the couch, propping his feet on the coffee table, and Kate decided to surprise him, settling next to him and tucking herself into his side. If his mother or daughter noticed the closeness of their seating arrangement, they didn't make visible note of it, focusing on the slices of pepperoni on their plates and searching the satellite for a decent television program to use as background noise while they ate.

"Beckett?"

She glanced up at him, his eyes still a little too wide. She knew she was being a tad unfair, breaking all the rules she had so firmly placed on them all in one go, but it was exhilarating, to freely touch and be touched without worrying about who was watching and what each sweep of his fingers meant.

She had told him she loved him and no, that didn't magically make their relationship effortless, but it rid her of the anguish that had been gnawing at her for months, caused the guilt of feeling as though she was stringing him along to recede, because now she could show him every feeling he had towards her was mutual and he didn't have to suppress them anymore. He didn't have to wait until he believed she was asleep to whisper his love for her into the darkness.

Her mother's case had always been the most important thing in her life, but he was beginning to rival for the position.

"Eat your pizza, Castle."

After Martha and Alexis had wished them a good night too early in the evening, a not so subtle attempt to give them some privacy he was sure, Kate had dropped her head to his shoulder and quietly inquired if she could use his bath before bed.

Always eager to please, he had immediately sprung into action, rising from the couch and heading straight for his bathroom.

He adjusted the water to the steamy temperature he knew she preferred after a long day and scanned his bathroom while the tub filled. He owned none of the bath items Kate tended to use when lounging in the tub at her apartment, nothing special to assist in creating a calm setting for her, but he did have a jacuzzi tub that was probably half the size of her bathroom and he felt that would make up for the lack of bubbles and bath salts. He also found a candle in the cabinet, a lavender scent he liked because of its soothing quality to help him relax on nights he felt too wired to sleep.

He lit the candle, set it on the vanity, and hoped the scent would have its signature affect on her as he plopped himself down on the edge of the tub.

He felt simultaneously overwhelmed and amazed by the woman he could hear rustling around in his bedroom.

During dinner, she had made a movie date with his daughter, talked about the latest broadway plays with his mother and listened intently when she launched into one of her ancient theatre tales he and Alexis had both heard too many times to count. She had sat curled into him on the couch in front of his family like it was something she did every night. Every action a testament to the fact that she was in this, that she wanted more with him.

None of that eased his guilt though, the fact that he had made her shoot her mother's killer. He had destroyed her only lead, meddled in her life just like always, and he was no longer sure if he deserved a place in her world anymore.

"You okay?"

His head snapped up to see her lingering hesitantly in the doorway.

"Yeah, yeah, great," he assured her quickly as she stepped inside the bathroom with only his t-shirt remaining on her body, the worn material brushing the skin of her thighs while she made her way towards him. "I actually wanted to thank you, for being so… amazing, tonight."

Her brow furrowed, her mouth quirking with subtle amusement.

"You mean with your family?"

He nodded.

"I wasn't amazing, Castle," she chuckled, using her fingers to create air quotes around the adjective. "Your mother and daughter just make it really easy to feel comfortable."

Kate came to a stop in between his knees, perching hands on his shoulders and smiling softly when she noticed the candle near the sink.

"I know I don't have a lot here, but if you want, I'm sure Alexis has some bubble bath upstairs or-"

"Castle."

He should have prepared better, should have figured something out for her while she was napping in his bed. He should have known she would have wanted to relax after the day she'd had.

"Or my mother might actually have some soothing soaps left over from her recent spa retreat, maybe some lotions too. And I could get you a glass of wine-"

"Rick," she murmured, pressing him back down when he moved to get up and curling her fingers around his ears.

Just one look at her eyes told him she knew.

He didn't mean to lose his grasp on his composure, didn't mean for her to see through him so easily, so he dropped his head before she could see anything else, pressed his face to her stomach and gripped her waist with his hands to hold her there for just a moment. But she wasn't going anywhere to begin with, standing steadily despite the foreign act of intimacy. He exhaled heavily when he felt her fingers in his hair, her nails combing through the disheveled locks.

