"Wendy wait! Will you just let me catch up?" Robbie wheezed as he tried to catch up with the girl who was scaling what felt like the largest hill in Gravity Falls. Wendy looked over her shoulder and laughed "Gosh dude! Keep up, you're getting beat by a girl!" She snickered and continued to trek forward.
"Yeah well, not all of us can be an energetic 10 year old girl" The boy huffed and leaned on a tree for support. "Where are you dragging me to anyways?" Robbie asked as Wendy continued up the incline of the hill "If I told you that, it would ruin the surprise." She shrugged her pony tail off her shoulder and looked down again "Now suck it up and be a man, Robbie!" He groaned and shoved himself off the tree and sped up his pace to try and catch up with his friend.
Robbie panted as he tried to catch up. His throat was dry and it was hard to swallow. He also wanted to tell Wendy that he was going to turn around and go home. But the excitement in her eyes when she told him to fallow her to the wood made something in his chest flutter. He didn't want to disappoint her so he kept on.
He reached to grab a branch to hoist himself further, the a loud crackling sound echoed through the woods, and Robbie suddenly saw his world spinning"Robbie!" Wendy cried out as Robbie tumbling down the hillside. Using trees and whatever else she could hold she half ran half slid down the hill after him. Robbie soon stopped half way down the hill. Bewildered, he pushed himself up and tried to get his bearings. A burning sensation shot from his elbow and he winced as he looked down. A trail a blood was racing down his arm. "Ow.." he whined meekly, cradling his injured arm , soon by his side, fell to her knees "Oh god, Robbie. Are you okay? Does it hurt" he was almost embarrassed to nod his head in answer. They sat there in silence for a while. Robbie mentally kicking himself for such a klutz and ruining whatever Wendy had planned. He was sure she would just want to go home when a ripping sound jarred him from his thoughts.
Wendy was ripping the bottom of her shirt off, clenching the hem with the teeth as she pulled more of the fabric off. "W-wait, what are you doing, your shirt-" Wendy shook her head, "It's just a shirt. Lemme see your arm" Robbie hesitated for a moment before holding out him arm. Wendy proceeded to wrapped his elbow up with the fabric. "It's probably not as bad as it look, but we can get a real bandage later." Robbie sighed, feeling his face heat up. "Thanks.. You didn't have to ruin your shirt though. We can just go back home?" Wendy stood up and offered her hand, "No way! We gotta see this now. Come on. This time I'll walk with you" Robbie felt his mouth go dry for an entirely different reason as he reached up and held Wendy hand. It felt warm and a little sweaty as she helped pull him onto his feet. Now together they were making their way once again up the hill, hand in hand. Wendy making sure that Robbie was okay and he just awkwardly nodded and kept walking. "We're almost there" She smiled and held his hand a little tighter. He lamely nodded and kept walking with her. She let go of his hand suddenly and ran a little ahead to pull away some thick tree branches. "Robbie come see, it's awesome!" Robbie walked beside her and they both looked out. They were at the cusp of the hill side, that inclined deep into the fall and over the view of the treetops sat the entire town of Gravity Falls as sunset. The orange burning sun castes the hue of yellow and amber across the towns building,. Even though he had been in this t own since he was born, Robbie had never seen it in this light. In the quiet of the forest it felt as if he and Wendy were the only people in the world. "Wendy, it's.." he turned to her, but his voice died when he looked at her. The sun glinted off her red hair, making subtle orange highlights appear and it appeared as if she was glowing. Her cheeks were flushed from her exertion up the hill from earlier and she was smiling. His chest once more made that odd fluttering feeling where his heart was. And somehow the pain in elbow hurt a little bit less now. "Isn't it pretty, Robbie?" She asked still looking at the town nestled below. " Yeah", he responded while watching the wind play with her hair. "It's beautiful"-"Yo, Robbie-O. You alright there, buddy?" Robbie looked up from his guitar "Eh?" Wendy leaned herself against Thompson's van next to him. "You've been playing the same three notes for 10 minutes." "Don't you know every great song is only three notes?" "Oh sorry, didn't know I was interrupting creative genius" She chuckled and randomly played with a lock of her hair. Robbie found himself staring at her. The sunset making her glow like it had those short years ago. The crackling and popping of gravel cause their attention forward as Lee , Nate and Thompson were walking up to the van. "Hey about time you nerds showed up" Wendy said, pushing herself off the van. "Yeah sorry about that, but I guess along with Thompson having a tiny girl bladder, it's shy, too!" Nate laughed along with Lee. "You shut up! If wouldn't have taken so long if you had just turned around like I asked!" "But it was too much fun badgering you into the woods" They playfully shoved each other and laughed as they all started to gather into the van where Tambry was still texting inside. "Ah, glad I can be in the company of such mature young men" Wendy laughed as she climbed into the van. Robbie stood for a moment and watched her. "Uh… you coming in, dude?" Robbie sighed lightly pulling his guitar off his shoulder. "yeah yeah I'm coming" and took his position in the passenger seat. As they drove to there destination, Robbie stole a glance at Wendy from the rear view mirror, smiling and laughing at something Nate had said. All the while palming his elbow where a scar had formed at that day when she looked so beautiful. And the way the setting sun was shining on her through the glass, she was even more beautiful than that day 6 years ago.