Good morning, everybody!
First off, a big thanks to the lovely people who gave out feedback for this story as of right now…
-New Yorktown for favoriting and following the story and for the kind review
-emyy250 for both favoriting and following the story
-And to the guest reviewer back in "Sleepy Sensories" (whom inspired this idea) for the sweet-hearted review! (Again, sorry if this took a while to make, tho! Just wanted to make sure this didn't feel rushed!)
In the end, thanks for the friendly feedback and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! From what I heard, a premise like this isn't thrown around that often in the Gravity Falls fanfiction tab, which genuinely shocks me, given the literals thousands of fics put into this tab, but hey, I ain't complaining! ;)
Anyways, this chapter will finally get things cookin' as we see Dipper's school life, with what he deals with on a daily basis there, which will soon lead up to whether or not he'll go through with his plan to go back to the Falls or not, so let's check it out in Chapter One: The Daily Grind!
Gravity Falls is owned by Alex Hirsch and Disney. (I do not own any of its characters nor its properties. This is purely a non-profit fanfic made for fun).
SAUDADE
CHAPTER ONE: THE DAILY GRIND
It was Tuesday morning as Mr. and Mrs. Pines drove down the way to drop off their kids to school. They passed through other local neighborhoods and small sections of the downtown area in their sedan, with the twins taking in the familiar sights of their hometown. As usual, the sky was covered in grayish clouds, with the forecast mentioning of possible rain later in the day.
Naturally, this news didn't surprise Dipper in the slightest.
To him, seeing these same old buildings and landmarks that Piedmont offered just didn't interest him anymore, not after seeing the rustic and woodsy locations back in the Falls.
He hadn't time to dwell on that before the sound of his dad's voice brought him back to reality.
"Just to let you know, kids, your mother and I are going be working an hour or two later than usual tonight. We're both still working hard on the Renzetti case and we need to get it done before tomorrow so we'll trust you both to make it home safely. Understand?" asked Mr. Pines from behind the wheel.
"Gotcha, Dad!" confirmed Mabel, giving him a cheery A-OK symbol with her hand. However, Dipper didn't seem as enthusiastic as his sister, but he still didn't want to upset or disobey his parents with his odd silence.
"Yes, sir…" he simply stated, trying to hide his glum tone as best as he could.
Mr. Pines grinned and nodded in confirmation. "Good!" he stated, "We'll both bring back take-out for dinner after our jobs tonight, alright?" he offered kindly.
Thankfully to the male Pines twin, the others seemed oblivious to Dipper's sad demeanor, and all that was left was a calm silence as the sedan was slowly nearing the school grounds. However, unbeknownst to Dipper, Mrs. Pines looked back at his son through the rear view mirror and looked at him worriedly.
Normally, Dipper may not be as hyperactive and overly-cheery than his significant twin, but even he can find reasons to smile once and a while. She even seemed to noticed Dipper's behavior ever since he came back from Gravity Falls. He was more quiet and more demure than usual.
She wanted to ask her son if he was alright, but she didn't get the chance to as Piedmont Middle School drew nearer and nearer along the way.
Soon enough, they arrived at the school's drop-zone for the commuting kids to be dropped off for class. Mabel jumped out of the car with vigor and ran towards the school entrance, her glittery bookbag in hand.
"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! See ya later!" she cheered, waving goodbye to her parentals, whom waved back.
"See you later, honey!" called Mr. Pines from the driver's seat, "Son, you better catch up to your sister before the bell rings!" he advised with a smile. Dipper followed suit afterwards as he got out of the car, albeit at a more slower pace than her hyper sister. Looking towards the middle school entrance, he sighed softly and gripped his hat…
...well, technically Wendy's hat, but still, he was ready for another school day.
He waved goodbye to his folks without a word and followed Mabel into the school. Mrs. Pines looked back at her son with confused and motherly eyes. She watched Dipper slowly shamble away to class, trailing behind his gleeful, skipping sister.
She kept watching him even as Mr. Pines pulled away from the curb to now drive down the law firm with his wife. Mrs. Pines looked towards her husband and sighed.
"Dearie? Do you feel that something is up with Dipper lately?" she asked softly. Mr. Pines looked at her in mild confusion.
"What do you mean, sweetheart?" he asked back.
"Well, he just seems less...you know, talkative since he and Mabel returned from Oregon. He doesn't seem as happy as he used to be, is all…" she replied. Mr. Pines only chuckled softly in reply.
