#but lets keep going

“Done!”

Dipper saved his anthropology project, quickly shut his laptop, and breathed a heavy sigh of exhaustion. He had worked entirely too long, but it was all worth it. He double checked the clock.

6:27PM. More than enough time to get everything set up.

Since moving into the dorm a couple of months ago, him and Jules had made it a bit of a habit of having a weekly movie night using Dipper's laptop. It started out as them just working their way through a massive mystery movies torrent that Jules had 'acquired' before coming to college, but had since become a well founded tradition for both of them. It was all good fun. Both of them were huge fans of mysteries of all kinds and the thrill of them trying to figure out 'who dun it' independent of the movie had become the foundation for their friendship since moving in together. However, after a month of black and white P.I.s and stolen jewels, they were ready for a change in tone. Since then, they've been going through a bit of self education, having a sci-fi night, a drama night, and even a romance tonight.

Tonight, though, was a night Dipper had been looking forward too for a while. Animation night. It was one of his better kept secrets that he had never really stopped watching cartoons. There was still nothing quite like that special kind of pure joy he got from a great cartoon. However, as far as Dipper was concerned, he was an adult now and he was not about to let anyone know that he loved something as immature as cartoons. Luckily, he'd done a fantastic job of keeping it well under wraps. As far as he knew, not even Jules had the slightest clue about his hobby. In fact, there was only one person within a hundred mile radius he could think of who knew.

Suddenly, Dipper's phone began to hum gently on his desk. He quickly swiped it up on reflex and unlocked the screen, revealing a pair of texts.

Soooo how long do u think thatll take?

HEY BROSEF!!! U done wit dat thang yet? :3

Dipper felt a slight pang of guilt. He must have been so caught up with his paper that he didn't hear his phone. Nah, that wasn't it, he realized. He'd heard it, realized it must be Mabel, and decided to reply to her 'in a second'. His pang of guilt was quickly growing. He immediately started to tap out a reply.

Yeah, I just finished it right now. Was just about to text Jules and see if he's almost done with his club junk. I wanna get started on these movies.

OMG I TOTES FORGOT UR MOVIE THINGS 2NITE wuz the theme this time :o

Tonight's mainly gonna be animated stuff. I'm pretty excited about it.

I bet u r ya big dork ;D

Dipper couldn't help smirking as he read the teasing message. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. He didn't say anything snide back though, instead opting to continue trading messages with his sister about what was on the agenda for tonight as he got up from his desk as he began getting the dorm room together for tonight. Dipper wasn't entirely sure how he and his roommate had let their already tight quarters get so completely cluttered. Then again, it wasn't that outrageous. Between Dipper's almost militant dedication to his school work and Jules' busy extra-curricular schedule, they usually treated whatever free time they had as solid gold. On the rare occasion that Dipper could find any free time to spare, he'd usually dedicate it towards trying to get cross-campus to hang out with Mabel or reading. The only reason they'd been able to keep the movie nights so consistent was because they had them so precisely planned and both of them had been dedicated to making it happen. He definitely was not going to spend that precious free time picking up dirty clothes.

Dipper began to separate the laundry on the ground into two separate piles, one for him, the other for Jules. As he did so, a small nagging feeling started to eat at him. It felt like he was forgetting...something. He stopped his chore for a moment and took a second to think especially hard.

His phone buzzed.

Jules! He still hadn't texted him!

“Darn it.” Dipper mumbled under his breath as he reached for his phone. However, Mabel's latest text blocked his progress.

OMG we should totally hang out tomorrow :D

He grimaced a little.

I really wanna Mabel, but you know I have classes and labs till late tomorrow, ya know? :/

Dipper sent the text and started heading towards his contacts folder, but was immediately interrupted by another text the instant he saw Jules number.

U cant ditch just this once? :( not even for me? :((( its been like FORRRREEEEVVVERRRRRR :((((

She was completely exaggerating. Heck, they'd just saw each other like three days ago! And four days before that. And two before that. And prior to that, it was a full six days...

Okay, maybe they weren't seeing each other nearly as much as they'd like, but school took priority! If Dipper ditched class 'Just this once' every time he wanted to hang out with Mabel, he might as well drop out.

I'm really sorry Mabel, but I really can't. Why don't you come to the movie night tonight? I know Jules wouldn't mind at all.

