A/N: I promise you, I'm not giving up on A Hostage Situation, but here's the other oneshot I mentioned. Please review!

"What do you care?" even after several near-death experiences and finding the treasure of a lifetime, Riley Poole's snark was still alive and well. "You got the girl." He thought he did a rather good job of masking his bitterness, though he perhaps glared at Abigail a little longer that necessary.

"That's true." Ben laughed, leaning in to kiss pretty, blonde, not-really-American Abigail Chaise. Riley wanted to scream or cry, he wasn't really sure which.

"Yeah, yeah, enjoy your spoils." he muttered, turning away to head to his car. Oops, the bitterness that time was definately obvious. The computer geek thought, for a split-second that he saw a flash of concern in Ben's eyes, but then it was gone.

Riley hurried to get away after that, not wanting to deal with the sickeningly happy couple any longer. He hopped into his shiny new Ferrari and drove away at top speed. But even driving down the highway in the perfect sunshine couldn't chase away his dreary mood.

Riley Poole was a smart man. A genius, even. So it hadn't taken him long to realize it when he started falling for Benjamin Franklin Gates. But his intellegence failed him when it came to application. Did he tell Ben and face the danger of rejection? Or did he keep it to himself and wait for it to go away?

But now, it was too late. Ben, his Ben, was engaged to a hot, ditzy blonde (okay, she wasn't ditzy, but she was still blonde) with a stupid accent. There was no way Riley, the scrawny little computer nerd with a bad haircut and unnaturally pale features could ever compare. Not even taking into account the fact that he was male. Ben was not gay. But, hell, Riley would have never considered himself gay until now!

At any rate, he had been too late. And, of course, it had only been after his best-friend-turned-crush had gotten engaged that Riley had figured out that being quiet and waiting would not make this go away. It had blossomed into something far more than a crush.

Riley was pretty certain that he was in love with Ben.

With an annoyed sigh, Riley pulled his car into his parking space in front of the fancy apartment complex he lived in. He grabbed his laptop and headed up the stairs, fumbling with his keys and cursing Abigail-freaking-Chaise all the way.

He unlocked the door and pushed his way into the apartment. It was in just as much disarray as he had left it in. The young man sat his computer bag on the table and headed for the refridgerator. He grabbed a can of Pepsi and dug around for some food. There wasn't much in the way of substance, so he settled for a piece of cheesecake he had brought home from one of the many 'congrats on finding the treasure of the century!' parties.

Riley booted up his computer while he ate his cheesecake. Almost robotically, he opened his email, his thoughts still on one particular person. He took a swallow of Pepsi and almost choked when he read the name on the most recent email in his inbox.

Ben Gates.

The techie hesitated. Ben rarely emailed him, prefering a phone call to what he called the 'impersonality of the Internet.' So why was he emailing now? Finally, curiosity got the better of him and Riley clicked the message.

Riley,

Is something the matter? You seemed really down earlier today. Anything I can do?

- Ben

Riley smiled grimly. Ben always had been too perceptive. His fingers flew across the keys, composing a reply that would look normal.

Ben,

I'm just mourning the fact that we won't be being chased all over the country anymore. Or having guns pointed at us. You know . I think I must miss Ian.

- Riley

There. That looked like the typically-sarcastic type of thing Riley would say. He clicked 'send' and exited out of the program. He suddenly didn't want to be on the computer anymore.

But he was still hungry. But, with no food in the house, he would have to call takeout. On second thought, maybe a little lo mein would distract him from Benjamin-freaking-Gates.

The Chinese food was there within twenty minutes. Instead of taking it to the computer, like he usually would, Riley detoured into the living room and dropped onto the sofa. He never really watched television, so maybe he should do it more often. Unfortunately, that theory fell flat in less than three minutes of channel surfing.

"What is wrong with these people?" he wondered aloud, staring with a sort of sick fascination at a woman who was having her face replaced with Angelina Jolie's.

The doorbell rang, and Riley jumped about a mile high, spilling rice all over the cushions. He started to scoop it up, but the doorbell rang again, so he rushed to get it, hoping that the soy sauce wouldn't ruin his couch. In fact, he was so distracted that he didn't even realize who his visitor was until he had stared at him for a full ten seconds.

It was Ben.

"Uh, hey Ben!" he said, trying to control the sudden hysteria that the threatened to overpower him. "What'cha doing here?"

"Can I come in?" Ben's eyes were oddly cautious and it didn't escape Riley's notice that he had failed to answer the question.

"Uhm, yeah, come on in." Riley opened the door wider, to allow his friend entry. Ben stepped into the apartment, his shoulder brushing Riley's as he slipped past. A shiver went all the way down the younger man's spine, to the tips of his toes, but he was determined not to show it. "I was eating in the living room." he explained, closing the door and heading back to the offending room. Ben followed, close behind and Riley closed his eyes, taking a deep calming breath through his nose.

"That's weird." Ben commented, trying to sound offhanded. "I thought you usually checked your email while you ate."

"I do, usually." the techie tried to match the older man's tone and failed miserably. "I decided I didn't want to tonight." They both sat down, on opposite ends of the couch, on either side of the rice-and-veggie spill.

"So you decided to watch people get celebrity makeovers instead?" Ben raised an eyebrow, glancing at the screen. Riley dove for the remote and shut it off.

"Just channel surfiing."

A few long seconds passed and Riley started picking rice out of the sofa. Keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the upholstery, he asked, in his most casual voice, "So, what's up, Ben?"

"I want to know what's really wrong with you." always the honest one, Ben cut straight to the point. "And since you weren't going to tell me in an email, I thought I'd come here and get it out of you personally."

"I told you, Ben. There's nothing wrong with me." Riley tried for a normal voice, but it came out sounding more desperate. "Why don't you just go home to your finacee and not worry about me?"

"So this is about Abigail?" Ben asked intuitively. Riley's head snapped up and he met Ben's eyes.

"No, no, not at all." he protested. "It's about nothing, in fact."

"Riley." Ben said in a tone that said he wasn't giving up, "You know just as well as I do that is not true."

"I--"

"I'm not even asking you to tell me." Ben's voice was plantitive now, and that made it oh-so much worse. "I just want to know what I can do to help."

"I--" Riley tried, and failed, several times, to find his voice. "I'm just..." he floundered for an answer that sounded plausible and came up short. "Lonely." Hell, had he just said that?

"Lonely?" Ben repeated, his brow furrowing. "What do you mean?"

"It's just that..." as he struggled to explain, as honestly as he could, without giving himself away, Riley's words curved neatly into half the truth. "You're getting married to Abigail and your obligations will be with her now."

A half-smile crossed Ben's face. "Is that all that's bothering you?" he asked.

Riley squirmed uncomfortably. "Um...yes?"

"Well, you don't need to worry about that." Ben murmured. Had he been sitting this close the whole time?

Riley swallowed, telling himself to breath. "Why is that?"

"Because" Ben answered, leaning even closer, "Abigail and I are not getting married."

Riley wasn't even sure which one of them moved first. All he knew was he was suddenly crushed against Ben's chest, his lips pressed to the older man's like his life depended on it. He gripped the front of Ben's jacket, pulling him closer, his mouth opening slightly, deepening the kiss.

They stayed this way for a long time, but, finally, the need for oxygen overrode everything else and they broke apart, panting for breath. Riley put his head on the other man's shoulder.

"I--I love you." he whispered. Ben smiled tenderly.

"I know. I love you too."

"But..." Riley sat up again, "What exactly does this mean? I--"

Ben shrugged, lifting Riley's face up to meet his again. "Enjoy your spoils."