Kate smoothed her hair back into the loosely coiled bun at the base of her neck with one hand and held the front of her dress down from the wind with the other as she approached Lanie's Upper West Side brownstone, eyeing what looked to be rainclouds overhead. Kate had already texted Lanie, apologizing for not coming early as promised and also for being a bit late. Actually, a lot late. It had been hell finding a cab at this time of night, especially with the weather and the holiday weekend and it was nearly 9 as she approached her building.

Kate used the spare key that Lanie had given her years ago to let herself in. The sound of soft jazz greeted her as she ascended the stairs. She found the door to Lanie's 3rd floor unit and she could hear the noisy hum of booze-laden conversation escaping from the door which was slightly ajar. Kate's eyes opened wide as she took in the crowd of people. The place was fairly packed.

So much for a quiet get together.

Lanie always did know how to throw a party. Kate shook her head as she saw her best friend dressed in a teal strapless dress, shamelessly flirting with Esposito, her hand touching his forearm as she laughed at the conversation.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Kate said as she approached Lanie, Esposito, Ryan, and another man Kate recognized as one of Lanie's friends from the ME's office.

"Hey, girl! Happy birthday!" Lanie said, giving Kate a sloppy hug.

"Yea, happy birthday, Beckett!" Esposito chimed, giving her a hug as well.

Echoes of happy birthday erupted from the crowd of people and Kate dipped her head a little in embarrassment.

"Well it's about damn time! We were thinking we'd have to send Ryan out to look for you pretty soon," Lanie joked.

"Me? Why me?" Ryan said, a bit confused as he took a sip from his green bottle of sparkling water.

"Because, Detective Perrier, you're the only one who's sober enough," Esposito said, slapping Ryan on the shoulder with a bit too much force.

"Hey! Jenny and I are meeting up later, so excuse me if I don't want to be hammered," Ryan said defensively.

"Plus, I like the little bubbles," he added with a crooked smile, holding the glass up to the light and then taking a swig.

"Come on, let's get you a real drink," Lanie said guiding Kate through the crowd of people to the kitchen which had a cut out breakfast bar in one wall that was the designated drink area.

"Jeez, Lanie, who are all these people?" Kate said, scanning the crowd and recognizing a few cops and people from the ME's office. The one face she was looking for, however, she didn't see.

"Oh you know… a few neighbors from the building, doctor friends, cop friends… friends of friends… word got out I guess," Lanie said smiling widely.

"What'll you have?" Lanie asked, putting some ice in a glass. "I've got stuff for mojitos and just about any other alcoholic beverage under the sun."

"A mojito is great, thanks," Kate said, still scanning the room.

Lanie watched Kate's eyes as they danced from face to face, obviously searching the room for Castle.

"He's around," Lanie said, putting crushed mint in the bottom of the glass.

"Huh?" Kate said, her head whipping around to look at Lanie.

"Girl, don't 'huh' me! Esposito told me that he's back," she said, adding the rum, sugar and lime juice to the glass. Lanie looked her friend up and down, noting that the dress was new and hugged her curves in all the right places. She instantly knew that Kate had worn it with one purpose in mind- to get a certain author's attention.

"So, you wanna talk about it, or you just gonna stand there in those 'screw me' heels and sexy new dress and play dumb?" Lanie said, adding a splash of club soda to the concoction, sticking a straw in the glass and handing it to Kate, who frowned.

God, am I that obvious? How did she know I was looking for Castle?

"These are not 'screw me' heels," Kate said with a scowl, lifting a foot and sticking her leg out to examine her 3 1/2 inch nude heels.

"They're perfectly normal shoes. And, no, I don't want to talk about it," Kate said taking several long drags on the straw and instantly feeling the warmth of the alcohol numbing her senses a bit. She really had hoped not to have this conversation again. She just wanted to have some drinks, laugh a little with friends, and detach herself from the crazy roller coasting emotions of the day.

"Uh-huh. Okay, fine. You just keep sucking down the drinks like that. You'll be loosening up and talking to me in no time. Just do me a favor though and don't start hitting on me. I've got my eye on someone else tonight," Lanie said, now making herself a drink.

"Haha. Very funny," Kate said sarcastically. Kate waited a beat and continued, "So… you and Esposito, huh?" she said casually as she stirred her drink with the straw.

"Yea… maybe. We'll see," Lanie said, pausing her drinking making for a quick smile. "But, hey, do not try and change the subject. I'm serious, Kate. I was there when he left, I know how you feel about him, hell we all do. And now he's back, you're single, it's your birthday … and, let's face it, you haven't gotten any in a while…" Lanie said raising an eyebrow.

"Gee, Lanie, thanks. Way to make me feel good," Kate said, feeling the alcohol swirling in her stomach and her cheeks flushing.

"I'm just sayin'. I know you still have feelings for him, you're both adults… live a little," Lanie said raising her glass to toast.

Kate clinked her glass to Lanie's and sighed.

"I wish it were that simple, Lanie. But, need we forget a minor detail named 'Gina'. Plus, we work together. Castle can hardly behave himself as it is. What do you think it would be like if I slept with him?" Kate said, fidgeting with the gold bangles on her wrist.

"Oh, puh-lease! If you slept with him and that was it, yea, it probably would be a bit awkward if you didn't address all these bottled up feelings inside. But you wouldn't just have the physical part with him, Kate. He cares about you too, so I think the overall experience would be pretty fantastic with the potential for a lot more. You really don't think he's just going to jump in bed with you and not expect more, do you?"

