Chapter Text
Tell Her.
Dipper shunted the thought to the back of his mind, focussing on the stretch of highway out in front of the vehicle. His grip tightened on the steering wheel, the creak of vinyl against skin barely audible above the old car’s stereo system, currently blaring European pop music from decades past. His twin sister sat in the seat next to him, bouncing her head gently in time with the music as she stared out the window.
He watched that spectacle for just a second too long, appreciating the way the long, bouncy chocolate colored hair swept this way and that against her shoulders. The way the corner of her mouth curled up in a sad smile as they drove past open expanses of moonlit field, occasionally broken by a copse of trees here or there, or a billboard, or overpass. When he could feel himself staring he snapped his focus back onto the road, despite the fact that they were practically alone on the highway. It was late at night, of course it was barren.
He sighed, mind replaying the weekend he and Mabel had just spent together. She’d landed early on Friday, visiting from college a couple of states away. They’d been accepted to separate schools, in separate states. They’d panicked, because they had never spent very long apart their entire lives. They nearly had emotional meltdowns when they had been put into two different bedrooms after they turned thirteen, how were they going to handle being so far apart?!
Mabel, luckily, had brought up using online programs to have video calls, and they would text or call each other whenever they had a chance those first few months. But eventually, school caught up with them and they’d started to slack in the communication department. It gradually hit the point where they only spoke once a week, just texting each other every other day or so. The video calls were slowly going the way of the dinosaurs. Or, at least, any dinosaurs not held in amber in abandoned mines in Oregon.
When his sister had enthusiastically called and informed him she’d won a radio contest for free plane tickets, and further informed him she’d used them to get tickets to come visit him, he’d jumped at the chance to see her in person again even if only for the weekend. He’d cleaned up his half of the apartment he’d gotten with a fellow classmate, that he admittedly could not remember the name of, maybe Ronald? Reginald? They barely saw each other, and given the odd smell of burning hair crossed with a skunk that permeated his roomie’s bedroom door, he had decided he was fine with that.
He had sat for an hour at the airport while he waited for her flight to land. Then another twenty minutes, anxiously bouncing in place while he held up a poster-board he had used glitter and glue on to spell her name out in comedicly large capital letters. It was sloppy, but it was colorful and sparkled so he knew she would love it. When he heard the shriek of delight and the pounding of feet, he’d barely had time to react when she tackled him.
He managed to sweep her up in a hug, pressing his head against her shoulder as they spun in place for a moment. She smelled like peaches, raspberries and vanilla ice cream. Her hair was softer than he’d remembered it being, and the sound of her laughter was like an angelic choir. He’d missed her so much.
Tell Her.
“I missed you so much, bro-bro,” she’d mumbled into his ear, the arms around his midsection squeezing tighter. He tightened the hug as well, burying his face a little further into her hair.
“I missed you more,” he muttered, doing his best to not cry at the time. When they stepped apart, he looked her over; he hadn’t seen her in a few months and so much could change in that time. However, clearly all that changed with his twin sister was which temporary tattoo she wore at the time, and on which cheek. For now she had a rainbow on her left cheekbone, highlighted with glittery makeup that had no doubt already rubbed off on him somewhere.
They quickly began trying to catch up where their lives together had left off, discussing school, friends, all the little details. Mabel started counting off her new friends on her fingers, but Dipper didn’t hear a single name around the first time. He noticed how each fingernail was painted a different glittery shade. Her thumb was an emerald green, her index finger a sapphire blue, the middle finger a lovely royal purple…
He blunk his eyes a few times, trying to figure out why admiring his sister’s goofy makeup and nail polish habits were causing his heart to flutter the way it did. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind as they started to discuss where to go for lunch. With a tiny bit of coaxing, Mabel managed to strongarm him into taking her to an old fashioned ice cream parlor.
“This place is so cooool, why couldn’t I get into the same school as you?!” she moaned. Dipper grinned and shook his head as they sat in a booth, music from the late fifties droning out of a jukebox in the corner. A waitress in a poodle-skirt swung by, pad and pencil in hand. He’d barely registered her presence, instead watching Mabel, daydreaming, as she prattled on back and forth with the girl. When she’d walked off, Dipper only just realized Mabel had ordered for them.
