A/N: On with the next chapter. The last one was kind of uneventful so hopefully this one makes up for it. The timeline for this chapter takes place about a month after the previous chapter (the first few paragraphs summarize what happened in that month.) If you missed my disclaimer in Chapter 4, please go back and read it now. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

The next month passed much the same, much to Rigby's annoyance. Mordecai would hang out with him at work and in the evenings every once in a while, but most of the time he bolted as soon as the work day was over. He was spending all his free time these days with his "friends" that he refused to talk about with anyone at the park. Rigby missed how things used to be and the crazy situations they used to find themselves in. Life was a blast back then—even though they were always in trouble for one thing or another.

What was even stranger was that Mordecai had begun acting very bizarre. He had become quiet and seemed to be walking around in a fog more often than not. Rigby chalked it up to him still being depressed over Margaret and hoped he would soon snap out of it. He missed his best bro and desperately wanted things to go back to normal.

Mordecai felt bad for leaving Rigby on his own so much, but in his mind he didn't have much of a choice. He couldn't tell Rigby, or anyone, what he was really doing with all his free time. He had quickly spiraled downhill since the day that Margaret left and he met Jessica. He was convinced that the only things that would help him get through his day were the drugs that he'd started using on a regular basis. He never wanted to be dependent on these substances—nobody ever does. He was in his weakest moment when Jessica showed up in his life and she gave him the means to relieve his pain and forget. That worked out great in the beginning, but more recently it wasn't even really about Margaret anymore. He just wanted it. He and Jessica were just friends, but he hung out with her nearly every night so he could get his fix. Every time he found himself going back it was always just one more time, but one more time always turned in to one more time after that.

Mordecai made his choice with his own free will. He was convinced that it was something he couldn't do without. He was getting deeper and deeper into his addiction. At first it was only in the evenings at Jessica's place, but it was quickly turning into several times a day. He found himself disappearing into the woods during work when Rigby was busy with something to have another joint, or sometimes something even stronger. He desperately hoped that no one noticed his odd behavior.

"Mordecai!" Rigby called. "Mordecai!"

"Huh, what?" Mordecai said distantly. He was sitting on the front porch steps. He and Rigby had just finished picking up trash. Rigby had gone in the house for a soda while Mordecai took the opportunity to take another hit while no one was around. His mind was foggy and he vaguely heard Rigby come out of the house and say something just seconds ago, but his thoughts were elsewhere and he was having a hard time processing what it was.

"Damn! Are you even listening to me? I said that Benson wants us to wash the cart now!"

"I'm listening, dude. I was just thinking about something." Mordecai replied.

"You must do a lot of thinking these days, I guess. "

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mordecai asked.

"What the hell is going on with you, man?" Rigby couldn't really pinpoint exactly what was wrong with Mordecai lately, but he sensed that something was off. He'd had enough of pretending that things were normal and decided to find out what.

"Nothing." Mordecai answered a little too quickly. "What're you talking about?"

"You've just been acting really weird lately. Ever since you started hanging out with those new people all the time it's like you don't want to do any of the stuff we used to do anymore. You don't even act the same. Where's my bro?" Rigby demanded, glaring at Mordecai.

"I don't know what you're talking about, dude." Mordecai avoided his stare. He didn't like lying to Rigby, but he had no choice. He couldn't tell him the truth. "I'm totally the same. Maybe I'm just growing out of all that stuff. Maybe you should start growing up too."

"STOP TALKING! You're not the same! You're weird now! Even Muscle Man and Fives notice it!" Rigby threw his arms up in frustration.

"You've been talking about me to Muscle Man and Fives behind my back?" Mordecai asked defensively.

"Who am I supposed to talk to? It's not like you're ever around to talk to anymore, dude. They asked me if I thought you were acting strange lately."

"What did you tell them?" Mordecai demanded.

"I told them that you don't act the same anymore. Because you're DON'T, dude!" Rigby pointed at Mordecai accusingly.

Mordecai sighed, trying to play off his uneasiness. This wasn't good. They were starting to get suspicious. He had to think of something quickly. "I'm totally going to show you that I haven't changed, dude. How do you feel about a little extreme carting?"

"Extreme Carting?" Rigby grinned.

"EXTREME CARTING, DUDE! OOOOOOOOHHH!" Mordecai shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

"OOOOHHHHHHHH!" Rigby joined in happily.

"Let's go! We'll wash the cart later."

"Yeah dude! That's the Mordecai I know!" Rigby exclaimed.

The two of them ran over to the cart, which was parked in front of the house, and jumped in. As Mordecai slid behind the wheel he suddenly had a brief moment of clarity. "WHAT the hell was I thinking? I m high as a kite' he thought to himself. 'I shouldn't be doing this.' He hesitated and apprehensively looked over at Rigby, but it was too late to turn back. Rigby would surely know something was up if he did.

"What's wrong, dude?" Rigby asked. "Are we gonna do this, or what?"

