June 28th

In some ways it was the things that didn't change that had surprised Dipper the most about this strange new territory that he and Mabel had found themselves in after they had opened themselves up to one another that night and entered this phase in their relationship. They still joked easily with one another, found themselves falling into ridiculous conversations, got into absentminded arguments about completely irrelevant things… their old sibling bond seemed just as strong as it ever was but that just made the new differences feel even more significant and, Dipper had to admit, all the sweeter to him. Those secret sidelong glances they shared, as if they were kids again in their first real relationships. Feeling her hand slide into his under the blankets as they watched a cheesy monster movie in the living room on a chilly night. The secret kisses stolen when they found themselves alone that always set his heart pounding like a jackhammer in his chest. Having her pressed up against him as they lay spooning in his bed in the quiet hours of the night when they were sure that they wouldn't be disturbed, with the scent of her hair seeming to fill his whole world. True, they hadn't really gone very far in the physical aspect of their relationship beyond some very intense making out… but neither of them had pressed the issue of going further yet, partly because of the newness of it all and partly because of the mutual unspoken fear of being discovered. All good things in their own time… and its not like things haven't been fantastic as it is, Dipper found himself thinking and felt his palms grow slightly sweaty with the memory of the night before, particularly the sight of Mabel's face with her eyelids fluttering and her bottom lip clenched in her teeth to muffle a slight moan as he'd run a trail of kisses along the sensitive skin of her neck. Nothing had compared with seeing that look coming into her face and knowing that he was able to give her that feeling. Suddenly conscious of himself Dipper shook the memory from his head and remembered that he was still supposed to be in the middle of the chore of hauling in more merchandise from the attic to re-stock the shelves of the gift shop.

To think that I'd been fighting all this… that I'd been terrified of these feelings. I probably would never have told her if it hadn't been for that whole "almost being eaten alive by a monster" thing. Amazing how a little near-death experience can put everything into perspective, Dipper thought to himself as he manhandled the heavy cardboard box through the doorway of the gift shop and set it down with a grunt before pausing to try and massage some life back into his arms. He looked up and caught the sight of Mabel joking around with an elderly customer from behind the counter of the gift shop and felt a small smile creep across his face hearing her distinct laugh. Objectively it wasn't an especially musical sound, but it had taken on a very special quality to him lately and he'd taken a new pleasure in coaxing it from her when they managed to find time to be alone with one another. He had to admit he didn't have too much practice acting "boyfriend-ish", but things had just been going so well that he still couldn't really believe that this was all happening to him. Mabel glanced up at Dipper over the tourists shoulder and gave him a quick look with a smile in her eyes that he knew was just for him. As the customer looked down to dig into his pockets for some change she threw all subtlety out the window and gave Dipper an exaggerated wink while blowing a quick kiss at him that caused his heart to skip a beat, despite the goofiness of it all. Dipper coughed and felt the tips of his ears start to burn slightly which just made Mabel's grin widen in response. Curse my natural bashfulness!

Dipper quickly turned away when the man had finally finished digging through their pockets for money to pay for his purchase and set to work unpacking the goods from the box and started setting them up on the shelves. Focus here Dipper, he thought, gotta try and act MOSTLY normal around the Shack. At least during the daytime when other people are around. He tried, unsuccessfully, to lose himself in the task at hand but couldn't keep his mind from drifting back to Mabel. Tonight was going to be something special after all, because they had decided that this was going to be the night of The Date (Dipper always inserted the mental capital letters whenever he'd found himself thinking of it). Just a few more hours here and it'll be time. Here's hoping it all goes as planned.

–

The whole subject of The Date had come up a few nights ago as the twins had lain in Dippers bed, with Mabel resting her head on his bare chest and his arm wrapped loosely over her, idly running his hand over the smooth skin of her shoulder. It had been a busy day and they were enjoying the silence of the attic and one another's company after the rushing around of all the tours and chores necessary to keep the Mystery Shack running in semi-working order, and when the house had finally grown silent she'd slipped herself in under the covers beside him without a word. It hadn't taken long for the warmth of Mabel's breath on Dippers skin and the feel of her weight gently resting on him to set his blood pounding in his ears (among other places) and he'd felt bold enough to make the first move that night, shifting himself about to bring her face level to his and pressing his lips to hers. She had sighed softly and kissed back, but kept it light and teasing, nipping his lip between her teeth and running her fingers along his scalp which caused him to shudder. He had started to pull her in closer to himself, but he felt her small hand press on his chest to hold him back and he stopped, confused.

