A/N I decided to make the writing in this story a little simpler, because it's not about how perfectly I can describe an event, it's more about the event itself. Thanks for reading; please enjoy.

I am also taking requests for new chapter ideas, so feel free to drop a review telling me how I'm doing and what you'd like to see in future chapters.

This chapter is dedicated to my eleven year old self, about to embark on my serious writing journey.

The bus was loud, the bus was rattling, the bus was smelly.

Dipper had realized from the very beginning that the ride would be one of circus-level contortions, and he had his limbs placed as such: one foot resting on his suitcase, the knee bent awkwardly upwards, one arm folded behind his aching neck, and one hand balancing a hard-cover Sibling Brothers novel.

His sister was asleep on his shoulder, something that looked an awful lot like drool pooling about on his shirt fabric.

However, the one thing Dipper hated most of all about that freaking bus was that when his torso bounced down, his ass bounced up.

"Downtown Gravity Falls, ten minutes! Mystery Shack, twenty!" the driver said.

Mabel snorted awake, wiping her mouth. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"

"No," Dipper said. "Twenty minutes."

"Hey, hey, bro, bro! What's up with the saddy face?"

Dipper shook his head. "Can I ask you a question?"

Mabel scoffed. "That's a dumb question. Of course you can ask me a question!"

She frowned, touching his shoulder. "Did I do that?"

"It doesn't matter. It's just—it's just—I'm just—I want a good—I want a good summer this year. Last year you were at camp the whole time, and I was lonely, and, like…we're going to be teenagers soon and…" He groaned. "This sounds so stupid—"

She cut him off. "Hey, Dippingsauce. I know you're worried about this summer, cause you're worried about everything and all. But I'm not going anywhere."

He looked at her for the first time, a sorrowful gaze with those soft brown eyes, and Mabel's heart constricted. "Dipper, what's wrong?"

"Part of me is just like, I'm scared. What if you get some, I don't know, some boyfriend while we're here and you go off and have that 'epic summer romance' you were talking about…and then what am I supposed to do? Read?"

Mabel laughed, and Dipper scowled.

"You're crazy, bro-bro," she said finally. "You know it's just me and you. You know that."

"But—"

"Hey, look," Mabel interrupted, digging around in her duffel. She pulled out a pink book so bright it made Dipper squint. And the title: Summer Memories.

"What's that?"

"It's for us, dumbo! I made it myself, and I'm gonna take awesome pictures and put all the fun stuff we do right in here."

Dipper smiled in spite of himself. "I guess that's kinda cool."

"Mystery Shack, ten minutes!" the driver said.

"Are you ready, Dipping Dots? A whole summer with your amazing, awesome, cool, wonderful, perfect-"

"Okay, okay," Dipper laughed. "Okay, I get it." He smiled. "I'm ready."

A/N A little backstory behind this fic:

I was there for the airing of the first two episodes of Gravity Falls on Disney Channel. I was eleven years old, nearing but not reaching the age of being technically "too old for cartoons." I remember having an almost immediate affection for Dipper and Mabel—characters who reflected my personality almost to a T: Dipper's anxiety, paranoia, and drive for the supernatural; Mabel's goofiness and excitement…these characters shaped me and the way I grew up. I remember quoting them daily, giving myself self high fives after watching Dipper vs. Manliness, and having that freaking Lamby Dance stuck in my head for one or two some odd years. When I was twelve, I wrote my first fanfiction on my old account, Beatrice Gold, and I owe my writing chops to none other than that. God knows how and why people seemed to like it (I think it's nothing short of awful). When the show ended, I had already aged three and a half years and was just only starting to get back into the show—I had just turned fifteen that past November (I actually wrote a fic on this account around that time, if you'd like to check it out). I am seventeen now. The show may be over but the impact it had on my life is not. I have a job, I have a car, I have a boyfriend, I take multiple AP classes, and I am preparing for college. Unfortunately, as Dipper so often coveted, I am "technically a teen." It's hard to begin your first year of being treated like an adult. Add a little GAD and TLE into the mix and it's enough to miss the days of being a pimply, lumpy, prepubescent preteen like Dipper and Mabel. My young childhood is almost over. I have grown up since Tourist Trapped and The Time Traveler's Pig, but I can always keep writing fanfiction. Just like I did when I was twelve. That's what this fic is for, if I have time to keep it up. Just something to remind me of childhood, so I can feel small again in between all my FRQs and failed Physics tests. Next year my summer will be over. I hope I'll be ready for it by then. I want a pug sundae.

Yes,

Definitely,

Absolutely,

Mission Catalyst