“W-wait, what did you get me?! I was lost in my own mind again,” he lamented, his sister just giggling and shaking her head at him. He frowned, which she responded to with a bat of her long eyelashes, feigning innocence.
“You’ll just have to wait and see,” she sang at him, hands clasped together against one cheek, as she blew an unassuming smooch his way. He felt heat rise in his cheeks and ears, and he immediately tugged his hat’s brim over his face. “Oh don’t get all shy on me now, Dipping Dot. I know you haven’t had to deal with me being affectionate in public in awhile but dang, hair trigger on the ole blush-o-meter!”
He crossed his arms over his chest with a huff, turning to pout at the wall. In the peripheral of his vision, he could see her inching in, leaning over until he couldn’t avoid her gaze any longer. When he glanced over, he noticed she was making a barrage of silly faces his way. Sticking her tongue out, rolling her eyes back into her skull as she chewed at her upper lip, then crossing them to make a fishy face at him. When she inflated her cheeks and poked her tongue out of her lips, blowing a slow but exaggerated raspberry, he finally cracked, laughing at her antics.
“Okay, okay! Stop it Mabes, sheesh,” he relented, fixing his hat and swiveling to face her. She beamed a grin his way, and then opened her mouth to say something. Before she could get a single syllable out, the waitress plopped a large glass down in front of them, a rainbow of colors sitting on top of brown fizzy soda squarely between them.
“And here is a concoction I never would have thought I would have an order for while working here,” she stated, pulling two straws and a pair of long, plastic spoons wrapped in plastic from her apron and setting them on the table. “One orange sherbet, strawberry syrup and rootbeer float with whipped cream and gummy bears.”
While Dipper stared at the monstrous mixture of sugar laid out before himself and his sister with apprehension and more fear than he cared to admit, Mabel’s eyes sparkled with wonder. She unwrapped one of the spoons, holding it before herself as though she had pulled Excalibur itself from the rock. The look of triumph and determination on her face managed to make Dipper snort with laughter again.
“What ungodly mixture of sugar and corn syrup have you brought down against my digestive system, Mabel? We aren’t all gifted with the pancreas of a god,” he teased, warily unwrapping his own spoon. When she took a bite, another thing finally clicked in his head. “Wait… you got one, to share? Mabel that’s what people do when they’re on dates!” He could feel himself getting red again.
“So? Nobody knows who I am here,” she said matter of factly. He maintained his grumpy pout. “Hey, c'mon bro-bro. Either you share it with me or I eat the whole thing myself. And look at how much sugar there is here! I won’t have to sleep all weekend lo-”
Before she had a chance to finish that last word, Dipper had unwrapped his spoon and plunged it into the strange mixture, and raising it to his lips as the sugary load threatened to dribble onto the table. After a moment of hesitation, he popped it into his mouth and rolled it about testingly on his tongue. Mabel was on her second bite, waggling her eyebrows at him, and before she had it swallowed she was scooping up bite number three.
“Alright, I admit defeat. This is suspiciously tasty,” he was forced to relent. She closed her eyes and smiled at him happily before shoveling bite number four (or was it five?) past her lips. When she finally swallowed, her chipmunk cheeks receding to normal size, she grimaced and shook her head. “What’s wrong?”
“C-cold! Can’t, can’t brain,” she managed to slur out between clenched teeth. He clamped a hand over his mouth, trying to hold back his laughter at her scrunched up expression. When she managed to open her eyes again, her pupils were huge, quickly narrowing to tiny dots as the light flooded against them. She had to blink a few times, eyes readjusting before she sighed with relief. “Eugh, brain freeze, that shizz is brutal.”
“Well then, maybe you’ll learn to slow down for once,” he quipped, popping another spoonful of the fizzy, fruity mixture into his mouth. She stuck her tongue out at him, but did in fact go slower for the remainder of the time they spent eating. Once they had finally defeated the sticky, syrupy demon of a dessert Mabel had ordered for them, they paid and left in good spirits, laughing at each other’s stories again.
Stepping outside, they realized just how long they had loitered in the soda shop, the sun setting fast behind the horizon. They hurriedly piled into Dipper’s beat up, secondhand station wagon and headed for his apartment. They were quiet, Dipper lost in thought, and Mabel presumably struggling to digest the monstrous amount of sugar and dairy she had just inhaled.
