"Gideon? Well no wonder you hate him, kid's a jerk," Stan was not at all surprised by Mabel's negative explanation of the ticket, "Ever since he came to town, he's caused me nothing but misery."

"But it's VIP, I mean, come on," Soos eyed the ticket longingly.

"I'm not going," Mabel announced, tossing the ticket into the air. Soos scrambled to catch it.

"Well, if you're not using it," Soos said with a nervous laugh, caressing the shiny material.

"You can have it," Mabel agreed, "But I don't think I like him at all."

"See? There is some Pines blood in ya'," Stan proudly hugged her to his side. "No niece of mine is going anywhere with that little freak, and Soos," Stan squinted at his handyman, "I wouldn't be going out there if I were you either."

"But it's VIP," Soos explained.

Stan squinted harder, and Soos nervously stared back.

"Yeah fine, whatever. It's your time," Stan broke his glare and waved him off.

"Yes!" Soos pumped his fist. "VIP! VIP!"

xxxxx

"Step right up folks, put your money in Gideon's sack of telepathy!" Soos finally reached the front of the queue to be greeted by a man wearing a flower print shirt and a straw hat, offering a bag for visitors to place their admissions.

"Dude, while I would love to contribute to the sack of telepathy, all I brought was this VIP ticket," Soos explained, demonstrating his pass.

"Well I'll be," the other man exclaimed, "Gideon told me he was expecting a...well," he hesitated, "A young lady, but who am I to judge?" he quickly corrected, "Go right on in, Gideon's expecting you! There's a seat up front and you get to meet with him after the show."

"Thanks," Soos quickly found the reserved place and took a seat. Moments later, the lights went down and a cheery tune began to play. The curtains went up, and the familiar figure of Lil' Gideon appeared. His eyes immediately fell on the seat where Soos was sitting, and for a split second, his chubby-faced grin turned into a deep frown. Soos glanced over his shoulder, then back at the stage, but by then, Gideon had burst into an upbeat song.

xxxxx

"Who the dickens are you?" Gideon did not seem pleased when the show was over and he was left with only Soos in the tent.

"Name's Soos, I work across the street. Great performance by the way."

"How did you get that seat?" Gideon motioned angrily at the reserved place where Soos had viewed the show from.

"I got a VIP pass, and I was told this place was reserved for me," Soos explained, showing the performer his ticket.

Gideon snatched it away and examined it carefully. "I gave this to Mabel, how did you...come to obtain it?" He sounded as if he were trying to be patient and was failing.

"Oh, she didn't want to come, and she said I could have it."

"Didn't want to come?" Gideon was baffled, "Why wouldn't she want to come?"

"No offense dude," Soos held up a hand to explain, "But she's kinda shy and she doesn't like you at all."

Gideon remained silent.

"Huh," Soos laughed, "Good thing you're not an obsessive vengeful lover who would kill if someone got between him and his object of desire."

There was an awkward silence as the two stared at each other uncomfortably.

"Yes, right," Gideon said at last, "Well, I suppose you do have a ticket, so follow me."

xxxxx

Mabel was up in her room in the attic when she heard the door closing below her. She quickly shut the "3" journal and pushed it under a fort that was carefully constructed around the strange contraption she was building. Her work resembled a piece of trash art, with miscellaneous and non-related items messily glued together and balanced precariously to form a 3-foot wide upside-down arch. Mabel gently pulled the sheets closed to cover it and headed down the stairs.

"Hate to say it, but I really hope you had a miserable time there," she heard Stan say.

"No way," Soos replied as Mabel appeared at the bottom of the steps, "It was a great show, it had magic, singing, and dancing," Soos did a little move to demonstrate. "Plus, I got to see backstage and stuff. Although," he turned to Mabel, "He did seem disappointed that you weren't there."

Mabel replied with a shrug.

"Good, disappoint the hairball," Stan shook his fist at nothing, "Nobody likes him anyway."

"I'm pretty sure that-" Soos was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. "I'll get it."

Soos opened the door to reveal a massive bouquet of flowers that almost filled the doorway.

"Delivery for a Miss Maple Pines," a voice said from behind the plants, "Is that some kind of tree or something?"

"What the heck?" Stan grunted, "You could suffocate a man in all that."

"Yeah, it's really heavy," the delivery man agreed breathlessly, "Could you take them please?"

"Yeah, Soos," Stan motioned to the flowers and Soos took the weight from the mailman, but the bouquet was heavier than he expected, and he immediately dropped them to the ground.

"Yeah, whatever, sign here please," the deliveryman took a signature and left.

"I swear if this is from that little-" Stan growled.

"It is," Mabel plucked a baby blue envelope from the flowers at eye level.

