Okay, here we go, still own nothing...

A pint of ice cream and a few movies later, Kate looked at the clock. It was close to midnight, and in her mind she was going back to the precinct tomorrow morning to start looking for the person who hired Dick Coonan. She gently slid her ice cream bowl onto the table and gently tried to extract herself from Rick's sleepy embrace. Wait a second, Castle, not Rick. When do I call him Rick?

She almost yelped when his arm tightened at her efforts to extract herself. He mumbled at her, barely coherent.

"Mmmm, where d'you think you're goin?"

Kate smiled inwardly at his arm wrapped possessively around her stomach. She brushed the hair out of her face and turned to look at Castle.

"I have to go, I need to be fresh to start tracking Coonan's trail in a few hours."

Castle shook his head and clutched her a bit tighter.

"Kate, the captain told me not to let you back in that precinct for a few days. At least until they can clean the blood off of the floor."

Kate looked at him, a bit irritated that the chief was making decisions for her. But hey, she knew that she needed the time, even if she wouldn't admit it to herself.

"Ok then, but I'm still going to get some sleep in that case."

Castle mumbled in his daze.

"There's some pillows and blankets in the basket next to you."

Kate's chest got tight for a moment. Had he just asked her to stay the night? Did he realize what he had just asked?

Then her rational side kicked in. Just take it as it is. He's just offering to let you stay here because you're here already, you were comfortable, plus he's got a thing for you. Lets just see where I let it go.

"Castle, I need to lean over to get said pillows and blankets."

Castle mumbled something that sounded like "fine" and relinquished his grip on her momentarily. She leaned over and saw the woven, wicker basket which neatly stored all of his pillows and blankets. Had to be Alexis' or Martha's doing. She grabbed a big, beige, fuzzy fleece blanket and a few nice pillows.

She moved back against Castle and pulled his arm back around her. She put a pillow under her head, put one in Rick's face (which he promptly stuffed under his head without really waking up) and threw the blanket over the two of them.

His fingers lightly traced along her side for a few moments. Kate sighed in a comfort, and allowed herself to lean into him a little more. His arm tightened back to its original possessive grip. Within moments, his hand had stopped, and she heard his breathing take on a perfectly regular rhythm. She knew he was asleep, and it was only a few minutes before she succumbed to its sweet embrace herself.

That night, Kate didn't dream of murderers or loneliness. That night, Kate slept through the whole night without waking up to splash water on her face and cool herself down. She had everything she needed, and strangely enough, it didn't scare her one bit.

The next morning, Kate woke up to the enticing smells of a continental breakfast. She smelled the delicious smells of bacon and eggs, mixing with all sorts of fresh fruits, and the decadent smell of cinnamon. Of course, she also smelled the coffee that someone had put on.

She opened her eyes to find herself alone on the couch. She gently moved the blanket off herself, and stood up to stretch. She turned, surprised to see Castle in the kitchen making everything. She went and poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot that was set on the counter and just sat there watching Castle cook, oblivious to the fact that she was up.

She waited until he put all sharp and hot things out of his reach before she cleared her throat.

"Good morning, Castle."

She let out a little chuckle as he nearly jumped out of his skin. She was glad to have the foresight to not let him have something in his hand. He looked at her, awestruck for a moment.

She looked amazing, at least Castle thought so. Her hair was tousled from having slept on it, and she looked more beautiful than he remembered. To see her here, having just spent the night, looking at him with that smile, was more than he could ask for. He finally shook himself enough to have the sense to respond.

"Good morning Kate. You know, we just spent the night together, I think you can call me Rick now."

Kate looked at him and rolled her eyes. Typical.

"We didn't sleep together, Castle."

Castle looked at her and grinned.

"Oh but we did, we were both asleep at the same time. I'd call that sleeping together."

Kate chided him. Two could play this game.

"Alright then, Ricky, whatever you say. But you do not get to say that we 'slept together' at the precinct. Although we both know what happened, the phrase has certain connotations."

Castle just smiled and nodded as the timer went off on his stove. He reached into the oven and pulled out a fresh batch of home made cinnamon rolls. Kate's mouth watered in anticipation. She didn't realize how much the last two days had wiped her out, and she could use a good meal right about now. Castle called up to his daughter to come downstairs for breakfast.

"What do we have this morning dad? Smells really good! I have something I want to...Oh, hi Detective, I wasn't expecting you!"

Alexis greeted Kate with an excited smile and big eyes. She went over and gave the detective a hug, and went to help herself to breakfast.

Castle looked over with a smile.

"Well Kate, dig in!"

After a huge portion of everything on the table, Alexis excused herself to go meet her friend at the mall. She gave her father a hug and a kiss, and gave kate a quick squeeze before she left. Kate couldn't help feeling a connection to the young Castle, she was wise beyond her years. On her way out the door, she spoke to her father.

"Dad, do me a favor and don't be stupid, ok?"

Castle looked at his daughter, not understanding what she meant. He was confused when Kate giggled at her impromptu command. Wait, Kate giggled? Something's weird here. Alexis clicked the door closed. Kate turned to look at him.

"Yeah, Castle, you heard her. Don't be an idiot...i know its hard but I bet you can try."

Castle faked a hurt expression as best he could.

"Why does everyone think I'm stupid? Wait don't answer that."

Castle saw the gleam in Kate's eye when asked to explain. He decided to nip that right in the bud. His pride was hurt enough as it is.

"I'm sorry, Castle, sometimes you're too easy. Thank you for breakfast, though. It was great. I would like to go home so I can shower and change. That is, provided you don't have some sort of scheme to keep me trapped here for a few more hours?"

It was half joke, half plea. She wanted nothing more than to stay and spend time with him, but she couldn't do that. He needed to realize what was going on, and if he couldn't see it, then Kate wanted no part in it. Castle gave her a slightly puzzled look.

"No, I don't, I was however wondering if you skated? They have Rockefeller Center iced over right now, and I thought we could make the most of our few days off."

Kate looked at him and wondered if he knew she loved to skate. Her russian heritage really shone through in her love of all things winter-related. Maybe he had seen the pair of skates at her apartment?

"I'd love to Castle, just let me go and get showered and changed."

Castle went in for a hug before she left. He held her tight and whispered to her,

"So I'll pick you up around ten?"

Kate pulled slightly from the embrace, their arms still gently wrapped around each other. Thats when Kate got a devilish idea.

She leaned in and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"Its a date, Rick."

Castle stood there, dumbfounded, as she walked out the door.

"A date it is."

He said it to no one in particular, but he liked the way it sounded.