While the twins debated some sort of game they could play, Norman went off to find Greg and ask him if he had any games. Wybie and Coraline were in the upstairs bathroom, Wybie sitting on the toilet with Coraline sitting on the tub tending to his skinned knuckles.

"At least they stopped bleeding," she whispered to herself, wincing when Wybie would twitch with pain. "I'm so sorry Wy, I shouldn't have drug you out there. It's all my fault this happened."

"Don't worry about it. Did you call her back?" Wybie asked, eyes focused on Coraline's sad expression.

"Not yet," Coraline admitted. "Too worried about you. I'll call her when I'm done. That foreboding was probably a self-fufilled prophecy, I should know better, with all those times you made me watch The Matrix."

"Cor, you couldn't have known. You were trying to protect my grandmother, and me too. You were looking out for your own, no one can fault you for that."

"You could have died if it wasn't for-"

"Coraline," Wybie stated, stopping her in her tracks. Ne never really called her that anymore, just Cor. "Don't think about what could have happened, I'm right here."

Coraline sighed, trying not to get upset, reached to grab the bandages. "I know."

"Hey," Wybie smiled sweetly, "How about a kiss for the guy that kicked the Beast's butt?"

"Alright, Spooky, c'mere." She smiled, using her hands to hold each side of his face and give him a peck on the lips. "My hero."

He embraced her tightly, kissing her head, "I will love you forever, Coraline."

"Ah jeez, Cheesemiester, let go so I can bandage you up." Coraline wrenched herself away, blushing as she started wrapping his hand.

Wybie blushed too, smiling and pleased with himself, he enjoyed being the only person who could calm her down. It made him feel needed, wanted, and the fact it was Coraline was all that really mattered to him.

After a bit, they called her together. She was fine, in fact, she had no idea they called or anything even happened. They didn't tell her.

...

"So, nothing then." Norman responded.

Greg lying on his stomach and reading a copy of Ender's Game, licked his finger before turning the page, "Nope."

"Then do you want to play a game with us? Whenever we figure out what it is, that is."

Greg looked up at him with an expression well-worn by someone his age, as though anyone over the age of 14 were blundering idiots and clearly blind to facts, "This is a really good book, and third-wheeling is bad enough without being wheel number six. Thanks, though."

Norman left the room, gobsmacked and plopped down wordlessly on the couch next to Mabel who looked at him with interest, "I think Greg outgrew me in the past few days, how does that even happen?"

"That's rough, buddy." Dipper assented, patting him on the shoulder. "Anyway, we are down to three tried and true options, unless you have any card or board games."

"None to speak of," Norman sighed.

Wybie and Coraline walked down the stairs, Coraline walking ahead as they held hands.

"No seven minutes in heaven for you two," Mabel joked, earning protesting mumbles from the couple.

They sat in a circle: Mabel, Wybie, Coraline, Norman, and Dipper. A large bag of potato chips sat in the center, with a few bottles of water already there thanks to Mabel's preparedness.

"So we're down to Two Truths and A Lie, Truth or Dare, and Never Have I Ever." Dipper announced. "Any strong opposition?"

"Truth or Dare is asking for trouble," Coraline stated, opening and taking a sip of one of the waters, "Last time that happened, a girl in my gym class named Tameka had to stand on the bleachers and loudly recite the last 15 text messages she sent. Not happening."

"Fine, valid point." Mabel agreed, "But can dare be at least a loser punishment instead of a choice?"

Coraline's competitive side beat out her instincts of self-preservation, "Only if the punishment wins by majority vote."

"Sounds fair," Dipper assented. "So down to the last two. What thinks you, Norman and Wybie?"

"Eh, I don't really care." Wybie shrugged, "We'll get to know enough other regardless."

"Never Have I Ever seems more straightforward and is more like a competitive game." Norman offered, "Besides, Two Truths and a Lie can always be a fallback."

"Everyone agree?" Mabel asked, with nods from everyone, everyone putting a hand out with fingers splayed for the group to see. "Okay, good, I'll start. Never have I ever eaten Danish food."

No one lost the round.

M: 5
W: 5
C: 5
N: 5
D: 5

Wybie sighed with a lax smile, "Amateur, never have I ever seen a ghost."

Everyone but Wybie lost a point.

