Gravity Rises (S2)

NMS: Part Three

The next time Mabel opened her eyes, Dipper was by her side.

Morning sunlight streamed weakly through the diamond-shaped window on the front door, throwing sparkly spots onto the wall. Mabel squinted. She felt drowsy, fuzzy, like it should still be night and dark outside.

"Morning, Mabes!"

Mabel blinked as she looked at Dipper, still not used to the light. "Morning, I guess. Why is the sun so bright?"

He laughed. "So I can see you, of course."

Mabel let out a laugh of her own, but it was far less cheerful than Dipper's. "I'm not much to look at right now."

"Yes you are!" Dipper sat on the edge of the couch. "Any day you have brown eyes is a good day to look at you."

Mabel gave him a small smile, but it faded quickly. "I — I haven't — I mean — I've had brown eyes since — "

"Yes," Dipper said firmly, taking her hand. His was colder than hers, but she didn't mind. "You've had brown eyes since Saturday."

Mabel settled her head back onto her pillow and looked up at the ceiling in silence.

She'd had more dreams last night, but she didn't remember much of them. Just blue fire. . . blue fire, and Bill's laughter. . .

"Dipper. . . ," Mabel whispered, "why did I let it happen?"

Dipper's grip on her hand slackened a bit. "Because you weren't thinking clearly," he said softly. "Because you made a mistake. Because like Ford said, Bill can get to even the best of us."

Mabel laughed bitterly. "Well, I'm definitely not the best of us, so I guess that makes sense."

"What?" Dipper asked immediately, sounding shocked. "Why would you say that?"

She glanced down her nose at him without raising her head. "Because it's true."

There was a beat of silence. "Mabes, I know you think you're weak — "

"I am."

" — but you're not!"

"Yes, I am!" She sat up, pulling her hand out of Dipper's and bracing herself with her elbow. "You don't know! You haven't been there! I know you're just trying to be nice to me because of what happened Saturday — "

"Of course I'm not," Dipper said, sounding hurt. "Aren't I usually nice to you?"

She fell quiet for a moment. "Well, yeah, but you're obviously trying hard now. And I appreciate it — "

"Maybe losing my sister made me realize how much I love her, have you thought of that?" Dipper shot back.

Now she was quiet for longer than a moment as all sorts of emotions and memories rushed through her.

Dipper reached for her hand. She pulled it back.

"I lost you, too," she said.

"I know."

"No," she said. "I lost you, too, and you know what I did?"

"You tried to save me. But then Ford and. . . " Dipper trailed off.

"Gideon," Mabel finished firmly.

"They sabotaged you. It wasn't your fault."

"It was my fault for trusting them. And you know who else I almost trusted? You know what I did?"

Dipper watched her with a strange expression on her face.

"I almost made a deal with Bill, that's what!"