I grin back, and stand, pulling her up with me. "The more the merrier! Come on, Kate, let's go have some fun and forget our troubles for a night, huh?"

She nods, a smile tugging the corners of her lips up and her eyes finally shining brightly.

"Besides, do you even know how long it's been since I have had any action?" I grumble.

"Lanie is gonna love you," she says over her shoulder, leading the way out of the park.

Yes, I think, as I follow alongside her. A little fun is exactly what we both need. With Rick out of town, what could be the harm?

The harm, it turns out, was mainly to my feet. It had been more than a few months since I'd been out dancing and verging on a few years since I'd partied as hard as Kate and Lanie had insisted was necessary to forget all of our troubles.

Those girls were fun, but they were also a good decade younger than me, and I shamefully had to admit, after the third night in a row of shenanigans that I simply couldn't keep up with, that they should go on without me.

And they have, they did; lord, did they ever. Without Rick to bring her her daily dose of caffeine, she's been a regular fixture in the shop. Early mornings, bleary eyed and rushing for work, she asks for an extra shot of espresso in her latte. And late nights, with or without Lanie, more often than not she arrives giddy, bordering on tipsy, and fills me in on the night's events; phone numbers received and ignored, bad pickup lines, and the occasional dance partner that might have had a chance had they the nerve to ask.

It's been good for Kate. She's let her hair down over the summer; both figuratively and literally. She's had fun and it's shown in the way she holds herself. There's an air of confidence that she had lost for a minute when Rick had so idiotically left for the Hamptons.

Still, as fall had approached, the gloom had begun to worm its way into the edge of her psyche again, her mood falling as predictably as the leaves. Slowly, but surely, her eyes had lost some of that spark.

He told her he'd be back in the fall. And he hasn't called. Another week and I'm calling him.

"Girl!" I hear as I hand a macchiato off to an angry looking man in an expensive suit. I grin and turn to face her; there's no doubt who's calling me.

"Lanie," I reply in greeting, waving her over to the counter. "You finally gonna let me change your mind about the risks versus benefits of my fine brew?"

"Oh hell no," she snorts, picking a bottle of iced-tea out of the cooler beside the register. "This is as hardcore as it gets." She waves the bottle of decaffeinated green tea, jiggling it in my direction. "How much do I owe you?"

"On the house," I scoff, rolling my eyes. "You know, I could make you a latte, so smooth, so satisfying, you'd be begging for more before you reached the end of the cup."

"Not a chance," she says. "All-nighters throughout med school turned me off the stuff forever. I just…" She makes an exaggerated shudder. "No."

"Your loss," I shrug, quietly determined to someday have her try my brew. "So then, apart from my sparkling personality and watered down prepackaged beverages, what brings you down my way, Lanie?"

"Writer-boy is back," she says, her face implying that she's not particularly happy about this new development. "You got a minute?" She gestures to the couch that has become our late night hangout.

"Yeah, of course," I say, grabbing my, unfortunately cold, cup of coffee from the counter and joining her on the sofa. I'm not entirely certain that she's here to talk to me. It's possible that she's here to talk at me.

We settle on the seat and I awkwardly watch the passersby on the street. I uncomfortably play with the rim of my mug, and Lanie takes a long swig of her tea. It feels like lines are being drawn, sides taken, and I really don't want to lose her friendship over Rick and Kate's inability to be reasonable adults, no matter how new it is.

"Has Castle been in here?" she starts. "Because he's back, and she doesn't want to talk about it." She rolls her eyes. "Kate is all shaken up."

"Yeah," I sigh, mentally preparing myself, but she doesn't seem like she's particularly angry, just frustrated, maybe with both of them. "He came in an hour or so ago for a couple of coffees," I say. "He seemed pretty eager to get to Kate though; he wasn't in any mood to talk."

Eager is an understatement, he was practically bouncing like a puppy waiting to be thrown a tennis ball.

"Huh…" She looks away, debating something before continuing. "The story through the grapevine is that she kicked him out this morning. If he's going back to try again…" She trails off, the internal debate showing clearly in her features; share her feelings regarding her best friend, or keep quiet?

