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Well, it finally happened. Summer was getting married.
Well, not really “finally”. It’s been about what, a decade since they all started going their separate ways? Certainly not that long, relatively speaking. But, Morty supposed, compared to her immediate example, perhaps the fact she waited this long at all indicated that maybe the cycle would not continue any longer. And even though he hasn’t thought about “breaking the cycle” since he was 14, he’d be lying if he said it meant nothing to him.
Morty had done his brother duties. He gave a speech that he thought was tastefully serious while also not taking itself too seriously. Summer grilled him for it afterwards, but her smile was genuine. Truthfully, Morty had no idea how long this marriage would last. She was like Rick in a lot of the good ways, but also a lot of the bad ways, which he had a feeling extended to never being able to settle down. Her husband was handsome enough, but he'd probably never live up to Summer’s standards. He wouldn’t be surprised if the whole family was here again in a year or two.
Still, for the moment, it was nice. Obviously mom and dad were there, Jerry sobbing loudly, with Beth having trouble keeping the tears back as well. Space Beth was doing better, but not by much, only holding it off by tearing up the dancefloor. Rick had been there as well, with Birdperson by his side, but he had taken off early. Despite Morty later complaining to Summer about it, she seemed satisfied with his brief appearance. She loved her grandpa dearly, but sometimes too much of him was a bad thing. Space Beth had reassured her that Rick would probably do his own personal visit later, out of the watchful eyes of all of her friends. Probably for the best.
Speaking of her friends, Morty did not remember this many people even going to their high school. He supposed they could be college friends, but considering he saw at least 5 different species of alien, there was a much wider net in play, evidently. They were pleasant enough though, and he had impressed quite a few of them, earthly and intergalactic alike, with his stories of adventure over the past decade or so. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that his 14 year old self would’ve loved this kind of attention, attractive women all looking at him in awe at his tales of heroism. And maybe his 24 year old self in another universe would’ve liked that too. He certainly didn’t get less riled up, though not as many teenage hormones in his system compared to 14. But now…
It didn’t take Morty long to spot his companion, who had retreated to the farthest and darkest corner.
“N-not the dancing type?” Morty asked, handing EM a plastic cup full of punch. He had no idea if it was alcoholic, but everyone was acting wasted enough already that it probably didn’t matter. EM snorted as the cup was snatched from his hand.
“Do you really think I’d be willing to walk into that mess even if I could dance?” EM responded, gesturing to the mass of people that eclipsed the dance floor. Morty had convinced her to ditch the eyepatch for the wedding, so she had elected to wear it as a necklace despite Morty also complaining about that. In practice, it was conspicuous enough though. And he’d never tell her under normal circumstances, but Morty always thought she was prettier without it.
Morty nodded sagely.
“Young adult walks into a wedding venue; 124 dead. Tragic dancefloor accident.” Morty recited, watching as EM smirked at the comment. “I admit, I don't really want you killing people at my, uh, sister’s wedding.”
“Then I’ll hold off on the dancing for now.” she replied, sipping the punch then scrunching her nose at it. She shifted it to her left hand and started holding it and not drinking it the way you do at gatherings just to pretend you’re currently occupied.
Only Morty had been invited, technically. But his whole family knew that if you invited him, you’d get the straggler. At first, it was an issue. EM had been moody and judgemental for multiple Christmases in a row, with most people tolerating them at best. But they also felt bad for them, Morty knew, since without them they’d have no one else on the holidays since Morty left during them. But after some…things happened, everything seemed to get better. Not that EM wasn’t still moody and judgemental, of course she was. But she was more secure, and in general, happier. She turned from the boyfriend no one wanted around into an automatic part of the family. Jerry had even started getting her gifts like she was his own child, and even though EM always complained about them afterwards, she kept all of them.
