In response to a review made by RasenganFin, you. Were. RIGHT! The Christmas That Almost Wasn't but Then Was from the Simpsons is the perfect terrible Christmas. Thanks to you and everyone for the reviews. Have a very merry Christmas to all you viewers of this fanfic, and a Happy New Year.

Gravity Falls: The Pines Meeting

Chapter 9

Sunday, December 23rd, 2012

Wendy had to admit, the Pines family knew how to throw a killer Christmas party. Within a few days of decorating, the entire Pines home was covered top to bottom with angles, shiny coloured lights, snowflakes dangling from the ceiling, a warming fireplace with stockings hung over it, mistletoes everywhere, a massive tree all nicely decorated with presents resting under it; and that was only half of it. There was Christmas music playing over the house, a massive buffet filled with all sorts of holiday goodies, (a lot of it store-bought), snowman, Santa Claus and reindeer decorations Christmas displayed outside on the lawn and roof. All topped off with a classic Christmas wreath hung up on the front door outside. Yep, this place was more decked out than anything seen in all those holiday Christmas movies Wendy had watched with the Pines family during the holiday break, (and they'd shown her pretty much almost all of them).

It was further added by the fact that the party host's, Sherman, Sheryl, Mabel, Dipper, Waddles, and Wendy, were all wearing Santa styled outfits; with Waddles even having a glittery Santa beard, (courtesy of Mabel). And to top off the icing on the cake even further, it just so happened that it had begun to lightly snow around the time guest were starting to arrive.

"Bam! Grenda's in the house!" Grenda announced as she slammed the door open and marched into the house with a tasty looking gingerbread man sweater.

"Candy too." Wearing a candy cane sweater, Candy came into the Pines house right behind Grenda.

"GRENDA! CANDY!" Mabel squealed delightedly at the sight of her BFFs.

The three eagerly made their way towards one another and embraced in a big old hug; which was followed with Mabel asking her friends some very important questions. "What are you doing here? How'd you get here?"

"Your mother invited here so we had to come," Candy explained. "I mean a chance to hang out with our BFF. How could we not? And as for how-"

"You already know about how I happen to have a very, very richly rich boyfriend who easily got us a ride from Oregon, all the way to California," Grenda finished enthusiastically. "Speaking of…"

Suddenly a warm breeze blew into the Pines house, signally the arrival of Grenda's extremely rich boyfriend.

"Entering, his highly rich lordship, Baron Marius von Fundshauser," announced an unknown voice as said Baron, wearing a simple reindeer sweater of the finest materials, arrived in such glamorous way. Like, to everyone who saw him walking in the front door, it looked like an angel was coming straight from heaven. No one, (especially a secretly jealous Candy), could keep their eyes away from him while he walked in, greeted everyone inside, and handed his gift over for the secret Santa to Sherman. There was no debating it, the Baron sure knew how to make an entrance.

"I know Marius is Grenda's boyfriend, whom I love like a sister, but I must steal this glorious man away from her," Candy said in Korean.

As soon as everyone snapped out of their trance, the greetings were all done between the three new arrivals and the Pines family, more guests began to arrive; all of them wearing Christmas sweaters. Among these guests included Sheryl's parents, Jones and Elizabeth Stones, (both wearing candle sweaters), Sherman Pines Sr., (in a killer looking snowman sweater), his wife Grace Pines, (wearing a snowflake sweater), and many other relatives and friends of the Pines family such as Stela, (wearing the dead reindeer sweater she'd been always wearing every Christmas since her late teen years).

"So you're the Wendy girl whom Mabel and Sheryl have told me so much about these last few months huh?" Stela asked after Wendy had hung up the former's coat.

"Yeah…yeah, that's me," Wendy attempted to say in her most laidback voice as possible. Unfortunately for her, she was failing terribly at it. This was because, from the way Stela had spoken to her, it was clear that she'd indirectly said that Mabel, and even perhaps Sheryl, referred to her as more than a visiting "friend." Not only this but Wendy met Stela years ago when travelling back in time to the party where the twins were conceived at. It was during this party that Wendy had revealed how she'd almost kissed Dipper to not only Sheryl but also Stela as well. There was a pretty good chance that Stela might remember this if she recognized her. As a result, Wendy couldn't help feeling not only extremely awkward but also incredibly nervous.

Dipper felt exactly what Wendy was feeling, for similar, and different reasons as her. The fact that his mother and sister and talked about Wendy so much, more than they should have did not settle in well for him. Plus she's was bound to have heard about hers and Dipper's "incident" in the closet at said party. He'd been fortunate enough as it was to avoid any punishment, much less a scolding from either of his parents. But if word got out to everyone attending the party happening right now... Dipper couldn't begin to comprehend what sort of embarrassment he and Wendy would have to go through. It might even spread outside the party to perhaps, everywhere. He and Wendy might not even be able to hang out anymore due to all the humiliation. If not for that, then Wendy's father would surely give him a beating way worse than all the stuff that the incredibly strong lumberjack had ever destroyed.