He sent the text knowing full well what her reply was going to be, but he was hoping that maybe the time it took her to type her response would give him the time necessary to text Jules. His fingers quickly clicked on Jules contact info, selected 'Send Message', rapidly tapped in a message asking him how much longer till he was done with his club stuff. Dipper's thumb dived for the 'Send' button and...

His phone buzzed in his hand as another message popped up. Dipper couldn't help but feel just a little defeated.

Bllllarrgghhfjkdhfl I dont wanna mess with ur guys 'guys night' thaaaang :#

You wouldn't be messing with anything at all. You should definitely come over Mabes :D

He finally sent his text to Jules.

Why was she so against coming over during movie night? He had tried to think of all the things it could possibly be. Maybe she just didn't like his dorm. He didn't think that could be it. Every time she had come over she'd go on about how adorable his room was with the bunk bed, wooden chair they basically used as a table and entertainment center, as well as all of the geeky posters. Maybe Jules made her feel uncomfortable? That couldn't be it. The two of them got along great. One of the things Dipper really enjoyed about his roommate was how open to goofiness and weirdness and Mabel thrived off of that. While they had only really been around each other a small handful, Dipper felt very confidant in saying that Mabel and Jules were friends.

Then, an idea crept into Dipper's head: What if Mabel had a crush on Jules and didn't feel comfortable flirting with him with him around? It kind of made sense to him. Jules wasn't unattractive or anything and he was single. Plus, he was a little weird himself. The more Dipper thought about, the more he settled into the fact that that must be it.

The idea of it kind of upset him. He couldn't really explain why, though. He knew that Jules was a good guy, definitely not the 'notches in his bed post' kinda guy. They would probably be a pretty solid couple. His inherent brotherly protectiveness didn't have any reason to be going off like this. So then why did he have these massive knots in his gut thinking about it?

His phone buzzed, snapping him out of his head. He picked up expecting another Mabel text, but was instead greeted by a response from Jules.

Yo, sorry broski, probably gonna be running late tonight. been chaos here tonight. should be back by 7:30

Dipper groaned slightly before calming himself. He was gonna be a little late. No big deal. They'd still be able to get through all of the stuff he wanted. No problem at all.

His phone buzzed again and this time it was Mabel's words that showed up.

Lol thx dip but its allll goooood still gotta work on homework x_x ill ttyl bro <3

Now that was a problem. Dipper knew more than enough about Mabel to know when she was trying to get out of a discussion. He let out an exhausted sigh. Well, there wasn't much he could do about it now. Calling her out on it would only get her defensive and if she wasn't eager to talk, she wasn't gonna talk. God, why did she always have to be so stubborn?

As he rubbed the back of his neck, Dipper realized that he still hadn't quite finished clearing the laundry from the floor. Better keep getting everything in order. The night had been postponed, not canceled, and as messy as Dipper might be, he was not about to have a two man party in a shallow sea of clothes and trash. Hopefully, Jule's will be back soon. And maybe he could think of some excuse to message Mabel and touch base with her before the end of the night. He wasn't really a big fan of the idea of letting her go to bed upset.

By the time Dipper got done cleaning up the room – or at least his version of clean – it was around 7:00. This was about the time he and Jules usually kick off their movies, but with his roommate still nowhere in sight, Dipper decided to lay down on his bunk and get started on one of the Sibling Brothers book he hadn't gotten around to yet. He had a hard time focusing on the book at first. He was convinced that Jules would kick in the door at any moment and throw a bag of chips from the campus store at him and mock him for his inability to catch it. Dipper wanted to be sure that the moment he tried anything, he'd be prepared. However, as usual, he got sucked into the mystery.

Dipper made quick work of the first chapter and then the second. The time and chapters quickly got away from him as he ran from word to word. It wasn't until he felt a faint buzzing from his hip that he thought to check the clock.

7:45. Seriously? Where is he?

Dipper sat up as he slid his hand into the pocket of his jeans and fished out his phone.

Hey man, so, like, full disclosure. That girl Elliott invited me to go out with a bunch of people like 15 minutes ago. I'm super sorry, I just got so caught up in every thing that's going on I forgot to message you. I doubt I'll make it back tonight at all, tbh. Really sorry, bro.

He crashed back onto his bed. Whelp. Guess that settles that. What was he going to do now? He guessed he could keep reading. The book was a little more interesting than he expected, but darn it, he was really looking forward to those movies! However, he couldn't help but feel that watching the movies by himself was just a little bit sad...Dipper took of his olive green military cap with his free hand and ran his fingers through his hair while giving a frustrated sigh. He glared at the phone in his other before typing out a brief response.