M: 4
W: 5
C: 4
N: 4
D: 4

"Damn it, not fair!" Coraline groaned, "Fine, if we're fighting dirty out of the gate, so be it Wybes. Never have I ever kissed a girl!"

Wybie groaned, pulling a finger in, and Dipper quietly losing a point too and tucking the finger in his palm. Everyone laughed, noticing Mabel trying to discreetly tuck away a finger.

M: 3
W: 4
C: 4
N: 4
D: 3

"It was a dare at a slumber party, okay!" Mabel squeaked.

"No judging," Coraline smiled, "just had to get back at Wybie for knowing we would all be down one but him."

Norman thought about his for a moment, "Never have I ever gotten suspended from school."

Everyone but Norman and Mabel lost a point.

M: 3
W: 3
C: 3
N: 4
D: 2

"Woah, seriously?" Norman asked.

"Wybie may have helped me let all the frogs we were going to dissect one time." Coraline jokingly played coy.

Wybie laughed under his breath.

"Well, in my case, a guy picked a fight with me and kicked my ass but because of the zero tolerance policy I got suspended too." Dipper shrugged half-heartedly.

"That sucks, sorry." Norman whispered, unsure what to say.

The others chimed in similar sentiments.

"Anyway," Mabel tried steering the conversation back to competitive and cheerful. "Never have I ever met a witch. Come on Norman, Coraline, Wybie, in in!"

Norman took his in with a mirthless "ha-ha", Coraline shrugged, but Wybie protested he never really met her so he didn't count.

"Well at least Norman's not in the lead anymore," Dipper laughed, kicking him playfully from across the circle.

M: 3
W: 3
C: 2
N: 3
D: 2

Wybie looked at the hands around him and hummed to himself as he thought.

"Don't overthink it," Coraline warned. "Not fair."

"It's a game of winning or losing, fair is fair." Mabel shrugged, leaning back into a more comfortable position.

"Got one." Wybie smirked, looking at Coraline with a shit-eating grin. "Never have I ever had a doll made to look like me."

"Oh you bastard. Using Beldam against me." Coraline cursed, bumping his shoulder somewhat playfully, putting a finger away. "Targeting, man. So unfair."

Everyone was surprised to see Norman put a finger in, "My grandma made me one when I was little, when she was alive. I left it somewhere as a kid, I never got it back."

M: 3
W: 3
C: 1
N: 2
D: 2

Coraline stared at the current points out and rolled her eyes, muttering to herself, "This game sucks. Okay, fine. How about, never have I ever played sports?"

"Like on a team?" Dipper asked.

"In general," Coraline clarified.

"Damn," Dipper sighed, pulling a finger in.

Mabel and Wybie also lost a point.

M: 2
W: 2
C: 1
N: 2
D: 1

"Sport of choice?" Norman asked the group.

"Swam on a team for a while at the Y with Mabel," Dipper seemed fond of the memory, but was irritated he was one of the two losing.

"Soccer," Wybie grinned, "then I hit puberty, and with the vast extension of my limbs my coordination went to hell."

Norman thought about it a while before his turn, at a loss of things to try. He thought of one, but despite how pathetic it was he said it anyway.

"Never have I ever had a good relationship with my parents," Norman muttered.

All but Coraline put a finger away, to which made her chest tighten thinking about it.

M: 1
W: 1
C: 1
N: 2
D: 0

"Guess I lose," Dipper pointed out. "What's my punishment?"

"I can't think of anything, even though I won," Norman admitted, "I usually don't talk this much, honestly."

"You get to pick a person in the group to pretend your in a soap opera, have a fake argument, and they can smack you across the face." Coraline suggested, taking another sip of water with a look of triumph.

The group voted unanimously for it, unfortunately for Dipper. After glancing around, he couldn't help but laugh seeing how amused Norman looked, "Alright, I pick Norman I guess."

The two stood, face to face in the center of the circle, both of them desperately trying to think of something to say.

"Just make it up," Mabel encouraged, "like improv."

"I'm used to the other side of the lens," Norman joked, doing his best (albeit terribly) to channel the spanish soap opera he saw on cable once. "Uh, ok, uhm... I can't believe you! Cheating on me with the maid!"

"Well, it didn't mean anything, did it?" Dipper tried awkwardly, out of his element as the other three snickered.

"It meant something to me, how heartless!" Norman yelled, a little into his character as he smacked Dipper just a too hard across the cheek.

