I was stocking the shelves at 5 O'Clock this morning, Yawning because OF COURSE I stayed up and watched The new Season of Castle, and then could hardly sleep after. So I am at work, and I am putting up new cheeses, and I say this really stupid line in my head, and I think "Castle might say that.." And so this little one shot was born!

lonely

It's the middle of the day on a Saturday. The wind is blowing the leaves, now starting to part with their beloved trees, and skitter them across the busy streets of new york. A women clad in dark blue jeans and a black pea coat, makes her way along the sidewalk in a bit of a hurry. Even though it's her day off and she could use this time to just slow down, she can't seem to. She just wants to get what she needs to get done, and go home to her warm apartment. Sure it's a pretty season, and she's used to the cold, but lately she just wants to curl up with a good book.

She smiles a little to herself, looking around at the Buzz of the city. Having just gotten back from her fathers cabin only a week ago, she just realized how much she misses the busy. It was too quiet there and had a hard time just sitting still. Here the sounds of cars honking and whizzing by, and the chatter of all the people out and about just warms her and makes her feel home. She lifts her nose to the sky when another breeze sweeps through, gathering up her long chestnut hair. She breathes in, getting a nice whiff of fresh air, and then coughs. She did not miss the smell of the city, that is for sure.

"Kate!" Someone yells for her and and stops mid stride, turning around to see Castle making his way through a crowd of people with shopping bags.

"Hey Castle." She smiles at him, a flutter rising in her chest. She's missed him all those months she just couldn't bring herself to call. And now that he's not mad at her anymore, she just wants to spend all her time with him.

Castle catches up, panting a little and then wrapping his arms around his body. He's wearing a nice black coat and blue scarf that bring out his eyes. "Cold huh?" He remarks, and looks right into her eyes. She gets the feeling that they both just simultaneously thought of the freezer. How can they not when the chill nips at their skin.

Kate nods, tight lip smile and mirrors his actions a little. "Yep, this is New York, Castle..In the Fall." She points out. This is not LA or Florida. She wonders if before he met her, he'd spend his holiday months in warmer climates.

Castle just shrugs. "So what are ya up to?" He moves aside as a woman walks by, dragging her little three year old boy behind her, who is wining at the top of his lungs that it's cold outside.

Watching for a moment Kate almost forgot he asked a question. "Oh, grocery shopping, I haven't really got anything in the house." She replies finally, and starts to walk again.

"Want some company?" He falls in step beside her.

"Sure." She says with a shrug although she's elated.

There is a short silence, where they just walk along the sidewalk, and Kate finds herself quite close to him after a few minutes, Whether from the usual magnetic pull between them, or seeking out warmth, she's unsure. And surprisingly she's okay with it. She looks up at him to see if he's noticed, to find him looking back. He gives her a smile and she drops her head playing with a strand of hair by her ear.

"So how was it with your dad?" Castle asks after another short pause.

"Quiet, almost to quiet you know?" She looks up at him again.

Castle nods in understanding. "I bet it was nice though." He muses.

"It was, I got to spend a lot of time with my dad...The longest we've ever spent together." She than says, with a raised eyebrow at such a pathetic thing.

"That's great Kate." He glances at her as they reach the grocery store and he stops just outside the door.

Kate bites her lip and nods.

He takes a hold of her arm gently, and she has no choice but to look at him. "It is Kate, You should spend all the time in the world with your dad." He says softy yet strong. She thinks she catches a hint of envy.

With another offered smile, the two enter the grocery store. Kate goes for the produce first. Not really sure what to get since she mostly eats out. Castle follows behind her grabbing a basket for her on the way. Just as she's picking up a bundle of Bananas, she sees Castle out of the corner of her eye taking various fruits into his arms all at once. She raises an eyebrow and turns a little to get a better look. Her eyebrow raises even higher when he begins to juggle them. Kate looks around her, feeling slightly embarrassed by him, and intrigued at the same time. With a smirk, she walks over and plops the bananas in the basket that dangles in the crook up his arm. All the fruit he is juggling fall to the floor.

"Hey!" He wines. "I was just getting the hang of it..." He pouts, picking them all up and then chasing after her.

She's now looking at the salads. "Come on Court Jester." She laughs.

He grins at himself as if her laughing is a small victory for him. He holds out the basket for her to place things in, getting a few more smiles from her. And then it's onto another isle. "Hey look, pre made Kung pao chicken!"

Again she looks at him with a raised eyebrow, shaking her head at how playful he is.

"Do you think they train the Chicken in combat first?" He holds the box, and then looks at her like a four year old that always has to ask the question "Why."

"No." She says flatly, earning him an eye role and another shake of the head.

Yet another Isle, and the basket is getting heavy. Castle continues to jibber jabber about every little thing in the store, and she eventually just smiles to herself, enjoying his company. He's definitely lifted her spirits, and that is all the matters. Placing a box of Nilla Wafers into the basket, Kate has to put it down, it's getting heavy and she still finds small things like this sometimes difficult.

"Let me get that." He says, picking it up and moving on to the cheese.

She follows behind him without protest and watches as he picks up a pack of cheeses. She waits. He must have something to say about those too. Having commented not five minutes ago about the prices of a 8 oz soda compared to the liters, which to him, makes no sense at all because the 8 oz cost more.

"12 singles cheeses." He says, holding the pack up as if considering them. He looks over his shoulder at her with that smirk of his and opens his mouth. "That's a lot of lonely cheese." He says it almost sadly.

Kate brings a hand up to her mouth to stifle the laugh that so badly wants to escape. But she doesn't want to give him such a satisfaction over a stupid line. "Really Castle?" She finally says, taking the cheese from him and placing it into the basket.

"Hey, It's my constitutional right to be ridiculous." He states, moving onto the bread Isle.

Kate laughs, a full out laugh and tosses him a loaf of bread. "Here, so the cheese wont be lonely anymore."

I heard the "It's my constitutional right to be ridiculous" on the radio this weekend and thought it was funny. Anyway, this was all my idea, but the next one will be someone elses. I'll get to it soon. Thanks for reading and reviews are always wanted! Oh yea, and Ideas.