#mabel deserves a hug lets be real

[tazmiilly]

mabel and ford bonding for the soul....

#my mutuals have been spoiling me with mabel and ford bonding content.... its time i give back.... #mabel deserves a hug lets be real #so does ford #these were so therapeutic to draw #everytime i started to color one of these i immediately needed to doodle another #scribbles #gf #gravity falls #ford pines #stanford pines #mabel pines #mabel and ford bonding #color palette

[nataliedanovelist]

GF - The Sapling of His Labors

A Drifting Stars AU one-shot, in collaboration with @clownwry.

1st, 2nd, 4th.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford hummed an old tune to himself as he worked on dinner. Rather than sitting in front of a fire-pit in the middle of nature, butchering food to make it edible, he was blessed to be standing in a humble kitchen with a stove, cabinets, counters, and everything. The only thing he didn’t have was a fridge or freezer, but that was okay. Ford worked calmly and at his own pace as he chopped up the onion, blinking the burning feeling away, and he used his knife to scoop the diced pieces of onion into the hot skillet, and it sizzled and immediately smelled good.

Ford smiled as he added the green bell pepper, and other delicious things from the garden, and then he gave the veggies and herbs a stir with his hand-carved wooden spoon. Estimating that dinner would be ready soon, he walked across the kitchen, through the living room with a fireplace, two rocking chairs, and a large homemade three-way desk with two chairs, and to the front door. 

The top half of the dutch door was already open, so he leaned against the bottom half of the door to watch his little girl run around with other kids her age, playing tag. “Mabel, honey, dinner!” He called. “Will you please bring some water when you come?”

“Okay!” Mabel called back cheerfully, and Ford trusted her to end the game soon and say goodnight to her friends as he went back to dinner.

The veggies were cooking well, so Ford threw some of Mabel’s special homemade butter into another pan, let it melt, and then he carefully laid two filleted fish down to cook.

The bottom half of the dutch door opened and Mabel came in with a bucket of water from their well. She grinned at the sight of him and sat the bucket down to use a ladle to pour some water into wooden cups. “Ms. Mahogany asked about you again.”

“Oh?” Ford raised an eyebrow at her, his smile still present.

“Yeah, I told her how just last night you told me you were lonely and only wanted someone to hold at night…”

Ford barked a laugh that Mabel joined in with, but she continued as she set the table. “Then she said her son is still single if…”

“Mabel, please!” Ford guffawed with rosy cheeks as he flipped the fish. “I wish you would stop trying to set me up with everyone in town.”

“But I’m a great matchmaker!”

“I know you are. Why not focus on someone else’s love-life?” Ford suggested as he began to plate the veggies.

“I don’t really care about everyone else’s love-life.” Mabel said with a shrug as she sat.

Ford snorted as he platted the fish on top of the veggies, one plate slightly smaller than the other.

“Well, not nearly as much as I care about you.” Mabel elaborated, and smiled sweetly at her uncle as he turned to set the food at the table. “I just want you to be happy, Grunkle Ford.”

The old man was a bit surprised by this, but he smiled softly and said, “I am happy, darling.” He sat the plates and himself down where they belonged, then patted his lap. “Come here.”

The girl didn’t hesitate to crawl into his lap and let him hug her. “I’ve got you.”

“Yeah, but imagine how much happier you’d be if you had me and a partner!” Mabel said optimistically.

Ford chuckled and brushed her shoulder-length hair with his six fingers. “Sweetie, I’m much happier now than I ever thought I would be.”

Mabel grinned at him and hugged him around the neck, allowing Ford to squeeze her gently and hug her back.

A little while later they sat by the fireplace, Ford in his rocking chair, and Mabel by his socked feet, propping her back against his leg as she knitted away. Ford used to tease her and wonder why he even built her a rocking chair, but once she explained she felt more comfortable against him, he let it go. Maybe next time they go to the store, he should trade fish for fabric so he can build a couch.

The eldest read a book out-loud while Mabel knitted, their favorite thing to do in the evening, when all they had for light was the fireplace and lanterns and the stars, but there were no stars tonight. Rain peacefully trickled down outside. They left the dutch door open to enjoy the smells and sounds and cool air, not a hint of a storm in sight.

Ford was enjoying the book, but not nearly as much as he enjoyed looking down at his beautiful girl. The sounds of her needles clicking as she worked, the way her brown eyes twinkled, the blush on her round cheeks, the shine in her hair. Ford had no idea what in the Multiverse he did to deserve her… No, he didn’t deserve her, but he was still grateful for her, and beyond happy he somehow managed to give her a happy life.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford was very excited, too excited to let his little girl sleep in too much. True that he purposely got up early to get the eggs, milk the cow, and let the sheep out for her, but he decided to surprise her earlier rather than later, so he made her some pancakes and eggs, squeezed her some fresh orange juice, put a pretty flower on the tray for decoration, and tucked the present wrapped in parchment and card under his arm.

A soft knock alerted Mabel of company, and her door opening and a warm voice fully woke her up. “Mabel, honey,”

She grinned and sat up in her bed. Ford had no regrets. All his hard work was worth it for that smile. “Happy Birthday.”

Mabel was absolutely delighted by the sweet surprise, but a bit disheartened when she saw no plate for her uncle. She raised an eyebrow suspiciously at him, still too used to his bad habit of skipping meals so she could eat. Well, he didn’t have to do that anymore. “Grunkle Ford, where’s your breakfast?”

Ford smiled and chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s all fixed and downstairs waiting for me.”

Mabel smiled again and said, “Why don’t you eat up here with me? Then I’ll open my present!”

Ford nodded. That seemed like an even better idea than eating separately. So Ford retrieved his mug of coffee and pancakes, and when he sat at the foot of Mabel’s bed, she opened the card. There was no glitter to decorate it with and the card wasn’t nearly as colorful as Mabel would have made it, but Ford still drew plenty of pretty pictures for her and wrote plenty of kind words, and more importantly, he made it just for her.

Mabel grinned and thanked him for the card, sitting by her nightstand and candle so she could see it every day, and then she tore into her present. She gasped happily and squealed at the gift. Mabel had seen Ford sew here and there, but she didn’t know this was what he was working on.

It was a large quilt. It had many different patches, some with colors, some with pictures of animals, one with a shooting star and one with a six-fingered hand. There were so many different patches that Mabel felt she could look and look without seeing every detail.

Ford rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I asked everyone in town if they had scraps of cloth. I wasn’t sure what to get you, but you deserve something nice, and…”

“Grunkle Ford, I love it!” And Mabel let her new quilt fall on her lap so she could hug him tightly around the waist. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ll use it forever! I love you, thank you!”

Ford chuckled and hugged her back tightly. “Y-You’re welcome.”

It wasn’t much, but it was better than what he could have done for her before.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford ran as fast as he could. He didn’t care how sharply branches pricked his face or how many times he stubbed his toe on a rock or tree root. The screaming rang in his ears. Mabel needed him.

He was grateful to find Mabel up in a tree, safe, but not for long. At the base of the tree was a giant black bear, roaring and growling and scratching the tree. It wouldn’t be long until the bear decided to try to climb. Ford gritted his teeth and allowed instincts to take over, animal vs animal.

Ford threw a rock and it hit the bear on the neck, making it forget the human cub in the tree and turn to the adult to roar warningly. Then Ford shot his crossbow and it hit the bear right in the shoulder, close to the chest, but not quite enough to kill it, only to anger it. Mabel screamed for Ford to run away, to get away, but Ford stood his ground as the bear charged at him and he rolled out of the way just in time, then shot the bear again, this time hitting it’s back.

The bear turned and roared at Ford, and he was prepared to pull the knife out of his boot and do some real damage, tired of giving warnings that the bear wasn’t hearring. But then something made everyone freeze. A small wheezing roar. A squeak from a cub. The little baby black bear ran out from the bushes and to its mother, who nuzzled the cub with her nose and stood protectively. Ford lowered his crossbow and nodded. Mabel must have accidentally stumbled across the cub, must have gotten too close, and the mother was being overprotective.

The mother roared once more at the humans and ran off into the woods with her cub, taking the arrows lodge in her with her. Well, good. That’s what she gets for going near Ford’s niece. Speaking of…

Ford turned to the tree and looked up at the frightened girl. “Mabel, are you hurt?”

“N-No. I’m okay.” Mabel looked at the spot where the bears disappeared and bit her lip. “I… I didn’t even see the baby one…”

Ford smiled and nodded. “It’s alright. You’ll find parents are quite protective of their kids. Can you climb down?”

Mabel nodded and carefully made her way down the tree. When she was about halfway down, she leaped into Ford’s arms and they hugged each other tightly, the crossbow still in Ford’s hand.

“Oh, Mabel, I was so worried…”

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…”

“Shh, hey, it’s alright. I’m not mad.”

“I thought you… I thought…” Mabel mumbled into his shoulder, her grip on his coat extremely tight.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright. I’ve got you.” Ford muttered to her as he walked them home. “I’ve got you.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford walked home from the ocean, smiling with the large net filled with fish on his back. Mabel was with the sheep, as usual, and smiled and waved when she saw his safe return. The leaves were changing colors and the air was getting more comfortable and crisp. Soon winter would be with them, and rather than fish for money, Ford planned to build music boxes and carve toys, a brilliant idea Mabel had when she noticed how he missed tinkering and building. He enjoyed fishing, but it wasn’t like the old lab work that made him proud.

The next day, like always, Ford walked home and saw Mabel among the sheep, but this time she was chatting with a boy her age. Ford had seen the boy before, Mabel labeling him as a friend, but the old man couldn’t help but wonder if he should be putting money away for a small wedding, a thought that made his blood boil and his heart swell at the same time.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford gave the soup another stir before ladling it into a bowl. Poor Mabel sat on the newly built couch, wrapped in her quilt, close to the fire, her cheeks and nose cherry red and dark circles under her eyes as she sneezed and coughed. Ford wasn’t as worried for her as he normally would be; it was just a bad cold. She would be alright. 

Weirdly enough, Mabel’s brain had decided to call it quits and she was nothing more than a rag doll, barely interactive and aware of her surroundings, which was fine by Ford. He could take care of her and the house just fine. He smiled softly and sat next to her, holding out a spoonful of warm soup for her. “Here you are, my dear. This will make you feel better.”

Shakily Mabel ate the bite she was given, but it burned and made her cough roughly. Ford rubbed her back and stirred the soup to cool it down a little. “That's it, easy does it. There we go, I’m sorry, sweetie.”

The second time was the charm; Mabel was able to swallow a second spoonful of warm soup no problem. She actually made a weak smile, then muttered to Ford, “Thanks Daddy,” and coughed roughly into her quilt. She patiently waited for her next spoonful, unaware of what she had done to Ford.

She had said it so innocently, so quietly… Was it possible, that in her weakened state, Mabel thought she was back home with her father? Even though she seemed out of it, she did seem aware of where they were; a few minutes ago, when Ford was making the soup, she had asked if the sheep were put away. And she had thanked Ford for making the soup when he first started on dinner. So, maybe, there was a small possibility that Mabel knew exactly who she was talking to, and she articulated with a title that felt fitting to her.

Ford smiled with a bit lip and held out the spoon filled with soup for her. “Y-You’re welcome.”

He smiled sympathetically as she sniffed again, her poor sinuses turned against her. But then she sniffed again, louder, and Ford began to notice it sounded different…

He also began to notice he was sore. And lying down. And wrapped up, like he was tucked in for bed.

Ford was pulled from his dreams and was sluggishly half-awake, his eyes still closed, and he bought his body some time to gather some strength by paying attention to his blind surroundings.

He could hear and feel a fire going. He was lying in a sleeping bag on the ground, and he could tell there were other things keeping him warm and wrapped up. Some damp cloth was on his forehead. And he could hear crying.

Ford forced his eyes open slowly and he discovered someone had taken his glasses off. He forced himself to work with his blurry vision and he sat up a little, leaning on his arm for support in search of his niece. She sat a few feet away, in a tight bundle. If Ford had to guess, she was hugging her knees and hiding her face in her arms and knees. “Mabel…”

She lifted her head up quickly, but then hid her face again, looking away from him and wiping her face dry with the sleeves of her coat. 

“Hey, no,” Ford said softly, taking the damp cloth off his forehead. “None of that, you don’t ever have to hide anything from me. What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“N-No,” Mabel cleared her throat and finally turned to look at him; he was a little disheartened to see her trying to smile and still hide what was bothering her. “I’m okay. H-How do you feel? Tea is almost ready.” And she scooted closer to the fire on her knees to check on the teapot.

Ford sighed tiredly, his lips tight to try to keep her from hearing it. “Mabel…”

“Oh, here!” Mabel reached into a pocket of her uncle’s backpack and pulled out his glasses for him. “I thought I’d better take them off you so your face wouldn’t hurt.”

Ford smiled and accepted the visual aid. “Ah, thank you.” He slipped his glasses on and more clues came to his senses.

They were in the middle of the desert. Well, not entirely in the middle, it looked like there was a jungle a few yards behind them. Ford had also been blanketed with sweaters for extra warmth in the cold desert night. Everything seemed well in order and normal, except when Ford looked at his poor little girl. Her hair was a mess, frizzled and… Ford recognized that hairstyle. His hair often looked like that after he grabbed at it too roughly and tried to pull his hair out. There were dark circles under her eyes, eyes that didn’t sparkle. That legitimately scared Ford.

“Mabel…”

“Good! Tea is ready.” Mabel turned away from him again, refusing to look at him as she pulled out a cup for her uncle and poured him some hot drink. “Here, it’ll make you feel better.”

Ford accepted the drink and sat up fully. “Thank you.” He sipped it and watched Mabel carefully. She didn’t pour herself a cup. Or bring out the water canteen for something else to drink. Instead she held her knees and watched the fire dance. He opened his mouth to ask her if she was alright, but she beat him to it.

“How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? H-How’s your neck?”

“My neck?” Ford touched his throat, a bit confused, and answered, “I feel fine. Nothing hurts. Why?”

“We were ambushed. You got shot. You… You had a bad fever and wouldn’t wake up.” Mabel, still refusing to look at him, held out a dart to him that had been lying on the sand. “Here. I thought you might wanna study it.”

Ford adjusted his glasses and held the dart. It was quite long, but very skinny, and it had a red bull point at the top, like a sewing needle, but Ford recognized the dart. “Interesting. These are Hummie darts. They’re sold through the dimensions, they’re very useful for bounty hunting. See, the top here is filled with poison, just enough to render the body useless and to also hypnotize the target in a deep, dream-filled sleep. Oftentimes the dreams are the victim’s happiest memories or goals, so they won’t try to wake up. It’s also very fascinating because the side-effects are next to none, this makes these darts ideal if you want to bring someone in for questioning or for next-to-perfect condition.”

But Mabel wasn’t listening. Her eyes were still on the fire, she was still holding her knees, but her mind was elsewhere. Ford watched her mournfully and tried to remember what had happened.

Oh. Right.

They were in a different dimension than this one. They had been laughing and playing in the woods, unaware of who they were attracting. By the time Ford hoisted a laughing girl on his shoulders, a dart barely missed him and it hit a tree, causing him to run while Mabel shot pop-rocks with her slingshot. Ford can now remember feeling a tiny prick by his neck. He had hoped Mabel had accidentally pinched or pulled some skin on his neck, but she was horrified to have let a dart get past her. Ford managed to stop running and put Mabel down safely, shaking his head and even slapping himself to try to stay awake and attentive, but just as he was sharing a plan with her, he fell on his knees and collapsed into the grass, the last thing he heard was Mabel’s desperate please to be okay. Not to stay awake, not to help, but to be okay.

Ford put the dart and his tea down on the ground. “Oh, Mabel… You were amazing. Absolutely amazing! You saved us. You saved my life.”

“M-Maybe if I hadn’t asked you to play with me…”

“They were relentless. I’m glad we had fun and played.”

Mabel held herself tighter and turned her head away so it was out of sight. That broke Ford’s heart. What he wouldn’t give for her to just look at him. Had he done something? Had he scared her? He had heard that while under the influence of the Hammie darts, the body is as useless as a ragdoll, but… Oh. Maybe that had scared her. Mabel had no way of knowing what the darts did, she had no idea what kind of poison they were filled with. Did she refuse to look at Ford because when she did all she saw was the shadow of a dead man?

“Mabel,” Ford croaked longingly, and he opened his arms. “Please come here.”

Mabel was trembling. She sniffed again and swallowed a sob down.

She was a Pines, after all. She was going to be stubborn. So Ford scooted himself and the sleeping bag and pile of sweaters. He carefully began to scoop her up, but she finally broke and turned and hugged him around the neck, sobbing into his shoulder and allowing him to hold her close and burrow her in his arms and sweaters and sleeping bag.

“Shh, shh, it’s alright now.” Ford petted her hair and closed his eyes, giving everything he had into making her feel better. “I’m okay, I swear. You did an incredible job.”

“I thought… I thought…” Mabel croaked and swallowed to try to communicate better. “Y-Your eyes… they rolled! Into… y-y-you looked d…” And she choked and sobbed and held him so tightly her fingers ached, but she didn’t care.

Now Ford had never heard of that side-effect before. “Oh, Mabel, honey…”

“I k-k-know you’re okay now… I know… but I th-th-thought I was g-gonna lose you!” Mabel cried out, her throat sounding like it was going to tear in half. 

“I’m sorry…” Ford cooed to her and adjusted her so she laid by his heart and he felt her hands. Holy Moses, she was so cold. “I’m so sorry. I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I love my little starshine too much to be anywhere else.”

Mable hiccuped a weak giggle and she nuzzled her cheek against his chest. “I love you, too, D-Grunkle Ford.”

Yup. Ford wasn’t shedding tears alongside her. No. A raindrop must have fallen on his cheek. On a cloudless night. Yeah, that was it.

#GF #gravity falls #gravity falls au #drifting stars au #fanfiction #MORE SWEATER-TWINS BONDING #clownwry #gift

[gravityfallsgarbagecan]

Waiting in the Shadows AU

In summary, Bill bides his time and waits to activate the portal, after all, what's a few decades to an immortal being? (this is kinda long so be prepared)

Everything that happened in Stan and Fords childhood is the same, Stan accidentally breaks Ford's project and he is kicked out. Ford goes to Backupsmore and meets Fiddleford and goes to Gravity Falls to study anomalies. He writes the journals and summons Bill honestly just to see if it was real. Ford still works with Bill but doesn't let him take over his body, he wants to be the one to make it, pride and stuff. After Fiddleford falls in, Ford decides the portal is (a bit) dangerous, puts it on pause, and calls Stan to help hide the journals. 

