A/N: No lengthy tirades this time, enjoy!

...

"Dip."

The voice cut through the haze of sleep like a knife through butter.

"Dip."

Maybe if he rolled over it would go away.

"Dip."

Nope. Maybe if he buried his face under the pillow it might give up.

"Dip."

Maybe if he just-

"Dip."

Hands pressed down on the pillow, basically smothering him. He let out a garbled cry of confusion, casting the thing aside and looked around frantically.

He was still in the family car, alive by all accounts. Mom and dad looked back at him, eyebrows raised, before turning back to the road and Mabel…Mabel was holding the pillow, smiling innocently.

He forced a smile back, ignoring the fact she'd tried to kill him in an attempt to wake him up.

"Nearly there, you two."

Dipper glanced out the window, adjusting his hat against the glare of the morning sun as it filtered through the trees. They'd been driving for hours but-

"Frickin' finally!" Mabel drawled.

"Young lady." Their mom warned, sternly.

As she crossed her arms in a huff, he noticed what she'd seen. They were coming up on a large old wooden sign by the road, reading,

Gravity Falls.

The road split, ahead. To the right was and the town aaaaaand…they went left. Into more trees.

"Town's that way." He ventured, already getting a bad feeling about all this.

Their parents had decided two weeks ago that rather than spend another summer together as a family they were going to dump he and Mabel with their great-uncle Stan…their "Grunkle", at his home in Gravity Falls, aaaaaall the way in Oregon. All summer.

Dipper wasn't even sure who the hell Stan was actually related to in his family, nobody seemed eager to elaborate.

"Your Grunkle Stan has a home in the woods, dear." His mom answered, sounding tired.

"…out here?!" Mabel blurted. They shared a look.

That seemed to be all they were going to get. Dipper supposed their parents couldn't wait to drop them off so they could go back to arguing or whatever it was they wanted them out of the way for this time.

They eventually came out into a small clearing, in the middle of which was a ramshackle looking…shack straight out of a movie he'd seen once. It didn't look like it should even be standing. A sign was plastered across the top, reading The Mystery Shack.

"Everybody's gotta have a hobby I guess." He heard his dad mutter under his breath.

They pulled up outside. As Dipper and Mabel climbed out, with their own rucksacks, he noticed their parents were already hard at work getting out the rest of their luggage and lumping it together in a pile by them.

Don't hurry or anything he thought, bitterly.

"Bye kids." Mom waved as she returned to the car, dad already at the wheel. She even managed a smile.

So that was that, he mused, as he waved back lazily. He turned to look at Mabel, wondering what she thought of it, but she was already busy looking around excitedly.

Unlike himself, Mabel had been excited at the prospect of getting away from home on their own for a month or two. He could see she was already all but shaking with energy waiting to be released, like a well-shaken can of soda.

They turned sharply as the door to the shack slammed open behind them.

"Hey kids!" A large, crooked looking man in a fez waved a hand in greeting as he came over. He swung a cane as he did so. It had an eight-ball on it. His suit looked like it didn't fit quite right and his face was all but covered in stubble and he had old, thick rimmed glasses and….

"He's wearing an eyepatch." Mabel whispered conspiratorially, leaning over to him.

"He's wearing it over his glasses, Mabel." He noted, as the man got closer. "It's not real."

The look of crushing disappointment on her face made him want to laugh.

"I'm your Grunkle Stan." He held out both hands, shaking theirs energetically, eliciting a series of snorts from Mabel. "Let's get your stuff upstairs and get you settled." He stopped to pick up their luggage, carrying it all at once.

He was stronger than he looked, Dipper noted, suspiciously.

"You live here?" Mabel asked, grinning.

"Sure do. This is the Mystery Shack. I'll give you the tour later. For now," He gestured vaguely. ", welcome to Gravity Falls!"

…

Dipper forced an eye open, letting out a yawn. He looked around warily, as soon as he realised-

Yep, he thought. Mabel was curled up under his arm, head resting in the crook of his shoulder. They were curled up together on the floor of his room, wrapped in his bedcovers. Apparently at some point in the ungodly hours of the morning they'd decided that the floor was the place to be, having settled back against the side of his bed. And together at that.

He glanced at the door, cautiously. The last thing he wanted to do was piss off the woman who let them live in her house. What was her name again…? Oh yeah, mom.

Mabel sighed quietly, but didn't wake up. He played with her hair a little, running a finger through the cascade of chestnut tresses currently splayed all over the place. He noted she'd discarded her sweater during the night, the lime-green coloured horror was over there by the door with her…skirt and…his jeans.

He glanced beneath the covers, brain suddenly afire with infinite heart-attack inducing visions. They weren't drunk, they weren't that tired either, surely he'd fucking remember if- he thought frantically, ignoring the heat flushing on his cheeks.

He let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the bed. They were both still wearing their underwear, maybe he should calm down a little, maybe he should take his mind off things that hadn't happened yet, what time was it anyway?

"You thought we had sex." Mabel murmured into his chest, making him jump.

"N-no…" He laughed, nervously. "What made you think-"

"Oh, so you're just a pervert then. That makes me feel better." She grinned up at him, shaking her head slowly.

"…ah…" He objected, lamely,

"Dipweed." She raised a hand and began poking him in the forehead, slowly. "We agreed, remember? Both of us?"

"I remember."

"Then have a little faith, huh?" She shoved her fist into his cheek, playfully.

"I know, I know." He shrugged. "Sometimes I just…don't entirely trust myself."

"Why not, I do." She replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And I love you for it." He nuzzled the top of her head, feeling her shiver a little in response.

They remained like that for a few minutes, just enjoying the quiet. Gradually, light began to filter through the blinds on his window. It reminded him of their first night in Gravity Falls, six years ago. He'd dreamt about the day they'd first arrived last night, it was all that thinking about the future, bringing him back to the past.

"What's up?" His sister asked, rubbing a hand over his chest.

"Just thinking about Gravity Falls. The first day."

"You too?"

He looked down at her, curiously.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it last night." She continued, sensing the question.

He nodded, understanding.

"Fancy some breakfast? I know there's a little bacon left, and…

She flashed a smile in response, already on her feet and struggling to get her skirt back on with one hand while she flung the door open with the other before he even had the covers off.

"Dibs, Dips." She poked her head back into the room, sticking out her tongue, before scurrying downstairs giggling to herself.

"I never was the morning one." He groaned, getting dressed and heading after her.