Fix You

Chapter Nine

       It's been nearly two months now since I helped Summer and Morty break Rick out of prison. Jason stopped by one more time, roughly a week ago. Apparently, my speech moved everybody so much that they'd asked me, the one who'd gone traitor in front of them all, to take the place of the President. Apparently, my family name still upholds its honor, and my 'valiant efforts to restore a family' had swayed the hearts of everybody, and a unanimous vote led to me becoming President, should I accept the offer.

       Sitting on my couch now, the tv was off, the house was silent. It was nearing one in the afternoon, and I so desperately needed a nap. I didn't know why, but recently I'd been tired. More so than usual. 
       However, I would not be sleeping now. That was made clear when knocks rang out through my living room, leading me to rise from my position on the couch and groggily answer the door.

       "Oh, hey Morty," I yawned. "What's up?" The brunet waved a simple hello and wrung his hands together. "M-Mom says to-to ask if you wanna come o-over for dinner. She re-really misses you." 
       "I dunno, kid." I sighed, leaning against the door frame and blowing my hair outta my face. "Please?" Morty begged. "W-We really mi-miss you, an-and we wa- I wanna play Guitar Hero a-again. I promise R-Rick won't be a problem. He's e-even been working in hi-his garage a-again! He won't be a problem, I promise." Morty stared with wide, begging eyes. 
       "If I say no, I'm the bad guy." I groaned. "Fine. I'll be there around six." Morty practically leapt for joy, pulling me into a hug before he ran back across the street. "Excitable, ain't he?" I muttered, closing the door.

       The mention of Rick working in his garage made me remember that I'd not opened my own in a while. "If I'm wide awake now, why not?" Groggily, I made my way over to the garage door, the black out paint and paper over the window I'd fixed after those kids broke into the garage. The handle rotated easily in my hand, stale air brushing past me as I wandered in. "Ew," I wrinkled my nose, wandering over to the big garage door. I lifted it slowly, making sure it wouldn't knock anything down. "I guess I could rearrange stuff for a while."
       When the heavy garage door rose fully, pushed the rest of the way when I'd had to stand on my toes to raise it, fresh air soon wafted in, quickly doing away with the stale scent. Across the street, I could see Morty had been right. The garage was open, though Rick wasn't really in view. Tinkering sounds fluttered through the air from across the way as I moved around, shifting the location of several shelves and my desk. 

*~*~*

       Six o'clock rolled around faster than I'd expected it to. I'd finished moving the last of my belongings to a larger shelf when Morty wandered over again. "(Y/N)?" He stood in front of the wide entrance, once more wringing his hands together.
       "Oh shit! Sorry, Morty, I lost track of time. Listen, it won't take me long to get ready. Could you shut that and switch off the lights for me? There's a stool over there if you need to use it." Morty nodded and I smiled graciously, running to my room and changing into skinny jeans and a loose sweater. It was nearing the end of summer now, the air growing chillier as fall neared. 
       I stepped down the stairs once I'd slipped into socks and converse, quickly shoving my phone into my back pocket and tossing my hair into a ponytail. Morty stood in my living room. "I sh-shut the door a-and everything." I ran up and tousled his hair, "Thanks, little dude. I'm not too late, am I?"

       Morty shook his head, "N-No. Dinner i-is gonna be ready cl-closer to seven. Mom got a late s-start. I figured we c-could play a b-board game with Summer, because she doesn't like v-video games or anything." I nodded in understanding, following Morty across the street. "Oh! I wanna talk to you guys, too. It's important."
        Morty and I wandered into the house, Beth happening to pass through the front room. "(Y/N)! It's so good to see you again!" She pulled me into a very motherly hug and I gratefully returned it, "It's nice to see you, too, Beth. Sorry, I know I've been kinda a crap neighbor." I pulled away with a chuckle and Beth gave a dismissive wave. "Nonsense! I know, sometimes things come up and you run out of time. I'm just glad you're here now." She smiled warmly before walking off to the kitchen, Morty dragging me to the living room. We found Summer sitting on the couch, watching a show. "Hey, kid." I chuckled, walking over to her.
        "(Y/N)! I thought you weren't gonna come over," Summer smiled warmly. "Geez, it's like you all missed me for a month or something." I sat in Jerry's chair, the two teenagers settling into the couch. "So," I tucked my legs underneath myself, "before we catch up, I got something important to tell you. Remember the whole 'I killed the President of the Galactic Federation' thing?" Both nodded their heads vigorously. "And you remember Jason?"
        "Are you guys a thing?!" Summer screeched. I jumped back, "God, no! Ew!" I laughed as Summer relaxed into the couch. "Almost disappointing. You should ask him out."
        "No thanks, kid. He's boring. You should have an actual conversation with him. Which is actually what I did, which is what I'm here to talk to you about. I might have an actual job, though I might not be.. here anymore."
       "What?" Summer's expression fell, as did Morty's. "You mean.. you're gonna leave us?"