Title: Just Not Now
Rating: K
Warning: Promotes homosexual relationships… so if you don't like DON'T READ!!
Pairings: Ben/Riley with some Ben/Abigail
Summary: Riley needs to get away for Valentine's Day due to a broken heart. ((Slash and One Shot))
Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure.
"Let's go to the movies."
Hands stuffed rumpled clothes into a burnt orange duffle bag.
"It'll be fun."
Shoes were thrown across the room.
"We can watch that new sci-fi one you've been wanting to see."
There was a loud crack then quick 'taps' when a shoe connected with a mirror on the wall.
"And then we can get dinner."
A bitter laugh.
"It'll be just the two of us."
A glare from once sparkling blue eyes.
"And we can have some… us time when we get back."
A stray tear.
Riley Poole angrily zipped his duffel bag closed, wiped away the offending tear, wrote a hurried note, and flew out of the house he currently shared with his current lover - ex lover if he was asked at the moment.
He wasted no time throwing his gathered belongings into the passenger side of his red Ferrari. He chocked back the tears, biting the inside of his mouth.
Pain.
Feel the pain instead.
It's constant.
It won't let you down.
Don't let up.
He could understand pain.
His heart was twisted painfully in his chest, his stomach was clenched so tight, it ached. His knuckles were white from his grip on the steering wheel.
Start the car.
Get out of here.
Don't stay.
Leave!
Riley started his car, peeling out of the drive way and out of sight. He didn't look back. He couldn't look back. It still hurt too much. All of the broken promises. The lies.
God, the lies.
His eyes poured tears but no sound came from him. He didn't reach to wipe them away this time. Maybe, if he let them fall, he could forget about the sheer hurt. He could forget about his stupid heart and get on with his life.
Just like before he came into his life.
Before his heart was stolen.
Before it was crushed.
Riley didn't know love could hurt this much. He had never been in love before this, but he always imagined love was sugary and gooshy, and all that crap you read about in novels - or rather the sci-fi novels he read.
He was wrong.
He didn't understand what happened. He had thought they were working out nicely. They even had support from other people! The important people. Like parents… and what he considered friends.
Friends isn't a word he'd associate with himself.
Friends aren't something he had ever had.
So why did he think the friends he did have would ever think of him as important?
He couldn't get the sight of them out of his head. It kept replaying over and over again. It was the horror film that never ended. It made his blood run cold and eyes grow wide with fear. It was the ultimate nightmare.
Only it wasn't a nightmare.
It was real.
He slowed down for a pedestrian to cross the road.
They waved at him, a smile on their crinkled face.
He nodded his head.
And drove on.
Stay focused!
Keep going.
Gotta get away.
As he drove, he passed the White House. His eyes locked with it. His car slowed. Blue eyes narrowed.
Foot on the accelerator!
He looked away, heart beating faster and fists even tighter on the wheel. His face turned red from anger.
Tears still came.
Think about it later.
Just get gone!
It didn't matter how hard he tried, the images still came to his head. He could still see it plain as day. He could describe it to anyone, in distinct detail, what happened.
Make it stop!
His lover and another woman.
Not just any other woman. No. His luck wasn't that good - Riley believed that his luck had run out after finding the city of gold. No, this was the worst woman he could possibly think of. A woman that had plagued his thoughts for the last 24 hours.
A woman named Abigail Chase.
No more!
Make it stop!
The mere thought of her name made his stomach convulse. It was all he could do to stop the bile from coming up his throat. He had done enough of that earlier.
Just…
Suddenly his cell phone began to ring loudly. He barely registered the tone, knowing exactly who it was.
…stop.
His hands shook.
He didn't know if he wanted to answer the call.
NO!
He left the phone alone. His voice mail would get it.
Only the phone rang again after it died.
STOP!
And rang.
No more!
And rang.
He just wanted everything to stop spinning. He wanted his balance back. He didn't want to deal with this right now.
…it hurts…
He shut his phone off.
Please make the hurt go away.
I don't want to love you right now.
Leave me alone.
They kissed.
Abigail and him kissed.
And not just once, twice… three time… and then touching.
I promise…
He knew they had been drinking. He hoped that they were drunk. Prayed that they were.
But he didn't believe it.
How could he? He was in the same room, sitting right across from them. He stared at him right in the eye….
And was ignored.
I promise…
Riley took a shuddering breath, trying to escape the tears.
I'll come back.
He stopped at a red light. He took a deep breath. He didn't release. His head started to hurt. His vision went black around the edges.
The light changed.
He let his breath go.
And drove on.
Just…
When Ben Gates got home later that day, with a pounding headache from the night before, he found their bedroom a mess. A broken mirror on the wall with glass shards scattered around the floor. Clothes were hap hazardously sitting around the room. The bed they shared was rumpled and roses laid across the floor, on his side of the bed, with a glass vase shattered by a shoe on his nightstand. There was a yellow note, crumpled on his pillow that a shaky hand reached out to grab.
Ben,
Couldn't stay here anymore. Saw you and Abigail last night.
Please just stay away from me.
I'll come back later.
Lov --- Riley
P.S. Happy Valentine's Day
The only sounds heard from the house were loud sobs and muffled words.
…not right now.
AN: So there you go! I would just like to say I wrote this because of a challenge on a Briley community called Treasure Geeks. Not exactly what the guidelines were looking for but…. Yeah. I hate Valentine's Day so this is what I came up with. I'm sorry it's so angst! I'll try to write a happier one later.