When Stan comes he and Ford talk it out and Stan talks some sense into him. Not wanting the years of work to go to waste, Ford doesn't destroy the portal, but he does shut it down and hides his journals*. Stan and Ford repair their relationship for the most part, and it takes a while, close to 30 years (wow, would you look at that). The twins come and Ford lets Dipper look through his journal. Dipper wants to go on adventures so he uses the copier to have his own journal to go on monster hunts with (and add his own things). Him and Mabel hid it from their Grunkles and went on adventures themselves. The show mostly follows canon,(Gideon doesn't have a journal though, so no dreamscapers, but he does still try to steal the shack instead by working with Mcgucket to build a giant robot (to “promote the Tent O’ Telepathy”) and the twins stop him. 

*He rewrites just the anomalies from all 3 books into one and destroys the original ones, most of his research is safe and the notes and blueprints of the portal are gone, win-win situation.. Mostly. 

Dipper and Mabel decide to tell Stan and Ford about the copy of the journal after the zombie incident (BAMF Stan, Ford is still a lil nerd since he was never in the multiverse). Stan understands (he would have done the same thing, let's be honest) and Ford is a bit upset, but he saw how well the kids handled everything and let them hang onto it. 

It's around here that Bill decides he’s waited long enough and wants to get Ford to complete the portal and turn it on. (at this point Ford doesn't think Bill is /evil/ but he is a little wary of trusting him, unlike at the beginning).  Bill goes to Ford in the mindscape and tells him that after 30 years he still isn't famous, and that he knows it's his dream. Bill is SUPER manipulative and convinces Ford to make the deal to take over his body and complete the portal. Ford doesn't tell any of this to Stan, and instead sneaks down to the basement at night to work on it. After a few days of this, Ford is sleep deprived enough that Bill takes over at night to work on the portal. 

Bill is less careful than Ford, and Stan figures out something is up, but doesn't know exactly what. He looked through the journal but all the pages about Bill were not added so he can't figure out what is happening, but he will still figure out how to stop… whatever it is.

Stan confronts Ford about it and Ford denies anything happening, he just has interesting research that's been keeping him up and Stan is worried about pushing Ford too much, especially in his sleep deprived state, so he tells Ford to just go sleep some. Bill knows he’s gotta hurry up before Stan puts a stop to him, so when Ford goes to nap Bill takes over and hurrys to start up the portal. 

Later when Stan goes to check on Ford (to make sure he's actually sleeping) he finds Bill in the basement working on starting up the portal Stan thought had been destroyed. He gets upset at “Ford” for not destroying it earlier and trying to figure out wtf is going on. Bill tells him he is Ford's muse he summoned to help him become famous because Stan was “holding him back from greatness” and all the mean things Ford was thinking when Stan was kicked out. Stan gets pissed but doesn't want to hurt his brother. Bill chooses this moment to bounce, so Stan has to deal with an unconscious brother and a demon trying to start up the portal. (at this point Stan doesn't know why the portal is dangerous, just that it is, especially if that creep is trying to start it.)

When Ford wakes up Stan tries to talk to him but just ends in a huge fight between them. Ford goes to sulk in the basement, and Bill uses their fight to get Ford to finish starting the portal. The kids know something is wrong after the fight and try to get them to hug it out. Stan is stubborn and doesn't want to talk to Ford, at least for a bit, so they decided to try and talk to Ford themselves. Stan is a responsible grunkle and goes with them, not trusting Fo Bill. They find Ford starting the portal, and a scene very similar to NWHS happens. Stan is at the button and Ford is pleading with him to keep it on. Stan doesn't want to, but he still trusts his brother. 

The portal causes weirdmageddon and everyone is too shocked to be pissed at first, but Stan is pissed that his trust resulted in this, and Ford is pissed that Bill lied to him (who'da thunk!) The younger twins have to deal with both the apocalypse and their grunkles fighting. There is no unicorn barrier around the shack, so it is no longer a safe place. Dipper and Mabel get Ford and Stan to stop fighting long enough to figure out how to stop Bill. He tells them of the zodiac so they have to work together to get everyone together. They split up into two teams, Mabel with Stan and Ford with Dipper. They go to find everyone in the zodiac, surviving in the throws of the apocalypse (similar to Dipper in canon). As soon as everyone from the zodiac are together Bill figures out he cannot leave Gravity Falls, and goes to kidnap Ford. He tries to just get the equation himself but since hsi deal was “Now till the end of time” and in weirdmageddon “time is dead” the deal is no longer in place and Bill can't get it. 

Everyone else (zodiac members and survivors) are trying to come up with a plan and Mcgucket's idea is a giant robot. Gideon suggests using the Gideon Bot since it's only moderately destroyed rather than starting from scratch. Stan is very unenthusiastic to help (his brother kinda betrayed him and he's salty and stubborn) but he doesn't get in the way or anything, he knows he still cares, even if he doesn't want to. 

The rescue mission goes well, they arrive faster than canon and see Ford being tortured for the equation. Stan feels a bit guilty at this point, the relization that if he pressed that stupid button none of this would have happened hit him and now he hates himself more (he could never hate Ford, no matter what he does). The Gideon Bot distracts Bill enough to free Ford and get the zodiac set up. Without a barrier protecting the robot it is defeated much quicker and Bill stops the zodiac before they can get Stan to join (he’s really salty at Ford, and Ford isn't exactly happy with Stan either. Ford doesn't want to blame himself so he blames Stan just a bit). 

Bill captures them like in canon and the twins distract him while the grunkles come up with a plan to stop him. Since Ford doesn't have a plate in his head they don't switch, Stan just has to effectively kill his brother after he starts the apocalypse. Logically both of them know this is the only way to save the kids- and the world- but it doesn't make it any easier. Stan still suggests they switch, “Your mind is useful, Sixer, mine's never been good for nothing”. Ford pauses for a sec and actually considers it, everything Bill said, everything that happened, but Ford still cares about his brother, and will not let him take the fall for his mistakes. No matter what happens, Ford can't hate his brother, and he still cares about him regardless. 

Ford makes the deal and Stan erases him, the pyramid falls and weirdmageddon is over. Stan feels even more guilty now, he enabled the apocalypse and then killed his brother to end it. They find Ford and he doesn't know who they are (this follows canon). Mabel and Dipper drag them back to the shack (which has been repaired since Weirdmageddon) and try to get his memories back. (“Remember when we played DD&D? Or going on monster hunts?” “Or when I showed you how to knit? The time I made your hand into a hand turkey?”) Stan is in the corner hating himself, but he doesn't want to show it to the kids. 

Ford gets his memory back and offers to sail with Stan (I love sea grunks, okay? I want them to live out their childhood dreams like the sappy old men they are) and Stan of course says yes (it's the least he can do after erasing his brother). 

On the boat Stan still feels bad about everything that happened, but he and Ford actually talk like functioning humans and Ford explains his deal with Bill better so Stan can better understand what happened. They get to live their dreams and get a happy end cause it's what they deserve!

#long post #gravity falls au #waiting in the shadows au #Stanley Pines #stanford pines #gravity falls #stangst #angst

[for-emilia]

Lap Of Honour.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium had become a second home to her, as much as she hated to admit it. Spending time every week at the stadium, in the stands, in a box, waiting in the tunnel, has made her grow more fond of the opposition’s stadium than she ever expected. She couldn’t deny it was a gorgeous stadium but there was something special falling more and more in love with the man on the pitch as the fans scream his name, doing what he loves most in the world. 

They’d met near the start of the new campaign meaning Emilia had seen it all; the wins, the losses, the mistakes, the goals. She’d been by his side for the majority of the season so it was only right she was there to support him on the final day. The final whistle blew signifying the end of the premier league season and the crowd burst into applause. They didn’t care that the trophy was further up the country in Manchester or that they’d go another season without silverware, the spirit of the club and the love for their team kept them going. 

Dele took his first glance around the stadium, sweating and out of breath from making the final run of the game, before glancing up to where she was sat, always in the same place. He tilted his head towards the tunnel, asking silently from across the pitch if she was coming to meet  him as if it was the first match she was at all over again. With a scrunch of her nose and a sarcastic shake ‘no’, he rolled his eyes and disappeared out of her vision. She looked around her seeing all of the other wags and children making their way out of the stand and followed on. Chatting away to Lowri, Winks’ girlfriend, they observe all of the excitable children waiting to get out on the pitch and see the stadium from their hero’s perspective. 

“Harry can’t wait to join the dark side and have kids, I dunno if I can cope quite yet,” Lowri giggled as they made their way past someone’s child crying to be carried. “I think Del is the same, keep having to remind myself we’ve been together less than a year,” Emilia laughed back trying not to think too hard about the times she’d spent underneath her boyfriend with comments whispered in her ear letting her know just how much he wanted that. Suppressing the shiver that threatened to cascade her spine, she looked up to see the boys beginning to stream out of the dressing room, clad in club tracksuits and their normal clothing. 

She couldn’t help but smile, observing tiny children jumping into their fathers’ arms and the men she’d grown to know more over the past 8 months cuddling them close and pulling their wives to their sides. “Well that’s my calling, there’s my man.. God doesn’t he look good in that tracksuit,” Lowri mumbled out as she left her friend’s side and walked towards Harry. Emilia was just happy she departed before she burst out laughing with a ‘no’ on her lips that she couldn’t contain after seeing her god of a boyfriend appear behind the tiny puppy-like man on Lowri’s arm. 

Emilia heard a chuckle from behind her that she’d recognise anywhere. “Thought you weren’t coming on the pitch, miss?” She turned around and spoke out to Hannah. “Oi, ‘m not, just wanted to give him a kiss before he went out,” she responded looking sheepish and pushing Emilia away when she made pretend hurling noises. “Here they areeeee.”

As always, Dele was the last out of the changing room. Dele claims it’s because he likes to keep  her waiting and make sure he doesn’t smell but she teases it’s because he doesn’t know how to dress himself. “Come here,” he beckons her into the dressing room after laughing at Eric trying to pull Hannah onto the pitch. “Mate, the fans are out there not in here, what do you wan-” Emilia’s response was cut off by their lips colliding before he pulled back and murmured “don’t call me mate, mate.” Looking around, she saw all of the boys’ things packed away neatly ready to grab on their way out apart from Dele’s. “Just wanted to show you the surface options for where you wanna get pregnant after the lap, you’ll be broody,” he smirked out at his own joke (knowing it held a lot some truth to it) pulling her into him by the waistband of her leggings. 

“Dele!” Emilia’s jaw dropped at his suggestion, trying to brush it off so he could have his walk around the pitch and get the love and support he rightly deserved. “Are you quite finished, you creep?” she whispered against his lips as she straightened up the strings on his hoodie. “You sure you wanna go out there?” Dele reaffirmed, knowing they hadn’t been public for long and knowing 50,000+ prying eyes was a lot for anyone. “Of course, just protect me from any flying objects,” She joked, knowing after they went public, the fans and the media were all over the fact Tottenham Hotspur’s star boy Dele Alli was dating a Chelsea fan. 

They walked out holding hands inside Dele’s hoodie pocket ‘inconspicuously’ (it was all over  fan accounts the day after with the media gushing over their ‘young love’) and started making their way clockwise around the fans. The applause he got was unbelievable, everyone shouting his name and waving, taking pictures and clapping for him as he walked slowly around the perimeter of the pitch. A small family all clad in ‘Dele 20’ Spurs jerseys waved Dele down, the smallest child holding a poster asking for a hug. Dele wiggled his hand out of Emilia's grasp and walked off towards the family, happily chatting and taking a photo hugging the little boy as requested before kneeling down to his level to chat to him. Just the sight alone made her want to drag him to the changing rooms and choose a spot but knows she can’t so opts to walk over to the small group by the goal post.

“Look who’s decided to join, have you seen what Dele’s up to?” Kate Kane asks with her daughter on her hip, glancing over to Dele behind Emilia. She looks again and sees he’s moved along the row and is stroking the cheek of a fan’s baby and thanking them for coming, “do not even, I can’t look.” With a laugh she turned back around, looking at all the little families and children running about with the mascots and smiling to herself despite being surrounded by the wrong London club’s jerseys.

Distant shouts of her name pulled her from her gaze, seeing Harry with his arm in the air to show where they were. Giving them all small hugs, Emilia settled resting against the barrier at the side of the pitch as Harry leaned on the other side next to her. “How’s your stomach holding up? Y’know, being around all this Spurs propaganda?” Robyn appears at her other shoulder slapping the logo beneath her hand on the board. “Don’t mention it, I’m in a good mood, I’ll start spewing,” Emilia jokes back hearing Alan and Sally laugh along too.

“It’s nice seeing him like that, ain’t it?” Harry spoke out quietly, all 5 pairs of their eyes trained on Dele doing the last half of the lap with his teammates, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. His joy and pride was unmissable, there was nothing he loved more than his job and the passion seeped out of hispores, especially on this day each year. She didn’t even need to answer, knowing they were all thinking and feeling the same thing. 

They all observed as he found a football and kicked it in between Jan’s kids and himself. “He’s such a natural with kids, he’d be such a good dad,” Emilia spoke out subconsciously, barely registering what she was saying. In the future, she’d look back and realise that moment, leaning against the edge of the pitch surrounded by his family, watching on as he was in his element surrounded by the fans, his friends and things that made him happy, was the moment she decided this was the real thing: what she wanted forever. 

-

“Isaiah, come here, bug,” Emilia beckoned her toddler over from where he was sitting a few seats over from her and the 5 month old baby in her arms. “You remember how this is gonna go?” She asked knowing he was still absorbed in the final minute of the game, unfolding in front of him, “we’re gonna go and wait for Dadda, then go and wave at everyone, you’ve gotta be on your best behaviour.” Juggling the hyperactive almost 3 year old and the fussy baby during a match was a handful, normally opting to drop them with their grandparents or Uncle Harry, but she knew it’d all be worth it once they were on the pitch.

The final whistle blew signalling the final win of the season as the crowd erupted into applause. Seats around them emptied quickly in the dash for wags and families to get onto the pitch although they stayed put, knowing Dele would wait as long as humanly possible to come out anyway so the busy battles in the corridors weren’t worth it. She ensured everything was packed away into the bag she’d become accustomed to carrying since becoming a parent and made sure Mabel’s little soundproof headphones were on securely then stood up and made her way out towards the tunnel. 

“Took you long enough,” Dele pushed himself away from the wall as he walked over to his family turning the corner, recognising them from just their shadows. “Well babe, what can I say? your days of having people wait for you are over,” Emilia kissed him before continuing, “You’re a dad, you've gotta do the waiting now.” She giggled at his sour reaction while handing Mabel over, her fussing coming to an immediate stop as she mewls at the feeling of Dele’s t-shirt. “She’s missed you,” Emilia spoke quietly as Dele lifted his daughter in the air Lion King style, making her kick her feet and give a toothless grin. “Issa, you ready? It’ll be quite loud, squish,” Dele fruitlessly asked, seeing he was itching to get out of the tunnel and onto the pitch. “God, just like his dad,” Emilia mutters under her breath, chasing the excitable 3 year old out of the tunnel leaving Dele smiling to himself.

Once they’re on the pitch, Mabel settles in the nook of Dele’s arm and Isaiah walks nicely alongside Emilia, tiny hand wrapping around two of her fingers allowing the parents’ other two hands to connect between them, swinging idly. The crowds never ceased to amaze her, the sheer size of the stadium and how almost every seat was filled for the last match of the season. All of that for her man, her husband, her children’s father, the love of her life. The smile that spread across his face was so unique. There were few things he loved in life as much as his job and to have them beside him and on the side lines on the lap of honour every season.. The feeling was unparalleled. He really couldn’t describe it. 

After Emilia unlinks their hands to lean down and chat to Isaiah, asking him if he wants to go and kick about with some of the other kids, Dele hops Mabel up and down in his arms a bit to wake her up. He looked around the stand in front of them, hundreds of beaming faces waving and clapping trying to get his attention but getting that of the little baby in his arms’ first. Mabel’s looking backwards and forwards between the fans and Dele, snuggling closer to his chest as a few families in the front row coo. 

“You gonna wave, princess? Show them what you learned for today,” Dele started waving, showing Mabel what he was asking her to do. A tiny hand raises in the air and stays there for a minute, clearly too tired to do the full wave but cute nonetheless so Dele takes matters quite literally into his own hands and executes the ‘Dele wave’ with his youngest, having no idea just how much it was gonna blow up on social media later on. “Aww, are you waving Bel?” Emilia emerged from ground level again after double tying her son’s trainers and making sure he was playing nice with other players’ kids. “Wave at grandma and grandad,” she mused, getting the baby’s attention resulting in her making grabby hands and leaning towards her grandparents.

“Well done, bro,” Harry clapped him on the back as they wandered over, Alan immediately taking Mabel off Dele and making her giggle within a few seconds. “Just surreal isn’t it, never gets boring,” he replies mostly to himself, looking right to the other end of the stadium and waving the length of the pitch. Emilia looks over to see Isaiah had veered towards Eric and Hannah, weaving in between Eric’s legs like the little menace he was before getting thrown over his shoulder playfully; they both chuckled at their son in unison as their heart strings pulled at seeing their best friends be so close to their children. 

“You coming for the other half or do you wanna stay with madam?” Dele questioned against his wife's lips. “Hmm, I’ll come, she looks comfy enough with your dad,” and that she definitely was, fast asleep in his arms, none the wiser to the crazy world around her. Despite his question, he didn’t move, staying attached to Emilia’s lips every so often and talking away to his family, the crowd still clapping and gentle noises of his teammates and their children chattering away in the distance. “Come on, you lump, people are gonna start lapping us,” Emilia laughed as she pushed him up off the barrier and towards the pitch again.

They went back to holding hands, this time uninterrupted by a baby or a restless toddler, just them and the fans to wave to. “I love this day every year, brings everything into perspective, doesn’t it?” Dele talks directed towards his wife although his words got muffled by the crowd cheering for somebody’s child scoring a goal further down the pitch. “I agree, can’t really get much better, ey?” She replied with a fond smile and walked closer to him. “I think I’m gonna make next season my last,” he suggested while bringing his bottom lip between his teeth, Emilia could tell he was terrified at the thought but it felt right, she didn’t press, trying not to ruin the moment and knowing it’d be brought up again later that night tangled up in bed anyway. 

