In response to New Yorktown's review: Glad you've liked my take on Mom and Dad Pines! I more-or-less based them off of Riley's parents from PIXAR's Inside Out, with both mothers being a classic example of a doting, sensible, and overbearing mom, and with both fathers being sort-of clueless and somewhat stern, but hard-working and well-meaning fathers. In the end, both pairs of parents still do share one common fact: they both love their kid(s) very much and will always be there for them. I figured this interpretation would be different than having the Pines twins' parents be a couple of stuffy-shirted, stern, or all-around neglectant.

Anyways, we're finally at the point where Dipper's ultimate decision goes into fruition!

Also, if anyone was wondering about how Mabel's "overbearingness" was gonna be put into play, that'll show up in the next two chapters, I'm afraid, but it'll still show a sense of maturity for Mabel, as despite everything the twins have gone through, she still loves Dipper as a brother, no matter what they've been through.

So, enough stalling for time, because it's finally time for the big moment: the Decision!

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 TWO: THE DECISION

As Wednesday rolled by, Dipper tried his very best to keep a positive mental attitude about himself. He had a hearty breakfast, he kept his mind clear and free from self-judgment, and he went about his schoolwork as normal. He even tried keeping his spirits up, as the Piedmont weather began slowly dissolving into a steady rain shower.

At school, he also made sure to keep his head down from any of the school bullies, with Edward Viscount III being the one Dipper tried to avoid like the plague. He avoided Edward's usual lunch table altogether after his little incident from yesterday, but even as Dipper sat down to eat alongside Mabel, he still felt Edward's unimpressed and scornful gaze leering towards him, even from across the large cafeteria.

On top of all that, he even did his best to try and not get reminded about Gravity Falls and its people. Unfortunately, that certain feat was hard to accomplish, as even things in Piedmont began to trigger memories of days long past from the Falls into Dipper's mind.

Every red sedan made him think about Grunkle Stan's own vehicle, although his was a lot more busted-up and rusty. Every science class made him wish Grunkle Ford was there with him to teach him about more supernatural occurrences and sightings. Every time of when he saw the school janitor made him remember Soos trying to fix up the Mystery Shack. And every redheaded girl he passed by in the hallways made him think about Wendy and how he secretly wished he was there with her again.

Of course, while Dipper would never admit it, especially to either Mabel or Wendy, but in his mind, he still harbored some of his amorous feelings towards Wendy.

Ever since he, Wendy, Soos, and Mabel had discovered Grunkle Ford's bunker and battled a shapeshifter throughout the process, Dipper found out about Wendy knowing about his crush towards her. Sure, as embarrassed as he was when the truth came out, he was at least thankful to the gods that Wendy still wanted to remain friends after all that.

But still, Dipper still admired Wendy for just about every trait she possesses; her natural beauty, her fun-loving and laid-back personality, her bravery and quick-thinking. She had many different quirks and traits that made Dipper wish he had himself.

As much as he wanted to try and convince himself to stay just "as friends", a tiny voice in the back of his mind still seemed to keep reminding Dipper that whatever the situation, Wendy will always be his first, actual crush and nothing's gonna change that…

Dipper, however, decided to shake off that feeling as he headed down the hallway to his next class: gym.

The school gymnasium was abuzz with activity today. Some kids ran around the indoor sprinting track, some played basketball on one side of the gym, while others were doing regular exercises, like push-ups and squats, on the other side.

Dipper, who was not one for exercise to begin with, simply abided his time by just walking around the track that circled around the gym. Considering that he also shared this class with Edward Viscount also made it clear that neither one of them wanted to be anywhere near each other.

The sharp tweet of the gym teacher's whistle caught the attention of both him and the rest of the students as they scrambled towards a balding, middle-aged, and slightly buff-looking man standing near in the middle of the court. He cleared his throat sharply.

