Chapter 1

Taking the bus to Gravity Falls never got any more fun. Dipper shifted uncomfortably, the hard seat starting to make his butt feel numb. As usual, he and his twin sister, Mabel, were the only two people left on the bus after the layover in Portland.

People didn't really come to Gravity Falls to visit. It was sort of off the map for most.

The young man shifted his gaze out the window, remembering the last few times he had been to Gravity Falls to see his great-uncles Ford and Stan. He'd spent the entire summer here when he was 14, but high school seemed to get in the way after that. As a member of varsity cross-country, he was usually training all summer when he wasn't working.

But all that was finally over. He'd graduated first in his class. Ford had come to see him give his valedictorian speech, which had pretty much made his entire week.

"Hey, bro," Mabel's voice echoed from a few seats behind. "Check out what I made you!" She handed him a blue knit sweater, bordered in gold with "UCLA" on the front. Dipper grinned.

"Hey, thanks, Mabel," he grabbed her hand and squeezed. "I'll wear it when I come visit you."

Mabel beamed with pride. She had gotten her acceptance into the UCLA Art and Design program several months ago. Since their 14th birthday in Gravity Falls, she'd really taken an interest in art class and had had her pick of schools when it came time to apply.

Dipper, well, he was a slightly different story. He'd applied to all of his top choices. Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Yale, you name it. He'd gotten into all of them. When he finally chose Brown University in Rhode Island, his parents had been so proud.

Then a lot less proud when he told them he was taking a gap year to work an apprenticeship under Ford. They still weren't really speaking to him, but he was an adult now. They knew he was to make these decisions on his own.

So Dipper had packed his things and found a small rental cabin just about a mile from the Mystery Shack, where he'd be working most days and nights. Mabel was staying with him for the summer, then she'd take the bus back down to UCLA for orientation at the beginning of August.

He had to admit, it was definitely going to be strange not being with his twin. They were rarely apart.

As the iconic Gravity Falls water tower came into view, Dipper sat back and let memories of his friends play through his head. He had been there two summer ago for a week or so, hanging out with Soos and his wife, both of his grunkles, and Mabel. Wendy, a girl he'd gradually become best friends with, had been out on a hunting trip with her father and brothers that week. He really hadn't seen her in about three years.

Not that they had lost touch. They exchanged letters every week, sometimes including photos of cool things that they'd seen, and Dipper would occasionally call her to check up on her. He couldn't do it often, though, because whenever he did, they ended up talking for hours, catching up on things.

Man, he'd missed her. He'd missed them all! Three years ago he had still been about four foot five with noodle arms and a mess of brown hair that refused to lie flat. His hair hadn't changed since then, it was still impossible to deal with. But the rest of him definitely had. He had finally grown into himself, standing slightly over six feet tall now. He was definitely still thin, but his muscles were decently toned from all of the workouts during cross country season. His birthmark was still very prominent on his forehead, and while he did still wear Wendy's hat a lot, he wasn't nearly as insecure about it anymore. Heck, if Grunkle Ford could walk around with six fingers, why couldn't he be confident too?

Mabel, on the other hand, looked completely different. Her previously frizzy brown hair was now straight and hung halfway down her back in one liquid sheet. She still wore her sweaters, something she'd never quite grown out of, but only sometimes. Usually she was in a t-shirt and skirt. She was a few inches shorter than Dipper, and her braces had been taken off years ago, revealing a much straighter and brighter smile.

He ran his fingers over the scar that he had acquired during the fight with Cipher five years before. Everyone had ended up injured in some capacity. Mabel, for instance, had fractured her arm when Cipher had thrown them down in favor of Ford's deal. He had cut his arm deeply while Cipher was chasing them through his domain. He'd gotten it stitched up as soon as he could, but it hadn't quite healed properly, leaving an eight-inch raised pink scar running the length of his bicep.

"Bro, come on!" Mabel yelled excitedly, jolting him out of his thoughts. He looked around and realized that the bus had stopped. He stood, grinning, and slung his trust backpack over his shoulder. It contained his two most recent journals that he was anxious to show Ford, full of ideas and sketches. The two twins stepped off the bus, one after another.

Soos and both Ford and Stan were waving excitedly at them. Ford and Stan still looked alike, just a few years older. Soos had lost a bit of weight, but looked pretty much the same as always in his tuxedo and fez that he'd inherited from Stan when he took charge of the shack.

"Dipper! Mabel!" All three of them yelled excitedly, wrapping the two in a tight group hug.

"Hey, you guys," Dipper grinned, in the middle of all of them.

"Wow, look at you, kid!" Stan stepped back and sized him up. "You're as tall as me!"

"Yeah, I guess so," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "You don't look too bad yourself, Grunkle Stan."

"Are you kidding me? My brother and I are the best looking guys in town," Stan laughed, wrapping an arm around his brother and squeezing, causing Ford's glasses to fly off.

"Get off me, you nut," Ford shoved him good-naturedly before extending a six-fingered hand to Dipper. "Nice to see you again, kid." Dipper shook it.

"…and I can't wait for you to see the portfolio I sent to UCLA," Mabel was babbling to Soos, who was smiling at her good-naturedly.

"You can show it to me tonight, girl dude," Soos patted her shoulder.

"DUDE!" Dipper heard a loud, familiar voice from behind him and was tackled before he could turn around.

"Oof!" he groaned, face-planting in the dirt before craning his neck to see who exactly was sitting on top of him.

An unmistakable pale, freckled face was just a few inches from his, grinning mischievously. Dipper laughed, shoving his best friend off of him, and pulling her up alongside him. She wrapped him in a tight hug, her long red hair sweeping across his face. "Man, look at you! You're taller than me now!"

"Guess you can't call me 'Little Dipper' anymore," he smirked, pulling back and, mimicking her actions five summers ago, switched the hat on his head with the hat on hers before ruffling her hair like she used to do to him.

"Guess not," she laughed, looking him over. Gone was the little boy who had crushed on her all summer, with his skinned knees and puffy blue vest. In his place was a tall, slightly muscular man wearing a red flannel pushed up to his elbows and a pair of jeans ripped at the knee, a fact she swore he was probably unaware of. With his pine tree hat now, he did look a little bit like his old self.

"Wendy!" Mabel yelled, rocketing into the older girl, who laughed with delight. "I missed you so much!"

"We all missed you guys," Ford nodded, unusually sentimental. Dipper grinned at all of them.

Man, it felt good to be back with his family.