Gravity Falls: Once More

by Absolute Rift

Four years after their faithful summer of weird, Dipper and Mabel finally return to the legendary town of Gravity Falls. Despite having new adventures and mysteries to take on, they are still tailed by the challenges that come with navigating teenage life. With friends and enemies, both new and old, the Pines must prepare themselves for whatever awaits them. (Cover by pau sketches)

28. Many Happy Returns: Part 2

"It was insane! The car was hardly even recognizable after we pelted it!" Lee said with a chuckle.

"A hundred and twenty-five balloons filled with straight paint!" Nate added. "Professor Higgins was pissed! Tambry took like twenty photos, of course."

"Twenty-five," Tambry corrected with a slight smirk as she stared at her phone screen, laying against Robbie Valentino as the two sat in a set of chairs.

"You should've seen it, Wendy. The look on his face was absolutely priceless," Robbie said with a chuckle.

The group of friends all sat in a corner of the floor room, each of them sitting in the chairs set up. Wendy sat in one of the middle seats between them all, holding a plastic cup of punch in her hand. All of her friends were laughing with the exception of Tambry, who just held an amused smirk while her eyes still paid more attention to her phone. As amused as her friends were, Wendy looked somewhat unsure about how to feel.

"The best part- we all got away clean," Lee added as he kicked back in his chair.

"Guys, as funny as that is, you really shouldn't be risking getting yourselves in trouble because of me," Wendy said, rubbing the back of her neck somewhat guiltily.

"Please, Wendy. We're not risking getting in trouble because of you," Nate assured her.

"Right. We're risking getting in trouble because of what they did to you," Lee clarified. "They mess with one of us, they mess with all of us."

"That's sweet, but still. You got your revenge on Professor Higgins. Just leave it at that when I'm gone, won't you?" Wendy asked, giving a slight smile.

"Yeah, alright," Lee said, with Nate and Tambry nodding in agreement at the same time.

"I don't know. I still feel like there's more we could do," Robbie suggested. "Maybe we can go around all his classes collecting failed essays and then stuff his mailbox with them!"

"Robbie, no!" Tambry called out, nudging him violently in the arm without taking her eyes off the phone screen. "First off, that idea sucks. Second, Wendy already said to quit it. The paint's enough. We're done. Don't be stubborn like you always are."

"Right. I'll stop being stubborn when you figure out how to put that phone down," Robbie said, rolling his eyes.

"Seriously? You wanna start with this again? Now?" Tambry asked, actually turning her head to him as she sat off of him and narrowed her eyes. "You used to have no issues with me using my phone before. Now it's a problem for you?"

"Before, you actually paid attention to me!" Robbie argued, growing annoyed.

"Oh, right. Now you're asking for attention," Tambry argued back, crossing her arms. "After all those times you pushed me away for trying to give it to you in favor of your stupid, mediocre band!"

"Mediocre?!" Robbie exclaimed, showing genuine offense to the comment.

"GUYS!" Wendy shouted, getting between the two and pushing them apart as they entered standoff positions with one another. "Would you two quit arguing over petty crap with one another? God, you both used to be so much less annoying."

"Sorry," the couple told her as they glanced away from one another.

"You better be," Wendy said. "We only have a few more days for hangouts like this as a group and you guys aren't gonna be spending them fighting all the time."

"Well, almost as a group," Lee butted in.

"Yeah, where the hell is Thompson at?" Nate asked, checking his phone. "He should be here by now based on what he said in the group chat."

"You still believe him when he says that?" Robbie said as he wrapped his arm back around Tambry. "The guy's always late nowadays."

"Yeah. At least when he's late, it's because he actually has a job," Tambry said passive-aggressively as she went back to her phone screen.

"Tambry, I swear to God…" Robbie said, growing irritated yet again.

"Guys... can you not?" Wendy pleaded, placing a hand on her face in annoyance as Lee and Nate stood back awkwardly.

"Hey, guys!" Mabel's voice called out, which attracted the attention of all of the teens. They watched as Mabel, Candy, and Grenda walked up to them, to which Mabel proceeded to wave at Wendy. "Hi Wendy!"

"'Sup, Mabes," Wendy waved back.

"Yo, wait. That's Mabel?" Nate asked, eyes bulging in surprise. "Mabel Pines?"

"Holy crap, it is," Lee said with a smile as he suddenly recognized her.

"Yep. Girl's all grown up now," Wendy said as she kicked back in her seat. "But she's still the hyper little ass-kicker she was when she was twelve."

"I approve of that nickname," Mabel said as she pointed over at her. "It's so good to see all of you again though!" She glanced over at Lee and Nate. "My favorite bromance: Lee and Nate! Good to see you both still sticking together after all this time! And good to see Lee still holding the title of tallest in the group!"

"Well, that's not a title one just gives up, ya know?" Lee said with a chuckle.

"Sure it is. Just put Wendy in heels. Instant loss," Nate joked, which got a few laughs throughout the group, including Wendy herself.

"Tempting, but I think I'll pass on that," Wendy chuckled. "Lee can keep that title for all I care."

"And Robbie! Tambry! Look at you two!" Mabel said as she glanced over at Robbie with his arm around Tambry. "Still together after all these years!" She then nudged Robbie as she whispered in his ear. "Guess the power of Mabel is still taking effect, huh?"

Robbie narrowed his eyes and gave her a fake smile. "It surrre is." Tambry didn't even hear what Mabel said, but detecting Robbie's sarcasm, she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Not detecting his sarcasm nor the bad blood between the two, she simply laughed it off. "How great is it to see you all still hanging out with one another after all this time? Wait, where's Thompson?"

"He's just running late," Wendy told her. "No worries. It's kind of a thing now."

"Well, either way, it's still great to see you all still hanging out together," Mabel said as she walked back toward Candy and Grenda. "I'd love to catch up, but I already got some other gals I gotta make some time for!" She proceeded to walk off alongside the two as she waved back at the gang. "It's nice seeing you all again!"

"Later Mabes!" Wendy called out as she, Lee, and Nate waved at her.

"Glad she hasn't changed," Lee said.

"Yeah, she's just as fun and cool as I remember," Nate agreed.

"Yeah, Tambry could learn a thing or two from her," Robbie said.

Tambry then proceeded to elbow him in the stomach without hesitation, which prompted him to wince in pain as she just kept tapping away at her phone. Lee and Nate looked on with unease, just as Wendy facepalmed in annoyance.

---

"Ahhh, I still can't believe you two are actually here!" Mabel said happily as she sat beside Grenda and Candy on the floor room's couch. "Even though we've been video chatting while I was in Piedmont, it still feels so long!"

"I know right?" Grenda agreed. "There have been times when we've missed you so much, we considered literally jumping right into the computer screen so we could end up in Piedmont with you!"

"Well, she did it once," Candy pointed out as she recalled.

"And I broke my computer screen," Grenda added. "WEAKLING!"

"Uh, Grenda, I don't think that's really possible…" Mabel told her.

"We fought a yellow triangle who tried to take over the world a few summers ago. You really wanna tell me what's possible and what's not?" Grenda asked.

Mabel thought for a second before realizing her point. "You're right, you're right..." she admitted. "Anyways, Grenda, how was wrestling camp?"

"Boring," she told her upfront. "I don't know what's up with my parents signing me up every summer. It's always the same routine! Go there, kick some butts, break some bones, then he kicked out and have to deal with a bunch of camp lawsuits. B-O-R-I-N-G! I'm just happy to be home and be able to spend the rest of the summer with my girls!"

"Aw! Right back at ya, Grenda!" Mabel said as she folded her hands gratefully. "What about you, Candy? How were band finals?"

"Well, I'd say the only important thing to be glad about is that we made it to finals anyway," Candy said with a smile as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Aw, what? Gravity Falls High lost?" Mabel asked.

"Yes, unfortunately," she said in a somewhat sorrowful tone. "All because the judges liked our opponent's tuba solo."

"A tuba solo?" Mabel questioned, somewhat flabbergasted. "Who the heck even likes the tuba? Even my brother hates it now!"

"Yeah, they're so loud and deep and annoying!" Grenda shouted in agreement.

"I know right?" Mabel nodded. She placed a hand on Candy's shoulder. "I'm sorry you guys didn't win, Candy."

"It's okay. It wasn't a total loss," she said with a smile. She brushed her hair back over her ear as she began to think back to her time in band, even blushing a bit. "I may have met someone while I was there."

Mabel and Grenda immediately gasped exaggeratedly as she revealed this. The two glanced at one another in shock as they began to bubble up with excitement.

"What?! Oh my gosh, Candy, that's great! I probably don't even know him because I don't even live here, but still, that's great!" Mabel said as she placed her hands on both of Candy's shoulders, wobbling her around excitedly.

"Is it anything official?" Grenda asked in a curious, yet teasing voice.

"I may have gotten his number," Candy teased back. "But aside from a few chats, nothing's really happened just yet."

Mabel kept vibrating excitedly within her seat as Candy went on. "Ooooo! Look at you go, girl! Don't worry! I'm sure it's only a matter of time before something happens and the sparks begin to fly!"

"Yeah, and at least you're actually talking to him," Grenda said as she folded her arms, looking somewhat upset. "Marius and I are currently on no-speaking terms with one another."

"What?" Mabel questioned in a shocked voice. "What happened?"

"Apparently he thinks that going into the Austrian army is more important than going to see Pony Heist 3 with me!" Grenda explained to the two. "That selfish jerk. All about wanting to save people's lives instead of saving our date night!" She then sighed sadly as she placed her face in her hands. "I'm sorry. I have attachment issues."

"It's okay, Grenda," Candy said as she placed her arms around Grenda and hugged her comfortingly. She turned her head back to Mabel. "Mabel, why don't we talk about your love life instead?" This statement and subject change appeared to garner Grenda's attention back, as she glanced back at Mabel as well with an awaiting look.

"Pfft... who me?" Mabel attempted to brush off.

"Yes, you," the two girls said curiously at the same time.

"Have you met anyone back home?" Candy asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Back home? Oh yeah, plenty!" Mabel nodded.

"Ooohh?" Candy and Grenda said together excitedly, listening intently.

"And they were all terrible!"

"Ooohh..." Candy and Grenda said together not as excited.

"Yeah... I don't wanna talk about any of the boys back home..." Mabel admitted. "But here? Mmmm... there might be something..."

"Wait, wait, wait... you've been here a few weeks and you're already talking to a guy here?" Grenda asked, growing excited again.

"Maayybeee," Mabel teased as she tried to prolong her reveal. "You guys aren't gonna believe who it is though."

"Tell us! Tell us!" the girls chanted excitedly and demandingly.

"Okay, okay!" Mabel accepted as she tried to figure out how to break it down for them. "So remember the last time we video-chatted with one another before Dipper and I came to Gravity Falls and you told me that you saw there was this new person working at the Mystery Sha-"

"Hey, Mabel."

