Author's Note: Sorry for the lateness of this. I had to go to the hospital yesterday to get something checked out, which pushed the time I meant to work on this chapter, back. Everything's fine though, don't worry.
Make sure to read the AN at the end of this chapter, for an in-depth explanation of the ending and the story as a whole.
The Storm Has Ended
SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2011
It was after work hours and I thought to myself that now would be a good enough time to ask Skips for advice regarding the fact that I'm having a hard time forgetting everything that's happened in my past. There had to be some way of getting this out of my head once and for all, if not damn near to close to that.
I slowly opened the door to the shed he hangs out in. "Hey Skips?" I asked. "You in here?" I looked around but didn't see him.
"I'm back here!" Skips shouted to me from way across the room to my right. "What do you need?"
I closed the door behind me and approached him. "I need…one more bit of advice from you."
Skips was curling iron while I was walking towards him and then set it down, wiping the sweat off his forehead with a rag. "One more, huh?"
"Yeah, and then I'll be straight. This is the last step"
"Alright, what do you need?"
[xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
"-I'm no different from Lizz, Skips."
"Now how can you even say that? From what you're telling me, she's about as bad as you were a couple of months ago. You've actually made some progress since then; a lot."
"I know, I know." I had to stop for a second to make sense of my thoughts. For some reason it wasn't coming out right. I took a deep breath, "I mean, I feel like I still hold some kind of grudge about it. It always seem to be reminded of it by keywords and stuff like that."
"Like what?"
"Like hearing the name "Margaret" or thinking of the shore or texting. I don't know, just things I had done during that time. I just want to forget all of that. I don't want anything to trigger those memories anymore. That's all that needs to be done and then I'll be fine."
Skips just looked at me and then shook his head at my response. "That's not how it works Mordecai."
"What do you mean?"
"You can't just forget things like that; even if you want to. No one ever forgets something that affected them emotionally. In your case, you experienced betrayal for the first time, so you're definitely not forgetting that. The way you acted back then shows that. You were more wary of people you met, more closed off."
"Exactly-"
"But you haven't done that recently. You've been a little more open. I've seen you smile more, in a better mood…but you already know you've been doing that."
"Yeah…"
Skips looked down in thought and then looked up at me once done. "I used to do this a lot, well, I still do."
"What was it?" I asked.
"I kept a journal, or everything that happened to me: Good and bad. Whatever was written in that journal, would count as history and I wouldn't let it interfere with my present or my future."
"So I should keep a journal from now on?"
"It would have been better if you had a journal during when it all happened. For you, I would retrace everything that happened and then write it down. Remind yourself that what you write down is in the past."
"Makes sense. I guess I can try it out sometime."
"Good, you'll find some use out of it. Maybe while you're writing it, you'll realize that that journal has more uses than what I told you." Skips went back to curling iron and I thanked him for the advice, leaving his shack.
I kept thinking to myself how I would go about doing this journal. Would I highlight the big events that happened or just go from the very beginning: Periodically or out of order?
I'll worry about it when I get to it.
I saw Rigby walking out of the house and about to leave the park, as I was on my way in.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Benson wanted me to pick up a grilled cheese from Cheezers. Want to come with?"
"Sure, I'm not doing anything else today."
"Ah great, another long line here!" Rigby complained as we got in line, which ended a few feet outside the building, on the sidewalk. I never understood how Cheezers has never had one slow day, where the line wasn't ridiculously long. Their sandwiches are good and everything, but damn…
"Ugh, I hate waiting…" Rigby complained again.
"That's not really a mystery for someone as impatient as you," I responded.
"STOP TALKING!"
I laughed and heard a group of girls laughing with each other, walking out of Cheezers, with greasy bags in hand. In the group, I noticed one girl in particular and when I realized who it was, I smiled.
It was Lizz, hanging out with her friends, wearing much brighter clothes than what she had worn beforehand. We both locked eyes for a while and she smiled at me, mouthing a "thank you" to me. I simply nodded and smiled back.
