Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun was shining on the younger set of Pines twins last day in Gravity Falls.

They had been all over town that morning, saying goodbye to each and every last resident of the town, mundane and magical. The gnomes were pleased to see them go, the unicorns as well. The manotaurs pledged to welcome Dipper back whenever he needed. Mabel sent her last bottle to Mermando.

Their closest friends and family, however, came to the bus stop with them. The last send-off was a quiet affair, at least, compared to the rest of the summer. Gifts and hugs were exchanged before the twins waved their last goodbye, boarding the bus back to Piedmont.

“I can’t believe we’re not going to be seeing everyone everyday anymore,” pouted the eldest twin as she snuggled her pet pig. She had always been more eccentric, at least externally, but had calmed some over the summer. She looked over at her brother, eyeing how hesitantly he was holding on to the letter Wendy had given him at the station.

“Yeah, it’s going to be different,” he said, beginning to break the seal. He was the more cautious of the duo, tending to wait for all the details before committing to a deal if he could. He had changed over the summer as well, quickening to action when needed, yet he seemed almost a shell of himself when the bus doors closed.

Mabel needn’t have worried for him, though, as his face broke into a wide smile when he saw the contents of the letter. A small chuckle escaped him as he read the well wishes of the whole town, Wendy’s being the biggest. His crush had been obvious to Mabel, but perhaps that was just because he was her twin. She still remembered his first crush, how she had sent him into a panic just by looking his way. She signed in remembrance of those good old days, bringing her brother’s eyes her way.

“What’s the sigh for?” He asked, inquisitive as always.

“Just remembering how much has changed since your first crush,” she said, nudging his shoulder with her own, “You couldn’t even hold eye contact with her, and now look at you, taking rejection and still being friends with Wendy.”

Dipper took her words with another laugh, grounding him from the memories from the summer, both good and bad. Mabel teased him, but it was all in good fun, she knew he could get caught up in his head and was able to bring him back down to Earth.

“Yeah, that was before I realized I even could like a girl,” He shot back, earning himself a wide grin in return.

The twins reminisced about the summer, the lessons learned and the rules broken, until they were close to their old address.

“Do you even think it will feel like home?” Dipper asked, in that small voice of his that he barely ever used anymore.

“It won’t be the same,” Mabel began, assured of herself, “But it won’t be completely different either. We will still have each other, like Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford!”

“It sucks that Grunkle Stan doesn’t remember everything anymore,” Dipper said with a shake of his head, his mind tumbling into memories and alternate paths he could’ve taken.

“But he still has Ford,” Mabel pressed, taking his hand, “Just like we still have each other. And Bill is gone. He won’t be coming back, and even if something else happens, I will always be watching by your side.” Dipper couldn’t argue with her when she sounded so sure, so much like the older sister she was. Even though he knew Bill could come back, or something else could make an appearance, he just wanted his sister to be right. So he believed she was.

They were always going to be with each other, because Mabel said so. And he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that happened.

The bus chimed, signaling they only had one more stop until their destination. They both tensed at the sound, another reminder that they were outside of the bubble of Gravity Falls. They were back in the normal world, as normal as it could be. Mabel watched the people getting on and off the bus, watched for changes in gait, for the slight yellow tinted eyes she had missed last time. That she would never miss again.

Meanwhile, Dipper kept his eyes on the outside of the bus, seeing where they were now. He watched for where the exits were, where food was, who was walking and where. He catalouged all of this information somewhere in the part of his brain that never shut off now. He thought his thoughts raced before, but it was nothing compared to the speed at which he brought himself to know his environment now, he would not miss a chance at survival if it was needed.

The bus doors closed and the twins relaxed slightly. Those who had been on the bus for a while knew they wouldn’t fully relax until the bus was moving steadily again. But no one who was left saw the first stop. The twins had jumped and looked around as if looking for an intruder. The boy’s breath had tripled a normal rate, while the girl looked like a cornered deer. No one heard the hushed conversation afterwards, though, as the twins determined who would watch for what.