"Alright, kids!" he boomed through his deep Brooklyn accent, "We were plannin' to do sum' track n' field outside today, but because of the rain, we're stuck in here today, so I gots the perfect way to spend a nice gym class indoors…"

With the sound of that being said, Dipper could only think of one activity that he and the other students were gonna be subjected to, and to him at this moment, it didn't sound like fun at all...

"Today, we're playin' dodgeball!"

The reactions to this prospect were somewhat mixed. Some kids cheered and got hyped up at the very mention of the word "dodgeball", some simply shrugged and went along with it, while the rest (including Dipper) were dreading this game as if it was the Black Plague.

Dipper, in particular, felt quite queasy. His noodly legs wobbled and his body felt stiff and frozen from fear. Dodgeball was the one gym activity that he disagreed with. However, any amount of objection would just fall onto deaf ears to his gym coach.

"I'll be splitting youse up in teams today, Team A will consist of Viscount, Springer, Aoshima, Pitt, Braly, Sandoval, and Hall, while Team B gets Rianda, McKeon, Wallington, Paez, Pines, Chapman, and Rowe!" listed off the coach, as he passed three red rubber balls towards the group.

Moments later, the game was already commencing with Team A soundly beating Team B in the process. Three members of Team B had already been eliminated, leaving Dipper and three other students on the court.

Naturally, Team A had its full seven-player roster...with Viscount practically carrying the team as we speak. Every ball he lunged towards his opponent connected, although more harshly than anticipated.

Dipper ducked, weaved, and slid across his side of the court, doing his hardest to avoid every dodgeball swung at his direction, but just barely managed to avoid getting hit. It seems that all that running around from danger he did in the Falls greatly benefited his abilities.

Sadly, they still weren't sharp enough as Dipper accidentally lost his footing and slipped onto the ground with a thud. Edward noticed Dipper's fall and smirked determinedly.

'Easy target…' he thought as he reeled back his arm and let the ball freely escape from his fingertips.

Dipper had just now noticed the red, heat-seeking sphere aimed straight towards and tried to shimmer his way back up. But alas…

*WA-PAANG!* "YEE-OUCH!"

...he just wasn't fast enough as the ball made contact squarely at his face.

Dipper slunk to the floor, his face red and stinging from the rough impact. He yelled in mild pain, tears beginning to escape from his eyes. Edward looked at the shrivelling boy and chortled smugly.

"Pathetic little runt…" he snarked victoriously.

*TWEEEET!*

"Viscount, you're outta the game!"

Edward whipped his head towards the coach and gawked at him as if he grew another set of arms.

"But I clearly hit him, he should be out!" Edward cried out in indignance, shocked that he was getting called out.

The coach fixed his glare on the preppy teen. "In the rules of dodgeball, hitting an opponent in the face with a ball ends with the thrower getting benched. Therefore, Pines is still in the game and 'yer out, so skadaddle, Viscount!" he countered, pointing towards the bench.

Edward groaned angrily and did as he was told, furiously that he was struck out for the first time ever in this game.

"Dipper, 'yer still in the game! Get up and let's get this game going on, already!" called the coach.

Dipper tried his best to pick himself up again, which he finally managed to do so, but with his face still stinging from getting hit by a 100MPH ball, he couldn't get his bearings straight just yet. He hadn't the chance to clear his head quick enough as the coach blew his whistle, resulting in the continuation of the game.

However, it wasn't very long until another incoming ball decked Dipper in the shoulder at high speeds.

*POW!*

"AARGH!" Dipper cried in pain as he nearly fell over again from his dazed stupor. The coach blew his whistle yet again.

"Pines, 'yer out!" called the coach, "Get to the bench!"

Dipper struggled back up and limped his way to the time-out bench, mentally feeling thankful that this torture was finally over. However, as he made his way to the bench, he could hear the other kids mumble to each other along the way, all sounding quite judgmental and unimpressed.

"Wow, is he literally that much of a weakling?"

"Why wouldn't he be, can you see those skinny arms and legs of his?"

"They look like spaghetti, to be honest."

