"Blarrrggghhh..."

The heap of fleece blankets and throw pillows hadn't moved since sometime in the late morning. Incessant groans oozed out from beneath it all, agonizing in the dark of it's haphazard, yet adorable, shelter. This heap, this pile of sadness, had forgotten to turn off the television; whenever it let out a pained groan, there was a laugh track to surely follow. The noonday sun blasted through the window blinds, but did nothing to arouse movement in the couch's latest inhabitant. Not even the hustle and bustle of the Mystery Shack, at peak tourist season no less, could tempt what lurked within.

At its heart she lay alone. Curled up into a ball, further fortified by one of her beloved sweaters. Today's design: grey cloud pouring rain, frowny face emblazoned upon it. Her arms and legs, she'd tucked them into the garment, and she held herself tightly. Her eyes closed as to not let a single fraction of light disrupt the warm surrounding dark. Her brown hair, messy, uncombed, covered her face, shielded her tears from threats of discovery. On the floor, fallen from her reach, her phone sat on the threshold of where literal dust bunnies dwelled. It began vibrating, the latest call from Candy. Rattling partially against the wood floor, it buzzed about five times before silencing. Before its screen turned black, six indicators signifying 'MISSED CALL' added a seventh to the ranks.

Her mood had gone unremediated for what seemed like forever, but in reality it'd only been a few days, give or take. The lethargy that'd been ravaging her waking hours had gone only slightly noticed; there'd been few comments made, yet no inquiries. Some had even gone by not noticing that she was in a state; today was worse, with everyone thinking that instead of a girl, there was nothing but more fabric and stitching under the pile's top layer. Given the Shack's lacking consistently in doing it's collective laundry, it was unsurprising that no one would grant the heap a second thought. She couldn't hold that against them, if she were to be honest. Just part of the way things were.

The way things were. She groaned as the words phased through her mind. "Blaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh..."

She mused, in her brooding mind, how she didn't feel any sadness over not being noticed. Her plight, the thing that sat at the core of her misery, it was something that couldn't be shared. Something only she could struggle with. And by the looks of it, she'd been losing since the start. She didn't mind the occasional yells and shattering of glass and womanly screams coming from the other room. She didn't mind missing all the calls. She didn't mind that she was stretching out her special rainy day sweater. All she wanted, was to sink further into the couch.

She didn't even know what time it was. Probably the afternoon. But what did it matter, anyway... she let herself sink more into the dark... into the comfy, comfy dark... the warmth, tender... yet emotionless...

"Blargh..."

She awoke to the sound of a door opening, and of a few hurried steps. "No, Grunkle Stan, I don't where it is... no, I-I said, I don't know!... yeah, maybe Soos knows? O-okay, well, I'm gonna... gonna go on break now! Yea-no, I-I'm on break now!" The door slammed shut, and she opened an eye.

An exhalation of tired breath tickled her ears. "If he has such a problem with me going on break, then why did he designate this the break room? Crazy old man... should've stayed on the boat..."

The couch on which she and the pile rested on shifted a little, and by then she was totally alert. She slowly poked her head from out of the sweater, and through a little accidental peephole, saw a young boy with tussled brown hair and a half-assed wolf costume sitting on the other end. His face wore an expression of exhaustion, and he removed the band, shook his head to loosen his hair up. He wore no t-shirt, letting his little muscles move with his breathing. He scratched the light stubble on his chin, rested his head against the back of the couch, and closed his eyes.

She felt herself drawn to him. If she were to tell anyone about what'd been bothering her, it was him. So, without disturbing him, she filled the limbs of her sweater with her own, and moved towards him. Pillows fell to the floor as a mass of fleece moved towards the unsuspecting boy, plaid tendrils reaching for him zombie-like. She didn't bother to bring herself out from beneath the blanket, which ultimately explained his sudden reaction. Once those soft arms reached him, he jolted and cried, "Ah, God! Wha-what? Oh no, Ford didn't tell me about... about... p-possessed blankets!"

