Castle waited patiently in silence for Beckett to continue. After having a talk with Lanie, Kate realized just how strong her feelings for Castle were. Having no apartment to go home to, Castle had offered her the guest bedroom in his massive apartment. She had been hesitant to accept his offer, worried that if they lived in the same apartment, things might go farther than she had planned this early in the game. Lanie had been informed by Castle of his offer and had sat Kate down that evening to talk to her. Lanie was convinced that staying with Castle was the best thing to do, and after a good heart to heart had finally convinced Kate to make a decision.

Making sure Lanie had left the room; Kate had pulled out her cell and quickly dialled Castle. After brief hellos, Kate had uttered the words Castle had been waiting to hear.

"I've made my decision"

Which brings us now to Castle's current silent waiting, giving Kate time to get out the words she wanted to say.

"I've decided..." Castle felt himself tense up in anticipation. "That I'm accepting your offer." Kate breathed a sigh of relief. That actually hadn't been that hard to get out.

"Yippy!!!" cried Castle, jumping up from his chair and dancing around the room. Kate laughed loudly over the phone over hearing his reaction.

"Calm down, Castle. A girl might think you're happy to have them staying with you." She joked.

"Oh but I am! I'm really glad you accepted my offer Kate, and I promise you won't regret it. I'll be the perfect gentlemen, I swear. I'll make you breakfast in the morning, and help you set up your stuff. And I promise no cuddling, touching or kissing unless you want to" Though she couldn't see Castle, she could feel his trademark grin through the phone.

"What makes you so sure I would want to kiss you Castle?" Kate teased.

"How could you not Detective? Are you forgetting about NY's most eligible bachelors list? If memory recalls you were mentioned to be romantically involved with me, were you not?" Castle teased right back.

Of course Kate remembered that article, how could she not? She had acted all mad at Castle for starting rumours about them being together, but on the inside she had been extremely flattered. Not only were half the women in New York jealous of her, but Castle himself had unknowingly started the rumour.

"I don't know what you're talking about Castle. All I remember was that you had a date with some blonde bimbo that didn't go so well."

"Do I detect some jealously there Beckett?" Kate blushed, grateful Castle couldn't see her.

"In your dreams Castle."

"You always are detective" came the smooth reply. Once again Kate felt her cheeks burn.

Choosing not to reply to his comment she changed the subject. "So what time can I come drop off my stuff?"

"Umm now?" Castle replied. The sooner she got here the better in his opinion.

"Castle, its 11 o'clock at night. I'm not going to come over and risk waking Alexis up on a school night."

Castle sighed. "Oh alright. How bout you pack your stuff in your car and bring it with you to the precinct tomorrow. I'll take a cab to the station, and then we can ride back to my place after work."

Kate considered his offer. "Okay Castle sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Good night detective, don't let the bed bugs bite." Kate rolled her eyes.

"Good night Castle."

The next day at the precinct seemed to go on forever. Kate had woken up to a nightmare in the middle of the night and hadn't been able to get back asleep since. Despite the at least six cups of coffee Castle had brought her that day, she could feel her lack of shut eye pressing down on her. She looked at her watch, almost five. Castle had stepped out to run some supposed errands and had promised to be back to take her home at 5:30. Home. Odd that she thought of it as home already and she hadn't even spent the night yet.

Castle had been bouncing around the precinct all morning with happiness at her acceptance. Though he had done his best to keep the reason for his excitement to himself, Esposito and Ryan had managed to squeeze it out of him. This of course prompted numerous inappropriate comments from the boys, which only stopped when Kate had threatened to shoot both of them in the nuts.

Just as she was finishing up her paperwork Castle came waltzing through the door, multiple bags in hand.

"Ready to go Beckett?" he asked. Kate eyes the bags suspiciously.

"That depends, what's in the bags?" Castle chuckled and held the bags further away from her.

"Just a little something to celebrate the Castle's new house guest." Kate smiled and adverted her gaze, feeling her cheeks begin to pink. Kate never used to blush as much as she did now since Castle had been in her life. "Now grab your coat and let's go. We have plenty to do once we get back to my place."

