A/N: Now we're getting to the good parts!
Soft sweaters hide the burns on her arms and jeans quickly replace mini skirts. Mabel spends a full day bedazzling every pair that she can get her hands on, trying to add some sort of spark to the otherwise dull fabric. No one mentions the gloves because she's always been weird about being cold; and they come in every color of the rainbow, in sparkles and shimmers and tye dyed too. It's just that hair can only hide so much and she can't stand wearing scarves.
The burn winds up from beneath the collar of her sweater and wraps around to the back of her neck. It's red and raw, open still because she just can't quit clawing at it. There are blisters forming around its edges more that have been scraped open already, the skin around it managing to be bruised and too pale all at once.
Stan sees it the moment that he opens the door and Mabel has to bite down on the urge to brush her hair over her shoulder, hiding it away from the world. She grins at him instead, sets her suitcase down and holds her arms out to the side for a hug.
"Hi, Grunkle Stan! I missed you," says Mabel, happily. She's drawn close into a hug and Mabel can feel his large hands hovering in this spot and that, like he's not sure where to put them, as if he doesn't know where that burn ends and the next begins.
Stan's eyes latch onto Dipper and stay there, demanding an answer without words but Dipper's voice has caught in his throat, just as it always does. It's like smoke is curling tight within his lungs again, twisting and pressing and stealing his voice.
Dipper ends up saying nothing and just hovering off to the side, fingers curling in the fabric of his shorts.
"I missed you," repeats Mabel, softer this time. She presses her face against her grandfather's chest and breaths in the scent of home and happiness. Unearthly warmth ghosts across her skin, as if the sun is shining down just on her.
"I missed you too, sweetheart. You kids - just leave your bags out here," Stan eventually says, relinquishing his grip on Mabel and ushering both teenagers into the house. He doesn't ask what happened because he never does. Just