Nikki DeLoach is pulling a bait-and-switch this week. Just one night after making us laugh on Awkward — that was the most uncomfortable dinner party ever, and I loved it — she’ll be guest starring on the May 1 episode of CSI, playing a character she describes to HollywoodLife.com as being “quite the opposite of Lacey.”

Nikki says her character Heather is a “brown-noser” suspected of murdering one of her co-workers during a company wilderness retreat.

But did she do it?

“I don’t want to give away too much, but I will say that she tries to put up a very serious front,” Nikki teases. “As the episode goes on, you’ll see her start to break.”

Still, Nikki tells us it’s nice to return to her dramatic roots — the funny lady is also a veteran of Fox’s North Shore, NBC’s Days Of Our Lives, and most recently, The CW’s Ringer — and that the CSI cast and crew couldn’t have been more welcoming.

“After 13 seasons, it would be really easy for them to get really tired of what they do,” Nikki recognized. “But they love what they do, and they’re all so happy to be there. I couldn’t have had a better time.”

Nikki’s episode of CSI airs at 10 p.m. ET on May 1!

WATCH: Preview Of ‘CSI’ Episode, ‘Fearless’

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

Nikki DeLoach may not play the best mom in the world on Awkward — I think we all remember the effects of Lacey’s infamous “carefrontation” letter — but when it comes to her craft, Nikki’s dedication knows no bounds. “It meant a heck of a lot to us that we were nominated,” she tells HollywoodLife.com, “so we want all of our fans to go out and vote for us. And no one else.”

“We really want to win this one,” she adds. “It’s nice to be acknowledged by the critics and to get great reviews, but it’s equally as nice to have your fans speak out and vote. We’re so stoked about [the nomination.]“

Awkward is up against some fierce competition, including It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Hot In Cleveland, so loyal fans should vote their fingers off over at the official People’s Choice Award site. Winners will be announced during the live show Jan. 9 on CBS!

Of course, voting for Awkward to win a PCA isn’t the only way you can support Nikki. Her new movie Flying Lessons is playing in select theaters from Dec. 7 to Dec. 13, a project she immediately fell in love with after reading the script.

“The movie has a lot to do with forgiveness and letting go,” Nikki explains. “It kind of poses that question: Can you really repair a relationship after it’s been so deeply damaged? And can you really learn to forgive yourself?”

Nikki plays Mila, the best friend to Sophie (Maggie Grace), who returns to the small hometown she had always tried to forget. Her emotional journey — Nikki says both Sophie and Mila have “a lot of atoning” to do — leads her to care for an Alzheimer’s patient (Hal Holbrook), and the rest is weepy dramatic history.

You can also catch Nikki as “sassy” Julia in Golden Christmas 3, which re-airs Dec. 23 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 25 at 5 p.m. on ION Television.

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

More Awkward-ness on HollywoodLife.com:

1. ‘Awkward’ Stars Nikki DeLoach & Jillian Rose Reed’s ‘NOH8′ Portraits
2. ‘Awkward’ Stars Rallying Together For AIDS Walk Los Angeles 2012
3. ‘Awkward’ Season Finale Recap: Jenna Questions Her Big Decision

Nikki DeLoach and Jillian Rose Reed, two of the funniest stars from MTV’s hit series Awkward, recently showed their support for same-sex marriage by posing for “NOH8″ portraits — and HollywoodLife.com now has the exclusive honor of unveiling them to you! This was a first for Nikki, who was thrilled to be joining the iconic campaign, while Jillian had already done one portrait on her own.

Created in 2008 by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and partner Jeff Parshley, the campaign was intended to serve as a silent protest against Proposition 8, which amended the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

Since its inception, the “NOH8″ campaign has amassed more than 20,000 portraits — now including Nikki’s and Jillian’s!

And because I love you all so much, here are additional individual portraits of Nikki and Jillian:

We love when our favorite TV stars are also passionate about making the world a better, more tolerant place. Keep up the good work, ladies!