His brain raced, trying to figure out why her mere presence was so distracting today. He knew he’d missed her, she was his other half, they’d barely ever been apart. But every little thing was fogging up his brain today. The way her nose wrinkled when she laughed, the way she’d tilt her head when she listened to him talking. The way she’d painted her nails and fiddled with her hair, how good she had smelled whenever they hugged. The way he felt his heart soar when she spoke in that sing-song tone.
“Uh oh,” he murmurred, and her head whipped towards him. He didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud, and he coughed to try and mask it.
“What was that, Dipper?” He shook his head at her question, trying to keep the car in the right lane during the brief spat of panic he felt.
“N-nothing, just thinking out loud I guess. Remembering stuff I almost forgot for school,” he lied quickly. He couldn’t admit the truth, she’d hate him, right? The sudden epiphany he’d had made him feel green around the gills. What would his sister say if he looked her in the eye and told her that he thought he’d fallen for her?
Tell Her.
Arriving back at his place, they hustled her bags inside and up to his room where he had set out an old cot from his camping days. “I’ll, uh, I’ll take the cot, you can have the bed,” he suggested, kicking laundry around the floor to make a trail from door to bed, allowing her to avoid the minefield of unwashed garments that littered his space. She just nodded, following along in his wake until she made it to the bed, flopping back on the covers without any sort of ceremony or presentation. She rolled over, burying her face in his pillows and taking an audible sniff. Dipper felt the sweat beading on his forehead as he watched.
“Ugh, I know this is gonna sound weird but I missed the way you smell,” she muffledly spoke into the pillow. He laughed, shrugging to nobody in particular. When she looked up at him out of the corner of her eye, he looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. “What’s with the whole ‘uh oh I’m an awkward dork’ routine there, Dipperoo?”
“Hm? O-oh, nothing. Just, I maybe felt the same? It’s weird.” The only response that garnered was a pillow soaring towards him and catching him in the face. He caught it before it could fall to the ground, staring at it. Then to his twin, who was kneeling on his bed, clutching the other pillow and grinning a defiant challenge at him. He mimed a look of betrayal, clutching a hand to his chest. “Attacked, by my own sister?!”
They instantly set upon one another, whapping with pillows and shrieking with laughter until neither of them could breathe. He collapsed, leaning against the bed while he sat on the floor, and she lay perpendicular across his bed, one hand rubbing through his messy brown locks.
“Okay, I think that killed the sugar rush,” she moaned out in disappointment, yawning shortly after. “I’m just gonna go change into my PJs and then collapse into bed, alright?” He just nodded as she rolled off of the bed and plodded off, a bundle of clothing tucked under her arm. The moment she was out of the room, he shucked his own garments, and hurried to redress in pajama pants and an old Monster-Mon shirt she’d given him a few years back. It was getting a bit snug, but he could squeeze into it, and he had a sentimental attachment to it.
He had just lay back down on the cot and started to pull his spare blanket over himself when his sister marched back in. She was wearing one of his old shirts he’d left at home, and a pair of old running shorts. He stared for a bit, and she perked a brow at him.
“Wuzzat look for, Dip?” He pointed at the shirt she had on.
“That… that’s mine. Why are you wearing my old shirt?” She blushed a smidgen (why did she blush?) and fiddled with the hem.
“It’s just, you left it at home and I really missed you so I, kinda, sorta, 'borrowed’ it?” Her voice raised in pitch with each word, nervously wavering. He eventually just shrugged and rolled over.
“Keep it, looks good on you,” he mumbled. He felt her lean over him, and seconds later he felt her lips press to his ear.
“Thanks, g'night bro-bro,” she yawned, and he listened to her climb into his bed, bury herself in the covers and get comfy.
Tell Her.
“Goodnight, Mabes.”
———
———
Tell Her.
Dipper’s eyes cracked open roughly five minutes before his alarm would have woken him up. He promptly turned it off, sat up off of his cot and looked at his bed. Empty. Which meant his sister was somewhere else in the apartment. He stood up and waddled his way into the kitchen, nope. Empty. He felt the call of nature prod at him from inside and quickly shuffled to the bathroom. Locked. He knocked.
