There are so many ways it could have all worked out differently. If Wendy hadn't wanted that stuffed creature of indeterminable species, if she'd moved just a bit to the left as Dipper threw the baseball, or if Robbie hadn't happened to be eating a snow cone in the right place at the right time, maybe it never would have happened. All Robbie knew was that he was glad things worked out how they did. He was glad he finally scrounged up the courage to ask out the girl of his dreams, and he was thrilled that she actually said yes.
It seemed like he'd had a crush on Wendy forever, or at least ever since he moved to Gravity Falls, but never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd actually get to date her. Robbie watched her drift in and out of relationships like a leaf blowing in the wind. He had watched her fall in and out of love more times than he could count. But it never occurred to him that she might actually add his name to the list of guys she'd dated. He never thought he would be good enough for her. Something had always managed to hold him back. But by some small miracle, somewhat against his better judgment, he'd finally asked. Now it had finally happened, things worked out, and she was his girlfriend. His girlfriend! It was just too good to be true.
Since they'd been dating, he and Wendy hadn't really hung out alone a whole lot or even gone on a real date yet. But every moment he spent with her felt special. It was different than before, when Robbie had an awkward, assumed to be one-sided, desperate crush on her. Now he didn't need an excuse for wanting to be around her, and when the whole gang got together it wasn't considered weird for him to practically insist on sitting in the back of Thompson's van with Wendy instead of riding shotgun like normal. Now it was natural to have her just a bit higher on his priority list than his other friends. It was different when they hung out because now that they were dating, he couldn't help but feel like they had something special, something that was theirs and theirs alone. Every once in a while they'd catch each other's gaze, and instead of looking away like they used to, they'd both smile as if sharing some sort of secret or an inside joke or something. Only the secret wasn't actually so secret anymore. He liked her, and she actually liked him back. It was still a bit hard to believe.
Aside from occasional teasing, the rest of the gang didn't really pay much attention to their friends' sudden relationship. It was as if they had already known it would happen eventually. This confused Robbie more than anything. He always thought that Wendy basically did her best to friend-zone him whenever he had even given the slightest hint at his feelings for her (which wasn't often since he tried to act as cool as possible around her). He knew Wendy was friendly to anyone and everyone, so any subtle hints she may have given suggesting she returned his feelings he had dismissed as Wendy simply being nice. Robbie assumed that Wendy enjoyed being friends with him, but wasn't interested in him the way he was with her. Apparently, however, that hadn't been the case. Well, hopefully anyway.
Even though they were dating now, Robbie still felt as if he had to impress Wendy. Every time she was around, especially if they were with the others, he'd try to act as mysterious and uncaring as possible. Just because he had a girlfriend now didn't mean he could ditch the 'cool guy' act. He had hidden behind sarcasm and pessimistic comments for so long, only letting his emotions out through his music, and he wasn't sure he was prepared to change that any time soon. He wanted to seem like the 'strong, silent' type, even though he knew his efforts were failing. Robbie always felt like he was just the downer of the group. He didn't feel like he really fit in with any of the others, except maybe Tambry, who couldn't look down from her phone long enough to have a real conversation. He was just so different. Technically, they weren't even his friends. They were Wendy's friends. The whole gang was basically made up of a group of people Wendy had met while drifting between social groups who she had then introduced to each other. They were kind of an odd combination, but, besides Robbie, they had known each other for what seemed like forever.
When Robbie first moved to Gravity Falls, Wendy had been his one-man welcoming committee. He met her at the bus stop on his first day and was nearly drowned by her kindness. Apparently new kids didn't really come to the town very often, and Wendy was more than happy to meet a new friend. Embittered by his parent's divorce and his sudden change of location, Robbie had tried to ignore her. But by the second week of school, he had already begun to fall for her charm. Even though at the time she was totally dorky, a head taller than him with a braces-filled smile and freckles, her overwhelming friendliness was something he couldn't ignore for long. When he was around her he felt completely at home, even though he was in a different state and under completely different circumstances than he would have liked. By the time he was in fourth grade, he had been introduced to the others. He wasn't really too fond of meeting new people, but Nate, Lee, Thompson and Tambry had proved to be decent people, no matter how much he felt like he didn't quite fit in with them. Being around Wendy, even if it was with a whole group of people, made him happy.
