Cataclysm -A Gravity Falls Fan Fic

Chapter Thirtyone- Step by Step

Mabel yawns, getting up from her bed to get a snack.
When she opens her door, she sees Dipper standing there, waiting, holding a jug of Mabel juice.
Dipper glances up at her and smiles.
"Ah, there you are," Dipper laughs nervously. "Mabel juice?"
"Mabel juice?" Mabel echoes, narrowing her eyes. "Didn't I come up with that when I was, like, 8?"
Dipper tries not to be disappointed, and keeps positive.
"Yup, yes you did," he states, then holds it out to her. "Want some?"
"How...how do you even remember that? I don't even remember how to make it anymore!" Mabel stutters, surprised. But then she frowns and snatches the jug from him.
"You're lucky I'm a sucker for this stuff!" she says, with a "Hmph!", and walks down the stairs, drinking it.
Dipper grins.
One step at a time, he thinks.
     Mabel walks back up the stairs to see Dipper sitting on the floor outside of her room in the same spot.
"What are you doing here, you...you weirdy-weirdo...creep!?" Mabel spats.
"Just wanna hang out with my Mystery Twin," Dipper shrugs. "It's obvious you aren't in the...mood. Just come get me when you are. I'll be here,"
Mabel's jaw drops in surprise, her eyes widening in shock yet again.
Dipper stretches, then leans up against the wall, relaxed.
Mabel closes her eyes and shakes her head, as if scolding herself, and then walks back into her room, slamming the door shut.
     Mabel is finally finished crocheting a  hearts-and-stars blanket for her bed, and looks outside; it's completely dark out.
She is about to climb in bed, when she stops.
Hmm...I wonder if he really is still waiting. No. No, Mabel, you aren't curious! You aren't giving him any second chances! Mabel thinks stubbornly.
She looks at her bed, then at her door, then at her bed, then at her door again.
She sighs and shakes her head, walking towards her door, caving in.
She swings it open and glances down.
In the exact same spot is Dipper, drumming his fingers on his lap.
He casually looks up at her, and smiles.
"Hey! So...can we hang out yet?" Dipper smiles.
Mabel is appalled.
What...what has gotten into him...!? Mabel thinks.
"U-Uh, obviously not!" Mabel grumbles. "And you should stop wasting your time. You have friends, and I have stuff to do,"
"Suit yourself," Dipper shrugs, but doesn't get up. "I'll be waiting here,"
Mabel rolls her eyes and groans, closing her door.
No...he can't do this to me. I've already vowed not to trust him ever again! Mabel thinks negatively.
     Mabel wakes up in the morning and trudges out her door.
She hesitantly looks to her right to see Dipper fast asleep on the floor in the same place he was when she left him.
Mabel finally lets a grin appear on her face, and her eyes water with happiness.
She shakes her head, this time with a smile; then she walks downstairs to get breakfast.
     Dipper stirs, and slowly blinks his eyes open.
He looks down to see a plate with bacon, eggs, and Stancakes on his lap. His eyes light up and he smiles, sighing in relief.
     At around noon, Mabel opens her door to see Dipper sitting in the same spot, sure enough, with an empty plate beside him.
Dipper grins up at her and yawns, stretching.
"So...are you ready to forgive a giant jerk like me so we can be twins again?" Dipper smiles, a pained look showing through in his eyes.
Mabel looks at the ground with watery-eyes, and finally, replies, "Yeah...I really am,"
Dipper stands up and Mabel immediately hugs him.
Dipper laughs, hugging her back.
"Awkward sibling hug?" he jokes.
"A...Awkward sibling hug!" Mabel cries happily. "Pat, pat,"
They hug for a good 5 seconds when Mabel pushes Dipper off, and wipes the tears from her cheeks; a relieved smile is on her face, like a heavy burden has just been lifted off of her shoulders; but Dipper sees in her shaky manner she still hasn't fully come to trust her Mystery Twin.
"Mabel, I have no clue how I could've...I mean, I can't believe I ever--" Dipper stutters, frowning.
"Yeah, yeah...you're a dum dum," Mabel laughs, sighing. "Can we catch up a bit, and maybe...try to start where we left off...?"
Then it hits Dipper; Dipper has no clue about his life in this reality.
"U-Um, sure," Dipper stutters anyway.
Just great, he thinks. This oughta turn out well.
     Dipper and Mabel are chilling on her bedroom floor, talking about life.
"So, who's...um...your best friend?" Dipper asks curiously, taking a sip of Pitt Cola.
"This girl named Pacifica," Mabel states, thinking. "She transferred to my school in California a couple years back. She said she was trying to escape her past and needed a friend. She's pretty shy and kind, but once you get to know her, she's a load of fun!"
"P-Pacifica...? Pacifica Northwest is your best friend?" Dipper states, surprised. "In California?"
"Yup! Wait, do you know her!?" Mabel asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Um, not really," Dipper covers up smoothly. "The name just...sounded familiar,"
"Okay! Who are your best friends?" Mabel asks, squeezing her pillow and smiling.
"Um...definitely Wendy is one of them," Dipper states, blushing and scratching the back of his neck.
"You told me in one out of the two letters you sent me that you were getting really close to these dudes named Lee and Robbie," Mabel states, rubbing her arm. "How's that goin'?"
"U-Uh, yeah, it's going...great...?" Dipper replies, praying he's correct.
I'm close to Robbie!? Dipper thinks, surprised.
"You should totally introduce me to these friends now that I'm not ticked at them for stealing away my bro bro!" Mabel laughs, jumping up.
"Um, I'm not so sure that's a good..." Dipper starts, but sees she's already begun to look a bit disappointed.
Dipper sighs.
"A...Alright, I'll introduce you," Dipper relents.
"Yes, this is gonna be so much fun!" Mabel laughs, grabbing Dipper's arm and running out her door.
But when they get down the stairs and she realizes she's still holding onto his arm, she quickly lets go and laughs nervously, rubbing her arm and walking beside him out of the shack.
Dipper frowns and walks on.
     The twins are walking towards town, when Mabel asks, "So...where can we find 'em?"
"Um...heh heh, I'm not exactly sure," Dipper mumbles.
"Can't you call them?" Mabel states, pointing to his phone sticking slightly out of his pocket.
"O-Oh...right! I've...I've got a phone!" Dipper says, surprised. "Huh,"
Dipper scrolls through his contacts list and sees Wendy's number.
He notices for some reason there's a heart emoticon by her contact name.
He begins to sweat nervously, and presses the "talk" button, the phone beginning to call her.
"Hey, sup, Dip?" Wendy answers.
"Hey! U-Um, I, I mean, well, Mabel was wondering if I could introduce her to you guys," Dipper stutters nervously, this having been the first time he's talked to Wendy on the phone.
"Uh, sure. Is something wrong with the connection? I couldn't hear that first part too well," Wendy states.
"U-Uh, yeah, that's it," Dipper mumbles. "So, where can the group meet up?"
"Where we usually do. See ya there in ten minutes," Wendy replies.
She hangs up.
Dipper begins to sweat.
"So, where are we heading?" Mabel asks, smiling.
"Um, I must've lost connection," Dipper fibs, and then texts Robbie.

