Chapter Text
The air in Gravity Falls was different. Maybe nostalgia clouded your perception, and maybe that was okay. It still smelled like pine and cedar and adventure here. And the day had that electric feel. It was the day they were coming.
Your alarm blared, and you groaned in response, grasping under your pillow to find your phone and silence it. Nine AM, on the dot. An early morning at the start of summer was a punishment in itself, but you had good reason today. Their bus came in at noon, and you had to be ready, meet them at the stop with the Grunkles and gang. You stumbled out of bed, and started to get dressed.
Half of you wanted to just wear pyjamas and spare yourself the trouble. The other half wanted to dress as nice as possible to snag attention. They hadn’t seen you in person in a year, even him. You sighed at yourself for giving into the stereotype, but you did want to catch his attention. No pyjamas today.
As you started to brush your teeth, you could feel the anxiety. As exciting as it was to start a new summer with them, it was scary too. What if they’ve changed? What if I’ve changed? You texted and called a lot, but…
You shook your head, trying to clear the thought. They were friends. Always were and always will be. You hoped.
Still, that wasn’t the only pain. You were older now. It was one of the last summers you’d be able to spend here with them before high school ended. You had to squeeze every bit of fun out of it while you could. Time seemed to slow here, but it still passed. Summer still ended eventually, despite everything.
You shook your head again. The very beginning wasn’t the time to think about the end.
Dressed and ready, you grabbed an apple and started to the mystery shack, a few hours before they were set to arrive. “Bye, Y/n! Have a good day!” you aunt shouted from the kitchen.
“Bye, Susan, you too!” You called back. She was incredibly kind to let you stay with her, lazy Susan.
The shack was close, and the soft grass folded under your shoes and wet them with dew. “Y/n!” You hear Soos call from the porch. He was still sporting the question mark shirt, but it was under a suit jacket, and the hat he wore was the fez Stan had given him all those years ago.
“Soos!” You shouted back, waving as you jogged your to him.
“Dude, I am so stoked for today, you don’t even know,” he said, leading you inside.
“Dude, I know too well,” you laughed. “Ugh I can’t wait, I should have slept in more.”
Wendy popped her head in from the break room, “Amen, man, I’ve been here since seven.”
You physically cringed, “My condolences.”
The mid morning passed quickly though, despite everything. There was still that static feeling, and it only grew as the day went. And eventually, the time did in fact come. The time to go to the bus stop and meet them. You had to. All of you. Stan, Ford, Soos, Wendy, none of you were willing to prolong the meeting any further. The only shame was that Candy and Grenda were still out of town.
…
The bus was rolling in, all to slowly for your liking. For everyone’s liking. You could feel how the people around you were buzzing with excitement too. One year was far to long away from these people. Your people. The bus came to a stop seemingly at your feet.
The door seemed to slide open agonizingly slowly, but against all odds, it opened. Out came Mabel, screaming.
”Aaaaaugh! Guys!” She yelled, jumping out of the bus and skipping the stairs. She threw he luggage aside as she managed to envelope everyone in a group hug before they had time to respond.
Stan was the first to recover, quickly leaning into the hug. “Kid, you get taller every time I see you!”
Ford laughed, “You almost beat Stan and I.”
You almost spoke, but your eye caught on the second person leaving the bus. Dipper had a wide smile on his face as he watched the scene. With a sigh, he placed his bags with Mabel’s and joined he hug.
“Dip!” You found yourself exclaiming, along with Wendy. The both of you maneuvered to let him in the centre of the hug.
There they were, at last. Dipper and Mabel, Mabel and Dipper. Here. Home. You smiled, barely hearing the words around you as you buried your face in Mabel’s hair and Dipper shoulder. They smelt a bit musty from the bus ride, and a bit like Mabel’s strawberry shampoo. This was the place to be. You squeezed tighter. So did they.