Robbie watched his friends change over the years, Nate nearly covering his body with tattoos, Tambry dying her hair time and time again, but most importantly, Wendy growing out of her awkward stage and turning into something beautiful. By sixth grade, her personality seemed to finally match her appearance. Her hair became a long, trailing cloak of firey red, she got her braces off, her height finally reached its peak, and her freckles started to look kind of cute instead of dorky. To him she had always been pretty, but it was like she suddenly became really beautiful overnight. And it wasn't just him that noticed. Dozens of guys were asking her out each week. Honestly, Robbie didn't like it one bit. But why would he be jealous that others were realizing just how amazing his best friend was? He had never felt like this before…Unless maybe he was just now noticing it. Maybe now he knew what that weird feeling he had whenever Wendy was around was. By age 12, he knew he was in love with Wendy Corduroy.
Robbie had done the opposite of becoming beautiful when he entered middle school. He started to grow a bit of facial hair, had a slight acne breakout, and decided to dye his naturally brown hair black in attempt to match the guy that Wendy seemed to be into: cool and mysterious. His hair ended up becoming a huge mop of frizz and frayed, color damaged ends that he tried to force into some sort of style by straightening it and using nearly a whole bottle of gel. To be honest, he was anything but cool. He was a bit of a nerd, actually. With Wendy still at the elementary school, and only Nate, Thompson and Lee to keep him company, he had began to become a bit of a loner. He was quiet and kept to himself most of the time, teaching himself to play guitar in his spare time and always lugging it to school with him so he could sneak off to play it during lunch.
By the time Wendy was in seventh grade, and finally at Gravity Falls Middle School, it was like Robbie had become an entirely different person. Though he was still incredibly shy, he had started working on getting a band together, taken on a new look, and had ditched his quietness for snarky comments every once in a while. Regardless of this fact, he started hanging out with the gang again now that they were reunited. And now that Thompson could drive them around in his mom's van, they could actually get together after school.
But by seventh grade, Wendy had already started her dating spree, hopping from one guy to the next. It kind of hurt him, but Robbie couldn't bring himself to stay away from Wendy, or to stop liking her. From what Robbie heard, even though plenty of guys had dated her, she'd never gone further than holding hands with any of them. Robbie made it his goal to be her first kiss.
And now he was even closer to reaching his goal. Closer than he ever thought he'd be. He wasn't sure if Wendy had had her first kiss by then, since she was almost in tenth grade now and he'd lost track of her dating life long ago, but he was determined that he would at least kiss her eventually. And within the first two weeks of them dating, Wendy had already kissed him on the cheek. Things seemed to be going well so far. But he was way too scared to do anything but try to hide his nervousness when he was around her, so she had almost always been the one to initiate any type of romance, minus going into the Tunnel of Love and Corndogs (which he had dragged her into while still under the influence of adrenaline from asking her out).
He was always so unsure of himself around Wendy, as if one little mistake would cause her to leave him. So he tried to act as uncaring and confident as possible. He didn't want to be just one more name tacked onto the end of her seemingly endless list of half-forgotten ex-boyfriends. He felt like at any given second she would ditch him just like she'd done to the dozens of boy she dated before him. He thought she was just throwing him a bone and dating him out of pity, or just agreeing to date him because it was the Wendy Corduroy way and she didn't really turn down anyone. He felt like she'd get bored of him eventually and break off their relationship entirely. Robbie didn't want to lose the only real friendship he'd made since moving to Gravity Falls. Little did he know, he was just as important to Wendy as she was to him.
Robbie lay awake in his bedroom, silently willing the morning to finally arrive. For some odd reason, he just couldn't fall asleep. He had been trying to sleep for what seemed like hours, but not matter how hard he tried he'd just end up lying there with his mind wandering.
Just as he was about to give up all hope of sleep, a soft, nearly inaudible tapping at his window jolted him out of his thoughts. He ignored it at first, figuring it was just the wind knocking a tree branch against the side of the house. But a few minutes later, the knocking returned, a bit louder this time. Curiously, he rose from his bed and half-tiptoed, half-stumbled over to the window. He squinted out into the darkness and saw a bright shock of red contrasting with the pitch black of the midnight sky. On a very narrow branch of the tree outside his window, perched almost gracefully just inches from him behind the glass, was none other than Wendy Corduroy. She seemed almost like a ninja, stealthy and coordinated, hidden in the darkness of the night (aside from her hair, anyway). Robbie blinked in surprise, thinking maybe he was just hallucinating. After a moment, Wendy knocked once more to get his attention. Quickly, he slid opened the window and moved back to give her room to come inside.
