(A/N: Hey... It's been a while hasn't it? I don't really know what to say. I'm coming out of 50+ days of rehab/treatment. That was one of the hardest things I had ever done and I learned a lot about myself. It was really good, 10/10 would never do again. Amy Winehouse did not cover how hard recovery really is. My addiction wasn't so much to drugs, as much as I love weed, it was for cutting and dissociative episodes. I wrote a lot while I was there. So I've typed it up.
Also, random fact, I live in a sober living home now. And I'm in a partial hospitalization program
I'm honestly kind of insecure about this chapter because I wrote some Jessica/Morty and it focuses on them two mostly. And I know that's not what y'all are here for. But don't worry it's still a c137cest story. Also don't mind Shae, that's a self insert and she dies next chapter I just love writing myself into things.
Um, what else...
I'm on a bunch of new meds and during treatment we found out I have these Mini seizures and dissociate (that's what happened when I slit my leg open, I can't remember it so well and I had been sober for several weeks.
I'm really doing better guys. In therapy I told my parents about some abuse that happened to me by the hands of one of their close friends (a church deacon.) I'm sure you can imagine what kind of abuse it was.
The whispers from middle school are back, but that makes it sound like I'm crazy, it doesn't tell me anything, it's just like two people whispering right out of my range of hearing. But I digress.
Sometimes good things happen.
I got my legal charges dropped also because of unnecessarily rough handling (fuck them oink oink). But it only happened because of my lawyer whom I appreciate and adore.
I feel a lot better than I was before, it's weird to be sober yet content. Please, if you need help, get help. It's uncomfortable and hard but please, please reach out. Only you can save you.
Thank you everyone who reads this, writing this got me through a lot of shit, and I'm really sorry if it isn't my best work. I'm truly honored that something that helps me cope is acceptable to some people to spend their precious time reading.
Also! Thank you soooo much to my editor maybees, this chapter was actual trash before they had anything to do with it
If you need help, please reach out, even I will listen if you message me, but remember only you can help you.)
Morticia had gotten farther in her little American dream in the past 24 hours than in the past 3 years. Specifically, in getting closer to Jessica. Not only had they texted, but Jessica was iasking her/i to hang out.
She pushed past the double doors leading outside of the school, the bright sunlight warming her blushing face.
'When will she want to hang? Where will she want to hang? I hope we get to hang out at her house, I bet her room will be pretty and smell good… What if she wants to come to my house?' She stopped at the drop-off/pick-up zone, waiting for her dad. 'God that would be awful, my room is a mess, my dad, and there's Rick.' She shuddered with renewed anger. 'Fuck, I almost forgot about that asshole.' She huffed. 'Who knows what he would say once-'
A hand on her shoulder brought her back to earth. She turned around hesitantly, almost expecting the devil himself. But instead it was the redheaded angel, Jessica.
"Hey Morty." Jessica greeted, books hugged tightly to her chest.
'Oh my God, oh my God, don't say anything stupid.'
"H-H-Hi Morty." She cringed and corrected and corrected herself. "Jessica, I meant Jessica… Haha." The brunette rubbed the back of her head. "H-How are you?"
"You're funny, and I'm fine." She answered quickly, as if not to truthfully answer but to rather brush the pleasantry off. She didn't seem completely honest, nobody is when they say fine, it's a word to hide behind. If anything, she gave off an aura of nervousness.
"I would be great, however, if you'd be free to hang out today after I help my half-brothers' wife's' first cousin once removed settled in?"
'Oh my God.' The flush on her cheeks turned hot bright red, painting her emotions on her face. 'I thought she was just saying that, not really meaning it, Oh my God. Oh my God'
"Oh my God." She spoke quietly, but the taller girl barely picked up on it.
"Huh? Are you alright? Do you not want to hang out tonight?" She tilted her head.
"No! No! No, um, I-I can hang out tonight!" She sputtered out a little too loudly. "Uh, w-when will you be done helping you're… uh…" She trailed off trying to remember the relation of the relative to Jessica. "Cousin?"
"My half-brothers' wife's' first cousin removed, I know it's a mouthful. She's coming from Texas she just needs a place to stay for a month or two." Jessica tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'll probably be done around 5ish. Would you like to come over to my house afterwards?"
Morticia cut her off, "Of course!" she grasped her own hands in front of her chest, 'Oh my God Morty, reel it in.' Her hands fell to her side, looking to the side with faux nonchalant look, "I mean, psh, yeah I guess that would be cool."
"Jessica!" A feminine voice catapulted from a vehicle a few cars away, followed by a few friendly honks. It appeared to have startled the girl, but she quickly replied.
"Coming mom!" She shouted back. "I guess I should give you my address." She pulled out her phone from her skirt pocket and began typing away.
Feeling a bit awkward, not knowing what to say, her eyes roamed slowly up and down the prep and noticed something.
Her outfit.
Morty fawned over the redhead every day for the past few years, she recognized every combination of clothes that she wore. She took note everyday but she must've missed it since she was too busy sobbing.
Under her skirt, this one pink, she wore a pair of grey tights. Tucked into her skirt was a loose, black long sleeve shirt with a pink alien face printed on the front. A classic Fall look she started wearing about a year ago or so.
But now that she thought about it more it was a bit strange.
Technically, it fit the season. However, it was really hot. Lower 90s, 60% humidity.
With these kind of numbers the most clothing that the teen would be wearing is a three-quarters sleeve shirt and lower thigh length shorts, and that's stretching it.
She must be sweltering.
Even Morticia was sweating in her sleeveless shirt and skirt, mostly from the nerves, but still. It wasn't like the girl was one to be afraid of showing skin.
Speaking of strange; The nails of the fingers wrapped around her phone, were bit down on and unshaped. The brunette hadn't seen her unpolished nails since the 7th grade. They looked bitten down to the finger. The cuticle red and swollen in some places, signs of infection. It looked painful.
People didn't give the underclassman enough credit. Math and Science weren't her thing, but she had a hell of a memory.
"Morty?" Morticia heard, but distantly, still deep in thought, not something she was in very often.
"Yeah."
"… Can you check your phone?" She bent down to get to eye level with the girl.
"Yeah…" She didn't move though. There was another silence.
