Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mabel was playing with Waddles in the attic room on the floor. This was the twins second summer in Gravity Falls after the battle, and after a long stroll in the woods, they went straight up to relax.

"You know it's Ironic right?" Mabel remarked with a side look at her twin.

"What?" Dipper looked up from the new journal.

"You hate secrets. Go after every mystery and uncover every single secret you can find. Yet you hold one of the biggest in this town." Slowly, Mabel put down her pig and looked Dipper in the eyes.

Dipper closed the journal with the pine tree on it and sat there in silence. Mabel's words were uncharacteristic for her usually cheerful behavior. Even Waddles was silent and just sit there next to Mabel. But that summer they almost died, the world almost went bombastic and happenings like that tend to change a person. After they went home everything was surreal for them. Their parents were confused about the sudden maturity of their children.

"Kids dinner is ready!" Came the shout from Grunkle Stan, that ended the silence.

"You know this is not over." Mabel said as she stood up from the ground. There was not a hint of a smile on her face, and that terrified Dipper.

"You are right, but not tonight." Mabel just nodded at Dipper's words, and with a huge smile bolted out from their room.

She knew Dipper is afraid and in need of help to reveal this secret, so she let her twin think. This was a huge step and huge steps need time to take. She also knew the reason why her twin hesitated. In Piedmont, this secret was not a secret and everyone they knew outside the family kept a distance from Dipper. They were in the 21st century and still a thing like this, put a stigma on her twin. But she knew this secret slowly driving her twin crazy so it is time to act.

Mabel sat down at the table, and with little bobs in her chair waited for dinner. Gruncle Ford sat across the table with a newspaper in his hands reading it. He smiled at Mabel and returned to the article he was reading. Secretly he was thinking and calculating what to say when to say. In the other dimensions and universes where he was for 30 years, seen so many things and still he can't find a good way to approach the secret he recently discovered.

Stan took the pumpkin out of the oven and put it on the table, and sat down. When Mabel reached to take a good chunk of it to her plate, they heard Dipper coming down. Slower than usual, and deep in thoughts.

Dipper knew the time to reveal this secret is close. Puberty hit Mabel hard and she was growing in the right places for a girl, but Dipper seemingly not changed at all beyond height. Dipper knew Ford knew something but still stayed silent about it. Stan was a completely other case. He behaved like every other summer so far and gave tasks that meant to tough up Dipper. In Dippers opinion, Ford was a ticking bomb and needed to defuse as fast as possible. Dipper needed to plan the next step, but not at the dinner table.

Mabel's cheerful behavior was contagious and everyone around the table smiled because of it. She shoved pumpkin in her mouth like her life depended on it, and made funny faces on her plate with it. Ford slowly ate, and write notes in his journal, while Dipper explained the new things they found in the forest that day with Mabel. Stan was helping Mabel make silly faces on her table and laughed with her.

"Hey, s-bro-bro!" Mabel exclaimed, and caught herself at the last moment. Dipper's eyes flew up to her in surprise, then morphed into a subtle glare.

"Wendy and Candy coming for movie night, and maybe Pacifica is coming too." The Gruncles stared at her in surprise. They didn't know she orchestrated a movie night, then shrugged their shoulders. Mabel was like this. Doing what she thinks a good idea, and then out of the blue announce it. Dipper had mixed feelings about it. Liked most of her ideas and had fun because of them, but sometimes liked to left alone. Tonight, was one of those occasions.

They went up to their room after preparing the living room for the movie night. Dipper plopped down on the bed in the right corner of the room and let loose a tired sigh, then laid back. Mabel looked at her twin with concern and sit next to Dipper.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" Dipper looked at her then back to the ceiling and said nothing. After a minute Mabel had enough.

"I tried it too and after a few hours I was so sore I wanted to scream! And you wear it all day!"

"You not helping with this movie night." Said Dipper and immediately regretted it, at Mabel's hurt expression. "I'm going to the hot spring before it so I'm not going to be that sore." This not helped and Mabel stayed concerned.

"If you tell them then you could get rid of it." Her voice was so small Dipper almost didn't hear her.

"And then they going to reject me, like the others in Piedmont. No thanks! This way I can get crushes like everybody and no one is going to look at me strangely." Dipper explained to her and after that got up and picked up a towel from their bathroom.

