Sorry for the semi-long wait, everybody, but "Saudade" is back with another chapter, baby! But first, a review response and an important notice.
In response to guest user Ahmed Samy's review: First of all, let me say I'm over the moon that I've invested you in this plot, even if the concept's not exactly your type of thing. I was hoping to sort of downplay Dipper's sadness without making him a whiny crybaby, as well the need to give him time as to what he truly desired to do. As for Dipper and Mabel, their confrontation chapter may have a bit of mild angst thrown in (given the situation they are in), but b/c I love adding of the prospect of family in my fics, it'll also highlight their close bond, regardless of their previous actions from the show. Still, I'll try not to make it seem so black and white for you.
Now, while we're getting to the nitty-gritty here, I just wanted to apologize in advance for what I am to say (no, Saudade ain't being on hiatus or getting cancelled or anything), but because I've been toiling with this story and several others at the same time, I've decided to split this chapter into two, this one to showcase Dipper planning his escape while the next chapter will actually show his actual escape to Gravity Falls.
A full, more in-depth explanation for why I did this will be shown after the end of the fic.
With that out of the way, we shall soon see Dipper's plan his grand escape to the Falls! The question is, how will he get there? And how does his family play a role in this? Will they find out about his plan beforehand? Let's see to it in Chapter Three: The Evasive Twin (renamed since the actual getaway is now the next chapter)! :)
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 THREE: THE EVASIVE TWIN
Mabel sat at a large, round table with three other tween girls sitting next to her. Normally, art class was Mabel's idea of blissful paradise, where she can be as expressive and carefree as she wants without a care.
Today however, after seeing Dipper looking quite frantic, running down the halls and screaming like a madman, all Mabel felt was an immense sense of concern throughout her class. The memory of seeing Dipper so red-faced and miserable was still fresh in her mind, and she knew something in Dipper's life wasn't going as well as he kept insisting.
She was too busy fretting over Dipper that she didn't hear her friends calling her name from next to her.
"Mabel? Mabel? Hey, Mabel...you awake?" asked a girl with long, strawberry-blonde hair and a lavender sun dress. Mabel jolted back into reality as the girl tapped her shoulder.
"Huh...whuh…" she slurred, before realizing that she was still in class.
"Sorry to wake ya, Mabel, but I wanted to ask if you had a dark blue colored pencil on you?" asked the girl carefully. Mabel shook away the fuzzies in her head and coughed nervously.
"O-Oh, sure, Alice...uh…" she then grabbed the requested pencil and handed it to her friend, "H-Here you go…"
The three girls looked at Mabel with worried and puzzled looks. It wasn't like Mabel to seem this melancholy so often.
"...Are ya feelin' okay, Mabes?" asked an African-American girl wearing a red hoodie, "Ya look down in the dumps today…"
Mabel sighed softly. "Sorry, Bailey. I guess I was just worried about Dipper was all..." she admitted. The third girl, a Latino-American wearing a green-colored tracksuit, raised an eyebrow towards her.
"That twin brother of yours? Why? What happened?" she asked quizzically.
"That's the point, Kelsey, I have no idea what happened to him. I haven't seen him at all during lunch, and when I did see him, he was running down the halls, screaming at me to leave me alone…" explained Mabel. Alice tilted her head and gave Mabel a concerned frown.
"That doesn't sound like Dipper…" she stated, "He's usually so demure…"
"Ya think maybe he was bullied or something?" put in Bailey. Kelsey shrugged softly.
"Possibly…" she added, "Lately, that smug punk Viscount has been acting moreso of a jerk than usual...why, I don't know…"
"Either way, something bad had to happen to him...when I saw him in the halls, he looked like he was straight up crying!" exclaimed Mabel disheartedly. Bailey, Alice, and Kelsey winced and each gave Mabel solicitous looks.
"Oh jeez...poor fella…" sighed Bailey.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" fretted Alice. Although the three girls never really met Dipper personally, they still didn't wish any ill will upon him, considering that in Mabel's mind and eyes, he was her pride and joy. Mabel exhaled again and looked away from her gal pals.
