If a Pine Tree Falls in a Forest...

Twins

Dipper practically ran from the clearing, desperately trying to keep the budding panic in his chest at bay.

Mabel found him. And, as if that weren't enough, not only did he set a fucking stump on fire, but he put it out. In front of her.

Why did the universe hate him so much?

Dipper somehow made it to the cabin without tripping at all; a miracle in and of itself. Walking through the now repaired door, he all but ran into his makeshift bedroom, the magic that hung in the air a constant reminder of what he'd done. How awfully he'd messed up. Normally, Dipper would have felt the shift in the air at Bill's presence, but this was not a normal moment.

"Time for another lesson Pine Tree!" Dipper yelped (not that he'd ever admit it,) in surprise.

"Bill!"

"What? I said I'd be back, kid. Now what's got you so jumpy?" The sarcasm was almost forced in Bill's voice, something that was clear to Dipper. Despite this, though, he felt hesitant to tell the dream demon what had just occurred. How would he react? It wasn't exactly a secret that Mabel was awful at keeping secrets, and Bill surely knew as much. Would he be angry?

"Pine Tree, if you don't tell me, I'll just find out myself." The dream demon's voice was now serious, his eye showing none of the feigned sarcasm it had before. Dipper sighed, knowing it to be useless to stall any longer.

"Shoo- I mean, Mabel found me." He relented, stumbling over his words slightly. "In the forest." Dipper added sensing the unspoken "and" from Bill.

"Does Shooting Star know where you are?" Dipper couldn't help the nerves that began to crawl up his throat. He wasn't afraid, no; he hadn't felt afraid around Bill since Stanford had first come back from whatever dimension he'd ended up in. But he could feel the restrained anger and frustration bleed into the air from Bill. It was a feeling that would make even the bravest manotaur quake.

"No."

Bill sighed, and Dipper swore that if the dream demon had a mouth, he'd be frowning. Several moments passed before he spoke, bringing with it a shock that he'd never thought possible.

"Pine Tree, it's about time I tell you the truth; the whole truth."

~~~~~~~~~Line~Break~~~~~~~~~

Mabel stared as her twin walked into the forest, tears beginning to gather in her eyes once more. Despite the fact that she'd seen her twin again, and he seemed in relatively good condition physically, she could feel his pain. It wasn't until this that Mabel realized the magnitude of what she'd done.

She'd betrayed him.

After all he'd done for her, she threw it back in his face.

It would have been more merciful to just stab him directly, in the back if she was feeling dramatic.

The tears that had gathered in her eyes escaped down her cheeks, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Mabel wasn't sure how long she stood there. Hours? Minutes? What did it matter? Turning on her heel, she left the clearing, refusing to look back. She needed to trust Dipper, above all else. He would contact her, and she would do whatever she must to earn his trust back. No matter what it took.

By the time Mabel made it back to the Shack, the sun was considerably farther across the sky. She was exhausted in every way imaginable, her feet practically on fire from the long walk. Though, she was lucky that none of the various kinds of creatures had bothered her. Maybe she'd been emitting a depressed aura? Regardless, she was grateful. Mabel didn't think she'd have been able to deal with that sort of supernatural encounter in her current state of mind.

"Any luck?" Gruncle Stan asked, leaning against the counter of the kitchen. He'd ask the same thing every time she'd walked in after looking for Dipper. And every time she would just walk past. This time however, she didn't.

"No..." Mabel thought it was safe to assume that she shouldn't tell him otherwise. If Dipper's reaction to her was so angry, then she didn't even want to imagine his reaction if their Gruncles found him.

"Give him time, Mabel." Was Stan's only response as he left the room. It hurt lying to the man; he'd done nothing but care for her since the summer had started, and she thought he'd cared for Dipper the same. Now, though, she wasn't entirely sure.

Mabel slowly walked up to her room, crashing onto her bed as soon as she could.

She would wait, for eternity if she must, for Dipper's request.

Mabel woke hours later, all but frantically looked around the room for what woke her. Her head whipped back and forth, finally resting on Dipper's bed. It hadn't been touched since Dipper had left, but now it was in a state of disarray.

No, Mabel realized, the items were currently being blown!

But it was only affecting Dipper's bed. She stared on, a sense of fear building in her chest.

Moments later, though it felt much longer to Mabel, the encapsulated wind stopped. And, less than a second later, an almost ghost like form appeared. In fact, it looked a lot like...

"Dipper?!"

"Shh! Be quiet Mabel," he quieted her, his nearly translucent form tinging gray for a moment.

"How- Why- What are you?" She stammered, eventually hissing her question.

"It's an astral projection, Mabel. But that isn't why I'm here."

Hundreds of questions raced through her head. How could he do that? Was it for the same reason he put out that strange fire? Wait... Did he create the fire? Why was it green? What on Earth was going on with her twin? The questions were making her dizzy, causing her to forcefully push them away.

"What do you need?" Mabel asked, her entire demeanor changing from curious and confused to utterly serious.

"You wanted to make things right?" Mabel nodded. "Come to the clearing at midnight." With no other words, Dipper practically evaporated, leaving a confused but determined Mabel in his wake.

It was already eleven, so Mabel needed to get moving. It had become a mantra by now; she would do anything to fix this. She would fix this. No matter what.

A/n: Hey guys! I just wanted to thank all of you for the love this story has gotten. Your comments honestly make my day, and I love reading what you think! Thank every one of you for reading and supporting this story; you're all amazing!!