“Hmm? That you bro-bro?” He grunted in acknowledgement, and he heard his sister unlocking the door. She looked about as awake as he felt, hair disheveled, his old shirt hanging off of one of her shoulders. Soft, smooth, curvy shoul-NOPE. Nope, he wasn’t letting his brain do that. Not today.
She surrendered the restroom to him and he plodded in, closing the door and doing what he had to do. A minute or two later he’d washed his hands and shuffled back to his room to find his bed empty. A lazy smile crossed his face and he unceremoniously sprawled into his bed. It was so much better than that stiff old cot, ugh. A nap would be fine, right? He could steal another half an hour or so in the comfort of his mattress.
When he woke up again, he wasn’t the only sleeping body on the bed. Mabel had curled up next to him while he was out, apparently, and he was stuck between her and the wall his bed was shoved against. Almost pinned, she was so close. He could smell her shampoo, coconut and vanilla, and instantly his stomach fluttered, while his heart thumped against his ribs. He immediately rolled over to face the wall.
He tried to figure out where these feelings had come from, so suddenly. It wasn’t like he could have just fallen for his sister like that, in a scant few hours. But this didn’t feel like just a crush, either. This was the real deal. So how long had this been going on for? Right after they left for school? No, that didn’t feel like enough of a catalyst. Longer? Had he been burying these feelings since before they got out of high school? When had they started?! His mind raced, sweat pouring from his forehead. Then, just as fast as his brain had fired up, it shut down when he felt a shift behind himself, and an arm wrap around his upper torso.
“You are now the teddy bear of Lady Mabelton, wiggling is forbidden unless she chooses to allow it,” she mumbled into his shoulder. He chuckled, shoulders shifting as he did, which made her grip tighten. “Hey, what’d I jus’ say.”
“Very well, oh Miss Mabelthorpe, but we gotta get up eventually.” She shook her head into the back of his shoulders, and he sighed. “Mabes, I know we have all day to lounge around but-” he started, but his stomach finished the sentence for him, growling insistently. She started to giggle silently, but then her stomach followed suit and gurgled with hunger as well.
“Okay fine, the tummies win this round. But I demand snuggles later,” she stated flatly, releasing her hold on Dipper and half-rolling, half falling out of bed with a breathless “oof!”. He laughed even louder at that, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes as she collected her clothes for the day and sauntered out of the room.
As soon as she was clear of the doorway, he leapt from the bed and hustled to change from pajamas into day clothes. Luckily he had something clean, and he swiftly threw on an old pair of jeans that were going a bit ragged in the knees, followed by a gray shirt and over that, a green flannel shirt Wendy had given him their last summer in Gravity Falls. Tucking his old hat (which was starting to show as much age as his jeans) over his head, he walked into the living room to wiggle into his shoes.
Just as he got his shoes on and tied, Mabel emerged from the bathroom. She had selected a bright green sweater that was emblazoned with a shooting star crossing behind a blue pine tree on it. She had on a pair of khaki cargo shorts, and bright pink-and-black striped leggings. Her cascade of hair had been tied back into a poofy bun, and she had applied a stylized sun-and-moon temporary tattoo to her right cheek. She grinned at her brother, bouncing over to flop next to him on the couch.
“Heeeyyyy, our shirts match today!” she said, tugging at his sleeve. He rolled his eyes, then leaned forward and gave the front of her sweater a gentle nudge.
“This one’s new,” he noted, admiring the symbols on the front. Pine Tree and Shooting Star. A maniacal dream demon had once called them by those names, and they had adopted the monikers despite them coming from a being of pure evil, hellbent on killing them. She just nodded, and he swore her cheeks got pinker.
“I made it a few weeks ago when I was missing you super duper hard. Kinda to remind myself that even if there’s distance we’re still gonna always be us, the Mystery Twins, right?” He frowned at the creeping sadness in her voice, sitting up to pull her into a hug. He could smell that she’d used some sort of fruity body wash that blended perfectly with the scent of her shampoo and his heart bounced around inside his torso like a pinball. Swallowing hard to suppress the emotions, he sighed and planted a small kiss on her temple.
“We’ll always be the Mystery Twins,” he muttered into her hair. The somber moment was shattered when his stomach gave another loud, protesting growl of hunger, making them both break down into goofy laughter. “And today’s mystery is, what do we want for breakfast?”
“PANCAKES!” she declared, the volume of her voice making him wince even though he couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. He stood up, extending a hand and helping his sister to her feet.