"I bet even his sister can throw a ball better than he can…"

"He should be hitting the gym instead of hitting the books, in my opinion!"

"So much for our team winning today…"

Dipper, feeling too humiliated to even look anyone in the eyes, just simply tried to block out everyone's spiteful commentary and sat on far end of the bench, silent and ashamed.

Edward looked towards Dipper and despite his anger for being benched, he couldn't help but to crack a smirk upon seeing Dipper lose along with him.

The next class on Dipper's schedule was history, as the class were going through the Ancient Roman section from their books. Their history teacher, a middle-aged man with brown hair, square glasses and a pink dress shirt, began reading from his own book, giving the students a quick lesson recap.

"The Romans have been known for their vast array of inventions, including but not limited to architecture…" droned the teacher in a somewhat-bored fashion, "Could anyone tell me what kind of architecture did the Romans specialize in?"

Nobody in the seats bothered to raise their hands, as the lesson practically bored them all into submission. Dipper, on the other hand, would've gladly answered this question, but his experience at gym left him both sore, dizzy, and too embarrassed to even try and do anything.

The teacher pursed his lips and decided to pick on a student instead for the answer.

"Okay, then...Mr. Pines, can you answer the question, please?"

Dipper winced and froze in his seat, unhappy that he was put on the spot so quickly. The rest of the class, as well as the teacher, looked towards Dipper, all expecting him to give the teacher the answer.

Although their stares didn't seem judgmental in reality, Dipper's mind knew if he slipped up his answer by even the tiniest bit, everyone would never let him hear the end of this minor slip-up.

The crippling anxiety was enough for the usual brainy and innovative Dipper to lose his train of thought!

"Uh...uh...it's-umm…" stuttered Dipper, sweating up a storm, "They...created...ooh-uh..."

The other kids couldn't help but to stifle their giggles at seeing Dipper looking so clueless and flustered. The teacher exhaled tiredly.

"Very well...Mr. Viscount, do you have the answer?" asked the teacher.

Edward, who was sitting in the front row of the class, stood back and dusted off his jacket.

"Yes, I do, good sir…" he hummed condescendingly, "The architecture that the Romans specialized were aqueducts, roads, and arches, amongst many other achievements…" The teacher nodded.

"Correct, Mr. Viscount…" he replied, before getting back to his lesson on the chalkboard.

Proud of his accomplishment, Edward looked towards Dipper and gave him the most victoriously-smug smirk he ever gave him before sitting back down.

Dipper didn't know if the blush spreading on his face was from embarrassment or from anger, but either way, Dipper groaned unhappily as he buried his face in his history book and away from reality.

The remainder of the school day went by very quickly, much to Dipper's gratefulness, as the school day ended and both he and Mabel were finally home at last. During the car ride home, Dipper still seemed to be his usual-quiet self, and yet somehow, he managed to look more melancholy than before. The autumn rain shower certainly didn't help in his favor, as he was mostly silent throughout the rest of the evening.

At dinnertime, Jason, Kristen, Dipper, and Mabel were all chowing down on some fresh spaghetti, with the parents once again discussing the busy workloads they went through at the law firm and Mabel chattering about the fun time she had in art class.

Out of the four of them, Dipper still remained demure and downcast, excluding himself from their conversation as he slowly chewed through his dinner, and like yesterday, he still tried to assure his parents that he was okay, although his mom and dad (especially his mom) did seem that convinced.

Soon afterwards, Dipper then retreated back to his room to do his homework for the day while Mabel was downstairs watching TV with their mom and dad. Luckily, he was more conscious enough to finally finish his work before he placed his folder and books back in his backpack.

His homework finished and Mabel out of the room, Dipper inhaled softly and walked back over his to drawer, thinking that maybe looking back at his letter from Gravity Falls might ease his frayed nerves.

He spent a good amount of time laying on his bed and looking through the letter with all his friends and family printed on it, each name having their own unique sense of typography and bright shade of color. He especially found himself lingering over Wendy's name for the longest, from admiring the primrose-colored color she used for her name to the warm remark for him to "stay cool" until they met again.

