Disclaimer: Aright, let's see...what don't I own...? Oh! Yeah! I don't own Nick, Grissom, any references to the Dukes Of Hazard, (yep don't own the show nor do I have any affiliation with the people that do) but I do own the DVDs including the new one with Johnny Knoxville –dreamy sigh—Oh bad boy...and I own the car that I mention in here...not the actual General Lee...but I own a 1969 Dodge Charger painted to look like a replica of General Lee. (yeah I know...it sounds crazy...) But hey, gotta love us Dixie girls!

I also don't own Gretchen Wilson, or any of her songs. I borrowed the lyrics from a website I got off Google...which I also don't own. Okay...what else...? –thinks deeply—Oh! I do not own the company Avon or the perfume Natori. (actually I own a bottle of the perfume, but I'm trying to get the point across that I didn't design the product) But ya'll probably already knew that... And...I guess that's it. Everything else...is MINE!

Yes, including those darling shoes I mentioned (the wedges and the wooden platform sandals.) –smiles—okay, I'm rambling...on with the book!

Chapter 7

Nick was at his counter in his kitchen chopping the peppers for the omelets when he heard the knock on the door. He looked up nervously and his stomach started doing flip flops. Not the good kind like...Oh my Gosh, the prettiest girl I've ever met is coming over to talk to me...

But the bad kind like...Oh God, I'm about to confront my girlfriend about something horrible and I think I'm gonna throw up.

She knocked on the door again and Nick wiped his hands on his jeans as he nervously walked to the door. He paused and took a deep breath before opening it to reveal her smiling face. Her grin grew when she saw him and Nick's stomach did another flip. She looked absolutely gorgeous. She wore a jean skirt that fell to her mid calves with a slit to her knee in the back, a white braided belt, a flowing white shirt that flared slightly at the sleeves and hung loosely on her with light green flowers imprinted on it, and a pair of oversized wedges in white crochet. Her long red hair was hanging freely, in angel curls down to the bottom of her shoulder blades.

She bit her lip and tried to suppress another grin. "Hi Honey...you wanna let me in so you can stare at me more?" She teased and Nick forced out a smile. He moved aside to let her through and she smiled and stepped into the house. She sniffed the air and smiled. "Mmm. Somethin smells good." She leaned up and pecked him on the lips, before she walked to the counter and set the new carton of orange juice she had bought down on the counter and turned to smile softly at him. "Want to talk about it?" She asked, sensing already that something was wrong.

"No not really." He said and went back into the kitchen. She furred her brows and turned around to face the kitchen side and shook her head.

"Um...it might help." She said softly and he set down the spatula with a hard thud. She jumped at the noise and looked at him oddly.

"So how is everybody?" He asked tightly, with little interest. She furred her brows again and shook her head in confusion.

"Um, they're good..."

"How's Deven?"

She shook her head again. "Wh-...why do you care?" She asked, becoming slightly annoyed at this game of cat and mouse.

"How is he?" He asked slowly, pronouncing each word perfectly. Riley gave him a look and closed her eyes, shaking her head slightly.

"He's okay...Nick what's wrong?" She asked worriedly, not liking this new Nick he was showing her.

"What'd you do today Riley?"

"Nick I don't-"

"What'd you do today Riley?" He repeated, interrupting her in slightly louder, menacing voice.

"I...I got home from work, drove around a little bit..." She answered tentatively.

"Is that it?"

"I had breakfast with you Nick...you know that. Where is this going?"

"I saw you Riley."

"And that makes you angry..." She replied, not quite catching on.

"I saw you with Deven today...at the auto shop."

"So..."

"I saw you hug him."

A look of slight anger crossed her face and she straightened up her posture. "And that's a problem?"

"No, cuddling with your ex isn't a problem. That's completely normal. Especially when you've got a boyfriend."

"I hugged him Nick; he's one of my friends. You know that." She said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, I mean, I hug my friends all the time, and you know kissing them is normal too."

"What? I didn't kiss him." She protested.

"I fuckin saw you Riley!"

"Don't yell at me." She demanded angrily. "I did not kiss him."

"You are lyin through your teeth. I saw you."

"He fixed my car for me. I gave him a hug."

"And then you kissed him. He handed you something and you kissed him." Nick said angrily, his eyes closed, leaning on the counter. His knuckles were white from his clenched fists. He finally opened his eyes to look at her, nothing in them but anger, frustration, and hurt.

