A Promise

Have you ever made a mistake and it's so unfixable there's nothing you can do? A mistake which you'll never forget, and you can scream and cry and there's nothing left to do. When you did something so awful, so harsh, it'll haunt your dreams forever? A mistake so grand, that everyday you'll remember it. A mistake so big, someone would end up dead? I did. I did.

I remember the day all too fondly. The sky - a gray color contrasts everywhere with no bit of sun seen. It was almost foreshadowing what would happen later. The Mistake that I made which I could never fix. I was seventeen the day It happened. It was the typical summer of my sister visiting Soos, Melody, and best of all our two Grunkles were visiting. We hardly ever saw them anymore and most summers we spent there, they were there for a short day. Though, of course, I wasn't going to complain - they had thirty years of memories to catch up on. This time they were visiting for a whole week. I woke up in the morning to Mabel's pillow hitting me and the sharp ringing noise of a phone.

"DIPPER! The phone's been ringing for five minutes," Mabel groaned and quirked an eyebrow at me. Waddles squeaked in agreement on the floor and nuzzled up against Mabel's leg, who petted him fondly. "It's Pacifica." Mabel's face went stone and she tossed the phone at me, before turning off to the bathroom.

You must be wondering what Mabel's biggest enemy is doing calling me, Dipper Pines? In all honesty I wish I could go back and time and smash that phone because I wouldn't be right here if this didn't happened. Back then though, having my girlfriend calling me was the highlight of my day. Yeah, you heard that right: Pacifica Northwest - my ex girlfriend. I wish I could go back in time and keep myself from falling for that blonde-haired, blue eyed seducer. Mabel would still be there if it wasn't for her. How did Pacifica Northwest ever become my girlfriend? Well let's go back to last summer on Mabel and I's sixteenth birthday…

"Dipper how do you think I look in this sweater?" Mabel asked for the millionth time. She twirled around showing off her newly sewn sweater with the number '16' stitched on with Waddles, Mabel, and I's face sewn on the bottom.

I rolled my eyes. "Mabel, you look just fine - don't worry. Besides, you saved this town three years ago - no one will care what you're wearing."

"I know Dipper, but Pacifica-" Mabel began but Stannie bursted open the door. Stannie Ramirez was the three year old daughter of Melody and Soos and the perfect combination of them. She was a lover of weirdness, a fixer, and let's not for pterodactyl enthusiast. She had her blonde hair in two messy, sticky pigtails with her question mark overalls on and grape juice all over her hands.

"Unca' Dippy!" Stannie giggled. I cringed. I usually hated being called Dippy because it reminded me too much of Weirdmaggedon and almost losing Mabel, but Stannie was too little to know any of that incident. She didn't know, she hopefully wouldn't ever know. "Aun' Mayday!" Mabel scooped Stannie up in her arms and smiled. Stannie considered Mabel to be a goddess.

"Party! Cake! I fixie everything with Mama!" Stannie said excitedly. "Go down! Go down! Aunt Mayday down'eirs! Down'eirs!" Stannie could've been Mabel's kid with that attitude.

Mabel gave a reluctant look before settling a smile. "Yeah! Let's go down!"

The Mystery Shack was abuzz with people. The party lights were on and everyone was out on the dancefloor. Grunkle Stan was hitting it off with a few old ladies, while Grunkle Ford was chatting with a few professors. Everyone was having a good time though. Not a care in the world - no zombies, no dance offs, no Bill.

"This is S-S-S-Soos!" DJ Soos yelled into the microphone. "And coming down all the way from Gravity Falls Elementary School, S-S-S-Stannie!" Stannie hollered and waved her hand wildly at everyone there with most of the elder woman cooing.

"Hey do you know where the-" I bumped into someone and was surprised to see it was none other than Pacifica Northwest. Ever since Weirdmaggedon, Pacifica's family had been living in a middle class, normalish household. Pacifica was much older now, I could see that. Beautiful, silky blonde hair running down back, a perfect, white smile, long legs, and the most perfect chiseled face I'd ever seen.

"Hi Dipper," She said, before giving a wild, mysterious smile. "You know I never did get to thank you for what you did at Northwest Manor. Well, not in a very good way. You see Dipper, I have no money, but there is one thing poverty can't take from the Northwest's."

"What's that?" I asked, my breath hitched. She closed the space between us.

"Looks." She grabbed me by the back of my head and pressed her lips to mine.

I'd always hoped somewhere deep down that Wendy would be my first kiss. Wendy, my childhood crush. The very same Wendy whose hat I still wore everyday. Never would I think it'd be Pacifica Northwest. Though, the kiss was amazing. Fiery, passionate, coursing through your veins. My heart pounded wildly I was sure everyone could hear my heart beating. Her lips were soft, warm, perfection. After what seemed like years, she finally pulled back.

"So are we dating now?" My voice cracked and I blushed widly.

"Of course, dumbass," She took Wendy's hat and put it on. She grabbed my hand and I smiled. Dumbass was right. I'd made the biggest mistake of my life, a mistake which would haunt me til the end of my days. I'd agreed to date the one thing worse than Bill - a sixteen year old Northwest.

"Hi baby," Pacifica's voice chirped into the phone. "So anyway, want to hang out today?"

"Er Pacifica, I promised Mabel I'd be hanging with her today-" I began.

Pacifica's voice went rigid and hard. I'd called that voice her 'bitch voice.' "I'm your girlfriend. Besides, if you don't come I'll just tell everyone about that other birthmark on your-"

"Fine! Fine!" I said hurriedly. "I'll be there, don't worry."

"Okay!" I could just imagine her cat grin, the look she got whenever she knew she won anything. "Meet me outside your house in five. Love you babydoll."

