Martha sighed; looking over at her son sprawled out on the couch. She glanced at the nearby clock on the wall, twelve noon. She glanced back at her son who was still in his robe with his laptop perched on his knee. She could tell that he wasn't working. The same look that he had worn for nearly a month now - ever since his blow up Beckett. She threw her hands up in the air. She couldn't take his moping any more.

"Why don't you just call her?" Martha asked exasperated.

"Huh?" Castle asked a glazed expression on his face.

Martha sat down on the couch next to him, causing him to shift his position and sit up straighter. "Just as I suspected."

"What?" Castle asked blankly.

"You're not writing anything." Martha said pointing to the blinking cursor at the top of the blank document. "You're just sitting around here, moping. When was the last time you even shaved?"

Castle rubbed his hand over the stubble that was attempting to give him a five o clock shadow. "I don't know. A few days."

"Okay, so you fell off the horse. You don't just wallow around for a month in your robe after that. Sure, maybe you go through a bucket of rocky road and grunge for a day or two but, not for a whole month. You've got to get back in the saddle, kiddo." She said as she slapped him gently on the knee.

"Call her. She can't still be mad at you. If you don't want to call her; call someone else. You have got to get out of this apartment. You're moping is beginning to wear on me. What kind of example are you setting for Alexis? You don't want me to start taking phone calls from your agent about why you are not writing." Martha held her son's gaze for a moment to let him know that she was serious about the threat.

Castle began to open his mouth, but his was cut off as Martha raised her finger. "I don't want to hear it. I'm going to leave now. I do not want to see you here looking like this when I get back."

Martha stood up, grabbed her purse turning once more to her son. "You need some fresh air."

"Thanks, mother." Martha nodded as she closed the door behind her.

Castle sighed, knowing his mother was right. He had wallowed in self pity long enough. He needed a change of scenery. Castle regarded his cell phone cautiously. Should he call? Would she still be mad at him? Their last encounter played for what seemed like the millionth time in his head.

"Castle, I told you not to look into my mother's case. Why did you? You know there are some things that you are not supposed to stick your nose in." Beckett turned away from Castle.

"I was just trying to help."

"I don't care." Beckett swung back around on him fiercely. "I told you to leave it alone and you went behind my back and dug into it anyway. How am I supposed to trust you now?"

Castle opened his mouth to try and come up with a good, sound, reasonable explanation but all words at that moment left him. He knew that she would be upset with him, but not to this level.

"I think you should leave now."

The movie in his head faded away as the apartment came back into view. Castle knew his mother was right. He had been in his apartment for too long.

Beckett sighed, shifting her weight in her chair trying to stay focused on the case she was working at.

Detective Esposito looked up from his work. "You could call him."

"What?" Beckett asked.

"You could call him." Esposito repeated.

"Call who?" Beckett asked not following.

Detective Ryan shook his head as he gave his partner a knowing smile. "Castle."

"Why would I call him?" Beckett asked trying to sound indignant but failing miserably.

"So that you quit looking at the elevator every time the doors open." Esposito said nodding in its direction.

"I'm not…." Beckett tried defending herself. She knew that she had been but she didn't realize that any one else had noticed.

"Why don't you just give him a call?" Esposito again prodded.

"He's probably busy or moved on to his next project." Beckett countered.

"There's one sure why to find out once and for all." Esposito said.

"Yeah, and we got stuff handled here if you wanted to take a break and go and see for yourself."

Beckett unconsciously bit her lip as she argued with herself whether she should or not. "You will call me if anything happens?"

"Of course." Ryan and Esposito nodded.

Beckett quickly closed the file on her desk, grabbing up her coat and purse.

"Very well played, my friend" Ryan said glancing over at his partner.

"I thought so." Esposito said going back to the case file he had been working on.

Castle inspected himself in his bathroom mirror. He was completely clean shaven for the first time quite a while. He smoothed out the wrinkles on his tailored purple silk shirt and black dress pants. "All ready to go." Castle said to his image in the mirror.

Castle took a quick glance around his apartment making sure he wasn't forgetting anything. He saw his cell phone still sitting on the couch. He eyed it suspiciously almost like it was a snake that was coiled up on the cushion. "I'll call her after I get out. A change of scenery first would probably be best." He reached down, grabbing it up before heading to the door.

Castle opened the door, looked up. "Beckett?"

"Castle?" Beckett stood with her arm still raised poised to knock on the door. She took a moment to collect her wits taking in his appearance. He looks like he's doing fine. He must have been about to go out. This was a bad idea. "I'm uh .. I… this was a bad time, you are obviously going somewhere…"

"Would you like some lunch? My treat." Castle interrupted.

"Huh?" Beckett asked still trying to gather her wits.

"Are you hungry?" Castle asked, Beckett's stomach answered for her before she could herself.

"I'm going to take that as a yes." Castle said smiling, closing the door behind him pointing the way to the elevator.

"I'm glad you agreed to have lunch with me." Castle said taking a sip of his coffee while they awaited their lunch. They sat at a little diner near Castle's apartment that he always loved to take Alexis to when she was little and still did so on occasion.

"You didn't exactly give me a chance to say no." Beckett sipped her coffee while she admired the friendly, quaint décor of the place. There was a mural that encompassed nearly the entire interior of the building with varying scenes of children playing. She never even knew this place existed. She unconsciously smiled as she watched the various families eating together.

"I use to bring Alexis down here all the time when she was little. We still make the occasional trip. Their milkshakes are to die for." Castle said following her gaze. "They also make a mean BLT."

"Castle" Beckett said softly.

"No, let me start." Castle said before she could continue. "I know that I have a tendency to stick my nose where it doesn't belong. I don't always follow the rules."

"Always? How about hardly ever?" the thought ran through Beckett's mind but she kept it to herself letting Castle continue.

"When you told me to leave your mother's case alone - I should have listened to you." Castle said. "I violated your trust and I lost a friend in the process. For that, I am truly sorry."

Beckett studied Castle's face for a few moments. Genuine sincerity was the only thing she saw.

Sighing she said. "Yes, what you did was wrong." She watched Castle's face drop slightly at her words. "But, you had good intentions. You did not lose a friend. I shouldn't have reacted as strong as I did. It's just a sensitive topic for me."

"I knew that and should have respected it." Castle said.

Beckett opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the food arriving at the table. "Hope you enjoy. Rick, be sure to say "Hello" to Alexis for me, okay?"

"Sure, thing Marcia." Castle smiled at waitress.

"They really do know you around here." Beckett commented.

"So, are we okay?" Castle asked a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"We're just fine, Castle."