A/N: Forgive me for dragging my feet on this story. Been kind of sleeping on it. Nevertheless, I said I was gonna finish this, so I'm gonna. Right now.

Margaret tapped her fingers on her table she was sitting at restlessly. Mordecai was leaving for art school in a few hours, and strangely enough, she couldn't get the idea out of her head. And it showed.

Throughout the day, she found herself not being able to focus as good as she could normally. She prided herself on being efficient in whatever she did. Yet today, nothing went right. She struggled to remember her lines, she stumbled over her words from time to time. Other reporters that she relatively had good conversations with noticed and asked her if something was wrong. A question she couldn't answer in a completely honest way.

"Is this what Mordecai was thinking when I left for college?" Margaret questioned in her mind. She immediately dismissed the thought. From what she heard, her leaving had affected him a lot more than simply distracting him. Eileen didn't give her any details though. Just that it hit him hard. Either way, she didn't have a reason as to why she couldn't get the thoughts out of her head. At least, a logical reason as to why she was having the thoughts. After all, they had both agreed... Nope. She wouldn't even think about it.

The clock ticking right next to her signaled that it was time to leave. It was a day she barely got through without being distracted, but she still did a fairly decent job. Just not as good as usual.

As soon as she got to her house, the robin laid her keys on the table that was next to the couch before heading to the kitchen. Food and mindless TV was more than likely to take her mind off the departing Mordecai. At least until she had to go see him off. By then, she was confident she wouldn't say anything stupid. What better way to help with that than frozen pizza.

While her oven was pre-heating, she decided to do some picking up. There were a few idle crumbs left over from the movie night that her, Mordecai, Eileen, and Rigby had last night. It seemed that even though they were exhausted, they had picked up their stuff. For the most part. There were a few crumbs they would've needed a vacuum to get, and Margaret herself wouldn't vacuum that late at night even if the floor was littered with crumbs. Let the rats come and take her away if they must. She would've just wanted to sleep.

So she idly ran a vacuum around the couch as she kept an eye on the clock. About two hours until Mordecai was leaving. That was all the time was to her at this point. A countdown. Ok, so far her thoughts were still on Mordecai. Didn't matter. Every person doesn't want their best friend to go off and leave them for an extended a period of time. She tried not to let the guilt sink in at that thought. Mordecai was over it. He told her so, and she could tell he was telling the truth. Yet she was still hanging on to it.

Then something black sticking out of the couch caught her attention. She shut off the vacuum and moved over to give the item some inspection. Her eyes widened slightly. It was Mordecai's cell phone. He must've left it when he came over last night. He would definitely need this if he was going over to college. She bit her bottom beak slightly. She supposed she could wait until he was leaving to give it to him. Then again, she didn't feel like waiting. He probably had calls to make before he left. And he didn't have his phone.

"It wouldn't hurt to go give to him. Shouldn't take but a minute," Margaret thought to herself. Nodding resolutely, she grabbed her keys and began heading out of the door. Only... she felt slightly self conscious still being in her suit that she wore at the news station. Ok, she would change. It was unnecessary, but we all do unnecessary things.

As she went towards her room, she stopped again from the sound of a beep from the kitchen. Ok, cut oven off, change, then go give Mordecai his phone. Something in the back of her mind was nagging her, but she ignored it.

Meanwhile, Mordecai was turning his and... well, soon to be no one's room in search for his phone. Rigby was moving in with Eileen once Mordecai left.

The raccoon in question was scurring across the floor, going from place to place looking. Mordecai appreciated how less lazy his friend actually was. It certainly helped him with his search. Even then, they hadn't found it yet.

"Do you have any idea what you did with it?" Rigby asked.

"No, and that's the problem. I have no idea where we should start. The last time I remember having my phone was at Margaret's house when..." Mordecai stopped sifting through the closet and turned towards his best friend, who was smirking.

"You just want an excuse to go over there," Rigby teased.

"Shut up," Mordecai said. Had that been true, Mordecai's cheeks would've been bright red. At least since his priority was on his phone, he was able to fight the implications of the statement. It didn't help that... familiar feelings had come back to the surface since they accidentally touched hands at Cheezers.' Man, his mind was absolutely insane sometimes.

"In any case, we don't have to go over there until we're sure we know she has it. She just got off work, and I doubt she would want to be bothered just yet," Mordecai told his friend.

"Come on. It's your last day here. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you disturbed her out of her sleep just for a cup of sugar. We can take the cart there," Rigby told him.

"Alright, we'll head over there. Just let me borrow your phone really fast," Mordecai said, holding out his hand.

"You still want to call her and tell her we're coming, don't you?" Rigby said with a sigh.

"Duh. Just hand it here," Mordecai said. Rigby grabbed his phone and handed to Mordecai, who dialed Margaret's number and held the phone up to his ear.

"You know, I have her in my contacts too you know. That doesn't seem to be a problem for you though," Rigby said in a teasing tone, causing Mordecai punch him in the arm. "Owwww!"

"Shush!" Mordecai said with a glare, moving a finger in front of his beak. "The teasing me about Margaret got old years ago."

"But it's true," Rigby mumbled as he made to get in the passenger's seat. Mordecai only shook his head as the line clicked.

"Rigby?" Margaret questioned.

"No, it's Mordecai. I'm calling on Rigby's phone because I can't find mine. Last place I remember having it is at your house. Have you seen it?" Mordecai asked.

"Yeah, I have it with me. I was just coming over to give it to you," Margaret told him, making Mordecai's eyes widen slightly. He didn't really expect that. But at least it saved him a trip. He didn't know why it was slightly off putting.

"No, that's not necessary. I know you just got off work, and we're in the cart now," Mordecai said.

"Well, it's a little late for that. I'm already in my car and heading there. Do yourself a favor and just save the gas. I doubt Benson will miss the opportunity to blow one more gasket at you before you leave," Margaret said in a humored tone, making Mordecai smile as well.

"You have a point there. Alright, we'll wait. See you when you get here," Mordecai said, getting out of the cart.

"Shouldn't take me long to get there, so you'll have your phone back in no time," Margaret told him.

"Thanks. Bye," Mordecai said.

"Bye," Margaret said before the line cut. When Mordecai turned around, Rigby was looking dead at him.

"From the sound of that, I assume we don't have to go anywhere?" he asked.

"Yup. Apparently, Margaret found my phone and was already coming over here to give it to me," Mordecai said, making Rigby smirk.

"Didn't she just get off work?" he asked, making Mordecai hesitantly nod. "It's confirmed. She likes you again."

"And you say I read into stuff too much. What's so significant about her coming over here to deliver a phone?" Mordecai asked, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"She just got off work. Getting back out again is the last thing people want to do when they get off work. Believe me, I know. Trust me, she likes you again. It's just up to you if you want to follow up on that," Rigby said, raising his hands in surrender. Mordecai raised an eyebrow.

"You mean, you're not going to try some harebrained scheme to try and get us together?" he questioned in a tone of disbelief.

"Nope. Hey, if you want to try and make the relationship work even though you're gone and at college, it's up to you if you can manage it," Rigby said, making Mordecai bite his tongue slightly. Then he shook off the thoughts as he went towards the house. After all, he was NOT trying to get back together again. He knew Margaret certainly wasn't again.

"Ah, there's the Mordecai 'Denial Protocol' that you're famous for," Rigby said as if he were reading Mordecai's thoughts.

"You have a name for it?" Mordecai questioned dryly, purposely not answering his question.

"After years of being around you doing it, I had enough time to name it and tell when you're doing it. Like now," Rigby said, pointing a finger at him.

"There's nothing going on between us," Mordecai told him.

"Nothing that I've seen yet," Rigby said, still pointing his finger at Mordecai as if he were challenging him to a sword fight.

"Will you just drop it?" Mordecai said, glaring at the raccoon.

"I don't have to say anything. I'll let the awkwardness that's sure to happen speak for itself," Rigby said in a tone of self assurance. Mordecai rolled his eyes. Sometimes his friend did too much.

Margaret was right. It didn't take long for her to arrive. About five minutes after him and Rigby got in the house, the door was ringing. Mordecai was the first to his feet to open the door. He was surprised to find that she wasn't in her suit for work. She got off work like, less than ten minutes ago? It wouldn't have taken her long to find his phone, judging by how she was changed and already in the car by the time he realized it was over at Margaret's.

"Hey, um... I'm surprised you're not still in your suit. Did they let out early or something?" Mordecai asked. Then he noticed the awkward red tinge to Margaret's cheeks, and that made him pursue his lips. Great. He asked a very awkward question.

"Yeah, they did," Margaret swiftly said, giving him no time to ponder further on the subject. Then she pulled the phone out of her pocket and held it up. "Here it is. It was stuck in my couch. I know you would need it, so I came to give it to you."

"Oh, I appreciate that," Mordecai said, taking the phone from her. A simple exchange, yet... Mordecai find himself not wanting her to go just yet. He kicked himself, but the feeling was still there. He cursed Rigby for being right about the awkwardness.

"I..." His throat stuck for a moment before he cleared it. "I would of course, have needed my phone. You know, there's a lot of stuff I have to handle once I get down to Oklahoma. You saved me a trip for doing this."

"It wasn't a problem. I was just picking up a little and saw it," Margaret said, curling her left leg around her right while her hands were behind her back. Her head was slightly tilted as she looked at him. His hands flexed as he started to remember his weakness for running his fingers through bright red feathers...

"Stop it Mordecai!" he firmly told himself mentally as he willed himself to look back at Margaret without a blush threatening to rise to his cheeks. It was like high school all over again. Except he knew exactly what it was like to date her. Even now, he couldn't pinpoint a time he was happier. There were close contenders, but that feeling... that feeling...

"Mordecai?" Margaret suddenly questioned, making him snap out of his stupor. This time he couldn't hold back the blush that sprang to his cheeks, but he moved his head deliberately to crack his neck before shaking it around in hopes to make it look subtle but in reality, it was to shake off the embarrassment. He was at least happy to say that he had gotten better at that.

"Sorry I tuned out for a moment there," Mordecai said. He was happy to say his cheeks weren't red. What's more, Margaret didn't seem to notice.

"Didn't know I was that uninteresting," Margaret said with a wry smirk. It obvious she was joking. Unfortunately, Mordecai's vocal chords acted before his brain did. Since when was that ever a thing?

"I didn't mean that!" he suddenly blurted, surprising Margaret slightly. "That's far from the truth, really." Then his brain caught up, and he was left blushing again. And he had no reason to crack his neck now. He just opted on turning his head and scratching the back of his head awkwardly again.

The slight tilt of Margaret's head became more distinct as she looked at him. Her eyes were swimming with a look; as if she were thinking about something she couldn't really figure out. He knew it was about the way he acted, but the look was in her eyes longer than he expected. Like, a lot longer. Then she grinned.

"And that's all the proof I need to know that no matter what you go through, Mordecai will always be Mordecai," she said, making him smile wide as well. Just like that, she was able to melt the awkwardness away. With a smile and a compliment. This is why she was amazing.

"Yup. I'm still me. Just with a few more memories. Good and bad," Mordecai said, trying not to let his thoughts drift back to Pops. He had enough dealing with that as the days rolled by.

"I'm glad," Margaret said with a gentle smile that made his heart flutter. Crap, there was no point in denying he fell for her again. It'd be stupid at this point. But given how he was leaving for college in less than two hours, he was gonna have to bite the feelings down.

"You two gonna come in, or hold the entire conversation on the doorstep?" Rigby questioned. As much as he wanted to glare at his friend for that, he knew he was right. They were having an entire conversation on the doorstep of the house.

"Oh. Right. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. I'm sure you wanna get back to your house and rest up after a hard day's work," Mordecai said. Margaret tilted her head even more before it suddenly straightened, a smile on her face.

"Nah, I think I'd rather stay. That is, if you don't mind..." Margaret said innoculously.

"'Course not. Come in," Mordecai said, stepping aside for her to walk in. Then he looked at Rigby, who had that smirk on his face. The very smirk on his face when he knew he was right and someone was wrong. Eileen was the only one he didn't do that to. The few times he could pull it off with her. With Mordecai, it happened more times than he'd care to admit.

Rigby then looked at his phone before hopping up and heading towards the door. The eyes of both avians followed him to the door while Mordecai was the first one to speak.

"Where are you going?" he asked. Rigby only turned and showed him Eileen's text to meet him at the coffee shop. It was literally sent less than a minute ago. But he couldn't help but feel that his friend planned this...

