Time Erodes Barriers

Wendy stepped out onto the porch of the Mystery Shack, where Dipper was quietly leaning against a post, staring off into the woods. The now 17-year-old twins had just come up for the summer again, and normally this was when they visited everyone and kept going nonstop for a while. Right now, however, Dipper seemed to be in a very depressive mood. "What's up, dude?" Wendy asked him.

He sighed. "Romance sucks."

Wendy laughed a little. "Yeah, I believe you. But what's up in particular?"

"My girlfriend broke up with me just two days ago."

"Oh… yeah, that pretty much sucks. Do you mind me knowing what happened?"

Dipper shrugged. "She can't wrap her head around the supernatural thing. We've been discussing it for a while now, but two days ago, she finally decided that she can't live with this stuff. I've shown her more than enough evidence that it's true, but… never underestimate a person's desire to ignore what they're not willing to accept."

"Wait, let me get this straight. She broke up with you because of Gravity Falls?"

Dipper nodded while letting out a long, slow breath. "She just can't put up with the idea of the supernatural."

"I suppose no amount of advice will help you with this one," Wendy said, a little disappointed that she couldn't help her friend. "You're planning to live here after graduating from West Coast Tech, right?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm going to be Ford's apprentice and research partner, continuing to study this place and to gather data."

The words 'Ford's apprentice' brought back… odd… memories to say the least, but Wendy smiled knowing that Dipper would eventually get his dream job, and that he'd had the conviction to wait until the right time to accept the position. "Well," Wendy said, "I guess you'll have to find someone who isn't freaked out about the supernatural."

Dipper snorted. "Yeah, that pretty much limits me to girls who already live in Gravity Falls."

"Well, that's not too bad. There are nice girls here." When Dipper raised an eyebrow, Wendy continued, "Uh… there's Pacifica."

Dip laughed a little. "Yeah… No. We get along well enough, but she's… frankly, she's not my type, and we can drive each other pretty crazy. Besides, remember when she wouldn't leave me alone because she had a crush on me? She's possessive. Imagine how bad she'd be if I actually agreed to be her boyfriend."

"I thought you liked her for a little while there."

"Yes, but that was a pretty short-term thing, and we've gotten into enough fights since then to ensure that that's not coming back. We just don't always see eye-to-eye. She's way better than she used to be, but still… our personalities just don't mesh."

"That's fair. What about Candy?"

"I'm never dating Candy or Grenda for multiple reasons, not least of which is the fact that they're Mabel's best friends. After the mess of my first break-up, I permanently swore off of any of Mabel's close friends. It's just too awkward."

"Okay then. Let's see… Rayna is pretty new here, but she doesn't seem to be too freaked out about the supernatural, and you two got along pretty well last year."

"She's shorter as an adult than I was when I was twelve, and I was pretty darn short when I was twelve. It's not that I have anything against short people, but she's just not my type. I mean, she's a good friend, but I'm pretty sure that's as far as that will ever go."

Wendy thought for a moment before saying, "What about Ayla?"

Dipper looked positively horrified. "No way in the Nightmare Realm."

Wendy knew Dipper really meant it when he swore by the Nightmare Realm. He hardly mentioned Bill's awful dimension, and he certainly didn't swear by it often. Still, while she was crystal clear about his stance, she was a little confused as to why.

Dipper must have noticed her confusion, because he elaborated, "I might as well date Mabel if I want someone that crazy. I mean, if you take Mabel and replace sweaters with crop tops, glitter with stripes, pink with blinding neon, and Waddles the pig for Henry the miniature horse, you get Ayla." When Wendy still didn't look convinced, Dipper added, "Imagine the family dinners." Wendy got that picture in her head and shuddered in horror. Dipper nodded and said, "Besides, shockingly, she and Mabel don't get along that well."

"They do tend to fight about glitter vs. patterns a lot," Wendy conceded.

"Exactly. And that's all of the Gravity Falls girls my age."

"And there really aren't any girls at home who could put up with this place?" Wendy asked.

Dipper shook his head. "It's okay. I have a college plan and a job plan, and the life I have planned out won't have much room for romance anyway."

"I'm sure you'll find a girl who wants you even with all that."

"I need a girl who's strong enough to handle this place, savvy enough to look out for herself, willing to put up with my strange sleep schedule that's not going to get any better when I'm Ford's apprentice, willing to put up with the Shack and with Stan and Ford, and crazy enough to get along with Mabel. That's not even mentioning that our personalities have to mesh. I have to be able to love her, and, well… I've only ever loved one girl. I've liked all three of my girlfriends, but I've never really loved any of them."

"You've only ever loved one girl?" Wendy questioned. Dipper suddenly wouldn't meet her gaze. Internally, Wendy struggled. At the end of the previous summer, she had realized that she had actually begun to really like him. Once he grew out of his awkward stage, he'd turned into a kind, handsome, fairly tall guy. His hair still absolutely refused to acknowledge the existence of a comb no matter how hard Mabel tried to do something with it, but Dipper preferred a baseball cap anyways. He was still the loveable dork he'd always been, but he was less awkward and more sociable. And well… who cared if he was 17 and she was 20? She just so happened to like him. And, judging by how he wouldn't meet her eyes, she guessed that he still loved her. "Am I in love with him?" she wondered. She wasn't sure, but she knew that she liked him. Cautiously, Wendy hugged him lightly.

Dipper looked surprised and amused, but not upset. "What's this about?" he asked.

Wendy pulled back and looked at him. "You know… time has a way of eroding barriers," she said, "even barriers of age."

Dipper looked at her like she was speaking another language. "What do you mean?" he asked, and it didn't escape her notice that a light blush made its way onto his face.

"Well… you're a great guy. You know that, right? And I know you're a little young, but, uh… I really…" She trailed off upon seeing his slightly bemused expression and sighed. "You're not helping."

Dipper laughed, and the blush on his face became stronger. "Yeah, I still love you," he admitted softly, looking off into the horizon. "I… I manage to forget during the school year, more or less, but every time I see you, it's like no time has passed at all."

"Well… I don't know exactly how to tell when you love someone, but… I know I like you. It started last summer, and I thought it was just a crush, but it didn't go away like a crush usually does, so I decided, 'What the heck, I'll just tell him.' And here I am."

The two stood in silence for a moment. The silence was very awkward, but very nice, and somehow their hands ended up intertwined by the time Mabel opened the door and burst through.

"Hey guys, what's up?!" she called before seeing their hands. As Dipper and Wendy turned around, both a little red from being caught, Mabel's face lit up. "Oh my gosh, FINALLY!" she yelled. "Ah! I have to tell Candy and Grenda!" She then ran off before Dipper and Wendy could stop her.

"Well, the whole town is about to hear that we're dating," Wendy said.

"So… are we dating?" Dipper asked for clarification.

Wendy took his hand again and lightly squeezed it. "Yeah, I think we are."

"Okay," Dipper replied with a light, happy smile before pulling Wendy into a good, long hug.

A/N

Yeah, I know, I'm just a shipper. Honestly though, I think their personalities mesh well, and their age gap isn't impassable. My best friend and her boyfriend have the same age gap, and they started dating when he was 15 just before she turned 18, so, again, it's not impossible.

Anyways, I hope you liked it. This is a one-shot, so I'm not adding more, but if you have any comments on characterization, I'd really appreciate them. I'm currently working on another story revolving around Dipper, and he's not the easiest guy to write.

Also, I tried finding the owner of the cover picture, but I can't find it. If you know who the owner is, could you message me so that I can give them credit or take it down if they don't want it up here? Thank you!