Once the agreement had been struck, the bus ride passed without much incident. They told jokes, stories, and played games, much like normal kids. By the time they had arrived in Piedmont, they almost felt normal again. At least, as normal as anyone who had lived through an apocalypse could.

The bus pulled up to their final stop, and they saw their Dad waiting for them, holding no sign but two junior meals from their favorite fast food place. The twins doubted it would be as good as Lazy Susan’s pancakes, but anything was good in their books now.

Mabel skipped off the bus, bouncing her bag on her back as she ran over to her Dad, giving him a large hug. Dipper was more wary, looking all over before stepping off of the bus. He noticed his father didn’t return Mabel’s hug. This wasn’t out of the ordinary for their Dad, but it certainly pinged an alarm for the younger twin.

Mabel felt it as well, in the way his body tightened when she hugged him, not unlike the way Dipper reacted now. But where Dipper would soften, her dad remained tight, and she worried for what she was about to hear.

“Kids, let’s head to the car. There’s something me and your mother need to tell you.”

Chapter Text

“There’s something me and your mother need to tell you.”

Dipper felt his heart plummet to his feet. He remembered the argument he overheard before they had left, the words flung at his father from his mother, the practiced rebuttals given back. He hadn’t known what to do then, nor did he know what to do now.

Mabel felt her eyes begin to water. This was what she had wanted to avoid, the arguments Dipper overheard, the reality of her home. She remembered again why she agreed with Bill, and some selfish part of her wished she was still in Mabelland, even as her brother floundered beside her.

Their father turned and walked, expecting the twins to follow. They did, but not without a glance of comfort between them. The continued to watch around them, Mabel straining her eyes, praying that this was just a dream, while Dipper knew it was more of a waking nightmare.

The walk to the car was quiet, something the father appreciated, and something the twins hated. Quiet meant something was wrong. Quiet meant someone had gone missing, that something had changed, that someone was no longer the same. Quiet meant danger.

Their mother sat in the car, composed and still. This set off alarms for Mabel, who remembered her mother as a lively woman, who lived to craft and care for her and her brother. Dipper noticed the car had been washed recently, but the back windows had been missed in the cleaning, meaning the car had been the scene of another argument. Likely their last.

The mother jumped as the car doors opened, immediately turning on a bright smile and a happy tone as she exclaimed how happy she was to see the twins. She reached behind her for an awkward hug with them, one not even Mabel could relax into. Their mother grimaced as she sat back into her seat. Her children had always been too smart for their own good, and she knew they likely figured out what had been happening before they left for the summer.

“Me and your father, we both love you,” she began, not knowing the exact words to use, “But sometimes, when you meet people, you aren’t meant to be with them forever.” Mabel looked at her brother at this, seeing him retreat into himself. His worst fear had just been actualized, and she had no idea how to help him.

“What your mother means is that we have been living separately for the past summer, and we plan to continue to do so. We also are likely to only have one of you at the house at a time, as we are very busy people and you are very lively kids,” their father unhelpfully added, “Which is good for your development, but we simply couldn’t do it without the other.”

“Nor with the other,” their mother added softly, looking at the twins. They hadn’t looked at each other once during the exchange.

“So, what, you’re just going to split us up? Like it’s nothing? What are you even thinking?” Dipper burst out, not wanting to leave his sister. Mabel was speechless, her parents were going to take away her person, and Dipper finally got around to standing up for himself outside of Gravity Falls.

“Now, young… man, we make these decisions to make sure we can provide for you. You’ll understand when you are older.” His father then turned around and started the car, saying where they were going, but Dipper couldn’t hear him. He’ll understand when he gets older? He already knew what it was like to be on his own. He knew hunger, thirst, homelessness. He understood just fine already. His parents didn’t love each other anymore, he was fine with that, but to separate him from Mabel? It wouldn’t stand, he couldn’t do that. Not again.

