A/N: Okay, I'm on a super-duper high right now, 'because I just saw the new Lanie and Esposito promo for the upcoming 'Poof! You're Dead' (3x12) episode! I squealed so loud, I scared my Mother... Ah ha ha ha! Just about died when I saw Esposito shirtless... Oh, jeez. *swoon* And Esposito has the same cell phone as me! (I'm sorry – none of you care about this) Well, anyways; the promo inspired me to write this short little one-shot. This is my first Castle fanfic... I've never really tried to write a fanfic based on one of my favourite shows, but, the Esposito in my mind was practically screaming at me to write one. And one more thing: I'm pretty young (I'm only 14) and I know that age doesn't really have anything to do with how well you write, but please be gentle. I am just trying to find my strengths and weaknesses; therefore constructive criticism is the best. No flames please, for they do not do anyone good (and you are just wasting precious seconds cyber-yelling at me when you could be reading more Castle fanfics), and they certainly won't help me get any better – which I intend to do. One more thing: I eternally apologize if I do not get the characters right. OOC is my biggest, fear with fanfictions, and I am trying extremely hard to do my best and do the characters justice. I lied, one more other thing: I am not really going to focus on the case much, so I apologize if the case is a bit too vague for your liking. I shall now stop rambling... Onward with the Esposito and Lanie-ness! (P.S. I took the beginning part – the waking up part – from the promo... Hope no one minds...)

Disclaimer: I am 14. Do I really need to say anything else? *sigh* No, I obviously do not own Castle. Sadly.

Lanie groaned at the sound of her cell phone ringing, its trill interrupting her peaceful slumber. Not bothering to lift her head from her pillow, she blindly searched for her phone above her bed. She sighed, seeing the time.

"I gotta go," she said. Esposito mumbled something into the sheets, and reached for his phone which was resting on the neighbouring chair.

"Me too." He frowned at his phone. Lanie and Esposito looked at each other, smiling. Esposito leaned in for a chaste kiss. When they broke apart, Lanie was beaming, shallow dimples appearing on her cheeks.

"See you at the scene, sexy," Esposito whispered, getting up.

"Okay." Lanie happily watched Esposito get out of the bed and walk around it. "Javier Esposito."

"Mm?" he mumbled, standing at the foot of her bed.

"When we get to this crime scene, do not wink at me, do not smile at me, and don't even look at me with those puppy-dog eyes," she stated sternly. "Got it?"

Esposito flipped his phone open, and took a picture of her then answered,

"Got it." With that he walked out of the room.

When Esposito arrived at the crime scene, it took all his self-control to not jump Lanie's bones the second he caught a glance of her. To distract himself from the chocolate goddess, he focused on the conversation he was having with Ryan.

"So, how are things with you and Jenny? You guys started on the guest list yet?" Ryan groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Don't even get me started, bro. With all the people Jenny wants to invite, I'll still be paying for our wedding well-into my afterlife."

Esposito chuckled. His smile quickly dropped when they reached Lanie, remembering her warning earlier that morning.

"What do you have for us b- Lanie?" Esposito quickly covered up his slip with multiple coughs.

"You alright, man?" asked Ryan, concerned for his friend. Esposito quickly nodded, while Lanie struggled to hide her amused smile that was threatening to surface. She motioned to body on the pavement.

"So, our vic suffered multiple stab wounds to her lower abdomen. I would say time of death was between midnight last night, to about three am. But, I won't be sure 'til I get her back to the lab." The two detectives nodded, and Ryan jotted it down in his notepad.

"Any ID on our Jane Doe?" asked Esposito. Lanie nodded, and pulled out a plastic baggie, containing large red leather wallet. When he reached for it, he deliberately brushed his fingers against hers, earning him a threatening look. Ryan's eyes darted between the two, suspicious.

"Yup. Driver's licence identifies her Stephanie Tate-Duncan. She's also in her late twenties." Lanie also handed Ryan another plastic baggie, this once containing a cell phone. "You may be able to find someone in her family in her address book." Ryan nodded, and he and Esposito walked a few yards away. At that moment, Beckett and Castle arrived on scene, coffees in hand.

"Hey Lanie," greeted Beckett, an accidental yawn following. Lanie smiled.

"Hey, girl. Writer-boy keep you up last night?" Castle smirked at the question.

Beckett blushed and remained silent, knowing full well that it was the truth.

"Anyways, what'cha got for us?" Beckett asked as she and Castle knelt beside the body, opposite of Lanie.

"Stephanie Tate-Duncan. Late twenties. She suffered multiple stab wounds to her lower abdomen."

"Were there any signs of a struggle?" asked Beckett. Lanie shook her head. With a gloved hand, she pointed to the victim's wrists.

"No sign of struggle: no abrasions on her wrists or ankles."

"So, the attacker was someone she knew?" questioned Castle. Lanie shrugged.

"Quite likely. I'll be able to tell you more once I get her back to the lab."

Ryan and Esposito walked up to the trio just as Beckett and Castle were getting up.

"We got the name of her mother from the cell phone, but the phone number in invalid and there wasn't any address," reported Ryan. Castle raised his eyebrows.

"Maybe her mother was moving, and the vic didn't write down her new address yet?" h mused. Esposito didn't even hear the question, for he was not-so-subtly staring at Lanie as she continued to examine the body jotting things down in her notepad every few seconds. Ryan allowed a moment's glace at his partner, and then shrugged his shoulders in response to Castle's theory.

