Set in s2 episode 23 when Demming and Castle disputes about who's right and Kate states they've got two good suspects and that they should stop competing. Hope you'll enjoy!

Kate's so sick of this behavior of these two and so she walks out of the room with the comment of how it's not a competition. She goes straight to the break room as she's trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with the two men. Why can't they just… get along?! She starts to make coffee and, of course, she burns herself in the process. She feels a presence come into the room and she holds back a big groan. Whoever it is, she's going to kill him if he brings up the other one. To her surprise he doesn't.

"Here," he offers to take over the coffee making and since it actually does kind of hurt on her finger she lets him.

She goes to pour water on her finger instead as she looks over to the man at the espresso machine. She doesn't understand why he acts the way he does. He's not normally this-this… childish. At least not anymore. What the hell happened? Once her finger doesn't hurt that much anymore she goes to close the door, figuring this might be her only chance to confront the man. Looking through the window in the door she noticed the other man still standing by their murder board, his fingers under his chin in a deep-thinking position. Taking a deep breath in she gathers strength.

"Here's your coffee."

She turns around and smiles carefully as she accepts the cup. "Thanks." She bites her lip before she nods towards the tall table in the middle of the room and he follows without hesitation, probably thinking she's going to say something about the case. "Hey, Castle."

"Hm?" he hums and even though he's looking at her she can't get herself to meet his blue eyes.

"Why are you so against Tom?" she asks and feels his whole body demeanor change.

"I'm not-," he starts but she cuts him off.

"Don't. I can see it, Castle, don't deny it." She can hear the small desperation in her own voice and so she clears her throat.

She looks up at him and clenches her jaw as she stares into his blues, just like he's staring into her hazels. It's almost like they're having a staring competition. First on to talk loses. She's not going to lose this one. At least that's what she keeps repeating in her mind until she finally sees his mouth open.

"I don't like him," he says and she raises a brow.

"Why not?"

"Because…" he stops talking and she silently demands him to continue. She can see the inner fight and wonders what the hell is going on inside that beautiful head of his. "Because he's with you. Because he gets to go inside your wall. Because he can call you his. Because I'm not him."

Kate feels her insides freeze. What does that even mean?

"It means I don't want to be your partner. It means I want more. I don't want to be just friends," he answers the question she wasn't even aware she said out loud and she feels her insides churn with the new information.

When she's not answering, simply standing there with her jaw slightly dropped, he's sighing and turns to leave. One part of her wants to stop him, the other part is too frozen to do anything but stare after him. She follows him with her gaze until he's long gone, probably going home.

"Hey, Kate?"

She looks back to the door where the writer left through a couple minutes ago. "Yeah?"

Tom looks at her with a tilt in his head and a concerned facial expression. "You wanna call it a night? Or do you want to order in?"

"I-" Kate looks down at her coffee still in between her hands. "I need to think."

"Okay, so," he starts and she looks up at him again. "Can I walk you out?"

She bites the insides of her cheeks. "I think… Tom, I don't…" she sighs.

He comes closer and she can tell he's reading into the whole situation. He places himself in front of her, right where the writer had been standing when he…

"Was it something I said? Or something I did?" he asks and Kate looks up at the man with a heavy heart.

"No, you're great, you're really great. It's just… I don't think that you and I are what I need right now," she eventually says as that's exactly where her thoughts are taking her. He's not what she wants, not really.

His eyes are focused on the table as his fingers start scratching his head. "I should've known," he sighs and she wrinkles her forehead. Just as she's about to ask what the hell he meant by that he's asking a completely separate question. "Do you still need me around for the case or is it okay if I step away?"

She thinks about it for a second. "I-uh, I don't think so but…"

"Then just let me know how it goes. See you around Kate," he cuts her off before he turns around and leaves.

Kate's left with her own thoughts, her very confused and wandering thoughts. The robbery detective just let her go. And only a few moments before that the writer had told her more about his feelings than she had been prepared for. Right now she feels her whole world imploding. What is she even supposed to do?

She doesn't realize how long she's been standing there until she eventually takes a sip of her coffee only to find it being cold. Scrunching her nose she swallows it despite the bittersweet taste it's gotten from the cold.

"Urgh," she grunts as she goes to pour out the coffee in the sink before she, too, goes to leave the precinct.

Before knowing what's going on she's at the morgue, scaring Lanie once again with her presence. She tells her best friend everything, against her better judgement, and during the whole conversation the medical examiner is giving her this look that she does, as if everything is obvious to her.

"What are you doing here?" Lanie questions and Kate looks at her confused.