The smack resounded and Norman immediately curled in on himself, seeing the welt he left on Dipper's face. They stared into each other's eyes for a while, Norman's hand began to shake minutely. He wanted to reach out but the eyes on him were making him sweat and feel even worse.

Norman tried to play it off with a short laugh, "Oops, I went overboard, I'm sorry."

Dipper smiled blankly, a weird expression compared to his usual face, "No problem, my bad."

The room fell silent, Wybie clearing his throat as Norman and Dipper sat back down in their spots in the circle. Norman tried to sneak a look at Dipper but he avoided eye contact.

"Two truths and a lie, then. Sound good?" Wybie insisted, "Dipper, you can start this time, everyone can guess, since we don't have to count points or anything. Reverse order. Dipper then Norman, and so on."

Dipper unconsciously rubbed his hand on his cheek, Norman pulling his knees up to his chest as he tried to quash the guilt.

"Alright, uh, Mabel isn't allowed to answer any of mine, but: I have a birthmark on my forehead, I can fold my tongue, and uh I can do one armed pushups."

"I call bullshit on the pushups," Coraline grinned, "With those noodle arms?"

Dipper clicked his tongue, getting into position and starting to do the one armed pushups. Everyone burst into laughter, even Norman chuckled to himself in surprise. Dipper only did about ten before flopping face first onto the carpet but the group clapped for him regardless.

"So what was the lie then?" Norman asked.

"I can't fold my tongue," Dipper laughed, lifting up his hair to show off his birthmark.

"Oh my god! The Dipper!" Norman scuttled across the floor to see it up close. The others, other than Mabel who got up to go to the bathroom, hovered to see as well.

"Your turn!" Dipper blushed, gently pushing Norman and the others back. He was still a little embarassed about the birthmark, still kept his bangs long enough to cover it.

"Ah ok." Norman settled back in, thinking it over, "I own 3 seperate copies of Evil Dead, I've never kissed anyone, and I have seen basically every zombie movie ever made."

"You have not seen every zombie movie ever made," Dipper cut in, "Not even possible."

"There are about 560 or so that I've seen so far so, I am inclined to disagree. I have kissed someone, obviously that's my lie." Norman chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"Okay Mr. Smooth, not that I don't believe ya, but-" Wybie made a noncommittal noise, using his hands as though a scale.

"Played Spin the Bottle at a party my, uh, not-really-friend Alvin got me invited to and his breath smelled like oranges. Not like nice oranges, but like he drank a spray bottle of citric cleaner oranges." Norman shook, pretending to gag at the memory. "Decent kisser though, I'll give him that."

"Casanova over here," Coraline joked, fanning herself. "Although I have a boyfriend, you're single, and older than me... so, sucks to be you."

Mabel came back, sticking her phone in her pocket, as she laughed, hugging Norman from the back and hanging on him with her arms around his neck. "Lucky you I outgrew my fujoshi phase, or I would want all the details."

"It wasn't making out or anything, nothing interesting to report, May." Norman said over his shoulder, looking at her with amusement.

"Oh believe me. I wouldn't have cared. Shipping was my drug addiction. Now I have turned my attention elsewhere. Like knitting and sewing." Mabel grinned, rubbing her cheek against his (much like a cat would) before going back to her place in the circle.

Mabel elbowed her brother out of his very focused gaze on the carpet between his feet. He glared at her in response. Mabel eyed Coraline with a knowing glance, to which Coraline mouthed to her, "Dumb boys."

"My turn then," Coraline was more prepared for hers since she almost always went with the same ones. "I always wanted to start a punk band called the Black Cats, I know conversational Latin, and I have never seen the Princess Bride."

"The band," Mabel pointed, "it's a half truth. I bet it's a different genre."

"You got me." Coraline grinned, Wybie giving a few claps of approval. "Always thought more grunge than punk, don't have the pipes for either though."

"Me, me, me" Wybie rose his hand in mock excitement, pretending to be in class, "Coraline was my love at first sight, I once licked a toad for five bucks, and I like my black licorice dipped in caramel."

"God, I hope its the licorice," Dipper muttered with distaste.

"I wish it was," Coraline sighed. "So gross."

"It was not love at first sight, maybe second or third. She used to be a real brat," he instructed, crossing his arms.

That earned him a punch in the back of the head from Coraline. Mabel was the only one who was laughing rather than concerned.

