Kate tossed and turned all night. The three times she'd actually fallen asleep she had the recurring nightmare. As always, her mother was warning her that she was making a mistake. Around 4am she woke from another bad dream, this time in a cold sweat.

By 5:30 she was on her third cup of coffee and staring at her murder board.

"Yo, Beckett. Got a minute?" Javier asked when he got into the office.

"Of course." She narrowed her gaze, suddenly aware of how nervous Esposito was.

Javier knotted his fingers and kicked at the floor nervously. "I know about you and Lucas… I know you wanna get married, Beckett. But you don't know this guy. So marry me instead."

"What?" She asked, practically spitting out her coffee in surprise.

"I know we aren't… you know. But I care about you and I'd take care of you…"

"Javi, I'm not going to marry you. For starters, it's not fair to you. But mostly, they'll make you change departments and I'm not losing you as a detective."

Javier nodded, his gaze on the floor. "Do you really think you'll marry him?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "It's been nice spending time with him but I don't really know him well enough—"

"What does Castle say?" Esposito pressed.

"Was he supposed to say something?"

"I was just curious." Esposito wondered why Castle hadn't stepped up. Esposito knew Castle had feelings for Beckett since he started with the 12th precinct four years ago. Esposito also knew Beckett had feelings for him, too.

Castle handed Kate a coffee when he came in, a large this time. "How are those dreams?" He asked, his voice low.

"Barely slept again last night. This is my seventh cup of coffee," she admitted, raising her cup in a mock cheers and taking a sip.

"That's probably not great. What do you think the dream means?" He wanted to ask her directly if she found a connection between the dreams and the proposal. Really, he wanted to urge her not to do it. He wanted to demand she didn't. But he knew it didn't work that way.

"Castle, it was just a dream. Dreams don't have meanings."

"Isn't it exhausting always being so skeptical?"

After a few hours, Castle stood and grabbed his coat. "I've got to meet my mother for lunch," he said, rolling her eyes.

"That's okay, I have plans anyway."

"With Lucas?"

"Yeah, we've been spending a lot of time together," she confessed.

"You should if you're going to marry the guy," he grumbled under his breath.

"I haven't decided anything," she sighed. She was tired of these types of reactions. She wasn't thrilled at how it had all happened herself; she thought she'd fall in love but it just hadn't happened. She kept men at a distance so she couldn't pretend the idea of a husband who was kept at arms length appealed to her. Still, she'd never stopped dreaming about a man who could see the real her, the woman behind the walls.

Castle let it go. He was already late for lunch with his mother, who was guaranteed to mention it. He also knew there was a limited amount of time that Kate would discuss matters such as this. Any longer and she became guarded and closed off.

"You look beautiful." Lucas spoke softly as he held Kate's chair out for her. Kate felt her cheeks heat from the blush that spread across her face.

All Kate could muster was a simple thank you. She enjoyed spending time with him but there were no butterflies or sparks. It felt more like a business transaction than a romance.

"Have you thought about the pact?" He asked as he took a bite of his food.

"That's all I can think about," she admitted.

"So you've decided?" His face lit up, making Kate feel worse.

"Not yet. It's a big decision," she reminded him.

"Are there any questions you have? Anything I can say to make your decision easier?"

"Why do you want this so badly? I mean, why did you want to keep that pact?"

"It was fate that we're both single but I wanted you because, well, look at you. You're gorgeous. You're smart. You're driven."

Kate sat back in her seat. She knew she should feel flattered but something just didn't seem right.

Later that night, Kate had just changed into pajamas when there was a knock at her door.

"Castle? What are you doing here?"

"It occurred to me," he began as he stepped inside her apartment, "that I might be able to help your nightmares. You see, when Alexis was a little girl she had night terrors. I used to stay awake beside her and wake her if she started to have a nightmare. She'd just fall back asleep."

"Alexis was a little girl. I'm a grown woman," she reminded him.

"A nightmare is a nightmare."

"Castle, I'm too tired to fight you," she whined.

"My point exactly." He lifted a shopping bag, "I brought gifts." He pulled out melatonin tea, a set of new pajamas and a throw blanket.

"Castle, this is—"

"The sales lady said those pajamas are the most comfortable ones they sell. It isn't weird—"

"No, no, it's not weird. It's sweet."

"Go change. I'll make your tea…" when Kate sauntered off Castle spoke louder. "It's supposed to be the best."

"I tried tea last night," she said as she returned to the living room. "It didn't work."

"I have a feeling it'll work this time," he said with a wink.

"You aren't really going to stay awake all night, are you?"

"If that's what it takes. You've gone days without sleep. I can handle one night."

Castle couldn't believe it when Kate tucked herself against Castle, her head resting on his chest. He tried not to overthink it. It could be purely platonic.

In the early morning hours she began to move in her sleep, her head jerking and her hand reaching for something unknown. Castle stroked her face gently. "It's okay, Kate. It's alright." When that didn't calm her down he shook her gently. "Kate… Kate, wake up! You're having a nightmare." She awoke with a jump; she clung to his neck the same way Alexis did as a child. When he wrapped his arms around her, he felt her trembling. "Hey, shhh… it's okay."

Kate nodded, trying to calm herself down. When Castle loosened his embrace she leaned forward, her lips colliding with his. He kissed her back, his tongue brushing against her lower lip, desperate for entry. He grabbed fistfuls of her hair, eliciting a moan from her.

When she tried to lift his shirt over his head he stopped suddenly. "I'm sorry, Kate. I can't do this. Not… not now…" He quickly got dressed and scurried out of the apartment.

He wanted to keep going; of course he did. He wanted to make love to her until she couldn't deny her feelings any longer. He wanted to make her see how much he loved her. But he didn't want it this way. He knew it could easily be perceived as him being jealous of Lucas and he refused to let that happen.

That night, Kate tossed and turned for entirely different reasons. She had never felt the humiliation of rejection so strongly before. She'd never had so many unanswered questions before. As much as she tried to shake it out of her head, she couldn't stop wondering if Lucas was the better bet.