“Maybe we can have another one of these too?” He followed up with a smirk and having his hand swiftly swatted away from where it was drifting towards his wife’s bum in the eyes of the fans. “The lap of honour always makes you broody, you exhibitionist” Emilia rolled her eyes but gave him a small kiss of approval still, “from the first year we were dating and had this day, I knew I wanted you to give me kids.” He chuckled, remembering the ins and outs of that day with a raise of his eyebrows, “you’re such a melt now you’re a mum.” 

“Nah not having that, I’ll knock you clean out in front of all your likkle fans,” Emilia chastised, pushing him away and pretending to be in a sulk. Dele laughed in mock offence and pulled her by the wrist directly in front of him, wrapping both arms around her and moving like a penguin, the only way the position allowed. Isaiah scurried back over towards the pair as he rambled on about how he scored a goal against Gazzaniga and Emilia looked back behind them, seeing Mabel waving on her own accord towards them before giggling and clapping herself at her own achievement. This was them, in their happy place, feeling on top of the world. Despite the mess of two young children and Emilia’s lifelong distaste towards the club her husband called home, it couldn’t get much better than this.

[fereality-indy]

Talking

Wendy thought the concept of a date with Dipper wouldn't be difficult. After all, she had a few boyfriends before. And yet, she found herself more stressed than usual, and had to ask for help a person she'd never considered otherwise... ____________________________

"Alright kid, what's up?" Stan asked as he walked up to the kitchen table that doubled as the Shack's break room. He and Ford had been back in town for only a week but he noticed something was going on with his former cashier. Heck, even Ford had noticed.

"Oh, it's nothing." Wendy said as she fidgeted with he tab on her can of Pitt.

"Hey, I may have only been in town over the summer these last three years, but that doesn't mean I still can't read people. You are acting off. Is it Lady Problems?" Stan asked as he sat down trying his best to sound sympathetic.

"What! No! Nothing like that. I've got a date coming up. I guess I'm just worried about messing it up." Wendy said as she popped the tab off of the can.

Stan blew a breath of relief. He wanted to be supportive, but he really did not know what he would have done to help other than that. "Oh. Ok. That's good. That's something I can help with. Do I know the guy? It is a guy? I mean with Mabel and Pacifica, anything can happen."

"Yeah, it's a guy. And you can say you know him." Wendy said as she folded the tab in her hand before adding it to a can they were collecting for little Antonio for when he get's to pre-school, they're always collecting stuff like that.

"Well, it's not that Valentino jerk is it? I know he was sniffing around that one time." Stan asked with a worried look. He really did not like the kid even if he seemed to still be friends with the kids.

"Oh gods, no. He's still with Tambry for some unknown reason, she deserves better than him." Wendy said before taking a sip of her Pitt.

"Well, what about your guy? You like him right?" Stan asked, genuinely interested. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he felt a certain grandfatherly connection to his employee.

"Yeah. He's a great guy. Smart, always looking out for people, and a real sweetheart." Wendy said with a heartfelt smile.

"If he's so great. What's the problem then, kiddo?" Stan asked as he got up and grabbed a cup of coffee, making sure it wasn't the battery acid his brother made.

"Well he's, he's..." Wendy started unable to fully put into words what she feels.

"He's Dipper and you're worried you are gonna mess up your friendship." Stan said as he walked back over to the table.

"How did you kno..." Wendy started before she shook her head, "It's that obvious?"

Stan placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "It is. You really for care for him. And I won't say it will be easy, but the kid cares deeply for you also. Just remember that you two are friends and just let that friendship lead you."

"Ok, thanks you old coot." Wendy said as she hugged her former boss. "I'll do that."  

#gravity falls #wendy corduroy #stanley pines #dipper pines #wendip #anon ask #fere's cat requests

[ashdash2417]

** So yeah, basically he gets introduced to the campers. Some are indifferent and some instantly grow to love him, especially Dewey and Nikki. The two basically become Ash's parents by this point, they play with him and help David feed and nurse him. Nikki even tries teaching him to hunt and fight. They all have a good time.**

** But of course all good things must come to an end. The day has come for Ash to leave the nest. He would be taken to the vet for a final checkup before being sent back to the forest. His legs seem to have fully healed and he'd grown quite a lot in the past 12 weeks. He was now old enough to fend for himself. **

** But Nikki and Dewey seem unwilling to part with him. They're sitting beside the little den they made for Ash out of sticks and leaves, hugging him from both sides with a gloomy expression on their faces. Some of the other campers (Huey, Mabel, Webby, Dolph, Preston, Nerris, Harrison, Marco, Star, Ered and Max) are there too. They try to cheer them up and convince them to let him go but to no avail.**

** This is where David steps in and he gently but firmly tells them that this is for the best, that Ash's real home is in the forest and that he'll be happier being out there than confined in a summer camp. He deserves to be free, and if they truly loved Ash enough, they'd let him be. **

Aawww! So cute!

[anistarrose]

Where We Would Be Without You (Forduary Week 4 - Love)

Summary: Ford reminisces on his mistakes, and Mabel is haunted at night by the choices she nearly made.

Word Count: ~1400

Warnings: none

For @forduary Week 4: Love (/together/family/connection)!

The Shack is quiet tonight, and Ford can’t sleep.

He’s sitting in the living room, just as he has the last few evenings while helping Stan remember — but tonight, Stan is up in his own room, and Ford is alone. Before Weirdmageddon, Ford had usually slept in Soos’s break room, but he’d never liked it — too many memories of prisms and journals and possession were corrupting the place, would bleed into his nightmares and practically do Bill’s work for him.

But no demons — or at least, no literal ones — lurk at the edges of his dreams tonight, nor will they ever again. From outside, he can hear wolves howling and owls hooting, and from the wall across from where he now rests, he can hear the owl-shaped clock ticking… yet the world is eerily silent in a way that Ford hasn’t felt in decades.

There’s nothing haunting this night except himself, his undistracted mind, and his mistakes — and there are an awful lot of those, aren’t there?

My fault that we ruined the Zodiac. My fault for not dismantling the portal at the first chance I had. My fault that I trusted Bill in the first place. My fault for leaving Stan behind.

From his coat’s inside pocket, he pulls out a faded photograph of two boys standing on a small and battered sailboat. It’s ripped and folded at the edges, but despite everything, still familiar.

He can think of no better way to make it up to Stan — no, not just make it up to Stan; he can think of no way he’d rather spend the remaining years of his life — but he would hardly be able to fault Stan for not giving him a second chance. He’s not sure if he would even give himself a second chance.

Why would Stan want to do anything with the person who ruined his entire life, the person who very nearly brought ruin down upon the world as a whole?

He slips the picture back into his pocket, and lets his head fall back until he’s staring at the ceiling, counting the planks. It’s not as effective of a distraction as he’d hoped.

It’ll be best just not to mention his plans to Stanley. No need to dredge up any more bitter old arguments, or long-deferred dreams, than the two of them already have this past month. The level of reconciliation they’ve reached, this cooperation as the family works to restore Stan’s memories and rebuild the Shack, is probably already pushing the limits of what Ford deserves — no need to try and force it along further, to risk destroying the progress they’ve made…

Above Ford, the silence is broken by the faint creak of a door, and by the soft and repetitive rhythm of unsure footsteps descending down the stairs.

Ford jumps up from his chair. His first instinct is that it’s Stan, having another amnesiac relapse like he so often does late at night and now wandering around, lost and confused — but the gait is different from Stan’s, he realizes, the footsteps too light.

“Mabel?” he calls out, and she turns around just as she’s about to enter the kitchen. “Is everything okay?”

She rushes to his side and buries her face in his coat, small arms wrapping around him and holding him surprisingly tight. With his unrestrained arm, Ford places a hand on her back and pats her gently, smoothing out her long and tangled hair.

“There, there. Shh, it’s alright…”

Her sniffles grow softer, and her grip on him relaxes.

“Th-thank you, Grunkle Ford,” she chokes out.

They’re both silent for a moment as Mabel collects herself, until Ford finally feels like it’s the right time to start with a simple, one-word question.

“Nightmare?”

Mabel nods. “Mm-hm.”

“Will it help to go look at the statue? To see that Bill’s dead?”

“It wasn’t about Bill,” Mabel tells him, softly yet bluntly, and Ford is at a loss for words for a moment.

“Then what was it — no, I’m sorry, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I just…”

“No, it’s — it’s okay,” Mabel tells him. “Talking usually helps — doesn’t it?”

“If you think it does, then I’m here to listen.”

Mabel takes a deep and shaky breath.

“I dreamed… I dreamed that I pressed the red button.”

For a moment, Ford is clueless, having no idea what button she means… but then, he remembers the portal’s shutdown switch. He remembers how Dipper and Mabel hadn’t known of his existence until the very moment he’d returned, how the federal agents had been accusing Stan of wielding a doomsday device.

And he can imagine a world where the portal had never been reactivated, where he’d never been whisked out of the Nightmare Realm — he’s already imagined it, spent so much time dwelling on the possibility ever since that fateful day.

“Stan was crying, in the dream,” Mabel went on, staring down at her feet like she was ashamed of what her dreamscape self had done. “He tried so hard to turn it back on again, he tried so hard to get you back, but I don’t know if it was out of fuel, or — or —”

“Oh, Mabel…”

“And I — but I… that was almost what happened in real life, Grunkle Ford! I was the only one who was able to reach the button, who was able to choose, and — I almost didn’t trust Stan! I almost left you in the portal!”

She’s crying again now, holding onto Ford’s coat like she’s afraid he’ll drift back into the electric blue void if she lets go. “What would we have done without you? How would summer have ended without you?”

Ford is dangerously close to blurting out without the apocalypse, for one thing, but Mabel wipes away her tears and keeps talking before he can.

“This whole summer, I never saw Stan as happy as after Weirdmageddon once he started remembering and all. And I almost took that away from him! I almost took away the games you play with Dipper, and the sweaters we knit together, and — and that fight we all had with the water guns yesterday, and the hikes in the woods you took us on — and neither of us would’ve ever known what we missed! I almost took away your whole family from you, Grunkle Ford, and I’m so, so —”

“But you didn’t.” Ford kneels down next to her and pulls her into a hug, and feels her cautiously embrace him back. “And I don’t think you ever would have, when it came down to it — I don’t think there’s a single alternate reality where that happened or will happen, and trust me, I’ve seen a lot of alternate realities. That’s the thing about dreams — sometimes, they can be a lot like Bill was. They can be ugly, manipulating liars.”

“You really think so?” Mabel asks. “You really think that in the whole universe, I’d never…”

“I do. You know who your family is, and you love them too much to ever truly distrust them like that — if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be Mabel. And I’m… I’m so proud of you for that.”

For the first time that night, Mabel smiles — and Ford does too.

“Thank you, Grunkle Ford,” she tells him.

“No, thank you, Mabel,” Ford whispers back. “For being the type of person who would always, always bring me back.”

And for telling me, he thinks, how much you all care about me when I’m too dense to see it myself.

***

Stan is heading to the kitchen for a glass of milk when he hears snoring so loud it couldn’t possibly be coming from just one person — and sure enough, Ford and Mabel are both fast asleep in his chair. Mabel is curled up as she hugs Ford’s left arm much like one might hug a stuffed animal, and Ford’s head is hanging off to one side, glasses slowly sliding off his nose and threatening to fall of his face. Neither stirs as Stan tiptoes past them, or as he takes the pillows he fetched from the break room and tucks them behind their heads.

***

Thanks for reading, feedback/reblogs are appreciated as always! 

I’m going to try and update SSD soon now that Stanuary and Forduary are done but who knows if I’ll stick to that lol

#gravity falls #stanford pines #mabel pines #stanley pines #forduary #rosalia writes fic

[fictionalabyss]

First time going on a date.

Pairing : Dean x Reader, Sam x Reader (mentioned)

Word count : 1,763

Warnings : Flangsty.

Square filled : First time.

Written for : @spnkinkbingo

Part 7 of A Series of firsts.

SPN KINK BINGO MASTERLIST.

After sleeping with Sam, things got awkward. Sam got weird around you, and it broke your heart all over again. Especially when he started dating some girl in his English class.

Two years later, and you were sitting in your window watching the boy who had once been your best friend go off to college. He didn't even say goodbye. You watched him hug his mother, his father clapped him on the back, and then he got in the car with Dean and left.

You wiped the tears off your cheek and walked away from the window. “You'd think I'd be use to it by now..” you mumbled to yourself.

You had gotten the job at the diner over the summer and decided to keep it when some of the others headed back to school, gaining you more hours.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

You stopped, and glanced at the table you had been walking past. “Dean?”

He smiled. “So, you do know who I am.” he teased.

You rolled your eyes at him. “What do you want, Dean?”

“Coffee.” You pulled out your pad and pen and write it, waiting for him to say what else he wanted. “You seeing anyone?”

Your eyes met his. “I'm not on the menu.”

“Should be.” He teased. “I miss you. Let me take you to dinner tonight.”

“Dean-”

“Come on, I barely see you, and you never talk to me anymore. One date.”

Your eyebrows shot up. “Date?”

He laughed. “Yeah, a date.” When he saw your face, it clicked. “Don't tell me, it's a first.”

“Shut up.” You shot at him.

“Oh now I need to take you out. What time you get off at?”

You sighed. “6:30. Now what do you want?”

“Is that a yes?” You gave him a nod and his face lit up. “Just the coffee. Was going to have a late lunch, but now I have a hot date tonight.” he winked and you rolled your eyes and started away. “Wait, no! Pie! Gimme a slice of pie.”

“You better not be taking me on a date here, Dean.” you called over your shoulder as you write ‘pie’ on the pad under coffee. “I get enough of this greasy crap.”

Dean was smiling when you glanced back. “Oh, I'm treating you real nice tonight, sweetheart. I'll pick you up at your place. You know my number, it hasn't changed. Call me when you're ready. I'll be waiting.”

True to his word, Dean took you somewhere nice. Hell, he even dressed nice. You’d never seen him all dressed up like this. You chuckled at him when the bottle of wine was brought to the table and glasses were poured. “What?”

“Since when do you even own a cardigan, Dean?”

“Shut up, I have nice things.”

“I feel like you told your mom you were taking me out, and she bought you a whole new outfit.” You teased with a grin.

“Fuck off.” He laughed, then glanced down. “I mean, she suggested new jeans..” You laughed again and he shot you a look. “Hey, I look damn good.”

“Yeah, you do.” You smiled at him. “I, however, did go shopping just for tonight.”

“You bought that for me?” You shrugged and his face lit up. “I like it.”

“I knew you would.”

“How the fuck haven’t you dated before this?” He shook his head in disbelief and your smile faded.

“At first, I kept turning them down because I was waiting for your brother.” You looked down at your hands and the waiter came over and brought your meals, asking if anything else was needed.

Dean shook his head, and when the waiter left, he looked to you again. “And after?”

“Sam broke my heart.” You glanced up at Dean again. “I didn’t want to go through that again.”

“Why say yes to me now?”

You shrugged and picked up your fork. “I don’t expect anything from you, really. I didn’t even expect a date at all, so I’m not going to be crushed if there isn’t a second one. Plus, I feel safe with you.” You smiled softly. “There’s never been any bullshit between us, so I know you’d never hurt me.”

“Not on purpose.”

You gave him a soft smile and started eating your meal. Dean grabbed his fork and knife and started cutting into his own.  There was a few minutes of quiet, not that you minded, it was nice just being around Dean again. But eventually, Dean looked up at you, and when you glanced at him, you could see his mind working.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go for it.”

Dean licked his lips. “What happened between you and Sam? I was sure you two would end up together.”

You sighed, pushing food around your plate as you thought about how to answer him. “I was an idiot. I believed him, and I was a fucking idiot.”

“What do you mean?”

You licked your lips and looked up at Dean again. “The party. He lost his shit over us, yelled at me that you should have known better.”

“Yeah, I should have.” Dean admitted, elbow resting on the table as he ran his hand down his face. “I never should have touched you.”

“I wanted it.”

“Doesn’t matter, sweetheart.” You looked down, at your plate and Dean reached over, making you look up at him. “But now?” he smiled. “Now I can take you out. I can treat you right.” You gave him a small nod. “What else happened to push you away?” He pulled his hand back.

“He told me he loved me.”

Dean’s eyebrows went up. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I wanted to believe it. I did believe it.” You shook your head. “I yelled at him, told him he could have said something, anything. I waited so fucking long to hear it, and he waited until then, until I saw him with someone else.” Dean shook his head, an annoyed look on his face. “And I believed him, like a fucking moron. He asked if he could make it up to me, I said yes.. I hoped this was finally it.” You scoffed.

“Sweetheart-”

“He fucked me.” Dean froze, not having expected that. “His ‘I love you’s were like a promise that everything would work out so I let him. I wanted it, and I wanted it all to work. He went until he was done, and then he rolled off and passed out..”

“Please tell me he used a condom.” You shook your head, and Dean’s jaw clenched.

“I’ve been on birth control anyways-”

“Not the fucking point.” Dean growled.

“I know.” You sniffled. “I left, not wanting to get caught sneaking out of the house again, and Sam didn’t talk to me the rest of the weekend.” You shrugged. “Figured he was nursing a hangover like I knew you would be. I saw him at school Monday, went to talk to him, but he was laughing with the guys, and I heard them. Bragging about what a ‘rager’ the party had been and how he’d gotten laid.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.” Dean grumbled.

“He just looked at me with this stupid grin that faded when he saw how hurt I was. He barely looked at me, barely talked to me after that, and then he started seeing whatsherface.”

Dean groaned. “Hated her.”

“Felt like he was rubbing it in my face. Giving her what I always wanted.” You shook your head. “He was my first, Dean. And I started to realize I wasn’t sure if I was his, or if I even knew who he was anymore. So I stopped trying to talk to him, headed for the clinic to get checked out..” you shrugged. “I tried to move on. Funny thing is, even with all that, with almost two years of not a word from Sam, it still broke my heart all over again when he left for college and didn’t even say goodbye.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” You shook your head and he reached over to wipe away a tear that ran down your cheek. “I busted his ass the whole way to California, you know. For not saying goodbye. I’ve been wondering why you didn’t come down.”

“Because I don’t belong there anymore.”

