~My National Treasure~ (A Riley Poole FanFiction)

Chapter 8: The Journey Begins

The next day, 7:15am

"Wake up!" Riley's dream was interrupted by someone yelling in his ear.

He mumbled something and turned over, trying to get back to sleep.

"Riley, get up!" This time he figured it was Alex, and he smirked, not moving, "Nope."

"Ughh" She whined, and seconds later he heard the door close. "Finally peace."

A minute later, he listened intently as the door closed again, meaning people had walked in.

"He won't wake up!" Alex pouted.

"Oh, that's an easy fix" Abby said in a way where Riley could almost hear the grin plastered onto her face. "Go lick his ear."

There was silence. "What?" Alex laughed eventually.

"Lick his ear, seriously. He hates people touching his ears." Abby said simply.

"Why can't I just poke his ear?"

"Trust me, this will be much more effective. I'll give you five dollars if you do it."

"Fine." Alex said, then it went quiet again.

Riley wasn't worried, though. 'She's not going to lick my ear.' He curled up in the hotel bed even more, until he felt something wet touch his ear.

Riley rolled onto the floor, making disgusted faces and wiping his ear off.

"There, five dollars stat." Alex smiled a bit as Abby handed over the bet money, and Riley got off the floor and shuddered, making both of the girls laugh.

He shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "Now, why did I have to get up?"

"Because today is the day! How long do you think it's going to take to get there? Do you think-" Alex was cut off Abby, so shushed her.

"Calm down! It's early, so let us just get ready with no questions! Plus, your lover over there has probably heard enough from you too, am I right?"

Now, that statement could be taken in the innocent way, but that's definitely not what Abby was thinking.

Alex scrunched her nose and elbowed Abby. "You disgust me, did you know that?" Her face turned a deep red and her eyes went wide when she remembered Riley still behind them.

"I'm just gonna go wait in the lobby...." She said, face still pink as she walked out of the room.

Once she was gone, Riley just had to ask, "Have you always been this dirty-minded?"

"All my life" She grinned, before walking to the door. "I'm getting ready in my room. Hurry up, okay?" She grinned once more before slamming the door, then burst out in laughter.

~~~~~~~~~~

Soon, everyone was ready to go, all standing in the lobby. "You two go on out to the van, we'll be out in a second." Abby motioned to Riley and Ben. They shrugged and started carrying stuff out to the car.

Abby dragged Alex over to the corner of the lobby, receiving a look from the lady at the counter.

"What?" Alex rested her hand on her hip, waiting for a reply.

"I saw the way you looked at me this morning, and the color your faced turned in front of Riley. You like him, don't you?"

"We've established this. Yes, maybe I do like him, but he'd never like someone like me." Alex shrugged, pulling back her hair into a long ponytail.

"What, a cute, nerdy, bookworm like yourself? You're exactly his type." Abby said, looking out the window at the two boys, who were obviously having trouble with something.

"Plus, remember that night you two shared together?" Abby nudged Alex in the side, who shook her head.

"We were both drunk out of our minds. That didn't mean anything."

Abby sighed and smiled, then linked arms with Alex. "I know it meant something. I have a sense for these things." Together, they walked out of the run-down hotel and got in the van. Within the minute, they were off.

~~~~~~~~~~

Five Hours Later

"Are we almost there yet?" Alex whined from the back of the van.

"About halfway. We're running low on gas though. Here's a gas station." Ben pulled into the parking lot of the station. Both Abby and Ben got out, Abby just going in to get snacks.

Riley and Alex were left sitting next to each other in the back.

"So, are you excited?" Riley asked.

"I don't know if I am" Alex sighed, looking down at her feet. A lone strand of hair fell from her side swept bangs, and Riley had the sudden urge to tuck it behind her ear, but he thought against it. "Why?"

"What if I don't remember anything? What if this isn't even the right place?"

"Hey, I'm pretty sure this is the right place. Even if it isn't, who cares? We'll keep looking until we find where you came from." Riley said, earning a weak smile from Alex.

She leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek, which he returned before she stood up. She went outside to help Abby carry in the many bags of food she had bought.

Once she slid the van door shut, Abby started talking immediately. "I saw that, ya know. You two are adorable!"

Alex blushed and took some of the bags. "If you say so."