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

More Awkward-ness on HollywoodLife.com:

1. ‘Awkward’ Stars Rallying Together For AIDS Walk Los Angeles 2012
2. ‘Awkward’ Season Finale Recap: Jenna Questions Her Big Decision
3. ‘Awkward’ Season Finale: Fans ‘Will Be Really Happy’ With Jenna’s Choice

The following news is, as Awkward‘s Tamara would say, pretty “bomb-ass.” The cast of MTV’s hit comedy formed a team for the 28th annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles, held Oct. 14, and fans are being encouraged to help them out — if only for the possibility of getting to tell Molly Tarlov, “You’re welcome.”

“My AWKWARD cast is like my second family,” Jessica Lu, the mastermind behind the Awkward team, tells HollywoodLife.com. “As soon as I became involved with AIDS Walk LA, they all rallied to support the cause with me. I am really excited to raise money and awareness for this important issue.”

Nikki DeLoach echoes her, adding: “I am so proud to be walking to build a future without AIDS. Through everyone’s support and donations, we can raise the money needed to stop new infections, raise awareness and help those living with HIV/AIDS to receive the care they need to survive. … For those of you with businesses, if you donate over $250, TEAM AWKWARD will send a tweet out promoting your business to the over 350k twitters followers we share! Thank you in advance for the love and support!”

In addition to simply raising funds for the walk, Jillian Rose Reed is also auctioning off the dress she wore to the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. So if you donate the most money to Jillian’s official page, you’ll get to take it home and wear it or smell it, or do whatever — because it’ll be yours!

Here are all the cast members listed on the official team, just so you can create a little mental picture for yourself:

Nikki Deloach
Mike Faiola
Greer Grammer
Wesam Keesh
Jessica Lu
Jillian Rose Reed
Kelly Sry
Barret Swatek
Molly Tarlov

You can join the Awkward team and/or donate by visiting its official team page.

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

More Awkward-ness:

1. ‘Awkward’ Season Finale Recap: Jenna Questions Her Big Decision
2. ‘Awkward’ Season Finale: Fans ‘Will Be Really Happy’ With Jenna’s Choice
3. ‘Awkward’ Star Ashley Rickards Debuts Blonde Hair At MTV VMAs

MTV’s Awkward is a tricky beast: One minute you’re laughing at its whip-smart humor, then suddenly — and without warning — you’re reduced to an emotional puddle of teen angst. Nikki DeLoach tells HollywoodLife.com we’ll experience both ends of that spectrum on tonight’s season finale, as Jenna (Ashley Rickards) finally chooses between Jake (Brett Davern) and Matty (Beau Mirchoff)!

“In the end, like Jenna always does, she follows her heart,” Nikki tells me. “I think the audience will be really happy about who she chooses, but I don’t know if Jenna is really at peace with her choice by the time the episode ends.”

(Wait a minute, Jenna is indecisive? Color me shocked.)

“There’s this question that exists in the finale: ‘I got what I wanted, but was it what I needed?’” Nikki explains. “I think that’s the main theme of the last episode. Plus, there are some big reveals and surprises that I think the audience will enjoy — like who is the mysterious blog commenter!”

And don’t worry about Awkward pulling a True Blood and having Jenna choose to be alone. Nikki promises Jenna will definitely pick one guy over the other.

“I would have loved for her to choose no one,” Nikki admits. “But I don’t think it would have been authentic for her, as a 16-year-old girl, not to make a choice.”

As for the “surprise” that Lacey and Kevin (Mike Faiola) have for Jenna in the promo for the finale, Nikki tells me “it puts a little rift in [Jenna's] plan — in her choice.”

We’re mere hours away from the Awkward season finale, so it’s time to place your bets: Will Jenna choose Matty or Jake? What’s Lacey and Kevin’s big surprise? Vote below, then drop me a comment with your full finale predictions!

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

More Awkward-ness:

1. ‘Awkward’ Star Ashley Rickards Debuts Blonde Hair At MTV VMAs
2. ‘Awkward’ Star Nikki DeLoach Talks Lacey & Kevin’s Future (Together?)
3. ‘Awkward’ Recap: Jenna’s Blog Goes Public

I know every episode of Awkward is big, but the Aug. 30 episode is, like, really big — especially for everybody’s favorite teen-mom-turned-train-wreck Lacey! “This week, you find out why Lacey wrote the ‘carefrontation’ letter in the first place,” Nikki DeLoach tells HollywoodLife.com, confirming that “it’s a big episode.” (You hear that, people? It’s big!)

