"I don't know what to do for her anymore. She won't tell us what's wrong, she hardly sleeps, she's always so jumpy what the heck is wrong with our daughter?"
Dipper frowned as he heard the hushed voice of his mother. For once Mabel was the problem child, her grades were going down, she was depressed and had more anxiety than he'd ever seen her have. He knew it would be stupid to think they'd never come out of gravity falls unscathed, but he hadn't expected Mabel to take it this badly.
Sneaking past his parents room, he slowly opened Mabel's door and peeked his head inside. "Mabel? Are you awake?"
At the sound of his voice, Mabel sat up immediately, grabbing her flashlight and shining it into his eyes. Once she saw they were their normal shape and color she relaxed and averted her gaze. "Yeah…I don't sleep much these days."
Nearly a year had passed, and soon enough they would be taking another trip back to gravity falls. Grunkle Ford and Stan would be returning for a less dangerous summer and everyone else was waiting. The only problem was Mabel wouldn't get to go if her grades didn't improve. Not just that but he wasn't entirely sure she'd feel safe in Gravity Falls again.
Sighing, he sat down at the foot of her bed, careful not to wake Waddles who was asleep in a knitted blanket next to Mabel. "Yeah…I know…listen Mabel….I'm so sorry. I…we…." he didn't really know what to say except apologizing. They were just two kids in the wrong pace at the wrong time that nearly lost everything.
"It's not your fault…you weren't the one who gave Bill the rift. The one who nearly caused the end of the world because of one stupid anxiety attack!"
Dipper shook his head, resting a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "Mabel….you know you can't blame yourself for this."
"Yeah well watch me." She said bitterly. Lying back down then she sighed. "I'm just tired."
"Then you should sleep…"
She shook her head. "I can't sleep Dipper…don't you get it? Every time I close my eyes…it's like he's there…watching me. Always. Watching."
"Bill's dead Mabel…he's not coming back." Dipper reassured, desperately wanting to get through to her but not knowing what to do.
"That doesn't make me feel any better about this…" she whispered. "This isn't rational. It isn't right. You think I don't know that, Dipper? I just want this to stop. Why can't it just stop? Why can't I just get over this? I just want to feel like a kid again yaknow? What if I never get over this?"
"You will..I promise." He whispered softly. "We're going to help you…we're going to get you through this somehow okay? Do you trust me?"
She smiled a bit then, nodding. "You know I do, broseph. You know I do."
He smiled back. "Good…do you want me to stay in here tonight?"
She nodded and pointed to the sleeping bag she already had set up. "Wouldn't have it any other way."