Finally, she begins again. "You have to know that she's not gonna be responsive to him pushing right now."

Looks like we are going to share then. "The grapevine, huh?" I smirk, trying to smooth over any lingering tension. "This grapevine wouldn't happen to be a smoking-hot Hispanic detective with a body to die for would it?"

"We are not talking about me right now," Lanie snips, a little color forming in her cheeks and a smile widening despite her best efforts to smother it. "We're here to conspire against our favorite, yet impossibly stupid, not-couple."

"I'm pretty sure he's still with Gina," I offer up in return. "He would have said something if he wasn't."

At least I think he would have. It's hard to say, I realize. His summer away has affected me as well. I miss him, he's my friend too, and I'm not entirely happy with him myself. He had better make an appearance that lasts longer than the time it takes to get a coffee; and soon. We've rarely gone this long without talking.

"That's probably a good thing," Lanie says thoughtfully, rubbing a thumb over her chin.

"How so?" I ask. "If our end goal is to get these two idiots to admit what's right in front of them, how is he being with someone else helpful?"

"He broke her trust. He might not know that because she took so damn long to come to her senses, but our girl is still hurting. If he was single, it would be too much for her. You know Kate, she'd run for sure; kick him out for good in fear of making a fool out of herself again."

I nod in agreement and she continues. "As it is, Gina's a convenient barrier until they get back on track. Unless… You don't think it'll last do you?"

"Hmm, you have a point," I acknowledge. "And no, Rick and Gina are… they're complicated. I don't want to say friends with benefits, it's more than that but… well yeah, it's not gonna be long term."

Lanie sighs in relief, nodding her head, obviously pleased with herself and her correct assumption regarding Castle and Gina. "Mhm."

"You know," I say, "What she really needs is a rebound. It seems like there have been a couple of possibilities, but none of them seem to have panned out. Sometimes her ironclad self-restraint is a real pain in the ass."

Lanie chuckles, sipping her tea. "You don't know the half of it."

I reach for my cup and take a swig, my face crumpling in disgust at the cold swill that the once perfect latte has turned into. I place it back on the coffee table and recline back onto the couch, stretching my legs, knowing that the lull in business will be short-lived and that I'll have to be back on my feet soon.

"Thank you," I suddenly blurt out, breaking the happy silence that had blanketed us for a moment.

She tilts her head to the side, a small smile playing about her lips; chocolate eyes soft, curious. "For what?"

"For not making this a, 'my kid did this to your kid, and so now I'm here to make you yell at your kid', type of thing." I grin.

She laughs. "Oh honey, that is actually exactly what I had in mind when I started over here. But you know what?"

"Hmm?"

"You've been good for her; as her best friend I can see that."

My eye widen in response to her honesty.

"Don't get me wrong, it might burn a little that she's been coming to you over me." There's a small shake of her head and a roll of her eyes. "But, I also know that sometimes I can get a little…" She smirks. "Pushy."

I gasp, mock horror, before breaking out into a laugh. "Uh huh, I might have noticed that."

She grins, eye twinkling. "Yeah well, you've got the wisdom that she probably needs right about now."

"Wisdom?" I ask. "Did you just call me old?"

"Perspective then," she grins, pleased with her jab.

"Thanks Lanie," I reply, glossing over the dig, glad that she doesn't hold a grudge. "When Kate told me that I had to meet you, I gotta admit, I was a little afraid of what that would mean. Worlds colliding and all. Women being as they sometimes are."

Lanie snickers. "Yeah, I've been down that road a few times myself. But, getting back to your perspective and all…"

"Uh-oh…"

Here it comes, the reason she is here. But it's understandable, and I do have a certain insider angle into the mind of Rick Castle. If it will help make things better for everyone involved, I'm willing to do what I can.

"Look, Castle is your boy…" She wrings her hands, sighing. "Maybe you could, I don't know, maybe tell him to back off with the pushing? Kate will come around; you know she will. But it might be better if he lays off the 'eager puppy dog' angle, focus on the work side of things, rather than…" She sighs heavily, raises an eyebrow and waves a hand around dismissively. "Well, whatever the hell it is they've got going on."

