You're Mine
Chapter Two
By the time Mabel came stomping down the stairs, Dipper had already taken his second shower and was munching on a donut. Their parents had just left, leaving him with the normal 'call us when you get there' speech and goodbye kisses. "You're up early," he commented as he slid the box of donuts to his sister.
Mabel yawned as rubbed her face. "Mom woke me up," she grumbled before shoving a donut in her mouth.
Dipper snickered. "Well, if you hurry and get dressed, we'll go over the check list and leave."
"But I haven't even had coffee yet," Mabel whined as she ate another donut.
"We'll get coffee on the way out, if you want," he said as he rolled his eyes. It's not like she needed the caffeine. In ten minutes she'll be bouncing off the walls.
Mabel looked up at him skeptically. "Promise?"
Dipper nodded.
A bright grin formed on her face. "Deal!" She then snatched the rest of the donuts into her arms.
"Hey!" He at least wanted another one!
Mabel cackled as she ran off. "You want me done quick, so I get the rest of the donuts!"
He listened to her running up the stairs before getting up himself. He climbed the stairs just as the bathroom door. Once he got to his room, he gathered up the few things he still had left out and tossed them with his luggage. He picked up the heavier of the bags and took them out to the car and started to packed the trunk as he waited for Mabel to get ready.
It was nearly an hour before Mabel was out of the shower and dressed. They went over their lists and made sure that she had everything before packing her things in the car and locking up the house. "You ready?" Dipper asked. His excitement was clearly seen through his wide smile.
Mabel mirrored his smile, practically bouncing. "Hell yeah I am!" she ran to the car giggling like a maniac. "Shot gun!"
Dipper laughed and ran after her. When he got into the car, Mabel was already digging through her bag and pulled out a CD case. Every year she created a new mixtape. He cranked up the car and she slipped in the disk. He busted out laughing as soon as the familiar guitar strumming came over the speakers.
Mabel looked at him with a serious face and started to sing. "When I wake up, well, I know I'm gonna be. I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next you," she sung while pointing at him.
"When I go out, yeah, I know I'm gonna be. I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you," Dipper sung back as he drove out of the driveway. Back and forth they sung the lyrics, only synchronizing when the choirs came. He got Mabel her coffee, which was more sugar than anything, and hit the highway. The coffee barely lasted ten minutes on the road.
Joined singing and several 80's rock ballads later, the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song started to play.
"Really?" Dipper laughed as he glanced at his sister.
She grinned in return. "I can't help it. It feels epic. Makes me feel like we're going on an adventure. A pirate adventure," she grinned wickedly as she pulled out her straw and held it like a sword.
He tried to disagree, but he couldn't. It did feel epic.
"So…why were you up so early?" Mabel suddenly asked, playing with her now empty coffee cup.
The car jerked, but he tried to play it off with a cough. He could feel her intense stare as she waited. "It…it was just another nightmare," he answered.
She nodded. "I guess it's really a good thing we're going back. You're losing weight from these nightmares," she commented.
He was losing weight and it wasn't like he ever needed to. He was already thin enough, but with the nightmares constantly making him exhausted, he barely ate unless he wanted to throw it back up the next morning.
"Do you think they'll stop?" Mabel asked after she paused the song.
Dipper glanced at her, confused. "Yeah? I mean, they always stop once we get back to Gravity Falls," he replied.
Mabel shook her head. "No, will they stop for good. What happens when we go to college? You barely make it through the school year," she pointed out. She gazed out the passenger window, her arms crossed around her stomach.
There was a long silence before Dipper had the never to speak. "I…I really don't know," he whispered. "I was kind of hoping to be able to visit Grunkle Stan every chance I get and maybe the nightmares won't be as bad." He had no idea if this would work. He planned to go to a nearby college, the same one as Mabel, but with how intense the nightmares get when he leaves he doesn't know if he'd be able to deal with it.