"Whats up Mabel?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Well… I'd just been thinking… you're my boyfriend, right?" Mabel had asked slowly.

"Of course. I mean, I'm not really sure there's a term for… this, but I think boyfriend fits pretty well. I'd hope so anyway, after all the kissing and declarations of love and whatnot." Dipper had joked, but with an edge of nervousness in his voice. I knew this was too good to be true… I hope this isn't anything serious…Gah, calm down you weirdo, pretty sure this isn't a breakup speech, you've heard enough of those to know the difference.

"Well its just… it's not that Midnight Makeout times haven't been awesome- because trust me they very much have been… but I was thinking that we've been 'going out' for a while but haven't really been out-out. You know, like on a date." Mabel replied.

"Yeah. I mean, I guess that's true… would you want to?" Dipper asked slowly. Oh thank god. See, I told me I had to stop worrying. I really need to stop talking to myself so much, its getting kind of creepy.

"Well yeah! I'm a classy lady Dipper, I need to be romanced occasionally." she said dramatically, rolling the 'r's in 'romanced' to a ridiculous degree, causing him to chuckle. "I mean the privacy of the attic is nice and all, but the spiders and moldy spots don't add much to the ambiance… unless you're totally into that kind of thing of course?" she said with a playful note of questioning accusation in her voice.

Dipper glanced around at the cobwebs festooning the ceiling and the drips of water pattering down from the rusty pipes running along the beams with a newly critical eye. "Fair enough, we have pretty much been making out in a low-rent haunted house for a while… well… what would you want to do?" he asked.

"Have a night out on the town – just you and me! I'll leave the details up to you though, I feel like being surprised."

"Heh, no problem! I'm sure I'll come up with something fun." Crap… what do you do on a real date? Pretty much every girl I went out with in high school just wanted to hang out and watch TV and then maybe kiss a little. This will take some planning. Not to mention the whole 'We're siblings' thing, which the townsfolk might not be so keen on.

"Nothing supernatural though," she warned him jokingly, digging a finger into his ribs, "just a nice normal date. No 'Para-' involved."

"That might be hard to pull off in this town," Dipper joked back, "but I think I can manage. I'll let you know when I've got it all set up."

"Great! Can't wait to see your boyfriend skills in action." Mabel said playfully. "Speaking of which," she continued with a warm note coming into her voice, "where were we before I interrupted?" Before Dipper could answer Mabel pulled her lips to his again suddenly, kissing him with a heat that surprised him and he felt himself getting lost in the moment, all worries about date planning blasted out of his mind for the time.

–

Evening had fallen now over the Mystery Shack and the museum section of the old building had already been closed to business for the day. Stan had gone out for the night to a meeting of the mysterious Lodge that he mentioned every now and then and Mabel was currently examining herself critically in the mirror. She wasn't really a makeup-and-heels kind of girl most of the time but she'd found herself feeling the urge to get dressy for the big night and had settled on a short plum colored dress that showed a lot more leg than she usually did and left her arms bare to the shoulders. I really hope I haven't been pressing the whole date issue too much, she thought to herself as experimented with different head bands for effect. Its not like its even that big of a deal… I mean, whatever this is that we have has been great. He's sweet, he's caring… he's surprisingly sexy when he wants to be even if he doesn't know it. I mean, hands down he's the best boyfriend I've ever had. Its just… Mabel sighed to herself… the sneaking.

Though she hadn't voiced it to Dipper, because she knew he'd totally freak out and probably worry himself sick about her, she had to admit that all the sneaking around had been kind of getting to her. Mabel wasn't a terribly good liar and while she loved Dipper, and loved knowing that he loved her back, the fact that they had to keep it all a secret from everyone had just stressed her out somewhat. She wanted to feel like a normal girl and go out on a normal date with her boyfriend, even if this particular situation was admittedly anything but normal. The fact that Dipper, paranoid paranoid Dipper, had agreed in the first place to a night on the town in public with her had just cemented in her heart how much this must have meant to him. How much she meant to him. A guy like that's worth a little sneaking around for, she thought with a smile. She gave herself a final once over in the mirror and nodded, satisfied with her look at last and took a deep breath, now or never!