The next thing he heard was his father telling him to go pack his things, he was going to live with him in an apartment. He took off down the road, not even tripping on the tree root that always used to trip him, before his time with the manotaurs. Hell, they said they would still take him back, maybe he should take them up on their offer. But they would never accept Mabel. She was happy being a girl, bouncy and boy-crazy as they come. She could definitely make it in the mountains, but he couldn’t take her from her friends. He shook his head as he walked into their old room.

They wouldn’t be sharing a room anymore. It was such a childish thought, but it was the one that broke him. He sat on the floor as heaving sobs erupted silently from his chest. He was never able to cry loudly anymore.

That’s where Mabel found him, not for the first time, curled up in a puddle of his own tears. She picked him up into a hug and cried with him, mourning the loss of their childhoods but also of their reputation. They would never be taken seriously here; these people didn’t know what had happened that summer. She said as much to Dipper, and he let out a sarcastic chuff.

“We could change that all, Mabel. You know we could.”

“Yes, but look where that got him.”

The mention of Bill sobered him. He knew exactly what Mabel meant, they could change the whole town, but never for free. You can’t get something for nothing after all.

“It will be like Weirdmaggedon all over again,” he sniffed, looking over to all that he needed to pack.

“Yes, but it’ll be different this time,” his sister said, grabbing a sharpie from a jar of pens she kept, drawing an eye on his arm, “Because I, not Bill, will be the one always watch you!” Her eyes teared up as she tried to keep up her happy charade. He nodded anyway, grabbing the marker and making an eye on her as well.

“Maybe, if we keep these fresh, we can always be watching over each other,” he said, finally calming down. Mabel eagerly nodded; glad her brother was calm again. She didn’t know what exactly they could do if they stopped caring, but she never wanted to find out. Her brother was as strong as they come, after all, and smart to boot. If he ever partnered with Bill… she shuddered to think about it.

They finished packing the last of Dipper’s things he would take with him, before one last awkward sibling hug. It was one thing that was left untainted for them, one thing that made their mother laugh before giving her own hug to her son.

“If you need me, you call, you hear?” She said, waving him off to her soon to be ex-husband.

Dipper took one last look at the home he had always known, and then shut the car door.

Chapter Text

Dipper said nothing the whole ride to the new apartment. He didn’t believe his father deserved it. Not after what he had heard, not after what his father did. Or rather, what he never did.

They arrived without much fanfare, walking up apartment 333 before his father gave him a key.

“I’ll be honest with you, Dip, I’m not likely to be in a lot. Everything is happening with the job and-“

“Yeah, I know, I’ll be on my own more now.” Dipper huffed a sigh, and his father wondered if starting him on hormones would calm down the teenage angst. He expected this from Mabel, of course, and thought that with Dipper being, well, Dipper, he could’ve avoided it all when he chose him as the twin he kept. Turns out he was wrong.

“Your room is the one closest to the kitchen,” he said over his shoulder as he walked off, heading back to the office. The stack of paperwork on his desk would be less of a headache than moving his kid in.

Meanwhile, Dipper opened the door with yet another sigh. It was becoming his go-to reaction now, it covered the wide range of emotions he was feeling, very few of them good. He shook his head at his father’s behavior. He was a fully grown adult; he shouldn’t be leaving a child to move in all on their own. What was next? Registering himself for the first year of high school? Paying rent? He couldn’t legally get a job yet, but there were other ways…

Shelving that thought, he trudged over to his room. It was a bit cramped, luckily the bed was a twin, so it wouldn’t take up much room. The walls were bare, but if his dad was going to be anything like he was before, Dipper could put whatever he wanted on them. His dad never checked in before, why would he start now?

He dropped his bags on the ground and got to work. He pushed the bed over to the side of the room, wedging it securely into a corner of the room where he could always see the door. Next he grabbed the sheets, light blue, and laid them on the bed, covering them with the Game Theory blanket their mother had given him the summer before. He then looked at the closet. It was very small, but luckily, he didn’t have that big of a wardrobe. Mabel teased him for this, but he didn’t care. It made it easy back in Gravity Falls, and it would make it easier here too.