Once she had climbed in through the window, Wendy gave Robbie a huge grin.
"Hey Robbie." She whispered as casually as if they were simply running into each other at a convenience store or something, not at all sounding like she had just climbed into his room through the window at nearly 2 AM.
"Uh-Wendy? What are you doing here?" Robbie asked, still in shock.
Wendy shrugged, her smile fading a bit. "Oh, you know, couldn't sleep. And it seemed like a nice night for a walk, so I was just wondering if you wanted to hang for a bit." The redhead explained. "Oh man…Hey, sorry if I woke you up or something." She added, seeming a bit concerned.
Robbie quickly shook his head. "Nah, it's alright. I couldn't sleep either…" He told her.
Wendy's smile returned. "So, is it a date?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
Robbie's eyes widened in surprise, and he found himself staring into the darkness to try to make out her expression, thinking maybe it was just some sort of joke. "Y-yeah. Sure, why not?" He stuttered after a moment, trying not to look as flustered as he was feeling. "So, what's the plan?" He asked her.
Wendy shrugged and sat down on the edge of his bed. "I dunno. I thought maybe we could just sort of chill here for a while if that's alright with you." She suggested. Robbie gave her a quizzical look. "I mean, we never spend any time together like…as a couple, you know?" Wendy asked.
Robbie tried to hide how surprised he was about what she'd just said. He sat down beside her and stared down at the floor, feeling too uneasy when he looked at her. The moonlight flooding in through the window illuminated her pale skin and bright red hair, making her seem almost like a dream.
"You actually want to uh-hang out as a couple?" He asked, glancing over at her nervously. Without anyone or anything around to distract either of them, he was feeling super uncomfortable around Wendy at the moment. He felt like she could see right through his 'coolness' and see all his flaws.
"Duh! Why else would we be dating?" Wendy teased, hitting him lightly on the shoulder.
She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. And for some reason, it almost made all of Robbie's worries disappear. He opened his mouth to speak, but just as soon closed it and shook his head. Wendy glanced over at him curiously.
"What?" She asked.
"I…" Robbie trailed off, scratching the back of his head nervously. "It's nothing, babe. I'm just really glad you wanna hang out with me." He told her with a small smile.
Wendy grinned and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Yeah? That's so not what you were going to say, but whatever." She said with a quiet laugh.
"Huh? What makes you say that?" Robbie asked her, frowning slightly.
Wendy lifted her head from his shoulder and looked over at him. "Well, you kinda looked like you were gonna say something really serious. But I dunno, maybe I was just imagining things." The red haired girl said with a shrug.
Robbie looked over toward her for a moment before sighing, finally giving in, and actually saying how he felt for once. "To be completely honest, I… sometimes I feel like I'll bore you and you'll leave me..." He admitted quickly, staring down at his hands. Wendy looked over at him, and then shook her head slowly, as if she couldn't believe what he'd just said.
"Really, dude?" She asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Why would you even think that?"
Robbie looked up at her and shrugged. "It's just…I dunno. I guess it's hard to believe that a girl like you could really love a guy like me." He muttered.
Wendy punched him gently on the arm. "Robbie, stop it." She told him, glaring at him almost believably though the playful glimmer in her eyes told him she was just messing around. "You can't really think that. I mean, actually, it kinda surprises me that you'd even think about stuff like that at all."
"What do you mean?" Robbie asked, sounding a bit confused.
"Well, I dunno. You seem pretty focused on your band. That's why we don't get to hang out a whole lot. So I didn't know that you'd ever think about 'romantic' junk." Wendy replied with a shrug. "'It's no big deal.'" She mocked in what was meant to sound like his voice.
A sheepish smile spread across Robbie's face. "Do I really sound like that?" He asked. Wendy nodded, her expression unreadable even though the moonlight from the window was shining directly on her face. "Babe, you know I only put so much effort into my band because I want to impress you, right?" Robbie asked her.
