"Wake up, bro-bro! You've been sleeping for like, a bajillion hours!"
Dipper Pines rubbed his eyes and yawned. After the busy road-trip he had the previous day, not to mention the stress, he had fallen asleep quickly. Sitting up and stretching, he saw smeared marks all over his arms as a quick flash-back reminding him of why exactly it was that the day was stressful. Shaking his head, he yawned again. "Dipping Sauce, get up already!" A pillow whacked the young boy's face, making him screw up his face as a few feathers drifted by his nose, threatening a sneeze.
"Okay okay! I'm up." He couldn't help but smile at his sister, who's bright eyes glittered. "Am I forgiven for what happened yesterday? For leading your best friend on?" Mabel made a "Hmm" sound and tapped her chin repeatedly to an invisible beat for a few moments.
"Ya know what, Dipper? I think I can forgive you." The peppy girl leaned down close to her brother's face. "But only because if you do it again, I'll make sure Wendy finds out about that box of pictures you had."
Dipper retorted with a snort,"But why would I care? I don't like her anymore." It felt odd to say those words, and to feel like he actually meant them. 'But do I?' He pushed the thought down. It didn't matter, he hadn't dreamt of her, of those soft lips meeting his... Holding her hand... 'Get a grip.' Shaking off the fuzziness and butterflies the thought gave him, Dipper watched as Mabel left the room. 'Might as well follow.'
Downstairs, Soos had been busy on attempting to fix the ever-breaking vending machine in the Gift-Shop, and gave a smile and a nod as Dipper walked through the 'Employees Only' door into the semi-chaotic room. His eyes drifted to the cash register where Wendy Corduroy was finishing up with a customer.
"Dipper!" He felt his heartbeat pick up as she called his name. 'Why? Stop it, dude! You don't like her anymore!' His thoughts were racing, and as he came back to reality, re realized Wendy must have said something while he had zoned out.
"Uh?"
"I said- What's with the smudged on your arm?" The teen repeated herself, cocking her head curiously. 'She's so cute when her hair falls all to one side... WAIT! No! You. Don't. Like. Her! Stop!' He blinked and tried to come up with an answer for his friend.
"They're uh... Um... Numbers..." The last part of his sentence faded as his voice got quieter. "Kind of a long story." Dipper didn't really want to discuss it, but it seemed Wendy wanted to know, and he couldn't say no to her. 'I should be able to! I don't have a crush anymore. I shouldn't care what she thinks. Just tell her.' Wendy glanced behind Dipper and shrugged.
"My lunch starts now, you can tell me while I eat." The girl leaned back and dragged a stool close to her and patted it, signaling Dipper to it. As he clambered on top, he cursed his short height. "So these marks... Are they some supernatural thing?" Dipper thought for a moment,
"Well I'd definitely say girls are supernatural!" He made a forced laugh as he saw a look of shock on Wendy's face. Gears turned and she realized what he meant.
"No. Way. There is no way those are all phone numbers!" Chuckling, Dipper added to her statement,
"Emails too." Wendy's facial expression made Dipper snicker. "What? I'm not that hopeless to get a girl, am I?" Wendy lifted her hand and made a 'so-so' motion. "Aw, come on!"
"I'm just joking... But why smear 'em?" Her eyes glittered as she examined the marks.
"Well," Dipper glanced away, "I hurt a lot of people... When I didn't mean to. I was trying to get over y- uh, trying to do something and ended up making things worse than before." He let out a defeated sigh, and closed his eyes. Wendy put a hand on his back sympathetically.
"Hey, Dipper, listen," Dipper's eyes opened and glanced up at her, "I think I know what you were trying to do, and believe me when I say that your feelings will fade off in time. If they don't, I can understand, I'm pretty great!" She smiled, hoping that would cheer her saddened friend up, but he showed not even the smallest smirk. "But really Dip, you're gonna go back home, you're gonna see some cute kid at school, you're gonna develop a crush on her, and maybe it'll work out better than-"
"-Than us?" Saying those words... Dipper felt like it would help him get over what feelings he had left for the teenager at his side, but it didn't. As for Wendy, she wasn't prepared for the sting those words put in her heart. A lump formed in her throat and she didn't understand why. It wasn't as if he had said it in a bitter tone, he simply finished her thought. Swallowing was harder than Wendy had counted on, but she forced the clump down her throat.
"Yeah... Like us... I guess."
Dipper knew he said the wrong thing.
"I-I- Wendy! I didn't mean it like that! That's what you were gonna say, right? Like us?" The teen simply nodded. Why was his heart breaking? Why did it ache, seeing her like that? Why was every freckly on her pale skin cuter up close than far away? Why was his heart racing from being close to her? Why? "I'm sorry." He bit his lip, and Wendy patted his shoulder.
"Don't be, man! I just- thought of something... But don't be sorry. That's what I was heading towards anyway." She put on a smile, and Dipper could tell it was real.
"Thanks, Wendy... For talking to me." She smiled down at him, shrugging.
"Not a problem. Moving on isn't always easy. Especially when you really love someone."
"D-Do you really love someone right now?" The auburn-haired teen closed her eyes in thought. She took a deep breath in and out, and faced Dipper who was sliding off his stool. Opening her shining green eyes and setting them on her younger cohort, a nod was given.
"I do. But he's got a whole life ahead of him, and I'm soon gonna be just some girl who had worked at a Gift-Shop to him in a few years."
"I'm sure that's not true. Like you said earlier, you're great... Nobody'd forget you!" Dipper highlighted her with his arms. Wendy chuckled, the little laugh made his heart flutter, and a roar of surging butterflies fill up his lungs, warmth radiating from him. It was so nice to hear that laugh, and it wasn't until he heard it then that he realized how much he enjoyed making his best friend laugh.
"DIPPER!" The call of his Great-Uncle Ford snapped him back to reality quickly. "COME QUICK! THERE'S A CARPET MISSING FROM MY BEDROOM, A BLUE AND YELLOW ONE! COME HERE AND HELP ME SEE IF SOME CREATURE GOT A HOLD OF IT!"
"Oh boy..." The twelve year-old new exactly what carpet was missing. The body switching carpet. "I guess I'd better go help him." Racing to the door that would take him to his relative, he waved at Wendy, and smiled when she waved back. That smile made his cheeks flush and his palms sweaty, his heart beat rapidly and his ears burn.
'I still love you...'
A/N: I heard a remix of Nicki Minaj's song "Pills N Potions" on the radio earlier so I quickly set to writing. Had to put a song lyric from it in somewhere hence; "I still love you" at the end. I got a one-shot out faster than planned... But another one is still due before my next story. Hope you enjoy!