Author's note:

The following piece is dedicated to the artist Markmak. Recently, he had decided to step away from his Wendy & Dipper artworks (much to my disappointment, for they are my favorite).

In spite of this, I wanted to write this story in tribute of this great person; a small token of thanks for all the joy that he has brought to me as well as the Gravity Falls fanbase in general.

So, Mark, this one's for you. Hope you enjoy it!

"Oh, c'mon, Dipper! Don't be like that!"

The cornered boy could do nothing but break eye contact and try to remember how he got himself into his current predicament. It hadn't even been a whole day since his world had changed completely.

While searching for clues leading to the origins of the mysterious Journal marked with the golden insignia #3, Dipper and his friends had crossed paths with a sinister shape shifter that had been accidentally let out of a cryogenically frozen state.

After being chased for hours on end, everything came down to a face-off between the beast, his friend and co-worker, Wendy Corduroy and himself. It was during the chaos, upon fearing that his actions had gotten Wendy gravely injured, that Dipper made his true feelings for the charming redhead known.

When the monster was defeated, the pint-sized detective feared for the worst, unaware of what consequences his utter honesty would have towards the girl he held dear to his heart. However, he was quickly calmed by a supportive hand that had reached for his shoulder. Wendy confessed that she had guessed the truth for quite some time. While the elder teen admitted with a hint of regret that their ages kept them too far apart romantically, Wendy reassured the troubled Dipper that he was just as important to her as she was to him.

As the ginger rode her bike into the distance, she pledged to see him at his great-uncle's house/business for their "bad movie night" the next day, as if to re-illustrate that everything would be okay between them. And as promised, Dipper opened the door the following night at dusk to see his not-so-secret crush waiting, complete with microwaveable popcorn and Pitt Cola in hand.

The duo snuggled up against one another on Stan Pines's oversized, yet somewhat unsanitary recliner as they channel-surfed in search of finding something decent on the local Gravity Falls broadcast networks. Both adolescents groaned and rolled their eyes in defeat.

Unexpectedly, Wendy broke the semi-silence brought on by the overwhelming boredom. Aimlessly clicking through the various channel with the remote clutched tightly in his hand, Dipper didn't notice the slight change in his cohort's expression.

"Hey, Dipper?"

"Mmm?" His attention continued to focus on the ever-changing images flashing in front of his eyes.

She turned away from the television, "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

The twelve year old used his free hand to reach for his still-chilled can of Pitt Cola, "About what?" He proceeded to take a large gulp; the extra salty popcorn had made him extremely thirsty.

"…about…what happened…the other day…"

Dipper instantly started to gag on the liquid in his throat as a sea of worries started to rise up from within his tiny frame. He placed his can of soda on the stand next to the chair, and held his fist up to his mouth, repeatedly force-coughing in order to clear his lungs.

Wendy shifted herself out from behind Dipper, "Dude, are you alright?" She gently patted his back, "It's going to be totally messed up if you drown yourself in pop!"

He held out a hand to let her know he was going to be just fine, "I…*COUGH – COUGH*…I…Sorry about that…"

"Well?" Dipper finally noticed that his pal had a rather serious look on her freckled face.

"Uh…" he fiddled his fingers together as he chuckled anxiously. "I'm not sure…that's such a good idea…" Dipper couldn't understand why Wendy could want to bring this up again. Didn't she say everything was going to be the same as it always was?

"Remember what I told ya, Dipper?" Wendy encouraged her miniature companion, "Don't be itchy, man!" She playfully scratched the arm closest to her, as if he had an imaginary mosquito bite.

"I know, I know!" Dipper exclaimed, "I just don't understand why…"

Wendy leaned back sideways on the recliner, her mud-stained boots dangling over the arm's edge, "Well, let's say I'm curious. It may sound stupid, but I never really had a chance to see…umm…things from the other side before…"

"Huh?"

