This is an AU (Alternate Universe). Also, Dipper and Mabel are 23 years old in this fic. Warning: This story contains violence and feels. You may now carry on…

A ray of sunlight fell directly on Dipper's face, aggravating him and causing the corner of his eyes to crinkle in annoyance. He kicked off his blankets and slowly got out of bed. Waking up in the morning was always a pain in the bottom for him.

He stared at his reflection in the long vertical mirror right next to his bed. He was an absolute mess. His hair was all over the place, the bags under his eyes had gotten worse and the stubble on his chin was growing bigger.

He rubbed his face in frustration. Sometimes he just wanted to lay down, sleep in silence and forget about the real world but unfortunately, life had other plans. Complicated plans.

On top of that, sleeping was useless since he was infected by the terrible disorder that was insomnia. No matter how hard he tried to wander away in a world of dreams, he ended up with wide open eyes and a tense body instead of a peaceful slumber.

Dipper Pines life wasn't chaotic or tragic. It was just boring. Just plain ol' boring.

He still had his blog where he would write about paranormal sightings and supernatural creatures he discovered in his time of being an anomaly hunter. Not that that was an actual job. But something he enjoyed and loved doing.

Along with his blog, he had his three white journals that were filled with the exact same things on his blog but had more in depth explanations of the creatures such as their origins, weaknesses and natural habitat. And written in the journals was also a handful of 'uncomfortable' situations Dipper had been involved in. Come to think of it, his life was actually pretty chaotic. He could recall a couple of disastrous situations he had encountered with the monsters that lurked in the woods.

He walked down the stairs and lazily entered the living room and saw the three books laid down on the glass table. They were covered in dust and slightly torn. Many people would fuss over such small things but to him, they added to the look. It made the journals look special and old. And you know what they say; Old is gold.

A blue pine tree was in the center of all three journals. This was because his last name was Pines.

His full name, Dipper Pines originated from the fact that he was born with an embarrassing and stupid birthmark. The 'Big Dipper'.

It wasn't something he moped over heavily but it still disturbed him that he had such an ugly mark on his body.

A glance over at the black clock sitting on a red stool showed him that he woke up quite late. Or at least late by his standards. Usually, he woke up at seven o' clock but it looks like he woke up at nine today.

"Whatever" He muttered to himself in carelessness.

He went through all the normal morning routines. Brushing his teeth, washing his face, combing his hair or at least attempting too and eating his breakfast.

Which was waffles. Just waffles. No syrup, no orange juice to go along with it. Just waffles. Simple plain waffles. Just the way he liked it.

After all of that, he put on his dark brown sweater leaving it unbuttoned. He grabbed his pine tree watch. He never left his house without it.

And his wallet. He never left his house without that too. 'Never know when you might need to drop some cash' he thought to himself. 'Speaking of dropping cash, I should probably head to the grocery store.'

And finally, he grabbed his red daggers. It was a gift from his Grunkle Stan in case he ever got mugged.

Stan encouraged him to use his fists and legs rather than depend on the daggers all the time but Dipper wasn't really a strong guy. Not weak…But not any Hercules either.

Stepping out of his house, he saw his neighbors watering the flowers in their garden.

He absolutely despised his neighbors due to their happy and upbeat behavior. He didn't know how always being happy and upbeat would do any good for you.

"Good mornin' Dipper! How's your day going?" Bob asked him. A sigh of annoyance left his lips. Bob was by far one of the most annoying neighbors in this area.

"Well, I just woke up so I can't really determine if my day is good or bad until I've fully lived it. But so far…Neutral"

A chuckle left Bobs mouth. "Haha! I'm glad your day's going well!"

Dipper rubbed his temples in frustration. "That's not what I…..Aw screw it" He left the place with a sense of moodiness as his neighbors all simultaneously shouted "Bye Dipper!"

"Yeah, okay bye hehe…Imbeciles" He muttered under his breath.

"Ugh" An audible groan left Dipper's mouth, catching the attention of multiple people. They were giving him dirty looks. Nothing new really…

He was used to those dirty looks ever since he was a child. When they passed by in the hallway at school, flipping him off and glaring at him for no actual reason. The endless bullying he received for being a social failure back then pissed him off highly. That's probably why he grew up to become a grumpy person and a little bit of a jerk.

But he wouldn't be grumpy for long. After he was done with the groceries, he would return home and then go off into the woods looking for more anomalies. That would brighten his day for sure.

He was so busy thinking about the possible monstrosities he could stumble upon that he didn't even notice he was now in front of the cashier.

"Cash or debt? Um sir…"

"What? Oh, uh….Cash" He proceeded to pay the amount of money that appeared on the screen and then left.

"Waiting in line is the worst!" He exclaimed angrily to himself as he walked home.

He hadn't bought much from the grocery store. Just a jug of milk, a couple of fruits and some cupcakes to celebrate his Grunkle Stan's birthday.

He contemplated for a while in the snacks section whether he should buy Stan something for his birthday or just leave him alone. After all, Stan didn't really seem like the type of guy who would want a birthday gift.

But Dipper knew that as much as his Grunkle liked to put up a tough reputation, secretly inside he was an old softie. And the cupcakes, if decorated with green icing to make it look as if there were dollar bills on them, would certainly melt his heart.

