To Be Sheltered 01

Chapter 1: "Forgetting the Remembrance"

"Overall, Stanford Pines made an incredible impression in my life, and I strive to be half the person he was. Everyone who knew him is right to feel the same, and I encourage you all to let him take refuge in your hearts. Thank you all so much for coming."

Stanford Pines' eulogy is harder to say out loud than Mabel had originally thought it would be, and she nearly crumbles in the midst of her speech before recollecting herself. She's angry at herself for seeming upset. Had the circumstances been different, she would not have. She had always expected to cry at her grunkle's passing, but she expected to be crying at the simple fact that he was dead.

She doesn't cry for this reason.

When Ford Pines died, naturally she was sad. It's always sad when someone or something dies. But she doesn't cry at the thought like Dipper or Stan did. She doesn't feel like she had lost a member of her family. She feels like she's lost a neighbor or maybe one of her teachers. Someone she had grown used to being around, but did not have a significant impact on her life. Mirroring the sadness of everyone else in a convincing way was especially difficult. She finds herself saying sorry to Dipper as if he had lost a friend of his that she had met only twice, not knowing what else to say.

What else could she say? They had little to no relationship, try as she might to impress him like Dipper did. She was well aware of the favoritism Dipper recieved due to Ford's relationship with his own twin brother, yet she couldnt bring herself to hate him for it. He was just stuck in the past, seeing her as Stan, and Dipper as himself.

Maybe Mabel agrees with him on that.

As she reads the eulogy that Dipper wrote for Ford's memorial out loud, it dawns on her how similar the two are. She feels like she's speaking at his memorial, not Ford's. Her mouth begins to go dry as she continues to speak about her deceased uncle that parallels her brother so much. She looks over the crowd of people listening and catches sight of Dipper. The idea of him dying causes tears to sting her eyes, not Ford's passing. Everyone else is oblivious to this fact, including Dipper. Her hands go clammy around the sheet of paper and she messes with her ebony dress as a nervous tick.

She's not sure she'll ever forget the idea of speaking on her dead brother's behalf.

~

Crying has made Dipper's body ache. His head hurts. His eyes sting. His nose is sore. His body is shaking violently.

He just wishes it would stop.

He doesn't want this to take control of his life like it already has. He never saw Ford cry while he was alive. Ford would be logical enough to accept the morality of humans, be strong for the grieving citizens. Instead, Dipper is a grieving citizen. This causes him to cry out in frustration, though there are no more tears to force out. His face flushes more at his attempt at sobbing. His head pounds and his face winces at the pain.

He knows how messed up people can get from the passing of those so dear to them. He doesn't want that for himself. He knows Ford wouldn't have wanted it either.

He lifts his swollen eyes and examines the crowd around him. He recognizes most, and those he doesn't he assumes are old friends of Ford's.

But something seems out of place, and he can't seem to put his finger on it.

Everyone is wearing black, everyone is either crying or acting as a shoulder to cry on. What is so abnormal here?

Then he sees him.

It's a brief view due to the shifting crowd, but long enough for a clear image to be set in the Pines man's head.

He's shorter than the average man, and seems to have waltzed right out of the 30's. He wears a black pinstripe overcoat over what Dipper assumes is a pinstripe suit. His face is hidden by a fedora and sunglasses, and just as Dipper finishes asking himself why he would wear sunglasses on such a cloudy day, he finds his answer in the cane that sits in the young man's gloved hand.

So there is a blind man at his grunkle's memorial. So what?

"Dipper..?"

He finds his name coming from Mabel and peers at her from the side. She looks like she's guilty of something, though Dipper can't fathom what she could've possibly done to make him angry.

She takes his glance as a response. "I'm sorry I couldn't hold it together for you up there.. Your eulogy is really beautiful and meaningful. I'm sure he would've loved it."

She musters up a smile in an attempt to make him feel better. It doesn't quite lighten the mood for him, no matter how much he wishes it would.

Dipper looks up to see that the blind man is gone and his frown deepens. He feels his sister's uncomfort at the silence when she grabs the sleeve of his suit. He goes to look at her and smile reassuringly when he feels a sudden pressure on his left temple. He sees Mabel wince at the same time he does; a mirror image of his own face in pain. Dipper knits his brows together in a mixture of confusion and resistance as his mind goes foggy.

~

To this day Dipper still can't bring himself to remember what happened after that; his mind won't let him. Mabel doesn't either, and no one will go into detail about what happened. Sometimes, he even gets the occasional accusation of him being under the influence at his grunkle's memorial. It sounds like something he would do, but he knows it isn't that. He knows what caused it once he wakes up, but he chooses not to tell Mabel. She would be terrified to say the least.

Try as he might, he can't find it in him to be effected by Ford's death any longer. It simply doesn't phase him. He comes to the conclusion that by grieving so openly during the memorial, there's nothing left for him to let go. He went through his mourning, now it's time to move on.

He smiles to himself. Maybe he is as strong as Ford was.

The main issue Dipper faces now is how undeniably empty the shack feels. Before Ford's death, Stan had moved to Las Vegas to finally live out his dream of gambling dishonestly. Ford had the young adults stayed in the shack with him; Mabel running the attractions, Ford continuing research, and Dipper involving himself in both. About two months prior to the incident, Ford had left the shack in the younger twins' hands while he visited his brother. It was during this visit that Mabel recieved the call from Stan.

"Great Uncle Ford died in his sleep last night.. H-he had a heart attack.. I'm so sorry, Dipper.."

At remembering how upset he was then, Dipper can almost recollect his saddness. Yet he doesn't. He glances down at his clean hands. Would he have to repay him for what he did? What did he even do? Why did he do it?

Without the journals or Ford, he has no way of asking.

