A/N: Hello, everyone. :) I know this seems all sudden, but I happen to have a story in mind for "Regular Show", too. And, obviously, it's about what would happen if Mordecai actually tried to speak his mind the right way to C.J. Truth be told, others may or may not like it, but I'm kind of a C.J. fan, myself. And I get that she had her own path, but I still felt like her potential was just wasted. So, this story is to help remedy that for all Mordecai x C.J. shippers. And if you happen to be against that shipping, then I won't hold it against you; just don't read it. But if you are still interested in reading, then by all means, but please do so with constructive criticism. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this prelude to a new story. :)

Prologue: Mordecai Speaks His Mind

It happened at Mitch "Muscle Man" Sorenstein's wedding day at the Parkside Lux Ballroom. He was to be married to Starla. The two of them had been through a lot to be together. She'd broken up with him once before, but thanks to Mordecai and Rigby, they ended up back together again. Next, Muscle Man made the effort to get to know her parents and ended up fighting against the stuck-up and strict staff of Bistro En Le Parque. Then, the two of them tested the strength of their love to stand to the test of time and succeeded. And finally, he went through a big gesture to marry her, attempting to bury his old self, only to find that Starla wanted to be with his old self (not to mention end up in debt to Benson for over $12,000). Muscle Man thought he'd be ready when Pops spoke to him.

"...as long as you both shall live?"

But as he began to speak, Muscle Man was beginning to hesitate. There was one face who couldn't make it to the wedding: Muscle Dad. Sadly, long before that day, he had perished due to pranking a bear, thinking it was a man in a bear costume, and it came at a great cost. Before then, though, he'd written down what he would've said at his son's wedding day. Unfortunately, his son hadn't received that letter before now. Muscle Man had only one option left as far as his heavy heart could handle.

"I… I can't!"

The crowd made a simultaneous gasp of shock from hearing this. Starla especially was struck with disbelief.

"Mitch?"

"I'm sorry, babe! But this is the biggest moment of my life, and… and I just can't go through with it until I talk to my dad!"

As luck would have it, Mordecai and Rigby burst through the door and came to his rescue. They'd found the envelope from his Muscle Dad on his wedding day.

"We got it! We got it!"

Muscle Man became relieved to see this. Once again, Mordecai and Rigby came through for him.

"I knew I could count on you bros!"

Muscle Man began to open the letter and look into it, hoping that what his father had to write into it would give him the strength to marry Starla.

"To Muscle Son on his we- his we-"

Unfortunately, his emotions got the better of him, and he began to break down into tears. Thus, he relied on Mordecai for his help once again.

"I feel too much! You gotta read it for me!"

Mordecai felt as though he was put on the spot to do such a thing for him.

"Me? Uh, I don't know."

Mordecai's initial refusal was only met with an emotional tear-stained face begging for his help. He couldn't say no to that, especially not on his wedding day.

"Okay, okay."

Mordecai took the letter and went up to the microphone before he spoke into it.

"To Muscle Son on his wedding day. 'Son, if you're reading this letter, you've accomplished something very tough. You found yourself a new co-pilot to help navigate the highway of life. You do your old Muscle Man proud. Knowing you hitched the right trailer to the right rig is no easy feat. In any relationship, it's normal to have doubts. But when you find yourself wondering if you made the right choice, remember the old Sorenstein rule. Trust your gut."

The instant he said this, Mordecai came to a stark realization as he looked towards the crowd, seeing Margaret and C.J. sitting apart from each other, both of them smiling up at him. He looked over to the two of them, reflecting on what he'd been through with the two of them. For him and Margaret's case, his was a puppy love, and on some occasions, he ended up depressed when he was convinced she was marrying someone else, and although they're great friends, Mordecai was still depressed after she went to college and sadly stated she can't be his boyfriend. Then came C.J.

She was practically a match for him. The first time they went out, it was on the premise of them being friends, but C.J. initially believed then that he was going out because he liked her. And after some time, C.J. got over that and ended up with him again. Since then, C.J. had been through more than a few escapades, some of which were inadvertently triggered by her anger. C.J. felt especially bad for those events, and that's what made her feel as awkward as he did. But seeing her smile gave Mordecai the push he needed as he continued reading on.

"It was your gut that told you wanted to spend the rest of your life with this woman, and it's the same gut that still fills up with butterflies when you make her smile. The Sorensteins have big guts for a reason, son. That ain't fat in there; it's wisdom. Good luck on your journey, Muscle Son. Your dad, Muscle Dad."

Muscle Man began to sniffle with joy from his father's words.

