A Whole New Story

Chapter 1

Dipper silently stared through the bus window. It had been a rough 6 years for Dipper since they had defeated Bill. Stanley and Stanford had returned to the shack a few years ago from their trip. Soos was still in charge of the Mystery Shack and was happily married to Melody. Mabel's friends, Candy and Grenda, were also exceling at school. Candy's grades were higher than ever, though she was still unsure of what occupation she wished to pursue. Grenda, on the other hand, had already decided, with the help of Mabel, and was ready to pursue it when she graduates high school the next year. Wendy had left Gravity Falls for a year but returned. She was now training to be a firefighter. Mabel was already accepted to a fashion course in California. As for Dipper, he was still deciding between his scholarship to the University of Denver and his potential internship with Stanford. Neither of the two seemed as appealing to him as it did when he was younger...

"Dipdot! We're here!" Mabel slightly shook Dipper to get his attention. The young male just hummed before getting up and carrying both his suitcase and his sister's out of the bus. Mabel was happily leading the way.

As they stepped out of the bus, they were greeted by their two grunkles and Soos. They exchanged a few words before driving off to the Mystery Shack. Mabel stood amazed as she stared at the renovated shack. The 'S' still hung off the roof, becoming a signature design of the name. The entire place was repainted, and the back was extended to accommodate more attractions and 3 more rooms upstairs. The shack still looked like a shack, but much sturdier.

"Good job, Soos." Dipper smiled at the man as he picked up his suitcase from the trunk. Soos smiled at the compliment as he grabbed Mabel's suitcase. Soos and Stanley showed the two around the newly improved shack as Stanford made his way back to his lab. He claimed to be in the middle of a big experiment and needed to return to it urgently.

"And finally, this is the room one of you will be staying in. The other will stay in the attic." Stanley explained as he opened the door to the room. There was one small window above a desk. Opposite the window, a closet was braced against the wall beside a single bed. "I call dibs on the attic! It's way bigger and less nerdy." Mabel exclaimed as soon as the door opened. Dipper slightly frowned at her words but just nodded. He didn't mind her having the attic if she wanted it, but he'd prefer if she at least considered him in the decision.

Soos and Stanley nodded and walked off with Mabel towards the attic. Dipper sighed again. He quickly made his way into the room and began unpacking. He wished either Soos or Stanley had remained to talk with him but decided that it was a selfish thought and the peace would soon be nice. The room was in the extension of the shack, so it was a good way from the most used rooms, like the bathroom, kitchen, and attic. Thus, Dipper would have to get used to the loneliness quickly.

The rest of Dipper's day was spent settling into the room and sleeping.

The next morning, Dipper awoke due to the bright rays of light shining through the window. He groaned slightly as he checked his phone for the time. ELEVEN THIRTY-SIX?! Why didn't anyone wake him- Dipper rolled off the bed with a 'thump' and pulled himself up. He grabbed a towel and some clothes before walking down the hall to the bathroom. He knocked before entering and taking a shower. After freshening up completely, he emerged from the bathroom and returned to his room to drop off the dirty clothes.

When he finally made it to the kitchen, it was already midday. He greeted his sister before sitting down and eating lunch. Soos was off at home with Melody since it was his day off, so it was just the Pines until tomorrow.

"Woah! Slow down, bro-bro. The food's not going anywhere!" Mabel laughed as she took a bite of her own food. "Oh... um.. right. Haha." Dipper awkwardly replied. He was hungry since he slept through both dinner and breakfast, but he now felt too self-conscious of his intake to eat quickly.

Mabel ranted on about how she decorated the attic while Dipper forced himself to eat slowly as he listened to Mabel. Stanley was watching the television, and Stanford was still in the lab.

When Mabel finished eating, she left the dishes in the sink and headed back to the attic to finish 'bedazzling' it. Dipper washed both his and Mabel's plate and then took out some food and made a cup of coffee for Ford. He had to ask Stanley for the code to the lab since Ford had changed it. Afterward, he made his way down the elevator and into Ford's lab.

As the doors opened to reveal the lab, Dipper had narrowly avoided a vile of acid thrown his way. "Great Uncle Ford?" His voice echoed slightly as he entered the pitch black lab. A small screeching creature leaped at him out of the darkness, only to be captured inches from his face by a net. "Sorry, Dipper. This little fella got out of its cage and started wrecking the place." Ford chuckled slightly and returned the creature back to a relatively large and transparent cage.

"That's uh... That's alright." Dipper placed the food and coffee on Ford's desk. "I brought you some lunch and coffee." Ford smiled and sat down at the desk. "Thank you, Dipper, but breakfast would've sufficed until dinner tonight. Though, it's much appreciated."

Dipper hummed in acknowledgment as he thought about what his grunkle said. "You had breakfast?" Ford turned to Dipper before responding to the question. "Yes, Mabel came to get me this morning. I ended up just taking it and returning here to eat while I work. That may be why you didn't see me. I'm assuming you came down later?" Dipper simply nodded, not wanting to lie nor explain that he missed breakfast entirely.

Dipper remained in the lab with Ford for the rest of the day to assist with another experiment. For the rest of the week, Dipper and Ford worked in the lab together.