'Sup, dudes. Didja miss me? Or were you just waiting for the last chapter? *Silence* Oh… Anyways this is the last chapter, and it's a bit longer than the previous ones. And by a bit, I mean like twice the size. Enjoy the last chapter!

Also this chapter contains someone having a panic attack. (You can guess who.) Though even if it's though there's a full lot about it, if you're sensitive to this sort if thing then bewarb.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gravity Falls nor anything else related to it.

Chapter 5: Late Night Talk

Ford sat up quickly, gasping for air. Mabel backed away a few feet, trying to give him space. His breath started to get faster and shorter with his heart beating a mile a minute. His body began to tremble violently as he tried to breathe. Mabel instantly recognized these as symptoms of a panic attack. Geez, what a terrible way to wake up.

She has had some experience with them. Dipper would have them from time to time and she'd always be there to comfort him. So Mabel knew a thing or two about how to comfort someone who is suffering from one. Since no one was around (that was awake, anyways) other than her and Ford, she'll have to be the one to help her grunkle. Mabel's thoughts were cut off by Ford's quiet wail.

She looked over to her grunkle, only to find him clutching his chest struggling to breathe. A concerned expression appeared on her face and Mabel started walking slowly towards Ford, trying not to scare him anymore than he already was.

"Grunkle Ford…" she said in a soft voice, filled with worry.

But, of course, Ford's head shot in Mabel's direction, frantically searching for the source of the voice with a panicked expression. Since he was sleeping, his glasses were off and placed on a table next to his bed. And without his glasses, he's pretty much blind as one of those mice.

Mabel realized why he acted that way when she spoke.

"Grunkle Ford. It's just me, Mabel…"

She spoke as slow and as quiet as she can. Ford seemed to relax a little bit after hearing those words but not entirely. He was confused on why his great niece was in his room at this hour. He tried to speak to her, but it was fruitless. All that came out was a hushed cry.

Mabel reached Ford and sat on his bed, directly across from him. Before comforting him and finding out the problem, she has to make sure Ford can breathe at a considerable rate. Mabel began to speak, still in the same soft tone, while looking her grunkle in the eye.

"Look at me, Grunkle Ford. Follow my lead."

She started to take deep breathes, putting a hand on her chest for him to do the same.

"Breathe in… breathe out... breathe in… breathe out…"

Ford copied her, his breathing started slowing down and seemed more calm. He still looked a bit frightened by whatever his nightmare was, but it's a start. Mabel gave him a encouraging smile, glad that this was working.

"You're doing great," Mabel praised.

They continued doing this for a few more minutes. Once he had control of his breathing again and stopped shaking, Ford grabbed his glasses and put them on. Ford straightened his posture and cleared his throat.

"So… what are you doing up so late and why are you in my room?"

As he spoke, despite trying to sound calm and collected, Ford's voice cracked at the end. He looked anywhere but Mabel, and his face was tinted pink either from shame or embarrassment.

Mabel looked down at her hands and played with the bed sheets.

"Well… you see… I was worried about you and I couldn't sleep so I decided to go check on you… and I heard you crying and I walked in and I saw that you were in the middle of a nightmare. My footsteps must have woken you up… and you started to have a panic attack… So I stayed to help you. You know the rest…" Mabel admitted.

Ford's face turned to a darker shade of pink. Luckily the lights weren't on and the only light being emitted was from the moon and the digital clock. He began to stutter.

"O-Oh. Well...um...thanks Mabel. I'm fine now… so you can go back to bed. It… it was a dumb dream anyway. It wasn't real.."

Ford said, reassuring his great niece, though it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself more than anything. Mabel furrowed her eyebrows in doubt, looking up at him.

"No."

The boldness in her voice made Ford finally look at her. Mabel's expression was serious and unreadable. Her lips were pressed into a slight frown. Before he could question it, she spoke again, but with more emotion.

"If you have nightmare, it usually helps if you talk it out. I wanna help you, Grunkle Ford. And I'm not leaving until I do." Mabel crossed her arms over her chest.

Ford raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Mabel didn't move, she only stared back at him with a blank face. Ford tried again.

"No really, I'm okay."

Nothing

"...fine," Ford sighed.

Mabel smiled and scrambled over her grunkle's side. She stared up at him intently, ready to listen. Ford hesitated for moment, wondering if he should make something up or tell her what really happened. He chose the latter. She just wants to help me…

"Well, it took place during Weirdmaggedon… and Stanley, who was dressed as me at the time, shouted that he surrendered right before Bill could snap his fingers. But when he walked up walked up to Bill to make the deal, Bill… called us out on our trick and went into this rant about heroes in his world..."

Ford's voice was starting to get weak just thinking about it. He scrubbed at his eyes to prevent tears from falling. Mabel just looked up at the older man in concern, rubbing his back in a comforting manner. He continued.

"Then… then he snapped his fingers and-and you two…*sniff*... dropped dead and Stan and I couldn't do anything… Then Bill started talking about how there's somethings that aren't meant to be… and then he said that the next part is only between me and him, and he said to Stanley that he should take a nap while waiting… he snapped his fingers and killed him too…"

Tears were in Ford's eyes, threatening to fall. He looked away from Mabel as spoke, not having the guts to see what her expression would be.

"After that happened, he asked about the deal… and since everyone I loved died, I thought that it wouldn't matter or not if I made the deal… the only thing I wanted was for you guys to be alive again… so I made the deal and he didn't hold his end if the bargain… and...and.."

