Ok, a few announcements (PLEASE READ)
1. I'm not really sure what I should mark as a trigger warning lol. I'm no longer going to put a trigger warning in front of scars.
2. I'm not easily triggered, so if I don't put up a trigger warning where you think I should, let me know!
3. I've updated the rating of this fic to teen! So I'm going to be putting up less warning in general.
4. I'm going to try next chapter in first person perspective. OwO
(Steven's perspective.)
Steven stepped out of the bathroom in fresh pyjama bottoms. His hair was still damp and stuck to his forehead.
"Hey Steven," Mabel was halfway up the stairs before pattering back down, "I have a question." Steven slicked his hair back onto his head with his fingers.
"Yeah?"
"When you were…" She stumbled over her words, "Uhm-"
"When I was fused with Bill?" Steven offered to make her less uncomfortable.
"Yes, uhm," Mabel looked away, fidgeting with her left foot, "He said that you saved the whole universe or something… What does that mean?" Steven's eyes widened. He didn't remember anything about being fused, only the feeling of power and wholeness.
"That's a story for another day. It would take too long to explain." He smiled down at Mabel. She nodded understandingly.
"Ok. Good night Steven!" She smiled and went upstairs. Steven walked into the breakroom. I'm not sure if I should call it the breakroom or my room. He flopped onto the futon that he had folded out as a bed.
He couldn't sleep and instead thought about what Mabel had said. What had Still told them? How much did they know? Then he thought about Still. Just the feeling of power. Not strength per say, but mentally. He had felt whole, but that was just because Bill was keeping up his end of the deal. He remembered feeling carefree, like he was a kid again. He tried to shake the feelings and thoughts from his head and settled into a light sleep.
When Steven woke up he wandered into the kitchen sleepily. Only Dipper was awake and he was pouring milk into his cereal.
"Hey Dipper." Steven opened the cupboard to grab a bowl. I wish I could make a smoothie, but I don't think they have spinach here.
"Oh, hi Steven." Dipper was staring down at a sketchbook cover.
"I have one more question for you that I didn't ask last night." Steven poured Cheerios into a bowl.
"Huh?" Dipper looked up.
"Is Dipper your real name?"
"Oh, uh no."
"What is it?"
"Mason. I really hate being called that name though. I'm too used to Dipper."
"How'd you get 'Dipper?" Steven took a bite of cereal.
"This birthmark on my head." Dipper lifted his hair to show off his little dipper shaped birthmark.
"Cool!" Steven said, making Dipper beam.
"Yeah?" Dipper turned to his cereal and wrinkled his nose, it had turned soggy. But he ate it anyway, finishing the rest quickly.
"Anyway, is that your sketchbook?"
"Sorta. It's my research journal." Dipper got up and put his bowl in the sink, "I want to put a design on the cover, but I'm not sure what." Steven looked at the book and thought for a moment.
"What about your birthmark?" Steven suggested and saw Dippers eyes light up. Mabel rushed into the room. She had been awake for a long time and had already eaten.
"How are you guys not ready!? Wendy's gonna be here to pick us up in 15 minutes!?" Mabel was wearing a swimsuit and high waisted shorts. She had a pair of pink, heart shaped sunglasses sitting on top of her head and sparkly clips in her hair that was drawn up in a ponytail.
"Alright I'll go get ready." Steven stood up, "It's a good thing I brought trunks with me." He laughed and went back to the break room.
Wendy
Wendy honked the horn in her dad's truck and waited for the twin's and Steven to come out of the house. She wasn't supposed to be driving, but this was Gravity Falls. I'm a better driver than most people in Gravity Falls.. She reasoned with herself.
She honked her horn again a couple minutes later and Mabel and Dipper came out of the house. Mabel was looking as fashionable as ever, with a towel slung over her shoulder, and Dipper was wearing dark green trunks and a light grey shirt.
"Where's Steven?"
"Getting ready, he'll be out in a minute." Mabel crawled into the back seat.
"Great. Soos is getting his boat ready, so he'll swing by the beach and pick us up later." Wendy was about to honk again when Steven stepped out onto the porch. He was saying something into the house and waving. He was wearing striped pink trunks and a light blue shirt with a star on it. The shirt was tied up right above the gem embedded in his stomach. A pair of brown ombre sunglasses sat low on his nose.
"Sorry it took me so long!" Steven laughed and got into the front seat, "Stan wanted to know who was honking." Steven's face was flushed a soft pink and he rubbed the back of his neck.
