Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mabel hummed happily to herself as she rearranged her exhibits. She did this every other week or so, because as time passed she saw new themes and connections between her art exhibits. Sometimes she sorted things by color, sometimes she arranged things by how abstract the art looked, and sometimes she liked to sort things by how complicated they were.

Mabel hadn't actually rearranged things at her portion of the shack since the start of summer, when Stan and Ford had started staying with them. Years ago she had decided to work on her exhibits when Dipper went on his monster hunts, since he didn't like how much of a mess she made when she was in the middle of working. Everything worked out great when they were both kept busy.

Dipper hadn't gone on any monster hunts since the start of summer though, because he thought that it was too dangerous to involve the boys. He was desperate to go out on a monster hunt though, and he'd finally decided that the boys were ready to handle a supervised hunt.

Mabel was happy for her boys. This would be good for all of them. Ford was very curious about Gravity Falls, and he would probably thrive in being able to explore the forests. Dipper was probably ecstatic to go hunting with somebody who was like-minded. As for Stan, he had so much aggressive energy, and going on a monster hunt might be a healthy way to get some of that out.

Besides, though Mabel wouldn't say as much to Dipper, he needed to bond more with the boys. Ford almost idolized him, and Mabel wanted him to see Dipper as his grunkle instead of someone to be put on a pedestal. If they went on an adventure and Ford saw Dipper's nerdy awkwardness he'd come to see that the man was just that, a man.

Stan definitely didn't idolize Dipper, but Mabel was even more worried about their relationship. Whenever Dipper scolded Stan even just a little bit the boy would become just a little bit more subdued. It wasn't enough for Dipper to notice it, but Mabel did, and she was worried about it. She didn't want either of the boys to be afraid of them. Surely if they were outside and there wasn't a chance of Dipper scolding Stan for breaking something they'd start to ease up around each other.

Dipper's monster hunts usually lasted all day, sometimes even overnight. Mabel had expected for them to be gone for a slightly less amount of time, since he had the boys with him, so she was shocked to hear the door slam open before noon. They hadn't even been gone for three hours.

"Dipper, is that you?" Mabel called out. "How'd the hunt go?"

The response that Mabel heard was the sound of something being thrown against the wall and a series of swears that she was going to pretend that she hadn't heard. Concerned, Mabel put down her art supplies and looked towards the front door to see Stan storming around, still swearing.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Mabel knelt on the ground and gently grabbed Stan's arm, only for him to scowl and flinch away. Mabel pulled her hand back, pushing down her instinctive hurt response. She knew that Stan wasn't a fan of physical affection at the best of times, but he usually tolerated it unless he was really upset, like he clearly was now.

"What happened?" Mabel asked.

"Nothing." Stan growled, though his face fell slightly as his defensive walls started to slip a little. He tried to be so strong, but Stan was a lot more sensitive than he would ever want to admit. He looked like he was about to open up to her, even just a little bit, but then they heard heavy footsteps.

"Stanley!" Dipper shouted. "Don't walk away when I'm talking to you."

Mabel looked towards Dipper and was alarmed to see that he was holding Ford in his arms. The boy was only wearing one shoe, and his bare foot looked swollen like he'd sprained it. Mabel's instinct was to go check on Ford, but out of the corner of her eyes she saw Stan flinch as a look of fear flashed in his eyes.

Ford had Dipper's attention right now, and aside from his sprained ankle he looked just fine. Mabel thought that Stan needed her just a little bit more right now.

"Dipper, inside voice." Mabel said, telling her brother something that he usually said to her. Mabel was all for expressing oneself vocally, even in ear-splitting shouts, but not when it scared one of the boys.

"Mabel, I'm not in the mood for your games right now." Dipper said stiffly with barely restrained anger. Mabel huffed as she felt irritation build up herself. She knew that sometimes when Dipper broke the rules that he set up for others that she would teasingly call him out for it, but that wasn't what she was doing right now. She genuinely wanted him to take a deep breath and tone things down.

Before she could say as much to him Dipper turned his attention back to Stan to scold him "What were you thinking?"

Stan crossed his arms as he finally turned to face Dipper, a defiant look on his face that hid any of the fear that Mabel had seen. "Do you actually want to know what I was thinking, or do you just want me to admit how wrong I was, and that I screwed things up for your stupid hunt?"

"Okay, okay, that's enough." Mabel held up her hands. "Why don't we all sit down and calmly talk about things? I want to know what the heck happened."

"We had to cut our hunt short because somebody thought it would be a good idea to punch one of the manotaurs." Dipper glared at Stan, who just puffed his chest out and scowled, looking ready to defend himself from an attack. This was not the family bonding that Mabel had wanted.

"They were picking on Ford." Stan said.

"They talk like that to everybody that they consider 'unmanly'." Dipper rolled his eyes. Mabel didn't know why they went anywhere near the manotaurs when Dipper clearly didn't like them. "But we have an understanding that they won't get physical with me or my family, and you might have jeopardized that by antagonizing them."

"I was defending my brother." Stan said. "You sayin' I'm not supposed to defend my brother?"

"I'm saying you need to actually stop and use your brain for once." Dipper said. Stan stiffened, Ford gave him a concerned look, and Mabel knew that things were going too far.

"Dipper, don't-" Mabel tried to deescalate the situation, but Stan took matters into his own hands. Face red, Stan grabbed the backpack that he had thrown at the wall, and he threw it at Dipper instead. The man yelped in alarm and turned to make sure that Ford wasn't hit, though the backpack wasn't aimed anywhere near Ford.

"Don't call me stupid." Stan growled as he took off one of his shoes, getting ready to throw that as well.

"I didn't." Dipper gently set Ford down behind him. He almost stood protectively in front of the boy, as though he felt that Ford needed to be kept safe from Stan, and Mabel didn't think that was fair.

"Yes, you did." Stan threw his shoe. Dipper blocked it with his arm

"Dipper, just because you didn't say that word, and you didn't mean it that way, doesn't mean that's not what Stan heard." Mabel said. She gave her brother a pleading look, begging him to remember what the boys' mother had said to them when they'd first started staying here. She'd told them that Ford and Stan both dealt with bullies at home, and she wanted them to keep an eye out for any similar behavior here, and to help the boys.

Dipper did great with helping Ford feel like he wasn't a freak of nature just because of his six fingers. Every day he showed the boy that just because things were unique or different didn't mean they were bad. Dipper even helped Stan realize that he was a lot smarter than he gave himself credit for by having him keep track of the budget when they went shopping, or talking about business strategies with him.

And yet now Dipper was getting dangerously close to the bullying that they'd been trying to help the boys recover from. Stan was called dumb and stupid at home and school, and now Dipper, who was supposed to be someone safe that Stan could turn to, was almost doing the same thing.

Dipper frowned. There was some guilt in his eyes, but more than that there was stubbornness. Dipper had found himself a hill, and apparently he was willing to die on it. "It's not my fault that he's too sensitive and throwing a temper tantrum for no reason."

Stan tore off his other shoe so quickly that he almost fell over in his rush. He threw the shoe, hitting Dipper square in the face. Dipper looked stunned for a long moment before his eyes darkened and he glared at Stan.

"Alright, that's it." Dipper took a step towards Stan, whose eyes widened in alarm. The boy looked afraid again. He was trying really hard to hide it, but Mabel could see it. She was surprised that Dipper couldn't. At least, she hoped that he couldn't see it, because if he was aware that Stan was scared of him and he was still looming over him, then she would have to have words with him.

Mabel tried to put herself between Stan and Dipper, but her brother brushed right past her until he was standing right in front of Stan. "I don't know why you feel like you need to hurt people to make your point, but it's not okay. I've tried to be nice, but you're not really giving me a choice here. You're grounded."

Stan had become so tense and ready for a fight as Dipper came closer, but at those final words his shoulders fell and he looked blatantly shocked. "I…what?"

"Grounded. One week." Dipper crossed his arms. "No leaving the shack at all. That means no visiting Soos, no working on the Stan O'War, no exploring the woods, you are just to stay here."

Stan stood in stunned silence for a long moment before he burst into laughter. "Y-you've gotta be kidding me. You aren't gonna ground me." Mabel had thought that she would be able to talk Dipper into lessening the punishment, but now that Stan was pointing it out she didn't doubt that her brother would double down.

"Why not?" Dipper asked.

"Because you wouldn't want me anywhere near your precious artifacts." Stan challenged, and it was a fair point. Dipper actively encouraged Stan to spend time outside because he didn't want him around his fragile and potentially dangerous exhibits.

Dipper looked like he was faltering a little bit, but he wasn't about to admit it. Stan squared his shoulders, finding confidence now that he could see that he was making progress.

"And what about that visit we were going to take to California this weekend?" Stan said smugly. Dipper's face fell, and it looked like Stan had won this argument. They couldn't reschedule their long weekend in California, because they were going for a book signing that Ford's favorite author was doing. And Mabel knew that Dipper was looking forward to it just as much as Ford was.

Dipper was quiet for a long moment before he sighed. "I guess we'll just have to cancel."

Stan's smug expression fell. "Huh?"

"What?!" Ford looked at Dipper with wide-eyed betrayal. "But we have to go. We've been planning this for weeks. I-I've been counting down the days until we go." It was true. Mabel had seen the calendar.

"I'm sorry, Ford." Dipper said, and he clearly meant it. "But I can't just let your brother get away with doing whatever he wants. He needs to learn that there are consequences to his actions."

Stan clenched his fists. "You can't just punish Ford for something I did. That's not fair."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before." Dipper said.

Stan clenched his fists and his hands were shaking. Mabel recognized when Stan was getting close to hitting something. Honestly she was surprised that he had lasted this long. Before Mabel could remind the boy to go upstairs and get out his punching back before he did something he was going to regret, Stan let out a sharp shout of raw emotion and fury. He stormed past them, stomping up the stairs and slamming the door behind him.

Dipper frowned and took a step towards the stairs, probably to scold Stan more, but Mabel didn't let him get that far. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Dipper, do me a favor, take a deep breath, and don't say a word to Stan until both of you have calmed down."

"Mabel, this kind of behavior is unacceptable." Dipper said, as though Mabel didn't know. "He can't keep acting out like this."

"Did you stop to think about why he was acting out?" Mabel asked. Dipper gave her a blank look. There was her answer.

"Does it matter?" Dipper asked.

"Of course it does." Mabel said. "It matters that Stan looked scared of you, but you were too busy yelling at him to even notice."

Dipper looked stricken. "Stan's…no, he…he wasn't." He didn't look convinced though. Mabel was sure that she'd be able to convince Dipper that he was wrong this time, but her priority wasn't to correct her brother. She had to take care of the boys first.

Mabel ruffled Ford's hair. "Sweetie, why don't you go sit down, put some ice on your ankle, and watch some Duck-tective?"

"I don't like that show." Ford pouted. "It doesn't make any sense. It's a kid's show, but it has a lot of violent deaths shown right there on screen. And even though it's a mystery drama most of the focus is on relationship drama between the characters."

Mabel snorted. "That's what doesn't make sense? Not that it has animals that humans can understand?"

Ford shook his head. "No, that part's fine. I read about the theory of alternate universes and dimensions, and it was so fascinating. I just tell myself that Duck-tective takes place in a dimension where animals are more intelligent, and humans have no issue understanding them."

Mabel chuckled. She hadn't thought that she would ever meet someone more nerdy than Dipper, but Ford took the cake hands down. "Well, if Duck-tective isn't for you I'm sure you'll find something else to watch. I'm going to go talk to your brother, and when I come back downstairs I expect to see you glued to that tv."

Ford gave her a small smile. "Okay, okay." He made his way into the kitchen to grab the ice. Mabel gave Dipper one more stern look before she made her way upstairs to the attic. She heard Dipper follow behind her, though he stayed at the bottom of the stairs, not wanting to overstep his boundaries.

Mabel tried to open the door, only to find it to be locked. She should have thought to bring the key. She knew that she could just go downstairs to get it, but she didn't want to resort to that yet. Instead Mabel knocked on the door.

"Stanley, honey, can you open the door?" Mabel asked. She couldn't hear Stan growling or shouting, or even hitting his punching bag. She had never wanted to hear his aggression so much. "It's just me, Mabel. I just want to talk."

There was silence for a long moment before Mabel heard shuffling, and then the sound of the door unlocking. Stan opened the door and poked his head out, though he was clearly reluctant to come out or let anybody in.

"What?" Stan glared at her, but Mabel knew that his anger was just a mask to hide his unease.

"Are you okay?" Mabel asked. "I know that the manotaurs can be really tough, and I bet that punching one can hurt you even more than it hurts them."

Stan tightened his grip on the door, and Mabel caught a glimpse of blood dripping from his knuckles. "I'm fine."

"I'm sure you are." Mabel said. "Can I take a look anyway?"

"No." Stan growled. "You're just going to trick me into talking about my feelings."

"I'm just worried about you." Mabel said. "Dipper got pretty intense down there, didn't he?"

"...Yeah." Stan seemed to be trying to fold in on himself and make himself look smaller. "Why…" Stan trailed off, his face beet red.

"Why what?" Mabel asked. Stan grimaced and tapped his fingers on the door."

"Why…what's wrong with me?" Stan asked. Mabel felt her breath get caught in her throat, and she could hear the same thing happen to Dipper downstairs.

"Baby, nothing's wrong with you." Mabel said.

