A/N: Yes, I know. It kind of took me a little longer than I had intended to finish this chapter, but now here you have it. Because I know you're all anxious for the chapter, I will just let you read now. Enjoy!

Rick barely slept at all that night. He spent most of it tossing and turning and trying hard not to think too much. His mind circled around Kate, around the important conclusion he'd come to concerning his feelings for her, around wondering whether or not she loved him back. He was imagining the ways she could possibly shoot him down, trying hard but failing to imagine his life without her, then imagining the ways she could literally get shot at her job, thinking about having to watch her die. Sometimes he really hated his ability to come up with believable scenarios of all kind.

When he was temporarily in a better, more hopeful mood, he was imagining all the different ways he could make love to her.
In any case, he didn't sleep.

Usually he stayed in bed until well after 10 on Sundays, but today he got up at the crack of dawn, feeling that it was useless to stay in bed for a second more. He knew for a fact that he hadn't closed his eyes until 3am and wasn't entirely sure if he ever really slept after that.

By 7am he was done with breakfast and had already read the interesting parts of the paper. The funny thing was that, when he wasn't thinking about Kate, he was mulling over the case.

Something about it just didn't seem to fit, somehow his gut told him that it wasn't really solved yet. He had called an apparently very sick Esposito last night to find out about the newest developments and the arrest of Charlie Marx. Maybe it was because he hadn't been there during the last part of it, or maybe it was because Charlie hadn't confessed. Somehow he had the feeling that this wasn't over yet.

He thought he was going to explode if he kept pacing his loft, so he left a note for Alexis on the counter and went out for a run. A frosty mist hung low on the city and made his breath fog in front of him as he jogged through Central Park.

New York was not a pleasant place two weeks from Thanksgiving, but somehow the bad weather seemed to suit his mood. When he couldn't feel his ears anymore, he turned around and made his way back to the loft.

Rick stepped out of the steaming shower with renewed vigor and determination. He put on his favorite blue button-down for courage, kissed his daughter good-bye and hailed a cab.

When he finally stood before Kate's door, it was 9:30 and his resolve faltered a little. What if she wasn't even up yet? It was Sunday after all and they had just closed two cases. Well, actually she had closed them on her own. They hadn't talked at all since their fight at the courthouse and he couldn't help but wonder if she maybe never wanted to see him again.

Rick stood a good ten minutes in front of her door until he had gathered enough courage to risk getting his head ripped off.

Kate opened only seconds after his first knock. She didn't greet him and her eyes bore an unreadable expression, but she had definitely been awake for a while. The dark circles around her eyes made him wonder if she'd slept as little as he had. She wore sweatpants and a t-shirt and if he'd had to guess, he would say she'd spent the entire morning on her couch.

"We need to talk" he said softly, so not to spook her, and she graced him with a timid smile that lifted a heavy weight from his shoulders.

"You're such a girl sometimes, Castle."

After eyeing him for a second, she moved to the side and opened the door a little wider to let him into her apartment. "Have a seat" she said and motioned for him to sit down at the table. She remained standing, so that's what he did too. He stopped a couple of feet from her, determined to give her whatever space she needed. When he didn't move and didn't speak, mostly because he didn't know where to start and his mind had inexplicably gone blank, she sighed and turned towards the open kitchen isle that stood in the middle of the spacious living room. She settled against the counter and swallowed before she spoke, her gaze piercing, daring him to be honest with her. "Say what you've got to say."

He swallowed, trying to get around the big lump in his throat that suddenly hindered him from pouring his heart out. He tried to cut to the core and finally came up with what he wanted her to hear from him.

"I'm sorry" he said and waited for her to believe him. When she made no move, he tried to elaborate.

"I'm sorry for the things I said, because I didn't mean them. I was out of line."

Beckett looked straight into his eyes until she was absolutely sure that he was serious. After her talk with Lanie last night she'd promised herself that she'd be honest with Castle. So she took a step towards him, both literally and figuratively, and dared the leap.

"I'm sorry, too. I said things I shouldn't have said. They were mean and inappropriate."

He breathed out in relief, but she wasn't done yet. "I'm not taking all of it back, though. Yes, that fight was not fair and I didn't mean it when I said this was a mistake. But I meant it when I said it's not supposed to be this way."

His eyes flickered with something she couldn't quite place. "This is indeed a mess, you can't deny it. We can't go on like this" she finished. It was his turn to speak and once more he took his time to collect his thoughts.

