Promises

It was a late night in Dipper Pines' apartment room in Portland, Oregon. Dipper had been up 19 hours and 43 minutes straight as the clock hit to 3 am and he felt his face was numb with all the wear and tear of those hours. But he couldn't give up now; he'd gotten 13 of 15 pages done and the deadline was 6 am. Giving up now would be nothing short of giving up and it would reek of failure on his end. He needed a break though, really encouragement above all else. Although being alone and on his own was cool in some ways, it was disappointing to not have the encouraging eyes of Mabel around when it was needed. Now it was just him and him only.

"I need something to drink…" He mumbled to himself in confusion. Walking down the stairs from his study room to the kitchen, he nearly slipped and fell to a perilous fate, saved only by his quick clutch of the stair railing and a somewhat harsh landing on his butt.

"Ouch!" he shouted upon the impact.

Finishing his descent down the stairs, rubbing his wounded and aching bottom all the way so, he finally reached into his cupboard and pulled out a glass and proceeded to the sink. The water seemed to flow into the cup so slowly to Dipper, like the shifting sands of an hourglass.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the water was overflowing through Dipper's right hand making the overstimulated and sensitive young man drop the glass instinctively. The glass thankfully stayed contained into the sink and his hand remained unaffected by the chaos of the sink.

"Oh God!" Dipper shouted as he recoiled to the ground. "I can't do this can I?" Dipper slapped himself on the cheek to bring him at least somewhat back to his senses. Taking a few breaths to calm himself, he knew what he had to do. He pulled out and his phone and seeking through his contacts was prepared to call his twin sister. But then his finger twitched and began to call his longtime friend…

"Wendy here." Came the familiar voice. Dipper was surprised to hear awake this late.

"Oh… hello." Dipper answered awkwardly. "I actually meant to call Mabel, whoops."

"Of course, you did." Wendy mock laughed attempting to diffuse the awkwardness. "Well since we're both awake here this late, you may as well spill it."

"Wh-what?" Dipper asked, wanting to shield her for whatever reason.

"I mean why you're up at 3 am trying to call your sister and somehow calling me? You're obviously out of it." Wendy directed at Dipper. Dipper, the phone shaking in his hand as he was still trembling on the floor, finally broke down.

"I'm just ready to fall and break apart, the stress of growing up and becoming an adult. College is unlike any other challenge and I was never ready for it!" Dipper screeched over the phone. "I don't know what to do! I just wanna give up and live off the land."

Wendy sighed over the phone. "Dipper dude, you're the smartest person I know. And more importantly, you're the most determined person I know. Don't let yourself down; pick yourself up and do this because I know you can!" Wendy said emphatically. Dipper felt… touched at her response.

"Thanks honey…" Dipper said hazily.

"What did you say?" Wendy asked.

"I said thanks Wendy…" Dipper replied.

"If you say so…" Wendy said questioningly. "One more thing Dipper."

"What's that?" Dipper asked.

"You can always call for me. I'll be here. I promise." Wendy said in a sweet, soft tone. It was a tone Dipper had never heard from her before and he found it nothing short of beautiful. So much so he was caught off guard.

"...Thanks Wendy. I'll never forget this. I promise." Dipper replied. He then silently got back to work, more aware and awake than he'd ever been that night.

Several years later

Annabelle Pines was struggling with her math homework one night. Multiplication and Division were still difficult and touchy subjects for the young girl and adding fractions to them, as they were about to according to her teacher, was just a nightmare scenario.

"26 divided by 3 is… darn it!" She said in frustration as she once more got a wrong answer. She wasn't quite at the age to use a calculator in her classes yet, and even more so she had to do a handwritten version of her work, so just a write the answer and run was not an option. Dipper Pines had heard her frustration from the living room.

"Honey, are you alright?" Dipper asked.

"Yeah, I'm just frustrated with my homework." She replied.

"Can I help you out?" Dipper asked.

"No, I don't need the help!" Annabelle replied sharply. "Even if I did, I can't."

"Why not?" a perplexed Dipper asked.

"I just can't Daddy!" She shrieked.

Dipper put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. " Yes you can honey. You always can. Mommy and I promised ourselves that a long time ago and it holds true for you. Always." Dipper said solemnly to her. "Now take a break and come eat dinner with Mommy and I."

After dinner, Dipper sat down with Annabelle and helped her do the long division even though it took quite awhile to finish it all and help her understand it best.

"See, that wasn't too bad in the end, now was it?" Dipper stated to Annabelle.

"It took awhile though…" Annabelle replied.

"Well not everything is quick and fast, especially if it's an important task." Dipper said. "Now, you should start getting to bed, it's very late honey."

"Alright Daddy!" Annabelle said happily before Dipper stopped her one more time.

"Remember honey, you can always trust Mommy and Daddy for help. We promise." Dipper said as he embraced his daughter in a hug.