So I received this assignment on to write an anti-bullying story and all I could think of was to turn around the ending for Came Close... Check out There Are Lives to be Lived by Mabel x Mermando Fan.

Mabel Pines, airhead of the family.

Mabel Pines, too eccentric to be around normal people.

Mabel Pines, who would just knit her sweaters, whistling through her braces.

Mabel Pines, the girl with the pet pig.

Mabel Pines, moved to Oregon to escape the clutches of one bully to meet another.

Mabel Pines, whose large grin had become fake.

Mabel Pines, the girl in the woods with the scarf in her hand and scars running up her arms.

The brunette teen took glances at the noose she had created with her pink sequined scarf as she walked through the forest, her black sweater defending her from the crisp coolness of the autumn night. Her legs, however, lacked the necessary protection with just the knee-length black skirt of her night gown. Her bare feet were beginning to get scraped up from the twigs, dirt and moist fallen leaves causing the scrapes to sting.

She had snuck out before her twin brother could notice she was leaving. She had only enough time to pull on the nearest sweater and grab the nearest scarf, not bothering to pull on socks and flats. She was sure that Dipper would wake up soon enough and discover she was missing.

But this was her best option compared to returning to Gravity Falls High School the next day, facing Pacifica Northwest and her cronies. Sure, she had Candy and Grenda to return to, but they could get on just fine without her. She was Pacifica's only target lately.

Dipper and Grunkle Stan might be hurt, but they could get along without her.

Then there was Soos and Wendy. They'd recover just fine too.

It was the comparison between being in a burning building and just jumping into the flames or sticking around to burn slowly. Everyone was going to die eventually, so what was the harm in just speeding up the process?

After all, she was just the airhead. Underestimated, shunned, treated like a child. Not too desperately important in any way. The world would be a better place without Mabel Pines holding everyone down, that she was sure of.

Finally, she found the perfect tree. Tall, foreboding, standing threateningly above all the rest with all its leaves gone and bony arms of branches reaching up to the cloudy night sky. Upon closer investigation, she saw that it was an ancient oak tree.

She found a small carving in the wood. US & RV. She rubbed her thumb against it. This made the tree more familiar. She recalled climbing up it a few years previously, during that first summer. Her brother had begged her to come down, and she had grabbed an acorn off the nearby pine tree and thrown it at his big head.

Mabel smirked. It would be nice to end her life in a place where a good memory had happened. She sighed, fastening the scarf around her neck and grabbing a heavy rock, tying the other end around it.

As soon as the knot was tightly in place and she was gearing up to throw it across a branch and end the deal, a tight knot of fear found its way into her chest, and a lump formed in her throat that made it impossible to swallow.

If I die here, now . . . what's next?

She stayed in the position one would throw a football or a baseball pitch from, the arm holding the rock far behind her head. She took a deep, shaky breath.

It's too late for regrets now. You are not going to chicken out of this one. This time, it's over, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me. Even I am not going to talk myself out of this one. Remember what Pacifica said? She said that you're just a worthless little worm, and she's right.

Mabel sucked in a deep breath, juggling the rock between her hands a moment before she stepped forward.

Woosh.

Crack.

Snap.