It's been a while

Half a reunion

I am so sorry it's taken me like a year to write a second part, I kept seeing this on my page and feeling very guilty.
Exam season is coming up so I figured why not ease my conscience and procrastinate at the same time?

The boy struggled against the gales as he treked the path a few paces behind his Grunkle Ford. A storm had fallen over the town of Gravity Falls not ten minutes after Ford had slammed his car door shut and started up the trail without a look behind him. Dipper struggled to keep up, not out of weariness but his inabilty to see due to the heavy rain and the rough terrain. Not really the great first day back I was looking forward to, he thought to himself.
A tree broke free from the ground a few steps behind the boy, causing him to race ahead and gasp as he turned around to view the wreckage. The branches all mangled and twisted.
"Dipper!" Stanford's stern voice brought him back to the moment at hand.

*Back at the shack*

"Ford can't let one thing go my way, can he, Soos?"
Soos, caught between a rock and a hard place, simply nods his head as Stan rambles on angrily,
"You know, it was just like this when we were away, always complaining about how much better it'd be if-" he stops short, suddenly reminded of the forgotten presence in the room, since she was now standing right in front of him.
"If?" Mabel continued, curious as to why Stan was had stopped so abruptly.
"Argh never mind that, just some - you haven't even brought your bags up to your room, clear off before customers walk in thinking this is a bed and breakfast will you?" He ordered, trying desperately to cover his tracks before stomping into his office.
And so she did, somehow carrying all of her possessions as well as Dippers. She kicked the door open into her old room, and dropped everything on the floor and flopped onto her bed. It creaked underneath her as if welcoming her back and then she let a wide grin spread across her face.
It's good to be back.
Mabel rolled onto her side, facing the centre of the room and pondered at what Stan had been telling Soos, and of Ford's odd behaviour. It was true that neither her nor Dipper had expected to find either Grunkle residing at the Shack, so something must have happened on their adventure to tear the two apart again she concluded.
Oddly enough, this excited the girl  and she bounced out of bed excited at the prospect of a project. A fallout between twins, this was familiar ground and something she believed she could fix.
Mabel raced down the stairs and threw open the door to the shop just in time to catch Stan slam the door to his office shut while an older girl in a blue baseball cap yelled after him.
"Everything okay?" The younger of the two enquired, momentarily forgetting her quest of reconciliation.
Turning to face Mabel, she sighed
"Peachy...anyway, best not to get too worked up about it, say... I don't know you do I?"
As soon as Mabel saw her face she leapt forward with a high pitched squeal and hugged her, something the elder had not anticipated and so stumbled back into the counter trying in vain to detatch herself from the screaming girl.
"Oh my god please, please, please cut it out!? I'm going deaf here!"
"You don't recognise me, Wendy? Well, that's just shameful," Mabel giggled at the confused expression on Wendy's face.
"Wow wait I'm sorry what? How do you know..." The more she studied her face, the more she could see something familiar, but she had always been terrible with names and-
"Really? You still don't know?" Mabel continued, "Well, Wendy Corduroy-"
"Hey Mabel! You done bringing you and Dippers bags up to your room? I need you in here!" Stan yelled from the next room.
And the penny dropped, "MABEL? What..when..WHY didn't you tell me yous were coming oh my god come here," She gathered Mabel in her arms again and whispered,
"It's been so long.. I've missed you.."
"I've missed you too," Mabel replied smiling.
"Hey Mabel! How long does it take you to do one simple task? I mean-"
"Hey come on, let's go up to your room and have a proper catch up yeah?" Wendy interjected.
Mabel nodded in response and took Wendy's hand before racing up the stairs and locking the door behind them.
They both let out gasps of laughter, from the exhilaration of the escape but also just the fact they were glad to see each other.
Wendy caught her breath first and pulled Mabel into another hug, before sitting down on the floor and interrogating her on her life back home. She learned of all Mabel's failed romances, her passion for art and hopes of becoming an interior designer. After a few sly comments about renovating the Shack, the tables turned and Wendy was the one answering all of Mabel's questions. She talked mainly of her friends, Lee, Nate and Thompson who were the same as ever, although drama had started when Robbie had began dating Tambry, which had taken Wendy a while to digest but she was cool with the idea now, although she found it harder to be around Tambry now, due to her friend's inability to shut up about Robbie.
In turn this made it harder for her to hang out with her friends, but she started focusing on school more, just to be busy and do something, which she supposed was no bad thing.
She wanted to tell Mabel so much more because she knew that she would understand but a mental block prevented her from carrying on. She looked around the room hoping for a new line of conversation to present itself.
And it did, across the room Dippers bags were lying near the door. She had seen them when she came into the room and presumed he must somewhere about the Shack, maybe talking to Soos or one of his Grunkles...but that was hours ago and he was yet to put in an appearance.
"Say Mabel, is Dipper about?"
"Aww no he's away with Grunkle Ford somewhere.." she yawned in response, it was only seven pm but she had spent hours travelling.
"Really? He's away with Ford right now? On his first day back?"
"Well yeah, you know how them two are.."
"Yeah, I guess you're right..I would have liked to have seen him though"
If Mabel hadn't been so utterly exhausted she may have been inclined to question Wendys defeated tone, but the girl was really too tired for much thought and so she merely shrugged and mumbled,
"You'll see him tomorrow."
And with that, she began snoring, leaving Wendy to quietly depart from the shack, and grimace at the thought of heading home in the awful storm raging.