"Heh-heh. He's probably just feeling blue because of the weather is all. The forecast did mention about possible sunlight over the weekend though, so maybe that might cheer him up a bit." he confirmed positively. Mrs. Pines, however, wasn't that convinced.
"Jason, sweetie, I doubt it's the weather that's gotten our son so down…" she paused to part her long, brown hair away from her face. Then, in a more somber voice, she spoke again.
"I feel like he left behind his happiness back in Gravity Falls…"
Mr. Pines looked back over to his wife with soft eyes. If there was one thing that Mrs. Pines was known to be, it was being persistent and caring to her offspring. In spite of their busy, taxing, but high-paying jobs, they still wished to spend more time with their kids, to make them feel loved and appreciated. Sure, there can be times when they'd have to be stern and serious whenever the problem that their kids have landed into calls for it, but still, they only did it to protect their children and to help them learn from their mistakes.
Regardless, Jason Pines wanting to keep a positive outlook out of all this. As they stopped the car at a red light, he placed a loving hand on his wife's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Kristen, Dipper is a resourceful and innovative young man with a big brain. I'm sure if he's feeling upset, he can talk to us if he's ready to. However, if you'd like, we can talk to him during dinner to see if anything is wrong, if it helps…" he said softly, giving her shoulder a loving squeeze.
After some minutes of deep thought, Kristen Pines decided that idea might be at least worth a try, so she gave her husband a thankful nod. Jason nodded back in confirmation before the street light turned green and they headed straight downtown for work.
By now, back at Piedmont Middle School, Dipper and Mabel had parted ways to attend to their own classes for the day. Dipper spent his morning and early afternoon in remedial classes, consisting of geometry, trigonometry, and earth science. Mabel, in contrast, had more fun classes than he did, like art appreciation, music, and English.
It was a pretty mellow day for Dipper in particular. Nobody seemed to give him any trouble today, which gave him plenty of relief, so he figured that keeping his head down might help him ease his troubles.
Soon enough, the lunch hour rolled in and the school cafeteria was flooded with students and faculty. Dipper had just managed to pick up his food from the lunch line...although the food itself was left to be desired.
The square-cut pizza looked half-frozen and tasteless, the salisbury steak was thin and was stewing in a puddle of gross-looking gravy, and his side of mashed potatoes were greasy and looked like something a bird would regurgitate. Dipper may not recall Gravity Falls having Class-A restaurants or the like, but even the food there was more appetizing than his school's food.
Heck, eating at Lazy Susan's diner sounded heavenly right about now...
His food in-hand, Dipper scoured around the lunchroom to find a table to sit at. Unfortunately, nothing seemed available. After five minutes of walking around, he managed to find an open spot at one end of a long table, with only a couple of kids sitting on the other side. Dipper soon sat down and quietly began to gnaw his way through his food.
Two other boys sat close by to Dipper, one with curly red hair and wearing a green sports jersey and brown pants, and a blonde one with glasses, a red sports jacket, and blue shorts. They both looked at Dipper's sudden presence with confused and somewhat-worried eyes.
"Uhh, kid. I wouldn't sit there if I was you…" said the redhead in a sort of warning tone. Dipper sighed inwardly. Naturally, no one would let him sit with them at lunchtime, so this wasn't any surprise to Dipper.
"L-Look, all I am doing is eating lunch is all. Once I'm all done, I'll leave you guys alone, I p-promise…" stammered Dipper, trying not to start anything. The two boys looked at each other with unsure glances.
"That's not what we're meanin' by…" the blonde stated carefully, "You can't sit there because that's someone else's seat…"
Dipper gulped down his pizza and looked at them with frightened eyes. "W-Why? W-Who sits here?"
*BANG!*
"I do, you little ruffian!" came a sharp, haughty, and harsh voice.
Dipper nearly choked on his food upon the sudden appearance of this student, his snobbish voice sounding very recognizable to the Pines twin. He looked up from his food tray to see this student.
A Caucasian-American with well-coiffed orange hair, a deep purple jacket, black dress pants with matching dress shoes, and an attitude as snobby and high-society as it gets. Dipper gulped again and tried to make peace with him to spare him from causing a scene.
"H-H-Hey, Edward! H-How's it hanging?" he replied, trying to be as friendly as he could be, in spite of his frightened, rapidly-beating heart.
The boy rolled his eyes and scoffed snootily. "That's Edward Viscount III to you, Dipstick!" he snapped right back.
Edward was one of the more upper-class students who attended Piedmont Middle School. He lived in a small gated community residing outside of town, where he was the son (and future heir) to a wealthy tuxedo shop owner. He originally used to go to a boarding school located in Danville, but since his father expanded one of his stores to Piedmont, the Viscounts moved to said city and placed Edward in a regular middle school this time, in hopes for him to be more sociable.
