#outthere

“Haha! I mother f*cking did it!”

I groan tiredly when Rick violently shakes me awake. I glance at him, he grins widely “Check it out, baby! You’re looking at the guy that just created this!” He says proudly. I look at the oddly shaped gun in confusion, “Is that what you’ve been working on this whole time? What is it?” I ask, rubbing my eyes.

“It’s a portal gun,” Rick explains “With this I can travel across dimensions. I can go anywhere I want.” “Did you make sure it works?” I ask, yawning. Rick rolls his eyes “Of course I made sure it worked. Watch.” He says before shooting the portal gun beside the bed. I shield my eyes from the bright green glow the portal produces. I look at the portal in awe, “See it works.” Rick says proudly, placing a hand on my back

“Wow, Rick, this is-”

“Now let’s see if it’s safe.”

Rick shoves me into the portal, I let out a scream. I hit a hard tile floor, I sit up and look around. I was in the kitchen…

“Did it work? Are you alive?” Rick asks, walking out of our bedroom. I turn to him angrily “Rick, what the h*ll?! What if that killed me?!” I shout, I shove him. Rick scoffs, “Come on, N/N. You didn’t die. I knew the portal was safe.” He says. “Then, why didn’t you go through it too?” I ask, I lower my voice, Beth doesn’t need to hear this sh*t. Rick huffs and crosses his arms at me, “Well, I thought you would’ve wanted to be the first one to experience portal travel.” He states bitterly “Yeah, you’re were wrong.” I sigh angrily, I turn on my heels and storm towards our bedroom. “Stop being dramatic!” Rick calls, I ignore him and shut the door. I flop onto the bed tiredly

There was a green flash outside the door. I hug my knees tightly, he’s gonna come in here…I know it…he’s gonna come in here and apologize like he always does. We’re gonna work through this…this isn’t the end of us…

Beep…beep…beep…beep

Rick stands over me as I start to open my eyes, “There she is.” Rick says with a drunken smile. I try to sit up up, but Rick stops me “Whoa, hang on. I wouldn’t do that if I were you, you just went through major surgery.” Rick warns “Major…what?” I ask. “Congrats, I fixed your heart. Now you won’t have random heart attacks anymore. You’re welcome-no need to thank me…unless, you really want to~”

“Rick, what did you do?” I ask, looking at the large scar on my chest. Rick smiles drunkenly, “I-I-I saved you, Baby. I saved you like any good husband would…” He tells me. I stare at the scar with wide eyes, I frown sadly, “What’s-URP-wrong? This is the part where you’re happy.” Rick states. “Why would I be happy? I didn’t want this!” I snap angrily “Didn’t want-you didn’t want to be helped? To finally stop taking those big *ss pills? To live your life, knowing you can actually live it?” Rick asks, glaring at me.

I fight back the sadness I was feeling, “How…how do I know you didn’t put some…experimental heart that could end up killing me?! So you wouldn’t have to put in yourself, you made me your test monkey!” I ask, trying to keep up my anger.

I know this isn’t the Rick I had Beth with…I know he isn’t the Rick I got into so many fights with-Rick explained it to me so many times when he wasn’t drunk…well, he was less drunk than normal, but I still find it hard to separate the Rick that’s been purposely losing his blankets to sleep in my bed and the Rick that would purposely sleep in the garage to make sure he didn’t have to see me at night…

Some things about how we met are the same…other things are different. How do I know this isn’t one of those times where this Rick and the ‘first’ Rick are the same.

Rick stares at me for a second, he blinks slowly before speaking with anger “W-who-why-did that other Rick f*cking do that to you?!” He asks angrily. I didn’t respond, “WHAT THE F*CK?! THAT GUY’S WORSE THAN I THOUGHT! Not o-o-only did he take away the few things I actually cared about in life, but he-he didn’t appreciate what he had! SON OF A B*TCH!” Rick screams, gripping his hair angrily. He turns to me quicker than I was expecting, my eyes widen at him. There’s no telling what he’d do when he’s in this state..

BeepBeep…BeepBeep…BeepBeepBeep.

“I want you to u-understand something, Y/N,” Rick says, holding my hands firmly “I f*cking love you, ok?! I wanted to spend the rest of m-my sh*tty life with you! You made my life less sh*tty! Y-y-you wanna know why I took time to build you a heart? Because-if you die! I’ll die! Then B-Beth will have no parents and be so depressed that she gives Jerry another kid! Is that what you want Y/N? Another Jerry running around?! At least we could save Summer and M-Morty from ending up like him, b-but this one will be all alone!”

Ok, he’s ranting, he doesn’t mean anything he just said. Good.

I sigh, I try to pull my hands away from his, but Rick doesn’t let go. He stopped ranting, looking down with a defeated frown. I sigh silently, I squeeze Rick’s hands softly…he glances at me, I look down “Thank you-” Rick engulfs me into a hug “I knew you’d l-l-like it! Hang on,” Rick pulls out of the hug “I’m gonna go get the-the…stuff to show you how it works! Wubba lubba dub dub!” He runs out of the garage, leaving me to listen the the sounds of the heart monitor…I frown at the floating feeling in my chest.