…
Walking back to the shack was nice, pleasant, nostalgic. Dipper and Ford talked science, while Stan interjected to call them nerds. Soos and Wendy were chatting, and You and Mabel were catching up behind them.
It wasn’t like you didn’t call and text, but there was so much you had to just say. But Mabel was, on occasion, a stinker. She had a smug grin on her face as she drifted back a bit behind he others, prompting you to follow.
“So Y/n, are you gonna do anything about your crush on-“
You threw your hand towards Mabel, and covered her mouth before she got his name out. She immediately started to lick it, but you stayed strong. Your head whipped in front of you to Dipper and the rest of them before looking back to Mabel, who’s smirk you could see in her eyes. “Dude, what the fuck?” You whispered. Or maybe it was more of a hiss. “Don’t just say that! Not now!” You wiped your wet hand on your pants.
She giggled. “Fine, fine,” Mabel shrugged, still smirking smugly. “Just trying to help is all.”
You pursed your lips, and squinted at her. “Somehow I don’t believe that… and who says I need help?” You turned your head away from her with an uplifted chin to add an air of smug snottiness to your question.
“Uhh, the fact that you’ve been pining for like, two years, and are still single?” Mabel said dryly. You could still hear the shit eating grin in her voice, “But hey, what’s a professional matchmaker to that, hmm?”
You winced, “Okay you have a point.” You snapped your eyes back to her, and smiled, a slightly evil and cunning smile. “But this summer, I have a plan… this is the one I can feel it.”
Mabel faked a gasp, pressing her palm to her open mouth, “My gosh? A plan?” She mocked. “You sound like Dipstick now.”
”Oh god, don’t say that,” you laughed. “This isn’t like his plans, this one is simple, honestly.
Mabel looked quizzically at you in response. Her hands started to come it her eyes, nearly forming her skepticals.
”No really, don’t even with that,” you said, swatting her hands down. “I say plan but it’s really just… an idea. I’m just gonna flirt, like a lot. Like really smooth, hopefully. Or try to, at least.” Saying it out loud, you almost felt embarrassed, a slight heat creeping onto your cheeks.
Mabel on the other hand, looked ecstatic. Her head was on a swivel looking between you and Dipper. “Okay, that’s a plan I can get behind,” she said. “I think you could have moves, I see the potential.”
You stifled a laugh, “Glad to hear it, glad your rooting for me.”
”Of course I am!” She said, hands flying into the hair for effect. She turned to you as you walked, and pointed to your face with one hand, the other resting on her hip. “And I will do my absolute best to assist your noble quest whenever possible, should you choose to call upon my services!”
You played into the bit. “Appreciated, you are like my loyal knight and this is a war which we must win together.” You clasped her pointing hand in yours, “We will prevail!”
Mabel’s eyes lit up, “Fuck yeah we will!” She yelled. A bit too loud. Dipper and Soos turned their heads in front of you, shooting you curious looks.
Ever smooth, you shot them back a snap and a finger gun. Dipper only smiled, giving Soos a light punch punch the arm before drifting back to walk with you and Mabel, at your side. He laughed, “Fuck yeah you will what?”
You smirked, and stroked your chin with faux smugness. “Mmm, wouldn’t you like to know, Dip.”
Mabel chimed in, “Yeah, we got secrets, we’re scheming!”
Dipper rolled his eyes as he chuckled, “God, that has to be a new record for you guys, we’ve been here a whole five minutes and you’re already plotting shit.”
You smirked, and did your best to maintain eye contact. “Hey, I always am, it’s how I keep life interesting.”
”Life is very much that when you’re involved,” Dipper laughed.
You could feel Mabel’s eyes burning into the back of your skull as she held her tongue and listened to your banter. Involuntarily, your smile widened.
”And I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.
You laughed, “You couldn’t even if you wanted to.”
He blushed, his cheeks turning a slight pink colour, hopefully at your comment. First blush of the summer, hopefully the first of many you’d get from him, he was rather cute when he blushed. You were particularly fond of how the corners of his mouth curled up when he did, in the slightest of smiles.
