A/N: Part of my series of stories in the Relativity Falls AU, where young Stan and Ford go to stay with an older Dipper and Mabel.
Ford wiped his brow and pushed his glasses up his nose. He was hot, sweaty, and at this point he felt like the pungent algae smell would never wash out of his shirt. He was probably sunburned all over, and it would hurt like crazy tomorrow. Still, he felt happy and at peace in a way that he hadn't in weeks.
"Sea monster off the port bowl!" Stan called out. He leaned so far over the Stan O'War's railing that he would probably end up falling in, but that wasn't what Ford found amusing about this situation.
"It's bow, not bowl." Ford came up to his brother, nudging his shoulder. "And you're facing the stern, now the bow." Even though Stan was facing the back of the ship instead of the front, he had gotten the 'port' part right. Ford knew it wasn't on accident. Stan mixed up sailing terminology a lot, but he understood port and starboard perfectly, even when Ford himself got confused about it.
Ford smiled and looked into the water where Stan had been gesturing. "And we're in a lake, so it can't really be a sea monster. Unless, of course, a sea monster migrated from the sea to this lake." That would be an interesting sight to see.
"I know." Stan grinned. "I just always wanted to say that, and now that we're finally sailing, I had the chance to."
"If you two are done crying wolf about sea monsters that I know aren't really there, can someone else take the wheel?" Fiddleford called out. "I feel like I'm going to be sick." Stan snorted, but Ford took his friend seriously. Fiddleford could stomach a lot, but seasickness could be a minor problem for him. It wasn't normally a concern, but despite the hot weather that day, it was very windy and the waters of the lake were choppier than usual. He'd probably be fine if he could just sit down for a minute.
"I'll take care of it." Ford took over the wheel. "Stan, lower the sails. We're heading back to shore, and the wind is against us."
Stan pouted. "Do we have to stop? We're only been out here for, like, five minutes."
"We've been sailing unsupervised for half an hour." Ford corrected his brother. "And before that we were sailing around for more than two hours with Great Uncle Dipper." They'd worked really hard on the Stan O'War, fixing up the old ship they'd found. They'd wanted to take it out on its maiden voyage for a while now, and today they'd finally gotten around to it.
Dipper had insisted on going with them first, just to make sure they knew what they were doing and their little sail boat was sea and lake worthy. After several hours of practice, and a lot of pleading, Dipper had agreed to let them go on their own, as long as the trip was short.
Despite Stan's disappointment, he did as he was told as he took down the sails. Ford knew that there was a way to work the sail against the wind, but he didn't think the small lake would give them the space to do it, and it would take a bit longer too. They would have to work on that at a later date. In the meantime, Dipper had insisted that their boat have a propeller and engine, just in case. They might as well give it a try.
Ford steered them back to the shore while Stan put away the sails and Fiddleford watched the propeller. Within minutes they came to shore, though the landing was more than a little rough.
"Well, look at you boys." Dipper smiled at them as he came to greet them. "You're natural sailors."
"Of course we are." Stan said proudly as he jumped off the boat and fumbled the landing, face planting into the sand. Dipper helped him up and checked him carefully for any scrape or bruise. Great Uncle Dipper was always a little paranoid and very protective, but this seemed smothering even for him. None of them said anything about it though, because they all understood. Dipper had been overly worried about Stan since he'd found out that their Pa had been hurting him.
The past few weeks had been tense and anxious for all of them. Stan and Ford were just supposed to stay with their great aunt and uncle, Mabel and Dipper, for a few months during summer. When Dipper found out about the abuse going on at home, he had immediately started to arrange for the boys to stay with them more permanently.
It all still didn't feel real to Ford. In his head he knew that he wouldn't have to deal with the bullies at school in a month, and Stan wouldn't ever have to go to the hospital because their dad had pushed him down the stairs again. In his heart though, Ford felt like he would see Ma in a few weeks, and everything would go back to normal, and life in Gravity Falls was too good to be true.
He didn't think it would really sink in until school started. Ford was sure that Stan felt similarly, because he'd noticed that his brother was behaving himself more these past few weeks. He still caused trouble, but he didn't push the limits more than he already had. Ford liked to think that Stan was genuinely happier and felt safer here, but he thought that his brother was just trying to avoid getting in trouble because he was scared of Dipper and Mabel changing their minds about letting them stay there.
Ford knew where his twin was coming from, but he also trusted their new guardians. Dipper and Mabel wouldn't hurt them or send them away, and he knew that Stan would eventually recognize that too. He just needed time. Ford suspected that Stan would relax after everything came to a head and he got in trouble again, and he saw that it wasn't as bad as he was obviously scared it would be.
"Can we sail a little more?" Stan asked. "We're getting really good at it."
"Maybe later this weekend." Dipper said. "Mabel said she wanted us home for lunch for her big surprise, remember?" He sounded both eager and annoyed, as he usually was when Mabel was involved. Dipper loved his sister's excitement and energy, but he got easily overwhelmed by her eccentricities.