She moved closer to Dipper, and using her best falsetto-French-accent, she went into additional detail while mischievously poking and prodding at the boy's head, "Today, zee seek out the zily and ever elusive Dipper. Zee wish to explore ze mind of de Dipper, seeing what makes him tick…"

"Bah!" Dipper closed his eyes, and gently slapped Wendy's fingers away. After a moment, he re-opened them to see that her sole attention was on him and him alone. With her emerald eyes bearing down on him, and the lanky lumberjack literally sitting in his lap, blocking an easy exit, Dipper knew his chances of making some sort of escape was slim to none.

Left without any other choice, Dipper sunk down within his sweetheart's grasp, "All right…ask away…"

"Hmm…" Wendy placed her hand against her chin, "Let's see…" After a moment, she jumped excitedly in her seat, "I know!" The redheaded teenager met her chum face-to-face, "Tell me when, you know, you knew…"

Dipper raised an eyebrow, confused by Wendy's request.

"I mean," she elaborated, "When was the moment you started to feel…

"Oh!" the boy exclaimed, leaning back into the recliner as he went deeper in thought, "I'd…have to say…"

"Wait! I bet I know!" Wendy leapt further onto her admirer, inadvertently crushing him in her glee. "It was your first week here; the day you begged for my Mystery Shack keys to go…" She used her index fingers to imply emphasis, "…save Mabel from a zombie!" Wendy narrowed her green eyes and giggled aloud, "I'll give you that, buddy: that has to be the most unique opening that I've ever heard in my entire life!"

Dipper let out a series of nervous chuckles as he rubbed the back of his head, "Actually, Wendy, that was kinda true…"

"What?!"

"Except…the zombie turned out to be a group of girl-crazy gnomes living deep in the forest…"

"Hang on!" Wendy stopped him in mid-sentence. "You're telling me that actual gnomes live out in those woods?" She placed a doubting fist on her hip, "Are you sure that they weren't just little people squatting in the woods?"

"Nah, there's no way that…" His friend's thought suddenly set off a world of doubt within him, "…but now that you mention it…"

As Dipper began to theorize, he noticed that Wendy was staring at him with a hard, blank look on her face.

"Err, on second thought; going back to your original question…"

"Yeah…?"

He raised his head so that his light brown eyes met her dark green ones, "It was when you showed us your…"secret place…"

"You mean…" Wendy covered her mouth, and pointed upwards to the ceiling, indicating her makeshift hideaway on the other side of the Mystery Shack's roof. Dipper mimicked her motion, nodding along to confirm her guess. Both of them knew that they had to watch what they said aloud; one little slip of either tongue could easily alert Stan to their shared secret.

Dipper narrated further, "It was after I totally missed the target and nailed that minivan with the enormous pinecone. I was so embarrassed, and I turned to face you, and there you were: cheering for me with a sly smile on your face, with your hand up in the air as you asked me "not to leave you hanging…"

His shyness overtaking him, Dipper turned away from the girl mere inches away from him, "I dunno. It sounds stupid, but at that moment, something in me, just snapped. When I looked up at you looking down, waiting for me to give you a high-five, I saw you, saw everything in a new light…"

Wendy blushed at her companion's confession, feeling somewhat humbled by how a simple act of kindness could easily comfort and reach out to someone as complex and layered as him. She wondered deep down, behind his intelligence and cute-at-times over-nervousness, exactly how lonely was he?

"That night," Dipper continued, "I stared up at the moldy ceiling, unable to sleep, trying to make sense of…well…everything. It's just…I never felt anything like that before!"

"Aww…" Wendy softly punched the shoulder of the boy pouring his heart out to her, "My little softie…"

"Yeah…" Dipper twitched in place uneasily, "Mabel might've said something of that nature, too…" The mention of his twin broke his train of thought, "Speaking of, she's been awfully quiet. Have you seen her around?"

Wendy looked somewhat shocked by his concern, "Actually, I had a small chat with her when you were making the popcorn…"

"About what?"

