A/N: As much as I dislike fishing, I would really luuuurve a bit of feedback or something. Peace.
...
"Love, huh." Dipper rolled his eyes, while Mabel gushed on again about her ailing quest for an "epic summer romance".
It was a quiet day in the Mystery Shack. Grunkle Stan was off doing his own thing as usual, Wendy was taking a delivery and all he and Mabel had done so far today was get on each other's nerves.
They'd been in Gravity Falls for a few weeks. So far she'd accosted every boy who'd entered the Mystery Shack, and who knows how many others. Other particularly standout prospective boyfriends had been a gang of gnomes disguised as a kid called Norman, and that so-called psychic pretentious little pr-…dork…Dipper mentally corrected himself, Gideon.
Thinking about it, Dipper preferred the gnomes that had tried to kidnap his sister.
"Hey!" Mabel whined, whacking him over the head with one of her drippy pre-teen vampire romance novels.
"W-…what!?" He managed, staggering sideways, momentarily stunned.
"Stop ignoring me, Dipper!" She half-wailed.
"Don't ignore Mabel, Dipper." Wendy called, carrying boxes into the store.
"I wasn-" He objected.
"The success of my entire epic summer romance is in jeopardy!" She yelled at the ceiling, throwing her arms in the air.
"The success of your sister's entire epic summer romance is in jeopardy, Dipper." Wendy agreed, heading back outside.
"I know th-"
"You're my brother, you should be supporting me in this trying time!" She grabbed him by the collar, pulling them so close together their noses touched.
"You're her brother, you should be supporting Mabel in this trying time, Dipper." Wendy noted, on her way through with more boxes.
"Wrrgghuuhh?" Dipper managed, torn between being horrified of his sister and what had become a habitual shyness around Wendy. With some effort, he managed to extricate himself from Mabel's death-grip.
While he straightened out his shirt Mabel put a hand to her chin thoughtfully.
"How about a deal, Dip?"
"What kind of deal?" He regarded her warily.
"Help me get a date and I'll help you get Wendy's attention."
"Shh!" He insisted, glancing around the store, but Wendy must have gone back outside again. "How are you going to do that?" He continued, when he was sure it was safe.
She rolled her eyes in the way only a twelve-year old could.
"I'm a girl, duh." She gestured to herself, as if it explained everything.
"You are?" He scoffed, ducking as she swiped at him with her book. "Alright, alright, it's a deal." He held out a hand.
She made a show of giving it some thought, then spat in her hand and made a grab for his. He recoiled, appalled, as Mabel pressed after him, laughing gleefully at his discomfort.
Neither noticed Wendy watching from the doorway, smiling, as the two chased each other around the store.
…
Mabel yawned as she made her way carefully downstairs. More dreams about the past. More memories.
She wasn't sure what time it was, but it was dark as hell so she assumed everybody else was asleep, and she was in no hurry to wake anybody up just because she couldn't sleep.
She regretted not bothering to get dressed beyond the oversized t-shirt and underwear she wore to sleep as soon as she got to the cold, wooden floor of the hallway, but she wasn't going to go back now.
Mabel cringed as she opened and closed the old creaky door to the living room, shutting it carefully behind her. With any luck, she hadn't-
"Couldn't sleep, hm?"
She jumped turning sharply, stifling the "oh" that nearly slipped out.
"Hi mom." She greeted the older woman, voice devoid of feeling. She could already feel the bile rising in her throat, coming down here was a mistake.
The woman, her mother, lounged back on the sofa with a drink in her hand. The TV was off, she hadn't even switched any lights on. The tension between them was so thick, Mabel began to even feel out of breath. The silence stretched, with her standing there awkwardly. She had no intention of staying down here with mom, but she didn't want to give the woman the satisfaction of seeing her skulk off either.
"So how's school, dear?"
Mabel winced. The words were there, but no mother could have said them with such…she didn't even think it was scorn, she didn't care enough for that.
"It's gotta be about two in the morning mom, why don't you go to bed." She hated herself for the hint of pleading that slipped into her tone.
"As bad as all that?" Her mom turned her gaze toward her for a moment, before looking back toward the blank TV.
"No."
"You've never done anything but hold him back. I don't why your brother ever wasted time with you."
"I don't suppose you do. You never wasted time with either of us." Mabel replied. "Sometimes I don't know why he does either." She muttered, softly.
"I'd ask you to stay away from him if I thought there was any point."
"I graduate in a few weeks. I'm…we're," She corrected herself, unable to resist the barb. ", looking at colleges, soon."
"Hm." Her mom chuckled to herself. "At least I know my son won't chuck his life away."
Mabel wished it didn't sting anymore, but it did. She clutched her arms to her chest, it wasn't the cold.
"Were you always like this?" She asked in a murmur, half to herself.
Her mom actually looked up at her for a moment.
"No." The woman looked away again, taking a sip. Her brow creased into a frown, as if deep in thought. "Go away."
Mabel turned slowly back to the door, slipping out as casually as she could. She'd be damned if she'd let the woman see she could still hurt her. Padding up the stairs, she felt her eyes begin to sting and her vision swim as the tears welled in her eyes. She wished she'd just stayed in her room, she only hoped she could just shut herself away till morning and pretend the whole thing-
"Hey." The first and last voice she wanted to hear cut through the grainy dark as she reached the top of the stairs.
She looked up through bleary eyes, seeing her brother leaning against the doorframe of his room. Mabel rubbed her eyes furiously, not wanting him to see but knowing it was too late anyway. He made no move toward her, knowing she'd want a minute to pull herself together.
"Hey." She choked out, berating herself. "I was just…uh…downstairs, getting…um." She gave up.
The look on his face told her all she needed to know.
"I want to go to bed." She tried to hurry past him, unsurprised when a hand latched onto her wrist, not painfully, but enough to stop her.
She let his fingers mesh with hers, as he guided her gently so she was facing him.
She was a mess. Her eyes and cheeks stained with tears, her hair hung loose over her shoulders and face. Her bare legs were shaking and her arms were covered in goosebumps. Mabel looked up at him, not remembering exactly when he'd gotten taller than her.
Dipper raised a hand toward her cheek, but stopped halfway. Instead, he placed his hands on her shoulders, holding them carefully.
"Do you remember what you said to me, once, a long time ago?" He whispered.
"I said a lot of things." She sniffed.
" "You're my brother, you should be supporting me in this trying time!" " Dipper smiled a little, as he put on a hushed squeaky voice.
She sobbed out a laugh, despite herself.
"You're such an idiot." She croaked. "You got me that stupid date and everything. I still don't know what you did to that kid."
"I'll never tell." He grinned.
They held each other's gaze for a moment until she couldn't hold back anymore, throwing herself against him. She felt his arms slide from her shoulders, around her back. She buried herself in his chest and began to cry.
"Come on." He murmured, softly.
Mabel let him scoop her up in his arms and carry her into his room.
"I'll always be there to support you, Mabes. Just like you were for me." Dipper whispered, shutting the door behind him.