A/N: I want to thank anyone who's kept up with this story, because LOOK! AN UPDATE! I'm so sorry it's taken me what has seemed like forever to update this story, but I'm finally trying to get back into the swing of things and work on it. There's some Riley/Rachel fluff as requested!, as well as some more appearances from our favorite characters from the movie, and Nathan. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: Only own what is originally mine, therefore no Girl Scout Cookies, Transformers, or whatever else sounds familiar to you

Ben walked up the stairs briskly. After the doors opened, he immediately spread his arms and legs as four security guards scanned his body and patted him down.

"Eureka has landed, I repeat, Eureka has landed," one said loudly, holding a hand to his ear.

Ben smiled. "You know after all the times we've seen each other, Connor, you could just call me by my name." Before the flustered security guard could say anything, the President walked into the hall.

"Ben, good to see you again," he said, followed by another man behind him.

"Mr. President, sir," he said, nodding as they shook hands.

The President smiled and led him down the hall to the Oval Office. "Ben, this is Dr. Paul Richards. He'll be joining us for our meeting this afternoon."

Once the three of them settled themselves in the Office, Dr. Richards spoke up. "Mr. Gates, I for one am delighted to speak with you. It was imperative that the two of us meet before you do this expedition for the President."

Ben looked at the President. "Sir, I'm not familiar with any plans-"

He laughed. "Well, no, Ben. We haven't put it in any concrete details, no. But you know you need to carry this out. I know you were delighted with what you found in that book and I know you're the only one who can do this."

Dr. Richards cleared his throat. "You see, Mr. Gates, this expedition must be top secret. If it is going to be as life altering as you claimed, then the public cannot know what you are doing. Given your current status in the public eye, this is not going to be easy."

"Then maybe we should wait until things die down again. After the Templar Treasure was discovered, it took about two months for me to be somewhat normal again. I still get recognized at coffee shops because of the City of Gold."

Dr. Richards guffawed. "Mr. Gates, you are anything but normal. You're the one who solved the riddle on this page that Mr. President speaks of – in under a minute no less! That's why we need you to do this."

"Look, my parents' wedding is this weekend. Tomorrow night our family is having a small rehearsal dinner. I can't worry about this just right now." Ben stood up from his seat and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. The President glanced at Dr. Richards and looked up at his friend.

"Ben, I'm not asking you to do this now," he began tentatively. "But I just want you to know how incredible such a discovery would be. Not just for this country, but for the world. Not to mention another great discovery that could be another mystery solved by the infamous Gates family."

After her date with Nathan, Rachel was feeling pretty good the next day. She sang in the shower again, and happily refused the cup of coffee from Tracey before heading out to dance class. Her audition was next week and she was growing anxious for it to be over. All of her training over the last few years led up to this audition.

Finally, something to prove to Ben.

Rachel shook her head, surprised at how suddenly the thought crossed her mind, and how angry it made her as she felt her chest burn. She hadn't thought of dance in a vengeful sense for years…since the night of her argument with Ben –

She jumped at the sound of her phone vibrating on the bottom of her bag. She dug through her shoes and dance clothes and yanked it out.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Rachel, it's Abigail."

"Oh, hi! How are you?"

"I'm well, thanks. I was just calling to ask you if you got the message from Ben about how your parents changed the time of the rehearsal dinner to 7:00, not 7:30."

"Yeah, I did, thanks."

"Oh." Rachel could almost hear Abigail frown. "He said you never got back to him."

"Well, I might not have called him back, no, but I probably sent him a text."

"Oh, he didn't—" Abigail sighed. "Never mind. I don't know where your brother's head is half the time. He probably got it and forgot. No problem."

"Yep," Rachel quipped, not used to hearing Abigail address Ben as her brother.

"Were you going to drive yourself? You know you're more than welcome to go with Ben and I—"

"No, no, I'm fine, thanks," Rachel said, growing annoyed with her soon to be sister-in-law. "I'm actually trying to get to class right now, sorry, Abigail. I've got to run."

"I'm sorry! I'll see you on Friday!"

Rachel hung up the phone and dropped it into her bag. Rehearsal dinner tomorrow night would be interesting – small and intimate, only the four Gates family members, and Abigail, who would soon be a member of the family. Rachel smiled to herself, thinking of her once-best friend, but that smile immediately faded when she remembered what had happened last night. What kind of friend was she, standing up the guy who she was growing close to again? She'd have to make it up to him.

In class, Rachel could feel her anxiety bubbling beneath her skin as she danced her heart out, practicing the routine over and over surrounded by her other classmates. She just wanted the audition over with, but first she'd have to get through her parents' wedding. She felt overjoyed that they would be together again – almost a family, but with two estranged siblings. Between her thoughts about her parents, Riley, Ben, and even Nathan, she'd never felt more passion in her moves. In four days, she'd know if all of her hard work would pay off to land her dream job.

Later that afternoon while she was in the shower, Tracey knocked on the bathroom door.