She shook her head slowly, more in disbelief than anything else. "I pecked him on the cheek." She said slowly in a dangerously low voice. "He's my friend. I do the exact same thing to Thomas, Kiersten, and anyone else. You're tellin me you've never pecked Sara or Catherine on the cheek?"

"Not while I had a girlfriend."

She nodded slightly while running her tongue along her teeth. "See, there's the real problem. You think Deven is a threat to us."

"Isn't he?"

Her face hardened and her baby blue eyes glassed over. "That is so sad. Almost three months with me...and you don't know me at all. You think that I would jeopardize anything I had with you?" She slowly moved from around the counter, to his form standing in front of the living room.

"Yeah well, you said yourself that you learn from example." He countered angrily.

"Not that kind of example. I wouldn't hurt you, nevertheless with someone that hurt me in that very same way."

"You're sayin that you didn't sleep with him?" Nick clarified, not believing it.

"You know me Nick."

"Obviously I don't." He sapped and she flinched.

"You think that because of a friendly peck on the cheek and a hug?" Riley questioned softly, not believing this was happening.

"Answer the question." Nick demanded, growing angry again that she didn't deny it immediately and beg for forgiveness.

She shook her head and scoffed in disbelief "I shouldn't have to." She said softly, but the hardness in her tone matched his. She stalked to the door and slammed it shut. Nick stood in his living room for a minute before walking to the window in his bedroom to see her peel out of his driveway in her authentic General Lee replica car.

He frowned and felt the anger begin to pour out of him. He turned and punched the wall, his hand going through it. He looked at his bloody knuckles and the huge hole his fist had caused in shock, before stalking off to the kitchen to clean up what was left of their breakfast...

Nick ran his hand threw his short hair and walked tiredly into the break room. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, too much tossing and turning, and although he knew he had done the right thing by breaking it off with Riley there was something pulling at the back of his mind telling him something wasn't right.

He shook the thought away and walked in to the empty room. He sighed and turned around, going to the only other room they all constantly gathered.

He knocked on Grissom's door and slowly opened it to find his boss sitting at his desk. He looked up at Nick surprised. "Nick...you're about two hours early...is there something you need?"

Nick furred his brow. "Huh?"

"You're early." Grissom repeated and Nick thought back. He hadn't really looked at the time. He turned off his alarm clock and got ready for work. Why would his alarm be set for two hours early? And suddenly he remembered.

Riley...

Last time she had stayed the night with him at his house she had set the alarm clock two hours fast so they would have some time together before they each had to go to work. He felt his heart fall a little and he was hit by the nauseas feeling that had kept him up most of the night.

"Nick?"

"Huh?"

"What's wrong with your hand?" Grissom asked, gesturing to the white bandage wrapped around his right fist and set of knuckles.

"Oh, uh...nothin. I just...hurt it. I was beein clumsy." Nick drawled, not liking the fact he had to lie to his boss, but knowing the other option wasn't going to help anybody.

"Do you need something?"

"Um, no...I just...I wanted to get in here early to work on the missing persons case."

"No need. She's no longer missing."

"Huh?"

"She returned home last night. Her friends had called and invited her to a party...things got out of hand and they all hopped a very drunken flight to Miami. She heard about the report and finally made her way back home. She stopped in here earlier this morning and I just finished up the paperwork. Oh the joys of being a supervisor. Anyway, you have the night off...with this passed week you've earned it."

Nick stared at him slightly dumbfounded, but nodded. "Yeah...okay...thanks Griss...I'll see ya tomorrow."

"No, tomorrow's Saturday. You've got a three day weekend."

Nick smiled slightly, knowing he should show Grissom his gratitude, even though he felt none. Three long, lonely, sleepless days without Riley, dwelling on the fact that he was without Riley didn't exactly sound appealing, or healthy for that matter. "Thanks Griss...man, the teams gonna hate me." He joked lightly, as Grissom smiled and Nick walked out of the room.

He groaned inwardly and grabbed his stuff from the locker room. His eyes wandered to the dent in his locker and he wondered if anyone had asked about it or noticed it for that matter. He shook his head and sighed, walking out of the locker room, and then the building. He tossed his stuff in his truck and climbed behind the wheel.

Oh where to go...

Nick opened his front door and stepped inside, throwing his keys somewhere and tossing his jacket in the opposite direction, landing somewhere ambiguous and he stalked into his room. He didn't know why he walked in there, he was in no mood to sleep, or to read, or to do anything... he sighed as he peeled off his shirt and paused before he threw it on his bed, staring at it in shock.

