6.

Things were different after that night. For one thing, Wendy's gang was officially split until further notice. She tried to avoid the usual haunts where she knew an encounter with Robbie or Tambry was only a matter of time, which was pretty easy considering they spent most of their time downtown at the arcade. She'd see Nate, Lee and Thompson on occasion, but the events of her birthday weighed heavily. The rest of the summer should have been filled with lonely days and awkward moments with those who still thought of her as their friend.

Surprisingly enough though, the rest of her summer had turned out pretty great... Dipper had seen to that.

Of course, he had always been her copilot- always down for anything, whether it was going on a run to the local thrift store or playing a merciless round of fluffy bunny against Mabel in the Mystery Shack's kitchen. Even so, Wendy could tell he was really going the extra mile to be around for her. They had gotten to a point that summer where she could just show up at the Shack without plan or invitation... She could find him up on the roof with a couple of chilled cans of soda, a book and a battered old radio, as if he knew she'd be coming over.

He'd even listen to her vent frustrations about living at home, or even more embarrassing, her dreams of moving to Portland after high school.

Wendy could remember how hard her heart beat when she had confessed that little dream aloud for the first time. It must have been at least two in the morning, because they'd been barely watching late night infomercials in the living room at the Mystery Shack.

"Do you ever think about moving out of Gravity Falls?" Dipper asked. He grabbed a handful of chips from the bowl on the floor and chewed them slowly, watching as a finely manicured hand presented an opulent dagger on the television.

Wendy chewed her lip as she watched the knife turn lazily on its mirrored pedestal. Of course she had... "Promise you won't laugh." Even as she commanded this she couldn't decide whether she should actually tell him or not. She looked over and felt her ears burn when she caught him watching her.

"Why would I?" He asked.

"I don't know. I guess I just feel weird about it..." Wendy trailed, looking down at her hands curled in her lap. "I wanna move to Portland." She reluctantly looked up to see his reaction.

He was beaming. "That's awesome! Wait- really, why would I laugh about that?"

Wendy shrugged helplessly, "I don't know man... The older I get, the weirder it sounds; wanting to move to a place just for the sake of being there." She took some chips but held them without eating them, "I don't know what I want to do with my life after high school... Hell, I don't even know if I even want to go to college, but I don't want to be stuck here playing Mom and doing the same old..." She stopped short and realized she was falling into the habit of venting to Dipper about things she would rather have kept to herself. "Sorry." She whispered roughly before shoving the entire handful of chips into her mouth all at once. Anything would do to keep herself from talking anymore.

"Please don't be sorry." Dipper replied softly. Wendy drew her knees to her chest and stared at the floor in front of her. She heard him shift- felt his arm tentatively slip around her shoulders. "You should move there if you want to." Even as he spoke, she thought of her future in Gravity Falls- her potential fate as another local trapped in a dead-end, taking care of her father and brothers for the rest of her life and never having the chance to go it alone.

"I guess I'm just scared." Wendy muttered, peering up at Dipper's face from her spot in the crook of his arm. He was just a little taller than her, now. She smiled bittersweet at this turning of tables for what seemed like the millionth time that summer. Who knew that the fearless Wendy Corduroy who had once flown through the sky on a giant flying eyeball into the proverbial gates of hell could be so afraid of her own future?

Well, that shit came easy. This, not so much.

Dipper sighed, "Sometimes I wish I could get Blendin's time tape back so that could see how everything turns out, but even then where we are in the future doesn't matter half as much as how we're going to get there..." He gave Wendy a reassuring squeeze. "You can do anything, Wendy... No matter what happens or where you go, I'll always be in your corner."

Her heart swelled as she listened to him and she couldn't help but return his embrace ten-fold, laughing as the air rushed out of his lungs from the force of her hug. "Jeez what are you, a motivational speaker? You're embarrassing me!" She wailed into his shirt. The force of her tackle sent them both to the floor.

"What, you think I wanted to watch the 3am knife show on the shopping network?" He laughed breathlessly.

Wendy scoffed as she propped her chin on his chest, "Hey, I like the knife show... I happen to record it every night!"

"..Maybe it's not so bad after all."

"I was even going to get you that one for Christmas next year!" She exclaimed, gesturing up at the screen arbitrarily. The knife on display appeared to have three sinuous blades all engraved with 90's tribal motif jutting out of a handle shaped like a serpentine dragon.

Just as they both looked up at the screen, the manicured hand appeared and pressed a hidden button which revealed a tinier knife concealed in the handle.

They both began to laugh uncontrollably until Dipper hushed them both. "Don't wanna wake everyone." He whispered. The pair of them sat up and Wendy pushed herself into the crook of his arm again. Dipper made a small, surprised sound and she turned to look up at him.

"This cool?" She put on her best casual front, but her heart tripped nervous beat in her chest, as if this wasn't the same boy who years ago, she had rejected for being too young... But it was the same Dipper Pines, and the way he blushed and stumbled over his words was so very much him.

"Y-yeah, totally." He murmured nervously, as if he hadn't been the one who had put his arm around her to begin with. Wendy turned back to the TV and fought to suppress the thrill in her heart that nearly came out in a bubble of shy laughter.

"Thanks Dip." She said, grabbing the all-but-forgotten bowl of chips on the floor. She offered it to Dipper, and he took a few.

"Don't mention it..."

"Wow, I had no idea any of this was going on."

Dipper cringed at his sister's tone and knew she was upset for not hearing more about this earlier. It was true, they shared most things, and Dipper considered her his best friend, but... "It still isn't my place to share what was going on back then." He replied sternly. "Don't tell anyone about that thing with Robbie, okay? It's in the past."

"Duuuh. Dipper, who do you think I am?" Mabel nudged him and he did feel a little guilty. Even after everything that had happened between them, he was still protective of Wendy... Maybe even more so. He sighed and pulled a pillow over his face.

The two of them were back in the attic of the Mystery Shack, sitting cross-legged on Dipper's bed. The rain poured down the triangular window, filling the room with quiet white-noise.

"Sorry Mabel..." His voice came muffled from behind the pillow.

Mabel was unflappable as she shrugged, "It's cool, so keep going! I'm all ears."

Dipper sat up and fumbled with the corner of the pillowcase, staring down at the soft cotton as he spoke, "Ever since that night... Her birthday that year, we got a lot closer. I mean, we've always been really close friends, but I guess I never realized how much she kept to herself."

"When did things change?" Mable's brow creased in worry. Guilt wriggled its way into her heart, prying into his affairs like this. Here was a side of her twin that she knew she shouldn't see... But innocent entitlement to everything that was his had opened up an old wound in his heart that couldn't be mended by her presence alone. Mabel waived these thoughts away. He needed her now, or else why would she be sitting here?

Dipper shrugged. "Maybe the whole thing with Robbie and Tambry made her feel like she couldn't really go to anyone else. I wanted to help her... Be with her whenever I could."

"You must've wanted more than that though."

Mable's words brought a flush to his face and an expression so raw that she had to look away, out the window.

A moment passed.

"We had a car picnic, one day." He began suddenly, making her jump.

"A car picnic?"

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!