It's been about four years since the Pines defeated Bill. They still have nightmares about that day, but with time they got over the past. They still talk to Grunkle Stan every now and then, but they lost almost all their ties with Gravity Falls, that small town in Oregon. They wish they could go and visit, but the don't have any time, nor the money, to go.

Their parents still don't know about what happened that summer. It was best if they didn't, or else a lot of people would be angry. In fact, their parent had believed that it was just a boring old summer. The times Dipper and Mabel sometimes woke up screaming in the middle of the night wasn't at all related to Gravity Falls. At least, according to Dipper and Mabel.

Now living in Piedmont with their parents, Dipper and Mabel had been living pretty normal lives. Well, as normal as it could be with them. Mabel was still as strange as she was two years ago, and Dipper was just as nerdy. Even if they grew an extra foot or two.

But despite that, they had changed. Dipper was now just a bit more muscular, and Mabel was starting to fit out her figure. Instead of his vest and cargo pants, Dipper started wearing a dark blue hoodie and jeans. He had a new hairstyle, where his hair flipped to side, now spiked, and small bangs covered his birthmark. He had died his hair a lighter color. Something with his eyes had made the doctors give him glasses. He chose the least nerdiest ones. Best to keep an image. Mabel stopped wearing her sweaters everyday. Now, she was wearing regular shirts, and a leather jacket that looked like it was shrunken. She seemed to prefer red and orange mostly, and the odd combination worked.

Dipper has been working on a project ever since he got back from Gravity Falls, something that's bound to help him in his studies. Just becuase he didn't stay with Ford to take the apprenticeship, doesn't mean he stopped looking for mysteries. He wanted to see something else other than demons and monsters.

He wanted to see ghosts.

Special goggles to detect spirits. He had seen demons and zombies, and all kinds of new and unbelievable monsters, so were ghosts really that far-fetched. He started the project about a month after he got back, starting the work in his parents basement. However, it wasn't going very well. Each time he thought he was getting closer, something pooped up that caused him to start all over. He was so close, there was just something that he couldn't crack. He thought about Mabel's new obsession with modern fashion. It must have been so much easier for her than this was for him. He sighed.

Dipper attempted to connect two wires to each other. He took slow and even breaths, telling himself to be extra careful. Slowly, he brought the two wires closer together. He told himself that if he messed up now, he would jeopardize a month of research and building. He was extrr careful, but as he did there was a spark that burned his hands. He flinched, and the wires ripped, making them useless. He threw the tools on the top of the desk. He covered his face in his hands, groaning in exasperation. He let his hands fall to his sides, looking up at the ceiling. He stared up in defeat, ready to give up. This was too hard. It was impossible. Unimaginable.

Oh, well. Time to go back to work.

About fifteen minutes later, Dipper decided to take a break. He went up to his room, looking in Mabel's as he past. There were strands of fabric and string, along with crumpled up paper on the floor. There was an amputated mannequin, who Mabel was trying and failing to dress. It seemed that all of the colors of the rainbow and more were stripped all over it. Dipper looked at Mabel with pity. He felt bad for her troubles.

"Hey, Mabel. You all right?" He asked, trying to start a conversation. Mabel gave a grunt.

"This is impossible!" She yelled to the roof. Dipper walked to her and put his hand on her shoulder to help her.

"It looks...better than before! That's something!" He said, trying to cheer her up. She sighed.

"If I don't get this finished, I'll never succeed at life, I'll never go to college, I'll never get married or have kids-!" Mabel said in a fast pace, starting to freak out.

"Whoa, calm down, Mabel. I think you're overreacting just a little bit."

"Easy for you to say! My whole life is depending on this one outfit." Mabel had applied for a fashion school, part-time until she was old enough to graduate. If she passed this school, she would have a sure pass into fashion college...or whatever it was called.

"Mabel, it's all right. Just take a deep breath, and calm down." She followed his instructions. "Now, I'm sure that you can do this. Just...take your time. You'll get this eventually." He told her. She smiled at him, and was about to say something, but was interrupted by the buzzing of his phone in his pocket. He took it out and answered.

"Hello." He said.

"Hey, D, you free today?" Michelle, one of his friends from school. She had been out of town up until yesterday, and they hadn't seen each other for about a week.

"Yeah, I don't have any plans, so-"

"Cool, my cousin's in town, and I have nothing to do. Come meet me by the Bridge." She said. Dipper was confused.

"Wait, who's your-"He started to ask, but a clicking told him that she had hung up. He looked a the phone in confusion and sighed.

"Was that Michelle?" Mabel asked.

"Yeah, she wants me to go to the Bridge." The Bridge was a spot Mabel had found, hanging high over the river. She had actually taken one of her boyfriends there, and...well, he didn't want to go into details.

"When she'd get back in town?" Mabel asked.

