June 12th

"C'mon Dipper! We're almost at the top here – no time to slow down!" Mabel called to her brother further back on the hiking trail.

Dipper had been acting strange ever since the night of the party... just kind of quiet and sort of nervous seeming. Just this morning when she'd woken up she'd found his bed empty and her brother asleep on the armchair in the living room with the television on as if he'd snuck down in the middle of the night and just ended up watching TV all night. Mabel had taken it upon herself to cheer her brother up but so far nothing she'd tried had seemed to work out like she'd planned... random hugs, surprise pokes & sneaking up behind him and making annoying noises just seemed to be upsetting him even more. Well, ok – I can see how the annoying noises part might not have been the best plan, she thought to herself as she hefted the weight of her small backpack, but the other stuff usually always worked in the past. That whole deal with Wendy must have messed with him way more than I thought... Still, nothing like a good workout to help drive out heartbreak!

Dipper had resisted her prodding and cajoling him into taking a nature hike with her near the lake at first but she'd finally managed to convince him through a combination of puppy dog eyes and mentions of a strange apelike creature spotted in the woods by some locals.

"C'mon Dipper, it'll be fun!" she'd pleaded as they had sat eating their breakfast that morning, "Plus how many chances are you going to get to go sasquatch hunting while you're off studying rocket-calculus or whatever that math class you signed up for is called?"

"I'm pretty sure that's not a real class." he'd said, a smile creeping unbidden onto his face. "I'm not sure I'm up for a hike though Mabel.."

"Dipper, you've been moping around the shack for like, 2 days... our summer isn't going to last forever. Go with me, I could use some company from my favorite brother." Mabel said, turning the charm up to 11 with one of her wide smiles.

Dipper looked into her face and she could see the 'no' forming on his lips before she saw a beat of hesitation. "You're right. Sorry I've been so weird lately, I've just got a lot of... stuff... going on in my head right now that I'm working through. Where was it we were going again?"

It had now been hours since that conversation and Dipper found himself panting and sweating up the trail under a massive pack, trudging after his sister. If Mabel doesn't want to do art at least she'll always have a promising future as a drill sergeant to look forward to – this hike is brutal.

Mabel appeared from behind a stand of tree's and waved him toward her, "You're almost there bro! Just a mile more!" she called cheerfully before skipping off ahead. She'd traded her usual sweater for the more practical combination of shorts and a brightly colored athletic shirt that looked like it had been mugged by a rainbow. Dipper couldn't help but notice how gracefully she moved, her long creamy legs and arms swinging in easy rhythm as she jogged ahead... A very cute cute drill sergeant. Augh! No... c'mon man, pull yourself together here. You DO NOT have a thing for Mabel... she's... she's MABEL for gods sake!

Setting his pack more firmly on his shoulders so that the left strap stopped digging into his neck, Dipper marched on, casting his eyes around for pretty much anything to take his mind off of this new and very distressing train of thought that had started to worm its way through his mind since the night of the party. Between this and his talk with Stan the other night he'd had a lot on his mind...

–

It had happened in the late evening the day after the party, once the last of the tour groups was gone for the day. Soos had already packed up his tools and headed off to his grandmother's for the night, and Mabel was having a girls night out with Candy and Grenda. Though Dipper was glad that he might be able to pass the evening without worrying if he was looking at her too much or avoiding her too much or just generally acting weird he was still feeling sort of lonely without having Mabel around. He'd come down from the attic and sat with Stan who was watching a boxing match in the living room. Dipper wasn't really a good judge for this sort of thing, but the old man was harshly critical about the fighters abilities.

"Look at these clowns dancing around in there... if I was ten years younger... well, maybe 30 or 40 years younger anyway, I could show them a thing or two." Stan griped.

"Sure thing," Dipper said distractedly as he tried to lose himself in his novel amid the noise of the crowd coming in from the television.

The fight ended on points instead of a knockout and Stan shut off the television with a disgusted "Bah!"

Thinking that his uncle was going to be heading off to bed already, Dipper started to get up to head for the attic once more, but Stan stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"Hold up a minute kid, meet me over in my den – I got something I need to show you." Stan had said as he sat up from his creaking armchair and cracked his back with a groan.

Dipper shrugged and followed his great-uncle over to the quiet room that Stan kept tucked away in the shack that he went to when he felt like being alone and found him seated at his desk there with a thick yellowed document in his gnarled hands.

"So.. uh, take a seat Dipper." Stan said, motioning to one of the chairs in the room. Dipper sat across from his uncle, confused and feeling like he was in some sort of bizarre job interview.