Wendy's eyes widened slightly. "Really?" She whispered back, her voice entirely serious. "That's…There's no way that's true, dude."
"I thought I made it really obvious." Robbie laughed. "Like…Really, really obvious."
"You really do all that for me?" Wendy asked him.
Robbie nodded. "The only reason I even learned how to play guitar, way back when I was in fifth grade, was because I knew you thought it was cool." He admitted. "I mean, I'm not saying I don't actually like playing guitar or anything, because trust me, I love it…but, you're kinda what inspired it all."
"Fifth grade?" Wendy asked, whistling softly.
Robbie nodded, his cheeks reddening slightly. "Remember the song I played for the talent show my last year at the elementary school, the first one I ever wrote?" He asked her.
"Oh my gosh, that one where your hands were shaking so much that you dropped your pick?"
"But I kept playing!" Robbie defended himself.
Wendy let out a quiet laugh.
"It was because I was hoping you'd realize that song was about you and then I'd finally make you fall in love with me and stop drooling over Eli Hall or whoever it was that week."
"Dude, that was like four years ago! There's no way…You've really liked me all this time?" Wendy asked. Robbie nodded, seeming a bit embarrassed.
"Yeeaah…I've pretty much liked you since the second week I came to Oregon." He admitted quietly. After a moment of awkward silence, he let out a nervous laugh. "So-uh…When did you actually start to…you know, like me back?" He asked her.
Wendy thought for a moment, causing another slightly awkward span of quietness.
"Well, you've been my best friend since forever. But, I don't really know when I started to 'like like' you…I guess I kinda always did, but you never really seemed like the dating type. I mean, you never showed any interest in any girls…like ever." She told him.
Robbie pointed at her and raised his eyebrows. "That's because the only girl I've ever really liked is you…" He told her.
Wendy gasped. "You…? Robbie!" She whispered.
Robbie felt his face heating up slightly. "I know, I know, it's kinda lame…But once you meet a girl like Wendy Corduroy it's kinda hard to find anyone who lives up to your expectations." He muttered, shaking his head.
Wendy looked at him for a moment, completely in awe. She wasn't sure what it was that made her boyfriend suddenly open up about this kind of stuff, perhaps it was just his exhaustion or the fact that he was still having a hard time believing this was actually reality, but whatever it was, she was glad it had happened. He had never been very open with her about how he felt, but she had a feeling that he was a softie deep down.
"You're such a dork." Wendy muttered affectionately.
Robbie couldn't hold back a grin. "I know. But if I'm a dork, I guess that makes you one too." He told her, ruffling her hair, which was currently free from the hat she usually wore. He had finally given up on the 'cool guy' act, and had fallen victim to the Wendy Corduroy charm that drove him crazy. "But you're my dork." Robbie added quickly, attempting to wink though he knew Wendy wouldn't be able to see it.
Wendy laughed, and then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You know what makes you different from the other guys I've dated?" She asked, a bit suddenly.
"What?"
"I feel like you're actually honest with me. You know? Even if you try to act all tough, I can still tell that deep down you're really a pretty cool guy." Wendy told him. "Plus, you wear skinny jeans and play guitar. How could any straight guy in this town compare to that?"
Robbie shook his head, trying his hardest not to laugh. "I know you dig my tight pants, babe. Who wouldn't wanna check this out?" He joked, pointing to himself and raising his eyebrows.
Wendy laughed a bit too loudly, falling back onto his bed. Her tiredness had finally taken its stance.
Robbie lay down next to her and shook his head. "In all honesty, I really, really love you, Wendy. You know that?" He asked, brushing a strand of her hair away from her eyes, though he could hardly see her now that her face was away from the light coming in through the window. Wendy was silent for a few minutes, and Robbie worried she'd fallen asleep. At least until he heard her sigh.
"Yeah, I know…But, I guess I don't really understand why. And sometimes I have to wonder. I'm just-I'm not special…I'm a lumberjack's daughter. That's far from attractive as it is." Wendy whispered, more seriously than he'd ever heard her be.
Robbie thought for a while. A billion reasons for liking Wendy had filled his mind just a while ago, but now that they were actually useful, he couldn't seem to put words to any of them.
