The minute you stepped onto the park grounds, Rigby was halfway up a tree pretending to sword-fight with a rake. Mordecai was filming on his phone, laughing. It was chaos, like always

But the second Rigby spotted you from his perch—everything stopped

“HEY—HEY! IT’S HER!” he shouted, dropping the rake like it had offended him and scrambling down with limbs flailing and reckless abandon

Mordecai barely had time to duck before Rigby was full sprint across the lawn, sneakers skidding across the grass

You didn’t even get a full, “Hi,” out before you were swept up—arms wrapped around your waist, feet lifted clean off the ground “I missed you!” he beamed, squeezing you tightly and spinning in a happy little circle like he had no concept of weight or gravity, only that you were here and that made everything better

Your laughter bubbled up just as—

“RIGBY!” Benson’s voice cracked like thunder from somewhere in the distance

Rigby didn’t even flinch “YEAH, YEAH, I’M ON LUNCH!” he hollered back without missing a beat, nose burying into your neck for one more second before reluctantly setting you down—but not letting go

“Man, work sucks,” he muttered dramatically, arms still around your waist “But you showing up? Highlight of my year.” He gave a sheepish little smile, eyes flicking to your face like you were the one thing anchoring him to a good day

“Wanna split a sandwich with me behind the snack bar?” he asked, trying (and failing) to act casual “I brought chips. You get the good half though. Obviously.”