The Diary

:(26):

       Summer had taken a while from school, telling her headmaster that there was a death in the family and she was struggling to cope with it. She made a very convincing actress. 

       Two weeks of planning had gone smoothly for the two and Morty was growing more and more excited. He wandered into the kitchen, finding me sitting at the table.

       "I have a date in mind, if you want. I'm thinking a week from today?" I looked up, "That soon?"

       He nodded, biting his lip, a smile playing in his eyes. I sighed, "Yea, sounds good. Come eugh on. We gotta go tell 132 now."

-x-

       It took only a few minutes to tell the 132's that we were to be married in a week. They were both, as Morty put it, fangirling, or fanboying, over it. We caught up on recent events before Morty and I were at home again.

       "Hey, Rick? Do you wanna go out to eat? We haven't really done anything together in a while." Morty stood in front of me, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

       This was true. Morty and I had barely seen each other because I was always off thinking while he was planning with Summer. We hadn't gone out to eat together yet, either. I smiled, realizing this was technically our first 'date'. "Yea, Morty. That eugh sounds fun." 

       He jumped and giggled, something he did quite a bit. "Cool! I'm gonna go change, then we'll walk somewhere. I don't feel like go somewhere off planet today." He ran off and I stood in the kitchen, waiting for him to come back downstairs. While I waited, I figured I could change, too. I ran upstairs and into my room, digging around until I found a plain black t-shirt. I changed into it quickly, replacing my lab coat with a black sweater, and made my way downstairs. Morty was still changing, taking his time.

       When he finally came back downstairs, he was wearing black skinny jeans and a gray sweatshirt. He smiled, "You changed, too. You look good in black." I smiled and rolled my eyes, holding out my hand and leading Morty through the front door. "Where'd you eugh wanna go?"

       He shrugged, shoving his free hand in his pocket, "I don't know. Let's walk around for a bit and we'll decide later."  I hummed in response, walking down the street.

       We got a lot of stares, many people obviously uncomfortable with this, but nobody said anything. We just kept walking, enjoying the sun.

       "You know, if you had asked me years ago where I saw myself today, I never would have even pictured this." Morty sighed, "This was definitely a very pleasant surprise." He fidgeted with the ring on my finger and I chuckled, "Yea, well eugh sometimes things change for the better, you know?"

       I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze as we walked, stopping abruptly to pull him into a little cafe. It was still winter, so there was a chill in the air. "Come on, let's eugh get a drink. It's cold outside." We walked up to the counter and I got each of us a hot cocoa. We waited for our drinks to be made. "So what made you change your mind?"

       I stopped reading a sign to turn to Morty, "What?"

       He shrugged, "You went from being completely against this to asking me to marry you. We're getting married in a week, but only months ago you were completely against this. What changed?"

       "Well, that's a semi-long story." Our drinks were set on the counter. We grabbed them and made our way outside, "See, eugh I went to the last dimension you visited when you took the portal gun. I found 132 and he didn't know you were there. They did eugh remember you, his Morty talking about what you'd told him during the mix up." Morty blushed slightly and I laughed, taking a drink, "That was when I was still not really for it, but they eugh told me I was going to lose you and be forced to get a replacement or cut adventures out entirely."

       We crossed a street, his hand finding mine once again. "When you came back for holiday break, Summer showed me your messages. eugh That's how I knew you wanted to go out for ice-cream before you even showed up. And then you got upset again, or I did anyway. When you eugh said he'd never be me." Morty understood I meant Daemon, cringing slightly. "And Summer showed me the other messages. And I saw that they were right, I was losing you. So Summer and I went to visit them again. eugh They were glad to help, and I guess they managed to convince me. That was before he told me I had 20 seconds to get out before he and his Morty, uh, got jiggy with it." I laughed at the memory. "It was because of the 132's, Morty. They did it. I tried eugh not to love you, but they made me stop. I didn't want to have to put you through the whole thing, trying not to get caught or eugh kicked out or anything. I wanted you to have a normal life. But you came back, and I didn't know what I wanted anymore. But I do now."

       Morty looked up at me and smiled, "Remind me to thank them." 

-x-

       We walked around for another hour before we decided where we wanted to go. We decided to go simple, walking into a McDonald's. I had to convince Morty to let me pay, ultimately ending in him pouting and the cashier laughing at the display.

       "This is nice, Rick. I can't get over the fact that this is real." Morty had grabbed our tray and walked over to a booth, sitting across from me. "Well it's real, and it's eugh great."

       That was true. It was great. I was finally able to change myself and it was great. I was actually sleeping properly, now sharing a bed with Morty, and I wasn't as worried about everything anymore. I could just kick back and relax.

       We sat and ate, talking and laughing. When the bell rang, I looked up in honest curiosity, like anybody would. Daemon had walked in, and his eyes immediately settled on Morty. He had a friend with him, as well. They made their way over to our table and Daemon placed his hands on the edge, leaning down. "What's up, babe?" He peered down at Morty and watched him squirm.

       "He's not eugh your babe and you know. Now get lost." This kid just pissed me off without really trying, but he was trying right now. He reached down and grabbed Morty's free hand, pulling it and Morty up and out of the booth. I stood and grabbed Morty's other hand, watching Daemon's eyes peer down. "So you're getting married, Morty?" He growled, releasing his hold on Morty. He glowered at me, "You're lucky I don't kick your ass right now for what you did."

       I folded my arms, "I doubt you could." Huffing, Daemon and his friend walked off. "I don't think I want to stay anymore." Morty fidgeted and I sighed, "That's fine. We'll eugh clean up and head home."

       Morty smiled softly, "Thanks for a great date, though. It was fun, even with Daemon." We cleaned our table and walked outside, Morty's arm snaking around my waist while mine draped over his shoulders. The walk home was peaceful, not as many stares. At one point, Morty had reached up and kissed me, a few people gawking before they went back to their tasks. We found that amusing and laughed, enjoying the company of one another.