"Hey Dipper, you ready to go yet?" she called out as she exited the room and heard him call back an affirmative from downstairs. Mabel made her way out of the attic and headed down to the parlor and saw Dipper sitting on the couch, absentmindedly watching TV but with his knee jangling in that way she knew he did when he was nervous. He still hadn't caught sight of her yet and as she looked him over she noticed that the ever-casual Dipper appeared to have made an effort to get himself dressed up for the night. True, he still had his old blue cap on but it would take a crowbar to separate him from at least some kind of head covering while in public due to his shyness about his birthmark. Better do something to break the ice, Mabel thought, I don't want him to be crazy nervous all night.

"Ta-da!" she called out dramatically, startling Dipper and causing him to jump in his chair before turning to her quickly. The look of annoyed surprise on his face was instantly replaced by one of wide eyed admiration when he caught sight of her and Mabel felt a blush come to her cheeks when she saw his feelings written so plainly on his face. Maybe I overdressed for tonight?

"Mabel you look… gorgeous." Dipper said softly with a slow quiet smile coming onto his face and Mabel felt her cheeks redden even further.

"Oh, I'm alright," she joked nervously to deflect her sudden shyness, "but who is this radiant vision I see before me?" she asked in her best Drama Club faux-Shakespearean tone, "A shirt with long sleeves and buttons? Clean pants? Clothing colors that match your jacket? Who are you, beautiful stranger, and what have you done with my brother?"

"Cute. Real cute Mabel." Dipper replied in an easy bantering tone, and Mabel heard the nervousness start to melt out of his voice.

"Thank you! I think its the kitten earrings that really tie the whole outfit together, don't you agree?" she asked as she patted her hair with a flourish.

Dipper had risen to his feet and walked over to her slowly while she was exaggeratedly primping and Mabel felt her heart start to flutter in her chest as he drew close to her and cupped her face in his hand before bending down to plant a slow kiss on her lips that left her weak in the knees. So much for getting the upper hand, she thought with a sigh of contentment, but at least he's definitely not nervous right now.

"Oh yeah, its definitely the earrings." he said with a grin. God she's beautiful. "Well, shall we go? Our rusty blue chariot awaits."

"But of course, Sir Dipping-sauce. The night is young, and so are we!" she said with a laugh. "But first, I need you to hand it over."

"Hand what over?" Dipper asked, confusion plain in his voice.

"The, no doubt, super-detailed list that I'm positive that you have on you to make sure that tonight goes perfect." Mabel replied, holding out her hand toward him with the palm up.

"Mabel, I'm eighteen years old, not some lovestruck preteen kid. C'mon, do you really think I would still do something like that?" he asked, exasperation evident in his tone.

Mabel said nothing but instead raised an eyebrow and cocked her fingers twice at him. Dipper stood silent for a moment before he sighed, reached into the sleeve of his jacket and pulled out a well folded sheet of paper which he then dropped into his sisters open hand. Mabel nodded, satisfied, and slipped the paper into her purse.

"Alright, now give me the real list. This was obviously the decoy that you knew I'd ask for."

"Mabel, please give me a just a little credit here-" he began but stopped when she gave him a knowing smile and he muttered quietly to himself before removing his hat and handing her another identical sheet of paper.

"You're good, you know that, right?" Dipper said as Mabel dropped the second list into her purse next to the first.

"Alpha twin." she said smugly with a smile, "Now c'mon, lets just go relax and have some fun!"

"Yeah, that sounds good to me." Dipper replied with an easy smile of his own. Good thing she didn't ask about the third list. Maybe I DO have a problem?

–

The drive into town went by quickly and the Pines soon found themselves in the heart of Gravity Falls, if the intersection of the two smallish main streets could really be said to be something so grand. Dipper pulled up and parked the car along the street and opened the door on Mabel's side before helping her out. It was a Friday night so unlike most evenings in the sleepy little town there was actually a moderate amount of activity going on.

"So, whats on the agenda for tonight boyfriend?" Mabel asked playfully as Dipper fed a few quarters into the parking meter.

