Chapter Text
It wasn’t a rare occurrence for Gauge to show up at Morgan’s place. It had come to a point where he didn’t even need to ask anymore, he would just show up (sometimes via climbing through the window, which Morgan didn’t attest to, but her dad found it kind of creepy— though, considering it was a friend of Morgan’s, he didn’t mind all too much). He would be there almost every day, so it had become a part of their routine to make a little extra food during dinner time for him.
As much as Morgan enjoyed having her friends over, it stung a little knowing exactly why he would show up so often. Sure, she had more than enough to be thankful for in her life, but her friend’s home life being that stressful was like multiple punches to the face. She never visited him. His sister, Cait, was far too much like their mother and didn’t hang out with them often anyway, so she didn’t see her much. That, and the amount of arguing that their parents did. Morgan was glad her parents were as kind and as loving as they were. She also wished Gauge’s were just a little bit nicer to him. So, naturally, Morgan’s entire household would freak out a little if they didn’t see Gauge for a few days.
And then he just showed up.
“Dude!” Morgan exclaimed upon seeing him after swinging the front door open, “where have you been?”
“Eh. Around,” Gauge replied with a shrug.
“We haven’t seen you in, like, forever! Bro. I thought you died or something.”
“Do I look dead?”
“Uhhh… yes.”
“Thanks, Morgan. Thank you for your kind words.”
“Shh. Stop talking. Get inside my house right now.” She said this as if she wasn’t blocking his entrance and stepped aside so he could come in.
God, Gauge had missed this place. It was clean, and nice, and full of all sorts of beach-related decor. Huh. Guess that’s what living in a beach house does to you. Or having Geoff and Bridgette as your parents. The thought of such sent a shiver of utter terror down Gauge’s spine. Whatever. It was warm, and cosy, and Gauge found a positively overwhelming sense of comfort in—
“DUDE!”
He was ripped from his seat as conductor in the train of thought and watched it derail and crash into a rock.
“Wha- oh. Oh my god. Don’t scare me like that.”
“Aw, man. Sorry bro! Just so glad to see you, is all!”
Of course, behind him was Morgan’s father, who he guessed now had the ability to appear out of thin air and give innocent children heart attacks.
“I gotta let Bridge know you’re here. You staying for dinner?”
“I mean, I guess. If that isn’t a problem.” He shrugged again.
“Not at aaaall, my dude,” Geoff said, putting a hand on Gauge’s shoulder with enough force to make him crumble into a million pieces like that mummified dog from that one episode of World Tour, the name of which Gauge couldn’t remember. Where the hell had Morgan gone? He had asked himself, after a quick scan of the area proved no luck and she had just vanished.
Gauge decided to use his common sense and make his way to her room, which in order to do so he needed to pass the shared room her brothers had, where they were talking about the next mindless fad of their generation. He knocked on the door as a warning and stepped inside.
“Hey, is your dad a serial killer?”
“…What?”
“He just attempted to murder me, Morgan. Very serious business.”
“Right. Sure.” Morgan rolled her eyes, because her dad could never be a serial killer, and scooted over on her bed so Gauge had somewhere to sit. She patted the empty space beside her as a motion for him to sit. “Seriously, man. Where have you been?”
Like before when he was asked this question, Gauge shrugged, and plopped himself next to Morgan. “At home. Things have been surprisingly manageable— not great , you know what they’re like, but y’know. I’ve done a lot of mindless wandering— you should try it.” He inhaled as if he was going to say something else, perhaps something along the lines of, ‘but I assume you do that all the time anyway’ , but decided that was kind of mean.
“Wow.. your parents were getting along. Are you sure that wasn’t the rapture?” Morgan raised an eyebrow to Gauge, which resulted in her being elbowed by her friend. “Okay, jesus. Sorry. And hey, you didn’t even commit a crime entering my house today. Good on you for resisting breaking and entering.”
“That’s different. I’m allowed to do that here. And also, shut up.”
“As you wish.”
The conversation fell short. That was the thing about Morgan and Gauge, however, and their close bond— it had many advantages, one of which being the fact that silence never felt awkward at all. Morgan had certainly dealt with her fair share of awkward silences in her life, and it made her want to tumble off of a cliff, but she never felt awkward or uncomfortable around Gauge. Or any of her close friends, really. Namely Reina, which she figured was just because of her feelings for her. Gauge was her best friend, and a sense of comfort and calm, which was surprising considering the more than plausible existence of his criminal record. Morgan thought about this. He probably knew the cops by name.
Gauge, however, hated to be associated so closely with breaking the law. It reminded him too much of his father— someone he would rather die than be like. The worst part, he figured, was the fact that his dad severely disapproved of his actions, and was one of the reasons why he was so consistently disappointed in him. It made sense for his mother, sure, especially since she was a lawyer or something (he wasn’t really invested enough in their lives to care), but considering Duncan’s rich history in rebelling strongly against the law, it just made his blood boil. He didn’t like to think about it, but in times like these, he couldn’t really help it.
Morgan took a deep breath in and sighed contentedly when she was hit with the smell of what was probably mac and cheese. “Holy shit.. mac. Gauge, it’s mac!”
“Fucking what?” Gauge was once again ripped from his own mind, this time for the better, really. His own family issues was not something to be dwelling on right now.