My dimension or not, I refuse to fall in love with him again.

~4 Days Later~

“Hey, Grandma, what do you think of this?” Summer asks, walking out of the dressing room. She was wearing a black dress, fishnet stockings, and some high heels. I sniffle a little, “I would be so jealous of you if we went to high school together.” I say proudly.

Summer lights up, “Really? You think I should get it?” She asks excitedly “The mom in me says no, buuuut, I’ve raised my kid-so I say you should definitely get it.” I tell her, Summer squeals “Thanks, Grandma!” She says before going back into the dressing room. I smile at her softly.

“Wow, I’m shocked you approved of that outfit…”

A guy around my age smile at me softly, “Well, I believe in letting kids wear what they want. As long as they’re not naked.” I state with a shrug. “That’s good…not a lot of open minded people in our generation. I hope you’re open minded with other things too.” The man chuckles softly, I cringe a little, but it didn’t last long so the guy didn’t notice. Summer walks out of the dressing room, holding the dress she was going to buy for her school dance thing.

“I can’t wait for the other girls to see me in this and sh*t their panties in jealousy-um, who’s this?” Summer asks, eyeing the dude…it’s ironic how she looks like Jerry, but makes expressions that Rick tends to make. “Oh, I have no idea. We’re just started talking.” I tell her, the man chuckles again. “My name’s Leroy.” He states, Summer and I share an unimpressed look. “Hey, if you’re not too busy, maybe we could have some brunch one day. I know a good place.” Leroy says, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I smile politely, fighting the strong urge to laugh at his offer. “Sorry, but I’m not interested in dating at the moment.” I tell him. Leroy only smirks a little bit, “But at one point, you will be interested in dating again…when the time comes. Give me a call?” He asks, handing me a paper with his number on it. “I-I…will.” I say awkwardly before Summer drags me away.

She buys her clothes and we get into the car. “So…Leroy?” Summer asks, I nod…the two of us break into a laughing fit. “He really thought he had a chance with the name Leroy?!” Summer laughs “That and his stupid sh*tty pick up line!” I snort. “And he already had his number pre-written down?! Who does that?!” Summer asks through her fits of laughter, “Apparently, guys named Leroy do.” I laugh. Summer wheezes.

(A/N: No offense to any Leroys)

Our laughter starts to die down as I start the car. Summer glances at me, “Are you gonna tell Grandpa?” She asks me. “Uh, no. Why would I tell him?” I scoff lightly “Aren’t you two back together?” Summer asks, scrolling through her phone. “No. Why would you even think that?” I ask, eyeing her worriedly. Summer smirks at me.

“You two are sleeping in the same bed.”

“Not by choice. Rick always get in my bed when he’s drunk. And that’s every night.”

“What about when you two flirt?”

“Making fun of his bald spot isn’t flirting.”

“What about when he tells you he’d die without you.”

“That’s because I’m the only one that forces him to drink water and eat an actual meal...”

Summer smirks even more, “Yeah, sure.” She says “I’m serious, we’re not back together. There’s no chance of that happening.” I say seriously, gripping the steering wheel tightly. I frown a little at Summer snickering a little, “Yeah, whatever you say, Gram.” She teases. I roll my eyes a little.

~Next Day~

I stand outside the garage door nervously. Jerry walks in, “Jerry, before I die. Always know, I don’t hate you as a person, I hate you as a son in law…and as a person. But more as a son in law.” I states “Um…ok…” Jerry says. “Also, if I die, leave Beth or I’m haunting your *ss.” I say firmly before I take a deep breath and walk into the garage.

Rick lays across his desk, knocked out as usual. I sigh and slowly approach him, my hand shakes as I reach for his lab coat. I suck in a breath, slowly pulling Rick’s flask out of his pocket. Rick remains unfazed, I quickly run out the garage.

Jerry was still in the kitchen, he watches me with confusion. “Jerry, leave now, I don’t want any witnesses.” I sigh, screwing the cap off the flask. I sniff the bottle-I quickly pull it away from my face. The scent was so strong, I feel drunk off of smelling it. Jerry takes whatever he wanted before quickly leaving.

I pour the orangey liquid down the drain, whatever Rick’s been drinking is super thick…I frown worriedly before sighing “I’m only doing this so he stops being drunk around me…” I mumble. I rinse out the sink, “Ok…time to refill this with something.” I hum. I grab some orange soda out of the fridge, I pour it into the flask.

“Eh. Might as well add Sprite.” I say, pouring in Sprite too. I screw the top back on, I beam proudly as I turn to walk back into the garage. “AAAH!” I scream, Rick stands in front of me “W-what are you doing?” He asks. Rick glares at me suspiciously. “D-drugs?” I wheeze out fearfully, Rick snatches the flask out my hands “I know! Do-do you know what this will do to you if you drink it?!” Rick scolds.

