Castle startles out of his chair. She's already here? He makes his way to the door, tripping over his shoes that he doesn't remember leaving there. When he gets to the door, he checks through the peephole and sure enough, there's Kate, fidgeting on the other side. Wait, fidgeting? Since when does Beckett fidget? He opens the door, and for a few seconds, they just stand there, watching each other.

"You gonna let me in?" Kate asks, and Castle notices that she sounds almost… nervous. Nervous about what?

"Yeah, yeah. Come on in. You, uh, want something to drink?"

"Just water, please," Kate replies. Not sure what to do with herself, she follows him into the kitchen, leans against the counter as he gets her a glass. He gets two, fills them from the Brita and hands one to her.

"Shall we?" He gestures to the living room, and she follows him to the couch. They sit with a good amount of distance between them, an awkward silence that neither wants to break falling between them. Finally, they decide to break it at the same time.

"So what did…"

"I just wanted to…"

They stop and look at each other, a hint of amusement in their eyes.

"You first."

"Go ahead."

They both laugh, the tension letting up just a little.

"Alright, Castle. You texted me saying you wanted to talk. You start," Kate says, gesturing to him to go ahead.

"Ok. Fair enough. First of all, I wanted to apologize for my behavior these last two weeks. I know, Kate. I heard you tell Bobby that you remember your shooting. It hurt, to know that you had been lying to me, and I assumed it was because you were embarrassed, that you didn't return my feelings."

"Rick, I'm sor…" Kate tries to interrupt, but Castle holds up a hand, stopping her.

"Let me get this out, please. I acted like a jerk, and even if you didn't return my feelings, you didn't deserve that. I'm sorry." Kate stays quiet, but nods her head, accepting the apology. Castle takes a deep breath before continuing. "I also realized tonight, Kate, that I'm no better. I've been keeping something from you, too."

WHAT? "What? What are you…" Kate tries to spit out, mind spinning. What could he be hiding? What could be big enough to cause that trepidation she sees in his eyes, that fear.

"Maybe I'd better just show you," Castle says, standing and offering his hand to help her up. She takes it, and even in the tension of this moment, she feels the electricity, the spark produced by the contact of their skin. He leads her to his office, closes the door. She stops and watches him walk to his desk. He picks up the remote and hands it to her.

Kate takes a deep breath before clicking the button. She has an inkling of what the board might show, and she is proven right as the screen lights up. Her face in the middle, all the pieces of her moms case spread around it. HER moms case, the one she's been trying so hard to let go of, and he's been poking into it all along.

"Castle…" She closes her eyes, takes a calming breath before turning to him. "Castle, this has to stop." She walks over to him, puts a hand on his cheek. "You can't do this anymore. Do you understand?"

"You… You're not mad?" Castle asks, putting his hand over hers on his face. She jerks her hand away and stalks to the board before spinning around and glaring at him.

"Of course I'm mad, Castle! I'm pissed! You went behind my back, kept new information from me!"

"I only did it to pro…" Castle tries to defend himself before Kate continues her rant.

"I know why you did it! But did you think that dying to solve this would actually help me? What's the point in solving it if you die trying? THAT"S what makes me furious. You have a daughter, Rick. You wanna make her fatherless for this? Make your mother bury her only child?" She softens just a little as she walks closer to him, lowers her voice. "Make me go without my partner? My best friend? My…" She trails off, looking down at the floor.

"Your what, Kate?" He asks quietly, using a finger under her chin to raise her face up so he could see her eyes. She inhales shakily before taking a different route.

"Did you know I've still been in therapy, Castle? Dr. Burke and I, we talk about you," she admits, noticing the surprise in his eyes.

"You do?"

"Yes, Castle. We do. Wanna know why?" He nods his head silently. "He's been trying to help me move on. Let this case go, so I can be whole again. Have a real life. A life with you, Rick."

"A life…. With me?" He swallows, disbelief evident in his expression.

"With you. Because you are more important to me than a 13 year old cold case. Yes, it's my moms case, and yes, solving it might bring me closure, but at what cost? My life? Your life? Not worth it, Castle. It's not going to bring her back, I know that. And I'm realizing that she would want me happy. She would have loved you, I'm sure." She pauses, taking both of his hands in both of hers. "Do I sound like a woman embarrassed by your feelings, Rick? Like I don't feel the same way?"

