Okay...not much to say besides...I own nothing...which you've all pretty much guessed by now. Wait! That isn't entirely true...I own Riley, and Kiersten, and Deven, and Shaun, and Pot Roast, and Tony, and Troy, and Jabari, and Marcus, and Jon, and Thomas, and CJ, and Porsche, and Brittany, and Joey, and Marty...and I'm bringin in two new characters...Sal and Emma...I own them both...don't worry, you'll love them. (Well, if you love all the other non-CSI characters, then you'll love Emma and Sal!)

Just so everyone knows (I forgot to mention this in earlier chapters) there are mentions of slash and bisexuality...if that ain't your thang...don't read (but I'm guessin it doesn't bother ya'll or ya would've bailed when ya met Marcus Troy and Thomas). Nothin hardcore slash...just mentions of it. Both ways, femmslash and...guyslash...(is there a name for that...? Am I just that dumb?)

Rating: M for language (as always) mentions of some 'paraphernalia' (ya'll know what kind I'm talkin about...) and mature themes... And forewarning...LOTS of FLUFF!

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Chapter 12

(Two weeks and one day later- Wednesday)

Riley walked down the stairs of the house and reached around herself to scratch her back and yawn. She sighed and walked into the kitchen (ignoring the fact that several people she didn't know were passed out on the couch and on the floor). She began to assemble the coffee pot make the coffee she so desperately needed every morning. She hadn't worked in almost a week, and she was slowly slipping back into the routine of a normal person, sleeping nights and working days. She checked her watch and jumped up to sit on the counter, making a mental reminder to herself that she had to wake Nick up in a few minutes.

She had sighed and leaned her head back against the cabinets and closed her eyes when she felt a strong pair of hands slide up her thighs and settle on her hips, underneath the Texas State T-shirt she was wearing. "If those are anyone's besides Nick's hands you have one second to get them off me before I cut 'em off." Riley drawled and Nick's sweet Southern drawl filled her ears.

"As long as you leave on other appendages...I think we'll be okay." He leaned up and kissed the dip of her neck softly. She smiled and opened her eyes.

"How did you sleep?"

"Good...how 'bout you?"

She nodded. "Good...why are you up so early...its like 8 in the morning. Aren't you normally getting off work right about now?"

Nick watched as she resumed the position she had before he walked into the room. "Yeah...but I'm not that tired." She rose a skeptically eyebrow at him without opening her eyes and Nick rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine BRAT."

She swatted his arm and shot him a playful glare. "Ugh! Don't call me BRAT...I hate that nickname."

Nick rubbed his arm and chuckled at her. "Ow...you're mean in the mornings."

"And useless until I have coffee in me."

"Do you get nicer when you have coffee?" Nick teased, already knowing the answer was yes. She leaned in to him and brushed her lips lightly over his before pulling away slightly. Nick leaned up and smothered her lips with his, desperate for the taste of her. She smiled against his lips and continued kissing him, parting her lips slightly (almost teasingly) and wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands went from bracing himself on the counter beside her thighs, to the generous curve of her ass, where he gripped the flesh there and pulled her towards him. Her legs wrapped round his legs and gripped the muscles of his back, digging her nails into the soft flesh, covered by the cotton shirt he was wearing.

"Ahem..." A voice cleared its throat and Nick and Riley broke apart to see Shaun smiling knowingly. He chuckled and nodded, giving Nick a thumbs-up sign of approval. "Nice..."

Riley glared and chucked a potato chip from an open bag lying on the counter next to them. "Fuck off Shaun."

"Might as well, seems like Nick's about to." Shaun joked, knowing Riley was about to pound his ass so far into the ground he'd come out the other end so he took off running. Nick grabbed Riley as she jumped forward and held in against him while she tried to go after Shaun. Nick tried to suppress a chuckle (failing miserably) as he waited fro Riley to calm down, several minutes and dozens of threats of castration on Shaun's behalf, she had finally calmed down and Nick set her back on the ground, not yet releasing her.

