There was a knock at the door. Lilo had absolutely no concept of time after the time change, but it felt early, and she felt out of it. She rose from the dusty mattress with some grogginess and opened the door to see Marcus all dressed and ready to go.

"Good morning." It didn't feel very good.

"What time is it?"

"Seven. I wanted to give you time to get ready before we left. There's a shower in the house, water should still be warm my siblings aren't awake yet."

"Oh, thanks." Lilo grabbed some clothes to change into and showered, still not loving being up so early. Wendy was into the shower as soon as Lilo was out and dressed, the younger girl frantically ranting about being late for school.

Lilo caught Marcus physically dragging his little brothers out of bed and scolding that it was their own fault they didn't wake up sooner. Kevin shot back that no one could wake up as early as Marcus, while Gus proposed that Marcus was a vampire that didn't sleep. The sibling bickering just made Lilo homesick. Marcus and his brothers reminded her of Nani, and the whole thing made her miss her niece and nephew, Lokelani and Kekoa. Those two little brats... Ugh. She fiddled with the hem of her tank top and pretended that her eyes hadn't watered up a little.

"Are you ready to go? Or shoot, I should offer you breakfast... I think we have some crisped rice..."

"Thanks." Lilo had to admit that Marcus was trying really hard to be a good host. It was sweet. They ate bowls of cereal together, the house nearly collapsing in the rush to get everyone to school.

"Wendy thought she could sleep in because I was home. It's usually her job to yell at Thing 1 and Thing 2 to get ready for school, but she overslept," Marcus explained, a cereal bit stuck in his stubbly mustache. Without thinking, Lilo reached over and wiped it away.

"My sister used to have to scream at me to get me into the school bus," Lilo recalled, not noticing Marcus's blush as she finished breakfast.

"I think you're really going to like Gravity Falls." Marcus blurted, looking Lilo over.

"I mean, it's not Hawaii, but it's nice here..."

"I'm sure I will like it here. I'm excited to see it."

"Well, then, let's go. The whole world is waiting." Marcus stood, knocking his chair over.

"Whoops..." Lilo laughed and stood too, putting her bowl and his in the sink and running some water in them.

"I'll wash those when we get back, I heard the world was waiting." Marcus laughed as well and beckoned her to follow him out into Gravity Falls. He was wearing a black army jacket and a red flannel shirt, with jeans and combat boots and his signature beanie to complete the look. Lilo wore sneakers, jeans, and a tank top with an obscure band on it, and Stitch following along. They started along the path through the woods, headed into town.

"It really is beautiful here..." Lilo commented, glancing around at the thick forest. She was once again reminded of home, and she shivered a little, from cold or melancholy.

"We've lived here my whole life," Marcus commented, pushing his hair up to get a better look at her.

"That's how Kauai is for me. But we traveled a lot. Visited the states."

"I've never traveled out of Oregon," Marcus confessed, looking around.

"Do you want to?"

"I suppose. I love it here. I know it's my place to stay and work with dad. And it's the other three's place to go to college and maybe get out of this town."

"That's... Bleak." Lilo muttered.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bum you out. It's just how things go."

"Why didn't you go to college?"

"Why didn't you?"

"Touche."

"If you really want to know, well Wendy put it best yesterday. I'm dense. I couldn't get into the colleges I applied to. I tested too low and they didn't want me. But I have a job, and I'm happy here. Maybe one day I'll make enough money to do something else, but until then, I'm happy here hauling wood."

"Say you make that money, say you make a million dollars hauling wood, what do you do then? Where do you go?"

"That's a lot to think about at 8 in the morning."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who came knocking at seven."

"What was the word? Toupee?"

"Touche."

"First thing I do with a million dollars is let the government tax away half of it. Then I make sure my brothers and sister are set for college. Then..."

"Then?" She saw Marcus pull his hat off, the first time she'd seen him without a hat. He ran his hands through his shaggy red hair, and she saw the look of despair and concentration in his eyes as he pushed his hair away and thought.

"I didn't mean to upset you, you don't have to answer if you don't want..."

"What would you do, if you could do anything?" He asked, still mulling over her question.

"I'd do what I'm doing right now, I'd travel and research and photograph the unusual. Except I'd make time for lots of breaks so that I could go home and be with my family." He nodded.

"That's a good plan."

"So, what about you? If you want to answer."

"I like painting." Marcus finally said, putting his hat back on.

"Painting and sketching and no one really knows that. Except you, now." He looked nervous like he was waiting for the backfire.

"Hey, I like art too. And with a place like this, how could you not be inspired to draw?" Lilo offered him a smile, looking around. He broke out into a grin.

"Yeah... It's perfect here. Here, I'll show you my favorite place to draw. Dad doesn't know that I'm an artist, neither do my siblings. But when I get a chance, I come here." He leads her off the path to the town and into a little area shaded by trees. The sun peeps down through a few branches but isn't enough to warm the shady area. There are a few flowers sprinkled around, but the part that draws Marcus is the fact that it's private and safe. He looked around, then looked at her looking around, seeing her shoulders shiver as she took in his oasis.

"Hey, take my jacket. It's chilly in September." He shrugged off his jacket and watched her slip it over her shivering arms. The black jacket contrasted with her colorful band top and he saved that image in his mind, so he could draw it for her later.

"Some time, we've got to come back here and draw." He decided.

"But right now, there's still so much more to see." He held out his hand for her and led her back to the path.

"The world is waiting..." Lilo joked.

The rest of the tour will continue next chapter! Hope you like my characterization of Marcus!