"Whats up Grunkle Stan?" Dipper asked as the old man adjusted some papers and coughed a little.

"Well, the thing is kid... Man, how long have you been coming up here? It seems like only yesterday when you were just a boy and I sat you down in this room and explained to you the facts of life." Stan said.

"I... I don't actually remember that happening." Dipper said, confused. Maybe I blocked it out?

"Really? I could have sworn... maybe I'm thinking of the time that I sat Soos down here and explained to him the facts of life. Sheesh, can that guy cry or what? Anyway, I'm getting off topic here. The thing is that I've seen you grow up a lot around here. You came here a sniveling little wimp and you've turned into a real man over the years." Stan continued, his voice tinged with pride.

"Thanks... I think." Dipper said, somewhat annoyed at Stans choice of words.

"The point is that I'm proud of you. I never had any kids of my own... you know, that I know of anyway.. so I was going to let you know this now – I'm going to be leaving the Shack to you in my will." Stan said.

"What?" Dipper said, stunned. "Are you ok? Are you sick?"

"Jeez, no I'm doing fine! At the rate I'm going now I'll probably outlive you," Stan said, flexing a wrinkled bicep, "but in case you do manage to survive me I was thinking that it would be good for this place to go to someone who would take good care of it. Make it a family business kind of thing. I wanted to get your opinion on this before I finalized any of the paperwork."

Dipper sat back in the chair. Ownership of the Mystery Shack? Thats... thats huge. What do I do? Could I really run this place? Do I want to run this place? He saw Stan looking at him expectantly, an inscrutable expression on his face. Stans giving it to me because he thinks I can handle it... and maybe I can.

Dipper nodded at his uncle, "I'm in."

Stan sat back with a smile. "Glad to hear it kid. Now don't go thinking you're just going to jump into this right away... I've still got plenty of years of scamming rubes left in me before you get this place. Who knows though? Heck, maybe one day I'll just leave it to you and retire to go out on the road again."

Dipper chuckled, "Well, you did always says its harder for them to catch you when you're traveling."

"Darn straight!" Stan said with a laugh of his own. "Anyway, when that ends up happening I've got some papers that I'll need you to read in my safe. You seem like you've got a good head for secrets and there's a few that I think you'll be ready for in a few years."

"What kind of papers?" Dipper asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Never you mind for now! Forget I said that last part. Anyway, I'm gonna head off to bed now. All this emotional junk has gotten me drained out." Stan said, standing up quickly to leave the room.

"You really think I'll be able to handle it?" Dipper asked before Stan had opened the door.

"If anyone can take care of this place the way it deserves to be, its you kid. Your sister didn't seem to enjoy it when she'd been in charge of the place, but I've seen you give the tours and you've got a flair for it. Plus my only other option was leaving it to Soos, which I think we can both agree is a disaster waiting to happen." Stan said.

"I wouldn't put it that way... but I wouldn't not put it that way either." Dipper said regretfully.

The two had parted ways for the night and Dipper had taken a slow walk around the shack, taking in every corner and beam of the place with new eyes. Me, the owner of the Mystery Shack? I've got to tell Mabel!

His thoughts returned once again to his sister and he felt his ears redden with shame. If I can ever manage to talk to her again without cringing that is.

–

The 'last mile' that Mabel had promised did indeed lead to the end of the trail, but came to a steep hill that she insisted that they definitely had to climb. Dipper had groaned under the weight of his pack and demanded a short rest first and Mabel had agreed, stretching and taking a seat beneath the shade of a tall old oak tree.

Mabel glanced over at her brother as he fussed with his pack, looking for his water bottle. Well, he looks tired and tired is better than depressed any day of the week, Mabel thought to herself. She was a firm believer in post-breakup workouts rather than post-breakup ice-cream binges, and considering the number of boyfriends she'd had throughout her high school years it had probably been the much healthier option for her. Dipper on the other hand, she thought, just sinks deeper into himself. He broods too much... heck, after that last girl dumped him back in junior year I almost went crazy hearing him listen to that one mopey album over and over again. She thought back on the day when she'd finally had enough of seeing her brother miserable and had dragged him, physically, out of his room and along with her out on the town. He'd been surly at first, but after a day of hitting up video game stores, the comic shop & the new monster movie exhibit at the local museum he'd been laughing and joking with her again like it was just any other day. When they had arrived back home that night he'd smiled at her and thanked her for taking him out and she'd felt a familiar warmth in her chest seeing just how much she'd been able to do for him. He'd also handed her the CD that had been on loop throughout the week and she'd ceremonially snapped it over her knee and tossed the pieces into the garbage as they both had a laugh. I've done it before and I'll do it again!, Mabel thought with new resolve, He's always been there for me when I'm down and I'm not going to let him waste our summer brooding about some crush from when he was twelve.