"Don't lie to me." Stan scowled. "I keep messing things up. Dipper's right. I punch first and ask questions later, if ever. I'm always getting in trouble at school for starting fights, and I've even gotten in trouble at my boxing class for being too violent, when the whole point of boxing is to fight."

Stan sighed and stepped back to go to his bed. Mabel stepped into the doorway, but didn't come closer, because she wanted to respect Stan's space, even if her instinct was telling her to pull the boy into her arms and give him the biggest hug he'd ever had. Stan flopped into the bed, burying his face into Gompers' fur. The goat was very patient and seemed unbothered.

"You've just got a lot of energy and you're trying to figure out how to get it out." Mabel said. "It's like the way that you say what you think. If it comes to your mind, it comes out and demands to be shared with the world. The fighting is just that except with your body instead of your mouth." Mabel could relate to impulsivity, even if they compulsively acted on different kinds of things. For Mabel, it was art projects. For Stan, it was punching things.

Mabel knew that this method didn't really work, and it wasn't healthy for anybody, but she understood why Stan did it.

"Why can't I figure it out like everybody else?" Stan rolled over and stared at the ceiling. "Why am I the only person that seems to have a hard time with this? Everybody else just has to be told to not hit things, and they don't, and I don't get why it's so easy for them. It's like I lose control of my body and I can't hold back , and I need to hit something."

"I understand the feeling." Mabel said. "It sometimes feels like my body tightens up and locks, and the only way to make it stop is to-" Mabel shook her hands rapidly, going faster and faster.

Stan sat up, looking at her with wide eyes. "Yes, yes, just like that." Stan tilted his head at Mabel and tried to shake his hands just like she did. He didn't look satisfied, and a moment later rolled back down again and stomped his feet on the bed. He did that five times before he twisted himself around and kicked at the wall instead. He did it for a minute before he groaned and stopped, keeping his feet on the wall.

"But you don't hurt people with those things. You just kinda annoy them." Stan tilted his head back and looked at her. "And there are other kids at school that, like, talk when they're not supposed to, or play their desk like a drum during class, but they don't hurt people either. I do, and I don't know why. It feels like I can't help it, but I should be able to, but I can't."

Stan groaned and clutched at his sheets. "I'm used to getting myself in trouble, but now I've dragged Ford into it. He shouldn't be punished because I suck."

"Stanley Pines, you don't suck." Mabel said sternly. She refused to hear a bad thing about him. "I'll talk to Dipper. I don't know if I'll be able to get him to change his mind about the grounding." Mabel didn't agree with it, but she didn't think that she should counter Dipper's decided punishment unless it was really out of hand. The boys needed to know that they were a united force. If Mabel just overruled Dipper's decision, or if he did so with something she decided, then Stan and Ford might start to not take them seriously.

"But you know, I don't see why we can't take advantage of the fact that we have two grown ups here. One of us can take Ford to California, and one of us can stay here and have some fun with you."

Stan frowned. "I thought I was grounded. Isn't it against the law for me to have fun when I'm grounded?"

"As one of your temporary guardians, I say that it's against the law for you to not have at least a little bit of fun while you're grounded." Mabel pronounced. They were punishing Stan, not torturing him. She held a hand out to Stan. "Do you want to come downstairs with me and make some ice cream sundaes for lunch?" Mabel was sure that this would convince Stan to come downstairs, but the boy just gave her a skeptical look.

"Is Dipper down there?" Stan asked.

"Well, yes." Mabel admitted. "But-"

"If he's there then I don't want to leave this room ever." Stan rolled over and stood up on the bed, crossing his arms defiantly. Mabel knew that he was trying to be tough, but Mabel couldn't help but find him absolutely adorable. Part of that was because of what he had just said.

"Ley, don't be silly." Mabel laughed. "You can't stay up here forever."

Stan's face darkened. "Yes, I can, and I will."

"Come on, Stan." Mabel said. "We can talk to Dipper together."

"I said no!" Stan shouted as he punched the wall. The boy flinched and hissed in pain. Mabel was alarmed to see blood on the wall.

"Stan, don't do that." Mabel said. Stan didn't acknowledge her. He just growled and hit the wall again, and again, and again "Stanley, stop!" Mabel ran to the bed and grabbed the boy, pulling him away from the wall. Stan shouted and squirmed in her grip, but Mabel's grip was firm. She held him close, stroking his hair and hushing him.

It took Stan several minutes to calm down, and Mabel held him the whole time. At one point she glanced towards the door to see Dipper watching them silently. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept his thoughts to himself and after a long moment he turned back and left.

Finally Stan stopped resisting Mabel's hold. As soon as he stopped trying to get away Mabel let go of him. Stan sat quietly on the bed, glaring at the floor.

"Are you okay now?" Mabel asked. Stan nodded. "Will you let me take care of your hand?" Another nod. "Are you still not up for going downstairs? Because I can go get the first aid kit and bring it up here, but I need you to promise me that you won't hurt yourself like that again while I'm gone."

Stan was still for a long moment before he nodded. "I promise." He muttered. Mabel kissed his forehead and stood up. She left the room and hurried downstairs where the first aid kit was kept. She stepped into the bathroom to find Dipper already there. The first aid kit was sitting on the sink top, open and unorganized. Dipper must have gone through it just to make sure that it had everything they needed in it.

Dipper was slouched over the sink, clutching at the counter so tightly that his knuckles looked white. Dipper looked devastated.

"You okay in here, Dipping dot?" Mabel asked. Dipper groaned and shook his head.

"I didn't know he couldn't help it." Dipper said quietly. "I thought he just wanted to hit stuff. I should have handled this whole thing differently."

"Yeah, maybe." Mabel said. Dipper let out a pained laugh.

"I have no idea what I'm doing." Dipper said. "I must be doing something really wrong if Stan would rather hurt himself than even risk seeing me."

"I think you just need to remember what it was like to be a kid." Mabel said. "When you were little you tried so hard to act all mature, and now you don't remember what it's like to be thirteen. I don't know about you, but I remember the mood swings, and taking everything personally, and then hating myself for being too sensitive."

Dipper sighed. "Yeah, I remember that stuff."

"Stan's just having a hard time coping." Mabel said. "Maybe this weekend you two can figure that stuff out."

Dipper nodded before he jolted and gave Mabel an alarmed look. "Wait a minute. Please don't tell me that you expect me to be the one to stay here with Stan."

"That's exactly what I'm telling you." Mabel said. She nudged her brother's shoulder before grabbing the first aid kit and leaving the room.

"Mabel!" Dipper ran after her. "That's a bad idea. You saw how much I messed up with Stan already, and that's when you were here to mediate. If me and Stan are here alone you're going to come home to find the shack in flames."

"Don't be a worry-wart." Mabel said. "You and Stan need to understand each other, and I think this is the perfect chance to do just that. You just have to be patient, think before you say anything, and don't say that Stan's dumb." She turned to give Dipper a reassuring smile. He almost looked like he was about to have an anxiety attack.

"I'll just be a phone call away." Mabel said gently. "I think you two will be just fine though."

"You're taking the first aid kit upstairs to treat Stan's hand because he punched the wall at just the thought of talking to me." Dipper said pointedly. Mabel just shrugged. She saw where Dipper was coming from, but Mabel didn't want them to walk on eggshells around each other forever, and she wouldn't always be right there to make sure they played nice.

Mabel knew that Dipper and Stan loved each other, and if they needed a little encouragement to actually acknowledge it, well, Mabel was a master at giving people the push they needed. She was a master at this kind of thing, she just needed her brother to trust her methods.

"Please, Dipper, just give it a try." Mabel said. She gave her brother the puppy-dog eyes that Dipper could never resist. "I hate seeing you two hurt like this. If you don't do it for yourself, can't you do it for me and Stan?"

Dipper sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Fine, fine, I'll do it."

"I'm glad you agree, because it was going to happen this way whether you were willing or not." Mabel said cheerfully. Dipper chuckled and he shook his head.

"Go take care of Stan." Dipper said. Mabel didn't need to be told twice. She returned to the attic to find Stan right where she had left him, sitting on the bed and staring at the floor. Mabel didn't have to say a word. He held his hand out and let her treat his hand.

Mabel didn't say anything as she worked. She decided against telling Stan about Dipper staying with him. She knew that the boy would be much more resistant about it than Dipper was. Mabel didn't like secrets, but she thought that this lie of omission was for the best. Stan was already so upset right now, there was no need to get him angry again.

Besides, if Stan didn't find out the specifics until Mabel and Ford left Friday morning, well, she wouldn't have to deal with the blow-out. That would be a Dipper problem.

Chapter Text

Mabel had expected Stan to throw a fit when he realized that she would be the one to take his brother to California, so she felt both relieved and guilty when it was time for her and Ford to leave and Stan was still sound asleep. They were leaving early, because it was a ten hour drive and Mabel wanted to get there in time for dinner. She hated driving and then immediately going to sleep. She would rather have plenty of time to unwind and relax, without being unconscious.

If Mabel didn't have the knowledge that Stan had stayed up all night watching The Duchess Approves on tv, she would have woken him up before they left. The movie had started at midnight. Mabel only knew that Stan had snuck downstairs to watch it because she had woken up with the midnight munchies and she'd needed a snack.

Mabel knew that she was supposed to be a responsible adult and tell Stan to go back to bed, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. He looked like he was really enjoying himself, for some reason, and Mabel didn't want to ruin that. He'd been having a really rough past few days. Stan just wasn't taking being grounded very well.

Stan was constantly running around. He'd accidentally broken multiple vases, cups, and art exhibits. Mabel didn't know if it was on purpose, and he was trying to get his revenge, or if he just had a lot of pent-up energy inside of him, making him more reckless. Whatever the case, Mabel didn't get mad at him for it. Dipper got mad at Stan enough for the both of them.

Mabel just hoped that the two of them would keep their temper . She really didn't want to come home to find that Stan and Dipper had declared themselves mortal enemies.

Mabel made a big and sugary breakfast, because she needed all the energy she needed to help her to get through a full day of driving, and because one shouldn't need an excuse to have cinnamon roll biscuits with chocolate gravy.

After making sure that Ford was all packed, and that they remembered Dipper's books that he wanted to have signed, they were ready to head out.

Ford wanted to sit in the back of the car, but Mabel was insistent that he join her up front. This was supposed to be their adventure. How was she supposed to tell fun driving stories or do car karaoke when her driving buddy was in the back?

Mabel suggested that Ford keep his backpack in the back seat with Dipper's books, but the boy just hugged his backpack close to his chest and insisted that he was fine like this. Mabel didn't really want to start a fight with her great nephew, so she allowed it.

They drove into town before stopping by the small convenience store to pick up some driving snacks. It just wasn't a road trip without snacks. Mabel wanted Ford to pick whatever he wanted, but the boy seemed more reluctant about that than anything.

"I don't need snacks." Ford said sheepishly as he followed Mabel around the store.

"It's not about need." Mabel said as she grabbed some sweet and salty trail mix, and some confetti flavored chips, just because she was curious about it. "This is about want." She looked at Ford. "You know you're allowed to have things just for the fun of it."

"I-I know." Ford said as he eyed some candy and energy drinks. "But this book signing is a want. I don't want to be too greedy and ask for so much at once."

Mabel grabbed some candy bars that she knew was Ford's favorite and tossed him an energy drink. "You're allowed to indulge every once and a while." Mabel said. "It can't happen all the time, but the occasional splurging isn't anything to feel bad about."

Ford didn't look convinced, and he didn't grab any snacks for himself, but when Mabel grabbed some things that were clearly meant for him he didn't refuse them either. Mabel thought she understood what was wrong. She didn't really know the boys' dad that well, but she knew that Filbrick was really stingy with money. He would have taught the boys to not spend money carelessly, but also that it was more than okay to accept help that was offered.

When they had all the snacks they could carry they returned to the car and were really on their way. Because the snacks needed to be kept in reach, the bag was right next to Ford. Between the snacks and his backpack the boy looked squished on his seat, Mabel imagined that wouldn't be comfortable. Especially for several hours at a time.

"Are you sure you don't want to keep your stuff in the back?" Mabel asked. Ford tightened his grip on his backpack.

"I'm sure." The boy opened his bag and pulled out one of his numerous books. He opened it up to read it. Mabel wasn't having that.

"Come on, nerd, no reading in the car." Mabel took the book out of Ford's hands and tossed it in the back. The boy's protests were intense, like Mabel had hurt the book. "You're going to get yourself carsick. Besides, road trips are family bonding time, and we can't do family bonding if your nose is buried in your book."

Ford pouted and drew his legs close to his chest as he looked out the window. "It's also not family bonding when the whole family isn't here."

Mabel nudged Ford's shoulder. "I know you'd rather have Dipper and your brother here, but they have some serious bonding to do themselves. They'll have fun at home, and we'll have some fun on the road. Everybody wins, even if we'd all rather be playing the game differently."

Mabel smiled to herself. "Oh, speaking of games, are you ready to play some car games?" It was definitely time for her favorite part of car drives. "We can play I spy. Or the alphabet road sign game."

Ford frowned and stared out the window. "What road signs? There's nothing out there." The boy had a point. They were driving through woods, and would be for several hours of their journey.

"Okay, then I guess we'll play I spy." Mabel said, not at all discouraged.

