When five o'clock came, he went outside to talk with Mabel and Melanie. They were laughing about a tourist that apparently looked very funny to watch. Dipper suddenly wished he had been with them, but the object of his sadness came into view. Stan still looked decomposed after the fight they had had, but Dipper couldn't care less right now. Melanie came up to him and whispered in his ear:

"I was thinking I could tell Stan that I can actually try to open a portal myself to get his brother back. I just wanted to ask you first."

"What do you need? My consent? Go ahead, I don't care about this loser anymore." Dipper replied. He could see he had hurt Melanie by answering harshly, but he just wanted to make his point of view clear.

Melanie came to Stan and whispered something to him that Dipper couldn't hear. He saw Stan stand up from the bench and come to him. He looked sad enough for Dipper to not say the witty comeback he was preparing.

"Look kid, I know you hate me right now. And I totally understand it. It's just that, the apocalypse is coming in a few days, and we have to stay united. Melanie told me I could maybe get my brother back with her help so that makes me feel a lot better. So now I would just like to make amends for keeping a secret like this for seven years. I know I shouldn't have."

"Yeah you shouldn't have!" yelled Dipper. Melanie and Mabel stepped back in fear. A wave of shock hit him and he realized he was the only obstacle standing in the way of them becoming a team. He took a deep breath, and added. "The problem isn't there though. You did what you did and you can't change it. I don't approve and I still resent you for lying to us, but I can pretend I'm cool with it long enough for us to maybe have a chance at winning against Bill." He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and looked at his feet. "So, agree to be civil with each other?" He said as he outstretched his hand.

"Agreed." Replied Stan, relieved, grabbing Dipper's hand and shaking it.

Relief filled the whole place and the girls continued to talk for a bit while Stan explained exactly what he knew about this place, which was not much because his brother was the genius, not him. Dipper then turned to Melanie and they went into the forest to practice magic before diner. They made little noise and suddenly Melanie stopped Dipper with her outstretched arm. She made a motion to keep quiet with her hands and pointed forward. A rabbit was there, going along on his little rabbit business. Melanie whispered " I think it's time to put that killing spell to the test." Dipper nodded and concentrated. He murmured the incantation and slowly, Melanie saw the rabbit's soul escape its body. When it was completely taken from it, the animal fell dead on the floor and Dipper burned it. The soul wandered around, not knowing where to go. Dipper looked at Melanie for answers.

"I think they just wander around until they either go to the afterlife or remain here as spirits." Melanie said. "Well done thought, just a bit slow; but that's okay for a first time." She added.

They continued to walk and every time they found a small animal, Dipper would kill it. He started to feel bad for the animals after the fifth one, and Melanie agreed they should come back for diner as it was getting late. They came back, Mabel and Stan in the kitchen cooking together. Mabel looked particularly happy as they came. She winked at Dipper when he entered and he swore to himself he would ask her what her deal was, before she did anything stupid. They sat down for diner and ate. Mabel and Melanie resumed their girl talk while Dipper was forced to talk to Stan or not at all. Stan was still looking for ways to make it up to him so he listened to apologies for most of the diner. Once it was over he grabbed Mabel's hand and brought her to another room and closed the door.

"Why are you so happy?" He asked.

"I'm just normally happy." Mabel replied

"Don't play dumb with me, I know that you're this happy for a reason and you winked at me when I came in. So tell me, what's gotten you so excited?" Mabel looked around the room to make sure they were alone and spoke:

"You like her, don't you. " She said "Melanie." She added .

"Well she's my friend, obviously I like her." Dipper said, sure he was blushing like a tomato.

"No but you like like her." Mabel insisted on the second 'like'. "Or do you love her? " She must have seen some answer on Dipper's face because she added " Oooo you love her. You do ."

"I don't know yet. I " he hesitated, then realized Mabel already knew the gist of it "like her, I think I would like to love her. So yeah, I have a crush on her. You happy?" He crossed his arms in self-defense as Mabel swung at him to get a hug.