"Morty!" she shouted just loud enough to snap Morticia out of her head.
"W-W-What?" The girl jumped back, wide-eyed, "Sorry, I was zoned out. What w-were you saying again?" Morty focused her gaze directly in front of her face, not realizing how close Jessica was, and caught a good glimpse of the crystal blue eyes, before blushing and averting her eyes.
Jessica straightened her back and cracked a small grin, "I sent my address to you. Can you make sure it went through?"
"Oh, yeah sure." Morticia slung her back pack off her shoulder onto the ground. She lowered herself and unzipped the front pocket, reaching in and grabbing her phone. "Yeah, it sent… Wow!" She lifted herself and her bag up. "You actually live pretty close to me." Her excitement grew.
bHONK/b
Morti and Jessica jumped but the latter flinched and flung her arms up to defend herself from an unseen attack. She vocalized. "Ah!"
"Jessica! Get yer' ass in here!" Another feminine voice came out of the car, lower and more playful.
"I-I'm coming! Jeez!" She yelled, irritated. The scare seemed to fluster her. "I'm really looking forward to see you." She turned around before looking over her shoulder and giving a quick wave.
Morticia was ecstatic, that was an understatement, but as she lifted her hand to wave back, she was filled with that same feeling before, the burning house.
"Mooooooortyyy!" The girl snapped her head towards the noise. She rolled her eyes as she saw the familiar car pull up beside her.
"Hey dad." He leaned over the passenger seat and opened the side door. She sighed and ducked into the car, shutting the door.
"Hey kiddo, what's up?" He pushed for information in that high-pitched annoying tone.
"Nothing much." She buckled herself in.
"Aw, nothing, are you sure? You're blushing." Morticia had been through a lot in the last week, and today was the bittersweet cherry on top. Her resistance to her dad's prying was almost nonexistent from everything that had happened. Also, she was kind of giddy to tell whoever would listen about her plans with Jessica. This was the first really good thing that had happened to the teen in a hot minute and dammit, she was going to embrace these feelings.
"Well, actually… I'm supposed to be h-hanging out with J-Jessica around 5."
"You're kidding me! Are you serious? Is that why your face is all made up today?"
"Uh…" She couldn't tell him about the trip to Sapphrodite, she had missed enough school already. "Yeah, Summer helped me."
"Oh yeah, did Rick like it?" Jerry chuffed, "I know you went for an adventure this morning."
"Y-Yeah." She sighed at the mention of the name. She propped her elbow on the door side.
"Morticia! You just missed a week." Jerry nagged.
"Dad, it's not like I have a choice." She reminded him, rolling her eyes. She doesn't need this right now.
"Yes, you do. You don't have to say yes to him. You need to work on setting boundaries between-"
"Dad! Save it marriage counseling! Y-Y-You know he doesn't listen to me. If you asked the student body of my grade to describe when he comes to get me. They'd say it looks like I'm b-being kidnapped. I want to go to school as well. Can't you and mom talk about this?" She unloaded on him.
There was a silence and a quiet "Okay."
Long periods of silences were a precious rarity with Jerry Smith.
"So... Jessica. Summer did your makeup...?"
"Yeah."
"Well you look great! Are you going to her house or-"
"Her house, don't worry, it's within walking distance." She quickly answered, not wanting to give her father any hope of the hang out spot being their house.
"Oh okay… Well I'm glad you're able to get out of the house after the whole 'No-Rick' week."
'Ugh.' He wouldn't stop with the Rick talk.
"Yeah I guess." Morty looked out the window, trying to signal to her dad that she didn't want to talk about him at all. Either he didn't pick on it or just didn't care.
"You know he was acting more 'Ricky' than usual today."
She shifted uncomfortably, she knew why that was.
"Oh yeah?" She deadpanned.
"Yep, came home around noon in a huff, and uh, I stood up to him and-"
Morticia glanced at her father with a very skeptical look.
"Uh, okay maybe that's not what happened. Buuut, I tried!"
The teen raised an eyebrow.
"… And then he told me he would kill me and replace me with a clone." He confessed.
"Sounds about right." Guilt was building as she ruminated on the scene that occurred in her room last night, as well as the confrontation that was mere hours ago. Maybe it was because she had actually believed that these fucked up feelings would actually be returned in a non-fucked up way. Maybe Rick did have some kind of interest in her, obviously, or else none of the before mentioned would've happened. Even if he wasn't completely disgusted with her at times, she knew it wouldn't be a good idea to actively pursue him. Rick could play nice, sometimes, but at his core Morticia sincerely believed he didn't care for anyone besides himself. Not Summer, not Mom, and definitely not herself.
She knew he was bad for her. That didn't make him any less appealing to her. He was the msg in her theater popcorn butter. She wanted him despite the nausea and break outs he caused her.
"You know, he came in, got high and portalled somewhere."
She tensed up but hid behind a façade of indifference. "S-Sounds pretty normal to m-me." The nails of her fingers dig into her palm.
"Maybe, he just you know, threatened me, did drugs, saying he needed a buzz before seeing some people." His voice was tinged with annoyance. "But yeah, 'Normal'." He rolled his eyes. "Also... He said he was saving your ass before he left. What was he talking about?"
"I-I have no idea." She wanted to bang her head on the dashboard. 'Stop talking.' Her knuckles were turning white.
"Well, Are you sure because-"
"Dad. I'm going to say this one more time." She looked at him with an intensity that made the man uncomfortable. "I. Don't. Know."
Finally, he was mute.
'What the fuck is he doing?' She thought, sinking into her chair. 'Is he going to leave again? Is he stealing the pills? Is he not coming back? He was super pissed… Am I in danger?'
The car came to a halt.
Without a word she got out in a brisk walk into the house.
She bee lined for Ricks door, praying for him to be there. "Rick?" She had a shaky calmness to her voice.
No answer.
She jiggled the door knob but to no avail. She stepped back from the door. Jerry entered the house.
"Thanks dad." He mimicked in a falsetto tone.
"Th-Thanks…" She wasn't paying too much attention to him and she opened the garage door.
He didn't take the ship, his usual transport when he wanted to blow off steam.
She walked around, looking at the work benches.