Ford sighed. "There's nothing out there to see but trees. And once we leave the borders of Gravity Falls there will be even less of a chance to see anything." Ford glanced at her. "Besides, you're driving, and you should probably focus on that right now."

Okay, now Mabel was starting to feel discouraged. It sounded like Ford wasn't really dismissing the specific games, but the idea of the games themselves.

"You know, if you didn't want to play a game you could have just said so." Mabel said it in a teasing tone, not really meaning it. Ford didn't recognize that she wasn't serious. He shrugged.

"I don't want to play a game." Ford said. "I don't like car games."

"That's okay." Mabel was determined to find a way to recover the situation. They could still have fun. "We can sing, or tell stories. What do you want to do?"

Ford pouted and drew his legs up to his chest. He looked miserable. "I want to read my book." Ford said. He went back to staring out the window. Mabel grimaced and tightened his grip on the wheel. This was not turning out the way that she had wanted, and they had just barely started. Mabel was starting to think that maybe Dipper and Stan weren't the only ones that needed to have some one-on-one bonding.

This was going to be a really long day.

Dipper sat at the kitchen table, anxiously taking notes in his journal. He was nervous about this weekend, and when he got nervous he wrote in his journal, or read about what he had previously written, depending on how much of a distraction he needed. It was a coping mechanism that he'd used since he was a child. He probably would have lost his sanity as a young adult when he was dealing with Bill if he hadn't had his journals to rely on.

Dipper felt guilty that he had to rely on the same coping methods to deal with his great nephew as he had used when he was being tormented by a dream demon. Dipper knew that he was making things harder than they needed to be, but he couldn't really help it. This was just the way that he was.

It was late morning when Stan finally stumbled his way downstairs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. It wasn't like Stan to sleep in so much, but Mabel had told him that the kid had stayed up late, so Dipper wasn't going to give him a hard time. It was summer vacation. This was the time when kids should be allowed to do stupid stuff just because they could, just as long as they didn't take things too far.

"Good morning." Dipper said. Stan jumped and looked at him with wide eyes.

"You…what are you doing here?" Stan asked. He sounded half accusatory and just a little bit scared. Maybe Mabel wasn't exaggerating when she had said that Stan was afraid of him. Dipper just wished that he knew why. He wasn't a scary guy.

"Well, Mabel wants me to spend more time outside of my lab, so I decided to do some work up here instead." Dipper said. Stan scowled.

"You know what I mean." Stan stomped his feet a little bit. "You and Sixer were supposed to leave first thing this morning."

Dipper sighed and set his book down. He stood up and made his way to the fridge. Maybe he could bribe Stan into being in a better mood with some hot chocolate. That plan went out the window when Dipper saw that they were completely out of milk.

"Mabel." Dipper groaned as he closed the fridge. She always did this, using up the last of the food and not even saying a word about it. Now Dipper would need to go to the store, because he wasn't about to go all weekend without milk. But Dipper couldn't leave Stan on his own, even if he wasn't grounded.

"Hey, kid, you up for a game of pocket change?" Dipper asked. Stan crossed his arms.

"Will you just answer my question?" Stan said. Dipper was embarrassed. He had completely forgotten that Stan had asked him anything.

"Right, okay, sorry." Dipper rubbed the back of his head. "Mabel thought it would be best if she went to California with Ford, so it looks like the shack is all ours this weekend." Dipper tried to grin invitingly to hide how nervous he was feeling. Stan just scowled at him.

"Great." Stan rolled his head back, letting out a long, low groan. He turned and made his way out of the kitchen. "I'm going back to bed."

Dipper grimaced. This wasn't what he wanted. What was he supposed to tell Mabel if Stan spent the whole weekend hiding away in his room.

"Hang on a second." Dipper was about to grab Stan's arm, but he thought better of it and just knelt on the ground in front of him instead. "Look, I know you're not happy with me right now, and that's fair. I was kinda harsh to you before, and I said and implied some things that I didn't mean. You know that I don't think you're stupid, right?"

Stan pouted and stared at the ground. It looked like it would take more than simple reassurances to get back on Stan's good side. Dipper had expected this, and he was ready for it. He had a simple plan to deal with this very thing.

"Look, I need to go to the store to pick up some milk." Dipper reached into his pockets. Stan was watching him curiously, maybe just a little bit hopefully.

"You were serious when you said we were going to play pocket change?" Stan asked. It was a game between just the two of them. Dipper, who kept all kinds of things in his big pockets, would pull out whatever change he had lying in there, and whatever amount of money they had in there Stan would try to budget to use as much of it as he could at the store.

Dipper claimed that the reason behind this game was that it wasn't uncommon for things to fall out of his pocket, and if he spent the money from his pockets then there wouldn't be as much there for him to lose later. He and Stan both knew that the main reason for this game was for the kid's benefit.

"I'm always serious about pocket change." Dipper said. He pulled out numerous coins and a couple of bills. He quickly counted things out. "Looks like we've got…$4.62 to work with this time." Dipper handed the money to Stan. That should be more than enough for milk and whatever else Stan could find at the store.

"I thought I was grounded." Stan said. He quickly pocketed the money, like he was afraid that Dipper was going to take the money back.

"Oh, you are." Dipper said. "But I need to go to the store, and even if you weren't grounded I'm not going to just leave you here, so we're making an exception, at least until we get some milk."

"Fair enough." Stan said. He looked in a better mood already. Dipper didn't know if it was because he was getting stir-crazy in the house, or if he was excited about the game, or maybe he was just more relaxed now that Dipper wasn't visibly mad at him. Dipper wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Because Mabel had taken the car Dipper and Stan got into the golf cart. It was far from the first time that they drove the beat up old thing into town. The drive was bumpy, but neither of them minded. Dipper was used to driving a lot faster than this over much worse terrain, and Stan had a lot of fun bouncing up and down, unrestrained by seatbelts.

It was probably really dangerous and reckless of Dipper to be driving the golf cart like this, especially when there was a child with him, but Dipper had been through all kinds of terrible situations. Compared to fighting monsters and dealing with demons, driving without a seatbelt was nothing.

Besides, Dipper was being careful…in his own way…okay, so he just didn't accept Stan's challenge to see how much air they could catch, but it was safe enough.

When they reached the store Stan seemed almost cheerful. He hopped out of the golf cart almost before Dipper pulled it to a complete stop. Stan double checked how much money he had, just to make sure that he hadn't lost any of it.

"Do we need anything other than milk, or is it open season?" Stan asked.

"Nope, just the milk." Dipper waved Stan on. "Go nuts. Just don't forget the tax this time."

Stan huffed and crossed his arms. "It's so dumb. What's the point of stuff having prices if they add secret prices onto everything? Why can't they just say that things cost as much as they actually do?"

"I don't know, kid." Dipper shrugged. Just because he was an adult didn't mean that he actually knew how taxes worked. "Just see it as an extra challenge. This isn't just a math game, it's one of risk too."

Stan's eyes brightened. He loved games of chance and risk, even if he had yet to figure out how to be smart and think things through before jumping right into things. "Hey, hey, on the way home can I drive the golf cart?"

Dipper raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Have you ever driven it before?" Dipper and Mabel had decided at the start of summer that they would teach Stan and Ford how to drive the golf cart, and give them plenty of chances to practice (under supervision, of course), but as far as Dipper knew they hadn't gotten around to it yet.

"No." Stan admitted. "But there's gotta be a first time some time, right?"

He had a point. "Alright, here's what we're going to do." Dipper said. "If you can get under ten cents back, then I'll drive until we get out of town, and then I'll give you the chance to take over."

Stan beamed. Dipper very rarely got to see that look of pure joy from Stan, and even more rarely was it aimed at him. It felt nice. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." Dipper said. Stan cheered and ran into the store. Dipper hurried to catch up with him. He had to make sure that Stan didn't cheat. Dipper didn't know exactly how Stan could cheat, but he wasn't about to underestimate him. The boy was a master at cheating and manipulation.

Stan spent a lot of time browsing the store, for reasons that Dipper didn't understand. Stan didn't know how much the taxes were, so he had no idea if it would be better for him to get the slightly more expensive candy bar, or the smaller, cheaper one. Finally Stan was ready to make his purchases. He and Dipper watched tensely as the items were wrung up. Milk, a medium sized candy bar, and a pack of gum that he had grabbed at the last minute. The goods themselves should cost a little more than $4.00, but that wasn't counting taxes.

When the cashier tiredly gave them their total, Stan and Dipper just stared at her in shock. Stan beamed broadly and pushed the money over. She sighed and counted out the coins before handing three pennies back.

"Your total is $4.59, three cents is your change." The cashier said boredly. She didn't know why Stan was cheering and dancing around excitedly, or why Dipper was laughing, but she really wasn't paid enough to care.

"I did it." Stan held the pennies out to Dipper triumphantly. "Three cents. Not only is that a new record, but it's less than ten cents, which means that I get to drive the golf cart."

"Alright, alright, calm down." Dipper chuckled. He ruffled Stan's hair. "You did good."

Stan looked very pleased with himself. He skipped outside as much as he could while carrying the milk and candy. Dipper shook his head and slipped the three pennies into his pocket. If he didn't end up losing them they would be used for their next game of pocket change.

Outside Stan was already in the golf cart waiting for him. Dipper planned on driving much more carefully this time, both because they didn't want to drop and lose the milk, and because he wanted to show Stan how to do this before actually giving him a go.

They started the drive back to the shack. Dipper explained how driving worked as they went. He didn't know if Stan was really paying attention to him, but he had to at least try. When they were safely away from people and the paths weren't too bumpy or rocky, Dipper let them switch places.

"Alright, Stan, I'm going to need you to take this very, very slowly." Dipper said. "If you drive recklessly then I'm taking over and your driving privileges for the summer are completely revoked."

"Okay." Stan agreed. He was grinning and sitting at the edge of his seat. Dipper took a deep breath and held tightly to the milk, while trying to not make it too obvious that he was doing so. He didn't want Stan to think that he didn't trust him, no matter how nervous he was.

Under Dipper's instruction, Stan started driving the golf cart. It was a little rocky going at first, as it took some trial and error for Stan to figure out how to get the right amount of pressure on the accelerator, but he picked it up a lot quicker than Dipper had honestly expected.

Because the shack wasn't too far from town it didn't take them long to get home. Stan only got to drive for a few minutes, but it was enough to get him a taste of driving the golf cart. He clearly wanted more, but it would have to wait until a little later. There was only so much of Stan driving that Dipper could handle at a time.

Dipper almost had to herd Stan inside. The boy was not eager to go back to being confined to the shack. Dipper would have to find something for him to do. He had an idea, but he was reluctant to follow through with it. His reluctance just made him feel guilty, and more determined to do it, even if the thought made him nervous.

Dipper sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He needed another opinion.

"Hey, Stan, can you put the milk away?" Dipper handed the carton to Stan. "I'll be in in a minute."

"Yeah, fine." Stan said. That was probably the easiest time that Dipper had ever had of getting Stan to do what he was told.

Dipper took his phone out and called Mabel. She immediately answered. "Hey, Dipper!" Mabel said. "Don't tell me you've hit a roadblock with Stan already."

"Actually, no." Dipper said. "Things are going really well here."

"Oh." He could hear the confusion and almost disappointment in Mabel's tone. Dipper couldn't help but feel annoyed. Had his sister really pushed him into this and had no confidence at all that he could actually do it?

"How's the drive going?" Dipper asked. Mabel groaned.

"Bad." Mabel said. "We've just stopped for a lunch break, and Ford telling me that he was going for a walk was the first thing he's said to me in four hours."

"Wait, seriously?" Dipper frowned. "Ford's giving you the silent treatment? What did you do?"

"I don't know!" Mabel said. "He's been quiet and kinda moody all morning. He doesn't even want to play driving games. All he does is look out the window."

Dipper was feeling concerned. "He's not even reading?" There was silence on the other end for a long moment. "Mabel?"

"I mean, he wants to read." Mabel said slowly. "But I said he couldn't."

Dipper groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "Mabel!"

"I wanted to have family bonding time." Mabel said desperately.

"And how's that turning out for you?" Dipper asked. Mabel sighed. "Look, Ford doesn't do good with traditional family bonding." Honestly, neither of the boys did. "The best way to bond with him is to loosen the reins. Let him read for a bit, give him some space, and then ask him about his book. If he's reluctant to talk, let him go back to reading to himself for a bit before trying again."

"Okay, okay, I can do that." Mabel said, though she still sounded reluctant.

"Something else you can do is turn on an audiobook, like I showed you." Dipper said. "Turn on one of those ridiculous fantasy books of yours, and trust me, Ford will open up to you." Granted, it would be to point out the logical flaws of the books, but that would let Mabel and Ford debate the book. Unless they let things get too heated, that would be something that the both of them would enjoy.

"Okay, I'll think about it." Mabel said. "And I can probably let him sit in the back seat too. He'll probably lighten up when he's not cramped in the front."

"Let Ford get a vote about where to eat." Dipper said. He didn't know a lot about kids, but something that Dipper did know was that giving them just a little bit of freedom could do a lot to improve their mood.

"That's a great idea." Mabel said. "So if things are going well with Stan, what did you call for?"

"I wanted a second opinion." Dipper said. "I was thinking of letting Stan into my lab, and-" Mabel basically screeched in his ear. Dipper grimaced and pulled the phone away. Why couldn't she have outgrown her habit of shrieking like a banshee when she was excited? "I guess I know what your vote is."

