"Nn...Where am I? What...what's going on?" Rose rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, awaking alone on the couch, the blanket she and Dipper had shared now carefully tucked around her.

"Rose? You up?" Dipper called from the kitchen, before stepping into the living room.

"Yeah, or getting there, anyway." She sat up, wrapping the blanket around her shoulder and yawned. She bit her lip worriedly, remembering all of yesterday and how she'd gotten here, but she pushed her concern aside. They would fix it soon, and worrying would get her nowhere. "I don't suppose you have any coffee?"

"The only people living here are two sixteen year olds and a grumpy old man."

"So...yes?"

"So it's an only an acceptable question because you haven't had coffee yet," he said with a smirk. Despite his comment accounting for both Mabel and himself needing coffee, he only ever drank it when he needed to stay up all night for a project or homework. He was a naturally early riser, usually up around five, just in time for sunrise, and by the time anyone else was waking up, he was almost always already making breakfast, with a pot of coffee sitting in the coffee maker. This morning was no exception, he'd woken up to find Rose's head almost completely in his lap, and had carefully gotten out from under her and tucked her back in. "But yeah, there's some coffee in the kitchen, and I'm making blueberry pancakes for breakfast."

"That's the best news I've heard all week." She got up groggily and made her way to the kitchen, the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders like a makeshift cloak. She sat down at the kitchen table, and Dipper got down a coffee mug, filling it almost to the brim.

"Milk? Sugar?"

"Yes, please. Copious amounts of sugar, just a splash of milk. If that's not being too picky."

"Not at all. Now by copious, are we talking like three spoonfuls or like ten?"

"Like seven," she said sheepishly. "I'm secretly a wuss when it comes to bitter stuff."

"Nah. Now Mabel, she takes like twen- Oh, hi Mabel!" He cut himself off as he placed the cup in front of Rose, who gratefully curled her fingers around it and took a long, appreciative drink.

"Eh, I know you were talkin' about me. Besides, I doubt anyone would be surprised that I take my coffee sweet." Mabel rubbed her eyes with her sweater sleeve, and grabbed a cup, filling it with coffee and sugar and downing it in three gulps before shaking her head and becoming her normal chipper self. "So, how'd you two sleep, besides totally adorably?"

"Heh, adorably, what do you mean?" Dipper said, blushing bright red.

"Oh don't be coy Dipper, I know you guys fell asleep all cuddled up tog-"

"HAHA Mabel I don't know what you're talking about but you should probably stop now," Dipper said, giving her a strained look. Rose just sat at the table, blushing and smiling a bit, before deciding to intervene.

"Well, I for one slept quite well, thank you for asking. Dipper makes a surprisingly comfortable pillow," she added with a smirk, making him blush even brighter.

"Oooh, really? I want details! Did you just cuddle? Did he kiss you? Oh oh oh did you kiss him?!" Mabel pressed.

"Heh, no, there was no kissing. Just a movie and a very comfy boy." She snuck a shy glance over at Dipper, who had turned back to making pancakes, but was grinning down at the stove.

"Boooring," Mabel announced, then bent down to half-whisper in Rose's ear. "You should kiss him. He's never kissed a girl, but I bet he wouldn't totally suck at it, since I'm pretty good at it, and y'know, twins." She stood back up, stuck her tongue out at her brother behind his back, and turned around. "I'll leave you two to your breakfast. I've got a very important Skype call to make."

"Pacifica again?" Dipper called over his shoulder.

"You know it, Bro-bro," Mabel grinned back, flouncing out of the kitchen.

"So, after this do you wanna head back into town with me?" Dipper placed a stack of pancakes and a pitcher of syrup on the table, along with forks and plates, before taking a seat across from Rose. "There's a few more parts I need to fix up the portal, plus I figure now that it's not as late, maybe I can show you around the town a bit. I need Grunkle Stan to help me with the portal, and he left this morning before you woke up. Said he'd be gone for a couple of days, so I thought we'd at least make the most of them…" He chewed nervously on his lip as he grabbed a couple pancakes off the stack, knowing she'd be disappointed and annoyed, if not downright angry, about the delay.

"O-oh. Yes, I suppose that's fine." She took a bite of her pancakes, smiling to hide her worry about her friends back home. "These are really quite good! Thank you for making breakfast, by the way."

"No problem. I usually end up cooking for whoever's around anyway."

"Whoever's around? I thought it was just you, Mabel, and Stan here."

"Sometimes Soos stays the night, especially when Melody comes to visit, and whenever Wendy's in town she usually stays here, since her family drives her kinda crazy. Plus Pacifica stays here whenever she comes back to town, since her parents won't let her come home after she came out to them. Aaand sometimes Mabel's friends, Candy and Grenda, have sleepovers with her. One night last summer there were, like, ten people here because everyone came to visit and no one thought to coordinate with each other, and Wendy ended bringing her boyfriend over too and Stan didn't want them in the same room, so it ended up being Mabel, Pacifica, Candy, Grenda, and Wendy in one room, Soos and Melody in another, Stan in his room, and I had to share a room with Wendy's boyfriend, which was especially awkward since I had a huge crush on Wendy when I first came here when I was twelve, and I guess she told him about it because he asked if I still like her which of course I don't, I totally moved on, and...I'm rambling and boring the hell out of you, aren't I?"

