"Come on dude, there's nothing to worry about. It'll be over before you know it, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess, I've just... never done this before"

"Aw, dude, pssshhhh, relax. Just let me do all the work. You'll do great!"

Rigby knew he could trust his best friend to do such a task, but he was nervous. He had never been the one to be behind Mordecai; Mordecai was always on top, laughing as Rigby flailed about. Rigby didn't know what to expect. So he just planted his feet, held his breath, and prepared for what was to come.

How bad can it be? I mean, Mordecai does this all the time for me. Just trust him...

"8... 9... 10! AHA! YEAHHUUHH!" The bros slapped fives as Mordecai jumped off the weight bench.

"See dude, I told you you wouldn't have to do anything."

"Yeah, I guess. You're so strong, Mordecai..."

"What's that?"

"I mean... you showed that barbell who's BOSS! YEAHUH!" Rigby slapped his knee and put his hand up for a high-five. Mordecai smiled and joined in.

"OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!"

Mordecai grabbed his gym towel, and turned to Rigby, "Good workout, dude. I think we'll totally be able to kick that marathon's butt!" Rigby totally forgot about the race. He was having so much fun hanging out with Mordecai all the time, he totally forgot about the task that lay ahead of him.

"Mar... marath... thon?" gulped Rigby.

Mordecai looked puzzled. "Yeahhh... did... did you forget? The race is in like, 2 weeks, bro".

"Oh, THAT marathon. I thought you were... uhh... ok, so... how long is this 'marathon'?" Rigby began to shuffle his hands in nervousness.

"I've told you like a thousand times, man. A marathon is 26 miles. We signed up for it with Margaret and Eileen, remember? We were all going to run it together!"

Mordecai could tell that Rigby was nervous about the whole situation, and tried to divert it somehow. "Well hey, how about we go grab a meatball sub on the way home? Counteract our workout?"

Rigby's ears perked at the sound of meatballs. "Yeah dude! I love me some meat balllllssssssss!"

Mordecai and Rigby left the gym to go get some meatball subs. Mordecai let Rigby lead the way, on a count of he knew where all the best sub spots in town were. Rigby had 2 places in mind.

"Hey Mordecai. There's a sub shop up ahead, but I wanna go to the one a couple blocks that way". Rigby points to a shop up this steep incline, much like a street in San Francisco would look like. Mordecai thought it went on for miles, and seemed hesitant about going up the hill, just for some lousy meatball sub.

"Dude, why do you wanna go THERE? It's hella far!"

"Becaauuusseee they have THE best meatball sub in town. Don't be such a baby, Mordecai. Besides, it'll be worth the climb. Think of it as a... motivator" Mordecai knew that despite Rigby's usual role of laziness, he realized that the tables had turned. Mordecai saw it as a way to throw another workout in, sure, but Rigby? Being THAT excited for a SUB? Something HAD to be up... he's usually never THIS motivated to do ANYTHING.

"Rigby... why do you REALLY wanna go up THAT hill for a meatball sub? Zibno's is RIGHT here!"

Rigby started to sweat a bit, and become a loss for words. Mordecai started to make the 'come on, dude' look, and he had to act quickly.

Shit, shit! Come on, Rigby... THINK. He can't know the truth...

"uuhhhh... I just thought you'd wanna have an extra workout. Isn't that what... you'd wanna do?" Rigby began to press his hands together, hoping Mordecai wouldn't punch him.

At this point, Mordecai was kinda peeved at Rigby's motivations. What was the big deal? He started to think, and thought of a clever solution.

If this is what Rigby really wants, let him. Just think of a way to have it bite him in the ass later...

"Fine dude, but you have to do me a solid. Deal?"

"A solid? Fine! Done. You... whatever you... want..." Rigby began to blush.

Mordecai saw Rigby blush and punched him. "Okay, dude, let's go climb this hill so you can put hot, juicy balls in your -"

"STOP TALKING!"

- Thanks for reading my chapter! I hope it's not completely terrible. I'm currently working on Chapter 2, and it's a little longer than this, so it'll be up in a few days. This IS my first FanFiction story ever, so if you'd like to leave comments, words of encouragement, whatever, please do! I'd just be glad that people are reading this. Thanks again everyone! :) -