"What's the surprise?" Stan asked as they tied off the boat, shoring it. There were a lot of things that Ford thought was weird about Gravity Falls, but the fact that they could trust that their boat wouldn't be stolen or damaged was one of the weirder things. It definitely wasn't Glass Shard Beach.
Dipper shook his head. "I don't know. Mabel got one phone call last night, and she hasn't been able to stop going on about this great surprise since then. With all she's talked about it, she hasn't told me just what it is supposed to be."
"Let's just get home and find out." Ford said. He'd long since learned that there wasn't a point in trying to guess what Mabel did. Her surprises could range anywhere between a spontaneous trip to Europe and finding a weirdly shaped leaf in the woods.
They got into Dipper's car. The drive back home was a short one. They didn't see any obvious big surprise waiting for them on the lawn, so they made their way inside. They could hear a conversation, though it was a little hard to make out the voices. One was definitely Mabel's, and the other was probably male, but that was the extent that Ford was able to get just by listening from the front door.
"Mabel!" Dipper called out. "We're back."
"And sunburned!" Stan said excitedly, as though it was an exciting thing instead of a bad side-effect.
"Very sunburned." Dipper gave Stan, Ford, and Fiddleford an exasperated look. "I'm sure Mabel has some aloe vera or something lying around. She's always prepared for this kind of thing."
"I wouldn't have to be if you actually knew how to take care of yourself." Mabel stepped out from the kitchen, an excited look in her eyes. "You boys will never guess who has come for a visit for the week." If she was a little younger Ford imagined that she would be bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"A guest?" Dipper frowned. "Don't you think you should have talked to me about this first?"
"I knew you wouldn't mind." Mabel brushed him off. "And I didn't really invite him. He more or less invited himself, and I couldn't be more excited."
Dipper's eyes seemed to flash. "I swear, if it's Gideon-"
"Come on, Grunkle Dipper." They finally clearly heard the guest's voice, and it made both Ford and Stan freeze as they recognized it. Ford felt a complicated, hard to define feeling build up in his chest. The closest he could get to identifying the feeling was that it was dread, but he refused to call it that. He had no good reason to dread seeing his older brother.
Shermie leaned against the kitchen frame, smiling broadly. "You have to admit that you're happy to see me."
"Sherman." Dipper smiled. He approached the younger man, his arms wide open to pull him into a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"I was wondering the same thing." Ford frowned. "I thought your next leave wasn't until December."
"Special permission from my supervisor." Shermie said. He was smiling as he hugged Dipper, but there was a weird strained look in his eyes that Ford was used to seeing from him, though he'd never been able to figure out what it meant. "I got a week and a half off, and I thought there was no better way to spend it than by visiting my two favorite baby brothers."
Ford couldn't help but scoff and roll his eyes at that. Fiddleford gave him an odd look, but nobody else noticed.
Stan took half a step back, a weird look on his face. He seemed reluctant to even look at Shermie. "Uh, you know what? This sunburn is really itchy, I think I'll just go get that alien varo or whatever." He started to retreat backwards, but Shermie stepped away from Dipper and pulled him into a hug before he could go anywhere.
"Let someone else get it for you." Shermie said. He held Stan close without aggravating his sunburns. "It's been months since I've even seen you." He wasn't wrong. They hadn't seen or heard from Shermie since before summer, and he'd only been able to be home for a day before he needed to leave. Ford hadn't understood why Shermie would think it was worth it for him to go all the way home when he only had a long weekend off for shore leave. His brother had just told him that he would understand when he was older.
Ford crossed his arms, feeling hopeful and upset. He watched as Shermie hugged Stan and asked him how he was doing. He stood there awkwardly as their older brother told Stan about what he'd been doing for work. Ford waited for Shermie to just look his way, but he didn't. He only had eyes for Stan.
What else was new?
Ford huffed in frustration and rubbed his arm to try to push away the distress he was feeling. "I'll go get the aloe vera." He muttered as he walked off. Nobody said or did anything to stop him, and Ford didn't expect them to. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt though.
When Ford was out of earshot of the others he rubbed his eyes and sniffled. He hated this. This wasn't anything new. He should be used to this. Why should it hurt?
"Ford?" Fiddleford came up behind him. "Are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be." Ford said stiffly, keeping his tone tight and emotionless. He didn't want to admit that he wasn't okay, because there was no good reason why he shouldn't be.
"I don't know." Fiddleford said quietly. "Do you not like your brother?"
"I love Shermie." Ford said without a second thought, because he did. He loved and looked up to his brother. He just felt like he didn't really know him. "And I know he loves me, I just…" Ford hesitated. He'd never talked about this to anybody, not even Stan or Ma, but he knew that Fiddleford would understand in a way that the others might not.
"I just don't think he likes me as much as he likes Stan." Ford admitted quietly. He sat on the floor and wrapped his arms around himself. Fiddleford sat next to him. He didn't say anything. He just waited. Ford took a deep breath.