"Well, you said you wanted something nice and normal – so I thought maybe dinner and a movie? You can't really get much more normal than that." Dipper replied.

"Sounds great, I'm starving! You can really only eat so much of Grunkle Stans cooking before you feel the urge to have something that tastes like it wasn't canned before the Korean War."

"Would you want to eat at the Club? Its kind of pricey, but I heard good things about them – and we still have plenty of vacation money left if we want to splurge a bit." Dipper asked. Plus we don't really know anyone who would eat there, so its good cover, he thought privately.

"Lead the way! I was always curious about that place. Such a fun shaped building too!" Mabel said cheerfully.

The two made their way down the main street toward the restaurant, chatting easily and before long their steps fell into perfect synchronization like they always did, and they found themselves being unconsciously drawn to walking closer together. With his heart pounding hard in his chest Dipper reached out his hand and found Mabel's, giving it a small squeeze and she glanced up at him and smiled. Well, I'm holding her hand out in public. True, most people in town don't really know who we are but it still feels like a big step.

The doorman at the Club had looked over the pair in that snooty way that only the low-paid employees of fancy places could give, but when Dipper pointed out the reservation made days ago under "D. Pines" the man relented and let them through into the building and they found themselves in a plush booth and with menus that appeared to have misplaced their decimal points in the pricing. I may have overestimated our funds somewhat, Dipper thought nervously as he scanned through the menu to try and find a single course that didn't cost more than what they made in a week at the Mystery Shack. Mabel was 'ooh-ing' and 'aaah-ing' over the atmosphere ("Free bread? Bubbly water? This is classy as heck!"), and the sight of her enjoying herself relaxed Dipper somewhat. Money might not be much of a problem for long if he could just get the finishing touches on his plan going after all. Still have to work out some kinks though… like what Mabel would think.

The pair made their order and after the waiter had glided off Dipper found himself looking across the ornate candelabra into Mabel's smiling face and felt himself starting to really relax at seeing her cheerful expression. Maybe I don't really need the list after all.

"So," Dipper began, "I'm, uh, not really sure about the protocol for first date gifts, but I got you something."

"Dipper, you shouldn't have." Mabel said with a smile. He can be pretty cute when he gets awkward.

"Well, maybe I shouldn't have but I did anyway." he said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out an oblong box wrapped in gold colored paper and passing it across the table to her.

Mabel took the box in her hands and felt a familiar weight that caused her to squeal, loudly, with joy and she began to tear into the packaging like a hungry dog. A few of the restaurant patrons turned to glance their way but quickly turned back after seeing Dipper glare at them with a furious scowl.

"A new grappling hook!" she squeaked. "Where did you even get this? I thought Grunkle Stan had to stop selling them after all those lawsuits!"

"He did, but I found one up in the boxes of old merchandise last week… it was broken but I managed to fix it up good as new in my spare time with a little help from Soos."

"This is the best! I've felt naked without this thing." Mabel said as she twirled the bulky device in her hand like a gunfighter in a bad western.

"Well, careful with it while we're in this place. I don't think we could afford to fix anything here if something gets broken." I think the chair I'm sitting in probably cost more than my car. Then again lots of things cost more than my car.

"Such a worry-wart." Mabel said playfully before slipping the machine into her purse with ease despite the fact that it seemed far too large to fit at first glance. "Seriously though… I love it. Thank you."

"Hey, I never know when you might need it to save my butt again." Dipper joked.

"Well you just better make sure you keep your butt out of mortal danger… it was seriously scary how close things got last time. Sometimes I still wake up at night remembering… wondering what would have happened if the rope hadn't held." Mabel said quietly.

"I know." Dipper said softly. I can't let anything get that close to hurting you again. Never.

"Blah – ok its getting a little too real here. Time for some first-date type conversation." Mabel said playfully, shaking off the somberness from her voice. "Tell me Mr. Pines, what is it that you do?"

"Oh, well currently I'm in the entertainment industry." Dipper said quickly, picking up on Mabel's tone.

"Interesting! So, what does that mean exactly? Acting? Music?" Mabel continued.

"I give guided tours through my great-uncles tourist trap museum that I also live above."

"Fascinating. Any hobbies?"

"Well, I've got quite an interest in the paranormal. Mysteries also."

