Genre: Romance/Slash (Morby)
Requested By: HeartbreakingRaya
Summary: Mordecai and Rigby have been secretly dating for a few months now, but they have yet to tell anybody about it, because they don't know what they'll think. How will they be able to break the news?
NOTE: For those of you who are wondering, this is completely separate story-wise from This Empty Feeling. Think of it as a side story rather than an epilogue.
It was nighttime at the park. Everything was quiet, and everyone was asleep, except for Mordecai and Rigby, who were sitting on the couch watching a movie. Now, you would figure that they would probably be just leaning back and getting comfortable on the couch, but the interesting thing about it was that those two were actually sitting quite close together. Rigby even had his head in Mordecai's lap, while the blue jay absent-mindedly scratched the coon's head. Every so often, Mordecai's scratching would end up behind Rigby's ears (which were a sensitive spot), and Rigby would let out an involuntary coo of pleasure, before letting Mordecai know with a look to cut it out.
You see, Mordecai and Rigby have actually been dating for a few months now. It has been known for a while that Rigby has never really been interested in girls. Mordecai, meanwhile, after getting rejected by Margaret one time too many, has sworn off the opposite sex, knowing that no one would ever be able to live up to his fantasies about Margaret.
It did take a while, though, for them to realize their feelings for each other. Neither of them really gave any signs that they were into each other until a few weeks before they got together, when Rigby couldn't resist checking Mordecai out. Eventually, Mordecai caught on, and after some soul searching, finally got the picture. It didn't happen immediately, though.
A few months ago, Mordecai and Rigby woke up as they normally do for another day on the job.
"Morning, dude." said Mordecai.
"G'mornin." said Rigby, still half-asleep.
As Rigby yawned and stretched out his back, Mordecai couldn't help but watch the little raccoon's body as it stretched out in different directions. He blanked out for a couple of seconds as he continued to stare, before he finally snapped out of it. Blushing, he turned his head away, hoping that Rigby didn't notice, before getting up and heading towards the bathroom to get ready for the day.
Benson has given Mordecai and Rigby snack bar duty for the day, so most of the day was spent staring into space, as the visitor output was quite slow that day.
"Ugh, this is so boring!" said Rigby.
"I know, dude. Why even bother keeping the snack bar open when there's no one here?" said Mordecai.
Rigby just groaned and dropped his head into his arms. "I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me if Benson comes by."
Mordecai was about to protest, but Rigby was already fast asleep, flopping down on to the ground. Sighing, he turned back towards the window, but his eyes wandered back towards his best friend, as the coon writhed around trying to find the most comfortable position he could find on the ground.
Unfortunately, at that moment Mordecai could hear the noise of the cart coming closer. Dropping down to the ground so he wouldn't be seen, Mordecai shook Rigby, trying to wake him up. It didn't work, though. Mordecai eventually had to resort to slapping, so he picked the raccoon up and wound his hand back, before slapping Rigby as hard as he could.
"Owwww! What was that for?" said Rigby.
"Dude, Benson's coming! You told me to wake you up when that happened." said Mordecai.
"Well, you didn't have to hit so hard." said Rigby, cupping his cheek.
They both returned to their positions at the counter as Benson rode up in one of the carts to check up on them.
"How's the snack bar been going so far, guys?"
"Dude, no one's here." said Mordecai.
"Yeah, we haven't had any customers since we started." said Rigby.
Benson sighed. "You know what, you're right. I don't know why we bothered opening the snack bar on a slow day. Alright, I want you guys to close this up, and go help Thomas with pruning the bushes around the fountain. Got it?"
"Sure, Benson." said Mordecai.
"Good." said Benson, before driving off.
As Mordecai stretched his body up to reach the shutter, Rigby took his chance and snuck a peek at the blue jay as his body contorted. Mordecai felt like he was being watched, though, and has he turned around, Rigby blushed and looked away.
"You need something, dude?" asked Mordecai, confused.
"Naw, I'm good." said Rigby, though his mind was screaming at him to tell the truth.
Neither of them knew what to say to each other after that, so the rest of the work day was spent in awkward silence. Even Thomas was confused as to what was going on with them. He attempted to carry on a conversation with them, but all he ever got out of either of them were short replies.
Eventually, the day was finally over, and Mordecai and Rigby flopped down on the couch in exhaustion. Before they could begin their relaxation period, though, Benson came into the room and turned towards the two.
"Everyone's going out to McHooligan's to unwind. You guys want to come with us?"
Mordecai gave it some thought, but decided against it. "No thanks, Benson. It's been a long day, and I'd rather just rest."
"Yeah, me neither." said Rigby.
"You guys sure?" asked Benson.
Both Mordecai and Rigby nodded their heads.
"It's your loss. We'll see you guys later." said Benson, before walking out the door. Mordecai heard a "Wooo!" from multiple sources outside before the fading noise of the cart signaled that they were gone.
A few minutes have passed as the two groundskeepers sat in silence before Rigby sat up and turned on the TV. As the raccoon sat and watched, Mordecai's thoughts drifted to Rigby. He mulled through all of the instances of their interactions over the past few days, like when he secretly was checking him out, when his thoughts drifted towards the raccoon, and other things. Suddenly, a realization hit him like a brick.
"Could I like Rigby?"
He's already sworn off girls after his latest rejection, but he figured that he probably would just never date. He never imagined that he could develop feelings for his best friend, let alone the fact that he was gay in the first place. He needed some space to think, so he turned towards Rigby.
"I'll be right back, dude. I need some time to think about something."
"Yeah, sure dude." said Rigby, who clearly wasn't paying attention, as he was focused on the TV.
