Summer with the Pine Twins: Summer's Coming to an End

Escape From Reality: Part 5

(y/n)'s p.o.v.

"Um, I...I dunno..." Her brother stutters out and Mabel takes off crying as Xyler tells everyone "Mabel's fantasy was having a great school photo but reality had other plans." "Look that was one bad day!" Dipper argues and Crais tells him "One of many. February 14th, fourth grade. Valentine's Day," The scene changes to a fourth-grade classroom decked out in Valentine's decorations, we turn to see a little bit older version of Dipper and Mabel than the photo day. They were currently checking their Valentine's Day bags. Dipper mumbled, "Oh come on, man you can't!"

Mabel dumps out a bunch of letters and candies before turning to her brother asking "How many Valentines did you get Dipper?" He dumps his out and nothing comes out, the kid sitting next to the twins soon laughing at him. "Oh hey! Dipper didn't get any and I thought I was the class loser. Hey everyone! Dipstick didn't get any!" The class starts laughing at him and he runs out, tripping over the trash can in the process. I slightly scoff, how rude he was so adorable back then, how could he not get any? "That's still just one bad day," I argue and Crais and Xyler give me a look as they ask "But it wasn't just a bad day for you wasn't it? This one bad thing caused you to suffer for five long years. Five years ago in the Mystery Shack," My breath hitches as the scene changes to the day Ford and Gram were sucked into the portal and showed it before showing me make the deal with Bill and the result of that deal.

I hang my head low as I remembered those days and Dipper pulls me in for a hug asking "What's the point of this? That was in the past!" "Is your life any better now bro? Heartbreak, disaster, nightmares, broken promises...That's reality for you. Out there it's nothing but heartbreak but in here who wants pug sundaes?" Crais snaps his fingers and the jury is given pug sundaes.

Dipper's p.o.v.

"Well I think we're ready for a verdict," The judge says and we both slam our hands down on the table shouting "Wait! We haven't even presented our case!" "Do you even have a case?" He challenges us and I glance at Mabel who was relaxing in her chair. I turn my attention to (y/n) who gives me a nod, we can do this. "Yes I do your honor, I call as a witness Mabel Pines!" "Uh...Objection?" Mabel says nervously.

"I'll allow it. Us cats are famously curious," Mabel sits on the witness stand and I take a deep breath before making my point. "Mabel listen. I might not have all the answers. I'm not stylish, and I'm not cool, and I can't make pugs appear out of thin air," The jury boos at me. "But I know one thing well and that's you, and even though you might act like it, you don't wanna be in this fantasy world. You're scared of growing up and who could blame you? I'm scared too," She starts to cover her ears and starts singing to block out my voice before instructing her guards to cover her ears for her with foam fingers. Regardless I continue on, "Look. Real-life stinks sometimes ok? I'm not gonna lie but there's a better way to get through it than denial and that's with help from people who care about you, it's how we've gotten through our whole lives, just look."

I grab the memory book and take us back to photo day where we see me running up to Mabel exclaiming "Mabel I figured out a way to fix your photo!" "What? You have a wig?" "No but I have a razor," Little me takes off his hat and shaves part of his head causing Mabel to laugh and follow in his lead by shaving the part of her head where the gum was. "You're crazy!" The two of them take the photo before the scene changes back to Valentine's Day to show fourth grade me hiding in the janitor's closet when something slid under the door. When younger me picked it up he recognized it as all of Mabel's Valentine's cards taped together in the shape of a heart with glitter glue on the back reading 'For my favorite brother'. He smiles and the scene changes to when we first met (y/n) before changing to the end of the day after we defeated those gnomes and showing the moment we became friends.