A.N. So I know there's about a thousand stories based on the season two finale but I just couldn't help myself and after my muse had abandoned me just after my birthday I decided I was gonna write this. So please forgive me if it's rubbish. Also my friend who usually reads stuff and tells me if a story is absolute bol***ks can't check this at the moment so it's all my fault if it's that bad lol

From Rite Rose Publishing.

A Thousand Words

Kate sighed as the elevator doors closed, cutting Castle and Gina from view. She looked down at the barely touched bottle of beer in her hand before taking a long swig and walking over to her desk. She set the now half empty bottle down on the table and picked up her jacket. There was no way she was working tonight. She was starting to walk towards the elevator when she heard the door open where Lanie and the guys were and felt Lanie step beside her, walking with her. There was silence as they reached the elevator and she hit the button. When they stepped inside and the doors closed, Lanie took a few seconds before speaking.

"You ok?" she asked, quietly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kate questioned, glancing up at the floor number and wondering just how slow the elevator was. Ignoring Kate's response, Lanie shifted tactics.

"You want company tonight? I have a bottle of blue label Smirnoff ..." she trailed off with a side glance at Kate. Kate was tempted by that. Blue labelled Smirnoff was good for one thing ... getting drunk fast. And there was nothing more she wanted right now than to be out of her head so she didn't have to think but she really didn't want company at the minute and if Lanie came to hers tonight they would end up talking which would lead to her confessing how she really feels about Castle. That really wasn't on the cards.

"No thanks Lanie, I'm just gonna head home and have a soak in the bath," she tried to smile.

"Well if you change your mind ..." Lanie trailed off again as the doors opened and Kate practically jogged out of the building, slowing down long enough to throw Lanie a "Will do, bye!"

Kate didn't slow down until she reached her car. She fumbled with her keys, desperately trying to keep herself together long enough to open the door and when she finally did, she sank gratefully into the driver's seat before begrudgingly admitting to herself that she did need a new car. She cursed aloud. Why did Castle always have to be right? She leant her head back and closed her eyes, taking a calming breath.

"Just get home," she whispered to herself before opening her eyes and starting the engine.

It was then she remembered that she had nowhere to go. After her apartment had been blown up she had been staying with Castle and she had been trying to find an apartment but over the past few weeks she had been staying at Deming's, and she had just broken up with him. She sighed again, she had no choice, she would have to go to Castle's. As she finally pulled out of the precinct's car park, she prayed that Castle had already left and hadn't forgotten something.

Walking from the elevator in Castle's building to his front door seemed like it took forever. She glanced nervously up and down the corridor before using the key that Castle had given to her the morning after she had stayed here the first night. He had proudly dangled the key on a ribbon in front of her face as she had been sat at her desk and tried to 'hypnotise' her with it until she had grabbed it out of his hand and told him to sit down. She opened the door and let out the breath she hadn't realised she had been holding when she saw all the lights were off, before shutting and locking the door behind her. She pulled her jacket off and quickly hung it up before heading over to the freezer and the bottle of vodka she knew was in there. She grabbed the bottle and a glass and poured herself a generous measure before grabbing a can of coke out of the fridge and adding some. The drink looked more like dirty water than the dark brown that Vodka and coke usually had and the burning sensation it had to her first mouthful told her just how much vodka there was in the ratio but she didn't care as she down the whole glass and poured another measure and emptied the rest of the can of coke into the glass and headed upstairs to the guest room and bathroom. That soak sounded like a good idea.

It was a combination of the fast intake of alcohol and the warm bath that finally calmed her down. An hour later she emerged from the bath feeling much better and ready for her next drink. Picking up her empty glass, she started to walk towards the stairs when she paused outside Castle's bedroom door. She had never been in there before and had avoided thinking about what his room would look like until now. The curiosity got the better of her as she gently pushed the door open and stepped inside. This was not what she had expected. She had thought his room would either be like a five year olds, full of toys and mad colours or even transformers bedding or something or it that it would be the very definition of a playboy/bachelor room but what she found instead made her smile. He had a large bed in the centre of the room that was made from black wood with a large headboard. The walls were a pale neutral colour and he had a desk in the same dark colour wood as the bed. He had a walk in wardrobe to the left and an open glass door to the right which she assumed led to his personal en suite.

She glanced at his desk and saw a few picture frames neatly lined up. She walked towards them intrigued. The first picture was one of Castle and everyone at the 12th, including her and Lanie. They were all smiling happily at the person taking the picture and she remembered that this had been just shortly after Heat Wave had come out. She turned her attention to the next picture and grinned. This one was of Castle and Alexis. Alexis was being tickled mercilessly by Castle and the person who had taken this picture had caught the moment perfectly. She stared at this one for a few minutes; she loved watching Castle interact with Alexis. It always fascinated her how their roles often seemed to be reversed. Moving onto the next picture she saw a much younger Martha holding a little boy who was grinning cheekily. That had to be Castle when he was little. She would know that smile anywhere. She chuckled to herself before moving onto the next picture and her chuckles stopped instantly. This was a picture of her and Castle. She was laughing at something and had reached out a hand to support herself on Castle's arm and he was looking at her with something she couldn't quite name. It wasn't anything like she had ever seen him direct towards her before. Did he always look at her like that when she wasn't watching? She looked away, confused by this and decided she had intruded enough into his personal space so she went to leave however as she did she noticed there was another picture on his bedside table. She hesitated but curiosity finally got the better of her and she walked over to get a better look. The large frame that was sat there had a picture of Alexis in it. She must have been about ten years old and she was giggling in a professionally taken photo. Kate's eyes were drawn to the picture next to this; it was not framed but was resting on the frame of Alexis' picture. This was the smallest picture so far and by the quality, it looked like it had been taken by a cell phone. The picture was of her as she was sat at her desk in the precinct. She was sat at her computer, one hand rested on the keyboard whilst the other was cupped to her jaw as the elbow rested on the desk. She was looking into the distance, clearly daydreaming with a small smile on her face. She could tell from the angle of the picture that this had been taken from someone sitting in Castle's chair so it was probably him who had taken it. She frowned slightly. When had she become comfortable enough with Castle sitting there to daydream? And why did he print this picture off and put it on his bed side table. She sat down on the edge of Castle's bed and with shaking fingers she picked up the picture.

If he liked her enough to put a picture of her next to his daughters, why had he left with Gina? It was then she realised there were no pictures of Gina or Meredith anywhere in his room. Not even one of him, Meredith and Alexis. If pictures were worth a thousand words then the fact that she was in three of these pictures said a lot to her. She stared back down at the small picture of herself and hesitantly replaced it next to the picture of Alexis. She wanted to tell Castle how she felt and she knew she probably would have if she had been anyone else but Kate Beckett was not the kind of woman to chase after a man. If he wanted Gina right now, for whatever reason, then that was that. She may have deep feelings for Castle but she wasn't about to profess her undying love for someone who couldn't wait for her. If he had gone to the Hampton's alone then that would have been different but no ... he had gone with Gina. She stood suddenly and walked quickly from the room.

Maybe in the fall ...

A.N. So I think I'm gonna leave it there ... please review! Thanks, Nicki