I KNOW THE FEELING
It was a quiet afternoon at the Mystery Shack. They hadn't had many visitors today, and Wendy was practically dying of boredom behind the gift shop counter. She was currently spinning her hat in her hands, humming tunelessly as she did so.
"Wendy", Stan said as he entered the shop from the living room "I'm headin' out for a while. Keep an eye on the Shack for me, will ya?"
"Mm", she muttered.
Stan rolled his eyes as he crossed the shop floor. He knew full and well that Wendy wasn't going to keep an eye on things, but he had never even attempted to fire her, outside of the casual threat of doing so. He liked the kid, despite what his gruff exterior may have suggested.
"Alright, see you later", Stan said as he left the Shack.
Wendy went back to her humming. She just wished a customer would show up at least. She may not have liked doing her job, but it would be something to do at least. On most slow days like these, she'd hang out with the twins, but they had already gone out for today, off on a mystery hunt of some description.
It was then that the doorbell jingled, snapping Wendy to attention. To her delight, it was the twins themselves that entered the shop, back a lot earlier than she would have thought.
"Hey dorks", she said, her usual affectionate greeting. "Woah", she added as she noticed their condition.
Dipper had a black eye and several bloody cuts and scrapes across his body, and Mabel have several bruises on her face and legs, her hair ripped in places and her electric blue sweater raggedy and torn, a few blood stains smeared on it. Both of them looked exhausted.
"Are you guys okay?" Wendy said, leaving her position at the counter to come and check on them.
"Turns out Phoenixes are jerks", Dipper said moodily.
"The biggest jerks", Mabel said. "And I thought geese were bad".
"You look pretty jacked up", Wendy said concernedly, "anything like… broken or something?"
"No, mostly just surface damage", Dipper said. "But still, pretty crummy day".
"Aww, come on Dipper", Mabel said, her tone returning to its usual chirpiness and an enormous smile forming on her face. "There were good things too. The Phoenix chicks were adorable".
"Sure", Dipper said darkly.
Wendy noticed that something seemed off with Dipper. The twins had come back from some disastrous trips before, but usually he didn't seem so gloomy about it.
"I nearly fell into a ravine", Mabel said, "but bro-bro caught me just in time".
She wrapped an arm around Dipper's shoulders and gave him a squeeze.
"Yeah", Dipper said, feigning cheerfulness, "just… just in time".
At the last sentence, Dipper seemed to look even gloomier, fidgeting with his fingers.
"Well, I'm glad you're both okay", Wendy said. "But you should probably go clean yourselves up. Your eye looks pretty nasty, dude", she said to Dipper.
"It's nothing", Dipper said quickly.
"Well, I'm gonna go put on a different sweater", Mabel said, "this one's gonna need some repairs later. Stupid Phoenix".
With that, she skipped out of the shop and into the house. Dipper began to pace back and forth around the shop as soon as she had left, his head hung low. He was muttering quietly to himself.
"You okay Dipper?" Wendy asked. "You're super down about something, I can tell".
"What!?" Dipper said, his head snapping up. "N-no, no, nothing like that", he said, laughing nervously.
"Come on dude, spill", Wendy said.
"I-I'm gonna go put some ice on this eye", Dipper said, rushing out of the gift shop.
Wendy stared after him as he left. Something was definitely very wrong right now. She left him for a few minutes to sort out his injuries, then, slowly, she headed through the doorway into the living room.
She saw Dipper in the large yellow armchair. He hadn't cleaned himself up at all by the looks of it. Currently he was hunched over, his arms wrapped around his legs as he rocked back and forth, his eyes closed. Wendy cautiously approached him.
"Dipper?" she said.
Dipper jumped, a choked gasping noise escaping him.
"Oh, h-hey Wendy", he said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.
"Come on dude", Wendy said. "Something's wrong here, I know it. It's alright, you can tell me".
She seated herself beside him on the armchair, looking down at him reassuringly. Dipper took a long, deep sigh, then said, in what was almost a whisper,
"Alright".
"Okay, so what's bothering you?" Wendy said.
"It's just… I", Dipper said. "I don't… I can't… sometimes it just gets too real".
"Whaddya mean?"
"Well, me and Mabel are always off on some adventure or another", Dipper said, "and sometimes, things get bad, and I just… it makes me worry. You heard Mabel, she nearly fell off a cliff today" he said, sheer worry etched on his face.
"But she didn't", Wendy reminded him. "You caught her, doofus".
"I know that, but… what if I hadn't caught her in time? Whenever stuff like this happens, it always just gives me so much anxiety… I can't even handle it sometimes, I just have to sit through it until it goes away".
