Apprentice {Gravity Falls}

Mabel's Point of View

"Hey Mabel, I have a question for you?" One of Mabel's friends, Clarie, asked as the two of them were walking home from school together. Mabel had a lot of friends in Piedmont. Clarie just happened to be walking home today and Mabel decided to follow; with permission from her mom of course.

"Sure! What's up?" Mabel skipped along.

"You had a brother, right?"

Mabel nodded, "Have. I have a brother! His name's Dipper!"

"Um... I understand if this is a sensitive topic... but... why doesn't he go to school with you?"

"Don't worry, it's not a sensitive topic at all! He doesn't go to school here because he lives in Oregon, in Gravity Falls. My parents signed him up for an apprenticeship with my Grunkle Ford!" Mabel explained as she walked. It seemed like Claire still had a few questions.

"So... how do you feel about this? Are you upset?" She asked.

"I was..." Mabel started. "He was originally offered the apprenticeship during the summer. He was really excited, but, I was pretty upset. I thought he was leaving me. What I didn't understand at the time is even if we go different ways in life, it doesn't mean we love each other any less," Mabel walked with her head down. Clarie followed in silence.

"Well, there was this... natural disaster. And I was stuck. I was alone. However, I didn't try to escape. I thought it would be better to sit in my own fantasy than deal with what was going on. Dipper must've been alone for a few days... and when he found me... I was throwing a fit..."

Clarie could see Mabel felt guilty. "Mabel, you don't have to- I was just wondering..." she trailed off.

"No, no, it's cool!" Mabel exclaimed, "You didn't do anything wrong! I wasn't the best person at the time. I thought I was a lot better than I really was."

"Well... do you feel comfortable enough to continue?" Clarie wondered. Mabel smiled.

"I didn't agree to help with the natural disaster until he said he was giving up his apprenticeship. And... that's not the first time I guilt tripped him into giving something up for me. He gave up a perfect day, a job, his time. Lots of things. And how did I return the favor? Hurting his feelings more times than I can count..." Mabel rubbed her arm in shame.

"Mabel, I'm sure that's not true! You're a good person and a wonderful friend!" Clarie countered.

She nodded, "I'm a good person, but even good people can make big mistakes. Real big mistakes."

Mabel took in a breath, "Anyway, he gave up the apprenticeship and came home to Piedmont with me. You might've seen him back when school started. And, he was hurting, and I didn't notice. I was too caught up in my own "Mabel-ness" to realize I was hurting him. But, people did notice. My parents, our teachers, even the school counselor noticed how down he seemed."

"Did... did you ever feel bad that you didn't notice?" Clarie wondered.

Mabel giggled a bit, "I'll get to that! Anyway, the people I mentioned, they explained to Dipper and I that our relationship had become unhealthy. Neither of us wanted to believe it. But, the evidence was there! They decided to send Dipper away and have me work on myself a little more."

"And, were you still upset?"

"Oh, I was furious! I believed that they were ruining our relationship by splitting us up. I blamed anyone I could: the counselor, the teachers, my parents, Dipper himself. But I realized something. After initially being upset, I realized that we needed the time apart. I was no longer relying on him for everything and he was no longer bending to my will."