I just came back from watching "The Battle of the Five Armies" and while there were parts that were disappointing, the film actually succeeded in making me cry a few times (which, if you know me, is very hard to do). Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage were amazing, and their relationship is fantastic on-screen. It was worth it to go see that movie.

From mihane100: "If you're still doing the request thing, I was wondering if you could do one where Dipper has a really bad nightmare (about Bill hurting Mabel or something, perhaps? Or just something really really bad in general?) and wakes up screaming and crying, but Stan hears the scream and comes up to see if he's alright? Or maybe even Mabel waking up at his scream and going over to his bed to see what's up? You decide who it is. Either way, Dipper will be comforted and it would be adorable. :D"

Oh, no - you've found my greatest writing weakness: nightmares. How did you know I love writing nightmares? As for who awakens, how about a little bit of both...?

Enjoy the one-shot!

Lean on Me

Running. He was running through the woods, eyes peering through the darkness and around trees, always watching him.

He had to get away. It was going to catch him. It was going to get him, oh gosh -

His thoughts broke off at the sound of an inhumane roar close behind. A soft whimper left his throat at the realization that it was probably only feet away, and didn't dare turn around to check. He stumbled over a root and staggered only for a moment before sprinting away.

Heart hammering in his chest, he shoved away a particularly low branch that snapped off with a CRACK! when he grabbed it. He was gasping for air, chest heaving as he struggled to outrun the creature. He couldn't stop, he couldn't afford to slow down, he was going to die, it was getting closer - !

"Dipper, my boy..."

No. No, no, no.

"Come out!"

Ignore it, he told himself mentally, feeling sick to his stomach. That voice was so familiar, but the sinister undertone gave him chills. He knew what would happen once he was caught, he couldn't let that happen.

"I have to say, I'm impressed!"

Go away, he longed to scream. Tears ran down his cheeks freely, and for once he was not ashamed. Leave me be!

"DIPPER!"

He gave a loud scream as he was shoved to the ground, hitting the dirt hard as a pair of arms wrapped around his chest tightly. He squirmed and wriggled as it lifted him up, pulling him against its chest. He twisted his head around, nearly sobbing when he met a pair of yellow eyes with long slitted pupils.

"There you are, bro-bro!"

It wasn't her. He knew it wasn't her, it was him, but her voice...

"Ready to have some real fun?"

No. No, he didn't want to play this game.

He struggled harder, ignoring the giggle that arose from the brunette's throat at his actions. He didn't dare look back again, knowing it would only make this much worse.

"Leave her alone!" he cried out, his voice cracking due to his emotions getting the best of him. "Please!"

He was thrown to the ground roughly, all of the air rushing out of his lungs. A cold cackle met his ears, and he screamed in pain as he felt something sharp jabbing into his arms. Memories of forks stabbing through skin, aches all over his body, cuts on his cheeks...

A hard pressure was on his shoulders, holding his shaking body down (not that he had the strength to run anyway). Another cackle filled the night air, and he shut his eyes tightly from both pain and the sting of tears in his eyes.

Why wouldn't he leave her alone? Why was he doing this to them both?

It's your fault, a whisper in the back of his mind made itself known. He's hurting her because of you.

"Sorry, kid," hissed an all-too-familiar high-pitched voice in his ears, "but she's MY puppet now!"

"DIPPER!"

The preteen boy screamed at the top of his lungs and thrashed, trying to shove the bed sheets off his body. Mabel drew back, shocked, only to hurry over and hug him close, trying to calm him down.

"Hey, hey! It's okay, Dippingsauce! No, it's okay! It's me! I'm right here!"

Shutting his eyes tightly, he sobbed, struggling less as despair began to consume him.

"It was just a nightmare, Dipper," his sister said softly, a sorrowful look creeping onto her face at the sight of the tears in his eyes. "It's okay now."

Dipper slowly calmed down, trembling violently, and turned to look at his twin hesitantly. Mabel gave him a weak smile and he broke at the sight of her familiar eyes - normal brown eyes, not yellow slits - staring back at him. He began to sob and Mabel turned him around gently so that he was facing her, clutching him close to her chest. Her heart ached as he cried, wrapping his arms around her tightly, as if he were afraid to let go.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she whispered, unsure what to say suddenly. While her twin had nightmares even when they both were small, he had never had one as bad as this. Seeing Dipper, the one who normally protected her and came up with all the plans, broken and crying... It snapped something inside of her.