Wendy felt her sympathy growing ever more. She knew that feeling all too well.
"I've always been a pretty anxious person, you know", Dipper said.
"I hadn't noticed", Wendy said with playful sarcasm.
Dipper flashed a brief but genuine smile at her, before continuing.
"I worry about stuff all the time. Sometimes it just feels like a big knot forms in my stomach. But when things go so wrong like they did today, I can't bear it. I just sit there for hours, thinking again and again how things could have gone so wrong. I… I nearly lost Mabel today, Wendy".
Tears were starting to form in his eyes.
"I could have ended up missing her so easily, and then Mabel would have… would have…"
He couldn't bring himself to say it, instead subsiding into forlorn silence.
"Dipper, to tell you the truth", Wendy said, "I… I know how you feel".
"You do?" Dipper said, surprised.
"Yeah, man", she said. "Don't you remember what I said back when we were fighting that creepy cult?"
"You… did say that you were stressed… a lot", Dipper said, casting his memory back.
"Yeah, and I meant it", Wendy said. "I'm pretty chill on the outside, but, truth be told, I'm a lot like you. I feel a lot of anxiety, and stress, and it's just like… ugh, you know dude?"
Dipper remained silent, but nodded agreeingly.
"I mean, I love my family to bits, but they can still be pretty stressful to live with. My dad's got a real temper on him, I'm sure you know that by now. He's a nice guy most of the time despite his gruffness, but when he gets angry, oh man, he gets real angry. I've had some pretty rough yellings from him, that's for sure, and sometimes, it feels like I'm treading over thin ice whenever I'm around him, and it's stressful, you know? Then there's my brothers, they all take after dad, always making a mess in the house. Do you have any idea how many times I've nearly been hit by throwing axes? Inside the HOUSE no less" she said.
"Woah, that… that sounds pretty rough", Dipper said.
"Yup, they're a handful", Wendy said. "And as for my youngest brother, he's a sweet little guy, but he's also a real little sh"… she censored herself. "He's a pain, you know? Always pulling pranks and acting like a little brat, which I know is contradictory to the whole "sweet guy" thing, but that's just the way he is. I love him, but he's a little much sometimes. And dad is like… constantly putting bear traps around the house. I've nearly lost a leg to those stupid things more times than I can count".
Dipper was starting to look more and more concerned for her, which she quickly noticed.
"Hey, don't worry about me dude", Wendy said. "When you live with it for fifteen years, you know how to avoid the axes and traps. It's just… still stressful, you know. And even though I'm always calm and chilled out on the outside, I feel anxious a LOT. Way more than I normally like to admit. But, I just wanted to let you know that I can relate".
"That… does help actually", Dipper said. "A lot of the time I feel like I can't tell other people about this stuff. Mabel usually figures out when I'm feeling that way, but I've gotten so good at hiding it that I can sometimes even keep it a secret from her".
"You should definitely speak about it, Dip", Wendy said. "It helps a lot to vent about these things. Look, whenever you feel this way, you should always tell Mabel. She's always there to cheer you up, and I'm sure she wants to know when you're down like this. She wouldn't want her brother to suffer in silence. And hey, you can always open up to me, as well".
"Thanks, Wendy", Dipper said, a grateful expression on his face.
"Don't worry about it", Wendy said.
"But still", Dipper said, his expression darkening again, "you don't constantly end up putting your family in harm's way. The only reason Mabel fell today was because I wanted to get too close to the nest and ended up freaking the mother out. And how many other times have I nearly gotten her killed? I literally raised an army of the dead once just to prove some agents wrong. Any of us could have died. Soos got turned into a zombie for a while thanks to me, and it could have been so much worse. The worst anxiety is when stuff like this happens. I just hate to think what could go wrong. I just… hate to think about losing Mabel. When I start to worry about that, it just… eats away at me sometimes".
"Dipper, things turned out fine", Wendy said comfortingly. "It wasn't like you were actively trying to cause harm when you did those things, and all the times Mabel nearly gets hurt, you always save her, and she does the same for you, because you guys look out for each other more than anyone I know. No matter what the odds, you always save each other. You guys have something so strong that you won't let each other die no matter how much things are against you. Think about it dude, you guys fell off a pretty high up bridge once. For most people, that's like, certain doom. But Mabel caught you and saved you both with her grappling hook. Trust me dude, you two won't let anything stop you from protecting each other".
"Thanks", Dipper said, a grin forming. "That really helps actually. It means a lot to me".
