Disclaimer: If you don't know by now, I'll say it anyway. I do not own!

A/N: I know, I know, it's been forever. I got really sick and ended up in the hospital and now I have tons and tons of make up college crap, so this is all I could write. I know you expected a talk, but I couldn't fit it in this chapter, because I don't have dialogue yet! I'll try to get it up soon! For now though, here's this chapter, enjoy!

Kate wrinkled her forehead. What was she doing here again? Oh yes, she was going to talk to Castle about that kiss. Wait, why was she going to do that? Oh yes, because motorcycle boy was no longer in the picture, she owed it to herself, Lanie was expecting her to, and…the kiss was kind of amazing!

Kate couldn't help but roll her eyes at herself. She sounded like some girl in a situation comedy. She sounded like a girl in a romance novel. Only that type of girl would stand outside a man's apartment and justify standing here to themselves. Only that type of girl would be nervous about talking to a guy who had already kissed her and who had made it very plain that he liked her a lot. She was not that girl! Of course, since she was all those things she had just described she was finding it harder to deny that statement.

Kate, this is stupid! Just knock on the door! The doorman let you in, if you leave now, you will be busted regardless. It was true. There was no way she could leave and not have Castle know she was there.

Suddenly, the door to the loft flew open and both women jumped. "Oh!" Martha exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't expect you, dear. Did you knock?"

"Umm, not yet," Kate admitted. "I just got here."

Martha smiled at her knowingly. "Oh, of course. Richard is in his study." Martha opened the door wider so Kate could enter. Martha then seemed to reconsider. "On the other hand, if you would like to wait out here until you can gather up enough courage to actually talk to him, I'm not sure Alexis or Richard will be going out today, so you could knock on your own time."

Kate suspiciously narrowed her eyes at Martha. "Exactly how much do you know?"

"Far more than either of you think I do, dear," Martha told Kate. "I know he kissed you, I know he liked it very much and if you didn't feel the same way you wouldn't be here now."

Kate sighed. She sometimes wondered how this woman could be so knowledgeable about everything when she seemed so dramatic at times. Kate was also sure she didn't like Martha's inane knowledge one bit. She didn't move.

Martha couldn't help it she had to roll her eyes. "Go talk to him. You can't stand out here forever."

Kate suddenly knew how Castle felt when one of her many eye rolls was directed at him. She sighed again. She didn't expect to be this nervous. She didn't know why she was even having a problem. This should be easy. At the same time though, her mind kept screaming This is Castle! This again was the source of the problem, because it was Castle, there were so many things that could go wrong! There were also so many things that could go right.

Martha could almost see the wheels turning in the younger woman's mind. How horrible, to be so afraid to go after what you want. "You can't be afraid forever, Kate. If you want him, you have to go after him. If he manages to hurt you again, I promise to kill him myself!"

Kate had to let a small smile appear on her face after that comment. She took a deep breath, nodded slightly and when Martha opened the door wider, Kate stepped into the loft.

Martha nodded her approval and began to walk out the door. "He's in his study. I would wish you good luck, but if I know my son, you don't really need it. He's been waiting for this day since he met you. Of course, he didn't really deserve it until he learned a bit about growing up and respect."

Kate had to smile again, because she agreed with Martha's every word. Now that she thought about it, maybe she didn't mind Martha's all-knowing power after all.

-%

Lanie waved to the doorman of Esposito's apartment building. She had become quite friendly with him lately. He was always letting her in even if Esposito didn't tell him she was coming. He had also let her in one day when Esposito wasn't even home yet.

"Missed you here last night, Miss Parish," he told her.

She smiled at him before she walked over to the elevator. "Javier wasn't even home last night."

The doorman nodded. "I know, but that's never stopped you before."

Lanie actually laughed out loud. "He wasn't coming home last night though."

"Oh yeah," the doorman remembered. "I saw the ugly bruises on his neck. He never told me exactly what happened. Did he have to stay in the hospital overnight?"

Lanie nodded and spun on her heel, intent on getting to the elevator. She had no desire to be reminded of last night and Esposito's stay in the hospital, or what had happened while he was there. She was going to have to revisit that as soon as she knocked on his door, so there was no reason to do so now, with his doorman!

As the elevator reached his floor (much too fast in Lanie's opinion) she took a deep breath and stepped out. She gulped when she heard the swish of the elevator doors shutting behind her. There really was no way out now. Well, that wasn't true. There were many ways she could get out of this, but no logical reason she could give to Kate as to why she didn't do it.

She was walking toward Esposito's door when a voice behind her stopped her in her tracks. "Why, my stars, is that you Lanie Parish!"

Lanie briefly closed her eyes before she turned around. "Yes, Miss Jo, it's me."

"I've missed you around here, honey," Miss Jo told her.