Of course, this would seem slightly suspicious considering Dipper never really gave anyone gifts. Even if it was their birthday, he usually gave a simple congratulations before carrying on with his ways. But considering Stan was the only person in his family who truly understood and supported him in everything he did, he wanted to show that he was supremely grateful of his Grunkle…

Plus, maybe Stan would give him a slight boost in his pay after eating the delicious cupcakes.

The usual pay he got wasn't low but it really wasn't much. He shouldn't be surprised since Stan was a cheapskate but sometimes, he could be ridiculous in pricing and when it comes to money in general.

Working at the Mystery Shack could sometimes be a major pain in the rear end. It could be quite fun at times, especially when he got to work with Soos and Wendy, the only people who he could really call 'friends' in this world. But when he was by himself, it got lonely and boring and spending hours making new creations for the tourists really wore him out.

Luckily, he had these two days to search for new anomalies and have some time to himself. Saturday and Sunday...He still personally believed that weekends should be three days long but society couldn't care less on his opinions even if he was the president of the United States.

He sat down on the red leather chair in front of his computer. Quickly checking his blog, he looked at all the entries he had input there. So many adventures, so many creatures…He turned the computer off with a smile. Unravelling the supernatural aspects of Gravity Falls was something that always excited him.

A sigh left Dipper's mouth that was followed by a quiet chuckle.

'Heh. I work at a gift shop and study anomalies. One hell of a life' He thought.

The wheels turning in his mind stopped though as he heard a tune play throughout his house followed by singing.

'Summers almost gone'

'And I don't feel any closer'

'To unravelling all these mysteries'

He sat up immediately. It was his phone. That was his ringtone.

He tried to pin point where the tune was coming from.

'I can't believe I left the house without my phone! Dipper, you knucklehead!'

He rushed up the stairs and spotted his phone laying on top of the wooden shelf in his bedroom. Quickly taking it within his grasp, he answered the call.

"Hello?" Ruffling could be heard before a familiar voice filled Dipper's ears.

"Dipper! How's it going my boy?!" It was his dad. He heard a feminine voice in the background who he assumed was his mom.

"It's going fine. How's your trip in Japan going?"

"It's going amazing. There are so many intriguing things all over the place. It really is a beautiful area. It's nice to, you know, take a break from your job…"

Dipper frowned. He noticed the emphasis on the word 'job'

'Oh no' he thought.

"Speaking of job…"

"Here it comes" Dipper whispered.

"Have you gotten a job yet?"

He groaned internally. Every single conversation he had with his parents, this subject popped up. And it annoyed him.

"Dad, I already have a job. I work at the Mystery Shack. And I have my blog where I write about the supernatural sightings I discover in Gravity Falls"

No dialogue came from the other end but Dipper could imagine his father rolling his eyes. It was times like these where Dipper wished his parents supported him as much as his Grunkle Stan did…

"Dipper sweetheart, you can't keep working at the Mystery Shack. It's a gift shop. And a bad one! You need to get a real job!"

"Dad, why don't you understand!? I don't need a real job. I enjoy working at the Shack. And I love hunting for anomalies. And I'm not living on the streets or going bankrupt so I don't see what the problem is."

A groan left Mr. Pines mouth.

"We raised you up, wanting you to work at a high quality business. Not a poor gift shop. And hunting for anomalies is stupid. Why worry about the abnormal things in life. Be normal Dipper! I've had enough of this. I have to hang up now but listen to me, get a real job son. For us. Please" And with that, the phone call ended.

Dipper tightly shut his eyes, trying to hold in any emotions that were daring to leak out of his body.

Calling anomaly hunting stupid pinched his heart but those three words…

'Be normal Dipper!'

Those three words stabbed his heart. Be normal….Be normal….

Dipper put his phone down angrily and went straight for his computer and revisited his blog while glancing at the journals.

He enjoyed what he does. And other people have enjoyed his work as well. Many people gave positive messages, saying things like 'Keep up the good work!'

But did those people mean it. They could have been simply saying that out of kindness or maybe they were being sarcastic. "Be Normal Dipper!"

Come to think of it, Dipper had always been weird since he was a kid.

He was anti-social when he was in elementary school and he had that dumb birthmark.

"Be normal Dipper!"

Dipper sighed as he leaned back in his red chair.

Sometimes he wished that he had that 'special' someone. That someone who always had his back no matter what. That someone who would always cheer him up in the gloomiest of days.

If only he had what people called a 'Best friend'. Or a girlfriend. Or a sibling.

"Oh well…At least I have Grunkle Stan"

He got out of his chair and grabbed his third journal. The other two books were full and had no more room for any writing. The third one had only a quarter of the pages filled.

"Cheer up Dipper. Let's go anomaly hunting" He said to himself, hoping to forget about those three very painful words.

Well…What do you think? For a first chapter, was that bad, good or in between. Any criticism would be appreciated. I'm sure this was pretty obvious and crystal clear but I'll just say it anyways; Dipper is the author of the journals. And the journals obviously look different. And Dipper's ringtone is an actual song. It's a song called 'Welcome to my Home' by the youtuber Mandopony. And yes, the song was specifically made for Gravity Falls.

Anyways, the next chapter will take a glimpse into Mabel's life as a 23 year old. I really hope I didn't do badly on this because I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous about posting this.

Also, I don't really have a schedule as to when I will update for this story. The only thing I can say is that; I'll update whenever I can. I don't want to make any promises. And some chapters will be short and others will be long so there's not really a particular goal for how much writing a chapter has. I hope you guys are enjoying this so far! :)