Fortunately for his sanity, once the blanket had gotten both it's arms around him, the true perpetrator was revealed. The fleece only went so far, held back by a bunched-up corner under foot, and he saw the despondent girl slowly appear from behind her veil.

"Oh... oh God... heh heh... agh, Mabel, don't do that to me!" He laughed, if only exasperated and slightly out of breath now.

"Mmm... Dippy-dooo..." She mumbled into his chest, letting the fresh hairs tickle her cheek.

He sighed, smiled at her. He ran a hand through her own brown hair. "Was wondering where you were."

"Mmm... Sweater Town... surrounded by blankets... pillows..."

"This whole time?"

"Mmhmm..."

Dipper didn't have a follow-up, and neither did she. He let Mabel stay latched to his midsection, telling she needed to be there, and simply savored the contact. It was rare that they could be this close, in this way, anytime during daylight hours. The sun washed over the two of them from the window above the couch, the warmth overtaking them both. With millions of dust specks waltzing in it's light.

It was a while before either spoke. She knew one of them would have to say something, but her prayers were answered when he piped up first. "What's up?"

She shifted, turned over, and laid her head in his lap. Her eyes were bright, but held in them something forlorn. "I heard Grunkle Stan talking to mom the other day."

His eyes went wide. But she stopped him before he could panic any more. "He doesn't suspect anything. But he was talking to mom."

He softened, and sank a little into the couch. "About what?"

"He was wishing her a happy anniversary."

After a moment of his eyes searching for clarity, he slapped his palm against his forehead. "Mom and dad's wedding anniversary! Crap, we totally forgot!"

She giggled. "It's okay, I sent them a text from both of us."

He whistled through a relieved smile. "Thanks." He bent down, holding her head steady, and stole a little kiss from her. She reciprocated fully, and sighed into it. But when he pulled back, she noticed concern in his expression. "Mabel."

"Dipper."

"Please tell me what's wrong."

She moved up into his lap, fully doing away with the blanket. He put his arms around her waist; she put hers around his neck, and laid her forehead against his. "I've been thinking. Since then, when I heard them talking." She sighed. "Dipper... does it bother you that... that we can never get married?"

"M-married...?"

The room turned cool.

She moved and rested her head on his shoulder, and looked out the window, into the wall of forest. "Grunkle Stan, he called mom up and wished her a happy anniversary. And it just... made me start thinking. About us, ya know? They talked for a little bit, and they talked about how they'd been together for a while, how Stan remembered the wedding, stuff like that. And... well, I... I started imaging things. I thought about us, and... what it'd be like... you know, to announce our wedding to our family, and all our friends-"

"But then you remembered."

She didn't confirm with a word, but with tightening her arms around him. All he could do was hug her back.

They'd known it'd be tough; the Pines twins had known it from the start. So many close calls with said family and friends, so many things they couldn't do in the light of day. Any and all affection, cast away to the cloak of nights together. They'd kept the fire alive for a year already, somehow, amongst the chaos and panic. But there were always challenges, obstacles, and cruel, cruel realities.

And it seemed that they'd stumbled upon a new one. A very large one, if Mabel's mood was anything to go by.

"Mabel, I don't... hmm..." He paused to consider his plan to continue. "Uhh... ahh..."

"Just say it."

"Why... why is this bothering you, all of a sudden?"

She pulled away, her face sour with questioning.

He pressed on. "You and I both know we can't do something like that. We knew there'd be sacrifices we'd have to make for us to work. This isn't normal, meaning we can't have a, quote on quote, normal relationship. We talked about this, remember?"

She didn't speak.

"I thought... I thought you were okay with that. I thought we were both okay, that we'd be okay because we'd have each other... aren't we all we need?"

She sighed, now. "Dipper, it's not about that."

"Then what is it about?"

"It's about not being able to open up about... us. Not being able to tell the world how much we... love... each other, how happy we make each other. And I know, I know, we don't need a wedding or some fancy-schmancy ceremony, but... you know, it'd... it'd be nice." She felt her eyes becoming full with tears. "I wish we could have... one normal thing... even if just for us."