K, np

He locked the phone before rolling onto his stomach and burying his face into his pillow and letting out a muted groan. Dipper couldn't really blame Jules. He'd seen the girl he was talking about and she was definitely...nice. And the truth was that Jules had only had something like two girlfriends prior to coming to the college, so he had a bit of an innocence to him. It was a kind of naivete and honesty that Dipper knew all too well some girls just found adorable. Maybe that why Elliott had asked him out. Maybe that was why Mabel had a crush on him.

Dipper sunk his head deeper into the pillow until his nose was practically touching the bed.

“This sucks.” He tried to say through the pillow, but it only came out as murmurs. Several minutes ticked by before Dipper found the will to roll himself onto his back again. What could he do now? Maybe if he stared at the bottom of the top bunk, it would solve everything. About twenty seconds in, he decided it wasn't doing anything other than making him more depressed. He reached for his book only to realize that, in his frustration, he'd let go of the book without marking where he was. He pursed his lips as he began to comb through the pages, looking for his place when suddenly he felt a slight vibration against his thigh. As Dipper lean forward to grab his phone, he made a mental wish that it was a text from Jules saying that he was on his way back.

Hey dip! Hows ur movie thang goin c:

Hadn't really expected that. Not that it wasn't welcome.

It isn't. Jules had to cancel because something came up. He's not gonna be coming back tonight, so I'm just sittin here doing some reading.

Mabel's reply was almost instant.

Im coming over 8l

What was happening. Dipper was desperately trying to make sense of her sudden change in attitude, before realizing that responding was probably more important.

Wait, you mean you're coming over right now? Like, right now, right now?

Yup! Already outside my room and u cant stop me ;P

Dipper quickly pulled his military cap back on and looked at the clock. 7:58. Her dorm room is about 15 minutes away. He began to do a rapid personal inventory. Did he need to change any of his clothes? Jeans are jeans, so he didn't worry about that too much, but after a full day, his shirt might smell a little ripe. He brought the piece of cloth over his heart to his nose and sniffed it. Yeah. Definitely couldn't hurt to change that. He quickly slipped off the tee shirt and threw it at the pile in the corner as he walked to his dresser. Dipper threw open one of the dresser drawer and began shuffling through clothes. Well, it wasn't really shuffling. It's hard to shuffle through your drawer when there's only three remaining pieces of clean clothing. All that remained in his shirt draw was an oversized night shirt, a simple solid white tee, and a light tan flannel. Maybe he should put a little more priority on doing laundry. He pulled the tee shirt over his head before sliding his arms through the flannel and buttoning it up. Jeans, undershirt, flannel, cap. This looked good, right?

Next he looked towards his bed. It was a complete mess, with pillows and blankets strewn about, completely out of place, with his novel still sitting on top of it all. Dipper picked up the novel and set it on the top bunk as he frantically began making his bed, making sure to set as many pillows against the wall as possible so that they'd be able to use it as a make shift couch. As he finished getting the bed in order, Dipper stood up and grabbed the book from the top bunk and brought it back to his desk. He grabbed his laptop under one arm and used his other to grab the 'Chair shaped entertainment center' and set it all up a few feet in front of his bed. He wasn't completely sure what they were going to do, but since movie night had been on the agenda before, no reason to get rid of it now.

Dipper stood back took everything in. For the amount of time he had available to him, Dipper was happy with what he had been able to do. This felt like a place suitable for company.

Suddenly, something clicked in him: He wasn't just getting ready for Mabel to show up. He was trying to look good for her. Smell good for her. Have everything look good when she arrived. He was trying to impress her. Why was he trying to impress Mabel? It was Mabel. He couldn't imagine that she'd care if either his room or him were a bit of a mess. Maybe that was why. He wanted to surprise her. Weird.

Then, much to Dipper's surprise, there was a set of rapid knocks at the door. His eyes reflexively darted over to the clock. 8:05. There was no way. He walked towards the door, clenched the knob, and threw it open.

“Dipper!” A sweater clad blur suddenly leapt through the door and wrapped itself around the boy's neck. “I missed you so much!” She tightened her squeeze.

“Mabel...I can't...breathe...” Dipper just barely managed to squeak out.

Mabel released her grip before bring her hands up to his face and push his cheeks together, forcing him to pucker his lips.

