Human Journals

Chapter 7: A Crush?

    Dipper took a sip of his Pitt Cola as he entered the living room. 

    Drei was sitting at the table, lazily flipping through the pages of the newspaper. Dipper walked over and sat across from him. "Hey!"he greeted his friend. 

   "Hey." Drei responded, barely looking up from his reading. 

   Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Uh... Where's Stan?" he asked, now noticing that his Grunkle was missing. 

   "Ignoring us."

   "Why?"

   "Because we went to that stupid show last night." 

  "Okay, what's up with you?"

  "Huh?" Drei finally looked up from his magazine. 

   Dipper rolled his eyes. "You were quiet for the rest of the night yesterday, and now you're acting like this!" he explained. 

   Drei shrugged. "I'm fine." he said, assured that would be a good enough answer. Boy, was he was wrong.

   "Drei, I can tell something's wrong." Dipper said, "why won't you tell me?"

   Drei gazed down at his hands. Would Dipper even understand what he was worried about? Or would he just think he's crazy. "It's just..." 

   "What?"

   "Remember what I said about Gideon last night? How he seemed, I dunno, weird?" 

   Dipper nodded. "Yeah, what about it?" he asked. 

  Drei sighed. "I don't feel like he should be trusted. He just seems like bad news." he explained. 

   "Well, I don't think you have to worry about that." Dipper reassured. "There's no reason for Gideon to come around here."

   "Check it out, guys!" Mabel called, running into the room, "I successfully bedazzled my face!" 

   The boys directed their attention to her, astounded at how many sequins she had on her face. Mabel blinked, causing the beads to fly off her face. "Ow."

   "Uh, is that permanent?" Dipper asked, gesturing to his sister's face. 

   Mabel frowned. "I'm unappreciated in my time..." 

   Suddenly, the doorbell's chime echoed throughout the house. 

  "Somebody answer that door!" Stan shouted from upstairs.

  "I'll get it!" Mabel shouted back. She dashed to the front door. 

   Dipper looked back at Drei. "Don't worry, man. Gideon's just a kid. Like us!" he said, standing up and walking towards the kitchen. 

   Drei stared at the ground. Dipper's right, he thought, Gideon's just a kid.

  "That's totally me!" Mabel's voice exclaimed from the doorway. Then, she began to cough, catching Drei's attention. What the heck was she doing? 

  "Who's at the door?" Stan called down again. 

  "No one, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel responded. 

  Drei narrowed his eyes curiously. Something was definitely up. Drei stood up from his seat and approached the doorway quietly. 

  "Gideon! Ahaha!" Mabel laughed.

  Drei froze. Gideon was at the door? But, why was he there? And why was he making Mabel laugh?! 

  "How about we step away from here, and chat a bit more?" Gideon asked her. 

  Drei glared at the question. No, she won't be going anywhere with you! She's not into you! Now, leave her alone, you little- Wait! Why was he even thinking like this? Mabel could 'like' him if she wanted to. She didn't, of course, but that was beside the point. 

   "Why are you spying on Mabel?" 

   Drei jumped in surprise. He whipped his head around to see Dipper standing a few feet away from him. "Oh my gosh! Sheesh, Dipper! Don't sneak up on me like that!" he whisper-shouted. 

   Dipper cocked an eyebrow. "You mean like how you're sneaking up on Mabel?" he whispered back.

  Drei's eyes widened. "What?!" he exclaimed, still whispering, "I-I'm not sneaking up on her, I'm just, uh..."

  "Eavesdropping?" Dipper suggested. 

  "No!" Drei responded, clearly getting annoyed. "Listen, Gideon is talking to Mabel at the door, and he's making her laugh, and he's inviting her somewhere, and I need to make sure he doesn't try anything weird!" Wait! Why on earth would he mention Mabel laughing? That made it sound like he-

   "Hold on!" Dipper interrupted his thoughts, "Are you jealous of Gideon?" he asked.

  Drei glared at his friend. "Why would I be jealous of that twerp? I'm just trying to protect Mabel from him!"

   "And why is that?"

   "I dunno!" Drei said defensively, "I'm just looking out for Mabel, okay!"

   Dipper smirked. "Unless..." he started, "Unless, you have a crush on Mabel!"

   Drei immediately felt his cheeks heat up. "Wh-what?! N-no way! I don't think of Mabel like that!" he argued. 

   "Yeah, you do!" Dipper said, pointing at Drei's face. "You're blushing! That means you do like her!" 

   Drei bit his lip nervously. He didn't have a crush on Mabel! He couldn't! Well, she is really pretty... And funny, and cute, and- Stop it!  "So what if I do?" Drei whispered, glancing around to make sure no one could hear them, particularly Mabel. "But, that's not the reason that I'm suspicious of Gideon."

   Dipper smiled. "Ha ha! I knew it!" he laughed. "But, seriously, you need to chill out about Gideon. He's not any kind of threat." he said.

   Drei groaned. "You may be right, but, we shouldn't take any chances!" he said, inching closer the the edge of the wall, "And I'm definitely not letting Mabel get hurt!" he turned the corner, expecting to see Mabel and Gideon. "Sorry, Mabel, but the chit-chat is-" However, the two were gone! 

   "What's wrong?" Dipper asked, looking passed his friend, and at the empty doorway. "Oh. I guess they went to go have that chat."

   Drei glared at Dipper, annoyed. "That's all you have to say?! Mabel could be in danger!" he said. 

  "Drei, you need to calm down." Dipper suggested, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Gideon is just a kid, and he's NOT going to hurt Mabel."

   Drei was about to rebuttle, but stopped himself. There was no point in arguing with Dipper. "Fine. I'll relax." Drei sighed, "But, if Mabel isn't home by four, we're going to look for her."

   Dipper nodded. "Sure. Fine by me." he said, walking back towards the dining room. 

   Drei sighed once again as he cast one last glance at the door. Mabel will be okay, he reassured himself, she'll be okay... 

A/N: AWWWWW!!!! The DreiBel ship has sailed!