She blushed and shook her head. "He's dead when you let me go..." She warned him and Nick's devious smile grew as he lifted her up so she could once again wrap her legs around his waist.

"Well then I guess I just can't let you go now can I?" He drawled and she waggled her eyebrows.

"Well look how nicely that worked out..." She drawled right back and Nick chuckled and leaned in for another kiss. Before their lips met the door to the kitchen opened and an unfamiliar curvaceous brunette appeared. Nick and Riley looked over to see the timid looking girl standing in the doorway, a blush on her face.

"Oh...sorry...I uh I-I-I just...Porsche said I could get a glass of water..." The girl said, trying to look away from the couple, who as of late grew accustomed to being intruded upon.

Riley furred her brow. "Porsche? What's Porsch doin here?" Riley slid from Nick's arms and looked up at him. "Was she here after I went to sleep?"

"I don't know. I clonked out like two seconds after you did." Nick answered and Riley went off in search of her cousin. Nick began to follow her out, but turned around to the brunette. "The water's in the fridge." He informed the girl. "I'm Nick." He waved to her and she smiled.

"Emma...Emma Forners." She replied and waved back. Nick smiled and followed the path Riley had taken. He saw that Pot Roast, Troy, Marcus, Tony, Jabari, and CJ had joined Shaun in the living room.

"Where's-" Before Nick could finish his question of where Riley had disappeared to everyone pointed to the stairs. He followed the direction and looked around the hall when he reached the top of the stairs. "Ry?" He called and waited for a response, there was none. He walked to the end of the hall and knocked on her door. "Riley...Darlin you in here?"

The door opened and a thin brunette answered the door. Nick's attention was drawn to the ring through her eyebrow, the stud in her lip, many ear peircings, and deep green eyes. She raised her brow and smiled politely at him, blocking the opening of the door with her tiny frame. "Yeah?" She asked and Nick looked behind her.

"Is Riley in there?" He drawled and the girl nodded.

"BRAT! There's a hot guy with an accent at your door for you!" She called and walked into the room, allowing Nick entrance. Nick slowly walked in and watched as the girl lit up a cigarette, while toying with her Pink Floyd necklace. Riley appeared from the open bathroom doorway, Kiersten soon following. Riley smiled at the slightly frightened look on Nick's face at Porsche's boldness...not to mention the fact that she was wearing nothing but a matching black and red bra that was practically see through.

Riley's hand rushed to her mouth to stifle the laughter as Porsche sat down on the bed and Nick looked at the ceiling absently. Kiersten's jaw hit the floor, but she picked it up in time to laugh.

"Yep...that'd be her cowboy..." Kiersten answered.

"He's a very good cowboy...he looked in my eyes the whole time." Porsche noted, smiling over at Riley and winking in approval. Riley chuckled and shrugged. "Any other man in this house would've tackled me to the bed and fucked me into oblivion."

Riley blushed at her cousins innate blatant nature. Nick shrugged and looked at Porsche's eyes once again."No offense, but the only half naked body I wanna see is Riley's." Nick replied and Porsche and Kiersten chorused in 'awwww'.

Riley smiled and ducked her head. "Uh...yeah, so Porsch...the uh, the girl down there..."

"Oh fuck! I forgot Emma was here!" Porsche jumped up from the bed and Riley laughed.

"Is that how you treat all your girlfriends?"

"No...I was stoned outta my mind, drunk off my ass, and flyin higher than a kite, how the hell am I supposed to remember my girlfriend!"

"Ya know, Deven said that exact thing to me once..." Riley noted remembering back and nodding slightly.

"Yeah, but cut the guy some slack hypocrite, you were baked at the time too!" Kiersten accused and Riley quickly covered her best friend's mouth with her hand.

She laughed nervously as Nick raised his brow and smiled in slight astonishment. Riley glared at the two other women in the room. "Uh hello...did we forget my cowboy is a cop?"

"Copologist." Nick corrected (as he always did).

Porsche palled and looked at him worriedly. "You're a cop?"

"Scientist...actually."