"I'm last," Mabel sighed, "and I'm going to bed after this and I suggest you all do too. This was fun, though. Without further ado, here's mine: my second toe is the longest of all my toes, I used to have a recurring dream where I was dating all the male characters in OHSHC all at once, and once I got through a whole date saying a guy's name wrong until the end when he told me his real name."

"It was Naruto, not Ouran." Dipper stuck his tongue out, grinning when Mabel began to pout.

"Not fair, of course you know the answer."

"Guess the guy didn't go for a second date, huh?" Norman asked.

"He asked me out again, but I was honest and just told him I wasn't really feeling it. We had no chemistry, you know?" Mabel admitted, "First and last real date so far."

"Better than me," Dipper admitted.

"And me," Norman added.

"Not everyone can date the best girl in the wo-" Wybie started before Coraline gave him a dirty look.

"Come off it Cheesewhiz, no one wants to hear you gushing over me." Coraline groaned.

"You guys are cute," Norman smiled. "Doesn't bother me."

"Me either." Mabel grinned, leaning over to hug Coraline and falling hard on Wybie's lap in the process, pulling Coraline with her and the two of them knocking him back.

As they all laughed and started to untangle, Norman stood.

"I'm going to be down here a while. I have something I wanna work on. You guys go on to bed," Norman insisted, going up the stairs by himself.

He dug through his things and was grabbing his notebook and writing supplies when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Dipper with the same expression as earlier, brooding and distracted.

"Dipper, really, I'm sorry about earlier I shouldn't have hit that hard." Norman tried, apologizing, but he didn't know what to say.

"About that. It reminded me of that fight we had, back in the forest, do you remember?"

"Seems like a lifetime ago," Norman sighed, "but yeah, I remember."

"Only thing is it felt different this time." Dipper admitted.

"Well I was pretending to be a jilted spouse, rather an actually calling you out for being a dick." Norman observed, skeptical, "Not sure where you're going with this."

Dipper closed the door behind him for privacy, leaning up against it, "You said something earlier about kissing a guy, do you... like guys or something?"

"Have I had crushes? Yeah, a couple, but one kiss didn't sell me on males as a whole." Norman chuckled, shifting his weight to one foot. "Why?"

"Just wondering the difference is all," Dipper admitted, moving to sit on the far edge of the bed. "Only ever kissed a girl like one time, and it was very brief."

"Well, all I can tell you is that the main difference is whether or not your lips itch afterward from the facial hair, if they have any." Norman shrugged, "Though... when he kissed me it was forced prickliness, you know, from hopeful overshaving."

Norman could feel his heart beating quick in his chest, and his breathing speed up, was Dipper getting at what he thinks he was? His legs seemed to carry him on its own, until he stood in front of Dipper. Dipper's face was beet red, pupils blown open, his hands shaking so much he clamped his hands to his knees to stop them.

Norman bit his bottom lip, ducking down towards Dipper and lifting his bangs to see the birthmark. He tracked it with his thumb, watching Dipper's eyes lock onto his as he did.

Norman took a sharp breath, "Dipper's a nickname, right? What's your real name?"

"Mason."

"It's a nice name," Norman whispered, his fingers sliding down Dipper's face to rest on the cheek he slapped.

He leaned his forehead against Dipper's, mouths inches from each other. He hoped his breath didn't stink. It made him extremely nervous that Dipper seemed so spacy. He wondered if he was interpreting this all wrong. He saw Dipper's expression and it steeled his nerves.

"Nor-" Dipper whispered breathlessly.

Norman closed his eyes and went for it, digging one knee into the matress on one side and cupping Dipper's face with the other, pressing his lips together against Dipper's.

Dipper's eyes rolled closed, grabbing Norman behind his back to pull him fully on his lap. His mouth opened and immediately felt Norman's tongue in his mouth. His head was so foggy he barely could keep a coherent thought. Dipper's hand slid under Norman's shirt, touching his back, before Norman pulled back and hissed, beginning to giggle.

"Your hand is freezing." Norman smiled, cheeks red.

"Sorry, Norm." Dipper hyperventilated, still winding down from the excitement. "Uh, about that-"

"Is your curiosity satisfied?" Norman smiled, breathing through his mouth.

Dipper was opening and closing his eyes as if sleepy, clearing his head before flopling back on the bed and pulling Norman with him onto his chest. "I think I like you, you know? I'm so comfortable with you, I'm just so drawn to you."

