The feeling in Dipper's gut twisted and tugged at him. Outwardly he smiled and played with his sister, making goofy faces and laughing with her. But inwardly there was a strong undercurrent of worry and nervousness. What if that thing happened again? What would he do? Why did he let her talk him into not going back?
Everything seemed fine and normal though. He smiled at his sister, beaming even. Every time she saw a bird or small animal, she'd go into a tizzy and creep as close as she could get, doing the Crocodile Hunter voice in a loud whisper until the animal decided it had enough and flitted away.
As she was 'hunting' another squirrel, Dipper discerned an unusual noise. Water. The sound of water. Furrowing his brow he stopped and took out his map again, studying it.
Mabel chased the squirrel away accidentally.
"Nooo! Come back I just want to be friends! WHY DON'T YOU TRUST MY LOVE?!"
She turned to notice Dipper had stopped and she went up behind him to press cheek to his, looking at the map.
"What are we looking at? Why you got a face like a troll?"
Dipper turned the map around in his hands, confused. His mouth twisted into a bewildered expression.
"Well, according to the map there isn't supposed to be any water around here at all. But I hear water."
He pointed to a particular spot on the map. Sure enough there were no blue blobs or lines less than an inch away from the spot he indicated.
He lowered the map and looked upward again at the quiet woods. Both he and Mabel could definitely hear the burbling sound of water running somewhere nearby.
"Aww you know you can't trust anything about this nutso place. Don't worry; the map is probably just wrong or something. Since when did you start trusting anything about this town? It's not like you made the map yourself. You can't trust it."
Mabel poked him in the nose, booping it, with an encouraging smile. Dipper knew she was trying to get him to feel less nervous. He appreciated it. She was always the light in the dark. He knew that even though he was doing a pretty good job pretending to be okay that Mabel could see right through it. Finding strength in her happy resolve, he folded the map back up.
"Yeah, you're right. We know this place doesn't make sense. It's very possible the map is just wrong."
Looking around he noticed the clearing they were in was pretty nice. Sun shone through the treetops, little lights danced on the floor of pine needles, the gentle sound of water nearby. Although that part was still a little weird. Why wasn't it on the map? Whatever.
"This place actually is pretty nice. Why don't we just set up camp here?"
Dipper took off his pack slowly, still looking around. Then a strong nagging feeling pulled at him and he remembered something. What was the chance that Mabel remembered to pack the tent? His stupid hormones had sabotaged things again. He had forgotten to remind her.
He didn't want to even ask her if she had it. He knew what the answer would be. He just knew he'd screw up something. But hoping against hope he asked.
"So let's break out the tent. You brought it right?"
The twisting in his stomach grew as he waited for what he knew was coming.
She turned to him with a surprised face.
'Shit.'
"What? You never told me to bring a tent. Cmon that should be your job."
Dipper breathed in deeply through his nose and slowly let it out of his mouth. His brow twitched in irritation. He had only asked one thing of her. And though he didn't remind her, would it kill her to listen to him just once?
"I told you to pack it. I even made sure you heard me."
He tried to keep his calm; though he couldn't keep the patronizing tone out of his voice. He was pissed. He really wanted this trip to work and now they either had to go back or just sleep without a tent. Both of those options sucked. He should have just brought the tent himself.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST BROUGHT THE TENT YOURSELF!"
Mabel's unexpected yell cuts though his calm. What was she yelling at HIM for?! He hadn't dropped the ball! He tried to tell himself it was because she was disappointed. But with his fright from earlier, and pent up sexual frustration, he had reached his breaking point.
Dipper felt heat infuse his face. He hated when she yelled at him. 'It's just the way she is.' Saying it over and over to himself didn't help quash his anger. It always cut him deep when she yelled at him, especially since they had gotten romantically involved.
"I DID tell you to get it! I even tried to make sure you'd listened to me! Of COURSE you didn't though! You never pay attention to the things I say! You have no respect for me, Mabel!"
His words caught her totally off guard. They made her feel vulnerable, the immature one AGAIN. Something deep inside her had cracked. She didn't know he felt that way; and the fact that it was her fault made her feel like she was literally dying inside. Not wanting to face her feelings though, she threw herself dramatically on the ground. Her hands dug through her backpack and a red pack of skittles emerged which she began to eat angrily, not daring to look at him. If she couldn't resolve her feelings, she would eat them.
"You're gonna get a stomach ache. What have I told you about doing that? Let's just talk about this. Look I'm sorry. Please let's just talk."
He's even more frustrated with her. Why did she have to be so childish sometimes? She was so stubborn when it came to admitting she was wrong. After a few more moments he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He could see she was not going to stop until she'd eaten enough candy to make her stop caring. He wanted to stop her but didn't want to make her angrier. So instead he just stood there dumbly, watching her eat.
She grumbled, shoving more of them into her mouth. "You know I don't listen to you half the time! You should have told me like ten more times! You know how I work!"
'WHAT?!' Hot anger rose inside him. Why was it ALWAYS his job to remind her of EVERYTHING?! Dipper's mouth became a sneer. Stooping down suddenly, he snatched the skittles bag out of her hand.
"MABEL! Stop eating your feelings! Stop eating your feelings! Stop eating your feelings! Stop eating your feelings! Stop eating your feelings! Stop eating your feelings! Stop eating your feelings! Stop eating your feelings! Stop eating your feelings! Stop eating your feelings! There that's ten! NOW STOP ACTING LIKE A CHILD!"
Dipper had just yelled at her. At HER! He never yelled at her like this. Sure he'd get annoyed and angry. But he never yelled at her like this. Trying not to cry, she stumbled to her feet with her heavy pack; she fumed at him, real anger and hurt in her expression now. With a heave she tossed the remaining skittles in her hand, right at his face, hard.
"FINE! YOU KNOW WHAT?!"
She screamed.
"I DON'T WANNA GO CAMPING WITH A JERK ANYHOW!"
'Nononononooo!' A look of exasperation and helplessness came over his face which stung from where the little round candies had pinged it. Dipper knew he'd gone too far and it wasn't fair for him to talk to her like that. But he also knew he was right. He had told her about the tent. And would it kill her to actually listen to him? His face hardened. He was so done with her stubbornness.
"Well maybe I don't wanna go camping with someone who can't listen to the one thing I ask her to do!"
His confidence and determination broke a little at the withering look she gave him. Jeez he'd never seen her look at him like that before. Why did he have to push her so far? Regretting what he had said, he almost spoke up.
"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME!"
With a deep helplessness he watched her stride off through the trees. Angry red blotches still on his face. Her words cut into him like a knife, filling him with insecurity. With a quiet, sadness, his eyes widened as he realized she was right in a way. She always confused him. He could never tell what she was gonna do next and he hated that. It frightened him.
"MAYBE I DON'T KNOW YOU!"
He screamed back angrily. There was a tremble in his voice. He felt like crying. Frustrated and hurt he grabbed his pack and stomped off in the opposite direction, away from his sister.