Symbols ~A Gravity Falls Fanfic~

One More Problem

Eliza POV

        My heart raced a million miles a minute, spooked by Stephen's scolding. After hearing him yell in legitimate anger, I'm frightened by him while, at the same time, I respect him more than ever. I stood in my place, not sure what to do. To be honest, I was expecting some kind of sly comment from Gideon, but he stayed quiet.

        "Eliza, sweetie, I wasn't yelling at you," Stephen said softly as if I were his own child. He now peered at me, his left hand resting on his leg.

        "Huh?" I barely heard him. I knew what he said, but I hadn't processed it at first. Looking at my scuffed shoes with a small smile, I muttered: "I know." He had apologized once already; he didn't need to say anything more about it.

        Stephen stood up without another word and gave my head a solid pat. He plucked the glass bottles from his backpack and headed towards the direction of a river. He told me to stay put and to peacefully sort things out with Gideon while he went to get fresh water. I asked him if I could come, but he said he needed a moment for himself.

        When Steph was out of earshot, I hissed at Gideon: "Why do you have to be such a jerk?"

        "Me? A jerk? Honestly, how was I supposed to know Stanford and Stephen are brothers?" he replied with a snort. I shuddered from the snort, the action leaving an uncomfortable sensation in my nose. It felt like I had just accidentally inhaled water and then blew it from my nostrils. Holding my nose with my hand, I tried to let the feeling go. "Oh, you're fine," Gideon snapped, removing my hand from my face.

        I growled, tightening my hands into fists at my sides. "Just watch your- my mouth. No more talking about Stan."

        "You're not mah mother."

        "Oh, like you'd ever listened to your parents. You're power hungry: just like Steph said! He doesn't even know you and he knows what you are. It must have been that story you were telling him! You just kept going on about how 'Stan got in the way' and how you were only 'trying to help mankind'. It seems that Stan and Stephen have a very similar lie detector. It must be geneti-"

        Gideon completely took over, going into some spiel about how I was the real nuisance- about how I was power hungry. He went on, retelling the times I had spent snapping at people. He made a huge deal out of the time I punched Sierra Zoey in the face. She was one of my best friends when I was in Ohio- heck, we rode the llamas at my farm, and I don't let just anyone do that! She deemed me as "Young Llama," and I crowned her as the "Grand Llama;" Our friendship was golden until the day Bill screwed everything up. That was day I broke her nose. That was also the day we left for Pennsylvania to start anew. I lied to Dipper when I told him I stayed connected to all of my old pals; I have no friends to stay connected to thanks to Bill.

        As soon as Gideon detected the sorrow the mentioning of Sierra had caused me, he changed to the subject to another thing that made me seem like an awful person: spitting in his face. If I had been able to roll my eyes, I would have. He deserved it both times when I spat on him.

        By the time Stephen came back, Gideon and I were still going at it. Or, at least, Gideon was still going at it; I hadn't got a single word since the beginning.

        "Look, kid, it's obvious that you and Eliza don't get along, but at least try to coexist. You don't have much of choice when it comes to being together," Stephen stated as he stuffed the bottles into his pack. He arranged the backpack on his back afterwards, giving us a hopeful look. Truth be told, he looked tired more than anything. "Come on."