Chapter 3

Mordecai left the airport feeling like he'd hit rock bottom. He got into the cart, paid for parking and drove to the nearest bar he could find. It was an unfamiliar place called 'The Blue Moon.' It was kind of run down looking and it wasn't exactly in the best part of the city, but it was right there and he desperately felt like he needed a few beers to help him forget everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Besides, he didn't want to risk going to 'McHooligan's' and running into someone from the park there. He still wasn't in the mood to deal with any of them.

He entered the bar and found a booth near the back where he thought he wouldn't be bothered. It wasn't very crowded, but at 7:00 in the evening it was still early. The waitress came by promptly. She was a pretty cardinal in her early twenties wearing a short black skirt with black hose, heels and a black and white striped top that probably should have been a size larger. She had her beak pierced and tattoos adorning her wrists and ankles. "She looks like a lot like Margaret under all the accessories' He thought to himself, 'but not really my type.'

"Are you okay?" the waitress asked noticing that he was obviously staring at her.

"Yeah." He muttered. "You just look kind of like someone I used to know. I'll take a beer please."

After a few minutes, the waitress came back with his beer. "Bad day?" she asked, placing the beer on the table in front of him. He must have looked like a train wreck sitting there soaking wet still from the rain with dried blood crusted on his forehead and obviously very down about something.

"Yeah." Mordecai mumbled after taking a long gulp of his beer. ''I guess you could say that."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really…" he said. However, after a long pause, he muttered "My girl just broke up with me to go away to college, my best friend hates me and I'm probably fired for walking off my job today."

"Harsh…" the waitress replied. "I get off in an hour if you want to hang out with me and my friends. You seem pretty cool and it sounds like you could use some company tonight."

"Thanks, but…" Mordecai was about to tell her no, but then he thought about it. He could either go and try to have a good time, or he could go back to the park and listen to Benson yell at him for ditching work and taking the cart without permission. Plus, Rigby would probably end up saying something that would piss him off all over again. "Actually, that sounds great" he said.

"I'm Jessica" the waitress said.

"Mordecai. Nice to meet you, Jessica."

"Cool. Well I'll come get you when my shift is over. Let me know if you need anything else.

"Another beer, please" Mordecai said, eyeing his bottle. It was already over half empty. "Actually, go ahead and make it two." She brought him the beers and he sat and sipped them in silence for the next forty minutes until her shift was over.

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"Ready?" Jessica asked, coming from behind the bar with her purse. "I just clocked out."

"Sure, where are we going?" Mordecai asked.

"To my apartment - it's right around the block. We hang out there every night." She replied. They left the bar and Mordecai offered to drive them in the cart. He was a little embarrassed that he didn't have a real car, but at least it was better than walking in the rain. The storm looked like it was finally starting to taper off.

They arrived at the apartment to find several people already there. "Who're all these people? " Mordecai asked.

"One of them is my roommate" Jessica said, pointing to a blond haired girl sitting on the couch. "Everybody else is friends. Somehow my house gets designated for all the parties. I guess because our landlord is pretty cool about that kind of stuff."

Moredecai looked around. These weren't really the crowd of people that he usually hung out with. They were all dressed a lot like Jessica with dark clothing, tattoos and piercings. He didn't like to be stereotypical, but they were obviously metal heads evident by the sound of Battlecross coming from the speakers. He and Rigby loved this kind of music, but had never adopted the style. The air was thick with the scent of marijuana. He started to second guess the idea and was about to tell her 'thanks, butno thanks,' and get out of there, but before he could say anything she offered him a beer and told him to make himself at home. He relaxed a little, figuring that it couldn't hurt to have a couple more drinks, and then he would be on his way.

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At the park, Rigby became restless after a several hours. After finishing his work, he had a hard time finding ways to entertain himself. Things were pretty dull without Mordecai around. He and Mordecai had been nearly inseparable since they were little kids. He tried to play video games, but decided that was boring by yourself. He got on the internet for a while, but funny videos just weren't that funny without someone to laugh with. He attempted to hang out with Muscle Man and High Five Ghost, but quickly got sick of Muscle Man's constant "My Mom" jokes. He didn't know how Fives was able to put up with it all the time.

Rigby was still angry that Mordecai sucker punched him like that, but he started thinking that maybe he shouldn't have been so dismissive of Mordecai's feelings. He was only trying to help, but he probably should have just dropped it when Mordecai asked him to. Then, calling Mordecai a loser was a little over the top. He still didn't understand what the big deal was just because Margaret was leaving. For some reason, though, it was a big deal to Mordecai even if Rigby didn't get it. Maybe Mordecai was right and he just didn't understand because he'd never been 'in love' with anyone before.

At 10:30 p.m., Mordecai still hadn't returned to the house and Rigby was starting to get a little concerned. He hadn't even called to let anyone know where he was - not that he needed to. They didn't keep tabs on one another or anything like that. Rigby still couldn't help but feel like something was wrong though. This just wasn't like Mordecai - fight or no fight. He considered calling Mordecai's cell, but quickly put the phone back down, deciding that was probably a bad idea. He decided he should probably give him his space. At 11:45 p.m., he climbed onto his trampoline and eventually fell asleep; sure that Mordecai would be back in his bed by morning.

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After six beers, Mordecai was feeling pretty good. He had gotten to know several people at the party and was having a great time. The dull ache that had been gnawing in his stomach all day over losing Margaret was finally starting to go away. He briefly wondered what Rigby was doing all by himself. 'He's probably just doing something lame anyway,' Mordecai mused, then quickly let Rigby slip from his mind and focused on the party. Someone offered him a joint and he took it. He'd smoked pot a few times in high school and he figured it couldn't hurt. The rest of the night was a blur after that.

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A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed!

Just a little note on the part where I described Jessica as a Cardinal and said that she looks like Margaret - I know Margaret is described as a Robin by all accounts, but she looks like a Cardinal, damnit! It really bugs me. Just thought I would clear that up since I'm sure someone will probably catch that and point it out.

Let me know what you think so far! ~Summer