Lanie stifled her laugh. As much as Miss Jo loved to talk, Lanie loved this woman. She had wispy, white hair and reminded Lanie of a grandmother. She loved to get in everyone's business and that was why Lanie wasn't too anxious to talk to her right now. On the other hand, if she didn't say much Miss Jo would only keep bugging her. "What do you mean? I've been around."

"You weren't here last night," Miss Jo reminded her.

"Javier wasn't here last night," Lanie reminded the woman.

"Oh, yes," Miss Jo seemed to remember. "I saw those nasty bruises on his neck. How did he get them?"

Lanie sighed. She wasn't about to tell Miss Jo what really happened, so she quickly sent her brain into overdrive. She knew it had to be close enough to the truth to not be suspicious, but far enough away so Miss Jo wouldn't suspect what really happened. She tried to decide what Esposito would say in a time like this. "He just got into a little fight."

"If those bruises were any indication, you must have gotten pretty frustrated with him," Miss Jo said. She hated these evasive answers that the two were determined to give her. "It looked like you were trying to strangle him!"

Lanie's eyes got wide at what Miss Jo was implying. "Whoa! Miss Jo, we didn't fight with each other! I don't even have any markings on me. How could you think he could come out with bruises if I came out with nothing?"

Miss Jo shrugged. "He's always been a gentleman, I'm sure he would never think of hitting a girl. But you say the fight wasn't with you? You're sure?"

Lanie smiled at Miss Jo. "Positive."

"Good," Miss Jo approved. Well, that ruled out one possibility. "Too many kids these days get into fights, break up and never see each other again. I would hate for that to happen to you two. You're just so cute together."

Lanie's throat got tight. They did break up and if she wasn't here, they probably wouldn't have seen each other again, except for work. The only difference was they didn't have a fight.

"Miss Jo, are you harassing her again?" Javier Esposito's voice came from behind Lanie.

Lanie whirled her head around and slightly smiled when she saw Esposito coming toward them. She swallowed heavily at the ugly purple markings on his neck and smile faded from her lips. Yesterday they had bandages over them and she hadn't seen them, now that she was seeing them…she turned her head back to Miss Jo.

"Now, Javier Esposito, I was not harassing her!" Miss Jo defended herself. "I was just telling her how nice it was to see her and I was trying to figure out what happened to you."

"I told you I got into a little fight," Esposito told Miss Jo. When Lanie heard that she smiled. It seemed she did a good job of thinking like Esposito. Lanie's eyes slightly widened. What did that mean? It was probably one of those reasons Kate would use to say they're serious.

"I know, that's what she said," Miss Jo admitted. "But I don't believe either of you."

"Why would we lie to you, Miss Jo?" Lanie asked, coming into the conversation.

"Oh I can think of plenty of reasons," Miss Jo told them.

Lanie and Esposito couldn't help it; they had to smile at each other. Their shared smile almost wasn't awkward.

Miss Jo smiled at the two. She could figure out what happened some other time, from some other visitor, since it seemed these two weren't going to tell her anything. "Alright, I'll give the interrogation a rest. In fact, I won't question you all again." Miss Jo's face took on a mysterious look. "I'll just ask someone else." With that she turned around and walked back into her apartment.

Lanie and Esposito were walking back to his when Esposito apologized. "I really am sorry about her. She's much too nosy for her own good."

Lanie shrugged as she stepped into his apartment. "I like her. She reminds me of a grandmother. But yes, she is rather nosy."

Lanie couldn't help but smile at the normalcy of it all. He hadn't greeted her with a kiss like he normally did, but that was the only thing that was different about this interaction. If she didn't think about it, it was almost like they were still together. She knew though, that they weren't, and she knew she wanted to be.

Esposito turned to close the door and had to wonder what she was doing here. Didn't she, just yesterday, tell him she couldn't do this anymore? Didn't she, just yesterday, basically break up with him? If that was the case, what was she doing here? He took a deep breath. When he had first stepped out of the apartment and heard her talking to Miss Jo, he was sure he was hearing things. When he saw her, he was sure he was hallucinating, but when she turned, looked and smiled at him, it was all he could do to not run over to her and kiss her right then and there. Of course, that would have been ridiculous, they weren't together anymore. He sighed. He really needed to figure out what they were doing here, because if they weren't together anymore, if there was no chance, he needed to do something about these feelings he had.

Esposito turned and looked Lanie in the eye. "Lanie, what are you doing here?"

Hmm…how does he feel about her being there? And don't forget Kate and Castle! I am in love with Alexis and although I try to fit her into every story I write, I love Martha too, and she really just seemed better in that part, Alexis wouldn't have fit there. Also, the next chapter will be a talk…or two, depending on how inspired I get. Probably Caskett, but we'll see. Okay, now you know what to do…review!