Well, here it is the epilogue, which brings to a close my little story.

Special thanks goes out to my wife for helping me proof read each chapter and for painting the story image (which is on a mug) for me. She is an excellent artist even though she doesn't want to be an artist. The mug now has a place of honor on my bookshelf.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls. Disney owns gravity falls: please support the official release by watching it on Disney channel or purchasing the DVD collection.

With Blind Eyes

Chapter 13

Epilogue

Soos winced a little as he took a small sip of the Budweiser that Stan had ordered for him. Honestly, he never understood why everyone seemed to love beer. Sure, he had a Modelo with his cousins at family reunions, but he would never drink it outside of special occasions.

But Stan offering to buy him one on his birthday was definitely a special occasion. Stan calling himself an old man and buying Soos a beer was kind of a big deal. Fathers bought their sons a beer on birthdays all the time, and Soos was not about to turn down a Father/Son moment with Stan. Stan was Soos' old man.

Ever since that horrible birthday years ago, which ended in Soos returning a screw driver to the Shack and getting a job as the Shack's handyman, Stan had been the father he never had. And Soos hoped that in a way he himself had been like the son Stan never had. God knew that Stan needed a son almost as badly as Soos needed a father. Soos loved his abuelita: she did right by him when it seemed the whole world was dead set on doing him wrong, but every boy needs an old man to show him what it means to be a man. Stan for all his short comings was an excellent father figure.

And now that father figure had bought him a beer, so he was going to drink it.

Stan took a sip of his beer and winced. Stan preferred expired apple cider, but the bar closest to Laser Tag the former mattress store didn't carry the locally made brand, and he'd be damned before he'd buy the expensive, imported crap, so regular Americana beer it was.

Stan set his beer down and cleared his throat, "So, I noticed you were having trouble figuring out how to respond to Dipper and Mabel's….unique relationship."

"I don't get why you're not having a harder time, dude. I mean we just found out that the mystery twins, your great niece and nephew, are dating," Soos stared into the bottom of his beer mug. Drinking this was going to take the whole hour, "That has got to be hard."

Stan was silent for a moment, "Accepting them really isn't all that hard. Besides, I've had since the start of the summer to get use to the idea."

"Stan…what do you mean by that?" Soos was a little confused by what Stan said.

Stan sighed, "Soos, I've known since I saw them climbing off the bus that something was going on. The way they interacted. The way Dipper always put Mabel first. The way Mabel smiled at Dipper. Everything about their relationship dynamic told me that something was happening. Or at least I suspected something was happening. Something was growing. They didn't even know it at the time, but I knew it. Well, that's not entirely true," Stan took another sip of his beer before continuing.

"At first glance I thought Mabel would never act upon whatever subconscious attraction she had for Dipper and it would solely remain a case of unrequited love on Dipper's part. Dipper's response to that creepy kid—what was his name: Norman! That's it—was classic jealous lover material. The obsessive paranoia he had for Norman and the stalking made me think Dipper would pine after Mabel for a few years before giving up. But then I noticed even though Mabel was constantly trying to get a boyfriend for the summer none of Mabel's failed romance attempts seemed to get her down for too long. She'd mope for an hour if at all and then Dipper would approach her and say something dorky, and she'd be back to her old self. Mabel took an extraordinary amount of comfort in knowing that she'll always have Dipper," Stan took another sip.

"After about a week with them I knew that all they needed was a little push, and I knew that Gravity Falls' weirdness would be more than willing to provide that push. So I've had a month's warning to adjust to this possibility," Stan finished his speech.

"Why'd you not try to stop it?" Soos needed to know.

"Do you think Dipper would ever hurt Mabel? And I don't mean accidental hurts like forgetting their 3 month anniversary, but truly, deliberately hurting her. Like cheating on her or beating her," Stan answered a question with a question.

"No, not in a million years, dude," Soos didn't even think about it.

"And would Mabel truly, deliberately hurt Dipper?" Stan continued.

"No," Soos replied quickly.

"Are they happy together? Do they trust and care for each other?" Stan continued.

"…Yes?" Soos would never lie to Stan. In his heart, Soos knew they were happy.

"Then why should I try to stop it? They have the foundation for a healthy, long lasting relationship," Stan reasoned.