“Pancakes it is, then.”
The drive to the nearest diner was quiet, both siblings still waking up. And Dipper, once again, struggling to focus on these suddenly realized feelings for his sister. When they pulled into the parking lot she ooh’d at the old timey feel the diner had. The outside was almost entirely done in chrome, and what wasn’t shiny and reflective was a deep red. She skipped up to the door ahead of her brother, but waited patiently inside, rocking on her heels. The hostess approached when Dipper walked up next to Mabel.
“Howdy folks, just the two of ya?” she asked, her voice carrying more of a drawl than Dipper would expect from the area. Mabel nodded enthusiastically. “Alright, let’s just find you two cute things a booth. Y'all make an adorable couple.”
Dipper rapidly opened his mouth to protest, feeling red creep over his face like a wildfire through a dry field. Mabel snorted a bit, quickly looping her arm around his without looking. “Why thankya, ma'am!” she replied, gently elbowing him in the side. He grunted, and when he looked over to try and argue with Mabel about what she’d said, he noticed she was redder than usual, too. Why was she blushing? Why had she just stated that they might, in fact, be a couple?!
Tell Her.
Dipper bit his tongue, trying to quiet that nagging voice in the back of his head as the hostess led them to their seats. He couldn’t admit to his sister how fucked up he’d gotten in the head. It would only push her away, and he felt like the growing rift between them, caused by school and distance, was already too wide. No, he just had to either wait for this affection to go away, to die down like every other time he’d had feelings for a girl.
Hey, maybe that was part of it. Most girls never looked twice at him, but his sister had always been there. Always built him up, told him how great he was and how he could do anything. So he just had to remind himself that it wasn’t out of any sort of returned affection for him. It was because they were best friends, brother and sister. That was all.
Before he could dwell on it for too long, their server came by to take their orders. Dipper got a rather basic order; two pancakes, some bacon, and an egg with toast. And some strong, black coffee to drink. His sister, ever true to her own sweet tooth, ordered a stack of strawberry-banana pancakes with blueberry syrup, and a glass of chocolate milk. When the server left to place the order with the kitchen, Mabel gave Dipper a not-so-gentle tap with the toe of her shoe, right to the knee.
“Ouch, hey! What was that for?” He frowned at her, and noticed she was pouting at him. “What did I do?”
“Nothing at all, and that’s the problem. I recognize the 'I’m stuck in my own head and don’t wanna burden my sister with my problems’ face you keep making. What’s up?”
TELL HER.
He blunk at the volume of the voice in his head this time, mentally forcing it to quiet down, quelling the words that threatened to rise out of his throat and past his lips. “It’s just, uh, school and all has been keeping us pretty busy so I keep worrying what it’ll feel like when you head back out tomorrow.”
It wasn’t a lie, that thought HAD indeed crossed his mind. Before she’d even landed he was worried about how much he’d miss her. And now, he decided, it could serve as a convenient excuse, dodging the real issue. She didn’t need her visit ruined by his stupid emotions.
Going by the look on her face, she believed him, her eyes dropping to the plastic tabletop. Was she… guilty? “I’m sorry I’ve been kinda butt at keeping in touch, broseph. Just, like you said, school’s got us both pretty busy. It’s made it hard to make time for us…”
The server sauntered by, placing drinks on the table at that moment, which each twin quickly grasped and took a drink from, hoping that it would defuse the situation. They sat in solemn silence, until eventually Mabel extended a hand and clasped it over one of his.
“Sorry if I killed the mood, bro-bro. Just… I want this trip to be special, yanno? And seeing you get all nervous and stuff jank’s my head up too.” Instinctively, Dipper turned his hand over and gave hers a squeeze by way of apology. He met her gaze and smiled a sad smile, which she returned. She opened up her mouth to say something, just as a plate of pancakes slid in front of each of them. “OHMIGAWD PANCAKES. The lifegiver,” she said, bowing to the stack of strawberry-dotted confections before smothering them in blue syrup.
They both ate in silence, but this time it was less of a quiet sadness and more of a starving-to-death, eat-now-talk-later kind of silence. Mabel hummed around each bite, meaning she was enjoying her choice a lot. Dipper was satisfied with his as well, chewing thoughtfully at each bite. He needed to worry less about how he was feeling at the moment, and focus on how she felt. This trip was all about her.