"What do yo-"

"You should be at writerboy's loft already!" she exclaims and when Kate isn't moving or reacting in any other way than staying confused the M.E. sighs with frustration. "You just broke up with Demming, don't you understand why? You want to be with Castle! Even if you don't want to see it, that's exactly what you want! You might be a great detective, Kate, but you suck at detecting and admitting your own feelings." Ouch.

"I'm not-" Kate starts but the look Lanie's giving her makes her cut off her own sentence.

"You're into him, better yet, you're crazy about him, and girl I've known you for years and I've never seen you have as much fun as you do around him. You never really lived until he started following you around."

Kate bites her lower lip as she thinks about how it all was before the writer came barging into her life. It's true she never really had any fun, always more committed to work than to anything else. Even her dad has mentioned it, once or twice.

"Kate," Lanie says as she comes closer to her only to grab her arms. "What are you waiting for, just go." She turns her around and carefully pushes her towards the door and the elevator. "And don't forget to tell me everything, tomorrow."

Kate's inside the elevator within no time and Lanie leans in to push the button before waving her goodbye as the doors close. She tries to calm herself down from the racing heart she's getting. Should she really go to him? She could just go home, tell Lanie she went there but he wasn't home. Then again, her best friend would totally see through the lie.

Kate's been standing outside his door for the past twenty minutes without knocking. To be honest with herself she's scared. She's scared that even if he told her the things he did she will be rejected once she starts to admit her own feelings aloud. Once again she's trying to build up courage because she's just so sure that pretty soon someone is going to call the cops on her standing in front of his loft for so long. With one last deep breath she's knocking three times on the door and then she's holding her breath.

"Detective Beckett?" his teenage daughter is the one to open the door and Kate feels her heart race even more. "Are you looking for my dad?"

"Uh-yeah," she stumbles a bit across her words. "Is-uh, is he here?"

The girl opens up the door further and moves out of the way. "Come on in, he's in his office," she says and Kate nods with as good of a smile as she can muster through her nerves.

Alexis gestures towards the office and closes the door behind her as soon as she's moved out of the way. Kate feels the hesitation in her whole body as she takes one step after the other towards the writer's office. One part of her just wants to turn around and flee, but she knows she's far too deep inside now to turn around. Besides, the girl would most likely tell her father about her being here so it isn't like she can just disappear and expect him to never find out.

As she approaches the office door she takes another deep breath before she's knocking once again. She awaits the muffled 'come in' before she opens the door and slowly takes the few steps inside. Her partner's sitting behind his desk with his back turned towards her, facing the digital murder board he has there. Silently she's closing the door and he gives off a heavy sigh.

"Mother, I'm not in the mood to…" he starts but himself off the second he turns around and locks eyes with her. "Beckett? What are you doing here?"

"I-" she starts but has to clear her throat in order to continue. "I-uh thought about what you said and I…"

"You don't need me for the case, you didn't have to come all the way here to tell me that," he grunts and looks away from her, back to the murder board. "I still don't think it has to do with the stealing but you do whatever you feel is right."

She feels her heart clench and she bites her lip, her eyes glancing towards the closed door behind her. She could… no. "No, Castle. I meant to say he's not in the picture anymore. I broke up with Demming." She only breathes out that last part, not daring to say it any louder.

It's quiet and she looks up to see him look at her with a stunned face, which immediately has her looking away, crossing her arms and squirming under his gaze. For a second she feels like she's naked, not physically but mentally, and she wants to hide but she also feels frozen.

"You… you broke up… why?" he eventually asks and she wrinkles her forehead before looking up at him.

"What do you mean why?" she questions back and he looks at her with big, confused eyes. "I…" she takes a deep breath. "I realized he isn't the one I want, he's a really nice guy but he isn't the one I miss the days I'm alone at my desk." It's kind of a confession, kind of, and she hopes he'll read between the lines. That he'll know it's him she misses those days he hasn't come in yet because there's no case, that he's the one she wants.

Castle looks at her with observing eyes and she wonders if he's understanding or she's not clear enough. One part of her doesn't want to reveal more and that's all because of her walls, she doesn't want to hurt the way she did when her mom died. He doesn't look angry anymore, but still confused, as if he can't quite figure her out and it kind of hurts because he's the only one who gets her. He's the only one who has been able to read her perfectly. It's the first thing that was so damn annoying about him, it was the one thing she constantly wanted to shoot him for. And now it feels like he's not able to read her at all. And it's her own fault. She messed it up by being with another guy, even though she knew her feelings for him were there. In one way that was why she got together with Demming, because she knew that if she was to give in to her feelings about Castle he'd be it. And she wasn't ready for something real. Still not sure she is but she's not ready to lose him either.