He reclaimed her in a hug, and she let herself be taken by it. They held each other as tight as they could.

"I'm sorry, Mabes. I just don't want to lose you."

She whimpered into his neck. "It's okay, bro-mide. I don't want to lose you either. We need to be careful."

A sudden loud shatter of glass was heard through the door, and the twins looked to the door. The handle began to jiggle, and she removed herself immediately from his embrace, not minding the hurt that doing so brought her. They situated themselves in a more chaste state, and awaited their visitor.

Soos, looking harried and sweaty, burst in. "Dudes! Ford's vampire slugs got out, and Stan's freaking out about a lawsuit or something?"

Dipper sighed. "I'm on it."

"Thanks, dude! Sweet sweater, Mabel!" She smiled, shot him a finger gun, and he took off. Dipper stood, put the wolf-ear headband back in its place. He got to the door, but stopped. She watched as he turned, and quickly walked back to the couch, taking her hand and bending to kiss it. "It'll be okay," he whispered.

Their eyes found each other. "I love you."

"Love you too." He grinned, quirked his head to the door. "Wanna help catch vampire slugs?"

"Of course."

It'd been two days since they'd spoken about Mabel's marital worries. After a full day of chasing down vampire slugs, the siblings had spent the succeeding night not saying much. That night, even as they held each other close, the tension in them both had dug deep to their bones, and neither found themselves able to properly resolve the issue. She knew what Dipper wanted to tell her, that a wedding could never happen. But she knew her brother well enough to know that he also didn't want to be play the role of heartbreaker. In her imagination, the lunatic's playground that it was, she pictured a goofy image: one of the two of them characters in a mediocre girls' manga, with her brother as the cool but damaged senior student who had to break the heart of her lovesick first-year.

As funny as it was, it never stayed long enough to distract her fully. Now, two days later, she shuffled around the Shack, looking for Waddles with less enthusiasm than usual.

"Waddles? Waddles, you literal fat pig, where are you?" She'd checked everywhere, from the kitchen to the bathroom and all the nooks and crannies. She'd even gotten into Ford's laboratories and the basement as well on her mission. But alas, no pig.

In the shop, she found Wendy and Soos rearranging the grappling hooks on their designated shelf. "No, I think they should be facing this way," muttered the cashier, with her new boss staring intently at the lineup, humming to himself.

"Hey, guys?" She said, quietly.

They didn't hear. "I dunno, dude. Something tells me they should be the other way, so they can show the little Mabel design," Soos argued. "Isn't that why anyone would wanna buy one? Everyone knows her for them."

"Guys?" They spun around, and grinned widely at their favorite grappling hook spokeswoman. Wendy, however, noticed her expression. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Have you seen Waddles anywhere? It's lunch time, can't find him."

"Oh, sweet, lunch time!" Soos took off for the kitchen. The girls chuckled.

Wendy turned back to her, said, "Sorry, Mabes, I'm not sure. I think the last time I saw him was when Dipper was taking him for a walk."

"Dipper took him? On a walk?"

"Yeah, into the woods. Went about twenty minutes ago." The redhead smiled, and put her hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay? You seem... down, you know?"

She smiled weakly, muttered, "Just... tired. Been one of those 'blarrrgh' weeks, ya know? But I gotta go, talk later!"

Wendy patted her shoulder knowingly, gave a grin, and watched as her friend took off.

Beneath her feet, gravel gave way to grass as she hurried into the thrall of redwoods that she called a third home. The forest that encircled the Mystery Shack was thick with strange goings-on, but she hurried through without haste. She knew how to watch for gnomes, what to do if she sees a werewolf, and how to tell the trunk of a tree from the shin of a giant. She breezed through the myriad of greenery, stomping paths in the grass that waxed and waned.

"Waddles! Dipper? C'mon, guys, it's time to eat!" She tried calling out, the Falls reverberating with her message. The faint pattering of gnomefeet, scurrying in fear, answered her. Mournful howls of the lake monster rumbled distantly. The birds and the pixies took to the skies. The canopy, as she ventured further, blacked out the sun more and more.