"-aaa... hey, Ryland!" Mabel immediately greeted him upon hearing his voice come up behind her. At the same time, she fixed her posture, tone, and smile just as she turned around to face him and his little brother, Evan, right beside him. "And hey Evan! Nice to see you again so soon!"

"Our mom and dad kinda forced me to come along," Evan clarified. "But, yeah, it's nice to see you too, I guess."

"Either way, it's always nice to step out of the house every now and then, isn't it?" Ryland said as he rubbed the top of his brother's head.

"Ha-ha. Good one," Evan laughed sarcastically, knowing that his brother was fully aware of his aversion to doing these types of activities.

"Uh, Ryland. Evan. These are my best friends…" Mabel pointed out to the brothers, gesturing over to Candy. "...Candy..."

"Hello!" Candy waved.

"...and Grenda."

"I'm slightly concussed but I can still see you!" Grenda exclaimed as she also waved at them.

"Ha…" Ryland laughed awkwardly, unsure what to make of that comment. "Well, uh, it's nice to meet the both of you. My name's Ryland, and this is my little bro, Evan," he said as he patted Evan on the arm.

"Hey there!" Grenda greeted as she and Candy both waved at Evan.

"Uhh... h-hi…" Evan mumbled nervously as he fixated a gaze upon Candy and one that she didn't appear to even notice.

"Anyway, I'm still a little burnt out on party stuff after last night," Ryland admitted as he sat on the couch arm beside Mabel. "So, since I saw you chilling over here, I thought we could just drop by and hang out as well."

"Yeah, that's totally cool!" Mabel nodded acceptingly and a bit nervously as she looked on at him.

She still felt the need inside to let Candy and Grenda know how she was feeling about Ryland, but she knew she couldn't do that if he was hanging out with them. She needed to get them away for a bit longer. As her eyes glanced around the floor room, they fell upon the table across the room that had the food and drinks, giving her an idea.

"But ya know, we were just thinking of getting some drinks. It's kinda warm in this part of the room," Mabel said, emphasizing by fanning herself slightly with her hand.

Ryland displayed a look of confusion as he looked straight up and saw the AC sitting right above them, airing them down. If anything, that part of the room should be the least warm.

Mabel caught his eyes glancing at the running AC above them and realized his confusion. "You know. Body heat, right? Three girls sitting close together on a couch? Whew! Gets heated pretty quickly!" Needing further justification for her excuses, she glanced over at Evan for assistance. "Isn't that how science works, Evan?"

Evan wasn't paying attention however and still gazed upon Candy, who finally noticed his eyes looking directly at her. She and everyone else gave him a confused look as he stood still motionless as he stared on.

"Um... Evan?" Mabel repeated.

"What?" Evan questioned, breaking from his gaze and looking around flusteredly. "What was the question?"

"Hey, how about Evan and I just go grab that punch for you girls, then?" Ryland offered, kicking himself off from the couch arm and placing his hand on Evan's back as he began leading him away from them. "We'll be right back."

"What just happened?" Evan asked Ryland quietly and shakily as the two walked away. "Why am I sweating? Why am I shaking? What's wrong with my stomach? Am I sick?"

"Yeah. It's a disease called puberty," Ryland answered quietly as he kept leading him toward the snack table.

Mabel watched them until she knew they were out of range. As soon as they were gone, she quickly turned back to Candy and Grenda frantically.

"Alright, so remember that new worker here at the Mystery Shack that Candy said she saw before we came to Gravity Falls? Okay, turns out that guy is actually a super cute guy named Ryland who's really nice and sweet and cool and even knows bike tricks and we've been talking pretty much since the summer began and we even went to the movies one time and I also took care of his little brother, Evan, who was kind of a pain when we first met him but he's actually really sweet too, but Ryland is so much more different than the guys I've crushed on before and I don't know, I really feel like there's something there, ya know?" Mabel quickly, yet understandably shared with her friends.

"So you mean…" Candy began before gasping as she came to a sudden realization. "...you have a crush on the boy who works here!"

"Yes."

"And because you stay here over the summer, that means you see him almost every day!" Candy added.

"Yes!"

"Which means you spend time with him almost every day!" Grenda added as she began to catch on as well.

"Yes!"

"And you two are totally going out!" Candy then proceeded to add.

"Ye... wait, what?" Mabel shook her head. "We're not going out."

"I thought you said you two went to the movies," Candy brought back up.

"As friends!" Mabel clarified frantically, not wanting them to begin assuming things when Ryland could come back at any second. "We haven't gone on any dates or anything. We're still just friends."

"Well, when are you getting out of that friend zone?" Grenda asked with a grin. "If you two spend as much time together as you say you do, you should tell him how you feel!"

"But I don't wanna rush things between us," Mabel said as she rubbed her arm reluctantly. "Every time I've rushed into a relationship with a guy, it never went well. We've been taking our time so far and it's been good. I don't wanna risk messing it up."

"I understand, Mabel, but you know you don't have a lot of time either, right?" Candy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. You only have until the summer ends in August before you go back to California again," Grenda reminded her. "And if you two get together, you'll have to deal with a long-distance relationship. And trust me, the distance has always been the hardest part about being with Marius."

"You can't wait too long if you wanna be able to live that relationship to the fullest extent in person before you go home," Candy explained to her. "August may seem far away, but it'll come before you know it."

"And we're not trying to pressure you, but you are crushing on a boy who doesn't even live in the same state as you," Grenda stated.

They weren't wrong. Mabel did only have until the end of the summer to seal some kind of status with Ryland. And as Grenda hinted, she didn't really want to end up falling into a long-distance relationship without much time having a normal relationship.

But at the same time, she hasn't been given any clue of Ryland's feelings for her. Sure, she liked him, but there was little clueing her in on whether he even liked her back. Since meeting him, he's been a good friend, but nothing demonstrated that he wanted to be more than that.

There was something about Ryland to her that was different than other guys she's dated or had an interest in. There was something more natural about him. Something simpler, yet so complex. Normally with guys, she's outgoing with her feelings and isn't afraid to make the first move if she had to. But Ryland made her nervous for some reason. Sure, she had the tendency to get crazy around guys she likes, but she felt a different kind of crazy with him. And the more she hung around him, the more comfortable she got, yet the more nervous she became.

Maybe it was the fact that she was taking her time with a guy for once when just about every other time before, she got straight to the point. Perhaps getting to really know him and be friends with him first had a greater effect on how she felt. That was probably why it was so easy to be so forward with guys before since she had no prior connection to them. But now that she had been friends with Ryland for some time, she was more anxious and concerned about turning him away with how she truly felt.

Regardless of her feelings, she was happy with him as a friend but didn't want to risk scaring him off by rushing her feelings onto him. He still worked for Soos and basically worked downstairs from her bedroom. Was she seriously going to create awkward tension between the two in the same house?

Then again, it ended up working fine for Dipper and Wendy.

But then again, Ryland isn't Wendy. And she isn't Dipper.

"Okay, I see what you two mean," Mabel admitted. "But I don't want to try to push myself onto him unless I know how he feels about me."

"And how're you gonna find that out?" Grenda asked.

"I'll figure it out," Mabel shrugged off confidently. "Mabel always figures things out. She's dealt with gnomes, a puppet kisser, and a merman before. A cute blonde guy who rides a bike is nothing."

"Here we are," Ryland's voice was heard from behind as he and Evan walked back up to the girls holding cups of punch in their hands. Ryland handed one to Mabel while keeping the other for himself, whereas Evan handed both of his cups to Candy and Grenda.

"Thanks, Evan!" Grenda said as she immediately began to down the punch.

"Thank you, Evan," Candy said with a smile as she kindly accepted the punch.

"yOu'Re... EHEM!" Evan cleared his throat loudly as he blushed from the embarrassment of his cracking voice. "You're welcome…"

Mabel stared on at her cup in hand before looking back up at Ryland, who didn't notice her look as he took a sip from his cup of punch. She began to gaze at his clear face and his long locks of blonde hair as they hung down the side of his ear. The build of his upper body and how the shape bled through his brown jacket and white T-shirt. The longer she stared at him, the warmer she felt her face getting.

Uh-oh.

She quickly got up from her seat and held her cup out to Ryland. "Ryland, would you please hold onto this for a second?" she asked with a nervous, red-faced smile. "I gotta use the little girl's room…"

"Uh... sure," Ryland nodded as he took the cup from her in his open hand.

"Be right back!" Mabel called back as she immediately began making a sprint for the bathroom, gathering looks of concern from the others with how fast she was going.

At this point, Mabel knew for certain that this was different. For potentially the first time ever, she's been struck by feelings so strong for a guy that she actually found her nervous stomach hanging on the edge. With any other guy, she's confident, bold, and outgoing. But this ordinary guy with slightly longer hair than most guys would let grow out had her rushing to the bathroom because she was nervous.

What the heck happened to you, Mabel? She thought to herself as she kept running through the crowd of partygoers, trying to make her way to the bathroom as quickly as she could.

---

"What on Earth are Cheese Boodles?" Ford asked as he stood beside the snack table, examining a single Cheese Boodle puff in his fingers. "Are these the modern version of cheese puffs?"

"Gee, I dunno. Do they look like them?" Stan asked sarcastically as he watched Ford put the puff in his mouth.

Ford immediately began coughing and gagging as he ate it. Though not wanting to be rude, he still went along and swallowed it despite not enjoying its taste, eye twitching as he processed it. "God, that's the farthest from cheese that I've ever tasted."

"Please. Have you forgotten the mac and cheese that mom used to make?" Stan asked him.

"You know, I think I'm starting to accept that most of these modern-day snacks aren't for me," Ford admitted before taking a sip of Pitt Cola, trying to drown out the Cheese Boodle aftertaste in his mouth. "I mean Cheese Boodles? Corncornos? Chipackerz?" he named as he examined the snacks set up at the table. "I mean, whatever happened to simpler snacks like ham and cheese on a toothpick? Or how about jelly beans? C'mon, the kids these days still eat jelly beans, right?"

"Honestly, after seeing what they did to the Juke Joint, I've accepted that we live in a new world, Sixer. And it ain't for us anymore," Stan said as he took a sip from his own can of Pitt Cola.

"Oh, please. Certainly there's something still around here for us," Ford said.

"Maybe. I don't know," Stan shrugged. "Mabel probably knows best about what's 'hot' and what's 'not' nowadays. Maybe ask her."

"I suppose it'd be an interesting answer," Ford nodded as he looked around the room for her. "Where has she gone anyway? It's been a good while since she went with her friends."

Stan turned his head a little and quickly caught sight of Mabel quickly making her way over in their direction. "Ah, there she is," he pointed her out to Ford as he waved over at her. "Where have you been, pumpkin? You haven't been talking to boys, have ya?" he said jokingly with a very clear smile on his face.