"At least take it off while you are in your vest. That way nobody going to notice and you can get some relief!" Exclaimed Mabel with her hands thrown up in the air. "I know why you are doing this but it's not healthy, and I can't stand the thought that you are suffering!" Mabel had tears in her eyes and her voice was trembling slightly. Seeing that Dipper hugged her, and they stayed quiet for a few moments.

"Sorry sis, and thank you. I didn't know you were going through this much trouble." Said Dipper while unzipping the blue vest. After that taking off the red t-shirt revealing ace-wraps.

"They are not going to reject you. We all were there and nobody going to let anybody behind. After what happened that summer, nothing going to stand between us!" Said Mabel with determination on her face. And just as Dipper took off the ace wraps the door burst open Wendy standing there.

"You know she is … right ..." Wendy started to point out as she kicked in the door, but trailed off in the end, because what she saw.

"Shiiit!" Dipper exclaimed in a high-pitched voice and covered herself.

Chapter Text

After Wendy arrived at the Shack and let herself in, she saw the living room was already prepared for the movie night, with sleeping places for herself Candy and Pacifica. Gruncle Stan greeted her with a grunt, from the kitchen before he walked out.

“You are early. Ford is in the lab, so I don’t think he is going to join us.” He said with a bowl of freshly made popcorn in his hands while leaving the kitchen.

“Where’s Mabel and Dipper?” Asked Wendy, because the Shack was uncharacteristically quiet. Stan just pointed up with a shrug, but the concern was evident on his face. Wendy just nodded and slowly walked to the stairs secretly concerned under the cool demeanour. Last summer was a collective PTSD management for the gang, but the twins got the bigger toll. She was still concerned for them, and probably would for the rest of her life. As she approached the door she heard snippets of the twin’s conversation.

Are they fighting? - Came the first taught. The Pines twins almost never argued seriously, and if they argued that way, then that was a bad omen. After the last few weeks, she was extra careful around the twins, because they acted weirder than usual. Dipper was seemed constantly hurt in the chest, and when she asked what’s wrong, Dipper just shrugged it off and said “Puberty”. Mabel was constantly fluctuating between concerned and cheerful, and when Dipper wasn’t around always deep in thoughts. One day she was so deep in her thoughts, she walked straight into a bench at the mall. After the first moments of shock she cheerfully exclaimed herself silly and after that, she was back to her normal self, but everybody in the gang knew that was an act. After a long night without the twins, they decided to not intervene until the movie night, but after that, they will if they act strangely during it.

As Wendy listened in their conversation, a lot of things that she heard didn’t make sense to her at the all, but she knew the twins acted weird because of the topic of the argument. Dipper wanted to keep something hidden from the others, but in Wendy’s opinion, there was nothing that can change the friendship between them. When Mabel exclaimed that after what happened there is nothing going to stand between their friends and him, Wendy thought that is a good time to make a point, secret or not.

As she kicked in the door and started her monologue she trailed off because what she saw didn’t make any. Damn. Sense. They stand there like deer in the headlights, eyes big as plates, mouth agape. In the next moment, Dipper bolted out of the room with a shirt in her hands, covering herself with it. A loud crash was heard as the front door closed so hard, the window in it shattered.

“What the hell!?” Wendy shouted and immediately regretted it, seeing Mabel’s hurt expression.

“That’s not helping! Dipper come back!” She shouted as she bolted from the room.

Dippers trucker hat on the porch, Mabel shouting in front of the shack, Stan standing in the window with a bemused expression, Ford in the secret door behind the wending machine, concern on his face. Wendy just stared from the bottom of the stairs and her world slowly fell apart, as nothing made sense to her.

“Dipper come back! Please!” Mabel shouted. With a frantic expression, she looked back at Wendy in the light of the sunset. A cool wind swirled the trees, and in that moment Wendy felt a shiver run through her spine. After a few moments, Mabel looked back at the woods, then with a determined expression, she bolted in the Shack. In the attic, she picked up her trusty grappling hook, and a battered baseball bat.

“We need to find her before the night creatures come out, and you are going to help me!” Mabel exclaimed to her as she walked past her, picking up Wendy’s axe at the door. Mabel was the alpha twin for a reason, and now was the time it truly showed. In the sunset, she looked like a warrior marching towards the battle. Maybe her sweater was a bit colourful for a warrior, but that didn’t change the aura that she emitted.

That summer changed the twins more than Wendy thought, more than anyone thought. Now she saw it in Mabel, and that change terrified her. Terrified even the Grunkles. They saw bits of it here and there, but now it was on full display in the case of Mabel. On the porch, Mabel picked up Dippers hat and put it on herself. As Wendy came out of her stupor and walked after her, Mabel handed her the axe and they vanished in the woods.

