Part 13

3 Months Later

Slits of sunlight streamed through the blinds and into the quiet living room of one Riley Poole. He lay on his couch, still in the haze of waking up. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to the top of his girlfriend's head.

"Morning." Abby mumbled.

"Good morning." Riley corrected.

"What's makes this morning so good?"

"Waking up next to you."

"Well that would make it a good morning." She laughed sitting up.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah, I think I might be cured." She said grinning. For the past three months, Abby had been having nightmares about Ian that left her shaking and crying. Not to mention Riley had gotten more than a few bruises trying to wake her up. It was nice to hear those nightmares getting fewer and farther between.

"I can't believe you're leaving today." Riley groaned, following her into the kitchen.

"I told you. I have to go back home to take care of some things." Abby said, as she put some eggs in a frying pan.

"When will you be coming back?" he asked for the millionth time. He wrapped his arms around her as she got out a plate.

'When the sequel comes out on DVD.' She thought.

"I don't know Riley." She said, "Oh don't forget we're going to Ben's today."

"I'm going to miss you." He murmured, pressing kisses against her neck.

"Probably not as much as you think." She sighed, thinking about the girls he flirted with in the sequel.

"Oh I will. In fact, I'm gonna make sure you don't forget me."

"Oh really?" she asked turning to face him and putting her hands on her hips. She arched an eyebrow and smirked. "How's that?"

"I can think of a few ways." He said grinning.

Three missed calls and one batch of very, very burned eggs later; they were speeding down the street in Riley's hot new car.

Meanwhile

Katie awoke late in the day to her quiet apartment. It was nice to not have to worry about getting ready for school or what her parent's schedule was so she could plan around that. But she had to admit she missed them quite a bit. She poured herself a cup of coffee and turned on the news as she got ready to go to Ben and Abigail's place. More pictures of herself and the rest of the gang flashed on the screen. She was seriously getting tired of all the publicity.

Meanwhile

"Who could get tired of all this publicity?" Erica asked as her and Etta sat down to the continental breakfast at Embassy Suites. She couldn't have thought of a better way to spend a fraction of her money than spending time being pampered at the hotel. People would come up to her all the time and she would sign autographs. She had even rubbed elbows with some pretty famous actors. Adam Pascal and Martin Luther McCoy to name a few. But it was the shopping at Gucci and other big stores that was really awe-inspiring for her. She kept a small portion of her money in the bank.

Etta, on the other hand, put half of her money away, not spending an absurd amount. She had joined Erica in her stay at this hotel (getting her own suite, of course) and treated herself to one or two luxurious vacations. She had to admit, the perks of treasure hunting were great. Take, for instance, the cute bell hop that kept catching her eye…

"I have no idea." Etta responded as she took a sip of her orange juice. "We have to head over to Ben and Abigail's after this, remember."

"Yeah, yeah I know."

When Riley and Abby pulled up at Ben's house, Katie, Erica, and Etta were sitting at a garden table with Ben and Abigail, listening to the couple discuss the renovations for the house.

"What took ya'll so long?" Erica asked.

"Erm…business." Abby replied.

"What business?"

"It's business that's none of your business." She shot back.

Ben and Abigail exchanged knowing glances as Riley's cell phone rang.

"I can't believe you guys have to go. I mean, there are still museums to go see-" Abigail began.

"And parties to attend where Erica drinks way too much champagne and Katie complains about wearing formal attire." Etta finished.

"HEY!" the girls in question cried at once.

"Hate to break up this love fest but they want us in Cairo next week for the opening of the exhibit. They're sending a private jet." Riley said.

"You know, those words never get old." Erica said.

"Yeah, big whoop. Could've had a whole fleet of private jets. Ten percent, Ben. They offered you ten percent and you turned them down."

"Riley, we've been over this. It was too much, I couldn't accept it." Ben said.

"We got two percent." Etta said.

"Yeah, divided among you and Katie and Ben and Abigail and so on. Look at this; I actually have this splinter that's been festering for 3 months from an old piece of wood." Riley held up his hand like a hurt two year old.

"And that warrants ten percent?" Abby asked.

"I'll tell you what. The next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind; you make the call on finder's fee." Ben said.

"That's funny. What do you care? You got Abigail."

"And you got Abby."

"How ironic is that?" Erica asked.

"Fine. Enjoy your spoils." Riley said, jumping into his Ferrari. "While I sit on two percent. Two stinking percent. Part of two percent, actually. Two percent."

"I'm sorry for your suffering." Ben laughed.

"For the record, Ben, I like the house." Riley said.

"You know, I chose this estate because in 1812, Charles Carroll-" Ben began.

"Yeah, someone who did something in history and had fun. Great, wonderful." Riley slid his sunglasses on. "Could've had a bigger house."

Abby leaned over the driver's side door and kissed Riley deeply.

"I'm gonna miss you."

"I got you something." He said, "Hold out your hand."

She did as she was told and Riley dropped a necklace on it.

"What's this?" she asked, peering at the men's ring on it.

"It prolly doesn't mean much but it's my class ring from when I was in high-" he was cut off by Abby's lips slamming down on his.

"This goodbye?" she asked when she finally pulled away.

"Nah. Not by a long shot."

And that was when the blinding light stepped in.

The four girls woke up to see the credit's rolling. They looked around the room, half expecting to still be in Ben's front yard. The glasses of soda had gone warm and the popcorn wasn't steaming anymore but the girls could care less.

"There's no way it was a dream!" Erica said, voicing what all the girls were thinking.

"Not if we all had the same dream." Katie agreed.

"But it's not possible-" Etta began.

"Guys." Abby said.

"-there's no way it really-"

"Guys!" Abby said louder.

The three looked over at their friend. Dangling from her hand was a silver chain. On the end was an old class ring.

"So…" Abby said, clasping the necklace around her neck. "What movie should we watch next?"