Hiya folks. Just a fair warning that this fic contains ample Pinecest. If that isn't your cup of tea, then this ain't the fic for you.

I don't own anything, yadda yadda.

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Chapter 1: Damaged Individuals

On a lonely highway cutting through the forests of Oregon, a beat-up blue sedan drives sits on the shoulder of the road. Inside it sits a young man, staring intently at the steering wheel, only occasionally sparing concerned glances to his passenger. "Mabel? Are you sure you'll be okay? It's not that far to the next rest stop, we can get you some Pepto or something." He offers.

The girl finishes another retch, happily surprised that nothing came up that time, before quickly sitting up. She turns back around, giving a brilliant smile to the driver of the car. "Don't worry about it Bro-Bro, the Mabel is feeling waaaay better now" she assures him. "We do need to stop at that rest stop though. I threw up all my gummy koalas, I need more."

The young man just sighs, shaking his head with a light chuckle. "Alright Mabel, whatever you say." He replies, meaning it too. Whatever she said, he would happily do for her, no matter what.

Dipper and Mabel Pines were twins, and best friends on top of that. They had recently celebrated their 21st birthday, and were traveling from their "home" in Piedmont, California, to the place that the duo considered their true home: Gravity Falls, Oregon. However, the two were more than simple twins. They were best friends, partners in countless adventures, and, as of four years ago, madly in love with each other.

The events which concluded their first summer in Gravity Falls, which the inhabitants of the area referred to only as "Weirdmageddon" had left an impact on the twins. The nightmares they endured left trauma that even a seasoned therapist would scratch their head at. Dipper and Mabel both suffered from night terrors for years after their experiences with the entity known as Bill Cipher. However, that all changed one night roughly four and a half years ago.

The nightmares had been especially bad that night, and after an hour of tossing and turning Dipper shot awake in a cold sweat. Feeling the beginning of a panic attack, he silently stepped out of his room and into the hallway of their family house in Piedmont. He crossed the hall, and lightly tapped a knock on Mabel's door. A moment later, he heard a quiet, groggy voice reply "Come in." He steped inside quietly, hair still a mess and breathing all over the place.

"Dipper? What's going on?" The concerned voice of his sister asked quietly as she quickly climbed out of bed. She crosses the room to get a better look at him in the dark.

"I dreamt about… him again, they've been really bad lately, sometimes I wake up and for a second I feel like he's still here, watching me." Dipper rambles.

"Bill huh? He's gone Dip, we made sure of that last summer, even smashed that statue Soos found in the woods." She reassured him. However, a nervous look betrayed her courage. "I have nightmares about it too, sometimes I dream that I'm back in Mabeland, and all I can see is how twisted it all was."

Dipper looked up at her for the first time since he'd entered the room. They rarely discussed how Weirdmageddon had really affected them, it was easier to just ignore it, pretend they had moved past it. Suddenly, he was caught by surprise as Mabel pulled him into a sudden hug. "C'mere Bro-Bro" she said, laying back down in bed and patting the spot next to her. Dipper slipped under the covers next to her, and that night they held each other close and told each other everything, everything they were scared of, or that they wished they couldn't remember. They didn't know it at the time, but that night would mark the start of something brand new for the two of them.

Night after night, they'd repeat their newfound little ritual, one of them sneaking across the hall to visit the other, holding each other close and sharing the secrets they couldn't tell anyone else. It was only after the second week of this that Dipper realized something. He hadn't had a nightmare since they started. He could finally talk to someone who really understood it, and who really understood him, and she was right across the hall. And so, one night, while they were sharing thoughts and secrets, he shared one that he both desperately wanted to tell her, and was unbelievably afraid to.

"Hey Mabel?" He'd asked.

"Yeah Dip?" She'd replied.

"I think" He gulped "I think I might be in love with you."

They were silent the rest of the night, and it was only the following night, when Mabel slipped into his room that he got his answer.

"Dipper, I think I might be in love with you too."

That night they shared their first real kiss, and Mabel immediately fled, hot faced and embarrassed back to her room. But the next night she was back, and they finally got to properly talk about how they felt about each other.

Over four years, their relationship had only grown. They'd successfully avoided their parents finding out about their romance until they turned 19, and when they finally decided to drop the bomb it… didn't come at much of a surprise. Their parents had their suspicions, but they could tell that whatever the twins had for each other, it wasn't just teenage hormones. Regardless, they weren't very happy with the situation, but did nothing to break the happy couple up.

Dipper and Mabel Pines were damaged individuals, but they made each other whole again, in a way nobody else could.

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Well folks, that was the first chapter, mostly just to set the stage for Mabel and Dipper's relationship, and introduce a few of the themes that will be in this fic.

Don't forget to RR, Astranamay out!