Hi, everybody! I wanted to do something for Valentine's Day (again), but instead of Rigleen, I wanted to focus on Mordecai and Margaret, with a little Rigleen. :3

NOTE: This takes place before Mordecai made his move and so on. So...after the episode "Camping Can Be Cool" but before "Death Bear" (another of my favs! :D)? That sounds good. XP

Also, I'm trying out first-person writing (Mordecai's POV), for the first time actually, so...sorry if it's not my best... ^^; This took like 4 hours (again XD) yesterday, I think? lol

But, I hope you enjoy! And Happy Valentine's Day! :)

I rubbed my eyes. Another crappy night. Looking over to my alarm clock, it read 7:30 AM. I let out a loud groan at the thought of working today, which apparently woke my small friend up from his trampoline.

"Huh?", he grumbled in annoyance, "Dude, why'd you wake me?"

I sighed, "Sorry. I didn't sleep well."

Rigby smirked, "I can tell, bro. I could hear you mumbling her name..."

I threw my pillow at him, "Shut up," I turned it on him, "But, I swear I heard an 'Eileen' or two from you, bro."

Rigby sat up, "Oh, yeah? Well, at least I-"

Just then, a knock was heard. I slowly trudged over to the door and opened it, just to be greeted by Benson's obviously sarcastic smile.

"Good morning, guys. We've got a lot to do today. Get some breakfast and be outside in ten, okay? Then, you-"

I interrupted him, "But, Benson, I didn't sleep well...like, at all..."

He glared, "And that's an excuse how?"

"Well, I mean, can I at least get some coffee or something to wake up? I really can't work like this, man."

My boss stared at me, looking me over. I could barely keep my eyes open and I probably looked like complete crap, so he must've felt sorry for me and gave in.

"Alright, fine. But, don't take too long! I'm giving you at the most, forty-five minutes! Take Rigby with you too, he doesn't look up and ready either..."

As we headed outside to the golf cart, Rigby mimicked Benson, causing me to chuckle a little.

I pulled up to the coffee shop called, surprisingly, the Coffee Shop. Rigby walked in front of me, having more energy than me like he normally does. He pushed the door open, letting off the 'ding!' that always rang in my ears for a while every time I came in. This morning it made wince.

We sat down at our usual table, waiting for a waitress. Actually, I should be more specific: I was waiting on the waitress. The only girl who could make me actually happy to be up this early right now:

Margaret Smith.

Just saying her name in my head made me all twisted up inside, like a knot...

"Dude..."

She has the prettiest face and smile, plus some nice, long legs...

"Mordecai..."

I just wish she'd sit next to me, give me a-

Suddenly, something stopped my thoughts. Rigby shouted in my ear, "MORDECAI, HELLOOOOO?!"

I came out of it, shutting my eyes and grabbing my head in pain, "AUGH! What?!"

"Margaret's waiting on your order!"

Crap.

I opened my eyes to the girl of my dreams staring back at me. For some reason, I couldn't speak. Literally nothing came out.

Thankfully, Rigby decided to speak for me, "Uh...sorry, Margaret. Mordecai's not feeling too good. He'll just have some water for now."

I caught her glancing at me with a worried half-smile, "Okay. I'll be right back, guys."

Rigby sighed, "Dude, what was that?"

"What was what, Rigby?"

He threw his arms in her direction, "That! You just stared at her, completely out of it for like, ten minutes before I got to you!"

"I did?"

"Yeah, you did. Man, you need to just get it over with and ask her out."

"But-"

"No, no more 'buts'. After work today, we're coming back here and you're gonna ask her out so I can stop hearing you 'Morde-cry' yourself to sleep every night!"

I grabbed him by the shoulders and got in his face, "What?! Rigby, I can't!"

He pushed off of me, "Dude, take it easy, geez! I'll help you out."

I scoffed, "Oh, really? What do you know about girls that could help me?"

Rigby got a smug look, "Pfft, a ton!"

I nearly face-palmed, "Yeah, okay...then why don't I see you asking out Eileen?"

The raccoon blushed, "Uh...well...I'm...um..."

I smirked, "That's what I thought."

"STOP TALKING! AND WHERE'S MY JELLY DONUT, I'M STARVING!"

After eating and, eventually, waking up, we went back to the park. Benson had assigned us to almost every job he could think of today. It was awful, but made even worse with how cold it was. And since I had this meeting with her in the back of my head the whole day, I couldn't stop thinking about that.

A few hours later while raking up leaves, our watches beeped, letting us know we were finally done.

Rigby quickly threw down his rake, running upstairs to our room. I followed behind, confused. I saw him clawing through our closet.

"Dude, what're you looking for?"

He ignored me, throwing stuff out on the floor, "Aw, come on, where is it?! No...no...un-uh...nope. AH-HAH!"

I looked down at the mess, "Rigby! Look at this crap everywhere!"

"Relax! I'll clean it...sometime. Anyways, look what I found!" he shouted, shoving something in my face.

I read aloud, "'Rigby's Guide To Romance'? What the-"

"This'll get you Margaret for sure!"

