A/N: Omg, thank you guys so much for all of the positive feedback! I wasn't expecting so many comments lol so thank you guys so much! I hope you like this chapter, I actually changed a couple things in the first chapter to make this one make more sense because I'd changed my mind on something I'd decided to put in the story. Let me know what you guys think!

P.S. These characters do not belong to me, I own nothing but the words I've just written about them!

The entire ride over was silent, and Kate bit her lip because there was so much to be said, so many words when they couldn't be said at all. She couldn't excuse her behavior; no matter how much she'd wanted it, the kiss, Castle, she was not a single woman. Josh was going to be heartbroken when she told him. She thought about him, and about Castle as she drove on and when she pulled to a stop at her destination she just sat there with the car running, her hands in her lap and she stared at them. She couldn't say what she wanted to say but she felt like she needed to say something, it was so awkward being silent like this. She took a deep breath and held it for a moment, trying to work up the courage. And just when she was going to say something, anything, she simply closed her mouth, took the keys from the ignition and stepped out of the car. Castle followed.

When they approached the scene, Lanie was wearing a serious look on her face as she addressed Kate. "Girl, you are not gonna believe this," she said as she waved them over.

"What is it, Lanie?"

"I found marks on the body of Marissa Copeck and on the body of Adam Turner that indicate that they were both drugged before they were killed."

"And what makes you think their murders are related?" Kate asked, confused, but interested.

"Take a look at this." She pointed at the mans shirtless torso, and there sat two glistening stab wounds, perfectly aligned on his right lower abdomen.

"Oh, my God.." Kate trailed off as she looked up at the M.E.

Beckett was back at the precinct, sitting in front of the white board and trying to take in all of the information they'd gathered over the last couple of hours...and listening to the sound of her stomach growl. She was hungry, but she'd put that aside to try and sort through what she could to bring this case some justice. Lanie had inspected the bodies further and found that not only had they both been murdered within a 40 minute time frame, Adam's hands had been scrubbed clean...postmortem. They suspected this was because the victim had fought back, the scrubbing of his hands indicating that the suspects skin had been left under his nails.

This meant they needed to find their killer, and quick, before the defensive wounds were nursed back to health. Only they had nothing to go on. The boyfriend had been picked up, and had admitted to leaving town because he'd stolen money from a "friend". He was trying to hide it but she told him to save it, that she wasn't interested in what he'd stolen, that she was only interested in how his girlfriend was murdered and where her killer was. He'd been shocked to learn the news, though he showed little interest. He said they'd been more like, "fuck buddies" because even though they labeled themselves as such, she wasn't a very good girlfriend. She'd been having an affair for 3 months that he knew of, and he'd not spoken to her since the day they broke up- 3 weeks ago. She knew he didn't kill her.

So there lay another dead end. There were no prints left on either body or at either crime scenes, so all they could do for now was interview family and friends to see what was going on and how the two vics were related. Ryan and Espo were on it, and Castle was...where was Castle?

Kate turned her head just in time to see him round the corner with a coffee from the break room for each of them and a smile on his face. He had that look in his eyes again. Like he knew things. She couldn't take her eyes from his as she thought about this, and then she remembered the moan she'd made twice this week, louder the second time, but both for Castle..

"What," Castle asked casually, a concerned look on his face now. He was standing beside her, her coffee stretched out to her, and she took it from his hands. Her fingers brushed his but she avoided eye contact, knowing she'd get lost in them again and thinking of the awkward car ride they'd recently endured. She sipped her coffee and returned her attention to the white board.

"Nothin', just thinking about this case. I feel like it's just completely shifted gears and we've got nothing to go on. I don't know what to do," this wasn't a total lie, just not what she'd been thinking of at that exact moment. Castle took a seat on the edge of the desk beside her.

"Well. It's getting late. What do you say we go home and get some rest, sleep on it, and get back here first thing in the morning with fresh minds," he asked her with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Actually, that sounds perfect. It's been a long day," she emptied her coffee cup and then carried it to the break room, butterflies swirling in her stomach since he'd uttered the words 'sleep on it'. Like he meant together. What was wrong with her?

"You know what," she said when she noticed Castle had followed her, "I'm starving. You wanna come over and order in? We can..talk about the case," she added as an afterthought.

His smile was devious. "Order in? You don't have to ask me twice,"

They sat on her couch, Kate with her legs pulled up under her "Indian-style", and Castle with both legs planted firmly on the floor while they munched on the last few bites of their Chinese take-out dinner.

"You know, you didn't have to pay for this. I invited you, remember?" she said as she popped a piece of general tso's chicken in her mouth.

"So? I like paying. And besides, I think I owe it to you after we've sat here for at least two hours and all I've come up with is angry alien stories and government conspiracy theories."

"Castle, that's like, every day," she laughed as she said it and then leaned over to grab a bite of his black pepper chicken. He watched her as she did this, a smile on his face, and she tensed when she realized what she was doing. She always ate from Josh's food when they ordered in and he hated it, but the fact that Castle was looking at her with that adoring smile right now was melting her. She looked up at him, and then quickly popped it into her mouth and smiled.