Edward, however, revelled at the thought of being at a school full of "commoners and vagrants" as he puts them, but still, teasing and mocking the other "poorer" kids did make the young snob feel better about himself, and unfortunately, Dipper was no stranger to his bullying methods.
"Now, would you mind telling me why you are sitting in my seat, Pines!?" he ventured, looming above Dipper like a vengeful god. Dipper's beady eyes darted back and forth, in hopes to come up with a valid excuse.
"I-I-I was just e-eating my lunch, t-that's all…" he tried to say through his stuttering. Edward hardened his stare at him.
"You do realize that this seat is reserved for me and me only, don't you, Pines…?" he stated, leaning closer to Dipper's sweating face.
Dipper's reply was a string of incomprehensible stutters and stammers. He shuddered in his seat out of fear. Edward could only sigh at this display with pity.
"Ohh, such petty incompetence. Spending your whole summer at that dirty, redneck-infested Oregon town really made you lose touch with reality, Pines." Edward mused unsympathetically, "While you were busy canoodling around, looking for boring old rocks and foliage and other bits of garbage, more respected students like me have spent their summer doing more interesting things with their lives…"
The blonde boy at the table couldn't help but to smirk softly.
"You mean like having your mom force you to go to that boring summer math camp upstate?" reminded the blonde cheekily, prompting a chuckle from his redhead friend. A quick, but firm and hard glare from Edward was enough to shut them both up.
"Well, be that as it may, young boy, I feel that it is best you make haste and frequent to another table. A commoner like you should belong with your own kind; the poor kind that is!" Edward sneered loftily, gesturing to Dipper to skadaddle post haste.
Deciding to not to start anything with the spoiled teen, Dipper simply took in a deep breath, picked himself up, snagged his food tray, and went off to find another seat, much to Edward's smug satisfaction. However, just as Dipper began to walk away, he decided to egg him a bit longer.
Noticing that Dipper had accidentally left behind his milk carton. Edward picked it up, looked back up towards Dipper, and smirked deviously.
"Oh, yoo-hoo, Dipstick!? Don't forget your milk!" he called in a sing-songy voice.
And not even waiting for Dipper to turn around, he flung the carton of milk straight at him, as it bounced against the back of his head. Thankfully, it didn't explode upon impact, but Dipper decided it best to shrug it off and just move away. Edward scoffed again as Dipper walked away.
"Hmph, such an imbecile...probably should have stayed at that deadbeat hick town where he belongs…him and his annoying sibling…" he grumbled, loud enough for Dipper to manage to get an earful of his sentence.
The redhead and blonde duo looked at Edward with unsure expressions. "Edward, was all that really necessary?" asked the redhead.
"Yeah, I mean, all he wanted was a place to sit!" countered the blonde. Edward scoffed.
"The way I see it, gents, is that Pines is nothing but a lower-middle-class sheep in my eyes. A person of his background should learn to respect their higher-ups, no matter the reason!" proclaimed Edward as he sat down in his own seat.
"But he didn't do anything wrong!" exclaimed the redhead.
"Maybe not, but like my grandfather once told me, is that 'poor people amount to pennies, while the rich amount to platinum'. That's how he saw people back in his time and that's how I'll see it today!" finished Edward, taking a bite from his sandwich with a smug smile.
The two boys grumbled softly at Edward's stubbornness and decided to just give up and finish their lunches without another word.
Dipper huffed in mild annoyance as he continued his trek to find a seat without another word, irritated by Edward's chauvinistic persona.
'Spoiled, silver spoon-sucking jerk…' he thought to himself grouchily.
Soon enough, he came across another table at the other end of the cafeteria, and much to Dipper's relief, he saw a familiar face sitting there!
"Dipper! Dipper!" squeaked Mabel happily, waving him over, "Over here!"
Dipper cracked a small, shy smile and happily agreed to her offer. He ran over, quickly sat down next to his sister, and proceeded to finish his lunch alongside his one true school friend. Mabel chuckled softly.
"Geez, bro-bro, where've you been? Lunch is nearly over, Dip!" she explained with a friendly, teasing smile. Dipper chuckled nervously in return.
"Heh-heh...oh, you know, just...w-walkin' around is all…" he quipped (or at least tried to), as nonchalantly as he could. Mabel, however, knew that Dipper's quiet nature was meaning that something must be up.
