As Real as it Gets

Not the Same (Chapter 10, Part 1)

Rick and you went back home and sat on the couch in the living room. You had to turn on the lights to see anything since it was the middle of the night.

"Feels good to be back." He sighed as you sterilized his cuts and wounds, "God, I really missed you."

"I missed you too, Honey." You whispered, "Just... please don't ever do that to me again. Lying and leaving in an attempt to protect me..."

"I know, Babe. I'm so sorry."

"However dangerous it might be, I'm willing to go with you. I'm willing to fight if that means being with you."

"But, I'm not... worth fighting for..." He said quietly and looked at the ground.

You sat closer to him and lightly placed your hand on his cheek, "You are. You're worth absolutely everything."

He smiled and met your gaze, "Alright, If you say so."

-

The following months everything went smoothly, no weird aliens, no spaceships or unknown phone calls. Morty and Summer came over to your house because Morty asked Rick to help with his science project and Summer just wanted to hang out.

When you entered the living room you saw Rick and Morty arguing about something while sitting on the floor, bits and pieces of various materials around them. The coffee table was also moved to the side and Summer was seated on the couch, looking at her phone.

"I- I- I don't want that! Put it back!" Morty yelled at his grandfather.

"It's gonna make it better! Do you not want to have the best project?" Rick asked.

"No. No I don't."

You chimed in, "How's the project going?"

"He won't let me add a chemical that would make the 'lava' on his garbage volcano change color and glow in the dark." Rick made known.

"That sounds like a cool idea." You looked at Morty, "Why don't you want that?"

Morty sighed, "I don't want the best project. Everyone else is gonna think I'm trying to better than them. T- t- they're gonna make fun of me... like they always do."

"Haters gonna hate. Just, like, ignore them." Summer said.

"Oh, Sweetie." You sat down next to Morty, "The ones that make fun of you, they probably have something they're struggling with in their lives and don't know how to deal with it in a healthy way. Their negative comments shouldn't affect you because it's not helping you grow, it's only bringing you down."

"You're right." He thought.

"Besides, high school won't last forever, those people aren't gonna bother you for much longer."

"Wow." Rick spoke, "I wouldn't have said it better."

"You really wouldn't." Morty said, "You would have given me a gun and told me to shoot them."

"Rick!" you turned to your boyfriend.

"I did that once! Okay? Sue me!" He addressed.

Morty thought about the project in front of him, "You know what? I changed my mind. Add those chemicals, Rick. That's gonna be the best volcano the world has ever seen!"

"That's the spirit!" You smiled.

After finishing the project, the kids went home. You sat outside, looking at the shining stars above you. Rick joined you and placed the tray with mugs of hot chocolate on the table.

You smiled widely, "You didn't have to."

"Of course I did." He kissed you sweetly, "Happy two years, Babe."

"I can't believe it's been two years already..." You sighed, "I still remember, clear as day, when you approached me in the school hallway and pretended to care about Morty's education."

Rick's eyes widened, "You knew I was lying?"

"Yup." You took a sip of your hot chocolate.

-

The following week Rick and you were sitting outside when you got a phone call from your friends inviting you to go hang out with them.

A few hours later you finished getting dressed. Stepping into the garage to say goodbye to Rick, he stood up and kissed you sweetly, "Have fun, Babe. I love you."

"I love you too." You smiled and went on your way.

After a couple minutes of walking you remembered that you left your phone on the kitchen counter. You quickly turned around and went back to your house to pick it up. As you were a couple steps away, you heard loud crashing and banging noises coming  from the garage. It scared you so you quickly made your way inside to find Rick standing on top of the hatch on the floor.

"Hey." He smiled widely.

"Are you okay? What were those noises?" You asked while looking around the garage at the mess on the floor with broken and destroyed things, "What happened here? I was gone for three minutes!"

"Oh, nothing!" He said. The hatch door below him started shaking and was accompanied by loud banging from the other side, like something was trapped under, "Ignore that, it's just uhh... a thing." A split second later, a bunch of tiny robots started coming out from the floor, armed with equally tiny, but destructive lasers. They started attacking Rick, but he managed to dodge their attacks and shoot them. You stood frozen in fear.

"What was that?" You shivered.

"Just shitty malfunctioning security robots." He sighed with annoyance.

"Why would they malfunction?" you whispered. He didn't hear you so you continued, "Okay. Well I forgot my phone, I'm just gonna go get it and I'll be on my way."

"Where are you going?" He asked gruffly.

"Out with my friends... I already told you that and you said 'have fun' a few minutes ago." You said, very confused by his question.

"Right." He said.

You went into the kitchen to grab your phone then continued with your day, but wondered why Rick seemed so weird. You met up and you all talked and hung out at a fancy, well-decorated café. Catching up and just talking to your friends felt like moments. After a few lovely hours you split up and went home.