They spent the ride over chatting animatedly, listening to the radio and joking with each other. Before they knew it they had arrived and were taking Kate's boxes up to his sixth floor apartment. As soon as they were through the door, Martha and Alexis came running.

"Kate!" Alexis cried. "We're so glad you decided to stay with us!"

"Yes darling, it's always nice to add another woman to the Castle household. Especially one who knows how to keep this son of mine in check" added Martha, giving Kate a knowing look.

Kate smiled brightly. "Thank you Alexis, Martha. That means a lot to me to know I'm welcome here."

Alexis took some of the stuff from Kate's hand and began walking towards the stairs. "You're always welcome here Kate. My dad loves seeing you." Kate glanced over at Castle who was smiling embarrassingly.

"Right his way detective" said Rick as he gestured towards where Alexis had gone. The guest bedroom was located at the end of the hall across from Castle's master suite. Much like the rest of the apartment, the room was decorated practically with a certain distinguished creative flair. In the center of the room against one of the walls was a king size bed. The bedspread was shimmery beige with a delicate wine coloured print, with wine and beige pillows coloured pillows completing the look. To the right of the bed was a large cherry armoire and drawer set where she could hang her things, and a big mirror placed on the wall just about the dresser. On the left and back walls were beautiful French style windows presenting her with a magnificent view of New York's skyline. A large wooden trunk was nestled under the windows, accompanying a tall green potted plant. Beside the bed on the left side was her nightstand, complete with a lamp and alarm clock. A few art pieces covered the walls, mostly prints of fall scenes with complimentary colours. All in all the room was beautiful. It had just the right amount of Castle in it without it feeling too over the top.

Kate set down her boxes at the end of the bed, and climbed up on to it. As soon as she hit the bed, she could feel how soft it was. She sighed in contentment as her body was enveloped within the bed's comfy covers. After a long day at the precinct, a bed like this was just what she needed.

"In bed already detective?" asked Castle from the doorway. Kate lifted her head to see his leaning against the frame, giving her his trademark Castle grin.

"It's been a long day Castle; I was just trying to relax." Castle left the doorway and came to sit beside her on the bed.

"I've got about an hour to kill while dinners cooking, did you need some help putting you stuff away?" he asked. Kate sat up and grinned at him mischievously.

"Why Castle, so you can know where I keep my underwear?" Kate could feel the heat rise in their gaze. Castle leaned closer, his nose barely an inch away from hers.

"I'm not interested in your underwear unless I'm stripping it off your body as we're making love." Castle's eyes burned right through her, as she let out an involuntary shiver. The sparks that had been flying had started a slow burn deep within her belly, and was begging for fuel. The couple leaned closer, lips centimetres apart. Kate's gaze flicked down to Castle's lips just as Alexis called from downstairs.

"Dad! I can't figure out how to open the wine you bought. Can you come help?" Castle sighed and the couple drew apart reluctantly, their gazes still trained on each other.

"I'll be there in a minute Alexis!" Castle looked over at Kate, "It seems duty calls my dear detective, call me if you need anything." Castle leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her cheek and left to help Alexis with her wine bottle problem.

Kate sat there in silence, absorbing the moment that just occurred between them. It was her first night at Castle's place, and already they had come dangerously close to stepping into the boundaries of 'more than friends'. Though she had admitted to Lanie that she wanted to maybe go in that direction, she hadn't planned on it going that way so soon and so fast. Deciding she needed a distraction, she put her ear buds from her I-pod in and started rummaging through her boxes. With any luck, she could have it all put away by the time dinner was ready.

Dinner had been absolutely amazing. Castle had gone out and purchased some New York cut steaks and had a made fresh vegetables and baked potatoes with the works to go with it. The wine he had chosen had gone done smooth, and Kate was surprised that between Martha, Rick and herself they had gone through two bottles of the stuff. After dinner they had settled down on the couch to watch the Olympics until Alexis had decided to go up to bed. The parting of the youngest Castle seemed to be a signal to the rest of them to pack it in for the night, and Kate got up to help put away the dessert dishes.