"Mysteries, like a detective? Sexy." Mabel said with an exaggerated kittenish meow at the end of the sentence. "Solve any good ones lately?"

"Well my friend Soos and I thought that we'd discovered the magic valley of the leprechauns last week." Dipper said brightly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but it turned out to just be another bunch of gnomes." Dipper said with disappointment.

"I hate when that happens." Mabel nodded sympathetically.

"They were real jerks about it too. Ended up chasing us through the forest till we lost them across a river. You should see them try to swim with those stubby little arms of theirs." Dipper added with a chuckle.

"Wait, is this something that actually happened or just more fake date-banter?" Mabel said with a note of confusion in her voice.

"Totally real. You were off with Candy and Grenda that day I think, otherwise I definitely would have wanted you along – the pictures I take never seem to come out right compared to yours."

"I'm pretty okay with avoiding the gnomes actually. I mean, they wanted to marry me when I was a gawky twelve year old, so I'm pretty sure now that I'm grown that they couldn't keep themselves away from all this." she said as she gestured to herself with a cartoonishly saucy waggle of her eyebrows.

"Well they'd have to go through me first," Dipper said with an exaggerated bravado. "Any creepy little fairy-thing that tries to lay a hand on my girlfriend will have a lot more than leaf blowers to worry about."

"So bold!" Mabel said with a false swoon that set them both laughing until the annoyed waiter had arrived bearing their food and the twins cut their conversation short to enjoy the extremely over-priced but very delicious meal that they had ordered.

–

Dinner had gone extremely well all around, though Dipper had winced at the thought of how much of his vacation fund had gotten used up with just that one meal. Mabel had jokingly, or maybe not so jokingly considering it was Mabel, offered to perform a grappling hook assisted dine and dash with him but he'd declined politely in favor of not spending the evening in police custody.

Maybe I should have taken her up on it though, he thought as he slipped his significantly thinner wallet into his back pocket before taking Mabel's arm and leading them out the restaurant and back into the street.

"So, it was going to be a movie next, right?" Mabel asked as they walked along together, enjoying the cool evening air and one another's company.

"That's the plan – I'm pretty sure I still have enough on me to cover it… just don't ask for the extra large popcorn." Dipper joked.

"No worries bro, the pictures are on me tonight." Mabel said. She paused and turned to glance over at a knot of young people chatting near the entrance of the arcade, "Speaking of which – give me second."

Dipper watched, confused, as Mabel ran over toward the small group and grabbed hold of a young guy in a mohawk who looked about their own age and threw her arm over his neck as she posed herself next to him with an enormous fake grin. He seemed extremely confused as Mabel pulled her phone from her purse and quickly snapped several pictures of them together before she ran back over to Dipper. The guy returned to his friends shaking his head with a blank look on his face, the usual reaction most guys had when they found themselves suddenly struck by Hurricane Mabel.

"Who was that?" Dipper asked.

"He's Charlie. He likes skateboarding and horses. He works in his dads hardware store and we met at the arcade. We're madly in love, but I think he's going to break my heart before the end of the summer and I'll be too distraught to date for a while." Mabel said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, okay. No, but really who was that?" Dipper said, even more confused than before.

"I dunno, but as far as mom's going to know he's my new boyfriend while I'm up here for the summer. She's always asking about that kind of stuff." Mabel said.

"Thats actually a pretty clever plan." Dipper said, impressed.

"Well I make plans too you know, I just don't write them down into huge lists." Mabel said.

"Do you think I should get a fake girlfriend for cover too?" Dipper asked playfully.

"I think it might be more believable if you didn't." Mabel teased.

"Ouch. What, are you saying that girls aren't into me?" Dipper replied while clutching his chest as if wounded.

"Well if they are then they better back off right now – Mabel P. don't share her man!" Mabel said with mock sternness.

"So I'm your man now?"

"Yup. Gotta make it official though. Maybe we could get you a big 'M' tattoo right on your butt?" she said in a thoughtful way while tapping her chin.

"This is getting way too kinky for me."

"Spoilsport." Mabel replied, sticking out her tongue.

Before long the pair found themselves outside the Gravity Falls Cineplex, which Dipper had always felt was a much too bombastic name for an old theater that only had 4 screens and got their movies months behind the rest of the country.