'So he wanted to go somewhere specific in a different dimension.' Several ingredients were laid out on the surface, tubes were still dirty, having substance still bubbling in them. She had seen this combination of materials and tools when he synthesized a benzo-like drug, confirming her dad's story.
She opened a large drawer at the bottom of the bench.
It looked empty, but she knew better than to leave it to looks. She pushed her hand pasted the illusion, it rippled as she did so. Morty touched the actual bottom of the drawer.
"Fuck." She whispered, kicking the drawer shut, he took the blaster. 'So it had to be serious! It had to be a mission.'
The teen got a few B's but mostly C's, she didn't know much but she knew Rick, at least his mannerisms. Another example of the teen not getting credit where credit is due.
"Dammit!" She yelled slamming her fist down on the workbench. 'Why is he doing this shit?' She raised her pounding fist and unfurled her fingers, gazing at her palm. 'Just to spite me?' The girl pushed at her temples. 'That poor Morty…' It was weird, her and Rick had killed (well mostly Rick), screwed whole dimensions, stolen and caused massive destruction. While she felt bad about these things, she was eventually able to get over the guilt in about a week, 2 weeks at most. It was easy because the crimes didn't directly affect her life and there was little to connect her and Rick to them. Out of sight, out of mind. However, the thought of endangering an innocent Morty that's on the citadels grid, leaving them vulnerable to this trafficking ring, was unbearable. It felt oddly masochistic. The Rick as well, she appeared sincerely happy in that photo Morty saw. Maybe that Rick and Morty got along and genuinely enjoyed each other's company. They didn't deserve to suffer, maybe it was the girls confused sense of survival.
'You know what? I'm not going to take the pills even if he gets them.' She straightened up and did a quick glance around the garage to see if anything else was out of place before she went in the house with a huff.
The teen needed to lay down, she was beat, and she had a date, kind of.
She sighed as her bedroom door closed behind her and threw her bag to the floor. Kicking off her shoes, she gave herself a quick look over in the mirror. Morty couldn't believe how different she looked with her face painted. The circles underneath her eyes were nonexistent, cheek bones defined, and eyes popping. The sight lightened her mood considerably. The sides of her stained lips rose.
'I wonder what Jessica looks like without makeup? Probably just as pretty." She couldn't wait until 5. Running her hands down the front of her outfit, flattening out the wrinkles, Morty's finger caught in the hole from falling earlier.
"Damn him." She slipped the skirt off and pulled out a drawer from her vanity.
'He can't take this from me.' She picked up a pair of dark blue jeggings. 'I'm going to go to Jessica's-" One leg, "-and have a great freaking time.' The other leg. She flung herself on her unmade bed.
The time was 4:10 pm. The teen set the alarm on her phone to 4:50.
'I wonder what we're going to do.' Her eyes shut.
'I wonder what'll happen.'
She drifted.
The alarm couldn't have gone off soon enough. As soon as it did, she had her finger on the screen to silence it. The girl dashed out of her bed, shoving her feet into her shoes, her face was splitting with how hard she smiled. She rushed down the stairs, and nearly stumbling while she clicked the address on her phone.
A six-minute walk. At the bottom of the stairs, the youngest Smith spotted her sister watching TV, next to her dad. She ran over to her, setting her hands on the arm of the couch and leaning over Summer. She looked up and her eyes widened. "Oh my God, look at you!" The girl gawked. "Who did your make up?"
Morticia gave a quick glance over to Jerry and back at Summer, glaring intensely but not threateningly. "You did, silly!" She poked the ginger playfully.
Picking up on the signal, she nodded her head. "Oh yeaaaaah, I forgot!" Both the girls looked at their dad, he wasn't paying attention, just looking at his tablet and poking squares that appeared on the screen.
Summer mouthed, "Where did you go?"
"Sapphrodite" She mouthed back silently.
The brunette tipped her head towards the kitchen. Summer stood up and followed her out of the living room. Summer mumbled under her breath something about how Grandpa Rick takes her to the good places. When they were out of range of Jerry's hearing,
Morticia let out a quiet squeal and whipped around to face her sister.
"Oh my God Summer!"
"What?" She leaned forward in anticipation.
"I'm about to go to Jessica's house!"
"You mean the redhead?"
She nodded her head vigorously.
"Shut. Up. Are you for real?"
"Yes!"
"How did you pull that off?" Summer appeared just as surprised as Morticia had been.
Morticia actually hadn't thought about that yet. "Uh..." What was different today? Really. What, besides the makeup, was different about today?
"Huh, m-maybe it was the makeup?" Summer picked up on the unsureness in her sister's voice.
"Your Make-up is freaking amazing! But I feel like that's still not it." The elder of the two put her index finger and thumb to her chin. The sisters spent a moment pondering the situation.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter. What matters is that it's happening. When are you supposed to be there?"
"5ish"
Summers eyes flicked over to the oven clock. "Uh, then you better be heading over there then. Do you need a ride?"
"N-No, no, I'm good, it's really close." Morty's receding confidence was apparent in her voice.
"Hey!" Summer grabbed the younger one's shoulders firmly, she cried out in surprise. "You can do this, you and Grandpa Rick have been through so much shit and you've came out on the other side more or less unscathed"
"Unscathed you me-" The sister cut her off by shushing her and putting a finger in front of her face. "You know what I mean."
"Ehhh... me and Rick have been through..." She cringed. "... been through a lot... I d-don't know." She looked to the side sheepishly
"Don't think about your doubts! Just enjoy it, be yourself."
Morticia was filled with a fresh wave of excitement. "You know what? You're right!" She puffed out her chest, "I've waited so long for this, and if Jessica wasn't even a little bit interested in me then she w-wouldn't have invited me over!"
"That's right! Just be yourself... well..." Summer trailed off.
"Well what?"
"Just... Just be cool, you know. You can get a little..." Summer bit her bottom lip.
"What? A little what?" The girl tended up.
The older sister backed away and shrugged her shoulders. "Dorky I guess."
Morty released the breath she was holding. "Please Summer, I know how to be cool." She gave her sister a wink and headed to the door.
"Oh yeah? What can you do?" She asked cheering her on.
"I can do th-this!" She opened the front door and looked over her shoulder. "Don't worry Summer, It'll be lit, fam, me mang."