"Who are you smiling at?" Rigby asked, noticing I was looking at someone.
"That's Lizz that just walked by."
"Oh, she looks happy."
"Yeah, I'm glad I was able to help."
I guess Lizz is on her road of recovery…
"By the way, did you get any advice from Skips?" Rigby asked.
"What?" I snapped out of thought. "Oh yeah, he told me to write a book-no, a journal. Put everything that happened in that journal as a way of showing it's all in the past. I'll try it out sometime tomorrow… Ha…" I chuckled suddenly.
"What?"
"No, it's when I almost said book. I guess that wouldn't be hard to do either. Everything that happened to me is crazy enough to be in a book: The love, the lies, betrayal, constantly being hurt by the women I cared about. Sounds like some crazy soap opera or drama."
Rigby chuckled as well, realizing what I said ringed very true. "Don't forget the demon attack…"
"Yeah, can't forget that one. What would I name the story if I did do that? Make a book of it I mean," I asked Rigby.
He crossed his arms, "Hmm, I don't know...what about, "Romance, With A Side Of Betrayal!" He motioned his arms, and made the title sound all dramatic.
I cringed at the idea, "Ugh, I was actually being serious with that question. That sounds too cheesy to even be funny."
"Well that's all I got," Rigby shrugged.
[xxxxxxxxxxxxx
We were still in line for another 2 minutes, both Rigby and I quiet, since we couldn't think of anything else to talk about. I couldn't help but overhear a conversation two guys were having in front of us. I couldn't see what they looked like though since they were pretty far in front of us.
"So how's your girl Margaret?"
"Her? Oh I'm done with her."
"What happened?"
"Okay check this out: We were at my house a few days ago and she wanted to have sex with me and so we did it and we both enjoyed it. So the next day, I'm walking down the street and I see her friends eating at outside at diner, bad mouthing me."
"Why?"
"Well apparently, Margaret told them I forced her to have sex with me. That she didn't really want to do it."
"What a bitch!"
"I know, right?"
Now at first, my mind immediately thought, "That's the Margaret I know" but I shook it off. There's more than one person in the world named Margaret. I chuckled.
The behavior he's describing about this "Margaret" doesn't sound too foreign to the one I know.
SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2011
I sat on my bed, staring at the blank page of my notebook, with pencil in hand. It was a notebook I never used that I had laying around: Figured it would be good to write my journal entries in it. I wanted to write it all out periodically. Start from the beginning, where things seemed to be the most normal: When Fives and Muscleman were still here, when Margaret was my crush and only my crush…when I was actually in my regular state of mind. All that could come to mind was the day when Margaret had asked me for help with her school project. It seemed like the greatest day ever, seeing how I'd be closer to the girl I liked and got her number all in one day. Who would have known that would lead to a series of crazy and stressful events…
That's what I started to write. I put it in a story type style to try and add as much detail as I could remember. The more stuff I could put in the past, the better. It wasn't easy though: Writing all this happy stuff down only reminded me how bad things would get once that great day I had was over. I finished writing everything I remembered about that day and set the pencil down. I'd do the next day I could remember, another time. I realized though, during the writing, that doing this could possibly make clarity of everything that happened. Going over my memories in a more organized fashion, would truly show when and where things went wrong. Maybe I could learn more from the things I did, see how I improved since then. It wouldn't be a quick process. If I were to write all of this down, it would take a long time to do…but I was ready for it.
My cellphone vibrated: New message.
[Adria]: Hey.
Huh, haven't heard from her in a while.
[Me]: What's up?
Waiting for her to respond, I thought of the conversation Rigby and I had in line at Cheezers: When we talking about what the title would be if I were to make this journal like a book. Funny thing is, I actually wanted to give a title this journal, but what would it be?
It all started in the spring. I was happy, in love, barely worried about anything. I was interested in Margaret, then Adria, and then Rhonda.
[Adria]: I was wondering…Are u free for today?
[Me]: Yeah, it's a slow day at work.