"Alright Sir Dipstick, breaktime's over – we're going to take that hill! Are you ready?" She called out enthusiastically as she walked up to him and held out her hand to help him to his feet. Wearily, he took it and followed her to the base of the steep hill where she began to do a few warm up stretches to prepare for the climb.

Dipper tried, very hard, not to stare at Mabel as she'd stretched out and particularly tried not to notice that her shorts were showing much more of her legs than he was accustomed to seeing. C'mon man, don't be weird. Its just shorts. She's your twin... its not like you haven't seen her at the pool in her bathing suit before. Crap. Why did I just think of that? Gah! How many times are you going to touch your toes Mabel? They've been touched already!

Dipper coughed, glad that at least the long hike gave him a plausible excuse for being red in the face and somewhat sweaty. "Say sis, why not let me lead the way up the hill... I think I've got my second wind!" he said with fake enthusiasm. Also, I won't have to walk behind you in those shorts. Ugh... what is wrong with me? Happy thoughts Dipper. Pure clean happy thoughts. Like bigfoot. What if we see Bigfoot today? That would be great. Just breathe and think of bigfoot.

"That's the spirit!" Mabel chimed out, slapping her brother in the back. "Lead the way Dipper!"

The climb was tough – the hill wasn't as steep as a cliff, but the footholds and convenient branches to grab onto for stability were few and far between and soon Dipper found himself lost in the pure physicality of the moment. This is more like it, he thought, just me and this hill. A clear goal ahead. They were drawing closer to the top now and he felt at peace for the first time in days as he saw how close they were. As he started to reach out for a sapling to help stabilize his footing he heard a sudden yelp behind him and turned to see Mabel scrabbling as her foothold crumbled beneath her. Acting without thinking Dipper threw off his backpack and scuttled down the hillside after her as she was grasping a protruding root in a white knuckle grip, a look of sudden panic frozen on her face.

"Hang on Mabel!" he called as he finally reached her, and he quickly stripped off his belt and wrapped the loop around the tree and held the other end firmly wrapped in his fist. Satisfied at the strength of the hold he knelt down and grasped her forearm with his other hand. "Ok, when I say 'Go' you grab tight to my arm and I'll pull us up, ready?"

"Yes! Good! Whatever! Just pull already!" she screamed in panic as she dug her nails into his arm and kicked at the hill to haul herself up.

Wincing at the pain of her hands digging into his skin, Dipper hauled steadily and carefully brought Mabel up over the patch of loose dirt that had caused her to stumble and deposited her beside him onto stable ground. Panting, she crushed him to her in a tight embrace.

"God that was scary... thanks Dipper." she panted. Mabel felt her brothers arms encircle her tightly in return and she was surprised at the strength there. Definitely not the noodly arms he used to have, she thought to herself, lightheaded.

"Hey, you know I wouldn't let anything happen to you." Dipper replied. I wouldn't & I won't, Dipper thought, not ever.

Mabel looked up into his face and for once she couldn't read the emotions there. There was relief... and that stern look he got when he was feeling especially overprotective... and something else that she couldn't place. Something that made his face seem... different than it had ever looked to her before.

"Promise?" she said, her heart thumping in her chest. Is this the fear? Why do I feel like this? Mabel could feel the beat of Dippers heart against her chest and she felt her own thrumming pulse matching his.

"I promise." he said, his voice solemn but almost tender, "Always." Now would be a good time to pull back Dipper, he thought to himself, before this becomes a much more awkward sibling hug than the usual. Any second now. He didn't move though. His muscles felt a million miles from his mind, but he could feel her warm in his arms and didn't want to let it end.

He really is handsome, Mabel thought, something about that look just brings it out. Gah... why am I still holding onto him? He's probably getting freaked out... pull yourself together Mabel! Reluctantly she began to release her hold, and though she felt a pulse of hesitation she felt her brothers grip slacken as well. They stepped apart in silence, neither looking the other directly in the face. What am I thinking? C'mon Mabel... you aren't really feeling... are you?

"Well!" Dipper exclaimed suddenly, his hands clapping together with a sound like thunder in the silence, "That's one way to liven up a hike, right?" Smooth one Pines, he thought to himself.

