take care, take care, take care
It's about ten in the morning and the house is in a state of total chaos. Mabel is frantically piling things on her bed, ostensibly in an attempt to separate what she's taking with her and what she's leaving behind; as is usually the case, she's having a hard time with the 'separate' part of things. She has so much useful and awesome stuff! She can't go to Gravity Falls without her glue gun or her stickers or her Bezazzler (which is broken, but the memories).
Dipper runs into Mabel's room, hat askew and face flushed. "Mabel, have you seen Wendy's hat?"
"It's on top of your desk," she tells him as she digs through her closet in pursuit of her hidden scrapbook from last summer.
"No, it's not! I looked in my closet and under my bed. You didn't take it, did you?"
"I wouldn't take your hat, bro," she says, finally hauling the heavy pink book out from under some older scrapbooks. "I bet it fell behind your desk."
His face lights up. "Oh, yeah!" He disappears back into the hall.
Mabel goes to her door and looks out into the hallway for a moment, checking to make sure Mom and Dad are both downstairs. She knows she needs to keep packing, but she can't quite resist the siren song of nostalgia and her parents don't need to see some of the things in the Gravity Falls scrapbook. The world just isn't ready to learn about Weirdmageddon and she's going to follow Grunkle Ford's lead until he says otherwise. Still, she feels the familiar pull of guilt.
Mabel isn't sure if she is agreeing with Grunkle Ford because he really does know best or if it's just that much easier. She can't lose her summers in Gravity Falls. She just can't.
But if her parents still don't know by the time she turns eighteen, she'll tell them. Heck, by then maybe the entire world will know!
She's gazing fondly at the macaroni interpretation of her first day emotions when she hears someone in the hall and quickly stuffs the scrapbook under the clothing in her suitcase. Fortunately, it's just Pacifica. She's looking very trendy in a white and teal summer ensemble. She's dressed like she's going to play tennis at a resort, not ride in a smelly bus for six hours.
"You're not really bringing all of that," she says, less a question than a statement.
"But I have so many new sweaters!" Mabel protests, gathering up an armful of them and hugging them protectively to her chest.
"The bus has limited carry-ons. I checked," Pacifica says with a sniff, her tone implying that, were it up to her, she'd be traveling in something more private and carry-on unlimited.
But Mabel's parents aren't made of money. Of course, now neither is Pacifica. "The bus isn't so bad," Mabel says. "We can play Name That Stain!"
The look on Pacifica's face speaks volumes. "I'm flying to Portland," she says, turning on her heel.
"You'll still have to ride a bus from Portland!" Mabel shouts after her. "You won't like a bus ride without me! Every bus ride needs a Mabel!"
Mabel turns back to her pile of sweaters, knowing she has to pick and choose but also knowing she has too many favorites. This isn't actually her biggest worry at the moment; she's simply choosing not to think about the other one. She's dead set on taking Waddles back to Gravity Falls despite repeated reminders from her parents that animals aren't allowed on the bus, and this time she won't have her grunkles to threaten the bus driver. She's hoping sheer force of personality will suffice, but she doesn't know what she'll do if it won't.
Wendy's old hat must not have been behind Dipper's desk, because Mabel can hear him talking about it with Pacifica in the hall. "Pacifica, have you seen my hat?" he asks.
"Um, yeah. You're wearing it," she says.
"No, my other hat, the one Wendy gave me. You know, the lumberjack-type one?"
"Are you saying I took it?" Pacifica says sharply. Mabel pauses in her packing, anticipating some minor drama at the mention of Wendy.
"You didn't, did you?" Dipper says like a complete idiot.
"Why would I even want your stupid lumberdork hat?" Pacifica snaps at him.
"I was just asking…"
"I haven't seen it," Pacifica says brusquely, and Mabel can hear footsteps going down the stairs.
"I was just asking!" Dipper repeats with exasperation.