Morty didn't see it but Summer struggled to hide her cringe. The door shut and Morty's lone adventure began.
With every step she took closer to the house wore on her carefully put together poise, yet she strode on until she was at the door step of what seemed to be to a dream, as surely this couldn't be real.
'But it is.' She thought.
She raised her hand and placed her finger on the doorbell and froze. Morticia gulped down the heart that lunged in her throat. This was it. This is a step closer to something she thought she would never get; Jessica's affection.
Her arms trembled and sweat gleaned lightly off her forehead. She rang the doorbell. Seconds pass.
"Coming!" It was Jessica's voice. There was a rapid padding sound followed by the door swinging open.
All of Morticia's anxiety and doubts melted away when she set eyes on her crush.
The warm smell of cinnamon and cloves from inside lingered out and around the two of them.
"H-Hi, Jessica."
"Hey Morti!" She turned around and walked into the foyer.
The brunette pinched her arm as she stepped over the threshold and closed the heavy walnut door behind her.
"Well, this is where I live." She held the palms of her hands open upwards and motioned around the room.
The girl let her eyes glean quickly over the area. "You-You have a-a-a lovely home." Her eyes fell back on Jessica. She smiled slightly and nodded in acknowledgement. She made her way towards the stairs.
"If you could, leave your shoes by the door." She started up the stairs. Morty pushed her shoes off by the heels with her toes. She looked up the stairs and saw the other girl with her elbows on the banister, her head leaning on her hands. Morty swallowed and stared back up at her. "Are you coming? Or do we just want to stand here looking at each other?" Jessica said playfully. She blushed but was reinvigorated by her crush's blitheness. Running up the stairs Morty slid to a stop beside the prep.
Jessica passed a closed door with light bleeding out from under it. Muffled music accompanied a bumping sound radiated from the room. "That's the guest room. Shae, my half-brother's wife's cousin once removed, is staying there for a while. She can be a bit… eccentric at times." The girl glanced towards it as she walked away.
That description didn't sit well with the teen. She already had enough 'eccentric' people in her life, specifically one person. She rolled her eyes but didn't allow her disproval of the unseen persona bleed through in her voice.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, but she means well and is nice enough. She's an acquired taste." She chuckled, turning her head towards Morty, "She shouldn't bother us though."
A few feet down on the opposite side of the hall was a room with a door cracked open. Jessica pushed it open and flicked on the light.
"This is my room, sorry, it's kinda messy."
Morticia's mouth fell open slightly. It smelled alright despite the state of the room, but 'pretty' wasn't the word she would go with. The walls were painted a pastel pink and the furniture, like the computer desk, nightstand, dresser and headboard were a pale tan which would've matched a typical picture of a 'girly' furnished room in a home décor magazine. However, the room looked almost as messy as Morticia's room, after her week of house arrest. Covering the floor was papers and clothes. There was a bin in the corner overflowing, fast food wrappers laying beside on the ground. The closet door was ajar and a pile of clothes probably knee-height hid the few pairs of shoes that weren't thrown to the floor. Under the bed crumpled up candy wrappers speckled the area.
The room gave off a feel that a new person had moved into it and chunked their trash among the previous occupant's belongings.
"I-It's usually not this bad." She self-consciously looked around.
"You should see my room. I make pathways from my bed to my desk and to the door with all the crap that's on th-the floor."
That made the redhead crack a smile. "Thanks, haha, I just have been so, uh busy lately... I haven't had the chance to tidy up."
"So... You like Banana Laffy Taffy?" Morticia motioned towards wrappers on the ground.
"Yeah," She went to pick up a few papers and put them on top of the already full trash. "I've been stress eating a bit lately. The yellow taffy is my favorite."
Morty walked alongside the desk. On it was framed pictures of her and her friends and family. She noticed assignments all laid out haphazardly in front of her laptop. Upon closer inspection, they were marked up in red pen.
'68'
'52'
'72'
'Please see after class' It was Mr. Goldenfold's handwriting. That's weird. The girl usually was helping other students with their homework. Besides the papers the shorter girl noticed an open spiral notebook. She was only able to get a glimpse before Jessica began to turn around. Not wanting to be caught snooping, the Smith turned to face knick-knack covered shelf nearby.
"It's just been too hard to resist eating my feelings! Haha..." Morticia met the girls eyes, she had said it like a joke but wasn't too persuasive and felt the pain in her face. So, there was something wrong, Morty wasn't just imagining it.
On the journal, in black marker, was written messily, 'bI DONT KNOW WHAT THE FUCK TO DO/b'
This was crazy. She didn't ever expect to get anywhere with the prep, much less learning that she was troubled.
This Jessica wasn't the fearless socialite who had a strong rapport with anyone who means anything at the Highschool. She was a 15 year old girl, just like Morticia, who was going through something bigger than herself; not the untouchable, well-balanced goddess people, Morty included, understood her as.
"Ugh, I need to smoke." Jessica broke the short silence and pulled open a drawer of her nightstand. The pack of cigarettes that the girl pulled out made Morty's eyes bulge.
"Y-You smoke?" Her surprised wasn't hidden so well.
"Oh, I mean I won't right now if you're not comfortable with it."
"N-No! It's fine. I-I just didn't expect it. H-Hoooow did you get them?" She said eyeing the carton.
"Before, I would sneak my moms, but Shae bought me a pack today."
Morty was really starting to not like this person Jessica was talking about; she sounded like a bad influence. The prep pulled up the blinds of one of the windows and flicked open the hatch. "Do you want one? Not to peer pressure you or anything." She looked back as she pulled the window up and open. Morticia was actually a hardcore straight edge. All the D.A.R.E. and truth campaigns in coupled with her mother's drinking problem that started around that age really got to her. That and the most frequent substance abuser in her life caused her so much strife that it has become a point in her life to not be like him. She didn't want to deny the offer though. She remembered Summers words, "Dorky, I guess." She tensed up.
"S-Sure." Morty shakily made her way over and watched the taller girl gracefully lifted herself into the roof. Putting her hands on the ceil and pushed herself belly first to the roof, her knees following. Morty stood up alongside of her crush, who was looking out in the distance. Her eyes followed Jessica's gaze.