The Falls delivered her nothing. No pig. No brother.

At the foot of a grand redwood, she situated herself and brought her knees up to her chest. She was worn out, feet aching and maybe blister-ridden. She had no desire to keep to it. Hell, she thought, the two of them are probably home now, worrying over me being out here.

She thought about Dipper. Thought about him hard. She looked up to the sky sadly; the idea of marriage still clung to her, or rather the dream of marriage. Eyes closed, she dreamt up a service for them, a wonderful impossibility. There, all of their friends, all their family, would be in white folding chairs. Robbie's band would be the entertainment, Pacifica would be her maid of honor, Candy and Grenda flower girls with Waddles as ring bearer. Everyone in Gravity Falls would be there, smiles ablaze, potentially shedding tears. She would love nothing more than to the Grunkles holding each other as they bawled for their favorite nephew and niece. And she would be given away by her father, who would look so proud of her, and of him. And their mother would be crying for them, too, waving a handkerchief to them both.

They would give their vows, and they would kiss. They would all cheer, celebrate, and party in their name deep into the night.

It'd be beautiful, thought Mabel, and at the end of it all, Dipper would take me in his arms and... and...

Something up ahead rustled in a bush, halting her fantasy. She snapped her eyes open, and looked. A shrubbery no taller than Gideon danced in place, shaking it's leaves carelessly. She squinted, slowly standing. It shook erratically, like it was threatening to tear itself clean from the ground. Once on her feet, she took up a fight stance learned from watching Dipper play Fight Fighters with Wendy. The shrub rattled, and she readied for the worst, fists tight and primed.

It gave a few more wild shakes, and before she could do anything else...

Waddles flopped out from behind the bush, head first. His chubby torso, like a bag of flour, lifted above him before falling and settling on it's side. Her eyes went wide as she cried, "WADDLES!" The pig got on his feet, stared his owner in the face; his dumb little face sending adorable shockwaves through her.

But she took a step towards him, and he darted back into the thick of the woods. Fortunately, she could hear him now, and gave chase. Past branches and revealing roots, she chased the pet deeper and deeper, beyond where her memory of this place ceased. She chased him to a patch of snarled vines, watched him charge for a small opening, she lunged with arms stretched out. Waddles, though, was too quick, and vanished into the vines. She landed with a thud, and slid over the dirt only to avoid a mouth of thorns by a mere inch.

She huffed into the thrall of purple, prickly nublets, and looked down the hole he'd run through. It went a great length into the bush, with a white pinpoint at its far end. She placed her arms to lift herself off her stomach, ready to go look for a way around.

That's when she heard the soft flow of little voices and occasional oinks brushed by her ears. The squealing was Waddles, obviously, but the voice? It sounded like...

"Dipper...? Dipper!" She began crawling fast through the opening, squarely aimed at the little white light at the end of the tunnel. Little thorns and gnarled vines scratched her face and arms and legs, but never enough to stop her entirely. As she hurried, the voice became louder, crystallizing her resolve to power through the pain more. The light grew in her sights, and her limbs quickened in their movements. The voice became increasingly clarified. She could hear Waddles grunt in response to it. She could hear his cute chuckle flow through the opening ahead. So close... so close!

However, something snagged just as she was about to reach for the light, and she tripped into a ball shape and almost rolled into a sizable sun-swathed clearing. She landed on her back, not her stomach, and she held the back of her head as it throbbed with a dull shapeless pain.

Then she heard him. "Mabel...? Mabel, holy... are you okay? Waddles, did you lead her here?" A hurried pace grew louder until finally, her brother's hatless head peered over her. She felt the ground twitch as his knees dropped to it, and his hands cupped her face with urgency. "Mabel! Mabel Mabel Mabel, c'mon... c'mon, talk to me, you okay?"

She coughed, grinned. "Ye-yeah, bro-bro, I'm... fine."

She began to sit up... "What... what the heck are you doing all the way out..."

...and she saw it. "...here?"