I put thought into what would make an appropriate title.
And then the summer came…when everything went wrong. When I found out things I never wanted to find out. Betrayed by people I didn't want to be betrayed by.
[Adria]: Well there's this movie out and there's a showing in two hours. Want to come with me?
I'll admit, I got a little excited that she was asking me to go somewhere with her. And how ironic that is was to the movies, just like when I took her to the movie a long time ago (hopefully without having to go home early cause I was sick).
I had a feeling we'd both think it would be an outing, but that was fine with me. At least I get to hang out with a friend of mine and I smiled at the thought.
[Me]: I'll be there!
[Adria]: Cool :)
I decided to get ready early, just in case I get I may accidently get delayed by something. I was about to put the journal away until I realized I didn't put a title to it yet. Suddenly, the title idea popped right in my head and I realized that it worked. I picked up my pencil and wrote it down at the top of the page:
"Spring Love, Summer Pain"
...
...
...
Sunlight
PRESENT DAY
I was on my way to Eileen's apartment, driving in a really cheap car that I was able to purchase with the money I saved up with extra work. It wasn't the best car in the world, but it did the job right.
I parked in front of her place and went to ring on the bell. I heard really quick, small footsteps come closer to the door. The door opened revealing Eileen.
"Yes? Oh hey Mordecai."
"Hey Eileen, is Rigby home?"
"Yeah, hold on." She turned around and called for him, "Rigby, Mordecai's here!"
"Cool! Come in man!" I heard Rigby, faintly.
Eileen snickered to herself, "He's out on the porch."
"Thanks." I walked into the house and opened the screen door to the porch. Rigby was sitting in the chair, with a cooler next to it drinking some Radi-Cola.
"Hey man," Rigby opened the cooler up and got a soda out. "Want one."
"Sure, thanks," I took the can and opened it up, taking a quick sip from it. I sat in the chair next to him, feeling really relaxed. "Nice weather today…" I said.
"Sure is," Rigby added. "Clear skies, nice breeze, and sunliiight!" Rigby winked at me.
It took me a while to realize why her winked until I remembered the first time we did the whole sunlight thing.
I responded, "Sunliiiight!"
"Oooohhhhh!" We yelled together, then shared a laugh and clinked our cans together.
"So how have you been lately?" I asked.
"Good, of course, every day's good living my baby, Eileen."
"Oh stop…" I joked.
"Guess what I'm planning to do for her tonight."
"What?"
"I'm going to take her out on date, at "The Leaf" and then I'll give her…this." He took out small box he had next to him on the chair. He opened it up, showing a nice looking ring and what made it better was the sun hit it just right so it could shine more. "Eileen hasn't seen it yet. She has no idea."
I playfully punched him in the arm, "About fucking time!"
"Hey, better late than never. I finally got over my fear and…well I'm ready man."
"That's good. I'm sure she'll love it."
"Yeah, she will. What about you? How's your relationship?"
I chuckled to myself contently, "It's doing great Rigby. I love this woman so much, you have no idea. It's funny…all this time, I thought I'd end up with Adria, but I lost interest in her. We're friends and only friends. This girl is so much better than her, well, she's always been better. Nothing's set in stone, Rigby."
"You got that right. I'd never even think you two would get together, after all that drama."
"We got past it. She apologized for everything that happened and I forgave her. After that, we just started talking and soon that lead to something that we both wanted: Happiness; I'd be happy with her and she'd be happy with me. We're actually going to the shore on a date on Friday: Can't wait to see her again."
"I'm happy for you man. It's about time you find the right woman."
"Yeah…it took two years, but the wait was worth it…totally worth it."
My phone vibrate: New message. I looked at the ID. "It's her," I said to Rigby.
"She just loves to text. Tell her I said 'Hi'"
"Okay," I opened the message up.
It read:
I can't wait for our date on Friday baby! It's going to be great (;
[Me]: I can't wait either. Oh and Rigby says hi!
Oh tell him I said hi. Listen I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later. I love you Mordecai.