Dipper: Hey, where do we normally meet up?
Robbie: Dude, you don't remember?
Dipper: Concussion.
Robbie: Right. We usually meet outside the Dusk 2 Dawn store.
Dipper: Cool. See you there.

Dipper is surprised; he's not used to having regular conversation with Robbie that doesn't involve insulting one another.
"Alright, now I actually know where we're going!" Dipper smiles, leading the way.
     Dipper and Mabel climb the fence and hop down to see the rest of the group hanging out, talking; the group consists of Tambry, Wendy, Robbie, Thompson, Lee, and Kevin.
When Dipper arrives, they all give him a big group hug.
"Dude, you're alright!" Lee laughs, punching him. "We missed ya!"
"Yeah," Tambry agrees, typing something down on her phone. "It even made me glance up from my phone for a second,"
"Haha...right," Dipper laughs, not used to being their age and around their height.
Finally, they all notice Mabel standing there and turn towards her.
"Right! Group, this is my sister, Mabel. Mabel, this is...the group," Dipper states.
"Wow, this is the girl we've heard so much about," Wendy laughs, holding up her hand for a high-five. "Welcome to the group!"
Though Mabel was cool as a cucumber a few seconds ago, now she looks very hesitant and shy.
Nevertheless, she accepts Wendy's high-five, and manages to smile.
"Hey. The name's Robbie," Robbie states, introducing himself. "I couldn't help but notice you had a guitar on your sweater. Nice,"
Mabel smiles, and laughs, fidgeting nervously.
"U-Um, thanks!" she chirps, happy. They all immediately start telling Mabel all of their crazy stories and treating her as one of their own.
     It's been an hour, and now they're all sitting in a circle, talking about the past.
"Yeah, that one time Thompson freaking tackled that Security Guard? That was priceless!" Lee laughs.
"Oh yeah, Thompson here'll do anything you tell him to," Robbie laughs. "He's done some crazy things!"
"Nothin' crazier than what Dipper did a couple months ago!" Wendy winks. "Dipper, tell her about it!"
"U-Um...I...actually can't remember," Dipper sighs.
"Awe, what!?" Wendy frowns, bummed. "You have to remember that time!"
"What do you remember?" Robbie asks, frowning.
Dipper opens his mouth but no sound comes out.
Luckily, Mabel saves him by saying, "Wait, what? W-Why can't he remember?"
"Oh, he didn't tell ya?" Wendy says.
"He totally got a concussion trying to climb a tree," Tambry states, texting someone.
"Actually, I was trying to catch a mysterious creature," Dipper defends himself.
"Like always!" Lee laughs. "I warned you one of these times you were gonna go too far, bro!"
"Sure, sure," Dipper laughs, playfully punching him in the arm.
Then the thought hits him.
No...this isn't real. I don't even remember doing that. This can't be real, Dipper thinks, biting his lip. Right now I'm just stuck in a dream. My real life is somewhere else.
"Well, if he can't remember it, I'll tell it," Wendy laughs.
Wendy continues to tell of Dipper's adventures; stories of Dipper and Wendy surviving impossible things and catching creatures Dipper hasn't even read about in the journal.
Dipper's eyes widen brightly and he smiles, imagining everything in his mind as Wendy speaks it, images forming in his brain...almost as if they were memories.

(Note: what if I just ended the story right here? I bet you'd all be so happy! 😈😝 Don't worry, I'm not that cruel [maybe] 😜😁, and the story is far from over! Thanks so much for reading; see ya soon, Gravity Fallers!! Thanks so much for your thoughtful votes and comments!!🌲❤️ Love each and every one of ya!! -Mabelwaffles127)