“You always belong with Winchesters. Sammy doesn’t get to fucking decide that shit. My mom misses you. She was sad when prom came and went and she didn’t get to go dress shopping with you. She’d been looking forward to that for years.” He chuckled softly. “We all miss you.”

“You have no idea how much I miss you too.”

He smiled. “Now you have no excuses. We’re dating.”

“We’re what?” You chuckled.

His smile grew. “Oh yeah, I’m taking you out again.”

“Dean, this was probably the most awkward date ever. I spent half of it so far crying about your asshole brother.”

“And yet, you’ve never been more beautiful.”  

“Fuck off. Liar.”

Dean laughed. “I told you once, I’ll tell you again. You’re perfect. His loss is my gain.” You smiled at that, cheeks warming. “Besides, date number two is when we discuss that wet dream you once had-”

“Oh fuck.” You groaned and buried your face in your hands making him laugh harder and people turned to look. “I hate you.”

“You thought I forgot about that, huh?” He grinned.

“How do you even know!?” Your hands came down again.

“You were moaning in your sleep.” He smiled. “And when you didn’t come back after five minutes, I went out looking for you. You aren’t as quiet as you think. I heard you half way between our tents. Was that another first?” You nodded in embarrassment. “Was it about me?” He grinned. You covered your face again. “Yes! So that's… five firsts under my belt?”

“Technically, you and Sam share the camping trip.” You winced.

“Kinky.” He laughed. “Fuck, okay, date three, we find out just how kinky you really are.” He licked his lips.

“Shut up and eat. Asshole.” You picked up your fork and tried to ignore how he was smiling at you.

“Hey, after this, wanna go for a ride in the car? I don’t think you’ve had a proper ride in her.”

“I have not.” You told him as you brought food to your mouth.

“A ride it is. Maybe we’ll drive in to the city for a late movie. Share some popcorn-”

“You’re a hopeless romantic deep down, aren’t you?”

“Only for you.” He winked. “You deserve it.”

*If you like this, please consider supporting my work, or requesting a commission.*

Tagging : A series of firsts - @coffee-obsessed-writer @colie87 @super-fan-of-all-things @kdfrqqg   @winchesterweirdo @dat-mabel

Dean - @evyiione   @soythedemonqueen   @deanandsamsbitch @akshi8278 @haelyn   @aubreystilinski @hobby27 @anjiep24 @polina-93 @colagirl5 @adoptdontshoppets 

Sam - @evyiione   @skycat41 @rebelminxy @purplecatterpiller @stark-red19 

Supernatural - @roxyspearing  @internationalmusicteacher @extreme-supernatural-lover @super100012 @legend-o-zelda @kickasscas67 @sandlee44 @dancingalone21   @starry-chaos @superfanficgsp987 @holyfuckloueh  @arses21434

  All tags - @dustycelt @gloria1097 @pearky22   @trashforwinchesters    @bohowitch @feelmyroarrrr @sleepylunarwolf @pureawesomeness001 @izawrites @thesassmisstress @fandomsneverdie14   @me-a-unicorn @xalgaliareptx @destiels-new-girl @sorenmarie87 @ridingmoxley @shaelyn102   @nanie5 @jesstherebel   @mogaruke @emoryhemsworth @my-amaz-fanfics @reigningqueenofwords @akfonkin @lazinessisalliknow

#spnkinkbingo #first time #a series of firsts #reader insert #deanxreader #dean x reader #dean winchester x reader #samxreader #sam x reader #sam winchester x reader #dean #dean fics #dean winchester #dean winchester fics #sam #sam fics #sam winchester #sam winchester fics #spn #spnfics #supernatural #supernatural fic

[aceofstars16]

My Top 10 GF Episodes

So, I wanted to try and figure out my favorite Gravity Falls episodes just for the fun of it...but I will say I’ve only seen most of the episodes once so it’s very possible that there are some I might like more if I watched them again?

Also, most of my favorites tend to be relevant to the plot, but there are a few that aren’t that I still love (also big surprise, I love pretty much every episode with Ford in it xD)

Since I’m going to explain my reasoning behind why I like these episodes and am including some pictures, I’m putting this below the cut!

Honorable mentions (because there are some that I love that didn’t make it inn the top ten):

"Gideon Rises"

I feel like this episode is overlooked a lot, but it’s really good? I especially love how Dipper learns that he can be a hero without the journal. Plus you can SEE how much Stan wants to take care of Mabel and Dipper and sending them away hurts him but he does it because he can’t give them the care they need like oof my heart.

"Into the Bunker"

I love this episodes because it really sparks Dipper’s journey of finding the Author, not to mention the shapeshifter is kind of terrifying and makes for some intense action! It also adds to the mystery which of course I love! Plus, they really did the whole Dipper talking to Wendy thing well and in a realistic sense which I appreciate a LOT.

"Sock Opera"

This episode is so good I almost had it in my top ten, it was a close call. There is just so much I love about it? I think the main thing that I’m eh about is whatever the dude’s name is that Mabel is trying to impress. But everything else? Bill being terrible but hilarious, Mabel giving up her show for Dipper, just...solid and good and yes.

"The Stanchurian Candidate" 

This one gives me all the Stan feels (and also Ford freaking giving a mind control device to kids like...Ford no...xD) But I love how it’s so TRUE to Stan, like he isn’t the best person when it comes to ideals, but if you put his family in danger, his golden heart shines through and you can’t help but love him!

10.  "The Time Traveler's Pig"

I’ll admit, I haven’t rewatched this one yet, but I’m a sucker for time traveling shows and this one really helped me want to keep watching. It had interesting and fun elements that I enjoyed and Mabel and Dipper bonding that was so sweet and pure. Plus...fordshadowing...

9.  "Dreamscaperers"

Such a pivotal episode in the series. Not only do we meet Bill for the first time, which is in and of itself foreboding, but we also get a look into Stan’s mind and a glimpse of his childhood (though I will admit I’m still not sure if the kid is supposed to be Stan or Ford because of the whole glasses deal...) and why he is so hard on Dipper. It’s just such a good insight into characters and as pointed out is the shifting point from a lighthearted show to a show with darker themes.  

8.  "Northwest Mansion Mystery"

This one is just so creepy but also fun? And I really do love seeing Pacifica’s development, and how you can see why she acts like she does. It’s such an insight into her character and he stand against her parents is great! Not to mention Dipper is willing to give her a chance and says she doesn’t have to be like her parents. Like this boy said “you’re the worst” at the beginning but is willing to give her a second chance after seeing her home life. I don’t know I just love it.

7.  "Scary-oke"

Okay I love every bit of this episode, I just rewatched it and it’s just SO GOOD! Like, it’s the perfect start to season two, with Stan starting the portal, to the government agents noticing the power source and checking it out, to Stan, Mabel, and Dipper singing together to defeat zombies (not to mention how freaking PROTECTIVE and WORRIED Stan was for the kids, my HEART), I just love every bit of this episode man.

6.  "The Last Mabelcorn"

Another important plot episode that is all sorts of crazy and intense and great! I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of the unicorn part cause you know...the unicorns are jerks, but I LOVE the development with Ford and Dipper and how in the end Mabel didn’t need the unicorn’s acceptance because she had her family. Plus that one scene is SO INTENSE like dude...DUDE!

5.  "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future"

This episode gives me SO MANY FEELS, like when I first watched it I was a mess (partly because I needed to go to bed but CLIFFHANGER MUCH) The difference between Mabel and Dipper’s relationship from the beginning to the end is so stark and it hurts, but you can understand BOTH sides and the parallels to Stan and Ford just oof...PLUS Dipper going on and adventure with Ford is like my favorite thing ever. “Say hop, it helps!” Ford you dork I love you.

4.  "Carpet Diem"

Most of my favorite episodes are in season two, but let me tell you Carpet Diem is HILARIOUS. It was the first episode that I just absolutely loved because it made me LAUGH SO MUCH! Not only that, but the fordshadowing is there andi it’s real and painful. Also Mabel and Dipper realizing that they miss each other at the end...like ouch my heart but also so pure! <3

3.  "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls"

I’m just gonna go out and say Gravity Falls has one of the most satisfying endings of any show. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s gosh darn close! There is so freaking much about this episode that I love. Every bit of Mabel and Dipper and how they trust each other so much and face Bill together without fear like my precious children! Ford not giving into Bill’s torture, but then him getting VERY worried when Bill goes after Mabel and Dipper, and then both Stan and Ford realizing how much they messed up and how they both would do ANYTHING to keep Mabel and Dipper safe. And then Stan’s sacrifice I just...it hurts me soul so much ever bit of that scene and everyone’s reactions just HURTS SO MUCH. But then Stan getting his memories back and just the pure bittersweet ending, like it’s so perfect but it also makes me cry just because these characters grow on you so much and seeing them parting just hurts my heart. The only thing I wish had been included would be the kids hugging Ford and Soos at the end (Mabel said “We said goodbye to everyone...” but we didn’t see them saying bye to Soos and Ford...maybe that would’ve been too much, I might’ve been even more of a mess...) Anyways, the entire end sequence, including the credits (and the MUSIC) is so perfect and my HEART! (this can easily be #1 for me too, but I love the other 2/3 so much too hnnng)

2. "Dungeons, Dungeons & More Dungeons"

This episode is just so freaking enjoyable??? There are a lot of reasons I love it tbh...I love the poking fun at D&D (because I’ve actually PLAYED D&D), I love the family bonding and how Mabel and Stan use their strengths to save their brothers, I love how Dipper and Ford bond and how they understand each other and just click so much and really love hanging out together. Plus this is the first episode where we really get to know Ford, at least post portal Ford - his dorkiness, his bamf-ness, how much he really does want to get to know his family. It just is...so good...not to mention the whole Ducktective bit, “I’ll have you know Ducktective has a mystery element and jokes that go over kids heads!” (I’m paraphrasing there I probably messed up the quote xD) And then the whole “twin brother” twist in it too, just so much 4th wall stuff that is so funny and I love it so much!

1. "Not What He Seems" & "A Tale of Two Stans" 

I can’t split up these two episodes...I really can’t...I know everyone raves on “Not What He Seems” and it deserves that! It’s such an intense episode and the culmination of all of the questions that have been brought up throughout the show, at least relating to Stan and The Author. The entire episode is just leaves you so shook, not to mention that last scene with Mabel like...FREAKING EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER MUCH??? It is just such a freaking good episode and I really do love it, but to me you can’t just say “Not What He Seems” because it ends with you having about a bazillion more questions, enter:

 “A Tale of Two Stans” I’m going to admit, if I HAD to pick a favorite episode it might just be AToTS because I just adore Stan and Ford so much. Seeing their backstory is so interesting but also so freaking heartbreaking, it hurts me every time I watch it and yet I always love watching it??? Maybe it’s just seeing how much Stan and Ford had each other’s backs as kids and how there is so much that shakes their relationship, but there are still hints of how much they still care about and trust each other (even continuing on in the show). It really just sets up their stories so well and has you rooting for them to reconcile and forgive for the rest of the series. And thankfully we get it in the end. I just...love this episode despite the PAIN because I love those Stan twins...

#gravity falls #gravity falls spoilers #gravity falls top 10 episodes #aceo rambles #don't read this if you haven't seen the show guys i'm serious xD #also brother is playing right now...HOW FITTING

[wamaiiwoods]

Ahh diff anon but I loved those headcanons!!!! Please do more!!! 💖💖 (But don't force yourself if u don't want to!)

asdfg honestly I’d be happy to!

Keep in mind most of these headcanons are when these knuckle heads actually get together, bc let’s b real, they’d b in denial forever! especially Bill, who believes love is a facade for human’s biological urge to reproduce. “DON’T BE FOOLED BY THE HIGH PRICED AND FANCY LINENS! THIS IMPOSTER ONLY WANTS TO TIE YOU DOWN AND DRAG YOU INTO A GRAVE!” Bill will come to realize that even if that’s the case, dead or alive, he wants to be with Dipper through it all. 

I’m more for these two having a happy ending even though Bill really doesn’t deserve it, but he has to ‘absolve his crimes’ so he grows and changes with the help of Dipper. ( rlly nothing changes he’s just not trying to take over the damned universe anymore.) unless… Dipper wanted to as well. 

Eventually ( and I mean it takes a long looong time BUT)  Bill becomes one of the Pines, he won’t ever admit to it but it’s the family he misses. Stan and Bill soon get along like a house on fire, both liars and con men, they team up for even more crazy schemes. Mabel and Bill are probably as crazy as each other, and get along pretty well too when Bill’s not talking about pulling out teeth and decapitated howling heads. It takes her a while to somewhat trust him though!  Ford and Bill never really come to terms with each other, though sometimes they have great chats about dimensions and power if Bill’s in the mood.

Bill completes Dipper, he needs someone that understands that bit of darkness and crazy in him, Dipper is somewhat power hungry and selfish. Bill makes him feel like he’s free from a brainwashing society and part of a mystery!

Dipper completes Bill too. Dipper helps Bill solve problems who was to blind or frustrated to see before, Dipper is smart (though not as smart as ford) but probably smarter then Bill in some areas. Dipper is the only one that gets him, Bill has never had that person to rely on before. Really, if Dipper was up for it, they could actually gain control of the universe and all it’s dimensions.  

THEY’RE SOUL MATES

They love challenging and out smarting the other, it’s how they flirt! 

Bill always wear’s Dipper’s clothes to bed, he loves the smell of pine and that unique sent of spice. Even before they were actually together, Bill would steal his clothes for lounging. He really doesn’t own any comfy clothing of his own, it’s all slacks, bow ties and button ups really. 

Dipper loves Bill’s sharp nose and smile, even though at first he thought it was just plain creepy. he’s not much for public affection but he could kiss Bill all day if they were alone. it’s his fav thing when they hug and Bill nuzzles his nose in the crook of his neck! 

#I know there's more #I jst have to wait for them to come to me #anon #replies

[billnoncipher]

Wendip Week 2018, Prompt 5: “Flirting.”

All Aboard the Flirt Train

By William Easley

(This is not part of my regular continuity, but a story written for Wendip Week 2018 for Prompt 5: Flirting)

Ever since he had turned sixteen, Dipper had felt different. He could drive—when Mom and Dad let him borrow one of their cars for an hour or so. He had asked Wendy out to three whole dates the previous summer, and she'd accepted every time. So as the summer of 2016 began, he was fired up for . . . adventures in Gravity Falls! With his favorite redhead!

And when Mabel gave a sleepover alert for their first weekend in the Falls that summer of 2016, and when it turned out that Pacifica was out of town with her parents, Grenda was off in Austria for a week, and Candy was at band camp for two weeks, Wendy was the only one who responded.

"Not good," Mabel pronounced that afternoon.

"Sure, it's good," Dipper said. "You two are buddies. Like big sister and little sister."

"Augghh!" Mabel yelled, waving her arms and doing a good vocal impression of Charlie Brown missing that football again. "You can't play any of the good sleepover games with just two! Gotta be a minimum of three! So, I guess it's gonna be really boring for Wendy." She paused and then in a sly tone, she added, "Unless . . . "

OK, Dipper told himself, it would be awkward but not that awkward. Mabel would sleep, if she slept at all, in her old bed in the attic. Wendy would sleep in Dipper's bed.

Yep, right . . . in my bed.

And Dipper would sleep on the floor. On an air mattress. In his sleeping bag. At the foot of his bed, not in it.

Knowing Mabel, and knowing this is the first sleepover of the summer, we probably won't even get to bed, anyway. The first and last ones are all-nighters.

Dipper assured himself it would be all right. That morning Wendy brought an overnight bag to work, and that evening the three went up to the attic bedroom. They got into sleepwear—Wendy modestly chose green pajamas, Mabel wore her old sleep shirt plus shorts under them, and Dipper wore a t-shirt and shorts that came down to his knees, nothing racy.

And then Mabel said they first had to gossip—not a life skill Dipper had developed. But he sat mostly silent listening to Mabel and Wendy dish the dirt on Pacifica, teachers from both of their schools, Tad Strange (very bland gossip), and a few others.

"Come on, Dipper!" Mabel said at one point. "Hold up your end of the conversation!"

"I never talk to anybody or find out any of these things," Dipper pointed out. "I'd have to make up gossip. Like 'The mailman is a werewolf.'"

"No, he's not," Mabel said, laughing. "He told me he suffers from hyperpilosity, that's all."

"I said I was making it up."

Wendy shook her head. "No good, dude. It has to have some fact in it to be gossip."

Next, Mabel broke out the trusty old Twister game. Now, Dipper couldn't deny that posing nearly wrapped around Wendy with one hand and one foot on red, one hand on yellow, and one foot on blue wasn't stimulating. It was less so, though, when Wendy, laughing, lost her balance and fell on him, smashing his face into the floor.

They dealt with the nosebleed for ten or fifteen minutes. Wendy kept apologizing, but Dipper said, "Wasn't your fault. It was the game. I'm OK, really."

Then there was M.A.S.H., the game of numbered lists under the headings Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House, plus some arcane business with a spiral line and counting, and Mabel announced the results: "Wendy, you're gonna live in a Shack, drive a tank, marry Jared Padalecki, and have four kids! Dipper, you're gonna live in an Apartment, drive a minibus, marry Melanie Martinez, and have one child!"

"Name it after me, dude," Wendy said.

"Only if it's a boy!" Mabel said, and she fell over backwards, hugging herself as she gave her high, gurgling laugh.

"This is a stupid game," Dipper complained. "Why can't we play 'Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons?' Or the Duck-Tective version of 'Clue?'"

"Lame!" Wendy said. She didn't have the patience for board games.

"Truth or Dare!" Mabel said.

"Yeah, I'm up for it," agreed Wendy.

"I . . . think I'm leaving," Dipper said, getting to his feet.

Mabel lunged across the floor, tackling him at the ankles. His crash hurt even more than the bruised nose had. "Mabel! Seriously, quit it!"

"Come on, dude," Wendy said. "We'll go easy on you."

"Yeah, yeah," Mabel said. "Dip, you first—truth or dare?"

Looking at her fiendishly grinning face, Dipper sighed. "Dare, I guess."

Giggling, Mabel said, "Do the 'Lamby Lamby' dance!"

"I hate that!"

"It's a sacred dare! You gotta! Wait a minute!" Mabel dashed to her bed, hauled out a trunk from beneath it, and rummaged in it. She produced a white crocheted tam and gloves set, and she followed those with a wooly white sweater. "This'll be close enough! Costume, Broseph!"

