Disclaimer: Okay, I don't own Nick or anything having to do it with CSI blah, blah, blah…but I do own Kaitlin and all her wacky friends. I don't own Lily Allen or the song Alfie by her either. Sadly.

"Celebrity shot!" Brandi shouted.

It was 9:30 and the party was underway. Brandi and Kaitlin had set up the dining room table in the middle of the living room for better movement during beer pong. Now playing, were their friends Brian and Tim, who were one team, and Eric and Cody, who were the other team. Eric and Cody were currently in the lead and Brandi had just called for a celebrity shot.

Tim looked at her incredulously, while Brian laughed.

"Brandi, if we were trying to loose, we would let you shoot, but we are actually trying to win." Brian looked at her and said.

Brandi scoffed. She looked at him and pouted. Brian looked back at her and smiled. Kaitlin had always known there was something there between the two of them. A year ago, Kaitlin, Brandi, and their friend Shannon had all gone to a party Brian was throwing. It was later on in the night that Kaitlin and Shannon had walked in on Brandi and Brian in a very compromising position. Brandi had never told anyone about that night, but according to Brian, there had been three other encounters.

"Alright, get your ass up here, Brandi, and make the shot or else I might be forced to hurt you." Brian threatened.

Brandi squealed and jumped up in the air. She had already had a lot to drink. Tim handed Brandi the ping pong ball and she took her aim. She arched herself and threw the ball to the other side. The ball landed in the cup with a clink. Brandi squealed again and jumped back in the air.

"Nice!" Brian high fived Brandi and she ran over to Kaitlin.

"Kaitlin! Did you see that! I totally made it and I'm not even that drunk yet!"

"Yeah, that was a nice shot." Kaitlin responded.

In truth, Kaitlin hadn't seen the shot because she was too busy looking out the window. She had invited Nick over and she was hoping that he would show up at any minute. She sighed as she looked back out the window; there was no sign of Nick.

Kaitlin turned her attention back to the room she was in. The music was blaring the music Kaitlin and Shannon enjoyed. Since it was Kaitlin and Brandi's house, they got choice over what played, and since Brandi was too drunk, Kaitlin had taken over the stereo. In the middle of the room, was the big dining room table she and Brandi had purchased just for beer pong. She focused on the game and saw that Brian and Tim were making a comeback. She turned her attention to the sitting area of the living room. There was a group of people sitting around the coffee table. Kaitlin tried to look at what they were doing and saw a giant glass perched in the center of the table with a deck of cards circled around it. She shook her head as she remembered the last time she had played kings cup. That had been a very bad night, ending in her almost completely naked and completely drunk. There were people all around the house, most of them Kaitlin knew, some she vaguely remembered, and some she didn't know. She turned her attention back to the beer pong game, and saw that Brandi was now standing next to Brian, who had his arm around her. She shook her head and stood up. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed another Corona. She removed the bottle opener from the fridge and uncapped the beer. She took a swig and headed to the front door, intent on getting some fresh air.

Kaitlin walked over to the porch swing she and Brandi had set up a few feet away from the door. She sat and began to swing herself back and forth. She could hear the music coming from the house and could occasionally hear a yell or a cheer coming from the house. She lifted her beer to her lips and swallowed the gold colored liquid.

She looked back at the house and rolled her eyes. All night Brandi had been giving her tentative looks out of the corner of her eye. It annoyed Kaitlin deeply. She didn't want pity from people. She didn't want to be that poor girl. She just wanted to be treated like always; like nothing had ever happened.

The police station had called and told her that her parents had arrived earlier that morning. They asked her if she had wanted to set up a meeting with them, but Kaitlin declined. She didn't know if she was ready for that yet. She liked knowing that they were near, but she just didn't think she was emotionally or physically ready for whatever that encounter would bring.

She took another sip from her beer bottle and lowered it. She had seen him. Nick was now walking up the front lawn and over in her direction. She felt butterflies in her stomach and smiled giddily as her approached her.

"Hey." He greeted her.

"Hey, yourself." She responded.

"Why are you sittin' out here and not in there with everybody else?" He made to sit down and Kaitlin scooted over on the swing.

"I needed some air." She truthfully responded.

"Are you okay?" He questioned. He looked at her curiously.

She laughed. "Yeah, I wish everybody would stop asking me that. I'm fine, and I'm not gonna go slit my wrists in the bathroom in the near future." She knew it sounded rude, but she had been drinking.

They sat in silence for a moment before Kaitlin spoke.

"I'm glad you came tonight." She turned her head to look at him.

"Yeah? I'm glad I came." He turned his head as he spoke to look into her aqua colored eyes.

Suddenly the song changed and a female's voice filtered throughout the yard.

"What is that they are listening to?"

"It's Lily Allen. Why?" She looked at him, this time suspiciously.

