Thanks again to all you lovely people who are taking the time to read this, I really appreciate it and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.

Beckett returned from taking the photo not long later to find that Castle had decided to get them both drinks from the bar as they'd left their previous ones unfinished so they could dance instead.

"Thanks," Beckett smiled, accepting the drink he offered before taking a sip.

They stood in silence for a minute until Castle spoke, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Beckett replied, nervous all of a sudden by what he could have been thinking about while she'd been gone.

"You said before you should've asked me to be your date instead of fake boyfriend, would you still have kissed me if that were the case?"

Beckett thought about replying with a joke about how they were now talking about a hypothetical situation but then she paused and thought about it and decided to tell the truth, "no, as much as I would've wanted to, I probably wouldn't have."

"So what you said before, about not realising you were ready until tonight, wouldn't have happened?"

"I don't think so. It was all the acting being in a relationship that made me realise that I wanted it now and it didn't scare me anymore because I knew you'd be there for me like you have been all night. If you had been my date tonight, that wouldn't have happened like that so I think it would've taken more courage than I'd have had to finally kiss you tonight." Wow, she really was being honest with him and Beckett found she loved it.

Castle smiled, glad she felt comfortable enough to be this open and honest with him now.

It was Beckett's turn to ask a question of her own before Castle could reply to what she'd just shared with him, "would you have kissed me tonight if I had asked you to be my date instead?"

Castle paused to think about his answer before he responded, how the night could've gone if that had been the case flashing through his mind, "no."

"No?"

"I would've wanted to obviously, but I wouldn't have kissed you, at least not while we were at the wedding."

"What about after then?" She was curious, wondering if he would've made the first move tonight if she hadn't in this hypothetical situation. Of course, it didn't matter now since they'd already kissed but Beckett was interested in what would've happened. She knew that Castle wouldn't have made a move on her without first being sure it was what she wanted but if Beckett had been the one to ask her out, would Castle have finally kissed her?

"After the wedding, I would've taken you back to your apartment, made sure you made it home okay."

"Such a gentleman," Beckett interrupted, laughing at him when he managed to look both proud and upset at her words.

"Of course I would've been, had to make sure it was a good date if I wanted another one," Castle replied. If this had been a real date and not just a fake one (although it was feeling like a proper date now) he would've done everything he could've to make a good impression to ensure that they got a second date and hopefully many more after that.

Beckett smiled, "sorry for interrupting, what would happen next?"

"I would've walked you up to your door, holding your hand if you'd have let me." He was painting a picture in his own head and he was loving what he was seeing.

"I would've let you," Beckett smiled shyly, her turn to imagine a different version of events that could've occurred tonight as he walked her to her door. He'd probably have been a nervous wreck and that made Beckett's smile widen.

Castle smiled in return, amazed that they could talk about this so easily now when yesterday things would've been completely different between them, still hiding from what they both wanted. "At your door, if I'd been brave enough, I would've said goodnight before I placed a gentle kiss on your cheek and then I would've left, hoping I hadn't read everything wrong and you did want me to kiss you."

The image he'd created was almost too much for her and Beckett found herself hoping that that's how tonight will actually end, although with preferably more kissing. And since she could now, she closed the distance between them, kissing him more thoroughly than in the story he'd created.

"I really like kissing you," Castle said when they broke apart, the thought just slipping out without his consent as their foreheads now rested together.

"Good," Beckett grinned, pressing another quick kiss to his lips, "because I like kissing you too."

Their confessions left them both grinning as they finally stepped apart, remembering they were still in a public place.

"Do you think we should go socialise with your friends?" Castle asked. Not that he wanted to, he was very much enjoying being alone with Beckett but she came here to see her friends and he felt bad for keeping her from them.

"No," Beckett said, pouting, Castle not exactly sure why.

"Are you okay?" Had he said or done something wrong?

"I'm just enjoying being alone with you is all," Beckett replied, blushing furiously, glad she'd left her hair down so she could use it to hide her face.

Castle smiled, relieved there was nothing wrong and glad she felt the same was as him, "I'm enjoying spending time with just you too and we'll have plenty of time later to be alone but right now you should spend time with your friends while you have the chance."

Beckett was glad he felt the same way but then she gave him a look and Castle thought back over his words before he realised what he'd said and smirked, "I meant we'd have time to spend alone together because we work together and see each other every day but I'm not opposed to doing what you're currently thinking about either."

Beckett was blushing again, caught as her thoughts had gotten away from her but she was happy at the prospect of spending time alone, proper time alone, in the future together.

"Come on," Castle said, smiling as he reached down to take her hand and she let him. It was different now, before was just pretend and they both knew that and were just playing along but it was good to know that now they were no longer pretending and they were both on the same page with their relationship. "Let's go talk to your friends, I don't want to be responsible for keeping you away from them all night."

"Do we really have to?" Beckett grumbled and Castle grinned at her as they now stood together holding hands, neither actually too keen to leave their little bubble of privacy, especially after being interrupted by Rob earlier.

"Yes, but I promise to stay with you the whole time, okay?" He didn't plan on leaving her side any time soon, as long as she let him stay with her, he planned on being with her forever.

"Promise?" Beckett asked, looking over at him with hope, wondering if she was reading more into his words than she should've been. But with the way he was currently looking at her, she was sure he wasn't just talking about staying with her tonight but in the future as well.

Castle couldn't help but think about how he was getting to see an entirely different side of Beckett and he loved it, amazed at how open she was being with him.

"I promise," he smiled, squeezing her hand to show meant it, he wasn't going to let her go for anything.

She smiled in return, letting him lead her over to where most of her friends were still talking after their photo.

Thoughts?