"I'm not sure, guys...I don't know if I did something to cause him to cry or if it was something else!" fretted the sweater-donning twin, slumping her head onto the desk. The girls looked at Mabel with unconvinced looks.
"I can't really see how you can make Dipper so depressed like that?" questioned Kelsey, "I mean, you're the nicest, most positive kid we know that goes to this school!" Bailey nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah, what could you do to possibly cause any trouble for Dipper?" asked Bailey incredulously.
With that bombshell of a question dropped, it was then when Mabel started to think back to her summer in Gravity Falls, regarding times when she have acted selfish towards her twin throughout their tenure in the Falls. Of course, moments like Dipper lousing up his chance to impress Wendy to have Mabel win Waddles came up, as well as not believing Dipper when her date "Norman" wasn't an actual human, but an army of gnomes.
Simpler moments like Mabel teasing Dipper on a somewhat-constant basis also sprang into mind, like when she picked on him regarding his "unmanly nature", joking about his crush on Wendy, the sound of his cracking voice, and numerous times she would him a "dork" or a "geek", regardless if was meant to be playful or not.
The coup de grace however, was when she screwed over Dipper's chance to intern for Grunkle Ford back in the Falls, which spiraled into Mabel inadvertently causing Weirdmgeddon; a moment where Mabel truly regretted playing a part in.
Mabel knew Dipper must be hiding something, or at the very least, isn't saying something that he should. As much as she didn't want to seem too overbearing towards Dipper right now, she knew she had to do something to try and get Dipper to open up to her.
As the school bell rang, indicating the end of their class, Mabel got up and sighed sadly, leaving her concerned and confused friends as she answered Bailey's question in an unnaturally-quiet voice.
"You don't know the half of it, girls…"
Meanwhile, Dipper had just exited his study period and was now heading to his trigonometry class on the third floor. His tears had been dried up well before he got to class, as not to gain attention (and by extension, more humiliation) to himself.
He even tried to salvage his letter by stapling and taping up the halves together as one. Sure, in hindsight, it looked kinda shoddy and a bit askew, but at this point, Dipper didn't care. Thankfully, he initially thought, the damage could've been much worse, but that still didn't make make Dipper feel anymore better. If he was gonna find a way back to the Falls, then that's what he was going to do.
What was the point in staying in a town where people are just gonna judge you anyways?
As he headed to his next class, he began thinking on how this was going to work. Surely, he can't just up and leave just like that? Especially on the off-chance that his sister or his parents would find out sooner or later.
Still, his plan to return to his more suitable home was still fluttering around his mind and he hiked up his bookbag, making sure that his letter was tucked away safely this time, and walked to his class; a lot more calmer now, but still feeling overly upset over today's events.
The school day had finally ended, as happy and relieved waves of students stormed out of the school, ready to go back home. However, one certain student didn't seem that happy or relieved as she stood around by the school's drop-off zone.
Mabel paced back and forth in place, waiting impatiently and anxiously for Dipper to arrive. While they always met up here to get picked up by their parents, she was more worried about the sake of Dipper than anything else. It came as total relief to her when she finally spotted Dipper ambling out of the school to head to the drop-off area, a somber expression on his face.
"Dipper!" she cried, now sprinting towards him.
Before Dipper could reply back, Mabel tackled him in a tight, anxious hug. Dipper nearly lost his balance at the sudden gesture, but returned it nonetheless. Of course, even with Mabel's loving hug engulfing him, Dipper didn't feel too much better mentally as she then released her hug and gave him a hurt, distraught look.
"Dipper, what the heck happened to you earlier!?" she questioned, looking him square in the eye.
Dipper blinked, now recalling what she was referring to from earlier this day. He coughed awkwardly as tried keeping his composure.
"Y-You talking about that little...incident in the halls?" he asked, trying to not sound suspicious.
"Yes, Dipper, that's exactly what I'm talking about!" exclaimed Mabel, "I haven't seen ya at all during lunch, so I tried to look for ya in the halls, and when I did, you were screaming and running past me like a crazy person!"
