I do not own Gravity Falls or any of the characters. I only own my OC Catherine.

Light glowed out of the make-shift tent in the Pines twins bedroom. Laughter came out of the tent and a flashlight moved around, waving the beam of light around. Catherine was staying over at the Pines twins' place after her father had allowed her to stay the night. It had been Stan and Ford's 12th birthday and their parents were having this sort of big thing called a 'Bar Mitzvah' or something. She didn't really know but she had been invited anyway even though she wasn't Jewish. The boys considered her a close enough friend to be allowed to come and after a lot of begging from both the twins and herself to their parents, here she was.

"Okay, your turn, Cath." Stanley said and passed the flashlight to her. She smiled and grabbed it. Ford fixed his glasses and he leaned back.

"But make this a good one." he glanced at his brother. "Stan's almost made me fall asleep."

"Hey!" he yelled and glared at his twin making them both laugh.

"Alright, let's see..." Catherine thought about what story she would tell and grinned when she thought of one. "Okay, I got one."

She pulled the flashlight under chin and began her story. As she talked, the twins got closer and closer, both immersed in the story.

"...And then after the phone had rang for the fourth time, he picked answered it..." Catherine said and Stan laughed.

"Oh, man he is so going to die." he said as he nudged Ford, who shushed him.

"He answered it and all he heard was a soft breathing. He slowly put the phone down and as he turned around..." Catherine grinned. "That's when the killer jumped out at him and stabbed him!" she yelled which made the twins jump and fall back, surprised by the different voice volume. Catherine laughed at their reacted, holding her stomach.

"Oh my god, you should have seen your faces." she laughed and they both sat up, glaring at her. They shared a glance and they both smiled, making Catherine's laughs die down.

"Uh, guys? What are you-!" she wasn't able to finish her sentence as the boys pounced on her, tickling her sides, their laughter filling the room.

"Come guys! You can ride those things faster than that!" Catherine yelled from her turquoise bicycle as she looked behind her at her two best friends. Her brown hair swished behind her as she gave a laugh, peddling faster.

"Where...does she...get all that...energy?!" Stanford asked his twin brother between breaths as they tried to catch up to her on their red and black bicycles. He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and wiped the sweat away from his forehead.

"I have no idea!" Stanley answered as he looked forward. A determined look crossed his face. "But I am not going to let some girl beat me at a race!"

Stan bent forward and peddled faster moving ahead of Ford.

With a sigh and roll of his eyes, he peddled faster as well.

Catherine glanced to her side and gave Stan a grin as she turned a corner. He felt his cheeks grow hot but shook his head and followed after her.

"Come on Stanley! You're making this boring! There's no competition!"

Her mouth shut closed after Stan came up beside her, winked at her and rode ahead of her with a cheer.

He crossed their drawn finish line and he raised his hands up in the air.

"Whoo hoo! Stanley Pines wins again!" He said getting off his bike and pumping a fist into the air.

"No fair! You distracted me." Catherine said, pouting as she got off her bike and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, I know. I tend to do that to girls." Stan said winking and giving her a flirtatious grin.

"You better not let Carla hear you talk like that." Catherine said smirking back when the grin fell from his mouth to a panicked look.

"You wouldn't!" He said.

"Oh, I would." She said as she gave him an innocent smile and took out her water bottle from her book bag.

Truth was, she would never tell Carla about something like that. She didn't really like her, and knew Carla didn't like her. She had tried to make friends with her but really, Carla figured out very quickly how she really felt about Stan so they weren't on the best of terms. After five years of her and him being friends, she had grown to care about him more than just a friend. He made her happy with just a glance or smile. He made her laugh without even trying and when he would touch her hand or hug her, her insides would explode into a warm, light feeling. She knew she was in love with him and as much as it hurt her to see him with Carla, she kept her mouth shut because if she made him happy, well then so was she.

Their attention shifted when Ford finally showed up, dragging his bike with him and falling to the ground.

"Let's never do that again." He mumbled, his face still on the ground. Catherine giggles as Stan goes over and lifts up his brother.

"I knew it was a bad idea to let you quit boxing."

"Yeah well...I had to focus on school. Do you know...how much time boxing practice takes up?" He said huffing, completely out of breath.

Catherine walks over to him and hands him her water bottle which earned her a grateful look from Ford.

"Thanks." He muttered and she smiled.

She grabbed two more from her book bag and tossed one to Stanley which he caught easily and opened one up for herself. She raised it to her lips but froze when she saw Stan drink from his.

