New Chapter!! Yay!! I've been getting lots of great ideas from everyone reviewing and I promise it'll get better!! Thank you all!


Abigail pushed the car door closed with her shoulder, supporting a paper bag full of groceries on her hip. "And I'm telling you that during the Inquisition the knights answered to the King of Spain, not the Pope."

Ben sighed heavily and grabbed another bag from the back seat. "No, they had to answer to the Pope back then. Everyone had to answer to the Pope; even the king. If they didn't, they'd be excommunicated."

Abigail walked up ahead and opened the front door, stepping into the hallway. "Except during the Inquisition." She countered, walking toward the kitchen. "If the Pope disapproved, the king could have him executed; much worse than excommunicated."

Ben shook his head slowly but knew better than to argue any further. When Abigail had made up her mind about something, there was very little he or anyone else could do to change it. Not only that, he was starting to remember those annoying little tid-bit facts about both the Inquisition and the Crusades that led him to believe she was right regardless. He rounded the corner a little too sharply and ran directly into her shoulder, stumbling back a few steps. "Sorry Abs, didn't mean to-" he stopped as he noticed her staring at something just inside the kitchen. Stepping a little bit past her, he peered into the kitchen, cocking his head to the side a little at what he saw.

Riley was currently hanging upside down on the counter with a bottle of water in one hand and the other pressed into the floor to keep him from falling over.

"Well, I have to say that in all the years that I've known you, I never would have guessed you'd be into gymnastics…" Ben said, dumbfounded and completely at a loss as to what Riley was doing.

The younger man coughed as he took a drink, gagging a little as the water flooded his sinuses. "Shut up, Ben…" he sputtered, sniffing hard to prevent the water from leaking out.

"Riley, what are you doing?" Abigail asked, walking forward and crouching down in front of the upside down man.

"Well, I was trying an old wives trick but hic it's not working…" Setting the water bottle down, he twisted and tumbled to the floor, Ben and Abi moving forward to help him up. "I have hic the devil's curse." He said, receiving a few blank stares in return. "The hiccups."

Ben gave him a lopsided grin and chuckled. "Again? Didn't you have them not too long ago?"

"Yeah, about hic a month ago to hic be precise, so hic glad you were hic keeping track."

"What's the big deal?" Abi asked from behind Ben, grabbing a glass from the counter and filling it with water. "They're just hiccups, right?" She handed the glass to Riley, watching as he and Ben exchanged looks.

"Well, thing is, Riley has what we like to call "epic hiccups."" Ben explained, the smirk never leaving his face. "He's the kind of person to get them and keep them for hours, sometimes days on end."

"Yeah, the last hic time lasted about…3-ish hic hours."

Noticing that both were being completely serious, Abi laughed lightly and bit her lip thoughtfully. "Well there has to be something that will work for you." She stood slowly and paced the kitchen, her arms crossed over her chest as Riley continued to hiccup on the floor. "Drink water?"

"hic Tried that."

"Hmm, hold your breath?"

"hic Yup…"

Ben gave a soft laugh and shook his head. "Trust me, Abi, we've tried everything. Swallowing sugar, biting a lemon, scare tactics…none of them work. Riley doomed to be cursed with terrible bouts of hiccups and all us mortals can do is sit by and watch."

"I'm so hic unbelievably glad that hic you find this funny. That's hic why I woke up this hic morning."

"I know, I live for moments like this." Ben teased, ruffling the younger man's hair playfully.

"Well, I'm sure there's a way cure these "epic hiccups."" Abi assured, a defiant gleam in her eyes. "Trust me, by the end of the day, I will cure you Riley Poole."

Riley hiccupped in dread, suddenly wishing he'd just have an aneurysm in his throat and be done with it. He wasn't entirely sure what Abigail had planned but with Ben on her side, it most certainly would not end well for the younger man.


Special thanks to The Randomist (the "crush" idea I haven't used yet, hehe), Yoink Daydurfurits (Lol bribery, drinking water, scaring), and East of the Sun (earlobes) Thank you all so much for your ideas!!!