Oh lawd, another multi-parter. I'd originally planned for this to just be a one-parter, but it kinda took too long and I wanted to put too much in. Stay tuned for part 2!

Mabel rolled over in her bed and opened her eyes. She didn't need a clock, she just had to look at Waddles. He was laying on his back, on the floor and his tail was twitching a little. 7 am.

A week had passed since the nightmare. There was no sign of Bill or Freddy. Everything was back to normal. Mabel jumped more than enthusiastically out of bed and grabbed some clothes to put on. As she trotted down the stairs, she hummed to herself. She was going on a date today, with Joel!

Well, not exactly. Dipper had invited Joel to go ten-pin bowling at the Gravity Falls Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex, and Joel agreed without question. Mabel wasn't sure if he had any other friends in Gravity Falls, but he was certainly making it clear that he enjoyed hanging out with them.

Mabel knew he loved bowling as well, but that was beside the point.

Technically, she wasn't going on a date, so Pacifica couldn't stop her from being fluffy around Joel… but how to get rid of her and Dipper? It would take some serious plan –

'Paz! Hi! I didn't hear you! Why are you here so early?'

'Mabel, its 10 in the morning. We're leaving in half an hour.'

'Aw, really? Stupid clock doesn't work…' she replied, glaring down at Waddles, who had now shifted to laying on his side with his back legs sticking out, which would usually be 11 at night.

Pacifica shrugged and left the attic, calling out to Mabel as she left.

'You'd better hurry up Mabel, or we'll leave without you!'

'Yeah, I'm on it!' she shouted back. Mabel got dressed quickly, wearing appropriate clothes and spraying some of Dipper's deodorant over her skin so she didn't smell like pillows and Waddles when she went out. She went downstairs, wolfed down some cereal and ran out to the car.

'Hurry up, Mabel, we'll miss our session!' Joel called through the window. Mabel sprinted over to the car, pulled open the door and slid in next to Joel.

'Ah, thank God, I made it!' she said, leaning back in her chair and putting her arms behind her head as Stan sped down the drive.

'Uh, not quite Mabel,' said Pacifica, sitting on the other side of Joel. Mabel looked back at her with a frown.

Joel laughed when he realized Mabel wasn't wearing shoes – her socks were covered in dust and minute pieces of bark from the ground. Mabel couldn't help but laugh too. Lucky for her, they were going bowling, and the shoe hire there came free with games, so she should be alright, she'd just need to be careful when she was outside.

o00o

Stan pulled up at the bowling alley and gestured for the kids to get out.

'Thanks Mr Pines,' said Pacifica, waving at him. He rolled his eyes.

'Yeah, yeah, whatever,' he replied, waving his hand dismissively. 'I had to come out this way anyway, so don't push it.'

'Pick us up in two hours Stan! We'll keep ourselves occupied!' Dipper called after him. Stan grinned out the window and gave the thumbs up, driving off. Mabel turned to face the rest of them.

'Hurry! Let's get inside! This asphalt is boiling my socks!'

They walked to the sliding doors and entered. A blast of cool air greeted them as they came in – the room was lit in black-light, it smelt clean and polished. Joel could see the alleys in front of him, people were hurling their balls down the lane, fist-pumping and cheering ensued whenever a strike was made.

'Wicked! Everything I love about a bowling alley!'

Pacifica went to the counter and paid for her and Mabel (who was currently out of a job), and Dipper and Joel paid separately.

'Names?' asked the guy behind the counter. He was tall, had blonde hair and looked way too bored to be working.

'Lee?' asked Dipper, looking up at him. He turned around and his frown widened into a grin.

'Dipper! Dude, it's been forever! How's Wendy going?' the guy called Lee asked, holding out his hand.

'Yeah, she's going alright. You never told me why the gang split up, man, what happened?' Dipper replied. Lee shrugged.

'I'm not even sure I remember,' he said, 'you could probably ask Wendy, and she may or may not tell you, depending on what mood she's in.'

'OK, thanks. We'll just play as DIP, MAB, PAZ and JOEL.'

'Joel? Who's this new kid?' asked Lee, typing on the crude looking computer that was sitting behind the desk.

'He's a new employee at the Mystery Shack,' Mabel explained. Lee nodded thoughtfully as he hit the Enter key on his PC.

'You look after this lot, Joel, they're a pretty rowdy bunch.'

'I think I've already found that out,' Joel replied. He liked this Lee guy, he was friendly enough.

'Alright, guys, you're all set. You're down there on lane 7, enjoy your game!'