She tugged the junk onto him. He sighed. "I hate this." But he sang the song and danced the dance, going down on one knee at the end. Mabel laughed so hard she was gagging.

But Wendy smiled and clapped. "Brings back memories, man. And Dip, you still make a darned cute lamb. You could follow me to school one day."

Wendy chose dare, too, and Wendy challenged her: "Flirt with my brother for five minutes!"

"Don't humiliate her," Dipper said. "Wendy, you don't have to—"

"It's cool, man. I won't embarrass you. Hey, dude, I love the way you're always trying to protect me."

He squirmed. "I know you don't need to be protected but I just don't want Mabel to embarrass you. Or me. And she always finds a way to do it."

Wendy hip-slid over to sit next to him. "But you're mature enough to let that roll off your back," she said.

"Like a duck off a log!" Mabel yelped.

Wendy reached out and gently touched Dipper's cheek. "Hey, hey, don't let it bother you like that. It's just flirting. It's not that bad. It doesn't hurt anything."

"Yeah, but it makes me all crazy," Dipper complained, huddling where he sat. "I mean, it's different for you, Wendy. You're the coolest person I've ever known, and you've got all the confidence in the world."

"You think so?" Wendy asked. "Let me tell you, I've got rotten judgment in guys. That's why I'm so glad you came back this summer. You're not like the guys I usually see. You never try to pressure me into anything. You're a true gentleman, Dipper."

He blushed. "Wendy I'm not—but if I seem that way, it's because being close to you makes me better than I really am. Better than I thought I ever could be. But that's you, not me. I'm a mess, and you're so fantastic—I wish I had your strength and your confidence. I wish I was one-tenth as hot as you are. Oops, I didn't mean to say that!"

"It's a compliment, Dip," Wendy said with a sweet smile. "Just like you to say something nice like that and get embarrassed. Man, it's kind, but please don't talk about me like that. I'm, like, a wreck! I wish I could be as loyal as you are, as willing to help anybody in trouble, as forgiving. I'm none of that. When you find a girl—"

"Time!" Mabel yelled. "That was some pretty good flirting, Wendy!"

Dipper blinked. "Wait, what? The game already started? I thought—oh." He sighed. "Not real. Like my made-up gossip."

Wendy touched his arm, rubbing her palm up and down as she caressed it. "Nope," she said. "That was one hundred per cent from the heart, man. Mabes didn't say the flirting had to be made up."

"You—were serious?" Dipper asked.

She kissed him on the lips. "Yep," she said in a whisper.

Mabel switched back to Dipper's turn without him noticing she hadn't taken her own turn yet. "Truth or Dare, Brobro?"

"Truth," he said.

Chuckling, Mabel said, "How many girls have you ever kissed?"

Dipper winced. "You mean on the lips?"

"On the whatever!" Mabel said. "Come on, spill it!"

"Go on, Dip," Wendy said.

He squirmed. "Um. Let me count. There's my mom, on the cheek. There was that girl in fifth grade that Mabel promised a dollar to if she'd let me kiss her on the cheek."

"Oh, yeah, Anna," Mabel said. She glanced at Wendy. "She didn't get the dollar, 'cause at the last second she ran away screaming. I think she had to have therapy later."

Dipper was frowning as he did mental arithmetic. "I guess it's a total of . . . thirty-three, counting Mabel. Just a brother-sister kiss."

"Dude," Wendy said, "that's more impressive than I figured!"

"Wait, wait," Mabel objected, frowning. "Dipper, there is no WAY you've kissed that many girls!"

"It's true," Dipper said.

"Name them all!"

Dipper shrugged. "You, Mom, Anna . . . Wendy."

"That's four!" Mabel said. "Boo, you liar!"

"I'm not lying," Dipper said, reaching for Wendy's hand. "Wendy's ten times better than each of the others, and three tens make thirty."

Wendy laughed. "Oh, Dip, that deserves another one!" And she kissed him again.

"I feel like I've been touched by an angel," Dipper said.

Mabel said, "Hang on, no fair! You weren't dared to flirt with Wendy!"

"Mabes," Wendy said, comfortably hugging Dipper and looking not at Mabel, but deeply into her twin's eyes, "we just started a whole different kind of game."

The End

#wendip week #william easley #gravity falls

[minijenn]

Wake Up Call

A sequel to Difficult Decisions

It was days like this on the lake shore that made Mabel really appreciate the beauty of Gravity Falls.  The weather was relatively cool for a summer day, making it very comfortable to be outside.  The afternoon sun painted the blue lake was a collage of reds, oranges and yellows that created something straight out of a professional painting.  To top it all off, a slight breeze was wafting through the shore, blowing through her hair.  Mabel always found time to come down to the lake on days like this to truly appreciate her summer retreat.  It made her feel like she was in her own special place where she didn’t have to be afraid of expressing her true self and where her friends and family would always be by her side.

However, today wasn’t one of those days.

Today, Mabel was too worried about more important matters to appreciate the beautiful atmosphere the small Oregon town provided.  Important matters such as an insane dream demon threatening to take away her only brother and best friend.  Mabel was still in relative shock from last night when Bill decided to pay her a visit.  That morning, she could’ve sworn that she still felt the “incentive chain” shackled around her ankle, but that obviously wasn’t the case in the real world.  Mabel barely ate any breakfast that morning thanks to her trauma, which did raise some concern from Stan.  Luckily, Mabel was able to convince her grunkle that she didn’t have an appetite at that moment and would eat something else later in the day.  That provided a good excuse for the girl to get out of the Shack and start looking for the boys.  She couldn’t keep these thoughts bottled up in her head any longer, so she thought it best to talk to Dipper and Steven about it.  However, deep down she knew the real reason she had to tell them was because they were probably the only ones that would know what to do in this situation.  After all, when was the last time she ever did anything to fix a problem.

After a day of wandering around, and running into Connie for a brief moment, Mabel made her way down to the lake.  It was there where she finally found the boys she was looking for, only to find them in an unusual position.  When she found them, Steven and Dipper were in the middle a comforting hug.  Mabel really only felt confusion at this, but there was also a tiny bit of jealousy in there as well.

“Steven…Dipper?!”  Mabel said, interrupting the boys from their hug.  Dipper immediately separated from the hug, blushing from being caught in a rather embarrassing scenario.  “Oh, hey Mabel!  Me and Steven were just uh….having a chat and all that.  Ha ha!” Dipper tried to downplay the situation.

Mabel put on a rather skeptical look, but Steven notices something else was off about Mabel.  Instead of her usual cheery demeanor, it appear that she was lost in a heavy train of thought.  “Mabel, are you okay?  Where’s Connie?” the young Gem asked.  Mabel was silent for a minute before finally answering.  “Oh, well Connie needed to head back home, but listen guys,” the girl began and then step forward in front of the boys.  “I really need to talk to you to about something.”

Now that she had gotten the boys attention, she began to realize that she had no idea how to even begin to say what was on her mind.  How would she be able to say anything without raising a panic from the boys.  After all, no one would take the news that a psychotic demon was out for their lives very easily.  The girl never really was one to discuss matters on a more delicate manner, that usually fell to Dipper.  As for the boys, they were equally confused about Mabel’s unusual behavior.  Apart from a few occasions, the energic girl usually put on a bright smile throughout the day.  The only times that she was this solemn when something was very wrong.  This made Dipper and Steven uneasy, so they decided to probe further to see what was bothering the girl.

“Mabel, are you okay?” Steven asked cautiously.  “You seem a little…down.  Do you need to talk about something?”  Dipper then approached Mabel as a sign of concern.  “Yeah Mabel, whatever is bothering you, we’re right here for you.  Both of us.”  Mabel’s eyes starting to feel wet with tears as she saw how concerned they were over her sake.  In the back of her mind, she realized that there was no way that Mabel could lose these two.  Dipper and Steven were always there to pick her up whenever she felt down.  They were her anchor whenever she faced a problem that not even her bubbly personality could deflect.  If they were taken away from her for good, Mabel guessed that she would be lost in this world and practically shut down.  True she had other people in her life that would be there for her, but there was some special connection with her twin brother and closest friend that she cherished the most.  There was no way she could imagine a reality where Dipper and Steven were no longer around to protect her.    

However, she swallowed her anxiety began her explanation.  “Guys,” she began.  “Promise me not to completely freak out, okay?  Last night, I saw Bill in a dream, and he…had a lot to say.”  The boys were immediately shocked when they heard that the dream demon had attacked her.  Mabel was surprised when Steven suddenly hurried over to the girl and embraced her in a tight hug.  Mabel had no idea how to react to this, only giving off a faint blush on her face.  The young Gem released from the hug and held on tightly to Mabel’s hands.  “Oh my gosh, Mabel!” Steven said, worry clearly visible in his eyes.  “Are you okay?!  Did he hurt you?!  Why didn’t you tell us sooner?!  Did he take over your body?!”  Mabel was unsure how to respond to these barrage of question, but thankfully her brother was there to help her.  “Steven, calm down!  Give her a little bit a space!” Dipper said in a calm, but firm, tone.  Steven then listened, letting go of Mabel and backing away a few steps from her.  The inquisitive boy then looked to his sister, with the same worry in his eyes as Steven’s.  “Just take your time Mabel.  What did Bill do to you?”

Mabel recollected herself and continued with her story.  “W-well, Bill didn’t really hurt me,” she lied, trying to not panic the boys again.  “He just put me on a stage with a chain around my leg.  Anyway, it was what he said to me that got me really worried lately.  Bill is like, really mad at you guys for tricking him at that stupid sock opera I put on last month.  He went on about ‘lost opportunities’ or something like that, but I didn’t really understand what he meant by that.  He then told me that he was going to take you two away from me, which probably means he might try and…kill you.”  The word felt like poison on her mouth.  Mabel had spent the entire day thinking about the threat Bill had made to her, but actually talking about it out loud made it sound like a thousand times worse.

Both of the boys had grim reactions to this unsettling news, though they weren’t really focusing about themselves.  For Steven, the only thing that he could think about was how close Bill was to seriously harming Mabel.  It was no secret that the young Gem often put the safety of others before the safety of himself.  This time was no different as he had difficultly hearing how the dream demon invaded the poor girl’s privacy and tormented her.  While he believed that Bill had a reason for attacking him, Mabel was innocent in this and didn’t deserve the triangle’s twist game of psychological torment.  Mabel was one of his best friends and would stop it nothing to do everything in his power to protect them.  Unfortunately, throughout this thought process of protecting Mabel, he barely paid any mind to the threat to his life that Mabel had just told him.

As for Dipper, he was concentrating on containing the ever-growing anger inside of him.  He was finding hard to believe that the dream demon had the audacity to attack his sister just to get to him.  It was low, it was sick, and it was completely exacted of the sadistic triangle.  The boy’s thought then wandered back to a rather stale memory that he did particularly like thinking about.  It was the note that Bill had apparently wrote to Mabel while he was possessing his body.  The part that had really stuck to him was near the end of the note where Bill had directly threatened Mabel.  It was something about how causal and how terrible it was that had made Dipper’s blood boil deep down inside of him.  After reading that note, Dipper was ready to work twice as hard with his sword training, if Steven and Mabel didn’t convince him to slow down for his sake.  But now it was like the note all over again.  His twin sister had to describe to him how a demon tormented her just to get to him.  He couldn’t protect her from the dream demon, and now he was seeing the consequences.

When both boys were finished processing what they just heard, Steven was the first one to, or at least try to, say something.  “Mabel..I…I…” he tried his best to talk.  Fortunately, Dipper was quick to cut in and continue the conversation.  “Mabel why didn’t you tell us about this sooner!?  All this time we were worrying about our problems when we should have been there for you!  Don’t keep this stuff from us, okay?!”  Steven was finally able to formulate words again and attempted to calm Dipper down.  “Dipper please,” he pleaded to the boy, and then turned to Mabel.  “What Dipper is trying to say is that you should really talk to us when something like that happens.  Bill’s really dangerous and he could’ve really hurt you!”

For a second, Mabel couldn’t believe what she was hearing right now.  She had just told the boys that the insane dream demon that had been tormenting them all summer was about to kill them, and all they could worry about was her safety?!  The girl just couldn’t understand the logic behind this, so she decided to clarify the danger that they were in.  “Wait guys, did you even listen to me?!  Bill is out to get you guys!  He doesn’t care about me, he told me….himself.”  Mabel’s voice dropped at the last part.  She began to reminder from her dream how Mabel had selfless offered herself to stop Bill from hurting the boys, only to be denied with a horrible shock from the chain that was attached to her.  The triangle then went into detail on how worthless she really was and wasn’t even worth the time to torture.  And as she began to think more and more about it, Bill may have had a point.

“Mabel, please don’t worry about us!” Dipper tried to reassure his sister.  “Steven and I can handle Bill together.  We know how he thinks and we know how to deal with him.  I know you’re concerned for us, but we’ll be okay.  I promise!”  Steven gave Mabel a reassuring smile, but she didn’t return it back.  Instead, she was on a different train of thought.  The boys rather quick to exclude her from their struggle again Bill.  Almost as if they thought that she wouldn’t be any help against the dream demon.  So, she decided to voice this concern.  “Oh what, so it’s just gonna be you guys against Bill?!  What about me or what about Connie?  What happened to being a team again and facing our problems together?!  Did you just happen to forget that it was me who saved your butt from Bill last time, Dipper?” Mabel accused her brother.

Dipper gave a tired sigh.  “Mabel, you know that was different!  I didn’t know how dangerous Bill was back then.  But now I’m ready!  I know what to expect from him, and I know how to use a sword to fight him!”  Steven then stepped in to voice his side of the argument.  “Connie also knows how to use a sword as well, and I have my shield!  The only reason we worry about is because you don’t know how to…protect yourself.”  The young began to really regret those final words, especially as he began to see the tears forming in the girl’s eyes.  Steven knew that Mabel knew how to protect herself from danger.  However, Bill was an entirely different threat altogether, a threat that Steven was nowhere near comfortable watching Mabel face.  He just wanted to protect her, just like how he wanted to protect everyone else.

Mabel tried her best to look angry, but the tears starting to form in the corner of her eyes were betraying her.  Bill words were becoming reality right in front of her face.  Here she was, try to help the two people that she cherished the most in this world, and they responded by saying that she was…useless?  “Guys please, I can help,” she pleaded.  “I have my grappling hook for crying out loud!  Do you know how many times that saved our butts in the past!  Why won’t you guys let me help you?!”  The tears were starting to break from her eyes and stream down her cheeks.  Steven looked quite apprehensive about saying anything else, but Dipper wasn’t.  He was going to convince Mabel that this was too dangerous for her, even if it meant that he was going to have to be firm with her.  “Mabel,” he began.  “That thing has only been useful in getting us out of sticky situations.  We don’t need to get out of this one, we need to fight back against it!  And truth be told, a grappling hook is nowhere as efficient as a sword or a shield for fighting against Bill.  Therefore, the most logical conclusion here is for you to just sit this one out.  Me and Steven appreciate the concern, but we can handle this!  What don’t want you involved because we think that-“

“I’M USELESS?!” Mabel suddenly interrupted Dipper.  The flood gate had been open and there was no stopping her from releasing all of her bottled up emotions.  “You guys don’t want me involved because I’m just a burden?!  Well guess what: That’s the exact same thing that Bill told me last night!  Before he went away, I tried to trade my life so that he wouldn’t go after you two!  And all he did was laugh at me and shock me with that stupid chain!  He told me that I was worthless and wasn’t even worth being tortured by him!  So now here I am, trying my best to try and save the people I love, only to find out that they think that I’m useless too!  So, I guess that settles it, I’M JUST USELESS!  I guess I’d be better off dead to everyone!”  Mabel ended her tangent by breaking down into tears and running off only a few feet away to retreat into “Sweatertown”.

For a moment, neither of the boys had no idea how to react to this.  He sudden reflux of information was somewhat overwhelming for them both.  First, they find out that Bill did indeed cause harm to Mabel, then they find out that the dream demon had completely destroyed the girl’s self-esteem. To make matters even worse, they only seem to have worsen her condition in a misguided attempt to keep her out of their problem.  It was now clear what had just happened:  They screwed up big time, and now they had to do something to fix it.  While Dipper completely in the dark on how to improve this situation, Steven had a pretty good idea on what to do.  It was time to stop pushing her away and finally let her in.  The young Gem slowly approached the girl hiding in her sweater and took a seat next to her.

“Mabel,” he simply addressed her.  Mabel slowly poked her head out of her sweater to glance at her friend.  While she was expecting him give her some long-winded speech, she was utterly shocked when she felt his strong arms pull her into a tight embrace.  For the first time since yesterday, Mabel felt safe in the young Gem’s arms.  Almost all of the girl’s worries and fears melted away from the warmth and comfort that the hug provided.  Steven then continued what he had to say to her.  “I’m sorry, I really am.  I know what it’s like to feel like you’re just dead weight to your friends and family.  But you have to believe me when I tell you you’re not useless.  I know I’ve only known you and Dipper for just this summer, but I sometimes have a really hard time imagine what my life was without you two.  You’re kind, you’re funny, and you just make my heart feel all warm inside!  You’re the exact opposite of useless, you’re one of my closest friends.”

Mabel couldn’t suppress the blush that was forming across her face.  The young Gem words touched her heart and seemed to have lifted a large weight that was on her shoulders.  As if she couldn’t be more surprised, she felt another set of arms wrap around her.  She turned to the side to see that this time it was Dipper that had pulled her into an embrace.  While Steven’s hug was new sensation that she couldn’t enjoy more, Dipper’s hug felt much more nostalgic to her.  These were hug she got whenever she had rough day at school or someone’s mean comment cut her real deep.  “Mabel,” Dipper said.  “You’re my twin sister, and that make the most important person that I have in this life.  I just don’t want to see you getting hurt.  But you’re right, this is our problem.  Bill is coming after all of us and we need to work together to stop him.  We’ve done some amazing things over this summer when we worked together.  Maybe if we worked together again, then maybe we can stand a chance against Bill.  Think you can find it in your heart to forgive us and help us beat Bill?”

The tears that were streaming down Mabel’s cheeks turned from tears of anger into tears of joy.  The boys’ kind words helped ease her out of the dark and unsure place she was in and guided her into a place with light and hope.  She couldn’t stop herself from extending both of her arms so that she could return to hug that both of the boys were giving her.  This was the exact thing that Bill wanted to take away from her, and there was no way that she was going to stand by and let that happen.  Not without a fight.