In the center of the clearing, in the shade of a large pine tree, a haphazard arch made of twine-bound sticks stood before its trunk. Waddles, adorned with a top hat and a little black choker with a white square painted on its front, grunted happily as he sat a log next to a boom box lifted straight from Soos' truck. She blinked considerably before turning to her concerned boyfriend. "What... is all this...?"

He sighed. "I guess the surprise is kinda ruined." He turned to the pig and yelled, "I told you, take her around to the opening!" He pointed to a large space between two vine bushes to the right of the tree, according to their position.

Waddles just oinked.

"Yeah, whatever." He turned to Mabel. "Man, I'm so sorry. It was supposed to be this whole thing and-"

"Dipper?"

"Ye-yeah, Mabes?"

"Is this... is this a wedding... sorta... thing?"

He blushed, hard. "Waddles was supposed to walk you in here and then kinda give you away. It was a whole thing, I had it all planned and-"

The words never had a chance to finish. She'd flung her arms around his neck, and had locked her lips with his. No tongue, pure emotion. He let his own arms crawl around her waist, kissing back, responding to her little shifts and movements. The wind rustled all around them, the great pine shivering contently.

No lust, just... love.

She pulled away finally, to admire the cheeseball before her. He grinned, sheepishly. She asked him, "Is this where you two've been all day?"

He nodded. "Well, we- okay, I- had to make the arch and everything. I was gonna send Waddles out to get you and bring you here, but then he just ran off. But I guess he still brought you! Heh heh..." He chuckled, helping her to her feet. "And now you're here. Which, I guess, means we can begin."

She turned him and hopped on his back. "To the altar, steed!"

He stumbled a moment, got his footing, and laughed. "Steed!?"

"Sorry, heh... to the altar, stallion!"

He started walking, her arms swinging back around his neck. "That's better," he muttered, still grinning. She rested her head on his back, watching the clearing's edge expand and encircle. Sunlight engulfed the yellowed grass, and she welcomed the cool shadow of the pine tree. He brought them beneath it's mighty branches, knelt to let her dismount, and once she had, Waddles came running for her side. Dipper just smiled. "Well, I guess we can still do that." The pig squeaked, and her brother began walking to the arch, only some feet away. He stopped and stood before it, turned, and nodded to the pig, who bumped his head on her leg to push her along.

Her heart fluttered as they walked slowly to the makeshift altar side by side. There was no organ to hearken them, but somehow the wind was enough. They stepped carefully along, dirtied and gently dusted with thorn marks. But she didn't pay it mind, to that or anything else.

Once they reached the arch, she took her place besides Dipper, as Waddles, well, waddled around to the log by the stereo. She turned, said, "How'd you even find this place?"

Dipper laughed. "I asked Ford if there were any clearings that even Toby Continued couldn't find. He just glared at me and said, 'any of them.'"

The siblings snickered, she bumping into him playfully. Dipper carried on, "but I chose one far away, just to be safe."

"Ya did good, brosef." She smiled as he blushed again.

Waddles, after a moment, climbed upon the log and sat. Dipper put out a pointer, like it was a conductor's baton, and said, "Alright, just like I taught you." He began moving it as Waddles began snorting and squealing, little black eyes following his finger. She laughed at her little pile of pork as he, to the best of his adorably useless ability, officiated the ceremony. A moment later, Waddles simply stopped and looked to her.

"Oh, c'mon," sighed Dipper. "You were doing so well earlier-"

"I do."

He looked to her. She was bright red, eyes cool yet alive, her smile wider than any she'd made before. She looked back to him, red as can be. He smiled, and when Waddles looked to him, he sighed. "I do."

Waddles oinked, and she pulled him in before he could utter another word. The wind rushed by them, the Falls erupting into soft applause.