She capped off her baffled explanation by grabbing Dipper's hand tenderly, and giving him a confused look on her faces, her eyes glinting with sadness.
"Dipper, I know something must be going on...please...you can tell me...I'm your twin sister…"
Dipper nearly felt the need to tear up upon seeing his normally-bubbly and gleeful sister look so...heartbroken. So lost and confused. Feelings that Mabel rarely shown. Regardless, he took in a deep breath, and tried to make his expression subtle and calm.
"I-It's...it's just some stupid stuff with Edward Viscount was all…" was all he murmured.
Mabel's ears perked at the mention of Viscount's name, knowing full well about the two boys' less-than-friendly history. Although she knew Viscount wasn't exactly an all-around kind chap, she still wanted to make sure if there was more to this reason.
"Edward Viscount!?" she asked surprisingly, "What did he do to you!?"
Dipper cleared his throat from nearly choking up. "N-Nothing, j-just...calling me names, being a boastful jerk. Nothing beyond that…" he explained, skimming around most of the other parts from that encounter.
Mabel squinted her eyes. "He didn't hurt you or anything?"
Dipper shook his head, trying to ignore the fading, but still stinging soreness coming from the back of his head and spine. "N-No…" he answered softly.
Mabel frowned concernedly, still unconvinced and thinking something must be fishy, placed a comforting hand on Dipper's shoulder.
"Are you sure that was all that happened?" she asked carefully, trying to be as subtle as she can possibly be.
Dipper began to sweat from Mabel's persistence, causing him to twitch slightly out of fear, but just like from before, he summoned what little strength he had right now and inhaled deeply, putting on a brave face for his twin.
"Yes, Mabel…" he confirmed simply, "I'm sure…"
And to cap off that statement, he leaned forward and gave Mabel a soft hug. Mabel was somewhat caught off-guard by this, but slowly but surely, she returned his hug, although she was still unhappy and suspicious over Dipper's behavior.
"Now, come on, Dad should be here any second…" said Dipper, leading his sister to the area.
He was right, as in twenty-some seconds, Mr. Pines drove his sedan in the pick-up zone and both twins slowly scrambled in the car. Mabel sighed softly as he climbed in the back seat, right next to the tense and forlorn figure that was her twin brother.
'Sometimes,' she thought sadly to herself as she glanced towards Dipper, 'I just wish I can get into that guy's head…'
It was a rather awkward drive home as Dipper and Mabel kept very silent in the car, much to their father's confusion. When he asked if everything was fine or what happened, they only gave him one-word answers and soft shrugs.
Later in the day, dinner time wasn't exactly any better neither, as when the four sat together to have some spinach casserole, hardly any words were said between any of them. The parents were especially surprised and baffled at Mabel's unusual quietness, as they noticed their daughter frequently giving Dipper worried glances during their meal. They knew something was definitely up with Dipper.
Kristen's worries could only heighten compared to earlier this week, all while she gazed softly at Dipper from across the table. Even Jason, who tried to wave off his sadness from before, was now fully convinced that something wasn't right.
Nobody hardly said a word at dinner, even when they all finished their meals. Dipper put away his dishes first and excused himself from the table. Mabel was about to follow suit, but just as Dipper got out of earshot and had went back to his and her room, she figured she'd at least let her parents know what was transpired today with Dipper out of precaution.
As much as she didn't want to across as a tattletale at this moment, she knew telling Mom and Dad about Dipper's little episode might help lead to what exactly is up with him.
"M-Mom? Dad?" she asked feebly. Both parents, who were now ready to wash the dishes, looked back at her from the sink.
"Yes, sweetie?" Kristen asked softly.
Mabel plucked up courage and took in a breath to ease her nerves, trying not to do something she'll regret. Best to just say it and get it over with, right?
"There's something I have to tell you both about what happened with Dipper today..."
