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Morty had just left Planetina. It had only been a day since everything happened.
He couldn't even think about dating anymore. Every time love crossed his mind, his chest hurt. Every relationship he'd ever had seemed to end the same way. They never worked out.
That has to mean something... right?
Was he the problem?
It was a Sunday. He had school tomorrow. It was already two in the afternoon, and nobody had checked in on him. His eyes felt heavy as he stared up at the ceiling. Did he bother trying to communicate with his family?
Did anyone actually care?
All Morty wanted was someone who would always be there. Someone he didn't have to worry about losing every time he made a mistake. Someone who would listen instead of judging him. Someone who would stay.
He was pretty close with Rick, which was nice... but Rick wasn't exactly the affectionate type. His relationship with Beth and Jerry was complicated, and while he and Summer hung out every once in a while, it wasn't the same. He wanted someone who appreciated him. Someone who made him feel safe, a lover,Someone constant. That's what he thought he had. Now it was gone. Planetina was gone.
She'd killed innocent people. Everything had fallen apart so quickly that it almost felt normal. Crazy things always seemed to happen to him.
Can't something just be normal for once?
He didn't want interdimensional adventures right now. He didn't want heartbreak. He didn't want another world-ending crisis.
He just wanted to be a normal teenage boy.
"...Whatever," Morty muttered to himself.
What's the point of overthinking it? Feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to change anything.
What am I even supposed to do?
Talk to Rick?
...No.
He'd probably make some sarcastic comment about Planetina, or maybe he'd try to cheer Morty up by dragging him on some insane adventure. Normally that would've sounded fun. Today, he was too exhausted to even think about it. Maybe video games?Morty glanced over at his console and sighed.
Nothing sounded right. Nothing felt like it would make this ache go away.
He sighed and sat on the edge of his bed.What would everyone else do?Mom would probably pour herself another glass of wine. Summer would go smoke with her friends.Dad would... honestly, probably pretend to apply for another job....And Rick? Rick would drink. Morty let out a quiet sigh.
"Jeez... my family's kinda messed up."
His eyes drifted toward the hallway.
Maybe...
Maybe that's why Rick drinks so much.
If it helped Rick forget, even for a little while...
...maybe it could help him too?
Morty slowly stood up from his bed and starts to head downstairs quietly. As far as Morty knew, nobody else was in the kitchen at the moment. Nobody even knew he was awake. He quietly tiptoed toward the refrigerator and slowly pulled the door open. Rows of food stared back at him. Then his eyes landed on Rick's beer.
He reached for the six-pack at first. That would be way too noticeable he thought
Instead, he slipped five loose cans out of the fridge and carefully tucked them underneath his armpits. He hurried back upstairs. The stairs creaked beneath him, but he barely noticed. By the time he reached his room, he'd completely forgotten he was supposed to be quiet. He set the five cans down on the desk he almost never used for homework anymore and just stared at them.
"...Oh jeez. I'm gonna get into so much trouble..."
His hand hovered over one of the cans before pulling away. But would anyone even notice? And even if they did... would it really matter? They don't actually care.
At least, that's what it felt like.Morty pulled out his chair and rested his head in his hands. His thoughts wouldn't stop. Planetina. Him being replacable, a bunch of awful memories.
cant things just go back to the way they were before Rick came back? That's awful of me to think, Ricks my only friend if you really think about it...
God... I'm pathetic.
A needy Morty.
"...Whatever."
Click.
He opened the first can without even bothering to smell it. He took a long drink. Immediately, he winced.
"Ugh... who actually likes this stuff?"
He coughed, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, then pinched his nose before taking another sip. It still tasted awful. But after another few drinks, he started feeling warm. His shoulders relaxed just a little. The constant noise in his head wasn't gone...
...but it was quieter.
Can One
The taste still made him nauseous, but the strange, floaty feeling wasn't so bad.
Maybe this was why Rick drank.
Can Two
His thoughts blurred together.
Does this make me cool now ?
Can Three
He couldn't even remember why he'd started drinking in the first place. He just knew he wasn't supposed to stop now.
Can Four
"I wonder..."
"...I wonder what Evil Morty drinks."
Can Five
A voice echoed faintly from downstairs.
"Dinner!"
Morty's eyes widened.
"...Oh jeez."
"...I'm gonna get c-caught... Just gonnaaa play it c-cool like the cool Morty I am... The coolest Morty they call me"
Morty slowly made his way downstairs, one step at a time.
The staircase seemed to sway beneath him.
Wow...
Can five beers actually get you this drunk?
...Maybe I'm just really skinny.He squinted at the bottom of the stairs. four steps left. His foot slipped.