"Dipper, please come bring Waddles in here for his breakfast!!"


Dipper glances over at the kitchen door where the voice derives from before going to the pig that his feet are currently tucked under for heat. He slips out his feet from under the warm pet before shuddering at the change in temperature. He swears that this has to be the coldest autumn that Gravity Falls has ever seen. With a groan and a pop of his back, Dipper is out of the living room chair and going down to pick up Waddles. The pig complies with a small oink and lays limp in Dipper's arms.

When he enters the room he smells Waddles' special treat: corn on the cob and apples drowned in syrup. It's an interesting smell, and Dipper has been tempted to try it for himself in the past, but would never admit that to anyone. It's pig's food, no matter how it smells. Dipper's stomach grumbles in protest of his pride. He is definitely tempted to try it right now.

Mabel turns from the plate she's currently making for Waddles to smile in her twin's direction. "Thank you, Dipper!" He smiles in return before setting the pig down at his spot at the table. He sits to the left of Waddles in his spot and rests his head on his hand as he smirks at his sister. "Did you even make us anything?"

Mabel looks genuinely surprised he would ask such a thing. "Of course not! I feed Waddles, you feed us, isn't that the deal?"

Dipper can't help but laugh. "Oh, how could I have been such a fool! To ask you to feed your own pet pig and the rest of the house, too!" There's a playful mockery strung over his words, and though Mabel knows this, she also knows he needs an answer for his argument. "I feed my pig, and you feed your's! You just happen to like to eat the same thing as your pig." Dipper quirks an eyebrow. He doesn't have a pig. "I don't.." Mabel answers his question by oinking and snorting in his face. Dipper can't contain his laugh, his side hurting within the first couple of seconds of it. Mabel's strange humor is really refreshing, so he can't help but find the joke hysterical.

After the twins manage to control their laughter, Dipper gets up to make omlets for the two of them. He makes them almost identical, but adds edible glitter to Mabel's. They sit at opposite ends of the table, and though the feeling in the room is happy, the kitchen is silent save the sound of forks clanking against plates.

Dipper looks from across the table at his sister. She hasn't changed much in the last twelve years. Her brunette hair falls over her shoulders and reaches the middle of her back. The red headband is set in her hair to match the red sweater she wears. He notices her retainer sitting on the table beside her plate as she eats and smiles to himself. He's glad she finally got her braces off.

Soon after eating, they decide to open the shack. Mabel sits at the register while Dipper gives tours. The tourists are low in number due to the summer being over, and thus the work day is slow. The twins are more than happy at this, and spend their time between customers playing their own redition of Go-Fish. Around 2 in the afternoon they order pizza for lunch, and don't put it away until close to 7.

At 9:43 p.m., Dipper has decided to close the shack, and it isn't until he switches the sign to closed that Mabel seems uneasy. He picks up on it immediately. "Mabel, what's wrong?"

She fiddles with her hands and knaws at her bottom lip. "Well, ya see.. Pacifica is having her birthday party soon, and I was just wondering if you would be alright with going.. I know things have been kinda awkward but-"

"Of course I'll go, Mabel."


Mabel's eyes go wide in shock. "Re.. really?!"

Dipper laughs awkwardly and rubs the back of his neck. "Well, yeah, I mean sure we're exes and all, but that doesn't mean we can't hang out, right? We were a trio before, and nothing should change that."


Needless to say, Dipper doesn't mind Pacifica much anymore. She ended up not being "the worst", regardless of his assumptions as a child. About six years ago, Mayor Cutebiker had learned what her parents had put her through, and drained them of all of their power. Pacifica was old enough to inherit the fortune, and began to act as a political figure. Now she works as the mayor's righthand woman, though she is still as snobby as Dipper remembers her being twelve years ago.

Their dating was only a little more than a fling, yet the break up was nothing short of awkward. It wasn't anything either of them had done. In fact, the clashing personalities were nice; Dipper always finds himself attracted more to those different from him. Honestly, the only way Pacifica could have made the relationship better would be if she was a boy.

Dipper Pines found out he prefers boys when Pacifica tried to get more "serious" with him, and all he felt was uninterested and uncomfortable. He had thought hard on this, and researched several attractive women on the computer, but they just didn't seem to interest him. He reluctantly researched attractive males instead, even though he already knew the answer just by the aroused feeling he got knowing what he was about to see.

Pacifica took it as well as one could imagine a princess would take it when she found out her prince wanted another prince. But they were all friends in the end, and it needed to stay that way; Dipper's sexual orientation wasn't something that she could hold against him, and Mabel shouldn't be punished for it either.

"When's the party anyways?"

Mabel is all too happy to answer. "The beginning of next month! December 19th, I think."

Dipper nods. He'll make sure to make extra fliers for the shack so they'll have more business the next couple of weeks. They need to buy her a birthday present which will put them in the hole as it is, not to mention having to look presentable. He knows Mabel feels especially inclined to look fancy for these kind of occasions; she always wants to impress Pacifica as if she has something to prove. Dipper will be lucky if he feels like putting a brush through his hair before attending.

Just as he's about to ask Mabel if leftover pizza for dinner is alright, he hears a car drive up. He looks over at the window in the door and sees Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland climbing out of their police vehicle. He swallows and tries not to panic. He hasn't done anything wrong lately, right? He looks over at Mabel. She looks like she didn't even hear the car pull up.

Could she have done something?

Dipper tries to act natural. If he doesn't act guilty, he won't be guilty, right? Isn't that what the shows say?

The knocking makes Dipper yelp, and Mabel goes to open the door curiously. "Sheriff Blubs? Deputy Durland? What are you guys doing here?" They look old. Especially this close up.

"He said he belongs to you."