"You're going to show him your lab?" Mabel asked when she finally calmed down. "Dipper, that's great! You know that Stan's been jealous that Ford's allowed in the lab. He thinks that you like Ford better."

"What? That's ridiculous." Dipper definitely didn't like Ford better. He loved the two boys the same, he just had different relationships with them, and he trusted them for different things. Ford could be trusted in the lab, but Dipper didn't think he would have let him drive the golf cart today the way he had with Stan.

"You know that, and I know that, but what matters is if Stan knows that." Mabel said. She had a point. Dipper would have to make sure to make things clear to Stan. The first way of doing that was to let him into the lab, even if Dipper would have to keep a closer eye on him and be a little more stern with the rules.

After all, just because he was trying to be more fair with Stan didn't mean that he had to treat him the exact same way that he treated Ford. They were different boys with different needs. Dipper just had to figure out how to give them what they needed while also keeping them safe and happy. Dipper wasn't good at knowing what his own needs were, but he could figure things out for the boys. They deserved the extra effort.

"I'll see what I can do." Dipper said. "Good luck with Ford."

"Good luck yourself." Mabel said. "I'll call you tonight when we get to the hotel. Love you."

"Love you too." Dipper said. He hung up and made his way inside. Hearing Mabel talk about lunch Dipper remembered that he should probably put something together for him and Stan. He could make some hot chocolate to go with lunch too. After eating they would make their way down to the lab, and hopefully things would continue to go well.

The day was going great, and Dipper really didn't want this to just be the calm before the storm. He knew that the Pines family could have terrible luck sometimes, but maybe this once they could catch a break.

Chapter Text

Stan had yet to be allowed in his great uncle's basement. He's been in one of the rooms once, but that was all. He was looking forward to finally seeing what the big deal was. He knew that he wouldn't really be too interested in Dipper's research, but it was the principle of the matter. His uncle was trusting him in his lab. He was giving Stan the chance to prove that he could be responsible when he really put his mind to it.

As they ate lunch Dipper told Stan the rules of the lab, and the boy did his best to listen to them, but his mind started to stray a little bit. He couldn't help it. There were a lot of rules, and they were so needlessly complicated. By the time Dipper was done with explaining a rule Stan had already forgotten the previous one. If he focused really hard to remember what he had just heard, then he didn't really catch the start of the next rule, and if he focused more to try to figure out what was going on then he ended up forgetting the previous rule anyway.

Stan didn't mean to doze off or show his boredom, but he wasn't very good at hiding how he was feeling. His dad said that he was overly emotional. His mom said that he was sensitive. Whatever it was called, Dipper seemed to tell that he wasn't paying attention.

"Are you listening to me?" Dipper crossed his arms.

Stan blinked and sat up. "Yeah, yeah, I'm listening."

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Really? What did I say?"

"Uh…" Stan wracked his brain, but he couldn't remember any of the rules. He said the only thing he could think of. The rules of his dad's pawn shop. "Don't look too close, don't touch anything, and if I break anything I pay for it with my blood."

Dipper's unimpressed look turned to one of confusion and slight amusement. "A little dramatic, but I'll take it." Dipper stood up from the table, grabbing his and Stan's lunch dishes to put them in the sink. "The most important thing to remember is to stay by my side, be cautious, and be aware."

"That sounds like three things to me, but you got it." Stan said. He jumped to his feet and made his way out of the room. Dipper quickly followed him.

The basement was just as exciting as Stan thought it would be, meaning not at all. It looked exactly the same as his half of the mystery shack, except messier and things weren't labeled clearly.

Stan shoved his hands in his pockets to try to get rid of the temptation to reach out and take a closer look at things. "Why don't you keep these things upstairs? You're always talking about how you're looking for new exhibits."

"These are just a little too dangerous for the public eye." Dipper said. He carefully picked up what looked like a monkey's paw. Dipper looked at with a sad and furious look in his eyes. "Do you know the story of the monkey's paw?"

"Sure." Stan said. Ford loved studying anomalies, and because Stan had an interest in the creepy and spooky, they had both learned a lot about urban myths and legends. Stan knew that the moral of the monkey's paw story was to not be greedy or try to mess with fate, but Stan didn't like that moral, and neither did Ford. They'd tried to come up with several strategies to get past the curse, if they ever happened upon a monkey's paw.

This monkey's paw in Dipper's hand had all of its fingers broken. If Stan was remembering the story right, it shouldn't be able to grant any more wishes, but Dipper was holding it like it was about to explode.

Dipper set the monkey's paw down. "You know, when I first came to Gravity Falls and saw how weird this place was, I wanted nothing more than to prove to people that the supernatural existed. I wasn't getting anywhere fast though. No matter what I did, or what evidence I found, nobody outside of the town believed me. I was desperate, and foolish. I found a monkey's paw with just one wish left, and I wished for a way to show everybody the truth about the supernatural."

Stan stared at his uncle with wide eyes. "You used the monkey's paw? W-what happened?" Dipper wouldn't look so upset or claim that the monkey's paw was dangerous if he'd been able to avoid the curse.

"I thought that I was smart enough to get past the curse." Dipper said. Just like Stan and Ford. "My wish led me to find out about Bill and, well, you know how that story goes."

"Why are you telling me this?" Stan asked. In his experience grown-ups didn't purposefully show weakness to kids unless there was something they could get from it. There was always an ulterior motive.

Dipper sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I just want you to know that you're not the only person who has done something kinda dumb with good intentions. I've done some stupid things in my time."

Dipper looked around his lab. "I could probably get all the recognition I'm looking for with half this stuff, but I've learned that it's not worth it. These things are just too dangerous, even in the hands of the most well-meaning people. So I've been hunting down these things just so I can keep them down here and keep other people from misusing them."

Stan couldn't believe that Dipper was telling him any of this. Stan wouldn't hesitate to say that he was probably the wrong hands that Dipper was talking about. Sometimes Stan knew to leave well enough alone, but if his family was in trouble he wouldn't hesitate to use dangerous and cursed items to put things right if he thought that it would actually help.

Dipper started leading Stan through the room, showing him the different artifacts and telling him the stories behind them. Most of the stories involved Dipper making some kind of mistake that led to him or somebody else almost getting hurt. Stan had never thought that his great uncle was flawless like Ford did, but it was odd to hear any adult admit their faults like this.

Stan knew how hard it was for him to ever admit that he was wrong, and he imagined it couldn't be any easier as you got older. Dipper was trusting him, not with the artifacts, but with information. It may not be the best thing in the world, but Stan appreciated the gesture.

Stan liked the attention, but it wasn't too long before his mind started to wander. He glanced around, not really paying attention to what he was seeing, as he listened to his uncle. He didn't really watch where he was going, so he didn't notice the stack of books lying on the floor. While Dipper stepped right over the books Stan stumbled and tripped over them.

He instinctively tried to catch himself before he could fall. He reached out to a nearby table and latched onto it, but the table wasn't very stable. It wiggled and fell, crashing to the ground right along with Stan. He scraped his knee a little bit, but he barely noticed the pain. As soon as Stan heard the shattering of glass as whatever was on the table fell and broke, his mind went numb.

No. No, no, no, what had he done? Dipper kept all of his most dangerous artifacts down here, and he had trusted Stan to behave himself for once, but he'd messed up. Stan had let his mind wander when he should have been paying attention to Dipper, and now he'd broken something. How could he expect his great uncle to like him when he screwed up any time he was given a chance to prove that he was worth liking?

A large, firm hand gripped his shoulder and tried to pull him back. Stan stiffened. He wanted to turn and punch whoever was touching him before their touch could become painful. He wanted to lean into the touch and look for comfort, because his mind was spinning and his knees actually did hurt.

Stan's mind was torn in two different directions, and he felt like he couldn't make a decision, so he didn't. Stan shut down. He curled up on the ground and flinched ever so slightly. The hand drew back quickly, accompanied by a pained sound. Before Stan could even start to hope that he would be left alone he felt the firm touch return as he was picked up.

Stan yelped and his stomach tightened anxiously. "No, don't! Let me go." The hold didn't really feel bad, it was actually kinda gentle and he would have found it comforting at any other time, but right now his mind was telling him that any touch was a bad thing. He'd just broken something, and he was already grounded. He was in so much trouble, and when Stan was in trouble being touched wasn't a good thing, unless Mabel was around.

But Mabel wasn't here.

Stan's body grew tense as the feeling of being in danger heightened. He needed to get out. Stan kicked his feet and squirmed. He wasn't really trying to do any damage, but he was desperate to be free. Stan went on until he suddenly felt his clenched fist impact against skin. Stan froze.

He'd just hit Dipper. He was in trouble for jumping to violence too easily, and now he was hitting him. If he wasn't in trouble before, he definitely was now.

"I'm sorry." Stan said quickly. "I'm sorry, I-I-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Dipper set him down on a chair and knelt in front of him. Dipper was between Stan and the door, so he couldn't run, and his legs were shaking so he doubted he'd be able to run anyway. "Stan, it's okay. I'm not mad. I didn't try to scare you."

"I wasn't scared." Stan grimaced and drew his legs up to his chest. He wasn't supposed to show that he was afraid. He was supposed to be strong. He was the fighter. Fighters didn't get scared. But…but Dipper didn't sound mad, or judgmental, he just sounded concerned.

Dipper looked sad. He reached a hand out, probably to provide some reassuring comfort. Stan flinched ever so slightly and squeezed his eyes shut tight before he even realized what he had done.

"S-Stan?" Now Dipper sounded scared. "Stan, can you look at me, please?" Stan really didn't want to, but he knew better than to avoid eye-contact when it was specifically asked of him. That lesson had been drilled into him years ago. Stan slowly opened his eyes and looked at Dipper.

"Why are you scared of me?" Dipper asked.

"I'm not." Stan said just a little too quickly.

"I'm not mad." Dipper said again. "I'm just worried about you. I don't want you to be hurt, or scared, or whatever this is, and I definitely don't want to be responsible for it. Please, just tell me what's going on. I want to help, but I can't do anything if I don't know what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong." Stan scowled. "I'm fine."

"Stan, take it from somebody that panics about absolutely everything, people don't panic if there's nothing wrong." Dipper said. "Even if it doesn't seem like anything's wrong, if it's bothering you, well, that's worth worrying about, because your feelings are far from nothing."

Stan wrapped his arms around his legs. "I broke something. I hit you. I just…I don't want to be in any more trouble."

"You're not." Dipper said. "The thing you broke was just a cup I forgot to bring back upstairs. It wasn't anything important, and even if it was it was just an accident. And as for hitting me, if your panicking is anything like mine you probably felt like you were in danger. You were just trying to protect yourself."

"B-but I'm not supposed to." Stan said.

"Since when?" Dipper asked. "You're always protecting yourself, and other people. Why are you beating yourself up now because you reacted in self-defense? It's not like you."

"My dad says I'm not supposed to fight back." Stan said. Dipper frowned.

"I thought your dad signed you guys up for boxing just so that you would start fighting back." Dipper said.

"But he doesn't want us fighting him." Stan said like it was obvious. Dipper and Mabel knew how stubborn and proud Stan's dad was. He wasn't exactly the nicest man to be around.

Dipper was quiet for a long moment. He looked sad and scared again. "Stan, why do you flinch away from me when you're upset? Or when I'm mad?"

Stan tapped his fingers on his legs. "I…no reason."

"Please, Stan, talk to me." Dipper said quietly. "Let me help you."

"I don't need help." Stan said. "I can do this on my own."

"Do what?" Dipper asked. Stan fell quiet. Dipper sighed. "Okay, let's try this. Stan, I just need you to nod or shake your head. Does your dad hurt you?"

Stan stiffened and his breath got caught in his throat. He looked at Dipper with wide eyes. He knew what he was supposed to say. He'd been told, both by Dad and by Shermie, what he was supposed to do if he was asked this exact question. But he was so tired and mad all the time. He just wanted it to stop. Maybe Dipper could make it stop. He was really smart, and he could figure out how to stop a demon. If he could stop that, maybe he could stop this. As scary as Stan's dad could be sometimes, he couldn't be nearly as bad as a demon.

Stan took a deep breath and, before he could change his mind, nodded. Dipper took in a shaky breath and rubbed his forehead.

"How bad is it?" Dipper asked. "How often does it happen?"

Stan shrugged. "Every time I mess up really bad, which you know happens all the time." Stan chuckled, both to try to trick himself into calming down, and to make Dipper stop looking at him like that. "How else is he supposed to beat lessons into my thick skull?"

Dipper didn't even crack a smile at the joke, and Stan felt his own smile slip away. "You don't deserve this, you know that, don't you?"

Stan grimaced and shrugged. Dipper's gaze hardened, though his eyes were still compassionate. "Stan, you don't deserve it."

"But it works." Stan said. "He taught me to stop breaking things. I mean, I mess up sometimes," Stan gestured to the broken glass. "But I'm trying."

Dipper looked a little sick. "I don't care if you never break another thing in your life, this isn't okay, and you shouldn't feel scared for your safety every time you make a mistake."

Stan wanted to believe what Dipper was saying, but he couldn't. "But it works. Isn't that evidence that it's good?"

