Chapter 3

"H-here we are!" Dipper exclaimed. It was slightly deeper in the woods that he remembered, but it was definitely the place. There was the log, the tree, even the goat was here, grazing.

Dipper shooed the goat away and began looking for the patch of fake earth that slid away to reveal the book when he first came to Gravity Falls.

Wendy looked around before sitting on the log, hands in her pocket.

A million thoughts raced through Dipper's mind. He couldn't help but realize how pretty Wendy looked in the fading sunlight. It was like the spattering of her freckles lit up with her red hair and glowed perfectly. If Wendy thought she had any flaws, she was wrong in so many ways. She was-

"Perfect."

"What?" Mabel asked.

"N-nothing," stuttered Dipper. Did I really just say that out loud? "I'm going to go investigate over there."

"What's over there?" asked Wendy.

"Um…" Dipper tried to form a response, but nothing came to his mind. "Just some…interesting stuff I saw there earlier." It wasn't his brightest moment – actually, that was an overstatement – but Wendy nodded and followed him.

There really was nothing there, but Dipper bent down and did investigation-y things. He ruffled the grass, nodded his head, looked at things with a magnifying glass, and made m-hm noises under his breath.

"Well, that confirms it," he said, standing up. (Of course it confirmed nothing.)

"Confirms what?" Wendy asked.

"Um…this is definitely the spot." He said. Wendy nodded and smiled, so it must have been good.

"Should we tell Mabel?" Wendy asked.

"Um…yes, yeah, let's…let's go tell Mabel."

As they walked back, Dipper watched Wendy. The sunlight was fading so much that there was practically moonlight on her hair, but it was beautiful just as the sun was. He couldn't believe his luck. He had thought coming to Gravity Falls would be boring, but Wendy changed all of that. He could see them being together forever. It struck him in the gut whenever she treated him like a child, but he knew that he was more to her than that. Just…not that much more.

"Dude, where's your sister?" asked Wendy.

Dipper looked around the clearing. "Probably a few yards away. HEY MABEL!" he yelled.

No answer.