"No worries man." Wendy turned around in the parking lot. Truth be told, she had been driving since she was 13, so she was a good driver. She was 16 now, so really she just had to wait until her test appointment. She turned on the radio and one of Sadie Killer's songs was playing; "Disobedient". I love this song!
"Steven, did you ever get to meet the band?" Mabel leaned towards the front seat, "Cause you're from the same town and all." Steven laughed again.
"Yeah. I was kind of in the band for a little while when I was a kid. And my dad is their tour manager." Steven said cooly.
"WHAT!? You knew them!?" Wendy tried to focus on the road but kept looking at Steven, excitement bubbling inside her stomach.
"Yeah. Sadie worked at the Big Donut by my house. Buck is our old mayor's son, Sour Cream's family is close to mine, and Jenny's family owns the pizza shop on the boardwalk. Oh and her grandma is the mayor now."
"So you were close to them growing up?" Dipper smiled at Mabel and back at Steven.
"Yeah," He chuckled awkwardly, "At first it was just Jenny, Buck, Sour Cream, and I. But we convinced Sadie to join."
"Did she not want to join at first?" Wendy pulled into the beach parking lot.
"No. She was too stressed from picking up all the shifts at work." They stepped out of the car and started walking towards the beach. Mabel immediately threw her towel on the ground and took her shorts off. She bolted towards the water and dove in.
"The water is perfect!" She shouted. Dipper cautiously stepped towards the water and dipped a toe in.
"It's a little chilly." Dipper said, stepping out a couple more feet. Mabel rushed towards him and grabbed his arm, yanking him in. "Ack! Mabel!" Dipper squawked.
Wendy splashed into the lake. A slight shiver ran up her spine as she submerged herself into the water. She glanced over at Steven who was on shore, away from the lake. He set his towel down and pulled his shirt over his head.
Wendy felt another, different, shiver run down her back. His whole back was covered in huge, gashing scars. One long mark ran from the base of his spine all the way up his neck. Most of them looked healed, except for the largest one, that still looked pink and raw.
Wendy looked back at the Twins. Only Dipper had noticed, and his eyes were wide. What could have caused that? Wendy looked away and shook the thought from her head. It's none of my business.
Steven walked into the water and smiled.
"Lake water is way warmer than ocean water!" He said before submerging himself all the way in the water. He splashed back up to the surface, water dripping down his face.
Dipper inhaled like he was about to say something, but started choking on lake water.
"What?" Mabel slapped his back and he pointed towards the other side of the shore.
"Who's that?" Steven asked Wendy, and she spotted a familiar blonde talking with a group of girls on the beach. She was laughing, but not her normal (frankly psychotic) laugh. She turned towards them and smiled.
Pacifica said something to her friends, who nodded and continued talking as she jogged over.
"You guys are back!" she stood on shore, the waves lapping at her feet. Mabel rushed to shore and gave Pacifica a flying hug.
"What are you doing here? I thought you only swam in private pools and man made ponds?" Mabel snickered.
"Well, my friends and I have been coming here a bit. It's fun." She smiled honestly.
"Hey, Pacifica." Dipper coughed once more and sat down in the water, a couple feet from shore.
"Are you ok?" Pacifica laughed and turned to Steven, "Oh, you must be new here?" Wendy had noticed Pacifica in more public places recently. The clothes she had been wearing were still posh, but slightly more modest. And she had been nicer.
"Yeah, he's staying at the mystery shack with us! He crashed his car." Mabel explained. Steven's face was just above the water and he raised his hand up to wave.
"Steven Universe, nice to meet you." He looked over at Wendy and raised an eyebrow.
"Pacifica Northwest." She turned back to Mabel, "I was hoping you guys would come back this year! But I wasn't sure."
"You should come over soon!" Mabel squealed, "If you're ok with being seen at the shack."
"Yeah totally!" Pacifica looked back to her friends, "I gotta go, but I'll see you around! Bye!" She trotted back to the other side of the beach.
"Woah, she's changed." Dipper said flatly. His face was a little red.
"Who is she?" Steven swam closer.
"Well she was a total bit-" Wendy started, but Mabel cut her off.
"HEY! Use nicer words!"
"Ok, she was a piece of work. And her family was the richest in town. They still are, but just less rich." Wendy shrugged. Before anything else could be explained, they heard Soos shout from his boat. He was pulling it up towards the dock, so they ran on shore to grab their stuff.
Time for some monster hunting!
:) Hoped you liked this chapter! I love hearing what you guys have to say! (And honestly I'm just winging this, so I love suggestions)