4:33am

The teen had found himself to still be freaking out.
He didn't know what to do or what to say.
'I don't know if Rick knows now about the- about-' Morty stopped mid thought hyperventilating.
His head started pounding along with a sudden sharp pain, burning as it spread itself within his chest.
'What's happening?' Morty went from standing on two feet, to collapsed on his knees whilst he gripped his chest.

The boy was shaking up and down; gasping for breaths that weren't there. His first thought was to down the flask. However, he had then remembered he drank it all while trying to keep him awake.
The teen then started wincing at the reminder of why he needed to stay awake. Those big, cold hands touching every inch of his body. Feeling the sandbag like tongue move from his face, to his neck, then chest, stomach, then-...
Morty nearly threw up at the thought.
'What's happening to me? Why can't I breathe? Why is my mind racing faster than before? Why is this- this- soul crushing pain hovering over me, weighing down both my mental and physical state?'
The boy had has so many unanswered questions. 'No time for those, though...'

Morty felt a piercingly sharp pain in his stomach. He fell to fetal position while removing the hands gripped around his chest, replacing them around his stomach as if hugging himself.
He'd never really felt such pains all at once before. All he wanted to do in that moment was take his blade and slice himself in the self-hatred mess of a boy he was. The other part of him, however, wanted to grab the pill bottles from his fake book.
None of those things seemed practical in that specific moment, seeming as the boy had been weighed down by his pain.

Slowly getting up to grab the hidden booze he remembered he had, he managed to get to his feet,— barely.
The kid was shaking and barely breathing from being in pain. Yet somehow, he managed to make his way over to his bookshelf to grab it from the bottom shelf. Grabbing it caused Morty to fall down once again being weighed down by mere pain, making a huge thud.
Morty had also somehow managed to knock his shoulder on every shelf on the way down.

'What the fuck is wrong with me?!' Morty screamed in his head.
The pains had worsened far more than before.
He flicked the cap of the hard liquor off and began chugging it. The pains were so bad and his mind wouldn't stop. It felt like his mind was on its own kind of speed.

The aching and lack of oxygen was getting worse.
Much worse.
So bad, that Morty had drank almost all of the hard liquor.
The bottle dropped out of his hands, spilling the last little bit onto his floor as the boy lay there gasping in hyperventilation and about to lose consciousness.
Morty had still been gripping his stomach as if his life depended on it because of the increasing pains.

He couldn't move.
He couldn't speak.
He couldn't even breathe.
All he could do was lay there.
His eyes fluttered,— shutting themselves because of the exhaustion he'd been experiencing.
He laid there gasping, with a racing mind, and the booze hadn't been helping either. The boy was groaning whilst he teetered in and out of consciousness.
Until everything went black...

Rick heard a loud thud coming from-
Rick groaned. 'Why is it always this kid who is causing the problems?' He thought.
The old man found a way to talk himself into checking on the teen.
Despite all of the problems he had with that kid, and all of the pressures he would put on that kid, he still cared about him. Maybe even loved him. But the only mind that would ever contain that information was his own.
He stopped on his way to the boy's room, seeming as he remembered that he still needed to collect his laundry.
In doing so, he saw some more of Morty's clothes. While not thinking much of it, he returned his focus to his mission. 'What could the ding dong be up to this time?' Rick complained in his head.

When arriving at the door to the boys room he noticed that it was quiet.
Dead silent actually.
For some odd reason Rick's stomach had dropped. 'Did the kid fall asleep? Could that have been the thud? Him falling face-first onto the floor? If that was the case then the boy would've screamed in pain. Such a wuss.' Rick thought.
He was not at all prepared for the sight that greeted him when he opened that door.

When the elderly man opened the door, he saw his grandson laying on the floor.
No.
Collapsed on the floor.
'Why the hell is he on the ground not conscious?! Why is he gripping his stomach?! And why-' Rick was interrupted by the discovery of the hard liquor that laid on its side right next to the boy.
Slightly panicking at the unconscious teen, Rick dove to his aid. "Morty? Morty wake up!" The man said whilst he tapped the kid's face in attempt to get him to wake up.
When the boy didn't even budge, Rick's heartbeat increased.

"Morty!" The man said while shaking him.
While checking to see if he was still breathing Rick got an unsettling smell of alcohol on his grandsons breath. He was happy that the boy was still breathing, but he was downright furious at the scent.
Rick picked Morty up, threw him over his shoulder while running to the bathroom. As he set him down in the shower, Rick took off his lab coat. He turned the shower on and sat with the unconscious boy continuing to call his name in a panic.
"Morty, wake up! Come on! It's okay!" He called out.
Rick's heart nearly regained its feeling when he heard the boy groaning his way back to consciousness.

Morty groaned while waking up soaked once again, in his clothes with-
'Holy shit! Is Rick seriously with me?! Shit, then that means he saw the- the liquor and then- oh god! Oh jeez! What else did he see?! He didn't snoop or anything right?!' The boy was frantic on the inside, and on the outside just a shocked boy regaining consciousness.

Rick practically internally cheered in relief of his grandsons regaining of consciousness.
When Rick turned off the shower, he helped Morty get up without saying a word. When he got the boy to his room the clock read 5:26am.
Morty, still drenched, sat down on his floor without a care in the world. When Morty did so, Rick's spine quivered with fright; he could feel the boy's lack of care.

"What the hell happened?" The old man barked.
Morty looked down, not really knowing what had happened himself. "I-I don't really know..." The teen threw his head down in shame.
"Well then, let start with my liquor, Morty."  Rick had said, fully pretending not to be concerned.

'Yep. Typical Rick.' The adolescent thought. "Look, Rick.. I'm sorry I took your liquor.. I know it was expensive and I'll pay you back.." Morty said shamefully.
Those words hit Rick right in his chest.
'Really? Is this kid serious? He thinks I'm pissed that he took an expensive bottle?' He thought.
Although it was a good bottle, he could get a new one! It didn't matter! What mattered is that the boy drank it!
'And to achieve what?!' He thought.

Rick didn't know how he was going to go about addressing the situation and ended up scoffing.
"You really think that I care that you took an expensive bottle?!" The man screamed. Well, it was out.
No need to even try hiding that concern anymore.
"Morty, I'm not thrilled about you taking an expensive bottle but I can always get a new one!" Morty was taken aback by the old man's reaction.
"I'm pissed off that you drank it! Why would you do that to yourself?!" Rick yelled.
"I- Look- Rick- why are you so worked up about this? It was just a drink?" The boy rebutted.
Those words shocked even Morty, coming out.

The elderly man stood there putting on an angry face when he was actually just scared.
Scared for the boy.
Before Rick could think his real thoughts his mouth opened. "What the fuck are you saying right now?! 'Just a drink'?! Yeah, and you're a fourteen year old boy! You shouldn't be drinking!" The man screamed his thoughts.
Trying to regain some respect from the teen, he cleared his throat and muttered his following words. "So why did you drink it?"

How was Morty to answer?
He hadn't really wanted to discuss his little breakdown; he would of had to if he explained the real reason why.
"Because-" the boy shakily started.
Rick raising a brow, Morty stumbled out his answer.
"Because I was hurt from the fall I took." The boy said feeling stupid due to his response.
The old man stood, trying to debunk the kids facial expression. 'Is he telling the truth?' Rick thought. Deciding the boy was lying, pressed him. "No." Rick stated.
The boy felt butterflies swarming in his stomach. "Wh-wha-what do you mean 'No'?" The boy said firmly.
Rick hadn't held back.  "I call bullshit! You're a wuss! Everyone knows that! But you wouldn't drink because of it! I know you wouldn't! You get scared at the thought of getting a needle!"  Rick screamed at the teen.
Snapping without thought, Morty yelled in turn. "No! I used to get scared at the thought of getting a needle!"
Rick was taken aback for a reason he couldn't quite place.

"What- What is that supposed to mean?!" Rick called out. 'Oh fuck! Why would you say that?! You stupid idiot, Morty! Why the fuck are you so dumb?!' The boy screamed in his head.
"N-nothing... just forget I said anything.. I'll replace the booze and I won't do it again..." The boy said while holding his head low. 'What the hell was he talking about? Why did he put emphasis on 'used to'?' Rick's mind raced in confusion.
"Morty- what- what the fuck are you talking about here? I don't need your money. The booze is the least of my worries right now. But-... seriously why did you drink it? Why?" The man questioned.
Morty thought about a real sounding answer. "It's cause I saw Summer doing it.. and wanted to see how it felt.. which is why I fell.. it hit me like a bag of bricks and I fell and I guess I fell unconscious..." Morty was so proud of that lie, with no one to brag about it to.

After Rick had thought it over, he accepted the kids reply. "Okay well- don't do it. You're still a kid Morty. And I need my little buddy around for my adventures." Rick said trying to reset his dominance.
"I won't. I tried it and it sucked. Thanks, Rick." The boy said as he tried his hardest to fake the emotion.

Rick left while taking the bottle to the recycling. He still couldn't exactly make out what happened back there.
Rick's mind was searching for an explanation that would have satisfied his brain; there was something about how unsure Morty's answers made him feel. Rick had never been given puzzle pieces that he couldn't place.
Having that mere thought made the man realize that nothing was wrong then. If Rick still couldn't place anything, then that meant nothing was wrong. It was just him growing too sober.

Morty had sighed in relief when his grandpa left. He also panicked when the clock now read 6:07am.
"Shit!" The boy cried out. Morty didn't even bother changing his clothes. They were still slightly damp but he didn't care. He ran out of his room and passed the garage when he heard Rick approaching. So almost as a reflex, Morty sprinted out the door for school.

The brunet began his journey to school. His stomach started turning when he saw the man he had hallucinated to be the most vile creature imaginable: Mr. Jellybean. The man had just been walking outside.
Feeling unknown courage, Morty decided to face his fear and what he knew was also guilt, so he approached the man.
Whilst the man saw the movement and almost took off, Morty spoke. "I!- I just wanted to apologize for the other day... I- I hadn't slept in a while and I was seeing things I guess.. I know it sounds crazy but.. that's just kinda my thing.. the crazy one.. A-anyway, I wanted to apologize..." He said as his gaze returned to the ground.

The man saw the boy in the hoodie; he looked at him with so much shame. So before the boy walked away, he made sure to be apart of the solution. "Don't worry about it, kid. It happens. You should see the things I dealt with at my old job." The man offered a laugh. Morty pretended to smile but was overall just thankful for the forgiveness. As the teen turned away in attempt continue his walk to school, the man stopped him with question.  "Hey, wait!-..."  Looking back at the man, he continued. "You were saying something about 'wanting me to stay away from you', and that 'I was dead'. Not my place or anything but, did something happen with someone?" The man asked.
'Yes...' he thought.
"Nope! I was just having a nightmare cause I was so tired! Thanks though." Morty said as optimistically as he had surreal.
The teen left for school leaving the man behind. 'Why is this always the case? I just want to feel fucking anything that isn't pain.' He thought monotonously.
Part of him wanted to tell the truth. But nope. That was his life: stuck in a never-ending hell loop, just always pretending.