Chapter 35

(Later the night – CSI Crime Lab – Grissom's Office)

Nick knocked softly on his supervisor's door and entered when he heard the greeting saying to do so. He pushed open the door as Grissom looked up in surprise. "Nick? What're you doing here? It's your day off...happy birthday by the way."

Nick nodded. "It is, and thanks. Actually, time off is why I'm here." Intrigued, Grissom set his glasses down and folded his hands in front of him. "I want to know if it's possible to extend my time off for a week or two longer."

Grissom raised a brow. "Is everything alright?"

"Uh, actually, no. Riley had a death in the family and she's flying out to Texas tomorrow. She wants me to go with her." Nick explained briefly and Grissom nodded.

"I was meaning to recommend you take some time off anyway...how long did you say?"

"About two weeks. The memorial service isn't till Thursday, but she wants to get there early to be with her family and help prepare for it. Then she's gonna wanna stay a little while afterwards and make sure everyone's alright."

"Are you going to see your family also?" Grissom asked, knowing from the many phone calls he'd received from Nick's mother that she wanted to see him desperately. Ever since Nick's abduction his mother had been calling about every week to make sure her son was alright, several times the messages had been forwarded to Grissom, which was something the supervisor didn't enjoy.

Nick nodded. "I was thinkin about it..."

Grissom saw the wheels in Nick's head turning and smirked as he realized Nick would probably be introducing Riley to his family. "Alright, I can give you up to two weeks off." Grissom explained and Nick nodded and stood up.

"That's great. Thanks Grissom."

"Uh huh. Oh, and Nick..." Nick turned around just as he was about to exit the room. "Good luck..."

Nick turned the key to the front door of Riley's house and stepped inside. Instead of being assaulted by the harsh smell of cigarettes and beer, loud music or television, and crude language; Nick was greeted by the most somber vibe he'd ever experienced in the house. He sighed and nodded to the men in the living room, the only people not present were Deven, Emma, Riley, and Kiersten.

Nick ascended the stairs and walked to the end of the hall and knocked on Riley's door. It immediately opened to reveal everyone not present in the living room, plus Porsche, sitting in random places throughout the room, watching Riley pack a large duffle bag. Riley looked up and gave a soft smile to Nick and nodded him into the room. "Did you get the time off?" She questioned.

Nick nodded and looked over to see Porsche sobbing with her head in her hands, being soothed by Kiersten. Nick nodded his chin towards her, his eyes asking Riley if she was okay. Riley shook her head and zipped up the duffle bag and set it on the floor. "How're you holdin up?" Nick asked while walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist. She shrugged and rested her head on his chest.

"About as well as can be expected. Mama says she wants us to stay at her house if that's alright with you."

Nick looked at her surprised. "She knows I'm coming?"

Riley chuckled softly and rolled her eyes. "Nope, I'm gonna spring you on her as a funny surprise..."

"I just assumed...does your father know?"

"I chickened out. Mama said she'd do it. She knows how to handle him."

"Maybe it's not a good idea that I come..."

Riley pulled away from him and frowned a little. "Do you not wanna go with me?"

"No, no, no...I just, I didn't wanna make this any harder for you than it has to be. I just don't wanna put too much stress on you, and having your family meet me just now, under these circumstances..."

She shook her head. "I can call Mama and tell her not to tell anyone else, and you and I could just stay in a hotel..." She suggested and Nick shook his head.

"If you wanna stay with your parents its fine, I just don't want you to have to deal with your father meeting your boyfriend..."

She narrowed her eyes teasingly and smirked slightly. "Are you scared of meeting my father?"

A soft chuckle could be heard from the corner of the room, and everyone turned to see Porsche chuckling for the first time that night, glad to be snapped out of her inner hell. "He should be." She noted, wiping her face of the tears that had stained her cheeks.

"Hell yeah he should..." Deven added, shivering at the memory of Riley's father and all the threats the man had thrown his way.

Riley rolled her eyes. "Daddy's not that bad..."

"Riley, you're his baby girl. He's scary as Hell on his own, add a man's only little girl left, and the man that's currently bangin her...it's gonna be crazy insane. Hey can I come?" Kiersten asked and Riley shook her head and smirked.

"...Maybe I shouldn't go..." Nick replied and she smirked and reached for her bag.

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Nah, I'll come." Nick replied and Riley smiled and nodded. Nick was glad to see that the group could muster a slightly more contented appearance than what he had experienced a few moments ago. From what Riley had told him about her Aunt Dee, she was a fun, gregarious, laid-back Aunt that had a soft spot for her nieces and nephews. Family was the most important thing to her, that's why she was heart broken when she found out that she and her husband couldn't have children. Anytime a new baby came into the family, Dee Dee would always be holding, coddling, and playing with it.