"Well, since you're the one paying – what do you think we should see?" Dipper asked, glancing over at the small number of available choices.

"Oooh, how about 'Time Enough For Love'? I never got to catch that one when it was in theaters back home." Mabel said, pointing to the poster for what looked like the blandest romantic comedy Dipper could have imagined.

"Eh I dunno… a romantic comedy Mabel?" he said hesitantly.

"Weeellll, if you aren't into that the only other movie playing right now is 'Evil Doll IV: Murderous Marionette Mayhem'. How does that one sound?" she asked, pointing out a poster which showed a ventriloquist dummy clutching a bloody butcher knife.

Dipper felt the sweat bead on his forehead as he stared into the cold lifeless eyes of the puppet on the poster and Mabel saw his pupils shrink down till they seemed to be the size of pinholes.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure I remember hearing lots of good things about 'Time Enough For Love', totally worth giving it a chance." Dipper said stiffly with a nervous chuckle.

"I still don't see how someone who fought a bloodsucking monster with just a stick can be so scared of puppets." Mabel teased.

"I'm not scared of puppets… they just creep me out a lot. There's a difference." Dipper muttered defensively.

"Sure thing crazy, I'll go get us the tickets." Mabel said with a smile.

The theater was mostly empty, with the only other patrons being an elderly couple sitting far in the front row and Mabel had lead Dipper by the hand up to her favorite seats up in the very furthest back row. The movie turned out not to be as terrible as Dipper had feared it would be. The acting was decent in parts and there was actually a somewhat interesting time travel plot involved that he'd found himself being unconsciously drawn toward. Mabel had ordered only a single large bucket of popcorn and had placed it between them to share, so that it was practically inevitable that their buttery hands would end up touching throughout the movie. Naturally this lead to hand holding, which of course escalated into making out furiously in the darkened privacy of the theater with Dipper's heart pounding hard in his chest at the realization that he was kissing Mabel in public. This was the first real kiss they had shared since the day of the bat-attack that wasn't done in the locked-door privacy of their shared attic room and though he couldn't stop the paranoia from triggering in the back of his mind he was also just exulting in the feeling of Mabel's lips against his, of hearing her soft sighs close and hot in his ear and of the scent of her floral shampoo mingling with the artificial butter of the popcorn they'd just been eating. They had completely lost track of the plot of the movie before long and were each totally surprised when the theater lights came up again as the ending credits played, the both of them flustered and disheveled from their recent distraction. The old couple in the front had already gone and they were left alone in the dim theater with their eyes stinging from the light.

"Good movie." Dipper panted with a blush coming to his face at the realization that they both probably looked like sort of a mess right now. He brushed stray popcorn kernels from his jacket as he rose to his feet and helped Mabel up from her seat.

"Definitely," Mabel replied, "Can't wait for the sequel." she added with a wink as she straightened out her hair.

"Me too." Dipper flirted back, "When do you think its coming out?"

"That depends," Mabel said as she picked herself up on tip-toes and whispered silkily in Dippers ear, "how fast do you think you can drive your car back to the shack?"

Dippers eyes widened slightly as he caught the sight of Mabel looking up at him with her bottom lip between her teeth and her eyes shining with a combination of shyness and boldness that struck him right to the core. Is she saying what I think she's saying? Does she want to…

"Fast." He said quickly. "Very fast." he took her hand and they both started jogging out of the theater lobby giggling, making their way down the street and back to the car.

–

The house had been empty when they had arrived back home with Dippers tires screeching to a halt in the old dirt lot of the Mystery Shack and the twins had practically dragged one another up the stairs to their attic room. The heat from the theater hadn't yet left them and Dipper had felt like his veins were practically pumping fire as he took in the sight of Mabel by the flickering light of the old oil lamp that rested on the table between their beds. She had kicked off her shoes and stood there in the center of the room, her shoulders trembling slightly as Dipper had come toward her after locking the door, nervousness plainly battling with arousal on her face and he was sure that his own expression was a mirror to hers.

Neither of them had spoken yet as Dipper pulled her toward him and placed a soft wet kiss on the crook of her neck and shoulder that sent a small shudder through her frame and he whispered reassuringly in her ear, "No pressure Mabel… okay?"

