Alright, I don't own Gretchen Wilson or any of her songs, I don't own Greg or Nick, but I own everyone else...including Pamela.

Chapter 19

Nick sat at the grimy bar, wallowing in his own self pity...and he felt like shit for it. Six innocent girls had lost their lives, and Nick was here feeling sorry for himself, just because he couldn't do anything to help them. Was that selfish? He sighed and clenched his chiseled jaw tighter as he wrapped his fingers around the bottle of Doppelbock and tried to ignore the burning sensation in the pit of his stomach. Whether it was from the beer, the case, or the fact that an attractive blonde had been trying to make eye contact with him for the past twenty minutes, he wasn't sure; but he knew that it wasn't a good combination.

He dropped his head to stare down the neck of the bottle to the medial amount of beer left from his Bock and sighed. A flash of sequins to his right caught his eye, and he looked over to see that the blonde had now moved across the bar and was sitting next to him.

"Hey Darling, you look like you could use a little cheering up." The blonde noted, her accent rolling sweetly off her lips. Her accent was ambiguous; it seemed to be a combination of everything with a hint of British class. Nick didn't reply, he simply gave a soft sigh and hung his head lower. "Need to get something off your chest?"

"I usually go somewhere else for that." Nick hinted, giving her the wrong impression. She flipped her long golden curls off her shoulder and smiled as she adjusted her stool closer to his.

"Well how about another kind of release?" She asked seductively, and Nick chuckled dryly.

"I go to my girlfriend for that too." Nick drawled, his accent extremely thick from the high alcohol content, and she laughed.

"Well...she obviously isn't doing too good a job, or a handsome man like yourself wouldn't be sitting at a bar looking more down than a pair of shoes on someone's feet."

The comparison to shoes reminded him instantly of Riley. "She's great...amazing." Nick defended the woman he loved and shook his head before taking a long swig of beer.

The blonde chuckled. "Well, if she's so great and amazing why aren't you with her now?"

Nick didn't answer, only took another sip of beer. Truth was he couldn't answer...the only reason he wasn't with Riley right at this very moment was because he was sitting at a run down bar doing his best to ignore a blonde whom he had absolutely no interest in.

"Silence...an answer all its own. Come on Cowboy; let me buy you a drink." She offered and Nick scrunched up his face at the mention of Riley's nickname for him.

"No thanks."

"So how about we dance...or something more physical." She hinted and scooted a little closer to him.

"I'm not interested." Nick replied. It was short, bitter, and to the point. He didn't bother sugar coating it with 'I'm sorry but...' or 'You're a real attractive woman but...' because none of them were true. He didn't feel sorry for turning away the woman and leaving with no more than the grace of the money for his drink on the counter, and the sight of him walking away. He kept his ears closed, eyes opened, and mind focused on getting home, then seeing Riley.

He pulled his keys from his pocket, but when he realized how much alcohol he'd consumed he slid them back in his pocket. He pulled out his cell and called a taxi company (a number he'd memorized by heart from his playboy days) and called for one to pick him up. After he was done Nick hung up his phone and leaned against the side of the building, praying the taxi would get here sooner.

--LOL, how many of you were worried that I was gonna make Nicky cheat on Riley...? Nope, I wouldn't do that to him...cuz then she'd have to kick his ass and that might damage his ego--

A strong smell of alcohol flooded Riley's nostrils as she slowly regained consciousness. She shifted and suddenly felt the dead weight of a heavy arm slung across her waist, pinning her to her mattress. She grunted as she rolled over to face the owner of the arm that held her in place. She frowned when she smelt the beer that was still evident on his clothes and breath, mixing into the air as he breathed.

She frowned and pushed the bangs out of his face, letting her hand linger on his forehead, before trailing down and settling on his cheek. His breathing hitched and his face twitched as he rolled slightly and sighed. She grimaced at the smell of beer and scoffed as she rolled away from him, and tried to maneuver his arm off of her. She grunted as she struggled against the dead weight, and then sighed as the arm flexed, and pulled her back towards his body to cuddle with her.

She chuckled and rolled over, realizing she wasn't going to get away from him anytime soon, she decided to have a little fun with him until he released her. She lay on her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows as she grabbed a thick strand of red hair, and tickled his nose with it. He scrunched up his face and brushed the pesky annoyance away with the hand that wasn't embracing her and she rolled her eyes and tried to formulate another plan to get free. She smiled and bent down next to his ear and nibbled on it lightly, working her magic to awaken him.