I flipped through the pages and groaned, "Man, it looks like you stapled it together and wrote in crayon. How old is this anyways?"

He shrugged, "Eh, from high school, junior year. Remember when we had that Valentine's Day dance thing?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I wrote this to help out losers like you!" he grinned.

"Why am I just hearing about this now?"

Rigby twiddled his thumbs, "Uh...it wasn't that big of a hit to some guys with their girls...lots of slaps in the face...so I had to cancel the sequel. Heh."

Sighing, I actually read some "tips":

1. Play hard-to-get by ignoring your crush's advances.

2. If they do actually talk to you, never compliment, just nod and pretend to listen.

3. If all else fails, beg on your knees with presents and junk.

I stopped, punching him in the arm, "Dude, these are the worst tips ever! No wonder you can't ask out Eileen!"

"OW! Well, what would you do?! Huh?!"

"First off, I'd just be myself. Then, I'd listen to her problems and try to help her. Finally, I would only get a present for her just to be nice, not to win her over."

"And why can't you do that now?"

I moaned, "Because she's...she's...ugh, I just can't, okay? How do I tell her how I feel?! How amazing she is?! I'm way too nervous, dude! I mean, what if-"

"No! Stop!" He grabbed my wing, "We're going there right now! I'm tired of this!"

Rigby forced me to drive to the shop, ordering me to get out and go in front of him. I slowly pushed the door open, looking around the room. I didn't see her, which made me even more hesitant.

Eileen was manning the counter, when she waved at us, "Hi, Mordecai and...um...Rigby..."

Rigby stepped up, smiling at her which caught her by surprise, "Hey, Eileen! Say, where's Margaret? Mordecai really needs to talk to her..."

Eileen pointed to the back room, "Oh. She's getting ready to leave, so you'd better hurry!"

Rigby secretly glared at me, "Go on, dude. I'll keep Eileen company..." He winked at her, which made her look like she wanted to jump over the counter right then.

I decided there was no getting out of this, so I slowly walked back to the end of the shop. I continued along the hallway until I spotted her, putting some papers into a backpack she was holding, probably for her classes.

That's when it hit me. All the cliché stuff you see in those cheesy romance movies: the queasy stomach, sweaty hands and face, a lump in your throat, your heart feeling like it's gonna burst...

She looked up, but out of fear I hid behind the wall. She called out, "Eileen? Is that you?"

I poked my beak around the side, stuttering like crazy, "Hey-hey, M-M-Margaret."

She gasped, "Oh! Hi, Mordecai. What're you doing here?"

I stepped over a bit, "Um...oh, nothing. I've just...never really been back here and...stuff..."

She gave me another look, "Un-huh. Well, I'm sorry to leave you, but I've gotta-"

Oh no. She couldn't leave! She started past me, but out of pure instinct, I grabbed her arm, "Wait!"

She turned around, "What's wrong?"

I let go of her, "S-Sorry, nothing. I'll let you go..."

She set down her backpack, "I don't have to right this second. Just sit down and tell me what's going on."

I looked at the chairs, only inches from each other, "Um..."

She insisted, "Come on, Mordecai. Sit next to me."

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Al-alright." When I went to sit, I didn't realize she was that close to me, so I sort of backed away.

She just continued to smile, as sweet as ever. Eventually, I looked at her, "Um...so how's school going? Aren't you at that little college?"

"Yeah. It's alright. Sometimes I hate my classes, there's some really rude people in them."

I frowned, "Dang, that sucks. I'm kinda glad I dropped out; college just didn't work for me. Heh."

She sighed, "Sometimes I think the same. So, what was it you wanted?"

My throat tightened, "W-w-well, I was wondering...um..."

She stared, "Yeah?"

I was so nervous, my hands started shaking, "I-I was w-w-wanting to-"

That's when she shocked me: In between my hyperventilating and stuttering, she'd gently grasped my hand to calm me down. For some reason, it actually worked!

She stopped me and soothingly spoke, "What is it, Mordecai?"

I took about ten deep breaths before quickly spurting out, "Doyouwannagoout?"

She looked confused, "What did you just ask me?"

I closed my eyes and repeated, "Do you wanna go out?"

That was it. I was done for. There's no way she'd ever-

She gripped my hand tighter, "I'd love to, Mordecai."

I open my eyes and my beak nearly dropped to the floor, "What? Are you serious?"

She giggled, "Of course I am!" She gave me a quick hug, "You're a nice guy, Mordecai. I'm sure we'll have fun."

I just wanted to hug her forever right there, but I held back, "Thanks, M-Margaret. You're...um...nice too."

She stood up, "Well, I don't wanna be late, so I'd better go. Why don't we plan something for Friday, okay? Bye...Mordy..."

'Mordy...?' My heart skipped a beat, "Okay, sounds good! Bye, uh, Margaret!"

Suddenly, we heard a scream from the front of the shop. We ran out to see Eileen grinning wildly, "Guess what?!"

Margaret replied, "What?"

She whispered to Margaret, who screamed along with her, which made me almost go deaf.

Rigby quickly dragged me out of the shop, "Come on!"

I just smirked at him. He'd finally done it.

The End! ^w^