Authors note: This story is on an update every second day schedule.
Chapter 1: Sick
It was a normal afternoon in the small town of Gravity Falls. The sun hung low in the sky like a carrot at the end of a fishing string. Upstairs, in one home, a young boy in a blue vest and an orange shirt was walking upstairs, with brown hair and a hat on his head that had a pine tree symbol on it. Upstairs was just a very spacious attic, but he still considered it a nice room nonetheless. In the room were two beds on separate sides of the room and a small window in the centre on the wall with a desk underneath it. The young boy looked over to one of the beds. The blankets were pulled over something. "There you are, Mabel. I haven't seen you since this morning," the boy said, noticing a pig resting on the bed as well.
The blankets moved aside to reveal a similar looking girl with long brown hair with a band in her hair resting on top of her head. She had braces on her teeth, but one thing stood out very noticeable to the young boy, which was a green sweater that seemed hand knitted with a frown face on it. He recognized it and sat down on the edge of her bed. "You're wearing your sick sweater? What's the matter, Mabel?" he asked his twin sister, worried already. His sister, Mabel, was quite an odd person, but he had gotten used to this a while back. Whenever one of them was sick, they usually took care of the other. She coughed and looked to him. "Hey, Dipper… just a flu bug…" she muttered tiredly. Dipper and Mabel were a duo known as The Mystery Twins, who used to be unable to go through one day without a mystery. But the mysteries had slowed down quite a lot overtime.
"Do you need anything?" Dipper asked. He never liked seeing her without her usual smile. "C-could you ask Grunkle, if he got my medicine?" Mabel responded with her hoarse voice. It felt like her throat was on fire. Dipper nodded, just going back downstairs. In the downstairs room, an old man sat in a chair watching television, wearing a red fez and a black suit, as well as a tie that he normally wore which was loosely done. "Grunkle Stan?" Dipper called, trying to get his attention, finding it odd to see him not working since he would never like to miss a single day of work. Grunkle Stan was their caretaker for the summer. He was a bit greedy when it came right down to it, but Dipper didn't mind sometimes helping around the Mystery Shack for his allowance.
"Huh? Oh, hey, Dipper," Stan greeted his great nephew half-heartedly. "Is something wrong?" Dipper questioned over hearing this grand uncle's tone of voice "It's just Soos and Mabel. They got sick, and today is Wendy's day off. I figured you were sick too, so I just closed up shop early today," he explained the current events and the illness of one of his workers, which was why he couldn't keep his store open for long today. "Oh, sorry. I'll help out tomorrow. Did you get Mabel's medicine?" the young boy questioned. His grunkle pulled out a medicine bottle of purple liquid from his coat. "Don't go getting yourself sick," he insisted to be cautious before handing him the medicine. Dipper nodded, just heading back upstairs, so far wondering if it was just a bad flu bug going around, though he had something to look forward to tomorrow, which was working with Wendy. It seemed like tomorrow would be a great day to him.
Dipper wasted no time, going back upstairs, knowing today was already a weird day, but he didn't show much thought on it all. Not much had changed since he had exited the room, and Mabel hadn't moved from her bed. Only now she was hugging her pet pig Waddles close for comfort. "Here, Mabel," Dipper said while approaching, pouring the medicine into the cap. He then helped her take the medicine. He could tell by her face that it wasn't tasty like most medicines they would encounter, but he knew it was to get better. "Thanks, Dipper…" she gave a faint smile. Dipper just rubbed the back of his head, sitting beside her on the bed. "No problem. Is there anything else you need?" the young boy asked for anything more she needed, or if she just wanted to go back to sleep.
Mabel did have something in her mind that was annoying her every time she got sick. It felt like he went out of his way to do anything no matter what. He seemed to tend to her better than she normally did for him. "How come you treat me better? ...I know I don't do some things for you when you're sick…" Mabel slowly questioned, too curious and somewhat feeling guilty. Dipper was a little confused, as he had never personally noticed it until she had now pointed it out to him. It always felt like she took better care of him when he was sick, so he had to think on that one fairly well. "I don't know. Me just being too worried? Honestly, if I came to Gravity Falls alone, I don't think I'd be the same without you. I'm not used to you not being happy or playful. I guess I'm just trying to get you and that smile back…That smile makes me smile." Dipper explained, though while trying to explain it, he felt more like randomly speaking gibberish and not making much sense. Mabel just looked at him, unsure about how to respond. She just rested Waddles back on another part of the bed before she rolled over to get some sleep. She was already feeling a little better because of the medicine. Dipper let her rest, going back to his usual activities while she rested.
End of Chapter 1