"As much as I would love to have this talk now, the others will be up any minute." Norman smiled, adjusting himself after he crawled off the bed.

"Right," Dipper muttered, disappointed.

"Obviously, feelings are reciprocated," Norman supplied. "I would love to get to know you better. I'm gonna work on one of my film ideas, wanna sit up with me?"

Dipper stepped off the bed, nodding before groaning, "Ah jeez, headrush."

"Come on, before your sister rubs it in that she was right." Norman laughed, picking up his notebook and things. "If I may ask-"

"What brought it on?" Dipper answered for him, earning a nod, "Between the look you gave me when I was doing pushups, how oddly turned on I was when you smacked me, as well as the warm and fuzzies I seem to feel any time we're alone- that's the gist of it."

"Not to be weird, but I've sorta had a crush of you for a while. I always knew of you at school, even if you didn't know me. I wasn't at the lovesick doodling our names together in my textbooks yet, but I'm there right about now." he smiled, "No rush. We're both figuring our shit out, and there's danger seemingly around every corner... so we can hold this off."

"Glad we agree," Dipper smiled, taking a deep breath before opening the door and seeing no one there, he could barely still hear them all talking downstairs. "Consider this very temporarily pegged, not over."

"Gotcha." Norman agreed, the two going together down the stairs, the three turning to watch with snide looks. The two were alone upstairs, quiet, long enough for the rest of the group to put two and two together.

"Norman and Dipper sitting in a tree-" Mabel started, laughing her ass off when Dipper threw a nearby pillow at her face.

"Leave them alone," Wybie said wistfully, "It's time for bed. If you two get too weird, get a room and save us all the embarrassment."

"Won't be an issue," Norman urged, sitting at the kitchen table and already scribbling some notes based on the past new days in his notebook. "You and Coraline worry about yourselves, lovebirds."

"Single pringle, yet again," Mabel whined. "Maybe I can dream that harem dream again, that'd be nice."

So the three went off to bed, leaving the two on their own in the kitchen chatting idly. They were shoulder to shoulder chatting, looking over Norman's handiwork. Occasionally, Dipper would glance over at Norman and smile. Norman tried really hard not to get his hopes too high, but he was already mentally casting Dipper as the hero in his next film.

...

Upstairs, as the three got into their particular places to sleep, Mabel insisted Coraline and Wybie share the bed and she would move to the couch. Wybie, ever the eager beaver, was already gonked out.

"I'm sure the couples would be more comfortable huddling together." She smiled, the smile not quite reaching her eyes.

"No, it's fine." Coraline assured her in a whisper, "It would be awkward if Wybie and I slept in the same bed. We may seem lovey-dovey but we barely give each other more than pecks on the head or lips. I'm not comfortable going past that, neither is Wybie. It's better we keep our space. We're still a little young for all that, you know."

Mabel nodded, climbing in bed next to Coraline, "Sure, I can respect that."

"Did you see the looks those two were giving each other?" Coraline giggled.

"You should've seen what I walked in the other day! Dipper was giving Norman a noogie but it was one of the most weirdly-romantic gestures I have seen outside of a teen flick. It was adorable." Mabel grinned conspiringly, "Though I suspect they kissed earlier. My brother seemed really out of it when he got slapped, and I think Norman was really upset about it. Their whole mood changed once they came downstairs, right?"

"For sure," she agreed. "I envy them a little. Wybie and I are tied together by sad circumstances, despite our feelings for each other- it's a burden, you know, despite the nice parts of it."

"I get it," Mabel sighed. "I envy all of you. All of you at least seem to know what you're doing. Dipper and I are really drifting apart, and it's so hard. We shared a womb, then a room, now it feels like we barely talk outside of bickering. This whole trip has been helping but it doesn't make me feel any less bitter he is getting closer to my brother than I am. I know it's different, but it's like I'm losing the last constant in my life."

"You're still twins, you'll always have that bond." Coraline yawned, "Maybe if you tried befriending Norman more, it wouldn't feel so bad. You may be twins but you aren't the same person, you know? It's ok to not be attached at the hip."

"Maybe," she yawned too, trying to get comfortable, " 'Night, Coraline."

"Good night." She muttered back.

...

After an hour or so, Dipper and Norman went upstairs and laid together back to back, falling asleep. None of the group had a single nightmare. Things were calm for once.

For a while, at least.