Dipper would've spent his entire evening scanning this letter and reminiscing about his past summer when a rapid-fire knock on the door nearly made him jump out of his skin.

"Heeey, Dipper! C'mon, you're missing our show tonight!" she jeered as she barged into the room, leaving Dipper to panic and quickly hide the letter in his open backpack, without thinking.

Mabel entered through the doorway and noticed Dipper's suddenly frantic behavior, seeing his eyes darted around and his forehead starting to sweat.

She eyed Dipper confusedly and somewhat-suspicious. "What's going on here?" she asked curiously.

Dipper jittered from his spot on the bed and nearly choked on his words.

"N-N-Nothing's going on here, w-why do you ask, Mabes…?" Dipper tried to reassure, his anxiety skyrocketing to deep space at this point.

Mabel tilted her head and gave Dipper a funny look. "I thought I saw you hide something in your backpack…"

Dipper shrugged, feigning ignorance. "That was just some boring, old history homework, you know. Yep, just homework. Not some dumb letter or anything!" he waved off, before realizing that him saying the word "letter" practically blew his cover.

Suddenly, Mabel's suspicion turned into unbridled excitement in the blink of an eye.

"'Letter'? Like a love letter!? Ooooooh, is somebody crushing on you, Dipper!?" she squeaked, her giddy smile as bright as her growing blush. Dipper sweat-dropped and tried keeping his composure intact.

"No, it's just homework, plain and simple is all! Nothing more!" he tried to reason as he carefully led Mabel out of the room. Mabel giggled slyly and waggled her brows.

"Uh-huh, sure it isn't, lover boy!" she teased, giving him a knowing wink, "Well, if you're done gawking at your love-letter, 'Cash Wheel' is on tonight, so let's pick up the pace here!"

"O-Okay, sure…" nodded Dipper, forgetting that they the family usually got together to watch "Cash Wheel" once in a while. The twins scampered down the stairs and huddled by the TV with their parents frequenting the couch.

But even as the program droned on for the last half-hour, Dipper still couldn't help but to think back more memories back during his summer. Watching "Cash Wheel" had especially triggered a memory forming in his mind of Grunkle Stan becoming a contestant on the show, leaving Mabel in charge of the Shack. All the laughs, jokes, playful jabs, and heartwarming moments he shared with his friends from the Falls all caught up to him.

Quite frankly, stuff like this made him wanna go back there more than ever before…

A gentle nudge on his shoulder caused Dipper to break away from his nostalgia as Mabel leaned over to him with a smile.

"Hey, remember when Grunkle Stan was on this show and failed because he didn't know one of the answers?" she joked good-naturedly to her twin, "HA! Good times, eh, Dipper?"

Dipper chuckled nervously,

Yep, heh, good times…" he assured, before looking back towards his room, thinking about his prized letter yet again. He frowned and sighed quietly to himself.

"...good times…"

The next day, things were no different for Dipper at school. Naturally, the school day progressed with Dipper trying to not make an utter fool of himself in front of his peers. Luckily, his Thursday classes didn't have him and Edward Viscount in the same room together today, so that helped Dipper have some sort of relief. Regardless, he still tried to keep to himself and not cause anything to cause more mockery.

While he was too dead-set on this goal, he had completely forgotten that he accidentally brought his letter with him to school with him in his backpack, wedged inside one of his folders!

Dipper had made it through the first part of the school day without causing a slip-up, and he and the rest of his grade had just began their lunch period. He had just exited the lunch line with his food tray and folder in-hand (with the lunch today being a bland-looking hamburger with a side of...questionably-unsavory mac-and-cheese), and he was making his way to find Mabel to sit with her.

He strolled closer to where Edward usually sat, with the preppy heir in question having lunch in his seat, with the blonde and redhead boys from before still joining him at their table.

