I'll protect you

Chapter two

The next morning Dipper woke up early.  Too early.

He got up and stretched a little before waking downstairs.  He grabbed himself a bowl of cereal and waited for everyone else to wake up. 

His stirred the Cheerios around in his glass bowl.  He wasn't hungry but now he felt bad for wasting it.

Thankfully around two minutes later Mabel popped in and greeted her brother with a ruffle of his hair.

"Morning Bro Bro!  You gonna finish that?"

"Nope, want it?"  Dipper asks hopeful.  Mabel grins and takes the bowl, sitting down next to him. 

"Hey, have you heard from mom or dad?"  Mable asked. 

"No."  Dipper sighed, "not since the day before that vacation."

"Their supposed to get home today."  Mabel points out, taking another bite of her cereal.

"Yeah well."  Dipper shrugged, "we left a note saying where we were going.  Not that they would care." 

"I miss them.  I mean, when we were younger..."  Mabel's voice trails off and Dipper sighs again.

"It doesn't matter anymore.  Besides our home is here.  With Stan and Ford."  Dipper assures her.  She smiles and finished her cereal as Stan walks into the kitchen.

"What's up knuckleheads."  He greets, hitting them both on the back of the head.

"Ow Grunkel Stan!"  Dipper complaint as the older man laughed.

"What are our plans for the day?"  Mabel asked her twin.

"I figured you would be hanging out with your friends."  Dipper shrugs.

"Their all busy today."  Mabel pouts, "but that gives us time to catch up!  Come on, I'll show you what's new in town!"  She grabs her twins arm and they both run out of the house.

The young Pine twins walked around the town, exploring parts of it that had been added or redone throughout the few years they weren't here.

"Mabes!  Look at this!"  Dipper pointed out an engraving of their names in the middle of the town.

"Woah!"  Mabel exclaimed in excitement.

"Wonder who did that."  Dipper says curiously.

"Bro!  You don't always have to know everything.  This is cool, don't turn it into a whole mystery."  She jokes and shoves the other teen.

"Come on Mabel, you know me."  He rolls his eyes and they continue walking.

They spent the rest of the day catching up with people they used to know, visiting old places and talking about old adventures they used to go on.  They talked about how everything was different now.  They talked about everything.

"The suns going down.  Wanna head back to the shack and see what Stan made for dinner?"  Dipper asks his sister while standing up off the bench.  She gets up as well.

"I thought it was Fords night to cook."  Mabel challenged.  Dipper scoffed with a laugh.

"Doesn't matter who's cooking as long as it's not me!  Now let's go."  He says with a smile.

The two twins entered the shack a few minutes later.  They both sensed tension in the air as they walked cautiously to the kitchen.  The older Pines twins were sitting down whispering to each other, they stopped once they saw the kids.

"Kids!  Come sit down, we have to talk to you both."  Stan says seriously.  Mabel and Dipper both sat down next to each other on the opposite side of the table.