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?"

       "It wouldn't be too bad, kiddo. I mean, I know I won't be across the street anymore an' all, but really.. I think it'd be better that way. Really, you two wouldn't be caught up in anything anymore." 

       "B-But it would be th-the same without y-you," Morty mumbled. "Yea,"  Summer chimed in. "If you left, we.. it just wouldn't be the same. It'd be so hard to get used to it again. Why can't you just stay here?"

        "Remember how I talked your grandfather up before we all escaped? Everybody listening apparently liked that I was willing to sacrifice my position to save a family. They took a vote, and it was literally unanimous. They want me to take over as President of the Galactic Federation. I'd have a spot on base to live, and I would be able to see you guys every once in a while. But, really! This is the kind of thing I've always wanted! To.. To have a nice job, a huge position somewhere I know they'd appreciate me, even a little! I could do so much more than tinker around with my crap! There are so many opportunities here. I mean, come on! It's so much better than I wanted. I had originally planned on running college seminars, on teaching. I could run a government my way!" 

       Neither Summer nor Morty seemed convinced, both kicking at the ground. "Guys, come on. It won't be that bad, I promise. I haven't taken the position yet, either. You still have me for a little while."

       "But you never come over anymore, anyway. And we don't hang out at your place." Summer sighed heavily. "Well, I'll change that. I'll hang out with you two more often, if that'll make you happier. I just really want to do this, to make myself into somebody big. I'm so young, and this is such a huge opportunity. Could you imagine? 19 year old me running the Galactic Federation."

       Summer sighed once more and continued staring at the ground. "Come on, kid." I stood and wandered over to her. "I'll even let you give me a makeover," I sang, standing in front of her. Her face lit up and mine fell. It actually worked..
       "Fine! But I'm doing it now!" Without another word, Summer led me to her room. "This'll take a while, I learned something new! And we have almost an hour, the perfect amount of time!"

        Save me..

*~*~*

         One hour later, I was placed in front of a mirror, my make-up done pretty cleanly. "Wow," I commented. "You should look into beauty school." Summer giggled, tucking away her supplies. "Hey, isn't that the case I bought you?" Summer nodded, "I finally got to use it on you!"
        "Summer, m-mom said to get you. Din-Dinner's ready." Morty called from the hallway before his footsteps could be heard retreating downstairs. "Come on," Summer led me, "if we hurry, you can sit by me!" 

        Sitting next to Summer, thankfully, I found myself in a conversation with Jerry. "So, what've you been up to? All I hear anymore is how you never come around anymore, just kinda curious." Jerry sat up in his chair now as the teenagers took their seats, Beth finishing up the meal. "Well, Jerry, I actually found myself in a pretty good position. I have the opportunity to become the leader of a pretty big organization."
        As I spoke, Rick wandered in, staring for a minute before he took a seat at the end of the table. "What organization?" Jerry questioned.
        Morty answered for me, "Th-The Galactic F-Federation. The people that were looking for Rick." Jerry looked at me, surprised. "So, you have the opportunity to work for them?" I shook my head, "No, I have the opportunity to take over as President!" 

        Jerry seemed even more surprised. "But.. you're so young. Why would they want somebody that young?" He pressed, appearing more curious as Beth set plates in front of everybody. "Well, I gave a speech a while ago. They were impressed. According to my friend, Jason, they said it was very brave of me to risk my position to save a family." I gave the same explanation I did to Morty and Summer, "They took a vote, and it was unanimous. I really thought I'd go down for trashing my family name and going traitor or whatever, but they said what I did was new and made me seem fit. I was already second in command, so it probably would have happened anyway, regardless of my previous actions."

        Beth, who took a seat, smiled warmly. "That's really good, (Y/N). I'm sure your parents would have been proud."

       I shrugged, "Yea, well. I still have to decide whether or not I'm taking the position. If I do, I have to move again, so I wouldn't be across the street from you anymore. I'd actually be given a section on-base to make my own home, so I could work without the trouble of going back and forth."
       This time Summer spoke up, "Why can't you just do what we did and use your portal gun to go to work and come home?" I shook my head, "Because I don't have it anymore, and the blueprints are.. gone. They, uh.. I can't find them. I moved everything around a while ago, and I must've misplaced them. But it's alright! They said there'd be a way for me to visit on occasions, maybe come by for holidays or something. I just figured, with everything I've done, you wouldn't really mind. I mean, I'd be out of your hair and everything."

       "Well, (Y/N), I hope you do what you want. I know they may seem like they're gonna die if you accept the position, but I'm sure they'd be happy for you." Beth smiled warmly, as did Jerry. "Yea, don't end up jobless like me. Start early," he mumbled. I laughed, as did Beth, before enjoying another family meal. I hadn't realized how much I missed these.

*~*~*

       I hung out after dinner, sitting in the living room with Summer and Morty once again. 

       "Guys, I know it seems really bad, but I promise it'll be fine. I just.. I might take the job, just to get out of here." I sighed, laying back on the floor. Summer and Morty sat cross legged next to me, Summer playing with her hair while Morty chewed his lip thoughtfully. "S-So you only wa-wanna take it, because you d-don't wanna live across from.. fr-from Rick?"
       I shook my head, sitting up once again. "No, that's not it. I just.. It's really hard to explain, Morty. I just wanna get out of here, to forget everything that happened. It's not just because of a dumb two day failure, okay? I just did a lot of thinking, and I realized some things. I just think it would be better, for me especially, if I started working on things, started doing what I wanted to do with my life before it's too late for me."
        I yawned heavily, standing now. "Guys, I know it seems awful, but I promise we'll figure it out, okay? I gotta get back. I missed my nap today and I honestly think I'm gonna wind up passing out if I don't scram." 
        I leaned over and hugged each of them, "Chill here tomorrow?" I questioned. Summer grinned and Morty nodded enthusiastically. "See you at noon, dudebros. 'Night." 
        I made my way out of the house, walking past the open garage as tinkering sounds emitted from within. As much as I wanted to turn and say goodnight, I knew it wouldn't be worth it. 

       He doesn't care.