She wiggled around, trying to become more comfortable, "About the other day while we were in the "you-know-where." A devilish smile spread across her dimpled cheeks, "Let's just say I showed Mabel why she shouldn't lock people into closets in strange places…"

After a moment to think it over, Dipper found the courage to ask, "Do I want to know anything else about that cryptic comment?"

The cashier girl draped her brown hat over her face, "Not unless you wanna join her…"

He shrank back in his seat in fear of further angering the towering girl sitting next to him. Seeing the seriousness in Dipper's face, she laughed aloud and slapped his knee, "Dude, relax! I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"

"Oh!" Dipper wiped away the sweat beading down his forehead with a *PHEW!* "Yeah, I…I knew you were…"

"Sure ya did…" Wendy rolled her eyes, knowing that she probably should let Mabel out during her next pop-run. "Anyways," she cleared the air, "That kinda explains why a "certain someone" wouldn't leave my side that next day…"

The embarrassed pre-teen quickly recalled their ghostly encounter at the Dusk2Dawn convenience store, "Hehe…" he chuckled in humiliation, "Sorry about that…"

"Man, don't be!" Wendy sat up and placed a green-flannelled arm around his back. "Look at it this way, Dipper," she explained, throwing her other hand in front of them, "It was destiny that all of this happened!"

"Really?!"

"Think about it: you wanted to come along, and not only did you make the night extraordinary, you saved me and my friends from those old-folk ghosts!" Wendy looked up, placing an index finger against her chin sarcastically, "So, yeah, gaining a new best bud and not being tormented for all eternity – yeah, I'd have to call that a "win-win."

Dipper could do nothing but beamed at all the praise that his crush offered, "You're...You're welcome, I guess..?"

Wendy sighed, shook her head, and jokingly yanked his cap down his eyes, "Dork…"

Both of them laughed at the silliness of the scene until Dipper tried to change the subject, "So, did I answer all of your questions about my crushing awkwardness?"

She pulled back and resumed her position lying across the chair, "Yes….and no."

"No?!" Dipper replied in disbelief.

"Well, sorry, dude, but I keep thinking to myself about a bunch of other times you were all quiet and mysterious-like…" She turned her head to see "her boy" staring back at her impassively. "I need to be more specific, don't I?"

Dipper nodded slowly as he prepared himself for whatever was about to spring forth from the teen's mind. "Well," Wendy pondered, "What about that night of the party here at the Shack? One minute, we're hanging out and talking on the couch, then, you vanish into thin air. I find you somewhat out-of-it on my way to the bathroom, and after you'd said you'd wait for me, you disappear again…"

The sleuth wanted nothing more than to slither away and hide his humiliation from the object of his affections, but as he looked up, Dipper could see a hint of hurt and concern across Wendy's face. With guilt rising up within him, he closed his eyes tightly and let the truth out:

"Okay! Okay! The deal is that all I wanted to do that night…was to dance with you. I made up this complicated plan to make it so it was just you and me, but…things went crazy, and by the time I got everything under control…it was too late. The party was over…"

Dipper opened an eye and peeked at the outside world. He was expecting to see Wendy with an angry look on her face and a fist pulled back, seconds away from slugging him one. Instead, he was surprised to see the redhead at the edge of the recliner in a state of shock.

"You…" she asked her friend sincerely, "…wanted to dance with me?" She knelt closer to her friend, "Why?"

He took off his blue and white trucker cap and started to tensely ring it between his hands, "Well, why wouldn't I? You're you!"

After a moment of extremely-uncomfortable silence, Wendy sat back and smiled at Dipper's answer, "Can't argue with that…"

Dipper let out a laugh of relief. For some reason, he always felt somewhat off whenever Wendy left her usual, laid-back nature and became super-serious. To him, it was bad enough that he was always like that; she was one of the few people that could bring back from that self-imposed gloominess. The last thing that Dipper would ever want was to drag her down with him.

As he took another sip of Pitt Cola, Wendy presented another earnest question: "Why didn't you ask me then?"

