One afternoon, Dipper Pines was downstairs in the basement with his Grunkle Ford, helping him organize his cluttery lab.
"Where should I put these, Grunkle Ford?" Dipper asked, holding out a box of test tubes.
"Oh, just put them over there in the other room, Dipper," Ford instructed him, motioning to a nearby door.
Dipper nodded and walked over to the door.
As soon as Dipper was gone, Ford had turned back to organizing his notes and research papers, when he noticed a particular photo stuck between the papers that caught his eyes. He pulled the photo out and as he looked at it, a wave of sadness fell upon him.
In the picture was a younger version of himself with his old college buddy, Fiddleford McGucket, wrapping their arms around each other and smiling.
Ford sighed sadly and was struck with a huge amount of guilt. He felt really bad since the portal incident in which he had caused Fiddleford to go insane. If only he could see him again and tell him how sorry he really and truly was, but he also felt very scared that McGucket wouldn't forgive him.
"Uh…..Grunkle Ford?"
Ford jumped at the sound of Dipper's voice. He was so lost in his thoughts about McGucket, he wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings. He turned and saw his great nephew standing there, a concerned look on his face.
"Oh, Dipper! There you are!" Ford greeted, placing a fake smile on his face.
"Grunkle Ford…. what was that all about?" Dipper asked.
"What was what all about?" He knew very well that Dipper saw him standing there for a while looking at the picture of McGucket, but he didn't want to admit it.
"You were standing there looking upset over some piece of paper in your hand," Dipper told him. "Why? What was on it?"
"Well…. it's just this picture of me and McGucket, when we were in college," Ford finally told him as he gave the picture for Dipper to look at. "I feel so horrible for what I've done to him. It's my fault I've made him insane."
"Oh. Well, if you feel bad, then why don't you go apologize to him?" Dipper asked. "He lives at the dump in Gravity Falls. You could go talk to him there!"
"But what if he doesn't forgive me?" Ford asked worryingly.
"That all happened a long time ago, Grunkle Ford. I'm sur-"
"You know what, Dipper. Just drop the subject," Ford told him. He didn't feel like talking about McGucket anymore. It only made him more upset. "Forget about everything we've just talked about and let's just continue organizing the basement."
Ford went back to work on filing papers, but Dipper just stared at him sadly. Their talk about McGucket had made him pretty upset to focus on his work. "You know what, Grunkle Ford? I'll just go upstairs. I think I've done enough work for now."
Ford nodded in understanding. "Alright, suite yourself."
Dipper walked back upstairs and when he emerged from the basement, his twin sister, Mabel, greeted him happily. "Hiya, Dipper!"
"Oh, hey, Mabel," Dipper said sadly.
Mabel, noticing Dipper's sad tone and upset expression, frowned. "Hey. What's wrong, bro-bro?"
"Ugh, it's Ford. He told me how upset he is about ruining McGucket's life. It's.. it's pretty sad. He feels bad about what he's done to McGucket. "
"Well if he feels bad, then why doesn't he just go over and apologize to him?" Mabel asked.
"That's the problem," Dipper told her. "I think that's he's too afraid to do that."
Mabel frowned. When she heard that statement, she didn't like it. Not one bit. "No! That shy attitude will simply not do!" She pulled Dipper in, a determined expression appearing on her face. "Dipper, you and me are gonna reunite Ford and McGucket together so that he can say I'm sorry to him in person!"
"Mabel, are you crazy?!" Dipper exclaimed. "We can't do that! Ford isn't ready and-"
"Hey! You can't keep things inside, Dipper! It will only make you feel worse! Saying it out loud lifts so much weight on your shoulders! Remember how you felt so much better when you told Wendy that you loved her?"
Dipper nodded. His sister did have a pretty good point there.
"So if we reunite Ford and McGucket, Ford would be able to tell him I'm sorry and all that fear that has been trapped inside him for so long will finally burst out like fireworks on the fourth of July!"
She pulled out her hand and gave Dipper a huge grin. "What do you say? Want to reunite Ford and McGucket?"
Dipper smiled and shook her hand, but only because she had made a good point about his Wendy situation and wanted to make Ford feel comfortable and open towards McGucket. Like his sister said, keeping things inside won't make things any better.
"Alright! Now come on, Dipper! We've got some old men to reunite!"
And with those words said, Dipper and Mabel set off to find McGucket and reunite him and Ford so that Ford could finally have his chance to say that he's sorry to him to let all that worry that he's been keeping to himself out.