"No, I guess not… I don't know! Besides, this is all stupid and pointless to talk about because he's with Gina, remember?" Kate said matter-of-factly, slurping the last of her mojito through the straw.

"Gina? Honey, I don't think he's with Gina based on what I heard earlier," Lanie said taking her glass and mixing her another drink.

Kate's eyes snapped up. Her heart was racing, pumping the alcohol through her system, making her feel light-headed, and strangely hopeful. She recalled the phone conversation she had witnessed earlier in the day between Castle and Gina. He had seemed a little annoyed now that she thought about it. Kate struggled to sound casual as she probed Lanie for more information.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Kate said accepting her second drink, making a conscious effort to drink this one more slowly.

"Well, not that you care or anything, but I heard him mention to Esposito that he and Gina might have had some troubles this summer and it all sort of came to a head today," Lanie said, watching Kate who made a failed attempt at suppressing a smile.

"Plus, if Castle asked me once, then he must have asked me a dozen times tonight 'when do you think she'll be here?' and 'have you heard from Beckett yet?', blah, ba-blah, ba-blah… I thought I was going to have to muzzle him. I see what you mean now about him driving you a bit crazy at times," Lanie added with a cock of her head.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Kate said, her mouth turned up in a half smile. She couldn't deny that she would be happy if Castle actually had broken things off with Gina, but that didn't mean that she was just going to jump him, even if that's what her suddenly raging hormones were telling her to do.

"Anyway… I'm starving, want something to eat?" Lanie said making her way into the small dining room that had a large spread of food laid out on the table.

Kate's stomach growled hungrily. In all the events of the day, she had forgotten to eat dinner and had only had a Snickers for lunch. Her eyes scanned the table and focused on the end where the desserts were. She shook her head as she spied the cupcakes, each with a purple birthday candle sticking out of the top. Despite herself, her mouth instantly watered.

"Thought I said no cake," Kate said eyeing the cupcakes hungrily.

"Technically they're cupcakes, not cake. They're damn good too, so instead of complaining why don't you just zip it and try one," Lanie said, helping herself to a baked cream cheese stuffed jalapeño.

Kate rolled her eyes at Lanie trying to make the distinction between cupcakes and cake.

"They have candles in them too," Kate said studying the brown cylinders, the purple candles perfectly centered in the middle of each one.

"Yeah, well, we decided candles were acceptable as long as we didn't light them and break out into 'Happy Birthday'."

Kate scrutinized the cupcakes. The heavenly aroma of chocolate made its way to her nose and her will power left her.

Well, technically it is my birthday…

She picked out the biggest one, which also happened to have the most frosting, pulled the candle off the top throwing it aside and pealed back the wrapper from the bottom, taking a bite. The chocolate by itself was divine, but when the cherry filling hit her taste buds, she almost groaned it was so delectable.

"Told you. Good, huh?" Lanie said watching her friend having her private moment with the pastry.

Kate just shook her head, greedily taking another bite.

So freaking good.

"So, I know you don't bake, so where'd you get them from? They really are amazing," Kate asked between mouthfuls.

"I didn't buy them. They're homemade. But you're right, not by me," Lanie said, hiding a smile.

"Who then-Ryan? I know he and Jenny were taking cooking classes together. Guess it paid off, huh?" Kate said, wiping the excess frosting from her fingers with a napkin before taking another bite. "Wonder how Ryan would feel about 'Cupcake' as a new nickname. Although, I suppose that's just as bad as 'Honey Milk'," Kate said, laughing a bit at her own joke.

Lanie eyed her friend with a smirk.

"Nope, wasn't Ryan. But… I'm sure Castle wouldn't object to a new nickname."

Kate choked a little on the cupcake when Lanie said his name.

"I mean, 'Cupcake' is better than 'Kitten' if you ask me," Lanie said, picking out one of the pastries herself and trying hard to hold in a laugh at the look of shock on Kate's face.

"Did you say Castle? Castle… bakes?" Kate said staring down at the half-eaten cupcake in her hand as if it had just sprouted legs.

"Apparently so, and very well as it seems," Lanie said, taking a bite. "Just another check in his 'win' column if you ask me… also makes me wonder what other 'hidden talents' he has, if you catch my drift," Lanie said suggestively.

"God, Lanie! You're almost as bad as he is with your innuendo," Kate said in mock horror. Truth was Kate had been wondering this for quite some time herself and she felt her stomach twist a little at the possibility of Castle's skills in bed equaling those he obviously possessed in the kitchen.

Lanie's eyes drifted over to the bar area where she saw someone removing a bottle from the built in wine cooler.

"Oh, hell no!" Lanie swore under her breath. "Hold that thought, honey. I'll be back- someone is about to open up one my bottles of Chateauneuf de Pape that Castle gave me last year for my birthday…" Lanie said scurrying off to the kitchen.

Kate laughed out loud as she watched her friend about to lay the smack down on some innocent partygoer who probably didn't know a bottle of Chateauneuf de Pape from Boone's.

Kate was so amused by Lanie that she failed to notice a familiar figure approaching her.

"Hey, Kate."

She recognized the voice and her breath was cut off in mid laugh. She turned slowly toward the voice and conjured up a smile.

"Tom! Hey."

A/N: So please don't hate me for bringing Tom back! I had to have a wee bit of drama at the party, and I like Tom better than Gina. We'll see how Castle deals with Tom this time around in the next chapter (redemption, anyone?).

There will also be some Caskett goodness coming up soon.

Please review- lots of dialogue in this chapter... not sure how it turned out, but it was fun writing Lanie for a change...

Thanks for reading! -KB