After they’d both polished off their meals, Dipper paid (he’d insisted, for causing the discomfort before breakfast came), and they walked back out to the car. “So, we had a late breakfast, what would you like to do now, oh Lady Mabelton? Go mallratting, catch a movie…?”
“Yes.” The monosyllabic response caught him off guard.
“Yes what?”
“Yes, both. Mall first, then movie. I mean, that Ducktective film is in theaters now, why shouldn’t we go see that?!” He laughed a bit at her enthusiasm.
“I thought we agreed when we saw previews last year, that movie looks horrendous,” he replied, and she nodded with a bright smile.
“Well yeah, we’ll sit there and make fun of it as best we can! Worst case scenario the movie is better than we thought and we don’t get to riff on it as much.” He mulled that over, then agreed that yes, it sounded like fun either way. He was glad to have his sister and her way of thinking back in his life, if only for a remaining, fleeting 24 hours. An entire day to spend with the girl he’d recently realized he loved.
Tell Her.
The mall was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday, which made spending time in shops easier, as they were far less crowded. Dipper could never stand big crowds. They poked fun at the shirts in Edgy on Purpose, killed an hour or two wandering through kitschy little folk art stores, and tried to see who could eat the most free samples in the food court before getting caught (Mabel, of course, won that contest). When they finally ran out of things to do at the mall, they absconded to the movie theater.
Two tickets, a bucket of popcorn and two drinks later, they were seated in front of the screen, watching as new previews rolled by. Including one for “We Made Yet Another Help My Mummy’s a Werewolf!” That was the title, literally. Dipper couldn’t believe they were making another one of those horrible things, where did they keep getting the money for them?
Both of the twins hated to admit, but the Ducktective movie wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t fantastic, but it was definitely okay. They had fun mocking several plotholes or lines of dialogue, but it was, overall, still enjoyable to watch. They left the theater laughing, Mabel hugging against him while they walked out into the cool dusk air.
“Thank you, Dipper,” she stated out of nowhere. He tilted his head like a confused puppy.
“For what?” His inquiry made her glance up to meet his eyes, a shy smile crossing her features.
“Yanno, breakfast, the movie, not being angry after I almost totally killed the good vibes before our food arrived this morning, all that jank,” she explained, squeezing around him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave a half-hug squeeze of his own, rubbing her shoulder with his hand reassuringly.
“Nothing to apologize for Mabes. You were right to call me out on being lost in my own head,” he said with a shrug. He couldn’t tell her the truth of why he was actually lost in his own thoughts, though, could he? He could smell her when she was this close, and his senses being overwhelmed by her presence almost caused him to spill the truth then and there. He managed to bite it back, though, as they stood apart at the car while he unlocked and opened her door.
“Oh, such a gentleman! Do you treat all the ladies you take to see movies this way, Sir Dippingsauce?” she teased, giving an eyebrow waggle. He blushed a bit and rubbed at the back of his neck, gaze cast downwards.
“I, well, I’ve never actually-” he stammered, and she snorted back a laugh.
“Oh geeze, you still haven’t been on a date since high school? I’m sorry bro-bro,” she apologized, buckling herself in while he marched to his side of the vehicle and crawled into the driver seat. “I just figured you’d have ladies after ya by now. I mean, we’re twins and I’m positively adorable so clearly you’re good looking, too!”
He felt his ears burning, and hoped in the low light she couldn’t see his blush. She was calling him good looking now, and lamenting his lack of a girlfriend? This was twisting the proverbial knife now. “N-nope, or at least if any girl has looked my way I’ve been too preoccupied with schoolwork,” he mumbled, pulling out onto the road. At the very next light, one of their stomachs growled.
“Was that your tummy or mine, Dip?” Mabel asked, poking herself in the gut. He shrugged, honestly unsure.
“I don’t know, probably mine. You had twice as many samples as I did and popcorn isn’t that great of sustenance.” She snickered at his explanation, then pointed up ahead at a Yumberjacks restaurant.
“Well then let’s get some drive thru food and head on back to your place.” He couldn’t argue with that. They got their orders and ate on the way back to the apartment, both silently stuffing their faces with greasy fast food that was oh-so-good in that so-bad-for-you way.