"It wasn't your fault," she said softly and Castle unwillingly glanced up, took a breath and shook his head, nose brushing the line of her waist.

"I overstepped."

"Castle-"

"And I think it would be best if… I'm through, Kate."

She stiffened in his hands, her eyebrows drawing in and her jaw falling in confusion.

"I can't shadow you anymore," he continued. "If it wasn't for me-"

She lifted his chin in her hands, staring down at him sternly. "If it wasn't for you, I would have never found my mom's killer."

But Castle still vehemently shook his head in denial. "And I made you kill him. I took away the one lead you had and put you in a position that-"

"He was going to kill you," she stated bluntly. "It was him or you and you come before any lead."

Her eyes were hard and serious, but he still felt his heart quicken at her words, at their meaning, and as she rested her forehead to his, smoothed her thumbs along the bones of his cheeks, he started to believe them.

"Someday soon, I'm going to find the sons of bitches who had Coonan kill her," she swore into the breath of space between them. "And I'd like you around when I do."

She took a step back, slid the t-shirt off in one fluid motion, but easily held his eyes with hers, distracted him from her body with the intensity of her gaze. She kept her hand on his shoulder as she climbed into the nearly filled bathtub, trailed her fingers down the inside of his arm as she settled in the middle, small and fierce all it at once as she looked up at him with those luminous eyes. Completely unguarded.

"I've gotten used to you pulling my pigtails," she admitted, curling her knees into her chest with a little smile. "I have a hard job, Castle, but having you around… you make it a little more fun. And outside of the job, you make me happy." Her eyes lowered, her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink, and he grinned down at her despite himself, because by the look of it, Kate Beckett was just as smitten with him as he was with her. "Now, take your clothes off and get in the tub."

The laugh stumbled out of him and he was pleased to see it made her smile grow. Castle shed his clothes and followed in after her, sank into the space behind her and welcomed her body when it leant back into his.

When her skin was clean and her lips fused to his, Castle snagged the towels he had set out beside the tub, urged her upwards and draped the terrycloth around her shoulders, followed her out of the water and into the bedroom, went to work at slowly dragging the towel over her skin.

"Castle," she sighed impatiently when he dropped the towel and roamed his hands along her frame instead.

He knew she was all worked up after he had traced his fingers over every inch of her skin under the water of the bath. She jerked him upwards by his hair, distracted him with the caress of her lips as she somehow managed to turn them around without his notice, and then he was falling with her to the bed, her body a perfect weight over his.

Her lips left his to explore. She had touched her mouth to his skin many times, too many to count, in the last five months. Tonight felt like the first time – her lips like fire as they traveled down his neck, her tongue scorching as it laved a languid path along his skin and marked his flesh. His eyes fluttered closed, the breath in his lungs catching when she closed her lips over his nipple, teased the taut peak between her teeth, before moving to press a kiss to the middle of his sternum, over the furious pounding of his heart.

His hands skimmed up her back, drawing the wave of her body upwards, crashing her into him and flipping her over. Kate scraped her nails down his chest, appreciating the play of muscles there, but then her hands were moving again, trailing along every ridge, plain, and valley of his skin and bones, eliciting numerous sparks of heat and hitches in his breathing.

Castle used his knee to easily pry hers apart, the limbs falling open in invitation, and he dipped his head to feather his lips down the length of her body, a slow worship with his mouth he had been aching to perform for so long. Hearing her release a throaty whine when his lips touched her abdomen, he returned to settle over her, hips falling into the cradle of hers as his length glided through her folds. She gasped, but nudged her pelvis upwards, encouraging.

He slid inside effortlessly, the familiar, hot clench of her muscles around him causing his face to fall to the crook of her neck, reining in the need, but then she spoke.

"You feel so good," she breathed, the admission only adding to the struggle in restraint.

His first, long stroke had her mewling, biting her lip against the noise to no avail. If they were at her apartment, he knew she wouldn't censor herself. Every sound that escaped her lips would fill the air, but out of consideration for his family, she turned her head, muffled her moans with his pillow.

