Twenty-seven more days.

GhostsAreReal101: hey Mabes, I just got out of Dr. Floyd's, going back to the dorm rn

GhostsAreReal101: once I get back, I'mma video call you

waddlezdagreat: big bets! me and waddles are waiting for dr. dippingsauce (aka you!) to hurry his lazy butt up

waddlezdagreat: the new season of Ducktective isn't going to watch itself!! :(

GhostsAreReal101: i'm zooming across campus right now

waddlezdagreat: faster, before my ice cream melts

Even as she put down her phone on her fluffy blankets, Mabel couldn't stop the excitement from spreading through her chest and down into her fingers and toes. For some reason, Dipper usually didn't want to face-time with her while he was on campus, due to something he called "the Mabel interference." Whenever she would ask him for an explanation to what that meant (because why would he namedrop her if it wasn't serious?), he would always mumble something under his breath that she couldn't hear. Whatever it was, it was really, really stupid. Some silly brain waves or a few Cipher-like particles left in his head were messing with her dumb idiot brother and telling some things that weren't true, she guessed.

Something about him being on campus always made her feel uneasy, especially when she would walk by his room and see it empty. All of the times when he would be intensely gaming while leant up in his chair or sitting in bed, reading about supernatural stuff from an ancient tome and updating his new Journal – they would rush back to her, like a water rapid going at a hundred miles per hour, taking the raft she was using to ride her memories and throwing it into the deep end with the other capsized vessels. Mabel asked her mom when Dipper was finally coming home until eventually Mrs. Pines had told her the exact day, which she had marked in her calendar. Mabel wanted to talk to her brother, for Waddles's sake, but sometimes he would be too grumpy dealing with schoolwork and actual work to want to sit down and have a convo. She hated to admit it but it hurt.

I'm a big girl, she told herself. Just because he don't want to talk to me as much, that's okay. It should be okay.

But sometimes it really wasn't. He would be so distant, so closed off, like he wasn't really paying attention to what was going on. She would be lucky again when he fell into a distinct groove of back and forth with her and got out of his own head, and she loved when they could laugh again, no awkward tension, no awkward pauses or restarts. When he let go of all of the pressures the world was placing on his shoulders, to uphold whatever kind of man he was trying to portray himself as to the people of Oregon State University, he was her bro-bro again, her brotato chip, her brotein shake. She would always be there for him no matter what, along with Waddles. They weren't gonna disappear. But when he left home to go to campus… it felt weird to not have him around as much. He would text sometimes, and she would try to make a little joke or two, throw him under the bus a bit, just playing around, but it wouldn't last long, and soon enough, she would be on the other end of the line waiting for hours on end before she got a message back. Dipper tried his best to get back to her in a reasonable time, so maybe she was just overthinking, but she swore something else was going on.

Just don't overthink it, Mabes, she heard Dipper's voice in the back of her head tell her. Everything's okay. We're gonna get through this.

She flopped onto her back as she exhaled through her mouth.

"Hopefully you hurry up, Dip-dop," she said aloud to her room, which did not respond.

Waddles, however, sitting idly in the corner in his makeshift piggy-bed with the blankets covering him, snorted softly in response instead.

Shifting upon her bed, Mabel smiled softly at her little munchkin – the shining apple of her eye! She loved Waddles so so so so much! There were days when Mabel would remember she and Waddles were partners in crime for life and thought, "Ah heck yeah." Thinking about it, Dipper really came in clutch that day at the fair, and every time she tried to say that Waddles was on her side (the other day, Dipper argued that Waddles was not the judge! how dare he?) he was quick to mention that he was the one who helped her get him. She argued just for the sake of banter, saying something like, "Lady Mabelton knows nothing of the vile words which you speak," but at the end of the day, her getting to keep her lovely pet Waddles (da Great!) is another piece of evidence in the pile proving that Dipper is the best-est brother ever.

Her eyes wandered about the room. Stuffed animals and trinkets galore stood proudly upon her different shelves. Disco balls glowed with strobe lights and scattering glistening crystals upon the ceiling. A few plates and spoons and forks were scattered upon her desk, which was also covered in sketchbooks and colored pencils and crayons and oil pastels, all sitting right next to a precariously balanced set of knitting utensils, like a large black ball of yarn she was using for the base of her newest project, that being Waddles's judge sweater. Taking it all into consideration, she really had to clean up. Maybe she should do that before Dipper got on the phone. Of course, Dipper usually got a house tour every time they face-time, with Mabel going around the house and showing him how things have changed in the last couple of months he's been gone. He usually didn't point out any of the flaws of Mabel's room during these tours, but that didn't mean she didn't want to clean up for him.