"It's stupid to be jealous, but I can't stop." Ford said. "Shermie has never really been around very much. Even when we were younger, before he joined the navy, he was never home. He left the day he turned eighteen, and only comes back every once and awhile."
Ford stared at the carpet to avoid looking at Fiddleford. "Before he left, he always asked how our day was when he saw us, but I always felt like he was just asking me to be polite, and he just cared about what Stan had to say. I told myself I was just being jealous and paranoid, but then it got worse."
"How so?" Fiddleford asked, and he seemed genuinely curious. He wasn't telling Ford off for being petty and childish. Fiddleford was nothing but sympathetic, and that gave Ford the courage he needed to continue.
"His first paycheck, he spent it to take Stan out for ice cream." Ford said. "Just the two of them, and they do that kind of thing all the time." Ford wiped his eyes. "Whenever Shermie came home he would take Stan to the arcade, or the movies, or the theme park."
Fiddleford looked aghast. "And it was always just the two of them?"
Ford bit his lip. "I mean, not always. There were times when he'd take us both to the museum, or camping. And he always bought me new school books so I wouldn't have to share the hand-me-down books with Stan." Saying it all out loud, Ford felt like he was whining and being ungrateful. He groaned and buried his face in his knees. "This is so stupid."
Fiddleford nudged his arm. "Doesn't your aunt always tell you guys that your feelings aren't stupid?"
"But they are!" Ford knocked his hands against his head. He didn't normally hit himself like this the way that Stan did, but he had his moments. "I resent my older brother just because he's the one person who actually likes Stan more than he likes me." Ford wasn't blind. He knew that Ma, Mabel, and Dipper liked the two of them equally, but all of their teachers, their Pa, and all of their neighbors liked Ford more and just saw Stan as a troublemaker.
Fiddleford sighed. "Have you tried to talk to your brother about it?"
Ford felt his face go red. "Have you talked to your dad?" As soon as the words left his mouth he knew that he had gone too far. He knew that Fiddleford's relationship with his dad was strained at best. His dad never wanted to talk to him, let alone spend time with him. It wasn't even comparable to Ford's relationship with Shermie.
"I-I'm sorry." Ford said. He gave his hair a slight pull, just because he'd seen Stan do that kind of thing. "I tried talking to Shermie, and he seemed regretful. He apologized, hugged me, and said that he had his reasons, and maybe I'll understand when I'm older."
Fiddleford huffed. "I've heard that before."
Ford let out a deep but stuttered breath as he lifted his head and pulled his hands away from his head. "Do you think I'm just being jealous?"
"Well, yes, but I'd say that isn't really a bad thing." Fiddleford said. "Jealousy just means that you feel like something's unfair. Sometimes things are perfectly fair, and the jealousy needs to be managed, but sometimes things aren't fair at all, and you have every right to be upset about it."
Ford wanted to ask how he could know if his feelings were legitimate, but then they heard frantic feet running down the hall. The footsteps were too light to be any of the grown-ups'. It had to be Stan. Ford pushed himself to his feet and rubbed any stray tears from his eyes just as Stan stumbled into the hall, a panicked expression on his face.
"Ford!" Stan ran up to him. He gripped his arms, making Ford's sunburns hurt. He didn't dare to push his brother away. Not when he seemed so desperate. "Sixer, I need you to do me a big favor. Please, please, please. I'll owe you. I'll pay you. I just-"
"Stan, calm down." Ford steadied his twin. "What do you need?" Stan had always done so much for him, and Ford tried to return the favor whenever he could. Back home, that meant covering for him when he was out past curfew, or letting him copy off his school work.
Stan swallowed thickly and looked over his shoulder, as though he was scared of being overheard or followed. "I need you to distract Shermie."
Ford frowned and Fiddleford furrowed his brow, looking between the two of them. "Why?" Ford had provided a lot of distractions, but never towards their older brother. Stan had never felt the need to hide from Shermie. What was different now?
But Stan looked so desperate, and Ford still felt like he owed his brother. For seven years he'd never noticed that his brother had been abused by their dad. This couldn't make up for that, but it was a start.
"I'll cover for you." Ford swore. "Maybe we can drag him into a game of Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons." He looked at Fiddleford, who didn't look entirely convinced, but Ford wasn't looking for his permission. Stan looked eager enough for all of them.
"Yes! Perfect. That'll take all day." Stan hugged him tightly. "I owe you one." He ran off before Ford could ask where he was going and when he would be back. Stan usually left him more specifics than this. This scheme was far more bare-bones than Stan's spontaneous ideas usually were.
Ford wasn't a fool, he knew that something was wrong. A part of him couldn't help but see this as an opportunity. He'd been upset about Shermie always giving Stan precedence, and now Ford was being given the opportunity to spend time with his older brother. He may be doing this for Stan, but that didn't mean he couldn't do it for himself too.