Mabel stared up at her bedroom ceiling. She finally had a moment alone since coming home from the hospital. She just needed some time to think. She thought about Glenn, about how everything went so wrong, about how she almost lost everything because of him. The bandages wrapped around her head served as a mark of shame of how she foolishly let things go too far.

There was a knock on the door. Although Mabel thought she wanted to be alone, she was grateful for the interruption from her solitude. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal her visitor to be Ford. "Hello, Mabel, honey. Are you doing okay?"

Mabel shrugged. "I guess."

"Well, I have something that might cheer you up." Ford approached her bed and pulled something out of his pocket. It was her phone, fully repaired.

Mabel bolted up from her bed. "My phone! You fixed it?"

"Yep." Ford beamed and gave the phone to her.

Mabel gave Ford a hug. "Thank you, Grunkle Ford."

"Now, you can get back in touch with your friends." Her face fell when Ford said this. "What's wrong? Don't you want to see your friends?"

"No, I do. It's just…will they want to see me?"

"Of course they will. They love you."

"But I was such a bad friend. I kept ignoring them and blowing them off."

"Mabel, you were trapped in a bad situation that you couldn't get out of. I'm sure they'll understand."

Mabel let out a sad sigh. "But I don't even understand."

"Understand what?"

"I don't understand why I let that happen to me. I'm such an idiot."

"You are not, Mabel. It happens to a lot of people." Ford sat on the bed next to her. "It even happened to me."

"It did? You were in an abusive relationship? With who?"

"Bill."

"Bill? You mean you and Bill…?"

"No, no, it wasn't that kind of relationship. Though if it were up to me at the time…" Ford trailed off as a look of hurt and regret came to his eyes. He quickly shook it off telling himself it was about Mabel, not him. "The point is, I understand what you're going through."

Ford patted his lap to signal Mabel to sit on it. She complied and sat in Ford's lap and hugging him. "He made you feel good about yourself. He made you feel like you were special. And when you grow up ostracized by your peers, that kind of flattery is addictive."

She looked up at him shocked on how on point Ford was. He continued. "That's why you forgave him when he hurt you because you believed you were important to him."

Mabel sniffed and cast her eyes downward. Ford put his hand under his chin to lift her head and make eye contact with her. "But Mabel, someone who loves you would never hurt you that way."

Mabel leaned against his chest. A few tears slipped out of her eyes. "I just feel so ashamed."

"You don't have to. Like I said, plenty of people fall victim to-"

"I still miss him," Mabel said quietly like she was in a church confessional. "After everything that's happened, I still miss him."

Mabel looked up at her uncle with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "What's wrong with me, Grunkle Ford?"

"Nothing's wrong with you. It's okay to miss someone even if they treated you poorly."

"Do you ever miss Bill?"

Ford stiffened at the question. He thought about the times they played chess together, talked about new scientific breakthroughs, romanticized about the future they will have as partners. He's never confessed this to anyone, not even to himself. "Yes, I do miss him. I miss the person I thought he was."

Ford held her close and rested his chin at the top of her head. "But then I learned who Bill really was and knew what we had couldn't continue. You may miss Glenn for a very long time. You'll miss the person you thought he was."

"But Mabel…" Ford cradled her face and lifted her head to meet her watery eyes once again. "You need to realize that you deserve so much better. Nothing but the best. The man who has the privilege of having your love should treat you like nothing less than a princess."

Mabel gave a shaky laugh. "If I'm a princess, does that make you my brave knight?"

"If it pleases thy lady, it would be my honor to be thy brave knight," Ford said in a theatrical Shakespearian tone as he tickled her belly.

Mabel giggled and jumped up from Ford's lap. She rifled through her toys in search for her magic wand. She put the tip of the wand on Ford's shoulder. "Then, I hereby dub thee Sir Grunkle Ford: thy protector of thy Princess Mabel!"

Ford played along and kneeled on the floor. "I shan't let you down, my lady. I shall always protect my princess."

"I know you will, Sir Grunkle Ford." Mabel jumped into his arms. They both hugged each other and laughed. "Thanks, Grunkle Ford."

"Anytime, sweetheart." Ford kissed her cheek. "Oh, I forgot. I was supposed to ask if you wanted to come downstairs and watch Duck-tective. Dipper said he taped all the episodes you missed."

"Yeah. I'll be downstairs in a minute. There's something I need to do first."

"Okay, I'll see you downstairs." Ford left the room and Mabel was alone once more.

She picked up her newly repaired phone and searched through her contacts until she found Glenn's name. She pressed the message button and began to type.

MABEL

Glenn, this is my final message before I say goodbye to you for good. You were an abusive jerk, and I wish I had never met you. I'll always hate you for what you did. I hope you grow old and die alone.

Mabel's finger hovered over the send button. She considered it a moment before erasing the entire message and starting again.

MABEL

Glenn, this is my final message before I say goodbye to you for good. Even though we had some good times, I will never go back to you. I hope you get the help you need to become a better person and find love someday. I wish you nothing but the best. Goodbye forever. -Mabel

Mabel took a deep breath before sitting send. She felt like all the power Glenn had over her was finally gone. She was free.

She went downstairs to join her family. As she did, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She looked at the caller ID. It was Glenn. She swiped across the screen and pulled up three options: answer, decline, or block. She pressed the block button.

She was greeted by Stan and Dipper when she entered the living room. She sat on the floor in front of Stan next to Dipper.

"I hope you're ready, Mabel," said Dipper. "Things really heat up this season."

"Then what are you sitting there yapping for? Play it!" said Mabel.

Dipper chuckled and pressed play. He put his arm around Mabel. He's never done that while watching TV before. Mabel rested her head on his shoulder.

She felt someone affectionally rubbing the top of her head. She turned around to see Stan grinning at her. "It's good to have you back, pumpkin."

"It's good to be back, my brave knights."

"Uh, what?" Dipper asked.

"Nothing." Mabel looked back at Ford who was sitting in a chair next to Stan. She gave him a knowing smile and he reciprocated with a wink.

It really was good to be back.