"Thanks, Dad. Pops, let's do this."

Little did he know that Mordecai had considered both of his options as his gut had told him to. It was evident that Margaret still had feelings for him after what happened between them. And he knew how C.J. could be when it appeared as though he didn't care about her. But seeing the two of them, and taking into account what they'd gone through, Mordecai had made his decision and acted in accordance with his gut. Thus, he began speaking on his own into the microphone.

"Muscle Dad is right. Finding the right person is hard. You know, for a while, I've been telling myself there's no such thing as soulmates. But now, I'm not so sure. Look at Muscle Man and Starla. It's like they were designed for each other. So, I wondered then, where's my soulmate? Are they in this room? It could be anyone."

Mordecai then pointed over to Margaret and C.J., not even bothering to hide them as he spoke to them.

"Maybe it's Margaret? Or maybe it's C.J.? I don't know. At least, I didn't know until after I looked back on everything we've been through together."

Margaret and C.J.'s attentions were grabbed. They never saw Mordecai being up front about them like this. They had to wonder if it was anything good or bad. But their attention wasn't the only one he got. Benson grumbled under his breath toward Mordecai.

"Why are you talking?"

Mordecai was stuck in a rut from his boss urging him to either hurry up, or most likely to let Muscle Man and Starla be. He looked over to Rigby, seeing him make a motion with his finger, letting him know to keep on going. But while he did, Margaret looked towards C.J.'s way and felt sad while she began to scowl at him.

"Anyway, I don't know if there's one perfect person for me. Maybe it's more than one, or maybe none. But I know that for a long time I've been ignoring my gut, because I didn't want to hurt anyone. But instead of saving their feelings, it's made everyone around me miserable, especially you, C.J."

Hearing this, C.J. began to soften her face, becoming more willing to hear him out as he spoke.

"I know you can't help what I did at that party, or even when I realized it was all a misunderstanding when the two of us were hanging out for the first time back then, and you have a right to be angry, but it should be at me. If I'd just made up my mind about who I should be with, it would've saved you all this grief."

C.J.'s face began to soften even more so from hearing that. He must've felt guilty for making her feel bad at some occasions, whether she was angry or sad. It was then that C.J. began to realize that she hadn't been as good to him as she thought. Every time he messed up, she was too angry with him. She felt bad about how she put Mordecai through his own grief by not willing to hear him out before today.

"But I'm putting an end to that. For the first time, I'm taking Rigby's advice. C.J., I need to tell you…"

Before Mordecai could finish, C.J. cut him off abruptly, though she spoke gently.

"Mordecai, just stop. I already know what you're gonna say. But there's nothing to forgive you for."

This made Mordecai confused and worried about what she meant by that.

"What do you mean?"

C.J.'s face began to blush beet red as she opened herself up to him.

"I've been doing some thinking while we were apart. And I know I haven't been the best girlfriend to you. I should've been more understanding about things between you and Margaret. I mean, I wouldn't blame her for wanting to start over. If it were me, I'd want to start over, too."

C.J. looked over to Margaret as she said the last sentence. Margaret made a soft look on her face as she nodded to her.

"It's okay, C.J."

The poor girl didn't have the heart to believe that as she spoke softly with a sad look.

"No, it's not. I put so much pressure on you and Mordecai when you were just trying to be careful around me. I just wanted to get to know you for who you are, but I blew it. Honestly, as much as I hate lies, I understand why you did what you did. So, moving forward, I want to be able to get to know you sometime. No secrets, no lies, no horrible misunderstandings. Just us being honest with each other. Is that… okay?"

Margaret gave her a soft smile before she nodded in agreement.

"Of course, it's okay."

Eileen took notice of the scene and became practically ecstatic. Rigby took notice of her joyful face and smiled at her as she did a fist pump. C.J. then looked back to Mordecai with a soft look on her face as she continued on, feeling a heavy weight pressing on her chest for the way she made Mordecai feel herself.

"Anyway, the thing is, Mordecai, you're not the only one who's had trouble with your gut. Mine kept telling me that you didn't care about me, but time and again, it's been dead wrong, including tonight. You even pointed to me. If anything, I'm the one who should be sorry. It wasn't your fault I have baggage."

Mordecai tried to reassure C.J. as he put his hand on her shoulder.

"I understand, C.J. But there's really nothing for you to forgive, either. We both made mistakes. But as long as we learn from them, we should be okay. Right?"

C.J. began to smile at Mordecai as she nodded.

"Yeah. But you know it's not really gonna be that easy."

"Maybe, but at this point, I think I'm ready for anything."