Once more, the twelve year old choked on his beverage. He shot an angry glare at his main squeeze, "You gotta stop doing that while I'm drinking something!"

Wendy giggled in response, "But where's the fun in that?" Suddenly, her eyes widen as she came to a realization, "You didn't…"

"What?"

She gave him an impish glance, "Did you have something to do with what happened to Robbie's bike?"

Dipper froze in place as the mention reminded him of all the trouble he had with his photocopied clones. He tried his best to dance around the truth, "Umm…if you're asking if I took his bike…"

However, Wendy was well aware of his intentions, "Dude, don't play the "word" game with me," she said as she poked his chest with her index finger, "I created the "word" game, so it's not going to work!"

He pulled back as pressure rose up to his front as Wendy continued her questioning, "So, what's the deal then?"

Yet again left without an exit strategy, Dipper let out a heave and confessed, "Clones…"

"Clones?!"

"Earlier that day, I accidentally discovered a way to create clones. Mabel and I shortly found out that they are completely dissolvable when wet by any liquid. I forgot about the whole thing until later that night. I kinda...did volunteer for the ticket stand just so I could spend the night with you…"

The tween was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice the adoring beam his partner-in-crime showered him with.

"…When the party started to heat up, you snuck inside, and Stan forced me to stay at the stand…"

Wendy remained silent as the scene replayed in her own mind; as she watched herself ask Dipper to cover for her and raced away while the boy stared at her with saucers in his eyes, she came to the horrible conclusion that she never waited for him to actually say "yes" before leaving him all alone.

"That's when the idea struck me. I made a clone of myself to cover me at the stand while I went inside to look for you. But as time passed, more and more things started to get in the way, like Stan and Soos and the whole thing with Robbie…"

"So," Wendy cleared up, "You technically stole the bike, but you really didn't steal it yourself…"

"Yeah…if that makes sense…"

Wendy huddled closer, making Dipper somewhat vary if he was about to feel her wrath.

"Dipper," she asked. "Why was it so important that Robbie wasn't there?"

He hung his head in shame, "Well, you know Robbie and I…aren't exactly fans of one another…"

"Yeah, and the sky is blue, Dipper…"

"Anyways, I didn't…want him to laugh at me…at us…"

Wendy raised her brow as Dipper went on, "After he left, it was just you and me. You were grooving along to your favorite song. It was the perfect chance to ask you to dance, and…I couldn't do it…"

Dipper raised his sights to meet Wendy's emerald eyes, "I got scared; like the other day in that room in the "you-know-where." It's just that sometimes, I get so frightened that I'll screw things up so bad that…that…" He lowered his eyes as he struggled to spit out his thoughts. "I'm not as brave as you thought, am I?"

The teenager jumped in, attempting to calm his nerves, "Oh, where to begin, where to begin…" With ninja-like lightning speed, Wendy threw her hand in front of Dipper's face and began to count off with her digits.

"Okay, number one: you are way braver than anybody I know or will probably ever know, and in my eyes, there is nothing you can do that will ever change that!"

"But what about…"

"Number two: the last person you should worry about or compare yourself to is Robbie." Her face twisted at the mere mention of her ex's name. "And if he was to dare laugh at us, I'd be more than happy to knock another tooth out of that smug mouth of his!"

As Dipper laughed at the jest made at his rival's expense, Wendy carried on with her bullet point list, "Number three…" She reached over and lifted Dipper's chin slightly, making it so they were face-to-face, "It's like what we were talking about yesterday in the woods: you never have to be afraid of anything when it comes to you and me."

Somewhat left stunned by her affection, Dipper quietly watched in awe as the compassionate girl went further, "Besides, we've been through a ton of scraps together and everything's come out alright, hasn't it?"

"Like that time at the Dusk2Dawn?"

"Yeah! Or when we were lifeguards and we both got fired on the same day!"

