Kate was exhausted. This case was so close to being done after she and Colin crashed Windham's ball. But something with Castle was still off and it unnerved her. She couldn't stop thinking about it and she was struggling to focus on the case. She needed to fix whatever was going on with Castle so she decided to drop Colin at the precinct and head straight to the loft.

She looked down at herself as she stood outside of his door still in that gorgeous dress. She should have stopped to change but the desire to see Castle was driving her. Taking a deep breath she knocked.

Castle opened the door and the smirk on his face dimmed. "Kate?"

"Hey, Castle. Can we talk for a minute?"

"Um, yeah, I guess." He said as he allowed her to enter the loft gazing at her as she walked passed him in that dress. She was stunning and he had to catch his breath. "Is this about the case?"

"No. It's something else." She turned around to face him and quickly realized she didn't know how to do this. Didn't know where or how to start. She didn't have a plan when she decided to talk to him. She just knew she needed to see him and to, hopefully, get whatever this thing was behind them.

As she took another deep breath she realized that the lighting in his apartment was dimmed and there was music softly playing.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Her heart pounded in her chest and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear his answer. What if Jacinda was there?

"What? No, no. Mother and Alexis are both out and I was trying to get some writing done." He looked at her, puzzled by the look of worry on her face. He was done trying to distract himself with another woman. He knew deep down it would never work and Jacinda had caught on pretty quickly to the fact that he was distracted by something or someone else.

Though he was still angry with her for lying to him he couldn't help caring. Who was he kidding? He knew he'd never get over her. She was still extraordinary. Always.

She stood there looking at the floor and wringing her hands slightly. She could do this. How hard could it be? This was Castle. Her parter, her friend. The man she cared more for than anyone. The man she loved.

The music changed. It was the first song they had danced to at Ryan's wedding. She had listened to it dozens of times since then remembering the feel of his hands on her waist and how close their bodies were.

She knew what to do.

Meeting his gaze she whispered, "Dance with me?"

"Dance?"

She closed the distance between them never breaking eye contact. She gingerly placed her palms on his chest.

"Dance with me, Castle."

"Kate..."

"Please, Rick."

He wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms but he didn't know what this would wind up doing to his fragile heart. She'd hurt him and he had been trying to move on but the memory of her in his arms as they had danced to this song was too much and he gave in.

He cautiously placed his hands on her waist. Kate's hands slipped up and around his neck and they began to sway to the music.

It was too much. Her touch, her proximity, her scent, her gaze. It was too much for him and he closed his eyes against it all.

Kate knew it was now or never to tell him.

"I danced with Colin tonight."

He started to shake his head.

"Kate I don't want to hear this."

"Rick look at me. Please."

He opened his eyes and met hers.

"I danced with Colin tonight and everything about it was wrong. His touch. His smell. All of it. All I could think about was how much I wanted you there instead of him. Castle, I need to tell you..."

Kate paused and took a breath her eyes beginning to tear up.

"Rick, I remember. I remember what you said to me when I was shot. I should have told you sooner but I was so scared that it wasn't real. That I'd imagined it, or worse, that you didn't really mean it. But I should have talked to you. I'm so sorry I didn't just talk to you about it."

"We are really bad about talking when it comes to the important things," Castle interjected.

Kate smirked. "Hmm, yeah, we should work on that."

"Is there anything else you needed to tell me?"

Castle's stomach was in knots. When he sat down at his laptop to write that night he was completely blocked. Nothing came to mind except Kate and how she'd looked in the jet black dress as she'd walked away from him on another man's arm. It nearly killed him to see her leave without him.

"There is actually."

Kate began to play with the hair at the nape of his neck and his grip on her became tighter around her waist.

With her eyes locked on his so as to leave no doubt she whispered, "I love you too."

He knew she was sincere in her admission and he released the breath he'd been holding. All the knots in his stomach suddenly released. He had no idea hearing those words cross her lips would relieve all the tension and anger he'd been feeling.

He gently pressed his forehead to hers and raised his hand up to cup her face. The tears that had been welling up in her eyes began to fall but he was quick to brush them away with the pad of his thumb.

Kate pulled back slightly to look at him.

"I'm so sorry I wasted so my time."

"You're here now. That's what matters."

He tenderly placed a kiss on her forehead. Then her cheek. And finally her lips.

It was far more subdued than the first kiss they shared in the alley. They were on fragile ground after all but it quickly blossomed into a kiss filled with passion.

Too much time had been wasted on subtext and innuendo and they had lots to make up for.

Castle pulled away and took in a deep breath. His right arm was completely wrapped around her waist and his left hand was tangled in her hair.

"What do we do now?"

"Hmm," Kate scrunched up her nose. "I still have a case to solve."

"Ugh, with Scotland Yard," castle rolled his eyes.

Kate chuckled, "Yeah, but with you helping I bet it will be solved much faster."

"Yeah?"

"Yep. And then..." Kate shrugged.

"And then...we can take things as fast or as slow as you need."

"How about we start with dinner and a movie?"

"Sounds perfect. I'm happy to take you out wherever you want to go."

"Okay, but can we maybe skip the actual going out and just order in and watch something here?"

"Anything you want."

"Good because I think I'd like to end the evening dancing with you again."

Kate sealed her lips to his once again with a firm kiss before easing away from him.

"Let's go solve this thing so we can have that date," he said as he clasped her hand and pulled her towards the door.