Upon arrival, Mabel pretty much ran to the bedroom, leaving Dipper to chuck his shoes in the entryway before following. She was sitting on the bed, arms outstretched towards him, hands opening and closing. “What?”
“I told you earlier, I demand snuggly twin times. Now oblige me or suffer Mabel renditions of old boy band songs!” Dipper shuddered at the threat, gladly caving in to peer pressure as he flopped next to her on the bed. She immediately clung around his torso, face buried against his chest. A contented sigh escaped her lips, and he felt himself blushing at the way she nuzzled against him. “I really, really missed you, Dip.”
The sadness in her voice caught him off guard, and he had no idea how to respond. He simply brought a hand up to pet the top of her head gently. Those soft, chocolate curls flowed between his fingers like velvet. The warmth of her body against his was comforting, and coupled with his belly full of greasy food, he could feel himself drifting off already.
“I missed you too, sis,” he managed to mutter behind a yawn, burying his nose against the top of her head before planting a smooch there. The next thing he knew, he was out.
———
———
Dipper woke up remembering only the faintest bits of his dream. There had been an overwhelming feeling of compassion and belonging, and the laughter of a girl that made his heart soar. She had been pulling him through a field of tall grass and flowers, giggling all the way. The more he struggled to remember, the more he felt details slipping away. He relaxed, and tried to let the memories come back naturally.
Long, flowing hair. The most infectious smile. Deep, honey-brown eyes, lips that glistened with pink gloss, rosy cheeks. His eyes snapped open as soon as he realized that the dream had been a romantic one, about Mabel.
Tell Her.
He rolled over, and realized he was in bed alone. He rolled the other way and noticed the cot was empty too. His sister had vanished in the middle of the night, it seemed, but where to? That wasn’t like her. He wobbled his way out of bed and marched into the living room. He noticed the bathroom door was shut, so he gave it an inquisitive knock. He heard a voice grumble on the other side, and as he focused on waking up he heard the shower running.
“That you in there, sis?” A grunt of acknowledgement was the response, something about “glitter in my eyes” and he took that as a yes. He toddled his way back into his bedroom and rifled about for clean-ish clothes to wear. He then went and sat on the couch, drifting back to sleep as he waited for his sister to relinquish her hold on the shower. She emerged, and he looked up to say 'good morning’, then froze when he noticed she was in nothing but a towel.
It hugged her frame tight, while a second one wrapped about her head to keep her long hair out of the way. He gawked for a second, then managed to wrench his eyes away, forcing his bundle of clothes into his lap.
“Mmmmmmmornin’, bro-bro,” she sang, strolling to his room. As soon as she was out of sight he jogged to the restroom, locked the door, and turned on the coldest shower he could stand to take.
The chill of the water shocked him awake, and also calmed everything down that was happening below the belt. He couldn’t deal with that sort of thing on top of romantic notions. It was bad enough that he was falling for his sister, lusting after her was another thing. He knew for a fact that no matter how cold the shower now, he’d be haunted by the mental images of this event later tonight. He shook his head to try and clear it, to rid himself of those thoughts. After the chill of the water managed to help him clear his head, he toweled himself dry and dressed, pulling on a plain red shirt and a pair of black jeans.
Emerging from the shower, he could smell food cooking. Was that… bacon? And french toast? His head rounded the doorway of the kitchen to spy his sister, wearing a frilly, knee-length dress, hair pulled back into a ponytail, humming to herself as she fixed breakfast. He walked in and sat at the little table, quiet as could be. When Mabel turned around with a plate loaded up with food, she let out a small scream and almost dropped it on the floor.
“Whoa! Sneaky sneaky, bro-bro. This was supposed to be a surprise breakfast!” she chastised, and he shrugged with a chuckle. She set the plate down in front of him, and the smell wafting up made his stomach rumble, and his mouth filled with drool.
“Well it still kind of counts, because when I walked in and saw you cooking it shocked me. Didn’t even realize we had food in the fridge,” he mused, using his fork to collect a bite of the french toast. Mabel just laughed at the enthusiasm he started eating with.
“I might have actually got up like, two hours ago, walked to the mini-mart on the corner and grabbed stuff to cook with. I tried to get your roommate out of bed but he just turned up his reggae music and bubbled at me?” It was Dipper’s turn to snort, swallowing a bite of his food.