He then exited the room to look at the bathroom. He would be sharing with his father, but that was fine. It wasn’t like he was going to keep his things in the bathroom anyway, that led to too much clutter. And it could be glitter bombed. You only brush with glittery toothpaste once.

After making sure he could keep clean here, he went to the kitchen. He was fine with grocery shopping, at least with Mabel, so he should still be fine with it here. And it looked like he was going to be the person for the job, his father had two apples and some ramen noodles in the pantry and not much else.

Luckily, there were pots, pans, and working appliances. That gave him more to work with than he had at certain points this summer. So, there was some sunlight in the complete shitstorm that was his life currently.

Back in his room, he began to set his things up. He put his clothes away, made his bathroom caddy, and took a shower. That was all he was going to do today. He made some ramen and ate it while he looked over his phone. Mabel had sent him a message.

Mabel: Hey brobro! All settled in?

Me: Yeah, you?

Mabel: Of course, silly!

Mabel: Mom says hello, and asked what the address is, btw :)

Me: She doesn’t know?

Me: *sent a pin*

Me: It’s number 333

Mabel: Thanks brobro!

Mabel: It’s late, me and mom are gonna be watching a movie, ttyl!

Me: K bye

He had finished his ramen by then, and washed the bowl so he could put it away. He once again went to his room, this time to sleep. He figured it wouldn’t be that hard tonight, sleep was his escape from all of this. Maybe it was just another messed up nightmare. Maybe he had never left Gravity Falls. Maybe he never stopped Bill and-

He shook his head to stop the thoughts. He beat Bill. He saw the statue. His Grunkle had his memories erased because of it. He won.

He settled into bed, tucked under the covers, and turned out his light, sinking into oblivion easily, far too easily.

He was running. He was running and he was running out of time. What was he running from? Doesn’t matter, gotta run, gotta run, gottarungottarungottarun-

He looked over his shoulder to see the heads lining the streets, the red skies and the giant X in them. His eyes glazed over as he took in the sight of the portals, showing him the things he had to do to survive… what did he survive?

What was that light?

Fuck! The spotlights were out tonight. That’s right. He’s back. He never left. Why did he ever think he left-

Turn the corner! Mabel! Was she real? Was she fake? What was making the ground stickier? It was red, a dark red he had come to be familiar with. He stopped to look around him, all the portals everywhere, peering into different situations. There was the shack, there, his little hiding spot before everyone found him. There was the golf cart, he lost track of how many things he had run over trying to survive. As he was looking around, he heard two voices.

“C’mon, Dip-Dop, let us in!”

RUN

She was fake! She was fake and he had to run, he couldn’t listen to her, no no no no no no-

Her eyes were that faint yellow, the yellow that must’ve tinted his, but no one had ever noticed. They never noticed.

He tried his best to avoid the glowing blue spots, he knew he would trip into one tonight, like always, but he tried to avoid the worst ones. The ones where he saw them all lined up, kneeling, heads down. The ones where he was stuck in Mabel land. The ones where Mabel left him.

He tripped.

He prayed to whatever was listening that he wouldn’t end up where he didn’t have Mabel again. He knew what he did in those dreams, what Bill told him to do, what he did to himself.

He braced for the impact as he heard Mabel shout, “Run all you want brobro! We will still find you!” She erupted in laughter behind him as he fell, deeper and deeper, until a cursed voice rang out.

“Long time no see, Pinetree!”

Dipper shot out of bed, falling onto the floor. He had dragged the covers with him, thrashing to get out of them. He felt like he was being buried alive. While it wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling, it wasn’t a welcome one either. He finally escaped them; he crawled over to the other side of the room. It’s close quarters, while comforting just hours earlier, we now suffocating.

“He’s not here, it wasn’t real, she’s fine,” He repeated to himself, over and over, rocking back and forth until his breathing calmed enough for him to remember his phone. He shot a message over to Mabel, asking how she was. She responded, but they both didn’t have the energy to talk. It seemed he wasn’t the only one suffering tonight.

