I didn't update this fic in two years- oops!
I wasn't gonna mention the multiverse in this chapter but I also don't know how many times I'm gonna update this again so I thought- what the hell, we'll get into the multiverse. If you're wondering if I'm gonna feel bad about leaving this chapter on a cliffhanger of sorts the answer is no. I mean c'mon, I didn't update this fic for TWO YEARS. At this point in my fanfiction "career", the only thing I care about is doing what I enjoy. I probably will write at least one more chapter for this fic eventually, we'll see where it goes!
And also Holiday-themed challenges! Which is why I will also be coming out with a Gap Year Halloween one-shot on Friday the 29th. So uh, if you're reading this, which I doubt, go read that one.
Lilo resented being injured. It didn't even hurt that much, but Mr. Corduroy insisted that she stay in the house during the recovery period, and Wendy and Marcus took turns doting on her, okay more like smothering her. And she couldn't get any research done.
Of course, as with most things, it was her own fault she was in this situation. But that was irrelevant! Kind of. She hadn't told Nani about getting hurt because she didn't want her to worry needlessly. It didn't take much to make Nani worried. She hadn't talked to Nani in a while because of her ankle. She didn't want to lie, she'd kind of grown out of that kind of thing. She preferred to hide truths. Like how she was hiding her injury from Nani, and like how she was hiding her feelings from Marcus. Those were different though because she hid truths from Marcus because she didn't understand those truths herself.
Still, he was so nice, the way he worried about her while she was recovering. It was almost infuriating, how much he doted on her when all she wanted to do was be out there dealing with the multiversal concepts she thought she was too scared to handle. Now she'd choose scared over bored. But he knew, at least, that she wasn't happy cooped up inside. He'd sit and sketch with her, to distract them both from reality. To make house arrest a little bit more fun. And he'd always promise that she'd be better soon. Lilo was having a really hard time believing it.
She owed a lot to her wardens, though. This family cared about her, took care of her. Well, the older Corduroys did. It seemed like Kevin and Gus couldn't care less. Of course, in Gravity Falls things were rarely what they seemed.
Lilo's perception of Kevin, the middle son, got shook up when the rest of the family left for Gus's basketball game and the teen decided to stay home with their guest.
"Are you my new warden?" Lilo joked when Kevin came and joined her.
"I want to know about the aliens. I know your little thing is an alien and that you went to a spaceship here in town, I hear things. So tell me what you know."
"Oh! Yeah, of course, I can tell you some stuff. Why the sudden interest?
"...I think my mom was abducted by aliens," Kevin said after a few moments of silence.
Lilo's eyes got real wide, "Oh, wow- that's, uh... That's a big theory."
"It's possible, isn't it?" Kevin demanded, looking a little angry as if he half-blamed Lilo for his mother's disappearance.
"It is possible. Not every alien is a good person. There are rules in place, to limit abduction and unsavory interaction with other lifeforms, but there have certainly been mistakes before..."
"My mom disappearing wasn't a mistake. Someone must have taken her- it's the only explanation."
Lilo nodded, taking the younger boy's grief very seriously, "I understand. It's not easy to lose someone. I don't know if aliens are the only option, though."
"What other options are there?"
"Have you ever heard of the multiverse, Kevin?"
"I mean, everyone knows about the multiverse now, kind of. But dad and Mayor Tyler say we're not supposed to talk about it." Kevin studied the ground, kicking it a little.
"Yeah, I mean, it might be easier to pretend that the weird, unexplainable stuff didn't happen. But it did happen, and it provides an explanation for some other stuff that never went addressed."
"So what's the explanation? Do you know what happened to my mom?"
"No, Kevin, I don't know enough about this, yet, but there might be people who do, people who know more about the multiverse, right? That would be a good place to start. Uh... Do you know what Occam's razor is?"
"I'm thirteen. I don't use a razor yet."
"Occam's razor suggests that the simplest explanation is the correct one. And at a cursory glance, it might seem like aliens are the most likely explanation but the aliens here haven't been here for centuries. Yet there's been repeated exposure to multiversal influences for years and years, leading right up to the apocalypse. So, isn't the more likely explanation that your mom got swept up in something to do with the multiverse?"
Kevin bit his lip.
"No wonder dad doesn't want to talk about the multiverse."
"Well, that's just one theory! We'd need more information, right?"
"...Right. Thank you. I'm going to do some of my own research." Kevin stood hastily and then disappeared, and Lilo didn't think much more of it, scrolling through her phone and looking at photos of her niece and nephew. Missing someone like that drove you just plain crazy...
A while later, the door opened abruptly and Wendy came in, looking angrier than Lilo had ever seen her.
"Why'd you tell him that?"
"What? Who?" Briefly, Lilo thought about the feelings she'd left unaddressed between herself and Marcus and worried that that was coming back to bite her.
"Kevin! Why'd you tell him all that bullcrap about the multiverse?"
"It's not bullcrap you told me yourself that the multiverse is real."
"Yeah- I know- but! But you can't tell him that."
"But he knows the multiverse is real. Because of the apocalypse."
Wendy let out a sigh of frustration and glanced around. Her eyes landed on Lilo's phone.
"You wouldn't want anything happening to your niece and nephew, right?"
"Right... Wendy, are you threatening my family? How would you even get to them?"
"I'm not threatening your family, I'm trying to put this in a way you'd understand. Kevin is my family. He's my little brother and I care about him, I care about all of my brothers more than anything else in the world. I don't want Kevin getting hurt on some wild goose chase."
"I'm sorry, Wendy, I should have thought about it like that. I didn't mean to fill his head with dangerous ideas. Just remember that your brother is smarter and tougher than you think."
"I know he's smart, I know he's tough. But he's still a kid, he's still vulnerable. I don't want him getting hurt when he figures out that mom's never coming back. This isn't some big mystery, Lilo, it's our life. She left, without a good reason, and now it's just us. Case closed."
"I'm really sorry, Wendy. If you want, I can talk to him again-"
"No, no, I'll do it. I'll just make sure he doesn't do anything crazy."
"It's not just you, though. A lot of people love you and your family. Don't forget that."
Wendy let out a little sigh.
"Yeah... Thank you. I'll see you later, Lilo. I need some time to myself before I talk to Kevin."
"Later. I really am sorry."
When the door closed Lilo picked up her phone and dialed Nani's number. She cared too much about her little ohana to leave Nani in the dark. Sometimes ohana was more important than chasing the next mystery to some faraway shore. Maybe it was time she visited home.