When Morty had gotten the wedding invitation, it was immediately a joint affair. They needed outfits and through some compromises, (I don’t do dresses, EM said. I will just go in this if you get me a dress. Morty groaned) the two of them had gotten custom suits. They weren’t matching or anything like that, but Morty’s was black and simple, while EM’s was white with much longer coattails. Morty had thought she was overcompensating for her embarrassment at being perceived by large amounts of people as who she wanted to be, but the way she wore the suit was so comfortable he was almost immediately convinced a dress would’ve been way less attractive on her. In his opinion, anyway.
EM had also had a light purple bowtie, but she had taken it off at seemingly the first sign that it was socially acceptable to do so. Morty still had his yellow one on, and despite the formal festivities being over, he felt attached to at least keeping it on for a little longer. Just for his sister.
As the two were watching the floor, the song changed to a slow dance. Immediately, Summer took the floor with her husband, with multiple other couples manifesting to dance alongside them. Morty smiled as he spotted Beth, Space Beth, and Jerry attempting, and failing, to get a dance going. They seemed to still be having fun, though. Morty nudged EM.
“Wanna get out there now?” he asked, smirking. EM glared at him.
“Didn’t we just establish that me entering the dance floor would not end well?”
“Not even for me?”
EM didn’t answer, but continued glaring. Though, the punch of it had worn off sometime in the last 10 years. Morty turned back to watching the couples dance, smiling as Summer absolutely owned her spouse on the floor. As expected.
As Morty watched the couples, scratching his head, hair grown out more than his teenage years, he considered his current relationship with his adventure partner and current wedding guest companion. When everything had happened 10 years ago, all he knew was that Rick was leaving, and that he wanted to keep going on adventures. He wasn’t sure if it was some kind of Morty instinct or whatever, but he needed it. It felt like his place.
Evil Morty had helped with saving the multiverse, begrudgingly, but he was leaving too. That’s when the idea came to him. He certainly hadn’t expected his alternate self to say “yes”, but reflecting back on it, it really should’ve been obvious. Evil Morty was ultimately lonely, and even if he’d fight tooth and nail to deny it, he wanted nothing more than someone else near him.
So, Morty had moved out to Evil Morty’s space base and started going on adventures with him. It hadn’t been that different from the adventures he had had with Rick; Evil Morty was still mean, but it never felt the same way Rick’s did. There was no longer a power imbalance. They were just two stupid teens who decided they were too cool to finish high school.
Now 10 years later and practically a different person in front of him, Morty wasn’t really sure how to think about it. Maybe there wasn’t an easy answer. He certainly didn’t have one. EM was his “adventure partner” and “roommate”. Any other way to describe their relationship felt almost insensitive to EM and her feelings on the matter. But that was ok. It had never really mattered.
But looking at all the couples in front of him, laughing and dancing around, Morty really wondered if that was how they were seen. Sure, mom and dad had never called EM a “girlfriend”, but he wonders if that’s just because they knew who she was before. Like they couldn’t just say it outright, not about a boy that had done such terrible things “evil” had become part of his name.
But looking at the woman now, Morty wondered if there was a path there. A path that couldn’t have been navigated before, but could now. Or maybe it was already being walked unknowingly, the parties never meeting on it. Morty had no way to know. And he certainly didn’t know how EM thought about it.
His musings were interrupted by EM grabbing his shoulder. Morty glanced back as she motioned towards the doors with her head.
“Are you done here? I have a place I want to go with you.” she said, quiet despite the chatter. Morty watched his family on the dance floor, mom and dad actually dancing now while Space Beth chatted people up at the bar. Summer was moving through dance partners quickly, laughing the whole time. She seemed thrilled.
“...I c-can probably leave for now. We’re not, l-like, leaving the whole time, right?” Morty responded, looking back at EM. She shrugged.
“Up to you. But we can come back in a bit. I just need some air.” That was obvious. EM may be able to navigate people well, but the only social situations she ever wanted to be in were ones that involved at least half the participants ending up dead.