"Is…" He starts, then realizes he needs to clear his throat. "Is that a rhetorical question?" He asks. She arches an eyebrow. "Ok, no, it's not. Then, no, Kate. That's not what it sounds like at all. I'm sorry for…" She shushes him with a finger on his lips.

"Enough apologies for tonight, Rick. We both messed up, ok? Not the first time, won't be the last. It might take a little while, but we'll get over it. Together," she drops his hands, wraps her arms around his waist. Castles arms find there way around her shoulders, holding her close.

"I'm so glad we got this all sorted out, Kate," he mumbles into her hair. "I though for sure we were done after this, that I'd screwed it up beyond repair."

"No, Castle. I love you too much to let you screw us up," Kate replies. She feels him tense up a little. Oh, she said that out loud? Hmm. Not as hard as she thought it would be. If anything, it was way easier. Natural. She tightened her grip on him before slipping out of his embrace. "Now, Castle. No more investigating?" He nods confirmation. "Ok. Then do what you have to do to get this off your board, then meet me on the couch. We can start on things we should have been doing for the last couple of years or so," she gives him a wink and a smirk before flitting (yes, flitting. That's how light she feels right now…) out of his office.

XXXXXXXXXX

Castle stands by his desk for a good 30 seconds, dumbfounded. What we should have been... What exactly does she mean by that? And did she really just say, out loud, that she loves him? His heartbeat speeds up at the thought. Then he snaps out of it, realizes that she's out in the living room, on his couch, waiting for him so they can...? He jumps into action, grabbing a flashdrive and clearing it. He saved the contents of the board onto it and locks it into his safe, just in case. They might need it, someday. He stares at the board for a moment, then deletes it. With the case gone, the outline for Nikki Heat pops up. Satisfied, he makes his way out of the office.

Once in the living room, he spots Kate right where she said she would be, on the couch, under a blanket. She has two glasses of wine sitting on the table, a bowl of kettle corn in her lap, and the universal remote in her hand. He stops and stares for a minute. Well, she works fast. "I thought we were..." Castle starts, but decides against finishing that sentence. She shoots him an amused look.

"Thought we were what, Castle? Never mind, don't answer that," she says when he gives her a leer. "Princess Bride. Classic. Come cuddle with me, Castle," she pats the couch next to her. Cuddle? With Kate? Don't mind if I do. He settles next to her, unsure of how close she wants him to be. She answers for him by snuggling in close to his side, grabbing his arm and putting it around her shoulders.

They get about half way through the movie, wine drained, kernels left in the bowl, before Castle notices a quiet snore. He looks down, in awe. Kate is sleeping, actually snoring (and drooling just a little, but he'll never tell...), on his chest.

He's not quite sure what to do about this situation. It's late enough that he doesn't want to wake her up and send her home. He doesn't think he could, anyway. He could carry her up to the guest room, but he's so tired he doesn't trust himself to get up the stairs without dropping her. The couch is comfortable, but if his mother comes home in the wee hours, which are fast approaching, Kate would be woken up.

Only one option left. He moves her ever so carefully, arranging her so he can pick her up without jolting her awake. Before picking her up, he shuts the entertainment system down, takes care of their dishes, and locks up. Standing by the couch once more, he allows himself a minute to watch her sleep. Beautiful. He bends down, gingerly picks her up, and makes his way to his room.

Castle carefully lays her down on his bed and removes her shoes. He doesn't want to disturb her, so instead of trying to get her under the covers, he grabs a blanket from a chair and settles it over her. He then climbs onto the bed with her, spooning up behind her with an arm around her waist. She burrows in, sighs as she grabs his hand and pulls it up to her face.

"Love you..." she mumbles sleepily. Castle practically melts right on the spot. He LOVES sleepy Kate.

"Love you, too," he whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She sighs again, and Castle falls asleep with a smile lighting up his face.

AN: Thanks to all of you who alerted/favorited/reviewed this story! I learned something important. Reviews really do make my day! :) Not sure if I should continue this or leave it as it is. I'll leave it open for now, but I may mark it complete if I can't think of where to take it from here. Review and let me know what you think!