Kate starts fiddling with her fingers as she slowly closes the distance between her and his desk, feeling a strong dislike to being so far away from him now that she's actually trying to be brave and let him know of her feelings. Once she's standing at his desk she lets her fingers slightly touch the rough surface of the desk and a part of her wonders if he's been having a sword fight or something like that in that exact spot because there's no way the desk came with those small chirps of wood being chopped off.

"Kate, what are you saying? Really?" he suddenly says and she meets his eyes with her own.

She takes another deep breath. "He never got inside my walls, but you did, long before I even met him. Which is probably why I accepted him asking me out, because I needed…"

When she becomes quiet, he fills in. "Because you needed one foot out the door."

She nods, "Yeah."

He narrows his eyes as he keeps eye contact with her while standing up and carefully rounding the desk to stand in front of her, only a foot in between them. "And what about now?"

She bites her lower lip and sees his eyes flicking to her lip before looking into her eyes again. "I don't want one foot out the door anymore," she whispers and sees the uplift in his eyes before she takes a small step forward and lifts onto her toes to kiss the corner of his mouth, just barely touching his lips in case it would all fall apart.

When she falls back to her heels his mouth is chasing hers and kisses her properly, which speeds up her heart and makes her lose her breath. As he pulls away she's panting and to her relief so is he.

"Wow," she hears herself breathing out and he chuckles as he nods.

"Yeah."

She feels her lips pull up in a wide smile and sees his do the same. Before he can react or say anything else she's wrapping her arms around him, her fingers clenching into his shirt at his back and she's leaning her head onto his shoulder. She's closing her eyes when his arms wrap around her, pulling her closer into his embrace and she can feel his nose in her hair, drawing in her scent into his systems.

His voice is the one to break the silence after a long moment of them just holding onto each other. "So, does this mean you wanna stay for dinner?"

She opens her eyes and pulls away slightly, just enough to look at him. "I don't want to impose."

His smile doesn't falter and it makes her heart skip a beat. "You're not. Plus, I'd really like it if you stayed."

His smile is contagious and she feels her cheek burn as she's smiling back. "Okay," she whispers and sees his smile widen.

"Okay?" he repeats and she nods.

She carefully lifts herself up to kiss his lips again before she's willing to pull back and let him go. "So, what's for dinner then?" she asks as she starts to walk away from him only to feel his hand grabbing onto hers and spin her right back into him, claiming her lips with his.

His tongue is asking permission and she's not even hesitating about parting her lips for him. The second she can taste him she can hear herself let go of a small moan, and his fingers sneak into her hair, sending tingles down her body. When his other hand finds its way to her hip, where her shirt has been riding up a bit, she's gasping at the feeling of his touch against her skin. Her own hands find their way around his neck only to sneak into his hair too.

It feels weird, different than all the other kisses she's had. One part of her wonders if it's because she's considering him one of her best friends, and another part wonders if it's because she's… because she has feelings for him. She feels the fingers at her hip teasing her skin, burning it, and she's forgetting his daughter might be in the next room, forgetting she doesn't know where his mother is. She's pushing her body closer to his when she feels his fingers sneaking under her shirt at her back. His smile gets wider and pulls their lips apart, which has her smiling too.

"I can't believe I'm kissing the Kate Beckett," he says low and she's biting her lower lip. "Did I say that out loud?" he asks and she chuckles.

"Yeah, you did," she says and drags one hand out of his hair in order to rub his ear between her thumb and forefinger, feeling the shiver it sends down his body and makes a mental note of it. "But I'm guessing I can let it slide because I'm kissing the Richard Castle."

He chuckles and bends down to kiss her lips again before he's pulling away slightly. "I'm guessing we should start with dinner."

His fingers start moving circles on her back, sending shivers down her spine. "We won't go far if you keep your hand on my skin," she whispers and she smirks.

"Oh, really?" his fingers tease at the hem of her pants and she gasps at the tingles sent into her skin.

"Yes, really," she says and grabs his hand to pull it away from her lower back.

Once their hands are in between them she's intertwining their fingers and giving one quick peck to his lips. "Come on Castle," she tugs his hand as she's backing towards the door she came from.

"Wait," he stops her and she raises an eyebrow. "Is this really happening? I mean, are you really here? Or did I fall asleep while writing again and having another dream?"

"Yes, this is really… another?" she asks and his eyes widen.

"We-yeah."

She tries not to smile but the adorable 'caught in the act'-expression on his face is too hard to resist.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" he adds and she chuckles.