"Because they're siblings, dude," Soos spoke a little uncertain, but then he thought of something that would bring Stan over to his side, "What if they decide to have kids? There'd be a huge risk of birth defects and developmental issues."

"The same is true for women over the age of 36 having babies, yet I don't see anyone forcing women to get sterilized on their 36th birthday. We don't do that, because that would be inhumane," Stan countered, "But you raise a good point. I'll sit them down when they are closer to that age and explain the risks to them. But in the end, I will leave that decision up to them. And who knows, maybe they'll decide to forego the risk entirely and adopt or do that in vitro thing. Find a healthy sperm/egg donor, and alternate whose kid they are having, but like I said, I'm going to leave that in their hands."

"You seem to really support them…" Soos was ignoring his beer at this point, eyes fixed on Stan.

Stan took another drink of his beer as he thought, "I know what it's like to have the whole town against you. When I was young—about your age actually—I had a girlfriend. It seemed that every time I took her out someone would passive aggressively say some snide comment that implied that she could do better than me."

"That's not true, dude. You're one of the best," Soos was quick to defend Stan.

"Thanks, Soos, but in the end she listened to the idiots who never knew me. She left me, Soos, and I'm pretty sure a lot of it had to do with the naysayers," Stan took another drink from his beer, "She ended up in an abusive relationship, and it didn't have to be that way, Soos. That's why, if I find a couple in a happy relationship, I'm not going to try to break them up just cause I object to some trivial thing like the size of the man's nose or the accident of birth."

"I think I see what you're getting at, dude," Soos said, "Accept them even if you don't agree with them."

"And that was where I started off: accepting but not agreeing. But the more time I spend with them the more I find myself rooting for them," Stan smiled fondly, "They really do love each other. They just started off: and already I see more trust and adoration between them than I find in most married couples' relationships."

Stan clapped Soos on the shoulder before continuing, "Whelp, enough of this weighing of moral quandaries. Are you ready to go play more laser tag with the others?"

Soos hesitated to answer. Stan's face soften just a little, "I know how conflicted you feel about this, Soos. I really do. Just give it time, and don't stop hanging out with them. You're like a big brother to them, and they'll notice if you suddenly retreat from their lives."

"You're right, dude. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I were to turn my back on them. Besides, they are too much fun to stop hanging out with," Soos found it in himself to smile, "Let's go play laser tag now and let the details work themselves out."

"That's the spirit," Stan left just enough for the beer on the bar and headed towards the door. Neither of them had finished their beers, because it was never about drinking beer. It was about a man teaching his boy something about living life.

Dipper broke away after a few seconds. After all any kiss on the lips would send the proper message to Candy and Grenda, so why make it unnecessarily passionate?

Mabel respectfully disagreed. As she felt Dipper begin to pull away, she made a split second decision. Reaching round to grab the back of Dipper's head, she pulled him back in for a deeper French kiss, and Mabel being the alpha twin, also took complete control of the kiss.

Dipper couldn't hear a thing over the blood rushing in his ears as he grew weak in the knees, so he missed entirely Candy's gasp. Mabel on the other hand did hear Candy, and all she did was smile into the kiss.

When Mabel decided she was satisfied, she ended the kiss with a wet popping sound. She turned to her two best friends, her face all confidence and bravado as Dipper panted beside her.

"As you can see, Dipper and I are dating," Mabel talked plainly, "Are you cool with that?"

"B-but," Candy was blushing as she tried to come up with a response. Grenda for once was struck completely silent, mouth agape.

"But that's forbidden love!" And with that Candy fled Laser Tag the former mattress store.

Mabel turned to Grenda who was still frozen, "Are you cool with that, Grenda?"

"…Yes. I think I am," Grenda surprised herself, "At first I was uncertain, but then I saw you completely dominate Dipper. I think I get why your relationship works: little cuties need to be crushed under the strength of powerful women."

"Wha—that's not how our relationship works at all," Dipper objected, "Right, Mabel?"

"Keep telling yourself that, brofriend," Mabel teased.

"Anyway, not to leave on you guys right after you came out, but I'm pretty sure Candy needs to talk this out," Grenda's booming voice sounded almost contrite.

"Do you think Candy will come around eventually?" Mabel was a little concerned.