“Promise me, guys,” Mabel suddenly said.  “Please promise me that you won’t leave my side.  I really hate to admit it, but facing Bill alone is really scary.  I don’t want to do this alone.”  Dipper and Steven didn’t answer right away.  While they would both unquestionably agree to that request, they didn’t know what the future would hold for them.  However, they both quickly shook that uncertainly away.  Mabel was special to the both of them, and they would do anything to make sure that she would be safe.  “Of course we will.” Steven said with a warm smile.  “We’ll never leave your side Mabel.  We wouldn’t dream of it.” Dipper responded with a similar smile to Steven’s.  Mabel gave another warm smile at this, as she tightened the hug that she was giving both of the boys.

The sun slowly set from the lake; the beautiful reds and oranges fading away to give way to the calm, cool blues of the night.  There on that lake shore were three children.  A boy with a passionate to solve the world’s mysteries; a girl with enough enthusiasm to lift anyone’s spirit and a Gem hybrid whose destiny reached up to the stars above.  These children made a promise to each other; that they would be there for each other from the threat that wanted to destroy the very bond that they cherished the most. 

Unfortunately, some promises are harder to keep than others.

#universe falls #sumbission #submission #AHAHAHA OH MAN THIS WAS BEAUTIFUL AND SAD AND GREAT AND HEARTBREAKING BECAUSE #WELL YEAH THOSE PROMISES ARE KINDA GONNA BE FUCKIN HARD TO KEEP COME R/M/D #BUT DAMN BLAZER YA TUGGED AT MY HEARTSTRINGS ONCE AGAIN #THAT ENDING WAS PROBS MY FAV PART BECAUSE HAHAHA FORESHADOWING IS FUN #EXCELLENT WORK ONCE MORE! #uf fan fics #blazer's oneshots

[edward-or-ford]

Happy Uncle’s Day!

Cassie decides her uncle deserves to be treated to just as nice a day as any father gets.

*

(This fic is an “inbetweequel”, taking place over a decade after the events of the final chapter of “Unexpected”, and a little over a year before “Coming Out”. It is not necessary to have read either fic before this one: in fact, it would be kind of interesting to get feedback from anyone who reads this and has not read the stories that came before.)

SFW Pinecest fluff under the cut, about 12K words. Thanks to @pinestimes2 and @yaschiri for the beta reads.

*

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP …

Uggggghhhhhh shut up shut up shut up just wanna sleep shut up shut up shut up SHUT UUUUPP!!!

… BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP …

Oh … wait a minute … unnnnggggghhhhhh aw man is it time to wake up already?

… BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP …

I reach out to the top of my desk where my tablet is leaning on its charging stand. My loud, really annoying, really stupid tablet!! It is not my fault that I set the alarm for 6:30 on a Sunday morning. It’s the dumb tablet’s fault! Right?

I grab the screeching pad and flop back onto my pillow. Holding it above my face, I point my bleary eyes in the general direction of the device.

…. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP ...

I start swiping the complex unlock pattern, and I'm failing miserably. Mom has been making me be all “responsible” for getting myself up since the school year started last fall. Boo! I’m only in Grade 6! I'd rather stay a kid! I figured out pretty quick back then that if it was too easy to turn off the alarm, I’d just fall asleep again. So I had to make it harder for myself.

After two failed attempts, though, this is now really starting to suck. C’mon, Cassie! I blink a few times and actually focus on the screen before I try once more.

… BEEP BEEP BE-

I manage to finally get it to shut up, and then none-too-gently I let the darned thing fall to the mattress beside me. Sure enough, I’m awake now. And I’m feeling really tired and grumpy. Today isn't a school day. I wish I could remember why I wanted to set this alarm on the weekend! What dumb reason-

But now I remember. And I’m not grumpy anymore!

It’s Uncle’s Day! Well, it’s really Father’s Day, I suppose, but I've never celebrated it before because … well, because I don’t have a father. A bunch of kids in my class don’t have fathers who live at home with them, but every one of them at least sees their dad every so often. I’m not that lucky. I’ve never met my dad, I don’t even know what he looks like. It’s always made talking about Father’s Day at school a little weird.

But I’ve got UncleDip! And he’s a really great uncle! Better than some poophead in California I’ve never laid eyes on, that’s for sure! And since there’s no official “Uncle’s Day”, I decided on my own that this year UncleDip would get the same treatment that any of my classmates’ fathers would get. Better, even!

Now suddenly full of energy, I spring up, pushing back the lightweight sheet. It was kind of a warm, sticky night, what with the summertime heat in New Jersey starting up. Is it really already the middle of June? Even with the fan blowing at full speed, sleeping is going to get really uncomfortable soon. I wish I had an air conditioner in my room! They don't have it at school either, it's so gross- feeling! Just one more week of school until summer vacation, though. I have a geography report that I still need to finish. I wonder if Stephanie still needs help with hers? She’s going up to New York City with her family next week. I wonder if she’ll go see any art museums? I’ve always wanted to go to th-... Then I shake my head. Distractions! Why can’t I keep my dumb brain on track? Mom says she was like this at my age, too.

After I push my glasses onto my face, I quietly open the door to my room and slip into the hall, just a couple of steps away from the apartment’s main living space. My goal is to serve breakfast in bed for UncleDip. But it’s going to be hard, because he’s kind of a light sleeper. Usually I end up waking him when I’m up and about before him, even if I’m trying to be quiet.

But this morning I’m in luck! As I peek around the corner to spy on the pull-out sofa, I see Mom is sleeping there instead of UncleDip! Her long hair is strewn all over the place, including a bunch stuck inside her wide-open mouth. She’s so funny, even in her sleep! I wonder for a second why she took her turn sleeping out here. Sometimes Mom insists (even when UncleDip argues) that he stay in her room to get a good night’s sleep if he’s getting up for work early, but I know he isn’t working today. For the zillionth time, I wish that we could afford an apartment with three bedrooms instead of two, so the two of them didn't have to split time in the only private room other than mine. It’s not fair to either of them.

Ah whatever! All I know is Mom sleeps like a rock. I can easily make breakfast for UncleDip out here now! Heck, it won’t matter whether I bother Mom or not, cause even if I do wake her, she’ll just help me!

I open up the fridge and cupboards and start cooking. I’d like to fry some bacon, but the smell would probably be a giveaway. It doesn’t take too long before I’m ready to go with a big plate filled with pancakes, scrambled eggs, and toast. I add another smaller plate with more pancakes for myself, and I arrange it all on a plastic tray with a glass of milk and some syrup. I carefully maneuver my way past Mom, who is still snoring away, and quietly sneak to the end of the hallway. The door to the bigger bedroom is closed, but I manage to turn the knob without upsetting my tray, and silently I take a look into the room.

The open window inside does little to fight against the crappy stagnant air. UncleDip is sprawled on his back, a sheet pulled up over his bare tummy. After carefully putting the tray down on the top of Mom’s dresser, I ease the door closed again, then tip-toe my way around to the far side of the bed so I can get beside him. Then I lean over and hover close to his ear.

This is going to be good! I think, laughing to myself.

“Happy Uncle’s Day!” I shout loudly.

I don’t even all three words out before he screams and thrashes in that awesome way that only my favorite uncle can do. He sits up so fast, his arm hits my shoulder, knocking me off balance and sending me stumbling to the floor. It doesn’t stop me from giggling hysterically, though, and as I start to pull myself back up to my feet, UncleDip is gasping for breath and looking around wildly. Then he focuses on me, and I love how big his eyes get when he’s not ready for one of my grand entrances!

“Cassie … what the heck? …” he pants.

“Good morning, UncleDip!” I squeal, bouncing up and down excitedly. “Today’s your special day! Who says only fathers get pampered today?” I run over to the dresser and carefully pick up the tray. “Breakfast is served! You deserve it on Uncle’s Day!” I proclaim, gingerly carrying the tray over to his side.

“Uhh … okay …” UncleDip says, a sheepish smile forming on his face as he rubs his eyes. He starts sitting up, then stops. “Uncle’s Day, huh?” he says, eyeing me warily now. He sees my tray, and it's nice of him to scoot back against the headboard and pull the sheet up around his waist so I have a place to put the food down on his lap. Which is exactly what I do, with a dramatic flourish. “Woah!” he exclaims when he sees what I’ve made for him. “Um, wow … this looks great! Thanks, Cass!”

I lean forward and give him a kiss him on the cheek and a hug around his neck. “You’re welcome, UncleDip!” Then I climb up and flop down beside him, grabbing my plate of pancakes from the tray. He coughs a few times and wiggles over to make more space for me, yanking with one hand at the bedsheet that I’ve just sat down on top of. He’s jiggling the tray a lot. “Pass the syrup would ya? And watch out for the milk!” I exclaim, seeing it slosh dangerously close to the rim.

“Oops! Heh heh,” he says, then he steadies the milk and hands over the Aunt Jemima. I pour a bunch out and pass the bottle back, carve out a forkful of pancakes, and stuff it into my mouth as I lean back and over onto my favorite uncle’s shoulder.

I look up at him. “Aren't you gonna eat, UncleDip?”

He swallows and clears his throat. I hope he's not coming down with a summer cold. “Yeah …  okay,” he agrees. Hs starts digging in himself, I’m getting jostled around, but I don’t care. “Mmm! This is … pretty good!” he says, mouth partly occupied by eggs. “Did your Mom help you with all this?”

“Nope!” I say proudly, stealing a mouthful of his milk. “I did all of this myself! Mom didn’t even wake up the whole time.” Then I remember something, as I look up to the closed door. “She hasn’t come in yet. I’ll bet she’s still asleep! And it was so funny, the way she was sleeping, with her hair all over the place in her face!” I put my plate aside. “You’ve got to see this, UncleDip! Just come out real quiet out to the living room and you’ll see!” I scramble off the bed and scurry to the door.

But when I look back, he’s still sitting where he was, tray on his lap. “Hey … we should just let Mom sleep all right? It wouldn’t be nice to wake her up.”

I snort loudly. “Wake her up? Yeah right, UncleDip! She sleeps through anything!”

He shifts, arranging the tray on his lap. “Look, I’ve seen Mabel looking goofy lots of times. Let’s … Let’s just eat our breakfast, okay?”

“What gives?” I whine, marching back to the bed. “It’ll only take a second. You can finish eating after you see her!” I reach over and start grabbing the tray.

“No!” UncleDip barks out. I recoil and stumble back, surprised at the way he snapped at me. He closes his eyes and sighs. “Cass, I’m sorry,” he says, sounding apologetic. “But … I can’t get up right now.”

I cannot fathom why this is an issue. “Why not?” I ask, genuinely confused.

“Because …” he says as his cheeks bloom brightly, and he looks at a spot on the wall beside me, “... I’m not … wearing anything right now.”

I feel my own face get hot in an instant. “Oh!” I peep. It’s completely normal for UncleDip to casually walk around in just his undershorts. For him, it’s his pajamas, and it's what he’s always worn to bed. So I’m completely unprepared for this new mental picture. Against my will, my eyes drop to look in the direction of what’s beneath the sheet and the tray on his lap. Flinching, I then force my attention downwards, where for the first time I notice a pair of his boxers down on the floor at the foot of the bed. I wheel around to stare at the corner of the ceiling. I can’t really handle how weird this feels! Why is this so awkward? I was sitting right beside him and he was … naked! Ew!!

I can hear UncleDip is still squirming with the tray on his lap. “Look, it was really hot in here last night, and … I sure wasn’t expecting you to come in here this morning … so …” His explanation trails off. “Look … why don’t you just go back to your room for a minute? I’ll get dressed, and then we can go sneak out and laugh at your Mom. All right?”

Sounds good! I’ll do anything to end this. “Okay!” I hear my own voice say, then I bolt. I’m not really careful about being quiet, and the door closes loudly behind me.

As I reach my room, I hear Mom groan. “Is that you, Dip Dop?” she mumbles. I hear her making “bleyah” noises, presumably as she pulls her hair from her mouth.

I smile and roll my eyes, despite being grossed out just a few moments ago. “No Mom, it's me,” I reply, leaning into the living room. Mom’s an amazing sight in the morning, I’ll give her that! “Nice bed head you got there!” I tease.

Mom sticks out her tongue and blows a big raspberry at me as she pulls away the last strands from her face. “You besmirch me, Mini-me! You and that short hair of yours!” she grunts tiredly. “Where’s your sense of style? Your flair for the dramatic? Huh?”

It’s impossible to not laugh. “Mom! You’re so weird!”

“You know it, Junior!” she replies lazily, winking and firing fingerguns at me while staggering to her feet. I shake my head at her. Even though she’s a “grownup”, she’s never seems to try to look the part. Looking at her right now, with her wild hair and the long t-shirt that she wears for a nightgown, she could pass for a teenager. More than a few times, people have mistaken Mom and I as sisters, rather than mother and daughter.

Then Mom sees the carnage of dirty pans and bowls in the kitchen. “Has the Dipster been up already?” she asks me, now more awake.

“No, that was me,” I admit. “I wanted to surprise him with Uncle’s Day breakfast in bed. I brought it in to him a few minutes ago.”

“Oh! Isn’t that nice!” Mom perks up, giving me a hug and a kiss on the top of my head. “Well in that case, maybe I’d better skeedaddle in there and steal some for myself!” She starts down the hallway.

“Wait!” I call out. “You need to knock first. He-” I swallow down my embarrassment as Mom stops to look at me curiously. “I didn’t see anything, ‘cause he was under the bedsheet, but … he says he’s kinda … naked … in your bed.” I feel myself blush again.

For an instant, Mom makes a strange face. Kind of worry and funny combined into one. Then she smirks. “Really?” she says. “Well I guess after you surprised him, you got a bit of a surprise in return! The bashful broseph had better fix that, pronto!” She strides down and pounds on the bedroom door, smiling broadly. “Good morning Bro-bro! You’d better be decent now! You finished traumatising your niece?”

The door opens, revealing a red-faced UncleDip. He’s wearing his boxers, and rubbing the back of his neck vigorously. “Yeah … I didn’t mean to …” He glances at Mom, and she just looks way too happy to see her twin brother so uncomfortable. She’s making me feel sorry for the big dork! He glances at me, then lowers his gaze. “I’m sorry, Cassie. I know that was pretty weird for you. I tried to … you know …”

Seeing UncleDip all cringed up helps me get over my awkward feelings pretty quick. I smirk in way that probably looks an awful lot like Mom’s. “It’s okay, I get it!” I tell him. “Go finish your breakfast in bed. Mom, as long as you’re up, can you get the coffee maker out of the cupboard? I think UncleDip needs it!”

“It’ll cost you!” she fires back with a grin. “How about you make some pancakes for your dear decrepit mother, too?” She starts hobbling around stiffly. “So old! Need so much help at my advanced age!”

I roll my eyes. “Mo-om! You’re not old! You’re, what … twenty-six?”

“Twenty-seven!” she huffs. “Twenty-eight in just a couple of months, I’ll have you know!” She stoops over, putting a hand dramatically on her back. “Ooooh! Everything hurts!”

“Mom, you had your turn last month on Mother’s Day!” I scold her, as she continues to slowly shuffle around a chuckling UncleDip in a circle. I throw up my hands. “Okay fine!” I cry out in mock despair, and I turn around and march towards the kitchen. I can hear Mom dancing in celebration behind me. “Can you at least bring me my pancakes from your room?” I call over my shoulder.

“Okee Dokee!” I hear Mom reply behind me.

I put the pan back on the stove and start mixing a new batch of pancakes. As I’m measuring milk into the mixing bowl, Mom breezes in. “Go ahead and eat, Kiddo,” she says with a grin as she offers me my plate. “I’ll take over from here.”

“Thanks,” I reply. My stack is a little cold now, but I still shovel in a big mouthful. “I’m so glad you taught me the recipe for these, Mom!” I mumble with full cheeks. “These are the best pancakes ever!”

Mom smiles as she cracks an egg. “You need to thank your Great-Grunkle Stan,” she says wistfully. “It’s his ‘Stancake’ recipe. One of these days, we’ll get you out to the west coast so you can finally meet him.”

I feel a lunge of excitement in my chest at the mention of my great-great-uncle, and the memories of the stories of adventure Mom and UncleDip have told me about their time as kids in Gravity Falls. “You think we might be able to go this summer?” I ask, hopeful that this might finally be the year.

“I don’t know,” Mom replies softly, in a tone that I've learned means she’s being completely honest. “It’s such a long way, and travel is so expensive …” She pauses her whisking of the pancake batter and puts a hand on my shoulder. “We’re really gonna try, okay? I promise!”

Even though I can tell she truly wants me to be able to go, she wouldn’t mention the expense unless we really couldn’t afford the trip. So I know there’s basically no chance. But I put on a smile anyways. “Thanks, Mom,” I say.

Mom returns the sad smile, then hands me the bowl. “Here. Start pouring these out while I get the coffee maker down.” I ladle out three small circles of batter as Mom retrieves and plugs in the small appliance. “Dipper needs his caffeine when you wake him up this early!” she jokes. “Otherwise he’ll be super-surly all morning.”

“Maybe we could just let him go back to sleep?” I ask.

“No can do,” Mom replies, shaking her head. “Now that he’s up, he needs to stay up! We’re go- …  we're going over to Westfield to take your grandparents out for lunch today. It’s, you know ... Father’s Day today for Grandpa, too.”

“Okay,” I say, aware of the sadness that just crept into Mom’s voice. She sounds like that every time she talks about Grandma and Grandpa. I know Mom and UncleDip don’t hate their parents, and I know my grandparents care about their only two children. But something is always off about the way they act around each other. I used to ask about what’s the matter, but I stopped asking a long time ago. For as long as I can remember there’s been something going on.

We continue to work in silence, me flipping pancakes and Mom preparing her own toast and UncleDip's coffee. In no time, everything is ready. After she finishes reloading the tray, I see a playful expression form again on Mom's face. “I think,” she says craftily, “that we should all finish up breakfast together on my bed. What d’ya say?”

I grin. “I say … last one there’s a rotten egg!” I cry, grabbing my plate and taking off across the living room.

“Ack! No fair, I’m carrying hot coffee! I’ll get you” Mom yells back from behind me. I laugh, knowing she'll never catch me, though she makes up ground as I fumble with the door handle.