Dee Dee was always there when Riley needed her. And the fact that she was no longer in her life was tearing Riley apart, though she wouldn't show it. Besides the fact that it was Riley's nature to keep things bottled up, Dee wouldn't have wanted everyone to cry and mourn over her.

A few minutes later the group was starting to file out of Riley's room to give her and Nick some privacy to get to sleep, for they had to be at the airport at the crack of dawn the next morning, throwing both of their internal clocks way off schedule. Kiersten gave Riley a comforting hug and whispered something in her ear, which made her smile gratefully and kiss her pseudo sister's cheek. Emma was the next to leave, giving Riley a hug and telling her bye and to call her before they left for the airport.

Deven gave Riley a hug and told her to send her family his love, as well as everyone else's. She had promised to do so and stepped out of the embrace to hug Porsche and comfort the slightly younger woman. The two of them stood there for quite a while, no doubt both of them both engrossed in their memories of their Aunt. After a while they pulled apart and whispered shortly before Porsche nodded and left. Nick came up behind Riley after she had closed the door and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and buried his head into the crook of her neck. She turned and wrapped her arms around him and held him close as she sighed and nestled her head into his chest.

"Wanna go to sleep?" Nick asked and felt her nod against his chest. Her bent over and swept her off her feet and carried her over to the bed. He laid her down and took off her slippers and socks and pulled the blanket up over track pants and tank top all the way up to her chin. He climbed into the bed next to her and cuddled up close, holding her there to let her know he was there to comfort her, and he wasn't going anywhere.

"Nick! Haul ass or we're gonna be late!" Riley shouted to her boyfriend from outside of the shower curtain. The water in the shower stopped and she smiled and shook her head. "I still don't know why you took a shower when you're going to be sitting on a plane for an hour, then just end up taking another shower to get the icky plane feel off..."

"Yeah well..." He stepped out of the shower dripping wet and wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped up to the mirror and reached for the shaving cream. "At least I'll be less dirty when I meet your parents than if I were to not shower and have the icky plane feeling." Nick reasoned, gesturing with the shaving cream bottle.

She laughed and shook her head. "Man...you are so nervous."

"Nick, word of advice, don't let 'em smell your fear. They'll just eat you alive." Porsche replied, appearing in the bedroom. Nick and Riley looked out the door and saw Porsche laying on the bed smoking a cigarette.

"They're gonna eat him alive anyway." Kiersten commented, walking into the room with four cups of coffee. She handed two to the couple in the bathroom and then gave one to Porsche.

"What are you doing up so early Kit? You have to work...you need rest."

Kiersten shrugged. "Didn't get much sleep. Tossed and turned all night and couldn't get back to sleep. It's killin me that I can't go with y'all."

Riley sighed and nodded. "I know Chica, but the family understands that you can't get off work..."

"I'm gonna miss you guys...you're gonna be gone for a whole week?" Emma asked, coming into the room, mug of coffee in hand and Riley nodded. Nick watched as Riley visibly sobered and pursed her lips together as she fiddled with her toothbrush and began brushing her teeth to avoid any further conversation of why she'd be leaving. Nick noticed this and tried to get the other women out of the room so he could console Riley.

"Uh, guys...I need to get dressed so..." Nick replied and waited for the girls to clear out. The three girls in the room exchanged looks as if to say 'wait...does that mean we're supposed to leave?' When the girls didn't leave after a few minutes Riley released a chuckle and Nick blushed and gripped the towel tighter around his waist. Riley laughed and spit the tooth paste out of her mouth. The girls all joined her in laughter while Nick continued to blush at his backfired plan to divert Riley from the sadness surrounding their day.

"Hey Mama, we're at the airport now...no, the flight doesn't board for a while now, we got through customs quicker than we thought. Yes...yes, he's here, no not next to me. He ran off somewhere...the girls scared him about Daddy, so I wouldn't be too surprised if he ran back to his house and is hiding under his bed." Riley joked and laughed with her mother. "Oh wait, here he comes...aww." She smiled and gushed as she saw what he had in his hands when he neared her. "He brought me Vogue and Hershey's...and coffee." She smiled and kissed him as he finally reached her, then pulled away to answer her mother's question. "No you can't talk to him."

'Who is that?' Nick mouthed and Riley smiled.

'Mama.' She mouthed back and Nick extended his hand to her, showing that he wanted the phone. Riley shook her head and Nick pouted and made a gesture for her to hand it over. She smirked and turned away from him, only making him climb across the uncomfortable, plastic chairs and grab for the phone. She ducked away from him and tried to hide the phone while still talk to her mother.