"I know that I come with baggage. So do you. It doesn't mean we can never be in a working relationship with someone" he reasoned, forcing himself to use his strongest weapon - his words - to convince her. "It doesn't mean we're not entitled to happiness. I know I don't have the best track record and you're not exactly one to easily open up. We can't erase our pasts, but they also make us who we are right now. And who we are feels pretty damn good right about now. Don't let our pasts stand between us, and don't pretend that the press is really what this is all about, because it's not."

She had to admit that he was right. This wasn't about the press, not really anyway. His words were working their way into her mind, her heart already being so occupied by him that it could barely take in any more.

She wasn't trying to fight it anymore. He already had her heart. He could take it if he wanted it.

And he made it pretty clear that he did.

"I want to be with you. This isn't about the sex or the thrill of the chase, we are more than that. I want to wake up in the morning with you lying beside me, because it's the best way to wake up that I can imagine and I want to experience that every day. And not just occasionally when you were too tired to go home or simply haven't left yet after a night of mind-blowing sex. I want you to stay because you want to, because you want to wake up in my arms just as much as I want to wake up with you there."

His voice hitched a little when she stepped closer, then broke at the smoldering look in her eyes. He hoped dearly that it wasn't anger he saw and tried talking faster in order to get everything off his chest before she tore him to pieces.

"I want you to have breakfast with me and I want us to go into the precinct together, not sneak in like it's some forbidden thing. I want to be able to take you out on…on a date and kiss you… whenever I…because…"

He was stuttering now, unable to form coherent thoughts when she looked at him like that, still moving closer, just a breath away. When she lifted her hands to his shoulders, he was lost.

"I want…" he started again, but was cut off by her lips on his, soft and sweet, comforting him, reassuring him. She tasted just like he'd remembered, only better. More… real.

Entirely too early, she pulled away. Her hands had moved around his shoulders to his back and she kept them there, close.

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?" he whispered against her lips, hopeful glee written all over his face. She somehow managed to roll her eyes, even though her brain was functioning low on oxygen at the moment. Because she liked that feeling of weightlessness, she closed the distance between them once more and instantly felt him respond by gripping her hips and drawing her closer. She parted her lips, desperate to feel more of him, of that delicious burn that made her feel lighter than air, but he made no move to deepen the kiss. Instead, he pulled away a mere half inch.

"Can I call you my girlfriend now?" he asked and this time she lost her patience. Desire was so hot and burning inside her that she simply couldn't help it. Her hands moved around to the strong sides of his neck and she pressed her breasts against his chest, her breath liquid fire on his skin, her voice husky and erotic when she managed to speak. "Just shut up and kiss me."

He didn't need to be told twice. This time the kiss was open, fast and heady, heavy on the tongue and teeth and soon it wasn't enough. Because their entire bodies were pressed together from head to toe she could tell that he was just as aroused as she was, so she made quick work of the coat that he was still wearing and stepped back until her back hit the kitchen counter.

He swiftly picked her up and pushed her onto it, her legs clamping around his midriff immediately, the perfect contact drawing a low growl from him. His lips left hers to trail along her jaw line, lightly nipping at her chin, his hands everywhere at once.

Her strong legs squeezed his backside and held him so tight that their breathing was ragged and gasping within half a minute, their bodies so turned on that she could feel her dampness seeping through the fabric of her panties. His hands firmly caressed her thighs and her fingers grabbed and tore at his hair, eagerly craving more of him.

When a helpless whimper of a moan spilled from her throat and got swallowed by his wet mouth, he abruptly pulled away.

All of a sudden, she was back on the floor again and he was a couple feet away, his gaze on the floor as he tried to regain control over his trembling body. Confusion and frustration from his reaction and the sudden loss of contact were written all over her face when he looked back up and stepped close again. He rested his forehead against hers and nuzzled her nose. The sweetness of the gesture surprised her and confused her even more.

"I'm sorry" he whispered with a guilty smile. She kissed it away, sweet and slow now, a mesmerizing contrast against the desire still sizzling inside her.

"What for?" she asked against his lips and he pulled away a little.

"It was kind of my point to not do this right away" he said and gestured between them to clarify what he meant by 'this'.

"Oh" she managed, blushing. "Yeah."

He smiled and rubbed his nose against hers once more. "Yeah."

A/N: Sooo, what do you think? Was it worth the wait, or not at all? Please tell me so that I can improve! Are you mad at me for cutting the smut or do you think that was a wise idea? As you can see I decided to go with Both the talking-it-through and the shut-up-and-kiss-me version, so are y'all satisfied now?

What would YOU like to see happen next? (It's not necessarily going to change anything, but I want to know anyway! XD And yes, at some point they'll have hot make-up sex. Just not now, okay?)

Just FYI: There are even fluffier, more emotional chapters coming up! This is not the end of it. This is just the appetizer, wait till you see what I have planned for dessert! :D