Castle didn't slow down until he got to the bottom of the stairs. He leaned his head against the wall and berated himself for being an idiot. He couldn't decide if the stupid action had been kissing Kate or running away, but he felt certain he'd just made some kind of huge mistake. His instinct was to sprint back upstairs to declare his undying love with flowers, chocolate and a stringed quartet, but he knew Kate well enough to know that even if he had any of those things handy, she didn't want grand romantic gestures. The little ones meant much more to her. Castle couldn't think of any little gestures that he could use today, but he was determined to keep their boundaries where Kate had just moved them to.

He started by cleaning up the rest of the shattered glass. Then he killed time while thinking up and rejecting plans, slowly cleaning all of the parts of the apartment that hadn't gotten attention while he'd been so focused on Kate. He had just started dusting the bookshelf in his office when he realized Kate was leaning against the door, watching him with a contented smile.

"Hey, you're up. And looking much happier with life." Castle set down the duster and walked over to her, stopping a step closer than he previously would've but carefully not reaching out to touch her. She stood up straight, which brought them slightly closer still.

"I'm moving back to my apartment tonight."

Her words cut through his happy mood like a storm cloud covering the sun.

"Why?" He tried to keep the bitter disappointment out of his voice in case he was misreading the situation, but he couldn't resist taking half a step backwards. Kate stepped towards him as she snagged his hand and put it against her cheek. Castle felt the pressure on his chest loosen as he started breathing again.

"Because I need to regain my independence before anything more happens between us. You love me too much to let me struggle and I love you too much to make you make me work for it."

Castle couldn't find any words for a long moment, so he settled for stroking her cheek with the hand she was holding. He swallowed and opened his mouth several times, but the strange mix of hope and despair wouldn't resolve itself into a question. Kate stepped closer until she had Castle backed against the wall, stopping so close he could feel her breath on his neck.

"I want to be very clear about this. I am not rejecting you. I am not running away and I am not hiding. I am moving back to my apartment because if I don't, I'd probably be in your bed by the end of the week and I don't want to ruin our shot by moving too fast."

Castle felt his brain short-circuit at the image of Kate in his bed. His mouth dropped open as his eyes misted over. Kate laughed and kissed his cheek.

"I'm going to go pack my things. I called Lanie to pick me up after work." Castle woke up as Kate turned to walk away.

"I can give you a ride."

"I'll bet you can." Castle didn't think he'd ever seen anything hotter than Kate Beckett leering at him with a grin. "But in the interest of taking things at a sane speed, I'm going to avoid being alone in my apartment with you. I'll call you tonight to let you know I'm okay."

Castle couldn't help but notice the way she sauntered proudly off, victor in this minor skirmish. Her swagger had her hips moving in a way that convinced Castle that he needed to go take a cold shower. Now.

He abandoned the dusting as a lost cause.