However, Mabel was in no state of mind to process the joke or even acknowledge them, as she simply sprinted right past them and through the door next to them. Stan and Ford were left on their own yet again, confused as to what was wrong with her and what prompted her to completely run past them.

"So, uh, does that mean she's talking to boys?" Stan asked, not sure at that moment whether she had ignored them or not. "I meant it as a joke, but uh, that looked kinda serious."

"I don't even think she acknowledged us," Ford assumed as he looked at the door she had zoomed through. "Honestly, Stanley, I do hope the kids remember their commitment. As fine as I am with them mingling around and doing their own things, I do hope they pay us enough attention so we don't let a day we could've spent working go to waste."

"Relax, Ford. Ain't none of us being forgotten yet," Stan said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder assuringly. "Maybe she's just sick or something. She looked kinda pale. There's no need to jump to conclusions yet. Just relax."

"Hey, Grunkle Stan! Hey, Great Uncle Ford!" Dipper's voice was heard as he and Derrick stepped up to the two.

Stan glanced back at Ford as he watched Dipper approach them. "See? Told ya!"

"Sorry, I'm late," Dipper said as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I was busy... uh... cleaning up."

Ford chuckled. "Ah, you're alright, Dipper. We're just glad to see you." His eyes then glanced upon Derrick, who appeared to have a fixed gaze on his great-nephew that he didn't even appear to notice. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed just how intimate the stare was. "And... uh... is this your friend? The... fellow that was with us last night?"

Dipper looked over at Derrick, who quickly cleared his gaze and started looking around normally again. "Oh yeah, this is my best bud, Derrick, from back home in Piedmont. Also known as the guy who nearly got himself killed due to screaming during an attempted surprise attack."

Derrick took a quick second to process this comment before breaking out laughing as if Dipper had told the funniest joke in the world. Not even ironically either. "Good one, Dipper! You're such a riot, man!"

"Uhh, that... wasn't... really a joke," Dipper clarified, raising an eyebrow at Derrick's strange response. "But, uh, hey! I guess I'm a riot?"

"Hell yeah, you are!" Derrick said as he continued laughing, which seemed to increasingly provide a level of discomfort for Dipper.

Stan and Ford stared on at Derrick, unsure what to make of him based on his introduction. Dipper claimed he was his best friend, but Derrick's behavior seemed to imply something different. Not that either Stan or Ford had any particular opinions on it, but it was certainly a surprise if what they thought was happening was actually happening.

"So... best friend, huh?" Stan questioned Dipper skeptically.

"Yep! Been the best of bros since the eighth grade!" Derrick said as he wrapped his arm around Dipper's neck.

"'The best of bros?'" Dipper repeated questionably.

That was something Derrick had never said before, and it was completely out of character for him. Sure, they were 'bros' in a friendly sense, but Derrick was never one to put it out in such a blunt, outgoing way. Normally, he'd say something more lowkey like 'Yeah, we've been friends for a few years,' or 'Yeah, I've been defending his ass for a while now.' But 'The best of bros?' That was a very odd one.

And while he had been used to the occasional noogie or brotherly arm around the neck, Derrick's grasp this time felt like he had brought him a little closer than normal. Close enough that Dipper was beginning to find it a little too close for comfort.

"Well, Dipper's about to be a senior. So four years, huh?" Ford added up. "So that means you both met not long after you and Mabel went back home? At least that's what I assume. I don't recall you ever mentioning a Derrick fellow before."

"That's right," Dipper nodded as he placed his hands on Derrick's arm and casually took it off of his neck as his discomfort of being so close to him finally got to him. "We can catch up more on that in a moment," he told them as he began to walk away. "I think I'm gonna go grab some Pitt Cola or something."

"I'll come with," Derrick offered, taking a few steps along.

"Uh, no need!" Dipper quickly rejected, shaking his hands but also maintaining an understanding smile. "Just stay with my uncles. I'll be quick."

"Alright," Derrick accepted, though slightly disappointed.

As Dipper walked off to get a drink, the scent of his cologne blew into Stan and Ford, and they both processed it. Stan caught the smell but didn't think much of it. Ford, however, caught the smell and did have a moment where he felt a sense of familiarity.

"Hmm, that's odd..." Ford said as he tried to analyze the smell.

"What's wrong?" Stan asked.

"That scent."

Stan gave the air a whiff, beginning to focus on his nose. "What? Someone sprayed cologne or something?"

"Yes, but that cologne smells oddly familiar," Ford said as he continued to process the scent. "Very oddly familiar…"

---

Dipper had to walk across the floor room to get to the drink table. The dance floor was full of dancing partygoers and couples, but he stuck to the sidelines, making sure to go around and not interfere with anyone breaking it down.

However, his environment began to go against his intentions. There was a group of friends hanging out beside the wall, socializing and making jokes. As a joke, one of the guys facing the girls against the wall began making some weird mock dance, throwing his arms from side to side while walking backward. He did this very suddenly and managed to bump straight into Dipper, which then sent him bumping into someone else on the dance floor.

The guy who bumped into Dipper turned around and gave him a quick acknowledgment. "Sorry, dude," he told him very insincerely before turning right back to his friends, laughing away. Dipper just glared at him from behind annoyedly.

"My top!" a girl shouted in distress.

Dipper's annoyance didn't last long as he turned back behind him to see a brown-haired teenage girl, who he had accidentally bumped into a second ago. In her hand, she held a cup of a little bit of punch. Looking up at her appearance though, he quickly noticed the giant red stain in the middle of her bright blue top. Knowing that he had unintentionally caused this, he began to panic a bit.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" he said, walking a few steps toward her as he placed his hands on his head guiltily.

"You bumped into me!" the girl pointed him out, narrowing her eyes.

"I-I didn't mean to!" Dipper defended. "It was an accident! I was just walking and then this guy right behind me bumped right into me and then I bumped right into you!"

As Dipper was trying to explain himself to the girl, his close proximity allowed the scent of the cologne to reach her nose. As she inhaled and processed the scent, she froze and her eyes went wide. Then, a pink flash of sparkles quickly shined within her eyes before dissipating and going back to normal again.

As she came to her senses again, she looked at Dipper and found that her anger with him had suddenly disappeared. It was at that point a smile started to form on her face as she watched him go on.

"It's okay," she told him as she stared on flirtatiously.

Dipper caught her smile as he went on and began to grow slightly confused, while his initial feelings of panic kept intact. "You... you aren't mad?"

She giggled, which seemed to shock and confuse him further. "No, I'm not mad, silly! Why would I be mad?"

"Well, I mean, I did just ruin your top…" he reminded her, glancing back and forth between her face and the very large and obvious stain. "I mean, that's a really bad stain... and it's probably gonna take more than just detergent to get that off…"

She burst out laughing at this, which continued to further Dipper's utter confusion. "You're funny!"

"Uh... thanks!" he said. "But seriously, that stain is bad."

"Well, how about you just make it up to me by getting me a new cup of punch and then saving me a dance?" she suggested as she batted her eyes flirtatiously at him.

"Yeah, sure, I could definitely- wait, what?" Dipper questioned as he processed her words, his face beginning to redden.

"Ya know. Since it is your fault and all..." the girl said, giving him a playful nudge with her elbow. "It's the least you could do."

"I-I... I mean... uh…" Dipper mumbled flusteredly, trying to get his brain to work. A girl just asked him to get her some punch and then save her a dance. Now he needed to remember how to put words together. "S-sure! Yeah! I'll... I'll go do that!"

Without even hesitating, he made a bolt for the drink table. Within the span of a mere minute, he had gone from pissing off a girl to somehow making that same girl want to dance with him. Never had something like that happened before in his life. Spilling a drink on a girl's top never warranted him a dance. Usually, a confrontation like that ended with a slap in the face. Or a drink to the face. Or both.

Should he be worried about how suddenly her reaction changed? For her to suddenly not care about a giant stain on her possibly expensive top? Perhaps she wasn't the brightest person he could've bumped into. Maybe he should take this as a red flag. Seriously. Who brushes off a stain that bad?

It was almost definitely a red flag, but hey, he thought she was cute. So if she could brush a stain off, he could brush the weirdness off if it meant getting a dance with her. He reached the drink table and grabbed a cup, to which someone else took a cup right after.

He looked up and saw that it was Wendy, who looked back at him and smiled.

"Hey Dipper!" she greeted.

"Oh, hey, Wendy," Dipper greeted back.

"Crazy party, huh? Amazing your sister put this all together in a single night. Over half of this junk wasn't even here yesterday," she told him as she looked around the place.

"Y-yeah!" Dipper stuttered, still flustered over his current situation. "She's great at doing the unordinary!"

"Right? Crazy little psycho," she agreed with a chuckle. "I just came to grab some punch. I'm dying in that corner over there," she said as she fanned herself with her open hand.

"Oh, yeah, I'm grabbing punch too," Dipper replied, glancing between her and the bowl.

"Go ahead then, man," Wendy said, gesturing for him to go for the bowl. "You got here like a second before I did."

"T-thanks," he stuttered again as he aimed for the ladle in the punch bowl. He then proceeded to shakily pour some punch into his cup, while also making a bit of a mess in the process due to how anxious he was. He was so anxious that his focus on how much punch he was pouring into the cup began to disappear.

"Woah, man. You might wanna take it easy there?" Wendy suggested, watching as he began overfilling his cup and making an even bigger mess on the table.

Realizing the mess he was making, Dipper quickly dropped the ladle and backed up a bit. He groaned at the mess, growing embarrassed with himself and how anxious he had gotten.

"Oh, God! What am I doing?!" Dipper asked himself as he examined the spills.

"Dude, are you alright?" Wendy asked, placing her cup down as she examined his distressed look. "You're sweating bullets and look like you're gonna hurl. Though it's the hurling part I'm a little more concerned about right now," she said as she took a step back as a precaution.

"I'm just... kinda freaking out about something that just happened to me," Dipper reluctantly admitted to her.

"Oh, man. That's so vague that now you gotta tell me," Wendy said with a chuckle as she crossed her arms, interested.

"No, no," Dipper refused, face reddening at the idea of telling Wendy, of all people, about his predicament. "It's not something you wanna know…"

"Tell me! Tell me!" she chanted in a mock deep voice while throwing her fists up and down repeatedly.

He didn't really want to, but at the same time, he felt he could really use someone to express himself to at that moment before he went and potentially made a fool of himself. Even though Wendy wouldn't be his first option for these types of talks, she was still a close friend and was cool enough to understand him anyway.

He sighed as he prepared to explain. "I was just making my way over here to the drink table before some guy bumped into me, which then made me bump into this girl and spill punch all over her top."

