Summertime in Gravity Falls could range anywhere between boiling hot and unseasonably chilly, but today was one of those rare and beautiful days where the sun, the clouds and the wind had all worked together to create the perfect afternoon. Unfortunately for most of the people in the town they would be stuck inside and working through the gorgeous Thursday, but Mabel and Dipper were out by the shimmering waters of the uncreatively named Gravity Falls Lake and enjoying their afternoon to the fullest.
Mabel was currently hunched kneeling by a stand of bushes near the edge of the lake, a fully charged up water-gun held in her hand and her eyes darting through the gaps in the branches for a sign of her prey. Her ears perked as she heard a snapping branch nearby and she made a fake gun-cocking sound quietly and held up her squirt pistol in bent arms like an FBI agent in a cheesy movie.
"The enemy was close… I could almost smell his unwashed shirt." she muttered to herself as she slowly stalked toward the source of the crunching sound, trying to make no other sound herself along the way.
There! A glimpse of Dippers old blue cap peeking out from some bushes up ahead. With a wide grin Mabel dashed out from the trees, all thoughts of stealth gone as she gave a triumphant war cry and jumped over the bush, executed a perfect roll and came up with her toy gun blazing… at a stick with a hat propped up on it.
"Coward!" Mabel cried out just before the water-balloon came down from the tree above and splashed across her back, soaking her to the skin through her colorful tee-shirt and she fired wildly up in the air in retaliation.
"Truce! Truce!" Dipper called from above and she saw him clearly now, perched on a low branch. "I only had the one balloon and it was really hard to climb up here without popping the stupid thing. I broke two others all over myself trying."
"Bringing a water balloon to a gun fight is in strict violation of the Water-War Conventions. Surrender now and we can begin the war crimes trial." Mabel said, her pistol trained on her brother and a mock-stern expression on her face.
"Is the penalty for my crime going to be soaking by firing squad?" Dipper asked, his hands placed on the back of his head in surrender as he cooperated with his sisters game.
"The judge may be lenient and commute your sentence to a candy-related fine and 15 years of hard labor if you come quietly." Mabel replied thoughtfully.
"Only fifteen? Well, sign me up." Dipper said in a playfully sarcastic tone and he started to awkwardly climb down the wide spaced branches of the tree.
"I only said may!" Mabel said with a wicked grin as she blasted her now helpless brother with her squirt gun, laughing in triumph.
"Oh come on!" Dipper laughed in return. "I thought the convention also forbid executing helpless prisoners?"
"You were shot while trying to escape- no one can prove otherwise." Mabel said matter-of-factly as she emptied the last reserves of her squirt pistol by soaking Dipper in the back of the head right as he reached the ground to retrieve his hat/decoy.
A sudden breeze that rustled through the branches caused the soaked teens to shiver in their wet clothes.
"Had you put ice cubes in your gun again?" Dipper asked his sister as they made their way back to the lake shore as he ran his hands roughly over his goosebumped arms.
"A couple," Mabel admitted, "but they had melted a while ago."
"Lets get into the water already," Dipper shivered, "I'm about ready for some swimming."
"Me too! Race you to the lake!" Mabel said, bending her legs for a quick dash.
"Shouldn't we change first? I don't really feel like trying to swim in pants if I can help it." Dipper said dryly.
"Agreed!" Mabel chirped cheerfully, and she stopped to peel the damp shirt off her back, and unzip her skirt to reveal the one-piece swimsuit that she had been wearing underneath her clothes. She turned and saw Dipper looking at her strangely and she smiled back, "What? It never hurts to be prepared."
"Alright… well, I'm going to grab my trunks and go change behind the bushes." Dipper said. She noticed that his face had an odd blush to it and decided to needle him a little for fun.
"I'll stand guard and make sure no one tries to peek while you are changing and offends your delicate boy modesty." Mabel said seriously as she twirled her empty squirt gun menacingly.
"Shut up." Dipper chuckled playfully and headed off to the trees after stopping at the spot on the beach where the twins had left the cooler and their backpacks to retrieve his swimming clothes.
Mabel tossed her toy gun to the side and made her way over to lake, then she waded in carefully till she was up to her knees, adjusting slowly to the chill of the water. Unfortunately Mabel didn't have much more time to ease herself in before she heard a sudden splashing behind her and turned just in time to see Dipper before he grabbed her up in a bear hug to lift her off her feet and drop her with a splash into the lake.
"You jerk!" she spluttered as she came back up to the surface and ducked back underwater to hook her hands behind her laughing brothers knees and tugged hard till he stumbled and fell into the lake with a cry of dismay. He rose up, still laughing and shook the water from the shaggy mop of hair on his head. It wasn't long before the infectious sound set Mabel to laughing along as well and the twins splashed one another playfully, enjoying the water and sun and one another's familiar company.