"What?" she was trying to act casual but she knew it had to be so obvious to him that she was embarrassed.

"Nothing, you're just adorable. That's all," he took another bite as he said this, and watched her face, and she knew he was waiting to see how she'd react. He'd told her things like this before, told her she was beautiful, cute, sexy...but this was the first time since they'd shared the kisses and even though it'd only been within the past few days, things were already so different.

A small smile played on her lips at the direction her thoughts were going and then she was startled by the sound of her cell phone ringing. And she wasn't jumpy because there might be news about the case, she was jumpy because it was Josh's ringtone, going off while she was sitting on her couch, flirting with Castle and eating his chicken- all the while thinking about the intense kisses they'd recently shared while Josh, her boyfriend, was out of town. After a quick glance at Castle, she stood up and reached to answer her phone.

"Hey," she answered it like she always did, trying to sound normal.

"Hey, babe, what's up," she heard him breath into the phone. She thought about how different she felt when Josh called compared to when Castle's face lit up her iPhone screen. It wasn't right, the way she was treating Josh and she needed to do something about it. That's why she'd left him the voice mail in the first place.

"Nothing, I'm just eating dinner, about to head to bed. I have a big case I have to get a head start on in the morning. But I called because.. I wanted to know if you'd be back by lunchtime tomorrow?" she said the words, and though Josh had no idea what they meant, she knew Castle knew and when she turned to look at Castle's face she found his eyes already on hers. His expression was blank and that worried her. She turned around to finish the conversation, unable to concentrate with Castle's eyes boring into her.

"Yeah, I'll be back by then. You wanna meet at that new restaurant? The one by the precinct?"

"Yeah, yeah. I can probably be there around noon, depending on how the case goes but I'll call or text you to let you know what's going on." She thought about how she sounded to Castle, only being able to hear her side of the conversation. "Okay. You, too. Drive safe. Mm, bye."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she turned around and returned to her spot on the couch. She didn't reach to pick her dinner back up, just pulled her legs underneath her again and met Castle's gaze.

"Everything alright?" he asked her, dutifully playing the 'I wasn't listening' card when there'd been no possible way to avoid it.

"Yeah, I just.." she trailed off, a small laugh sniffling out of her as she stared down at her hands, not knowing what to say.

"Kate...If it's...I wasn't even thinking of Josh, I shouldn't have- ...not while you're with someone else." She gave him her best 'don't bullshit me' look.

"I kissed you back, Castle," she said quietly, returning her gaze to her lap after a moment. She sat there thinking about how Josh was nothing but sweet to her the entire time she'd been with him. She wasn't the cheating type, and though she didn't think he'd believe that of her once she told him, she still felt bad that it'd happened. She still couldn't believe it, she rubbed her hands over her face lightly, and dropped them back in her lap as she thought of what had happened here only hours earlier. Castle. His lips on hers, his tongue in her mouth, his hands in her hair as he pressed her back into her fridge.

She looked up at him then, and her eyes were dark. His gaze was fixed on the coffee table, on the meal they'd just shared and she took in every inch of his face. His eyes, his lashes, drooping down to brush his cheeks each time he blinked. The curve of his jaw that met his neck, the hair that swept over the top of his ear. She wanted to bite it. His ear, his neck, his lips. She wanted to crawl over to him and slide into his lap and kiss him until she was dizzy. And then she wanted him to pick her up and take her to her bed and touch her all over. She wanted-

Her thoughts were abruptly stopped when he glanced up at her, that same dark look in his eyes and she knew she needed to go to bed. Alone. Now. Before things got out of hand.

She took a deep breath and stood up, stretching to try and act normal. "I think I'm gonna head to bed, Castle, we've got an early start tomorrow." And I really, really want to kiss you so please get out of my house before I pounce on you.

"Okay," He said, his expression blank before he smiled at her. He gathered up all the empty containers on her table and threw them into the bag the take-out had come in. He carried it into the kitchen to throw away and she carried the leftovers to the fridge.

"You wanna take any of this home?" She asked before she stuck the boxes inside, remembering he'd paid tonight.

"No, you keep it. Maybe we can finish it together..some..time soon. I don't know." He looked to the side awkwardly and then returned his gaze to her before he smiled and turned away. She followed him to the door and smiled when he turned around with that shy, embarrassed look on his face. "So..goodnight?"

"Goodnight, Castle," her eyes involuntarily moved from his eyes to his mouth and back up, and she licked her lips with a flick of her tongue. He watched her for a moment, and then walked away with a smile and wave after he muttered one last, "night, Beckett". She shut the door and locked it, and rested her head on the cool wood, wondering what the hell had gotten into her. She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth and thought seriously about asking Castle if he wanted to play a board game before he went home. She stood up straight then, a look of confusion on her face.

"Go to bed, Kate," she said, and then stripped her shirt over her head as she walked to her bedroom thinking about Castle.

Ahh, leave me reviews and let me know what you think! Do you like where the story's heading? I have some ideas that I can't wait to share with you guys!