I know a lot of people were looking forward to this one. There was so much material that I really had to pick and choose; I hope I did it justice.

Tick, Tick, Tick & Boom

"Hey."

A soft voice floated through the air as Kate stirred and forced her eyes open, groggy and warm and not really ready to wake up just yet. She blinked a few times before everything came into focus and found herself staring up into the blue eyes of her partner. Boyfriend. No, partner. Boyfriend always sounded weird to her, because though that was technically what he was, he was so much more than that. Their relationship was so much more than that.

"Hi." She smiled up at him, eyes drifting closed again as he bent down to kiss her.

Sleep had finally claimed them after their most recent escapade, and Kate had no idea what time it was now but they'd both been very much in need of a nap. Her more so than him, apparently.

"How long have you been awake?"

Castle shrugged, brushed his lips across her forehead. "A few minutes."

Kate rolled onto her side so she was facing him, and he lifted an arm, settled it around her waist, guiding her closer. She shifted on the pillow, closed her eyes and allowed herself to spend a few more minutes teetering on the edge of sleep, basking in his warmth, in the steady rhythm of his breathing.

After a few silent minutes, she heard the soft sound of a page being turned and lifted her head, followed his gaze to find his eyes glued to their journal. She frowned slightly as she squinted at the lines, deciphered the words. They didn't sound familiar. Which meant...

"Are you reading ahead?"

He looked away sheepishly. "Maybe?"

"Castle," she scolded, her words lacking any strength or disapproval. He was the author after all, already knew what was there. Knowing him, he'd probably committed parts of it to memory. But even so, there was something special about reading it together, something that'd become very important to her.

"Okay, yes. But just the next one. I haven't made it any further."

She rolled onto her stomach, leaned her temple against his shoulder and began to follow along with him.

Dear Kate,

I was terrified the other day. I'm not easily scared, but watching your apartment go up in flames when I knew you were inside; that's high on the list of the scariest things I've ever witnessed. I had no idea what I'd find when I went in there, but it certainly wasn't you alive and relatively unharmed. And naked, which was an added bonus, even if I did only get to see your back.

You looked pretty good in my jacket too. You should keep it, wear it around. I'd be completely okay with that, especially if you opted to not wear anything underneath it again.

But in all seriousness, I'm glad you're okay. I was really afraid, Kate. I know you're a cop, and I know it's always a danger you face, but seeing it up close like that... I think it really hit me then just how dangerous your job can be. Especially since you seem to attract an unusually large number of professional killers and psychopaths.

I realized for the first time, too, that my writing has put you in danger. That never even crossed my mind when I started shadowing you, and I guess that's just one more thing to add to the list of things I didn't think through when it comes to you. I never wanted to put you in danger, Kate. I never wanted you to get hurt.

And now that this happened, it makes me want to keep you in the loft all the time. You can just move into our spare bedroom. That way I can see for myself every night that you're okay.

I know you'd never go for that, and I know you're going to find your own apartment again as soon as you can. I also know you're not mine to 'keep.' But I want you to know you're always welcome at the loft. My mother and daughter are great for cheering people up, and between the three of us we make some pretty delicious comfort food. I've got shelves of books, a large TV, laser tag gear, and a very comfortable bed that I would gladly allow you to use, with or without my presence. (I'm told I'm a fantastic pillow.)

As I write this, you're sitting upstairs in the guest room, chatting on the phone. Talking to your dad, I think. It's selfish, but I wish you were downstairs with me instead.

I'm sure your dad is happy to hear from you, though. I don't know how he does it, knowing that you're out there every day facing potential dangers. I worry about you, and I'm just your shadow and I'm there most of the time to see for myself that you're okay. You know I care about you, Kate. It's gotten to the point where I can't imagine my life without you in it. I can't imagine not coming to the precinct every day, not writing Nikki Heat. I don't ever want to experience that.

So please, when you go out tomorrow morning to go apartment hunting, please be careful. Please try to not end up in any more explosions. I mean, I'll gladly walk in on you naked in a bathtub at any time, but next time let's make sure the circumstances are a little less dire.