"Woah—"
THUD.
Morty tumbled the rest of the way down, landing face-first on the floor with a groan.
The entire dining room went silent.
"Morty!" Beth shot up from her chair. "Oh my God, are you okay?"
"Jeez, buddy!" Jerry hurried over. "What happened?"
Summer looked up from her phone. Rick didn't move. He just stared.
Morty slowly pushed himself up onto his hands
”n-no I'm goodddd. What do we gottaa for supper?” Morty stumbles over to his chair at the table next to Rick.
“I think we know where Grandpa Ricks missing beers went” summer said laughing while putting her phone down to see how her family reacts to this
“you.. you.. you shut up you darn thing! I-i dids dids not gets gets get into our grandpa's ricks alcohol! M-meany panties!” Morty says while he crosses his eyes and stuttering and dragging on all his words
“Morty what has gotten into you! You got into your grandpa ricks beers? Over this planetina girl? Morty just talk to us! We are here!” Beth pauses looking as if she's about to cry.
“Morty! Did Rick give you alcohol?” Jerry yells accusingly.
“N-No he did not!” Morty shouts back.
“we waited down here all day, why would you do such a thing! You can't go to school tomorrow now! You'll be hungover.” Beth his mother yelled, expressed her anger and Morty seemed to become nervous by the yelling but confused as well. This isn't what he has expected.
“Morty usually I'd be proud but for gods sake this is your first time drinking from what I know of, and you're wasted! How many of grandpas beers did you have Morty?” Rick asked his emotions unable to be determined but honestly he seems more disappointed than proud.
“ive I've have five? You proud?” Morty says anxiously waiting for his family's approval only to be met by
”im not dealing with this. Rick you talk to Morty and make sure he's okay physically. Jerry make sure Rick parents him and does YOUR job I'm going to bed.” and without even eating beth grabs her wine and goes to her room.
“Morty I cannot believe this! You are fourteen!” Jerry yells not helping much in this conversation.
Morty not being able to handle his emotions too well at this moment feeling confused by his emotions being mainly suppressed but what is he supposed to do while being shamed for his poor actions?
honestly he feels like a baby right now by his family having to “deal with him” this was supposed to make him cool. Why can summer be cool and drink and smoke but when Morty does it all the sudden it's a big deal?
“Jeez Morty looks like you got everyone upset. Don't let it get to you though I drink all time. But... in a cool way Morty. Like I'm at a party drinking..? Not in a drown my feelings away and get depressed over another breakup and steal 5 of my grandpa's beers kind of way. it's just a completely different vibe little brother. Gotta get in the game” summer said getting back on her phone. “You really are turning into grandpa Rick.”
Morty sits there in silence. He's never drinking again.
“Come on Morty garage now.” Rick says sternly. They walk to the garage and Morty stumbles and almost tripped like twice. Rick shut the garage door.
"Sit.”
Morty flopped onto a stool, nearly missing it.Rick grabbed a scanner off the workbench and swept it over Morty's body.He glanced at the screen.
"Blood alcohol's still climbing... pulse is kinda fast... oxygen's fine."
He grabbed a tiny flashlight.
"Look at me."
Morty squinted.
"Rick... that's brighttt.."
"Good. Means your eyes still work."
Rick shined the light into each eye.
"Pupils are sluggish."
He snapped his fingers in front of Morty's face.
"Follow my finger."
Morty's eyes lagged behind.
"Yeah... thought so."
Rick held up three fingers.
"How many?"
"...Four." Rick sighed. "...It's three." He reached into a drawer and tossed Morty a bottle of water.
"Drink."
Rick walked over and placed a trash can beside Morty.
"That's for when your stomach decides it's had enough."
He crouched in front of Morty.
"You nauseous?"
"A little..."
"Dizzy?"
"...Yeah..."
"Stomach hurt?"
"...Mhm."
Rick nodded to himself.
He leaned back against the workbench.
"No signs of alcohol poisoning."
"Now listen I'm not going to give you a huge talk and lecture about this until your sober which it's like 6 right now your gonna go to sleep NOW, and you aren't gonna touch my stuff again. ESPECIALLY my beer. Okay?"
“y-yess... don't wanna go up stairs again.” Morty stuttered.
Rick sighed and picked up Morty as he slowly began to fall asleep in his arms while being carried to his room.
“this idiot...” Rick sighed and rolled his eyes Rick felt bad for him how Morty must be going though a lot to drive him to something stupid and impulsive like this.
he didn't see the whole planetina thing go on but he heard about it. And Morty wouldn't just drink over that. He thinks?
He will talk to Morty about it in the morning once he's capable of thinking straight. But for now he lays Morty in his bed and let's him sleep.