Mabel pulled her legs up to her chest, setting her chin on her knees. "Maybe you should just stay in Gravity Falls," she suggested. At Dipper's look of shock, she was quick to keep talking. "I mean at least stay until you figure out how to stop the nightmares. You can help Stan at the shop and see Wendy and Soos…I just don't think it's a good idea for you to be too far from the town until the nightmares stop."
They've tried so many things over the years. Therapy didn't work and neither did sleeping pills. They even tried more natural treatments. Nothing worked like returning to Gravity Falls.
Dipper would be lying if he said he never thought of staying. It would be easy, even Grunkle Stan mentioned it before that he needed someone to take over the shop. But he wanted to go to college. Sure, he wanted to come back to Gravity Falls afterwards, but he didn't feel like it was time for him to settle down yet. "I don't' know, Mabel. Maybe, I just…let's get through the summer first, okay?" His knuckles were white with how tight he held the steering wheel.
"Kay," she mumbled. "You never know, we could fix everything by then." She gave him a weak smile as she tried to make light of the situation.
Dipper smiled back. "I hope so."
It took eleven hours before they finally got to Gravity Falls, Oregon. Mabel squealed when she saw the welcome sign and quickly skipped to the last song on the CD that she refused to play the entire drive. He listened to the track play, rolling his eyes until heard a familiar voice came from the speaker.
Guess who's back, back again. Mabel's back. Tell a friend.
He was laughing hard enough that he had to pull over. "Really?" Honestly, he should expect this out of her by now. She even had parts with his name in it.
Mabel ignored him and danced to the song.
Halfway through the song, he finally calmed down enough to finish driving them to the shack. It was getting late in the evening when they pulled up to the shack, but Grunkle Stan was standing outside along with Soos and Wendy. Before the car was fully stopped, Mabel jumped out and almost tackled Grunkle Stan in a hug.
A laugh came from the old man as he hugged back his grandniece. "It's good to see you to, sweetie."
As soon as she released Grunkle Stan she quickly hugged Soos, then Wendy. "It's so good to be back!"
"It's good to have you dudes back," Soos said as he went to help Dipper unpack the car.
"Thanks, man," Dipper said when Soos took a particularly heavy bag out of his arms.
"No problem, dude," Soos replied with a smile. "Same room?"
"Same room," Dipper answered. He picked up a few of the lighter bags and walked over to the others.
"Hey, kid," Grunkle Stan said as he pulled Dipper into a hug.
Dipper instantly relaxed into the hold. "Hey," he mumbled into the older man's shoulder before hugging back. Grunkle Stan picked up one of the bags and carried it in while Mabel ran back to the car to get the others.
"Where's my hug?" Wendy teased with her arms wide open.
Dipper chuckled and hugged her. "It's good to see you," he sighed as he pulled back.
Wendy smiled softly and nudged his shoulder. "Same here, dude. It's been waaay too long. We still on for our annual horror movie, eat ice cream, and tell each other what happened over the last few months thing?" she asked.
"We really need to find a shorter name for that," he laughed. "But yeah, as long as you want to." He shifted awkwardly.
"Of course I do," Wendy answered. "I look forward to it every year, man!" She bent down at picked up a bag. "Let's get your stuff inside before we get eaten alive by mosquitoes."
Dipper quickly followed her inside and put his things upstairs before coming back down to gather in the living room. Grunkle Stan eagerly told them stories about a few tourists and how stupid they were. Soos talked about Melody and Wendy even talked about her family. It was fun, while it lasted. Everyone decided to leave when they noticed how Mabel was barely staying awake and Dipper was yawning every few minutes.
As soon as Wendy and Soos left, Grunkle Stan was quick to send them to bed, telling them that they have tomorrow off but after that they were going to be put to work. Mabel barely was able to change before crawling into bed and falling asleep. Dipper didn't bother to change. He just fell to his bed and was asleep before his head touched his pillow.