“I'm sorry Dip, I just missed my baby bro so much!” She started rubbing his cheeks up and down as she finished the sentence.

Dipper mustered up some energy and pulled his face from the vice grip his sister had created. In the process of doing so, however, he couldn't help but catch a whiff of something. It was subtle, but it was definitely there. It seemed...salty? It was then that he noticed how flushed her face was.

“Wait, did you run all the way here?”

“Yep!” She said in an almost bragging way. Dipper took the chance to give her a quick over. Did she really run here in a sweater? What was he thinking, of course she did. This particular one was a gentle shade of blue, with baggy sleeves that grazed her wrists and a bedazzled picture of a butterfly. Meanwhile, her lower body was covered up by a yellow skirt, a set of fairly long, white socks, and pair of black shoes that she was already in the process of removing and throwing to the side. Finally, all of it was topped off with yellow hairband which perfectly matched her skirt. He couldn't help but think she looked just the tiniest bit cute. Not that he'd ever tell her that.

As soon as she had gotten her shoes off, Mabel walked over to his bed. sat down and seemed to take stock of the room.

“Aww, did you clean up your room for me? How sweet!” She asked while teasingly batting her eyelashes at him.

“W-what? No, of course not!” Dipper folded his arm and looked away from her “I cleaned it up earlier just because I thought it needed it. That's all.”

Mabel gave a clearly disbelieving smile. “Sure you did, Dipper.” There was a moment of silence between them. It wasn't uncomfortable in anyway, but Dipper couldn't help but feel they should be spending their time doing something more productive than sitting and standing there in silence.

“So, what have you bee-”

“Movie!” The interruption caught Dipper off guard.

“Um, alright th-”

“Movie!”

“Okay! What do you want to watch?”

Mabel leaned forward, putting her hands on the top of her thighs, looked Dipper dead in the eye, and whispered. “Movies.”

He let out a frustrated sigh which seemed to coax a huge smile from Mabel. “Fine, I'll chose.”

Dipper hit the lights as he began to quickly run through the movie folder on his laptop and choose the one he was most eager to watch. He'd chosen most of these based on a list he had found online of the best obscure animated movies, but this one was something different. This one was something he'd simply come across. He couldn't really say he knew much about the plot beyond that it was kind of romantic, but he'd seen some stills from it and knew he'd have to watch it, if not just for the art. Plus, he figured that the romance would give Mabel something to enjoy.

He started up the movie and fell back onto the bed/makeshift couch before crossing his legs and leaning against the pillow padded wall. Before long, both of them were completely caught up in the movie. Dipper couldn't help but feel a bit of pride in his choice. The animation was absolutely stunning with every single frame clearly having a colossal amount of care put into it. For every sweeping shot of a plane or pan up to a star filled night sky, Dipper was filled a little bit more with childlike wonder and glee.

The beauty of the animation, however, was in a somewhat harsh contrast to the plot. It went something like this: Once upon a time, in the early 90s, there was a boy and a girl in a middle school. The boy had recently move to the rural midwest town for their parent's work after having lived in the city for all their life while the girl had never known any kind of life outside of the small village. At first, they didn't notice each other in anyway, but their shared passion for reading as well as their somewhat frail bodies led them to spend all their free time in the library and, hence, with each other. As time went on, they spent more and more time together until, eventually, they were nearly inseparable as long as they were at school. Their peers took as many chances as they could get to mock them for what they had, but time and again, they stood up for each other. What they had may have seemed weird to some, but it was all they need.

Then, one day in the middle of winter, the boy's parent got a promotion, in recognition of all their hard work. The boy wanted to be happy, but he knew what this meant. He would be moving soon. He would have to leave her. The very idea clearly tore him apart. The boy tried his hardest to think of a way that he wouldn't have to leave her, but every idea that came to him fell completely flat and, before long he was left with no choice. This was going to be it. He told her what was coming and told her what his last day in town was going to be. On that night, both of them snuck out of their beds. One took a gas lantern, while the other brought a set of thick blankets. They met in an old, abandoned shack on the edge of town and stayed there all night talking from dusk till dawn, cuddled under the blanket. As they left the shack, they were both greeted with the sun rising over the snowy fields. It was then that she buried her face into his chest as she began to cry. He wrapped her arms around her and gripped her tight, like he was afraid she was going to disappear. She looked up at him as he looked into her eyes. Then, finally, their lips connected. The scene slowly faded to black and the credits rolled.