"This isn't a good thing." Dipper insisted. "Nothing that hurts you like this could ever be a good thing." Dipper shook his head. "Why do you listen to Ford now of all times?" Dipper stiffened and suddenly looked terrified. "Wait a minute, what about Ford? Does your dad hurt him too?"

Stan felt the pit in his stomach deepen as his hands started to shake. "F-Ford?" After the morning they'd had Stan had been willing to admit that his great uncle really did care about him, but this felt like a slap in the face. Worse, actually, and Stan would know.

"You find out that I'm getting hurt, but the one you're worrying about is Ford?" Stan's voice shook. It was both from anger and distress, but he leaned into the anger. It was so much easier to deal with.

Dipper's eyes widened in alarm. "I…Stan, that's not what I meant." He reached out to Stan, but the boy slapped his hand away.

"Shut up." Stan growled. "Shut up!" Stan jumped to his feet, ignoring his shaking legs and his caution about stepping towards Dipper. Stan dashed for the door, ducking past Dipper's hand as he reached out to him.

"Stan, wait!" Dipper said.

"Leave me alone!" Stan screamed. He ran out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. He stumbled up the stairs. Stan felt like his legs were going to give out any second, but they didn't let him down.

Stan's eyes were wet, and he wanted nothing more than to grab his blanket, pull it into the closet, and just cry in there, but he refused to do that. He wasn't supposed to cry, and he definitely didn't want to be found by Dipper, and he would be if he stayed around here. Stan ran out of the shack and down the path towards town.

He didn't know exactly where he was going, but he couldn't stay here.

Chapter Text

Dipper was panicking. Stan was hurt. His father was hurting him. Stan was being abused, and Dipper had been completely oblivious to it. It was so obvious now. Dipper remembered the boys' mother mentioning in passing that Stan was accident prone and was always getting hurt, and about a year ago he'd had to go to the hospital with broken ribs. But since they'd started staying here Dipper had seen no such clumsiness from Stan. He could be careless, yes, and frequently threw himself into situations that he should probably avoid, but he had shown himself to be more than capable of getting himself out of a tough situation.

Dipper hadn't thought twice about how odd it was that Stan seemed to get hurt all the time at home when he had no such problem here. He was so busy looking for things that were supernaturally weird that he overlooked weird things that were of a more regular nature.

Everything seemed like it was coming together, like this revelation was the final piece of a puzzle that Dipper hadn't even realized he was putting together. Stan's way of brushing off any danger he may come across. The way that he sometimes did things that just bordered on the edge of wrong, just to see what reaction he would get. He was testing his boundaries. His more aggressive nature and instincts. If it was all he knew, of course it would be his first course of action.

The clue that Dipper was beating himself up most about though was Stan's clear unease around him. He always got upset and closed off whenever Dipper so much as sighed in disappointment. Stan was afraid of him, just like Mabel said, and Dipper had been blind to it.

Dipper finally knew what was going on, and instead of reassuring and comforting Stan he'd just ended up hurting him. Stan had already thought that Dipper liked Ford better, and now he probably thought that it had been confirmed. Dipper still maintained that he didn't. He liked to think that if he found out that Ford was getting hurt at home he would have asked about Stan's well-being, but he went about it in the exact wrong way.

When Stan had run off Dipper had hesitated for just a moment. He wondered if Stan wanted space, or at least not to talk to him. Dipper quickly recovered, but it wasn't fast enough. By the time he'd run after Stan the boy was already running up the stairs. Dipper could run faster than Stan, but he couldn't go up stairs faster than him. Stan's shorter legs actually worked to his advantage.

By the time Dipper got upstairs Stan was nowhere in sight, and he wasn't coming out when Dipper called out to him. He was terrified. Dipper made his way into the attic, desperately hoping that the boy was curled up on his bed, but he couldn't see him. Dipper looked all over the attic, including in the closet and under both beds, but he wasn't there.

Dipper spent the next hour searching every room and crevice in the attic. He even backtracked to the upper levels of the basement, just in case Stan had hidden away in one of them with the hope that Dipper would run right past him. Finally Dipper had to admit defeat. Stan had left the shack. Now Dipper just had to figure out if Stan had run into town, or gone into the woods.

Dipper was just relieved that the golf cart was still in the yard. Stan couldn't be in a good state of mind right now, and Dipper wouldn't want him to be driving anything right now, but especially since he had only learned how to drive it today.

Dipper looked between the woods and the path to town, weighing the pros and cons of each. Dipper just stood there for a long minute before he groaned in frustration and pulled out his phone. Dipper called Mabel as he looked around the shack, keeping an eye out for any sign of Stan.

The phone rang several times, and Dipper felt on edge with every second that went by. Finally the phone was answered.

"Hello." Ford's voice came through.

Hey, uh, Ford." Dipper said. "Can I talk to Mabel?"

"She's driving right now." Ford said. "I can put you on speaker."

Dipper sighed and tapped his fingers against his thigh anxiously. He wished that he had a pen on him so he could click it. He would rather talk to Mabel alone. He didn't know how much he would tell her right now, but he really couldn't be as open with Ford. If the boy didn't know what was going on this wouldn't be the way that Dipper wanted him to learn. He would have to watch his words.

"Yeah, put me on speaker." Dipper said. A moment passed before he heard Mabel's voice.

"Hey, Dipper." Mabel said cheerfully. "How're things going with Stan? Did he love the basement?"

"I, uh, I actually need to talk to you about Stan." Dipper said. "He-"

"You guys didn't get in another fight, did you?" Dipper could hear the frown in Mabel's voice.

"Not exactly." Dipper said. "Listen, if-"

"There has to be a way that you two can get along." Mabel said, more to herself than to Dipper.

"Mabel," Dipper interrupted, but Mabel plowed on.

"Maybe you can have him teach you how to play poker." Mabel suggested. It was a good idea, but not at all what Dipper was looking for right now.

"Mabel!" Dipper nearly shouted.

"What?" Mabel said.

"Stan's gone." Dipper said. "I was an idiot, and he got upset and ran off, and I don't know where to look for him."

"You lost Stan?" Mabel said. She got passionate about a lot of things, but especially family. She sounded just seconds away from turning the car around and rushing back home. "What did you do?"

"I wasn't thinking before I spoke." Dipper said. "And now he probably thinks that I like Ford better than I like him."

"Dipper, that's the opposite of what you were supposed to do." Mabel scolded.

"I know, I know, I messed up." Dipper said. "Do you know where I can find him?" They would talk so much more about this later, but right now the most important thing was finding Stan and making sure he was okay.

Mabel sighed and hummed. "Is Jimmy back in town yet? Maybe Stan went to find him."

Dipper shook his head, even though Mabel couldn't see it. "He and Maria are still gone."

"Oh, maybe he went to see Soos." Ford suggested. "Or the Stan O'War."

"You can call Wendy." Mabel said. "She and her brothers could probably cover a lot of ground."

"Right, right, okay." Dipper took a deep breath. He felt a little better now that he had at least an idea of what he was doing. Just because Mabel wasn't here didn't mean that he had to do this all by himself. "I'll figure it out."

"Do you know what you're going to say to Stan when you find him?" Mabel asked. "I can't believe I'm encouraging you to come up with a plan, but sometimes it's maybe better to know what you're saying before you just blurt it out."

"Yeah, I know what I'm doing." Dipper said. He was going to apologize, explain himself, and then give Stan the chance to talk about how he was feeling and where he wanted to go from here. "I think we just need to talk more about what happened."

"What did happen anyway?" Mabel asked.

Dipper grimaced. "It's complicated." Stan being hurt by his dad was actually a very simple matter, but what they did about it and how they addressed it was beyond complicated, and not something that Dipper wanted to talk about over the phone. Especially not when Stan was still missing and Ford was right there listening in to the conversation.

"I'll tell you when you get home." Dipper said.

"Do you need us to come home early?" Mabel asked.

"No, no, I'm fine." Dipper said. Ford had been looking forward to this trip for so long. Besides, by now Mabel and Ford were closer to their destination than they were to home. "I can take care of Stan."

"Well, if you're sure." Mabel said slowly. "Just call if you need anything, and tell me when you find Stan. And try not to go too hard on him."

"I won't." Dipper said. Right now the fact that Stan had run off despite being grounded was the last thing on his mind. He just wanted to make sure that Stan was okay, both physically and emotionally. "I'll call you later."

"Good luck." Mabel said. They said goodbye and Dipper hung up, only to call the Ramirez phone number. An slightly accented voice answered.

"Hello, Soos," Dipper said. "It's Dipper Pines, from the Mystery Shack."

"O-oh, hello Mr. Pines." Soos said just a little bit too loudly and obviously. Dipper heard a familiar voice in the background exclaim 'What?!' and 'Hang up'. He breathed a sigh of relief. Stan was there. He clearly didn't want Dipper to know where he was, which stung, but was to be expected. That was fine. Dipper was just glad to know that Stan was okay.

"I'm looking for Stan." Dipper said. "Have you seen him?"

"Uh, let me check." Soos said. When he next spoke his tone was slightly muffled, and Dipper imagined that he had brought the phone away from his mouth and covered the receiver in an attempt to not be overheard when he talked to Stan. "What do I say?" There was some muttering on the other end before Soos addressed Dipper again. "Stan says he's not here." Dipper could hear the boy protesting loudly in the background. "I mean, he's not here."

"Okay, well, can you keep an eye out for him?" Dipper asked. "I'm really worried about him."

Soos' voice was muffled again. "Dude, he says he's worried about you." Stan muttered a response. "He sounds like he means it." More of a disagreement from Stan. "Are you sure? Well, you're the boss."

"Hey, Soos, if you do happen to see Stan, can you do me a favor?" Dipper asked.

"Whatever you need, Mr. Pines." Soos said. There was a moment of muttering from Stan. "Okay, okay, almost anything."

Dipper had no idea who Soos and Stan thought they were fooling. They were being so obvious. He wasn't about to complain though. This gave him the chance to talk to Stan without the boy feeling like this was a confrontation.

"Can you tell him I'm sorry?" Dipper said. "I said some things that sounded really bad and insensitive. Not that it's Stan's fault that he took it the wrong way. This is all on me, and I'm sorry." It felt so weird to be apologizing through someone else, but it didn't feel right to communicate with Stan, even like this, and not say sorry. Dipper would apologize again when he was given the chance, but he might as well get started now.

"And I'm planning on having breakfast at the diner first thing in the morning." Dipper continued as he came up with a sudden idea. "If Stan's willing to give me a chance, I'd love to meet up with him there. If he's not comfortable with it, that's fine too."

"I'll let him know." Soos said quietly. He sounded slightly emotional. At least Dipper wasn't the only one. "You know, if I see him."

"Of course." Dipper said. He heard some muttering from Stan on the other end of the phone. He couldn't understand what was being said, but Soos soon caught him up.

"If I do see Stan, and if he maybe doesn't want to go home yet, can I invite him to spend the night?" Soos asked.

Dipper smiled slightly. "That sounds like a great idea. Thank you." It would give Stan the chance to calm down and feel safe for a few more hours. Hopefully come morning he'd feel ready to talk. If not, then Dipper would see if Soos would be willing to house Stan just for a few days until Mabel came home and she could take up the role of mediator. Dipper would rather it didn't come to that, but he was willing to do whatever Stan felt comfortable with.

Dipper would have loved to talk to Stan himself, or even relay a few messages to him through Soos, but anything that he could say was better said in person. Stan was probably really anxious with the thought of being discovered. Besides, Dipper needed to tell Mabel that he found Stan before she freaked herself out.

Dipper wished Soos well and hung up, only to immediately call Mabel back. The phone was answered after just one ring.

"Dipper, is he-" Mabel said frantically.

"Stan's okay." Dipper said. He heard his sister breathe a sigh of relief. "Ford was right, he was at Soos' place. He'll be spending the night there."

"Are you sure Stan's okay?" Ford's voice timidly asked.

That was a far more difficult question than Dipper was comfortable with. Stan was definitely not okay, but if he said as much then Mabel and Ford would both just freak out.

"He will be." Dipper ultimately said. He would personally see to it that Stan was okay, he just had to figure out how to accomplish that.

Dipper spent all night trying to do research and coming up with a plan of where to go from here. He wasn't about to send Stan or Ford back to their father, but it was one thing to know what they weren't going to do, and another to know what should be done.

First and foremost, after talking to Mabel they would have to call the boys' mother. They needed to find out if she knew what was going on, and if she didn't then she should know. Would they be able to send the boys back home to her, or would it be safer for them to stay here? Did Dipper and Mabel have the means of taking care of the boys permanently?

If Stan and Ford did stay here they would need to get all of their paperwork and belongings from home, enroll them in school, fix up the attic so that it would be okay for long-term staying instead of just a few months.

Whether Stan and Ford stayed here just for the summer or a bit longer, Dipper would feel a lot better if he could get Stan a doctor's appointment. He wanted to make sure that he was actually healthy. He also wanted Stan to see a therapist. They'd probably be able to help Stan so much more than Dipper and Mabel could on their own.

Did they have the money for that kind of thing? Dipper and Mabel weren't hurting financially, but they didn't have a lot to spare, and doctors visits and therapy sessions could be really expensive. Just raising kids in general could be expensive. Maybe Dipper could see if the high school needed any substitute teachers this coming school year, or if that ghost hunters club a few towns over was still looking for a guide.

