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Mabel had been dreaming of romance since she was twelve years old. Maybe it was because of all the nights spent watching cheesy rom-coms with her mom when the boys were out doing “guy stuff”, maybe it was her love of theater where all love stories were dramatic and preferably told through song, or maybe it was all the fairytales she’d consumed promising a true love was somewhere out there for her. Regardless of the reason, Mabel had long been chomping at the bit for a romance of her own.
Unfortunately all her chances never actually became anything. She’d scared off most of the local guys when visiting Gravity Falls that first summer and those who her vibrant personality hadn’t deterred all turned out to be creeps or ended up in arranged marriages. (Which now that she thought about it, was kinda messed up for someone that young.)
Her luck back home hadn’t been much better. And it only got worse as they all grew older. Whereas before she’d had little difficulty finding others who shared her interests, now everyone was too “mature” for Dream Boy High or stories where love conquered all. Now, you weren’t cool enjoying cartoons unless they were the kind of stuff her parents would ground her for watching before she was sixteen.
Now, at fifteen, Mabel struggled to find friends, let alone a date. She was still just as bright and bombastic as ever, but the world around her had turned muted and grumpy.
Her only reprieve was the summers spent at Gravity Falls, surrounded by people just as strange as she was, though even that had gained an uncomfortable edge. Dipper and Pacifica had started going out, and as happy as she was to see her brother in a loving relationship, she still occasionally felt a jealous pang that there was no one like that for her.
Then along came Mark Prescott.
Mabel walked into the library, sparing a moment to smile at the elderly librarian before heading to the holds shelf. Her latest romance fixation was Elemental Princes, an anthology series where each book followed a different hot guy with an elemental curse that could only be broken by finding his soulmate. Piedmont’s local library only had the first three books of the series, but thanks to Candy and Grenda’s persistent requests Gravity Falls possessed the full set. And Mabel had dibs on all of them.
Scanning the shelf, she quickly found the other four books sitting under a tag marked M.P. She reached out to grab them-
And touched another hand reaching at the same time.
She followed the other hand up an arm and then to a face. A boy with bright green eyes that reminded her of sour apple lollipops and honey-brown hair smiled sheepishly back at her.
“I’m sorry, but I think there’s been a misunderstanding. This is my hold.” He said, his tone warm and gentle.
Mabel giggled awkwardly. “No. This my hold. See?” She pointed to the tag. “M.P. Mabel Pines.”
The boy shook his head. “No, M.P. Mark Prescott.”
She put her hands on her hips. “You actually expect me to believe you read Elemental Princes?”
He nodded solemnly. “Kieran and Scadie are my favorite pairing so far, but the forest curse described in book five seems promising.”
She gasped. “Kieran and Scadie are my favorites too! I love that they actually get to save each other-”
“Because she’s secretly one of the elves being enslaved by Kieran’s evil aunt?” Mark finished.
“Exactly!” Mabel beamed.
The two of them looked at the hold shelf again.
Mark nudged her, the sunlight through the window making his hair gleam gold. “Wanna just read the rest together?”
Mabel tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “That would be nice.”
A year passed and Mabel was convinced Mark was perfect. He’d survived an intense interrogation by her Grunkles and had driven down to Piedmont to meet her parents. Even Dipper, Mr. Suspicious himself, had admitted to liking the guy.
Plus, The Elemental Princes series turned out not to be the only thing she and Mark had in common. They watched a ton of the same movies, competed to see who could make the weirdest snack combinations, and even both had some form of barnyard animal for a pet. (Mark’s was a chicken named Lady Corncob.)
So of course when word spread there was going to be a re-release of Dream Boy High in theaters for its 20th anniversary, the pair were among the first to get tickets.
The day of the movie was an unusually hot one, perfect for sitting in the icy air conditioning of the theater, but still not hot enough to compel Mabel to abandon her usual sweater. Almost the instant she’d finished getting ready, Mark pulled up outside, honking the horn of his car excitedly.
Bidding a brief farewell to Grunkle Stan in the living room on her way out, Mabel ran to the car, climbing in, and greeting Mark with a kiss on the cheek.
“Are you hyped to see Craz and Xyler on the big screen? Cause this girl is!” She cheered, pointing to the custom sweater she’d knitted for the occasion.
Mark grinned. “You bet I’m hyped! Especially since I’ve got the best seat in the house, right next to you.”
Mabel giggled. “Eyes on the road Romeo, we have to get there first.”
In no time at all, they’d arrived at the theater, smuggled in their snacks, and found their seats in the center of the theater.
“We’ve got the best view!” Mabel exclaimed. “This is gonna be amazing!”
