They rode the rest of the way to her apartment in silence. She let go of his hand long enough to get out of the car, and then held it again as they walked up to her place. Once inside she slipped off her heels by the door and he pulled her against him in a hug. She loved how she fit just under his chin with her heels off and gladly wrapped her arms around him.

"I've wanted to do this all day."

"Mmm, you did…in the interrogation room earlier, remember?" She said, laughing quietly.

"No, I mean I've wanted to do this all day, as in, not let go."

"I'm okay Castle, I'm just glad its over….sad at the outcome, but glad we found out the truth."

Kate peeled herself away from his embrace, despite his protests, and led him over to the couch where she flopped, exhausted. Not so much in the physical sense, but emotionally, and she wanted to just be for a minute. Castle sat down next to her and pulled her against him. She ended up half laying down with her head on his chest and her arm draped around his waist. He ran his hand down her side and slid it under the bottom of her shit, letting it rest on her side, just above the waistband of her jeans. She shivered slightly at the feeling of his hand on her bare skin. He laughed quietly and she felt it in his chest more than she heard it.

"What are you laughing at?" She mumbled, already fighting to stay awake.

"I didn't know my touch would have such an effect on you Detective."

"Hmm, there are a lot of things you don't know about me Castle."

"I know, I'm starting to see that."

She could hear the smile in his voice as he rubbed his thumb softly over her side. She sighed and let herself sink further against him.

"See? If we didn't have to go to…Manic Mondays…we could just stay here." She whispered. He laughed again at the sarcastic tone she used for the name of the bar.

"I wouldn't mind staying here, but…you know the rest of the team wants you there. Besides, you never know, you might have fun."

Beckett made a noise in the back of her throat. It wasn't that she minded going out with everyone, but after a hard case her first reaction was to go home and curl up alone with her emotions. She had surprised herself by asking Castle to come home with her. Wanting company when she was emotional was a new thing. Now that she was laying there, half asleep in his arms, she wondered why it took her so long to realize that it was the right thing.

"You can sleep if you want to. I'll wake you up in a half an hour."

"I'd feel bad. How boring would it be to watch me sleep?"

"Not boring at all actually. I kind of enjoy seeing you so relaxed."

She smiled as he ran his hand up and down her side softly. He only moved it a few inches, never farther than what would be considered acceptable, but she could feel the heat left by his hand just the same. After a few minutes she gave up and let herself drift off to sleep.

A half an hour later, as promised, Castle woke her up by running his fingers though her hair and softly saying her name. Kate smiled up at him.

"Sleep well?"

"Mhmm." She nodded, still half asleep. She shifted her position and tucked her legs underneath her so she was still leaning on him, but she was sitting up more. "Thanks for letting me sleep."

She leaned forward and kissed him softly. He ran his hand up her back and pulled her closer, his tongue running over her bottom lip. She parted her lips slightly and pressed herself closer to him as their tongues met. She ran her hands over his shoulders and laced her fingers together behind his neck. He pulled back from their kiss and slowly kissed down the side of her neck, laughing softly as she moaned when he got to the spot where her neck met her collar bone.

"I can play that game too ya know Castle." She whispered as she softly kissed the side of his neck. He shuddered as her tongue trailed up the side of his neck and she playfully grabbed his earlobe between her teeth. He tightened his arms around her.

"Kate…" Her name came out of his throat as a low growl and she realized, as his hands trailed down her sides and came to rest on her hips, that they were coming dangerously close to a line that she wasn't ready to cross yet. She smiled as she let go of his earlobe and looked him in the eyes.

"Yes Castle?"

"If we don't go now, I have a feeling we won't be going at all."

"You're right. I'll go get ready…it will give you time to…recover."

She kissed his forehead then got up and went to her room to change. A few minutes later she came out wearing black jeans and a black, V neck top with a swirl pattern of emerald green crystals alone the neckline. The green crystal made her eyes stand out even more than they normally did. She had pulled her hair up into a loose bun and a few stray pieces hung down around her face. She had on flat, black shoes instead of her normal heels and Castle was amazing at how she could look so casual and so amazingly beautiful at the same time. Kate smiled when she saw him staring at her.

"Castle…close your mouth, you'll catch flies."

"You look…stunning."

She ducked her head, blushing.

"Thank you. You ready? We should get going, we still have to run by your place."

They walked in the door of Castle's loft and Alexis was curled up on the couch watching TV.

"Hey dad, hey Kate! Oh, you look pretty . Are you guys going on a date?"

Kate laughed and went to sit next to Alexis while Castle went to change.

"No, not a date. Everyone at the precinct is going out, Captain's orders. Its because we solved the case we were working on."

"The girl who looked like she had killed herself?"

"Yea."

"Who did it?"

Kate hesitated for a moment. Telling Alexis the truth seemed so brutal. She remembered Castle's statement about parents trying to keep their kids innocent for as long as possible. She also knew that Castle was very truthful with Alexis and the girl was much more mature than many people her age.

"It was her father." Beckett answered sadly. A look of shock crossed the girls face.

"Really?"

"Yep. It was…a rough case."

"I bet." Beckett was surprised when Alexis reached across the couch and pulled her into a hug. She smiled as she hugged her back.

"Well, that explains the random I love you text from my dad earlier. Wow…that's crazy."

"It is. Humans are hard creatures to understand sometimes."

Alexis nodded and the both turned their attention to the TV until Castle came back out of the bedroom. He had changed into black pants, a black jacket and an emerald green button up shirt that matched the crystals on Beckett's shirt perfectly. Kate looked at him and smiled.

"I'm not sure if I should be impressed, or worried, that you had the exact same shade of green as the one on my shirt."

"Impressed. Defiantly impressed. Good night Alexis." He said softly, kissing her on the top of the head as him and Beckett walked towards the door.

"Have fun you guys." She called after them as the door closed. The stood holding hands as they waited for the elevator. Castle shifted his weight from one foot to the other and Kate could tell he wanted to ask her something.

"What is it Castle?"

"Well…Alexis asked if we were going on a date, and…I was just wondering…would you…want to…sometime….go out on a date?"

Kate laughed at how nervous he was about asking her on a date.

"Castle, are you nervous about asking me on a date?" She smiled coyly as she stepped into the elevator ahead of him.

"Yea, maybe a little."

"I would love to go on a date with you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Why do you sound surprised?"

"I just wasn't sure…if you would be up for an actual date yet…I didn't want to push too soon."

She took his hand as they walked out of the elevator and towards the car.

"You're not. I accept your date invitation, just let me know when…on one condition."

"Which is?"

"You are not allowed to make some huge deal out of it and do something stupid like…take me somewhere on a private jet or something equally as huge."

"You are such a killjoy sometimes…but fine. It will be a normal date."

Kate smiled at him across the roof of the car as she opened her door to get in.

"As normal as anything gets with you I suppose."

Authors Note:

OMG I've been without internet for a week. I'm baaaaaaaaack. Sorry this update took so long. Thank you ALL for the reviews. Even if I don't mention you by name, they still make me smile.

There is one more chapter after this one. I think the next chapter is a lot of fun...it certainly was a lot of fun to write...but you'll just have to wait and see ;)

Review that made my day: Leep, awww I made you misty eyed? Thank you :) I'm glad my portrayal of Amber's reaction was written well enough to invoke that kind of emotion. I toyed with that scene for a while, so I'm glad I did it justice :D