"Oh man!" Wendy said as she tried to hide her laugh.

"Yeah…" Dipper said as he rubbed his shoulder awkwardly. "Anyway, I apologized to her, but then she started acting weird and…"

Dipper continued explaining what had happened with the girl to Wendy, who kept her focus on what he was saying. Though, as he went on, she began to catch the scent of his cologne, to which she quickly froze as her eyes flashed with pink sparkles for a brief second. She lost a bit of focus for a second as she felt somewhat dizzy, placing her hand on her head as she felt something happening to her.

As her feelings of dizziness went away, she then looked back up at Dipper, who was still explaining his situation. Almost as if nothing had happened, she continued to listen intently to what he was telling her regarding the girl, but she found herself paying more attention to his appearance, starting to admire what she was looking at.

"...and so that's when I went to grab her some punch. And here I am now," Dipper finished, making a gesture to his current position.

"I see…" Wendy nodded understandingly as she looked back up at him.

"Yeah, and so, you know, I don't really have a lot of experience with girls…" Dipper said as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly again. "And so I'm kinda worried that when I go back, I'm just gonna embarrass myself or scare her off or... just be a Dipper. I don't know. Do you have any, like... advice or something? If that's not weird to ask?"

"Nah man, it's not weird," Wendy assured him with a smile. "It just sounds like you're being hard on yourself. Like, 'being a Dipper?' What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," Dipper admitted as he thought about it. "Being a sweaty, mumbling nerd who still doesn't know how to talk to girls after all this time?"

"You're talking to one right now!" Wendy chuckled as she playfully punched him in the arm, which got a slight smile out of him. "And that's not what being a Dipper is. Being a Dipper is being a kind, sweet, and smart guy who always puts others before himself. A guy with a big heart."

Dipper smiled warmly as he rubbed his arm. "You really think that?"

"Of course I do!" Wendy said assuringly. She then began to play with her hair, brushing it down with her hands as she looked to the side. "And I don't know if I'm just going crazy, but it feels like there's something a bit more different about you than normal."

"Well, I mean, I'm kinda sweating a lot... and why am I saying that?" Dipper said, beating his forehead with the palm of his fist lightly as he caught his unnecessary words.

Wendy laughed at this though. "No, man, that's not what I meant," she said with a smile. "I don't know if I should be saying this since you're already caught up with someone else, but you look... cuter than normal."

Dipper stared at her blankly for a solid moment, completely stunned. "...what?"

Wendy's face began to redden as well. "Like it feels like I've been looking at you one way all this time, but now I'm looking at you another way. A better way. I don't know, is that weird?"

"...what?"

"You know, you're grown up now," Wendy said as she examined him. "You're going to be seventeen by the end of the summer and I'm nineteen. Maybe when I turned you down that one time, it was because it would've been weird. Like a fifteen-year-old and a thirteen-year-old. But, there isn't as much a difference between a nineteen-year-old and a near-seventeen-year-old..." she said suggestively. "Maybe if you're still into the idea after all this time, we could actually give it a shot, now that you're older?"

Dipper's mouth hung open in absolute shock as she suggested this. He couldn't fathom the fact that this was actually happening.

Wendy flippin' Corduroy just asked him out.

There was no way this was real. It couldn't have been. He refused to believe it.

"Alright, what the hell is this?" he said as he looked around the room, eyes narrowed. "This is a trick, right?"

"What?" Wendy asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Am I still in Mabel's dream bubble or something? Has Bill actually won? Have the past four years of my life all been a lie?! Is any of this real?!" Dipper asked, recalling the time in Mabel's bubble when he had been similarly duped by Bill's tricks, trying to pull him into his desires at the time. "Are you going to offer your hand only for it to turn into a bunch of roaches and fall off?!"

Wendy stared at him for a moment, glancing around in confusion. Then she gave him a daring look as she walked up to him and grabbed him by the hand, placing her fingers between his. This stunned Dipper once again, catching him by total surprise while also being something he couldn't imagine ever happening to him.

"Does that feel like a bunch of roaches to you?" Wendy asked as she held up their joined hands together in front of him.

"I...I…" Dipper stuttered as he stared blankly at her again, having no idea what to say anymore.

Wendy chuckled at his stuttering before simply pulling him along with her as she walked onto the dance floor with all the other partygoers. "C'mon. I love this song, and I'm gonna be ticked if you don't dance with me."

"...I...I...I…" Dipper continued to stutter mindlessly as he simply let Wendy drag him out.

He felt limp and numb. Like everything inside him at that moment had completely stopped working. He didn't know what to make of anything, and even if he did, he couldn't. Not that that made any sense at all, but that's how he generally felt at that moment. That nothing was making any sense.

Yet all he could do was go along with it.

As she dragged him onto the dance floor, he went past several partygoers in close proximity. The trail of air that followed his movement contained hints of his cologne, and it brushed the noses of each guest that he passed. Those who smelt it were affected, their eyes quickly flashing with pink sparkles.

They weren't able to catch up fast enough on the fact that the scent came from Dipper and so they simply began looking around in confusion, having no idea what had just happened to them. As they looked around, some caught sight of Dipper as Wendy held his hand and then threw him onto the dance floor right in front of her. Seeing as how he was her possession at that moment, none of them really bothered intruding, but some certainly watched or continued to do their own things while also keeping an eye on him, as there was something about him at that moment that seemed to click with them in their heads all of the sudden.

Having brought Dipper to the middle of the dance floor with her, Wendy began enthusiastically dancing along to the upbeat music thumping through the stereo. Dipper still stood completely shocked with his mouth agape. He still couldn't believe what was happening right now and felt as though it was all some twisted prank in some way. But the look in Wendy's eye continued to imply otherwise.

"Come on, man!" Wendy persuaded, bumping her hip into his torso mid-dance, which pushed him back a little. "You gonna dance with me or what?"

Dipper looked around and noticed the eyes of a few other partygoers looking his way as he just stood there, standing like an idiot in front of a girl who was trying to get him to dance. His former crush at that.

Despite all the confusing feelings and thoughts going through his head at that moment, he knew he couldn't just keep standing there in front of her. So he slowly began to warm himself up to dancing as well, putting on a light, yet flustered smile as he did so. He wasn't much of a dancer even in a casual party sense, so it took another case of breaking from his comfort zone to do so.

Wendy seemed to approve regardless of his skills though. "There you go, man!" Now you got it!" she supported admiringly.

Dipper chuckled blushingly, still maintaining confused feelings. But with Wendy's support, he found himself growing a bit more comfortable and less stiff every second that passed. He knew he had danced alongside her before, and so in order to keep his cool, he tried to tune out the current circumstances and just try to pretend like things weren't too different between them. Aside from holding hands a moment ago, there was no physical contact in place. It was an upbeat song, and there was no reason to get too intimate right now. In his head, he tried to picture them as nothing more than just two close friends dancing next to one another.

Feelings could be worried about later.

---

"Ya know, that kid sure takes his time when getting a can of soda," Stan said as he thought about how long Dipper was taking on getting his drink.

"Dipper takes his time to do a lot of things," Derrick told him as he stood beside the two brothers. "It's why he's great at what he does."

"Kid can be great and grab a soda in less than a minute," Stan countered.

"I don't believe it," Ford said as he stared off into the crowd of people on the dance floor in shock.

"C'mon, Ford. The kid has his flaws, but even I figured you'd think he's smart enough to grab a drink quickly," Stan said, not catching what Ford was looking at.

"No, Stanley," Ford said as he pointed out into the crowd for Stan to see, with Derrick looking on as well. "Look."

It took a moment, but soon Stan was able to see that in the middle of the dance floor through a bunch of other partygoers, Dipper was dancing next to Wendy. The two were laughing and looking like they were enjoying themselves, which was good for them.

But for the two Stan brothers, it felt like a betrayal.

"I can't believe it," Ford said as they watched the two.

"What's that redhead doing with Dipper?" Derrick asked with a look of irritation and growing jealousy. "I thought he said she rejected him!"

"And I thought she had standards," Stan added, a little weirded out by the same fact that it was Wendy with Dipper.

"Stan, our great-nephew just ditched us," Ford pointed out. "Us. His own family that he hadn't seen for four years until yesterday. For a girl that he's already had over two weeks to reunite with."

"He probably got caught up in the moment," Stan tried to justify. "Taking an opportunity and rolling with it, right?"

"That's exactly what I was worried about, Stanley!" Ford reminded him, getting a little irritated. "The kids completely getting caught up in their own business up to the point where they completely forget about us. Forgetting the whole reason this party was thrown in the first place! We didn't come here to get ignored! If I knew this was how things were going to turn out, I would've held my ground earlier and kept pushing for the party to be called off!"

"Calm down, Ford!" Stan tried to coax. "Look, I can see where you're coming from here. I'm disappointed too. But, c'mon. Just because Dipper forgot about us doesn't mean that Mabel has! I'm sure as soon as she gets back from whatever she's doing, she'll come straight to us."

At that moment, Mabel had emerged from the doorway leading into the bathroom hallway and exhaled, as if she was trying to convince herself to keep it together. As soon as she did that, she turned in the Stans' direction and quickly began rushing up to them.

Stan caught this and pointed her out to Ford confidently. "Ya see? Here she comes now."

Mabel reached the two, but instead of standing beside them, she squeezed herself between the two. "'Scuse me, Grunkle Stan!" she said dismissively before continuing on her way.

Stan's smile immediately diminished as he and Ford watched her skip her way back to the couch across the room. There, she rejoined her friends and sat back on the end of the couch next to Ryland. He smiled at her and handed her drink back.

"You alright?" Ryland asked her, raising an eyebrow in slight concern based on how quickly he saw her run before.

"Oh yeah!" Mabel assured him confidently. "Just normal business. I totally didn't just get so nervous that I had to puke. Nope! This girl is all good!"

"Well, that's good to hear," Ryland said with a smile.

"Yes. Yes, it is," Mabel said as she rested her head on the back of her hand, leaning a little closer to Ryland as she looked on at him with a flirtatious smile.

Stan and Ford continued to watch the two socialize and laugh with one another, focusing their sights on Mabel, who didn't pay them any looks or mind. She had just squeezed right past them while giving them hardly any acknowledgment.

Both she and Dipper had promised to stick with the two and not leave their side throughout the night, claiming they wouldn't get caught up in distractions. Yet here they both were, getting caught up in what looked to Stan and Ford as their own romantic pursuits. Caught up in romance rather than spending time with their own family after all this time they've spent apart.

"Ah, who am I kiddin'? You were right, Ford," Stan finally admitted, slouching sadly as he came to accept things as they were. "The kids ain't kids anymore. They're teenagers. And this is what teenagers do."

Ford placed a hand on Stan's back empathetically, also displaying a look of sadness and disappointment too. "Come on. Let's just head back to the lab and get to work on this whole Bill thing."