My eyes flash concern for a split second, “I’m guessing the same thing it does to you.” I state, trying to move past Rick. He drops the flask and grabs my shoulders, “Did…did I just hear some concern in your voice?” He asks. I pull out of his hold, “Yeah, you keep sleeping in my d*mn bed, last thing I need is you dying next to me. I got enough trauma cuz of you…” I sigh.

Rick picks up the flask, and takes a sip. He pauses, I tense a little, but relax when Rick continues drinking. He walks away back into the garage I quickly walk into the living room. Morty was sitting on the couch, I frown a little when he starts at the tv emotionlessly…I guess Beth and Jerry’s latest fights have been getting to him… “Hey, Morty…” I greet softly “Hey, did-did you do the thing?” He asks, I shush him. I nod, Morty frowns nervously “Won’t he find out and get mad?” He whispers.

“Yeah, but he doesn’t need to be drinking that stuff anyway.” I hum, turning up the tv. Morty stares at me for a moment before slowly going back to watching tv. Morty taps his fingers nervously, “What do you wanna ask?” I ask him “H-huh?” Morty asks with wide eyes “Morty, I can pick up on your little tells. I know you want to either ask or tell me something.” I state.

Morty’s tapping comes to a stop, “You stopped taking your pills,” He starts nervously “Are you-…trying to do something to yourself?” Morty frowns at me sadly. My eyes widen, “No! Morty! No, no! I have too much confidence to do anything like that. I’m shock with how much he drags you around, Rick never said anything.” I snort lightly, “A-about what?” Morty asks, his sad frown turns into a confused one.

“He gave me a mechanical heart because…I’m not really sure. But I have yet to blow up, so, I think the act was genuine.” I hum “Wow, s-so, Rick helped your heart issues and-and you’re trying to help his drinking problem?” Morty asks, he cracks a smallest of smiles “I…I guess. But I’m not doing that for any romantic reasons. I’m just returning the favor.” I say, crossing my arms and cringing-even I don’t believe the sh*t coming out of my mouth…

“Would you ever want to get back together with Rick?” Morty asks bluntly, I look at him before sighing heavily “I really don’t know…the dumb part of me would love to jump at the chance to rekindle the love that was taken from me just as soon I as I got used to it, but the smart part of me knows that OUR Rick, the one who left me and your mother, was an awful…sometimes even mentally abusive sack of sh*t…” I trail off, Morty tilts his head at me “I know, that Rick and the Rick who’s currently sucking down Sprite and Orange soda are almost two different people, but I guess my brain is struggling to separate the two. Which means, I really don’t see me and any Rick getting back together.” I sigh. Morty hums, staring at the ground.

~Author’s POV~

~(Meanwhile)~

Rick stares at the screen quietly, “I knew I tasted Sprite in this…” He mutters, studying his flask. Rick swiftly types words into the keyboard, allowing the robot to continue speaking…

“It looks like Rick still has f-feelings for you.”

“It feels more love-bombing than anything, Morty.”

Rick frowns and types more, “What if he actually loves you?” ‘Morty’ asks seriously. Rick watches your face twitch a little, showing a little sadness behind your eyes “I don’t think he can anymore, Morty…not without being drunk…” You mumble. Rick hits a button, making ‘Morty’ frown, Rick’s face mirrors the robot’s expression. Rick reaches for the keyboard again- “Know what, Morty…I might just go out on the brunch-date with Leroy.” You admit.

“Who the h*ll’s Leroy?” Rick mumbles “W-who’s that?” The Morty robot asks nervously “Some guy who asked me out when Summer was getting her dress for the dance. He was a little weird, but he seemed sweet enough…I guess.” You say with a very unconvincing tone.

You shrug, taking the remote “Who knows, maybe it’s better for me to date someone that’s dumber than me. I probably just wasn’t good enough for Rick…” You mumble. Rick frowns deeply as you look down sadly. “No wonder Beth ended up with Jerry if that’s the mindset she saw you have.” Rick grumbles disappointedly.

~Next Morning~

~Y/N’s POV~

I yawn tiredly, stretching my arms and legs out. “Huh…” I mumble, I look around to see Rick was gone. Weird, usually I’m normally the first one out of bed. I frown a little.

“D-don’t worry, Baby!”

I scream when Rick rolls from under the bed, “I’m still here, you don’t have-have to be sad.” Rick snorts. “I wasn’t-“ “Save that tsundere-ness for the next chapter.” Rick says, cutting me off “The next chapter? Are you still drunk?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at him.

“Nope,” Rick hums “I’m not going to be drunk for today.” Rick takes a sit on the bed. “What happens today, Rick?” I ask tiredly, I’m not really in the mood for whatever he has planned. Rick grabs my shoulders and turns me to face him, he grins chaotically.