[Me]: I love you too, Rhonda.
Now I know a lot of you are probably wondering what's up with the ending and I'll explain that in few.
The making of this story, was just as explained in the chapter. At first I wanted to do a journal, but I wanted to do it in a story type way. Rather, make a book of it (which is why it's joked about in the chapter). The premise of it would make a good story, even though it's all true. At the time, I wanted to write something for Fanfiction a good way of practicing as a writer, and I figured that this experience would make a good story, but how could I put it on Fanfiction?
It wasn't until I remembered a story by Fanfic author: MentalSeimei, who wrote a story called, "Love, Trials, And Dreams" It was a fanfic based off her true experiences, but with Kingdom Hearts characters to represent everyone who was involved with it. She is what inspired me to make it possible to do this story on Fanfiction (whom I've already thanked, but will thank again!) just this time with Regular Show characters:
Mordecai-Me
Rigby-A combination of three of my best friends
Benson/Skips-My Mom and my Nana
Margaret-The girl who actually did all of what Margaret did to Mordecai in this story. In reality, just like in the story, I still don't know why she did what she did and I know I'll never find out.
Eileen-One of my friend's girlfriend.
Keith-A combination of My nana and another one of my three best friends. My nana being the wise side of Keith and my friend being the cool, chill side of him.
The Bugs-The bugs I actually encountered while at my Nana's. They were in no way though, as friendly as they were in the story (Unfortunately)
Strangely, they are all pretty similar to the characters in the show (with the exception of the girl who is represented by Margaret). The other OCs were of course based off the real people who were also part of this experience, just with their names changed.
90% of everything in this story is true: The dialogue, text messages, and events are the exact same as how it went in real life. The 10% that is false, is the demon attack and some things that happened in the story weren't in the exact time of when it happened, but were still true and relevant to the story. Plus, the Rhonda/Shell side story had to be tweaked, because the reality of it is very confusing and crazier than how it was illustrated in the story.
Now, time to explain the ending:
You may be wondering how it was that "Rhonda" and I ended up together in the end. About a few months ago, we had found each other on this messaging site after all these years of being out of contact. We talked about what happened during that time and she did apologize and I forgave and it turns out, there was a lot more to her side of the story, which "Shell" pretty much lied about (I'm not going to go any further than that, since I'll be heading into the "confusing and crazy" territory that I mentioned earlier)
"Rhonda" and I started getting back into the swing of texting each other constantly, like how me and her did back then. We started to talk about more deeper things and she told me how she was never treated right by guys. Always seemed to hook up with people who thought really cared about her, but we're actually real douchebags to her. She wanted someone who really cared about her and loved her and I was that guy who wanted to be that for her. The rest you can put together. It's funny...now that I think about it, it's surprisingly similar to how Mordecai and Margaret got together in the show. Hell, I said to once, "Be my Margaret and I'll be your Mordecai" She knows the couple but doesn't know the details of they got together and how she is very similar to Margaret in some ways. I'll have to tell her sometime.
It feels strange ending this story after all this time. I feel like I accomplished something big finishing this: Not only as a writer, but as a person knowing in the end I overcame all of this. I never would have imagined the ending of this story, my story to have a happy ending. I'm so happy it does. I'll admit though, I still hold a grudge over "Margaret" and "Shell" and everything those two did, but "Rhonda" is that light in the end of the tunnel for me. Hope. She makes it all worth it.
I want to thank all of the people who had supported me during the difficult time. I'm so thankful to have them in my life and I just couldn't thank them enough!
And I want to thank all of my viewers for reading this story and supporting me in many ways. I'm also glad I was able to help some viewers with problems they may have in their lives, with my story. I'm so thankful for all the reviews, the advice, criticism, compliments and everything you all have done. It really does help with my writing and the improvement of it. Me wanting to be a writer in the future, it just means so much!
This is not the end of me writing though. I still have a few more stories on my profile, two which are in progress.
Thank you all for your support and I hope you enjoyed, "Spring Love, Summer Pain"