Riley was laying there in nothing but a matching brown lace and satin bra and panties set. Her hair was arranged on the pillow to look like an auburn halo and she was smiling deviously at him. Her creamy pale skin clashed against the chocolate brown material hugging her skin perfectly, accenting her already round breasts and curvy hips and butt. He sucked in a breath and reached out to touch her. He moved to slowly, and the vision of her faded away.

He blinked a few times, and then realized he had imagined it. Nick moaned and threw his shirt on the bed where she had been 'laying' moments before and moved over to his closet. He looked down and saw a pair of Riley's wooden rocker-chick platform sandals adorned with gold studs. He picked them up and sighed. It wasn't like he could just throw them away, but he didn't want to leave them...she might come back and ask for them.

Even though she wouldn't want to see him, he knew that her love of shoes would bring her to get them. He sighed again and looked at the clock. She would be at work right about now...it was the high point of the night, especially on a Friday, the bar/club would be busy if he left right now, leaving no room for them to talk.

Good...I don't think I could handle it right now.

He was still extremely mad at her and didn't want to see her. But if he had to, he'd rather see her in a public place he could easily escape, rather than his house. He sighed and tossed the shoes on the bed, grabbing a plastic bag he threw her shoes in there. He looked on the nightstand and found a bottle of her signature perfume. Nick slowly walked to it and sat on the bed as he picked it up. He looked at the oddly shaped clear bottle with the tan-ish liquid inside. He looked at the bottle and the gold name written on it.

Natori...

It was almost empty and he remembered a few days before when she had complained that Avon had stopped making the product, and she refused to wear anything but Natori...Nick had laughed and told her she was silly...

Then she had kissed him...and brushed up against him...

Nick shook the memory away, an apparent knew habit for him, and placed the glass bottle in the bag carefully. He sighed and tied the bag, threw on a clean T-shirt, and walked out his front door.

Nick walked cautiously into the bar and looked immediately towards the counter, just wanting to get this over with. He sighed when he spotted her and walked over to the bar. She hadn't seen him yet, or she had and she was ignoring him. He tried not to let her attire have an effect on him...but he couldn't quite help it.

She was wearing her Daisy Duke cut off jeans, brown suede vest with fringes on the midriff, and gold buttons up the front, exposing her well accented cleavage and well toned body that Nick knew relatively well. Her cowgirl boots ended at her mid claves, and her long hair was worn just as it had been earlier that morning. Her make up was darker, and she looked like she had gotten a spray on tan. A pair of gold chandelier earrings hung from her ears. She looked fantastic.

Shit.

Nick thought and sighed. He watched as she expertly served the dozens of drinks shouted off to her all at once. She completed the nearly impossible tasks with a smile saying 'bring it on'. After she was done everyone slid the money to her and she smiled and bumped hips with Thomas. Nick gulped down the lump in his throat.

She didn't seem even slightly upset by their break up.

Well...I guess that's kind of a good thing. At least Jon won't be able to kill me know.

Jon had caught Riley sneaking Nick out of the house one morning a few weeks ago. They had finally fessed up and told him that they were now officially dating. Jon had smiled for a moment, before walking over to Nick and placing a hand on his shoulder, squeezing in an un-friendly way.

He had gotten real close to Nick's ear and whispered, 'If you ever hurt her or cause her one ounce of pain...I'll kill you and rip you into shreds so tiny that not even your CSI friends won't be able to find them.'

Nick had come close to pointing out that that wasn't possible, but instead only nodded, figuring it would probably be better to just agree with the giant rather than upset him. He sighed again, louder this time. He felt a pair of hands on his shoulders and he jumped slightly. He spun around to come face to face with Tony and Shaun.

"Hey! Nick! What's up man?" Shaun asked. Nick felt a little startled and he chuckled nervously.

"Uh...not much man. I see you got your cast off."

"Yeah, now I'm back out in the playin field with the ladies."

That makes two of us.

"How've you guys been?" Nick asked, more out of courtesy than curiosity.

"We've all been good. Ya know, Riley's workin tonight. You wanna come say hi?" Tony asked. Nick looked at their expressions. They didn't seem to have any idea what was going on between them. Either that or they were planning on slyly bringing him to Jon so he could beat Nick to a pulp.

Nick shifted uncomfortably and stole a glance at Riley. "Um...no. I uh...I'm just meetin someone here."

The guys bought his lie and nodded, spotting a long legged blonde and hurrying over to see if she was currently 'entertained' by anyone. Nick sighed one last time and walked over so that he was a few inches from her line of view. She looked at the counter top and snatched up the twenty dollar bill the guy next to him had laid down. She looked over a little and caught sight of Nick's un injured hand that was laid down on the counter.