He released a soft moan and rolled onto his stomach, pinning her underneath him as he kissed her neck. She wasn't quite sure if he was awake or not...but he was definitely ready. She chuckled and pushed him off her as his eyes began to flutter open. He moaned in protest and rolled over on his back, his hands immediately flying to shield his eyes from the sunlight beginning to pour in through the slits of her blinds.

"Mmm...turn out the light." He drawled and she chuckled.

"The lights off..." He moaned again. "Bad hangover?"

"Yep, and now I'm 'frustrated' and I don't know why..." Nick complained and she bit her lip to conceal her laughter.

"Well, maybe that's a side effect from getting drunk off your ass last night."

"Tough case." Nick mumbled and Riley sighed and rolled her eyes.

"That's why you come to me...not the bottle..."

"Tough case." Nick repeated.

"What's wrong Nicky...why didn't you come see me last night if you had a hard case?" Nick sighed and didn't answer. "Nick..."

"It's nothing Riley. Everyone has a bad day every now and then. Just lay off." He snapped and she narrowed her eyes, but forced herself to relax, knowing he was just suffering from a bad hangover.

"Well, you know I'd like it if you came to me instead of going to some bar...what bar did you go to anyway?"

Nick sighed and worked his jaw. "I don't remember."

He felt the bed shift as she climbed off it and went into her bathroom to get Tylenol for him. She reappeared with the medicine and handed him her water bottle from her nightstand. Nick gratefully accepted them and popped the pills in his mouth and washed them down with the water. He sighed and leaned his head back against the head board. "...what'd you have to drink?"

"I don't remember."

"How much did you have to drink?"

"I don't remember Riley!" Nick snapped and opened his eyes to glare at her. "I don't remember anything about last night so just lay off!" He ordered and Riley clenched her jaw. She shook her head, chuckled dryly, and climbed off the bed. Nick groaned and rolled his eyes, despite the pain and every fiber in his body begging him not to. "Don't get all bitchy...come on Riley..." He begged half heartedly as she threw on a pair of jeans and clean T-shirt. "Riley." He said more harshly and she bit back the urge to back hand him from his disrespectful tone.

"Go back to bed." She spat and purposely slammed the door, making the loud noise and reverberations cause Nick a tiny bit more pain because of his hangover. Nick moaned and laid back against the bed, making a mental note to never drink whatever the Hell he drank last night (hopefully he'd remember what he drank later...), and buy Riley some white Casablanca lilies...her favorite.

--(sigh) so yeah, Nick was being kind of a bitch...but hey, we still love him right! XD (nods vigorously)--

Nick wandered down the stairs of Riley's house almost five hours later and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He looked around the living room in search of her, but only found her many room mates and several other of her friends. "Where's Riley?" Nick asked.

"You look like shit."

"Thank you Porsche." Nick sighed. "Where's Riley?" He repeated and Shaun looked over at him.

"Went shopping with Emma and Kiersten, that's not a good sign man, means she's pissed off...what'd you do?" Shaun asked while smiling with curiosity.

"Wait, Emma was here?" Porsche asked confused and Thomas nodded.

"Yeah, she was here about two hours before you got here."

Porsche sighed in aggravation. "C'mon Nick, we're goin to find them." She replied and motioned for him to follow her out the door. Nick looked over at Jon in worry, who laughed at the thought of driving with the Nascar Queen.

"I suggest you buckle in and hold on tight Nick." Jon advised while the other men laughed at the worried look on Nick's face.

--So...yeah...insert stupid bar thingy here... (I'm runnin out of things to say...) Shocking! XD—

Nick practically jumped out of Porsche's Jeep Wrangler when it came to a stop. "Jesus Christ Porsch! They invented the speed limit so you'd abide by it!" Nick informed her while virtually kissing the beloved ground. "I work with the police; I'll get in deep shit if I'm caught in a speeding fiasco."

"Well you should have thought about that before you got in the car!" Porsche yelled back and Nick looked at her in fear.

"I didn't have a choice. You scare the shit outta me!" Nick exclaimed honestly and she laughed.

"Yeah...I tend to do that to guys...that's why I became a lesbian...that and the fact that my mommy said I could be anything I wanted to be..." Nick looked at her with an amused expression on his face. She cracked a smile then shook her head, "C'mon, let's go find our women."

Nick laughed and shook his head. "You're too much Porsche."

"I know...that's why I have so many friends to keep me in check."

Nick laughed as they entered the local shoe store (figuring that'd be the first place to look for Riley), and searched the people for his red head. He split away from Porsche and wandered around the isles in search of her, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around hoping it'd be Riley, but his heart fell when he laid his eyes on the blonde from last night. She grinned seductively and winked. "Did you track me down Cowboy?"

