Robbie ran his fingers across the strings of his guitar. He'd been practicing and really improving the past few months. He even got a gig. Like a real gig, at some nightclub in the next town over. Things had been going great for him ever since he'd started dating Tambry. He supposed he had the annoying little girl next to him to thank for that.
Mabel had helped him when everyone else thought he was a lost cause. Which was why, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't say no when she asked him to teach her how to play guitar. He sat in the Mystery Shack holding his black guitar, while the brunette sat across from him smiling widely and bouncing in her seat. He'd lent her one of his older guitars.
He felt out of place here. He wasn't used to being surrounded by these people. Well, he was used to Wendy, but not the others. His Ex-girlfriend was sitting at the counter flipping through a magazine, trying to hide an amused smirk.
The big guy, he thought he heard Dipper call him Soos, was sweeping the floor. If he was bothered or disturbed by Robbie's presence, he didn't show it. The guy just smiled and greeted him like he would any other person, and then went right back to his job.
Then there was the old man who ran the place. He gave him the evil eye when he came in, but there was nothing different there. The old geezer always have all the teens a nasty look. He just didn't like young people it seemed.
Dipper was clearly just as uncomfortable as he was about all this. Neither of the two were used being around each other without having some animosity between them. Sure he had moved on from Wendy, and the two were friends now, but as far as Dipper was concerned… well, he really couldn't care about the kid one way or the other.
But Mabel of course being Mabel probably wanted him around more often in the hopes he'd become a part of their little gang. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. On one hand he didn't really know most of these people all that well. Would they actually be willing to let him in their little click? Did he even want to be a part of it?
He knew Dipper was tolerate of him, mostly because of his sister. But he wasn't sure if the boy would ever be willing to actually be his 'friend'. Soos seemed like the type of guy to befriend anything that moved. Wendy and he were cool. Stan was… Stan.
"Okay, so what are we going to learn first?" Mabel asked snapping him from his thoughts.
"What? Oh, right." He said tuning his guitar. "I guess we'll start with something simple. Just follow my lead." He said as he plucked one of the strings.
Mabel copied, plucking the exact same string. He ran his hand across them, and she simply mimicked his movements. The others all looked at the scene surprised. They were surprised at first because Robbie had simply told her to copy him. That didn't make any sense to them. Just telling someone to copy you wasn't actually teaching.
But Mabel was somehow managed to keep up with him. He wasn't doing anything too difficult of course, but that was still fairly impressive. He eventually stopped and then smirked at her. "Not bad kid. You got a pretty good sense of rhythm."
Mabel waved her hand. "Well, I don't like to brag but, yeah I do." She said before repeating chords again. "So when do I get to learn songs? And be a rock queen? And have thousands of adoring fans?" She asked eagerly.
He held his hand up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, kid. You gotta learn to crawl before you can run. I admit you're pretty good, but you're not going to learn overnight." He said strumming his guitar again. "And even if you did, you're going to have to wait until I retire if you want to become the next big thing." He said with a smirk.
She laughed and gave him a playful punch, and he ruffled her hair. The others smiled at the scene. It was weird, but somehow nice to see Robbie acting so friendly with someone. It was almost like he viewed Mabel like a little sister or something.
"Hey Robbie, can I come to your next gig?" Mabel asked hopefully.
Robbie looked surprised. Behind Mable, Stan stood shaking his head no. Robbie pulled on his collar nervously. He didn't want to shoot the girl down, but he couldn't bring her to a nightclub of all places. "Ah, kid. I don't know if you want to show up to the next place. It's kind of… adult." He said rubbing the back of his neck.
She frowned. "Aw…"
Robbie knew he must have been going soft. Normally seeing the girl saddened wouldn't bother him in the slightest, but now he felt a twinge of guilt. "But, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get this other gig at this local café. You can come to that if you want." He said hoping it would cheer the girl up. He was right.
"Yay!" She said raising her hands.
He let out a sigh and then stood up. Stan nodded and Wendy gave him a thumbs up. "Alright kid, seeing as you're a quick learner and pretty much got the basics down already, why don't we end early and I'll get you some ice cream."
"Ice cream!" Mabel shouted happily. "C'mon Dipper!" She said excitedly.
Dipper looked a bit surprised. He glanced towards Robbie not exactly sure if it was a wise idea to tag along with the two. He and Robbie weren't exactly buddies. Robbie stared back at him, seemingly thinking the same thing. Wendy who had set her magazine down nodded towards Dipper and gave him a look that said 'Just go with it'.
"Might as well c'mon kid. I can't treat one twin and not the other." He said shoving his hands in his pocket. Dipper seemed hesitant. "C'mon already!" Robbie said smirking.
Dipper smiled back and got up. "Well, who am I to turn down free ice cream."
Robbie turned and the two began walking out. He felt someone jumped on his back and turned to see Mable. "Piggy back!" She said happily. He gave her a stoic look, and she smile shyly. "I've never had a friend this tall… okay, Wendy but she can't carry me for that long."
He rolled his eyes. "You're lucky you hooked me up." He mumbled. As they walked outside.
"Do I get to go next?" Dipper joked.
"Don't push it kid."
The three began heading into town, and Robbie couldn't help but smile. At the beginning of the summer he'd been… well, he'd been a miserable grump. Who would have thought these twins would end up turning him around completely.
A/N: Well, just a short one-shot. I just imagined Robbie being grateful to Mabel and Mable being the little ball of hyper cuteness she is would try to make him part of the group or something. Almost like the same older bother/sister thing Dipper kind of has with Wendy. Hope you guys like it.