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They had asked them both one question.
“How was your summer in Gravity Falls, kids?” Their mother asked. “I forgot to ask when you came back, but it's been a few months. How was it with Stanford?”
Mabel and Dipper looked at eachother, face twisting in a way of “what do we tell them?” A few beats of awkward silence of just looking at each other, their mother spoke again. “Kids?”
Dipper's head quickly turned back to the table. “It was good! Great- even-” he stumbled. Their mother raised her eyebrow at them “What did you do”
Dipper began again, thinking on his feet “We- uh-”
“We went on long walks in the forest, you know how Oregon has great forests and wildlife! As well as helped Grunkle Stan at the shack! You know, nothing out of the ordinary. We learned a lot though!” Mabel cut in, giving Dipper a sheepish grin, and Dipper nodded along with her.
“Oh that's wonderful!” Their mother said, content with the response. Just then their father spoke up, “Kids, are you lying to your mother and I?”
Dipper's heart started racing. He wasn’t good under pressure, and was worried to find out how he’d act if he found out. Yeah, we lied because we nearly died more than a dozen times. And yeah, we lied because our great uncle isn’t actually Stanford but your dead uncle. And sure, we lied because we experienced the end of the world and we know if we told our parents they'd make sure we never went back.
“I- we- no- no we aren’t-” he stumbled, fiddling with his hands under the table. He was horrible at this.
“Mason Pines!” His father yelled, causing him and his sister to flinch. “How dare you lie to me. When I ask you a question I expect you to answer it! Stop joking around and tell me the truth.” Dipper flinched at his outburst, fidgeting faster with the end of his shirt. Just then, Mabel stood up from her chair. The screeching of the chair against the wooden flooring alarming their mother, who turned her attention from her angry husband onto her. She had the floor now.
“Don’t you speak to him like that!” She yelled back. Dipper looked up at her, scared. She was in for it now. “Mabel, stop, please” he whispered, pleading for her to sit back down. He reached out for her hand, which was visibly shaking. She was doing this for him.
“Excuse me?” he challenged. “I am your father, and you do not tell me what to do! As long as you live under my roof you will obey my rules!” He yelled.
“Well maybe we would feel more comfortable talking to you if you stopped berating Dipper all the time! It's insufferable!”
That was it. She’d set him off the charts. Mabels chest heaved from anxiety, anticipating what he was going to say, or do with her next. She bit her lip to avoid showing that although she stood up to her father, she was terrified. But before anything could happen, their mother was quick to step in, but man was she angry.
“Mabel Pines you do not speak to your father like that! Go to your room and don’t come out until you have something to say to him!” She yelled, and Mabel obeyed. Quickly walking, to not get scolded for running, she went to her room, head down. You could tell she was going to cry for a long time when she was by herself.
Carefully closing the door, to not get in trouble for “slamming it”, she sunk against the wall next to her door. Pulling her sweater over her face, she resorted to going into “sweater town”, where she tried her best to not be loud as she let all of the pent up frustration from the past few minutes out. This was ridiculous, they always argued over something ridiculous.
A few beats passed, before she heard a knock on her door. “Mabel?” It was Dipper. She stayed silent, no response. She had a lump in her throat, and couldn’t bring herself to reply in the shaky voice she had at this moment. “Mabes it’s Dipper.” He spoke again, and was met with no reply once again.
“Okay, I’m coming in.” He said, before quietly opening the door, being very careful when he shut it to not alarm her. He locked it, knowing that it could get them in trouble. Their father had a strict “No locking doors” policy in the house.
He had seen this scene all too well before. Her shoulders shook, and her head was tucked into her arms. She was quietly sobbing, and her breaths were quick and spontaneous. She looked so small. He crouched down next to her, getting into a sitting position against the wall. He looked at her, guilt fluttering in his stomach, and a frown pasted on his face.”I'm sorry” he said, his voice quiet. He was met with no response again, but could tell she heard him.
“It’s my fault you got all riled up. I am just so terrible under pressure, I break and-” he was cut off by a forceful embrace. It was Mabel, giving him a hug. “Stop. don't apologize. I brought this on myself-” she choked out, sniffling. “You don't deserve to be yelled at like that for no reason.” She said, Dipper put his head on her shoulder, and rubbed her back as she sobbed.