Oh, poor Dippingsauce. Will he ever get a clue? Lucky for him, his sister is a certified love expert. Time to work some magic and smooth things over.
"Kids! You got forty-five minutes or you're not going!" Mom yells up the stairs.
Whoops. Mabel will have to work her magic quickly. She runs out of her room and down the stairs; the thumping of her feet draws Mom's attention.
"Mabel, you had better be packing up those sweaters," Mom calls after her as she runs past.
"I totally am!" Mabel replies as she heads for Pacifica's room.
Pacifica is sitting on the edge of her bed, flanked by two neatly packed suitcases. "Is it time to go?" she asks when Mabel comes in.
Mabel doesn't have time to be anything but direct. "You know Wendy is just Dipper's friend, right?"
Pacifica crosses her arms. "Yeah, whatever. I know."
"Really, though. She gave him that hat after she turned him down. It's a friendship hat!" Mabel stresses.
Pacifica rolls her eyes. "Okay, I get it. Are we going or not?"
"Just making sure it's smooth sailing for the SS Padippica! HONK HONK!" Mabel intones in what she thinks is a pretty great impression of a foghorn. "She's a grand old ship!"
"You are so weird sometimes I don't even know what to say to you."
"How about, 'you're the best, Mabel!' Or, 'thanks for helping out, Mabel,' or, 'I can't wait until we're sisters-in-law, Mabel!'"
"As if!" Pacifica retorts, but they're both laughing.
Mabel is distracted by a sudden ring from the doorbell. "I'll get it!" she shouts.
She goes to the front door and opens it, only to be confronted by a dark green mass that blots out her vision. It takes her a second to look up and realize it's Soos.
"Soos!" she exclaims, delighted.
"'Sup, hambone?" he says as if he shows up on her porch all the time. He extends one fist and Mabel is quick to pound it.
"Ker-plow!" she exults, dutifully widening her hand in an explosion gesture. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming?!"
"Dude, I tried! I totally texted you and called a couple times, but you didn't answer."
Mabel gasps in realization. "I left my phone downstairs!"
The previous night, she and Dipper had been sending funny texts to make each other laugh during the movie they were watching, since they had both already seen it. Pacifica had not, and it didn't take too long for their constant giggling to tick her off. She had taken their phones from them and tossed the devices onto her bed. By the time the movie ended, the twins had forgotten about it.
Soos shrugs, unperturbed. "No biggie. I figured I'd just get here before you left. Either that, or I'd get into a rad bus chase."
Soos means no more bus ride… which means no more sweater limit!
"Soos, you are the bestest!" Mabel declares, jumping up and swinging with her arms around his neck until he hoists her onto his shoulder.
"Better than a bag of gummy koalas?" he asks with a grin.
"Better than ten bags!" She kicks her heels against his arm and he lumbers into the house, shutting the door behind him.
"Mabel, who are you— oh." Mom stops, eyebrows slightly raised at the sight of Mabel mushing Soos forward. "Mabel don't kick him!"
"It's alright, Mrs. Pines, I'm tougher than I look. I mean, I'd sort of have to be, right?" Soos supposes.
"She still shouldn't play so rough," Mom says with a note of warning. Mabel prudently hops down from her perch.
"Is that Soos?" Dipper yells from upstairs. Pacifica's curious head emerges from her room.
"Pterodactyl Bros in the house!" Soos shouts back, raising his fists in triumph.
Dipper comes thumping down the stairs. "Soos! What's up, man, what are you doing here?" He trades a one-armed hug and a thump on the back with his older friend.
"I came to get you guys, remember? I'm your ride, dude!"
Dipper slaps a hand to his forehead. "Agh, I forgot, my phone is—"
"Here," Pacifica says, approaching to hand it back to him.
Mom stands in the doorway of the kitchen, observing the reunion. "I take it I won't be buying any bus tickets," she says wryly.
"Nope, 'cause Soos is here to save the day," Mabel declares.