"No problem", Wendy said. "And, for good measure… you should know that I do know how you feel. About the losing loved ones thing".
"You do?" Dipper said.
"Oh yeah, you have no idea", Wendy said. "We're a family of lumberjacks. We literally cut down gigantic trees for a living. It's not the safest job in the world, dude, and I can't tell you how many injuries we've had over the years. My dad's broken both of his arms at different times, and my oldest brother nearly got crushed once. When we have injuries or things nearly go horribly wrong, it makes me feel terrible. And now I know about all the supernatural junk in this town, so I've gotta worry about that hurting them too. It's pretty rough sometimes. When stuff like that happens, I usually end up lying awake for hours, just worrying about how much worse it could have been".
"Yeah, I know what that's like", Dipper said sympathetically. "Makes you feel pretty tired the next day, too".
"Ugh, tell me about it", Wendy agreed. "It's just… ever since we lost mom, I've been terrified of losing someone else I love too. It's pretty scary sometimes".
"Oh man", Dipper said guiltily, "I hadn't even thought of that. I'm so sorry Wendy, I should have remembered that".
"Chill, Dip, it's okay", Wendy said, ruffling his hair through his hat. "I just want you to know that whenever you're feeling like this, you've got someone here that knows how you feel. Anxiety sucks, dude, and it's always better to talk to someone. So don't bottle it up, okay? Talk to your sister, and talk to me. Mabel always knows how to cheer you up, and I know how you feel".
"Thanks so much for this", Dipper said. "I feel actually do feel… better, for talking to you".
"It's cool", Wendy said, grinning broadly. "I'm your friend, Dipper, I'm here for you when you need me".
"That means a lot", Dipper said, returning the grin. "And, you know…" he added, sounding more and more awkward. "If you're ever… feeling, you know, anxious… You can talk to me, too".
Wendy laughed at his awkwardness.
"I know that", she said, affectionately punching his arm. "It's good to have a friend that knows how it feels".
"Yeah, it is", Dipper agreed. "Thank you. A lot. I mean it".
"Glad to hear it", Wendy said, pulling him into a one armed hug.
It was then that Mabel entered the room, now wearing a purple sweater and an even bigger grin.
"Hey Dipper, have you seen my…"
She noticed the scene that met her eyes.
"Is something wrong?" she said suspiciously.
"Kind of", Dipper said. "But not so much anymore".
"Hmm, you're definitely wearing your anxious face a little there, bro-bro", she said.
"Hey, it's alright Mabes", Wendy said as she stood up. "I talked to him, it's okay. You were just worried about what happened today, weren't you Dip?"
Dipper looked away, blushing.
"Hey, don't be embarrassed", Wendy said. "Remember what I said, talk to your sister about this stuff too".
"Aww, Dipper", Mabel said. "C'mere".
Dipper rose to his feet and gladly accepted the crushing hug that Mabel gave him.
"You should have told me, dummy", she said as they pulled away.
"Yeah, I… I know", Dipper said.
"But you're feeling okay now?" Mabel said uncertainly.
"I…I am actually", Dipper said. "Thanks again Wendy".
"Hey, it's fine", Wendy said. "Now go clean yourself up. Then we'll do something fun, just you, me and Mabel. No more monsters today, we'll just chill, okay?"
"Yeah, that sounds good", Dipper said.
"Yeah, that sounds awesome", Mabel said cheerfully. "But she's right about cleaning yourself up. Come on bro, let's go put some ice on that eye".
Mabel grabbed Dipper's hand and began to pull him towards the kitchen. Just before Dipper vanished through the door, he turned to give Wendy one last grateful smile. In return, she flashed him the toothiest grin she could muster and gave him the thumbs up.
"Any time, dude", she said after he had gone.
She sat herself down in the armchair again. Now just to think of something fun to do. She was beginning to form an idea involving the grappling hook, Soos, and lots of muffins.
Okay, first off, thanks a lot for reading. Now, secondly, I should say that this is the first time that I've ever even attempted to write Wendy, so I may not have got her quite right just yet. I'm not sure, but I acknowledge it as a possibility, so please tell me if that is how you felt about my portrayal of her and possibly some tips to improve my portrayal if you have some. Thirdly, I know that line in Society of the Blind-Eye was mostly used as a joke, but it still made me interested in the idea of Wendy having anxiety, and her having that in common with Dipper. It made me want to write a story about the two of them bonding over it, and now here it is. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it
P.S. I should note that this was also partially inspired by one of SuperGroverAway's stories, but I don't remember which exactly. Nonetheless, I thought I should thank him for the inspiration.