“Calm yourself oh sparkly one,” Mark shushed. “It’s starting.”
Sure enough, the lights were dimming and the previews began to roll. Mabel leaned back as far as she could go to get comfy and saw Mark do the same in her peripheral. And for a moment, things were perfect.
The movie started, and Mark’s hand came to rest on her arm. She spared a second looking away from the screen to smile at him. The movie continued and so did Mark’s hand, slowly creeping its way down her arm, across her stomach, and up her torso.
Mabel squirmed uncomfortably. The two of them had cuddled plenty in their time as a couple, but this was… weird.
His hand didn’t stop, sending pins and needles up her spine as he placed it over one of her breasts and squeezed.
Mabel’s squirming stopped, her body frozen. No one had touched her there. Even she had never done that. Her mind was blank, her stomach swirled with something more intense than butterflies, her chest felt tight. She glanced around the theater, but everyone’s attention was on the screen. No one was looking.
She didn’t say anything throughout the rest of the movie and Mark didn’t stop, eventually moving to her other breast. Mabel just focused on the movie, pretending nothing was happening. When the movie ended, and the lights came on, Mark’s hand withdrew and Mabel could finally breathe.
She left the theater in silence, hand in hand with Mark. Neither of them spoke until the car was already on the move back to the Shack.
“So…” Mark started, his tone clearly uncomfortable. “What I did in there, was that okay with you?”
The question broke through Mabel’s daze, sending her mind whirling.
Was it okay? It was outside of my comfort zone, but it didn’t feel bad necessarily. I didn’t do anything so it must be subconsciously okay. And he’s been so nice for the past year, and he’s asking about my opinion now, so he cares about my boundaries. And if I say no, he’ll be upset and guilty. I don’t want to do that to him.
“Yeah,” She replied with a strained smile.”I would’ve stopped you if it wasn’t, right?”
The anxiety eased from Mark’s expression. “Good, I was worried I’d crossed a line.”
Seeing how concerned he was warmed her heart. “You didn’t.”
The rest of the car ride was spent talking about the movie.
Mabel couldn’t shake the sinking feeling in her gut as she walked back into the Shack. It was like she was a stranger, even to herself. Like there was a neon sign over her chest declaring that she had let a boy touch her there.
She had let a boy touch her there, and she couldn’t settle on how to feel about it. Wasn’t this what all teenagers did? It didn’t have to lead to anything more serious, it didn’t even have to happen again. So why was she so mixed up?
Stan was still in the living room when she stepped through the door, laughing at something on TV.
Spotting her, he waved. “Hey Pumpkin, how was your date?”
Couldn’t he see? Wasn’t there something different about her?
Stan’s eyebrows scrunched in response to her silence. “Everything okay?”
And Mabel made a difficult choice. Mabel spoke up.
“Something kind of embarrassing happened.”
Stan patted the armrest of his chair. “So sit down and tell me about it.”
She sat where he indicated, leaning against him. “Mark touched me here.” She gestured vaguely to her chest. “He asked me if was okay afterward, so it’s all fine, I just feel like my insides are all tangled up right now.”
Stan’s tone turned cold. “Did he ask you before he touched you?”
Mabel sat up. “No, like I said, he asked after.”
Stan placed his hands over hers. “Mabel, sweetie, that’s sexual assault.”
Mabel met his eyes, shocked. “He didn’t hurt me, and I said it was okay after!”
“Look kid, I’ve worked in some less-than-savory industries, I know my stuff in this category. Any form of sexual contact without consent is sexual assault, and consent only counts if it’s given before anything happens. It doesn’t matter if you said it was okay after.”
Tears started to clog her throat. “I didn’t stop him.”
Stan lifted her hands to grip them in his own. “It’s not your responsibility to stop him, it’s his responsibility to know better.”
The tears had spread from her throat to her eyes, blurring the concerned face of her Grunkle. “I didn’t like it, Grunkle Stan. It was weird and awkward and I thought people would start staring, but I didn’t do anything.”
Stan dropped her hands, but only so he could wrap her up in his arms. “Just let it out Pumpkin, it’s been a rough day. Me n’ Ford will have a talk with his parents tomorrow.”
“Ford and I,” A third voice corrected from the doorway to the kitchen. Ford stood there, his eyes a bit watery as well. “Grammer Stanley.”
Mabel curled into herself. “How much of that did you hear?”
Ford walked over to kneel by the chair. “Long enough to want to join your hug.”
Stan opened an arm. “Get in here nerd.”
Ford joined the embrace, and there, sandwiched between the comforting heartbeats of her Grunkles, Mabel started to feel like things would be okay.