"Yesterday." He said. He put the phone back into his pocket and sighed. "Okay, I'll be back, hopefully soon, just...try to do it, but stay calm, all right? And don't destroy an entire weeks worth of snacks like last time."

"No promises!" Mabel said, getting back to work on her designs. Dipper sighed and walked out of his house and down the street. He wondered which of Michelle's cousins were in town. Well, maybe he'd ask her when he got there. Still, the question poked endlessly at his brain, and Marco found a need to find out. He did always love a good mystery. Marco got to the crossroads near his street, and made his way into the forest. As he walked, he thought about all that was different now. How he and Mabel had changed.

"Boo!" Someone yelled suddenly behind him. He gasped and turned around, fear rising. Michelle was standing there, laughing hysterically.

"Really!?" He asked angrily, trying to calm down his heart. She nodded, unable to say any words because she was laughing so hard. Dipper calmed down and looked at her. She had changed her style since the last time he saw her. She now had purple streaks in her raven black hair, and was sporting studded leather jacket and pants. She had one piercing on her ear of a mace, and still wore at least five rings, each one its own representation of pain.

"So, you're goth now?" He asked her.

"I've always been goth." She said defensively, crossing her arms.

"That's what you said during your hip-hop phase. And your French phase. And your ghetto phase. And-"

"I get the point!" She said angrily. Dipper smiled.

"Good to see you." He said, giving her a slight punch on the arm. Their way of saying hi.

"Yeah, you too, D." She said, ruffling his hair. "Glad you didn't get yourself killed while I was gone." He fixed his hair, mumbling angrily. She smiled. And so continued their ancient ritual of pissing each other off one small gesture at a time.

"So who's this cousin I've heard so much about?" He asked. Michelle's smile disappeared.

"Uh, you had to bring her up." She groaned. Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"I'm guessing you don't like her that much?" He asked, unsure of her reaction.

"Can we please talk about something else. Like your undead glasses." She said.

"...We're not calling them that." Dipper said in a dead tone. Michelle raised her hands as in defeat.

"All right, all right. We're all friends here." She said. Dipper rolled his eyes.

"Come on, why did you call me here?" He asked her. She took on a mock hurt look,

"Do I need an explanation to call my best friend out to the middle of nowhere, without a reason at all?" She asked.

"Yes." Dipper said flatly. Michelle's face gave up to defeat.

"Fine, I was actually going to ask you a question." She said, suddenly sounding very nervous.

"Shoot." Dipper said, putting hands in his jacket pockets. Michelle waited for a second before saying something.

"I-I was just wondering what classes you got?" She said. Dipper raised an eyebrow. He noticed that stutter, but decided it wasn't worth mentioning.

"Really? We could've talked about this over the phone. What do you really want?" Dipper asked. Michelle froze, then sighed.

"I was actually going to see if you were willing to go to that beginning of the year dance with me." She said, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. The dance was being held at the beginning of the year, obviously. It was a freshman's on chance at a good first impression. And there would be tons of popular people there. Dipper was confused, then remembered what they did in last year. She took him to one of the dances at the end of the year, when he got less dorky, in order to get her crush to notice her. Dipper smiled.

"...Is that all?" He asked, almost laughing at her sudden shyness. He wouldn't have expected that with her new personality. "Sure."

"Wha-really?" She asked unbelievably.

"Yeah. If you were trying to make someone jealous, you could have just asked me to help on the phone. I would have figured out the whole thing already."

"Oh...yeah, that's definitely what I wanted. I mean, really? thanks." She said, giving him a smile. Dipper thought the smile was kind of strange. But he shook it off. He was here already. Might as well do something fun and not get bored to death

"So, since I am already here, what do you want to do?" He asked her. She looked at him confused, then a wicked smile crossed her face.

"Want to get into some trouble?" She asked menacingly. Dipper shrugged, acting nonchalant.

"Not usually...but," he said, putting emphasis on the word,"since it's a special occasion...let's go destroy something." He held out his arm in a mock offering. She rolled her eyes and took it...which he then proceeded to trip her into a nearby mud puddle. He laughed at his now filthy best friend. Even though she was now covered with mud, Michelle was smiled. Dipper was glad to be back with one of his best friends.

"Oh, that's it, Pines, now you're dead!" She yelled teasingly, charging at him and smiling. He jumped out of the way and ran in the opposite direction, with the girl hot on his tail. He laughed. Yeah, this was just like old times, him playing pranks and Michelle trying to run him down. As he ran, he thought about how much he changed since Gravity Falls. He remembered all the people he left behind, but he was also forced to remember the ones he gains...

...which Michelle reminded him by tackling him to the ground, dirtying his dark blue hoodie. He pushed her off and stood up, wiping off the dirt from his jacket.

"Well, I guess you won that round. Now-" He started, but was interrupted.

"Hey, Michelle! You in there?" A voice asked. Dipper looked to the source, then back at Michelle. She looked afraid, putting a finger to her lips in a pleading 'shh.' He raised an eyebrow, but decided to obey. "Come on, aunt Linda wants us home for dinner."