"Edward pickin' on ya again?" she asked curiously, her tone sounding more serious than usual. Dipper swallowed thickly and put down his fork, letting out a defeated sigh.
"Y-Yeah…he was..." he admitted unhappily, looking down at his food. Mabel, detecting his sadness, placed a sisterly arm around his shoulder and gave him a soft smile.
"Aw, Dip...don't let that stuffy-shirted dummy get to your head! He's just bein' a big ol' butt as usual!" she said good-naturedly, chuckling at her little jokes in hopes to cheer up Dipper, which sort of succeeded as Dipper did crack a small, thankful smile at her.
"I suppose…" replied Dipper softly, "I just don't know what that guy's deal is...I swear that guy's even more worse than Pacifica ever was!"
"Ah well, you know," chortled Mabel, trying to wave off Dipper's negativity, "Some people can't help being snobs at times!" Dipper, however, turned towards her and gave her a funny look.
"'At times'? Mabes, ever since this guy moved in from that Athenian place in Danville, Edward's been a total royal blowhard day in and day out! H-H-He's narcissistic, he's whiny, he thinks he's the most important thing created on Earth…"
Mabel snorted at Dipper's statement and playfully rolled her eyes. "Don't be such an exaggerator, Dipper! Sure, that guy may have lots of cash and gold and other dumb rich guy stuff, but there is one thing that he doesn't have…"
Dipper looked at Mabel with a bewildered expression. "W-What's that?" he asked confusedly.
And without warning, Mabel quickly gave Dipper a tight hug around his waist. Dipper was caught off-guard, but deep down, his heart warmed up at the sweet gesture.
"He doesn't have the best twin brother ever…" she answered in her most earnest voice ever.
Dipper blushed softly at the affectionate hug, but willingly and happily returned the gesture, feeling more relieved today than he was all week. Soon, they released each other from their hug.
"I-I-I will...thanks, Mabel…" replied Dipper gratefully, his blush slowly receding from his cheeks.
"Anytime, bro, but seriously, just save yourself the trouble next time and sit with me for lunch instead of dealing with Sir Fancypants over there, okay?" Mabel advised kindly. Dipper nodded meekly.
"S-Sorry, I just figured that you always hung out with your friends here a-and I didn't wanna bother you all...y'know…" he said, trying not to sound needy or like a burden. Mabel snorted again.
"HA! Puh-leeze! You're my brother, not a bother! I can still hang with my friends and my twin bro at the same time!" she reassured playfully, prompting a small, though unsure giggle from her brother.
"Heh-heh-heh...right…" replied Dipper, as the two resumed their lunch, all while chatting about their day so far.
As the afternoon went on, the school day was finished and everyone was sent home for the day, including the Pines twins as they walked back home, got their homework all done, and helped clean up the kitchen as their parents came home from work with Chinese take-out for dinner.
The four family members all sat in the dining room eating their food, all while happily conversing about their day.
"So as it turns out…" chuckled Jason to his kids, "we finished the Renzetti case well before schedule after all!"
"Indeed!" confirmed Kristen, "The opposing person who tried to sue him wound up losing the case because Renzetti's lawyer dug up some unpaid house bills that the other guy didn't follow up on, so everything balanced itself out!"
The family laughed at the thought of it, all while scarfing down their dimsum and noodles without a care. Dipper's laugh, however, sounded more forced than genuine, but still tried to not seem suspicious.
Unfortunately, his cover had been long blown by his mother, as she then gave her husband a knowing look. Remembering their talk in the car earlier, Jason gulped down his food and gave Dipper a fatherly look in his eyes.
"Son, is everything going okay so far?" he asked carefully. Dipper blinked and sweat-dropped.
"S-Sure. Everything okay, dad. Why, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
"Nothing's wrong, sweetheart." reassured Kristen, "But you just seem just so...distant and forlorn lately. We just want to know what's the matter, is all…"
"Yeah, son." encouraged Jason, "You know you can come to us if something's the matter, right?"
Dipper swallowed again out of fear. Looking back and forth at his parents, he was at a loss on what to tell them. One part of him wanted to tell them the truth and express his feelings about missing Gravity Falls, but the other side wanted Dipper to shut up and not be a bother.
However, as he looked towards Mabel, who was looking at him with a reassuring, sisterly smile, Dipper decided it was best to just not cause any waves tonight and let things take their course.
"I know, but really, nothing's really the matter, Mom and Dad…" he said, trying to crack even the tiniest smile on his face, "Just dealing with jerks with school, you know…"
Mrs. Pines sighed softly. "Oh dear, that Viscount child was bothering you again?" she asked, knowing full well that this was not Dipper's first encounter with the rich boy. Dipper nodded back meekly, causing Mr. Pines to lightly scoff as he poked away at his kung-pao chicken.