“Oh, dude.” Morgan put a hand on her friend’s shoulder as if he were an alien that had just crash landed on this earth and had no idea what macaroni cheese was. “My grandma makes banging macaroni cheese, right? A few years ago she taught my mom how to make it. My dad knows anyway, he’s a decent cook, if you can believe it, so they make it a team effort, right? It’s just good to have the skill. And it is awesome . You’re gonna love it probably.”
“And I’m only learning about this now? How many times have I been here for dinner again..?”
“It’s worth the wait. Well and truly, I promise.”
After a short while of waiting, everyone was called down for dinner, and Gauge was met with what he truly believed could be a renaissance painting. To say that he was in a macaroni cheese-induced trance was an understatement. It hadn’t even entered his mouth yet, but he could tell visually of the perfect mac-to-cheese ratio that was on show due to a slice already being cut, and how crisp and evenly breaded it was on the top, that he was about to see God himself, who would then kiss him tenderly on the forehead and tell him the secrets of the universe.
Gauge sat himself down. He glanced over at Morgan’s twin brothers and made a face of fear and disgust that he hoped no one else saw. He never really bothered learning their names, truthfully, they freaked him out too much, and paired with the fact that they were twins, each moment around them he felt as if he had stepped foot into a horror movie.
“Gauge,” Bridgette started the conversation, which he expected. “It is so great to see you. You haven’t been here in so long! How are things? How’s your sister?”
“Uhh…” Gauge picked with the macaroni cheese he had been given on his plate. “Fine. Me and Cait don’t talk much, y’know? I’ve just been at home.. things were kind of normal. It was scary. Don’t you keep in touch with my parents?”
Geoff and Bridgette looked at each other nervously. After the events of Total Drama, the cast didn’t hugely keep in touch until everyone started growing older and evidently having children, and by some cruel twist of fate they were tasked with being in touch for the sake of their own kids. Courtney and Duncan, however, didn’t speak much with the rest of them.
“Sure, dude,” Geoff said, and cleared his throat. Gauge could take the hint.
He gave Bridgette a polite smile. It was always in his nature to be polite to Morgan’s parents whenever he saw them, despite the fact that they insisted the formality was unnecessary— he just liked to make a good impression. “Uh, Mrs.—” he stopped to correct himself— “Bridgette, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve tasted in my entire life. Seriously.”
“Almost as beautiful as Reina’s mom,” Morgan mumbled into her cup as she took a sip of her drink, which resulted in a harsh kick in the shin under the table from Gauge. Luckily, no one else heard.
“Thanks!” She beamed. “It was the two of us, really,” she added, which the two teens expected, “I really appreciate it. You’re a good kid. We’ve missed you!”
Gauge felt right at home. This was right. It would’ve brought a tear to eye if he had little to no self-respect. “Yeah, I missed you guys too. Definitely didn’t miss getting sand in my shoes, though.” He followed this up with a light chuckle. It was true— one of the worst parts about visiting Morgan, if not the worst part considering everything else was pretty pleasant, was the amount of sand he had to endure on his way. Such is the way of beach houses, really, but his shoes were almost falling apart. Maybe he just needed new shoes.
There was a lot of catching up to be done between Gauge and Morgan’s family. Of course, Morgan spoke to Gauge regularly regardless, so there wasn’t a lot of updating necessary in their personal lives, but Geoff and Bridgette chewed his ear off, in the nicest way possible. He didn’t mind though, he enjoyed listening to them, and of course it was a nice change of pace. It was nice to be able to talk to adults without feeling like they were talking down to you or having to deal with them arguing mid-conversation, or just in general. After dinner was finished, Morgan and Gauge made their way to the beach to watch the sun set.
“Did you seriously have to bring up Reina’s mom? Again? What is your issue?” Gauge stared off at the sea.
“Umm… well, it was an offhand comment I made once, and it’s just, like, a running joke now. In case you hadn’t noticed.” He definitely had. “She loves it, really.” She didn’t.
He chuckled at the endearing stupidity at his best friend. “Yeah, sure. And I’m sure after however many years of marriage and a child of her own, Reina’s mom would gladly drop everything just for you.”
“You get it!” She drew her knees up and rested her head atop them, taking in the sight. The sun was escaping the sky slowly, the light from it reflecting onto the sea, making it shimmer like super expensive jewelry. Morgan was thankful that she had been exposed to this kind of environment from a young age. It was an excellent way to unwind, being able to listen to the waves in motion and take in how beautiful nature was. She was so lucky.
“Thanks for letting me hang out tonight, Morgan. Mind if I stay over?” Gauge asked this question rather tentatively, as if he would be murdered for even suggesting such, or something terrible would happen to him if she said no.
Instead, she nodded enthusiastically and pointed to the house. “Absolutely. They’re probably inside setting stuff up now for you— they like to assume that you’re staying, and y’know, it’s good to be a good host.”
Gauge smiled at her, a real, genuine smile, not the type of smile he would plaster on himself whenever he had to talk to his brat of a younger sister or assure his parents that he was alright whenever they asked, which wasn’t often. But Morgan would. All of his friends would (barring maybe Reina and Avery, who were known assholes), but Morgan and her family in particular were always there for him and concerned for him. He appreciated the concern. It made him feel wanted. He watched as Morgan watched the sun as it sunk, admiring her— in a completely platonic sense, of course, Gauge had never met such a beautiful soul.
The sky was painted a delightful orange. Morgan pulled Gauge in for a sort of side-hug.
He was so lucky.