"No offense, but I'd rather be there than here," Rigby said, waving at the two birds. Then he left. Almost hastily. Margaret raised an eyebrow upon his departure before turning to Mordecai.

"He left in a hurry," she told him.

"At least I don't have to listen to him say uncomfortable things, so take it as a blessing," Mordecai said as he sat on the couch. Margaret then sat down next to him and he looked at her as he relaxed where he sat.

"So..." Margaret started awkwardly. "Do you think you're ready for school?"

"As ready as I can be, I guess. I'm going there with a drive this time. I will finish art school. I assure you of that," Mordecai said firmly.

"Nice to see you've got obvious motivation to this," Margaret said with a small smile.

"Figure it's what's going to get me through the whole thing. I never was one for doing what I liked in the form of an assignment. I just liked doing it, you know? Then I just made a mistake and ended up losing all confidence as an artist," Mordecai said, trying not to brood on the memory. "Don't think I've told you that before."

"You didn't," Margaret said. Truly, she didn't know why he dropped out of art school. She never pried. Not even while they were dating. She never felt the need to bring it up. All that mattered was that he was alright in the here and now.

"Well, now you know. But now here's my chance to redo it all over again. And I got the drive that I didn't have after that happened. So this time'll be different," Mordecai said.

"I'm glad. And if you need our help at all..."

"Don't you worry about that. That space program covered all my funds for the school, so..."

"That's not what I meant. My turn to interrupt," Margaret said with a smirk playing on her lips."I mean moral support. I'll come down there if you need to." Her tone phrased it as a joke, but she had the strangest feeling that she actually would go down there if he asked.

"I'm sure that won't be necessary, but I more than appreciate the thought," Mordecai said with a smile. That smile of his... an old weakness she didn't know she still had. She mentally scolded herself as she looked him back in the eye.

"I'm sure the others feel the same way," Margaret said as a way to disperse the thoughts in her head.

"Mmm, true. But you're the first one to say it," Mordecai said, the slight smile growing even wider to show teeth.

"Alright, enough of the college. We don't have to focus on that until another... hour and forty five minutes," Margaret said, looking at the clock. "We can do what you want until then."

"I'm content just sitting here and talking," Mordecai said, resting his arm on the top of the couch. Margaret only smiled.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked.

"How have you been?" Mordecai asked casually, causing Margaret to whack him on the arm. He only laughed loudly while Margaret couldn't help but notice it seemed sturdier than before. But then she recovered with a smirk playing on her lips.

"Be serious!" she told him.

"I am serious. Seriously, how are you?" Mordecai asked, his tone more genuine.

"I suppose I couldn't complain. I mean, now that you all have come back, I'm definitely much better than before. But before, things were just... dull. Had no one but family to visit at the time, and even that gets old. You know how my dad gets," Margaret said.

"Oh, I do. Before he actually gave me a chance, that is," Mordecai said.

"Treasure that. Cause not many people get the privlege," Margaret said, making Mordecai smirk.

"I'll treasure it... like, um..." Mordecai cut himself from what he was about to say before scratching his head in mock confusion. Man, these feelings were making a simple conversation harder than it had to be. "Crap. Thought I had a decent analogy to compare it to."

"That's becuase you use this..." Margaret put a finger on his lips before pointing to his skull. "...before you use that."

"Of course. Because it's a lot more fun that way," Mordecai said, a smirk playing on his lips.

"It also makes you look like a baffoon like a few seconds ago," Margaret said, copying his smirk.

"Hey! I do not look like a baffoon. I look like a very charming intellectual, thank you very much," he said in a haughty tone while pretending to adjust a tie.

"To monkeys maybe," she muttered, but just loud enough for Mordecai to hear it. She knew she got a reaction from him once she heard his form shift. What she did not expect was to find his form leaning over hers with a grin on his face.

"This monkey will go bananas on you unless you take it back," Mordecai said, calling upon every fiber of his being to not take this out of context.

"And just what do you intend to do if I don't?" Margaret asked with a raised brow. She was intentionally baiting him. She wanted to know what he would do. Something that would appease her thumping heart. "Please let me know what you mean by 'go bananas.'"

Mordecai didn't have an answer to that. The smile on his face disappeared and was replaced by a look that was more... searching. His heart rate sped up considerably as he stared into her eyes. Unless he was mistaken, he felt her shiver slightly. The smile had also disappeared on her face and she seemed to mirror the look on his face.

