A/N: I know, I know. I should be working on Oneshots of Doom, but seeing as all my invader Zim plot bunnies have been consumed by the ravenous beast that is writers block, I'm afraid that fic will have to wait. Besides, I felt the need to write this in order to tithe me over to the next episode.

She found him on the roof, staring up at the stars as though they held some secret within them, one that he simply could not grasp. Tentatively, she sat down beside him.

"Hey, Bro-bro?" She said timidly. "You're not mad at me for what I did, are you?"

They sat in tense silence for a time before the boy finally answered.

"Mabel, I'm not mad at you. I'm not even mad at Stan, if that is his name. I'm mad at myself. I was so hell bent on what I thought was the right thing to do I didn't stop to look at the big picture."

Mabel looked at her twin, concern in her eyes. "Dipper, don't beat yourself up. It's not your fault, so stop blaming yourself. Seriously, you sound like one of the angsty vampires in a romance novel." She giggled, attempting to lighten the mood.

Dipper, chuckled. Even in a situation like this, his twin always managed to remain optimistic. His mood, however, did not remain jovial for long.

"Mabel, I'm serious. If I had my way, I would've shut the door on Stan's only hope of seeing his brother again. I should have known that Stan wouldn't do something that risky without a reason. I shouldn't have acted the way I did. I mean, if it had been you in there, I'd have done the same thing. "

He looked his twin, his eyes brimming with tears, though he quickly wiped them away. "But still, I wanna know why you did it. I mean, this is a guy who's lied to us all summer. After what we saw, you had absolutely no reason to believe a word he said. But you trusted him with your life back there. Why?"

Silence reigned once more as Mabel contemplated the question. After what seemed like a lifetime, she spoke.

" I don't know. I just... knew somehow that it was the right thing to do. It's like, I looked at him, and I knew he needed help, even though he didn't say it. Grunkle Stan may not be the most honest person in the world, but he loves us. And he loves our family. Some how, I just knew what I needed to do."

Dipper sat quietly for a time, mulling over what his sister had said. He just stayed there, staring at the sky 'til it began to turn grey near the horizon. Mabel was just about to get up by the time he finally spoke agian, his voice broken and raspy. His eyes were once again filled with unshed tears, but this time he let them fall.

"The journal was wrong."

Mabel glanced at him, puzzled. "What?"

"The journal said that, in Gravity Falls, there was no one you could trust." He looked up at his twin sister, who was both his perfect opposite and his best friend. "But I know I can always trust you to see the truth when I'm to blind. Mabel, thank you for not listening to me." He pulled her into a hug, and for once there was no awkwardness in the embrace, only pure sincerity and a type of bond that is only known to twins.

The sweater clad girl returned the hug. She could feel tears (and, as disgusting as it is, probably a little snot.) stream down her back, causing the woolen garment to stick to her neck and shoulders, but she didn't care. The two stood there, neither wanting to move until the sun began to glimmer through the trees and the birds began to chirp.

They finally broke apart, each knowing that whatever came there way, and whatever trials they faced, the other would always be there for them, even no one else was.

The elder twin ( though not necessarily the most mature twin) smiled. "Come on ya big dork. Let's go get some answers."

And so they did, because they knew that whatever happened, whatever shocking truth they learned at the bottom of that ladder, they would have each other, always and forever.

A/N: Well there you have it. My own take on the aftermath of Not what he seems. For whatever reason I just can't see Dipper lashing out at Mabel for what she did. Besides, I'm to much of a sap to let them get in a fight over it, even if it ends up working out that way in cannon. I apologize if the dialogue seemed stiff. Working with more than one character is a struggle for me. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, though if don't have anything nice to say and cannot tell me in a kind and respectful way what you disliked about my story, then I suggest you take your hate else where. Oh, and FYI, I don't GF. It all belongs to the amazing Alex Hirsh!