"I'm Here For You" (Gravity Falls Fanfic)

Chapter 7

(A/N: Omgggg again not having posted in a million years yesh lmao. Sorry about that. But there's bigger news, sorta. Tbh, there were some holes in the Gravity Falls series for me because I had missed a few episodes and even just parts of episodes. But I have literally rewatched the entire series and I am ready to roll. Also I reread most of this and my god it's cringe lmao, I can only hope my writing style has gotten better. And no I'm not gonna edit the past chapters, I'll leave them the way they are. Anyways enjoy this short chap, hopefully it's not too janky.)

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Mabel breathed out softly. She didn't know how long they'd been sitting there, but all that mattered was that Dipper had calmed down.

He sat with his head on her shoulder, and together they sat in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence though, it was a comfortable one. A while ago Mabel had pulled an old blanket off the bed and wrapped it around them like a cocoon.

Mabel's eyes darted toward the clock, and just as she opened her mouth to suggest they head back downstairs, the bedroom door burst open.

Dipper practically jumped out of his skin against her. Mabel put her arm around his shoulders on instinct.

"Heya kids! I know it's a bit early, but I was thinking for lunch we could-.. hey, what's going on? Is he okay?" Yep, Stan had been the one to burst through the door. His need to check in on the kids being masked with enthusiasm.

Mabel sighed and mustered a smile, "Um, yeah. We think he had something called a panic attack but he's okay now. He just kinda freaked out about the phone thing." She laughed nervously.

Dipper chose to hide his face against his twins shoulder. This just made Stan even more concerned. On top of the fact that Dipper still hadn't said a word to him.

Stan cleared his throat and stepped forward, "Ah.. hey, kid. You know your safe here, right?"

No response.

Stan grimanced, "Your mother-.. she's-" he cut himself short when he saw his nephew flinch and his niece wince, "I- I mean, she can't hurt you anymore. I won't let her. Your safe here, okay?"

Again, Stan wasn't really expecting much of a response, so he was quite surprised when Dipper actually looked up at him. Stanley froze. In those eyes all he could see was this fragile spark of hope. Almost as if silently asking if he promised.

Stan's expression softened. He carefully approached, sitting directly in front of the kids so he'd be eye level, and he held out his hand, "I promise." He held his gaze to Dipper's unwavering. He could only watch, heart breaking a little as his nephew searched his gaze almost frantically. Almost not wanting to let himself believe.

Then Stan got something way better than his hand.

Dipper all but shoved his Grunkle's hand aside as he launched himself at him in a hug. Stan sat in shock for a moment, and then his arms immediately returned the gesture. He hated how his poor kid was practically trembling with relief. But the look on Mabel's face told him this was good. She was smiling a big, watery smile. This was good. It was progress.