Chapter 10:

"So where're you taking Eileen tonight?" Mordecai asked as he cleaned the side of the truck.

Rigby rung out the sponge and shrugged. "I was thinking that we could just order a couple pizzas and crash at her place."

Mordecai nodded. "That sounds good."

"And we're gonna stay up playing video games and watching movies and-aw man, it's gonna be awesome!" Rigby did a little dance and Mordecai stifled a laugh as he threw his sponge in the bucket of water.

"I think we're done, dude." He looked the truck over then directed his attention to Rigby who was still dancing. "You wanna go to the coffee shop so you can talk to Eileen?"

Rigby stopped with a grin on his face. "Yeah, man."

When they got there, Rigby went straight to Eileen to talk to her about tonight whereas Mordecai slid into a stool in front of Margaret. Thankfully the cafe was empty, so the girls had more time to talk to them.

Margarets eyes widened and her face was flushed with happiness when she saw Mordecais expression. "You told him?!"

"Yeah, I did...but he said he didn't like me back."

Margarets smile fell. "Oh Mordecai, I'm sorry."

"It's okay though." Mordecai reassured. "I've been hanging out with him for the past few days so..." His voice trailed off when he saw Margaret was giving him a look he couldn't pick up on and he frowned. "What?"

"Has he said anything to you?" She asked eagerly, her smile tugging at her lips again.

"What'd you mean?"

Margaret put her hands on the counter and leaned forward. "I mean, has he been, you know, sending you any signs or anything?"

"What?! Margaret, what the heck?"

"Well, you two have been spending some time together so something's bound to spark between you soon." She shrugged but Mordecai only stared at her. "Remember what happened with us?

"Okay, first of all, stop bringing us up. Second, Benson's already told me he's not interested in me that way-"

"-Unless you're trying to make him like you." She frowned. "Are you pulling a Mordecai again?"

"What?!" Mordecais mouth fell open. "That isn't a thing!"

"Yeah it is, dude." Rigby chimed in.

Mordecai gave him a heated glare. "It is not!" He turned back to the robin. "And I am NOT trying to make Benson like me." He lowered his tone. "I just like hanging out with him."

Margaret opened her mouth but she froze when Mordecai continued.

"And..." The blue jays cheeks reddened. "And he said he liked hanging out with me..."

Rigby stopped and both him and Eileen stared at him. Margarets eyes widened again and her smile began to grow.

"What?"

"When did this happen dude?!" Rigby protested, grinning. Eileen smiled at him but Mordecai just looked up at Margaret who was nodding.

"You're in denial." She said simply.

"WHAT?"

"Face it, Mordecai. You still have feelings for Benson." Mordecai's jaw dropped. It sounded crazy coming from someone else. "And by the sounds of it, Bensons starting to have feelings for you."

Mordecais head was swimming and he stood, his knees buckling beneath him. "I'm going back to the park."

The door to the cafe shut and the two watched Mordecai till he disappeared before looking at eachother.

"He's totally in denial." Margaret stated and Rigby and Eileen nodded in agreement.

"I can't believe her!" Mordecai threw his hands up. "Why does she have to act like she knows everything? Just because I hang out with him, doesn't mean I like him." He groaned as he walked through the gates. "And Benson doesn't like me like that. There's no WAY he does."' Mordecai climbed the steps and went in the house. Throwing himself on the sofa, he sighed and tried to calm himself down.

20 minutes later, the front door slammed shut but Mordecai didn't bother turning around to see who it was. He didn't need to anyway.

"Man what happened to you? You were pretty pissed back there." Rigby wore a huge grin as he sat down next to the blue jay.

"I'm not in denial, man. And Benson doesn't like me in that way."

Rigby guffawed. "How can you lie to yourself?!"

"I'm not lying!"

"You sure dude? Cause it kinda sounds like you are."

"UGH!" Mordecai stood and stormed to the kitchen. "Just leave me alone Rigby. Have fun on your date with Eileen." He said drily.

The racoons grin dropped. "Have fun mordelying to yourself!" Rigby threw back harshly. Mordecais body went limp as he fell back in a chair and he placed his head in his hands, sighing.

The kitchen door opened a few minutes later. "Hey Mordecai? I just want to apologise for acting like a jerk before." The blue jay didn't lift his head as Rigby quietly walked over to him. "If you hate me, I understand."

Mordecai sighed again as he took his hands away, but he didn't look at the racoon. "I don't hate you man." Rigby smiled a bit. "And I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"It's okay dude. This stuff happens."

Mordecai finally looked at Rigby, starting to smile. "Really though, have fun on your date, man."

"Thanks, Mordecai."

The blue jay pushed himself off and followed Rigby back to the lounge. "Oh and by the way, he told me last night." He said as he sat back on the couch.

Rigby paused. "Do you think he likes you in that way?"

Mordecai let out a long breath. "I don't know, man." He admitted quietly. "I don't think he does..."

Rigby checked himself in the bathroom mirror as he combed back his hair. He turned when a knock sounded at the door.

"Come on man! You gotta be at Eileens place in 10 minutes!"

"You can't rush perfection dude!"

Mordecai hit his head on the wood in exasperation, glancing at his watch with a groan. Finally, the door opened and Mordecai stepped away.

"Alright, I'm out, geez."

Mordecai shut the door and followed Rigby downstairs. "You ready?"

"I think so."

The duo exited the house and got into a golf cart. When they got to Eileens house, Mordecai smiled.

"Good luck, Rigby."

The racoon gave him a brief smile. "Thanks, dude." He jumped out the cart and Mordecai turned around and drove back to the park.