"Okay, we'll head back to the Precinct to run a background check on Stephanie Tate-Duncan. You guys see if you can find any witnesses." Everyone nodded and went on their way.

"Is it just me," began Castle once he and Beckett got into her car, "or were Esposito and Lanie making googly eyes at each other?" Beckett laughed.

"More like Esposito making googly eyes at Lanie." Suddenly, Castle was grinning widely.

"Do you think they're together?"

"No. Lanie would've told me if they were." She stopped at a red light, and looked over at Castle. "At least I think she would."

"Well, you didn't exactly tell her that we're together," he pointed out.

"But that's... That's different." Beckett shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Castle opened to his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "Oh look! The light is green!" With that, she sped off, rendering Castle speechless.

In Ryan's car, all was silent. He cleared his throat.

"Hey, bro?"

"Yeah?"

"Um..." Ryan paused. "Are you and Lanie dating?"

"What?"

"No, I know, I know, it's a stupid question. You know I trust you to tell me if you two were..." Esposito sank further in the passenger's seat, feeling like the scum of the Earth for not telling his best friend that he was sleeping with Lanie. But, he wasn't telling Ryan because he and Lanie hadn't really talked about what happened last night. No, they weren't drunk – they knew full well what they were doing. They weren't cheating because neither of them was in a relationship at the time. Esposito had just dropped Lanie off at her place because her car had broken down. Then... then she had invited him inside for a drink and he had accepted because (even though he didn't want to admit it) he enjoyed Lanie's company very much. Then one thing lead to another, and they ended up sleeping together. Not that he didn't enjoy it. Esposito enjoyed it very, very much. He hoped that he and Lanie could continue being together, and not having it be just for sex.

Swallowing the guilty feeling, he answered his friend.

"It's okay, bro. You know I'd tell you." Silence. "But I do like her though," he added. Ryan broke out into an enormous grin.

"I knew it!" he yelled triumphantly. "I was telling Jenny-"

"Wait, what? You were talking about me love-life to Jenny?" Ryan shrugged.

"Sorry, bro. Sex and the City wasn't playing that day, so she needed some... y'know, drama."

Esposito raised his eyebrows. "Did you talk about Lanie and I over some honey-milk?" He smirked.

"We did in fact." Esposito quickly dropped his smirk at the statement. Ryan glanced at him quickly before continuing. "So, are you gonna ask her out?"

Esposito groaned inwardly at the question. When did this become an interrogation? he asked himself. He shrugged half-heatedly at Ryan's answer. If he kept the questioning up, Esposito was sure he was going to break. Just as they were pulling into the Precinct parking lot, Esposito's phone vibrated. He pulled it out, flipping it open to see he had received a text message from Lanie.

Dinner tonight? Esposito smiled.

Sure. Where? A minute passed until he received another message.

Boathouse Restaurant?

Sure. Pick you up at 8. ;)

Cool (and what did I say about winking? I'ma smack you boy)

Looking forward to it, sexy. See you tonight!

Esposito looked up to see Ryan looking at him suspiciously. Esposito quickly dropped his smile.

"Uh... It's my mom. She wants to meet me for dinner tonight."

"Oh. Say 'Hi' to Mama Esposito for me, 'kay?" Esposito chuckled.

"Sure, bro." With that, they got out of the car and strode into the Precinct.

"That was quick," said Castle later that day as he and Beckett walked back into the bull pen from the interrogation room. Stephanie Tate-Duncan's boyfriend, Alberto Santana, had confessed to murdering her immediately after Beckett had threatened him with putting him in "zoo lockup." Alberto had told her absolutely everything (and also said "This was never supposed to happen" about one million times).

"Well, Castle, it's always easier when it's with suspects that had never had a run-in with the law before," said Beckett as she sat down at her desk.

"Oh, and by the way: I applaud you for using the 'zoo lockup' line. I knew when I wrote Nikki Heat saying that it was eventually going to rub off on you."

Beckett rolled her eyes. "So where do you wanna go for dinner tonight, Castle?" she asked, changing the subject.

Luckily, the bull pen was empty, so Castle and Beckett were free to converse using a normal tone of voice.

"The Boathouse Restaurant! We've never gone there before! It's this really beautiful restaurant in the middle of Central Park overlooking the Lake. I took Alexis there for her birthday one year, and she really enjoyed it!" Beckett smiled at his excitement.

"Okay, Castle. We can go there."

"Awesome! I'll pick you up at eight, my dear detective?"

"Perfect."

Little did they know that another couple at the Precinct was going to be at the same restaurant at the same time, looking forward to enjoying a meal without any of their friends knowing...

A/N: Uh-oh! Looks like Lanie and Esposito are gonna be in trouble! This wasn't my plan originally. It was going to be a one-shot, but depending on the response, I'll continue this. I am not completely happy with this, but it is my first fic, so any help will be most appreciated. And as for the Boathouse Restaurant, it is actually a real restaurant. I just searched restaurants in NY and got this. Sorry if it doesn't fit their location for I live in Canada, not in the USA. I apologise. And also, the "zoo lockup" line was actually in Heat Wave, for anyone who has not read it (and it was really good!).

So please, please, please REVIEW! I need feedback so I know if I'm any good at all. Thank you so very much for taking the time to read this, and giving me a chance.

Cyber-hugs for everyone! :D