Both teen's worried thoughts pushed aside for a sec when they heard Stela ask, "Have we met before? You look familiar for some reason." The worried/nervous feelings that Wendy and Dipper were currently having right now... well those feelings just intensified by a thousandfold.

At that moment, before the conversation could escalate further, (to Dipper and Wendy's luck), the last two remaining party guests arrived. Thus diverting any, and all attention away from the two teens.

"Ho, ho, ho! It's time for some non-refundable fun," Stan Pines called out from the front door where he, (while holding a terribly, wrapped present), stood with his twin brother Ford Pines, (both wearing holiday-themed sweaters of reindeer stealing and mixing chemicals).

"Hey, Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford," Dipper and Mabel simultaneously said while bumping fists with their great uncles.

"Hey, kiddo. Hey Mabelangelo," Stan said back.

"Greetings you two," Ford said back as well.

"Nice sweater Mr. Pines," Wendy commented, referring to the one worn by her former boss.

Seeing his former employee leaning against the stairway, Stan walked up to her and stretched out his hand. "Wendy, you not slacking off too much at the old Mystery Shack? You know even Soos has his limits for slackers; regardless if they're his friends."

Yeah, Stan knew all about Wendy sneaking off during work hours to go goof off on the roof. He never did bother to punish Wendy for it because he knew she'd just keep doing it till he'd have to fire her, and that was a no-win situation. There weren't a lot of people who would work for the little wages he was paying. So he just ignored it unless he needed her to be working and there was no one else who could do the job. Then he'd just yell at her till she worked. Now, of course, Wendy had a new boss, who wasn't a jerk, who didn't like to yell, and who she didn't find annoying. Which helped motivate her to not slack off as much as she used to under Stan.

"Sheesh, chill out Stanely. I doing enough work to earn my paycheque and keep Soos from having to scold me," Wendy said assuringly. "Besides unlike you, Soos pays way more, offers longer breaks, and is more reasonable for a boss."

That last part, about being reasonable, kind' a ticked Stan off. "Yeah, no offence there," he said sarcastically in response.

"Alright, enough work chit chat," Sheryl pipped in. "It's time to officially get this party started!"

Everyone immediately broke into a round of cheers upon hearing this.

"WAHOO!"

And that was when the party truly began.

One hour later...

So far the party had been going well. Everyone enjoyed the snacks, the decorations, and stuff. Things got juicy when Ford and Stan had a nice long chat with their older brother, Sherman Pines Sr.; who'd been hating the former for forty years while grieving for the latter's "supposed" death for the last thirty years. He, like the rest of the Pines family, hadn't known about Ford getting thrown into a portal and Stan faking his death while taking his twins' identity for thirty years till he successfully rescuing said, twin. After hearing his brother's explanations, Sherman seemed pissed off with being kept in the dark. Though with some encouragement from his family, (all of whom had let what had happened go), he managed to forgive both his brothers and put all those family issues that had been around for decades aside. Following this, Sherman decided it was time for one of the planned holiday party games.

"Alright everyone LISTEN UP! It's time for the Secret Santa gift exchange."

Upon hearing this Stan immediately spat out the eggnog he'd been drinking, right in front of Dipper. Not caring, however, as he was too busy shouting excitedly, "Yes! FINALLY! WAHOO! It's about TIME! I've been waiting to play this game since Sherm Jr. told me about when he invited me and Sixer last week."

"Huff, I didn't know you liked Secret Santas so much Mr. Pines," Wendy remarked.

"Uh hello, it's a game where you're allowed to steal," Stan pointed out to his former employee. "It's like heaven but you don't have to die, or do nice things to get in."

"Yeah I'm just gonna go ahead and point out the fact that our father, (the man who gave Stan life and raised him), was much, much worse," Ford revealed in an attempt to defend his younger twin.

"Anyway, enough talk about crooked relatives," said Sherman. "Before we begin, I'll go grab my Santa hat from the kitchen. I already filled it with numbers for us to randomly assign who goes when. Be right back."

Later...

The game was a lot of fun. Everyone got something nice as an early Christmas gift, and no one could say their gift was terrible. Stan, of course, had the most fun as he got the best gift of all. Earlier, before being dragged over to speak with his oldest brother, Stan had gone to the kitchen and found the hat with all the numbers for the Secret Santa game. While everyone was occupied with the party, Stan looked through the hat until he found the last number and took it.

When Sherman returned after getting the hat and instructed people to pull a number out of it, Stan was the first to do this. Having hidden the last number in his sleave, Stan used a trick a special trick he'd learned from his con years, that made the illusion to everyone that he'd grabbed a piece of paper from the hat during his turn. Along with this, when Stan first arrived, (after greeting everyone), the ex-conman had put his gift in the very back of a pile of presents so that it would be the last one to unopened when it was his turn to pick. This allowed him to learn what all the gifts were, (as they would be unwrapped upon being selected) so that he was guaranteed to pick the best gift.

