Winter

Sunday 30th December 12:41PM

"He knew he wasn't going to sleep that night. The blizzard continued outside, intensifying every second. Something changed in Rigby that day…and Mordecai knew one thing; this was going to be one cold winter."

"I guess I have some explaining to do?" Eileen asked, nervously. "You bet you do." Rigby glared at her, keeping his arms crossed. "Heh…yeah…" Eileen tapped her fingers, nervously. "Well, you gonna tell me?" Rigby asked. "Fine. But not now, not when there's lots of people here. Come back later tonight I'll talk to you about it." Eileen replied, walking into the kitchen. "Fine." Rigby muttered, walking back over to the table. "Took you long enough." Mordecai smirked.

"Yeah, sorry." Rigby apologized. "No, it's fine. Wanna head back to the park?" Mordecai asked. "Sure, let's go." Rigby replied. Rigby followed Mordecai out of the store and they walked back to the park. After the two friends arrived back at the park and sat on their favourite couch, Rigby began to question Mordecai. "Mordecai?" Rigby asked. "Yeah? What do you need bro?" Mordecai asked. "I was just thinking…remember when Margaret had that…fit a few years ago?" Rigby questioned. "Yeah, how could I forget?" Mordecai sighed.

"What if…what if she was faking it?" Rigby questioned. "Why would you say that?" Mordecai glared at Rigby. Rigby sighed. "No, don't worry." Rigby turned away. Mordecai was wondering why Rigby would ask something like that. Mordecai was about to question Rigby, but decided not to pry. "Whatever…" Mordecai sighed. Rigby turned on the television and began to watch for a while, while Mordecai would glance at Rigby now and again, looking for any tell-tale signs of Rigby telling him, with no luck.

6:31PM

Rigby was coming down the stairs with his hoodie, he slipped it on the walked past the couch, noticing Mordecai was asleep. He sighed and left the house, opening and closing the front door quietly. Rigby began to shiver again, as a blizzard was brewing outside. Mordecai opened his eyes and slipped on his black jacket, then followed his friend outside. Mordecai had decided to follow Rigby to this little 'meeting' to see what he was hiding, since Rigby didn't tell Mordecai about it.

Rigby walked through the blizzard, then made it to the coffee shop. He knocked on the glass door and waited for someone to answer it. Mordecai stood a few metres away, out of sight. Eileen answered the door and nodded at Rigby, before letting him in. Eileen let him inside and the door began to close. Mordecai ran to the door and slipped inside quietly, avoiding the bell, instead of alerting them that he was there.

Mordecai hid behind a stool and listened in on the conversation. "Well, I'm here. Are you gonna tell me?" Rigby asked, sitting down next to Eileen. "Yeah…so, you remember the 'stunt' Margaret did a couple of years back?" Eileen asked. "No one forgot." Rigby sighed. "Well, it was just a 'stunt'." Eileen replied. "What do you mean?" Rigby questioned. "It wasn't real. Margaret did it, so you and Mordecai wouldn't have any more fights." Eileen sighed. "Why would she do that? Doesn't she know how much she means to Mordecai?" Rigby sighed.

"Yeah, she does. But she seemed to have the idea that you and Mordecai…" Eileen blushed a little. "Me and Mordecai what?" Rigby stared into Eileen eyes. "She seemed to get the idea that you two were in love, isn't that crazy?" Eileen laughed nervously. "What? That's insane." Rigby chuckled. "You mean, it's not true?" Eileen asked, not surprised. "No, obviously not." Rigby laughed. "I didn't think it was." Eileen smiled, nervously. Mordecai sighed in relief, but in the back of his mind, crept the feeling of disappointment, Mordecai shook the disappointment away and continued to listen.

"Well, thanks for telling me." Rigby smiled. "No problem." Eileen smiled proudly. "You're a good friend." Rigby hugged Eileen. "Thanks." Eileen hugged back. After they broke the hug, Mordecai noticed that Rigby was heading towards him, Mordecai opened the door and ran outside. The bell rang and Rigby noticed. "Someone was watching us? Nah…" Rigby rubbed his forehead. Rigby opened the door and waved goodbye to Eileen, before walking back into the blizzard.

Rigby walked slowly down the empty street and sat on a snow-covered bench. "Why would Margaret do that…she means a lot more to him than anyone else…" Rigby muttered to himself. Mordecai got up and walked down the street and past Rigby, pretending that he didn't see him. "Mordecai?" Rigby called. "Oh, hey Rigby. There you are!" Mordecai exclaimed with a fake smile. Mordecai came and sat next to Rigby on the bench. "What are you doing out here?" Rigby asked. "I should ask you the same thing." Mordecai replied. "I was just…talking to Eileen." Rigby sighed.