"Yes, but first she'll go through a 'jealous rage' phase," Grenda said.

"What? Why would she be jealous?" Dipper seemed confused.

"Candy has never had a boyfriend, and technically Mabel has had like 10 since she got to Gravity Falls," Grenda spoke, "According to girl talk Mabel kinda dated Norman, Mermando, Gideon, the entire band of sev'ral timez, Gabe, and now Dipper. Who in Candy's own words is the ultimate of forbidden love. Forbidden love is totally romantic. Trust me, she's jealous."

"Hey, I object to that list: half of those guys were big, phony jerks!" Mabel exclaimed. "But you did say she'll come around, right?" Mabel needed confirmation.

"Yeah, eventually," Grenda turned to follow Candy, "See ya later guys."

Dipper turned to Mabel after Grenda left, "So…is there anyone else we need to dump this thing we have on before the start of the next laser tag round?"

Mabel was about to answer when Wendy strolled up to the twins with a large soda, "Dump what thing on who?"

Mabel grinned up at Wendy, "Oh, just that I got my memories back and I'm still dating Dipper."

"You got your memories back and you're not freaking out?" Wendy was incredulous.

"Oh, I will totally freak out later: I'm thinking a day in Sweater Town should do the trick," Mabel laughed a little, "But that will be less 'blarg, I'm dating my brother' and more 'blarg, I'm in love with my brother and I have no idea when it started, but darn it I'm going to figure that out right now.' You know?"

"No, Mabel, I actually don't know, and I am totally glad that I don't," Wendy gave a lazy grin.

Dipper openly laughed at that, "Don't worry, Wendy. I'm pretty sure the question was rhetorical. Anyway the next round is starting. Let's lock and load, Mabel."

"Yeah, let's dominate this round, Dipper. Mystery twins are gonna rule the scene!"

Soos and Stan returned to find Dipper and Mabel celebrating the fact that Mabel was at the top of the latest score board and Dipper was in a close second.

"Soos!" Mabel exclaimed as she jumped up to give him a hug, "I'm glad you're back. Sorry about dumping that on you on your birthday."

"Yeah, sorry Soos," Dipper agreed in a somewhat more contrite fashion.

"It's cool, dawg. I know you didn't plan it that way," Soos returned Mabel's hug, "And I'm sorry too about bailing on you earlier, but I'm totally down with rocking the laser range with you dudes now."

"Woohoo, we are going to have the best birthday ever for you Soos by getting your photo on the top scores of all time board!" Mabel enthused.

"But I'm already on that board: I'm number 8," Soos pointed out.

Mabel squinted as she read the board from across the room, "Oh…in that case we're gonna get you even higher on the board! Yeah!"

Dipper smiled as Mabel led the charge into the arena with a battle cry. Getting Soos a better high score wasn't going to be easy, but with Mabel he knew they were totally going to succeed. Really compared to all the difficulties he knew Mabel and himself would face, playing laser tag on a muggy July 13th in order to beat Soos' high score will be a breeze.

Being Mabel's brofriend was definitely not going to be easy. Dipper knew this, but Dipper knew that together they could take on the whole world and win.

Dipper moved to absorb some enemy fire from across the arena as he thought to himself.

Mabel is worth all the trials that are to come, and I know she thinks the same of me. For all my flaws: my neurotic paranoia and my dorkiness, she still loves me. And I love her, even for what some idiots might call her shortcomings: her borderline spastic behavior and her inexplicable ability to add glitter to everything she does. I love everything about her, and I know that even with the coming challenges: Mabel will remain Mabel. And that will make everything worth it.

Those trials will come tomorrow, but for now we're just two twins playing laser tag with the best handyman in the universe.

And Dipper would not have it any other way.

And Fin.

And that ends With Blind Eyes. I realize that there are a lot of elements within the story that are not fully complete. Lucia's journey (and new found adoration of Wendy) is not concluded. Stan's mission to save Carla is not complete. Gideon languishing in prison (much like the actual series) is not concluded. Half the characters have not even decided whether or not they are going to support Dipper and Mabel (though it is implied that that eventually they will).

But this story isn't about all those things: those things just happen during the story. This story was about Dipper and Mabel finding each other, and all it took was a magic ray gun and the slip of a hand for it to happen.

I hope you enjoyed reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it.