"But you work with cops?"

"Yeah." He answered and Porsche looked at Riley worriedly. Riley shook her head, closed her eyes, and sighed heavily. She waved away whatever thought Porsche had and looked back to Kiersten, who shook her head. Nick watched the exchange with curiosity and confusion at how these three women could communicate so well with their eyes.

Must come from years of friendship...

Riley sighed again and shook her head, then took Nick's hand and led him out of the room. "C'mon cowboy...we're goin back to your place..." Nick moaned in protest. She still didn't know why he hated going there so much, he had opted for the coward's way out, and leaving it till the last minute, or not at all. She shook her head and laughed. "No arguing! We have to get the last little bit of furniture in, then we can get it all set up and you will have a house again."

Nick sighed, "Aww...you mean I don't get to stay with you anymore...?" He pouted and wrapped his arms around her from behind as they walked down the hall. He stopped her and spun her around so he could look at her reaction.

She chuckled. "You're gonna miss me? Damn...I figured you'd be practically giddy to get out of a house with five guys, two girls, and tons of people comin and goin in between."

Nick smiled and shook his head. "No. Truth be known I actually like it here...maybe I could move into your room and you could have my house." Nick joked and she shook her head fervently.

"No. Hell no! No offense Darlin, but I'm so use to having tons of housemates and bein surrounded by boys and Kiersten...besides, I don't think you could handle this crowd all by yourself."

"Eh, I'd have Kiersten...she's all the help I need."

"No doubt there. But she'd probably end up kickin your ass for doin things wring or just bein a dumbass."

Nick gaped at her in mock-horror, his smile shining through. "Ouch! Hey...you're the dumbass in this relationship." He accused and she gave him a playful look.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"And why is that?"

"Because you took me back..." He said soberly and she pursed her thick lips to keep the smile off her face.

"Aww...you big sap." She nudged him and he rolled his eyes.

"Damn Ry, you don't go for that whole 'romance thing' do ya?"

She laughed as they continued down the hall and stairs. "Duh! How long have we been together and you're just now figuring this out...? But in my defense I'm not totally opposed to it."

"Not totally opposed to what?" Jabari asked curiously.

"Romance."

The guys scoffed and rolled their eyes. "Puh-leeze! Ms. Redneck Woman over here! Hell no...unless she's watchin a movie and its all romantic...she likes those. And there's certain ways she likes to be made 'swoon'." Thomas informed him and Nick nodded, knowing it all through trial and error.

"Ms. Bryn Riley-Ann Turner confusing her man...? Never!" A voice from the doorway called and everyone looked over to see a petite man standing in the door way.

Riley's jaw dropped and a smile appeared on her face as she ran over and captured the man in a hug. "Sal! What the hell are you doin here?" She asked in joy, releasing him from the embrace. Sal was a few inches shorter than Riley with sandy blonde hair and gelled to spike like Greg's. His brown eyes seemed to brighten along with his smile and slight dimple in his right cheek.

He smiled at her and shrugged. "Eh, I couldn't resist the temptation of saying 'hi' to my favorite red head in the world!"

"Jesus, who invited Julia Roberts?" Riley joked and Sal chuckled.

"Ah, c'mon Bryn, you know you look a lot like her...crazy curly red hair, infectious laugh, long legs..." He stated, looking down at her lengthy legs, putting her at 5'9.

"You're delusional Sal." Riley accused.

"Yeah, I know, I need to lay off the Mary Jane huh?"

Riley rolled her eyes. "C'mon Sal, who ya kiddin? You know as well as I do, you've never touched Joey's 'medicine'."

"Geez, Joey isn't here is he?"

"No."

"Good, I owe him $20." Sal recalled and Riley rolled her eyes. The two of them walked into the living room so they were standing next to Nick, looking at the guys who were awake and relaxing on the couches.

"Sal?" Kiersten asked from the top of the stairs and smiled when she saw it was him. "Sal!"

"Hey Kit! God girl you look fantastic!" He credited and spun the woman around.

"Thanks Babe...God how long has it been?"