Nick sighed and shook his head. "Miss, I'm looking for my girlfriend."

She stared at him in amusement and disbelief. "Ah, the one who can always run to...if you can find her." She joked and Nick took a claming breath and closed his eyes.

"Excuse me." He mumbled and walked away from her in a now desperate search of Riley. He felt another tap on his shoulder and he prayed to God it'd be Riley. When he turned around he sighed agitated. "Listen, Miss, please stop. I'm not interested."

She rolled her eyes. "Geez, I can't talk to you for a minute?"

He sighed again. "Miss I'm-"

"Pamela. Pamela Daniels."

"Miss Daniels, I'm looking for my girlfriend, I can't talk right now."

She smiled. "I knew we should have made time to talk last night...if your girlfriend is so amazing why wasn't she there when you obviously needed her last night and then again today? One thing is for sure, if you were mine, I'd never let you out of my sight." She said sweetly and Nick had to bite his tongue to keep from replying with a snarky remark.

"Imagine that." He grumbled and looked around desperately for any sign of Riley, Kiersten, Emma, or Porsche...someone to bail him out of this. Suddenly an idea formed in his head.

"Come on Cowboy, I can take you out and show you just how well you should be treated-"

"I'm gay." Nick blurted and she smiled.

"No you're not."

"Yes. I am. I'm extremely gay." He pulled out his phone and showed her a picture of Greg that he had saved one particularly bored day at the lab. "This is my boyfriend, Greg." The blonde's face fell and Nick kept up the charade. "I made up having a girlfriend because my boyfriend and I got into a fight last night and I didn't want to have to go into details...it seemed like an easy solution." Nick lied and the blonde nodded sympathetically and laid a supportive hand on his arm.

"I understand. I'm sorry."

"Nick?" Came a familiar southern drawl form behind Nick.

Oh Holy Fuck, God has something against me today...

He turned around to see Riley, Kiersten, and Emma standing about ten feet away from him. "Nick? What're you doin here?" Riley asked and started towards him slowly.

"Riley...I-"

"Don't waste your time Darling." The blonde informed Riley, who arched an orange brow.

"Who are you?"

"Pamela Daniels." She replied and stuck out her hand, Riley looked at it as though shaking hands was a completely foreign concept. "I met him last night."

"At the bar?" Riley asked narrowing her gaze. Kiersten and Emma exchanged 'oh shit' looks behind her and Riley glared at Nick.

"Riley! Baby, it's not what you think."

"'Baby'? What about your boyfriend?" Pamela asked and Nick sighed heavily...this was one major shit sit as Riley would it.

"Boyfriend!" Riley, Kiersten, and Emma exclaimed in unison.

"Yeah, real cutie. He's got a picture in his phone." The over informative blonde announced.

Riley looked at Nick worriedly and Kiersten chuckled behind her. "Well, at least Sal and Thomas will be happy." Riley shot her a death glare, then turned back and aimed it at Nick.

"Riley, Hon, you don't understand."

"Well you've got about two minutes to help me understand."

"I went to the bar and apparently met her last night-"

"Well, you seemed to remember that pretty well." Riley snapped and Nick sighed.

"Seeing her brought it all back." Nick gestured to the blonde behind him. "I promise Baby, nothing happened."

"So wait, you're not gay?" The clueless blonde questioned.

"Uh no, very far from it." Riley answered for him.

"So why did you say you were?"

"Because you're relentless!" Nick explained, beginning to get annoyed with the situation. "Look, Miss Daniels," Nick gestured to Riley. "This is my girlfriend-"

Riley scoffed and shook her head wondering if that would still be a true statement when the conversation was through.

"I lied when I said I was gay. You weren't takin 'no' as an answer, so I lied...which worked." He turned to Riley. "I promise, absolutely nothing happened. After I went to the bar I went straight to you." Nick promised and Riley shuffled her feet and looked down unsurely. That had been the same thing Deven had said...

"So if you're not gay then you're available." Pamela stated and Emma looked at her in irritation.

"No you ditz! This is his girlfriend." She pointed to Riley.

"Thank you Emma, a simple 'no' would've been good though." Riley said, a hint of a smile on her face from the Jersey girl's blunt and cute nature.

"And there's no chance of 'us'?" She pouted and Nick looked at her in shock.

"What 'us'!" He yelled in annoyance.

"There could be an 'us'."

"Uh, no. Not while there's an 'us'." Riley replied gesturing between Nick and herself.

"Riley, I promise I would never ever do anything to compromise what we have. I swear..." Nick vowed.