"Yeah, no Mama, we'll be there around noon." She furred her brows and checked her watch. "Cause its only 7 a.m. now, it's a one hour flight, and then we're going to rent a car-" She shook her head as her mother said something on the other end of the phone. "No Mama, we can rent a car..." She rolled her eyes and smirked, still avoiding Nick's grabbing hands to talk to her mother. "Mama, you know Daddy won't let me use his Jag, he loves that thing more than he loves me." Riley joked and smiled. "Mama...Mama...Mama no, Ma-" She sighed in exasperation and caved. "Fine, fine. You win; we'll use the truck...alright..."

"All passengers boarding the non stop flight 112 to Fort Worth, Texas please board now." The lady over the airport's loud speaker announced.

"Okay, Mama I gotta go. I'll talk to you later. I love you."

"Tell her I said 'bye'." Nick replied, having given up on obtaining the phone a while ago and was now gathering their two carry on bags.

Riley smiled. "Nick says bye...uh huh," She pulled the phone away from her mouth. "She says 'bye' Nick." She rolled her eyes at the two of them and went back to the conversation with her mother. "Alright, we gotta go Mama. I love you...I know, I gotta go Maw. We'll see ya in a bit...bye." She finally hung up the phone and shot Nick a playful glare. "You gotta quit kissin my Mama's ass or my Daddy's gonna kick yours."

Nick feigned offense. "I'm not kissin her ass; I would just like one person there who doesn't automatically hate me when I meet your family."

She chuckled. "You'll have me...oh wait no...I hate you, never mind." She joked and Nick poked her in the ribs.

He scoffed and feigned-umbrage. "Just for that you can carry your own bag."

"Alright." She replied and took her bag from his hands.

"No! No, I was just kiddin baby." Nick insisted, hating the thought of her having to carry her own bag for Southern Gentleman-ly reasons.

"Ry, you gotta lay off the alcohol Darlin or you're gonna be shit faced when we go to see your family." Nick scolded lightly and took the tiny bottles from her hands.

"I toooold you, I'm terrified of heights...that's why we switched seats so I wouldn't-" She hiccupped. "Wouldn't have to watch the-" Hiccup. "The clouds go by..." Hiccup. "Man...all this talk about being scared of heights is makin me scared of heights." Riley drawled in a drunken voice.

Nick smiled deviously and leaned over closer to her. "Ya know, we could do somethin to pass the time..." Nick waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Riley furred hers.

"You mean like a game? Cause, I don't think the license plate game is gonna work up here." Riley deduced, looking around uncertainly and Nick shot her a look as if to say 'are you really saying these words!'

"Or...we could go and uh...join a club..."

Riley furred her eyebrows. "The chess club?"

"No...we could go become honorary members of the mile-high club." Nick said winking and she gaped at him.

"You're not already a member of the mile-high club?" She exclaimed and Nick's eyes widened and he threw a hand over her mouth and ducked down in his seat.

"Ssshh!" Once everyone had stopped staring at him he shook his head. "You are...with who?"

She rolled her eyes. "I've only been with two guys including you Nicky." She replied, holding up three fingers. Nick thought about it for a moment, then frowned a little realizing that the guy had been Deven. "Hey, you asked..."

Nick sighed.

She rolled her eyes and looked at him drunkenly. "Now don't do that, c'mon don't pout Nicky..." She begged, but Nick ignored her and began reading his magazine. "Nick, it was before I even met you...before I knew you existed."

He was silent as he turned the page. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she looked forward for a few minutes, then cracked a smile.

"I can't believe you're not a member of the mile-high club." She chuckled and Nick set down the magazine frustrated. He turned around and began to scan the isles. She furred her brows and looked at him oddly. "What're ya doin?" She slurred.

"Lookin for somewhere else to sit." Nick replied jokingly and she rolled her eyes and smiled ash she swatted his chest with her magazine. he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him to plant a soft kiss on her lips. He scrunched his nose at the taste of the alcohol on her lips and she chuckled as he pulled away.

"Sorry." She apologized and stifled a yawn as she rested her head against the seat and tried to get comfortable. Nick smiled and pulled her over so that she was relaxing against him with his arm wrapped around her shoulders and the top of her chest, holding her close to him. He smiled and planted a soft kiss on the top of her head as her breathing evened out and she was asleep.

"Sleep tight Darlin..."

(sighs) Sorry this took so long to post, my internet decided to be a tard-face and not let me on the site to post my books and I had a bunch of stuff to do, ironically including a funeral for a family member...

If you wanna know how it went (cause you're morbid like that) then just read the next few chapters...

-Futuremisscsi60