"Not to sound st-stereotypical b-b-but I can s-see my house from here." Morty glanced over at Jessica to see if she found that funny or dumb. The girl squinted her eyes. "Really? Where?"
Morty pointed at about 10 o'clock. "It's the one with the balcony."
"Wow!" Jessica opened the pack and took two out and a lighter. "You really do live close." She popped the menthols of both cigarettes, she lit up one and handed it to the brunette. She hesitantly took it between her index and middle finger. The filter had a pink stain, a silly thought bubbling up in her mind. 'An indirect kiss.' She inspected the object closely. Jessica put the other one in her mouth and flicked the lighter, burning the tip.
The redhead took a long drag, Morticia watched, mesmerized when she took it out, the butt stained the same shade of pink. She sat down and huffed, letting her legs dangle off the roof. Morticia felt she saw a bit more than she felt she should have in that moment. She heard her sigh, she saw under eye bags peeking out of Jessica's makeup. She saw chapped lips under her lipstick.
"God."
"W-What?" Morti sat down, crossing her legs.
"Just this week. I'm so tired." She sighed, taking another drag.
Morti put her own lips to her cigarette. She took a puff and immediately exhaled with a struggling coughing fit.
"Oh my God, Morty you don't have to if you can't!" She sounded worried but the look on her face portrayed amusement.
Morticia spat off the roof and held the cigarette to the prep. "Yea-cough-ah, f-fuck that."
She held in her laughs and grabbed it, gently putting it out and back into her pack. "Well, at least you can say you know you don't like cigarettes!" She poked her in the ribs, making the young girl twitch.
Suddenly Jessica's eyes widened. "You're ticklish?" She poked the girl again.
Morty snorted, trying and failing to hold her laughter. "EE!" She wrapped her arms around herself, covering her sides. "Y-Yeah..." The brunette looked warily at Jessica's offending hand.
The girl scrunched her nose up. She moved her hand swiftly, softly poking her neck.
Her head snapped to the side, catching the taller girls hand between her jaw and her shoulder. "EE! Haha! Stop!" Morty's skin prickled. "Uncle!"
Jessica and the Smith stayed like this longer than two people who just started fraternizing should've been touching.
Fraternize. It meant to treat like a brother. She didn't like this term. Brothers, men, didn't touch unless need be. Brothers were not so gentle with each other. This was of course societies standards, not Morticia's own. She felt like she was among a sister. An understanding that connected them in a way Rick couldn't if he tried. She knew the struggles of being a teenage girl. She didn't only sympathize, she empathized. Like a sister. Sororitize.
The two had just began to sororitize.
Jessica pulled back her hand, red-faced but smiling. "Sorry, I had to, I thought it was r-really cute the way you jumped and squeaked."
The girls mouth slacked open in disbelief in what she heard.
bBANG BANG BANG/b
Morty jumped and swung their heads toward the window. Jessica doubled over and covered her ears for a moment. "Ah!" It slid open.
"What's up slut." A short and stout boyish-looking girl climbed from the room. She sported a pair of cargo shorts and a long sleeved black RipNDip alien shirt. And as if she was trying to dress like a fuckboy, her pixie-cut, dirty-blonde hair was held underneath none other than a red SnapBack. She looked like a jackass.
"Shae, you don't have to be so loud." Jessica murmured.
"You're right. Don't have to, just want to."
"Hmph." Jessica rolled her eyes and shook her head a little. "Rude."
"Ay, Don't be mad. Look." Shae swished what was obviously a clear liquor bottle in her hand.
"You didn't introduce me to your little girlfriend." She closed the window and settled herself on the other side of Jessica.
Upon inspection, she appeared a few inches shorter than Morticia herself. She held out her hand, "I'm Shae."
The brunette's mood, flustered from the girlfriend comment, turned to irritated with the new girl's presence, but she shook the hand lazily despite this. "Morty."
"Nice to meetcha Morty." Her voice had a slight twang that made Morty want to roll her eyes. This was supposed to be her time with the redhead. But Jessica was mute.
"How was your day Jess?" Shae took a swig.
"Shit, like usual, it seems as of lately." She flicked her cigarette.
"Aw, sucks to sucks. Here." The blonde offered the bottle and the prep tipped it high, guzzling it for a solid 3 seconds. Morticia's mouth fell open.
"Holy shit." She couldn't stop herself from uttering. 'This,' Morticia thought for the nth time this evening, 'This definitely was not the prim, pressed and proper future prom queen she's led everyone on to believe.' There was a pain in her eyes she was chasing away with that bottle. Morty craved to know and ease whatever haunted her.
"You're not going to tell anyone are you?" Jessica shot the girl a defensive look.
"O-O-Of course not!" She blushed. "M-Mums the word."
"Okay, sorry I, I just can't have people knowing." The girl handed off the bottle to the brunette. Morty was reluctant to grasp it, but closed her fingers around it anyways. Studying the clear drink, she remembered Summer's words again.
Tightening her grip around the glass neck, she copied Jessica's action with almost the same amount of vigor. She got down two gulps before the sting of the alcohol registered in her brain. She swung her head forward and held the bottle towards the prep. A combination of coughs and gags erupted out of the teen.
"Oh-bleck-oh, my god. This cough is worse than-hurk-the cigarettes."
'Why does Rick like this?' Morty thought. Everything burned. Her throat, her nose, mouth, stomach, eyes. God it was bad. She silently wondered how she could stop the burning.
As this was happening, she felt the bottle being removed from her hand. Shae was slapping her own knee, bursting out in a hearty laugh. Morticia whipped her head towards the blonde, about to tell her off, but saw that Jessica too, was snickering. Holding her hand in front of her mouth, stifling her laughs. The Smith bit her lip and looked down, blushing in anger and embarrassment.
"I-I'm haha, sorry." Morty felt hand on her shoulder. "You keep doing cute things!"
"C-Cute?" Morty's heart jumped, it was the second time she's said that to her on the roof. "Th-Thanks..." she saw she was in good company, being laughed with, not at.
The bottle was handed back to the blonde. She finished the little bit that was left. "Was that your first drink?" Shae hooted.
"Yeah."
She wiped her mouth. "What did you think?
Jessica removed her hand from the girls shoulder.
'Disgusting.'