Dipper spent all night thinking of half baked plans. By the time morning came he never felt less like sleeping in his life, but he was exhausted. It had been a really long day. He needed some coffee, and probably some food. It was a good thing he was already planning on going to Greasy's Diner. He just hoped that Stan was willing to meet him there, if not, then Dipper would just have to pick up a chocolate shake and drop it off at Soos' place. Whether Stan was up to talking to him or not, he still deserved a sweet treat.

Dipper didn't trust himself to drive the golf cart right now, so he walked to town, shivering in the morning chill with every step he took. By the time he got to the diner he was feeling a lot more awake, but a lot more cold. Coffee still sounded really good.

It was still early enough that Dipper had beat the morning rush. There were only a few people there, but Dipper only had eyes for two of them.

"Stan," Dipper slowly approached their booth. "Mind if I join you?"

"...Sure." Stan said. He wasn't looking at Dipper, but he didn't seem to be ducking away in terror either. He just looked tired. Dipper could relate.

"Do you want me to sit next to you, or next to Soos?" Dipper asked. He didn't want to crowd Stan and make him uncomfortable, but he didn't know if the boy would rather have a little bit of distance, or if he would be more uncomfortable if there was a whole table between them, making it less personal.

"Um, next to me." Stan said. "But you get the window seat."

"Fair enough." Dipper said. He was more than happy to give Stan the more open seat if it helped him feel less crowded.

"Do you dudes need some space?" Soos asked.

"No." Stan said quickly. "Please don't leave."

Soos smiled and nodded as he leaned back and made himself more comfortable. "You got it, dawg.

Their waitress, a girl named Susan who looked like she was just a few years older than Stan and Ford, came to take their order. Dipper got his coffee and ordered some pancakes and, after some begging from Stan, a side of bacon.

"Just don't tell your mother." Dipper said. He didn't want to face her wrath.

"Hey, I don't have a death wish." Stan said as he sipped on the milkshake that Soos had gotten for him before Dipper had arrived.

"So, do you think you're up for talking?" Dipper asked as they waited for their food. "It's okay if you're not, but I'm here to listen if you want."

Stan was quiet for a minute as he kicked his feet. "Am I in trouble for running off when I'm grounded?"

"I think I can cut you a break this time." Dipper said. "I'm not mad, really I'm not. I was just worried. If you feel like you need space again, please just tell me where you're going so I don't worry myself sick about you."

"Yeah, okay." Stan said. He looked calmer now that he knew that he wasn't in trouble. "By the way, I don't think Pa has ever laid a hand on Ford."

Dipper flinched as a pit in his stomach formed. "I'm so sorry. I didn't…I shouldn't have tried to focus on Ford when I should've been worried about you."

"It's fine." Stan said. "I think I know what you meant, I just didn't want to listen to it yesterday." Stan sighed. "I still don't really want to listen to it. I don't want to think about any of this." Stan pouted. "Staying here was supposed to be my chance to forget about everything going on at home."

"Yeah," Dipper rubbed the back of his neck. He felt bad that he couldn't provide that for Stan, but they really did need to talk about this. They didn't have to talk about it now though. "Well, the others aren't supposed to be back until tomorrow night. We have almost two full days to do whatever you want."

Stan smiled broadly. "Like getting pizza for dinner? Or playing laser tag with Soos? Can we take the Stan O'War on a test sail on the lake?"

"I thought the Stan O'War was just for you and your brother." Dipper said. Stan was protective of the old boat they'd found at the lake. The boy barely let Dipper and Mabel look it over to make sure that it was safe.

"I think we got it okay, but Ford says we can't sail on it unless we have the okay from you guys." Stan said. "If we go on a test sail, you can tell Ford that there's nothing wrong with it."

"You've got it all planned out, don't you?" Dipper chuckled. It was nice to see some enthusiasm from Stan, and Dipper wasn't about to complain about being included in the twins' passion project. Despite everything that had happened, and all the ways that Dipper messed up, Stan trusted him with something that meant so much to him.

"How about we spend the morning at the lake, and then do laser tag before picking up some pizza and seeing if there's anything good on tv tonight." Dipper said.

"Yes!" Stan cheered. "This is going to be so much fun." It was going to be an eventful day. Dipper didn't quite feel up to a long day, but he would bear through it if it made Stan happy. He owed him that much.

Dipper knew that Stan's good mood wouldn't last. They'd all probably have an emotionally exhausting night tomorrow when they actually sat down and talked things through, but until then Dipper was determined to make Stan's day as enjoyable as he could. Today was dedicated to distractions and avoidance. They could tackle all of the bad stuff later.

Chapter Text

Ford had been looking forward to this book signing since the moment he had first heard of it, but it was hard to enjoy himself when he was worried about Stan. It was annoying. Ford knew that his brother was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. If he'd gotten himself into trouble he would probably be able to either sweet talk or punch his way out of it.

The only reason why Ford was worried was because of how concerned Dipper and Mabel seemed to be. Dipper had sounded like he was about to freak out over the phone, and Mabel seemed to be second-guessing her decision to come out here with Ford, and she barely second guessed anything.

Ford felt a little bit better after they'd gotten word that Stan was fine, but it was hard to relax completely. Something was wrong, and he didn't know exactly what. Ford hated not knowing things. He spent all night worrying about it and was barely able to get any sleep. The next day his concern lessened just a little bit. He would soon be at the book signing, and he didn't even have to worry about Stan because his brother would be talking to Dipper,and Ford was confident that his great uncle could solve any problem, even if that problem was Stan.

Ford gave up trying to sleep at about six in the morning. He didn't see any point in continuing to sleep now. Ford climbed out of the hotel bed and slipped on some shoes. He didn't quite feel like getting dressed, but he was hungry and wanted some of the cheap hotel breakfast that was provided. Ford decided to compromise by pulling a jacket over his pajama shirt. The sweatpants that he wore to sleep passed enough as normal pants that he didn't think he'd be judged too badly by the other early morning risers.

Ford grabbed his room key and slipped out. The hallways were deserted, and Ford couldn't help but wonder if this was one of the numerous hotels rumored to be haunted. Maybe after eating breakfast he could have time to investigate before Mabel woke up.

Not for the first time since this journey started Ford wished that Dipper was here with him, so they could ghost hunt together, and Mabel was back home with Stan, making sure that he was okay.

There weren't a lot of options for breakfast, but Ford was able to grab a muffin, some cereal, and a cup of hot chocolate. As Ford ate he pulled his well-loved book out and read it at the table. It was a habit that Pa would never allow at home, but Dipper and Mabel had no problem with it.

Ford got maybe a little too involved with his book, as his cereal ended up getting soggy and his hot chocolate cooled down to room temperature. At least his muffin was still good. By the time Ford was done eating Mabel was making her way into the room. She looked a little stressed, but when she saw Ford she immediately relaxed.

"There you are." Mabel pulled up a chair next to Ford, taking a bite of his muffin. "Don't run off on me like that. I've already had one great nephew disappear, I don't need another one."

"Stan didn't disappear." Ford frowned. "He's with Soos."

"Just write a note next time." Mabel said. That was one thing that Ford didn't think he'd ever get used to. At home their Pa didn't want to be asked permission for every little thing. If they went out, they could just leave, just as long as they didn't get themselves in trouble that he would have to bail them out of. With Mabel and Dipper they were always willing to help Stan and Ford out of any trouble they fell into, but they were always supposed to at least tell them where they were going.

"I'll try to remember." Ford said.

Mabel got up to get her own breakfast, and she soon returned. "So, on a scale from one to ten thousand how excited are you about today?"

"Ninety five hundred." Ford said. "I like to leave extra room for more excitement."

"That's what I like to hear." Mabel smiled. "Do you have any questions in mind to ask the author?"

"Actually, I do." Ford pulled out a notebook. "I think I've narrowed it down to a dozen questions, arranged by priority, just in case there's a limit to how much I'm allowed to ask.

Mabel snorted and very quickly covered her mouth. Ford frowned slightly. Was she making fun of him? Mabel shook her head. "Sorry, sorry, I'm not laughing at you. You just remind me so much of Dipper sometimes." It still sounded like she was teasing him, but Ford couldn't bring himself to be insulted. He looked up to his great uncle, and he considered it a good thing to be compared to him.

"So, what kind of questions were you thinking of?" Mabel asked as she started eating. That was enough to get Ford started.

"Okay, first off I was thinking of asking about General Halnerik." Ford turned the pages of his notebook to find the part where he had written down theories and ideas from the series. He pointed at one of his comments. "All throughout the third book Halnerik acts uncharacteristically cruel, even for him. I didn't think much about it at first, because maybe he was just having a hard day, and he didn't play a big role in that book anyway, but at the end of the seventh book it's confirmed that alternate universes and dimensions are canon, so now I want to know if the General Halnerik in the third book is actually another Halnerik from another dimension."

Ford began to go on and on about the different pieces of evidence he'd found, beyond just the questionable character moments. It was clear that Mabel didn't really understand what he was saying, but she listened and asked questions. She paid attention to him, and Ford appreciated it.

Ford got so caught up with explaining his theories that he lost all track of time. He had wanted to be at the bookstore first thing when it opened so that he could be the first in line, but when Mabel interrupted his rambling to ask if he wanted to get going it was a few minutes before the store opened, and they still needed to get there.

The hotel they had chosen was a twenty minute walk from the bookstore. With all of Ford and Dipper's books it would probably be smarter to take the car, but Mabel said that exercise was good for them. They piled the books into a wagon that she'd brought, and they were on their way.

Ford felt like he should be annoyed about the inefficiency, but he found that he really didn't mind it. Walking with his great aunt was a lot more enjoyable than driving.

By the time they got to the bookstore there was already a decent line. Ford knew there would be a crowd, because this author was very popular and was going around promoting a new book that was coming out in a few months. The wait wasn't too bad. Mabel made a game of picking up the closest book, turning to a random page, reading the first sentence she saw, and trying to guess what the rest of the book was about just based off of that.

Ford really couldn't help but be amused, and when Mabel gave him a gentle push to give it a try for himself he went along with it. They took turns playing this guessing game, hushing each other when they started to giggle just a bit too loudly. Finally it was Ford's turn.

He was only allowed to ask one question, which was fair enough, since there were a number of people behind him waiting for their turn. Ford asked about General Halnerik and his theory. The author just grinned, gave him a small wink, and told him he would have to read the next book when it came out. Ford had been excited for the new book before, but now he couldn't wait.

It took several minutes for them to get all of their books signed. The people in line would have probably lost their patience, but Mabel had a certain way of charming people. She chatted up the waiting folks, making them laugh and smile as Ford got all the signatures, as well as a few written comments from the author.

Ford's moment only lasted for a few minutes, but he was sure he would remember it for the rest of his life, or at least for a very long time. He hugged the third book close to his chest, reveling in the comment that had been written on the inside cover, telling him to keep theorizing.

After they were done Ford and Mabel browsed the bookstore for a little bit. Mabel was looking for inspiration for her crafts, and Ford was trying to find a book that Stan might appreciate. He felt a little bad that Stan had only been grounded because he'd been standing up for Ford. Stan had a tendency to stumble into trouble, but Ford couldn't help but remember all the times when his brother had gotten into trouble because he'd been defending him. Would Stan get into nearly as much trouble if Ford just stood up for himself?

Ford felt like he owed Stan at least a book, because it didn't seem fair that he got to go on a trip while Stan was grounded. Besides, whenever Stan got to go somewhere without Ford he always brought him home a souvenir. It was just fair that Ford returned the favor.

It was really hard to find a book that he might like. Stan wasn't much of a reader. Even if it was a topic that he was really interested in, Stan was reluctant to read, because he thought that it was too much like homework. After a fair amount of searching Ford found a book all about how to trick people. He thought that the book leaned towards magicians, because it was all about misdirecting an audience with words and body language, but he thought that Stan might figure out how to put more practical use into this anyway.

Pleased with the book he had found, Ford joined Mabel at the checkout counter. She had a number of crafting books that she was getting, as well as a book that Ford assumed was for Dipper, because it was all about the paranormal myths and urban legends in California. After making their purchases they left the store and started to make their way back to the hotel.

"So, we have the whole day ahead of us." Mabel said cheerfully as they walked. "What do you want to do?"

Ford hadn't thought a lot about what he wanted from this trip besides the book signing. Honestly, he would have been content to sit in the hotel room and read his books. He knew that if Dipper was here he would want to investigate the local haunts, and Ford would have been more than happy to join him, but it felt wrong to go ghost hunting without his great uncle.

As Ford tried to think of what he wanted to do there was just one thing coming to mind. "I think I just want to go home."

Mabel grimaced. "I want to give Dipper and Stan time to figure things out on their own. They'll never get along if we're always holding their hands."

Ford looked at the ground. "I guess you're right."

Mabel hummed thoughtfully. "Do you really want to go home?"

Ford shrugged. "I never really like being out of the house. Stan's always the one that's dragging me out on adventures." It was so frustrating. Ford had been trying to figure out who he was outside of Stan's twin. He wanted to be his own person, but every time he was given the chance to be by himself he never knew what to do. He always ended up crawling back to Stan, and then resenting his brother like he was the one that was dragging him back. It wasn't fair, for either of them.

Mabel was quiet for a long minute before she smiled at Ford. "Tell you what, why don't we sightsee for a bit, see if we can't find something fun to do, and if you still want to call it a day after dinner then we can be on our way back. We can be home by tomorrow morning, instead of tomorrow night."

