~Dipper~

I woke up feeling better then I had in weeks. I'd gotten a good night's rest and my migraine was gone. I glanced at Mabel's bed but she wasn't there. The journal I was reading was still lying open my my head. I yawned and got up. I hadn't gotten undressed the night before so I just put my hat on and went downstairs to the kitchen.

Everyone else was awake and eating, but Grampa Ford looked exausted. There were dark bags under his eyes and he was spilling his coffee as he drank it. I wondered if it was something to do with his alcohol withdrawl.

I sat next to Mabel and started eating.

"You feeling better, kid?" Stanly asked me.

I nodded. "My migrane's gone. I feel a lot better."

"All you needed was a good night's rest."

I nodded. You don't know that half of it.

Bill's voice was quiet for the first time in a long time. I could actually think straight and without him interupting my thoughts. Whenvyouve got a demon in your head, it makes trying to have conversations really hard.

"So," Stanly said, rubbing his hands together. "I thought it would be a fun idea to have a little bonding time."

"Like what?" Mabel asked.

"I was thinking fishing," Stan said.

"Fishing?" Mabel said, disgust in her voice. "But it's so boring! I know! How about we go shopping!"

The other three groaned softly.

"What?" Mabel asked.

None of the males, wisely, said anything.

Mabel sighed. "Fine, we can go fishing. But you owe me a shopping trip."

"Deal," Stan said.

"If it's all the same with you," Ford said. "I'll stay here."

Stan nodded. "Okay. Just me and the kids then."

"Aww," Mabel said. "But I wanted us all to be there." Mabel said. "It could have been one big sibling bonding time!"

"I'm sorry Mabel," Ford said. "But I'm really busy right now."

Mabel put on a pouting face, but said nothing.

I wondered what was wrong with Ford. He looked awful. He was always such a secretive person. I remember the photograph of us all looking happy. What had happened to him.

"Mabel," Stan had taken control now. "Get the poles! Dipper, dig for the worms! I'll get everything else!"

~

"Are you sure it floats?" I asked Stan.

"Of course it floats!" Stan said.

I looked at the boat skeptically. The words Stan O' War was written on the side, harshly faded.

"Me and Ford had a dream of sailing the world looking for buried tresure when we were kids, so we made this boat. It's never failed me yet."

"When was the last time you used it?" I asked.

"Doesn't matter," Stan said. He got into the boat, followed by Mabel. "Come on, brother," Mabel said. "Unless you're a scardy cat."

I glared at her and got in the boat. It didn't sink, so maybe it was more sturdy then I thought. Stan handed us both a paddle. "Get rowing you two," he said. I'll make sailors out of you yet!"

We both groaned. I almost wished we had gone shopping. Almost.

~Mabel~

This was great! I mean, besides the rowing part. But this was some seriously great bonding time for the three of us.

When we got the the middle of the lake, Stan handed us our fishing poles. We baited them and threw the line out. And now we wait, I thought. Man, this was going to be more boring then I thought. Just sitting here until something nibbles at my bait.

Stan picked up a joke book. Here we go, I thought.

Before he could crack one, however, Dipper got a bite. "Hey!" He said. "I got something on the hook!"

"Reel it in," Stan said.

Dipper tried. "I can't. It won't budge!"

"Let me help, brother," I said. I grabbed the pole along with him. He was right. Something heavy was on the line. "One three. One two thr-"

We never got their, because the thing we caught suddenly jerked forwards, taking us into the water along with it. It wasn't any type of fish, that was for sure. Dipper and I screamed as we kept getting farther and farther and farther away from the boat. We didn't dare let go of the pole and our lifejackets weren't the best. I got a mouthful of water and started to sputter. The thing started to go deeper, pulling us with it. I took a deep breath as Dipper and I were dragged underwater.

What we saw shocked us. It was a real, live sea monster. It didn't seem too keen on going back up to the surface, so we let go of the pole and swam to the surface. We were still far from the beach and Stan was nowhere in sight.

"What now?" I asked.

Dipper didn't seem to hear me. "That was a sea monster!" A wild smile spead across his face. "A real loch ness monster! Did you see the size of that thing?"

I smiled back. "Yeah. It was pretty great."

Suddenly, Dipper blinked, like he had forgotten something and started to sink. I grabbed onto his arm. "Dipper, you've gotta keep treading the water. Our life jackets won't hold our weight. Dipper blinked again and nodded, treading water one again. "That was weird," he said.

"What was weird?" I asked.

"Don't know," Dipper said. "I just...totally forgot what I was doing."

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked. "Maybe we should head for dry land."

Dipper nodded. We started to swim towards the nearest beach we could. We weren't even half way there when I felt completly exausted. I just wanted to sleep. Dipper looked oven worse, as if he was about to pass out.

Stan was still nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was looking for us now. He was paddling it all by himself. We just had to make it to the beach. Just another few minutes before we could walk on the bottom of the lake.

Dipper's eyes were slowly closing. I grabbed him by the shoulder, instantly making him jerk up from instinct. It happened whenever he was asleep. I had to be careful when waking him up or he would start screaming. He was getting better with it, however.

After what felt like an hour, our feet finally hit the lake floor. Both of us were breathing hard and exausted. We slowly made our way onto the beach and collapsed. I was soaking wet and the sand was getting everywhere, but I didn't mind. I was just releived to be on land.

After five minutes of rest, we sat up. We would have to wait if we could see Stan then wave and get his attention when we did.

Dipper had a guilty look on his face. He wouldn't look at me. We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes until he suddenly said, "Mabel, I have to tell you something, and you have to promise never to repeat this to another human being."

I nodded. Maybe he would finally admit that he liked Wendy. I was ready with an I told you so! but what he said was not what I had in mind.

"I think there's a demon inside me brain."

I blinked. "Uh, what?"

I could see him swollow. "When I was in New York, this kid that hated my guts got a hold of a book that I found in Ford's room. It was how I found Gravity Falls. Anyway, he summoned this Dream Demon named Bill Cipher and somehow he got into my head. He talks to me, erases my memory, and haunts me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but...I guess I wasn't ready."

I blinked. "Um...okay. That's...different..."

He swallowed and looked away from me. "Please don't tell Stan. I'll figure out some way to get rid of him. I don't know why I told you, but it sure does take a lot of weight off my chest."

I smiled and wrapped my arms around my brother. "Don't worry, brother," I said. "Your secret's safe with me."

~

Sorry for the long overdue update...

Writers block and junk, but I think I'm over it.

Yay!

Hope you liked this chapter!