Chapter Text
Today was finally the day. Today, Dipper would uncover the author’s identity and, hopefully, stop obsessing over him. Dipper had instructed Mabel and you to meet at the library to unveil the newly fixed laptop, and you were ready to find out who this guy was. This author person seemed to be encouraging Dipper’s paranoia, and you weren’t sure how healthy that was.
‘I mean, ‘trust no one!’? That’s horrible advice! And Dipper idolizes this guy so much! If he continues on like this…’ You imagined an adult Dipper locking himself in an underground bunker, muttering unintelligibly and looking over his shoulder constantly. You shuddered.
“Nicole? Are you okay?” Dipper’s voice brought you back to reality.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” You pointed to the laptop. “Are you ready for this?” You smiled with fake enthusiasm.
Dipper’s eyes lit up. “Of course! If this things works, we could learn the identity of the author and unravel the greatest mysteries of Gravity Falls.” He said the word author with reverence.
You frowned slightly. Fortunately, Dipper didn’t seem to notice.
“Nicole, would you like to do the honors?” He gestured to the laptop like Ana Wright.
“Sure.” You went to push the power button, but paused. “You know, maybe we should think more about this before we do anything drastic. I mean, who knows what secrets this laptop holds. Let’s postpone for a while.”
Dipper looked like you had suggested canceling Christmas.
You held your serious expression for a few more seconds, then burst out laughing. “Relax, I’m just kidding.”
Dipper muttered something about knowing it was joke the whole time, and you smiled in response, knowing better.
Then, without further hesitation, you pressed the power button.
The laptop began to whir as it started up and Dipper devoted his full attention to the screen, all of his annoyance seemingly forgotten.
“This is it. This is it.” Dipper muttered, almost chanting.
The screen flashed “Welcome” and Dipper grinned. “Aha! It worked!”
Dipper went to high-five Mabel and you, when an alarm sounded. All three of you whipped your heads toward the laptop where the words “//UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS FORBIDDEN//” appeared. A password screen replaced the message triggering a series of groans.
“Of course, a password.” Dipper slumped forward. Mabel grabbed his shoulders.
“Don’t worry, bro-bro! With your brains, Nicole’s determination, and my laser focus, there is literally nothing that can distract us from…” Mabel suddenly released her brother’s shoulders and looked around her. “Did you guys hear that?”
You turned to see what Mabel was looking at, and automatically groaned. It was Gabe Bensen singing some stupid song and making his puppets make out with each other. You looked at a star-struck Mabel and vehemently shook your head.
“Oh no, not this again. Please don’t tell me…”
Mabel, completely ignorant to your protests pulled out a book with a pop-up heart and made it “beat” by folding the book closed and open repeatedly. “Ba-bump. Ba-bump,” she said.
“Oh boy.” Dipper slapped his forehead.
"Oh no, ” You said.
It had been a few days since the meeting at the library, and you were laying on your bed, thinking about what had happened since your meeting at the library while Ducktective was playing in the background. Apparently, Mabel was putting on some elaborate sock opera tonight to impress Gabe.
You groaned. ‘I can’t believe that out of all the people for Mabel to pick for her new crush of the week, she chose Gabe, ’ You thought.
You had met him for the first time in second grade. For some reason, you had found him charming, so you mustered up the courage to talk to him one day. It was a nice day, not a cloud in sight.
“Gabe?” You asked.
“Yes?” He didn’t even look up from his newest puppet he was making.
“Do you wanna come play tag with us?” You batted your eyelashes. You had seen the lady on your mom’s favorite TV show do this, and it usually seemed to work out well for her.
Gabe looked up, at last, from his puppet, sneering. “Would I want to play tag with you?”
“Yes, that’s what I said.” You said, suddenly extremely self-conscious. ‘Why is he talking like that?’
He rolled his eyes, as if annoyed you was still here. “No. I don’t associate with people like you. Why, I’d bet you’re the kind of girl who would cross-stitch and single-stitch the same puppet!” He said this like it was an unforgivable crime.
Your cheeks were burning and you couldn’t meet Gabe’s eyes. You ran off as fast as you could.
After finishing elementary school, Gabe mostly ignored you, but you heard stories of what he had done to other girls. You hated him for what he done: to you and everyone else he had hurt.
And now, Mabel was putting on a sock opera of all things for him. He didn’t deserve that! And you refused to help make something for Gabe, so you had made up some excuse to Dipper and Mabel to avoid being enlisted in Mabel’s puppet-making army.
You sighed. ‘I wonder if Dipper has figured out that password yet. I didn’t mean to leave him to that by himself. Maybe I should go over there. Mabel would be busy getting things ready for tonight, so I could probably sneak in without her noticing me. ’
You got up, having decided, and went to go help Dipper.
You paced around the Mystery Shack’s living room. You had managed to get there unseen, but now you were really worried about Dipper, due to the loud cackling and crashes coming from the attic.
‘Did he get any sleep last night? I hope so. Last time, he was sleep-deprived…’ You shuddered at the memory.
Just before you were about to go check on Dipper, the attic door opened, and Dipper tumbled down the stairs, laughing like a maniac the entire way down.
You inhaled a sharp breath. You had thought Dipper eating his own shirt was bad, but this, this was even worse.
“Dipper…?” You were unsure of what to say now.
Dipper’s eyes darted in your direction like a cat noticing a mouse for the first time. You involuntarily shivered despite the summer heat seeping into the Shack.
“Why, hello there, doll, ” Dipper said. You stared at him.
‘Doll? Where the heck did that come from?’ Before you could ask him about the stairs and nicknames, Dipper slipped past you into the kitchen. You ran after him.
You heard him say, “Human soda! I’m gonna drink it like a person!”
When you got to kitchen, Dipper was pouring Pitt Cola on his face and laughing. You were barely aware of your mouth falling open. This was definitely worse than shirt chewing.
Dipper suddenly turned his head like he saw something you didn’t. “Where do you keep that journal anyway?”
‘This is bad. This is very bad. First the stairs, and now he’s hallucinating. This is like if a sleep-deprived Dipper was on a steady diet of Smile Dip and Mabel Juice for a week.’ Then it got even worse.
Dipper opened a drawer, put his arm in, and slammed the drawer shut. He was about to do it again, when you grabbed his arm and yanked it out of the drawer.
"Dipper, stop! You’re scaring me!” You looked him in the eyes and swore you saw a flash of yellow in them.
Dipper grinned at you. You noticed forks sticking out of his arm, and winced on his behalf. “But it’s so much fun! Why don’t you give it a try?” Dipper turned his attention away from you, paused, and then said, “Oh Pine Tree, don’t worry. I won’t hurt her too bad. I just want to see if her arms are more or less durable than mine.”
‘Pine tree. That’s what Bill calls Dipper. Which means that… Oh no!’ Your eyes widened and you slowly backed away.
Dipper… no, Bill noticed what you were doing and he grinned a too-wide smile. “Sorry, doll, but you’re not getting away that easily. You know too much.”