At first, Morty was frozen in shock but after only a second, he was kissing Rick back with a ferocity he didn't know he contained. Rick backed them up until Morty's back thudded heavily into the wall. He forced his hands up and into the scientist's hair. Their first kiss was far from what he had expected. It was rough and fast and a bit painful as their teeth clashed together. Rick tasted like alcohol and sweat and everything right in the world and Morty found himself quickly loosing himself in the touch. Rick growled softly under his breath, and bit Morty's bottom lip hard enough to draw blood, before licking his way past his teeth and into his mouth. A slight moan escaped him at the sensation and he tugged on Rick's hair roughly.
Fuck, Fuck, Fuck! What am I doing!? Rick thought to himself as he pulled Morty closer. He was intoxicating, addicting, amazing, and Rick couldn't peel himself away. He found that his body was moving on its own as he backed them up and into the wall and he growled softly under his breath. Without, thinking he bit down on Morty's lower lip and got a moan in return that nearly undid him completely. His hand's slid to Morty's hips and he gripped them hard enough to leave bruises. He knew that what he was doing was crazy and stupid but it felt so good to finally let it happen. Morty was kissing him back like he wanted this, like he had also been waiting forever to kiss Rick and for a moment, the scientist let himself get lost in the thought, but it couldn't last.
His hand's stuttered uselessly at Morty's hips, and he slid them up and underneath the hem of his shirt. He moved them slowly up, fully intending to explore to his heart's content when his fingers slid over a deep scar on Morty's side. Suddenly, Morty froze. Reality came crashing down in that moment and Morty quickly shoved him away. He had a wild, stricken look on his face as he backed away. "Morty! I-I I'm sorr-." He stammered uselessly and reached forward but Morty just shook his head slowly before taking off and into the nearest room. The door slammed and Rick heard a soft click. For a while, he sat in silence, starring at the door in shock. What had he done?
Morty slumped down the door after he slammed it shut and drew his knees into his chest. He could feel the panic rising in his chest and more than anything he wanted to run back to Rick and crawl into his arms but he couldn't let the genius see him being so weak. He wrapped his arms around himself and dug his nails into his sides. He could feel his own scars underneath his shirt and it set him off again. The memory of how those scars appeared kept replaying in his mind and in that moment, he was trapped back in that place. He could feel the whip ripping into his skin once again, and he could hear the laughter coming from all around him. Worst of all though, was the feeling of phantom hands roaming his body.
It was so unbelievably unfair. He had wanted Rick for so long and right when he had him, he'd let him slip out of his grasp. He didn't take the time to consider why Rick had kissed him in the first place because he could feel himself beginning to hyperventilate hand his heart pounded in his chest. He needed something, something to dull the panic that was quickly building out of control. Morty glanced around the room frantically looking for anything that could help when his eyes settled on a small bar set up in the corner of the room with various different bottles of alcohol sitting on it. He quickly crawled his way over to it and grabbed the first bottle he saw, Jack Daniels, and unscrewed the top before gulping a quarter of it down. It burned as it went and he almost retched it up but forced himself to swallow it. After only a few seconds, warmth began to spread from his stomach to his extremities and he found his panic slowly dying away. He took another large gulp of the warm liquid and let his eyes flutter closed for a moment. "So this is why Rick drinks…" he whispered to himself. This felt good, felt right and Morty found himself finishing off the bottle in only a few minutes. The room was spinning but he didn't care because the memories were gone, the pain was gone and he felt damn good for once.
Rick laid on the couch in the small living room outside Morty's door, starring at the ceiling. He kept replaying what had happened in his head until he felt sick. Why had he done that? He had got so caught up in the moment that before he knew it, his body was moving on its own and apparently it had been a mistake. He'd gotten excited when Morty kissed him back, thinking that maybe he wanted this too but he had been wrong. He should have taken the time to read the situation better. Morty had just been looking for some kind of release and maybe he found it in that moment but clearly, he had realized what he was doing because the look he gave Rick after breaking away said it all. He had been horrified.
Rick felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest and he growled softly before reaching for his flask. He froze though when he heard a loud crash from Morty's room. He was up in an instant and reaching for the door. A slight jiggle of the door knob confirmed that it was locked. "Morty!" He yelled through the door, but he only heard a slight shuffling with no response. Fuck it. He thought and then rammed the door with the side of his shoulder. It flung open, splintering slightly and smacking against the wall behind him. He was met with the sight of Morty standing in the corner near the bar. There was a broken glass near his feet. He didn't even seem to notice that Rick had just broken into the room, breathing heavily. Suddenly he looked up at Rick with a goofy expression on his face and said, "Oops…I dropped it." Rick starred at him in disbelief.
"You…dropped it?" He asked and Morty, nodded a little to vigorously. That's when Rick noticed the empty bottle of Jack thrown off to the side and the opened bottle of vodka in Morty's hand. Morty was drunk. The boy swayed slightly on his feet and then took a step forward to balance himself but stepped straight onto a piece of glass. He didn't even flinch as he looked down at his foot and then back up at Rick. "Ow." He said and Rick would have laughed if it wasn't such a serious situation. "Stop moving!" he exclaimed and quickly crossed the room, ignoring the crunch of broken glass under his boots. Morty didn't say anything as Rick wrapped his arm around his back and the other under his legs, but he grunted softly and suddenly Rick was reminded that he was probably still wounded from his fight.