Dipper had enjoyed every single second of it, much to his surprise. He typically wasn't one for romances, especially ones that ran so long, but this one had just felt so real to him for some reason. What might have helped was who he was watching it with. He couldn't really remember the last time they'd watched a movie together, but her empathy with everything happening on screen hadn't gone down in the slightest since then. When they'd started the movie, there was easily a foot between them. However, every time something dramatic happened, she'd moved just the tiniest bit closer and because of how intense the movie had been, she was quickly touching shoulders with him. As the boy fought for a way to not have to leave, Mabel wrapped both of her arms around the Dipper arm that was closest to her and leaned her head on his shoulder. It was about then he started to smell something peculiar. It smelt really sweet. Dipper had sniffed a couple more times...was that cotton candy? And was the smell coming from Mabel's hair? He couldn't help but chuckle to himself a little. Only she would buy cotton candy scent shampoo.

By the time the kids were planning to sneak out, Dipper found her head in his lap. He thought for a brief moment that maybe he should be weirded out by having his sister's head in his lap, but quickly ignored the thought. He was comfortable with how they were. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been this relax. 'At home' felt like the right way to describe it. Plus, truth was that the movie wasn't exactly bringing him up. It was nice just to be able to feel the warmth of another person near him, even if it was Mabel. Especially if it was Mabel. It wasn't long till he found himself running his fingers through her hair as she choked back tears. The kiss scene finally did it, though. The movie had thoroughly broken her.

She began bawling into Dipper's leg. There wasn't much Dipper could think to do to cheer her up. He was forced to do his best to comfort her by simply rubbing her back through her sweater and telling her it would be okay. Time seemed to barely creep by as they sat there in near silence, save for Mabel's sobs. Eventually though, Mabel seemed calmed down quite a bit. She still didn't seem too eager to detach from his leg though, and he wasn't about to make her either. There was just something about how she looked right now, bathed in the in the pale light of Dipper's laptop and the small amount of moonlight that made it's way through his room's lone window. He wasn't sure what it was – for all he knew it was glitter – but something about her just seemed to shine. It was hard for him to really put into words, but looking at her, face silently buried into his thigh, chestnut hair covering a majority of her face, just made him feel...happy. A really pure, warm kind of happiness too. He felt a huge grin spread across his face. This was nice.

“Dipper...” Mabel broke the silence without moving her head in the least “Do...do you think we're growing apart?”

“What?” The question had caught him completely off guard.

“I don't know...” Mabel said as she finally started to sit up. She might not have been making eye contact with him, but Dipper could tell still see the moisture around her eyes, even in the dark. “It's just, like... that movie just got me thinking about them growing about and then I started thinking about us growing apart and since we came here we've been spending less and less time together and I'm used to seeing you all the time and I get that you're usually super busy and you make as much time to see me as you can and that's fine, but with classes and new friends and getting used to living away form mom and dad and junk...” Mabel began to fidget with her sweater, attempting to get it around her knees. “It's just been hard without you, ya know? And I, like, miss being around you and stuff...”

Dipper words failed him, but he pushed himself to just say something. “Well, why don't you just come over more? You know you can come over any time, Mabel. Jules wouldn't mind at all and it's always fun spending time with you.”

She finally succeeded in getting her sweater over her knees and down to her ankles. “Yeah, but you're always busy doing your studying thing and stuff and I don't wanna distract you.”

“Mabel, you know that I don't mind taking a break from studying to hang out. Besides, since when have you ever cared about distracting me from...well, anything?” Dipper leaned forward to try to look into her eyes “What's really wrong?”

She turned her head completely away from him and mumbled something indistinct as she began to rock slightly. His shoulders sunk a little. “Mabel...”

He got another mumble in response, but this time it sounded like actual words. “What did you say?”

Another mumble, but slightly louder this time. “I...ing you...”

“I still can't hear you...”

“I said I don't like I don't like sharing you!” She was now looking Dipper dead in the eye. “I like hanging out with you when it's just you and me. I know it's childish, but I like being the only person in the room you look at and I like acting how I want without having to worry about embarrassing you in front of Jules.” She looked down at her knees. She seemed to be fighting back tear yet again. “I just...like being alone with you...like this...”

Wow. His 'Mabel likes Jules' theory was could not have been more wrong. A small part of his subconscious felt a tiny pang of defeat before snapping him back to the present.