UncleDip is munching on the last of his toast when we girls storm in, squealing and screeching happily. We manage to all pile onto Mom’s big bed safely without any major spills. UncleDip berates us for being so silly, but we make him smile after another kiss on the cheek from me and a nerdy secret handshake from Mom. One of those weird “twin things” they do, things that I admit sometimes that I wish I could do with a brother of my own. But then I immediately forget about things like stupid money problems and dumb family relationship stuff, as we start eating while chatting about my geography project, Mom’s latest craft sale success, and how we all wished the heat of summer hadn’t arrived quite so early.

I spend a lazy morning with my two favorite people in the world. I love them both so much, and I know they both love me, too.

What a great way to spend the morning, I think to myself. Things may not be perfect, but I’m still a pretty lucky kid!

*

Gnuuugh! This is … déjà vu! Seriously, it's got to be!

I'm lying down on my side, struggling to cover my eyes from the bright light as I roll over onto my back. And I'm feeling that really nasty, really gross “awakened after a short daytime nap” feeling. Surely I'm not the only one who knows what this feels like? I groan under my breath and glance at my tablet beside me, to see that Stephanie sent me a Wave, and the dumb notification woke me up.

Somewhere in this, I figure out I’m in my room, on my bed. How did I get here? The last thing I remember was … Grandpa and Grandma’s house? No, the diner. Wait no, it was after that … we had said goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma after that really nice lunch, and I was in our car. I must have fallen asleep in the backseat on our way home. Now that I think about it, getting up real early, having a full breakfast and a heavy lunch, and then the nice, rocking motions of the car ride after that … yup, that’ll put me to sleep every time!

I smack my lips and try to swallow down the stale taste in my mouth. My chest feels like someone’s sitting on it. Yuck! I hate this! I was feeling really good today, too! I even missed out on UncleDip carrying me up here! Maybe I’ll just go back to sleep. No, then I’ll never get up for school tomorrow. Nnnnggghhhh!!! After a long stretch, I force my body to a sitting position with all the grace of a zombie.

My grumpy condition requires someone to feel sorry for me, and I know Mom will be more than willing to sympathize. I deserve a nice big hug, I think, so I get to my feet and shuffle into the hallway as I scratch my scalp sleepily.

I lean into the living room. Nobody here. I meander into the opening to the kitchen alcove. Nobody here either. Hm! I want my hug! I know I’m being a big baby, but I don’t care. Mom will indulge me!

Staggering lightly back the other way down the hallway, I see the bathroom door is wide open, and the light is off. Sure enough, it’s empty as I pass by.

Only one place left where she can be. Her bedroom door is right in front of me, now. It’s mostly closed, but the opening is wide enough for the sun from her window to paint a narrow column of afternoon light across the floor and up the wall in the hallway.

I put up my hand to push the door open, but I stop when I hear Mom giggle quietly. What’s she laughing at?

Again I’m about to open the door, when I hear a soft gasp. Instantly I know that wasn’t Mom. Even though I’ve never heard him make a sound quite like that, I’m certain that it was made by UncleDip. What’s going on?

My brain is finally firing at something close to one hundred percent, and some instinct tells me to not barge in anymore. My palm is still raised, an inch from the surface of the door, but I don’t push it open. I can’t.

New sounds reach my ears from the other side. I hear fabric being rubbed and rustled. Like when you run hands roughly over clothes. Wait … What?

Without even thinking, I ease my head towards the opening. Now there's the sounds of tiny pants and moans, unmistakably being made by my mother and uncle. The only place I’ve ever heard noises like that was on shows with romance-y stuff! No way! It … can’t be! I have to be wrong!

My hand moves automatically, carefully and silently supporting myself on the door frame as my head moves towards the opening, and I peer into Mom’s room. I'm blinded for a moment by the brightness of the light from her window, but my vision immediately starts adjusting. Meanwhile, there's no mistaking the soft smacks of lips moving against one another.

As my eyes adjust, they reveal what my ears have already told me I’d see. Mom and UncleDip, standing and holding each other near the far wall … kissing one another!

I close my eyes for a second. Ohmygod I don’t believe this! What’s happening? Is this even real? My ears tell me yes, as the sounds of their passionate embrace continues. I look again, and yep … they’re kissing, all right! And not just any kiss: this is serious! Serious as in “bodies mashed together, hands touching all over, ewwww I can even see their tongues touching” serious!

Of course, I’ve seen kissy stuff on shows and movies before, even some more grown-up sexy stuff. But I’m completely not prepared for this! Mom … with UncleDip? They’re brother and sister! They’re best friends! They’re … they’re freaking Mom and UncleDip! This isn’t them! They don’t do this stuff! It’s just … not right!! But I’m so shocked by this, I can’t look away!

For how long I’ve been gawking at them, I don’t know. But I doubt I’ve breathed once since the peep show began, and my lungs signal that they’ve apparently had enough and I need oxygen immediately. I turn away from the door in a panic and lean against the wall as I take several huge heaving breaths as quietly and as slowly as I can, my heart pounding loudly in my ears.

The noises in the bedroom stop. Oh crap! Did they hear me? My adrenaline spikes, fear coursing through me. What’s going to happen to me when they find me out here, spying on them?

Then I hear UncleDip’s quiet voice, barely above a whisper. “I love you, Mabes,” he says.

“I love you, too,” I hear Mom coo back.

OK, they didn’t hear me! They just stopped to say they love each other. That’s a small relief. My racing heart slows a touch, but I’m still scared. Maybe I should-

Wait … they … love each other? I’ve heard them tell each other that before, but this sounded different!

I hear more kissing at this point, and their lovey noises are a bit faster. Then there’s a loud lip smack and Mom murmurs, “Dip, please! Cass is asleep! I need you! Now!”

She needs him now? Needs him to do what?

Oh my god … no!

A short pause. Then comes UncleDip’s whisper. “OK! Let me close the door.”

My heart leaps so high in my chest, I don’t know if I’ll ever swallow again! Never have I tip-toed so quickly in my life! I fly down the hallway to my room as fast and as silently as my stocking feet can get me there, ducking through my door a second before I hear Mom’s door snap shut, followed by the rarely-heard noise of the lock being turned.

I lean against the wall, panting raggedly. What the … what the hell? Are UncleDip and Mom really gonna … do it? As in … SEX?! Ew! EWWWWW!!!!! Mom’s given me the “how babies are made” talk, so I know exactly what it means. I’ve wondered what it might feel like for myself to do things like that. I’ve even managed to wrap my head around the icky idea that Mom has, at one time, done stuff like this with a boy in the past. After all, I’m here aren’t I? But I never expected to be faced with thinking about sex at a time like this!

What am I supposed to do now? Do I just sit here and wait for them to … finish up? Eechh, no! What if can hear them .... doing it? GROSS!! This is all way too weird!

I want to run right out the door and get away! But I can’t just leave! I’ve never just walked out of the apartment onto the street by myself, not without at least telling Mom or UncleDip where I’m going. I sure as heck can’t start right now!

I compromise. I can’t leave, but I can remove myself as much as possible from what’s happening. I take my headphones and power them up as I put them over my ears. I crank the volume on my tablet, playing my music as loud as I can stand, and then curl up on my bed. I’m just going to ignore this whole thing for as long as I can!

*

I don’t know how much time goes by. At least a half hour, probably more. But at some point I see someone in the doorway out of the corner of my eye. I stop playback, pull my headphones off, and try to look casual as I raise my head. Mom’s standing there. She looks completely normal.

“Hey, Pumpkin Bumpkin! Have a nice nap?” she asks.

“Yeah. I just woke up,” I say. I’m not good at lying, but I have to be convincing today. How convincing will Mom be? I take a breath. “What were you doing while I was asleep?”

“Ah, you know!” she replies, crossing her arms and leaning against my dresser. “Just puttering around, starting to clean up after that big breakfast you made us.” She scratches an itch on the side of her nose. “Dipper was helping me fold our laundry in my room. Stuff like that, you know?”

Yeah sure. Stuff just like that. Right, Mom.

Not trusting myself to look her in the eye, I turn to my put my electronics back on the charge stand. “I think I’m gonna just work on my geography project. Can you close my door on your way out?”

“Sure thang!” she says, stepping closer to ruffle my hair. “Call me or UncleDip if you need any help, okay?” Then she walks out of my room, closing my door behind her.

Nothing! She not only lied about what she was doing, she’s acting like nothing weird happened at all!

I barely have a moment to contemplate this when there’s a quick knock. “Cass?” comes UncleDip’s voice.

“Yeah?” I call back, unable to say anything different.

UncleDip cracks open the door just enough to poke his head through. “I’m going down to the market. Any requests for dinner tonight? It’s my turn to cook.”

Again, nothing! He’s completely … normal! No sign at all! If I hadn’t overheard what happened, I’d never know!

“S’okay, UncleDip,” I tell him, attempting to sound like my normal self. “I’m good with whatever.”

UncleDip waves, his smile warm and genuine. “Okay! Work hard. And I love you!”

I don’t know what to say to either of them right now. Thankfully, he closes the door before I can allow myself to say anything more.

*

I actually make progress on drawing the map of Africa I’m working on. I don’t know how, because my brain is busy thinking about something entirely different.

Incest.

It’s such an ugly word. As ugly as what it means. I know what it is, mainly hearing about it on TV and the Internet, but I’ve heard kids at school mention it too. It’s not right. It’s illegal. There are lots of jokes and insults about people who like to … have sex … with their own relatives. They’re really stupid or retarded. Or it's abusive, someone who takes advantage of another family member who’s weaker than themselves. Everything about it is unnatural! It’s disgusting!

My first instinct is denial. Maybe I misunderstood what I saw and heard. Maybe there’s another explanation!

Yeah … no. What I saw and heard was pretty darned self-explanatory.

If I can’t deny what I saw, I desperately reach for any other reason to explain what they were doing. Maybe … maybe they aren’t really brother and sister! If they aren’t related, what they just did would be okay, right?

But of course they’re brother and sister! They’re twins! They have pictures and videos of themselves as kids and teenagers together. Grandma has shown me all kinds of other pictures of them too, right from the day they were born.

So that’s it. Incest. It’s exactly what Mom and UncleDip are doing! I accept this fact as I pick up my colored pencils and begin shading countries.

How could they do this? Don’t they know they shouldn’t do this? Even I know how wrong it is! Are they that stupid? I’ve always thought they were so smart, but … how can they be if they’re doing this? Maybe that’s why we’re so poor all the time! Are Mom and UncleDip too dumb to get good jobs?

And how long has this been going on? It didn’t look like today was their first time doing stuff like that. They were way too comfortable with what they were doing. I’ll bet they’ve been doing this for awhile. I think about clues that have been staring me in the face all along. They both keep all their clothes in Mom’s room, so they probably have been undressed in the same room lots of times. When I’ve gone in there any day in the morning, Mom always sleeps on the left side, but when UncleDip is there he sleeps on the right side. I’ll bet they share Mom’s bed all the time, since I’m rarely awake when one of them pulls out the sofa. I'll bet that's why UncleDip was naked this morning! They’ve been sneaking around and lying to me for a long time!

I feel myself get angrier by the minute, the more I think about it. My pencil presses harder into the paper with each stroke of color. This is really … shitty … of them! They’re being disgusting and perverted, right down the hall from me. Don’t they care? This is awful! What if Stephanie finds out? What will she think? What about all the other kids at school? Or my teachers? Or Grandma and Grandpa?

My blood runs cold as I think of my grandparents. They must know! More pieces start falling into place. This would explain the tension that is always between them! Grandpa and Grandma found out about what they do, and must have told them to stop. UncleDip and Mom must have said no.

Is that why they both left home in Westfield when they finished high school? Could they really have been doing this for that long? If so, it would explain a lot. Mom and UncleDip are old, but they’re not old. I’ve kind of wondered why UncleDip and Mom never go out on any dates, why they never seem to want to find a girlfriend or boyfriend. If I’m right about this, then they’ve been doing this since I was two. That’s nine years!

This has to have been so hard on Grandma and Grandpa! Their children decide to start a gross relationship together, and what were they supposed to do? Just tell them to go ahead? I’m sure they fought a lot. And then there was me, I was still a toddler. They had to watch Mom walk out of their house and pull me with them. I wonder if they wanted to keep me away from all this? Could they have tried to keep me? And should I think about living with them instead, now that I know? Surely they’d take me in! It would probably be good if they did!

The lead snaps on the red pencil I’m using, and I don't even slow down as I pick up a purple one and start in on another country.

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am about needing to get away from my mother and uncle. What kind of people have I been living with? Is it safe for me here? If my uncle could do this with his sister, might he also want to try … with me? I would never want that!

Would Mom protect me? I want to believe she would, but obviously she’s got issues! I’ve never wanted to think too hard about this, but she’s not got a great history of being responsible in the sex department. I did the math a long time ago, and she had to have been only fifteen when she got pregnant with me! She went to a party when they lived in California, got drunk, and some guy took advantage of her. If she let that happen, then she’s not the best person to-

Woah! Who says that’s really what happened to Mom in California? I mean, this is what Mom has always told me! But I only have her word that the story is true, and now I’m pretty sure now that she’s been lying to me for years. She’s never had any information about who my father is, never been able to describe a single thing about him. What he looked like. How old he was. Even a first name! She says she was drunk, but I’ve never seen her get drunk in my life. And also, she never went to anyone else who was at the party to ask about the guy? Then or since? And UncleDip didn’t either? They’re the biggest mystery-solving nerds I’ve ever seen, and together they found nothing? Finding out who the father of your child is seems like a pretty important thing that Mom would have wanted to know, if it was possible to find out. I feel like an idiot for never noticing this, but I’ve never had reason to question anything about my past until now.

So the story doesn’t make sense. It could very well be that Mom made up the story. But why? The only reason I can think of is to hide the identity of the baby’s father. So maybe Mom does know who the father is! I wonder wh-

… Wait ...

My pencil stops moving. All thought of working on the map has completely disappeared now.

No … no way …

I was thinking that Mom and UncleDip have been “involved” since I was two years old. What if- … What if it’s been even longer? What if they’ve been doing this since before they moved to New Jersey?

What if …

I turn my head to the mirror on my wall. Lifting the bangs off of my forehead, I expose my Cassiopeia-shaped birthmark. The location for a birthmark that I’ve been told runs in the Pines family … even though I’ve only ever seen a similar birthmark on just one other family member.

… What if ...

*

There’s a light tap at my door. I recognize the speed and pattern, and I know who it is. I glance at my tablet, and see that it’s half past eleven at night. I should have expected this. The tap comes again. I hear a soft voice through the door. “Cassie?”

I sigh and sit up on the side of my bed. “Yeah?” I reply.

UncleDip eases the door open. “I saw your light on under the door. Why are you still up? You’ve got school tomorrow.”

I look at him intently. He looks and acts like the same UncleDip I’ve known my whole life. Earlier this evening, when I came out for dinner, he was the same. A bit later when I came out for a drink of milk, and I found him and Mom relaxed on the sofa watching TV, he was the same. So was Mom. And she was the same when she said goodnight to me almost two hours ago.

UncleDip slowly comes in. “Cass?” he asks. “What’s the matter?” He closes my door behind him, steps around the fan that’s blowing air towards the bed, and sits down on the mattress near me. “You’ve been really quiet since you woke up from that nap today.” He’s concerned. Of course he is. UncleDip has always cared about me. My gaze wavers.

He puts his hand on my back. “Hey. I know Mom’s gone to bed already, but … I’m here …” He’s awkward, because he knows that Mom usually handles the deep stuff. “You wanna talk?”

This isn’t what I wanted to happen, not now. I had figured I’d try to quietly research some more, just to see if I could be sure.

But I feel the dam breaking. I can’t look him in the eye, but I also can’t stop my mouth from moving.

“... Are … are you my father?” I ask weakly.

There’s silence for a moment beside me. I feel his palm twitch on my back. Then he inhales sharply, followed by light ragged gasps. “Wh- why would you ask that, Cass?” he stammers.

I stare at the wall. I’m biting my lip, but I don’t back down. “Is it true?” My voice is shaky.

His hand pulls away. “Cassie, I don’t think we shou-”

“I saw you two this afternoon!” I snap quietly, mustering all the courage of my conviction. “You were hugging and kissing. You were touching each other all over. You closed the door … and then you had sex, didn’t you?” I finally force myself to glance at him again. I've never seen him look so frightened. “Yes, or no?” Some of the anger from this afternoon is back. So is the anxiety. I need to know, one way or the other.

UncleDip swallows hard. He’s trembling, his breathing fast and shallow. He looking everywhere but at me. I know him well enough to know that he’s thinking about all his options, trying to figure out in his head as quickly as possible what is the best thing to do.

Finally, with one deep breath, he focuses on me. For a long moment he’s as rigid as stone. So am I.

“I am your uncle, Cassie …” he says in a voice so soft I can barely hear him. Then, he nods almost imperceptibly. “But yeah … I’m also your father.”

There it is! Everything I suspected is real! He admitted it!

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to feel now. There’s the anger and betrayal that I’d been nursing this afternoon. There’s other feelings about … well, about what all this means about me … that has crept in as well. And sure enough, I feel that pieces of these emotions are churning away in my stomach.

But they don’t explode. I don’t let them.

He’s speaking to me again. “I’m sorry we haven’t told you before. We’ve …. always planned to tell you. Just … when you were a little older, you know?”

I just sit here, my brain going a mile a minute, staring into the face of a man who I’ve known and trusted my entire life. This is a mind-blowing admission! He’s different, isn’t he? Everything’s different! Right? Hasn’t everything changed?

“But you know why we couldn’t risk telling you, don’t you?” he continues. “You know why we have to keep all this a secret?”

I nod absently. Of course I get it. Because it’s embarrassing! It’s wrong! Brothers and sisters aren’t supposed to have children. Because they’d be born freaks! They’d be deformed, and retarded!

But doesn’t that mean that … I’m the same way?

For hours now, I’ve been resisting accepting my theory that UncleDip is my father, mainly for this reason. I always thought I was, you know, pretty normal. As I’ve been thinking about all this stuff this evening, I’ve been holding onto my “ordinary-ness” as evidence that maybe I’ve been wrong in my suspicion.