"Rachel – your phone is ringing!" her friend yelled. "It's Riley!"

"Damnit," Rachel muttered, dropping her bottle of conditioner onto the shower floor. "Just let it go to voicemail!" She heard the door open.

"Uh-uh. You are not standing up that boy again. He has all of that Italian food in his fridge that is half yours, and you are going to eat it with him!" Tracey said. Rachel stuck her head out of the shower and frowned at her friend, who was staring at her with raised eyebrows.

"Fine, gimme," Rachel said, holding out her hand and turning off the shower with the other. Tracey handed her the phone but stayed there waiting for her to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Rachel." She could tell Riley was trying to sound up-beat on the other end of the phone.

"Riley, I was just thinking of calling you." Tracey rolled her eyes and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, um…did you still want to get together later tonight? I know you still have all that food, and I…I'm really sorry Riley," she said, shifting her weight uncomfortably.

"Don't worry about it. I'm not always super organized when it comes to schedules, either. I forget about plans sometimes, too."

Just kick me while I'm down, Poole. "Yeah, well…I'd really like to make it up to you. We can watch Transformers on Netflix if you want?"

He laughed a little. "That sounds awesome. How's seven?"

"Seven is great," Rachel replied, shivering a bit in the cold air in the shower.

"Okay, then I will see you at seven," Riley said, adding quickly, "It's really okay, Rach. I can hear you feeling guilty. Don't beat yourself up."

Then stop being so sweet about it! Rachel tried to smile. "Okay…I'll see you later, Riley."

When they hung up, Rachel placed her phone on the vanity by the sink, and turned the water back on to finish her shower. She stood under the showerhead, letting the water fall down her back and over her face as she tried not to feel worse than she did.

"All right, favorite Girl Scout cookie?" Rachel asked, pushing her fork into some more ziti.

"Thn monts, obiously," Riley said, his mouth full. Rachel smiled.

"Oh, thin mints, obviously." She rolled her eyes jokingly.

"Favorite time of day?" he asked more clearly this time.

"Probably…mid-morning."

"Random."

"This whole game is random, Riley," Rachel retorted. "It's the time of day when I'm most awake."

"Fair enough," Riley said, smiling a little, "but my game is not random," he muttered after, digging into his chicken parmesan a little more.

Rachel giggled at him at shifted her weight on her end of the couch.

"I'm beyond full." She sighed loudly and put her container of pasta on the coffee table. She sat back against the couch and sighed again, smiling contentedly.

Riley put his food down on the coffee table beside hers and glanced at her, smiling as well. "Dessert?"

"I can't. I have to cut that out before my audition," Rachel replied, shaking her head.

"When is it?"

"Monday afternoon."

"Are you nervous?" he asked, frowning a little.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "I am if I really think about it. I can't imagine being more prepared than I already am."

"You're gonna be awesome, Rach," Riley said, and looked at her softly. He opened his mouth to continue, when all of a sudden Rachel's phone vibrated.

She reached into her pocket and looked at the screen.
Nathan.

"Who is it?" Riley asked, and Rachel silenced her phone.

"Nobody. I can call them back later," she replied shortly, feeling herself blush.

"Okay…" he said, standing up from the couch. He picked up the food containers and brought them to the kitchen. Rachel sighed and leaned back on the couch, rubbing the sides of her head with her hands. She didn't want to lie to Riley, but she couldn't bring herself to answer the phone and talk to Nathan, since he was the reason she had cancelled dinner with Riley the other night.

Just as she was trying to forget that he called, her phone vibrated again – with Nathan's name on the screen one more time.
"Maybe you should get it," Riley said, walking back to the living room.
"You don't mind?" she said, standing up and facing him.

He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders a little. "Nope. Cool with me."

"I'll be right back, I promise!" she said, running to the bathroom. When she closed the door behind her, she finally answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, love," came Nathan's silky voice through the phone.

"Hi," she said, sitting down on the floor beneath the sink.

"What are you up to tonight?"

"Um," she gulped, "not much. I'm out right now."

"Oh, we should meet up."

"I…I would love to, but I'm, um…pretty busy, and this weekend is all wedding stuff for my parents –"

"Ah, right." He paused. "I miss you, Rachel. I've been thinking about you and that dress you were wearing the other night…"

"Oh?" she asked, sitting up a little straighter, even though she could feel herself blushing again.

Nathan chuckled deeply. "But I know you're busy, so I will let you go."

"Okay," Rachel said, smiling a little to herself. "Have a great night, Nathan."

"You, too, love," he said, hanging up on her.

Still smiling, Rachel put her phone back in her pocket and stood up, leaving the bathroom.

"Everything okay?" Riley asked, already having started the movie.

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine." Rachel replied. She smiled at him and plopped down on the couch next to him. Through the first opening lines of the movie, she moved the pillows around behind her to get comfortable. Riley looked tense, not moving his eyes from the television.

To lighten the mood a little bit, Rachel spoke up. "I started reading your book, you know." He turned his head sharply and looked at her, eyes wide.