"That's just it. It's not like… you're not special like that. Who you are isn't why you're special. It's…how you are. If you get what I'm saying." Robbie wasn't used to showing his emotion in anything but his music, but when he was with Wendy, all alone, using all his willpower not to kiss her, he felt like he'd been stripped bare of his 'cool guy' exterior. It was like lyrics were flooding into his head, and if he could find a way to sort them all out and put them together, he could write an entire album about this girl. Like normal, he felt like could either say ten thousand things at once, or nothing. He decided on: "It's not because you're pretty, even though you are. It's because you're the kindest, funniest, and most laid-back girl in the entire town-maybe even the whole world. You're more down to earth than any girl I've met. And you don't judge people, no matter what. I just…I love everything that is Wendy Corduroy. Does that make any sense?"
Wendy said nothing. She simply responded by scooting over closer to him and resting her head on his chest.
Robbie felt his heart skip a beat. "Why am I special to you?" He asked her. Honestly, he hadn't meant to ask it, but his curiosity had gotten the best of him.
"Dude, how am I supposed to answer that?" Wendy asked tiredly, suppressing a yawn.
Robbie felt like everything he thought he and Wendy had had been shattered into pieces. "What, because there's no answer?"
"No way! I just meant…asking me that is like asking why the sky is blue or why my dad is so tough. There's definitely a reason, plenty of reasons, but just…not one that I can really put to words. It's like…Sometimes, these things just happen. And suddenly, you've fallen in love with your best friend. You know?" Wendy explained, her voice no louder than a whisper.
Robbie felt his whole face turn bright red. "Yeah, I get it." He replied with a nod.
The two of them laid in silence for a small eternity, nearly drifting to sleep. But just as the night was about to claim them as captives, a low rumbling noise jolted them from their near-slumber. Robbie all but jumped up from the bed, while Wendy simply let out a loud gasp.
"Oh…" She muttered, standing up and pulling her phone from her pocket. "It's just Tambry."
"Why is Tambry even awake?" Robbie grumbled, rubbing his eyes and then propping himself up by his elbows.
"She's probably on Tumblr or something. Give that girl a computer, and she'll blog for days." Wendy replied with a shrug, tapping away at the keyboard of her phone.
Robbie let out a quiet laugh.
Once Wendy looked up from her phone, she looked over at Robbie. "I should probably get going…" She whispered.
"Nah, I think you should stay." Robbie told her, his voice flooded with tiredness. He grabbed her hand gently and pulled her back down onto the bed.
"Robbie." She murmured. "You know I would if I could. I know your mom wouldn't mind. But do you really think my dad would be okay with me staying here? When he found out, he'd probably kill you."
"Fine by me." Robbie replied in a quiet mumble that was barely audible. He wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her closer to him, so close that their noses were nearly touching. Usually, he was terrified of Manly Dan, but in his exhaustion that was the last thing to cross his mind.
"Dude, seriously. I don't want you to die. That would suck." Wendy half-laughed, pushing against his chest to free herself.
"Fine." Robbie grumbled. "But if you're gonna leave, you have to promise me something first."
"What?"
"That you'll be my first kiss." He whispered, his eyes still half-shut.
Wendy tried not to laugh, entirely sure that Robbie was more asleep than awake at the moment. "Alright, fine; if you insist." She whispered playfully, pressing her lips gently against his. She pulled away after a few seconds, a huge smile on her face. "Happy now?" She asked.
Robbie nodded tiredly. "Mhm." He muttered. "That was nice."
Wendy shook her head, still trying her hardest not to laugh.
"I'm glad." She told him, running her hand through his hair. She lay cuddled up against him for a while, nearing sleep yet again, before deciding that (no matter how much she was enjoying this) it really wouldn't be good if her dad killed the two of them. "Okay. I'm leaving now. Goodnight." She whispered, removing Robbie's arms from around her and scooting to the end of the bed.
Robbie grumbled something in response, seeming a bit upset that she had left so suddenly.
"Love you." Wendy added over her shoulder.
Robbie nodded sleepily. "Me too." He muttered, sounding as if he was sleep talking.
"You dork." Wendy muttered, laughing and walking as quietly as possible over to the window. With that, she left just the way she had come in. Silently, she slipped back into the pre-dawn darkness.