Edward noticed Dipper walk close by, and seizing the opportunity, he waited for Dipper to come past, before he quickly stuck out his right leg in Dipper's path, causing the Pines twin to stumble onto the ground...and straight onto his lunch.

Edward chortled at Dipper's plunder, as the redhead / blonde duo only winced at his pain.

"Oh dear…" sniggered Edward, "I'm amazed even you feel for that old gag, Dipstick!" he crooned before breaking into laughter once again.

Dipper struggled back up on his feet and groused at the sight of the icky mac-and-cheese stain on his shirt and vest. He looked back at Viscount with an annoyed look, picked up his tray of smushed food, and promptly left. The two boys looked at Dipper with sympathetic looks and turned towards their bossy ally.

"I really don't see this is all necessary, Edward…" remarked the blonde kid. Edward wiped away a tear and rolled his eyes.

"It's necessary for me, child!" snickered the young heir, "Seeing Pines get up in a tizzy is just too rich to pass up!"

The redhead gave Edward a judgy look. "Is all this because he got you struck out of the team during dodgeball yesterday?" he retorted. Edward shuddered and scoffed rudely.

"This isn't about dodgeball, you ninny! It's about the hierarchy!" snapped Edward crossly, "People like me are considered the top of the food chain; rich, successful, and good-looking. Those at the bottom of the food chain, like you two, are considered to be less than dirt…"

The two kids looked incredibly insulted at what Edward was proposing, but couldn't manage to say a word. Edward watched Dipper scuttle away to throw away his ruined food..

"As far as I'm concerned, Dipstick should've stayed at that hillbilly dump where he belonged...him and that reckless sister of his…" he declared.

Edward still kept his glance on Dipper as the boy in question soon left the cafeteria altogether to tend to the stain on his shirt. The young heir scoffed and stood up from his seat to throw away his finished meal, leaving behind two concerned and annoyed males at the lunch table.

"I'm really beginning to question why we tag along with that jerk…" grumbled the redhead.

"Same here…" agreed the blonde before getting an idea, "Once we get the chance, I'd say we'd at least apologize to Dipper about all this trouble Viscount's giving him…"

The redhead gave his friend a determined look and nodded back. "Agreed!" he said.

"Lousy Viscount...thinking just because his family is rich means he can pick on me...what even is his deal? What did I do to provoke him to pester me!?"

Dipper grumbled and stormed down the halls with one of his folders tucked under his shoulder. He was in a very rotten mood because of Edward's brashness and was too agitated to even think straight. Right now, he was heading to the men's restroom to try and calm his nerves and clean the messy mac-and-cheese splatter on his shirt.

As he neared the school lavatory, he failed to notice his cherished letter still shifting around in his folder.

Dipper soon entered the empty bathroom, went straight for the sink, and turned on the faucet. He first splashed some water on his face to cool himself down. Then, he managed to wash away the gunk off his clothes until they were all cleaned up, though they were still quite damp afterwards.

He panted softly and gaze longingly at his reflection in the mirror. He frowned deeply and hung his head sadly.

'This just isn't working out at all...I can't survive another minute in this town…' he thought despondently to himself.

Even though there was still a part of him that wanted to stay in Piedmont for the benefit of Mabel and his parents, he didn't know if he can go through another day of misery and mockery.

Figuring while he was in the bathroom anyways, he decided to go into one of the stalls to relieve his bladder before class started. He carefully placed his folder on top of a toilet paper dispenser and did his business in peace.

However, just as Dipper was nearly done, the folder slowly began to slide off the dispenser due to being out of balance, sending sheets of papers flying onto the ground around him.

"Aw, geez!" griped Dipper, zipping up his pants, as he crouched down to pick up all his papers.

As he did so, he noticed another one of his papers laying outside of his stall.

Upon closer inspection, Dipper squinted his eyes, trying to decipher this oddly familiar-looking piece of paper. Between the colorful splotches of texts surrounding a large message labelled in the center of the page, it didn't take long for Dipper to find out what this paper really was. His eyes began slowly widening in surprise upon the paper's true identity.

