Kate had arrived at Lanie's house a little over an hour ago. She was hoping that they could discuss what was going on with Castle because truthfully, she didn't have the slightest idea.

"So you didn't really talk about the future then?" Lanie asked.

"Not really."

"You've got to be kidding me Kate!"

"What do you mean?"

"He gets interviewed and he talks about how he's unsure of his relationship with you. He calls you exceptional!"

"He called Nikki Heat exceptional," she debated.

"We both know you're one in the same practically when he talks about you. While the plot and events that happen are different, the feelings are the same," Lanie pointed out.

"He did call me exceptional yesterday in the park too," Kate replied.

"See! He has a thing for you and you're being stubborn and refuse to see it!" She exclaimed.

"Lanie, I admit that I see the possibility of a relationship there. I just don't know if he even wants it still," she admitted quietly.

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"I told you about how he was considering taking a break."

"Yeah so?"

"I don't think he would really want to get away from the city, and ultimately me, if he wanted things to move forward. Going away would just put things at a standstill," she pointed out.

"That's not true Kate. I'm going to speak freely and you're not allowed to get mad, okay?"

"Lanie I don't really - "

"Okay?" she asked in a tone that was nonnegotiable.

"Fine."

"He's already gone to the Hamptons before. He invited you to come and you said no, so he invited Gina. You decided to get all mad about it because he decided to bring someone else. Gina wouldn't have gone with him if you had said yes, so you brought that upon yourself. While they were there, they got together because he still thought you were with Tom.

You know I'm always on your side Kate, because I'm your friend, but I'm also Rick's friend too. It's not his fault he wanted to try to move on, you never had the chance to tell him you and Josh broke up. You can't place that on him though because he didn't know what you were trying to say. While everyone at the precinct tried to be on your side, we all knew it wasn't just his fault. The phone works both ways.

Now, he wants to try to get away and distance himself a little bit, and honestly I can't blame him. He keeps trying to have a relationship with you, and when he even remotely suggests it you turn him down every time."

"That's not true Lanie," Kate argued.

"The first time you met him you turned him down. You turned him down when he invited you to the Hamptons. You turned him down two weeks ago when he asked you if you wanted to go see a movie after having dinner and you said as long as it wasn't a date."

"Well how am I supposed to trust him with all his baggage?"

"Everyone has baggage," she pointed out. "You have a lot of baggage too but do you see him using that against you? He wants to be with you, really be with you. When you're happy, mad, angry, annoyed, and sad. He's ready to take all that on because he likes you Kate, possibly more. And what are you ready to do?"

What was she ready to do? If Lanie was right and he was ready to take on all of her emotions, and simply be with her, would she do the same? Sure she got annoyed when he was acting childish, but she wouldn't want him to act any other way because he was acting like himself. She wouldn't want to change him in hopes of making him her ideal man, because he already was.

From her silent reverie Lanie knew she got the point.

This was more of a filler chapter, but I still hope you enjoyed it. I feel as though Kate sometimes needs to talk to someone else to gain perspective, otherwise she wouldn't know what to do. In this case, I wanted to use Lanie as someone that could help her sort out her feelings and point Kate in the right direction.

Review?