"Well, I can agree that those Viscounts are a piece of work!" huffed Jason in agreement, "Last time I bought a suit jacket there, the top buttons just popped off immediately! I don't help bring home the bacon just to be sold a pricey jacket that'll fall apart the second I buy it!"
*REEEEEEEE!* *SNORT-SNORT!*
"Ugh...speaking of 'bacon'..." groaned Jason Pines, rubbing his temples.
As if on cue, a familiar, greasy pig affectionately named Waddles soon tore into the kitchen, squealing and snorting up a storm as he trotted his way to Mabel, who responded to his friendly nuzzle by lovingly rubbing his back. Mr. Pines rolled his eyes.
"Hmph, I don't know what Stanley was smokin' when he decided to drop an actual live pig onto us! I swear this thing'll eat anything in its wake without hesitation…" he grumbled. Kristen giggled softly.
"You do have to admit, dear…" she said, looking at Mabel cuddling Waddles contently, "He does make Mabel very happy…"
Soon, even Mr. Pines couldn't help but to smile slightly seeing Mabel's bright face.
"Yeah...I suppose you're right...though, I still wish he didn't chew through my favorite jeans. Those costed me thirty bucks!"
As dinner had finished and the day slowly turned to night, Dipper and Mabel had readied themselves for bed as they retreated to their shared bedroom to get ready for another school day tomorrow.
As Mabel had managed to fall asleep herself, with Waddles snuggled beside her, Dipper still kept himself awake for a little while longer. He looked to his sister. Thankfully, she was dead asleep. He ever so carefully slunk out of his bed and gently tiptoed towards his nightstand and opened the drawer.
There, he picked up a scrap of paper and looked at it with a fond, nostalgic look on his face, seeing it clearly even through pitch black darkness. Some may find this weird being like this towards a piece of paper, but to Dipper, this was not any regular piece of paper…
It was a cherished memory…
All his Gravity Falls friends and family had written their names on the letter as a rememberance to wish them a happy life until they returned to the Falls again. Everyone that he loved, formerly despised, fought against, and fought alongside with, were all there on this letter, causing fresh memories of an eventful, yet exciting summer to flood Dipper's mind.
Dipper kept his longing stare on the paper until he heard a soft whimpering noise to his left. He caught a glance of Mabel stirring in her sleep. Not wanting to be found out, he stashed the paper back in the drawer and quietly rushed back in his own bed, as not to fully wake Mabel up.
Thankfully, Mabel didn't do as such as she snuggled further in the covers, lulling back to a deep sleep once again. Dipper breathed a relieved sigh and looked up at the ceiling, deep in his own thoughts.
'I may want to go back to the Falls more than anything in the universe...but I just can't up and leave Mabel, or Mom and Dad...oh, man...what can I even do?'
He looked towards his sleeping sister for a second, before closing his eyes to rest.
'Just try and take it in stride, Dipper...maybe the rest of the week may prove to be uplifting...hopefully…'
And with that thought swimming through his subconscious, Dipper finally fell asleep, internally praying that things may get better soon.
Although, as we all know, that may not be the case, as the road to recovery isn't exactly short to begin with...
TO BE CONTINUED…
A few things to say at the end of this chapter…
Firstly, major apologies if we haven't gotten to Dipper's ultimate decision yet. When I was writing this, I felt that I didn't wanted this chapter alone to drag or get to the conclusion so quickly, hence why I only included Dipper's events at school so far. Next chapter will definitely showcase on whether or not Dipper will stay at home or go to the Falls, scout's honor!
Secondly, I named Dipper and Mabel's parents after their respective voice actors, Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal, just as cute lil' easter eggs, y'know!
And thirdly, on terms of my OC for this story, Edward Viscount III, I wanted to write him as sort of Dipper's opposite, being pessimistic, self-assured, and uninterested in learning new things (be they supernatural or not), though looking back, I feel like I just written him as basically a genderbent and less fleshed-out version of Pacifica who's just being a jerk to Dipper for the lulz…
...do people even say "for the lulz" in 2018 anymore…? IDK...
Anywho, I also wanted to try and come up with the fanciest name I can think of, especially with his last name, Viscount, just being another name for a royal title, like "Lord" or "Earl".
Anyways, thanks again for reading and I promise that next chapter will bring forth Dipper's decision, so stay tuned and we'll see how that goes! :D
~Thunderbyrd