A/N: Wow, 18 favs and 16 follows?! Thank you! Honestly, I wasn't sure on whether I will continue this, but you guys wanted me to, and I enjoy writing, so I will.

Anyway, Gravity Falls belongs to Disney, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Dipper was in the kitchen. It seemed to be the least ruined place in the Shack. He had his head leaned against his hand as his other one absent-mindedly ruffled the pages of the third Journal. His head was filled with contradicting emotions and thoughts...

You shouldn't have said that to her...

She deserved it after what she did!

But she was right...

But she was wrong at trusting Stan!

If Stanley is the Author, does that mean Stanley doesn't trust his brother?

Dipper pinched the bridge of his nose and opened one eye to look at the Journal. Before today, when it seemed all the world went upside down, the Journal gave him comfort and a feeling of safety in this supernatural town. But now, when his fingers brushed against the yellow, faded pages of the Journal, he felt cold, paranoid, scared.

He slammed the Journal closed and pushed it away. Is that why the Author-Stanley hid all the Journals? No, it was because of "Him," as Stanley wrote in the Journal. But who was He? Dipper shivered as if he felt cold hands brushing past his shoulders, and Dipper looked up. Most of the windows were shattered with broken glass on the ground, but no wind came through them. That is a thing Dipper noticed: Everything seemed silent, even for a small town like Gravity Falls during the evening. There were no owls hooting, no crickets chirping, nothing. It was quiet, still, peaceful. No, not peaceful.

Dead.

With a shiver still going up his spine, Dipper thought He could be Bill. Before he could think about it more, however, another puzzle popped up. His brows furrowed together as he remembered how the Author seemed to have neat pages with diagrams and labels. At the same time, there were wild, crazy notes and writings scribbled on the pages, especially with the invisible ink. Yet the man that came out of the portal seemed tranquil and composed...And sane. It was as if two different people wrote in the Journals.

Dipper brushed a hand through his hair. He felt like he was going insane with all that has happened so quickly. Pacifica's party seemed so far away, like it happened months ago, not a day ago.

With a sigh, Dipper reached inside his pocket and took out a little white card. It was the card Agent Powers gave him the morning of the Scaryoke Party. Dipper knew they were looking for Stanford. But now, they would most likely lock up anyone who was seen with Stan that day, which would mean Mabel and himself, and possibly Soos. He could not let that happen. While he may still be angry at Mabel, he will never be as angry towards Stanford as towards anybody else.

His thoughts drifted back when Mabel, as he discovered Stan had the other two Journals, tried to make an excuse for Stanford's lies, saying how he loved them no matter what. Maybe Mabel is right. Maybe Stan does care about her. But not him. He knew Mabel was his favorite. There was no competition for Mabel anyway. The memory he saw in Stanford's mind seemed like nothing now. Dipper felt so distrustful of Stan he felt what Stan had said to Soos in that memory was just a lie to cover what Stan really thought of Dipper.

And with these thoughts fueling Dipper's irrational emotions, He reached for the phone on the wall, which seemed fine except for a thin crack. Maybe if he told them where the con man they were looking for was they would leave the others and himself alone. He unhooked the phone off the wall. He was about to type the first digit when a voice made him freeze.

"I don't think that's a good idea, kid," Stanley tries to say softly, but his unused, raspy voice made Dipper jolt.

Dipper regained his composure, and muttered, "How would you know?"

"Because," Stanley replied and walked towards Dipper. "I know who you were about to call. And while they pretend to know everything about the supernatural, they only touched the surface." Stanley quickly grabbed the phone from the surprised boy's hands and put it back on the wall.

Dipper, knowing it would be pointless to try and fight against the man, huffed and sat down. Stanley sat across him and strapped his gun on the chair. As he did, Dipper wearily looked at him.

"I don't think we were properly introduced. My name is Stanley Pines." He brought out his hand in front of him for Dipper to shake. Dipper stared at the hand. In his old vision, he imagined him to be the one reaching out towards the Author, and vigorously shaking his hand out of pure excitement and joy.

Stanley, after having his hand out for an awkwardly long time, was about to move his hand away when it was suddenly grasped by a smaller hand.

"I'm Dipper. Your grandson." He gave the hand a little shake before pulling his hand back.

Stanley chuckled. "Yes, I'm still in the process of grasping that." Dipper stared at him with a look Stanley could not pin-point.