"Wait a minute...is that...our letter from the Falls!?"

*CRREEEAAKK!*

Just after Dipper came to that realization, the restroom doors creaked slowly open. Regardless, Dipper crouched lower under the shall to see who was entering, before he would try to snatch the letter back in his hand.

Sadly, judging by the looks of the pricey-looking dress shoes this person was wearing, Dipper knew full well who this newcomer was.

'Viscount!' he gasped in his mind.

Edward strolled into the bathroom, unbeknownst of Dipper's presence, as he went in to wash his hands. Dipper eyed the preppy heir with baited breath before deciding to try and snag his beloved letter back. Unfortunately, even as he extended his skinny arm to do so, he hadn't he heard Edward heading towards the stall, looking quite curious.

"What on earth is this here?" he asked, genuinely confused..

Dipper gulped and as fast as a cheetah, he reeled back his hand and then carefully climbed himself onto the toilet, not wanting to be seen. Of course, Edward legit didn't know that Dipper was even in this room. He only went in their to clean up before classes were to commence soon!

Edward had just noticed the letter on the bathroom floor and then picked it up before Dipper could retrieve it, inspecting to see what it was. His eyes scanned the page, looking at each unfamiliar name with curiosity and dumbfoundedness.

"Who in the blue blazes are these people!? 'Fiddleford'? 'Gideon'? 'Sch...schme...Schme...bulock…'? What kind of ridiculous names are these!? And what even is a 'Grunkle'!? Sounds like a disease, if you ask me!" he questioned disgustedly as he read through the page.

Dipper, still trying to stay motionless and quiet as humanly possible, was mentally kicking him right now. How could he have known he accidentlaly put his letter in his bag!? He was so busy with his self-deprecation that he nearly forgot who was reading his letter to begin with.

"'See you next summer'?" read Edward at last. He paused and tried to kept reading around to see who this could belong to.

Then, there was trouble. Dipper suddenly began to lose his footing while trying to perch himself on the toilet, but it was no use as he immediately stumbled off the bowl and fell onto the floor with a thud. Edward flinched from the sudden sound and kneeled down under the stall, shocked to see a certain brunette slumped on the floor.

"Pines!?" cried out Edward in bafflement, "Wh-What do you think you're doing here!?"

Dipper quickly got back up and stepped out of the stall. "I could say the same thing about you…" he huffed.

Edward scoffed at Dipper's annoyed tone. "Well, this is a public restroom, Dipstick. I was just in here to wash my hands when I found this little scrap of paper located in front..of your...stall…"

Soon enough, Edward managed to put two and two together as everything suddenly caught up with. He slowly grew a devious smirk on his face.

"Wait a tick...this wouldn't happen to be yours now, would it?" he sneered playfully. Dipper growled.

"What business is that of yours, Viscount!?" snapped Dipper, inching closer towards Edward.

"Everything is always my business, Pines! I don't suppose these people are friends of yours, are they? Hmph, small world..." retorted Edward, trying to keep the paper away from Dipper as far as possible.

"Yeah, so what!?" asked Dipper, "Am I not allowed to have friends!?"

"Well, considering from all the photos your inept sister keeps posting on Chirper over the summer, I would say that it's fitting for a sadsack like you to wind up being friends with a bunch of Oregon hill people rather than with normal city-goers like us…" snickered Edward teasingly. Dipper's face went redder than ever. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"They are not hill people...they're my friends!" he yelled out, as he jumped forward to retrieve his letter.

Unfortunately, Edward thought fast and held the letter high above his head, far from Dipper's reach.

"Ah-ah-ah...too slow, Dipstick…" mocked Edward, having too much fun pushing Dipper's buttons to care about anything anymore.

Dipper growled and determinedly tried to reach for his letter. He stood on his tip-toes, he tried jumping to get it, but he was still wasn't able to snag back his beloved letter. Dipper then tried to climb up on Edward to get it back, as he grabbed his right arm in retaliation.