*
The next morning, Morty woke up.
"Oh jeez... what time is it?"
He glanced at the clock.
"1:00 p.m...? Oh, my head..."
A pounding headache throbbed behind his eyes. His stomach ached, and he felt miserable. He had nobody to blame but himself.
He dreaded getting out of bed. He still had to face his parents about everything... and Rick.
Morty slowly got up. He still felt a little dizzy, but he managed to make his way downstairs without falling.
The first thing he saw was both of his parents sitting at the kitchen table, almost as if they had been waiting for him.
"Morty, sit down. We need to have a quick chat," Jerry said, surprisingly calm considering everything that had happened.
"L-Listen... I'm sorry I got into Rick's beers. But don't blame him for this—he didn't know. A-And I'm sorry. It was stupid of me, and I hated it. I hated every second. I-I won't do it again, I pro—"
Morty was abruptly cut off.
"Morty, listen," Beth said gently. "We're not angry. Yes, what you did was dangerous, and we're disappointed. You drank far too much, and that could have ended very badly."
She paused before continuing.
"We know you're hurting after everything that happened with Planetina and we know you have drank before same with summer, but you've never done it in a way where you've done it to drink away your feelings, and that's what worries us the most."
Beth sighed.
"Your father and I have also been talking. We should've checked on you yesterday. We knew you were having a hard time, and we're sorry we left you alone all day."
Morty blinked.
This definitely wasn't what he was expecting.
"Oh... w-well... oh jeez... okay. Thank you... and... I'm sorry."
Beth gave him a small nod.
"Go talk to Rick. He's in the garage. He wants to speak with you."
Morty nodded quietly before making his way toward the garage, still slightly dizzy and completely caught off guard by how understanding his parents had been. Totally not expected.
Morty walked into the garage and saw Rick working on something, though he couldn't quite make out what it was.
"R-R-Rick... hey, man..." Morty began. "I feel bad. I'm sorry. I didn't really mean to t-t-take your b-beers and all. M-My parents already talked to me about it, and they aren't too upset... just disappointed, I think."
Rick sighed.
"Okay. That's great, Morty. Just don't take my shit again. Your parents would've taken that crap out on me."
He put his tool down and looked over at Morty.
"And, Morty... only I drink like that. I'm the emotionally stunted old man around here. You don't get to copy my worst habits. You've got plenty of time to make terrible life choices when you're older. Don't rush it, M-burp-Morty."
"Thanks for not being mad, Rick..." Morty said quietly. "Jeez... I feel like... like crap."
He sat down on one of the stools in the garage.
"Don't get too comfortable. Get in the car."
"W-What?"
Rick simply stared at him.
"...Now."
Morty quietly climbed into the passenger seat.
Oh man...
This was gonna be the part where Rick showed he was actually furious about everything that happened.
Maybe he'd dump him on some random planet.
Maybe he'd make him do something dangerous.
As they flew through space, Morty's thoughts raced. The silence made everything worse. He couldn't even tell what Rick was thinking.
After a few minutes, the ship slowed to a stop.
Morty looked out the window.
"...Rick?"
He blinked.
"Is... is this an evil Denny's?"
Rick looked at him like he'd just said the dumbest thing imaginable.
"Who do you think I am, Morty? It's just Denny's. Jeez, I didn't know your standards for me were that low. Come on."
Morty couldn't help but smile.
After ignoring his family all day because of Planetina... after stealing Rick's beers... after getting completely wasted...
...Rick was taking him to Denny's?
The two of them walked inside and slid into a booth.
A waiter walked over.
"What can I get you two to drink?"
"I'll have coffee," Rick answered. "He'll have water."
The waiter nodded and walked away.
Morty looked across the table.
"Rick... I don't get it. Why am I being rewarded? I just did something a-awful."
Rick rubbed the back of his neck.
"Look, Morty... yeah, it was stupid. You stole my beer. That was dumb."
He shrugged.
"But... your family's right. You're going through some stuff. Breakups suck."
Rick looked away, clearly uncomfortable.
"I figured... y'know... Denny's cheers everybody up."
Morty stared at him.
Rick sighed.
"And, Morty... you know I ca—"
He suddenly froze.
"...No way."
Rick leaned forward, squinting toward the other side of the restaurant.
He lowered his voice.
"Morty..."
Morty turned around.
His eyes went wide.
"EVIL MORTY?!"
"Morty, you idiot!" Rick hissed.
Morty's shout echoed through the restaurant.
Across the room, Evil Morty slowly looked up from his booth.
A small smile spread across his face.
He was eating three chocolate chip pancakes with a caramel milkshake, completely by himself.