“Then lead the way, ma’am.” Morty smiled, but it came out more genuine than intended. If EM noticed, she didn’t say anything as she dragged him out the double doors into the nighttime atmosphere of the alien planet. Morty hadn’t really looked too heavily into the details of the planet Summer had picked. He figured he wouldn’t really want to leave. But EM moved like she knew exactly where she was going, which he supposed she did. Leave it to her to know everything about a planet before setting a single foot on it.
The planet’s moon shone down on them, casting EM in a pink glow. Outside of the stuffy neon of the party, one could fully see her and her outfit. She hadn’t done her hair any differently than usual, the shoulder length brown hair and bun ever familiar, but in the moonlight, even the way her bangs flowed in the wind seemed incredible. Morty decided that the punch had to have been spiked, because otherwise he’d never be willing to entertain these kinds of thoughts.
EM was oblivious to his internal struggle, still dragging Morty through the night without a glance back. They traversed a small path near the side of the venue that led into dense forest, before they reached a clearing, almost perfectly aligned with the moon’s glow. Though the name of the place had long been worn off, one word still remained: Cemetery.
“This is really your idea of a fun outing?” Morty asked immediately as they hopped the fence. The place was clearly still in use, but the main gate was small and easily avoided. He’s not even sure why they bother putting a lock on the thing.
“I wanted to show you it, not have a fun time.” EM shot back, already walking through the rows of headstones. “Though…” She paused for a brief moment. “Maybe we can still have some fun. I think places like these are pretty cool.”
Morty wondered if she was going to say that going anywhere with him was a fun time, then immediately discarded the thought.
“What’s so cool about a graveyard? Just seems, kinda, uh, depressing.” Morty looked at a few of the graves. Seemed like pretty standard stuff, though he didn’t make a habit of going to a lot of graveyards.
When EM didn’t respond, Morty looked up and spotted her halfway across the foggy grounds. He sprinted over to her, where she was staring at a particularly decorated headstone. It was large, the gray stone adorned with bits of gold and jewels throughout. On the ground in the front of it, dozens of flowers and other gifts lay in reverence. Some of them looked quite recent as well. DR. OO. BELOVED HISTORIAN AND FATHER. There were no years etched onto it.
“Why did they not put dates on it?” Morty asked, breaking the silence. “Is that just an Earth thing?” EM glanced over to him, eyes softened from their previous state at the wedding.
“We do it the most, for sure.” EM replied, eyes still searching the gravestone. “But other cultures do it, too. The fact they didn’t, even for someone as important as this guy, really makes you think.”
“...um, does it, really?” Morty didn’t want to be rude, but he felt the conversation slipping away from him already. EM, in response, said something even more baffling.
“What would be written on your tombstone? In an ideal world, I mean.” she asked. Morty immediately is taken off guard and sputtered stupidly a bit. At first, he’s going to give an honest answer: Something that showed his family loved him, and that he was a good person. It wasn’t wrong necessarily, but the more he considered it, the more that felt like a lame answer. Morty didn’t know if EM was actually expecting anything of him, but he suddenly knew that answer would disappoint the both of them.
It was an answer that a Morty, still forever 14, would say. It was an answer of a teenager desperate for affection that he was never quite strong enough to ask for. The belief that there was such a thing as being a good person in an unfeeling universe, trapped in a relationship that did nothing but inevitably drag them both down. It was an answer that was no longer his. He refused to let it be his.
“When I was younger, I funeral hopped across dimensions for a bit.” he said instead. EM was clearly not expecting the answer to make way for an anecdote, her eyebrows raised and eyes locked on him, but she stayed quiet. An invitation to continue.
“Obviously, I was 14 and loved how my family talked about me. How Jessicas and other girls would come up to my coffin and say ho-how much they had loved me and wished they’d taken that chance. In every universe, there was respect for me, even after death. Sometimes Rick was there, and sometimes he wasn’t. It didn’t really matter. It just felt good to see this family, one that I sometimes cursed that I was stuck with, actually sad about me. About who I…c-could’ve been.”