"Rambling? Definitely. Boring me? Not so much. It's actually quite refreshing to hear stories of normal life, after the insanity I've been thrown headfirst into."

"Oh, right. Sorry. Sometimes I forget about all that stuff you told me, with the meteor and the war and the aliens...N-not that I don't believe you! It's just a little…"

"Overwhelming and difficult to wrap your head around?" He nodded. "Yeah, I know the feeling." She pushed her chair out from the table and stood with a stretch before taking both her and Dipper's cleared plates over to the sink. "You cooked, I'll clean. Then I believe you said something about hitting the town?"

"I did, yeah. I should probably get dressed first, and we should see if Mabel's got more stuff you can borrow. Maybe today we can grab you a couple things, since it seems like you'll be staying at least a few more nights. Toothbrush, clothes, all that."

"Sure, sounds like a good idea." She chewed her lip nervously, but sighed and tried to make herself relax. She always worried too much, and there was nothing she could do about this now. She focused on washing the dishes, placing them carefully into the dish drainer before wiping her hands on an old rag on the counter. "I'll go see what Mabel's willing to loan me today. Meet you by the stairs?"

"Sure thing. And see if she's got any shorts, it's supposed to get up to the nineties today." He hurried upstairs, grabbing a pair of grey jeans and an old green t-shirt. Despite his advice, he hated wearing shorts, partly because he disliked how scrawny he still was, and partly because the purple scarred claw marks around his calf from last summer always caused people to ask questions. He also grabbed his backpack, stuffing the journal and a hoodie into it, just in case. Downstairs, meanwhile, Rose knocked gingerly on Mabel's door.

"Come in!" Mabel called, letting Pacifica know she might have to go for a sec.

"Hey. It's just me. Do you have anymore clothes I could possibly borrow? Dipper offered to buy me some today while we're out, so I can stop mooching off of you then, but in the meantime…"

"Of course I do, silly! Buuut you have to do two things for me first. First of all, say hi!" She turned her laptop to face Rose, grinning. "Pacifica, this is Rose. Dipper found her out in the woods, she accidentally teleported here from another dimension! Rose, this is Pacifica, my totally awesome and super hot girlfriend."

"Oh, hello! Nice to meet you, Pacifica."

"Charmed. Mabel, is this the girl you said Dipper fell asleep with last night?" Rose blushed as Mabel nodded gleefully. "Guess the Pines have a thing for blondes, huh?" She said, twirling a lock of her own long, blonde hair. "Now come on Mabel, put the computer down and give the girl some clothes. I doubt she wants to spend the whole day in your brother's pajamas."

"Alright, alright." She set the laptop down, but didn't go to the closet just yet. "Second thing though, be honest with me. Do you think my brother's cute?"

"Well, I, erm…" Rose chewed her lip, blushing brighter. "Maybe…"

"Maybe?" Mabel lifted an eyebrow, grinning.

"I mean, he definitely is attractive, physically, but, I mean, I've only been here a day, and who knows how much longer I'll be here, and I don't want to seem too forward…"

"Eeee!" Mabel squealed. "You guys are so cute! Ask him out, kiss him, do it do it do it!"

"I-I might. I'll see. Now can I please borrow some clothes?"

"Oh of course! We gotta make you look extra hot for your soon-to-be boyfriend," Mabel said as she grinned even wider. "Here, try these on." She tossed a pair of denim shorts and a loose-fitting, low cut, pale lavender tanktop. Rose obediently tried them on, turning around and changing quickly.

"Do I look okay?"

"You look fantastic," Mabel and Pacifica said in unison. "Although…" Pacifica added. "Mabel, hon, where's your makeup bag?"

"Oh! Here it is...um...yes! Perfect!" she brought out a black eyeliner pencil, a light lavender eyeshadow and brush, and a light pink lipstick. "Can I pleeease do it?" Rose sighed, nodding, and Mabel got to work. "Taa-daa!"

"Perfect," Pacifica grinned. "Now go get him, girl!" She and Mabel shooed Rose out together, and she went down to meet Dipper at the base of the stairs.

"Hey, what took you so long?"

"Mabel and Pacifica wanted to play dress up, and it was decreed I needed eyeliner." She shrugged a bit. "But I quite like the outfit, personally."

"Yeah. You look...yeah." He shook his head, wincing slightly at how dumb he sounded. "I mean great. You look great. Shall we?" He opened the door for her, and followed her out to the car. "I was thinking we'd give the hardware store another try, and then there's this great thrift store at the edge of town, maybe we can grab you clothes there?"

"Sounds like a delightful plan." She climbed into the car with him, smiling. "And maybe we can go out for lunch after?"

"Works for me. It's all on Stan's dime, after all." He started up the car, and they took off down the driveway.