C.J. looked into Mordecai lovingly before she gave him a hug.

"You know what? Me, too."

The entire crowd simultaneously began to give a resounding "Aw!" from their affection. And even Margaret was smiling at the two of them. She'd known when she took off for college that Mordecai wasn't going to wait for her. He'd told her before that C.J. was good for him. And she knew that he meant it. She knew he deserved to be happy. Although, Muscle Man and Starla felt as though the whole point of tonight was being forgotten and were quick to bring it up.

"Yo guys, if you two are done hijacking my wedding, is it okay if we get married now?"

"The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can start up these fryers."

Mordecai and C.J. both became embarrassed as they blushed and spoke simultaneously.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, guys."

The two of them looked at each other, both of them surprised that they spoke at the exact same time. Despite it, though, they smiled at each other again before Muscle Man and Starla proceeded with the best day of their lives.

"I do."

With that, Muscle Man crushed a glass under his heel with a cloth just above it.

From then on, the after-party was in full swing. Everything from chicken and shrimp to even cheeseburgers were thrown into fryers. While they were being fried, everyone was dancing in celebration. Rigby and Eileen were especially enjoying themselves with the former acting as if he's using a rope to pull Eileen over, only for her to point at Rigby, gesturing him to come closer to her, which he did as he slipped over to her while playing with his lip before his head pumped to the side and acted as if he was playing possum with Eileen acting as though she's taking a selfie of that moment.

In the meantime, Margaret was dancing with a young man in a suit with Mordecai and C.J. dancing together as they both enacted the robot. Then, Starla was swinging her veil around above her before Muscle Man was swinging his own tux above him alongside her. The Bride and Groom both tossed their veil and tux behind them with Benson catching the tux in eagerness before C.J. caught the veil in surprise before she looked to Mordecai and made a blush his way. And after that momentary blush, she held it up and waved it around like Muscle Man did as she called out with a yell.

"Ohhhh!"

Then came a surprising addition to the fryers. Muscle Man chucked a Turducken, a leftover from Buckmart's attempt to take it for its wishbone, into it. But as a result, it ended up being too much for the fryer to handle. It shot up like a rocket and went through the ceiling before crashing onto a red sedan outside the Parkside Lux Ballroom. Benson was the first to rush out in panic as he shouted.

"No!"

At the same time Benson rushed to his car, Rigby went outside and saw that Mordecai and C.J. were talking to each other with smiles on their faces. Little did he know that they were talking about something that seemed to have made Mordecai surprised.

"Wait, you actually want to go there?"

"Yeah. I feel like since we understand each other better, maybe we can try it out sometime. You up for it?"

Mordecai couldn't help but give a blush her way as he answered.

"Yes, I do."

"Cool. And just to make sure…"

Suddenly, C.J. gave Mordecai a kiss on the lips before he melted into that kiss and became lost in that bliss himself. After a while, C.J. and Mordecai parted their lips before she spoke to him again.

"There's gonna be more of that on Saturday. See you then."

"Yeah. See you later soon."

C.J. got on her bike and rode away from the park as Mordecai looked on with a smile. He couldn't help but feel proud of himself for being so open to C.J. the way he was. He never would've thought Rigby's advice would help him and C.J. be that close together. Speaking of, he turned back to the Parkside Lux and saw Rigby. He could already guess that he saw the whole thing. Still, Rigby was curious about how it turned out.

"So, how did it go?"

Mordecai couldn't contain the smile on his face as he answered.

"C.J. actually invited me to go somewhere for the two of us this Saturday."

Rigby couldn't help but feel proud of his friend as he replied.

"See, Mordecai? All you had to do was go with your gut."

Mordecai gave a smiling glance back at Rigby as he replied.

"Eh, anybody could've done it."

Rigby raised his eyebrows in doubt while playfully teasing him.

"That's not what you told me when we were looking for the letter."

"Okay, I get it. I wasn't any good at it."

Rigby gave Mordecai a slight nudge on the shoulder.

"Hey, you're not that bad. C.J.'s still into you, man. And that's what counts, right?"

Mordecai looked over to where C.J. had taken off. At the end of the day, Mordecai's honesty helped preserve his relationship with C.J. and stabilized her friendship with Margaret on common ground. All in all, it might very well have been the best night of his life, at least for the time being.

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

Rigby put his hand on Mordecai's back, feeling proud for him being able to have a girlfriend like he did.

"Come on. Let's go get some fried foods."

Rigby and Mordecai then walked back into the Parkside Lux, not noticing that Benson was still distraught over the Turducken incident with his Red Sedan.