Without saying a word, he stood up and began walking toward their booth.
Morty was mad this was supposed to be his time with Rick! Rick was finally opening up and being nice for once. Morty doesn't mind seeing Evil Morty. But this is just unexpected.
"What are you doing here, jerk?" Morty snapped.
"Can a man not get pancakes nowadays?" Evil Morty asked with a small laugh. "I am the president, after all."
"Y-you're not a man! You're my age!" Morty shot back, rolling his eyes.
"Please, come sit with me. I don't want my pancakes getting cold."
He knew exactly what he was doing by inviting them over. It was just another way to get under Morty's skin.
Rick and Morty reluctantly followed Evil Morty to his booth.
"Please, Morty. Sit by me, would you?" Evil Morty said, flashing that awful smile.
Morty scoffed, looked away, and dropped into the seat beside him.
"So," Evil Morty said, taking another sip of his half-finished milkshake, "how have you been, C-137? And Morty?"
"He doesn't like to get politi—"
Morty was cut off as Rick suddenly burst into a story.
"Oh, you're not gonna believe it. Morty stole my beers and got wasted yesterday!" Rick said, sounding almost proud.
"R-Rick! A-are you serious?!" Morty cried, his face turning bright red.
Evil Morty casually rested a hand on Morty's shoulder.
"Ha. Classic." He smiled faintly. "No need to be embarrassed, Morty. I used to drink all the time.I prefer milkshakes now."
The waitress walked over and set Morty's water in front of him before placing Rick's coffee on the table.
Morty glanced down at his water, then over at Evil Morty's milkshake.
"Oh, don't be shy," Evil Morty said, gently sliding the glass a little closer. "You can have a sip."
"What? No!"
Rick smirked.
"What, you two got a crush on each other or something?"
"Rick! Can we just go to a different Denny's? I can't deal with this!" Morty groaned.
As Morty spoke, Evil Morty quietly nudged the milkshake even closer.
"...Whatever."
His hangover was still making him feel shaky, and the sweet smell was surprisingly tempting. Before he could stop himself, he leaned over and took a small sip.
Silence settled over the table.
Rick stared.
Evil Morty simply watched him with the faintest hint of amusement.
Morty immediately looked away, wishing he could disappear.
The awkward moment was broken when the waiter returned with a notepad.
"So," the waiter asked cheerfully, "what can I get you three today?"
“Ill get hash browns eggs 5 pancakes and 3 sausages and a cheese burger” Rick said calmly
“i'll get... I'll get 3 chocolate chip pancakes.” Morty said quietly as his face turned red
“you do have good taste I can admit.” evil Morty said laughing.
The waitress leaves quietly
The three of them spent the rest of the meal mostly in silence. Every now and then someone would make a bit of small talk, but the conversation never lasted long. It wasn't exactly every day that Rick, Morty, and Evil Morty all ended up sharing a meal together.
About halfway through his food, Morty began to regret trying to eat so quickly. A wave of nausea rolled over him, making him pause with his fork halfway to his mouth.
"...Rick..."
Rick looked up from his plate.
"Yeah?"
"I-I know we just got here..." Morty muttered, rubbing at his forehead. "B-but I'm honestly not feeling too good."
He let out a shaky breath, blinking hard as the lights overhead suddenly seemed much brighter than before.
"Jeez... I-I'm seriously never drinking again."
Rick gave him a quick once-over before sighing.
"Yeah, no kidding. Hangovers suck. We'll head back. See ya later evil Morty "
Morty nodded gratefully, setting his fork down for good.
"Rick tossed a few bills onto the table before standing.
"Alright. Let's get goin'."
The three of them stepped outside into the cool air. Morty climbed into the backseat of Rick's spaceship. Every little movement made his head throb.
Rick climbed into the driver's seat and reached for the controls.
Just before he could start the ship, the back door on the other side slid open.
Evil Morty climbed in without asking.
Rick raised an eyebrow.
"The hell are you doin'?"
"I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not."
"I wasn't asking."
Rick stared at him for a long second.
"You got your own portal gun."
"I know."
"So use it."
Evil Morty shrugged, completely unfazed.
"I could. But I'd rather come with you two."
Morty looked between them, too exhausted to argue.
"...I don't really care..."
Rick let out an annoyed groan.
"'Course you don't."
Evil Morty smirked, buckling himself into the seat.
"See? Morty's fine with it."
Rick rolled his eyes.
"Congratulations. You found the one guy who's too hungover to tell you to get lost."
They drive away out into the starry space and Morty sets his head on evil mortys shoulder. But evil Morty didn't complain or kill him or tell him to move his head they just sat in silence
Rick sighed
"This is gonna be a long ride."