Stan looked hesitant for a second but then nodded in agreement. Dipper and Mabel were doing their own things now and had forgotten about them. There was no use being there anymore. It was time to accept that and go back and work on what was really important at that moment.

The two proceeded to head for the door behind them, unnoticed by Derrick, who held up his look of jealousy on Dipper and Wendy as the two danced, even paying absolutely no attention to the separate conversation between the Stans.

However, Soos took notice of their departure and managed to glance over at them from his DJ Booth just as they began to head out.

"Huh?" he said to himself as he spotted them.

Melody caught his voice as she handled equipment behind him and turned to him. "What's wrong, Soos?"

"Watch the booth for one sec, Melody," Soos told her as he put his headphones down and quickly stepped out from behind the booth to make his way over to the Stan brothers across the room. Melody was slightly caught off-guard by the sudden job she was given but still accepted her position.

As Soos ran, he saw that Ford had already exited through the door. Stan was right behind him and was preparing to step out as well.

"Mr. Pines!" Soos called out. "Mr. Pines, wait!"

Stan heard Soos's voice just as he was about to step out of the floor room and turned to him as he approached, panting out of exhaustion from his run.

"What is it, Soos?" Stan asked.

"Where... where are you two going?" Soos asked through his panting.

"Ford and I decided to just head back to the basement. There's nothing for us here," Stan simply told him as he turned back around to head inside.

However, Soos put his hand on his shoulder and turned him back around. "But, what about the party? You two are, like, supposed to be the guests of honor tonight!"

"Yeah, you wanna remind both Mr. and Ms. Infatuation about that?" Stan asked, narrowing his eyes.

"What?"

"The kids," Stan said pointing his finger over at Mabel on the couch with Ryland and then aiming over at Dipper with Wendy on the dance floor. "They're in their own little worlds right now. Which would be fine, if they didn't promise me and Ford that they'd be spending time with us at this party." He sighed, placing a hand on his face for a second out of disappointment. "Not to sound grouchier than usual, Soos, but we were promised one thing and we ain't getting it. So why bother? At least now I can spend time separating myself from this demon in my head."

He proceeded to head back to the doorway again, to which Soos stretched his arm out hopelessly. "But... Mr. Pines…"

"Just enjoy the party, Soos. I didn't say I was stoppin' ya," Stan said sadly as he walked out the door, leaving the party and letting the door shut behind him.

Soos stared at the door dejectedly for a moment before turning back to the party. He glanced back over at the couch where Mabel sat and watched as she giggled at something that Ryland had said, playfully pushing him on the shoulder. His glance then turned over to Dipper and Wendy in the middle of the dance floor, watching as the two locked eye contact with one another as they danced separately from one another, though, Dipper displayed less of a flirty expression compared to Wendy. As he processed the twins' separate endeavors, he sighed and placed a hand on his head in distress.

"Oh, man…"

---

"No, Marius! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have been so upset about you canceling our Pony Heist movie date!"

Grenda was speaking apologetically over the phone to her boyfriend, Marius von Fundshauser. Realizing her fault for their latest argument, she had decided to call him up and make amends with him and their relationship privately, standing away from the couch where the rest of her friends sat.

"It's just... you're joining the army! How am I supposed to feel about-"

She waited as Marius cut her off. As he spoke, she began to smile, her guilt now turning into joy.

"Really?! You can set up a private screening at your castle?!"

She began to walk even further away from the couch so she could deal with her phone call away from the party. On her former end of the couch, Evan had casually taken the spot beside Candy, leaving a fair amount of room between the two. Candy was focused on a conversation between her, Mabel, and Ryland. Evan was more focused on her, however, and kept giving her nervous glances.

He had not much idea what he was feeling at that moment. Outside of school and other academic-related programs and activities, he rarely ventured outside his house and computer. He hated most parties and general social gatherings, including this one, as opposed to his brother, who loved them. But even when he had to communicate with others, he was able to normally and without issue.

Being twelve years old, never had he come across anyone in his life that made him feel the way Candy currently made him feel. Whatever it was.

A crush, his older brother had mentioned to him when they had gone to get punch for the girls. He's heard of the concept behind crushes and general romantic feelings, but he's never had them. Nor has he ever wanted to. Yet here he was, sweating and shaking over someone he had never known before in his life until mere minutes ago. And his feelings of hate for coming to the party had suddenly dissipated too.

What's happening to me? he thought to himself as he looked down at his shaking hands.

None of the teens were looking at him. But, that was fine. He only wanted to draw Candy's attention. He felt the urge to talk to her. He didn't know or really even care about what, he just did.

He gulped nervously as he tried to figure out a way to get her attention. He then decided on the most direct way. He leaned forward and tapped on her shoulder.

Candy felt the tap and turned her head to find Evan, who froze with his outstretched arm as he saw her turn to see him. She didn't think too much of it, however, and simply smiled kindly as she gave her complete focus to him. Mabel and Ryland simply went on with their conversation, not paying attention to Candy shifting her attention away.

"Oh, uh, hello," she greeted as she faced him.

Evan still sat frozen with his arm outstretched, his face reddening. He soon snapped himself out of it, shaking his head and retracting his arm. "Uhh... hi…"

"Evan, right?" Candy questioned, recalling his earlier introduction.

"Who's Evan? I MEAN... YES! Correct!" Evan frantically corrected himself upon realizing his mistake. "Evan's my name! That is my name! Evan! Yep! I know what my name is!"

"Uh... okay…" Candy replied in a somewhat confused tone due to his frantic behavior.

Ryland's eye glanced over at Evan while he was talking with Mabel and caught on to what he was trying to do. "Oh God, what is he doing?" he said under his breath, though audible enough for Mabel to hear.

"What's happening?" Mabel asked quietly as she turned around to look at the two.

"Lil' bro's got a lil' crush," Ryland said with a smirk.

Mabel gasped. "On Candy?" she whispered, which Ryland nodded in response. "Aww! That's adorable! And also, kinda weird. He knows that she's fifteen, right?"

"Well, you see... I don't think he's ever had a crush before," Ryland explained to her. "And I think that's about to show in a second here."

Evan cleared his throat as he came up with the closest thing to small talk that he could think of.

"So, what's your favorite type of math?"

That question immediately put Mabel on the brink of cringing. "Oh. My. God."

"Um, excuse me?" Candy asked in utter confusion, having no idea what prompted this question.

"You know... Statistics, Trigonometry, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC... like, what's your favorite?" Evan asked.

"I... uh…" Candy said as she continued to process the question, still finding it one of the oddest questions she had ever been suddenly asked to answer. Ignoring the weirdness of the question, she took a minute to give it a bit of actual thought. "Well, I do like…"

"ME TOO!" Evan shouted suddenly, cutting her off before she could even answer.

"Wait, what?" Candy asked, confusion increasing.

"I love AP Calculus BC!" Evan exclaimed excitedly. "People say that BC is terrible and that AB is way easier because it has fewer topics, but like, I find more excitement in the topics that BC brings! It's so challenging and I love it! Don't you agree?"

"Um... you didn't even let me answer the ques…"

"Yeah, I knew you'd agree!" Evan cut off yet again, his nervousness getting the best of him and having no awareness of his brash behavior. "Look at us! Look how much we have in common! Man, we're hitting it off, aren't we?"

"Hitting it off?" Candy asked, now horrified once she realized what was truly going on.

"Yep, we sure are!" Evan said confidently, still unaware of himself or her current look of horror. His eyes then glanced down at her empty cup in hand, which prompted him to shoot out of his seat in a slight panic. "WOAH! Your drink's empty! Let me fill that for you!"

Without hesitation, he swiped the empty cup from her hand and began sprinting his way over to the drink table, leaving her completely appalled as to what had just happened. A moment after he left, she finally turned to Mabel and Ryland, both of who looked at her sympathetically, well aware of what she has just faced.

"I am going to look for Grenda. She knows how to hide me," she told them as she simply stood up from the couch and began casually walking away.

Mabel sighed as Candy walked off. "Poor Candy. Now she's a Wendy with a Dipper on her case."

"Pfft, what?" Ryland questioned with a chuckle. "What's that mean?"

"Oh, this just reminds me of the time Dipper had an obsessive crush on Wendy when he was twelve and she was fifteen," Mabel told him.

"No way. Dipper had a thing for Wendy?" Ryland asked, thinking about it.

"Yep! The age gap never let it get anywhere though," Mabel added. "Something poor Evan's gonna have to learn at some point too."

"Hey, maybe they could work it out when they're older, ya know?" Ryland suggested as he raised his cup of punch to his mouth. "I mean, our mom's like six years younger than our dad, but they went out when they were both in their twenties. At that point in their lives, an age gap like that doesn't mean too much."

"I guess you're right," Mabel claimed as she thought about it. "If they work out a good friendship, then yeah! Maybe it can happen for Candy and Evan too when they're both older. Maybe even Dipper and Wendy."

"Actually…" Ryland said as he looked out into the crowd on the dance floor and noticed a pair that stood out. "...maybe it's going on for them now."

"Huh?"

"Check it out," Ryland said as he pointed out Dipper and Wendy in the crowd of people on the dance floor to her.

The two were dancing to the music and enjoying themselves, even sharing a few laughs. Though they weren't making any physical contact, they appeared to be dancing in noticeably close proximity to one another. Something that Mabel even noticed was the way that Wendy had looked at him, which stood out to her as particularly flirty.

"You could say that maybe they're dancing as friends, but I don't know," Ryland said as he watched them. "I think there's something going on over there."

"She's definitely... looking at him differently," Mabel said as she examined the two, definitely getting a 'more-than-just-friends' vibe as well.

Normally, she would be excited about her brother potentially finding someone, especially in his old crush. But now, she was a bit more skeptical than anything else. Going back to the pep talk she had given him earlier about cleaning himself up, he looked practically no different here. The only thing she figured he could've done was taking a shower, but even then, he and Wendy had spoken at other points in the summer. What was so enticing about him to her at that moment?

"Don't you think it's a little odd how she finds him appealing all of the sudden?" Mabel voiced her skepticism aloud. "I don't know. I mean, she rejected him the last time we were here. Now she's the one getting all close. But she never seemed that way before today."

"Maybe it's just a natural progression," Ryland told her. "Like, sure. Maybe there was nothing before, but now that they're both older and things are a little less weird, there's a spark there that wasn't seen before. Something they let grow over time." He shrugged as he got up from the arm of the couch. "Or at least that's just what I think. All I know is that no one likes a forced relationship. Best to just let nature take its stroll and let things naturally happen as they do." He then proceeded to start walking away from the couch, looking back at her once as a heads-up. "I'm gonna go use the bathroom."

Mabel nodded at him, watching as he turned back and walked away. She thought for a moment about what he had just said.