Wishing both Castle and Martha a good night, Kate retreated to her new room and quickly changed into sleep shorts and an old NYPD t-shirt. Settling down into the comfort of her new mattress, it wasn't long until she found herself drifting off into sleep.

enjoyed it.

Flames crackled and popped all around her limiting her ability to escape. Thick black smoke filled the room making it almost impossible to see, let alone breathe. As she desperately scrambled around the space of her old apartment she could hear an eerie cackling echoing around the room. Someone was there with her. Someone knew she was dying, and

She could feel the smoke thicken as her eyes and throat burned. She tried desperately to find a way out, but the flames continued to grow. The harder she tried to escape the larger and hotter the flames grew until she could feel the flames begin to sear here skin. She tried desperately to avoid the sharp singe of the flames but a hand was holding her, thrusting her towards her death. In a last attempt to get free Kate kicked at the presence behind her and screamed.

Kate's shot up from bed, cold sweat dripping down her face. She had a moment of pure fear when she didn't recognize her surroundings until reality set in and she realized she had had another nightmare. Attempting to get her breathing under control she brought her knees up and rested her head on them. Though she had told everyone she was fine after the accident, her subconscious seemed to be telling her otherwise. She had been lucky enough to escape the wack job's first attempt at her life, but the back of her mind was wondering whether she'd be ask lucky the next time.

As her breathing began to return to normal, she heard a soft knock at the door. "Kate?" came a voice from the darkness, unmistakably Castle's. She had hoped she hadn't screamed that loud, but she should have known Castle would hear her and come to the rescue.

"You can come in Castle." She heard the door shut softly, his feet quietly padding across the carpet towards the bed. She leaned over and turned the bedside lamp on so they could see each other. Castle looked carefully into Kate's eyes, judging what he saw before speaking again.

"Did you have another nightmare?" he asked concern thick in his voice. Kate had told him before about the nightmares she sometimes had after a bad case. "Was it about...about the fire?" Kate eyes filled slightly with tears as she nodded. Not wanting for him to see her tears she buried her head in her arms. Castle scooted over and wrapped his arms around her curled up form. "Shhhh, its okay Kate, let it out. I can only imagine what you're going through right now."

Kate attempted to hold back her tears, but Castle's comforting presence wouldn't allow it. As the tears slowly ran down her face, she leaned in to Castle, relishing in his strong arms and sturdy frame. He sat there, holding her as she cried, slowly rubbing circles into her back. It was rare to see Kate Beckett cry, but he knew that when she did, she really needed to let it out.

They sat there for what felt like hours, cradled in each other's arms, until Kate's sniffing subsided. Castle reached over and handed her some Kleenex letting go so she could blow her nose. Kate got up from the bed and made her way over to the door. Feeling Castle rise behind her she turned around and looked at him with tear stained cheeks. He had been expecting her to want him to leave, now that she was okay but she shook her head no. A silent understanding passed between them, and Castle settled back down into the bed, drawing the covers over his legs.

When Kate returned from the bathroom, her cheeks glowed pink from her scrubbing the tears away. She gave Castle a watery smile and made her way over to the other side of the bed. Shutting off the light she settled in, pulling the covers and Castle's arm around her. She could feel him tense slightly as he came to rest against her, but quickly relaxed once Kate snuggled into him. As his warmth enveloped them, Kate turned her head towards him, hoping he was still awake.

"Castle?" she whispered.

"Yes?" came the equally quiet reply.

"Thank you, for everything. I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you." Kate felt Castle chuckle softly behind her.

"No need ghost rider." He said referring to the nickname he gave her when she had attempted discussing paying him back the 100 grand he had used to find Rathbourne. "Having you here with me is enough." Kate smiled, blushing deeply in the dark. She placed a soft kiss on his hand, and she linked her fingers with his, drawing his arm tighter around her. Wrapped in the comfort of his arms, Kate was able to return to the land of slumber until her alarm went off the next morning.

Hoped you enjoyed it! Plz review and let me know how I did. Feel free to add any suggestions! -xoxo