“Well, that let the cat out of the bag.” Sighed Stan as he watched the girls walk in the woods. Then jumped back in shock, as Mabel glanced back at him with a serious expression.

“Yeesh! How good is her hearing!?” He exclaimed in shock then, while scratching the back of his head he turned to Ford. At Ford's incredulous expression, Stan threw his hands up in the air.

“Maybe I’m not as smart as you but I’m not stupid!” He exclaimed to his brother as he walked closer.

“You knew that Dipper was a … girl? Why did h … she pretended to be a boy?” Asked Ford in utter confusion. As Stan walked in the kitchen he glanced towards the front door, then back at his twin.

“Sit down. We are waiting for them here.” He said as he started to make coffee.

“Shouldn’t we go after them?” Asked Ford with concern in his voice as he sat down.

“You saw the scratches and bruises too right? They train almost every day in the woods.” With a side glance at his brother, Stan poured coffee to him and for himself. As he sat down with a groan he seemed to be a little distant to Ford. At that moment Ford realized Stan was kept something in his mind from him, but now it is going to come out.

“I had seen lots of shit while I was on the road, and after you fell in the portal, even more. I’m not just needed to teach myself quantum physics to activate it, but needed parts. And you know those are illegal.” As Stan talked Ford seen something in his eyes. Secrets. Regretful secrets that he is going to take to the grave with himself.

“I had seen lives fell apart and lots of broken peoples. Your niece Dipper, when she came here she was broken inside. At first, I didn’t understand why she acted like a boy, but when I saw her crush over Wendy, I started to understand.” He paused to take a sip from his coffee. As he put down his mug with a little bit more force than necessary he let out a heavy sigh. Ford waited for him to continue, with an understanding expression.

“We are in the 21st century, … but still …” The mug cracked in Stanley’s hands, but he was unfazed about it. Just stood up and discarded the pieces in the trash and wiped the table in silence. This side of his twin was new to Ford. Stan was deeply emotional at the moment, and he showed it to someone. It was a rare event, even if he was his twin. As Stan stood next to the kitchen counter looking out of the window deep in the woods he spoke again.

“After I had seen how broken they were, how she starved for human interaction. How her sister acted always cheerful because she feared she lose her twin, they reminded me to us. People in Piedmont acted like she was a freak, as I heard their late-night conversations.” The girls forget that the Shack mostly made out of pine wood, and the walls were not too thick so Stan could hear every conversation at the attic if he strained his hearing enough. This gave Stan enough insight why Dipper was so desperate to act like a boy, and the thought infuriated him.

“She seemed content with her act, and she got the interactions she craved for. I didn’t want to disturb her already fragile soul so I rolled with it.” Finished Stan while he sat down in front of his twin. Fords expression spoke volumes. He knew first-hand how mean peoples can be. As they sat there in silence, minutes passed without notice and the sun slowly descended under the horizon.

Chapter Text

No no no NO! - Screamed Dipper in her head as she bolted from the room. She didn’t know when she put on that t-shirt, which she used to cover herself. She didn’t see Grunkle Stan’s perplexed look as she ran, and the wending machine’s creak didn’t reach her ears. At the front door, she stumbled in her panic induced flee and slammed the door behind herself, while losing her trucker hat. She didn’t hear the crashing glass behind her, nor the shouts from Mabel as she ran in the woods. Her mind threw all reasons out of the window and panicked, as Wendy saw her.

Wendy saw her without her ace-wrap and her secret was blasted. They are going to push her away, they are going to see what a freak she is. Her life here in Gravity Falls was going to fall apart, end she will never be able to return. She was terrified this day would come someday and when it did it hit her like a truck.

Why!? Why is this happening to me!? - Dipper asked herself while tears started streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t know where she is running, but she was in the middle of a panicking state. She needed space to think, she wanted to be alone, she wanted to vanish from the face of the earth. She wanted to change everything back to how it was before. She never wanted to be a freak, she just wanted friends, maybe she had Mabel on her side, but her twin wasn’t enough. All her classmates rejected her friendliness until she couldn’t find the strength to be friendly anymore. Her twin had troubles because of her, she was an outcast because of her. She couldn’t find any happiness in her own existence. She was lonely and scared in the darkness that the normalcy of other people cast on to her.