So she went about the task of cleaning her room, settling everything into a place where she thought it looked nice. After she picked up the plates and silverware and brought them down into the kitchen, she went back upstairs to gather the rest of her belongings. She rearranged some of the items on her windowsill and reorganized the mess that was her vanity and art desk into something more palatable.

While she was putting away a few items, she saw some of the pictures on the shelves of her and Dipper, sitting next to an orange giraffe stuffed animal called Gilbert and a flashlight with a purple crystal on the end near the light part. She caught sight of one where he and her were dressed together for Halloween, wearing the Red Ranger and Pink Ranger respectively.

Mabel wished she could have saw the smile on her own face when Dipper had pulled out the freakin' costumes. He seemed so sheepish and shy and cute when he revealed them, especially when he was being a big baby about not wanting to dress up together earlier that week. Mabel guessed something in his big brain must have worked itself out to make some magic like that happen, but she was so happy that she couldn't stop herself from kissing his cheek. That moment wasn't on camera, and if it was she wouldn't be able to stop the sea of red from flooding her own cheeks, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. She didn't mean to do it. She was just so excited. Dipper really shocked her on that day, and she was so high-energy and jumpy and elated that she just laid one on him, no qualms about it, right there on your cheek, you little rascal, mwah!

They never really talk about it (because what is there to talk about, nothing happened, it was nothing, really, nothing weird is going on between us, nope, nope, nope, definitely not) but she still kept the photo here in her room as a reminder.

A buzz emanated from her bed. A text! She leapt towards her bed, flopping on it and sending her laptop a little to the left as she scrounged up her phone. Finally! They could get their marathon started. Ducktective waits for no man!

GhostsAreReal101: sorry, Mabes, I got caught up with someone I met the other day but I am getting home as fast as I can

Mabel gaped at the message. He still wasn't home yet? But he had said he would make it before five. It was already five-oh-two! Ooh, he is gonna be in so much trouble. She could be patient, though.

waddlezdagreat: i'mma eat all your snacks while you're gone, mister, and you're gonna be so mad

GhostsAreReal101: you thought you could take all of them from me

GhostsAreReal101: but no

waddlezdagreat: you underestimate my powahh

She giggled as she typed. She always felt so devious messing with Dipper, and it came so easy, as if she could trade with him all day if possible. She found a good verbal sparring partner in him, where she would say something absolutely ridiculous and he would respond with a "Actually, that's not how it works" and she would return with "I'm sure that's totally how it works," and right now, he seemed to be in high spirits, answering so quickly, so she thought herself extremely lucky, all things considered.

A thought came to her as she stared at the last message she sent. Time to tease him again.

waddlezdagreat: i'mma start the show without youuu

GhostsAreReal101: You wouldn't dare, my fair lady

waddlezdagreat: are you so suuure noble knight?

GhostsAreReal101: five more minutes, that's all i need

waddlezdagreat: c'mon Charlie Hustle move it

She set her phone down, lying back down on her bed, spread out like a starfish upon her blue fluffy blankets, eyes closed. Dipper wouldn't be long. She wondered who he meant by "someone he met the other day." Surely he must be referring to the day he got attacked by the pancake syrup monster. When they were on the phone between his classes, he said someone knocked into him later that day when she asked about the incident, but he seemed a little … sheepish when he answered the question. Justin arrived shortly thereafter so she couldn't follow up with another question, but she assumed that whoever it was had to be someone who was making him feel things. Romantical things.

Mabel usually didn't like to think about Dipper in that way (because why would she? haha) but sometimes the question came up: would Dipper ever find his one and only? Mabel cringed at the phrasing of it. It felt wrong, that Dipper would find someone else to spend the rest of his life with. Didn't he already have someone who would be there for the rest of his days? Her? But she was his sister. He was her brother. Her broba tea. Her brobarian.

Even if they were forever conjoined, they would still have to branch outside of the house to find their soulmates. Although Mabel had a journey in high school regarding finding her "Soulmate of All Time," it turned out that Dipper was right when he said that most boys were extremely shallow and wanted only one thing. A few of them like Josh and Warren tried to present as upstanding and great guys, but when push came to shove, they proved to be the worst bunch of bumbling buffoons to ever grace the surface of the Earth, let alone be allowed to bask within the greatness of her presence.