"Yeah dude!" Mordecai finally slammed his foot on the gas and did three donuts in front of the house, then took off down the path. He headed for the skateboard park, pushing the cart to its maximum speed. He'd driven this course at least a hundred times—he was sure he'd be fine. The cart went airborne over a small hill and landed on the railing of some steps, skidding down the pole on the left front and back tires.

"Hold it!" Mordecai called, taking is foot off the gas to let gravity take over. "Hold it!"

"I'm holding it! I'm holding it!" Rigby responded as he grabbed the roof poles on the passenger side, shifting the weight in the cart so it wouldn't flip over.

The cart landed with a thud on all four tires at the bottom of the steps.

"Whoooaaaaaaa! That was sick!" Rigby exclaimed.

Mordecia pushed in the gas and sped toward the halfpipe. The cart flipped unnaturally up one side and down the other a few times, then headed for the bowl. They did several whirpool spins around the bowl, defying gravity, then put the cart back on solid ground. Mordecai breathed a sigh of relief as he slowed the cart down to a normal speed.

"That was awesome! " Rigby yelled excitedly. "Wait, what are you doing?" he asked, noticing that Mordecai had turned back in the direction of the house.

"I guess we need to go wash the cart now, dude."

"What? No way, dude! We still have to do The Hill!" Rigby goaded.

"No, dude. Not today." Mordecai said flatly. The Hill was something they'd recently added to their extreme carting course. It was actually a one and a half mile long path that went up to the highest peak in the park. At the top were tables where park-goers could enjoy a view of the city while they had a picnic. The trail was narrow with several switchbacks and sharp curbs. Their goal was to see how fast they could reach the bottom. They'd only done it a couple of times and Mordecai still didn't feel completely comfortable with it—even when he was sober.

"What's the matter, Mordecai? You're not scared, are you?" Rigby taunted.

"What? No way, dude! It's almost quitting time and we still need to wash the cart. I just don't want to get Benson started in on us, that's all." Mordecai tried to make up excuses that sounded valid.

"Since when are you worried about Benson?" Rigby asked. "You know he's just gonna yell and threaten to fire us, then tomorrow everything will be back to normal. Who cares!"

"I don't think it's a good idea..."

"I think you're scared!" Rigby provoked.

"I'm NOT scared, dude!" Mordecai said defensively, unable to come up with more excuses.

"Well, let's DO IT, then!"

"Okay, but if we get in trouble, I'm blaming everything on you dude!" Mordecai sighed and turned the cart around, heading for The Hill. He didn't want to do this in his current condition, but he knew Rigby would never leave it alone, or let him live it down, if he refused.

The path up to the top was shrouded by large trees on each side, which only allowed a little sunlight to penetrate through gaps in the branches every so often. Mordecai drove in silence. He tried to memorize where the sharpest curbs where, but was having a hard time thinking clearly. When they reached the top, Mordecai stopped the cart for a moment to take in the view.

"Are you ready for this?" Rigby asked with excitement.

"Yeah, dude." Mordecai responded, sounding less than enthusiastic. He looked down and noticed that his hands were shaking slightly from thinking about it so he quickly grabbed the steering wheel before Rigby noticed.

"I think we're totally going to beat our last record this time!"

"Yeah, dude." Mordecai repeated.

"What's wrong, aren't you pumped? You're the one who came up with this idea in the first place!" Rigby reminded him.

Mordecai had come up with the idea to race down The Hill in the cart several months ago to make their extreme carting a little more interesting, but that was when he'd been completely sober. Even then, it seriously challenged his driving skills. A lot had changed since then. "Of course, I'm pumped, dude!" he lied, trying to sound eager.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Let's GO!" Rigby looked at his watch so he could compare their time to their current record once they reached the bottom.

"Okay, let's DO THIS!" Mordecai shouted. He sucked in a deep breath and pressed his foot to the gas. The cart started slowly down the hill at first, but quickly gained speed. He maneuvered through the first set of switchbacks fairly easily and started to relax a little.

"Faster Mordecai! We're never going to beat our record at this rate!" Rigby called.

Mordecai gritted his teeth and pushed the speed a little higher. He took the next sharp curb on two wheels . His mind was racing, but he could vaguely hear Rigby urging him to go faster still somewhere off in the distance. The trees started to blur together into one dark mass, distorting his vision, which was not very sharp to begin with due to the drugs. He started to feel dizzy and his heart felt like it was going to slam through his chest. He lifted his foot off the gas, causing the cart to begin slowing down.

"UHH! What are you doing, dude?" Rigby yelled, realizing that their speed was dropping. "We're almost there! You've got this!"

"Okay Rigby!" Mordecai slammed his foot down on the gas again. The next curb started coming way too quickly. He steered left into the curb with no problem, but then his mind over calculated the distance and he pulled the wheel sharply back to the right too soon. The cart careened off the path and skidded a short distance down the side of the slope before slamming hard into a large tree.

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A/N: Thanks for reading and don't forget to review. The next chapter is coming soon! ~Summer