For Your Flesh Do My Curtains Part.

Epilogue - Forty Years Later

Rick didn't know what it was. What it could have been. Maybe it was the sudden mistrust from his daughter; the daughter who'd spent all her life idolising him now saw him as a threat to her family. He knew he was, but wasn't about to admit that. Not to this presence that pushed him into returning to the little sleepy town in Oregon, but he would allow his feeling to seep out a little.

His giddiness was overwhelming, and more than a little embarrassing. There he was, seventy years old and the smartest man in the universe, chasing his long lost love like some fantasist schoolgirl. After all, Stanley could have gotten married, his his own children. Grandchildren, even! That was a horrific thought. However, Rick Sanchez knew that he'd be accepted into the other man's life again. Don't ask him how he knew, he just did.

The creaky bus eventually came to a jolt, jolting forward and wrenching Rick from his jagged though process.  He groaned, his back cracking with withered bone as he stood, grabbing his little compact pouch. He had built a shrink ray some time before, so everything he needed to survive, really for the rest of his life here, was in his pocket. Just one of the many advantages of being Rick Sanchez.

As he stepped off the bus, he had to take a short while to familiarise himself with the surroundings. Rows of tall conifers concealing so many dark, quirky secrets. He trudged on until he noticed the building he recognised from years ago. At first glance his heart sank. The roof was caved in, wood rotting by the porch. He was about to turn back, thinking it was abandoned. But travelling across space and time had taught the man not to judge a book by its cover. He had to explore further.

And even if there wasn't anyone there any longer, at least he'd be able to scavenge cool stuff from Ford's old lab. About to knock on the door, it opened before he could, and there stood, unmistakably, his Lee.

Sure, the man had changed a bit. His once toned and attractive muscles had deflated into fat, sagging skin, his nose grown and hair seeping from his ears. He now seemed to need glasses. Yet in Rick's mind he was so beautiful.

Not Like Rick had much to brag about himself. His hair thin, wiry and balding in contrast with the thick, long, brown locks he'd previously sported. His lean frame and become skinny and withered. Weak. But Stanley observed the keen, sharp glint in his eyes which promised action, mischief and adventure. Something he had missed oh so dearly. Rick gulped anxiously.

"Uh, hi...Lee..." his heart fluttered at the nickname. Finally able to use it again. Stanley, who was honestly just as excited to see Rick as Rick was to see him, crossed his beefy arms over his chest and hugged.

"And where'd you spend the last forty years?" Stanley demanded. Rick chuckled.

"You wouldn't b-believe me if I-I told you,"

"You still stutter huh?" Stanley gruffly laughed. "Well me, I've been here takin' care of the business," Rick knew 'the business' was code for 'manipulating idiots into buying fake goods at incredulous prices'. He didn't know what to say, and just nodded.

"So uh..."

"Why are you here, Rick?"

Rick blinked a couple of times. Why was he here? Of all the places this seemed the one he'd leat likely to be in. He'd suffered domestic violence at this hands of this man, gotten married, had children, left hide children, fought in an intergalactic war and now he was at the doorstep of a man he hadn't seen in forty years.

"Well?"

He scratched he back of his head. He'd been but on the spot like this before, with those accusatory orbs of hazel staring him down. But he'd never felt so intimidated by one person. After all, everyone is expendable. Because this man, Stanley Pines was someone he could never replace. The only person he could never replace.

"I'm here cuz...cuz I l-love you,"

Silence.

Silence.

"You oil' fucking creep,"

Rick looked up. Stanley was standing with a smile on his face and his beefy arms outstretched.

"Lee..."

"Get in 'ere,"

Rick immediately crashed into his chest, burying himself in the familiar body. "You got-got f-f-f-fat," he stuttered. "It's cuddly, I like it,"

"An' you went bald," Stanley ruffled his electric hair. "I can use that as my bathroom mirror to brush my teeth in the morning,"

"Lee?"

"Yeah?"

"We're r-really sick, aren't we?"

"Yeah,"

"Lee?"

"Yeah,"

"I love you,"

"I love ya' too,"

I can't believe it's over 😢😢😢 oh does anyone want me to do another Gravity Falls/ Rick and Morty story? I have other stories coming up and lots of ideas.