"There are a few things..." Mordecai said, managing to find his voice. But only a little. "...I could think of. But they're... a bit unorthodox."

"Try me," Margaret said, leaning into him slightly. Her hands found their way to the back of his head as she stared at him. Aw, to heck with college distance. He lowered his lips down to hers and kissed her as hard as he could.

The instant reception was the first thing he noticed when he kissed her. That meant he was not stopping. He was prepared to get off her, apologize profusely for doing what he did, then insist that they do something else other than talk. But this... this was way better.

"I missed you so much," Margaret said between kisses.

"So did I," Mordecai said, his hand finding its way into her feathers at the top of her head. He ran his fingers through them while continuing to kiss her. There was that feeling again. A feeling he missed. A feeling he didn't even know he would miss again. Now it felt like an ache that had been eased.

Her fingers found their way into his hair as well as she directed his head more towards her neck. The smile on her face grew wider from the feeling of his lips on her neck. Years of dating, and there was one person who could make her feel like this. No matter where they kissed, no matter what they said, they couldn't beat this. Feelings of such euphoria that neither could find a description. Only they understood the feeling, and them alone. And they alone could elicit the sensation from each other.

"So..." Mordecai said as his lips detached from her neck and his gaze rose up to meet hers. "...I can assume you've been struggling with this like I have?"

"If the thoughts have been worming their way into your mind since Cheezers', then yes. Most definitely," Margaret said.

"You too, huh? In many different ways, I find myself coming back to you. First high school... then the coffee shop... turn back around to last Christmas... then back from space, and I'm back here." In between each pause, he put a kiss on a different part of her skin every time. Margaret smiled wider.

"You know, for once I think you're right," Margaret said.

"I'm always right," he said with a gentle smile. "Most of the time."

"I miss today being opposite day or something?" Margaret teased causing Mordecai to laugh brightly as he continued to run his fingers through her feathers.

"Ah, some of my old weaknesses still remain. Your laugh. Running my hand through your hair. Kissing you. Savoring the scent of you..." Mordecai ran his beak from her stomach all the way back up to her face, and Margaret couldn't help another shiver.

"I think that goes ditto for me. Familiar sensations and feelings. Things that you do that make me remember why I get like this sometimes," Margaret said, her hand on his left cheek. "Would it be selfish of me to ask you to wait for me? I mean, you've never done the same and you let me move on with my life. Yet, now that I'm in the position... I can't find myself wanting to let go. Not again."

"Me neither, to be quite honest. We just need to actually try," Mordecai said, refusing to take his eyes off her. "Holidays, calls, whatever it takes. I'm not letting this feeling go again."

"Neither am I," Margaret said.

Mordecai put his stuff in the trunk of Margaret's car before turning to Rigby and Eileen. The both of them arrived when the two of them were still wrestling tongues on the couch. Eileen pretended to cough while Rigby had a smirk on his face. Margaret simply straightened her clothes while none of them acted like they did anything wrong. Even though their cheeks were bright red. His friend was a bit slow on the uptake, but when he moved, he moved well. He had the strangest feeling if they didn't arrive, Benson would have to replace the couch.

"Well this is it," Mordecai said.

"Enough of the crap. Come back an artist so you can marry Margaret and we can do a joint wedding," Rigby said, making Mordecai grin.

"You got a deal," he said as he looked at Eileen. "I'm not gonna be here as much, so you better keep him in line."

"Don't worry. I'll definitely handle that. It should be easier since I won't have to get him up for work," Eileen said, kissing her boyfriend. Mordecai smiled at the two before waving them goodbye. Rather than the depressing feeling he felt he would have during the way to the airport, she just had hope. That that he still had something to come home to after he finished art school.

"Ready?" Margaret asked.

"As I'll ever be," Mordecai said, putting his hand on Margaret's as she moved to adjust the lever for parking. The smile just wouldn't leave her face.

A/N: Ran through this in one day. I was determined to give you all this, and here it is. From this point on, Mordecai marries Margaret straight out of art school and the ending is basically the same. The image of Eileena laughing with Margaret fits more in my mind than Mordecai's canon wife while Margaret is nowhere to be seen. So that's that! Hope you enjoyed this! Even though it took me a century to get the last chapter out!