He felt Mabel's trembling stop and her arms circled him tightly as she brought her mouth to his with fierce energy. Before long Dipper felt her pushing him back until he almost fell over the edge of his bed, with Mabel climbing up to straddle him as he looked up in mild surprise. "None whatsoever," she whispered back at him with a hot breath in his ear before taking his earlobe between her teeth and nibbling it, "I want this. I want you."

Can't get a much clearer invitation than that, Dipper thought to himself light-headedly as he crushed Mabel to him, their lips smacking wetly together and their hands roaming over each others clothed bodies, frantically loosening buttons, fiddling with straps & performing all the other ridiculous gymnastics that two extremely horny teens need to do to get one another naked. Everything was so much realer than it had been when Dipper had pictured this moment in his mind, and he had pictured it VERY often since the night that Mabel had become his girlfriend. He found himself grinning up at the sight of her, still straddling his hips with her own as she lifted the dark purple dress up over her head and slipped off her zebra-printed bra with a flourish like a magician performing an elaborate card trick. Even if I get to see her like this a million times I don't think I'll ever get tired of it, Dipper thought as he drank in the way the soft gold light of the lantern highlighted the curves of Mabel's small round breasts and traced down her sides to her smooth curvy hips. He ran a hand slowly up from her thigh to her ribs and he felt Mabel grab his wrist and trace his palm up around her side and to her breast with a grin, enjoying the way that she flustered him so. Mabel bent low onto him and they were kissing again, harder and with more need than they had earlier. Dipper found himself pushing further than he ever had before, running his hands over the smooth expanse of exposed skin, caressing her supple breasts, running them down the curve of her back and cupping her round butt in his hands before squeezing hard enough to elicit a loud moan from Mabel.

"No fair," she gasped into his ear, "I'm totally exposed here and you're still mostly dressed."

"I can fix that." Dipper panted back before he rolled to the side to start kicking off his pants, his shirt and jacket having been thrown aside long ago. He was suddenly conscious of the way Mabel was looking at him expectantly and felt his ears redden slightly.

"Mmmm, go on – Mabel wants a show." she said with a wide grin and Dipper laughed nervously as he slid his clothes off, totally naked now for the first time in front of her. To his surprise he felt her small cool hand reach out and grip him loosely and she said jokingly, "You haven't been using that magic flashlight have you?"

"Um… nope… 100% all natural Dipper." he chuckled nervously. God that feels so good! Wait, would the flashlight even work for that? Shut up brain, its sexy time!

"Nice! Good to see that I would have been packing one if I was a guy." Mabel joked nervously as she stroked him slowly. He reached out and caught her wrist in his hand, pulling her grip off him. What's he up to? she wondered.

Time for that later… right now I want to take care of you, Dipper thought as he pushed Mabel gently back down onto the bed and gripped her wrists in his hands, holding her down with slight pressure as he brought his mouth down over her breast and nipped it gently causing her to gasp. He released his grip on her arms and felt her hands reach out to stroke his hair, running her nails down his neck and across his upper back. He didn't stay long before he started to trace a slow wet trail of kisses and licks down her torso, over her taut belly and finally found himself between her thighs for the first time with her fingers twined so tightly in his hair that it brought tears to the corner of his eyes. She was gasping loudly now, muttering a bunch of half-formed words and making sounds that he had NEVER heard her make before and all of it was just sending Dippers mind into a whirl. Just when he thought things had reached a pitch she seemed to find some new high until he felt her legs clamp down on his head and heard her gasping out what sounded like "dontstopdontstopdontstop" over and over again until she let out a muffled wail and collapsed shuddering back onto the bed. Dipper shook himself and rose bleary-eyed, his jaw feeling like it was about ready to fall off from the unaccustomed exercise. He looked up and saw Mabel lying back with an expression of faraway bliss on her face, her skin slick with sweat and her silky chestnut hair thrown every which way. He thought to himself that she had never looked more beautiful to him than she did at this moment and he bent down to plant a soft kiss on her forehead.

Mabel's eyes snapped back into focus and she gave Dipper a smoldering look that set his already racing heart skipping along before she rose up and crawled across the bed to him, shoving him onto his back and straddling him once more with a look in her eyes that he'd never seen before.