—
They didn’t realize it, but the twins dozed off. They only realized it when they were abruptly awoken by their fathers voice, alarming through the house. “MABEL PINES. GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW”
She and Dipper woke up, and Mabel looked at the door, then at Dipper. “Okay! Be there in a minute!” She yelled. A look of fear washed over her face, and Dipper tried to not replicate the same emotion. But he knew that whatever she was going in there for, it wasn’t good. She got up quickly, and walked out into the kitchen. Dipper stood by the door, and without being seen watched the whole thing unravel.
She tried to smile. She didn’t want to show fear, or that she was scared, that would only lead to worse things. When she entered the kitchen, her father stood there with their mother sitting down at the table, both looking at her. She took a deep breath before asking, “What's wrong?”
“What's wrong? What's wrong?!” He started. “I don;t know, Mabel, you tell me what you think is wrong.”
She paled. What she thought was wrong? Well she had no idea. And she was about to find out. Was it wrong to not want to know? “I- I’m not too sure.” she stammered.
Just then, he picked up a book off of the chair behind him. Not just any book, her summer scrapbook. And judging by his expression, he definitely looked through it and was furious.
“Anomalies? Demons? Possession? Stanley is ALIVE? No wonder your brother looked so scared. You and your brother lied to me about your entire summer. And I do not, under any circumstance, want you to even say a word to either of your great uncles, or anyone in Gravity Falls ever again. You understand?” He yelled. Mabel didn’t reply. She just looked at him, then her mother, then him again.
He slammed the book on the table. “Do you understand?” he challenged again. Mabel just broke. “No! I won’t!” She yelled back, her voice breaking. Her dad stared at her, anger radiating from his expression. After a few beats, he let out a quiet “Excuse me?”
“I won’t listen to you! I didn’t tell you because I knew you would act exactly like this! You’re crazy and wont admit that you hate when things don't go your way! You’re-’ just then she was cut off by a loud slap across her face, which made her stumble and fall to the floor. She held her hand up to her face where her fathers hand had just left an imprint, it was hot. It felt like it would bruise. She looked up at him, stunned.
“Go to your room." he said, but Mabel had this look on her face, where she was totally zoned out, but not in a good way. Ringing flooded her ears as she just stared. She had a look on her face like there were cogs turning at a million miles per hour, while also there being nothing.
Suddenly, there was a tight grip around her wrist, forcing her off the ground, with a yelp escaping her throat. The hand was burning into her skin, and she started to panic. “Mabel Pines, when I tell you to go to your room you fucking obey, got it?” her father said, and she just looked at him, watching him drag her to her room as she stumbled over her own feet, almost falling on her face a few times.
She started to try to yank her wrist from his grip, only for him to hold it tighter. “Let me go! Let me go!” She began to shout, and her father just stared forward, stone faced. He quickly opened her and Dipper's bedroom door, and threw her in by the wrist. She hit the floor with a thud, sitting on her hands and knees. The door slammed shut, and she was quick to sit up. “Mabel?”
She didn’t respond. Her eyes were glued on the floor, and she tried to start counting. She was fumbling over numbers and constantly restarting and her mind kept drifting. “Mabel? Mabel!” She heard someone say, but her mind fogged and her ears felt like there was tv static in them. She put her hands over her ears, not moving. She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, and then a small squeeze. She removed her eyes from the floor to find Dipper in front of her, looking at her with panic on his face. “Mabel, please, breathe!” He pleaded. She gave him a nod before trying to take a deep breath, coughing when she felt herself unable too.
Just then Dipper pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back as she caught her breath. Just then he felt Mabel go limp, a sign that she crashed from the adrenaline rush. He gently pulled her away from him, grabbing a pillow and laying her on the ground, her head slightly propped up.
He took a moment to just stare at her. The bright red mark on her cheek, and on her wrist. He put his hands over his mouth to prevent him from letting out a choked sob. He knew what he needed to do.
—--
He picked up his cellphone, courtesy of his mother, for his 13th birthday. It was new, and he had made sure he wrote down the shack's phone number, as well as Grunkle Stan’s personal phone number. Ford still doesn't quite get the concept of cellphones.
It was around 7pm-ish, therefore it was just after closing, and at the very least Soos would still be around. He planned on calling the shack first, just in case Stan and Ford were busy on a trip.
He unlocked his phone, and scrolled through his contacts until he reached “Shack”, and pressed call.
One ring
Two rings
Three rings
.