“Mabel...” Dipper reached out his hand out toward Mabel. He cupped her cheek in his palm and gently guided her face so that their eyes met. “You'll never have to share me. You're the only person that matters to me. You're the only person I'm ever looking at. And you couldn't embarrass me even if you tried. Every second we've ever spent together has always been crazy fun and I wouldn't trade any of them for anything, alone or otherwise. I seriously have no clue who I'd be without you, and not just because of the twin thing. Everything good in me, I've gotten from you and I'm sorry if I haven't been giving you what you deserve.” A smile began to appear on Dipper's face as he began to rub her cheek with his thumb. “I love you, Mabel. More than anything else.”

Mabel's melancholy expression gradually gave way to a soft smile and warm eyes as she brought her own hand up and laid it over his. “...Thanks, bro.” Dipper's smile got a little bigger.

For a brief moment, they just sat like that, each of them content to enjoy the feeling of the other's skin on their own. Mabel bit down on her bottom lip before getting what Dipper recognized as a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Hey, Dipper.”

“Hmm?”

“Avalanche!” Mabel immediately pounced on Dipper, knocking him flat onto the bed. She completely wrapped herself around him and used as much strength as her body could muster to start rolling them off the bed.

“Mabel!” Dipper yelled before making the foot or so drop to the ground.

As they landed, both of the twins burst out giggling. It'd had been a long time since they'd ruff housed to any degree. It was exactly the kind of silliness Dipper had been missing with her all along. However, as the giggling started to die down, he started to gain a bit of a new appreciation for the position that they were in. Their faces were maybe an inch apart, only kept separated by his slight straddling of his sister with his hand pushing against the ground right behind her head. However, it was where his knees were that caught his attention more then anything. He couldn't see them, but there was no doubt in his mind that his legs had come to rest between hers. It was gentle, but he could feel the fabric of her skirt and the warmth of her legs through his jeans.

Their giggling slowly died down and was replaced only with the sound of their breathing. Dipper was frantically running through his mind, trying to figure out what was happening right now. Yes, he was on top of Mabel, but something about where they were felt very, very...intense. As time ticked by, he could feel his breathes getting heavier. He should get off of her, right? But try as he might, his muscles weren't responding to the commands from his brain. Dear god, what was happening to him right now.

In every second that slipped by, he tried harder and harder to get a grasp on the situation. However, any foot hold he would get was immediately destroyed by returning to the vision of the beautiful girl beneath him. Did he just admit to himself that he thought she was beautiful? Oh god. Nothing else existed right now. Only her, with her rosy cheeks, her barely separated lip, and the labored exhales escaping from them. Dipper could just barely see her eyes in the pale light, but he could swear that he'd never seen them so big.

This was bad. He needed to end this right now. Before something...happened. Alright Dipper, you can do this. We'll just count to three and then move. Simple.

One.

Two.

Three.

Nothing. Alright, that's fine. That was just the practice run. Now we'll do it for real this time. Ready?

One.

Two.

Three.

This time, much to his surprise, his body actually listened. It might not have been immediate, but he could feel his body slowly pulling away from hers. He breathed a heavy internal sigh of relief. Just barely dodged that bullet. Oddly though, he also felt a solid wave of regret coarse through him. It wasn't for letting them get in that situation, though. Was he really regretting not following through?

Suddenly, he felt some kind of resistance. He looked down towards his flannel and saw Mabel's hands tightly gripping the fabric. He was completely stunned. His eyes started moving back up to meet hers. Dipper was far back enough now that he could see her chest heaving through her sweater. There was no question in his mind: She was definitely feeling and thinking the same thing he was. Their eyes met again, but now he could truly see them, desperate and wanting. He couldn't take it anymore. He felt something in him give way. He broke.

Dipper lower his lips onto hers as he snaked one of his arms under her neck, pulling her into the kiss. At first he could feel a tiny of hesitation from her, but it swiftly vanished at she began to gently kiss him back. The softness of her lips, the warmth of her body, the feeling of the hair that divided his arm and her neck, it was purely intoxicating to Dipper. He pulled her even closer and began to kiss her with true force, eliciting a quiet moan from the brunette. The twins melted into each other as they took in the other's taste, giving themselves completely to the moment. Nothing else mattered. Their problems, their grades, their past, their future, their shared blood, all of it was left completely powerless in the wake of them being able to truly feel each other for the first time.