'All I know is that no one likes a forced relationship...'

He doesn't like forced relationships. Which is exactly what she was afraid of doing again. She had been trying to steer away from forcing anything between them and just let them develop naturally. So she probably couldn't blurt out her feelings or come off too strong to the point where she'd push him away. She needed to let the forces of nature bring them together. But now, she began to wonder how she could manipulate the forces of nature to bring them together instead.

"Natural progression, eh?" Mabel said as she thought of different ideas, eventually coming up with one that sparked her interest.

"Hey, hambone."

Mabel's thought process was interrupted as she glanced in front of her to see Soos approaching her. Realizing her new idea connected to him, she quickly jumped up from her seat and ran up to him.

"Soos! I was just thinking about you! I need you to do me a huge favor!" Mabel let him in on.

"Oh... uh, sure," Soos nodded acceptingly as he rubbed the back of his head. "What do you need?"

"Ryland just went to the bathroom," Mabel explained, pointing off in the direction he had just walked in. "When he comes back, can you play one of those 80s slow jams at your DJ booth?"

Soos thought over the favor for a second before frowning, beginning to rub his shoulder hesitantly. "You see, dude, I was actually just coming over here to talk to you about that."

"Talk about what?" Mabel asked before her eyes bulged as she made an assumption. "Me and Ryland?! W-what?! That's... that's craz- okay, I admit it! I'm guilty! I may have a teeny, weeny thing for him and that may or may not be the reason I'm asking you this favor."

"Well, I mean... that wasn't really what I meant…" Soos clarified for her, still rubbing his shoulder hesitantly.

"Wait... you think me having a crush on one of your employees is bad for the Shack, huh?" Mabel assumed once again. "That I'll distract him and take away from the business, or I shouldn't be like Dipper and fall for and get my heart broken by someone who works here, right?"

"What?! No... dude, I have no problems with you having a thing for Ryland," Soos told her. "I just don't think Ryland should be a focus of yours today."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, have you forgotten why you threw this party?" Soos asked, gesturing toward the rest of the room. "I'm afraid you might be letting this whole crush of yours get in the way of what's supposed to be really important."

"Well, what's really important right now is that I don't miss my chance at trying to naturally progress my relationship with Ryland!" Mabel said, not putting too much thought into what Soos was trying to tell her. "Candy and Grenda already told me. I only have the summer to start a relationship with him before things go into long distance. I want to cherish whatever time I can get with him in person before then."

Soos sighed, realizing he wasn't getting to her. "Look dawg. I see you really care about this, so I'll do that favor for you. But you should really think about what you're doing here. Why you originally threw this party and all." He began walking away to head back to his position. "And if you don't, well, you're young. You'll figure it out soon enough."

"Thanks, Soos!" Mabel called out to him as he walked away while not really sure what to make of those final words of his.

---

"You see, and that's another thing I've started to hate about you!" Tambry shouted frustratedly as she got up in Robbie's face. "You're always so arrogant!"

"Arrogant?!" Robbie questioned. "Uh, news flash! No one reads those paragraph-long status updates you spend hours writing! Social media is for selfies and brief funny videos! Not reading long essays about self-conceited morals!"

The two kept bickering back and forth with one another while Lee and Nate sat a few feet away from them, just watching with growing irritation.

"Didn't this argument start because Tambry found Robbie's burps disgusting?" Nate asked, trying to find the source of the current drama. "Seriously. Wasn't that how this started?"

Lee just sighed and placed his face in his hands. "I honestly don't even know anymore, dude. I really don't."

At that moment, a fit man in a light green plaid shirt with his sleeves rolled up and brown cargo pants walked over to the group. In his hands, he held a large bouquet of orange flowers in his hand.

"Sorry, I'm late, peeps. Had to drop by the store real fast," he said in a deep, smooth voice, grabbing the attention of the whole group.

"About time you got here, Thompson," Nate said as he and Lee got up to greet him.

"God, I feel like I die inside every time he says 'peeps'," Robbie said, cringing in his seat.

"Oh, lay off, Robbie," Lee said as he patted Thompson on the back. "At least Thompson's got confidence."

"Yeah. More than you could ever manage," Nate nodded in agreement.

"Confidence doesn't equal being able to say things that are stupid," Robbie said with an eye roll.

"Yo, are those flowers for Wendy?" Lee asked, pointing over at Thompson's flowers.

"Possibly," Thompson said with a smirk as he held the flowers up. "I got her favorites. Crossfire Tulips."

"Her favorites, huh?" Tambry asked with an amused chuckle as she texted away. "Where'd you get that from?"

"It was just something I picked up on from one of our last cemetery hangouts," Thompson explained with a smooth expression.

"Oooooo! Paying attention to the details! My man, Thompson!" Nate teased as he gave Thompson a hard, brotherly slap on the back, which prompted a smile from him.

"Hahaha, ow…" he winced under his breath.

"So what. You're gonna ask her out finally?" Nate asked.

"Nah, these are more of a goodbye gift than anything," Thompson said, rubbing his neck.

"Bro, c'mon! You gotta tell her how you feel soon!" Lee urged as he wrapped a brotherly arm around him. "You've cleaned up big time over the past few years, and she knows it too!"

"Yeah, you gotta shoot your shot before it's too late," Nate added. "Trust us, man. You got this!"

"As long as she doesn't remember the loser he used to be," Robbie said with a smirk right before Tambry yet again elbowed him in the stomach. "OW! WOULD YOU QUIT DOING THAT?!"

The three guys stared at the two for a second, but quickly brushed it off and went back to normal.

"As we were saying, you gotta let her know soon, bro," Lee reminded him again. "Before it's too late."

"You've had this thing for her for the longest time," Nate also reminded. "You going to let that all go to waste now?"

Thompson thought for a second but then smiled confidently. "No, of course not! What am I talking about? I've waited years for this! And I'm not about to wait any longer!" He glanced around the room, looking for her within in the crowds of partygoers. "Where is she? I'm going to hand her these flowers, and then I'm going to ask her to dance!"

"Well, you already missed your shot," Tambry said without looking up from her phone. "She's already with someone else on the dance floor."

"WHAT?!" Thompson questioned in horror, his scream sounding raspier than the smooth voice he had been using before. At that moment, he, Lee, and Nate all turned their heads toward the dance floor, eventually spotting Wendy dancing alongside Dipper.

"Wait a sec... is that... Dipper?!" Nate realized in shock as he analyzed the appearance of the guy Wendy danced with.

"What?! No way!" Robbie refused to believe, shooting up from his seat to see for himself. As his eyes eventually spotted Dipper, he couldn't believe it was actually happening. "How the hell did that little punk pull her?!"

"He ain't so little anymore, Robbie," Lee told him as he looked on.

"WHAAAAAAAT?!" Thompson screamed with further outrage, dropping to his knees as he also made the realization that it was Dipper who was with Wendy.

"Tambry... you knew about this?" Lee asked as he turned to her.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Nate asked.

"First off, I just glanced up at her for, like... a second. I had no idea who it even was or if it even mattered," Tambry explained to them. "Second, it's not my fault that Thompson showed up too late, like he always does, to beat a kid to a dance with Wendy."

With this said, Thompson's horror began to shift into anger. He clenched his teeth together as his eye began to twitch. At that moment, he pulled himself back onto his feet and proceeded to angrily march a few steps toward the dance floor.

Lee and Nate quickly took notice of his body language and ran up to him, placing their hands on his shoulders and pulling him back.

"Woah, Thompson! Easy man!" Nate coaxed, trying to get him to calm down. "Don't lose your cool now. There's nothing to be upset about just yet."

"Yeah, I mean, look at them!" Lee pointed out as he tried to restrain Thompson. "They aren't even touching one another. They're not so much dancing with each other, but next to each other! They're just friends!"

"Yeah, and Wendy's never even told us anything about Dipper before!" Nate added. "At least, nothing that ever implied she liked him like that."

"She's sure giving him a look, though…" Robbie said as he kept focus on the two on the dance floor.

"Not helping, Robbie!" Nate said, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Yeah, and why do you care?" Tambry asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I don't! It's just... interesting!" Robbie admitted as he sat back down while still maintaining a look at the two.

"Interesting enough for you to care?" Tambry pushed, narrowing her eyes.

"Would you two shut up?" Lee told them bluntly as he and Nate led Thompson to a seat so he could calm down. "Look, Thompson. Just chill, alright? I'm telling you. There's nothing going on between them. Just ask her to dance when she comes back."

Thompson remained unconvinced though. While he gave into the idea of sitting down to cool off a bit, he still kept a fixed stare on Dipper and Wendy as they danced from afar. Every single move they made, he watched.

---

On the dance floor, Dipper continued dancing along to the music beside Wendy. However, he had begun to grow tired of dancing to every next stereo-thumping song. The music he was enjoying, but his noodle limbs clearly weren't made for this much activity. He decided this was probably a decent moment to take a rest or go find Derrick and his great-uncles again.

He stopped dancing and stood in front of Wendy, making a gesture with his thumb outside of the crowd. "Alright, I think that's enough for me. I'm gonna head back."

"Aw, what? C'mon," Wendy said with a chuckle, yet wasn't quite satisfied with this option. As he took a step back, she grabbed for his hand and held onto his arm, pulling him back.

This immediately took Dipper by surprise, and he felt like his mind was about to break yet again. He had gotten lost in the idea that the two were just dancing alongside one another as friends that he forgot that Wendy had basically confessed to having feelings for him before. Something he still felt like he still didn't have an appropriate response to, though it didn't seem to matter yet because Wendy had already taken his feelings from four years ago into account and simply took them for granted.

But he didn't share those same feelings at that point. Truthfully, he didn't know how he felt. He was confused. Sure, if he was still twelve, he'd be jumping for joy at this opportunity to be with her. But after having spent so much time trying to get over his feelings for her and then successfully doing so, having her suddenly come back to say she had a thing for him now felt like he had been punched a million times in the gut. Like all that time he spent getting over her was all for nothing.

Now he didn't know what to feel about her.

But he wanted to know why she suddenly felt the way she did for him. Since it seemed like she knew her own feelings better than he did his own.

Rather than letting his mind break again, he turned to face her and gave her a look of uncertainty and curiosity. "Why?"

Wendy looked confused for a moment. "What?"

"Why now?" Dipper asked, pulling his arm from her grasp so he could focus on just talking to her without letting her physical touch mess with his head. "Like, I know I'm going to be seventeen soon and stuff, but like, where did this come from, and why now? Yeah, feelings change over time, but I mean... I spent so long trying to forget I ever liked you after you turned me down. So like... why is this happening now? Even after Mabel and I first came back a few weeks ago. What changed? Because I don't feel different."