'Don't stare. Don't stare. Don't stare.' She repeated over and over again in her head but failed as she watched him drink the water. Ford shoved an elbow into her side which took her out of her daze and she blushed. She gave a thankful look and he smirked, rolling his eyes behind his glasses.

He knew all about her crush on his brother. She had told him when they were in 7th grade. But even if she hadn't, it was easy to tell. The girl couldn't make it more obvious.

"Speaking of boxing practice, I gotta get going. I have practice in 15 minutes and I have to take Carla out later." Stan said closing his bottle of water and picking up his bike.

"What? But I thought we were gonna go back to my place and watch old horror movies." Catherine said, disappointed.

"Ford can hang out with you. Unless you want to come with me to practice?"

Catherine's mind erupted with images of Stanley boxing and began to feel her palms sweat and her knees turn to jelly. She gone with him before but never again. She had gotten two nosebleeds when she had gone. "Nah. It's alright." She turned to Stanford. "You still up for it?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah sure."

She grinned and clapped her hands together. "Yay!"

The twins chuckled at her enthusiasm. She still acted as if she was still 12.

"Well, I'll see you guys later then."

Stan got back on his bike, gave them a wave and rode away.

The other two got back on their bikes as well and Ford looked over to Catherine.

"Can we please go slow this time? I don't want to get a heart attack at only 17."

"Fine." Catherine said with an exaggerated sigh. Ford grinned at her and they rode off to her house.

"You really need to stop doing that. He's going to notice eventually." Ford said as he turned the screwdriver in his hand and tightened up one of the screws on his machine.

Catherine pulled her knees up to her chin as she sat on the living room couch, watching him work on his science project. "What are you talking about?"

They had gone back to his house after about three movies and he had started to work on his science project for the science fair that was still months away. Ford was did like to be over prepared.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." He said not looking up at her.

"No actually I don't." She responded.

He sighed and looked up. Ford pushed his glasses up and gave her a serious look.

"I'm talking about the whole 'staring' thing earlier."

She blushed and looked down at the floor. "Oh. That." She frowned and looked up at Ford. "Well it's not my fault that your brother's attractive."

Ford laughs and Catherine couldn't help but grin.

"Ok, ok. But really, I need help with this! I can't keep this up and you're right, he's going to find out eventually." Catherine said, putting her face into her hands.

Ford's laughter dies down and he gives her a sympathetic look. He reaches over and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. He won't find out. Stan isn't that quick to catch on. Just make sure you stop staring so much." He smirks. "I've seen you doing it during math."

She looks up at him, her cheeks red and she shoves him playfully.

"And you didn't tell me?!" She laughs.

"Well it was funny to see you stare at him the way you do. I could practically read your mind!" Ford puts his hands together and presses them to his cheek.

" 'Oh Stanley! You're soooooo handsome!' " he said in a high pitched voice, fluttering his eyelashes. He gives her a grin and she laughs as she throws a cushion at him.

"Ok! I get it!"

"I can still remember how in freshman year, the teacher hit you in the head with a ruler because you weren't paying attention. You were too busy doodling little hearts with Stan's name in them." He says bending over in laughter.

"Quit it!" Catherine yells at him but she laughs as well.

Their laughter was cut short when the front door opened and in walked Stanley. He was extremely quiet, his hair was messy and his shirt untucked.

"Hey Stan. You alright?" Ford asked from the floor.

He didn't answer as he hung up his jacket and stared at the floor.

"Stanley?" Catherine says quietly but loud enough for him to hear her.

He turns around and walks to his room.

"Stan, what happe-" Ford tried to ask but Stan cut him off.

He look at them and they saw that his eyes were red and puffy.

"I'm fine. Just...just leave me alone." His voice quivered towards the end and he runs into his room, slamming the door close.

Ford and Catherine looked at each other confused.

"What was that about?" She asks.

Ford shrugs. "I don't know."

Catherine glances up at the clock on the wall and gasps. "Shit! I have to get home! My dad is going to kill me!"

She got up off the couch and grabbed her jacket. "Try and talk to Stan. See what's wrong."

He nods and she gives him a hug. "See you tomorrow at school."

She leaves and walks to her bike outside, tied to a pole with a chain.

Hopping on, she rides off, her eyes trained on the road in front of her. Her mind though was still on Stanley.

Why was he like that? What happened? She frowned as she turned a corner. 'So help me if anyone hurt him...'

Well, there you go. To the people who are reading this, a new chapter! I added a new scene that I had in my head but I didn't add it in when I first wrote this story so I finally got the chance. Hope you all enjoy! Please, please, please review!