Dipper softly pulled himself away from the kiss, now completely breathless. His brain immediately began to slowly turn on once again. Where am I. What's happening. What just happened. Most of all though, why did all of this feel so...normal. The panting girl beneath him was his best friend. He'd meant what he said. She was everything to him. He decided he had to say something to her, anything, just to get some foothold on what was happening.

“Mabel, I-” It was as though she sensed what he was about to do and was having none of it. Mabel's face shot up as she used her grip on Dipper's shirt to pull him down and crashed her lips onto his with a series of impassioned open mouthed kisses. Dipper couldn't help but let out a solid moan as he began to return the attention, pressing his entire body against hers. It wasn't long before he could feel Mabel's tongue enter his mouth, ravenous and desperate to explore. He could feel it mapping every piece of him and, without realizing it, he began doing the same. There was sudden pulling against the top of his head as he felt her remove his hat and begin to frantically run her fingers through his hair. The scratching of her finger nails against his scalp triggered something very carnal in him. He needed to be closer to her. He didn't know how, but he knew needed it.

He pulled his arm out from behind her neck before letting himself fall onto her, bringing them completely back to the ground once again. As they landed, Mabel took the chance to briefly nibble the boy's lip, earning a heavy moan from him. The second she freed him, he immediately dove towards her neck and began kissing and licking and biting.

Mabel gasped “Oh my god.” He could feel her body shutter underneath his as he ran a hand through her hair, knocking her headband out of her hair. Dipper felt her nearly panicking hands dash down his neck before grasping onto his shirt like her life depended on it, as though both of them would simply vanish if she loosened her grip in the slightest, and with every kiss and every lick, he could feel her dig into his shirt just a little more, and with every bite, she cocked her head back more and more, offering greater territory to work with each time, as she reflexively arched her back, unintentionally grinding herself into her twin.

“O-oh god, Dipper!” He began to kiss up the side of her face, passing her jaw and her cheek before finally making eye contact.

Something snapped in both of them. Their eyes went wide. It was as though the reality what had just happened – what was still happening – crashed down on both of them at the same time. What had they just done. What the hell had they just done. They only sat there in the darkness, still cooling off from the event and calming their breathing. Dipper began to slowly pull himself off his sister, but never looking away from her. The room was mute now. There was no more scraping. No clamoring. No moaning. Only the ever quieting sounds of their breath and the gentle hum of the hard drive sitting on the chair next to them.

Mabel was the first to break eye contact. She began to slid herself out from underneath him before attempting to stand while trying get her hair back in order. Her footing seemed a little weak at first, but she quickly found herself. She looked down at the boy now sitting on his knees on the ground in front of her, making sure to avoid eye contract.

“I...I think I'm gonna go...” She said it in perhaps the most quiet voice Dipper had ever heard her speak in.

“A-alright.” He slowly force himself up, keeping a stone face the entire time. The march to the door felt like a mile for the pair, but they finally made it. Dipper twisted the door knob, pulled it inwards, and held it for her as light from the hallway filled his room.

“I, um, guess I'll see you later, then...” Dipper just barely managed to force it out.

“Yeah, okay.” She said hurriedly before making her way towards the door.

Even with his eye line honed squarely on the ground, he could tell that she had only gotten a single foot out of the door before stopping cold in her tracks. She stood perfectly still before starting to turn around.

“...Dipper...?”

He raised his head a little bit, but was unable to meet here stare. “Huh?”

She was silent for a moment before taking a heavy, yet silent breath.

“I...I love you too, Dipper. More than anything.” She quickly leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling a rapid about-face and nearly sprinting off. He closed the door before slouching against it. He ran a hand through his hair before bring it down to message his neck. A labored sigh escaped his mouth. Normally, he would have offered to walk her back, but nothing about this was normal. Was anything ever going to be normal again? He banged the back of his head against the door. There had to be some kind of happy ending to this, right? Something he could say to Mabel to make everything that just happened okay, or better yet make everything that just happened unhappen. For the first time in years, Dipper had no idea what tomorrow was going to bring. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this uncertain and terrified. He could almost physically feel the pieces of his life crashing down around him.

But for all of his pain, he had one thing going for him. Her words still rang in his head. She loved him. As damaged and scary as things were for Dipper in that moment, he had those words to cling onto, and it was those words that would keep him sane and together. It was those word that would let him sleep tonight. No matter what happened from here on, he had that.