"I-It was alright." Morty shrugged.
"I hate alcohol, it's boring and gross." Shae fished out a carton of her own cigarettes from one of her pockets.
"Then why do you drink it?" The brunette tilted her head.
"To get drunk." The relative lit up a cigarette. "Anyways, what're y'all gonna do?"
Morty knew it must've been a trick her mind was playing on her, but the sting burn in her stomach transformed into a fuzzy feel that deeper into her brain. Her mind wondered as she heard words leaving her crush's' mouth. For maybe the hundredth time, she stepped back from the situation. 'Why am I here? What was different? Why is she being so nice?' Inhibitions lowering, she went out on a limb.
"Jessica... w-why did you invite m-me?"
The girl quieted down. Shae knitted her eyebrows together. "Does she know?"
"Shae!" The redhead snapped.
"What?" She held her hands up as if she hadn't meant to offend her cousin (or whatever).
"Know what?" She leaned towards the two.
"Nothing!" Jessica turned quickly back to the Smith.
"Jessica! You said she could help. You need to stop this." She gestured intensely with both of her hands, even with the bottle.
"Stop what? What're you talking about." She kept glancing between the two.
"Nothing!" The prep unsuccessfully tried to reassure Morty.
"You can't have him beating on you like this!" She held the bottle between her thighs and grabbed Jessica's wrist, pulling the grey sleeve down. Morty gasped.
Her pale skin, painted purple, yellow, black, blue. Red cuts marred her skin.
"Stop!" She jerks her arm away and swung it back out, shoving Shae. "Hey!"
Rage filled Morticia. "Who did that?!"
"Her boyfriend."
"Stop!"
"Brad?! Why haven't you told anyone?"
Jessica hung her head and held it in her hands, her elbows on her knees. "Please... I don't want to talk about it."
"Jessica, please."
"Please. What." She snapped her head towards Morty. The movement was quick and the tone was biting. It startled the brunette, she was lost for words.
"Tell someone? Leave him? I'm sure I'll appreciate your advice when I'm attending both of my parent's funerals in my Hawkin-esque chair (A/N: rest in peace sweet prince) after he beats me into next year and murders my family." Her voice hitched, and tears welled up in her eyes. "I-If it was that easy..." Jessica's voice softened to a whisper and a single black tear trailed swiftly down her cheek, "I would've already done it."
"Oh, Oh my God." She clenched her fists and began breathing in and out deeply. How could she not see this sooner? When did this start? It couldn't have been that long ago. She just today noticed the strange clothes and heard the panicky way she answered the phone to Brad.
"How long ago did it start?"
"Ha, the abuse? Or when I had to start hiding it?"
Morticia was silent, but just nodded her head.
"Fuck, well I guess since it's all out-" She shot a look to Shae. "-I'll explain the situation." She pulled out another cigarette.
"It didn't start out this way." She laughed at nothing in particular. "I really did like him and vice versa. I knew a lot of boys and girls liked me. " She glanced over to Morticia. "Not to sound like I'm bragging."
Morti nodded.
"But he didn't treat me like I was something to be looked at upon a pedestal, he treated me like a girlfriend, I felt loved and protected." She took a drag.
"But, then something in him changed. I don't really know what caused it. It began with him bad mouthing my male friends, then my female ones. I-I just thought he was being protective... That's just what he told me." Her voice caught, and Shae put a hand on her back. "He became a lot meaner, to me. Name calling, threats, the 'norm.'" She made parenthesis with her fingers. "I really thought it was just a phase, his parents were divorcing, I thought he would come back and get better." She bit her lip and there was a tense pregnant pause. Morticia was leaning forward without realizing it.
"Two months ago he yanked me back by my hair when I tried to walk away." Morty screwed up her face in rage, still clenching her fists. "The second after he did that he broke down, crying and apologizing. He begged on his knees for forgiveness, his face pressed into my stomach, arms wrapped around my waist. I had never seen him like that, and I thought I caught a glimpse of the old Brad." She put out the cigarette on the roof. "But it was just an illusion." She spat. "It just got worse."
"Jessica, why haven't you told anyone?"
"He has a gun. I've seen it one too many times, he's told me how he would take everything away from me. And I believe in him."
The brunette acted on an urge, she grabbed her hand that wasn't holding a cigarette and squeezed. The redhead stared at the hands, not knowing what to think. Morty began wondering if she crossed a boundary. Jessica squeezed back.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore." She let go. She had a small smile on her face. "I need another drink."
"Can we talk more about this?"
"Hmm." Jessica stood up. "Maybe, after I get my drink."
"Jess-"
"Nope, not until I get my drink."
Morty looked to Shae. She gave the bottle a small shake to show that it was empty.
"Looks like it's a topic for another day." She rose her shoulders as if she couldn't help it.
"Can't Shae buy you more?"
"Dude I'm like 19. I stole this from the cupboard." She brought her hand to the corner of her glasses, covering her eyes. The sun was beginning to lower to eye level. "The only thing I can get us is cigarettes."
The brunette stood up and sighed. "Jessica would-would you really talk about it if you had a drink?" Morticia lightly touched her shoulder.
Jessica looked off to the side. "Theoretically, yes."
Morty's phone suddenly buzzed. She looked at the device, wondering who could be texting her.
*go straight home, now* it was Rick. It buzzed again. *i know who youre with, leave and do not go outside the house.*
'How the fuck does he know I'm not home?' She filled up her cheeks with air then blowed out. If she asked she knew what his answer would be. 'Because I'm Rick motherfucking Sanchez, I'm a god." His overly enunciated words ran through her head.
Buzz.
*ill be home around 12*
Morty rolled her eyes, 'Fuck off.' But then she thought of something.
"Hey, there-there's a ton of booze at my house. My gr-grandpa is an alcoholic, he won't notice if we drink some."
"I don't know Morty... He might and you and him fought earlier today. Wouldn't he get pissed?" She asked doubtfully.
That only fueled Morticia's want to misbehave grow. "W-We literally have probably enough to stock two bars. And he's a-always too drunk to notice the small things."
The preps eyebrows perked up upon hearing this. "Sounds good to me." Jessica bent over and pulled open the window. "Is it alright if Shae comes? She doesn't have any friends."