However, in Edward's point of view, this was a big no-no indeed...

"Hey! Hands off my jacket, you vulture! This is pure cashmere here!" snapped Edward furiously.

Then, without hesitation, he forcefully shoved Dipper off of him and made him stumble and bump his head against the stall behind him. Dipper slunk down on the ground and whimpered in pain as Edward loomed over him, smirking nastily down on the disheartened boy.

"Hmph, pathetic…" he chuckled, Dipper's letter still clutched in his hand.

Dipper soon forgot to be angry and looked back up at Edward, now being more desperate and than anything. He wiped away an incoming tear and tried to reason with Viscount instead.

"P-Please...Edward...just let me have my letter back, please! Th-That's all I ask for…" he begged, his cheeks red from exhaustion. Edward tittered quietly.

"Oh, is it now?" he hummed innocently, "I don't suppose you'd have anything to offer to me in return…?"

Dipper stammered and gulped, his anger now depleted and replaced with fright and desperation.

"I-I-I'll do anything, please! I-I'll do your homework if you want! Just please give back my letter!" pleaded Dipper, ready to burst into tears. Edward winced sarcastically.

"Hmm...I don't know...yesterday in history class, you didn't seem very attentive when the teacher called on you...I can't risk getting a bad grade, you know…" explained Edward loftily. At this point, Dipper was growing into hysterics as the lunch period was drawing to a close as we speak.

"Edward, please!" cried Dipper, as tears finally began to fall freely down his reddened cheeks, "That letter is very important to me, just please let me have it back! I'm begging you!" Edward's eyes widened.

"Oh, it's important to you, eh?" he asked, breaking into a false smile, "Well...why didn't you say so?"

He then brought the letter in front of Dipper's face, with both hands grabbing each end of the letter. Dipper smiled a thankful, but broken smile as he slowly reached for his precious letter, hoping the worst is finally over.

Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on Edward's devilish smile, which was a warning that what was to follow next was going to be pretty...

*RRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPP!*

"...Whoops…"

Dipper's bloodshot and watery eyes grew to the size of dinner plates at this sudden act! Without any sign of remorse or guilt, Edward tore the letter in two vertical, clean halves.

Time had frozen still for Dipper's world. The one thing to help Dipper remember the best summer he ever had in his entire life, was now tarnished, torn in half just like his heart. All he did was stare slack-jawed and silent as Edward chortled haughtily above him.

"Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh...oh dear! It seems your friends from Oregon had to up and split! Ah, well, can't win them all, eh, Pines?" cackled Edward as he promptly left the bathroom, leaving poor, heartbroken Dipper to his own affairs, though not before letting the torn strips of paper fall on the ground in front of Dipper.

As Edward finally, Dipper shuddered uncontrollably, the gravity of this situation being too overwhelming for him to handle. His sobs turned into wails, his jerky body twitches became more unsteady, and his eyes leaking non-stop.

Without another word, he immediately snagged back the ripped letter, retrieved his folder, and bolted out of the men's restroom, just as the bell rang. Dipper avoided the passing students in his path, trying not to show his tears as he tried to find a more secluded area in the school, which wasn't very likely to be honest.

Everything was a blur to him at this point. He couldn't hear any of the teachers warning him to not run in the halls, he didn't care if he accidentally bumped into a student or not, and he especially didn't care who he ignored as he kept on running.

The blonde and redhead kids from lunch did manage to spot Dipper come through down the hall, their plan to apologize and make amends to him still fresh in their minds. Unfortunately, they hadn't the chance to say a single word to him as he whooshed past the two shocked boys without saying anything.

Meanwhile, Mabel was now heading to her science class, looking quite worried. She hadn't seen Dipper during lunchtime and was trying to see where her brother may have gone to.

Suddenly, she spotted a familiar brunette with a brown wool cap rushed down the halls. She waved her hands around to hopefully gain his attention.

"Dipper? Dipper, where have you been!?" There was no response. Mabel tried again to flag him down.