I nod, laughing that she has spoken the exact phrase that I was thinking about Rick earlier.

She's right; on both counts.

"He is rather like an excited puppy when he gets an idea in his head, isn't he?"

True to form, Rick bounds in the next morning, bright and early.

I greet him at the door and after catching up on his summer, hearing about he and Kate's rather unfortunate first meetings, and finally, gaining assurances that he won't be leaving me out in the cold for so long again, I lead him over to the counter.

"The usual?" I ask, holding up two cups.

"You know it," he grins. "She's gonna take me back, Jess. Just watch."

"Yeah, about that," I hedge, trying to judge how open he is going to be to my counsel.

He cocks his head, his face open and a little nervous looking. Good, he's afraid. He should be.

I take my time with the steamer and tamp down the ground beans more than I probably need to, biding my time and letting him sweat for a minute. "You need to tone it down."

"Jess, I…"

I cut him off with a wave of my hand. "Are you or are you not with Gina right now?" I say.

"I am but this isn't about that, with Kate I just… I enjoy being around the precinct, you know? It makes me feel good to help."

I raise an eyebrow, skeptical. Bullshit. But keep telling yourself that Rick.

"Seriously Jess, I'm helpful!"

"Okay, okay," I laugh, "I believe you."

I don't, not one bit. But he seems to.

"Kate's fine," he says, clueless. "Sure, I pissed her off by not calling, but I mean… you forgave me right? Beckett will too."

The steamer hisses and the bubbles threaten to spill over the edge of the beaker; I'm gonna scald the milk if I drag this out too much longer.

He really is oblivious about what Kate was ready to do before he left, I think, watching his face, noticing the happy gleam in his eyes. I sigh, running a hand through my hair, frustrated that I can't break Kate's trust and beat some sense into this man's head.

It's not going to be nearly as easy as he thinks. He has no idea the damage that's been done.

"Look, just take it slow," I end up saying, giving him a meaningful stare. I pump a couple shots of vanilla into one cup, pour the milk and espresso into both to-go cups, and doodle a little flower into each before placing the lids on top. "She's had a whole three months to get into a routine without her faithful pet at her side. Just work on getting yourself housebroken again, eh?"

"I feel like I should probably take offense to that," Rick grins, but he nods along like he might actually be listening.

I breathe easier, hoping he's gotten the message.

"There's a good boy," I smirk, grabbing a muffin and throwing it his direction, sliding his cups along the counter, toward him.

Rick catches the muffin mid-flight and picks up his coffee, laughing and taking a sip. He waves the chocolate-chip muffin in front of me. "You want me to run around the counter and drop this at your feet?" he laughs.

"Nah," I reply. "Just be good, and maybe keep your tail between your legs for a few days, huh? It can't hurt."

"Yeah," he says thoughtfully, studying me with an intense gaze, making me incredibly uncomfortable.

I need to get him out of here before I say something that I shouldn't; something that Kate will never forgive me for.

The front door jingles, a couple of teenagers coming in for a fix before school and a handsome but tired looking man in medical scrubs trailing in behind them.

"Go on," I say, looking toward the boys, letting my eyes linger on the dish of a man decked out in dark blue, thankful for the interruption of Rick's scrutiny. "Go, be helpful," I smirk, turning back to him.

His face brightens at the thought of the twelfth, of Kate. He quickly grabs a coffee tray and put the cups inside, balancing the muffin in the middle.

"I am helpful," he grumbles as he turns to leave.

"Mhm," I agree.

"See ya later, Jess," he says, half turning back and bumping into the man wearing scrubs.

He mumbles an apology to the man, throws me a smile and a wave as he exits, and I let out a relived breath.

Saved by the bell.

You know the drill. Love me, love me!

Thanks to everyone who prodded and poked me for this chapter. To Nic, and Jo, and Avi, and Kellie; for their helpful suggestions and for the pointing out of laughable typos. You da bestest! I promise not to yell at any more milk.