The Journals

:(5):

       For five months, Morty had no contact with Rick. Every time Beth would ask him to come for the weekend, he would make an excuse. He hadn't seen his family since he left, and he rarely spoke to them over the phone.

       He had cut himself off from the rest of the world. He had begun to hate himself for the way he was, the things he felt. Ultimately, he stopped trying in school. Somehow, despite it all, he maintained fair grades, good enough to remain in his classes. He drank everywhere he went, carrying a flask, just like his grandfather, and he partied nonstop. His life was a mess, and he knew he could only blame himself.

       Now, after a significant amount of time, he found himself packing to leave for Christmas break. He had tried to stay in his dorm, saying he didn't want his family to see him in his current state, but his friend had ultimately packed a bag for Morty and took his room key, locking him out of his dorm until break was over. "Go see your family. And I don't know what happened, but fix things with your grampa. You talk about it so much, there's clearly something wrong." 

       Morty scoffed at the memory, making his way up the path to his parent's house. The doorbell made a sound different from what he remembered, and he soon found himself face to face with Summer. "Morty! Holy shit, you grew!" She pulled him into a hug, something Morty wasn't particularly used to. "Gee, Summer. It's really nice to see you, too!" 

       "Did you get rid of your stutter?! Go, Morty-licious!" She was exceptionally cheery today for whatever reason, but, hey, it was the holidays. Three days to Christmas and all that. It was understandable. Grinning, he wandered into the house, greeting his parents. "Morty!" They pulled him into a massive group hug. "Hi mom, dad." 

        "Morty Smith, if you stop returning my calls like that again I will drag you out of your dorm by your hair and lock you in your room here." Chuckling sheepishly, Morty rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, mom. I, uh... I've been having a hard time with some stuff. Um... my friend signed me up for therapy and all that." Beth folded her arms across her chest. "Mom, I'm really sorry. But, hey! I'm doing well in school. I've just been... drinking." Beth looked almost apologetic, "Well I'm glad you at least have somebody looking out for you. Now, you can go back upstairs. Your room hasn't been taken over yet."

       "Sweet!" Morty ascended the stairs, almost knocking somebody over. "Sorry, Su-" His eyes went wide. "R-Rick..." As soon as the name left his lips, Morty ran into his room and locked the door, leaning his back against it. He felt tears welling in his eyes, though he didn't know why. 

       Calming himself down, Morty proceeded to put his belongings wherever they went, tossing his suitcase in the corner. He went to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His features had changed noticeably. His cheekbones were slightly more prominent, his nose pointed. And he had gone from limp noodle to gym-member, his arms slightly beefier than last time. He looked... good. With a confident grin, he went back to his room and pulled on a tighter, gray t-shirt and black skinny jeans before running down the stairs two at a time. "Somebody's cheery." Jerry stood at the bottom of the stairs, a basket of cookies in his hands.

       "It's just such a nice day." Outside, snow had dusted the earth, leaving everything a white paradise. "Do we still have the box-" Before he could even finish, Jerry nodded knowingly. "Summer already grabbed it. If you hurry, she's in front of the garage." 

       Morty tossed a sweater on, having neglected to bring an actual coat, and laced up a pair of black boots, only adding to his features. With a light chuckle, he found Summer in front of the garage, arguing with Rick.

       "That damn box is not in my eugh garage!" Rick was refusing to let Summer snoop around his shelves. Who knew what would happen if a woman touched his inventions??? "It is too! The box stays in the garage all year! Tell him Morty!" Suddenly, Summer dragged Morty into the conversation. She looked at him expectantly. Rick did a double take, seeing how much Morty changed over the last few months. Without a single verbal response, Morty waltzed into the garage and reached up to one of the higher shelves, grabbing the box. As he extended his arm, he felt cold air run along his middle, telling him that his shirt rode up. He walked back, handing the box to Summer, and took in the ogling Rick that stood before him. With a quick pat on Rick's shoulder, Morty ran after Summer and the duo began to construct a snowman.

      Two hours later, as the two admired their work, they were all called inside for lunch and hot-cocoa. "You two are gonna catch your death of cold." Beth placed mugs in front of everybody, laughing as she dropped marshmallows into the warm chocolate. They were all at the table, sitting together like usual, though Summer wasn't on her phone, and Morty tried to stay as far away from Rick as his chair would let him. "Aw, mom! Summer and I haven't built a snowman in forever. We're great!" Beth laughed, sipping at her cocoa.

       "So, Morty, we were already talking to Summer about her life outside of college, so what about you?" Three pairs of eyes focused on him. A fourth remained indifferent.

       "Well, there's not much to tell. I took speaking lessons and completely fixed my stutter." Morty beamed, proud. "When I first got to the college, everything was a mess. I was struggling for a while. I couldn't find myself, in all honesty. So I started drinking. After a while, this guy, Daemon, comes up to me at a party, and we totally hit it off!" Morty covered his mouth at that, but Beth just laughed. "Don't worry Morty, we all assumed after a while. Still surprising, but not too new." Morty laughed, "Gee, thanks ma!" A majority of the table laughed at Morty's sarcasm before he continued. "Anyway, he spent a lot of time with me. He made me go to therapy and fix myself, so I'm better now. He wanted to come down and meet you guys, but he had to go to his own family. Maybe I'll bring him down this summer." Beth hummed in agreement before she stood to take care of her mug, followed by Summer and Jerry. They had wandered off, leaving Morty sitting in silence near Rick.

       As he pulled out his phone, Rick cleared his throat. "So, uh... y-you took up drinking, huh?" Morty nodded, trying not to act like he was still hurt after Rick refused to say goodbye. The older of the two shifted uncomfortably, "Y-You up for an adventure, kid?" Turning to face him, Morty beamed. "Hells yea." Grinning, Morty took care of his mug as Rick did the same.