"What? No, I'm not... I'm not crying," the twelve-year-old says, struggling around the tightness in his throat in an attempt to sound super cool, casual, and grown-up. So cool and casual he wipes his forearm across his eyes.
What kind of stupid town didn't have a bus station, anyway? What even was he doing back in California? Why wasn't he in Oregon? Where was Mabel?
"I'm... I'm just trying to find the bus station?..." Dipper's proud of himself for how he manages to get that out, even if it sounds a little hoarse and shaky. Then he makes the dumb mistake of actually looking at him. The guy's concerned expression and kindly face reminds him so much of his uncles that he makes a sound somewhere between a sniffle and a sob, the guy's features blurring into a smear of color.
"I-I just wanna go home, man," he finally confesses, hanging his head as tears slip down his face. "I-I don't know where I am, I can't find my sister, I'm really freaking out, and I gotta get home to my uncles." // @doctorbrown liked for a starter!