“It got me in some trouble, though. Never doing it again. While Rick called it, um, “emotional handjobs from a fake family”, I think he was kinda right. I just…it didn’t end well, for, um, anyone.” Morty finished lamely.
“I didn’t know you funeral hopped.” EM said immediately after he was finished, her voice lighter. “Though I could’ve told you it would end badly. The living and the dead don’t mix.” The way she said it made Morty think that perhaps she too had experience with the many emotions one has when replacing a version of you that was once just as full of life.
“Didn’t think you’d know that kinda stuff. I always got the impression you were, like, too cool to care about the typical multiversal stuff.”
“I never did it, if that’s what you’re accusing me of,” she responds quickly, but there’s no real bite behind it. “I learned about it both through the scouring of Ricks’ memories and through my time as a citizen and president of the Citadel.” A pause.
“I think I would’ve hated it. Even more than you did. I think I would’ve been jealous.” EM says the last part like it physically hurt her to say. Jealous of the love given to other versions of her that she never received, perhaps. But the way she stares vacantly at her hand, as if assessing all the imperfections of a 24 year old body, feels different. The hatred of a body that betrayed her every waking moment. The gaze of someone who feels like they lost decades of their life, because if they thought about anything else than revenge and freedom, they’d have to address the fact that they were supremely lonely and depressed. That if she could just kill who she was and leave it all behind, then only then could she be happy.
Morty wasn’t positive. But maybe if things had gone differently, he would be looking at the body of EM in a coffin. And he’d have no idea what to say.
“But you didn’t actually answer the question.” EM suddenly cut in, breaking the heavy silence. “I know you’re avoiding the question.”
“W-wh-what, no I’m not!” Morty sputters out in surprise. “I was going somewhere with that, asshole!” He scowls at EM’s smirk. This is a very common exchange between the two of them, and the fact it hasn’t changed at all despite the heavy words shared by them makes Morty feel warmer. Perhaps all of that is truly in the past; the what-ifs don’t matter anymore.
“A-anyways, I guess I’d want something…specific.” Morty starts, feeling the words come out more naturally than before. “Something like “WENT ON AN ADVENTURE TO ZORBAR-981 AND WON THE FAVOR OF THE CHURCH”. Something that can’t be given to anyone else. Hell, maybe even something awful. Just an awful dickhead who betrayed his family to go on fun adventures with some other version of himself because he was so selfish. It would be mean, sure, but…”
“It would be me. No other Morty would get emotional handjobs from it, uh, so to speak. Stake my existence in the world.” Morty, despite his apprehension, smiled. “Because I existed, and I lived how I wanted. And if other Mortys can’t take that from me, I dunno…maybe they’ll go make their own lives. N-not just jerk off to what I was and be what they could be.”
“Damn. Not bad, man.” EM said after a moment, nodding. “Good shit.” Morty, suddenly feeling self-conscious, averted his eyes and felt his face heat up. It was not helped by EM grabbing his hand and actually smiling at him. EM doesn’t smile. It’s not something she does. And while her grin wasn’t wide with childish joy, it was earnest and full of something else. What that was, Morty really didn’t want to think about right now.
“I think you’re putting too much faith in Mortys, though. I constantly disappoint myself. But the rest, I think, is pretty awesome.” Seemingly realizing that she was smiling, her face attempted to return to normal as she tried to fold back into herself. But Morty was too deep in at this point. He kept her afloat.
“What would yours say? I’ll have to know when you die so I can make sure it’s the exact opposite.” he says easily, like he hasn’t realized exactly what he’s feeling for EM. EM pushes him, but she barked out a laugh, echoing through the empty graveyard.
“Please. I think we both know I’ll outlive you.”
“O-oh yeah? Hubris will get you killed, you know.”