They swam out into the lake, chasing one another through the slow waves of the crystal blue water. Whenever one or the other would pull too far ahead they would unconsciously slow down to let their twin catch up and keep the game going. Dipper was the first to stop completely, floating lazily in the water and taking a few relaxing breaths before Mabel backstroked her way over to him and "accidentally" splashed him full in the face before speeding away with a giggle as he growled playfully and dived after her with renewed energy.
—
The twins made their way back to the shallows eventually when the afternoon sun had started to get lower in the sky and the air had grown cool. Mabel and Dipper toweled themselves off and then lay back side by side on the empty beach to enjoy the last of the late afternoon heat before the evening would set in and bring the cold air down from the mountains with it.
"Mmm… now that is what I'd call a pretty perfect day." Mabel said contentedly as she stretched out on the thick red towel under her, enjoying the heat of the sun on her bare legs and arms.
"Yeah, me too." Dipper agreed, and then continued with a sort of nervous chuckle, "I seem to have a lot of those with you."
Mabel paused, slightly confused by his odd word choice. "Well, I am the life of the party – no one knows fun like the Mabel!" she said with a small chuckle of her own.
"Very true." Dipper agreed and cleared his throat a few times before he fell curiously silent. Mabel turned over and saw that he seemed to be looking off across the lake absently, but she noticed that his ears were flushed an unusually bright red. Whats up with him?
"Hey, whats up? Checking for gobblewonkers or something?" she teased playfully.
"Heh… no, just thinking." Dipper replied, shooting her a small false smile.
"Thinking 'bout…" Mabel said as she made a 'go on' gesture with one of her hands, her curiosity piqued by her brothers weird behavior.
"Just thinking… that its been great today, just getting to spend some time with you with no distractions. I've missed getting to hang out with you like this, you know… just you and me." Dipper said quietly.
Mabel felt a soft smile creep across her face. "Me too… its been really fun. Why'd you get so weird about it though?"
"I was not being weird." Dipper said defensively.
"Excuse me Sir Dippingsauce, but as you are so fond of pointing out – I know weird intimately." Mabel said in her best 'authority-voice'.
"Well, I have seen some of your boyfriends…" Dipper teased back, but she could hear a weird edge to his voice when he said it that annoyed her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she shot back heatedly.
"Nothing, never mind – I'm being an idiot." Dipper said as he lay back against his own towel and pulled his hat low over his eyes to shade them from the sun.
"You can say that again…" Mabel muttered quietly as she lay back down, but something about her brothers manner was just nagging at her and it wasn't long before she sat up once more and turned to him again. "Seriously, whats bothering you? This is Mabel talking here, you know you can tell me anything."
There was a beat of silence before Dipper answered with a sigh, "Not everything."
"What? Did you kill a guy or something?" Mabel asked in mock-seriousness, "Because its not like I haven't thought of the best way to dispose of a body if you need some help…"
"No." Dipper said, "Why would you be thinking of that anyway?"
"Oh like you've never tried to figure out how to commit the perfect crime when you're bored." Mabel said, reaching across the space between them to give her brother a playful poke in the ribs that sent an involuntary giggle out of him. At the sound of his ticklish laughter Mabel felt an evil grin spread across her face. "Alright, either you're going to tell me whats up or I'm going to have to go all Spanish Inquisition on you."
"Mabel that really isn't a good idea-" Dipper said as he tried to slowly rise up to escape without alerting Mabel, but she was too quick and pounced on him, sitting on his stomach and furiously tickling around his ribs and arms which sent him into spasming fits of laughter.
"Confess! Confess and you will go free!" Mabel chanted in a deep and sinister (for Mabel) voice. She knew that Dipper could throw her off at any time since he had already hit his growth spurt and been taller and heavier than her once they had hit their Sophmore year, but she also knew that he never would since he was so crazy protective of her. The thought gave her a slight twinge of guilt, but not enough to stop her fiendish torture. "Confess!"
"Never.." Dipper gasped out as he tried to stifle the laughter that was pouring out of him, "..would rather die." he grunted through gritted teeth as he clenched his arms and resisted the urge to fling his sister off of him.
"Oh a tough guy eh?" Mabel said as she continued her merciless assault, "Are you gonna make me have to go full elementary school on you? Do I have to purple some nurples over here? Is Dipper Pines gonna have to get a visit from wet willy?"
Dippers patience finally snapped and he lifted himself up quickly, sending his sister tumbling down to the ground with a gentle thump. She looked up in surprise to find that his face was almost beet red and he was breathing hard and heavy from the ordeal. When he noticed that she had turned to look up at him he quickly turned to the side and cast his eyes down to his bare feet.
"I love you." he said quietly, so quiet that she almost didn't hear him over the sound of the wind in the trees or the waves lapping the shore.
"I love you too bro, but I'm not gonna stop till you tell me the secret." Mabel replied with a slight nervous laugh. Something is going on here.