"Heh... yeah. Nothing like a near death experience to make you appreciate all this nature." Mabel joked back. Oh no, please don't be weird here Mabel, she thought.

"Well, how about we make it up to the top of this hill then?" Dipper said, brightly.

"Sounds good! I bet the view up there is fantastic – I brought the camera!" Mabel replied. 'I brought the camera?' What kind of awkward mess is that?

As Dipper turned to retrieve his fallen backpack which had rolled down the hill nearby he felt a tugging at his wrist and saw Mabels hand grasping it, her eyes looking up to meet his for the first time since their hug. Without thinking his hand slid up to meet hers and their fingers twined together. C'mon man... what about bigfoot? Remember all those nice non-weird bigfoot thoughts we were going to have?

"Lets... lets go up together. In case either of us trip again." Mabel said quietly. Mabel, what are you doing? What's he going to think?

Dipper hesitated for a second, sure that this was a bad idea but he quashed all the doubts in his mind and said, "Sure. Sounds like a good idea. You can catch me next time."

Hand in hand the twins slowly ascended up the hill.

–

Dipper sat now on the edge of the hill, looking out at the sun gleaming off the ripples of the lake below and took a deep breath of the cool forest air, heavy with the scent of pine and that warm-dusty-earth smell that he always thought of as 'sunshine'. The rest of the climb hadn't taken them terribly long and when they reached the top the strange spell that seemed to have fallen over the twins following Mabel's fall was broken by the growls of their stomachs. Dipper had broken out the lunches that they had stowed in his pack and they sat eating their sandwiches and sodas (over-carbonated from the backpack being thrown around) with the birdsong whistling around them. Conversation had been slow to start at first, but like always they found their familiar rhythm and Dipper felt a sense of normalcy returning. He'd told Mabel of his conversation with Stan and she had a secret laugh about the 'facts of life' bit which just left him more confused now than it had before (especially when she quietly shuddered "The hand gestures were the worst part"). Dipper felt at peace now that things seemed to have gotten back to the way they should. Back there though... I could almost swear when she grabbed my hand that... no... she was just shaken up after her fall. She wasn't thinking anything like that. You're the weird one this time Dipper, not Mabel, he thought to himself reproachfully.

Their lunches were long gone now and Mabel had walked along the hilltop snapping pictures from every angle of the valley laid out below, the lake, the trees & even a few of particular trees that she thought looked interesting. She'd even had Dipper pose over-dramatically on the hilltop to commemorate his "daring rescue". The last one he'd gone along with semi-reluctantly, and he'd vetoed her suggestion that he be flexing heroically for the shot.

Dipper reflected on the afternoon as he watched the waves of the lake below gently slosh against the gravel beach. It HAD been good to get out of the house, and it had also been good to spend time with Mabel again. Avoiding her wasn't a solution to his problem and it had just seemed to make her unhappy too. She'd said she wanted us to stick together. That she didn't want to lose us. Pulling away from her now wouldn't be being a good brother, it would mean being a coward. I should just face up to this and get over it. For her sake.

"Why the long face bro?" Mabel asked as she appeared from behind before settling down beside him. "You still thinking about the Wendy thing?"

"Sort of." Dipper replied. It's similar at least.

"Well whats been eating you lately? We'd been doing great when we arrived, but ever since the party you've been just kind of... blargh." Mabel asked, concern in her voice.

"Just... things." Dipper said, trying to dodge the topic, and Mabel relented after seeing the look on his face.

"I've had things on my mind too." Mabel said. "Like what we we're going to do about that whole college situation. We've been here almost a week already, so if you've got a plan in mind I'd love to hear it."

"I've had a few thoughts on that." Dipper replied, some of them very strange.

"Keep thinking then and I'll think too... I don't want to lose you in my life." she said quietly.

"Me neither." he replied softly. More than anything I don't want that.

Mabel slid up closer and he found himself draping an arm across her shoulder instinctively. Is this weird? Do I normally do this? I don't remember. Why am I over-thinking everything lately! His thoughts were silenced when he felt her lean her head against his chest and her own arm circle around his waist.

They sat in silence watching the late afternoon sun sink slightly behind the hills and set the lake on fire with the colors of sunset.

No, one way or another I'm not going to lose this, each twin thought separately yet together, their identical thoughts unknown to the other as they sat in one another's arms in warm silence.

From the trees behind them a flat apelike face watched them silently for a few moments before it turned and moved ever so carefully back down the hill, its curiosity satisfied. Bigfoot recognized people who didn't want to be disturbed when it saw them. Besides, it was almost certain that the girls camera still had some film left.