“I hope you’re serious about not minding your inscription being terrible, because I’ll make sure yours tells everyone who sees it exactly how awful you were.”
They’re still holding hands.
“Big words from someone who had “evil” in their name once.” Morty said slyly, leaning in slightly. EM didn’t react.
“Then you have a lot of catching up to do to reach my level. We’ll compare epithets in hell, how about that?” Her smile is wide, genuine. Her left hand, rough and calloused from years of battle and adventure, comes up to rest on the side of his neck teasingly. “But hey, we can start here and now, too. Make sure our tombstones are in some place where everyone can really see it
and compare.”
She was so cool. She was so awesome. She was so pretty. The way she smiled at him, only for him. The trek had caused them both to end up worse for wear compared to the pristine state they had left the reception, but that made her look more real to him. Like the walls had finally all fallen down, for just this moment between the two of them. Like the past 10 years had all led up to this night in a graveyard.
When did they get closer? Morty can feel EM’s breath on his face in the cool air of the night. They were still standing in front of the large grave, but the space suddenly felt much too small. Not without something happening. Something had to happen.
Morty suddenly became very aware that they were currently hiding from his sister’s wedding to go hang out in a graveyard. It made him feel guilty. But then he thought about the epithet on his grave. That it would be made for him, something that no one else could have. How awful it could be, how much it would hurt to see how he was remembered. That it wasn’t for his family, for Rick, or any other version of him out there that might come hopping around. How much it was just solely, only, his.
It would be theirs.
Fuck it.
If EM is remotely surprised by Morty suddenly reaching up and clutching her face as he flies forward and kisses her on the mouth, she certainly didn’t show it. Perhaps she was just slower than him with it. She immediately grabs him, pulling him forward as her hands dig into his back. Morty had kissed before, of course he had, but it had been quite a while. Despite that, he was pretty sure his previous kisses hadn’t felt so ridiculously desperate from both parties involved.
The night no longer felt cold at all; it felt warm and wet like a decade’s worth of repressed lust was spilling out from their mouths. EM’s grip had only got tighter as the two of them explored each other's mouths. She bites down on his lip hard as he groans into her mouth. It was ridiculous to say, considering they were fundamentally the same person, but it felt so new Morty almost laughed. The way they craved it so much, the way it felt like it was meant to happen this way from the start, and the way that Morty could definitely tell it was turning him on.
Almost at the moment he thinks that, EM pulls away, leaving Morty gasping for air, still chasing the feeling. Morty almost didn’t want to see EM’s face. What if it was a misinterpretation all along? What if she wanted him dead? Would she ditch him here and forgo their decade-long partnership because he had the nerve to not even ask her before doing something so stupid? He wasn’t even sure what he was thinking now that the moment had passed. Maybe this whole thing was stupid. Maybe he was just a fucking idiot.
But when Morty looks up at her, she’s just giving him that stupid smirk that he had grown so used to. She looks similarly out of breath, but she wears it much better than him.
“God, that’s all it took to get you hot and bothered? And in the middle of a graveyard, too?” she snarks, wiping her mouth smoothly. Despite his cascade of anxiety, it was hard for Morty to not admit that her slightly disheveled form was somehow even better than before. Hair slightly mussed, face caked in sweat, all under the direct light from the pink moon. Thankfully his thoughts are mostly elsewhere, because otherwise he’d probably say something really stupid.
“You’re really beautiful.” Shit.
EM clicks her tongue and shakes her head, but a smile is on her face. Quickly, she takes the eyepatch from her neck and puts it back onto her face. Despite what Morty had said before, he does think she is pretty like this, too. Hell, maybe he should just man up and admit he always thought his alternate version was actually really attractive. The thought still vaguely bothered him as it always had, but in that moment it didn’t really seem all that bad anymore. Not when it felt so good, and especially when she wanted it too. Maybe the decade-long build-up had been necessary after all.