He hoped this wasn’t a part of the dreams, he didn’t want to go back to what he saw there. He may not have Mabel, but he could keep himself from doing… those things. So long as he was himself.
He attempted to sleep in the bed again, but it didn’t feel right. The bed was too soft, it wasn’t lumpy like the shacks nor was it the hard concrete he made do with for weeks. Just another thing he would need to acclimate to.

He set an alarm on his phone for the next morning and then set up a pallet on the floor. He snuggled up in it, making a note to get a stream of income soon. A stuffed animal would help with these nights.

It would help him figure out what was real.

Chapter Text

Mabel watched as Dipper and their father pulled out of the driveway. The car meandered down the driveway, taking her brother away from her for the first time since that summer. She was worried, for both herself and her brother, and though she was trying her best to hide it, her mother saw right through her.

“Hey, wanna watch a movie later?” She asked, hoping her oldest would take the bait just like she always used to.

“Sure!” Mabel forced the brightness into her voice, hoping to fully fool her mother. And from the look of relief in the older woman’s eyes, Mabel succeeded. Her mother meant well, she knew that, but her mother would never understand. Not fully. And she didn’t want her to. She never wanted anyone to understand.

Mabel skipped over to their- no, her- room to reorganize. She would still keep a corner for Dipper, because they both knew how their dad was. It wasn’t bad, he never did anything wrong, it’s just that he didn’t do much of anything. She doubted being away from his wife would change that, in fact she would bet money that he would do even less. And after the summer, no one could comfort them like each other.

She picked the left corner of the room, so he could always see the door. She added a blanket to act as a curtain for him, deep blue, almost black. She added pillows and the few stuffed animals Dipper liked, but made sure to keep the majority of the space on the ground. Dipper had been less comfortable on plush, soft beds and blankets after their summer, preferring to be on something stable, and she understood that if she made a space for him she needed to be aware of his new habits.

After all, he wasn’t the only one with new habits.

After instating the Dipper space, she got out some of her collections from Gravity Falls. The chunk of unicorn hair, the crystals she had gathered, the photos of that summer. She planned to scrapbook the summer, but she wasn’t so sure about that plan anymore. She put aside a letter from Gideon he had given her before she left, she and Dipper were going to burn it together tonight, but now they would have to find a good time to meet up for it. She let the memories wash over her as she looked at some of the things she put on her windowsill, looking out at the tree she used to love to climb.

She didn’t know how long she had stood there, looking at her summer, remembering everything that had happened, until her mother called her for dinner. She was spacing out more than usual now, losing track of time while stuck in her head. She didn’t know why it was happening, but that didn’t matter. She just needed to fix it. Just like she fixed everything else.
While eating, she sent a message to her brother, checking if he was all settled in. She was happy to know he was doing well, and it showed on her face.

“Is that Mason?” Her mother asked. Mabel nodded happily, her mother had always been better about her brother’s name, although she still messed up from time to time. But she made an effort, which was better than some. “Where is he living now?”

Mabel laughed inwardly about the poorly disguised probe, while also wondering why her father hadn’t told her where they were living now. Were things really that bad between them? How had she missed that? Was she always missing the details everyone else had seen? Was that why she had missed everything with Bill? With her brother? Was that why-

She had a message from Dipper with the address. That shook her out of the spiral she found her brain stuck in just moments before. She told her mother, and then suggested they start the movie. It was an older Ducktective film, one her and Dipper watched until they could quote it.

She wondered if her mother knew anything about her other than what she showed her.

After the movie, she went to get ready for bed. She bid her mom goodnight and went to curl up in her childhood bed. Her room was slightly off-kilter now, with no one there to talk to until she fell asleep, no sound of pages turning, no mutters. No reason to start singing off key under her breath. No presence in the left side of her room and her heart.

No Dipper.

She wondered how he was faring, but decided to ask in the morning if they both made it through the night. Dipper always had nightmares, but she tried to keep it from him that she had started having them, too. He had enough on his plate and needed to be a kid for a little bit longer.

She closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the cars driving by, and fell asleep while her thoughts whirled.

“Well, do we have a deal?”

A hand was reaching out to her from the darkness. She didn’t want to grab it, but she knew what would happen if she didn’t. She ran, feeling like she was running though thick mud. She didn’t make it to Bill in time tonight.

She never made it in time.

Her brother grabbed the hand. And his eyes changed. Not noticeably, no, but just enough of a yellow sheen to alert her that she was too late. Again.

Behind her, laughter rang out. A short boy with a bad bleach job and a robin’s egg blue suit was cackling as he reached for her.

She dove out of the way of Gideon, not wanting to feel his filthy paws on her. He never knew when to give up, and her brother wasn’t here to help her.

She was the reason for that, though. Maybe if she hadn’t been so boy crazy, leading Gideon on. Maybe if she actually looked at others rather than herself. Maybe if-

Gideon caught her. He had her immobilized, pinned in his grip. She squirmed, thrashed, but to no avail.

She looked around for a way to break his grip, searching for anything she could use. All she saw was her family, turning away, no matter how loud she called out to them, and the entrance to Mabel Land, but the twisted version it had become once she could no longer escape what she had done.

Still, in her panic, that would be better than what she was stuck with. She frantically squirmed, somehow with more energy than she thought she possessed, but still nothing broke her from the prison that was Gideon’s arms. She could not even escape back into the prison made specifically for her.

Her brother was in front of her now, with the memory gun. An insane smile broke his face, but melted away as the yellow tint left his eyes. He was haunted, but his arm was steady, his expression grim. She thought her brother would never sacrifice her.

He pulled the trigger.

She woke, shifting into a sitting position and covering her mouth to stifle her screams. She looked over to the other side of the room to see if she woke up her brother. But she needn’t have worried. He wasn’t there. He might never be there again.

Her hand stayed at her mouth, muffling her sobs as they escaped her now that she knew she was alone.

She rushed to the bathroom, vomit almost missing the sink, she couldn’t even make it to the toilet. After what felt like an eternity, she had finished heaving up what felt like her entire stomach, and she washed her mouth and face from her sick.

She could still feel the phantom arms on her, the grip tightening like a vise against her chest, threatening to cut off her breathing. She could still feel the heat of the fire of the deal. Even though Dipper had told her it was cold, it was always blistering hot in her dreams.

She wasn’t sure what was real anymore, tip-toeing back to her room to look for her phone. The shadows of her house seemed to elongate, like every night, but this time they seemed to comfort her rather than scare her. She hurried the rest of the way to her room, not trusting them. Comfort can be an illusion.

Once there, she sent a message to Dipper, just to be sure he was alive. That he was real. That she wasn’t stuck in the dream.

Me: Hey, you up?

Dipper: Yeah, what’s up?

Me: Just couldn’t sleep

Dipper: Me neither

Her brother didn’t text again, but that was ok. She didn’t need him to reassure her. She was fine, she wasn’t the one who went through everything, he was. So long as he was ok, she could be ok. That was all she needed.

She stayed awake until dawn, though, just in case. She wouldn’t let him go through this alone.

Never again.

Chapter Text

Dipper woke the next morning and panicked. He was on the floor. A comfortable floor, but a floor nonetheless. That was never good. What kind of nest did he have to make this time? And where was he?

When he saw his room again, he was fine, but those first few seconds saddened him. He was getting better, less reactive, more calm again. Would he regress? Would he become half-feral again, not fit for humanity? And there, in the back of his mind, that question that haunted him ever since. Was he even human anymore? Did he even deserve to be one anymore?

He shook off those thoughts as he got up to get breakfast, catching sight of the eye Mabel drew on him. He rushed back to his nightstand and grabbed a marker, redrawing it, hoping to make it permanent. The eye brought him comfort, somehow, like he wasn’t all alone anymore. Almost as if he had a guardian with him now. Like he mattered enough to be watched over again.