In her run, she bumped into a tree, and after the close encounter with a tree in a high-speed run, she was even more disoriented than before. She didn’t see what was coming. She stumbled in a crooked root and with a shriek she fell down the side of a hill she was unfamiliar with. She rolled down on rocks and roots, instinctively guarding her head, but when she hit the back of her head on a trunk everything went black.

Mabel stopped after they entered the woods, where Dipper entered moments ago. She looked around herself, looking for traces where Dipper went but didn’t find any. After a few moments, she looked at Wendy who just stood there looking at her, with a confused stare. She knew the redhead needed time to process what happened, so she just started to walk where she thought her twin went. Wendy followed her but didn’t made any noise besides the shuffling of her boots, and the cracking of the undergrowth.

“She’s in panic, but still barely left any trace.” Remarked Mabel as she looked around while walking. The twins trained in the woods because after that summer they wanted to be able to protect themselves and everybody else. They started to practice survival tactics and close quarter combat moves together without the involvement of the others because Dipper feared they would stop them or worse find out her secret.

Wendy was even more confused, because of that remark. Why did she sound as she was a little proud of it? Why didn't she made any outstanding noise as she walked while her own presence was so obvious? Was this girl Mabel at all?

Of course, she is Mabel! – Wendy screamed to herself in her head. She is Mabel, that’s a fact, and nothing would change that. She acted different than that summer, but not so different from last summer. She saw bits of the change here and there, but not the whole picture until now. But deep-down Mabel was still that cheerful, hyperactive girl. People change over time, yet the core of them remains the same.

“What’s going on?” Asked Wendy breaking the silence as they walked deeper into the woods.

“Dipper is my twin sister, not my brother.” Stated Mabel not even looking at Wendy. But that's not helped at all.

“How? When?” Asked Wendy in confusion following Mabel a little closer. Mabel stopped and looked around herself after a few moments saw a light footprint and started to walk in that direction. She was deep in her thoughts, while she walked deeper into the woods. After a deep sigh, she started talking with sorrow in her voice.

“We were born as twin sisters, but we couldn’t be more different. She was always nerdy, read a lot, wrote a lot, and became a gamer, a thinker. I’m living more to the moment, and yeah I’m hyperactive sometimes, I know.” She stopped again crouching down and picking up a wet leaf. She became distressed at her sister’s mental state, as she saw the tears, but this was another trace, one she can follow.

“One day at school we talked about boys with our friends, but she wasn’t interested. After a little prodding, she started to talk about girls she liked. That didn’t end well and our friends started drifting away from her after that. And the tip of the cake is our parents are lawyers and they didn’t spend too much time with us, so we were basically always alone, until that summer.” Some tears were in the corners of her eyes, as she recalled the hurtful memories. Wendy felt the weight of her words as she talked, and didn't interrupted her. This was plaguing the twins a while, she knew, deep down.

“They started calling her names and mocking her because a girl was supposed to like boys, not girls.” Mabel was livid at those thoughts and emitted a strong ice-cold aura as she talked. Wendy was utterly terrified and knew if she wanted she would easily conquer anything for her sister.

“Who cares if she likes girls? So what!? She isn’t even that controversial than a trans for cake's sake! She likes being a girl. Even if she were trans who they are to mock her? She had crushes before you, you know? Every crush of hers freaked out when they found out, and she lost every friend of hers because of the rumours.” Mabel was mad, furious, wrathful. She clenched her baseball bat so hard her knuckles turned white, while tears fell from her eyes. She needed to wind down the accumulated stress and Wendy was a good listener. She just followed her in silence, as she was certain in that Mabel could find Dipper alone and didn’t need her help at all. Even if the night creatures come out they would be fine, because there’s no creature in the world dumb enough to attack Mabel at the moment. She was there to listen and give a shoulder if they needed it.

“She was so desperate when we first came to Gravity Falls that she dressed and acted like a boy. She convinced everybody, even the Manotaurs and hoped nobody was going to find out. And after what happened that summer she was too afraid to risk losing you guys, so she kept up the act, and started wearing ace-wraps.” She abruptly stopped as she looked around. Wendy looked around too, and shortly she realised they lost track of Dipper. Mabel clenched her baseball bat even more as she started to become afraid. She couldn’t find any trace of her twin, and the sun was close to the horizon so it was harder to see in the dark of the forest.

