George's Past

SUMMARY: George's past starts to haunt him so he gets comfort from Mabel. He learns an important lesson on family.

MAIN CHARACTERS: George Grand, Mabel Pines

George laid in his bed, looking at the ceiling above him, a couple of soft snores filled the room.

He stayed at the Northwest Mansion along with many other younger children and women that had lost their families during the events of Weirdmageddon. He shared a room with a couple of young kids who were siblings, them losing their parents during their travels. George really couldn't sleep though, his thoughts going back to the day his family were killed… and it wasn't pleasant.

"Dad… what is that in the sky?" George asked, him pointing to it, his older brother Jeremy following his finger.

"Oh… shit… yeah, what is that?" Jeremy asked.

The sky was turning into an odd red. A loud cackle echoes in the air, causing both George and Jeremy to cover their ears. Sudden crash sounds and growling erupt around them, monsters started appearing in hordes.

Jeremy was trying to get others into their vehicles to get to a safe place, as did his and George's parents. People were getting into their cars, George trying to tell his parents and brother to get in a car as well. They tried to help as many people as they could, George trying to dodge whatever monsters were trying to take a bite out of him.

"C'mon guys! We need to go!" George kept screaming to his family, but of course they ignored him and continued what they were doing. "GUYS!"

But a scream pierces through his ears. Blood spills to the ground…

George shakes his head, trying to forget the lingering thoughts of his past.

He looks at the clock, it was extremely early in the morning, only about three in the morning. Slowly he gets up, making sure not to wake up the slumbering kids in the room. Once he was out of the room he went down stairs, away from all the bedrooms, and went to the phone. Normally he wouldn't do this at this time, even when he actually had a cell phone, but to him this was an emergency.

George dials the now extremely familiar number, hoping that he can get ahold of one particular person. The phone rings, him hearing the tone, and soon a small click signals that the phone was being picked up, a groggy sounding voice on the other end.

"George…? Do you know what time it is?" the voice asked with a yawn, knowing exactly who it was.

"Mabel, sorry about this…" George whispers into the phone. "Do you think you can sneak out for an hour or so…?" he asks.

Silence on the other side. Then there was a soft sigh, "Yeah I can, I'll throw on a sweater. Were you having a nightmare…?" Mabel asks.

"Yeah…" George confirmed, his voice super soft. "I just want to talk for a little bit… and I can't get to sleep…"

Mabel's voice was more energetic on the other side of the line now, a trait that he enjoyed about her, "Don't worry, I'm all ears! I'll meet you at our usual spot, okay? But we do have to make this quick, Grunkle Ford has been actually leaving his lab to actually sleep and he always checks on all of us… so I wanna be here when he does or he'll get Stan and then things will really get bad…"

"Understood. See you soon…!" George said and he hangs up the phone. He was only wearing a plain gray t-shirt with his long pajama pants and socks, so all he did was go to the closet at the main foyer of the manor and grabbed his shoes and coat. With a light sigh he leave the manor, him walking down the gravel pathway with soft crunches.

He goes into the woods, following a set path. After about three minutes of walking he makes it to an open clearing, Mabel already sitting on a fallen tree like it was a bench. She wore a light purple sweater that had her traditional shooting star symbol on it, her wearing blue pajama pants with ice cream designs all over it. Her shoulder length brown hair was messy, but was pushed back with a pink headband.

"Hey, Mabel, sorry again for the time…" George greets with a wave as he sits next to her, him looking sheepish.

"You know I don't really mind," Mabel beams at him. "I help with Dipper's nightmares all the time."

George glances away slightly. He didn't know her twin brother was having terrible nightmares too…

"So… go ahead, tell Dr. Mabel what the matter is!" she once again beamed, for someone who was waken up in the middle of the night she was very peppy and energetic.

George began explaining his nightmare, and mainly his thoughts. He felt guilty about his family being killed, maybe if he had helped out with the evacuation like they did they'd still be alive. The nightmares were more reoccurring since it was close to his brother's birthday, and he was sad that he didn't have his brother around. He would never tell Mabel, but he was extremely jealous of her and her brother's relationship, it could be because they're twins, but he had a feeling they'd be close siblings no matter what.

"It's okay to miss your brother…" Mabel tells him, her voice sounding a little sad. "When Dipper was… you know… that was the furthest time I've ever spent away from him, and I missed him very much… Grunkle Stan and Ford were pretty much apart for forty years of their lives, and I know Grunkle Stan missed his brother."

"The difference is this, my brother is dead, Mabel." George snaps, his anger bubbling over. "And so are my parents, I'm all alone and it's my fault, if I would've helped out then maybe I would've died with my family or they would be okay now…"

Mabel grabs his shoulders and forces him to look at her in the eyes. Her brown eyes were uncharacteristically angry. "You're not alone! Yes… you lost your family… I lost some of my family too… but that doesn't mean you're alone!" Mabel sternly tells him. "Just look around you… you have a lot of people that look up to you… those kids you share a room with, I know they look to you like a big brother… Dave's mom for the most part took you in like a son too…" she then gives a smile, her eyes filling with tears, "And hell, you got the Pines family too…! You have family all around you… don't throw it away, please?"

George's stony gray eyes were wide and filling with tears. He really never thought of everything like that. It was one of the things that he really liked about her, always being optimistic. He then gives her a hug, whispering his thanks to her.

"When is your brother's birthday?" Mabel asks suddenly. "We'll so something special on that day, I can make a cake and we can have a picnic. We'll even tie notes to balloons to wish him happy birthday and send them to the sky!" Her eyes were bright, and he had a feeling she had done something like this before.

"It's in December," George replies. "And I think he'll appreciate the notes… I think he and my parents would really like you."

"Well, we know my brother likes you and Grunkle Ford," Mabel laughs. "Stan is iffy, but you can win him over!" she gives a laugh. "And… my parents would've liked you too."

The two laughed and said their goodbyes, George giving Mabel a kiss on her cheek. They walked their opposite ways, him going back to the mansion and Mabel going back to the Mystery Shack. Once George was back at the mansion he was greeted by Dave's mom, who stood at the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"Hi…" George greets sheepishly with a slight wave.

"George Goliath Grand, do you know what time it is young man?" Dave's mother snaps. Ever since her son's death she was overprotective of him.

"Yeah…" George replies sadly. "I'm sorry, I just needed some fresh air…" he then goes and gives her a hug. "Thank you for looking after me for my parents… they would really appreciate it."

A hug tightens around him. "You're welcome…" she replies, her voice hitched with emotion.

George then goes to bed, kicking off his shoes at the side of the bed and hanging up his coat on the bed post. As he lied in bed his thoughts drifted to Mabel's words. She was right, there was family all around him.

He closes his eyes to fall asleep, the small snores around him being a comfort.

"Yeah…" George yawns. "I have family all around me…"