Which he succeeded at. "Wahoo!" Stan hollered out as he showed off his solid gold mittens in front of everyone else. "Do I play the game well or what? Wahoo!"

"Ugh," Dipper groaned as he clutched the cruddy bobblehead of his uncle in his hands. "Grunkle Stan you can be such a pain sometimes," he mumbled to himself.

Having just heard that little complaint, Wendy, (who'd been standing right beside Dipper at the time), gently put a hand on her friend's shoulder before speaking up. "Hey don't be a sore loser Dipstick," she said in her classic, laid back sounding tone of voice.

"Sigh. Sorry, Wendy. It just seems pretty obvious that Grunkle Stan cheated," Dipper told the lumberjack girl. "I mean I can't be the only one to find it suspicious that he was the last one to go, and the last present unopened was the one he'd brought to the party."

"Relax Dips, I agree with you," Wendy said. "Remember I worked for that conman for five years. Five long years of constant, annoying, sometimes illegal, work for a guy who spent over half his life lying to everyone. Though do get too mad at your uncle about it. It's not like he's committing crimes anymore. He's just cheating at a small-time game to get a good present. At this point, there's no use doing anything about it."

Wendy had him there. "Yeah you're right," Dipper admitted. "Plus now that you bring it up, Grunkle Stan's did this sort of thing just to win simple games during the summer Mabel and I lived with him at the Mystery Shack. Now that I think about it, it's no surprise that he's still doing it."

"You got that right Big Dipper," Wendy said jokingly. Causing both her and Dipper to laugh.

The two soon stopped laughing and just stood there, enjoying one another's presence. Neither knew one knew why, perhaps it was from the joy the felt from, the humour of classic Stan, or even perhaps the pleasant Christmas music playing in the background. But for whatever the reason or another both were drawn to each other. As if they were under a spell of some kind. Neither could control it nor did they want to; instead just going with the flow of it. As the music continued playing, the two kept getting closer to one another, with Wendy even going so far as to get down on one knee so that she at eye level with Dipper. Pretty soon their faces were mere inches away from each other; almost in the same position that they were in about two weeks ago.

However, once again fate had other plans for these two. Just as they were about to kiss, the song playing in the background changed from a simple, soothing Christmas song, Let It, Snow! Let It, Snow! to a louder, pumped up song that killed the mood.

Am I Christmas blanchin',

Girl we Christmas blanchin'

I live up in a gingerbread mansion

"Ugh, I hate this song!" Wendy groaned. Lil Bigg Dawggg's newest song, Christmas Blanchin', though popular in the States, was one of Wendy's most despised songs of all time. She hated pretty much all rap songs, and rapers. To her, they never made sense. It was as if they just made up words for their songs, which in her mind, did not have any real rhythm to them. Whenever she heard a bad rap song, her mind filled with anger/annoyance as her attention would turn away from what was going on around her, ignoring what she'd been doing. Like now at this very moment as was ignoring the fact that Dipper was standing right in front of her. The latter of whom was in a state of shock upon having just now realized what they'd almost done.

Upon coming out of shock state, Dipper attempted to divert Wendy's attention from the horrible song by snapping his fingers in front of her face. "Uh... Wendy," Dipper called out.

"Uh…sorry Dipper what did you say?" Wendy asked as she snapped out of it.

It was then that she saw just how close she was to Dipper; like barely any distance between their faces, (particularly their lips). She immediately stood up and backed away from Dipper, who did the same thing as well.

"So, uh… Wanna get some eggnog?" Wendy asked in a desperate attempt to brush their "moment" aside.

"Sure, thanks," Dipper responded.

The two began to walk over towards the buffet table to grab some eggnog. Unaware of the fact that their neer kiss scene had not gone unnoticed.

"Ooooooohhhhhhh, Mabel you weren't kidding when you said they were on the verge of loverhood," Grenda remarked after seeing the whole conversation with her new binoculars. Candy just stood beside her friends in shock until she said, "There is more love between them than there is between me and all my past crushes combined."

Feeling delighted about her friend's reactions, Mabel asked, "I know right? So you want in on setting them up or what?"

The two thought about it for a moment. It was clear to them Dipper and Wendy were meant to be together. Though they also knew Mabel had promised Dipper that she would not meddle in the affairs between him and or Wendy. But that was her promise, not theirs. Besides, even if they were helping break said promise, they were doing to help bring happiness to two people who deserved love. With that in mind, neither could. As soon as this conclusion came to them both, they turned their heads to look at each other for a brief moment and give one another an affirmative glace before turning their attention back to Mabel.

"Okay I'm in," Candy said.

"YEAH LET'S MAKE THIS SHIP THOSE TWO!" Grenda shouted. Feeling extreme amounts of excitement at the idea of orchestrating a Christmas hook up.

"Alrighty then," Mabel said, a plan already developing in her mind. "Operation Christmas love is now officially in effect."

To be continued…

I hope you enjoyed part one of this Pines Christmas party.

Oh, and thanks going out to another one of RasenganFin's reviews which inspired me to add Grenda to the story.