She zooms back upstairs, ready to finish packing now that the restrictions have been removed. She crams her haphazard pile of sweaters into a variety of boxes and bags and all the crafting supplies that had been set aside before are brought back into the fold. There's an entire truck bed waiting to be filled!
As she scurries around the room nabbing everything that catches her eye, Mom comes in to check on her progress. "You'd better be sure Soos can bring you back," she says.
"Well, if he couldn't we might have to miss school or something. I mean, who knows, that would be so crazy…" Mabel conjectures.
"Nice try. If you forget anything, good luck convincing Stan to mail it back," Mom says on her way out.
Mabel knows Grunkle Stan is a big ol' softie when it comes to her, so she's not too worried. Still, she's close to packing up most of her belongings when it occurs to her that Gravity Falls has its own memories; she doesn't need to import any. Why bring her own sheets and comforter when she knows she'll just miss the sort of cruddy but familiar ones at the Shack?
Decisions made, she leaves her luggage in the middle of the room and goes across the hall to see how Dipper is faring. He's on his floor, pulling all kinds of junk out from under his bed while Soos looks on.
"Dude, check it," Soos says, holding up an empty Pitt can. He smashes it against his forehead with a hollow thunk, leaving a painful-looking imprint in his skin. The can bends a little, but that's about it. "Ow. Wait, that was actually kind of lame. You got another one of these?"
"You'll have to show me later," Dipper says distractedly. He makes a sound of frustration. "Come on, where is it?"
He must still be searching for Wendy's hat. "Did you check in the laundry room?" Mabel asks. Mom sometimes tires of Dipper's exceedingly slow laundry cycle and just gathers it up for him, hat included if it was on the floor.
"That's gotta be it," Dipper says, and goes to check.
"How 'bout you? You ready to roll?" Soos asks Mabel.
"You ready to move my stuff?" Mabel says, poking him.
"You know it, dude."
They go into her room and each grab a box. "So why isn't Wendy here to help drive?" Mabel wants to know.
"She's working the counter today. I didn't want to leave Melody to do it all while I was getting you dudes, and both Mr. Pines'es are still unpacking all that science stuff."
Mabel feels the pinch of anticipation in her gut. Wendy, both her grunkles, Candy and Grenda—all waiting in Gravity Falls, just six hours away. She's so close to the start of the new summer. She can't pack the truck fast enough. All the work flies by in the face of her excitement.
It isn't that long before everything is snugly stacked and tied down in the truck. She and Soos survey their work with satisfaction.
"Now we have to fit Dipper's stuff in here," Soos remarks.
"And Pacifica's," Mabel reminds him.
"Dude, good thing I've played so much Tetris." Soos wipes at his forehead. "Hey, has Pacifica said anything about the look for this summer? I still have all my w-necks."
Mabel doesn't know if Pacifica even cares about that anymore, but it's not really the time to ask. "We can ask her about it on the trip. Come on, let's make Dipper be faster!"
Dipper isn't in his room, though Mabel notes that Wendy's hat is now on top of his suitcase. Instead she finds him in Pacifica's room, where he is pulling one of her suitcases out into the hall. He's in the middle of relating one of the less discussed adventures from last summer.
"Then we find out that he's some kind of candy gestalt made out of all the loser candy everyone throws away," Dipper explains.
"A candy what?" Pacifica says.
"Gestalt. Like, sort of a collective consciousness. Or, maybe he was more like an elemental, all that rage taking physical form."
"What, you didn't interview it for your book?"
"Pfft, I wouldn't 'interview' it. Maybe I'd ask it a few questions, but that's not… Well, it's sort of… Huh."
"You always try to talk to things that want to kill you."
"There's nothing wrong with a little scientific curiosity," Dipper says sententiously.
Mabel darts into the room and grabs a makeup bag. "Is this it? Are you ready?"
"Be careful with that," Pacifica commands.
Mabel ignores her, scooping up a few more things. "Come on, let's go!" She shoves the items into Dipper's arms and grabs hold of the suitcase. "Dipper, get your stuff!"