"Did you even know you had a son?"

Stanley momentarily had a painful look etched on his face, and Dipper regretted how blunt his question was. He had no reason to talk to Stanley like that...Yet, at least.

Dipper open and closed his mouth several times before managing to say, "Sorry. I'm sor—"

Stanley held up his hand, making Dipper stop mid-sentence. "No," he replied. "It's fine. I—" he let out a forced, dry chuckle. "I knew I had a son. He was seven years old, last time I saw him. Tell me, did he change his name or is it still Roland?"

Dipper blinked at the unrelated question. "Still is. Why would he…?"

"He hated that name. Thought it was an 'old guy name.' I guess that name works well for him now, huh?" Stanley's grin melted like ice-scream. "I wish I could talk to him."

Dipper was about to ask why he could not when he connected the dots himself. The article Mabel found...Stan Pines Dead...Car crash...

"...Everybody thinks you're dead. That you died in a car crash. That's why we've only met one grandfather."

Stanley grinned half-heartedly. "Smart boy. I did expect 'Ford to make something up after I…I..." Stanley sighed and mournfully closed his eyes.

It was silent again. Dipper could not say sorry to him. Saying "sorry" to a man who lost everything would be just useless. For once, his mind went blank.

There was a long silence.

"You can't be angry at them forever, you know," Stanley was the first to speak up.

Dipper looked at him with half-lidded eyes, then looked back down. "Try me."

Stanley's voice was more serious. "Look, kid. I knew my brother like the back of my hand. He was a conman, sure. Stole things here and there, went to jail in Columbia, kinda stole my girlfriend—"

"Look, man, what's your point?" Dipper asked in the middle of his rant.

"The point is...Your great uncle may not be a perfect guy, but he's not a bad guy either."

Dipper looked up.

"You need to understand, Dipper. Stanford sacrificed his whole life for me. He had no kids, no friends, and just worked on that damn machine Fid—I should have never built. And regarding how he lied to you: Would you not take every precaution as carefully as possible to get your twin back? You wouldn't want anything in the way, would you?"

Dipper hadn't looked at it that way. But still…"We wouldn't have 'been in the way' if he told us the truth."

Stanley looked at him with a knowing look. "I don't think so. I think you would have still listened to the Journal rather than your family."

"B-But you were angry at him. It may have not caused the apocalypse but it still wasn't a walk in the park either."

"Yes, of course I was angry. Still am. I can't forgive him for putting the world at risk. It was selfish. But at the same time, I would have never forgave him if he didn't come back for me, either. Because he was right. I would have done the same."

Dipper sighed. "That's the exact thing Mabel had said."

"And what you said back was not as heartwarming," Stanley pointed out as he stood up from the table.

Dipper's face turned hard again. He didn't like where this conversation was going. "I won't call the Government guys. But that doesn't mean I forgive him."

Stanley could see Dipper was trying to change the subject. "I know what you're trying to do. But before I let you off the hook, I gotta tell you something." Stanley kneeled by Dipper to look at him dead in the eyes, which made Dipper squirm a little in his seat. "If you don't want to end up like me (believe me, you don't), then you got to listen less to this," He tapped the boy's head, "and a little more to that," he tapped Dipper's chest, a little to the left, where his heart should be. "Can you promise me that?"

Dipper didn't exactly know what Stanley meant, but he slowly nodded. "I'll—I'll try."

Stanley stood up. "Good enough. Because Stanford and Mabel will be here any second now. Oh, and the one with the hamster teeth."

Dipper looked startled. "Wait, what?" Oh, no, no, no, no. He couldn't talk to any of them right now. He didn't want to talk to them. He tried to escape to the attic but Stanley grabbed the back of his vest with an iron-grip. Dipper did nothing but huff.

As Stanley predicted, the great-niece, great-uncle, and handyman went into what remained of the kitchen.

Mabel looked at Dipper, Stanford looked at his brother, and Dipper avoided everybody's eyes.

Mabel, in an unsure voice, said, "Hi, Dipper…"

A/N: Ooh, what'll happen next? Read the next chapter to find out!

GOLZK CLY KO YCKURE XOLWOJJYP,
CAJUOPK CLY POJ RUWVJRE XOLWUHYP.

Woah, what's this? I can't seem to delete it. Weird...

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- H.S.D.R.