Home for a Ghost

Home for the Summer

A/N: It's my catchphrase now, but sorry for the wait! I bring Pines twins as a peace offering.

~*~*~*~*

"Dipper, come down! Your father and sister are already in the car!"

"Coming, mom!"

Dipper finishes triple-checking his checklist and gives his room a casual salute in farewell. He gathers up his worn leather messenger bag and a small suitcase. After the first summer spent in Gravity Falls, he and Mabel had learned to just keep a portion of their stuff at the Shack so they wouldn't have to pack so much. This will be their third summer in a row spent up in Oregon with their great uncles Stan and Ford. The two old men always come back from their sailing adventures during the summer to see their favorite niece and nephew.

The stairs are ignored entirely, Dipper opting to just slide down the railing. He bounces onto the floor, holding his bags close to his body so they don't fly out of reach. His mom is waiting by the front door, rolling her eyes fondly at her son's eagerness. Dipper grins sheepishly and kisses her on the cheek. "Bye mom, I'll see you in a few months!"

"Goodbye Dipper, be good for your great uncles, okay? Don't get into too much trouble in that sleepy little town." She smiles and ruffles his hair. Dipper can't help laughing after that statement. Oh, the things she'll never know.

His mom opens the door, watching her family from just outside the house. Dipper puts his bags in the trunk and hops into the back with Waddles (dammit Mabel, stop calling shotgun all the time!) who oinks happily.

"Sorry guys," he says, shutting the door behind him.

"No worries, broski," Mabel says with a grin. Dipper isn't the only excited one, both Pine twins can't resist the call of Gravity Falls. They've been sucked in ever since that first summer.

"Ready to go, kids?" their dad asks.

"Yup!" the twins respond simultaneously.

Their dad chuckles and backs out of the driveway. Mabel opens the window and blows kisses to their mom, waving happily. Mom catches each one with a soft smile, throwing back kisses of her own before she walks back into the house.

A (trashy) pop song comes on the radio and Dipper can't help but hum the lyrics to himself, tapping his foot in time to the beat. Mabel notices, of course, and starts singing at the top of her lungs. Her brother blushes and chuckles, joining her because why not? It's summer and he's getting three months at his favorite place in the world.

Dad laughs heartily, turning up the volume and opening all the windows. The jovial Pines procession makes its way to the bus station loud and proud.

The car lumbers to a stop in the parking lot. Mabel jumps out with a "whoop!" of noise, bedazzled rainbow-colored backpack in hand, before running to the other side of the car to grab Waddles. Dad turns off the engine after she'd already escaped, chuckling to himself before getting out of the car. Dipper was the last one, being careful not to hit anyone or anything on his way out and then grabbing his bags out of the trunk.

Dad locks the car and the four make their way inside the station. The bus to Gravity Falls is already waiting there, as empty as it always was.

Dipper looks around, sighing at the familiar, bittersweet setting. Sure, he's incredibly excited to leave for Gravity Falls, but he'll miss home too.

Mabel grabs his hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing his hand reassuringly. Dipper smiles at his twin, and they turn to face their dad. He's smiling softly at them, opening his arms for a hug.

The twins are wrapped in Dad's hug, all of them trying to make the moment last.

"I love you both so much, please be good and be safe," Dad whispers.

"We will," Dipper says quietly.

"Yeah, we promise!" Mabel adds.

"Okay." Dad lets go and they stand there looking at each other for a moment before Dipper and Mabel take a deep breath and turn to the bus.

"Let's go," Dipper says.

"Way ahead of you, bro-bro!" Mabel shouts, running towards the bus with Waddles trotting behind her. She attracts some odd looks, but of course she isn't paying attention and if she noticed, she wouldn't care in the slightest.

Dipper laughs and runs after her, glancing back to give a final wave to his dad.

Once they're on the bus, the driver closes the door and pulls out, knowing that they're always the only passengers.

Dipper settles down against the window with a murder mystery while Mabel pulls out her sketchbook and pencil case. Waddles is on the seat across from them, curled up and sleeping already.

~*~*~*~*

A few hours into the trip has Dipper finished with his book, while Mabel has filled three whole pages of her sketchbook with cats drawn in different styles.

He sighs happily, watching the scenery fly by them. It's changed from entirely buildings to some amount of greenery now, so he knows they're getting closer. It's a long 12 hour bus ride, but completely worth it in the end.

"Hey Mabel, wanna watch a movie?" he asks his sister, pulling out his phone and earbuds.

"Sure!" She puts away her art stuff and grabs the right earbud from her brother.

"What do you wanna watch?" He pulls up his list of downloaded movies and scrolls through it.

"Mmm...something to put us in the mood!" she decides.

"Okay...oh, I know the perfect movie to watch."

He scrolls until he finds it, clicking the icon and turning his phone till he's holding it horizontally. The cover image pops up as it loads, and Mabel shakes her head and laughs, "Paranorman, huh?"

"Don't you even dare judge, Laika makes good movies and you know it," he says with a small glare.

"Okay very very true," she amends.

The screen loads and the movie starts up, so they turn to the small handheld screen and watch.

~*~*~*~*

They're only a handful of hours away now. After the movie, Mabel fell asleep on Dipper's shoulder, holding Waddles in her lap. He put everything away and settled in for a nap too, resting his head on top of hers.

The blur of the forest—now rarely interrupted by buildings—lulls him to sleep, memories of adventures through the years flitting through his mindscape.

So close now...