Meanwhile, Dipper had retreated to his room and began pacing, his brain going into overdrive. If he was to go back to the Falls at some point, he'd have to think smart on how he would escape to his "true home" without making his parents and sister suspicious.
Unfortunately as of now, the normally-clever and insightful boy was drawing nothing but blanks for this plan, as his mind was so foggy from today's events that he could barely think straight. If anything in his plan went slightly awry, he would definitely be busted for sure...
Busted…
Bust…
Bus…
Dipper widened in realization! He and Mabel had gone to and from Gravity Falls by bus, he could just take one back to the Falls to see his family and friends there again! Immediately, Dipper grabbed his laptop from his desk, turned it on, and opened up his tab (using incognito mode, of course). He then went and searched on the Giggle search engine for a bus that was to go to the Falls.
"Bus schedule to Gravity Falls…" he said to himself, typing it in the search bar. Soon enough, a site for his local bus station came up and he clicked on it. He scanned around the numerous schedules until he finally found something for Gravity Falls.
BUS SCHEDULE FOR GRAVITY FALLS, OREGON
SATURDAY - SEPTEMBER 16th - BUS LEAVES STATION AT 3:00PM
Dipper nodded, hastily grabbed a pen and scrap of paper, and wrote down the date and time as a reminder just in case. Considering that September 16th was on this week, Dipper knew he had to act fast and act smart if he was to make back to Gravity Falls unnoticed.
The question still remained...how though?
"And when we met up in the halls again after school, he tried to convince me that this was because Edward Viscount was giving him a hard time…"
Jason and Kristen Pines sat in silent shock at the kitchen table as Mabel, sitting across from them, was nearly finishing her story regarding Dipper's tantrum from school today. They both almost lost their voices out of surprise from her story, as Mabel had finally ended her explanation to them.
"I-I feel like there's more to this than what Dipper is denying...but he won't open up to me…" she stated glumly.
"Oh dear…" replied Kristen after seconds of stunned quietness, "I had a feeling something bad was up with him…I just felt it in my heart…"
"There has to be something we can do!?" cried Mabel, her hands and body quivering out of fear, "I-I just don't see how can't just ask him what's wrong already!?" Jason, sensing tension already rising in the air, tried to ease his daughter down.
"Mabel, sweetie, calm down!" he said, placing a fatherly hand on her own, "Everything'll be fine…"
Mabel sniffled. "No it won't, Dad!" she whimpered, "I've never seen Dipper look so distraught for so long! He's like a different person now. It's...it's…"
She choked back a sob and wiped away some incoming tears on her sweater sleeve.
"It's like he hates me now or something…"
No sooner had Mabel uttered that statement out of left field, Kristen immediately leaned over and pulled Mabel into a close, reassuring hug.
"Ohhh...sweetie-pie…" she cooed in a soft, almost-heartbroken voice, "Dipper could never hate you. You're his twin sister, his pride and joy. Why would Dipper have a reason to hate you?"
Mabel gulped thickly and trembled at that last sentence, thinking back to when her friends at school ask a question quite similar to her mother's.
Naturally, she and Dipper didn't fully explain about what exactly went down in Gravity Falls during their summer, only out of fear that Mom and Dad may not bring them back next summer upon hearing stuff about the twins fighting off shapeshifters, zombies, pterodactyls, and various other creatures.
Hence why during the return home, they'd promised each other to try and keep these certain events to themselves. Of course, Mabel would post pictures on social media about the more normal aspects of her summer in Gravity Falls, but that was it. No mentions of gnomes, ghostly convenience store owners, sentient golf ball people, or even of Bill Cipher at all.
Godforbid if word gets to them about Weirdmageddon…
Mabel shivered at her mother's question, unsure of what to say, so she just cleared her throat and tried keeping her composure.
"...N-N-No r-reason…" she muttered, looking rather downcast and guilty.
Jason sighed, hoping to calm the rarely-stressed out Mabel down. "Mabel, sweetie, calm down…" he coaxed, "I know you're upset, but we have to think rationally about this! We can't force questions out of him!" Mabel sniffled uncontrollably.