"I-It was..." Dipper couldn't finish the sentence. Not when he remembered everything that had gone down with Bill only a week prior to now.

He had had nightmares ever since the "Bipper" incident, as his sister put it, but none had ever been so terrifying as this one. Usually he was just haunted by Bill's laughter or had a dream involving being trapped in that ghost-like state in the mindscape alone. Mabel hadn't seemed to notice them, since he hadn't ever woken up screaming or anything. He had hoped she wouldn't find out how badly they scared him, how frightened he was to go to sleep for fear of encountering Bill.

Mabel hugged him closer, rubbing her hand on his back like their mom had when the two were kids and they got scared of the thunderstorms outside. It seemed to comfort him, and he relaxed slightly, burying his face into her shoulder.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Mabel said after another moment of quiet sobs filled the air. Of course, she wanted him to tell her though. If the nightmare had been that bad, it had clearly scared her brother a lot.

Dipper swallowed hard, trying to control his rapidly beating heart. He hated how pathetic and childish this was, having nightmares and crying over them. Thankfully no one else was awake to see this.

"B-Bill... he possessed you... and he was chasing me, i-in your b-b-body and..."

His voice shook and broke off abruptly as the memory of the nightmare hit him full-force. He let out a soft sob and held onto Mabel tighter. It had felt so real. Mabel may have faced down Bill and freed him from Dipper's body, but she didn't know of the taunts and the injuries he had inflicted upon the body. She only knew Bill had hurt him on purpose because he thought it was funny. Dipper had yet to tell her of the details, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to. He sucked in a deep breath in an effort to calm himself, wishing he had never made that deal with the dream demon.

Mabel's heart shattered as the realization of what the nightmare had been about hit her. She hugged him tighter too, feeling her throat constrict at the thought of Bill possessing her. She couldn't even imagine what it must have been like for her brother to be trapped outside his own body.

"It was only a nightmare, Dipper," she whispered. "Bill isn't here. I'm okay, see?"

His body still shook, despite her reassuring words. He was no longer crying, although tears still lingered on his cheeks, and he loosened his tight grip as he tried to ground himself with the fact that she was okay, she was alive, Bill wasn't here.

"It felt real," Dipper admitted weakly, not removing his face from where he had it buried in her shoulder. He felt so small, like he was five years old again and terrified of some monster under his bed.

Mabel smiled slightly at the hint of defensiveness in his voice. "It probably did. That's just Bill being a buttface, though. I'm here for you, and I'm not going to be possessed by some creepy demon anytime soon. Don't worry."

Dipper hesitated, wanting to whole-heartedly agree with her words. But the constant worry over her safety was always there, and he couldn't just banish it away by merely wishing it so.

"Is this the first time you've had a nightmare about it?"

He nearly groaned in exasperation. At times he forgot how observant his sister was, due to her silliness.

"N-No. I've just had smaller nightmares ever since..."

Mabel's eyes widened briefly and she pulled back to glare at her twin brother. "Dipper! You've had nightmares ever since the play, and you didn't say anything?"

He winced. "No... I didn't want you to worry!"

The way he blurted out the last bit didn't make her feel any less angry. Mabel groaned and said, "Dipper, I couldn't helped you before if you hadn't been so stubborn! No more hiding nightmares, alright?"

"Alright..."

She punched his shoulder, but it wasn't a hard punch. She had no desire to hurt him, after all, despite being angry.

"Good! Now, since we're both awake at - " Mabel glanced at her clock and scowled, " - four thirty in the morning, do you want to go back to sleep or start a game of attic stuff golf?"

Dipper looked at her in surprise at the latter suggestion, but after a moment of thought, his expression softened. The boy smiled and rubbed at his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to beat you. I've been practicing!"

His sister's eyes lit up and she snorted, hurrying over to grab clubs. "No way! I'm the golf champion, remember?"

The two laughed happily, not noticing the pair of brown eyes peering through the crack of their slightly open attic door. They would never see the way Stan smiled softly, having awoken at the sound of screaming and running to go check up on the twins in a panic only to find that the older girl had it under control. They would never know that he watched them play and laugh for a good ten minutes before heading as quietly as possible down the stairs (avoiding the creaky steps) to go back to bed.

I got a little carried away with the dream, sorry. I love dark dreams.

Any requests?