Rick curled his hand behind her knee, lifted her leg and positioned it high at his back, an angle he knew from experience would push her closer to the edge, and watched her mouth soundlessly fall open at the amplification in intensity. Her heel dug into his lower back while the other aided in lifting her body - surging, undulating, breaking against his.

He rocked into her slowly, keeping a steady, unhurried rhythm, but Kate was writhing beneath him, almost frantic in the way she met his movements with her own. He could feel the distinct, tightening sensation at the base of his spine, had to blink against the spots clouding his vision, knew he was seconds away from shattering, but not without her.

"Let go, Castle."

"You-"

Her hands framed his face, her fingers twining in his hair as her mouth sealed over his, her tongue hot and insistent. "I'm with you, just let go."

His body couldn't help but obey her and his crescendo in pleasure pulled her right along with him, her spine arcing and her arms tightening around his neck as her ragged breath of release washed over his neck where she buried her face.

When his heartbeat steadied and his breath no longer rattled up his throat, his gaze climbed up to meet hers, his hand following his line of sight and cradling the gorgeous angle of her jaw. Kate hummed and tipped her chin upwards, captured his lips in a leisurely kiss, a lazy smile curling against his as she sighed.

He rolled onto his back, brought her with him until she was half-sprawled along his chest. She seemed to find comfort in the position, nuzzling her face against the convergence of his throat and clavicle, finding sleep in their web of tangled limbs within minutes.

"Night, Kate," he sighed into the quiet, the calming cadence of her breathing coaxing him into a slumber of his own.

She woke them both, twice, with nightmares. Her mother's name, sometimes his, spilling from her lips with the panic and the tears. He held her as she cried through each one, sifted his fingers through her hair and whispered futile words of comfort into her temple. Each attempt at consolation turned into something more, gratitude and need overtaking, and each time she mumbled an unexpected love you, Castle before she allowed herself to fall from his arms into sleep's once more, before she could hear him say it back.

He woke early and alone and it made his veins turn to ice, his heart tripping over itself, and he quickly staggered out of the bed, towards the bedroom door before he realized he was still naked. He turned on his heel, eyes scanning the floor for his clothing when he realized he had stripped everything off in the bathroom the night before.

"Castle?"

He spun again, nearly stumbled over his own feet.

She hadn't left. In fact, she looked as though she had made herself very much at home. Kate was in one of his dress shirts, a white button down she must have picked out from his closet, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows while her legs remained beautifully bare. Her hair fell messily around her face, still tousled and mussed from the night before, and she had two cups of coffee in her grasp.

She arched an eyebrow at him, flicking her gaze down and smothering an appreciative smirk, because she knew why he looked so stricken and hopeful and lost all at once.

Rick moved back to his side of the bed as she softly shut the bedroom door behind her, gratefully accepted the mug of coffee she offered him when she settled next to him, but as he slowly sipped at the hot liquid, she set hers down on the nightstand.

"I thought you left," he murmured and she nodded.

"I know." Her fingers tentatively grazed his and Castle opened his hand, let her palm rest against his. "But I didn't."

He nodded thoughtfully.

"You love me."

"I do," she confirmed, a lovely little smile flirting along the edges of her lips.

"Will you go to dinner with me?"

She laughed, a soft, melodious thing that fluttered through the early morning quiet of his bedroom, but she nodded, much to his surprise, and lowered her forehead to his shoulder.

"Sure, Castle."

"Can I tell everyone you're my girlfriend?"

"Don't push it," she sighed, dusting her lips over his skin.

He chuckled, pressed a fleeting kiss to the top of her head.

"Where are you going?" she asked when he suddenly rose from the bed.

"I'm going to make you pancakes, you know, the edible way of saying 'thank you so much for last night'," he smirked, waggling his eyebrows at her and she chucked a pillow at him, still smiling even as she missed her target.

After the events of yesterday, all the pain she had endured, he honestly hadn't expected this, any of it, but he couldn't remember a time he had seen Kate Beckett so happy.

A/N: I realize many expected this story continue deeper into season two, but at this point, it feels complete for me and only one chapter will follow - an epilogue of sorts that I hope you all still enjoy.