"I don't know it's just a bit weird."

"It's not weird! Lily Allen is a genius." She defended.

Kaitlin stopped and listened to the lyrics for a second.

Oh deary me,

My little brother's in his bedroom smoking weed,

I tell him he should get up cause it's nearly half past three

He can't be bothered cause he's high on THC

I ask him very nicely if he'd like a cup of tea,

I can't even see him cause his room is so smoky,

Don't understand how one can watch so much TV,

My baby brother Alfie how I wish that you could see.

They both laughed. "Okay, so maybe that song is a little weird, but Brandi and I put that song on the mix because some of the guys in there are major pot heads."

He laughed. He looked back towards the door. "Should we go in?"

"I suppose." She sighed.

She made to stand up, but stopped once she saw Nick extending his hand out to her. She grabbed it and he helped her to her feet.

"I'm not that drunk yet, ya know. I can still walk and stand." She told him.

"I don't doubt that, but it's just how I was raised." He smiled at her and she knew that with that smile, he could've stabbed her and she still would've let it go.

She walked up to the door and opened it. She walked over the threshold and closed the door behind Nick.

"Kaitlin, where have you been? I tried to find you so that you could be my partner for beer pong, but I couldn't find you anywhere." Shannon had run up to her and Kaitlin could easily tell that Shannon was wasted.

"Did you check outside?"

"Oh, no. That might've been an awesome place to check, but Tim won't let me out of his sight tonight."

Shannon and Tim were engaged and had been for over two years. It was a miracle they were even still together. About a year ago, Shannon had slept with her ex-boyfriend Spencer. When Tim found out, he was heart broken. Everybody around them knew that Tim was immensely in love with Shannon, but everyone also knew that he was always putting more into the relationship than Shannon. While he had taken her back, his hold over her had become so controlling. He was constantly calling her all day, he always had to know where she was going, and he never let her out of his sight at parties. Kaitlin knew that Shannon wouldn't last much longer like that, and she knew that one day she was going to receive a phone call about a breakup.

"Let me introduce you to everyone." Kaitlin took Nick's hand and lead him into the kitchen. She reached into the fridge and handed him a beer.

"Okay, so right now, at the beer pong table is Brian and Tim. Tim is Shannon's fiancé, and Shannon is the girl who just ran up to me. Across the table from them are Cody and Eric. Cody is married to Marissa, who is over playing flip cups in the backyard right now. Eric is our next door neighbor. Okay, the girl standing next to Brian is Brandi, my roommate and best friend. She and Brian kinda have a thing for each other, but neither will admit to it. Are you getting this?" She turned to look at him.

"Yeah, I think so." He laughed.

"Okay. So, in the living room they are playing kings cup. Have you ever played that?"

"Not that I can remember." He shook his head.

"Don't. It's a very bad game." She laughed.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind."

"So playing kings cup right now is Dane, who is an ass hole who thinks he knows everything. You'll see what I'm talking about later. Next to him is his girlfriend Brittany and next to her is her sister Stephanie. Next to her is Mikel. His real name is Michael, but his parents misspelled his name on his birth certificate, and all throughout high school teachers called him Mikel, like a nickel. Next to him is his brother Joe, next to Joe is fat Stephanie. I know that's mean, but that's what all the guys call her because she is always calling herself fat, even though she only weighs like 90 pounds and is more than likely anorexic. Next to her is Ertz. That's his last name, his real name is Dan, but the guy next to him is also named Dan, but we call him Mackey. That's his last name. Are you confused yet?"

"Gettin' there." He replied. All the names she was relaying to him were getting a little confusing, but he didn't care because the only person he was there to see, he already knew her name. He looked at her and smiled.

"Alright, the rest of the people in here I have no idea or they just aren't important enough for you to remember. So let's go into the backyard."

She took his hand and led him around the beer pong table. She slid the back door open and walked onto the brick porch of her backyard. Nick looked around and was impressed at how beautiful her backyard was. It was fairly large, and in the center was a pool. She had a built in barbeque grill and patio table on the far right of the yard. Over on the far left was a fire pit with seats all around it. People were swimming in the heated pool and people were making out in the hot tub. There were a group of people gathered around the fire pit, retelling stories from the past and laughing whenever a particularly funny one was told. Over at the patio table a group of people stood with red cups on the table and red cups in hand. He stole a glance behind him and saw speakers installed on the house, allowing the music from inside to carry into the backyard. Kaitlin tugged his hand again and began to lead him to the group of people around the patio table.

"Hey, guys. How's it going?" Kaitlin asked and every head looked up.

"Kaitlin, Matt is kicking my ass at flip cups. I need you on my team; you're the best at this game." Marissa whined.

