Lucy Hates Me[Dipper x oc)

Chapter 12: I Fixed the Stairs

I turned off the key on my bike and stretched. "It's too early for this." I yawned and took off my helmet. It was early Monday morning, 6 am, when Soos had called me into work on something. I didn't know what and I didn't feel like doing this today. I'd spent all of yesterday collecting room rent, fixing things and unclogging toilets at the motel. I hadn't even gone to bed until almost three in the morning. I had told Mason and Mable to get plenty of sleep but I'd failed at that myself. I was so tired it was crazy.

"Lillyin!" Mable, bright eyed and bushy-tailed, ran out of the shack in a long purple night gown.

"She's up early..." I mumbled under my breath. I forced on an air of awareness. It wasn't the first time I'd done so but it wasn't hard. "Good morning, Mable!"

Mable tackled me with a hug and I fell in the wet grass with her on top of me. "Tickle fight!" She attempted to tickle me. Her fingers dug into my sides in the points where most would laugh and be unable to stop. She tried my sides, my armpits, even behind my knee caps.

I just laid there stony faced. I reached up and got her armpits. She laughed like crazy. "I'm not ticklish Mable, not even a little." I smiled as she rolled off of me.

"You win!" She still couldn't stop laughing.

I stood up and wiped the water off my jeans. "Mable you got me all wet."

"You can borrow some of my pants." Mable stood up.

I looked her over. Her hips were half the size of mine. "I don't think they'll fit. I'll just deal with it. Do you know what Soos needs me to do?"

"Um..." She thought for a second. "Oh that's right! The stairs are broken."

"Then I'll get strait to work. Lead the way, Mable." I followed her into the house.

"Dipper is still in bed so the quieter you can do this the better." I followed her up the stairs towards her room. She stopped about half way up. There was a Mable sized hole spanning five stairs. "I fell through this morning."

I examined the hole. "So I see." I took out the tape measure from my tool belt. "Write this down for me." I measured the step. "8 inches. 8 inches. 2 feet and 2 ½ inches." I watched as she jotted those down and pulled out the paper. I took it from her.

"What are the numbers for?" She cocked her head to the side.

"For replacing all the broken stairs. I'll have to cut all the boards myself. But before that I'll have to take out these boards." I took the hammer from my tool belt and began to pull the nails. CREAK! POP! "I did not expect that to be so loud." I shook my head and looked at Mable. "You may want to go get your things and change in the bathroom downstairs. By the time you're done upstairs their might not be any step left to step on."

"Alright. BRB!" She raced past me. I waited and she came down a minute later. She was carrying her clothes and one of Mason's shirts. "Dipper is right behind me."

Mason came around the corner, shirtless and pulling his pants up. "Mable! Give it back! That's my last clean shirt!"

I laughed.

He stopped at the top of the stairs, his zipper still down and showing his green boxers. "Lillyin! Mable didn't tell me you were here." His shirt hit him in the face. He pulled it on over his head blushing deeply. He started down the stairs.

I watched him as he made his way around the hole. "Mason. XYZ."

He looked down. "Crap!" he zipped his zipper and raced down the stairs behind me as I pulled another nail from the step.

I laughed.

**Time Skip**

I had soon finished pulling out the broken stairs and gotten the wood. I was cutting it by the time I saw anyone again. Mason walked up to me with a to-go cup of English tea from Greasy's Diner. "I remembered you liked this stuff so I got you some... partially because all we have is pink lemonade and you don't seem to like that..."

I took the tea and set in on the porch beside me. "Thanks, Mason. It's not that I don't like pink lemonade. It's more that I recently learned the origins of it and it is pretty disgusting." I lifted the skill saw, glad my shop teacher had taught me all this... and I hadn't wanted the take the class! I gestured to the end of the board I was working with. "Hold that, would you?"

He nodded and grabbed the end of the board. I watched him flinch as the loud noise from the skill saw assaulted his ears. He blinked as the saw stopped. "That was louder than I expected."

"Yeah. Sorry. It's always louder than you remember." I picked up the board and set it on the pile with the rest. "You can drop that now." I gathered up the boards in my arms and started back into the house with Mason following me.

"So when did you go to bed yesterday?"

I had been so busy I hadn't gotten to see Mason yesterday. "I got plenty of sleep."

"Lillyin. I can see the bags under your eyes. You've hardly slept have you?"

"Mason, I always have bags... I have the beginnings of crow's feet too. My life is a ball of stress." I placed the first of the boards and used a nail gun to nail it into place. "Hand me a string of nails. Are you ready to leave later?"

"I'm ready... but I don't think you are." He handed me another string of nails.

"I'm ready." I threaded the nails into the gun. "I'm more than ready for this to stop." I undid the Velcro on my riding glove to show the freshly bloodied bandage. "That's why we have to go today. It's getting worse." I redid the Velcro and put the next few stairs together in silence.

When I started on the last stair, Mason spoke up. "You never responded."

"What are you talking about?" I nailed the last step together and sat on it. "There. Good as new."

"About what I said on Saturday."

"I still don't know what you're talking about, Mason." I went to take a sip of my tea but it wasn't there. "Where did I put my tea?"

He stomped on the step. "I told you 'I love you', Lillyin!"

I gasped and closed my eyes. "Mason... I can't respond to that."

"What? How do you not know how to respond to that?" he started yelling.

"Mason! I can't respond to that!" I crossed my arms. "I can't respond because I don't know how to register my feelings towards you. If I respond wrong then Lucy will go back to trying to kill you ten times over. I can't respond to that."

He looked at his feet. "I'm sorry I snapped, Lillyin." He stared down at the stairs.

I grabbed his shoulder. "Mason. Don't walk away from me. My feelings are very strong towards you... and I couldn't be happier that it is you going to another dimension with me." I let my head droop. "You're right though. I didn't sleep much."

He set his hand on mine. "If you still think you're ready to go today, then we'll go. Mable and I are ready whenever you are." He turned around.

"Then we leave tonight. Right after supper." I smiled. "Now give me my tea."