”Welcome home, kids!” You heard Stan yell in front of you. He turned around to walk backwards toward the shack so he was facing you and the twins. “Finally, am I right?”
Ford kept his back to you, but turned his head so you could see his eyes, “we’ve been looking forward to you kids coming back for a while, if you couldn’t tell.”
”Stans been driving me up the walls talking about you guys for months,” Wendy chuckled. “Y/n too for the last few days.”
You couldn’t help yourself, ”Hey, I did not!” you defended.
Soos snickered, “dude, you totally did.”
You pursed your lips and hummed lowly in disapproval. They were probably right, but that wasn’t something you’d outwardly admit. “Yeah whatever, nerds, that’s not how I remember it.”
Stan cackled, ”The congratulations, you got Alzheimer’s before the seventy year old man!”
You grumbled, trapped in this conversational corner. Mabel smiled, and elbowed your side, “Awww, somebody missed us!”
Dipper spoke too, “That much?” he asked, a little too innocently. Innocent enough to be mocking.
You scoffed, “like you guys are any better.”
You all moved inside the shack to get settled in the living room, all still chatting. Dipper and Mabel’s suit cases were leaned against a wall by the stairs.
Mabel pushed Dipper hard on the back towards you. “You’re right, Y/n, this little rascal hasn’t shut up about you guys for a week.” Dipper whipped his head around to glare at her, as if a threat. She snickered, “especially you, Y/n,” she teased.
Dipper spun his head back around to look at you, and rubbed the back of his neck. “Not like that-“ he sputtered, a blush in his cheeks.
You smiled. If you had to guess, you’d call if fifty/fifty it was actually not like that. You hoped anyway. Fifty/fifty on a good day, twenty-five/seventy-five against you on most others. “I believe it, Mabel is a half reliable source at best.”
”Hey!”
Stan chimed in and spoke to Mabel, “Hate to agree with Y/n, but they are completely right, sweetie.”
…
The conversation moved, and you all caught up with everyone. As much as you already had, having arrived a few days before the twins, there was always more to say, more stories to tell. A lot can happened between summers.
And eventually, it simmered down, and the twins started to try and settle in.
There was a double edged sword to that, being, the twins still shared a room despite their age. It was slightly more annoying now then it was when they were twelve, especially to you, who occasionally wanted to hangout there with Dipper, and divorce yourself from Mabel’s match making antics from time to time.
Mabel took her bags up first, running up the stairs with haste and excitement. You walked up behind Dipper, catching his attention, and did you best at a little bow. “May I help with your bags, m’lady,” you asked.
Dipper grimaced and recoiled, but a smile crossed his lips. “Redditor moment,” he snickered as he started to pick up his suitcases.
You shrugged, “Your loss.”
He smiled, “I wouldn’t let m’lady strained their perfect hands.”
You laughed as you walked with him up the stairs. “Ew, yeah, I hear it. Never again, no more m’lady, too neckbeard for me.”
”Good, because I took a lot of psychic damage from that,” he said. “You can mimic the Redditor mannerisms with freakish accuracy, right down to the face.”
You put your hand to your chest, feigning hurt. “I take incredible offence to that, I do not have Reddit face,” you scoffed.
As you approached the door to the attic, you stepped in front of Dipper to open it for him, who had full hands. Mabel was already laying on the bed with Waddles, kicking her feet in the air as she laid on her stomach. There were already posters on the wall and stuffed animals on the bed, too.
Dipper barely batted and eye, moving to his side of the room with a small comment, “you work fast.”
Mabel shocked, ”You know me, they call me sonic in the-“
”Homie,” you cut her off. “You finishing that sentence would actually kill me.”
She smirked, and rolled on her back to face you. “There’s a joke there about finishing, but I don’t wanna look for it.”
”Everyday you find new ways to disgust me.”
“Imagine living with her,” Dipper added, taking folded clothes out of his suitcase.