She breathed deeply into the kiss, taking in the earthiness of her brother. They swayed together, enjoying each other. Waddles kept silently, reverently watching his caretakers in their embrace. As they kissed, she felt her heart pang; a kind of cold-tipped arrow, something souring in her. She broke away, went to look at him. He smiled kindly, looking as lovestruck as when he'd made that confession a year ago. His face still burned, but he wore his glee proudly, keeping his arms tight around her. His own face, she hadn't noticed, but it took was covered in the tiniest of scratches. She reached up, and with her thumb, traced a long along his cheek. He nuzzled into it, taking a gentle hold of her wrist, and she felt the corners of her mouth pull themselves up warmly.

She wanted to speak, but could tell he had something planned. "Well, mister bro-mance. What's next?"

He flashed a goofy smile. "And now, my wife... we dance." Her heart soared.

He looked to Waddles, and the swine kicked the boombox.

A gentle melody poured from its speakers. The folksy sounds of a pan flute and acoustic guitar, began to play, and Dipper took her hand, moved out to their side, and began waltzing her around beneath the pine tree. As they found their rhythm, the music swelled to a beautiful tune, and visions of the two in matrimonial garb filled her head. Him in a suit with a tie, hair slicked back to show his birthmark, and herself in her mother's wedding gown. For some reason, she couldn't imagine bedazzling it or sitcker-ing it up. They would dance in grass just like this, under a pine tree just as similar. Her inner romantic was aflame.

And yet... and yet none of it would happen like that. But she felt okay with that.

Her brother, her boyfriend, her lover. He'd done all this... just to make up for it.

Oh, Dipper...

They were moving at a lover's pace, dancing in their own natural groove, one they'd shared since the beginning. But as the sun turn a firey orange, falling softly beyond the trees, his smile faded.

"Hey... what's wrong?"

She felt little tears flow down her face, and letting go of his hand, clamped herself around his torso. He shook, surprised, and lost his footing. The pair fell to the ground, with her on top, face buring in his chest.

"Mabel? Hey, what's wrong?"

He stroked her hair as her body hiccuped a little. The sobs were so small, yet obvious. The stereo played. Waddles watched on absently.

She looked up, meeting his eyes.

"Why so sad? You were happy just a moment ago."

She smirked through the tears. "I'm... overwhelmed? Heh... I... I don't know..."

He sighed. "Still sad?"

She nodded. He motioned for her move up. She slid herself up to level her head with his, not minding their clothes bunching up. He held her tight, the best he could.

"Mabes, I... I tried to imagine what a wedding... between us would... be like. I wanted to give you something, even if it wasn't anything big or fancy or even all that legitimate. But I don't want to see you so sad. I hate it when you're sad." He sighed. "I'm sorry it's not mu-"

She cut him off with a kiss, but didn't stay long. "You didn't have to do this. But you did. That's more than anything I could've even thought of. You did beautifully."

"You sure?"

She nodded a little. "Positive..." She paused, then grinned wide. "...husband."

His face, it was redder than ever. They shared a few giggles before getting to their feet. But she stopped him, placing her hand in his. "Dipper? Don't ever stop loving me. No matter how sad I get. Or how hard things are. Just... don't stop being you."

"I won't."

The blaze of the sun finally died down, giving way to the stars and the night.

"Oh!" Dipper began fumbling in a vest pocket. "Crap, I almost forgot." He produced a tiny, woodcarved ring, and showed it to her. "I... made this. For you, after our talk on the couch. Well, more like after we helped Soos catch the vampire slugs." In the full moon's light, she took it, and saw the little pine tree carved into it.

She placed it on her ring finger. It'd been cut and smoothed, not perfectly, but she could still feel the love put into it. "So, I guess this is as official as it's going to be, huh?"

"For now. Unless a miracle happens."

"I can live with that. I mean, remember where we are. Anything could happen."

They walked back to Waddles and the arch. She took her pig into her arms, admiring the ring still. He grabbed the boombox, and they began walking to the clearing's entrance. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back to the arch. "Hey, we just gonna leave this here?"

He looked at his handiwork, then his sister. "Sure. It'll be a secret. One for our collection."

She smiled in the moonlight, and took his hand again. "Okay. And Dipper?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." She rested her head on his shoulder as they entered the forest once more. "I love you."

He chuckled. "I love you too, Mabel."