"But, we gotta do something, Dad!" wailed Mabel, trying not to lose her mind, "He's my brother, we have to help him!"
"I understand, Mabel, but we can't make it seem like we're invading in on his life…"
"We're not going to be intruding, Jason, we're seeing what's the matter with our son…" explained Kristen with a tired sigh, "He's been absolutely miserable and quiet for nearly a month and he won't tell us why!"
She then held her head with her left hand, unsure on what to do at this point. She sniffled softly, looking more forlorn than ever.
"I don't know how I can reach out to my baby boy…" she whispered, small tears began to form in her eyes.
Kristen was a person that always cherished her family to the point of being admittedly overbearing, but even then, she loved her twin children like any mother would, and always wanted to be there for them, no matter how old they are or will be.
Her serene and unwavering compassion was always something Jason cherished in Kristen. He then looked over towards Mabel, who looked just as lost and heartbroken as her mother. Jason frowned and felt a wave of guilt wash over him for his ignorance.
Hating to see his beloved wife and daughter look so upset for any longer, he then placed a tender, apologetic hand on her right hand. Kristen looked up to see Jason giving her a comforting smile.
"I know this is hard, honey. Trust me, I'm just as worried as you are, but we can't go in guns a-blazing and overwhelm him. Chances are that'll hurt him more than heal him…" he murmured calmly, gazing towards before them both. Kristen and Mabel looked back at him with somewhat-surprised eyes. Jason sighed softly before continuing.
"We'll reach out to our son somehow...but we need to be subtle about it. We have to take it one step at a time. But...if it helps, we can all go upstairs and check on him, ask him about his day and see if he'll open up to us then."
He squeezed Kristen's hand softly. "Somehow or someway...we'll find out whatever is happening with Dipper right now…"
"And we'll help him through this, no matter what…"
And after what felt like hours of thought and contemplation, Jason's mind was at ease when he spotted Mabel's slowly growing smile from across the table. He then Kristen's hand squeeze his own, looking over to see his wife giving him a sad, but grateful smile.
With Dipper's plan on how to escape to the Falls set in proverbial stone, he just had to come up with something on how to sneak out to get there without warranting any suspicion. Unfortunately, like before, nothing realistic or good came to mind.
Knowing fully well he couldn't straight up tell his parents that he was going back to Gravity Falls by himself, Dipper laid back on his bed and let out a tired, annoyed moan. He stared at the ceiling for what seemed like an hour before he heard a gentle knock at the door.
Dipper leaned back up and sighed softly. "Come in…" he called.
The door carefully opened to reveal Kristen and Jason slowly walk into the room, carrying expressions mixed with concern and curiosity. Mabel cautiously followed them in and stood by the doorway.
"Hey, son…" beckoned Jason, as careful as can be, "You doing okay?"
Dipper coughed gently and position himself on the edge of the bed. "Y-Yes, I'm okay. W-Why?"
Kristen and Jason joined Dipper on the bed at end of him. Kristen draped an arm around Dipper's waist. "Well, sweetheart, it's only because lately, you've just seemed so…so..."
She paused for a split second, trying to find a suitable word for his situation. Jason then beat her to the punch.
"You seemed kinda of...distant for a while, son…" he answered for her, "We just wanted to see if anything was the matter."
Dipper gulped and tried not to tremble out of caution. As much as he hated lying to his parents, he knew if he wanted to head back to Gravity Falls, he would have to resort to falsities to cover his tracks.
"N-Nothing's the matter, Dad. Just some...y'know, dumb stuff happening at school is all…" he reasoned. Kristen and Jason looked at each other, eyebrows raised and their eyes filled with apprehension. Mabel looked just as concerned even from the sidelines.
"...Is it anything to do with this Edward Viscount kid?" Jason asked carefully.
Dipper sighed a little. Deep down, he kinda figured Mabel would've mentioned his little outburst at school to their parents, and decided to just roll along with it. He gathered enough courage to finally give out an answer.
"...yeah...it was…" was all he uttered.