Soos and Stan watched Mabel as she looked at the unopened note, then looked up at them.

"Wanna burn it?" Stan suggested.

"Yeah," Mabel and Soos said simultaneously; Soos with enthusiasm, and Mabel with disdain.

xxxxx

It was a lovely fire, and although the flowers burned quickly, the trio had plenty of fuel to add to feed the flames.

"This is nice," Stan cleared his throat and broke the silence, "Just the three of us crushing the dreams of a child. We should do this more often."

His comment earned him no reply.

Stan sighed and pressed a hand to his mouth, "Look, don't play distant and mysterious please, I'm trying my hardest to make you comfortable here, and I just don't get any feedback."

Mabel tilted her head to the side.

"Is there something I'm doing wrong? Is there a reason you hate me?" Stan continued, "'Cuz for pete's sake, I can't stand staying in the dark like this."

"I don't hate you," Mabel said quickly, but genuinely, "I don't hate you at all."

"Then why are you always so distant around me?"

Mabel looked at her feet and crossed her arms around her toy sheep.

Stan waited for a reply, but none came. "Okay," he said defeatedly, and he stood, "If that's how it is, fine, just please," he looked down at Mabel, who didn't return his gaze, "Help your grunkle out here."

Stan turned and walked back into the Shack. Soos watched him go, then turned to Mabel.

"He does really care about you," Soos commented, "I can tell."

"And I care about him too," Mabel protested, still not looking up, "But I just can't get him to understand! Nobody understands me!" And she buried her face in her sheep.

Soos flinched as she started to sniffle. He moved as if to comfort her, but hesitated each time.

"Do you want a hug?" He asked at last.

"I just want to be left alone," Mabel replied, her voice muffled in the fluff.

"Okay," Soos stood to leave, "But if you do need a hug, or anything, Mr. Pines and me are here for you." He left, not without glancing over his shoulder on last time.

Mabel looked up slightly to see if he was gone, then she bit her lip as the tears came.

"It's not fair," she cried softly to herself, "It's not fair that I have to be different. I don't want to be different, I want to make Uncle Stan happy." She sniffed loudly and stroked the fuzzy skin of her toy, "Why is it so hard?"

"Oh, heh, Mabel! Fancy walking into you here!"

Mabel shot out of her seat when she heard the last voice she wanted to reach her ears.

"Gideon?" She squeaked.

"You remember me!" Gideon advanced towards her slowly, as one would approach an animal they didn't want to startle, "I hope you don't mind."

Mabel's lips moved in a silent stutter as the boy drew nearer. "Go away!" she said at last, "I hate you!"

Gideon put a hand to his heart, "But Creampuff!" Mabel shrank away at the nickname. "I just can't stay away, my heart, it will belong to no other."

"No!" Mabel protested.

"Please," Gideon stopped advancing and offered her his hand, "Just give 'us' a chance."

"No!" Mabel screamed again, and she threw what was in her hand as hard as she could at him. Her fear quickly turned into horror when she realized she had just pitched her precious toy sheep at Gideon.

The boy fumbled with the toy and caught it. Mabel's eyes widened and her outreached hand began to shake.

"My, my," Gideon said softly, turning the sheep over, "What have we here?"

"Give him back," Mabel's voice quavered, "Give him back...right now."

"Well, here you are," Gideon held the sheep out for Mabel to come and take it. Mabel took a step closer.

"It's a very nice sheep," Gideon remarked, drawing it back "Reminds me a lot of someone- shy, sweet, soft – he rubbed its fluff gently."

"Gideon, now," Mabel took another step closer.

"Will you go out with me if I do?" Gideon pulled a "cute" face.

"Give him back now!" Mabel screamed at the top of her lungs, "Or I will-" she stopped abruptly.

"I'm sorry," Gideon held out the sheep with a little bow, "I didn't mean-" he was cut short by a knee colliding with his chubby face. Gideon gave a cry and fell over backwards.

"What in-!" Gideon started to shout, but another blow was landed to his stomach.

"I hate you!" Mabel clutched the toy sheep tightly in one hand and kicked the boy over and over in his face and stomach, "Don't talk to me again! Don't ever come to my yard! Don't send me any flowers!"

Gideon cried out and curled up when the beating stopped. "And don't you ever," Mabel pointed her shaking finger at his bruising face, "Touch Dipper. Ever."

Gideon squealed and crawled away, scrambling up onto his legs as he retreated. Mabel's fists remained clenched as she watched him go. The moment he disappeared into the woods, Mabel nearly leaped out of her skin when she heard the screen door closing behind her. Mabel spun around in a flash and her anger was replaced once again with horror when she saw a dumfounded Soos and Stan gaping at her from the porch.