A/N: Hmm... don't know where this came from. I was not intending on writing Esplanie, but there's just too little of them floating around cyberspace! Spoilers for seasons 3 and 4. Especially 4x10 "Cuffed."

New Year's Eve

In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to invite both Lanie and Esposito to his semi-annual New Year's Eve party. But what else was Castle to do? Pick sides and not invite one of them? They were both his friends, and he really thought that they could suck it up for an evening and be mature were doing okay at work. (Mostly.) And it wasn't like they were stuck with only each other for company.

They had managed most of the night so far. It was about 11:30, and there had been no intense confrontations. But judging by the fact that Lanie and dragged Beckett away for a good fifteen minutes, leaving Esposito scowling near the snacks, something had come close to happening. Or it did. Or it almost did.

Castle shook his head. Damn Jenny and family gatherings.

If only Ryan were here. He probably would have been able to diffuse the situation. Castle, while he loved drama as much as the next guy, he didn't like being thrown in the middle of it. He had no idea what to do, how to act. Which is why he cornered Beckett earlier to ask whether or not they should intervene. She shushed him with a finger before the question even left his lips and he listened.

"They need to figure somethings out on their own. They'll never learn anything if we coddle them into doing what we want."

And it was now 11:40-something (Castle wasn't quite sure), and nothing terrible had happened. People were moving to his tv, crowding around to watch the coverage of the other major party in Manhattan, Time's Square. Lady Gaga writhed around on stage, and he heard bits and pieces of dialogue. Most of it had something to do with Lady Gaga, the bird cage around her head, the classic debate of whether she is artistic or simply ridiculous. Nothing worthy of note.

Castle sighed contently. At this rate, 2012 was going to start off well.

He headed towards his liquor cabinet to prepare his champagne bottle, a goofy grin plastered on his face.

Success?

Pfft. Such an understatement.

"Don't you go dissing my girl Ke$ha!" That was Esposito's voice coming from the kitchen. Castle froze. He had no idea why those words in that combination would ever come out of anybody's mouth, let alone Esposito.

"I'm not dissing," Lanie's terse tone was easy to make out over the festivities. Although, nobody else seemed to have noticed.

Maybe he was over-reacting. Yeah. That's it. He was just being paranoid.

But Lanie kept talking. "She's a terrible songwriter. She's autotuned to the max. And she looks like she hasn't showered in days!"

"Dude. First off, she's a parody of everything that's wrong with the music industry-"

"-So acting like a hoe is ironic?"

"Dude. "Blah Blah Blah" is an inversion of all the rap songs that objectify women-"

Castle cringed. Dude, stop calling her Dude!

"-it's annoying!"

"Well so are you!"

And that is when Castle decided to retreat. They had resorted to petty names. This was not good. He could practically feel Lanie's unamused glare boring through his flesh. He wanted to help out his fellow man, but Beckett's words echoed in his mind. Maybe they'll get stuff sorted out. Maybe they won't. At least they were isolated.

Lanie put her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow. "Really, Espo. That's all you got?"

"Well maybe if you didn't make such snap judgements you''d know exactly 'what I got.'"

"Snap judgements? Me?" Lanie ran a hand through her hair, and tried her best to keep her cool. All he wanted was for her to lose it. That's why he was being extra insufferable that usual. That had to be it. That was the only logical explanation.

Taking a step closer, she continued. "Sometimes people are what they 're trying to be an intellectual with this whole 'Ke$ha really isn't a skank' angle, but all you're doing is kidding yourself."

All she wants is for him to back down. But he doesn't. He knows her too well, and she curses herself for giving him the advantage. He takes a step and she is so very aware of their proximity.

"And what's wrong with that? What's wrong with hoping that there is more to people? You're too comfortable with your little labels. You box people into different categories in your mind, and never give them a chance to prove you wrong."

Were they still talking about Ke$ha? Lanie wasn't sure anymore. Maybe he was right. Maybe she judges people too quickly. Maybe she judged him to quickly.

"So prove me wrong."

Esposito frowned. "Wait. What?"

"You heard me, Javi. Prove me wrong."

"About Ke$ha?"

She fought the urge to smack him upside the head. "No. About you, you dumb ass."

"Why?" He took a step back and turned his back to her, resting both hands on the kitchen counter.

"You're doing a fabulous job of proving yourself." She crossed her arms defensively.

Silence followed as he angrily ran a hand through his short hair. "I don't understand what you want me to do. Lanie, you're the one who kept pushing me away."

"You wanted too much." The words just slipped out of her mouth.

"You didn't want anything."

"All we were doing was having fun."

"Bullshit."

Lanie froze at his harsh tone. He continued, "It might have started like that, but you and I both know that it wasn't just fun for a very long time."

They could hear the growing excitement from the other room and Lanie vaguely recognized that the countdown must have started. She was more preoccupied with the man standing in front of her.

10

Esposito turned around and she held her breath. She had never seen him look so... so raw.

9

"Lanie, I was in love with you."

8

Her stomach was all up in knots and her heart was palpitating. Be cool.

How the hell was she supposed to stay cool? He just dropped the dreaded L word on her! Months of dating, and he never used it before.

7

Lanie brought a hand up to rub her temples. "Why, Javi? Why now? Why not a few months ago?"

And he better not say: "It's because I was scared."

6

Luckily he didn't. Instead he answered with another question. "Why didn't you?"

5

He took a step closer to her so they would be eye to eye. (Well eye to chin. Lanie hated being short.)

4

Why did she keep her mouth shut? She was so forward with everything else.

She swallowed her pride. "I was scared."

She mentally berated herself for having such a cliched answer. But she really didn't have a better one to offer she was actually terrified. Genuinely terrified. And when Jenny brought up the marriage question, she bolted.

3

She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to stare into his any longer. She didn't want to see what his reaction would be.

2

"Did you love me?" His voice, so small, so curious, so timid.

1

"I do."

Champagne glasses exploded open, fireworks were set off. People were cheering, giving their best wishes to their loved ones. Hugging. Kissing. Clinking their glasses.

And Javier and Lanie were in Richard Castle's kitchen were slowly inching towards each other. They both knew that they had plenty to talk about, they had lots of issues to sort through. But when his lips met hers in a sweet kiss, those worries were momentarily forgotten. Unlike the previous New Year, they weren't tearing at each others clothes. But there was something else there- a promise of something more.

Thoughts?