He edged up the driveway and killed the ignition, lying back in the seat for a moment when something hit him. Crap, he hadn't planned on what him and Benson could do! But what was even worse was that he hadn't even told Benson he was hanging out with him! Mordecai shut his eyes and willed himself not to bang his head on the horn in aggravation. Instead he pulled himself off the seat and went into the house.

He decided to flick channels for awhile, just until Benson'd finished his work. "Ugh, there's nothing on..." Mordecai threw the remote next to him and his eyes caught him and Rigbys system. Leaning forward, he switched it on, although he didn't really know why; video games weren't really fun without Rigby...

He played for a couple minutes but he realised that his heart wasn't into it and he cast the control aside. Sighing, he sank back in the couch, staring at the screen.

When he heard a door shut upstairs, he sat up. He waited to hear the faint rattle of gumballs before turning slightly around to see Benson descend the stairs and go to open the door-

"Benson."

Benson stopped and he turned, a tired smile on his face. "Oh, hey Mordecai." He sounded worn out but Mordecai held up a controller.

"You wanna play with me?"

Benson glanced beside the blue jay. "Where's Rigby?"

"He's hanging out with Eileen." Mordecai pouted as he waved the control. "Please Benson?"

Benson blinked in surprise then shook his head. "No, sorry Mordecai, but I gotta get home..."

"Please?"

The gumball machine hesitated but he reached for the doorknob. "I really gotta get back home."

"Come on Benson, just one quick game. Then you can go home."'

Benson looked from the door to his employee. Finally, he let his shoulders relax. "Alright, you win." Mordecai turned back around as Benson walked up and sat next to him.

"Man I haven't played video games in ages!" Bensons face lit up at the sudden nostalgia as he took the control from Mordecai and the blue jay felt himself smile. "What are we playing?"

"X-treme X-scape. It's a pretty straight forward game, so you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly."

Mordecai started to show Benson the controls for the game and he watched Benson play for about a minute before jumping in the game himself.

About a half hour went past and Benson was beating Mordecai by a mile. "Wow Benson, you're really good!"

Benson gave a shy smile. "Yeah, well, I used to play video games a lot before I was promoted to park manager, but that story's for another day." He grinned at the memory then yawned. "I better go, Mordecai. It's getting late."

"Can't you stay here?"

"No, no, I gotta get home." Benson made a move to stand but Mordecai grabbed his wrist.

"Come on Benson. You can just sleep on the couch. Besides, you're too tired to drive home."

Benson looked at Mordecais hand around his wrist and the blue jay pulled it back, going red. "S-sorry..."

The gumball machine let out a weary sigh and collapsed on the couch. "I guess you're right..." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, unable to keep them open any longer. Mordecai sat back in the couch with a sigh, but he froze up when he felt Bensons head fall on his shoulder.

"Uhh Benson?" But there was no point; he was out to it.

Mordecai's face flushed and he gently moved Bensons head back on the couch but it fell back on his shoulder. He stood up and, holding Bensons head, he carefully lowered it onto the couch arm. Mordecai raced upstairs for a pillow and spare blanket and he managed to find both in the guest room. He brought them both back to Benson who was snoring softly and placed the pillow under his head.

After he lay the blanket on him, he stepped back. The longer he stayed there, the more he felt a blush creep up his cheeks. Maybe he was in denial...

Shaking his head, he looked at the clock; Rigby'd be getting home in about a couple hours so he had a lot of time to kill. Mordecai looked back at Benson and he sighed. Edging around the couch, he headed to the stairs and went up to his room to wait for Rigby.

The bedroom light switched on and Mordecai blinked furiously against the glare. When he couldn't take it, he pulled the blanket over his eyes.

"Man, Eileen has a good taste in movies." Rigby peeled off his jacket and threw it in his pile of clothes.

"You had a good time?"

"I had an awesome time! Hanging out with Eileen is a lot of fun, dude." The racoon switched off the light and threw himself on his trampoline.

"That's great, Rigby." Mordecai moved the cover off him and closed his eyes.

"Oh yeah I forgot to ask. Why's Benson on the couch?"

"He was too tired to drive home."

"What'd you and Benson do anyway?"

Mordecai sighed. "We played video games."

"Wait, Benson played with you?"

"Yeah and he's actually really good." Mordecai smiled but Rigby just shook his head.

"Since when did he play video games?"

"He told me he used to play them a lot before he became the park manager."

Rigby went quiet as he tried to get comfy. "Huh, I didn't think Benson'd be so open about that stuff..."

"Yeah..."

When Mordecai went downstairs the next morning, he was surprised to find Benson already sitting down at the table with a coffee in hand.

"Hey, Benson." The blue jay moved to the cupboard to find something for breakfast. Bringing out a box of cereal, he grabbed the milk from the fridge and a spoon and bowl from a separate cupboard. "What time'd you wake up?"

Mordecai sat across from him and began pouring the cereal in the bowl as Benson checked his watch. "About 40 minutes ago."

"Did you have a good sleep?"

"It was okay. The sofa's surprisingly comfortable."

Mordecai swallowed his spoonful. "You were pretty tired last night, man. You just crashed."

"I did?" Benson paused. "I don't even remember."

Mordecai smiled but didn't reply. Soon, Rigby ambled downstairs and sauntered into the kitchen. When he saw their boss, he gave the blue jay a knowing look, remembering their conversation yesterday, and sat next to him, grabbing a bowl for himself. Just as he started eating, Benson put the newspaper on the table to look at the two.

"Meeting starts at 9. Don't be late." He told them. He put his mug down then pushed back his chair and went to the stairs, leaving the duo to finish off their breakfast in silence. When they'd finished, Mordecai put the cereal and milk back while Rigby put the bowls in the sink.

I just headcanon Margaret as being a hopeless romantic, haha