"We're not done here yet.." she whispered to him huskily as he felt her reach down and move him into place before lowering herself down, causing him to groan out loudly, "My turn!" she gasped as she sank down until their hips met.

They moved together with an awkward rhythm at first, still feeling out every new sensation, every unfamiliar motion but before long Dipper found himself grunting and gripping the bedspread in a white knuckled grasp as Mabel had gotten herself adjusted and had begun to move on him with a new confidence, rolling her hips in a way that made his teeth clench and his eyes roll back into his head. How can people stand to do something that feels this good? He thought dreamily, How can they ever STOP doing something that feels this good?

He heard Mabel moaning loudly again and felt that he was being pushed to an edge. He reached out and grasped her hips tightly, loving the feel of the way the muscles in her thighs moved under her skin as she rode him and he started to buck up to meet her, which seemed to be having quite an effect judging by the way her moans intensified. Ah… gotta hold on… not yet… not yet… he thought falteringly as he felt the pressure growing inside like a rubber band being pulled taut. He felt a soft sweat slick hand touch his face and looked up to see Mabel staring him in the eyes, her expression misty and faraway.

"Its ok," she gasped out with a nod, "you can do it."

Oh thank god, he thought as he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her down to him, crushing her mouth to his in a long kiss as he felt himself explode, a feeling like fireworks behind his eyes as Mabel moaned loudly into his mouth and dug her own nails deep into his shoulder.

They stayed in a panting heap for uncounted minutes, each hugging onto the other tightly before Mabel slid herself off him and rested herself across his chest with a deep and utterly contented sigh.

We just did that. It. Sex. I'm not a virgin anymore. Dipper thought to himself, confusion and wonder mixing in his bemused mind.

"I love you." Mabel said quietly and Dipper felt something huge and hot and grand rise up in his chest.

"I love you too Mabel." Dipper said, "More than anything."

"Even more than mysteries?" Mabel said with a quiet humor.

"More than every mystery and paranormal thing on earth put together." Dipper said honestly.

"Good." she said with a contented sigh.

"So… how was that for a first date?" Dipper asked in a quietly playful tone.

"A-plus," Mabel said, "quality boyfriend material right here. Especially the end."

"Oh definitely. Definitely my favorite part too." Dipper said with a laugh.

"I think we could do better though," she said with a smile, "so we should get more practice in."

"No objections from me." Dipper said.

Things were quiet before Dipper felt Mabel shift on his chest and turn to look him directly in the face and he saw a wetness in her eyes

"Seriously though… thanks for tonight. I know how much of a big deal it is for you to take me out. How much you worry about… you know.. people finding out." she said with a slight catch in her voice.

"Hey, its their problem if they have a problem with us. I'm not ashamed of what we have." Dipper said, and found that he was speaking a truth that even he hadn't been able to voice to himself.

"I know… but I know why we have to keep it a secret too.. I just don't want everyone to treat us like we're those evil twins from Game of Thrones." she said with a sigh.

"Wait, how do you even know about that?" Dipper said with confusion, "You made fun of me when I downloaded that!"

"Well yeah, because its like 'The Hobbit' for giant pervs." Mabel said playfully. "I… um… I kinda watched it too. Behind your back."

"Sneaky, sis." Dipper said with a chuckle. He felt himself pause mentally as mention of the show set off strange alarm bells in his head, "Um… so I noticed that… earlier… we didn't use any kind of.. you know… protection."

"Pffft, relax Dipper. I aced sex-ed, remember? Today is one of my safe days."

"Oh… well, thats good." he said with relief.

"Yep, I'm 60% positive that today is totally safe. Its the 25th, right?"

Dipper felt his face settle into a rictus grin and he chuckled nervously. She's just teasing me, right? Has to be. Silence ticked on for a few moments more and he felt sweat bead on his forehead.

"I'm just messing with you dork! Calm down." Mabel said with a laugh as she snuggled into his chest and he tried not to let out too audible a gasp of relief.

"Sooo…" Mabel said slowly, "what do you think of the name Joffrey for a boy?"

"Not funny!" Dipper said as he smacked Mabel gently in the face with a pillow and the twins found themselves in a giggling heap wrestling around like they were kids again.

Yes, Dipper definitely thought that he could find himself getting used to dating.