All his anger at seeing Morty acting so carelessly escaped him as he carried the boy across the room and into the living room. He was too light and was still wheezing softly. Rick set him down softly on the couch. "Don't move." He said, making sure Morty heard him. "Okay." He said complacently and it scared Rick to see how obedient he was while under the influence. He quickly ran out to the ship and retrieved his first aid kit before returning to Morty, who was no laying down, face first, on the couch. "Morty, you're going to suffocate yourself." He growled and then gently turned the boy over so that he was laying on his back.
Soon he was sitting at the other end of the couch with a pair of tweezers. Morty groaned as he pulled out the small piece of glass and Rick sighed in frustration. "This is why you shouldn't get drunk Morty." He growled softly and the boy trained his hazy green eyes back on him. "Feels good…" he muttered and Rick flinched. "It's not safe…" he replied softly and Morty giggled. "But you're allllwaayyss drunk!" he exclaimed. "That's different. I'm an adult." He said and finished up treating Morty's foot. He wrapped it up in a bandage and then stood. Morty's left shoulder was stained with blood and Rick realized he must have gotten hurt earlier without him knowing. He helped Morty into a sitting position and reached for the hem of his shirt but Morty weakly slapped his hand away. "No." he said with a pout and Rick felt his frustration building.
"I have to treat your shoulder." He explained but Morty shook his head weakly. "No. don't want you to see…" he mumbled and Rick's heart sank. "Morty…I've already seen them…" he said gently and Morty just stared at him. Rick sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, before crouching in front of Morty. He took the boys small hands in his and looked him in the eye. "I promise it will be okay…I just need to fix your wound okay?" he said gently and after a few moments, Morty nodded before looking away. "Okay." He said and Rick hesitated for a moment longer before slowly pulling Morty's shirt up over his head. He couldn't lie. The scars were hard to look at. Especially since they were there because of him. He dragged his eyes away from the scar and up to Morty's face. He was staring intently at Rick, as if he had something to say but couldn't figure out how to put the words together.
"It…It- wasn't your fault…you know?" he stuttered. Rick couldn't believe that even in his drunken haze, Morty was still able to read the man so easily. It would have been so easy, in that moment, for Morty to blame him, for him to get angry and tell him it was all his fault but instead, he had concentrated his energy into convincing him that it wasn't and it only confirmed how little Rick deserved him. It had been selfish to kiss him earlier. When Morty sobered up the next morning, he would have questions and Rick wasn't quite sure how he could answer them truthfully. He was sure it would only end with more pain.
He tore his eyes off Morty's and looked at the dried blood on his shoulder, choosing to ignore his words. He wetted a bit of gauze with some antiseptic and gently washed the blood away to reveal a small cut running horizontally along his shoulder. Thankfully it was only a minor wound and wouldn't need any stitches. He treated the wound before gently wrapping it in a bandage. Morty quietly watched him the whole time. After treating the other small scratches, he had, he told Morty to stay put while he retrieved a clean shirt from his bags.
When he returned, Morty was nodding off slightly. He jumped slightly when Rick snapped his fingers in front of his face. Rick slipped the clean shirt over his head and helped him slip his arms through the sleeves, before picking him up once again and carrying him into a different room than the one before. He didn't want Morty to get up in his drunken haze and step on more glass. Morty hummed softly as he sat him down on the queen in the corner and helped him slide under the covers. "You're going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning." He muttered as he pulled the covers up to Morty's shoulders. He sat down on the side of the bed and pushed the boys sweat matted bangs away from his face. Morty hummed once again and leaned into the touch. Rick's heart stuttered in his chest and he had to resist the urge to lean down and kiss the boy once again.
It was almost more than he could bare. He'd learned long ago that life had a way of screwing you over in your highest moments. How ironic, how unfair it was that he had messed up the chance to finally show Morty that he cared…that he…that he loved him but that was exactly why he had been so afraid to act in the first place. He hadn't wanted to mess this up, to mess up the simple moments he selfishly stole from the boy. Now it was over. Morty would wake up the next morning and probably tell Rick off for taking advantage of him when he was emotionally vulnerable, and then he would leave and the thought almost destroyed the part of his heart that still remained. He knew that if he stayed next to Morty any longer he might say something stupid so he stood with the intention of letting the boy sleep, when he reached out a hand and grabbed the edge of Rick's shirt. Rick turned back to look at Morty and he was staring back at him anxiously. "Don't…Don't…go." He mumbled and Rick hesitated.
"You need to sleep." He replied softly but Morty shook his head.
"Stay…and I will." He argued and Rick sighed. It looked like he wouldn't be getting away so easily. Everything in him screamed to run but he just couldn't do it, so he settled for sitting on the floor beside Morty's bed. Morty shifted to lay on his side so that he was facing the back of Ricks head. For a while there was silence, and Rick was thinking that he might have fallen asleep when suddenly he spoke, causing Rick to freeze in shock at his words,
"You know I love you Rick." He said in a strangely clear voice. Rick didn't reply for a while. His mind was reeling. What did he mean by that? "Y-you mean like family right?" He stuttered stupidly. "No Rick…I love you." He repeated and the man's heart started to hammer away in his chest. "Y-yo-you're drunk Morty…" he whispered and Morty was quiet for a moment. His next words were soft and quiet. "I-I've always's loved you…" he whispered back and for a moment, Rick felt the world still.