"It's true." The girl got to her feet with a grunt.
The brunette breathed heavily out her nose, but couldn't find it in her to say no, she didn't want to be a jerk despite her desire to be alone with the redhead. "Sure."
"Fuck yeah." The eldest followed her relative through the window, jumping inside the room and landing with a thud.
Morty sat down on the window ceil and slid herself in.
"Make sure you lock the window." The redhead shoehorned her feet into her tied converse.
The Smith pulled down the glass and flicked the latch. She brushed off her rear of leaves and dirt.
"Should we take my car?" Shae pulled out her keys from her khaki baggy shorts and spun them around her finger.
"It's only a 6 minute walk, plus I don't want m-my parents knowing I brought visitors... Th-They can be uh, kinda... you know?" She twisted the top of her braid and glanced up as if the ceiling would have the words written on it.
"Overbearing?" Jessica guessed.
"Bothersome?" The shortest girl chimed in.
"Embarrassing?" The prep continued.
"Y-Yeah, yep and yes."
The blonde walked out and the brunette followed.
"I get it." She looked shoulder and winked. "We can be sneaky."
She trotted down the stairs. Hopping in front of the entrance, she stood waiting for Morticia to catch up. As she nears she twisted the knob and held the door for Shae and Morti.
"After you, M'lady." She motioned towards outside and giggled a bit.
"U-Uh Thank you, my-my good lady." She pretended to tip the brim of a hat and walked across the threshold.
"Jessica I can tell you're already feeling better." Shae followed Morty down the street, the prep closed and locked the door and went into a clumsy half-run to catch up with the two.
"I took my after school 'medicine'. Of course I feel better." She strode along side the Smith. "So what's the plan?" Her face was red with light intoxication and her smile sent butterflies to her stomach.
Morty's own face began flushing. "Uhhh- I, g-guess, you two go to the garage, a-and I'll go in through the front door and l-let you in when no one is looking?" She ended the statement with higher tone.
"You sure?" Shae asked,"Sounds like we're cutting it pretty close."
"It'll, be, It'll be fine." Morty waved her hand.
A few minutes and a few stumbles from Jessica later, the three turned onto Morti's street.
"There it is." She squinted her eyes as they approached the house. "Sweet, the garage is open."
"Dude, what the sam-hell is that?!" As soon as the woman saw Ricks ship, she bolted towards the garage.
"Hey! Wait!" Morticia yelled. "Be careful! Don't touch anything!" The teen broke into a light jog. 'Grandpa Rick won't notice some booze missing, but he can tell when someone messed with his shit.'
"Wait up!" Jessica sprinted behind Morty. "You're gonna be a rotten egg!" She speedily passed the younger high-schooler and giggled.
The sight was something to behold the shy teen. She was being so... "Cute." Morticia barely whispered under her breath. It stunned her for a second, she quickly recovered and ran, gingerly trying to to beat the ginger. She might as well not even had tried though, as the prep ran way faster than she thought.
"What the fuck?" Shae stopped in her tracks as she stepped into the garage. Jessica had been on her tail and didn't react in time to stop them from colliding. Luckily, they caught themselves from falling. While Shae gaped at Ricks Lab, Jessica was taken aback as well. She knew he was an Einstein-like genius. It's no secret at school that Morty got forced into a UFO on a almost daily basis. This was also her only claim to fame, and before her Grandfather showed up, nobody really knew her.
"So... Uh..." It was Jessica's turn to search for words. "Rick, your grandpa, made all this?" She gestured widely as Morty came to a winded stop.
"Y-Yes, look, don't touch, phew." The girl couldn't help but double over.
"The car's gone... Let me see if anyone's home." She stood up straight. "Go stand near that door.
She went around to the front door and retrieved the key under the doormat, the worlds safest place. As she opened the door she called out, "Hey! I'm home."
No answer.
Walking to the living room, she noted how silent it was. 'Well, Mom and Dad are definitely not here.'
"Summer?" She yelled.
"Yeah?" A muffled voice replied.
"Just checking!"
"Kay!"
Morty squealed to herself, she was aware of the buzz that now made her head swim happily. She ran over clumsily to the door and swung it open. "After you, M'lady."
Jessica curtsied coyly. "Thank you, my good lady." Walking inside, she hauled Shae along by the wrist.
"Wait!" She pulled lightly at the grip. "How are you not more curious?"
"Later. Come on."
"Fine." She tugged her hand away and pointed to Ricks door. "What's that to?"
"My Grandfathers room." Morty closed the door and headed for the stairs.
"Is there more cool shit in there?"
"Depends on your meaning of 'cool shit'." The Smith was regretting not putting her foot down and saying the young adult couldn't come, but held her tongue as she climbed up the stairs. "If selfish drunk fits your criteria, then yes."
"O-Oh." Shae stammered. The redhead whispered in her ear. The blonde nodded her head, "Ohh, ok, sorry."
"It's fine." Morticia brushed it off, opening her door. 'Fuck.' She forgot the state she left her room in. Closing the door and putting her back to it, facing the two girls. "Uh... my room i-is uh... It's really messy."
"You've seen mine, now show me yours." Jessica teased and rolled her eyes, "You should see Shae's room too. It's fine, really."
The host reluctantly twisted the knob. "...Okay..." She waved her hand in and stepped away from the doorway, while looking at her own feet, blushing.
"J-Just st-stay in here, I'll grab the al-alcohol."
The guests entered. "It's actually not that bad." Shae assured her before Morti walked towards her sisters room.
Knocking on the door she waited for her sister to call out.
"What?"
Morticia opened the door and stuck her head in, speaking almost too fast for Summer, laying lazily sideways on her bed, to understand. "I-got-friends-over-don't-tell-Mom-and-Dad." She began to close the door.
"Okay-Wait!" Summer looked up from her phone. "Grandpa Rick was on my ass about getting you home."
The teen gripped the doorway. "What did h-he say."
"He was asking who you were with and wanted me to pick you up from Jessica's house." Her eyes returned to the small screen. "He was blowing up my phone. I told him to chill and that you were on a date."
Morti grimaced. The fact that he was blowing up Summers phone kind of scared her. She really didn't want any of the other family members know about Morti's little 'situation'.