When he got to the kitchen his father had already left, as evidenced by the note on the counter. Dipper picked up the yellow post-it, wondering what would be on it this time. He saw a scribbled out name at the top, before his father started with Dipper. He scoffed, wondering how his father still had trouble with the name they were going to call him if he was born as a boy. Rolling his eyes in an unseen display of teenage rebellion, he read the rest of the note. It was short, like all of his father’s conversations. He was to go get his school supplies today, the list was already in his email.

He looked it over as he grabbed an apple to eat, making a mental note to go grocery shopping as well with the money his father had left. He already started making a list of the essentials he would need for both quick snacks and full meals, as well as what nonperishables he should stock up on. It would be easier now that he didn’t need to steal his groceries, but he supposed he could’ve, if he needed to. But he wouldn’t, as that wasn’t normal human behavior.

Walking back to his room, he mentally chastised himself. Just because he lived through a time where normal societal rules weren’t in play didn’t mean he got to avoid them now. He had to go back to being normal, where food wasn’t communal, he couldn’t make noises whenever he wanted, and he had to pretend to be a fully functioning 14 year old.

Ugh.

After this internal battle, he got dressed in his usual vest, t-shirt, and shorts, donning the hat Wendy gave him at the bus stop. It was one of the only pieces of clothing he had borrowed from a girl that didn’t make him feel bad when he wore it, therefore he wore it all the time. He didn’t have a crush on her anymore, but he still thought she was a badass, so he liked having something of hers on his person. It was like they could protect each other by having something of the others.

He walked out of the door with his list and the money, heading over to the grocery store. Another point in his fathers’ favor, making sure they were close to the school and the grocery store. There weren’t many points in that collum, if any at all, so Dipper figured he could give him an easy one, just this once.

He grabbed a few things of produce, not too many, so they wouldn’t spoil. He got cheese, not milk, if his father wanted it, he could grab it, but after tasting expired milk he could never drink it again, as well as some bread and snacks he could carry with him. He walked all of it back, the walk reminding him of his time with the manotaurs. It felt like forever ago, but he still kept up with the exercises. It helped with his dysphoria, even if it didn’t change his body much, and they had numerous other benefits for his mental and physical health. Not to mention, they had probably been one of the only reasons he survived Him.

When he got back, he texted Mabel to ask if she was getting school supplies, and if he could tag along. It was a low shot but he didn’t want to be stuck walking everywhere. Then he wrote a note to his father, asking if he could get a bike soon. He couldn’t get his drivers license until he was 16, which was basically two years away. It wasn’t like he couldn’t drive, he was pretty darn good at it having to practice all summer, and he would if he needed to, but he couldn’t go saying that around his parents. His mother would worry, and his father would ask where he learned. It wasn’t like he could just say “Oh yeah, I learned from your uncle because I was in an apocalypse so now I can drive better than you OR mom.” Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.

Mabel responded that they were coming to pick him up, which he was grateful for. His father wouldn’t be home until late, as usual, which means he had a shot at his mother driving him home. He didn’t like to walk at night alone anymore, not unless he knew he could take anything living in the shadows. Or in the lights.

Mabel and his mother got there as he put the last of the groceries away, and he walked down the stairs while making sure he had enough money. He also ensured he didn’t miss a step, he may not have been in his body when he fell down the stairs, but he was the one who had to nurse bruised ribs, not… not Him. And, he joked to himself as he got to the bottom, at least he discovered some things based on that. As well as the fact the Bill did not understand gender. Like. At all.

He hopped in the car, asking his mother and Mabel about their day. They all shared small talk while the twins internally sized up the situation. Their mother was nervous, trying to prove herself as a good parent now that the twins were separated, talking way too much to come across as confident in her ability to do so, trying to one up their father. Dipper noticed Mabel was lagging, perhaps she wasn’t as rested as he thought she would be, he knew she had nightmares now. She wasn’t very good at hiding them. He wondered if he could have her over sometime to make her Mabel Juice, it always kept her up but was banned by their mother. It wasn’t as if their father would notice, after all, and wasn’t that a good thing sometimes?