Wendy stood in front of him for a moment trying to think of how to respond. Then, she walked up to him, getting close to him. "I told you when I turned you down that I was just too old for you. I mean, a teen going out with a child? That's just weird. And yeah, it's still a little weird considering I'm in college now and you're still in high school, but you're so much more mature than pretty much every guy I've ever gone out with before, and most other guys I've ever known. So maybe that alone is enough to kinda brush the weirdness of it all aside."

"Okay, I get that... but why now?" Dipper asked again. "Mabel and I have been here for over two weeks already and you've never come off like this before to me."

"I don't know," Wendy admitted as she looked to the side for a moment. "I guess I didn't really think too much before. Then I saw you today and suddenly, it felt like a bunch of weird pink sparkles flashed in my eyes, and then everything made sense."

Dipper wasn't sure how to respond to this, considering this just made him even more conflicted. The more he looked at her and the more she talked, it felt like he was remembering his twelve-year-old feelings. Yet, something inside him still felt unmoved and unconvinced. Like he was still living a lie or maybe didn't reciprocate those true feelings for her anymore. He wasn't sure.

But it seemed as though she was more than sure, as she shut her eyes and began to lean her face closer to his.

---

That was a movement that Thompson had immediately noticed as it occurred, and at that point, his mind was made up. He stood back up on his feet and aggressively pushed Nate and Lee to the sides.

"YOU CALL THAT 'JUST FRIENDS?!'" he asked angrily as he pointed Wendy out on the dance floor, his voice letting even more rasp out.

"Thompson, wait!" Lee called out with an outstretched arm.

"NO! I'm done waiting!" Thompson brushed off, throwing his arm up in the air dismissively of Lee as he began marching his way over to the dance floor. "I've waited for too damn long now!"

---

Wendy had kept leaning in on Dipper, which took him a moment to notice as he was getting lost in his own thoughts, but soon he began to feel the warmth of her face growing inches away from his. That was when reality hit him again and he realized that what was happening was actually happening, which prompted one of the conflicted parts of his brain to come to a decision.

His eyes bulged and he quickly pulled away from her in panic an inch before their lips made contact with one another. Wendy felt his sudden movement away, opening her eyes again to find him in a panicked stance a foot away from her.

"Dipper? What's wrong?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"I... uh…!" Dipper spoke frantically, realizing that things were moving too fast and he needed a second to breathe and think on his own. "I need to use the bathroom! Like... right now!"

Without leaving room for further question, he quickly sped off through the crowd of people, making his way in the direction of the bathroom as fast as he could.

"Dipper!" Wendy called out to him, standing behind in place feeling confused and unsatisfied with the moment.

He didn't look back, however. In fact, he just began to feel sick to his stomach. Not just because he was confused and conflicted, but because he had just abandoned Wendy to deal with it. It all just added to his stress and mixed emotions. The fact that he was an inch away from kissing her and he wasn't totally on board with it was a sign that he didn't know what he was doing.

His run was unorganized and frantic, and he found himself trying to squeeze between several party guests, which resulted in him slightly bumping into a few people. He apologized as he did so, but didn't pay much mind afterward, as he just kept going on his way.

Unbeknownst to him, however, the swift-moving trail of air that he left behind as he ran contained his cologne scent, which brushed the noses of most of the guests that he passed by. In response, several guest eyes sparkled pink for a brief moment. Those affected were then left feeling confused for a second, but their heads soon turned to Dipper just as he ran through the open doorway leading into the bathroom hall.

---

As Dipper entered the bathroom hall, he quickly ran up to the bathroom door, placed his hand on the knob, and turned. Right away he realized that it was locked. Feeling like he was going to be desperately ill at that moment, he couldn't help but continuously try to open it.

"Oh, c'mon!" he shouted impatiently.

"Hey, hey! Occupied, man!" a voice called from inside.

Dipper backed away from the door and clenched his stomach. He considered for a moment just rushing upstairs to get to his own bathroom, but thought it would be far too late if he did so. Instead, he resolved to lean his back against the wall to try to focus all his brain power on keeping himself together.

"Keep it together, Dipper," he said to himself, shutting his eyes and forcing himself to think. "You've been through the literal apocalypse when you were a child, yet you can't figure out feelings for a girl as a teen?"

He sat in silence for a moment, trying to clear his head, but to no avail.

"UGH! Why me?! I didn't even want to attract any girls today! I just wanted to be presentable! Now Wendy likes me? I thought I was over her! Am I over her? Gaahh! What do I even know anymore?"

"YOU!"

This sudden voice startled Dipper, causing him to jump. He turned his head over to the doorway, where a man stood. Upon identifying his face and features, Dipper was only barely able to make out some familiarity from someone who looked almost entirely different four summers ago.

"Thompson?" Dipper questioned in slight disbelief as he continued to scan his appearance.

Compared to the last time he had seen him, he was now thinner and had a bit more muscle; his light mustache stubble was now a full goatee stubble, which admittedly fit him well; and his clothes were fitted to his build and he had even grown a tiny bit taller, which was a little surprising considering he was in his late teens years last time they met as well.

"Dang, man! Look at you! You've really managed to clean yourself up since I last saw you!" Dipper told him with a smile. Though recalling his sister's talk about cleaning up from earlier and seeing Thompson, of all people, to have improved significantly over the years made him feel more judgemental of himself. "Wow, maybe I do need to listen to Mabel..." he said under his breath. "Anyways, how have you been, bro?"

"DON'T YOU 'BRO' ME!" Thompson scolded as he walked up to Dipper, which prompted him to back up in slight unease. "NOT AFTER WHAT YOU DID!"

The smooth and deepened voice that he had maintained when talking with his other friends before had completely dropped at that point, and he was shouting with the old raspy voice he was known for four years ago. Not that Dipper was ever able to tell the difference.

"Huh? What'd I do?" Dipper questioned, confused as to what he was talking about.

"I SAW YOU KISS WENDY!" Thomson accused, pointing his finger at him. "I SAW IT!"

"WHAT?!" Dipper shouted, his face reddening as he processed this accusation. "I didn't kiss her! I mean... we almost did... but it was her who initiated it! And then I pulled away! There was no kiss!" Then he couldn't help but wonder something at that moment. "Hold on... why do you care? ARE YOU TWO DATING?!"

"WHAT?! NO!" Thompson denied, his own face flushing red now. But then he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "But I wish we were!"

"No way... you have a crush on Wendy now?!" Dipper asked, eye twitching in shock.

"I've always had a crush on Wendy!" Thompson confessed.

---

[5th Grade]

"Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!" chanted a young Robbie, Lee, and Nate to a young Thompson, who was chugging down an entire bowl of punch at a party.

Thompson eventually finished the entire bowl, to which he proceeded to burp loudly, which was met by a bunch of laughter from the three boys. His stomach felt liquid and he felt very sick inside, but seeing the three laugh brought a smile to his face.

"Man, you sure are crazy, Thompson!" Nate said, wiping a tear from his eye after laughing so hard.

"Crazy stupid," Robbie jabbed before laughing again. "Where's everyone gonna get their punch from now?"

Thompson hiccuped, to which he clenched his uneasy stomach. "Aw, man..."

"I'm sure they can still get it from Thompson in a few minutes," Lee joked, which got laughs from Robbie and Nate.

Thompson simply stood and took the cruel jokes, rubbing his belly with his hand. Beside him, Nate's eye caught a young girl with purple hair talking to a redhead girl with pigtails beside one of the snack tables which wasn't too far from where the guys were standing.

"Yo, is that Tambry?" Nate asked, pointing her out to the other guys.

"Yeah," Lee confirmed as he looked over at her. He then turned to Nate and gave him a look. "Why are you asking? Do you have a crush on her?"

"What?" Nate questioned, his face reddening. "Pfft! No way, man! She's just in my class. Might need to ask her for homework later…"

Thompson's attention shifted from Tambry over to the redhead girl with pigtails who she was talking to. A quick glimpse at her face as she turned to the side for a moment was enough to temporarily take away the sick feeling in his stomach. As he looked on at her, he found himself smiling with wonder and interest.

"W-Who is she talking to?" Thompson asked the guys while keeping his gaze on her.

"That's her friend. They sit together at lunch all the time," Nate told him. "I don't know her name though. I've never met her."

Thompson thought for a second that maybe he could take this as an opportunity to be the frontman and introduce himself and the others to her. He raised a timid finger up for a second. "Maybe I can-"

"Well, if you want to get a name, you go and get a name!" Robbie cut off, not even noticing that Thompson was talking. He stood up in front of the guys and cracked his knuckles in preparation. "Watch and learn, boys."

He proceeded to smoothly walk up to the girls, the other three watching closely. The two girls were completely unaware of him as he walked up right behind Wendy.

"Hey there, ladies," Robbie greeted in a smooth voice. "Name's Robbie. And you are…?"

The girls either ignored him or continued to remain absolutely unaware of his presence, as neither of them even gave him even a hint of acknowledgment and continued on with their conversation. Robbie looked confused for a moment, to which he heard the three guys soon laughing behind him at his failure.

"Oh yeah! I'm learning a lot, alright!" Lee cracked through his laughter.

Robbie was immediately irked by his friends laughing at him, to which he turned back to the young redhead and wrapped his hand around one of her pigtails, and tugged down a few times, to which her face displayed a look of pure irritation and pain. Tambry looked up in shock as he did this.

"Hey? Did you hear me? I asked for your name!" Robbie told her as he continued tugging her pigtail.

POW!

Nate, Lee, and Thompson gasped as they watched the redhead proceed to deck Robbie right in the face, sending him sliding on the ground back to the three. The punch garnered a lot of attention from the rest of the fifth-graders at the party and a lot of heads turned in his direction. He held onto the side of his face in pain as he lay on the ground.

"Name's Wendy Corduroy, you idiot!" the redhead girl called out as she looked on angrily at Robbie.

"You alright, Robbie?" Nate asked as he and Lee came to his side and tried to help him up.

Thompson just stood back and smiled at seeing Robbie get his just deserts, knowing he'll learn from this and hopefully stay away from Wendy now.

Robbie groaned in pain for a second as he sat up, to which he soon started to smile. "That was... awesome."

"Awesome?!" Thompson questioned, his smile fading away in an instant. "That girl just nailed you in the face!"

"I don't care," Robbie said as he gazed at Wendy. "I call dibs on her."

"After that punch?" Lee asked, looking back and forth between the two hesitantly. "Yeah... she's all yours, dude."

"Yeah, for sure," Nate nodded in agreement "Though, you might wanna do something about that chipped tooth she gave you."

"Chipped tooth?!" Robbie said, putting a hand on the side of his mouth in panic. "Aw, man! I hate the dentist! I don't wanna go there again!"

Needing to see this tooth for himself, he quickly pulled himself from the ground and started running away to find the nearest bathroom. He found Thompson right in his way as he stood up, and proceeded to push him out of the way by shoving him in the stomach.