“C’mere.” EM gestures over to him and Morty timidly bridges the small gap between them. She pulls him into her chest, holding him there as Morty brings his arms around her shoulders. He can feel her heartbeat and her breaths from this angle. Despite being significantly less heated than right before, it felt just as good.
Slowly, the two sit against the headstone, the dark talk from earlier completely forgotten. Morty was leaning on EM’s shoulder who was watching the sky above. Neither had said anything. He wonders if maybe that’s what EM did; no communication, no commitment. Oh god, was he just a hookup? The thought bothered him more than he’d like to admit. Thankfully, EM interrupts him before he could spiral.
“Was that planned or did you just really want to do that at that exact moment?” she asks, looking down at him.
“I dunno, bit of both I guess. I didn’t r-really realize it until that moment, I mean, s-so…” She smirks at that, but still pulls him a little closer. “Wh-what about, um, you?”
EM’s gaze returns to the sky, a warmness in her eyes contrasting the chilly night.
“Dunno. Guess we’re alike in that way.” She fidgets with her now untied bowtie. “Maybe the moon has both us of acting crazy. It just felt,”
“Right?”
“If you wanna be really cheesy about it, sure.” EM replies, flicking Morty lightly on the shoulder with the hand wrapped around him. “If you want this to work out, you have to never say something like that again.”
Morty grins and flicks her back. “You might want to look elsewhere then.” he snickers.
Wait.
“Wait, ‘this to work out’?”
At this, EM gives him a look as she straightens up to look him straight on.
“Are you pulling the clueless virgin act or did you seriously not think about that?” EM says it teasingly, but there’s an edge of nervousness under it. The small crack in her facade that maybe whatever that was didn’t mean anything. It made Morty’s heart race a bit faster, for some ridiculous reason. “If it really was you just fucking around, that’s fine, but you should’ve-”
“NO!” Morty probably says it with too much force but he keeps going anyway. “”N-no! I really want it to be a thing! I just…wasn’t expecting you to want to do it, too.” God, this was worse than the making out. Could they go back to doing that? “I just expected you to, I d-don’t know. Reject me, I guess.
“I mean you’re so confident and proud of who you are and I-I’m just, a Morty. You could get, like, s-so many b-b-baddies if you wanted to. And it’s, like, we’ve been, um, to-together, adventuring, for a decade and I just thought that you might’ve said something i-if you wanted…wanted something.” Morty knows he is bright red, but that’s normal, he thinks.
Being in love wasn’t new for him, obviously. But all of Morty’s other flings had either ended badly or simply were within the confines of Rick. No matter how wonderful she was, it would never work out with Morty unable to leave the endlessly codependent relationship that ruined years of his life. All of his love and attention was towards someone else, someone stronger than all of the girls. And he hadn’t been strong enough to not want that. So everything was as much as Rick allowed, until Morty’s limit had been reached and he was pulled away once again.
But now? Now it was almost scary how free he felt. There is no inevitability lurking just around the corner. And despite how childish it sounded, Morty knows that EM would never let it lurk again. They both had had enough Rick in their life. Their lives have been theirs for a while, but Morty finally knows that for sure, right at this moment. That his life has no set path for him, that there is no longer a limit to his love, and that he has been in love with the woman in front of him for much longer than he’d care to admit.
Without the body heat, Morty is completely freezing and he doesn’t even care.
Morty wasn’t expecting EM to stand up, causing him to tumble to the ground. When he’s regained his balance, she’s smiling at him softly. Especially with the eyepatch on, she feels so much older than the 14 year old version he and Rick had quarrelled with. Stupid insults and petty fights seemed so far away from the two of them in the graveyard. Another life entirely.
Morty is glad he’s in this life now.
“You’re totally right, I could’ve ‘bagged’ some real ‘baddies’” EM drawls, smirking at him. “Unfortunately for me, I’m stuck with you.”
And there goes the moment.