As Wendy looked for traces, slowly everything started to make sense in her mind. The cracking of Dipper’s voice when he… she was in stress. - I need to get used to this. - As Dipper ran off she had seen that her hair was longer than she thought so that would explain the sweatiness if that was always stuffed in her hat, and she always wore that blue west, even on the hottest day. She didn’t know how she convinced the Manotaurs but they weren’t the smartest creatures in the world, and Dipper was too young at the time to have any girly features. - But now? She definitely has good features. - Thought Wendy with a little embarrassment on her face as she looked down at herself and realized that Dippers bust was at least twice as large as hers. Then this summer she realized puberty wasn’t hitting Dipper so hard like other boys, but now she knew why.

As Dipper slowly came to her senses she felt wetness at the back of her head. Everything was hazy around her, as she just laid there and looked around herself. She saw that the sun was just about to fall under the horizon if she guessed right from the deep red light. She was surprisingly calm, after the run and the crash landing at the bottom of a hill, with a possible concussion. She tried to sit up, and immediately regretted it. Every part of her body was sore from the fall, and she knew now she definitely had a concussion. She gingerly touched the back of her head and she saw blood on her hand. Fortunately, it was a light red. She was covered in scratches and bruises, and those are going to burn like mad in the shower. As she started to accumulate enough strength to stand up, her head cleared enough from the panic to think through things.

She knew now that to running off was stupid, but she couldn’t help it. Wendy found out her secret and she feared that day from the start of the whole act. But she was desperate and wanted to have friends like every person. In Piedmont, she was a freak and the other kids remained distant to her. Even her sister was sometimes an outcast because of her. And now everything they built up here was in danger, but she can’t change. She is a girl who loves girls and she wanted to remain that way. But she was afraid of rejection even after what they went through together.

She was finally able to stand up, leaning on a trunk with wobbly legs and shaking hands. Nothing was broken as she mentally examined her body, just bruises, and a head wound that bled like it was mandatory. She looked around herself again, and now she roughly knew where she was. She took a step gingerly, but her legs gave out under her weight and she landed in the dirt face first. After a little struggle she was on her back again. She just looked up at the sky between the pine trees and let loose a deep sigh.

She was in trouble and she caused it to herself. They trained so much, but she wasn’t ready for a situation like this. Her head throbbed like a jackhammer, her ankles were useless, and they hurt like a stab with a hot knife. She started to drift back into unconsciousness as she watched the sky turning in to deep dark blue from the purple hue of the sunset. Maybe if she rests a little bit she would be able to go home. Maybe she would never wake up and all the hurt will go away.

“Dipper!” Shouted Mabel as she ran down on the side of the hill. They found the marks on the tree which her twin collided with, then Mabel started to run in the direction where her sister went. After she found the broken root, she knew her sister was in deep trouble. Wendy saw the traces of the fall too, and she became more worried. Maybe the twins needed her experience after all, and she wasn’t happy with that thought. They descended on the side of the hill, and when they saw blood on a trunk, the blood ran out of Mabel's face. A shiver ran through Wendy’s spine as they doubled the tempo.

“Dipper!” Dipper heard her sister’s shout as she was on the brink of unconsciousness, and saw Wendy and her twin running in her direction. She saw her twin had tears in her eyes as she kneeled down beside her.

“Oh my god!” Tears streamed down Mabel’s face as she hugged her sister like her life depended on it, forgetting her baseball bat in the dirt. Dipper weakly put her arms around her sister and buried her face in her shoulders.

“Sorry, sis… I fell.” She said with a weak voice, trembling with pain and holding tears at bay. They stayed that way for a long time. As Dipper hugged her sobbing twin, she realised she would never abandon her. Maybe the world was cruel to them, but they can always count on the other. But she loved Gravity Falls and it would be devastating to them if they would face the same rejection here.

Wendy stood a step away from them as she watched the twins in silence. She didn’t know what she should do. Then Dipper looked up at her with fear in her eyes. Wendy’s heart shattered, into thousand pieces. She was there with a leap, dropping her axe and hugged them both tightly with tears in the corners of her eyes. Dipper was perplexed for a few moments, then she slowly realized what this meant. She started crying, letting out all her fears, pain, and sorrow. She cried for minutes, so hard, her body shook with all her emotions coming to the surface after the long act. She finally had a true friend after all the rejections in her life, she was not alone anymore. Mabel wasn’t going to be an outcast because of her. She held them closer to herself, and as Wendy and Mabel returned the embrace, she cried even harder than before.