"Move it, punch bowl cleaner!" he shouted as he sped past him.

Thompson's punch-filled stomach didn't take too kindly to Robbie's shove, and he began to feel incredibly nauseous again. "Oh no! I'm gonna need that punch bowl again!"

He ran a few feet before retching and proceeding to empty out all the punch he drank onto the floor in front of everybody. Most of the fifth-graders, including Lee and Nate, watched in disgust but slight amusement. Wendy wasn't very amused at all, however, and watched with guilt and disgust. Although right beside her, Tambry watched with pure amusement, even taking out her flip phone to take a picture.

"So gross!" she said as she looked on at the picture she took, to which Wendy turned to her and gave her a look. Tambry caught this look and gave her a confused shrug. "What?"

---

[Present]

"Ever since grade school, I've liked Wendy!" Thompson continued to explain to Dipper as he paced around the hall. "But Robbie got in the way and called dibs! And as you know, in fifth grade, calling dibs meant everything! So I had to keep my crush a secret from everyone and accept that Robbie was the only one allowed to go out with her. But then... they broke up! And Robbie started dating Tambry! That's when I realized that I had hope! That I was finally allowed to have my crush on Wendy! And from that point forward, I decided to start working on myself: working out, getting better eating habits, actually showering!"

Ouch, Dipper thought to himself upon hearing that last part, once again feeling a sense of judgment for himself.

"I was gaining confidence! My friends were actually starting to respect me, and I didn't have to do dumb things to keep everyone together anymore! The old Thompson was in the past! For once in my life, things were actually starting to look up! And I thought that I might actually have a shot with Wendy..." Thompson then turned to Dipper and gave him a look of anger as he started to approach him slowly. "That was until you got in the way!"

"Got in the way? Dude, I told you! We didn't kiss!" Dipper tried to defend himself, slowly backing away.

"Even if you two didn't, for some reason she likes you now!" Thompson said as he continued marching up to him. "And don't think I've forgotten your crush on her four summers ago…"

"My cru- how did YOU know about that?" Dipper asked. "I never told you about that!"

"But Robbie did," Thompson revealed. "He told everyone except Wendy when he got his new phone to replace the one that you broke!"

"Look, Thompson! I understand where you're coming from, but I swear I didn't do anything!" Dipper said, standing still to try to clear things up with Thompson. "It's not my fault that Wendy suddenly likes me! Hell, she's never even hinted at liking me before today! And besides, I don't have a crush on her anymore!" He quickly realized he wasn't sure if that statement was entirely accurate. "Well, actually... I don't even know how I feel about her..."

"So you do still like her!" Thompson accused further as he towered over him, to which Dipper found his back hitting a wall behind him, no longer having room to run should he need to.

"That's not what I meant!" Dipper clarified, growing slightly afraid. "I was just saying that I don't know what to do about her!"

"Well, I know what I'm gonna do about you!" Thompson shouted as he raised a fist in the air, prompting Dipper to hold his arms out over his face in preparation. "I hope you're ready. Because I'm gonna…"

Suddenly, Thompson caught a whiff of the air, inhaling a bit of Dipper's cologne within close proximity of him. His eye began to twitch as he began to react to the scent.

"I'm gonna…" he repeated as his eyes began to flash with pink sparkles for a moment. As the effects settled in, he looked back down at Dipper. "I'm gonna... HUG YOU!"

Dipper's fearful stance with him holding his shaking arms defensively over his head stopped as he took a second to process his words. He stopped shaking and raised an eyebrow as he turned to look back up at Thompson. "Wait... what?"

"COME HERE, YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD!" Thompson shouted ecstatically as he wrapped his arms around Dipper and hugged him tightly, even lifting him up from the ground.

Dipper was so confused at that moment, though still wasn't thrilled by the fact that Thompson was hugging the air out of him. "Alright, I think I would've much rather preferred a punch in the face compared to this!"

"Why would I do that?" Thompson asked, genuinely shocked by the presumption. "I love you, man! I'd never do anything to hurt someone as frail and noodle-y as you!"

"What the hell?!" Dipper asked, now officially 100% weirded out by what was happening.

He put a hand on Thompson's face and pushed him away, to which he promptly let go of him. Dropping on the floor, Dipper quickly crawled a good distance away before standing back up on his feet. He got into a defensive stance, looking over at Thompson and preparing himself for any move he might try to make next.

"Dipper?"

He turned to his right and saw Wendy suddenly walk into the hallway, which made his skin go cold.

"Wendy… uh…"

"What's going on? Are you okay?" she asked as she started walking over to him.

"Back off!" Thompson commanded as he walked up to her. "I saw you two together earlier! You had your chance, but Dipper's mine now!"

"Huh…?" Dipper questioned, his confusion growing by the minute.

"No, he's not! Dipper likes me!" Wendy said, trying to push him aside, but to no avail. She glanced over his shoulder and right at Dipper. "Right, Dipper?"

"Uhh…" Dipper said, unsure of how to respond.

"There you are, whatever your name is!" said the brown-haired girl with the punch stain on her top that Dipper encountered earlier, whom upon sight, he realized he had completely forgotten about until now. "I was wondering when you'd come back for that dance you owe me."

"Oh God…" he said to himself, not looking forward to what he felt was about to happen.

"Dipper, who is she?" Wendy asked suspiciously.

"She's the girl I ran into that I was telling you about over at the punch table," he explained awkwardly to her.

"And she doesn't even know your name?" Wendy questioned, giving him a curious look.

"Hey! I'm still qualified enough to be loved by him!" the girl defended, giving Wendy a look of her own.

"Well, as someone who actually knows Dipper's name and doesn't have a blatant stain in the middle of my shirt, I can say that I'm even more qualified for his love," Wendy argued, getting in the girl's face.

"Both of you are wrong!" Thompson stepped in. "He called me his bro earlier! Therefore, I'm the one who's most qualified for Dipper's love!"

"Well, which one of us do you love, Dipper?" the girl with the stain asked as she turned to him, getting tired of this nonsense. "And explain why it's me?"

"She didn't even know your name a minute ago! You can't possibly love her!" Wendy shouted as she shoved the girl in the arm.

"I don't love any of you!" Dipper bluntly told them all. "Well, I mean, I might... MIGHT... admire one of you, but love is out of the question!"

"Well, which one of us do you admire then?" Wendy asked, raising an eyebrow. This prompted the three to break into a mix of various shouting over one another claiming that it was them who he had admired.

"Oh man, I really shouldn't have said that..." Dipper said to himself, instantly regretting his previous statement.

"Hey, there he is!"

As Dipper looked up, his eyes bulged as he spotted a large number of people who had suddenly entered the bathroom hallway all at once. It took a minute to process the fact that the people were about half of the entire party guests who came to the Shack. Now they all stood beside Wendy, Thompson, and the stained-top girl, all in a line staring directly at him.

"Is that Dipper?" a voice called out from the crowd.

"Looking good, Dipper!" another voice called out.

"I don't know who you are, but I love you Dipper!" yet another voice called out.

"Be with me, Dipper!"

"No! Don't be with her, be with me!"

"I'd be a better girlfriend than any of these people!"

"Don't listen to her! I'd be a better boyfriend than all of these people!"

"Tad Strange can assure that he would be the superlative choice for a romantic partner!"

"Shut up, Tad! Be with me instead, Dipper!"

The crowd of people soon became a mix of indistinguishable calls and pleas for Dipper to be their boyfriend or girlfriend. And Dipper was weirded out the whole way through. He didn't know over half of the people in the crowd or those who called his name. Some of them he swore he had never even seen before. Yet all of them were in love with him?

"What the hell is happening?" Dipper asked himself fearfully as he began backing up away from the crowd, who continued to move closer toward him. "Who are these people? Why do they love me? Why do they know me? WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

"STOPPPPP!" a sudden, familiar voice called out from the crowd that managed to get everyone to quiet down.

Within a moment, Dipper spotted none other than Derrick popping out from the front of the crowd, rushing to stand in front of everyone else, which stopped them from moving further.

"ALL OF YOU! STOP IT!" Derrick shouted further.

"Derrick!" Dipper called out happily, full of relief. "Oh, thank God you're here! Dude, I have no idea what the hell is going on!"

"It's alright, man. I'm here to end this," Derrick assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He turned back to the crowd. "Everybody get this through your fat skulls! Dipper doesn't love any of you! And absolutely none of you are qualified to receive his love!"

"Thank you!" Dipper said gratefully.

"The only person in this room qualified to receive his love is me!" Derrick continued.

Dipper's eyes bulged. "What?"

"What?!" questioned many people from the crowd.

"That's right! I'm the only one qualified!" Derrick shouted as he wrapped an arm around Dipper's neck, which now made him visibly uncomfortable. "Unlike most of you, I've known Dipper for four years! And I've always been there for him! I saved him from bullies! I gave him advice! We've helped each other a ton throughout the eighth grade and throughout all of high school so far! And even when the summer's over, we'll still be together in Piedmont! I've always been there for Dipper, and he'll always be there for me! I love Dipper... and Dipper loves me! And only me!"

There was a brief silence for a moment as Dipper stared forward, absolutely weirded out and confused by everything that was currently happening. He glanced around at different people in the crowd as the silence continued, expecting there to be some sort of response, but everyone just stood there.

"Tad Strange objects," Tad said, breaking the silence as he raised his hand up into the air while displaying his usual nonchalant expression. His words got a rise out of the crowd and everybody started shouting angrily over one another again.

"I WANT DIPPER!" cried the voice of Mr. Poolcheck, who pointed over at him.

At that moment, the crowd went nuts and began running toward Dipper. In reaction, he threw Derrick's arm off his neck and began running down the hall leading into the rest of the Mystery Shack, trying to get away from this nightmare of his as fast as he could. Derrick had merged with the crowd in their chase after him down the hall, everybody screaming and shouting for him.

Within moments, the bathroom hallway was empty. Eventually, the bathroom door finally opened up, to which Ryland cautiously poked his head out, looking around for the commotion that he was hearing from inside before. He then proceeded to slowly and casually walk out.

"If, uh, anyone needs to use the bathroom now... it's free!" he called out through the supposedly empty hall, watching his surroundings with caution. "If anyone… wants it…"

Realizing there was no one around, he figured that it would probably have been better to just abandon the scene before it was too late.

"I'll... I'll just be on my way…"

---

Bit of trivia: Alex Hirsch said in a Reddit AMA that Robbie and Wendy met at a 5th-grade party, and Wendy punched Robbie in the face after pulling her pigtails. So that flashback is actually an adaptation of that whole incident for those who weren't aware.

Anyways, had some good fun writing this one. Hoping it's as much fun for you all to read.

-Absolute Rift

(Chapter updated as of December 29, 2022)