But Morty rolls his eyes and smiles at her, and she smiles back. Cautiously, he raises his right hand and EM grabs it and holds it between them. EM would probably never say the things Morty will, no ‘You’re handsome’ and certainly no ‘I love you’. The way she looks at Morty however, including the way she has looked at him for the past 10 years, says everything that he needed to hear. He wouldn’t have fallen in love with her if he didn’t know exactly what she meant. It feels like a secret between them, a secret that no one else is allowed to have. They didn’t even know it until this very night, perhaps. But it was theirs now, it has always been theirs. An understanding that was unexpected yet inevitable. The good kind of inevitable, Morty thinks.
The two stand there holding hands for a long time, looking out at the stars. The light pollution on this planet is much better than on Earth, but Morty doesn’t know any of the constellations. So he asks EM, who makes fun of him but tells him anyway. She points out all the constellations and all the stars that make them up, still holding his hand. And it almost feels like nothing has changed. Maybe that’s just what it meant to be in love for 10 years.
As EM describes each constellation and the stories associated with them, Morty just stares at her. If she notices, she doesn’t say anything.
Morty thinks he could live like this forever.
.
“Where the hell have you two been?” Summer says immediately after they return. The party has mostly concluded, with only a few stragglers still remaining, and of course, their parents. Jerry had passed out at some point, now sleeping soundly next to Beth on the couch as her and Space Beth chat quietly. Notably, Morty cannot find Summer’s husband anywhere.
“Nunya.” Morty says almost instinctively, but before Summer could reply, “Where’s your husband?”
Summer frowns. “I dunno, he went off with some of his bros. It’s fine, I’ll find him later.” EM doesn’t react, but Morty hides his knowing smirk behind a fake cough. Of course. The dude is already probably falling behind Summer without even knowing it.
As if a switch had been flipped, Summer suddenly narrows her eyes at the two of them, scanning them up and down. The two were just standing next to each other, a notable gap of separation as if to really hammer in the fact that they were just friends. Summer eventually smirks evilly and snorts, evidently having figured something out.
“Don’t get an STD.” she says, pointing to the two of them in turn before she starts walking off. Morty chokes on his fake cough and EM raises her eyebrows, giving Summer a Look.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, weirdo.” she replies completely deadpan, staring stoically at Summer. But in the corner of her mouth, a small smirk threatens to make itself known. Morty wonders if that’s new, if he is the one who broke that wall down just a bit, or if it had always been there, invisible to him until now. To her credit, Summer just smirks wider as she turns, giving a backwards wave towards the two of them. Morty understands all too well that siblings know things instinctively, or at least he tells himself that to reassure himself that he didn’t miss, like, a hickey on his neck or something.
“Cool eyepatch, by the way.” Summer disappears into a group of stragglers as they excitedly chat her up. There is a bit of tension left in her wake. Morty almost wonders if it’s going to end before it ever really started. That maybe it’s too much, too soon. That EM is going to realize that the whole thing is stupid and not worth it. That to be known like this ruins everything she has done to be divorced from anything to do with the Smith family.
EM just shakes her head, looking at him from the corner of her eye. “Your sister is pretty cool.”
Morty feels the tension dissipate as he replies, “Yeah, isn’t she.”
“Well,” EM glances at a clock on the wall behind them. “I’m gonna go get some more air. I don’t know how much longer I can pretend to drink in the corner before it starts getting weird. Meet me out there when you’re done with wedding stuff.”
Morty nods and smiles at her as she passes him, before she pauses. Morty is about to ask what’s wrong, when she quickly comes up next to him and pecks him on the cheek. Morty feels the question leave his mouth as quickly as it had appeared, watching EM leave the building once again. He knows he’s beet red, feeling even hotter underneath the fluorescent lights.
He glances back at Summer, who is peering over at him with the most shit-eating grin possible. Morty sticks his tongue out at her.
There’s nowhere in the world he’d rather be.