"Almost two years."

"Ugh, that's too long."

"Totally. So how's your sexy Dr. Chris Jameson doin?"

"Uh Sal, the ass hole hit the road months ago..."

Sal covered his mouth. "Oh Geez, Kit I'm sorry...I totally forgot! I'm sorry hon."

She waved the comment away and smiled. "Eh, to hell with the bastard. I'm better off with out him." She smiled and Riley threw her hands to Heaven.

"Amen to that! That ass hole wasn't worth your affection Chica Elise."

Kiersten blushed. "Okay, enough about me. How are you Sal?"

"Good, the business is good...so how are you and Dev doin?" Sal asked ignorantly, and the room became eerily silent. "Hey, where is he by the way?" Sal asked, looking around, not quite catching onto the looks on everyone's faces.

"Um, Sal...Deven and I split up about a year ago..."

Damn...! Was it really only a year ago...?

Riley thought in astonishment, as Sal's face mirrored her amazement. "Oh God! Two for two on bringin up past boyfriends...I am so sorry Bryn..." He had known how close Deven and Riley were when they were friends, they were practically inseparable. They had stayed like that for close to five years, and only their closest friends were unsurprised when they had started dating, they had been close, but not boyfriend-girlfriend close. And the new 'Deven and Riley Status' had become infamous in the kid's home towns and anywhere else they had lived. The fact that anything had broken them apart came as a complete shock to Sal.

"Don't fret it Sal." Riley drawled, eager to change the topic that seemed to only come up whenever Nick happened to be around. "It's fine."

"Yeah, she's got herself a sexy cowboy." Porsche pointed out, gesturing to Nick.

Sal looked at Nick and pouted. "Damn...I was hoping he 'drove his car on the other side of the road'." Sal mumbled dejectedly and Riley's hand flew to her mouth to hold in her laughter. Nick tried to duck his head to hide the blush creeping to his cheeks and Riley grabbed his hand with her free one. "Sorry." He apologized.

"Eh, don't beat yourself up over it kid, I was praying the same thing when I first met him. But I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut." Thomas noted, flicking the ash off of his cigarette.

"Yeah, but you had forewarning when you saw him walk outta Riley's room." Kiersten noted.

"True...too bad. You're positive there's no chance you're gay?" Thomas asked hopefully, but before Nick could respond Shaun interceded.

"Nope...from what I hear he's totally straight." Shaun replied and Riley looked at him oddly.

"I don't talk to you about Nick's sexual preferences."

"You didn't have to Babe, your room's right next to mine." Shaun replied waggling his eyebrows. "I must say you have a dirty mouth Ms. Turner."

Both Riley and Nick turned a deep shade of red as more people joined in on the banter. "Well duh Shaun, we already knew that. She's like president of the Sailor-Mouth fan club."

"Yeah! You think she's bad normally, you should hear her when she's behind closed doors." Tony stated and Kiersten looked at him confused.

"You don't live with her. How would you know?"

Tony smirked evilly. "Deven."

At the mention of his name and reference to his and Riley's past sex life Kiersten chucked her shoe at him, and he blocked it with a pillow. Riley's face twisted in anger and shock. "He told you about our sex life?" She demanded, her accent getting thick with anger.

Tony realized what he had said and his eyes widened. "Oooooh!" Everyone chorused like a bunch of second graders and Riley seethed.

"Did he!"

"Uh-I...I-I don't-...maybe once..."

Riley shook her head in anger and Nick stood there, not quite sure how to react to the multiple amounts of information being registered into his brain. He looked over at Riley and tried to stifle a laugh at how cute she looked, standing in her boxers and his T shirt, more flustered than he'd seen her in a while, and cuter than ever.

"His ass is mine!" She growled angrily. Nick took her hand and brought her a little closer to him. She seemed to calm a little and shook her head once again.

"...Geez, when Bryn gets done with him Deven's gonna have to turn gay." Sal commented and everyone laughed, glad that the tension from earlier had been resolved.