"Love you, too, sugarcane," I said in a forced voice. Oh how I wish I could've just let her tell the world that secret because if I never went to hang out with Pacifica instead of Mabel, I wouldn't be staring at Mabel's gravestone right now.

I threw on some pants and a shirt and rushed to the kitchen table. I shoved some cereal and milk down, much to the confusion of Mabel.

"Woah woah, little bro!" Mabel laughed. I missed Mabel's laugh more than ever now. I missed her smile, her laugh, her grappling hook, the sweaters she knit, I even missed how she call me 'Little Brother.' "We're going monster searching, and I can't have you throwing up and scaring away everything."

I hated having to abandon Mabel. I hated everything that Northwest skank made me do.

"I'mhangingwithPacificatodaygottagomaybenextweekbye!" I flew out my words and raced out of the house. But just before I made it out, I could hear Mabel's sad, small voice.

"Mystery twins?" She whispered. I hear that voice in my head. I see her broken face, I see her telling Waddles that he's all she has left. How could I date Pacifica instead of comfort Mabel? Why, oh why, oh why did I ever let her kiss me?

By the time I got outside, Pacifica was already waiting. Her eyes squinted when she saw me and gave a harsh glare. "Rule #345 Northwest's don't wait, Dipper. You know that."

Oh yeah, when Pacifica and I started dating, she gave me a book called the "Dos and Donts of Dating a Northwest" and would expect me to remember every 723 pages.

"Sorry, Cifica. So, why did you want to hang out?" I asked.

"Well it's about Mabel: I don't want you seeing her anymore," Pacifica said, crossing her arms. That bitch. I hate her so much and how I let her control my life so easily. How she had my under her spell. My heart stopped. Stop seeing my sister, my twin?

"Pacifica, I'm not going to stop seeing Mabel, that makes no sense," I retorted back. Pacifica raised her perfectly waxed blonde eyebrow and stared down at me as if expecting me to shrivel under her eyes.

When I didn't shrink back, she resorted to her pouty face. She stuck out her pink lip and make her blue eyes go big. "Dippy!" I grimaced. I told her hundreds of times to call me Dipper, but she never listened to me. She only cared about us looking good together rather than how happy I felt. "All I want is for us to be happy, you see. I only want the best for us, you know. We're going to move to New York and start my Fashion Empire and be traveling the world. Our kids will be Roman, Greek, German, French, Swiss. Having sad Aunt Mabel lagging around? Mabel would never be happy following us around."

"What do you mean?" I asked quietly.

"It's best for you to let go of Mabel now, before feelings get hurt," Pacifica tapped my arm and gave a sad, smile though her eyes didn't look sad at all. "Just think of our future together, babe."

"You're right, yeah," I agreed. "I want us to have the greatest future ever, but Mabel wouldn't be happy if we remained the Mystery Twins forever.

"Dipper?" That voice would haunt me. The sound of Mabel hearing me talking of leaving her behind. The crack in her voice and i'll never forget turning around to her face. Her eyes with thick, heavy tears in them. "Dipper how could you? All these times you've abandoned me for her? I thought she was controlling you with gobbledygook, but no. You went with her on your own free will. You promised we would stay together. You promised that nothing would separate us. You promised-you promised you would never leave me." That's when Mabel ran away, off down the road. And that, was the last time I ever saw my sister. I never even got to apologize.

MABEL ELOISE PINES

31 August, 2003-30 August, 2020

LOVING DAUGHTER, FRIEND, GREAT-NIECE & TWIN

"When life gives you lemons, draw faces on those lemons, and wrap them in blankets. TA-DAAA! Now you have lemon babies!" -Mabel Pines

I stared at Mabel's gravestone. She died right before our birthday. And here I was, so busy thinking of Pacifica I forgot all about it. We were going to be eighteen. Finally adults. After she found Pacifica and I, she ran into the street and ran somewhere into town. She-she, she tried to get hail a bus to take her back to California, but-but the bus didn't see her. It didn't see her until they felt a thump in the road. Officer Blubs came to us and told us the awful news. The news my sister was dead. My other half. I cried for months. Not once, did Pacifica comfort me. I broke up with her. She was mad, furious, rageful that "I dared dump her" and told the entire town all the secrets I had told her in private. I expected to be made fun of, expected to be ridiculed. No one did. Everyone couldn't believe that someone as amazing and weird as Mabel could die.

"I'm so sorry Mabel," I cried onto her headstone. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I wish, I wish I never betrayed you. I broke our promise. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Uncle Dipper," I turned around to see Stannie standing there with Waddles in her arms. Stannie was thirteen now, Waddles was hers after Mabel died. "Mabel could never hate you."

She sat down next to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. "You were still her brother. Her other half. You didn't mean for this to happen. No one did. Mabel was young when she died, too young. But you know, she wouldn't even blame that fucking hoe Pacifica. Because Mabel, Mabel was a shooting star. She brought us light, she bought us hope, she bought us memories. But she flew past us and she'll bring happiness to some other people on the other side. You went through so much together, and I bet, she's watching us right now, and just saying how much she loves us. It's all right Uncle Dipper."

We sat with her head on my shoulder for a while, staring at Mable reminiscing, when she spoke. "Will you promise me something, Uncle Dipper?"

Another promise. The last promise I took my sister ended up dying because of it. But, it was Stannie. A new little bright star, trying to held brighten the night sky anyway she could. "Alright."

"Promise me you'll never blame yourself for Mabel's death."

I froze. "Stannie I can't-"

"Promise me, please. I hate seeing you so sad." This was different. I was used to listening to Pacifica bitch me around, not someone tell me what to do to help me, not themselves.

"Alright, I promise." I stared up at the sky which was already turning dark. I stared at the brightest star, a star which seemed to be staring down at us. Mabel's star.

"I promise, Mabel," I whispered to the star. "I promise."