Ford frowned slightly. It sounded fair enough. "Okay, we can do that." It wasn't quite what Ford wanted, but it wasn't what Mabel had originally planned either. It was a compromise. "Will you be okay driving tonight? Won't you get tired?"

"I'll be fine." Mabel waved away his concern. "I'll just make myself some Mabel juice. It'll keep me awake all night."

"If you say so." Ford was uncertain about how much he trusted his great aunt's driving when she was on a sugar high, but he wasn't as willing to go against authority as Stan was.

After they dropped the books off at their motel room they got into the car and drove downtown. Ford didn't know exactly what they were going to be doing, but Mabel was really into spontaneity. She just drove until something caught her interest. They ended up visiting a farmer's market, because Mabel loved to see what locals had to offer. They found some fresh lunch there, and it was really nice. Ford didn't think he'd ever had farm fresh food before. It wasn't as though there were a lot of farming communities near Glass Shard Beach.

When they left the farmer's market they went to a local tourist trap that centered around the supernatural. It was supposed to be so scary that they were advised that Ford was a little young to go through it, but he just found it funny. He'd seen real ghosts and monsters, and these supposedly haunted paintings and stories didn't hold a candle to that.

Ford and Mabel had themselves a good laugh, and Mabel even talked about how she could use some of these things as inspiration for some new exhibits at the Mystery Shack.

Finally, they went down a hiking trail. Ford hadn't been nearly as excited as Mabel was about it, but he ended up enjoying it quite a bit more than he thought he would. Mabel was right, there was a big difference between running away from the monsters in the woods back home, and actually going through a casual, not at all dangerous stroll. It wasn't Ford's favorite activity in the world, but it was nice.

They browsed a few stores on their way back to the hotel, but didn't buy anything else. After a long day and having a night with little sleep Ford was exhausted. Fortunately, he didn't have to stay awake.

"You still want to leave?" Mabel asked.

"If that's okay." Ford said as they stepped into the hotel room.

"Of course it's okay." Mabel said. "Let's get the car packed up." Neither of them had packed very much, since they'd only meant to be gone for a few days. It took just one trip for Ford and Mabel to get their bags and the wagon of books to the car. Ford climbed into the backseat, and Mabel didn't say a word about it. Ford didn't know why she had changed her mind about him sitting back there, but he appreciated it anyway.

They drove for a bit before grabbing some dinner, as well as ingredients for Mabel to put together her own batch of Mabel juice. Ford's burger was a little bland, and his fries were a touch too salty, but for somebody who rarely got to go out to eat he thought that it was a real treat. After Ford finished the shake that Mabel had insisted he get he leaned back and dozed off a little bit.

Ford thought he would just take a short nap, but when he woke up it was dark out. Ford shifted, grimacing when he stretched out his sore neck. Sleeping in the car felt even worse than sleeping at his desk, or maybe he just wasn't used to it.

"Are we home yet?" Ford muttered as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Mabel looked at him through the rear-view mirror.

"Not yet." She said. "We still have a few hours to go. You can go back to sleep."

"No, I'm good." Ford was still feeling a little tired, but he'd never been very good at falling back asleep after waking up. He thought about reading to pass the time, but it was dark out, and if he used a flashlight he might distract Mabel from her driving. "Can we continue that audio book we started?"

Mabel beamed broadly. "I thought you hated that book. You went on and on about how inaccurate the fairies and gnomes were."

Ford felt his face go red. "Just because there are certain inaccuracies doesn't mean that I don't enjoy it…to a certain extent."

Mabel gasped dramatically. "You love it!"

Ford huffed and crossed his arms. "Love is such a strong word."

"Strong but accurate." Mabel said teasingly. She tossed her phone to the back and Ford fumbled to catch it. "Go ahead and set it up." Ford started the book, and leaned back and relaxed as the sound of the book started to play over the car's radio. Ford preferred to read books for himself, but it could be very relaxing to listen to somebody else read to him.

Ford listened to the story of a young goth girl who found out that she was a wereunicorn, and she had to adjust to the sudden realization that magic was real, while at the same time finding a balance between her pessimistic grumpiness and her feminine, sparkly, magical side. It was absolutely ridiculous, but there was just something about it that pulled Ford in.

They listened to the book for the last few hours until they reached Gravity Falls, just when the story was starting to get interesting. Ford hated dropping stories in the middle, so when Mabel offered to continue reading the book with him later, he happily agreed.

They pulled up to the shack, but stayed in the car for another few minutes, because they were so close to the end of a chapter. Once they reached a good stopping point Mabel turned off the car. They grabbed their things and made their way inside.

It was really early in the morning, as the sun was just barely starting to rise, but Mabel didn't let that stop her.

"Dipper! Stan!" Mabel shouted into the house. "We're home!"

There was a thumping sound, followed by a clattering and a few muttered curses from the living room. Ford left the bags in the hall and went to go see what had happened. He found Dipper sitting in the armchair, looking stunned. A bowl with popcorn remnants was spilled on the floor, and Stan was sitting on the ground, rubbing his rump. It looked like he'd been sleeping on the chair next to Dipper, but when he'd been startled awake he had fallen.

Stan glared up at Ford, but his eyes softened when he recognized him. "Ford! You're back." Stan scrambled to his feet and stumbled a bit as he ran to Ford and tackled him in a hug. "I thought you weren't going to be back until tonight."

"We left early." Ford pushed Stan off of him.

"What, was it so nerdy and boring even for you?" Stan snorted.

"Not even close." Ford said. "I just wanted to be home."

"Is Mabel here?" Dipper asked. He sounded urgent. Stan and Ford gave him odd looks.

"Uh, yeah, she's here." Ford said.

"Unless Ford drove himself." Stan said dryly.

"Great." Dipper pushed himself to his feet. He looked like a man on a mission. "I need to talk to her." Dipper walked out of the room. Stan's eyes widened. He ran up to Dipper and grabbed his arm, trying to pull him back.

"Wait!" Stan said desperately. "You said you'd talk to her tonight."

"I said I'd talk to her when they got home." Dipper said. He knelt on the ground, bringing himself to Stan's level. "I know you don't want to think about it, but this is really important and it's something that we need to talk about."

Stan grimaced, almost looking afraid. Ford found himself feeling afraid himself. What was going on with his brother?

"Can't we wait a little longer?" Stan asked.

"I'm afraid not." Dipper said sympathetically. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay. I promise." Dipper ruffled Stan's hair and stood up. "Tell you what, I'll take care of talking to Mabel, and then we can tackle telling Ford and your mom together."

"Tell us what?" Ford had a hard time imagining just what they would need to talk to their mom about. "What's going on?" He looked between Dipper and Stan. They both looked so serious. "Are you sending us home?"

"No." Dipper growled fiercely. "You're not going home. Not if there's anything I can do about it." He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Why don't you guys go to the attic for a few minutes while I talk to my sister?"

"Fine." Stan grabbed Ford's hand and pulled him towards the stairs. Mabel cheerfully greeted Stan and looked like she wanted a hug, but he ducked away from her and continued up the stairs. Stan pushed Ford into the attic, slammed the door shut, and groaned dramatically as he slid to the floor.

"I'm not ready for this." Stan said.

"Ready for what?" Ford sat down next to his brother. "What's wrong? Does it have something to do with what happened this weekend?"

Stan pulled his legs close to his chest and wrapped his arms around his knees. "I guess so."

Ford frowned. "You know you can talk to me, right? I mean, we talk to each other about everything."

"Not everything." Stan muttered. "I didn't want you to know about this. Nobody else was supposed to know." Stan buried his face in his legs. "I shouldn't have opened my fat mouth."

Ford didn't know what he was supposed to do. It wasn't like Stan to be so uncertain. Ford was still getting used to seeing his brother being emotional at all. At home he was always hiding behind a mask. He still had a mask on here, but since they had come to Gravity Falls cracks had started to appear, showing the real Stan peeking through. Right now it was as though all of those cracks had shattered, leaving Stan vulnerable and completely unprotected. Ford just wished that he knew what his brother felt the need to protect himself from.

Stan and Ford sat in silence for a few minutes. The only thing that broke the quiet was a loud shout from downstairs from Mabel. Stan stiffened as they heard some stomping up the stairs, but it suddenly quieted before reaching the top. They heard some muttering from Dipper, a quiet response from Mabel, and then it sounded like they were walking back downstairs.

Stan took a deep breath and slowly unfolded from himself. He leaned against Ford, resting his head on his shoulder. All that Ford could do was sit there awkwardly.

"...Sixer, are you going to be mad at me for keeping a secret from you?" Stan asked.

"Well, it depends on the secret, I guess." Ford said. "And how long you've been keeping it a secret." He had no intention of getting mad at his brother, but he couldn't in good conscience promise that he wouldn't get mad when he didn't know what was going on.

Stan grimaced. "Since we were six." Ford felt a rush of fear.

"No, I won't get mad at you." Ford knew that his brother had a tendency to speak his mind. He rarely ever had secrets. If Ford learned that Stan's secret was something he'd only been keeping to himself for a few days, he wouldn't have gotten mad, because Ford had been gone during that time, so it barely counted as a secret. If he'd been keeping a secret for several weeks, Ford probably would have gotten mad at his brother for keeping something from him for so long.

This though, keeping a secret for seven years, that was a very long time. Stan had been keeping a secret for half their life. It had to be something very important for him to keep it to himself for this long. Ford couldn't bring himself to get mad at his brother for something that was bothering him so much

Stan relaxed slightly, like hearing that Ford wouldn't be mad at him was all that he needed to give him courage to continue.

"Okay, okay, I'm just going to blurt it out." Stan said.

"You don't have to." Ford said. "We can wait for Dipper."

"The waiting is just making it worse." Stan squeezed his eyes shut tight. "Look, Pa hits me."

Ford felt like he couldn't breathe. He was sure that he had heard wrong. He was about to ask Stan to repeat himself, but his brother continued before he could say anything.

"Every time I mess up badly at home, like when I get a bad grade or break something in the shop, Pa gets mad." Stan said. He rubbed the back of his hand. "And when he gets mad he tries to knock some sense into me."

"Pa…Pa hurts you?" Ford's voice shook. His first instinct was to deny it, but he couldn't. He remembered all the times when Stan would be just fine when they got home from school, but then he would wander into his room after grabbing a snack and he had either a nosebleed, or a swollen eye, or something else. He said that he ran into the wall, or tripped over his own feet. If it happened once or twice, fine, but this happened all the time, at least a few times every week.

"Yeah." Stan said quietly.

"And he's been doing it since we were six?" Ford was aghast. What kind of brother was he, that he didn't notice something that was happening right under his nose?

"Yeah." Stan curled against him. "It wasn't as bad when we were little. It just happened sometimes, but lately it's been getting really bad."

A horrifying thought came to Ford's mind. "What about that time you fell down the stairs and had to go to the hospital with fractured ribs?" Ford had stayed late at school that day, and when he got home it was to find that nobody was there. Ford had been uneasy, but he'd been old enough to take care of himself for a few hours.

It wasn't until after his family came home from the hospital did Ford even find out that his brother had gotten hurt. He'd been scared at the time, but knowing that it was possible that it might not have been an accident, and that their dad might have pushed Stan down the stairs, it was horrifying.

Stan sighed. He sounded tired. "Yeah, that was Pa. He was really mad. I don't even remember what I did to make him so mad." Stan said it so casually, like it was normal for a twelve year old to need to go to the hospital because their dad had pushed them down the stairs.

Ford felt tears come to his eyes. He shifted so he could cling to Stan and hug him tightly. Stan was stiff for a long moment before he melted into Ford's embrace. He wrapped his arms around him, leaning in close.

"I'm sorry." Ford said. His voice shook. He was sure that if he wasn't holding his brother so tightly then he might be shaking all over. "How…how could I have not noticed?"

"I didn't want you to know." Stan said. "I tried so hard to not let anybody know." Stan somehow burrowed closer to Ford. "How am I supposed to protect you when I can't even protect myself?"

"We can protect each other." Ford said. "I can get stronger so I can help you." Ford had never been interested in learning how to fight. He didn't think there was any point in it. He would rather fight with his mind, and if he ever came across a situation where physical violence was unavoidable he could just count on Stan for that kind of thing. Ford had never considered that his brother would need some protection himself.

Ford had been blind. No more. He knew the truth, and he wasn't going to just turn the other way. Stan wasn't going to get hurt again. Not if there was anything Ford could do about it. Stan had been there for Ford, and now it was his turn to return the favor.

Chapter Text

Stan and Ford sat side by side in the attic for a long time, not really talking. They just sat, and when Stan occasionally got overwhelmed and either started crying or pounding his fist harshly on the ground Ford would stay there with him until he calmed down. Ford didn't judge him. He didn't say that Stan was overreacting, he was just there for him, and that meant a lot more to Ford than he knew how to express.

Eventually they heard cautious footsteps coming upstairs and a gentle knock on the door. Ford looked at Stan.

"Are you ready to talk to the others?" Ford asked.

"No." Stan said. He didn't think he'd ever be ready, but maybe he'd feel better after he got it over with. Stan pushed himself to his feet and slowly opened the door to see Dipper standing there. "How'd it go?"

"Well, I convinced my sister to not kill your father, so it went about as well as I thought it would." Dipper said. He looked at Ford, who looked sheepish and upset. Dipper gave him a sympathetic look. "I guess Stan already told you what's going on."