"O-Okay." Morti slowly started to close the door but then burst it back open. "O-Oh! Summer!"
"Huh?" She flicked her eyes back up.
"D-Do you know where any of Ricks h-hidden liquor is?" Morti asked nervously, hoping Summer wouldn't disapprove.
"You can have the one in the third drawer to the bottom." She pointed at the dresser. "But, if you get caught, you're taking the fall for it, not me. Ok?"
"O-Okay." She pulled open the drawer. She moved the folded undergarments around until her hand made contact with glass. "Th-thanks Summer." She pushed the drawer back in.
"Be safe, girl." Summer nonchalantly waved as Morti closed the door.
When the brunette entered the room she saw the two girls eyes wandering around the room. She closed the door behind her and kicked clothes and papers to the side and sat down.
The two girls sat in front of her.
The Smith mindlessly handed off the bottle to the other highschooler.
"Whoa." Whispered Jessica with one eye closed and the other one peering down the opening. "Shae look at this." She tilted the bottle.
The blonde looked in it as if it was a peephole. "The fuck is this shit?"
Morty watched the faces of the girls, they both had their eyebrows up comically high, they shot a glance towards each other then to Morty. "Are you sure we can drink this?" Shae asked and handed over the bottle.
Morticia looked for herself. It was glowing green, like the way radioactive waste does in cartoons. 'If Summer was drinking it, then it has to be okay.' She tipped the bottle and bravely took a guzzle to show it was alright... and to secretly try and impress Jessica.
She held back a gag. It was definitely booze.
"Awww yeah! Maybach music!" Shae nabbed the bottle and sucked down a good amount.
Jessica impatiently snagged it from her. "You drink like a fish." She knocked back more than either of them.
"Glub, Glub, Glub." The young adult retorted.
For the next few minutes, Shae and Jessica kept the exchange going with small talk and smart ass seemingly forgot the original reason for having came here.
There was a silent moment. Then a growl of a stomach.
"Dude, that green shit is not agreeing with me." Shae groaned, clutching her stomach. She leaned on Jessica's shoulder.
The prep winced at the contact and moved over so she could help the relative lay on the ground.
"I-In what way?" Morticia asked uneasily. Rick stained her carpet so many times with spilled booze and vomit, she didn't another crackpot soiling the floor in her room.
"Like the I-need-to-lay-down-in-the-restroom way." She pushed herself up, arms shaking. She dry heaved.
"Aaaaand we're walking." Jessica's eyes widened, grabbing her arm and stumbling to her feet, trying to help the blonde to hers.
"I-I'm good, I'm just... gonna chill near the bowl." She backed out of the taller girls grip and lumbered to the door.
"It's to th-the right. A-Are you gonna be alright?" Morty asked with feigned concern.
"Y-Yeah... S-Sorry man." She opened the door and quickly shuffled out without closing it.
Jessica closed the door softly and sat back down on the ground, so close to Morty that their knees touched.
"Morty." The slur from her voice disappeared. Her eyes conveyed stone-cold sobriety. She grabbed the younger girls hands in her own. "Morty, I need your help."
The brunette was shaken by being caught off guard with the severity in her voice. "U-Uhh, Okay?"
"Listen. I know you and your Grandfather are not the best on the best of terms right now." Her blue eyes watched the small involuntary changes in the girls expression. "But I need-" She shook their hands up and down slightly with every syllable she spoke. "-I ineed/i his help. I need iyour/i help. I-I can't keep living like this, Morty I know we never talked before the last few days but, p-please I only h-have so-" Morty threw her arms around the girl who started to ramble.
The prep tensed up.
Morticia's heart pounded. Her heart broke for Jessica and her shyness ebbed. "Y-You don't have to be sc-scared anymore." The Smiths chin was on her shoulder. "I'm here for you, we're gonna f-fix this."
Jessica took a long shaky inhale and wrapped her arms around the girls neck. "Th-Thank you." She sobbed lightly and tucked her head into Morty's neck.
They stayed like this for a while, the only sound being Jessica's light sniffling and the soft shuffling of fabric as Morty lightly rubbed her back.
The teens closed their eyes.
Morticia felt guilty for enjoying the feeling. Being needed by someone. Her nearby future flashed behind her closed eyes. Some sort of plan to get rid of Brad, hopefully violently. Finding new comfort in having an actual friend at school, and that friend being none other than the 'most popular girl at school'.
She knew Rick would say no at first but if she explained Jessica's situation to him, there would be no way he would just let the abuse continue.
Morty was the first to pull away, but she still held the other girls shoulders. It had been a long embrace, a few minutes long, but for the two it felt like only moments.
"Th-Things are gonna be l-looking up from n-now-"
Jessica cut her off by pressing her lips to Morty's.
'...' Morty's mind short circuited. Her eyes widening, pupils dilating.
Out of all the things to happen today, in retrospect, this was what she least expected. Bearing in mind her Grandfather staggered in in the wee hours of the morning and made out with her.
She was so shocked she didn't move to deepen the kiss even as Jessica licked her bottom lip.
Because of the lack of response, Jessica moved back. "I-I'm sorr-" but Morty cut her off this time, they tilted their heads in opposite directions. It hastily deepened, the alcohol and hormones running through their veins working as tinder to heat the kiss up.
Jessica pushed the brunette backwards slightly, Morty supported herself by putting a arm behind her and splaying her legs in front of her as the teen straddled her lap.
It wasn't a sloppy kiss like two teens hooking up at a party, it was passionate and full of longing.
The door opened.
'I guess Shae is feeling better.' Morty pulled back from the kiss with embarrassment and looked up at the redhead.
Jessica's eyes bulged and she swung her arm out trying to get off Morty. Her arm hit the uncapped bottle, spilling the bright fluid everywhere. "Shit." She muttered as she fell on her butt.
Morty turned around. Her stomach dropped.
It was Rick.
In front of him was Shae he had his hand wrapped around the back of her neck. She looked absolutely panick-stricken. "Look who I found taking pictures of my lab." He pushed her into the room. "Some fucking randomo."
Peeking out from behind him was the Rita she had seen on the holo-top, distressed and uncomfortable.
"Oh fuck." Morty faltered to her feet.
"Oh fuck is right." He growled.