"It's still six hours, no matter when we leave," Dipper tells her, but he goes back upstairs with celerity.
With Mabel as a driving force it isn't long before everything is jammed into the truck with unexpected neatness (Soos' Tetris skills really are impeccable). As Soos pulls the bed cover over the luggage, Mabel sprints back inside to make sure she hasn't forgotten anything. Her grappling hook is safely hidden, wrapped in multiple sweaters, and her scrapbooks are stowed under the truck seat. Waddles is standing by the front door, sensing, as pets do, that the commotion is out of the ordinary and could involve him. And now she doesn't have to figure out how to sneak him onto the bus, which is a relief.
Satisfied that her work is done, she pauses to take in the collage of the Shack on her wall before she leaves her room. It's been a welcome collection of memories, but now she's going back to the real thing.
Downstairs, Dipper is saying goodbye to Dad. Mabel waits until he steps away and then jumps forward for her own hug.
"Have a good summer," Dad says. "And tell Uncle Stan and Uncle Ford I still want to come up and visit sometime soon, okay?"
Mabel dutifully promises to tell them, wondering what a trip with Dad would be like. What would he think of Gravity Falls' innate weirdness? There's a part of Mabel that wants to share that with her parents, that's always been true, but she must wonder how well they would take it. Not the weirdness itself so much as the danger that often goes with it.
Someday she'll have to deal with that. Just, not yet.
She lines up at the door with Dipper when Mom comes in for her goodbye. Mom hugs Dipper and plants a kiss on the side of his forehead. He shuffles his feet in minor embarrassment but knows better than to protest. "Don't grow up too much without me this summer, alright?" she tells him. "And have fun. But not too much fun," she adds with a pointed finger. "Don't think you and Pacifica can get away with anything just because I'm not there. I already talked to your great-uncles."
Dipper tugs his hat down to cover his face. "Oh, come on…"
"Hey, I'm just telling you how it is. Do you hear me, Pacifica?"
"Yes, Mrs. Pines," Pacifica says, cheeks pinked.
"Good." Mom turns her attention back to Dipper. "Try not to outgrow all your clothes and call us if you need anything. And," she says, tilting his chin back up with her hand, "I'm proud of you. Don't you know that?"
"Yeah, Mom," Dipper says with awkward earnestness.
Mom turns to Mabel. "Have a good time, sweetheart," she says, gathering Mabel close for a hug. "How about you write me a little more this time, hmm?"
Mabel accepts the mild admonishment. Last summer had been so crazy she hadn't devoted much time to her letters (and lost a very important one due to Weirdmageddon, but Mom doesn't need to know that). She can do better this time, so Mom and Dad don't have to worry. "I'll write you every day!" she says.
"Sure you will," Mom says wryly. "How about we try for a couple times a month?"
"Once a week," Mabel haggles.
"If you're not busy," Mom says, kissing Mabel's cheek. "Which you will be. And I'm very proud of you."
Mabel hugs Mom with every ounce of love and energy she has (which is considerable).
Mom pats her on the back and gently disengages. "Have fun and stay safe." Then, she turns again and wraps her arms around Pacifica, who goes still with surprise. "You too, honey. Have fun and I'll miss you," Mom says. Then she says more quietly, near Pacifica's ear, "I'm so proud of you, too."
Pacifica stiffly returns the hug without much obvious emotion, but her eyes are suspiciously shiny.
Mabel hears sniffling behind her. She looks over her shoulder to see Soos standing just outside the screen door, hat in hand and tears in his eyes. "Oh, man. I'm tearing up, dude," he says thickly. "This is hitting me right in the feels."
Half an hour later and they're in the truck, racing up the highway. Mabel folds her legs on the seat and leans forward as if that will get her there faster. She jokes with Soos and shouts things to Dipper and Pacifica in the backseat and the miles turn beneath the wheels.
She's almost home.