Kristen looked at Dipper with soft, motherly eyes. Even after Mabel told them both about this incident, she still felt incredibly sorry for her son's plight. "Ohhh...come here, dearie…" she cooed softly, leaning over towards Dipper.
Kristen then pulled him deep into a loving hug, which Dipper gratefully returned afterwards. Jason also helped to comfort him by rubbing his back gently.
Mabel gently joined the group, giving Dipper a shy, concerned look. "Dipper, I'm really sorry I had to tell Mom and Dad about this, but it was only because I'm worried about you…" Kristen and Jason released their hug from Dipper.
"Mabel's right, son." replied Jason, "You know if something is wrong or troubling you, that you can easily talk it out with us, right?"
Dipper looked into the eyes of their parents. They looked genuinely worried for his sake, though in Kristen's case (the fact where can be quite emotional at times), she looked deathly worried about this whole situation. Jason, of course, was just as worried, despite being a more down-to-earth and unintentionally-passive kind of guy.
Then, when he caught sight of Mabel's heartbroken face, he nearly choked back a sob himself from seeing his twin's upset expression. Her cheeks looked more red than usual, her brace-laced and cheery smile was replaced with a sad frown, and her eyes were more focused and hurt than anything.
Regardless, he tried to push away these bad thoughts and kept his composure.
"I know, Dad...b-b-but trust me. I'm doing fine, guys. Honest!" he replied, trying to sound somewhat cheerful. Kristen tilted her head.
"Are you sure, dearie?" she asked softly. Dipper simply nodded.
"Definitely. I-I just need to clear my head from all this stuff with Edward i-is all…" he assured with a nod. Mr. Pines pursed his lips thoughtfully.
"If you'd like," offered Jason kindly, "I can talk with Viscount's father about this. Maybe he can try and settle things with that kid of his?"
Dipper's eyes widened a bit. Had Edward found out that his family tried to tattle on him, he would surely be royally peeved at Dipper for sure. Plus, what if Edward blabbed about his desire to go back to Gravity Falls?
"No! No, no, no, Dad!" yelped Dipper, getting up from the bed and smiling nervously, "There's, uh, no need for that. We'll just, uh, let it run its course, y'know! N-No fuss, really!"
The parents looked at Dipper strangely from his sudden exclamation. They stayed silent for a bit until Kristen's sigh broke the tension.
"Well, regardless, dearie, I suggest you'd at least go to the principal's about this. I'd rather not have my son get tormented by that silly little prep student, you know…" she suggested carefully.
Dipper nodded. "Of course, Mom…" he replied.
Mabel then decided to take the stage to try and have Dipper open up to her. She gently placed a sisterly hand on Dipper's shoulder. Dipper looked up to her and gazed into her sad eyes.
"Dipper...please…" she whispered with a heavy heart, "I know I can be a pain sometimes, but I'm doing this because I care about you...you know that, right?"
Dipper tried to ignore the sad aura that Mabel was presenting before him. He gulped again and felt his throat dry up for a millisecond. Even though Mabel's exuberant and selfish behavior could land him and others in trouble, he still loved Mabel to death. However, he missed and loved his friends and family from the Falls just as much, as well.
The thought of trying reunited with his Gravity Falls brethren again practically clouded up his mind. He knew what he wanted to do. He knew he couldn't stick around in Piedmont, stuck being something of an awkward pariah for so long.
Right now, all Dipper did was regained his posture and gave Mabel a tiny, reassuring, albeit nervous and forlorn smile on his face.
"I know, Mabes. But, really. I'm doing fine, mentally and physically…" he assured gently. Mabel's misty eyes gazed into her brother's own.
"...Are you certain, Dipper?" she beckoned ever so softly. Dipper nodded "yes" and kept his smile.
"I'm certain, Mabel. I-It's probably just the weather or something. But trust me, you guys don't have to worry about me!"
With that said, he gave Mabel a tight, reassuring hug, much to the normally-joyful twin's surprise. It took a few seconds before she returned said hug, but the frown she still sported on her face still indicated that she wasn't fully convinced over Dipper's empathy.
He released the embrace and gave Mabel a small, though vacant smile and a pat on her arm. He then faked a yawn and stretched his arms.
"Ahh, hmmm, well, I'm gonna take an early bath tonight. Just wanna put this day behind me, you see?" he said with a groan. Jason and Kristen looked at each other for a second before turning back to Dipper, upset that it seems like their method to have their son speak his feelings would be tougher than they all thought.
"Well, okay, son...if that's what you think…" replied Jason glumly.
"But, Dipper...please know that we do love you very much...all of us…" cooed Kristen, her loving, hurt tone nearly both breaking and melting Dipper's heart. Dipper stood by the door and looked back at his family.
"...I love you guys, too! But trust me, I'm doing fine!" he called back from the doorway. He turned around from the others, his smile faltering into an anxious, sad frown.
"You guys won't have to worry about me ever again…" he muttered cryptically to himself as he walked to the bathroom. His parents and Mabel hadn't heard his last sentence, but they still looked towards the young male twin with worrying eyes, unsure of what else to do.
Nightfall had finally struck upon Piedmont, as many families were now fast asleep in their beds. Normally at the Pines household, this would be no different, but because of Dipper's unnatural behavior, almost everyone barely had the ability to sleep out of worry.
Kristen and Jason laid in bed for a while, silently fretting over their son. It was almost around midnight when they finally managed to drift to sleep, as not to be groggy for when they had work tomorrow morning.
It was no better in the twins' shared bedroom as poor Mabel found it somewhat harder to sleep, as she shifted slightly in her own bed (with Waddles nestled next to her, of course), occasionally looking at Dipper's seemingly sleeping form rise up and down across his own bed, his body and head facing away from Mabel.
Mabel leaned up and quietly snuck out of bed, as not to disturb Waddles. She tiptoed towards Dipper's bed and gave her brother a sad look. With the gentleness that only a mother could give, she traced her fingers against the side of Dipper's chin, sighing softly and looking down at him.
"I wish you can tell us what's wrong with you, Dipper…All I want to do is help you out...I wanna help you smile again…" she whispered, her voice as quiet as a baby mouse. She swallowed thickly, before continuing on.
"I know I'm not the greatest twin in the universe, but...if I have to right all my wrongs, even if it takes forever, then I'll do it…for you..."
She then leaned carefully closer until her lips were nearby his ear.
"No matter what anyone says, Dipper, whether it's from Edward or anyone else, you are still loved and appreciated to us, bro-bro...please remember that…"
She capped off her statement by giving Dipper a sweet peck on the cheek. Although she couldn't tell, Dipper did seem asleep in her eyes, as he shifted a bit in his position. No reply from either sibling came afterwards.
Mabel sighed tiredly and sadly before she slunk back in her bed. The day had been absolutely tiresome for her. Her chances to find out what exactly is happening with Dipper seemed to be fruitless at this point, especially when she heard that Edward Viscount helped to cause more grief in his life.
The way she saw it, hadn't Edward kept being a total jerk to Dipper, her brother wouldn't have ultimately lost it in the first place. It was enough for Mabel to scowl at the thought of Edward's permanently-smug face and persona.
'Lousy Edward with his dumb money and his dumb rich guy face…pickin' on poor Dipper for no reason...' she huffed to herself. Just suddenly, an idea came to mind.
Considering if Edward may have helped to trigger Dipper's tantrum, maybe if she got an answer of sorts from him, maybe it'll help connect the source of Dipper's depression. Maybe there was a specific reason why Edward hustled him in the bathroom? It was worth a try, she supposed.
With her own plan thought out, it took only a few minutes for Mabel to finally ease her way to get some rest, but not before having one more sad look at Dipper before she closed her eyes again.
As Mabel dozed off into unconsciousness for the night, she hadn't accounted one detail she noticed when she was trying to comfort the sleeping Dipper…
...in that Dipper wasn't actually sleeping at all!
Dipper, who kept his eyes closed in hopes to try and lull himself to sleep, had heard everything that Mabel had just whispered to him. He hardly dared breath when this happened, especially when he heard Mabel quietly retreat back to her own bed.
Silence fell again for a long time as Dipper kept quiet and still, as not to wake Mabel if she may still be awake.
After what felt like hours passed by, Dipper carefully turned his head to see finally Mabel completely asleep in bed, frowning sadly and letting out a sigh of relief. Carefully reaching under his pillow, he then gently grabbed something in his hand from under it.
It was his note from Gravity Falls.
Dipper unfolded the letter as quietly as he could and took a long look at it. Although it was very dark and the letter was still hastily taped up, Dipper could still read each name clearly, even in pitch black darkness.
'I love you, Mabel...and Mom and Dad, too…even through I'm not sure if I fully forgive you for your bad moments, I'll still and always will love you like a sister…'
He looked down and carefully folded his letter back up, cradling the somewhat-crumbled and stitched together note in his sweaty hands.
'However...I just don't belong in Piedmont...I don't belong in a place where I'll be judged or considered as a burden to others, especially to my family…'
Dipper turned back to Mabel, who was thankfully still sleeping. Dipper sadly frowned at his sister, a single tear managing to sneak its way out of his tear duct to gently trickle down his left cheek.
'This is just something I have to do, Mabel. Quite frankly, you, Mom, and Dad would all be better off without me around, where I won't hold you back. Where you can be as carefree and high-spirited as much as you'd like without me being in the way...without me being a nagging buzzkill to you…'
Dipper sighed ever so softly, nestled the note back under his pillow, and shifted his body. He looked at the clock next to his bed.
1:06, it read. Guess it's time to at least try and get some sleep then.
Now having his head and body face the ceiling, Dipper gazed up into the darkness of his and his sister's room for a long while, before sleep finally whisked him away from consciousness.
He wasn't sure if he'll regret this decision right now, but for the sake of not being a burden to his family in Piedmont, he figured it would be for the best...
TO BE CONTINUED...
With that chapter done, now I can fully explain why I had to cut this chapter short before Dipper's actual escape.
Last week proved to be hectic for me, as I took my grandmother (and legal guardian) to the hospital on Wednesday. We spent all day there, where she was doing x-rays and tests and such. The next day, we got a call saying she had a nodule resting nearby her lungs. Later this month, she'll be doing a biopsy to see if this nodule may be cancerous or not. She's holding up fine now, but the news still scared me to death, considering I've lost my grandfather to cancer (technically it was cardiac arrest, but the cancer did play a part in it) earlier this year.
Another reason was mainly because of a time crunch I had with my fics, as I was hoping to get the upcoming fics I had listed on my profile all posted before the new year, but because with this news regarding my Gram came up, I barely had time to focus on my stories b/c I was so busy and worried (hence why I hadn't had time to finish this chapter in time). On top of that, the stress of being overloaded with fanfic stories had just come up to me, so I felt I needed to lighten my load a little so it doesn't affect my writing.
In the end, I've decided to try and fix up the schedule for my fics. I'll be posting two out of the five planned OK K.O.! stories for November and December, with the rest to now come out next January. My follow-up story to my Overwatch fic "Skirmish" will still be released sometime this year, and I'll continue my work on Saudade as planned, hopefully getting it done before 2019.
I just want to say I deeply apologize for not getting to the more climatic chapters as planned. If this chapter didn't seem as how you've all expected it to be, I still will accept any form of criticism you guys may have and I'll try extra hard to make sure this story is to everyone's liking.
I hope you all understand and that you'll know that Saudade is NOT going under a hiatus nor is it getting cancelled, I just need to sort of pace myself for now. But still, thanks again for reading and reviewing regardless!
Next chapter will finally (and definitely) bring two special occurrences as we finally get into the crux of this story: Mabel confronting Edward Viscount III about what he did to Dipper to cause his little episode, and then Dipper's attempt to return back to Gravity Falls!
~Thunderbyrd