"Or…" Dipper stated with a hint of hesitation, "How we were able to get past all that stuff with Robbie…"

"Ugh!" Wendy pulled her head back, "Don't remind me! Just thinking about the whole ordeal makes me exhausted…"

Dipper raised his hand in conjunction, "Make that two of us…"

The redhead shoved a fourth, extended finger in her pal's point of view, "And last, but not least…"

The tiny boy hung on the ginger's every word.

"We don't need to wait for some party if you ever want to dance with me…"

Dipper's mouth nearly dropped open, "W-What?!"

"I'm serious, man. You just name the time and the place…" Wendy abruptly winced as she moved the wrong way. She reached for her jeaned knee, where she received a nasty gash during the battle with the shape-shifter. "…maybe after I rest up a little…"

"Of course!" Dipper exclaimed. A doubt quickly entered the inquisitive child's mind, "Um, Wendy? Stupid question, but if that does happen, how would that work?" He raised his arm high above his head and pointed with his hand, highlighting his lack in height. "You know…"

At first, Wendy didn't understand her buddy's query, but after his demonstration, she responded with a astounded, "Oh!" Scanning Dipper from head to toe, the super-tall lumberjack tried her best to find a solution.

"Well," she guessed, "You can always stand on my feet if you wanted to." She wiggled her oversized boots dangling off of the side of the recliner. "I know you're more than light enough for me to move around like that without it hurting."

"Yeah…" Dipper dryly responded, lost in thought at the possibility of one of his dreams coming true. "That sounds great…"

Wendy could easily see that Dipper wasn't paying attention, and decided to have a bit of fun…

"Then again, Dipper…" she lured the daydreaming pre-teen. "We can always just go for broke and get a papoose so I can just carry you around like a little infant. Heck, you can fall asleep listening to my heartbeat…"

"That's…even better…" A split second later, Dipper came back to reality, realizing the absurdity of Wendy's words, "Wait, WHAT?!"

He looked straight ahead to see that usually-pale teen was now a beet-red, hysterically laughing to the point that she nearly fell off of the chair that they shared.

"Wait a second, Wendy! I didn't mean it!"

"I'm sure you didn't…baby!"

"That's not funny, Wendy! I didn't hear you right!"

"It's too late, dude!" she lamented, shaking her head as her guffaws dried up, "You already said it. It is now officially canon!" With her throat feeling arid, Wendy reached for her soda, only to find that it was empty.

"Oh, man," she shook the empty can in the air, "Time for another pop-run." She gazed down at her young charge, who took a second or two to realize her intentions.

"Who, me?! But, it's your turn!"

"Please, Dipper? I finally just made myself comfy on your great-uncle's lumpy old recliner. If I get up now, I'll ruin the groove I made…"

After staring at her devotee with a dedicated puppy-dog look, Dipper finally broke with a defeated sigh, "I'm going! I'm going!" He slid out under Wendy, who proceeded to overtake the empty spot on the chair.

"Of course you are! After all, you're like, in looooooooooooovvvvvvvvvve with me!"

Dipper stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder to see Wendy relaxing in the recliner, merely offering a devious wink for her sarcastic comment. "I have this nagging feeling that's going to haunt me forever, isn't it?"

"Not "forever,"" Wendy explained, sinking further into the worn-out cushion, "Just every hour of every day until it isn't funny or cute anymore!"

Dipper could do nothing but laugh and shake his head. As he walked towards the kitchen, he commented, "Or 'till that day when I get on that bus back home to Piedmont, right?"

Wendy sat up in her seat as her friend disappeared into another part of the house. His snide remark had struck an unaware nerve within her psyche. She pondered the reality of the situation as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her flip phone. Wendy went into her photo gallery and started to scroll through the set of selfies that Dipper and she had recently taken. His words having an unexpected, yet realistic truth to them, Wendy looked around the empty room, and realized that sooner or later, her world would return to this: a too-quiet and boring life while stuck in a sleepy, mountain town.

"Yeah," she sadly sighed to herself, unable to take her green eyes off the images on her phone screen, "I guess it's only a matter of time…"