Josh, especially. Dipper never liked him to begin with. Always said, "I'm keeping an eye on him." At home, Waddles would sort-of-angrily snort at Josh when Dipper would come into Mabel's room to tell her something, as if trying to get Dipper's attention somehow, and at school during lunch, she swore she caught Dipper looking somberly at the two of their hands intertwined underneath the table. At the time, she never brought it up to him, because surely he would vow that never occurred whatsoever, that she was missing a few things in her story, but she couldn't get over how the look made her feel, even now as she reminisced.

And don't even get Mabel started on Warren. He was a good guy at the beginning. Kind, sympathetic, a little bit of a nerd. Dipper and him were originally friends before they started dating, but after that, things just went sour. Better not to think about it right now.

But when it came to soulmates, Dipper proved to be even worse than Mabel. Candy and Grenda still talk about the dating failures Dipper had gone through to this day, regaling time and time again how many Crazies have tried to come and ruin his life. As much as Mabel tried to like the women that came into Dipper's life and squeezed their way into his heart, she couldn't bring herself to truly embrace them as part of the family. To her, they appeared as parasitic, drawing blood from him as if a vampire sucking on their prey. They were like vultures clawing their way through a prize in the middle of a savage drought. They were like harlots, throwing themselves at him, when they should know that he doesn't like that. So many of them saw the beauty that Dipper exuded, the purity of his soul, the complexity of his heart, but they never knew how to handle such exquisite craftsmanship, always fat-fingering their way through an operation which was supposed to be completed through the exercise of great dextrous skill.

Even Candy tried to tame Dipper when they went back to Gravity Falls two summers ago, much to Mabel's chagrin. Sure, she was worried about her own relationships (or lack thereof) and did not remember much of their interactions together, but one stood out where Dipper and Candy were cuddled together on the busted couch in the middle of the night, Dipper's hands traveling underneath Candy's blouse near – oh my. A sliver of Candy's pale skin was visible through the crack generated by Dipper's explorative hands. Candy's hands hovered dangerously close to his belt-loops, a tugging motion suggested in her listless embrace. It looked like they were gently fighting for a piece of the other, feverish but content.

Mabel had only come downstairs to get a glass of milk and a snack for Waddles when she noticed the scandalous position her best friend and her brother were in. The way Candy pressed her face against Dipper's chest made Mabel's chest curl in a strange way, as if someone were squeezing her heart. Candy's face was etched with a brilliant smile which Mabel could faintly see in the dark of the living room, barely illuminated by the glow of the TV, but it still shone with the light of a magnificent star. She followed Dipper's hand which ventured to a place which Mabel thought he'd never touch, drifting up up up, but – Waddles be damned – here was her brother, groping her best friend, touching her body in ways a years-long lover might, and her best friend was probably enjoying every second of it, having a supernova of a genius in her hands to mold and shape at any moment. Dipper's hands were like roaming devils, hoping to find sustenance, and Candy, the Asian harlequin, giggled and smiled as he took his fill of her.

Despite Mabel insisting that her best friend not date her brother because it was, by definition, "uber weird," Dipper and Candy had gotten much more handsy with each other for the rest of the summer before their eventual breakup. Candy still liked to talk about how great Dipper was in bed, regardless, and it was mostly to Grenda, but Mabel usually stayed out of conversations like that, avoiding them as if they were fatal. Noticing Mabel's displeasure, Grenda liked changing the topic to something other than Dipper for Mabel's sake, and though Candy was disappointed for the time being, saying that she never got to talk about the good stuff, she would, in time, forget all about Pine Tree and get caught talking about a makeup crime video they saw together or a movie that was going to come out in theaters.

Despite their relationship being long gone, Mabel sometimes still thought about that night with them on the couch. She wondered if Dipper thought about that night, too. Did he really like Candy? She was a cool girl, and Mabel was best friends with her for a reason, but she never got an idea of what Dipper liked. What kind of girl did he prefer? And if he had a type, was Candy it? If Candy wasn't it, then what? And if that someone he met was his type, would he be doing the same thing he did with Candy with them? Would his hands travel up their blouse –

A buzz.

Mabel. What. The. Heck. Get your head out of the gutter. Pick it up. There you go. Wipe it off. Put it back on your shoulders. There you go. Refresh. Ducktective.

GhostsAreReal101: you ready mabes?

waddlezdagreat: yep!

Let the show begin.