Dipper was filled with surprise, then slowly came to the realization. Aunt Linda, huh? This must be the cousin that Michelle hates. He looked at her. As soon as she saw his face, she knew what he was going to do. She dragged a thumb across her throat in a threatening gesture. Dipper shrugged.

"She's over here!" He yelled. As soon as the words left his mouth, she charged at him with a fist. He side-stepped out of the way.

"Michelle, why are you so dirty? What are you doing out...who is this?" A female voice asked. Michelle to turned towards her cousin with a frown.

"None of your business, Wendy." She said. Dipper's face was replaced with one of confusion. He could've sworn...nah, it couldn't be.

"It is my business when I find my fifteen year-old cousin out in the middle of the woods with some random guy." The cousin said. Dipper moved into view and saw she was about 19, with bright red hair. She was wearing regular jeans and a gray t-shirt, her hair cut short, above her shoulders.

"Hi, yeah, random guy here, uh, this is a lot more...awkward than I expected, so I'll just be on my way-"

"Who the heck are you?" She asked, cutting Dipper off.

"This is my friend, Dipper." Michelle said, making it obvious to the cousin. Dipper wondered why he kept referring to her as 'the cousin.'

"...wait, Dipper? As in, Pines?" She asked, a look of shock covering her features.

"Uh, you know me?" He asked. "I'm pretty sure I erased that story from the news website." He whispered to himself, afraid that one of his past experiments had come back yet again to bite him in the ass.

"It's me, dude. Wendy." she said, smiling. Dipper looked at her, confused, then with shock.

"Wendy? Is that really you?" He asked. She nodded. "Huh. Up until now, I was referring to you as 'the cousin' in my mind. You look different." She did look different. Not only her new hair style, but she had less freckles. Well, actually, it seemed she had lost all her freckles.

"The one and only, man. This is were you've been hiding out, huh?"

"Uh, you two know each other?" Michelle asked, confused at the sudden turn of events.

"Yeah, we used to be tight, like, forever ago." Wendy said, smiling. "He was cool for a twelve-year old."

"Almost sixteen now." He said, pointing his finger up in the air in a 'matter-of-factly' manner.

"I noticed. We haven't heard from you in forever, dude. What about Mabel? Where is she?"

"Oh, she's back at the house. You should come over some time." He said.

"Uh, wait, you two used to be friends?" Michelle asked. They both nodded, and Michelle looked at Dipper. "My opinion for you somehow got lower."

"Oh, that reminds me, what exactly were you doing out here?"

"We come out here sometimes. You know, hanging out, thinking about life, other deep stuff like that." Dipper tried to mock being deep, but wasn't doing a very good job.

"So this isn't underground mud wrestling." Wendy said, crossing her arms. "So only you and Michelle come out here all the time?"

"Sometimes." Michelle said. "Me, Mabel, D, and Josh made this place the unofficial squad hang out." She said.

"Oh, that reminds me, has Josh seen your new style choice?" Dipper asked.

"Shut up." She said curtly. "I still haven't forgiven you for ratting me out."

"Well, I believe that you weren't doing anything, but only on the account that Dipper would be stammering awkwardly if you were." Wendy said, arms crossed.

"Hey, I have changed in the last four years." He said defensively. Wendy raised an eyebrow.

"So you were doing something out here?" She asked. Dipper turned red.

"N-no, we w-weren't doing anything." He said quickly. Wendy chuckled, and Michelle rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

"Thanks, Dipper, your pathetic-ness saved me an earful from the 'rents." She said. Dipper looked at her annoyed.

"Fight me. Fight me right now." He said in a monotone voice. Michelle chuckled. Dipper looked at Wendy. "You know, we could go over to my house and you could see Mabel."

"Actually, that's be cool. I miss her like crazy. She still wearing those sweaters?" Wendy asked, smiling wider.

"Wait, Mabel used to wear sweaters? What did Dipper wear?" Michelle asked.

"Uh, nope." Dipper said. "I have burned all existing copies of my past self. You shall never know." He said. The last thing he needed was more teasing from this girl. Michelle looked at him angrily.

"...Actually, I still have some pics from Gravity Falls. We go to see Mabel real quick, go home, and then I could show you." Wendy said. Michelle grinned mischievously.

"Wendy, you have sealed my doom." Dipper said.

"Deal." Michelle said, running forward. Wendy followed and Dipper sighed, preparing himself for the next onslaught of Michelle's teasing.

As he walked out the forest, he felt something staring at him, eyes boring themselves into his back. He looked behind him, but there was no one there. He looked around the forest to make sure there was absolutely no one there. When he was satisfied, he turned back around. But there was that feeling again. Only, closer this time. He shrugged it off, and followed his friends, old and new, to his house. But the entire way there, he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched.