June 6th

It was already nightfall by the time the twins had passed by the worn wooden sign welcoming them to Gravity Falls and Mabel was currently at the wheel belting out one of her favorite 80's power ballads at the top of her lungs in accompaniment to the radio while Dipper tried desperately to bury his face in a brick-thick mystery novel. He loved his sister, dearly, but even he had to admit that she had the singing voice of a furious parakeet. When he thought he was going to snap for sure she suddenly stopped wailing and announced:

"We're here! Last stop the Mystery Shack, keep your arms, legs and various other extremities inside until the vehicle until it has come to a complete stop."

Dipper breathed a sigh of relief and sat up from his sullen slouch to take a good look around the town once again. Not much seemed to have changed since his last visit, though he had noticed a few new businesses having sprung up here and there along the main street strip. As they passed by the familiar sights Dipper felt the last of his gloominess from the previous night drop away and a lightness fill him up. While his times in this town had been occasionally stressful, to say the least, he had to admit that Gravity Falls had some sort of hold over him that made him feel more at peace than his hometown ever did. All the things he'd discovered here over the years, the strange secret truths and hidden places had distanced him from his peers back home. It was true what Mabel had said, about the fights at their old school, but the truth of it was that it had been hard to take bullies seriously after he'd already gone toe to toe with a talking bear covered in heads or a living video game character. He'd gotten along well enough with his classmates at the new school but knowing that he had to stay silent about so much or be considered an outcast had pushed him more toward his sister as the only other person who had experienced the weirdness that was his life. Mabel had adjusted to the "real" world much easier than he had, but that probably had more to do with her cheerful and carefree attitude. Her natural silliness had kept her out of the "popular girls" circle, but her friendliness and sense of fun had still earned her plenty of friends...

"Dipper, earth to Dipper!" Mabel said, interrupting his train of thought as she jabbed him in the side with her finger, "Give Grunkle Stan a call already and let him know we've arrived – we wouldn't want to have to wake him up in the middle of the night honking the horn outside the shack, you know how crabby he gets."

Dipper shook himself from his reverie and pulled out his phone and dialed up the Mystery Shack – the phone rang for almost a minute before it was picked up and Dipper was greeted by the gruff but welcome voice of his great uncle. Stan was surprised at the news of the unexpected visit and acted annoyed, but Dipper knew him well enough to hear the gladness in the old mans voice. He said he was sure he could put them up for a bit, though considering how big they'd probably have gotten he might have to charge them rent for taking up valuable shack space. They both had a laugh while Dipper wondered just how much of it was a joke. When it came to Stan and money it could be hard to tell.

The stars were already out in force when Dippers rattling blue sedan pulled into the spot near the totem pole outside the Mystery Shack but Stan was already waiting to greet them, actually fully dressed in his tuxedo and fez – he looked like he'd even made something of an effort to shave his ever-present five-o-clock shadow. Dipper winced at all the small pieces of paper stuck to his face that showed that he had probably done it in a rush too, or at least that he'd been to cheap to switch to a sharper brand of razor. Stan actually greeted them with a hug, which was surprising from him, though he had turned the hug into a headlock when it was Dippers turn and the two had a light hearted tussle. Dinner that night was some of their great-uncles infamous brown meat stew, and he demanded to hear how things had been going back home. Dipper and Mabel related their various accomplishments (Dippers victory at the science fair was met with a good natured cry of "Nerd!" while Mabel got an "Atta-girl!" for winning the top prize a local talent show by teaching Waddles to dance while wearing an adorable costume). Things had gone on as usual in the Shack according to Stan, though Soos had been promoted to part time cashier as well as handyman since Wendy had gone off to college a few years ago. They talked until the small hours when Stan announced that he couldn't stay up much longer and asked the twins where they were planning on sleeping. He offered them Soos's break room, but Dipper and Mabel shook their heads.

"We were thinking of the attic actually. You know, for old times sake." Dipper said with a yawn.

"Heh, well whatever suits you. Personally I'm not sure how you kids could stand it as long as you did up there." Stan said as he headed off to his room.

Dipper and Mabel hauled in their well stuffed bags up the rickety old stairs and found themselves once again in the dark and spider-infested room above the shack. They quickly settled into the lumpy old mattresses in the familiar darkness, Mabel's old faded posters still on the wall over her side and the remains of their old mini-golf course still scattered here and there on the floor.

"Feels weird to be back doesn't it?" Mabel said sleepily.

"I don't know... feels nice to me." Dipper replied, "Not this mattress though. This thing still feels like its stuffed with whole sheep, bones and all."

"Sorry for dragging you away from the whole giant bird thing earlier today. Not very Mystery Twin of me I guess."

"Its ok- I'll just go check it out later, when I have more time, y'know? I want to spend this vacation just having some fun with you and enjoying the town. No need to drag you into another one of these things." Dipper answered, his eyes growing heavy with sleep.

"Hey, I normally have a lot of fun with this junk too... I had just really wanted to see Stan again. I'd missed the old rapscallion." she said, her voice growing dim in his ears as he drifted off.

Mabel heard the start of her brothers faint snores and she smiled to herself as she snuggled into her uncomfortable bed. He'd looked so alive when they had been out in that farmers field examining the footprint, and she had to admit that she'd felt a bit of a thrill herself. While the mysteries were more his thing she was very into the adventure of seeing new sights and having new experiences... they made a pretty great team when they worked together. He'd been in kind of a funk through their last year at high school, even though they hadn't hung out as much she'd still noticed it, and seeing him getting really excited about something again was a great feeling.

She looked across the room to her sleeping brother and thought again on their conversation from the night before. Dipper called me an amazing person, she thought, and the truth is I think he's pretty amazing too. He's sweet and such a softy at heart, but he's braver than anyone else I've ever met. He took on a giant robot with just his bare hands to save me once. The last guy I dated couldn't even sit through a cheesy horror movie with me. She paused, slightly startled. Why did I just compare Dipper to one of my exes? She shook herself slightly, Its just late and you're getting loopy Mabel.

Pushing the last thought well out of her mind Mabel started thinking about their as yet unmade plan to stick together despite things like college and life getting in the way. Maybe one of us can switch schools? No... I don't have the grades for Dippers school and he can't even draw a good stick figure so art school is out of the question for him. Maybe something involving hypnosis? No, thats stupid. She yawned loudly. We'll figure it out soon though, she thought as she drifted off into dreamland, one way or another we'll find a way to stick together.