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Mabel wakes up to soft whimpering from across the room.
Immediately, she knows it's Dipper. Him making terrified noises in the middle of the night is something she's well accustomed to by now, unfortunately, and she sits up to look at him.
He's curled up, arms stretched out slightly in front of him, almost like he's reaching out for something. He's muttering things under his breath, too quiet for Mabel to make out, but the tone is one of fear.
She slides out of her bed, making her way over to him before placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and shaking him a little. "Hey, Dip-dop. Come on, wake up, you're having a nightmare." She pleads quietly.
It takes a moment, but after a short pause Dipper suddenly shoots up with a strangled yell, chest heaving with unsteady breaths as he looks around the room frantically, eyes eventually landing on Mabel. Once they do, he gets that look on his face. Like he's seen a ghost. Mabel has a hunch what his nightmare might've been about based on that expression alone.
"Mabel?" The way he says her name practically confirms what he'd been dreaming about. Mabel knows that tone well by now, that tone of sheer and utter terror because you just watched someone you care about die, whether it was real or not. She moves closer to sit next to him on the bed, hand still resting on his shoulder. "I'm here. It's okay."
That gets him to break, his face twisting up in despair as a sob escapes his mouth. Mabel doesn't even get a second to process that before Dipper flings himself into her arms, and she's quick to tighten the embrace, pressing her brother as close as she can. She shushes him gently, whispering quiet reassurances into his ear as he cries and mumbles incoherently into her shoulder.
It takes a while for his frantic wailing to taper out into softer cries, then shaky breaths. His hold doesn't loosen up at all, but at some point Mabel pries an arm away from Dipper's side to run a hand through his hair. He leans so far into the touch he probably would have fallen over if he wasn't leaning against her.
"...You wanna talk about it?" Mabel asks quietly after a few minutes. Neither of them ever did want to talk about their nightmares when they got this bad, but she figures it wouldn't hurt to ask. Dipper shakes his head. He's trembling violently in her grasp, and she squeezes him a little tighter.
Mabel waits a moment before speaking again. "Do you wanna do something to get your mind off it, or is tonight a cuddle together night?" She gets an answer in the form of Dipper pushing himself closer to her and whimpering softly. "Stay. Please." He chokes out, and Mabel doesn't need to hear anything more.
She lays back, bringing Dipper with her, and she drapes the blankets over them before they both shift around for a brief moment to get more comfortable. Mabel ends up nestled into the crook of Dipper's neck while he curls around her, almost protectively. Two of their arms are both wrapped around each other, while the other two rest by their sides, hands entwined together. Their legs are tangled up in a way that probably wont be comfortable come morning, but that doesn't matter to either of them right now.
At some point, Dipper's hand slips out of Mabel's own. She doesn't mention the fact she notices two of his fingers press gently into her wrist, feeling for a pulse. She understands, especially after everything they've been through. It's reassuring. She's done the same thing herself plenty of times.
Mabel doesn't sleep yet. Despite the pleasant warmth of the embrace and the tiredness clinging to her eyes, she refuses to slip into unconsciousness. Not until she knows Dipper will join her.
It takes a while, but eventually she can feel his tremors subside, the subtle shakiness in his breathing fading out. He relaxes a bit more against her, chest rising and falling steadily. His hand falls from her wrist, and after several minutes of him not making a move to return it to its previous position Mabel takes the opportunity to sling her now free arm over his body, pulling them even closer together. Dipper, half-asleep by this point, weakly returns the embrace.
They're about as close as they physically can be by now. Perfect. She wouldn't have it any other way. "G'night, Dip." She mutters quietly, and receives a faint hum of acknowledgement from Dipper. Noticing the way his breaths slow and even out as he slips into unconsciousness, Mabel finally allows herself to fall asleep with her brother.
Together, even in rest. As they should be, and always will be. No matter what.