"I don't know, Marissa, from what I remember Kaitlin is only good as long as she is drunk, and she isn't very drunk yet or else she would be in bed with me right now." Matt explained.

"Shut up, Matt. You're just bitter cause I always kick your ass at this game." Kaitlin retorted.

"Nick, this is Marissa." Kaitlin pointed at the short, tan, brunette girl who had asked for Kaitlin's help a second ago.

"You're married to Cody, right?" Nick asked.

"Oh God, don't remind me. He's pissed because I wouldn't be his partner at beer pong, and then he got even madder when I came out here to play flip cups with Reilly." Marissa griped.

"That's Reilly." Kaitlin pointed at the guy standing next to Marissa. Reilly had shoulder length black hair, and tattoos all over his arms. Nick didn't know how he really fit into the crowd, but he figured there was a way somehow.

"That's Mel." Kaitlin motioned to the brunette girl standing across the table from Reilly.

"And, that's Matt." Kaitlin pointed to the guy standing directly in front of Marissa. Matt was a good looking guy, with short blonde hair and green eyes. He currently was growing a beard, as a dare, and his appearance made him look like a miner. He was about Nick's height and was set exactly like Nick. Nick looked Matt in the eyes and noticed that he was staring right back at him, coldly. His eyes only diverted for a second to notice Nick holding Kaitlin's hand.

"Who's the new guy?" Matt asked harshly. Kaitlin had expected him to act like this, especially considering Matt still held onto the notion that he and Kaitlin were going to end up together one day.

"Guys, this is my friend Nick." Everyone around the circle, except Matt, said hello.

"Hey, Reilly, where's Lisa?" Kaitlin asked, noticing that she was missing.

"She's over by the fire. I thought about throwing her into the fire, but it might smell too bad." He joked.

"Yeah, and you know she would scream louder than she normally does. Can't you guys just picture her 'Reillllyyyy'." Melinda whined, impersonating Lisa.

Kaitlin shook her head at everyone laughing at the joke Melinda had just made. Everybody then took turns impersonating Lisa whining for Reilly.

"Don't do that too loud, she might hear you guys." Reilly warned.

Kaitlin then dragged Nick over to the fire pit, where a few people had congregated. The smell of a campfire instantly filled Nick's nose.

"Hey, Kaitlin. Who's the hottie?" Lisa asked as she noticed Kaitlin and Nick approach the campfire.

"This is Nick. Nick this is Lisa, Reilly's girlfriend." Nick extended his hand and shook Lisa's.

"We'll see if it remains that way after the end of tonight." Lisa replied angrily.

Suddenly a guy stood and ran over to Kaitlin. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and ran toward the pool. He began to threaten to throw her in the pool.

"Nathan! No!" Kaitlin shouted. Everybody had suddenly turned their attention to the struggle that was now ensuing.

"Say the magic words." Nathan teased.

"If you don't put me down right now I'm gonna kick your ass!" She threatened.

"That's not right, and it's not very nice." He teased.

"Please, Nathan, you know I can't swim and that I'm scared of water." She pleaded.

"Well, I think that it's time you got over that fear." He responded.

Kaitlin began to pound her fists into his back in an effort to make him stop. He just laughed harder, before he set her down. Kaitlin jumped back away from his reach and folded her arms across her chest.

"That was so mean, Nathan." She pouted.

"Well, I just thought it might be interesting to see you all wet. Especially since you are in that revealing white shirt, and those hot shorts." He joked,

"Yeah, because me being wet is going to make the night better."

"He'd be doing a public service." Matt had yelled across the yard.

Kaitlin just rolled her eyes and walked back over to Nick. He had been watching the whole thing go down, and couldn't help but agree that Nathan would be doing a public service in getting her wet.

Nathan followed close behind her and upon reaching Nick; he had to ask the obvious.

"So, are you Katie's new guy?" He asked.

"Me? No. I'm just her friend." Nick nervously answered.

"Yeah, sure. How did you find this one, Katie?" Nathan asked.

"Nick is working my father's murder." She responded.

"Whoa. Wait a second. This guy's a cop? Are you crazy Katie, you brought a cop here? We've got weed over by the fire. I'm pretty sure Brian and Cody and Tim have been doing shrooms in the kitchen and I know for a fact that Travis is on some kind of pill."

"Well, dumbass, he's not a cop, he's a forensic scientist. Also, even if he was a cop, you just told him all the debauchery that is going down here tonight and where it's happening at." She laughed.

Nathan rolled his eyes and went back over to the fire. Kaitlin looked over and saw Travis look nervously back at Nick. She saw him shove something down the front of his pants and then turn back around to make sure Nick hadn't seen it. Kaitlin sighed and rolled her eyes. Nick laughed.

"I get that a lot, don't worry." He reassured her.

"You mean you hang out with a bunch of thirty-something losers often?" She quipped back.

