When Wendy stepped onto the part of the roof where she often dodged work to be, it was briskly chilly outside. Little puffs of breeze went by, blowing her hair into her face. The sun was setting in the west, which was facing Wendy's backside, but the sky was still a stunning orange-pinkish color, fading into the blue of the night. She could see part of the moon and some of the stars through the pine trees surrounding them in the forest.
She sat down beside Dipper, handing him a can of Pitt cola. "Thanks," he said.
Wendy nodded, popping the tab on the can. She took a sip before speaking. "So I had a dream last night, and frankly, I'm not even sure if it was a dream."
Dipper opened his soda. "What about?" He took a sip.
Wendy hoped it wouldn't set him off by saying, "Bill," but Dipper practically choked on the pit of the cola.
"You mean Bill Cipher?" he asked.
"Do you know another triangle named Bill?" Wendy said rhetorically, rolling her eyes. "Yes, it was Bill Cipher."
"What'd he want? He didn't like, try to hurt you, righ—" Dipper apparently had a lot of questions, which Wendy cut off.
"Dude, dude. I'm fine. Seriously. He just wanted the journal, but... it was pretty creepy. I can't get the imagine of that stupid eye put of my head." She ran a hand through her hair. "I mean, I just don't get it."
Dipper said, "Get what?"
"I don't get why Bill would go after me for something of all people. Why not Mabel or something?"
"Well, I mean, if there's anyone Bill would want to mess with, I'm at the top of the list." Wendy could tell Dipper was trying not to have his face turn a rosy shade. "I bet he knows how I... uh, felt and now feel about you."
Wendy put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. Even though they'd covered it already, there were times when Dipper seemed unsure of how Wendy would react when he mentioned things like that. "Well, he did mention that to me, how he's read your thoughts."
"Oh my gosh," Dipper whispered, his blush deepening.
Wendy changed the subject. "Dip, why exactly does he want the journal from you?"
Dipper sighed, shaking his head. "I don't even know what I'm doing wrong, but apparently, I shouldn't know about the journals. Bill wants to destroy them. He already did that to the laptop Soos found in the author's bunker, and he literally said he wanted to get rid of the journal."
To Wendy, it made sense. Dipper had gotten so involved in the mysteries of the town, pulling a bunch of all-nighters and re-reading through the journal hundreds of times. Whether he wanted to be or not, he was a part of this now—while it meant everyone who knew Dipper was part of it too, he was the center.
"Dip, I think he just doesn't want you to become more powerful than him. He obviously knows what kind of problems people owning the journals can cause."
"Probably... ugh, of course it's all my fault. I was the one who went exploring in the first place." Dipper took another sip of his drink and then put his head in his hands. "Man, we went really off-topic."
"I know, dude." Wendy sipped her soda, then laughed. "So, you gonna comfort me or what?"
Dipper smiled and laughed a little too. He put an arm around her. "You've got nothing to worry about. Bill's gone after me multiple times, and I'm still here, perfectly fine."
"You could use a bit more sleep," Wendy suggested quietly.
"That's not the point!" Dipper told her. "Look, you're way better off in a fight against him than I am, and I've won. I mean, you can be pretty intimidating with an ax in hand. Honestly, there's really nothing to worry about. Like, it's you we're talking about. Bill can't get everything he wants all the time. Trust me, Wen... Oh..."
Wendy saw that Dipper's vision was fixated on a certain point in the air in front of them. She followed his eyes to see a familiar face—or shape, rather, which then spoke.
"Well, well, good to see you both again!"