Mabel was having a hard time sleeping after the worst of the exhaustion from being part of the Zodiac wore off.

Of course, nobody else in the Mystery Shack-and probably the whole town-was getting a good night's rest either, thanks to the effects of good ol' PTSD.

Just last night Grunkle Stan had woken everyone up when he started screaming like he was being murdered, and Grunkle Ford had literally smashed his door down, ready to blow a nonexistent intruder to smithereens. Instead, it turned out that Grunkle Stan had been having a nightmare of some kind. He hadn't told any of them what it was about, but the kids could guess that it had to do with some of the stuff Bill had done to him, so they'd just crawled into the bed and curled up on either side of him, and Ford had sat down in a chair nearby until they all fell asleep.

But on this particular night, the reason why Mabel was having trouble sleeping was because her mind was too full of thoughts.

She'd finally remembered that her and Dipper's birthday was in three days.

At first she'd felt a small burst of delight and excitement at the reminder that they were almost thirteen-until she remembered, well, everything that had happened the last time she'd thought about their birthday.

How everything was going to change.

How her freaking out over all that change had led to her getting upset with Dipper.

How that in turn had led to-

A steadily growing knot formed in Mabel's tummy, and she felt a wave of heat crawl up her spine.

The spacious attic suddenly felt too small, and she couldn't breathe properly.

As quietly as she could manage, so that she wouldn't disturb Dipper or Waddles, she crawled out of bed and crept to the door, and then tiptoed downstairs.


She'd thought about it a little bit during Weirdmageddon, but they'd had the threat of Bill to worry about, and then needed to take care of Grunkle Stan, and then she'd been overjoyed to see him and Grunkle Ford starting to make up, and that had been enough to distract her from remembering what she'd done.

But now, with the end of summer approaching, there was nothing holding it back.

Mabel didn't really have a plan besides trying to drown the awful feeling in chocolate, if there was any available.

Instead, as she began frantically rummaging around in the fridge, she suddenly heard a familiar deep voice speak her name, and spun around to see Grunkle Ford standing in the doorway.

The sick feeling in her tummy rose with a vengeance, and this time it was accompanied by a tight squeezing sensation in her throat. Thanks to her, the terrible thing he'd been trying to stop from happening had happened, and Grunkle Stan had paid for it-

"Mabel, what's the matter?!" Grunkle Ford slowly stepped into the kitchen, kneeling down in front of her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Did you have a nightmare?"

She didn't want to tell him. More than anything she wanted to lie and say that was all it was, just a nightmare, and maybe he'd get her some warm milk or something and then walk her back upstairs to bed and that would be the end of it.

...Except it wouldn't, not really.

And there had been enough lies and secrets in their family for one lifetime.

So what came out instead, in a strangled whisper, was, "I gave him the rift."


Grunkle Ford froze, and his touch immediately left her shoulder.

Mabel couldn't look him in the eyes; she just stared at the front of the flannel pajama shirt that Stan had dug out of the closet for him, and went on hoarsely, "I-he was possessing Blendin, and he promised he'd make summer last as long as I wanted if I got it for him, so-so I wouldn't have to watch everything change just yet. I didn't know he was Bill, but I gave it to him and then he smashed it and then Weirdmageddon happened and I was so happy staying in my stupid bubble that I didn't care about what was happening to anyone else I ruined everything!"

By the end she was wailing, and had backed up until she was pressed against the fridge, pulling the collar of her pajama shirt up so she could start hiding her face in it as the closest thing she had right now to Sweater Town.

She knew how Grunkle Ford responded to people making mistakes and wrecking his stuff, he was never ever ever going to forgive her for this, and Dipper probably wouldn't either if he told him, not that she deserved it because she was horrible and selfish and any second her grunkle would start-

-hugging her?

In one swift motion Grunkle Ford had suddenly gathered her into his arms, squeezing her really tight and rubbing her back in little circles with one hand.

Mabel was confused...but she made it a point to never turn down a free hug, so she burrowed into his touch, even as she felt herself heaving with sobs and getting tears and snot all over his shirt.

"Ssh…" Ford soothed, and scooted until he was sitting cross-legged and she was curled up in his lap, "take a deep breath, Mabel."

She obeyed as best she could.


Grunkle Ford didn't try to rush her or show any sign of impatience; he just waited until she was reduced to soft, miserable sniffles, and then gently pushed her back and lifted her chin.

"Remember earlier, when you told me that it wasn't my fault Bill tricked and manipulated me?"

Mabel nodded hesitantly.

"Don't you think the same rule applies to you?"

She sniffled. "But if I hadn't-"

"If I had trusted you enough to tell you about the rift, instead of keeping it a secret from everyone but Dipper, then you would have known better. You made a mistake, yes, but you had no idea what kind of consequences it would have. And it was not your fault that Bill is-was a manipulative monster." He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Do you understand?"

After a second Mabel nodded.

Grunkle Ford wrapped his arm around her again, and one of his big hands rubbed her shoulder.

Another nudge of guilty conscience prompted Mabel to whisper, "I'm sorry I put you in the stocks-pillory. And...for everything I said to you in Mabeland. And for trying to banish you."

His chest rumbled with soft laughter. "It's not often that you hear an apology for something like that."

Despite herself, Mabel couldn't help giggling along.

Then Grunkle Ford said, more seriously, "Thank you for telling me what happened, Mabel. And for apologizing. I'm sorry for not putting more trust in you, so perhaps we could have prevented it." He let out a small sigh. "...I've learned the hard way that my constant refusal to put more trust in other people leads to ever more climactic disasters."

Mabel wrapped her arms around him as far as she could reach. "Guess we all gotta learn how to stop being stupid."

Grunkle Ford laughed again.


After a second, Mabel swallowed and whispered, "...If Dipper decides to stay with you...make sure he's happy here. Cuz he's gonna bleed himself dry to please you if you let him, and that's not good for him. Make sure he takes care of himself, and does stuff cuz he wants to, not just cuz he wants to impress you. Okay?"

There was a long pause, before Ford answered, in a very subdued voice, "...Okay."


Thought it was high time for some Mabel-and-Ford bonding. And some Mabel-apologizing.