He watched as her eyes widened slightly, recognizing the hands she knew well, before she turned her attention away and bent down to grab the Jack Daniels from underneath the counter. She set out the glasses and threw some ice in, pouring the alcohol up to the rim. "What do you want?" She asked, her sharp question directed at him.

Nick held up the bag. "You uh...you left some stuff at my house."

She looked up at the bag, avoiding his presence completely and snatched the bag. "Thanks." She mumbled and continued with her drinks. Nick nodded slightly and turned to leave. But a voice closing in on Riley made him stop in his tracks.

"Hey Ry."

Nick stiffened and slowly turned. He saw Riley stiffen slightly and her eyes flickered to Nick, afraid of what he might do. Nick stood there seething for a moment before taking a small step towards the bar. Riley shrunk back an inch, afraid that a smack down would erupt between any two of the three of them.

"Hey Deven." She said and tried to avoid Nick's glare.

"I got the papers on your car, I already paid the final bill before I took you to see it today, but I figured you'd need the papers." He slid them to her and she bit her lip before nodding.

"Thanks."

"Are you alright?" Deven asked worriedly, seeing how she had paled.

"Yeah, just drank too many shots from the customers I guess." She lied and took another order. "You want a drink Deven? On the house." She replied silently praying that Nick would leave.

"Nah. I gotta head out. Thanks anyway." He smiled and moved away from the counter in the opposite direction of Nick. She sighed, thankful one of them had left, and busied herself filing out the orders. Jabari walked up to her and leaned over the counter, shouting to be heard over the crowd.

"It's getting crazy in here Ry...you and the girls gotta calm down the crowd! Sing one of your songs and get Thomas on drink duty! Boss' orders!" Jabari called and she grimaced distinctly, but nodded.

Nick raised a brow. He had never seen her in action. Whenever he saw her at the bar, it was only for a moment and from a distance. They had agreed to keep their jobs out of their relationships. The only time they talked about them was if it was a particularly bad day, and then they mostly complained about how sick people could be. No details.

Riley set the drinks away and relayed the information to Thomas as Jabari made the announcement that the bartenders were putting on one of their shows. He jacked up the music and Riley appeared in her cowboy hat, mic in hand. Two other female bartenders joined her as they climbed on the counter.

The beginning tunes to Redneck Woman by Gretchen Wilson began to play and the girls all swayed their hips in sync with the music and each other. Riley began to sing along with the music, doing a pretty good impression of Gretchen Wilson.

"Well, I ain't never been the Barbie doll type. No, I can't swig that sweet Champagne, I'd rather drink beer all night. In a tavern or in a honky tonk, or on a four-wheel drive tailgate. I've got posters on my wall of Skynyrd, Kid and Strait. Some people look down on me, but I don't give a rip. I'll stand barefooted in my own front yard with a baby on my hip."

The girls continued to dance and began to sing along with her as the crowd gushed at them in appraisal.

"'Cause I'm a redneck woman, I ain't no high class broad. I'm just a product of my raising I say, 'hey ya'll' and 'yee-haw'. And I keep my Christmas lights on. On my front porch all year long. And I know all the words to every Charlie Daniels song. So here's to all my sisters out there keeping it country, Let me get a big 'hell yeah' from the redneck girls like me, hell yeah!"

The women in the crowd yelled back at her like she had asked as Riley danced across the bar, occasionally bending down to sing to the men watching her. She looked like a rock star, and Nick had to laugh at how cute she looked.

"Victoria's Secret, well their stuff's real nice. But I can buy the same damn thing on a Wal-Mart shelf half price. And still look sexy, just as sexy as those models on TV. No, I don't need no designer tag to make my man want me. Well, you might think I'm trashy, a little too hardcore. But in my neck of the woods I'm just the girl next door."

The other bartenders joined in singing again, all of them dancing like pros.

"I'm a redneck woman, I ain't no high class broad. I'm just a product of my raising I say, 'hey y'all' and 'yee-haw'. And I keep my Christmas lights on. On my front porch all year long, And I know all the words to every Tanya Tucker song. So here's to all my sisters out there keeping it country, Let me get a big 'hell yeah' from the redneck girls like me, hell yeah!"

Again, the woman yelled back at her and she smiled as she shimmied down the bar, shaking her hips and butt as the guys reached for her. Nick suddenly realized why she never wanted him to come visit her at work...she knew he'd get jealous at the sight of this...and she was right.

