Chapter Fifteen

Dipper didn't sleep that night. He was too scared of Bill hurting him and ending up with more injuries to explain to his family.

When Mabel woke, she looked at her brother with a frown. Obviously she could tell that he hadn't slept through the night. He had bags on his eyes, and knew this for sure, though said nothing to his sister about not sleeping.

She ended up saying nothing to him either. She only stood, grabbed an outfit out of her suitcase, before leaving the room. When they were twelve and shared the attic last time, they had no problem dressing in front of each other, but now they were older, and Mabel dressed in the bathroom while leaving Dipper to dress in the attic.

But Dipper didn't get dressed.

He was too stressed from the incident in the forest, and rummaging around through his memories to try and find out just how he had ended up in the forest was giving him a headache. He wished he could ask someone to tell him how he ended up there, but if he did, they would just think he was crazy. Mabel would be even more worried and Stan would send him home, doomed to spend the rest of the summer with his parents and away from his twin sister.

After being in the hospital for so long – almost a year – Dipper had grown accustomed to being away from Mabel like he had never been before. It was strange to think of how comfortable he was being away from his twin, his other half, but he was comfortable with it.

Mabel returned to their bedroom after she finished dressing. She had changed into shorts, colorful leggings, and an off-the-shoulder sweater with a tank-top underneath. She frowned when she saw her brother still sitting where he was when she left him.

It worried her to see Dipper in such a state. It was easier than it used to be, with Mabel having time to get used to her brother this way, but she just didn't understand what went wrong. One day he was happy in Gravity Falls and they were going on different adventures every day. The next day, he was sleep deprived and hurting himself.

Mabel knew it had something to do with the journal. It couldn't not be about it, especially since Dipper had become agitated and began acting strange once the journal was in his possession again. That was why when she ran up to their room to find Dipper and found only the journal on the floor, she took it into her own possession, hiding it so her brother couldn't find it.

Mabel wasn't going to let her brother go down that path again.

She was going to protect him.

When Dipper finally got out of bed, he began to look for the journal. He couldn't just waste time staring at a wall and exhausting himself doing nothing when he could be exhausting himself equally while looking for his journal.

He looked in all of his hiding places in the attic – the best he could on his sprained ankle – hoping he would have hidden it somewhere when he had left for the forest.

There was nothing.

His hiding places were empty – save for a few pieces of candy from Summerween three years ago. He had lost the journal, and he couldn't enlist for anyone else's help to find it.

Maybe Mabel would understand if he told her he needed it.

He would give it a try.

Dipper hobbled out of the attic – painfully – and to the gift shop where Mabel was trying to sell bumper stickers to a customer. When she was finished with the customer, Dipper hobbled up to her to get her attention.

"Hey, Mabel," Dipper greeted. His tone might have been too syrupy since Mabel squinted her eyes at him. Or maybe she was still upset about what happened in the forest and wasn't showing it.

"Dipper, you're not supposed to be walking on your foot," Wendy said from behind the register. While Mabel had been trying to sell bumper stickers by the register, Stan didn't allow her to be up there by herself anymore since she tried to give everything away for free.

"I'll be fine; it's just a sprain," Dipper said. "So, Mabel…"

"What do you want Dipper?" Mabel asked with an agitated sigh. Dipper frowned. His sister was still upset about before; she just wasn't admitting to it.

"I was wondering if you knew where I could find my journal," Dipper said. He bit his lip waiting for an answer.

"I'm not helping you find it, Dipper," Mabel said.

"Why not?" Dipper asked. He could think of quite a few reasons why she wouldn't want to help him find the journal, or even tell him where he could look for it.

"Because you're doing all this stuff again!" Mabel exclaimed. The other customers in the store watched on, as did Wendy. Mabel didn't shout like this usually. Well, not in the gift shop since the last time they had seen her. "You're hurting yourself again and you stopped sleeping!"

"Mabel, I…" Dipper trailed off. What would he tell her? "I'm sorry."

"You're better without the journal," Mabel said, seeming calmer than before. "I just want you to be happy again."

"If you want me to be happy again, I need the journal," Dipper said.

"Why do you need it?" Mabel asked.

"So I can…" Dipper trailed off. He would need to leave the majority of details out. He sighed, knowing Mabel would hate his answer. "So I can sleep safely."

"This is what I'm talking about!" Mabel exclaimed once again. "You're acting like this again because of that stupid journal! I'm starting to think that letting you have the thing was a mistake." She would never say Dipper coming was a mistake. She had wanted him to come, she just wasn't sure it was good for him to be there anymore. Not a mistake, though. Letting him have the journal was the mistake.

"No, Mabel, you've got to trust me," Dipper pleaded. "Tell me where I can find the journal and I'll be able to be normal again. I'll be how I was before I got this whole thing started.

"No, Dipper," Mabel said sternly. "I'm not helping you find the journal."

Dipper frowned. He should have known she would refuse to help him with her feeling so strongly about the journal. He hobbled away from her, returning to the attic.

"Wanna make a deal now, Pine Tree?"

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