'Thanks, we will!' they called after him.

They hired shoes from the next counter and started to choose their balls. Dipper and Mabel had both gone with a 10 pound ball, each making sure they chose a different color. Joel had taken a while, but in the end he had chosen a marbled 11 pound-er with large finger holes. Pacifica had gone with a 12.

'You can manage a twelve?' asked Joel, putting his ball down on the collection area. Pacifica shrugged.

'My parents make me do tennis, and in bowling you use similar muscles so I guess my arms are kinda strong,' she explained, mimicking doing weights with her bowling ball.

'Oh, come on that's just showing off!' said Mabel, sitting down on the leather chair. Joel sat next to her, Pacifica stayed standing and Dipper went up to the control pad to start the game. He pressed the start button, and their lane lit up, the LED's on either side of the gutters coming to life and glowing a variety of colours, and the lights from the ceiling shining down onto the smooth wooden surface of the lane so that it was easier to see.

'Cool!' said Joel, leaning forward to get a better look.

Dipper had his turn first. He got up and took his ball in hand, charging down the floor and releasing the ball onto the lane. It traveled down at speed, and, although Joel thought his technique was a bit off, he still scored nine pins, barely missing the last one on his second roll.

'Alright! Let the professionals through!' said Mabel, marching up to the collection area and grabbing her ball from the rack. She weighed it up in her hands, breathed out, ran up to the lane and…

Stumbled. Somehow she managed to release the ball, but it had met with the gutter half-way down, and Mabel punched the ground, pouting as she sat on the ground.

Joel laughed and came over to help her. She took his hand and he pulled her up onto her feet. Joel stifled another chuckle, and Mabel looked at him crossly. She shoved him a little.

'What's so funny, funny man?' she asked. Joel smiled and shook his head, returning back to his seat.

'I'll show him,' thought Mabel. She waited for her ball to come back, grabbed it when it did, made sure her laces were tied properly and took another shot at the pins.

Dead-center. She knocked down all the pins, and went up in a victory cheer. They clapped for her as she proudly marched back, sitting down again.

'OK, my turn,' said Pacifica, getting up. She had no problems managing her ball, and sent it down for a solid spare.

Joel got up and cracked his knuckles. He walked over the rack, grabbed his ball and approached the lane.

Mabel thought he moved quite gracefully. When small children and even some more inexperienced older players try to bowl, it is clumsy and very difficult to watch. Joel knew exactly what he was doing. He pulled the ball back, moving his leg out of the way to let it pass and launched it down the lane.

Strike. Straight off the bat. Joel turned around and walked back to his seat with a smile on his face. Mabel stared at him.

'You didn't even break a sweat!' she said. Joel shrugged.

'I play in a league back home, or at least I used to. I'm a little out of practice so I might not be as good as I could be, but I should do alright.'

"Alright" turned out to be a solid 233 pins by the end of the game. Pacifica had scored 154 and Dipper and Mabel had both landed at around the 140 mark.

'That was awesome Joel!' said Mabel as they started the next game, 'Can you teach me?' she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

'I dunno, Mabel, it'll take a lot of practice.'

Something was wrong with the control pad. Dipper was trying to start the next game, but for some reason, the control pad wasn't working. Pacifica got up to help him. Mabel decided that this was the time to make her move. She had to do something, trying to be friends with Joel was killing her. She checked again that Pacifica was pre-occupied, before leaning in closer to Joel's ear.

'Do you need incentive?' she asked. Joel apparently hadn't noticed her close proximity to him.

'What do you mea –'

Mabel leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Joel's cheeks flushed red, but he didn't think he wanted to kiss her back. She was his friend, and Joel's relationship status was… well, it was complicated. He turned his head and looked at Mabel with a confused look on his face. Mabel clearly only saw the crimson in his cheeks, and leaned in and kissed him again, briefly and sweetly on the lips, and her cheeks went hot too.

'Is that enough?' she asked, smirking at him without making eye contact. Joel struggled to find the words.

'M- Mabel, I…' he trailed off. A tear formed in his eye.

'What's wrong?' asked Mabel, taking her hand off his shoulder and moving it towards his own, trembling hand. She hesitated when she saw it shaking, giving Joel enough time to stand up and run, wiping his eyes dry as he did.

Woah, how about that for a cliff-hanger. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I'll be back with the next one soon. Tops to anyone who spots the Welcome to Night Vale reference. As always, reviews are much appreciated. Peace xo ( damn, what a sexy tag, amirite? maybe I'll had this to all my chapters from here on out)