"Thats the secret." Dipper said flatly as he slumped back down onto his towel and pulled his cap down tight over his eyes. "I love… I mean I'm in love with you."
"Oh." Mabel responded, stunned, and she felt a flush spread over her face when she realized that she'd just been straddling his chest and poking at him for 5 minutes before he had made his confession.
"Yeah." he said quietly, and she could see that his face was frozen like a mask, all emotions carefully locked away behind blank eyes.
The twins sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, but it couldn't have been more than a minute or so. Mabel felt her heart racing as her mind jumped and sparked at all the strange thoughts buzzing through her head. What did he mean he was in love with her? Like… in love-in love? What do you even say to that? What do you say when your brother tells you he is in love with you? What do you say when you aren't grossed out by the idea even though every part of your mind tells you that you are supposed to be and that scares the hell out of you? Why did she suddenly think of those times when he'd pulled her out of some danger, put a bandage over an injury, smiled and cheered her on when she tried out for plays or clubs? Why did she think of his smile now and want to see it there on his face instead of the hollow eyes and compressed lips that had set in ever since he had made his confession?
Why did she feel this was more normal than it should be? Why did she want it to be normal?
It rushed in on her all at once, sudden and violent as a sledgehammer to her reeling brain that she was actually feeling happy about what she had just heard. She looked over and saw that Dippers eyes were still locked on the ground as if he was examining a particularly interesting pebble or sand grain, and she realized that he must feel so alone right now that she felt something well up inside of her in response, something warm and heavy and terrifying. She reached her hand out to him slowly, feeling as if he were miles away before her hand touched his bare shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. He turned to her and their eyes locked briefly and in an instant she felt a strange shudder before they both turned away again at the same time… but she kept her hand on his shoulder and felt her already racing heart skip a beat when she felt his own hand reach up and lay over hers, giving it a single squeeze.
Neither had said a word yet, but both had started slowly scooting together till they were pressed side by side and Mabel could feel Dippers heart beating hard just through the feel of his still damp skin under her palm. What is happening here… What are we doing?
Their faces turned up once again and this time neither of them looked away when their eyes met. She could see how wide his eyes were then, so similar to her own under heavier brows but with that familiar shape that she had seen every time she glanced in a mirror. Her eyes were drawn down to his lightly parted lips and she saw his tongue dart out nervously to moisten them – something that she realized that she'd been doing unconsciously herself at that very moment. She was so focused that she was startled by the feel of his hand reaching out to softly run his fingers along her jawline and across her cheek before tilting her head up. He froze then, his head tilted slightly, questioningly and she nodded once in agreement before he brought his face to hers and pressed their lips together.
It was soft and gentle – hesitant but eager and unlike any kiss that Mabel had felt before in her short life and with a soft sigh she felt herself begin to kiss back, her arm running up from Dippers shoulder and up his neck, tangling her fingers gently through his damp hair. Before long they had grown more confident and Mabel felt her heart flutter in excitement as she felt Dipper thrust his tongue into her mouth and she responded eagerly with her own, pushing him further. Time to show him who's the Alpha Twin here, Mabel thought to herself as she pulled his face closer to hers and moaned softly into his mouth as she ran her nails gently across his scalp and she was thrilled to see how he seemed to melt at her touch.
They broke the kiss, panting and he pulled her body closer to his, and she happily slid up from the beach blanket and onto his lap before she pulled his face back to hers as they started kissing with more heat, his own hands roaming along her back and up her sides which made Mabel purr happily as she kissed her way along Dippers cheek and bit gently on his earlobe to blow a soft hot breath into the shell of his ear which caused him to groan happily.
"I love you too." she whispered gently into his ear and felt something open up inside as those words left her mouth, as if someone had lit a fire in a great empty space in her chest that she never even knew was there.
Dipper pulled her in close and she felt his own breath in her ear now, a sensation that sent a shiver all up and down her spine, and she heard him whisper back - "Mabel -
-we're going to be late for school! Get up already!" Dippers voice bellowed with a strange echo.
With a start Mabel found herself lying in bed, her own bed in back at her parents house in California and the calendar hanging on the wall was unfortunately showing November instead of that gorgeous June afternoon.
That's the third time… Mabel thought guiltily as she shook the sleep from her head and stumbled around the dim room for her clothes. At least this time I woke up before we did… well… before we went further… like last time. She sighed as she grabbed a random sweater out from her chest of drawers and slid it over her head, enjoying a brief stay in sweater-town… nice non-judgemental sweater-town. She pulled the sweater down the rest of the way and grabbed her backpack up from its resting place by the door but decided to take a last look around the room before she left in case she had forgotten anything.
She glanced over at her nightstand and at the small blue book sitting there that Dipper had given her for her last birthday and shook her head to herself. Definitely another one that I'm going to have to leave out of the dream journal.