"Okay, well, it's freezing out here, wanna head back to the park?" Mordecai asked. "Alright, sure." Rigby agreed. "Wait, I just got to head back to the coffee shop. Meet me back at the park?" Rigby asked. "Sure." Mordecai agreed. Mordecai walked back to the park, while Rigby went back to the coffee shop to pick up his hoodie which he left behind. Rigby knocked on the glass door, and once again Eileen answered, with a blue hoodie in her hand. "I'm sure this is yours." Eileen said, handing over the hoodie.

"Yeah, thanks." Rigby took the hoodie out of Eileen's hands and thanked her. "Well, see you tomorrow morning." Eileen smiled, shutting the glass door. Rigby put on his hoodie and walked back into the blizzard. "Ah, much less cold now that I have this." Rigby muttered to himself. Rigby walked down the street, disappearing into the blizzard. Rigby rubbed his hands together for warmth. "Jesus…it's freezing…It's never been this cold before…" Rigby sighed. Rigby entered the entrance to the park and began to walk along the path to the house.

Suddenly, Rigby heard some footsteps behind him. "Hello? Who's there?" Rigby called. Rigby turned around the surveyed the area. Visibility was very low, so he could only see a few metres around him. The footsteps came closer and Rigby was beginning to get seriously scared. Rigby continued walking, guessing that the footsteps were a figment of his imagination. Suddenly, Rigby began to feel a sharp pain in his back. Rigby fell onto the hard snow under him, and laid there motionless. His eyes changed to a dark shade of red and stood up abruptly.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Mordecai was waiting for Rigby to come home, so they could play the new game he bought him that morning. Mordecai waited for a few more minutes, until he heard the door of the house open. Mordecai glanced at the door with an eager face, until he noticed that it was just Pops, arriving home from his High School Reunion. "Hello Mordecai! How are you going this fine, cold evening?" Pops asked, walking over to Mordecai. "I'm doing alright." Mordecai replied. Pops took off his coat and sat on the couch next to Mordecai.

"While you were out there, did you see Rigby? I haven't seen him for a while and I'm worried about him." Mordecai asked, hoping for a good answer. "Actually, yes I did see Rigby. He was acting quite strangely." Pops commented. "How?" Mordecai asked. "He didn't even greet me like he usually does." Pops sounded sad. "It's alright Pops. Though that is weird, he always greets you…" Mordecai rubbed his beak. "Well, I'm gonna go dream searching." Pops said, walking up the stairs. "Dream searching?" Mordecai asked. "Sleep." Benson replied, walking into the room.

"Oh, hey Benson." Mordecai greeted. "Hello Mordecai." Benson replied, in an annoyed tone. "Why have you got your panties in a bundle?" Mordecai laughed. "Ha, Ha." Benson laughed, sitting next to Mordecai on the couch. "Well, what's wrong?" Mordecai asked. "Rigby has been very rude to me." Benson replied. "Really? What did he do?" Mordecai asked. "Well, at first, I greeted him and he didn't reply, when I asked what was wrong he told me to shut up, when I tried to talk to him he shoved me out of the way and told me to fuck off." Benson replied in an angry tone. "Hey, he would never say that word." Mordecai found it hard to believe. "Go ahead and ask him, he'll tell you…" Benson began, before the front door of the house opened and Rigby walked in.

"Hey Rigs, what's up?" Mordecai asked. "I'm going to bed." Rigby replied. Mordecai noticed Rigby's pupils were dark red. "Isn't Rigby's eyes black?" Mordecai whispered to Benson. "Yeah, they were." Benson replied. "Mid-life crisis?" Mordecai asked. "Not sure. Maybe you can talk to him." Benson suggested. "Alright, I'll go speak to him, night Benson." Mordecai walked up the stairs. "Night." Benson replied.

Mordecai opened the door to the room and sat on his bed. He noticed Rigby was laying on his trampoline. "Rigby, what's your deal?" Mordecai asked. "Nothing, just tired." Rigby replied, not moving. "Dude, something is obviously wrong with you. You'd never ignore Pops…and you would never tell Benson to 'fuck off'. You don't even say that word." Mordecai explained. "Whatever dude, let me sleep." Rigby replied. "Dude, we need to talk, something is definitely wrong." Mordecai walked over to his friend's trampoline and tried to comfort him.

"I said I'm fine." Rigby groaned, hiding himself under some dirty laundry. "But dude…" Mordecai began. "I SAID I'M FUCKING FINE!" Rigby shouted, coldly. Mordecai backed off and sat back on his bed. "Something is wrong, this isn't the real Rigby…something happened to me." Mordecai thought to himself, laying on his bed. Mordecai glanced over at Rigby, who was resting on his trampoline. Mordecai sighed and stared at the ceiling, he knew he wasn't going to sleep that night. The blizzard continued outside, intensifying every second. Something changed in Rigby that day…and Mordecai knew one thing; this was going to be one cold winter.

There you go, Chapter Two finished. What happened to Rigby in the blizzard? Why is he so pissed all of a sudden? And what will Mordecai do about Eileen and Margaret? Will he confront them? You'll have to find out in the next chapter, of Winter.