“The question is: What is going to happen once everyone finds out?” Nikki says. “I don’t think that Jenna was thinking about [the letter] when she released her blog. She was just trying to prove to Jake that she didn’t cheat on him. So there’s going to be a lot of drama on this week’s episode, but it’s one of my favorite episodes of the entire season.”

Nikki says her biggest challenge this season, as an actress, has been handling Lacey’s intense dramatic shifts:

“One minutes she’s landing a joke, then the next line, she’s falling apart in tears,” Nikki explains. “I’ve had to ground the drama, but at the same time, land the comedy.”

(I think we can all agree she’s done an excellent job with both!)

Read on for the rest of my interview with Nikki:

I know the fans, myself included, want a Kevin-Lacey reunion. Can you give me any hope?

The one thing I can tell you is that Lacey will never stop fighting for Kevin. The ball is in his court right now, so he has to decide if he wants to fight for his family and marriage, or move on with his life. As Nikki and as Lacey, I think it would be a very unpopular decision for him not to come back. [Laughs]

I loved when Jenna realized that Kevin was Lacey’s Jake … or was he her Matty? I get confused.

Yeah, it was the other way around. And I think the audience was kind of shocked by that too. If you were to compare Kevin to either Jake or Matty, you’d think Jake. He seems very stable, very consistent, always there. But what I love about this season is that we learned a lot about Kevin; he hasn’t always been there for Lacey. He has up-and-left her on several occasions.

Just when we thought we had him figured out!

That’s the brilliance of Lauren Iungerich. She doesn’t write superficially. If you look at all the characters, you can’t put any of them in one specific box, but you can still relate to them. … I can’t even tell you what it means, as an actor, to be on a show with a showrunner who turns out such a good product with every single script. She also has Erin Ehrlich, and a brilliant team of writers, as well.

OK, now let’s talk about someone else we all love: Ally! Will we see her again this season?

Ally’s not back this season, unfortunately. She’s played by the amazing Barett Swatek, who’s so so so great. There’s no one out there who could play Ally the way she does, and she’s become one of my dearest friends throughout this whole process. So I’ve gotten a gift on screen as an actor, and I’ve gotten a gift personally in my life, being able to befriend someone as amazing as her. I hope we see her again next season. (Editor’s note: I second that!)

Speaking of next season, how would you like to see Lacey grow as a character?

I’d like to see her come into her own as a mother … and as a person. She doesn’t really have a life, and that’s why she’s so focused on how she looks and what’s going on in Jenna’s life. Also, if she and Kevin get back together, I wonder if they’d try to have another baby. They’re both really young parents! I think that would be fun, and I also think it would be fun to meet Nana, Lacey’s mother.

Ah, yes. I remember you telling The Insider about your dream actresses to play her.

Yes, and after that, one of the other journalists tweeted “I can’t believe no one’s thinking about Barbara Hershey.” As soon as she said it, I was like, “Oh my God! Barbara Hershey would be amazing!” She looks like she could play my mother, and if we could get her, I think she would be incredible. … Let’s start a campaign!

A campaign? I’m on it. … Now my last question for you: Team Matty, or Team Jake?

I recently came out of the closet in regards to my team. I’d tried to keep it fair and give PC answers, but I’m team Matty. After seeing the episode after the wedding, where Matty and Jenna were on the bed, my 15-year-old heart just exploded into glitter everywhere. I got tears in my eyes, and it was such a powerful moment.

OK, Awkward fans, let’s hear what you have to say: Who should play Lacey’s mom? Are you dying for Kevin to take her back? And, as always, which team are YOU on? Drop me a comment with your every thought!

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

More Awkward-ness:

1. ‘Awkward’ Star Greer Grammer Has Big Plans For Lissa & Matty
2. MTV Renews ‘Awkward’ For Season 3
3. ‘Awkward’ Recap: Jenna’s Blog Goes Public