Mabel, on the other hand, noticed how Dipper was almost jittery, eyes bouncing around to see everything, and she figured he had been able to get back to sleep if he wasn’t about to keel over. He had probably been up early, and taken care of some things around the apartment. She watched as he tried to avoid scratching at his skin, as he did when he had a particularly bad nightmare or was nervous. She knew he never let it get too far, he was too scared of what he could do, but he was still reeling from something. She would guess he went to do something in public before this, grocery shopping if she had his habits down. She watched him always know if their food was running down at the Shack, it seemed that stayed with him even now. She wondered if he still had that dislike for milk, or if their father was going to change that.

They got to the store and took off, as they always did. From the time they could pick out their own supplies, each twin had raced to get everything they needed before the other twin. Mabel stuck with her purple theme she always had, but with a pointed lack of stars and rainbows, instead sticking to blobs of color and simple patterns. There was decidedly less competition between her and Dipper now, but she still rocketed through the store with the determination of a bargain hunter on Black Friday.

Dipper, however, had changed. He seemed to stay far away from the light blue he used to favor. His mother didn’t know it still brought back memories of ill made deals in the dark. Instead, he went for soft greens, forests, and plants. He seemed to go slower, to intentionally choose his supplies, but still had that competitive edge left over from when he was much younger, showcased by the lopsided grin he would shoot to Mabel whenever they got close to the same object.

Once the twins got everything they needed, their mom paid for it all, citing that it was nothing. They both knew it was, in fact, something, but they weren’t going to tell their mom she was doing a bad job of trying to subtly buy their favor. Nor were they going to tell her that she could learn from Grunkle Stan, as he may have bought their favor, but much more subtly. And with many, many more weapons.

They also splurged on some tattoo pens, Mabel saying she wanted to be able to draw on herself but not wanting all the chemicals, and their mom fell for it. The twins were conflicted with how easy it was, but it wasn’t their fault she was going to do anything to try to be the favored parent. Besides, if their mother was this easy, avoiding their old bullies would be a piece of cake. They shared a look at this thought, and immediately started thinking of Globnar, falling into laughter which confused their mother. She was just happy the twins were getting along and out of their funk.

When they got into the car, each of them opened their pen. They redid the eyes they made on each other, adding little embellishments. Dipper added a coded message to Mabel’s, as well a couple more eyes and some stars in the form of the Big Dipper. Mabel added more eyes to Dipper’s as well, and some swirls and rainbows. Dipper allowed it, but put his foot down when she asked to color it.

“Right, can’t mess with the new emo aesthetic, huh brobro,” she had teased, running her shoulder into his. He laughed and grabbed her, giving her a Stan-approved noogie, while telling her that Sleep Token wasn’t emo, it was metal, and she wouldn’t know the first thing about good music from this century. They may agree that the 80’s had the best music, but beyond that, Mabel preferred hyper and recession pop, while Dipper had been getting into heavier genres. Neither liked jazz.

Their mother looked on at them with a sentimental smile, they were finally acting like the twins she had remembered. She didn’t know what had happened over the summer, but it couldn’t have been that bad. She remembered her childhood, spending time outside, playing in the woods for hours. It had shaped her into the woman she was today. She was glad her children had gotten a taste of that life, before they were back here in the suburbs.

However, all good things come to an end, and Dipper had to go home. The twins said goodbye, saying they would meet up soon to burn what needed to be burned in the woods outside of town. Their mother politely decided to ignore that comment, and keep a closer eye on the twin she did have control over. One awkward sibling hug, pats included, later, Mabel and her mother were headed back down the road, and Dipper walked back up to the apartment.

As expected, his father wasn’t home. He set out to complete the plan he and his sister agreed upon, drawing eyes all over his supplies, some in invisible ink and some in black, before looking up protective runes and sending the best over to her. By the time the twins went to sleep, they both had matching supplies, and slept comfortably for the first time in weeks.

And if neither of them had any dreams that night, well, that’s just a coincidence, isn’t it?