She stood right in the center of the bar, unknowingly close enough for the men to reach her, and finished up the song. "Hey, I'm a redneck woman. And I ain't no high class broad. I'm just a product of my raising. And I say, 'hey y'all' and 'yee-haw'. And I keep my Christmas lights on. On my front porch all year long. And I know all the words to every ol' Bocephus song. So here's to all my sisters out there keeping it country. Let me get a big 'hell yeah' from the redneck girls like me,"

The women in the crowd yelled back to her, "Hell yeah!"

"Hell yeah,"

"Hell yeah!" They sang.

"Hell yeah I said hell yeah!"

The song came to an end and Riley smiled as she crouched down to hop off the bar, until one of the men grabbed her arm and tried to pull her towards him. Nick's jealous side immediately rose in him and he rushed over towards her and the guy. She was pushing him away from her, but before he let go Nick had spun the guy around and clocked him across the jaw.

"Nick!" Riley yelled in horror and tried to shove him away, but one of the drunken, now unconscious man's friends had punched Nick. Nick swung around and hit him to get him off of his body. "Hey! Stop it!" Riley yelled to no avail.

By this point a few more men had joined in, and it was a full blown bar fight. Riley climbed back up on the bar and signaled for everyone to stop. She whipped out the nozzle holding the beer and began spraying the men to get them off each other. It wasn't working.

The bouncer, Vic was making his way through the crowd, throwing men away as he made his way to Nick and a few other men, still fighting each other. The music had since died down, and all that could be heard were shouts and screams.

"Stop it!" Riley ordered, wanting to get Nick out of there before Vic did. She hoped down and pulled him off the other guy, dangerously putting herself between him and the guy, and in the line of their punches. Nick immediately stopped as soon as he saw Riley. Vic reached him and held him by the shirt. "Vic! Wait!"

"He's gone Riley." Vic growled and tossed Nick and the other guy into the street. Riley ran after them, forgetting about everything else completely. She saw him pick himself up off the ground and turn to face her, his shirt was ripped and blood was trickling from his nose and a small cut on his cheek and forehead. He smelled of beer and the foul taste of blood was in his mouth.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" She demanded as Nick shook his head. "What were you thinkin!"

"Riley..."

"I don't come into the lab and mess around with test tubes and DNA samples do I?"

"No."

"So why the fuck did you do that? What was that Nick?"

"I saw you were in trouble! I was tryin to protect you!" Nick argued and she shook her head.

"NO! That isn't your job! I'm not yours to protect anymore! You made that pretty clear today Nick!" She shouted back.

Oh shit...I did didn't I...?

Most of the uninjured people, including Jabari, Thomas, Shaun, Tony, and Deven had made their way to the door to watch the feud between them evolve.

"That's only because you cheated on me!" Nick defended and Riley wheeled off and back handed him right across the face. His head snapped the side and everyone chorused in 'Oooh!' like a bunch of fifth graders. She glared at him and shook her eyes.

"Open your fuckin eyes Nick! I never cheated with Deven or any of my other friends for that matter!"

Everyone who knew them turned to look at Deven, whose jaw was practically hitting the pavement.

Nick stared at her in horror. He felt the nauseous feeling come back...but for a completely different reason. "You didn't?" He asked softly.

"NO!" She whined, stomping her boot. "I never cheated on you! I can't believe you still think that!"

Nick felt like he had gotten, another, sucker punch to the gut and he looked away from her hurt face. "Riley I..."

"No. Save it. Just don't." She demanded, turning on her heel to stalk back to the bar. Nick chased after her and grabbed her arm to make her face him. She turned and pushed his hand away, but he caught her other one.

"Riley please."

"NO! Just go home Nick. Leave me alone." She demanded and ran past the crowd of people and into the bar. Nick went to follow her but Shaun, Jabari, Thomas, and Tony had formed a wall to block his way.

"Please guys. Let me in there. I have to talk to her."

"She said go home." Shaun replied.

"Leave her alone." Jabari demanded.

"Please..." Nick begged.

"You go near her again and you can bet you're gonna have everyone of us plus the rest of us on your ass..." Tony replied.

"Please." Nick begged again.

"Leave her alone. You come after her again and it'll be the last person you ever pursue." Deven growled from behind them as he took off after Riley.

Nick felt his heart fall to his stomach and he slowly walked away, a defeated man.

AHHH!

Drama, drama, drama!

Will our beloved couple work it out, or will I be evil and leave it at that? Hmm...guess it depends on reviews. If I don'tget at least five reviewsI will end the story here. Muh ah ah ah!

-Chella Belle