"No, I guess not," she says and tugs his hand again, this time to get him closer to her again. "You ready to make dinner now?"

"Not yet," he says and before she can question why he's kissing her lips again and she's laughing into his mouth. "Almost there," he whispers as he's still moving his mouth against hers and it makes her laugh even more. "Now I'm good, for now."

She shakes her head, he's so silly. And she feels silly too. How did she go from badass Beckett to soft Kate in less than an hour? They're walking out to the kitchen and to Kate's surprise neither redhead is to be found in the living area. As soon as the dinner is finished they both show up though. To Kate's relief there's no judging looks or anything like that, it actually feels pretty comfortable and family-like. The kind of dinner she hasn't had for a long time. It's nice.

"Thank you for dinner, I especially liked the sauce, Kate. How did you make it?" Alexis asks and Kate feels her cheeks turning a bit warm.

"Oh, it's a recipe my mom used every time my dad made steak."

"It truly is lovely darling," Martha pitches in. "You should come over and make it more often."

The look in the woman's eyes when she says it is making perfectly clear what she means.

"Mother," Castle says with a warning tone and the woman just waves it off.

"Can't blame a woman for trying," she says and takes a sip of her wine.

Kate's glad she didn't sip her wine, because if she had she would've spit it out again at the confidence in her partner's mother's voice. It was both refreshing and hilarious to have a mother figure that sure of herself in her presence again.

"Well, if it's okay with you guys I've got some homework to do and then I gotta go to bed, have an early class tomorrow. Kate," Alexis turns her attention to the detective, who suddenly feels a bit nervous. "It really is nice having you here."

Kate feels her cheeks blossom again. "Well, thank you for having me."

The girl smiles as she rises from the table and goes to put the dish in the dishwasher machine before she says goodnight and disappears up the stairs. It doesn't take long before the second redhead bids her goodnight as well and leaves the two of them to be alone in the living area.

"So detective, you care to play a game, perhaps scrabble?" Castle asks as innocently as he can, his hand reaching hers only to rub his fingers over the back of it, and Kate laughs while she shakes her head.

"You know, we still have an open case," she reminds him and he looks as if he tries to hide the fact that he actually did forget that.

"I know that, I just figured we could use a break," he states and she shakes her head with a smile on her lips.

The two of them stand from the table and start to take away everything that's left of the dinner as they continue to talk.

"Thanks Castle, but I need to get back at it. I've already had my break," she adds the last sentence a bit quieter and gives him a look that says she spent it on making everything right between them.

He looks a bit slumped and she feels disappointment herself, if only they didn't have an active case. Then there's something shining in his eyes and the look he gives her is so pure and filled with hope it makes her heart ache.

"But you still need to sleep, you can sleep here," he says and when she narrows her eyes he's holding his hands up in the air. "Sleep, I really mean sleep, nothing more."

She can't help but actually consider it. It would be nice to give in, to finally feel the arms around her that she has, secretly and unwillingly, dreamt about. But on the other hand, she did just break up with Demming, plus she doesn't have any clothes here or anything.

"I need to get home, but," she adds quickly when she sees his disappointment. "How about, when the case is over, you get to come over to my place and we can have a sleepover of our own, just you and me."

His face lights up before he pretends to consider the offer. "Yeah, that sounds good."

She smiles and walks up to him, her right hand automatically reaches out to touch the shirt over his chest. "Then it's a deal," she says and smooths out the fabric, not really sure why she does it though. "Thanks for dinner."

"Always, you're more than welcome to eat dinner with us again," Castle says. "You heard Alexis and mother, they want you here just as much as I do." The smirk on his lips is contagious and her lips end up in a pout as she tries not to mirror it.

"I need to go, I'll see you tomorrow?" It's more of a question than anything, still an uncertainty inside her from what happened earlier today.

He leans down and claims her lips with his in a very familiar yet electric kiss. Once he pulls away again he nods.

"See you tomorrow."

After another searing kiss Castle follows her to the door and lets her go after yet another kiss with the promise of a tomorrow. And deep inside they both know it's a promise of a tomorrow after that, and a tomorrow after that, and so on. Because even though they might stumble across more bumps down the road, they know they're both too stubborn to give up.

The end

A/N: So, I know it's been a long time, but hey, at least now you know I'm still writing. It just might take some time because I don't really have the time I would like to put on my writing, plus I have a tendency to always go into the flow at night time and that doesn't really work with my work schedule... Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this ficlet and that you still enjoy my fics even though it takes time for me to publish. Have a great day/week and I hope to "see" you soon! Until next time, xxxx