"-iley...?"
"Riley...?"
"Riley!"
The young man in question groaned painfully and sluggishly made his way back to consciousness. Blue eyes opened slowly, attempting to focus on the two very concerned faces above him.
"Hey, kiddo. You okay?" Ben asked softly, touching the knot that had begun to form on the back of his best friend's head. Riley muttered something intelligently and groaned again, the effort to talk making his head hurt a little worse.
"Oh God, Riley!" Abigail cried, taking his face in her hands gently. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you fall! Are you alright?! I'm so sorry!"
Riley managed a weak laughed and nodded. "It's okay, I know you try to beat me up on a regular basis so I'm used to it by now. No worries."
Both Abigail and Ben watched him for a few more seconds before they carefully helped him sit up. "Riley, listen." Ben said queitly, keeping a firm yet gentle hand on his friend's shoulder in case he fell back again.
"What exactly am I listening for? I think my eardrums are bleeding..."
"You're not hiccuping anymore." Abi pointed out, standing to get some ice from the freezer.
"Looks like we finally found our cure."
"A concussion?"
Ben laughed, noticing the blank stare Riley was giving him. "Shock. Shock was what made you hiccups go away."
"No, we tried the scare tactics once before, remember? You threw a snake at me."
"It wasn't that bad."
"It was a boa constricter!"
"It was a grass snake."
Riley rolled his eyes and let his head hang a little, the throbbing in his skull beginning to subside. "You still threw it at me."
"Granted, but that's beside the point." Ben countered, taking to ice Abigail offered and handing it to Riley. "The point is that your hiccups are gone and that element of surprise was what worked."
The younger man sighed, pressing the ice to his head. "Yeah, well let's hope brain damage isn't in the future for the next set of hiccups." He was gently pulled up and sat in a chair. "I'd take hiccups over a coma any day."
Abigail laughed and patted him on the back lightly. "Don't worry, Riley. Next time you get the hiccups we'll have someone else on stand by to give you that kiss." She winked at both treasure hunters and walked to the cabinet to get some aspirin.
"Yeah. Sorry Ben, I love you and all but wasn't really what I had in mind for a first kiss."
"That was your first kiss?!"
Riley smirked playfully and shook his head. "No, but I love the element of surprise as well."
Huzzah! Okay, now for those who wanted to see this story turn out a different way, the alternate chapter is a stand-alone one shot called "We're going to do what?" Feel free to read both, but if you are offended by the slash content of the other story, please do not flame me. Flames will be ignored and I will think you are a dick :D Love you all and thank you so much for you wonderful ideas!!!