Always (2/3)

short story 3/3: we walk through the fire (is there a way out?)

"𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜? 𝚃𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚜? 𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢? 𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢?"

Dipper had been going through the motions for awhile. He spent a majority of his months waking up next to strange girls who he had barely any memory of in the first place. He never stayed long.

It was normal to be known around the school as a person who would do anything to pass the time. He was waiting for someone, after all.

It wasn't as though he was thinking about her constantly, there were many things that kept his mind off of her. Schoolwork being a majority of that. Dipper was quite used to a heavy workload. Whenever they could, his parents enforced extra courses even during the summer months.

And now that he was sixteen, his father had been having him work the American-front of their family business. It was excruciatingly painful, having to deal with financial records on a Friday night while everyone was out having a good time.

That was his first mistake of many. Adderall was not the most forgiving drug. It was a mix of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which caused hyperactivity. . .typically.

For Dipper, it just made him entirely exhausted after the first two hours. It was fine, he managed to finish all the work he intended to do, but when he finally came around, two days had already gone by and he was being shaken awake by a panicked-looking Mabel Gleeful.

When she had asked what had happened, Dipper heavily influenced his words with magic in hopes to keep his sister unaware of what had actually transpired. No doubt she was also facing pressures from their parents.

So, no. No one knew about what happened other than himself and his conscience. And Dipper intended on keeping that hidden from everyone. Everyone except her.

She would understand, wouldn't she?

Dipper had no idea what she was off doing, who she was off doing, and somedays it hardly mattered. But, there was an innate feeling deep in his chest.

He'd never been entirely connected with his emotions, so even he was having a difficult time discerning what it was that he was feeling. Perhaps he was pushing those thoughts into the back of his mind and declaring that he didn't understand them just as an excuse.

When spring break rolled around in mid-April, he was all too happy to leave Washington and return to Reverse Falls, in hopes that he would get a chance to see her.

During winter break she had made an appearance for just one day. It was a nice day, to be clear. But that was all. And it was even less than twenty-four hours. So, he was hoping (still felt weird to admit that) that she was in town.

"You seem anxious, Dipper." Mabel commented out of the blue. "I told I told you that Mother and Father wouldn't be visiting this year."

"I'm hardly anxious. Anxiety is a feeling I do not feel." Dipper retorted.

"Along with the rest of them?" Mabel quipped, adjusting her sunglasses. The sun shone down on them at high-noon, just the time they were set to arrive. Always be on time. Never stray from routine.