"Yeah?" he asked.

Rachel nodded. "It's good so far. I like it."

He smiled slightly. "I guess you and Ben really aren't that much alike."

Rachel frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It took him months to even take it out of its packaging. I don't even know if he started reading it yet. I'd like to think he has, but-" He stopped when he saw Rachel's frown still hadn't lightened.

"Aw, Rach, I'm…I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to get you upset or anything."

"No, no…it's okay. I understand what it's like to be disappointed by Ben." She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to calm herself, feeling her quickening pulse. Riley could see her hands shaking.

"Rach. Rachel, look at me." He turned his whole body to face her, and put one of his hands on her arm. She put her hands in her lap and looked into his eyes.

"I don't know if you…if you feel like it, but I'm right here if you, you know, want to talk about it."

She smiled, leaning forward and hugging her friend. "Thank you, Riley." He wrapped his arms around her in return. "But isn't Ben your best friend? I don't want to talk to you about it if it's going to ruin-"

He pulled away from her, holding her at an arms length with his hands on her shoulders. Shaking his head, he said, "He is, but you've got dibs."

Rachel laughed a little. "Why, 'cause you've known me longer?"

He smiled and glanced away for a moment, dropping his hands from her shoulders. "Well yeah, and you're, you know… I care about you."

Tilting her head to the side, she replied, "Me too, Riley. But that doesn't mean I want to mess up your friendship with my brother."

"You're not gonna mess it up, I promise."

Rachel sighed. "All right… But I think we're going to have to put the movie on pause."

"Oops…" Riley muttered, reaching for the remote and pressing the pause button. "I'd almost forgotten about it."

"Even Megan Fox?" Rachel teased, raising her eyebrows.

"I could never forget Megan Fox," he replied seriously. Rachel playfully whacked him in the head with the pillow that was behind her.

"Ow! What was that for?" he said, putting his hands up in mock surrender.

Rachel laughed. "For being ridiculous." She put the pillow behind her once again and took a deep breath. "I know I never talked to you about this, but you have to understand that it happened right after high school, right before I knew you. I never told anyone about it, not even Tracey, until just a little while ago."

"So…what happened?" Riley asked, re-settling himself on the couch.

"Gates, party of five?" Rachel asked the host at the podium.

He nodded. "Right this way." Rachel threw a bit of her hair over her shoulder and cleared her throat, following the host through the front of the restaurant and around the corner to a function room. Her mother was the first one to notice her.

"Oh, sweetheart, you look beautiful!" Emily exclaimed, jumping up from her seat and running over to her daughter, kissing her on the cheek.

Rachel smiled and opened her mouth to speak— "May I get you something to drink?" The waitress behind her asked.

"Oh, a glass of white wine, please," she replied, finding her seat at the table between Patrick and Abigail.

"So how was your day?" Emily continued.

"Good. I had my last class before my audition next week." Rachel glanced at Ben a little as she said that. He didn't flinch.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Abigail said. "Is that where you were going when I called? I'm so sorry if I distracted you."

Rachel shook her head. "No, no, it was fine."

"What is the audition going to be like?"

"Well, first it's a group thing – they give you a number, you pin it on, whatever. They write down who they want to keep and see perform individually, which means that even after all this time of working on a solo audition, you might not even get to do it – not if they don't like what they see in the group audition. You've got to stand out enough to show them your solo, something you've been working on for months and months."

"That sounds challenging. When is it?" Abigail asked, smiling.

"It's on Monday. Only a couple of days after this wedding," Rachel replied. "At least this weekend I'll have plenty of distractions to keep my mind off of my nerves."

"I'm sure you'll be great, sweetheart," Emily said enthusiastically.

Ben smiled a little, catching her eye. She smiled a little in return and picked up her wine glass, taking a small sip.

Ben cleared his throat and he stood up, holding his own glass. "Well, before dinner begins, I want to say a few words." Abigail squeezed his hand a bit and picked up her own glass.

"Here's to Mom and Dad – two people who needed a dangerous, life-threatening adventure to realize that the best dangerous and possibly life-threatening adventure –" at this, they all laughed a bit – "that they would ever want to be a part of ever again – was the love that they found was still between them after all these years. And it's seeing that kind of love, that gives me the confidence that through everything we've been through, our family can be a family once again."

Emily and Patrick smiled at each other and Patrick gave her a gentle kiss. A pit grew in Rachel's stomach on hearing that last part of his toast, knowing that it must have been at least partially directed towards her.

"So here's to Mom and Dad, and to new beginnings."

"To new beginnings!" they chorused. Rachel clinked glasses with her parents and Abigail, and reluctantly with Ben, who smiled at her again. She returned it, trying to shake away the pit in her stomach. If Ben wanted to start over with her, he would have to try harder than that.

A/N: Dun dun dun! What'd ya think? Review if you'd like, but please don't be mean about how long this has taken me to update... (cowering) please? :)