"Ah, don't worry about it. If I didn't have the job I have, I'm sure me and my buddies would still be doin' this too."

"So, you were a delinquent before you became a scientist?" She asked, curious of what kind of person Nick was earlier on in life.

"I was a frat guy." He responded.

"Oh, I see. No explanation needed." She laughed. She had to deal with drunken frat boys all the time at work, and she had been a sorority girl in college. She knew first hand what kind of trouble frat guys got into.

Kaitlin walked back into the house and into the kitchen to grab another beer for her and Nick. He gladly accepted it and thanked her.

"Hey, do you wanna play a game of beer pong with me?" She asked.

"I'm not quite sure how to play it." He answered truthfully.

"It's easy. Each team consists of two players and in front of them they have ten cups in front of them filled with beer. Each team gets two ping pong balls and the object is to throw the ping pong ball into the other team's cups. When you make a shot, the other team has to drink the beer out of whichever cup the ball went into. The team who eliminates the other team's cups first, wins. Now, there are some things you should know. If both players from a team make their shot, they get the balls back and get to shoot again. You can distract the other team anyway you want, and I mean anyway you want. I personally have seen every guy in here, naked. And I've also seen most of the women naked too. Most people just use smack talk, though. Tim and Eric are the masters of smack talking. Also there is something called a celebrity shot and that's where you let a person not playing take the shot for you. If you knock over a cup, you have to drink another one of your cups and you can't block the ball away when the other team throws it, unless they bounce it on the table. Got it?" She asked.

"I hope so." He responded.

As it turned out, Nick was a natural at the game. Nick and Kaitlin were, in fact, wining the game. They were playing against Matt and Tim.

It was Tim's turn to throw the ball. He closed his eyes and stood back.

"I'm gonna pull a Tim." He announced.

"What's a 'Tim'?" Nick asked

"It's something he does, where he closes his eyes and makes the ball into your cup. It's a big deal when he makes it, so we all hope he doesn't make it, or else you won't hear the end of it all night."

Tim leaned back and threw the ball. It hit the cup, but bounced back out.

"NO! I was so close!" Tim yelled. Everybody else laughed, glad that he hadn't made it.

It was Kaitlin's turn to throw and she took aim and threw. She made it, leaving only one cup left on the table. She threw her arms into the air and laughed triumphantly. Nick laughed at how easily amused she seemed. He was glad that she was smiling, he had never seen her this happy. She had smiled before, but there was just something different about her right now that made him like her even more.

It was Nick's turn, and it was all up to him to win the game. He had been doing well throughout the game, and he didn't want to stop that streak now. He aimed and threw the ball. To his astonishment, the ball landed right into the cup full of amber liquid. Kaitlin screamed and jumped into Nick's arms. She was very happy she had chosen him to be her partner.

"Redemption!" Tim shouted. Matt stood next to him scowling at the position Kaitlin and Nick were now in. Kaitlin let go of Nick and turned to look at Tim.

"Alright, come on. Miss your shot so we can end this game." She joked.

Both guys did indeed miss their shots and Kaitlin high fived Nick. He laughed at how happy winning this game made him feel.

He felt Kaitlin take his hand and she began to lead him away from the table. He was feeling a little buzzed, and he couldn't imagine how much the alcohol was affecting Kaitlin. She was really thin after all. Nick followed her as she walked into a room. She closed the door behind her, and he looked around. It was a simple room, with white walls and a light blue bed sitting in the middle of the room. He looked around and saw many pictures of Kaitlin and her many friends on the walls. On her bedside table was a picture of Kaitlin and Brandi standing with their arms around Hugh Hefner. They were both wearing black bunny costumes, and were both smiling widely.

"That was the day Brandi and I met Hugh Hefner. It was the opening night of the club and he was there with his three girlfriends." She explained upon seeing him looking at the picture.

He smiled and looked behind his shoulder at her. She looked so beautiful, he noted. She was wearing denim shorts that were showing off the legs that he had fantasized about so much. She was in a simple white wife beater, with a black necklace hanging around her neck. Her hair was down and straight. It reached just above the bottom of her rib cage and it the golden hues were shining under the moonlight that was flooding into the room through her window. Her cheeks were flushed from the alcohol she had consumed and she was looking directly back at him.

She loved the way he looked at her. No guy had ever looked at her like that, not even Matt. She looked him up and down. He was wearing dark denim jeans with a black belt around his waist. He had a black button down shirt on, with the top few buttons unbuttoned, showing off his smooth, shaven chest. His hair was short, it looked like he had recently shaved his head and was now trying to grow it back out. She liked it. His eyes were glowing with the moonlight reflected in them.

Before either of them realized what they were doing, they had moved across the room and were now engrossed in a passionate kiss.