But no. Turns out I am a freak, after all! I begin counting off everything that has set me apart. My weird fashion style. My loud, stupid laugh. The way I always question and argue about stuff in class. My obsession with history and old things. The need for my ugly glasses. And my ugly face, too! And of course, the gross birthmark. Let's face it, I’m an inbred monster! I’ve been kidding myself, thinking I was like everyone else. No wonder I’m so-

“Hey,” UncleDip says gently. I flinch, rousing myself from my thoughts. I realize I was just staring off into space, probably looking like I might cry. Now the shame of what I am really hits me, and the tears begin for real. I want to sink into a hole.

But UncleDip is trying to help, I know he is. He knows exactly what’s spinning in my head, even though I haven’t said a word. “You’ve heard stories about this kind of thing, haven’t you?’ he asks. “You’re thinking that because your parents are related, there’s something wrong with you. Aren’t you?” He’s doing his best to be soothing. I nod silently as I try to stifle my sobs, a tear dropping from my cheek onto my lap. He moves to kneel in front of me. “Cassie, those stories are exaggerated observations of genetics and birth defects. There are risks of development problems with the birth of every baby in this world. And yeah ...  it’s true that there’s a higher risk of problems in children from a situation like ours, but it’s still unlikely for there to be anything wrong. And in your case, there isn’t anything wrong! You’re perfect, Cassie!”

That’s not what I’d heard. I just assumed that the things I'd heard about incest children were accurate. Do I trust he's the one being truthful now? I sure want to trust him, but …

He reaches up to touch my face, something that’s a totally normal thing for him to do for as long as I can remember. But I flinch again. I don’t really mean to, but I still don’t know how I should feel about UncleDip anymore. This is all so strange!

He pulls back quickly, almost like I burned his hand. For an instant, I see his own hurt expression. He covers it up really quickly though, and straightens up to his feet. “Look, Cass … maybe you need your mom right now.” He starts towards the door. “I’ll … I’ll go get her-”

“No!” I say, loud enough to stop him in his tracks. “I want you to stay!” A part of me agrees with the suggestion that he go wake up Mom, and that part of me knows that I would feel … safer … with her here. But no, that only confirms that I’m a least a little afraid of UncleDip now, even if I don’t want to be. I’ve always hated being scared of anything, and I’m not going to be scared of UncleDip! I’m still averting my gaze, but I want him to explain to me what’s going on.

And he’s got a lot to explain before I feel any less icky about all of this!

Neither of us say anything for a long moment. He’s just standing in the middle of the room, probably feeling as super-awkward about this as I do. Finally, he clears his throat. “Can I just, I don’t know … talk to you about your mother and I?”

I force myself to look at him. Sure enough, he looks like the same old UncleDip. I relax a little and nod towards the foot of the bed.

He gives me a little smile and carefully sits down again, leaving a lot of space. He takes a couple of breaths. “Mabel and I …” he begins, “... we’ve told you before that we were super-close growing up. Sure, we both had other friends, Mabel more than me. But nobody else could ever be what we were to each other. I mean … I guess it was never spoken out loud, but there was never a question that … she was my best friend, and vice versa! We always had each other, from before we were even born! I don’t know any other brothers and sisters that had the kind of … connection … that we had when we were kids.”

Oh man, that actually … sounds kind of cool! I try to imagine having a brother who is such a close friend, someone who would always be with me, someone who I could always trust. Stephanie hates her brother, and most of my other friends who have brothers say the same thing! I’ve often wished for a little brother to be able to boss around or play with, but what UncleDip describes sounds amazing!

He shifts his position, hunching his shoulders slightly. “I wasn’t much older than you when I sort of realized that … I felt even more for Mabel … a lot more!” He looks at me sideways, looking kind of like he's sorry. “You can’t know how it feels, and I can’t come close to describing it. There’s such a huge difference between what a normal family usually calls ‘love’, and the love that I felt for Mabel. I may have been only thirteen, but growing up together, sharing so much with her and experiencing so many crazy adventures with her … I just couldn’t imagine not being with her! I needed to protect her, I needed her to be happy!” He got a faraway look on his face. “And I needed to spend every moment I could with her, because being close to her made me happy, too. I didn’t just love her. I was in love with her!”

He's right. I know that I've never felt anything like that for anyone. There have been a couple of boys in the last few years that I've wanted to be friends with, maybe a little closer friends than most of the other jerky boys in my school. But what he's describing sounds way more intense than any of those feelings! I actually feel jealous, because I would love it for someone to feel like that for me. It sounds … really beautiful!

Wait … beautiful? Did I just think that UncleDip being in love with his own sister … is beautiful?

There’s a long pause before he keeps going, his eyes glazing over. “I knew, of course, it was wrong to think that way about my sister. I thought … at first I just thought I was pretty screwed up. Then, after our second summer in Gravity Falls, I tried to get used to it. I stayed as close to her as I could, as close as I thought I could get away with, all through our freshman year in high school. But in the end, for almost two years, I didn’t say or do anything more than be a good brother.” The way he says the word “brother”, he sounds so bitter and frustrated. “I had the most wonderful, the most amazing and beautiful girl in the world … she was right there next to me … and I couldn’t tell her how I felt! I honestly thought that I would spend my entire life like that … this close-” he gestured into the air with his finger and thumb a millimeter apart “-to the relationship I wanted with Mabel, but never nearly close enough.”

I should be grossed out by hearing this. I mean, I’m listening to UncleDip telling me about how hard it was falling in love with Mom! Instead, my insides are squeezing in really tight, and I can feel myself wanting to cry.

“It was the end of Grade 9, late at night after she came home from the school prom. I didn’t go, since I didn’t see the point. The only girl I could possibly want to dance with was Mabel. She apparently didn't have a great time, either. We were both talking and moping in her room … We ended up giving each other a hug. That was no big deal, we hugged a lot … but this one was really nice and close, we just hugged for a long time …” UncleDip drew a shaky breath, “... and then she whispered in my ear … that she loved me!” He sniffs, wiping at his eyes and nose with his hand, and turns his head back to me. “Your Mom was the brave one,” he continues, a lop-sided smile now spreading on his face. “I didn’t know it, but she was holding back the same kinds of feelings inside her, for almost as long as I was! When she said that, I was so blown away, I almost couldn’t tell her I loved her, too! But I managed, somehow. It was … it was the most important moment in my life! It was the moment I finally knew I would be with Mabel … no matter what the obstacles.”

Gosh darn it, I am crying now! A bunch of tears fall down my cheeks as my chest shakes. I run out of breath and gasp, then I start to sob quietly. I can’t help it! It’s so beautiful and sad! UncleDip grabs a tissue box from my dresser and hands it to me, after he pulls one out for himself. He blows his nose as I try to pull myself back together.

Soon I manage to get myself composed. UncleDip seems lost in his memories again. “Sorry, I’m okay now,” I say a bit unsteadily, pulling his attention back. “I’m ready.”

He looks back at me, a little weirdly. “Ready for what?” he asks.

I make a soft snort of disbelief. I wonder how UncleDip can be so dense sometimes, as I give my eyes another swipe with a fresh tissue. “For the rest of the story, of course!” I say. “What happened after that?”

UncleDip’s face gets really red, really fast. He rubs the back of his head and he looks down, his expression getting all dorky. What’s wrong with him now?

“Uhh …” he says slowly, “... well … you know, that’s … I don’t know if I should …” He stops and clears his throat. After visibly bracing himself, he takes a deep breath and looks at me. “When two people love each other, they want to be closer to each other … First, it starts with hugging, then kissing …” His lips press together tightly, and he almost looks like he’s in pain. Then he closes his eyes and inhales again. “There are differences between the male and female bodies. As boys and girls get older, a lot happens to these different body parts, and they want to-”

I finally clue in to what UncleDip is trying to say, and I slam my palms to my ears and squeeze my eyes shut as fast as I can. “Ahh! Ew Ew! Quit it quit it quit it ewwwwww!” I wail, though I do try to keep my voice down. Did I really need to have him try explain how he and Mom got ... together together? How could he think I would ever want to hear this? Yuck!! “Ohmygod gross, I can’t- UncleDip! Just … EWWY-EWWY-EWWWWWWWY-YYYAAGGGHHHHPPHHHTT!!” I finish, blurting out my disgust and shivering all over.

UncleDip looks for-real confused. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I wasn’t going- … I thought you said-”

“I already know how that stuff works,” I moan, interrupting him. “I really don’t want to know about how you and … Mom ... BLAGH!!” I suppress another shiver that tries to run down my back. “No, I meant what happened after that? Like, with your relationship, and Grandpa and Grandma, and stuff.” I shake my head at him, amazed at how dumb he can be.

I see the relief practically pour out of him. “Oh!” he says sheepishly, then he looks thoughtful for a moment. “Okay, well … obviously we knew we couldn’t tell anyone about what we’d just discovered, certainly not Mom and Dad. But after so long holding our secrets inside ourselves, it was such an amazing thing to share our feelings with each other! I was almost desperate to spend every moment I could with her, to be as close as I could.

“But we still had exams on the last week of school,” he chuckles. “I think that was the worst set of exams I’ve ever written! But the next day after exams finished, we got back on the bus up to Gravity Falls for the third time.” He immediately looks embarrassed again. “Every year we visited up there, we always slept in the same room in the attic together. Well that year, we … we did a lot more than sleep up there all summer.”

My stomach turns. “UncleDiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip!” I groan miserably.

He puts up his hands apologetically. “I’m only telling you because I want you to understand why things happened the way they did. Okay?” I grumble, but reluctantly nod. I want to hear this, and if I throw up, well then I guess I throw up.

UncleDip locks his hands together in his lap. “My point is that we had a lot of privacy and time together. More than we could have ever hoped, and way more than we have ever had at any time since! It was a lot of freedom to give to two kids who were still only fourteen years old. Both of us were just wishing that we could ignore the facts about our relationship, feeling like it was just us against the world. We were already close before all this happened. That summer, we became even closer than close. We became twins, best friends, and … well, lovers … all wrapped up in one.” He purses his lips and looks down. “It made things a lot harder when we went back home to California.”

I think I understand why. “Because you had to be a lot more careful about not getting caught,” I say, “and you couldn’t spend as much time together as you could before.”

“That’s right,” he nods. “We wanted to have everything we had when we were up North. So we took advantage of every opportunity we had. To be … you know ... “ he lifts his locked hands up and squeezes them a few times, “... together.” I glare at him threateningly. He ignores it.

“And honestly we were really good at keeping it a secret. We never raised any suspicions.” Then he barks a stifled laugh. “But even without anyone ever catching on, over Christmas break that year … we kind of slipped up.” He flops his head down towards me and gives me a meaningful look.

I get it right away. “Mom got pregnant with me. Right?”

UncleDip nods again. “Yeah. We found out in March, just as we were all getting ready to leave for winter break vacation the next morning. It was a heck of a shock! We had to decid-” he cuts himself off, then starts again. “We knew that we couldn’t get through it without help, and we had to tell our parents.” He squirms awkwardly and looks away. “Telling Mom and Dad that night … telling them that Mabel was pregnant, and that I was the father … that was rough,” he says, shaking his head slowly.

I wait for UncleDip to elaborate, but he just stops. My curiosity gets the better of me. “Were they … really mad?” I ask timidly.

“Oh yes,” he replies softly, and I don’t think I’ll get more out of him than that. I can’t help but wonder what happened, and I get a sense of why Mom and UncleDip have put up the barrier that exists between themselves and my grandparents. A chill runs down my spine.

“Anyways,” he continues, “we moved to New Jersey the summer before you were born. Your grandparents made darned sure we did our part to care for you. Your Mom and I had to work really hard. I had to get after-school and weekend jobs to earn as much money as I could to help out, while keeping my grades up. It seemed like I barely saw you at all your first two years growing up.” He tenses up. “But your Mom … she had to keep going to high school for two more years, even though she still took care of you as much as possible. She hardly ever got to do anything else. All your playing and learning, all the feeding and changing, from the moment she came home from school right through the night … she did everything she could. And she had to fit homework and sleep somewhere in there, too. I have no idea how much sleep either of us got during that time.”

That sounds terrible! I’ve seen television! Life is supposed to be fun when you go to high school!

Then he focuses back on me again. “I’m sorry, Cassie. Please don’t start being mad at Grandma and Grandpa, too. We shouldn’t really blame them for being so angry at what we did. Lots of parents would have just kicked us out, or sent one of us away. And with how old fashioned they are, they very easily could have done either one of those things. But they didn't! They knew that it would be dangerous for the two of us in California. If Mabel stayed to give birth there, people could easily find out there was no wild party where Mabel got drunk and was taken advantage of, and they’d figure out that no one but me could have been the father. So we had to pack up and move really quickly. Dad had to ask his company to give him a worse job so he could be transferred to Newark, and Mom lost her entire career. They gave up a lot because of Mabel and me.”

I guess that makes sense. I’ve certainly always thought that my grandparents were nice people. I don’t want to think of them as mean.

“But still, the hardest part for us was ...” UncleDip pauses and swallows, “... was that they forbid allowing us to be together at all.” He takes a deep breath, and lets it out. “We understood why. We didn’t know anyone at all when we moved here, but Mom and Dad knew it wouldn’t stay that way. Neighbors, school friends, teachers, Dad’s co-workers …people would know that Mabel had a baby, and no one else could ever find out that I had anything to do with you being born. Plus … they didn’t really trust that we wouldn’t … you know, slip up again,” he quipped, a half-smile forming and quickly fading. “They forced us to only be brother and sister. I think they hoped that us being together was something that we’d outgrow, a mistake that wouldn’t ever happen again. I’m sure they thought we would find other people, and just be normal!”

He shrugs exaggeratedly. “No such luck for them! You pulled us even closer together! For those two years, we poured everything we had into being the best parents we could for you. Working that hard every day, knowing it was for you, and for each other … it didn’t weaken our commitment to each other at all! If anything, we proved to each other that our relationship was more than … you know, physical. It was love! After we got through high school, we knew that we loved each other more than ever!”

Oh my gosh … that’s sooooo … sooooooooooo …

More tears fall down my face again as I completely give in to what I feel is the truth. I believe him! I really believe him now! UncleDip and Mom aren’t just having sex with each other. They aren’t being gross or disgusting at all. They’re … in love!! They’re just in love with each other! And it’s so obvious now! Why couldn’t I see it?

And that also means they were truly in love when … when … when they made me! I really start to bawl happily now, as I hadn’t realized how insecure this had made me feel all evening. I wasn’t simply the end result of an act of perverted pleasure. I was created by two people out of their complete love for each other!

I cry for quite a while, while UncleDip holds me and rubs my back. There is no hint of fear or trepidation of him left inside me. I feel completely content and safe, knowing he’s protecting me. Eventually my sniffling calms down, and I wipe my face with a tissue again. I feel so much better now.

But why can’t everyone feel better, I wonder? “What about Grandma and Grandpa?” I mumble into UncleDip’s chest. “Don’t they understand any of this?”

He sighs in resignation. “I don’t think they’ll ever really accept how your mother and I feel for each other, so they’ll never be happy for us.” He takes me by my shoulders and holds me out at arm’s length so we can look at one another. “But we know, in their way, that they do still love us. And we know they love you very much, too!”

I bob my head, showing him I understand, but I’m struggling. This is a lot of stuff to dump on a kid all at once! And if I’m honest, I’m getting pretty sleepy. Even with that nap I had, this has been a really long, emotional day. But I’m determined to absorb all of this I can get. As long as I can convince UncleDip to keep talking about this-

UncleDip smirks at me. “I think you’ve had enough for tonight, Cass. Maybe you need to try to sleep?”

I slump. Darn it, I must have some really obvious thing I do when I’m tired, but trying not to look tired. I’ve got to find out what that is and work on that! I see UncleDip’s smirk get bigger. Ack! He knows exactly what I’m thinking, that I need to improve my acting game. And now he’s trying not to laugh! “Agh! Stop reading my mind! It’s not fair!” I cry out in half-serious frustration.

“Hey, it’s perfectly fair. It’s not my fault I know you so well.” he chuckles. Then he looks at me in that squishy “I love you Cassie” look I adore so much. “I should know you really well. After all …” his face twitches as his smile gets even bigger, “... you are my daughter!”

His daughter. He’s right, I am! And that’s still pretty weird to think about.

I’m trying to process all I’ve heard. It’s not often that your life gets turned completely upside down, and I know it’s going to take a while before I really get a handle on this. But one thing is for sure, and that is that I’m not disgusted by all of this. Not anymore. If I’m not freaking out about it, then I’ll take that as a good sign that I’ll get used to it.

He pats me on the shoulder. “What d’ya say we pick this back up in the morning?” he asks me gently. “I think we all need to call in sick tomorrow so we can stay home and discuss everything. I know your Mom will want to have a big talk with you about how you’re feeling about all this.”

I look up at him. “Is she going to be upset that I found out?”

“No! Of course not, Cass,” he reassures me. “But you’re learning all about this when you’re a lot younger than we hoped you’d be. It’s a pretty huge deal. There’s a lot more we have to tell you, to make sure you understand what all this means to our family.” He gives my shoulder a little shake. “Okay?”

“Okay,” I reply, a yawn escaping from my mouth. After I put my glasses on the night table, I crawl up to the top of my bed and pull back the thin sheet. UncleDip stands and leans over me as I put my head down on my pillow. He smiles his squishy smile again. “I love you, Cassie. Nothing about today changes anything about that. I’ve always loved you, and I always will.”

“I know. I love you, too,” I sigh back, feeling sleepy now.

“Goodnight” he whispers. He places his lips gently on my forehead and gives me a long kiss on the spot he always kisses me. Right on my birthmark.

The birthmark I got from him! From my … father!

I really should say one more thing before I fall asleep. But I already feel so sluggish. What do I say ...

He gets to his feet and picks up my tablet, putting it on its stand for me. “Almost midnight,” he mutters as he glances at the screen, and heads toward the door.

Almost midnight! It’s still Sunday! The perfect words come to me in an instant.

“Hey!” I exclaim weakly. He turns, and I lift my arms towards him. “Happy Father’s Day … Dad!”

My father instantly is back and he’s hugging me really tight, and I hear and feel him start to cry. I hug and cry back until I can’t stop the fatigue from overtaking me. Still, I’m secure in the knowledge that no matter how weird this all is, or how strange his feelings are for Mom, my UncleDip is now the best Dad I could ever hope for. I feel myself slip away, safe and warm as he quietly holds me in his arms.

... Best … Dad … ... ever ….

*

(My Master Fic Post)

#pinecest #unexpected au