"Good news for you Sal." Tony joked and Sal glared and motioned for Kiersten to throw her second shoe at him.

"Eww, Sal's gettin Ry's sloppy seconds." Porsche stated as she pulled Emma closer to her and wrapped her arms around the slightly shorter girl from behind.

"Sal can just use Deven till Ry is done with Nick."

"Aw shoot, I thought I called dibs on him." Kiersten whined and Shaun laughed and shook his head.

"Nah, your mouth ain't dirty enough." Shaun stated. "Seriously, it's like the word 'fuck' is in every sentence. You should hear her!"

"I'd love to..." Jabari stated, waggling his eyebrows at the thought of it, and Jon, Kiersten, and Nick all leaned in to punch him in the shoulder or arm.

"Hey!" Jabari exclaimed. "Isn't that police brutality?" He asked Nick.

"Not when you're talkin about my girlfriend it ain't." He drawled and Riley blushed as everyone repeated the 'second grade chorus'.

"Aw, that's so sweet, he's beating up her friends..." Emma mock-swooned. Everyone laughed and Riley blushed.

"No, not all her friends, just the ones that make inappropriate comments about her." Nick corrected.

"Yeah, that's all her friends..." Porsche chuckled as she sipped her coffee.

"Can we please stop talking about me as if I'm not in the room...?" Riley asked and Nick bit his lip.

"Sorry Darlin." He kissed the tip of her nose and everyone chorused in 'Awwww'. Riley glared at them all and chucked a pillow at them all.

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Riley and Nick walked through the door, straining and grunting as they held Nick's giant couch. "W-where...is it...going!" She grunted.

Nick held it up, struggling to keep from looking weak in front of his girlfriend. "By the...uh...the uh window." He released a small grunt and they set the couch down where his other one had been. Nick released a breath and stood back up to see Riley fanning herself and breathing heavily. "I told you that you shouldn't be liftin this couch." Nick drawled and Riley sighed and plopped down on the couch, the wrapping around it sticking to her sweaty body.

"Is that the last of the furniture?"

"Yeah."

"Good, so now I can do this—Ow, ow, ow, ow!" She moaned and gripped her sides, burying her face in Nick's shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her lower back, trying to work out the knots he figured should have formed from all the lifting.

"Bryn Riley-Ann Turner I told you you'd be in pain if you helped!"

"Hey now! Don't middle-name-me Nicholas Patrick Stokes!" She poked his chest and he sighed.

"I just don't wanna see you in pain."

"It only hurts a little..."

"Ry..."

"Okay, a little more than a little."

"Cookie lips-"

"Eww! Did you just call me 'Cookie lips'!"

Nick paused and pursed his lips to keep from laughing. He knew she hated the tacky 'pet names' couples often gave each other, and she absolutely despised it when he called her anything like that...

She shook her head and Nick laughed. "Aww...I'm sorry, did I upset you Sugar Dumplin?"

She made a gagging noise and pretended to throw up over the arm of the couch. She looked back at him and shook her head in disapproval. "Please...never...ever call me Sugar Dumplin, Cookie lips, and any other sick nick names you have up your sleeve."

Nick laughed. "How about 'Darlin'?"

"You know I don't mind 'Darlin or Sugar or Hon'..."

"How about 'Honey'?"

"Nah, I prefer 'Hon'...then of course you could always call me Riley."

"Well you can call me whatever you want." He said and kissed her nose again. She made a sickened face and poked him in the shoulder.

"Push over." She named him and he wrapped his arms around her again and leaned her back against the couch and kissed her passionately. When they broke apart for air he smiled the smile that made her weak at the knees, and she was suddenly very glad she was lying down and not standing (which was Nick's intention).

"Only with you."

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Alright...so, I warned y'all it's all fluff. I figured all fluff is better than no chapters. XD

REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT Y'ALL THINK!

('Specially you Emma...I have no idea when you'll be reading this but you better review! –said with love— )

-FMCSI60 (aka Chella Belle)

ps, do any of the other authors know why the 'ruler' bar isn't working?