“Yeah, he and I have talked maybe four times since we moved in. Dunno what he does but he pays his half of the rent and doesn’t seem to be doing too much that’s illegal,” he noted, popping another bite into his mouth. The french toast was perfect; crisp on the outside, custard-like texture inside with hints of maple, cinnamon and vanilla. The bacon was cooked to be done all the way through without shattering when he bit into it. His sister could cook, and better than she likely gave herself credit for. “Mabel, this is amazing. Aren’t you going to eat any?”
She shook her head. “Nah, like I said I’ve been up for a few hours, I had something to eat already.” Sitting opposite of him, she let a heavy sigh slip out as she crossed her arms on the tabletop and laid her head in them. This was followed by an unhappy groan. Dipper set his fork down and cleared his throat, reaching out to pet the top of her head.
“What’s wrong, sis?” She tilted her head up enough to look him in the eye, briefly, then quickly looked down at the laminate covering on the table. She sighed heavily again, shaking her head against her arms. “Mabel, what’s the matter?”
“I don’t wanna leave,” she mumbled, and it became apparent to him that she had hid her face so he wouldn’t see her crying. “I th-thought that maybe it w-wasn’t so bad, being apart, but seeing y-you in person after so long, I, I c-can’t-”
That was all she could manage before he could tell the waterworks were coming in full force, her shoulders heaving as she suppressed a sob. He stood up away from the table, then stepped around to pull her up into a hug. She buried her face against his shoulder, tears flowing as he rubbed her back, shushing in her ear to try and calm her down.
He felt his heart drop, standing there like that, embracing the most wonderful girl he’d ever known. The best friend he’d ever had. He didn’t realize he had started crying until a tear dropped onto her shoulder. He nuzzled the side of her head, whispering to her that it would be okay, school would go by faster than they realized. Soon they’d have winter break, they’d even see each other at home for Thanksgiving in a couple of months. She nodded quietly, and he felt her stop shaking. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to tilt her head up and plant his lips on her own.
Tell Her.
“So, we have several hours before I have to take you to the airport, I think. What would you like to do?” he asked. She just shook her head, refusing to budge from that spot. “Wanna watch cartoon reruns on my laptop?” This time she nodded.
They spent the remaining time they had for the day curled up on his bed, watching old, corny cartoon shows on the internet, laughing at some times, humming theme songs other times, but overall silently enjoying each other’s company. An alarm he had set on his phone alerted them that they needed to leave for the airport, so without a word they both got up, him carrying her luggage to the car despite it being just a carry-on. Then, they were on the road.
———
———
And that was that. The entire weekend leading up to the current point, with Dipper parking his car in the parking garage and walking with his twin sister into the airport, standing behind her as she checked in for her flight. The entire drive out had been silent save for the radio, and as they walked to line for security, he felt her close her hand around his own. He squeezed reassuringly. Once they’d reached the line, he could go no further, so they turned to face one another.
“Well, I guess this is as far as I go,” he said, unable to shake the sad tone in his voice. She just nodded. “Have a safe flight, okay? I’m gonna miss you a lot. Call me as soon as you land so I don’t panic,“ he requested.
She grabbed him in a tight hug, burying her face in his shoulder for the second time that day. "I miss you already, Dipper. I love you.”
Tell Her.
“I love you too,” he muttered, trying to word it in a way that would both shut that little guilty voice up and comfort his sister. It seemed to work, and she stepped back, smiling at him with tears in the corners of her eyes. She tiptoed up and tilted his head down, planting a kiss on his birthmark.
“Drive home safe, okay?” she said, turning and pulling her roll-along luggage with her into the security-check line. With a deep breath and a determined gait, he marched back towards his car, mentally chastising himself every step of the way.
Why didn’t you tell her you’re in love with her?!
———
———
Seated on the plane, a girl with the shiniest, silkiest brown hair stared out of the window. An entire, magical weekend had flown by. Sure, not everything she’d wanted to do while she hung out with her bro-bro happened, but it had been wonderful. As she watched the ground sink away, the plane taking off, she sighed and wiped a tear from her cheek, the forlorn smile giving way to a disappointed frown. She buried her face in her hands, silently cursing at herself for not doing the one thing she told herself she should have when she landed.
Why didn’t you tell him you’re in love with him…