Mabel grumbled, but said nothing and instead rolling over and looked at her phone. Waddles oinked beside her.
“Hey, it’s summer, I can imagine it perfectly well.”
Dipper laughed, and sat on the bed, looking at you with a smile. “Yeah… you do pretty much live here in the summer, huh?”
You sat down next to him, and grabbed the old musty pillow that rested at the head. “Good thing or bad thing?”
He looked away, and laughed slightly, “Good thing.”
…
The day went by, remarkably fast. The sun set, the energy simmered, people left. Soos and Wendy went home, leaving you chatting with Stans late at night. You didn’t quite want to leave yet. Instead, you nodded and snapped a finger gun to Stan and Ford, and quietly ascended the stairs to the twins room.
Mabel was sleeping already, snoring lightly. Not loud enough to bother you much. Dipper though, was reading. A small lamp in the bedside table illuminated the small space by his bed, where he sat upright against the headboard. “Dip,” you said quietly. “What are we reading?”
He looked up from his novel with wide eyes, as if broken from a trance. “Oh, God- y/n,” he stuttered, startled. “Are you staying over?”
You bounded over to the bed and took a seat next to him, nestling your feet under the blanket. “Yeah, but that’s not the point,” you said, leaning on his shoulder and glancing at the books pages. “What are we reading?”
His skin was warm on your hands and arms as you leaned on him. His loose t-shirt was soft, too. He stammered a bit, “Oh, well- it’s a mystery novel, a murder, detectives…” Dipper looked at you for a flicker, as if checking to see if you were still interested. “There’s these two brothers that are the main characters, and this one guy who’s their partner.” Dipper taps the pages, and chews his lip. “But I have my suspicions about one of them.”
You hum slightly in a hushed laugh. “So tell me now, who’s the killer?”
Dipper rolled his neck, cracking it. “Man, I really think it’s the partner guy, but it’s awful because one of the brothers is in love with him.”
You winced, “oh shit.” You knew the feeling, empathy for a doomed character. “That kind of sucks for him.”Dipper nodded, and turned the page. He was maybe halfway through the book. you read along with him, trying to gain whatever you could from the out of context scenes. “So should I pick it up, or wait for you to finish it so I can read your next book with you?”
Very quickly you felt heat radiating from him. You did your best not to pull away in the inherent embarrassment of closeness, pushing though the fact that you made him blush again to stay leaned against him, your chin rested gently near his collar bone. “Well I mean- this one is really good, I’ll admit, but I may have just spoiled it for you…”
You waved your hand as he turned another page. “Eh, I don’t mind too bad. Mystery isn’t even my main genre, I just love the book club,” you said. It was nothing but true, it didn’t matter the quality of the book if you were reading it with him, or anyone really. But mainly him, or sometimes Mabel. Even if it was the worst book ever written, it was at least fun to discuss it and make fun of it together.
“Well in that case, yeah I’d recommend it,” he said. “Wanna borrow my copy when I finish?”
”Mmhmmm,” you hummed, tired. “Or I could just read with you, I guess. I’m sure the first half wasn’t that important.”
Dipper shook his head, a slight and baffled smile forming across his lips. “I disrespectfully disagree with you,” he said, turning the page.
You yawned, “That’s… rude.” Your eyes were sluggish as they followed along with the words. Dipper started to turn the page again, before you were ready. You quickly cut him off, “Hey, hey, wait for me, I’m tired, alright?”
He turned the page back, “Alright, alright,” he yawned in response.
You pawed at the pages when you finished, and on the next one, Dipper waited for you to do it again before turning it. And then, again.
And somewhere along the way, you fell asleep, sitting with him on his bed, head leaned on his shoulder, and feet warmly huddled under the blanket. It was summer, and everything was okay again, home, in gravity falls. Whatever the summer held for you, whether it be mystery, adventure, love… you were ready. Whatever summer could throw at you, you were ready.