Prologue

It became clear, after the Pines twins' second summer in Gravity Falls, that Dipper still harbored feelings for his best friend, Wendy Corduroy. Feelings she was unsure about, and that sometimes made things awkward between the two of them. Finally, the night of Dipper and Mabel's fourteenth birthday party, she invited him up onto the Mystery Shack roof so they could talk in private. Dipper stared at her, wide-eyed, as she laid out the following proposal:

"Tell you what, dude. If you still have this crush on me or whatever by the time you turn eighteen, as long as I'm not currently seeing someone, I'll date you. Well, one date. If the date goes well, we can see where it goes from there. But this crush thing—we don't talk about it until then—when you're eighteen. Deal?"

Dipper swallowed. It might be his only chance to ever go on a date with Wendy. One date. Heh. No pressure, future me, he thought.

Dipper nodded, and held his hand out to shake on it. "Deal."

Four Years Later

"Happy birthday, dork!"

Dipper sat up in bed and blinked blearily. "What? Mabel?"

"Pfft. I should think not."

"Wendy?!"

"Dude, I didn't realize your eyesight was this bad. Go put your contacts in. I'll wait."

Dipper grunted and sat up, throwing his blankets aside. He momentarily considered being embarrassed that he was only wearing boxers, but he was too groggy to give much of a fuck.

Once he'd visited the bathroom to put his eyes in, he shuffled back to his and Mabel's attic bedroom, and noticed the obvious lack of Mabel.

"Where's my sister?"

Wendy shook her head, and tossed a pair of jeans at Dipper's head. "Seriously, you're useless right when you wake up. She stayed the night with her boy-crazy besties, remember?"

Dipper tried to step into the jeans and nearly fell over. Wendy caught him by the arm and steadied him until he was fully pantsed.

"Thanks," Dipper said, with a nod. "For not letting me fall, I mean. Not for the whole 'useless' comment. Fuck you for that one. What time is it anyway?" He'd looked up at the triangle-shaped attic window, and realized the stars were still out.

Wendy chuckled. "It's like two in the morning."

Dipper sank back down onto his bed. "What...the fuck, Wendy?!" He peered up at her, looking as perky and rested as if she'd just gotten eight hours of sleep. She was wearing her favorite green flannel over a tank top and jeans, and he was surprised to see that she was also wearing his old blue and white, pine tree emblazoned, trucker cap.

Wendy shrugged. "It's not every day your favorite person turns eighteen," she said with a grin. "I just wanted us to get in as much quality time as possible, since you're leaving tomorrow."

That realization made Dipper's stomach drop. He threw himself melodramatically back on the bed and whined, "Why did you have to remind me of that? Senior year is going to suck. Like, so, so much."

"Why?" Wendy asked, kicking him lightly in the shin. "C'mon, I didn't wake you up to mope around. We're going out."

"Ow," Dipper muttered, as he stood up. "Because it's pointless. I've already taken enough AP classes and scored high enough on my SATs to be admitted to most of the colleges that I'd want to go to. But I still have to take like two classes that my high school requires before graduation. The rest of my schedule is going to be study halls and electives." He paused, and added, "Out? Out where?"

Wendy grabbed him by the hand and started pulling him toward the door. "Don't freak out, it's nothing social, like a club. This is Gravity Falls, remember? When I say 'out,' I mean 'the woods.'"

"Wait, wait, Wen—shirt?" Dipper said, and pulled his hand from hers so he could quickly rummage through a dresser drawer. After pulling on the t-shirt he grabbed at random, he glanced down at his feet. "And socks and shoes."

Wendy huffed and crossed her arms in mock impatience. "Geez, Pines. It's like you're insisting on being completely clothed."

Dipper raised an eyebrow at her as he tied his shoes. "Um, that's like, a thing I commonly do… Wear...clothes. Especially when I'm going out somewhere."

Wendy grinned and rolled her eyes. "I said that by 'out' I meant 'the woods,' dude. C'mon."

"Yeah, well... I also commonly wear clothing into the woods," Dipper said, standing back up, finally fully clothed and shod. "In fact, not just commonly. Always. I always wear clothes when I go into the woods."

Wendy cocked her head to the side, her fists planted on her hips. "Whatever, dork. You ready now?"

Dipper nodded. "Yes. Well, no, but… yes?"

Wordlessly, Wendy grabbed his hand and led him out of the Mystery Shack.