Alright in all honesty I had a hell of a time with this. Four Pounds of Back Bacon? God we are strange people. So instead, I inserted some plot and called it art. Hopefully you guys still enjoy it and wish me luck tomorrow!

Please review and as always, you can follow me on twitter at vatrask

Enjoy 3

It had only been three days and already Castle felt like giving up. After breakfast yesterday, they had driven to the precinct together in silence and the moment they entered the building, they went from Rick and Kate to Beckett and Castle; friends and partners but nothing more. In fact she seemed to be purposefully giving him the cold shoulder. It wasn't enough for anyone else to notice but it certainly bothered him and he knew better than to make it worse by questioning it. He just had to accept that maybe his efforts to woo were in vain. After all, it had been three whole days and nothing seemed to have changed. It was a lost cause. Nevertheless, Castle showed up the next day promptly at eight o'clock with a coffee for each of them and a smile just for her. "G'morning Beckett."

"Morning Castle." She didn't look up from her furious typing as she tried to finish report after report before Gates hauled her ass back down to traffic. "Oh I've decided that you're taking me out for Lunch today." She spoke, as she stood to grab a print out.

He looked at her with a mixture of surprise, curiosity and warmth. "Oh? And where am I taking you for lunch, my dear?" He caught the brochure that suddenly fell into his lap. "This is steak house; a very grungy looking steak house." He scrunched his nose at the sloppily compiled advertisement. "You sure this is where you want to go?"

"Positive." She informed him. "I should be finished most of this by lunch anyways so there won't be a mad dash back here. We can take our time." Alright who was this woman and where was his Beckett? Who cared? They were going out for lunch and she was actually letting him in. Now it was just a waiting game.

To his credit, Rick had been quieter than normal all morning in an attempt to keep her from distraction; unfortunately his silence had been distracting enough and they had to take a late lunch. As they walked the few blocks toward the steak house, Kate constantly watched her ankle boots, her hands tucked snuggly in her pockets, avoiding Rick's gaze as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. He could have sworn she was smiling but he couldn't be sure and he didn't dare take a real look for fear she would hide it. So their walk was spent in silence. Quietly, Rick opened the door for her as she entered and immediately took the corner booth, not waiting for Castle to join her. He sat across from her glancing up occasionally from his menu to make sure she was actually serious this meal. He hadn't heard of half of these things. They sounded almost foreign.

"Kate; what kind of food is this?" She looked up at with an eye roll, such a normal thing in such an odd situation.

"It's Canadian, Castle. I promise it won't kill you."

"Yeah but, back bacon?Who even eats that?" His face was so distorted she almost giggled but thankfully restrained herself.

"I do, Castle." She was grateful that she maintained at least some semblance of normalcy to her voice or she would have been in trouble. It made the transition easier. She saw his expression soften as she folded the menu, placing it under her elbows resting on the table. "Every year since before my mom died." She hadn't meant to tell him this story until they were well into the meal and he couldn't run away but she had to risk it. "My dad's family is Canadian but none of them are left so at Christmas time especially he made an effort to embrace at least part of his heritage. So every December we would make these ridiculously 'Canadian' dishes. Nanaimo Bars, Maple Syrup Popsicles; I remember one time my dad brought home four pounds of back bacon and convinced my mom to make it for Christmas dinner instead of a turkey. It was so awful;" but she smiled fondly at the memory, biting her lip "but my dad was happy and that made my mom happy so it was a good Christmas. Even after she died we would find some small way to celebrate the Canadian way. We were supposed to come here this year but he called yesterday at the precinct and told me that he was going to spend most of the holidays up in Vermont with a buddy of his. They're going to do manly stuff like hunting or something." She rolled her eyes but Castle still caught the hint of sorrow in her eyes. Maybe that's why he reached out a hand to link with hers on the table.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Kate." She paused at hearing her first name and looked up at him with a weak smile.

"That's still not going to get you out of trying this food." And though he pouted through the entire meal, she knew he enjoyed every minute of it.

A/N: If you guys are interested in hearing the song you can find it here: youtube: /watch?v=sEbUtpPQihM