Chapter 2: Dipper's POV

Dipper was in the attic on his bed, reading through his latest journal entry, when he heard Soos downstairs.

"Hey, Mr. Pineses!" Dipper jumped. What were they doing here? He had thought they were sailing in some uncharted ocean. He abandoned his journal on the bed and ran down to the gift shop. The door was shut and the sign read CLOSED. He frowned, because the gift shop was never closed. Then he noticed why. Soos was looking up at the speakers for the intercom and he appeared to be… talking to it?

"What's up, Soos? How's the shack?" Stan's voice came from the intercom, and Dipper realized it was just a call. Mabel was there, too, spinning on top of the globe that sat on the counter. Melody was behind it, laughing as she watched Mabel spin. Melody was working as the new handy-woman since Soos was now Mr. Mystery.

"It's great, Mr. Pines." Soos replied. "I fixed the place up and there's even a statue of you!" he was clearly pleased with his job. And it was true, of course. He had refinished the floors and walls and fixed that pesky "S" in "shack." The place was running smoothly under his management.

"That's great to hear, Soos. So how are Dipper and Mabel?" Ford asked. Dipper thought he heard a hint of worry in his Grunkle's voice.

"We're doing awesome, Grunkle Ford!" Mabel announced as she spun. When Ford spoke next, there was a hint of refrain in his voice, and Dipper remembered how he liked to correct peoples' grammar. He was clearly having a hard time not correcting her.

"That's… great." He said. "So, we're coming to visit Gravity Falls. We'll be there in a couple of days."

Dipper almost screamed from excitement. "Awesome!" He managed. He ran upstairs and jumped up and down on his bead a few times, then ran back down.

When he got there, Mabel was talking about how boring it was in Gravity Falls that year and that she had only encountered two monsters since the twins had arrived a week and a half ago. When she was done, she went back to spinning on the globe.

"Er, hey. Dipper, here." Dipper said awkwardly.

"Oh! Dipper! You'll love the notes I have about our discoveries. I can't wait to show you." Said Ford. Dipper smiled a little at that.

"I can't wait to see them!" He said. "I have some notes of my own that I put in that journal you guys got me. I think you might like what I've got so far." Dipper felt giddy with excitement. Ford and Stan were coming and they had new discoveries they wanted to share with him! Could this get any better? "Uh, I'd also like to talk to you about something I found by the falls. You might be able to help me figure it out, Ford."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because Ford tone became hard. "Of course, Dipper."

Dipper was hurt by his sudden change of heart, but before he could apologize, Stan cut in. "Hey, we're coming up on the harbor in an hour or so here and the water is getting choppy. We're gonna have to let you go here. We'll call when we're close. See you when we get back!" The line went dead.

Dipper sat in the window sill and sighed. Had he upset Ford? Did he say something wrong? Had he insulted him? Apparently no one else felt that way. Soos was jumping up and down like a little kid, clearly excited to be seeing Stan again. Meanwhile, Mabel's cheeks puffed out and she leaped of the globe, dashing for the nearest bathroom.

"Why did I eat all those Gummy Koalas before I started spinning?" She groaned as she lunged for the bathroom and slammed the door. Melody looked like she was about to explode. She clutched her ribs and her eyes watered.

"Because we dared you!" She laughed.

Dipper ignored the celebration happening in the gift shop and trudged up the stairs, somberly. Something told him that this visit wasn't going to be on good terms.

A/N:ooh! Things are getting exciting! Notice how Ford reacted to Dipper mentioning that find by the falls. Just so you guys know, the end of this AU will be the introduction for another fan-fic I'm planning, so pay close attention! It has a deeper sub-plot. Now just to clarify, this specific fan-fic is still rated K+, but the other that it conceals isn't. The actual other fan-fic plot however is not officially suggested or reveals it's rating, so it still works. Crack the code first for a shout-out. (And from this point on, the codes will connect into one big code, so try to crack them all)

6-15-18-4 8-15-12-4-19 20-8-5 11-5-25-19,

19-15 4-15 15-21-18 4-5-13-15-14-19.

Good luck and good exploring

~Curious Pines