"A bit." Ford said quietly.

"Well, at least that's one less conversation we'll have to have." Dipper said with forced optimism. "Now it's just a matter of telling your mother and convincing her to not smother Filbrick in his sleep tonight."

Despite the twisting in his gut Stan couldn't help but snort in amusement. His mother would tear their father to pieces. A part of Stan was worried that his mom might get hurt if she upset Pa, but another part of him really wanted to see Pa even try to lay a hand on her.

"He'd deserve it." Ford said darkly in a tone that Stan wasn't used to hearing from him. He looked at his brother in shock. Dipper gave them both concerned looks.

"Okay, that will need to be talked about." Dipper said. He knelt to be at their level. "Guys, violence isn't the answer to violence."

"But Pa only responds to violence." Stan said. Ford nodded in agreement. Their father was a very hard man to impress, and he only gave respect to those that had impressed him. The easiest way to impress him was by showing that you weren't able to be pushed around, that you could fight past the odds and do something that most people couldn't. How else was somebody supposed to fight the odds except by, well, fighting?

"You two are so much better than him." Dipper said. "Please, don't stoop to his level. You're better than that."

Stan pouted and crossed his arms. He didn't understand how Dipper could say that he was better than anything. He was already doing his best. How could he be better than his best?

"Come on." Dipper stood up and put a hand on each of their shoulders. "Mabel's stress baking. We should probably go see her before she makes so much that we have to have another bake sale."

Stan didn't want to go downstairs. He didn't want to deal with all of the cuddles and babying that Mabel would surely give him, but if he hid away up here he wouldn't be anything more than a coward.

Stan let Dipper lead him downstairs. Ford scooted closer to him and took his hand. Stan hadn't ever needed to rely on holding hands to make himself feel calm. That was more Ford's thing. He was the one that wanted to hold Stan's hand when they walked into school at the start of a new school year. Ford took any chance he could to hide his hands, and holding hands was the best way to do that.

Stan gave Ford's hand a squeeze. He did find it a little bit comforting, though he thought that was more because he had his brother with him than because of the hand holding.

Downstairs they found Mabel in the kitchen. She was busy baking, just like Dipper said she was. Dipper cleared his throat, and Mabel whirled around. Her eyes were red, and Stan felt bad. He'd never seen Mabel cry before, and the knowledge that she was upset because of him hurt.

"Stan." Mabel said. Her voice shook, but she tried to smile. Stan recognized when somebody was putting on a brave face. "C-can I hug you?"

Stan looked at Ford, tightening his grip on his hand. Ford gave him a small smile and tapped his fingers one at a time against the back of Stan's hand. He didn't have to say a word. Stan knew that he wasn't going to let go unless he wanted him to.

"Yeah, sure." Stan said quietly. Mabel stepped forward and pulled both Stan and Ford into her arms, giving them a tight squeeze. Stan felt a little bit better about this hug since he wasn't the only one getting it.

"You're so strong." Mabel said into Stan's ear. "And you know I'm always right about everything, so don't you dare listen to anybody who says otherwise."

"Even if it's my own stupid head?" Stan asked. Ford squeezed his hand and Mabel tightened her grip on them so much that Stan felt like his breath was squished right out of him.

"You're not stupid." Ford and Dipper said fiercely.

"You just need a little bit of extra help with school." Mabel said. "I did too, when I was younger, and you don't think that I'm stupid, do you?"

"Of course not." Stan said. He was ready to beat up anybody that so much as thought such a thing about his great aunt.

"Well, there you go." Mabel said, like that solved everything, even though Stan was pretty sure that the reason why he had a hard time with school was a lot different than why Mabel used to have a hard time.

"We'll figure something out." Dipper said. "The schools in Gravity Falls are small, but they're really good. I'm sure the both of you will thrive."

Stan's eyes widened and he pulled away from Mabel to give Dipper a look of shock. Ford looked just as stunned as he did.

"What are you talking about?" Ford asked.

Mabel shot her brother a look, and Dipper looked a little sheepish. "Okay, this may be a little sudden, but we don't think that home is a safe place for either of you. That's why we need to talk to your mother, so we can figure out what to do from here. One of the options is for you guys to stay with me and Mabel permanently."

"We-we're staying here?" Ford almost looked excited. "In Gravity Falls?"

"It's a possibility." Dipper said. "You know we'll be more than happy to have you, if you want."

Stan didn't know what he wanted. Everything was happening way too fast. He didn't really want to talk to his mom about this kind of thing, but all of this talk about her, and the possibility of not going home, made Stan feel homesick for the first time since he had come here.

"Can we call Ma already?" Stan asked.

"Of course." Dipper said. He pulled out his phone. Stan would rather see his ma and talk to her face to face, but she didn't have that kind of technology at home, because Pa didn't trust it. Still, hearing her voice would be better than nothing.

Dipper called Ma while Mabel brought a few mixing bowls to the table so that Stan and Ford could help her mix up the cookies that she'd been putting together. Stan moved the spoon in a circle, but didn't quite use enough pressure to really stir anything. He was too busy listening anxiously to the phone call.

"Hey, Caryn." Dipper said. "It's Dipper. Is, uh, is Filbrick around." They all waited nervously for an answer, and Stan breathed a sigh of relief when Dipper grinned broadly. "He's not? No, no, that's actually great, because I needed to talk to you about something important." Dipper looked at Stan and Ford, giving them a smile. "Yeah, you can talk to the boys. Hang on."

Dipper took the phone from his ear and put it on speaker. He set the phone on the table.

"Hey, Ma!" Stan called out.

"Hi." Ford said simply.

"Stanley, Stanford." Ma sounded so happy to just hear their voices, and Stan felt the same way. "How are my little free spirit and genius?"

"We're, uh, we're fine." Stan said. Despite himself, his voice cracked. It was just a little bit, but his ma was a phone psychic. Her whole job involved listening to the tiniest clues over the phone to get information from. She could recognize the smallest sign that somebody was upset.

"Stanley, baby, are you alright?" Ma's voice was full of concern, and the sound sent a rush of fear through Stan. He wasn't really afraid of his ma, but after hiding this from her for so long he didn't feel like he could tell her what had happened. He knew he should, but he couldn't.

Stan wanted to say that he was fine. It would be far from the first time that he had ever lied, but he'd never been able to get away with lying to his Ma. Lying to her just led to the truth coming out even faster.

"Stanley, what's wrong?" Ma's voice was stern. Stan didn't even have to say anything and she knew that he wasn't okay. The only way forward was to tell ma what was going on, and he couldn't. He really couldn't.

Since he couldn't talk about it, and he couldn't lie, the only thing he could do was run and avoid it.

"Turn it off." Stan growled.

"Stan, everything's going to be okay." Dipper said in a familiar warning tone, though there was more than just a little bit of pity and reassurance in there. Stan would normally find at least a little bit of comfort from this clear concern and support, but it just made him snap.

"No it's not!" Stan shouted. He reached for the phone to hang it up himself. He normally wouldn't dare to hang up on his mother, but he was panicking. Stan was about to grab the phone, but Ford was faster. He snatched the phone off the table and leapt back, taking it out of Stan's reach.

"Hey!" Stan leapt after his brother, but Dipper grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Give it back!"

"Stan, calm down." Mabel said.

"What's going on over there?" Ma said from the other end.

"Hang up!" Stan shouted. He twisted and squirmed, trying to get away from Dipper. The man pulled him into his arms and embraced him. Stan still shouted and tried to twist away, but now he wasn't able to accidentally sprain something. Stan felt like he should appreciate the care being shown to him, but all he felt was humiliated and terrified, and his embarrassment just made him more scared.

"Hang up, hang up, hang up!" Stan screamed. "Don't."

"Stan, we have to." Dipper said quietly. "She has to know."

"No!" Stan stomped his feet. It was as good an argument as he could manage right now. "No!" He looked at Ford with wide eyes. His brother looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Ford looked from Stan to the phone, looking indecisive.

"Y-you gotta hang up." Stan said desperately as he strained against Dipper. "You have to." Ma didn't have to know. They could figure this out without ever telling her.

Ford took a deep breath and his eyes narrowed in determination. "What I have to do is protect you, and I can't do that by myself." Ford took the phone and handed it off to Mabel. Stan screamed as he stomped and kicked at Dipper's legs. It wasn't fair! Stan had kept Ford's secrets from their parents any time he wanted, but the one time that Stan wanted the favor to be returned his brother let him down.

Dipper held him tight and whispered reassurances to him, trying to get him to calm down, but Stan didn't want to be consoled. He growled and thrashed until he heard Mabel say the words that he'd been dreading. She told his Ma what had happened. She knew. It was all over, and Stan felt mostly numb, with just a touch of relief.

Stan didn't have to worry about coming up with excuses for his bruises anymore. He didn't have to convince his ma that she didn't have to call the school on his behalf to talk about potential bullies. He didn't have to see Pa's warning look as Ma treated his injuries. All of that was over.

Stan slumped against Dipper, who hadn't stopped talking quietly to him. Stan tuned out what Mabel said to Ma. He just listened to Dipper without really hearing what he was saying. He still understood the basic gist of it. Dipper was probably telling him that everything was going to be okay, and maybe…maybe he was right.

Mabel talked to Ma for a few minutes before she eventually came towards Stan, offering the phone to him. Dipper reluctantly let go of Stan.

"Your mom wants to talk to you." Mabel said quietly. "And she says if you hang up on her she'll come here herself."

Stan didn't doubt that for a second. Knowing Ma, she was probably itching to come see him anyway. Stan nodded. There was no point in hanging up on Ma now that she knew.

Stan took the phone. "H-hey, Ma." Stan said quietly. He was mentally preparing himself to be scolded for throwing a fit and screaming for the phone to be hung up. He was pleasantly surprised when she didn't say a word of that.

"Stan, are you okay?" Ma asked. "I swear, when I get my hands on your father-"

"I'm fine, Ma." Stan said. He wrapped his free arm around himself.

"Are they taking good care of you?" Ma asked. She sounded ready for a fight.

"Of course they are." Stan said. Dipper and Mabel kept a close eye on both Stan and Ford.

"And have you actually made friends there, or did you just tell me that earlier to make me feel better?" Ma asked.

"We've made friends." Stan said. "You know that Ford can't lie to save his life." Sure, Stan's closest friends were Jimmy and Soss, who were both a lot older than him. He was sure that wasn't what his ma had in mind, but it was better than nothing, wasn't it?

Ma was quiet for a long moment. "Will you be okay staying there for a little bit longer than we originally planned?"

Stan felt a pit in his stomach. "How long? Dipper mentioned going to school here. It won't actually be a forever thing, will it?"

"We'll have to see, Stanley." Ma said. She sounded tired. "I don't want you anywhere near your father."

"But I don't want to leave you." Stan said. "Can't you just leave Pa and then we can come home?"

Ma sighed and gave a very small laugh. "Oh, you sound just like Shermie. I can't count the number of times he's pushed me into getting a divorce." Ma sighed. "Look, Stanley, it's complicated. I'll think about it, but until I've worked something out I can't have you here. If you don't feel comfortable staying with your great aunt and uncle-"

"No, I like it here." Stan said quickly. He was used to Gravity Falls, and he didn't think he would feel comfortable anywhere else.

"I'll figure out how to get you boys your things." Ma said. "You take care of yourself, and your brother too."

"I always do." Stan said, even when Ford maybe didn't want him to.

"Good boy." Ma said. "Give the phone to your uncle."

"Sure." Stan said. "Love you, Ma."

"I love you too, Stanley." Ma said. "So much."

Stan nodded, even if his Ma couldn't see. He handed the phone to Dipper and went to go sit next to Ford, who was watching him anxiously.

"I'm sorry." Ford said quickly. "I know you didn't want me to-"

"It's fine." Stan said. "I'm not mad. You probably did the right thing. We both know that Ma would have found out eventually."

"Still," Ford grimaced. He was fiddling with his fingers. "I can see why you don't trust me."

"Wh-of course I trust you." Stan insisted. He may not have told Ford about what was going on with Pa, but that wasn't because he didn't trust him, it was because…well, Stan didn't really know. He just wasn't supposed to tell anybody, and that included his twin.

Ford drew his legs up to his chest. "We're going to be okay, aren't we?"

"Course we are." Stan punched Ford's arm. "If we can't be kings of New Jersey, we'll just have to be kings of Gravity Falls instead, and you know, it'll be so much cooler to be kings of gnomes and monsters than of all the losers back home."

Ford laughed, and Stan's mission of cheering up his brother was a success.

"We got this together, you and me." Stan said.

"School's going to be better, that's for sure." Ford said. "There are so many anomalies and odd things around town that people barely even notice my hands."

"See, there you go." Stan said. He looked at Dipper, who was talking over the specific details with Ma. Mabel was putting so much sugar in the cookies that Stan doubted they'd be able to sleep tonight. Well, he didn't think he'd be able to sleep tonight anyway, at least this way he could get some cookies out of it.

Stan was cautious about how the future would look, but at least he had his brother, and he didn't have to keep a secret anymore. It would probably be a lot easier to get over all of this now that it was actually over. He didn't have to deal with Pa again. No more dealing with all of those people back in New Jersey who didn't think that he was going places.

It would take some getting used to, but Gravity Falls was home now, and things were going to be okay.