"Dipper! Dipper!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" was all that Mabel heard as Dipper sprinted past her, leaving behind his normally-perky and sunshiney twin, now looking incredibly confused and deathly concerned.

"...D-Dipper…?" she asked, before Dipper rounded a bend, and was now out of sight.

Dipper soon found himself trudging down a strangely-empty hallway that was part of his path to his next class. However, Dipper was too concerned about more important matters than his class at the moment.

He stared at his slit letter with misty eyes and a deep, heartbroken frown. The one keepsake that was near and dear to his heart, now ruined. He especially choked up upon seeing Wendy's name and message in split clean in half as well. Tears fell and landed on his paper, smearing some of the names a bit.

Dipper could barely think straight. His mind was filled with nothing but people mocking him, making fun of him behind his back. Granted, most of these jabs came from Edward Viscount, but that didn't mean that Dipper wasn't tired of all this ridicule nonetheless.

He could hear every spiteful and smug comment from Edward's mouth spiraling in his mind like an angry wasp.

'Spending your whole summer at that dirty, redneck-infested Oregon town really made you lose touch with reality, Pines...'

'A commoner like you should be with its own kind…'

'Pathetic little runt…'

'It's fitting for a sadsack like you to wind up being friends with a bunch of Oregon hill people rather than with normal city-goers like us…'

'Can't win them all, eh, Pines?'

Suddenly, Dipper halted firmly in his tracks. He took in a shaky breath. After three weeks of tiresome meddling and loneliness, his mind had finally been made up.

'I...I...I've had enough of this…all the mocking, the bullying...being considered trash to everyone...I can't take being in Piedmont anymore…I just can't!'

'I...I…'

Dipper's fists clenched harder, his mind was foggy and his heart was heavy from sadness. It was then and there he knew what he wanted to do now, more than ever before.

'I...I-I'm done being a nobody...I am just done...I'm gonna be with people that understand me…people that respect me and don't see me as a joke…a place where I consider it home...'

And with his new goal set in stone, he walked down the empty hallway, dried his ever-flowing tears, placed his torn letter in his folder, and walked to his class with a sad, yet determined frown, his almost-considered dream soon to become reality. He knew if he stuck around in Piedmont any longer, he'd just continue becoming a laughingstock to his peers, as well as being an absolute burden to his family.

To go to a place where his weirdness would be fully accepted by many. To never be judged so harshly ever again...

'...I'm going back to Gravity Falls...no matter what the cost…'

TO BE CONTINUED…

By God, this chapter was a doozy for me to write! So, Dipper's unanimous choice has finally been made and that is that! However, there still is the matter of getting back to the Falls somehow. Will his eventual plan go up in smoke, and how will Mabel and their parents get involved?

A few quick things to bring up, tho!

-Those last names of Dipper and Edward's dodgeball teams? Those are actually the last names of people who have written and directed episodes of the actual show that I've thrown in as a lil' easter egg; the episode directors being on Edward's team and the writers being on Dipper's team!

-If anyone is wondering about this unnamed redhead / blonde duet showing up alongside Edward, they will play an actual role in this story. I've mainly written them as not really sidekicks to Edward, because I wanted them to have some sense of morale, but because they hang with Edward just so they feel popular as well, despite Edward's rash behavior.

-While writing this chapter, I feel like the whole "Dipper wants to go back to the Falls" spiel was getting kinda repetitive during this chapter. Sure, he certainly had a more enjoyable life there than he had in Piedmont (in spite of every mythical being in the Falls trying to kill him and Mabel, of course), but from where I am standing personally, I feel like I'm writing Dipper as petty and selfish about this whole ordeal, so apologies if I seem like I'm making Dipper seem OOC in this story.

In the end, I'll let you guys be the judge as I hope you guys are still enjoying the fic! Thanks for reading and sticking around, as I'll be back (hopefully) soon with Dipper's attempt to escape Piedmont in Chapter Three: The Getaway! :D

~Thunderbyrd