.
.
.
.
.
“Mystery Shack, This is Melody” a voice said, and Dipper felt a spark of relief.
“Melody, hi” He whispered, careful not to alarm Mabel, or worse, his parents. “Can I speak to Soos? It's urgent.” he said. His voice was low and shaken. He heard talking and shuffling, then another voice spoke up. “Hey dood, is everything alright?”
He wasn’t sure how to answer. He took a deep breath, “No. No it's not”. Soon he found himself pouring out everything that happened tonight, sometimes forgetting to take breaths in between. Once he finished, he sighed. “I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to put that all on you.-”
“Dood, don’t apologize.” Soos interrupted. “I am on my way. You and the other little dood pack your bags. I’ll call Mr. Pines on the way there.” He said. Dipper smiled from relief, and could practically feel himself melt. “Okay, See you soon.” Dipper said before hanging up.
He pocketed his cellphone, and walked over to where Mabel was. He shook her shoulder. “Mabel? Mabel you need to wake up” He said. She blinked awake, rubbing the drowsiness from her eyes. ‘Dip-dop? What's wrong?”
He kept his voice as low as possible. “Pack your bags, Soos is coming to get us.” He said. Mabel looked stunned, scared almost. “How will our parents react?” she immediately said.”I don't even care. I say we just run out the door, yeah?” he said, followed with a light chuckle. Mabel followed, a light giggle. “Okay”
They spent the past few hours packing their bags, and then the waiting came. They waited, and waited, and waited. But soon enough, they heard the noise of a car- no, a truck, pulling into the driveway. Then a knock on the door followed, and the kids snuck out of their bedroom with their bags. “I’ll get it!” Their mother said. The twins shared a glance, both scared and both their hearts were racing.
“Hello.. Sir. How can we help you?” She said.
“Hi! I’m here for the little doods.” He said, and their mother took a step forward. “Excuse me? Our kids? Who even are you?” She challenged.
“Oh well I’m Soos, I own the Mystery shack, and I’m here to take the kids back to Oregon! Well, because clearly you don’t appreciate them.” He said, his eyes lowering at her. Their mother looked furious. “Ill be right back!” she said, before going down the hall to go get Dipper and Mabel. To her surprise, they were already there, bags in hand.
“What the hell do you guys think you’re doing?” She said. Dipper was in front of Mabel, almost shielding her. “We’re leaving.” He said.
“And what makes you think that?” She whispered, aggression spitting from her voice. “Because you just sat there while dad hit Mabel, and you did nothing about it. You never try to even understand how we are feeling, or even comfort either of us. We are leaving and thats final.” He said, quickly walking out the door. Before Mabel left, their mother quickly grabbed her wrist, and she winced.
“Mabel- sweetie- you wouldn’t leave your mother, would you? How do you think I would feel?” She begged, and Mabel looked at her, then at Dipper, then back at her with sad eyes. “I- I dont know- Im sorry-” She stammered, before Dipper took her hand and lightly pulled her out the door, then slammed it behind him. Quickly rushing to Soos’ truck, with him following behind. They threw their bags into the trunk, and then climbed into the back seat. They left the Pines’ residence.
The ride home was silent, other than the radio, with the kids looking out the window, and eventually falling asleep on each other.
—-
When the kids arrived back at the shack, Soos wasn’t sure where to let them sleep just for the night, so he led them into Stan’s bedroom. He tucked the two teenagers into bed, and quietly shut the door.
Melody met Soos in the living room of the shack, and was sat at the table. He looked at her, with a frown on his face. “They look so tired. I let them sleep in Mr. Pines room for the night, because obviously the beds upstairs aren't made.” He said, sitting across from her. “And are they coming back?” she asked.
“Oh definitely. When Stan told Ford he insisted that they pause their project to come home immediately. They'll be here sometime tomorrow morning.” Soos said. “Maybe we should stay here for the night?” Melody asked, worried for the kids. What is something happened and they were alone? To her satisfaction, Soos nodded. “We can sleep in my break room on the couch, it pulls out into a bed.” He noted, and Melody nodded. “Ill get the blankets.”
While Melody was grabbing the blankets, Soos stopped in to check on the twins again. They were both asleep on either side of the bed, under the covers. They looked so small despite being teenagers. He took a mental note of the redish-purple mark on mabels cheek, and saw a similar color on her wrist, which was peeking out of the blanket. He frowned, and would make a note to grab some ice for it tomorrow.
