Chapter 1

Coos Bay! Mabel was excited, she loved Gravity Falls natural beauty but the Pacific! Wow, she bubbled over with questions and imaginary visions of ocean and beach.

Stan rarely shutdown the shack, and the start of crab season was one of those days. "Free seafood!" he said with a smile and wide eyes. They were leaving early tomorrow morning and would spend the night so Stan could catch crabs at night too when they were easier to lure with bait.

"So how many crabs do you think you'll catch this year Grunkle Stan? Last year we ran out of crab dinners after a week!" She inventoried the fridge for future crab space, and made room by throwing out a bottle of old hot sauce and an ancient mustard jar.

"That was because you tried to hide three of them in the bathtub last year. The limit is the same every year kid, twelve. The smaller ones, the red ones, we're allowed up to twenty-four. That is, if you don't try to hide 'em again." And Stan pulled his fishing hat out of the closet. He picked off some unidentifiable insect part from the mummified bait coating the decorative lures.

Mabel became momentarily quiet in her reverie of her short-lived crab family last year.

"You shouldn't have pinched me Carl! I had to bite the claw that pinched me. Ha!" and she licked her lips.
"mmmmm draaaaawn butter…"

"Yeah, I'm with ya on that one kid. You packed up? Got a jacket?"

"Yeah, but Dipper hasn't."

"I just travel lighter Mabel."

She whirled around in surprise. "Yeah well, in case we find Moby Crab, I'm bringing the GRAPPLING HOOK!" And she ran over to her backpack and pulled it out.

"Not in the house Mabel!" Grunkle Stan waved his hands.

Dipper laughed. "It's only a day and night. Besides, you bring enough for both of us."

Mabel turned around to the backpack. "Well, not quite. Grunkle Stan brings the rest."

"Yeah, got it covered." And he shook the moths out of a sleeping bag. "The tent is patched up in case it rains again. Don't want wet pajamas again."

…

"Yawn. Four-thirty in the morning is unnatural." Mabel dragged her backpack to the car. She tossed it in the trunk and then staggered to the back seat and lay down. Stan closed the trunk.

"Put your seat belt on Mabel. I don't' need a ticket."

"Uh-huh." And she clicked it on and lay down as horizontal as the seat belt would allow. Very uncomfortable for a growing girl. Fortunately, Dipper got in next.

"Scoot over Mabes." Dipper yawned too. Mabel got up a little but as soon as Dipper got buckled in she lay against his shoulder.

"Wake me when we're there."

Stan got in and as the engine roared to life he buckled up too. He turned on a country western station and smiled as he heard Alan Jackson.

"Perfect road trip music!"

…

The drive became a monotonous rumble, a background that helped the twins to sleep. But the day was also breaking and becoming brighter. Dipper slowly came to that lucid state where he was semiconscious and knew he was on the way to Coos Bay, but also in a twilight state of non-thoughts and only low level sensations.

He could feel the constant vibration of the road and car. The sound of air rushing past as background for the country music. And he slowly became aware of something else.

Someone else.

Mabel had leaned all the way over to rest her head on his lap. Her head was warm, as was her right arm as it was wrapped around his lap like she was hugging a pillow. And he noticed that his right arm was around her waist.

His head somewhat leaning against the hard window but somewhat to the back against the headrest, Mabel's soft and warm form against him was comforting, and pleasurable. In this relaxed state his mind didn't over think things for once, he merely accepted how nice it was to have her next to him.

He could especially feel the warmth of her breath against the inside of his thighs, this time of year when crabbing season started it was in the low 50's, and very cool outside.

Daybreak began to reach the car window, diffused by pine trees on either side of the long road. One reason they left so early was because it was a three hour drive to get there. Stan timed it to get there when his favorite breakfast place opened up at eight AM.

In the growing daylight Dipper opened his eyes and looked around, Nothing but forest. Then he looked down.

Mabel was mostly a head full of shining brown hair that covered her face, a narrow aquamarine headband with little crabs patterned randomly bringing a smile to his face. He hadn't noticed it in the dark when they left. He moved his right hand over to draw back her hair so he could see her face.

At his touch she moaned softly and turned her head the other way, facing his belly, her hair falling back by itself. This side of her face was flushed with warmth and the pressure of leaning against his legs. Her lips too seemed redder than normal, and she smacked her lips together in some infantile nursing reflex.

Dipper could not stop staring at his sister. She is so beautiful. When did she become so beautiful?

Then realizing the implications of his thoughts, he suddenly felt guilty, and further, that he was being watched. He looked up and saw Grunkle Stan looking at him in the rear view mirror.

"Good Morning Dip. We're almost there."

"Good Morning. Well then…good. I'm hungry."

"Yeah, me too kid. Can't wait, been lookin' forward to this all year." And then Stan went back to watching the road.

Dipper looked down: did he just see Mabel shut her eyes quickly? Her eyes looked a little scrunched together, they were more relaxed looking before. Was she looking at him while he was talking to Stan?

Suddenly he felt a little uncomfortable about her laying her head on his lap. Before he noticed her eyes, he was about to put his arm around her waist again, but now…he put his arm up on the back dash, but that was too high and uncomfortable. He had to put it back down across Mabel. He tried to do it as lightly as possible but eventually the weight of his arm and the tension made resting his arm on her unavoidable. As his arm gently landed across her waist, he could feel not only the softness of the sweater, but knew, he knew when he made contact with her tender, yielding self. That soft curving female layer of body fat that made her so…so huggable (on the times when they hugged. Which suddenly he could recall the past two or three times).

"It's OK Dipper, your arm isn't heavy."

Dipper lifted his arm up and looked down at her with wide eyes and open mouth.

"Oh! Oh um…good morning. You uh…you gonna get up now? Or something?"

She smiled that mischievous grin of hers and lowered her eyelashes a little. "What do you mean, or something?"

Now Dipper's ears began turning red. He could feel that all of a sudden it wasn't so cold any more in the backseat. Now he knew the silence was awkward, especially since Grunkle Stan might be listening. Well maybe not, he was humming and kind of mumbling the lyrics to the radio.

Dipper looked back down.

"Well, I mean if you're still sleepy you can, you know, keep laying there, you know…"

Mabel was merciful. "Okee dokee" and she closed her eyes and snuggled more into his lap.

But she was still smiling.