Don't Let Go | Sequel to "Been Here All Along"

Chapter 21

Author's Note: Hey guys! Just wanted to take a moment and give my utmost gratitude to all of you guys! I'm about to hit 2K reads on "Been Here All Along" and this story will be hitting 1K very soon! I am sososo thankful for anyone who reads my stories; you guys mean to world to me! I love every single one of you who votes, reads, comments, and even reaches out and messages me! It's so exciting to interact with you guys! While I am here writing this out, I might as well give you guys a ballpark on how long this book should be! :) As you guys can tell, my chapters are not usually long, and since this book had a slower start because I needed to build up to Ford's death, this book should be around 40+ chapters! This chapter is where things will finally pick up and hopefully get more interesting, so I hope you guys enjoy! Love you all so much! xoxo

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My body went cold. 

I just watched my Great Uncle Ford, my mentor, my hero, my best friend die right before my eyes. 

I didn't dare to move. I was kneeled down next to his bed, my head in my hands, feeling the hot tears stream down my face. After quite some time, I felt a hand grasp my shoulder. I looked up and found Soos staring down at me, with his kind, brown eyes. He stood me up and hugged me tightly, which made me cry even more. I pulled away and shook my head, trying to rid everything out of my mind.

This isn't happening.

Grunkle Stan was acting quite hysterically and to be frank, it was hard to watch my now only living Grunkle suffer in such a way. He was obviously the most devastated out of all of us. A half an hour after Grunkle Ford passed, Soos insisted we head back to the Mystery Shack and try and rest and that he would stay at the hospital with Grunkle Stan until he was ready to leave. I normally would have declined the kind gesture, but I couldn't bare another second in this room knowing he was really gone. Mabel and I walked over to Grunkle Stan before we left. Mabel bent down and gave him a kiss on the forehead and enclosed him in a ginormous hug. Grunkle Stan's body shook the minute he felt her touch her. She retreated almost immediately, and walked towards the door, new tears pricking at her eyes. I looked down at Grunkle Stan for a moment, afraid to do or say anything. I turned around to leave and join Mabel, but he grabbed my wrist. I looked down and back up at him, making eye contact with me. His face was red and his eyes were glossy with tears. He bit his lip and dropped my hand, and started violently crying again. I hurried out of the room, Mabel right beside me. The whole elevator ride was silent. And despite the pouring rain, something Mabel and I usually loved and took advantage of, we ran in silence to our car. I grab the keys from my back pocket and unlocked the car. I slammed the door shut and stared out the windshield for a few minutes. I turned to look at Mabel, but she was already looking at me. The minute I saw the look of sadness in her eyes, I lost it.

"Why did this happen?" I hollered, slamming my fist on the dashboard violently.

"Dipper," Mabel said, shaking. I looked at her again and I realized how badly I just startled her. For the billionth time tonight, I started crying again. Mabel took me in and gave me a hug.

"Dipper, Dipper, Dipper," she repeated, whispering in my ear as she rocked me back and forth. Like the miracle she is, I began to calm down enough where I was able to drive us home safely. She held my left hand tightly the whole ride home. Once we made it to the shack, Mabel and I walked in, and she started for the stairs, but I stopped in front of the vending machine. A minute after she noticed I wasn't behind her anymore, Mabel came back down looking for me. I looked at her and she stumbled into the kitchen and I looked between her and the vending machine.