I'm sure there's so much more I should say; so much has happened in the last few days and it's all a bit of a jumble in my head. I guess the main thing that comes to mind is that I'm really glad you're okay. And if there's anything I can do for you, anything at all, you know all you have to do is ask.

-Castle

"You seriously wanted me to move in?"

"Well, yeah," he replied as though the answer was obvious. "But maybe not in the same way."

She rolled her eyes, grinned at him. "You just wanted an excuse to walk in on me in a bathtub."

"Well I wouldn't have been averse to it," he teased, fingers tracing the curve of her waist, her hip.

Kate whacked his arm. "Of course you wouldn't."

"Hey," he chided, catching her hand before she could hit him again. "You're just as fond of my bathtub as I am, and you know it."

Kate smiled as her mind drifted back to the day she'd moved in... also the day they'd christened the bed. And the desk. And the tub. Technically they'd christened all of those locations already, but Castle had insisted it needed to be done again now that they were officially living together.

"Hey." He snuck up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, hands coming to rest on her stomach.

"Hey," she replied softly, felt him smile against her hair as her abs fluttered beneath his touch. She knew he absolutely loved feeling the effects of his touch, his presence, on her body. Knew it made him proud, humbled.

"Finding space for everything?"

Kate nodded, her cheek rubbing against the stubble of his jaw; apparently he'd been so excited to move her in that he hadn't taken the time to shave this morning. Not that she was complaining. "Yeah, just about done."

She laid the last few pairs of socks in the dresser drawer and reached down with her now free hand to lace it with his. Her work clothes were already hung in the closet along with a selection of dresses and sweatshirts and other items. The majority of her clothing had actually already been at the loft, so there really wasn't all that much to make room for. But it'd taken the better part of their free time this week to pack it up, and so far today they'd moved everything over and put about half of it away.

She still had the key to her apartment; her lease wasn't up for another four days and she needed to do some last-minute cleaning. But she'd taken a personal day and, along with the weekend, that gave her three full days to accomplish everything. They'd employed Ryan and Espo to help load and unload boxes and in return Castle had provided pizza, snacks, beer, and an afternoon of video games on his giant projector screen while Kate settled in.

The boys finally headed home a few minutes ago, freeing him to come find her. And inevitably distract her. In fact, that'd played a large role in her decision to have the guys hang out for a while, because if they were immersed in video games, then Castle wouldn't be there to trace tantalizing patterns on the skin of her stomach and brush a soft kiss just behind her ear and try to peek into the drawer that now contained her complete collection of lingerie.

"Castle!" she swatted his hand away from the drawer and pushed it closed. "Later."

"But..."

She turned in his arms, silenced him with a kiss. "I promise, you'll get to see the new ones later."

"N... new ones?" he swallowed hard, flicked his gaze back to the drawer. "I thought... you bought more?"

She demurely raised an eyebrow, reached up to pat his cheek, then stepped out of the circle of his arms, leaving Castle frozen in place and gaping alternately at her and the dresser.

"Later," she repeated, slipping out of the room with an added sway in her hips. Oh, he was so not going to survive this.

As it turned out, he didn't wind up seeing the lingerie that day because by the time they'd finished unpacking and eating dinner, Kate claimed she was tired and sweaty and in need of a relaxing bath. Castle wasted no time in following her to the bedroom, already undressing her as they crossed through his office. They detoured along the way for a quick jaunt against his desk before actually making it to the tub.

And by the time they tumbled to the bed an hour later, he had no interest in any type of clothing, no matter how sexy. Given the choice, naked Kate always won.

"Want to take a bath?" he asked softly, mind eagerly supplying images of that night.

She smiled, pushed back the covers. It wasn't yet dinner time and they were both probably in need of a cleansing. And though she rarely admitted it, relaxing baths with Castle were one of her absolute favorite things in the world.

"I was beginning to think you'd never ask."

Thoughts?