Mordecai got up and slowly made his way upstairs, before flopping on his bed and zoning out, becoming lost in thought. A few minutes passed as Mordecai debated the possibilities in his head, before he finally was comfortable with his decision. With some form of finality in his mind, Mordecai sat up on his bed and said the key words.
"I like him."
Having finally gotten comfortable with his sexuality, Mordecai stood up and proudly walked his way downstairs. Little did he know was that Mordecai and Rigby were not the only ones in the house, as Thomas was inside the computer room, absent-mindedly surfing the internet. Being too young to drink alcohol, Thomas was unable to join the rest of the gang, and not wanting to go home yet, he decided to spend some time on the computer.
So, Thomas pretty much heard all of Mordecai's declaration. Intrigued, Thomas snuck out of the computer room and followed Mordecai to the top of the stairs, where he hid as Mordecai walked down the steps and sat back down on the couch. He waited as Mordecai worked up the courage, before grabbing the remote and muting the TV.
"Hey, I was watching that!" said Rigby.
"Dude, I really need to talk to you about something." said Mordecai.
"And what would that be?" asked Rigby.
"Well…have you ever felt like that there could be something more between us?" asked Mordecai.
"What do you mean?" asked Rigby.
"I think…I think that I might be in love. With someone in this room right now." said Mordecai, clearly flustered.
A few seconds passed as Rigby tried to process what Mordecai said, when it suddenly hit him and his face lit up.
"Are you talking about me?"
"Yeah dude. I'm talking about you." said Mordecai.
Rigby fell silent as he considered the implications. Mordecai's face fell as he began thinking that something was going wrong.
"I…I love you too, dude." said Rigby meekly.
Mordecai's face lit up in joy, and he grabbed the raccoon in a giant hug, planting a kiss on his head. Rigby looked up and returned the gesture, giving him a kiss on the cheek (as he couldn't reach Mordecai's head).
Mordecai let go of Rigby soon after, but the raccoon stayed put, turning around towards the TV as Mordecai unmuted it and laid an arm around Rigby's stomach. The blue jay gave Rigby one last kiss on the head before focusing on the TV, as Rigby cooed in pleasure and Thomas returned to the computer room trying to process what happened.
"Mordecai and Rigby…are in love?"
Coming back to the present, the movie was finally finished. Rigby sat up on the couch as Mordecai went to remove the tape from the VCR.
"Hey, Mordecai?"
"Yeah, dude?"
"You think that maybe we should tell the other guys about our relationship? I mean, we've skipped out on a couple months worth of nights out and I think they might be getting suspicious."
Mordecai thought about it for a couple of seconds before saying "I think you're right, dude. But what are we going to say? We don't know what any of them think about homosexuality. And what about Margaret and Eileen?"
"Yeah, I know. But it's better than just keeping it hidden all the time."
Mordecai sighed, and sat down. "Fine. I guess it's for the best."
A little while later, the rest of the park gang returned from their night out at the bowling alley and entered the house to find Mordecai and Rigby still on the couch.
"Hey guys. How was bowling?" asked Mordecai.
"We had fun. Skips kicked all of our butts, though." said Thomas.
"Awesome. Can we talk to you guys for a moment?" said Rigby.
"Sure. What do you need?" asked Benson, intrigued.
"Well, we need you guys to sit down first." said Rigby.
The gang did as they were asked and sat down around the two friends. Mordecai let out a deep breath before he began.
"We've got a bit of a confession to make. You know how we've been avoiding all these nights out for the past couple months?"
Everyone nodded before Rigby continued.
"Well, Mordecai and I…we're in love."
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise, except for Thomas, who already knew.
"Wow, you guys. I certainly didn't expect to hear that from you two." said Benson.
"So, you're not mad at us?" asked Rigby.
"Mad? No. Just a little surprised. I kind of wish that you guys would have told us about this earlier." said Skips.
"We're sorry, Skips. We just didn't know what you guys would think." said Mordecai.
"Hey, as long as it doesn't interfere with your work, I don't really care." said Benson.
"Really? That's great!" said Rigby, who gave Mordecai a big hug in celebration.
As the group separated to do their own things, Thomas was the only one left besides Mordecai and Rigby. Unable to hide his secret anymore, Thomas spoke up.
"Can I tell you something, guys?"
"Sure, what's up Thomas?" asked Mordecai.
"Do you remember that day when you first got together?" asked Thomas.
"Yeah, why?" asked Rigby.
"I was hiding at the top of the steps when you admitted your feelings for one another." said Thomas.
"Well, that was unexpected." said Mordecai. "So, what do you think about us being together?"
"Well, I was originally uncomfortable with the idea, but I've given it some thought since then, and I'm okay with it. Just don't do anything dirty in front of me, alright?" said Thomas.
"Sure thing." said Rigby.
Satisfied, Thomas left to head back home.
The next day, Mordecai and Rigby went to the coffee shop to tell Margaret and Eileen about their relationship. Eileen predictably was disappointed at losing Rigby, but she congratulated the two and agreed to remain friends with them. Margaret, meanwhile, was a little more apprehensive about the prospect of the two being together. But after she gave it some thought, she also agreed to remain friends.
So as the weeks passed, Mordecai and Rigby continued to grow closer. Sure, there were still some fights between them, and the ribbing from Muscle Man tended to wear on them sometimes, but they were still quite in love. And so our story ends, as the park returns to normal, but with two love struck employees in their midst, nothing will ever be the same again.
And that's the end of this story! I'm not going to lie, I felt that this story was a little bit awkward at times, but I still liked how it turned out. Hopefully this should give me some experience to help me through writing This Empty Feeling, as well as any other romance fics I feel like doing. So anyway, I'll be seeing you guys next time when CANTfindKEYBORED takes his turn in the Fanfiction Rotation! See ya.
RK