"Well I don't know Nick, you just...you seem different lately."

"Maybe it's because you're growing apart." Pamela offered.

"Cookie, give it a rest." Riley ordered and shook her head.

"My name is Pamela."

But they ignored her as Nick continued. "I know, and I'm sorry. I just...I've been stressed at work. Ry, I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. I shouldn't have said you were being bitchy when you were just trying to find out what was wrong...I've just been having a bad week."

"No Nick, it's deeper than that. There's something else that's wrong and I don't know why you won't open up to me..." Riley replied and Nick bit his lip and looked down. He had to be a really closed book to make her voice this kind of feeling. In all their seven months of dating she had never pushed him to talk about anything...so he must've been really pathetic and closed off for her to even mention it.

"Maybe he needs someone he's more comfortable with." Pamela suggested.

"Oh no she didn't!" Kiersten exclaimed and Emma's jaw dropped.

"Listen Pandora-" Riley began.

"Pamela." She corrected and Riley barely blinked.

"Look Paprika, take it somewhere else or we can take it outside." Riley drawled. "And I maybe a Christian, but if you keep it up, I'm gonna kick your pretty little butt." Riley drawled, remembering the lyrics from Gretchen Wilson's Homewrecker.

Pamela glared and turned on her heel out the door.

Nick chuckled as he watched her go and turned back to Riley and the two smiling women behind her. "Man, it takes one pissed of Redneck woman to end up quotin Gretchen Wilson when someone's hittin on her man."

"You're still not forgiven." Riley said flatly.

"Right." Nick replied hurriedly and took her hand that wasn't holding a few boxes of shoes and brought it up to his chest. "I'm sorry Riley...I just...it's hard to talk about some things."

"Alright, so don't start out with those things..." Riley shrugged. "Start with how your day was. A simple 'my day sucked major ass' is enough...or 'I had a kick ass day'...then ease yourself into it...even if its just the basics...I'm not askin for a lot here Baby, but ya gotta give me somethin."

Nick sighed and hung his head, and Riley set down her shoe boxes, and cupped his cheek with her other hand. "I like you Nicky...I don't wanna have to beat how your day was outta ya." Riley joked lightly and Nick cracked a smile and leaned in to softly capture her lips with his own.

"Emma! There you are!" Porsche exclaimed and began towards the foursome. Riley and Nick broke apart and watched the scene unfold. "I've been looking for you."

"You've been looking for me!" Emma exclaimed and shook her head. "Where were you last night Porsche?"

It was Nick and Riley's turn to exchange the 'oh shit' look, while Kiersten shifted uncomfortably, being the one caught in between the two riffled brunettes.

"Uh...uh I..."

"Porsche, were you with Brittany?" Emma asked, biting back the tears threatening to fall. Riley looked between her newest friend and her cousin and sighed. She had been in this conversation before, and it sucked...she only prayed the results on them were less heartbreaking than they had been on her relationship.

Porsche hung her head and didn't answer. "Porsche...were you with her?" Emma forced the words out and Porsche sighed.

"Yeah...I was."

Emma closed her eyes and sighed. She reached for the necklace around her neck that Porsche had given her and unhooked it from her neck and handed it back to Porsche. "Give it to Brittany...I'm sure she'd appreciate it a lot." Emma spat, and turned on her heel and left. Kiersten ran after her, and Riley was torn between going after her friend, and staying with her cousin. Porsche looked up at the red head.

Neither of the girls said anything, both looked to the ground and sighed. Finally Riley spoke. "You fucked up."

"Yep...again." Porsche noted.

"I hope you can make it up to her in a way other than sex...because I have a feeling she's gonna be the one girl to not forgive you..." Riley explained and Porsche sighed again and nodded.

"Any ideas?"

"You can start with 'I'm sorry'." Nick offered and Porsche looked at him, then to Riley and nodded.

"Do you think she hates me?"

Riley shook her head. "No...but I don't think you're her most favorite person in the world right now..."

Porsche sighed. "How long should I wait before I talk to her?"

"Give her a few hours to calm down, then go talk to her. And whatever you do...stay away from Brittany." Riley warned and Porsche sighed.

"This blows."

--Bum bum bum...I promise, that scene is of importance to the book...you'll just have to wait a little while to find out why--

So...yeah...I have to end the chapter here... (Sigh) not that this has anything to do with my book...but I just read this other book...and I'll tell ya I AM SOOOO DEPRESSED! It was soooo sad...I can't bring myself to write a happy chapter...so fair warning, next chapter will be full 'o drama!

-Depressed Futuremisscsi60 :(