He returned to his break room, and shortly after him and melody dozed off, listening to the ambience of the AC in the room.
—--
Soos was woken up by Melody tapping his shoulder. “Stan and Ford just pulled into the driveway, you might want to get up.” She said. He looked over at the clock on the wall. “5:27” It read. Man it was early.
They both made their way towards the door, and greeted them at the door, groggily. “Where are the kids!” He said, pushing past the both of them. “Shh” Melody shushed, “Theyre asleep in your room. Be quiet, please. They had a long night.” She said. Stan still ran off to go to his room to see them, and Ford stopped in the doorway to speak to them.
“Thank you,” Ford started. “I know you guys must be tired from driving to pick them up last night. I just want to thank you for getting them here safely. I can’t imagine how furious their parents might be, and how the court case is going to go..” He muttered. “Sorry, I’m rambling, point is I just want to thank you for being there when we couldn’t.” Soos smiled. “Anytime, it’s my mission to make sure the little doods are safe!”
They all walked into the house, and over to where Stan’s bedroom is. There he was, standing over where the kids were soundly sleeping. Stan had this sad look on his face, staring at Mabel. He lifted his head up towards the door, and walked towards it.
He stopped infront of Soos, “Can we talk? In the living room?” he whispered, and Soos nodded. “Ford, do you want to stay here to watch them?” Stan asked, and Ford nodded. He leaned against the doorframe as Stan, Soos, and Melody walked into the living room.
Entering the bedroom, he stepped quietly closer to the bed, eyes scanning Mabel to see what had caught Stanley’s attention. And there it was. Her cheek was a shade of redish-purple, same with her wrist. He examined the injury from a distance, and vowed to take care of it when she woke up. Her hair was in a ponytail that was half falling out, with some strands loose. She looked exhausted.
His eyes then drifted over to Dipper. His hair was messy and unkept, and he was still wearing a couple bracelets from the day prior. One of his legs were stuck out from under the blankets, which had his sock half on. How did he even manage to do that?
Ford walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down carefully. Just to think. It reminded him of his and Stan’s childhood, how his Pa always favored him over Stanley, mainly because he felt he actually had a future. But, another reason was that he was always getting in trouble.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, before he felt movement on the bed. He turned his head to find Dipper, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Grunkle Ford?”
“Dipper!” He whispered, before sitting up and coming around to hug him. “Im so proud of you for getting you and your sister out of there.” He said, which caused Dipper to squeeze harder. “Thank you.” he whispered back, his voice breaking ever so slightly. “Wheres Grunkle Stan?” He asked.
“Talking out in the living room. Dont worry about them” He said, and Dipper nodded. “Why don’t when your sister wakes up, We treat you both to greasy’s diner?” He said, and Dipper smiled. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.”
—--
“What happened last night? Before and after you called.” Stan asked. Soos took a breath and explained everything. How Dipper had called him with fear in his voice, and how he explained what their dad did, and how Mabel stood up for him, which ended up getting herself hurt in the end. How Dipper blamed himself, and how Mabel was angry at herself for not handling it better.
He then started talking about the after. How he talked to their mother, how she tried to plead Mabel into staying, and how Dipper had to practically drag her out of their mothers manipulation. But, on a better note, the drive home was calm.
Stan sat, to take it all in. It took about 20 minutes to thuroughly explain everything, and every minute his heart sank deeper and deeper into his chest. He didn’t know how his brother could possibly raise someone so terrible, and how anyone let this man be a father.
“I know its a lot to take in-”
“I want to have a long discussion with their father.” Stan said standing up, and the conversation was left alone. He made his way towards the bedroom, where not only was Dipper awake, But so was Mabel. Her and Ford were hugging and quietly talking before they both turned towards the door after hearing creaky footsteps coming down the hall.
“Mabel! Dipper!” Stan shouted, before running into the room. The twins jumped up from their bed, running over to embrace Stan in a hug. “I’m so glad you guys are okay” He said, tears of relief and happiness flickering in his eyes. The kids replicated the same emotion. “I promised them greasys when they woke up. I think its only fair that we treat them to some. Well, after we put ice on Mabel’s wrist and cheek.” Ford spoke up, interrupting the silence. Stan nodded, a smile across his face.
“So, who wants pancakes?” Stan asked.