This was one of those scenes that stuck itself in my brain, begging to be written (and one of the few that I humored). Also was a good outlet for me to emotionally vent over this show.

Forgive the sappiness towards the end. Enjoy! :)

Dipper heaved his suitcase onto the couch and began to unzip it. He had to do this while his dad was packing the car outside to avoid being berated for his paranoia. Yes, alright, he had checked it fifty times already, but after fifty-one he would be absolutely certain that he hadn't forgotten anything. He threw open the lid and shuffled through the contents as he went down a mental list in his head. Shirts, jeans, underwear, rarely-used hairbrush, toiletry bag. He switched to the toiletry bag list as he unzipped that to check its contents.

"Boo!"

Dipper flinched and dropped the bag back into the suitcase. He turned to the source of ensuing laughter behind him. Mabel put a hand to her mouth to try to calm herself, but one look at his expression and she burst into chuckles again. She was wearing a light blue sweater with a slice of chocolate cake decorating the front. The nightgown falling down from beneath it and the frazzled mess her hair was in told him she had just woken up.

"Mabel, what are you doing? You're gonna wake Mom," he told her in a hushed voice. It was six in the morning and they had already said goodbye the previous night, multiple times.

"Oh, just wanted to see you off before I get the whole house to myself," she said with a grin, shuffling back and forth on the hardwood floor in fuzzy, rainbow colored socks.

"I think you might have left our parents out of that equation." Dipper turned back and quickly repacked the bag.

"Well, you know, the important stuff anyway. TV, computer…"

"Bathroom."

"Bathroom," she repeated without skipping a beat.

"Yep. Meanwhile, I'll be scraping by on campus food and sharing a dorm bathroom with three other guys. Hope you enjoy it." He finished organizing the suitcase and zipped it closed.

"Hey, it's your fault for moving out first," Mabel laughed again.

Dipper got to his feet and turned to face her. She was smiling less and watching the ground, her hands behind her back. Dipper noticed that she had kept at least one hand behind her since coming into the living room. He raised an eyebrow. She had already given him a hand-knit sweater the night before. It had "PARTY BOY" lettered on it and was currently buried at the bottom of his suitcase.

"Mabel," he said, folding his arms. His sister looked up at him with a face of surprised innocence, but then smiled and pulled out a small book from behind her. She trotted forward and presented it to him with a "Ta-da". It was an old scrap book. Dipper recognized the cover as it was being shoved into his hands. Encircled by smiley faces and hearts, the curly lettering in the middle spelled out "Gravity Falls".

"Aw, Mabel…"

"Y'know, just in case you started to miss your perfect and lovable sister." She spun around and walked a few steps away.

"Are you sure? Isn't this one of your favorites?" He couldn't resist opening it and flipping through as he spoke. He landed on a photo of a twelve-year-old Mabel holding up a tribal mask from the Mystery Shack and imitating its scowling expression. He snorted a laugh.

"Well, obviously I expect it back when you come home." She shrugged and stuck her tongue out.

Dipper reached up and touched the faded blue cloth of his baseball cap, thinking. The brim had begun to fray. Six or seven years of wear tended to do that. He stuck his thumb underneath the lining and pulled it off.

"Hey, uh, Mable?"

"Hm?" Mabel looked up from watching her feet shuffle back and forth again.

"Could you hang on to this for me?"

"…Seriously?" she asked, staring at the cap he was holding out.

"You know. I'd hate to lose it at the university or anything." He shrugged, trying to make like it wasn't a big deal.

"Alright, I guess," she said quietly as she took it. She rubbed the fabric with her thumb, keeping her eyes down.

"Plus, just in case you start to miss your brilliant, always-right-about-everything brother."

"Oh, yeah right!"

Dipper deflected a small fist in his direction and checked his watch.

"Whoops, Dad's probably about ready." He turned around and heaved the suitcase off the couch with his free arm.

"Um, Dipper?" Mabel said his name louder than was needed. She was holding the cap in both hands.

"Yeah?" He set the suitcase on the ground. In two steps she strode over and hugged him. She had to stand on her toes to reach around his neck, (in the end, puberty had shot Dipper to victory in the height contest) but it was still a strong hug. Dipper hugged her back. In his ear he heard her make an uncertain noise. She squeezed tighter.

"…Love you, Dip."

"…Love you too, Sis."