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! Aww, baby brother, you're so cute when you're in love." she practically sung.

"Shush, I'm not in love. It's just a crush. " Dipper felt better after telling Mabel, though.

"Are you going to tell her?" Mabel asked, a bit too enthusiastic to Dipper's liking.

"No, are you crazy? The apocalypse is coming, I don't want her to bear this burden with me. And what if she doesn't like me back? That ought to be bad for the unity of the group."

"Dipper, if she doesn't like you it'll be okay, just like it was for Wendy."

"Well I wasn't okay after Wendy, if you recall. I was sort of sad around her for a while."

"Yeah but you got over it bro-bro. The point is, you have to tell her."

"I won't, Mabel. And don't you dare do it." Mabel looked at Dipper in defiance then stepped out of the room. Why did she have to be so darn right every time when it came to these matters. He knew he should tell Melanie, but he didn't have the heart to do so.

He came of the room after a few seconds and came face to face to Melanie.

"Hey what's up dude? I was just wondering if you'd like to look at the stars with me on the rooftop." Melanie asked, casually.

"Yeah okay, sounds cool." Replied Dipper.

He followed her up the ladder until they were sitting at Wendy's private spot that had become theirs. The night was fresh but not cold, and the stars were brighter than he remembered them being in California during the year. Melanie sat down on the ledge and allowed Dipper to sit next to her. For a while, they just looked at the trees in front of them, wondering who was going to talk first. Dipper's mind was already going twenty thousand miles per minute and he wondered why Melanie had brought him here. Maybe it was to practice other spells. Maybe it was to just talk about plans for their upcoming fight. Maybe it was about Stan's brother. Maybe it was to tell him she had to go back. Maybe she was dying. Maybe she was already dead. Calm down, thought Dipper, everything is alright.

Melanie then looked at him and finally said something, something he had not been expecting.

"Do you remember that tattoo of a bouquet on my chest I told you about?" Dipper nodded. "Well, I just thought that, since we're maybe going to die tomorrow, yeah let's stop bullshitting ourselves, then I just thought maybe I could share this secret with you." She quieted down.

"You mean, show me the tattoo? Isn't it on your breasts or something?"

"What, are you afraid of a girl's breasts? "She laughed "Dipper, are you that prude?" she asked, suddenly serious.

"No I'm not, I'm just wondering if I'm in some way violating your privacy or something." Dipper looked at his shoes, suddenly very interested in them.

"No don't worry. I wanted to show you for a long time since you were so eager but you're the only one I've ever considered showing it to. So feel proud."

"I am proud. Not only of that but of what you made of me with all your teachings. I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"You will be." Melanie stood up and Dipper followed. She stepped back from the ledge and took her t-shirt off. Under it was a white bra where you could already see the stems of the flowers peeking from underneath, and the top of the bouquet from the top. Melanie looked at Dipper who was staring at her body.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to." He said, looking back at her face. Melanie shook her head and undid her bra, it came down to her feet and Dipper could now see the whole bouquet. It was formed of violets, daisies and a few lilies just like she had said. The combination wasn't that bad, it looked like it had been squeezed between her two breasts. He came closer to her. "Can I touch it? " He asked "Not on your boobs though." He quickly added, his face blushing like never before.

Melanie nodded and he began to trace the lines of the stems on her belly. The tattoo felt real, though it had been formed by magic. He was amazed at the detail of it and the sense of reality it gave. When he felt he had taken enough of Melanie's time, he backed away. "Thanks for letting me see this." He said. "It's beautiful, really. It looks like you're a part of nature yourself. Not in a bad way though."

Melanie put back her bra and t-shirt as she nodded thanks. She sat back down on the ledge but Dipper remained behind. She turned around with a questioning look and he came to sit next to her. They looked into the darkness again.

"Melanie" Dipper started but never finished, because as soon as he had called her name and she had turned around, her lips were on his and he could not feel anything in his body except that kiss.