Mabel hugged Ford as he cried into her shoulder. No wonder why her grunkle was crying in his sleep, that dream must have been terrible. They stayed like that for a few minutes. Ford pulled away from Mabel, wiping his eyes from under his glasses. He looked away from her and ducked his head in shame.

"Sorry. I know it's dumb for a 60 year old man to be crying over a nightmare even though I've been through a lot worse…"

"Grunkle Ford, Look at me."

He reluctantly did as she asked. Mabel tilted her head.

"It's okay to be vulnerable. You're not on the other side of that portal anymore and Bill's gone. He can't hurt you, Grunkle Stan, nor Dipper and I. You don't have to be afraid to show your emotions and what you feel."

Mabel gave him a reassuring smile, but her face turned serious with a hint of concern.

"Think about what I said, but I do have a quick question…" Mabel paused, unsure how to ask this without offending him or making him self conscious. "...Why do you hate yourself?"

Ford stiffened at that question. Maybe playing dumb would work. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb, Grunkle Ford. Earlier when we were eating those sandwiches, loved them by the way, the reason why my mood changed drastically was because I saw something. It was a small pinch of sadness in your eyes. I'm no psychologist, but I knew right away that you felt worthless. That you felt alone. That everyone would be better off without you."

Ford's mouth was left ajar. This kid was one serious detective. Mabel continued.

"But do you know what all of these thoughts have in common? They're all wrong. You are one of the most amazing people I know. And everyone would be sad without you. Even Waddles!" Mabel added cheerfully.

"I don't know when you started feeling this way, it could've been from the moment you stepped out of that portal, like a boss, or to that time when Grunkle Stan ran for mayor, but I'm determined to find out why you feel this way and make you 100 percent happy! And that's a Mabel promise!"

Mabel finished her sentence with one of her well known brace-filled smiles. Ford finally got out of his stunned posture and smiled at his great niece. Without warning, Ford engulfed Mabel in a hug, making her squeak in surprise.

"Thank you, Mabel," Ford whispered, fondness in his voice. He felt tiny arms wrap around him in return.

"You're welcome."

They parted after a few minutes and smiled at each other. Mabel let out a small yawn as Ford glanced at the clock next to the bed they were on. 2:16

"Well...*yawn*... You should go back to bed. It's past 2 in the morning."

Mabel cuddled up against her grunkle and pouted.

"But I wanna stay with you…"

Ford pondered this for a moment and smiled. He put an arm around Mabel and pulled her closer. Ford shrugged, "What's the harm in that?"

Mabel cheered as Ford released his grip on her and laid down. Ford made a motion with his hand, signaling that it's okay to come over to him, and Mabel crawled over to him. She curled up next to him, laying her head on Ford's stomach. In return, he put arm around Mabel once again. Mabel giggled.

"Your belly makes a great pillow, Grunkle Ford."

Ford smiled and ruffled her hair with his other hand.

"Heh, I bet it does."

"Goodnight! I love you, Grunkle Ford…"

Ford froze a bit in shock, he wasn't expecting that. He heard a soft snore next to him. Ford looked over to Mabel's sleeping form and started to feel a warm feeling rise in his gut. A smile slowly etched onto his face.

"Love you too, kiddo," Ford whispered. He leaned back into his bed and let out a yawn.

The two fell into a peaceful sleep, happy thoughts and dreams filling their head.

~Time Skip~

Dipper woke up and was about to say good morning to Mabel, only to see that she wasn't in her bed. He just shrugged it off, thinking she was eating breakfast already. He walked down the stairs, into the kitchen.

"Morning, Grunkle Stan."

Stan paused from making stancakes and faced Dipper. He gave him a nod.

"Mornin'. Where's your sister?"

Dipper gave him a look, "I thought she was down here with you. She wasn't in the attic nor the bathroom."

Stan shook his head, "No one's been down here all morning."

Their eyes widened simultaneously. "Mabel!" Stan rushed towards his brother's room, followed closely by Dipper. He slammed the door open (though with less force than that other time).

"Get up! Mabel's not in the..."

Stan's voice trailed off as he stepped into the room. "Grunkle Stan?" Dipper asked, finally catching up to his grunkle. He poked his head out from behind Stan.

There, on Ford's bed, were Ford and Mabel. They both were sleeping peacefully, with Mabel curled up against Ford's side while he has his arm tucked around her. Their chests were rising and falling almost in unison as they softly snored (with Ford's being a bit louder). Both of them had smiles on their faces.

Stan cracked a small smile at the sight. He turned around and shut the door quietly. He looked down at Dipper, who was looking up at him with questioning eyes.

"Let them have this moment," Stan said, jerking his head towards the door. "They need their sleep, anyways."

Dipper nodded in agreement, humming a response.

"How 'bout I finish making breakfast, brunch for those two, and we catch up on some 'Ducktective'? I heard that the third season is already out," Stan offered, shrugging.

Dipper smiled, "Sure!"

The awake pair walked back to the kitchen to eat. They later spent the rest of the morning shouting at the tv to do this or to do that. Eventually that woke Ford up and he came rushing into the living room, who was carrying Mabel with him, holding his laser gun. Startled by the loud shouting from earlier, he pulled trigger, aiming at the television.

'BOOM!'

"Hehe... Oops…"

Why Ford?! Why you gotta blow up the tv? Just imagine him standing there awkwardly after realizing what the shouts were for… yup. So, I hope that you guys enjoyed this story and I have a few more coming. Thanks for reading! *Waves enthusiastically*