7.

It had all started that day.

Wendy rolled up to the Mystery Shack in her Dad's beat-up SUV, tapping out a quick "shave and a haircut" on the horn. Five minutes later, Dipper was in the passenger seat pulling his seat belt on.

"Whaddya wanna do?" Wendy asked, stifling laughter as she watched him struggle with the manual window on his side. She navigated the car around an RV packed with tourists. The signs Soos planted along the main road had lured them in with the promise of "UNBELIEVABLE SIGHTS AND SPECTACLES".

Dipper finally won out against the crank on the side of the door. He propped his elbow on the window's edge and let the cool midday breeze soothe his aching eyelids. He had spent the evening prior burning the midnight oil with a book on cryptids from Ford's library. He yawned. "Wanna grab lunch?"

Wendy nodded, fingers drumming on the steering wheel as she waited to make a turn. "Sounds like a plan..." A thought crossed her mind, making her smile wistfully. "Hey, we could do a car picnic!"

"What's that?"

Wendy laughed, "Seriously? Okay, now we have to have one."

A car picnic wasn't anything particularly special. Something that Wendy's Dad used to do with her and her brothers when she was a little girl. They would grab takeout from Greasy's, then drive to the park or the lake. Manly Dan would pop the trunk and fold down the back seats, making room for the whole Corduroy brood to pile in for a noonday meal.

"I dunno dude, he just wasn't about regular picnics I guess." She shrugged as she explained it to Dipper. They were sitting in the Greasy's parking lot, ready to go partake of the old Corduroy tradition.

"So my man, where to?" Wendy asked, flexing her fingers on the steering wheel.

Dipper pondered the question a moment, "Definitely not the Mystery Shack. Too many people there."

"Okay then, no Mystery Shack. If we're talking places we don't want to go, I'm not into the lake." Wendy knew via Thompson that her old gang would be there and she did not want to open that can of worms.

"Your house?" Dipper offered, and Wendy scoffed and shook her head.

"If I bring this food anywhere near my brothers we won't see a single bite." A thought occurred to her then, "Lookout Point?"

The suggestion was past her lips before she could stop herself... Dipper's reaction did not surprise her in the least. His flushed cheeks and the way he nervously drummed his fingers on the window edge said it all... Suggesting Lookout Point had so many strings attached to it. "Uh... Sure, if it's okay with you."

He was beginning to make her nervous.

"Oh c'mon Dip, lighten up. It's not like we're going up there to make out!" Wendy laughed a little too hard and turned the key in the ignition. As she pulled out onto the road, she glanced over at Dipper- he was leaning out the window again. The deep crimson that stained his cheeks betrayed his quiet, stoic expression.

Dipper's mind raced.

It was easy to put her on a pedestal. When he was twelve, she had dazzled him- she was almost an obsession, the very thought of her kept him up at night. She was beautiful, kind and above all things, the coolest person he'd ever met.

So what had changed between then and now?

Well... This was the most time they'd ever spent together. She'd never really confided in him before, either. Maybe she never would have, if things with Tambry and Robbie hadn't gone so far south.

He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling an odd mixture of guilt and nervous joy. Part of him was glad things had turned out the way they did.

He could never admit that.

Dipper looked over at Wendy again, who was now focused on the road ahead of them. She had swept the dim fire of her hair up into a careless ponytail that left the graceful pale curve of her neck exposed. They passed through a tunnel of trees and the dappled sunlight danced on her bare shoulders. His hand twitched restlessly in his lap.

Now, more than ever before... They were friends.

Just a couple of friends going out for a drive up to the Lover's Lane of Gravity Falls.

As per its nickname, "Makeout Point", most people parked on the bluff in the twilit hours of the evening. So at two o'clock in the afternoon, Lookout Point was empty.

Once she had parked them in the shade, Wendy got out and popped the trunk. The two of them folded the back seats down and moved to the roomier part of the car. They sat cross-legged with their meal piled between them on a blanket they had spread out, and Wendy messed with the radio dial until she landed on an oldies station playing a low, sweet turn they both appreciated.

"Does anyone ever come here in the daytime though?" Dipper wondered as he unwrapped his lunch.

"We're here." Wendy offered as she grabbed a few fries from the bag sitting between them. "I used to come up here with my school friends once in a while." She busied herself digging around for napkins. She found them and offered one to Dipper which he took gratefully. "I came here with Robbie that one time."

"You guys didn't do anything though." Dipper put in.

"Yeah, we didn't. Thank god." Wendy agreed. The less said about that relationship, the better. She laughed sheepishly, "I kinda wish you didn't know so much about my love life- makes me feel like a jerk."

Dipper shrugged, "It's not that big a deal, everybody 's got a past."

Wendy arched an eyebrow, "How 'bout you?" She asked, her mouth curling into a sly grin... Dipper squirmed under her inquisitive stare, silent but obviously hiding something. "C'mon! I've overshared- make me feel like less of an a-hole and spill."

"Okay, okay, fine. I've had two girlfriends in my entire life so far." He confessed, and Wendy's eyes widened.

"At the same time?" She laughed.

"Wendy, this is me we're talking about here. What do you think?"

She raised her hands, "Hey man, you never know- I still kinda have this feeling you'll be breaking hearts someday." She settled back and finished her burger, crumpling up the wax paper and tossing it in the pile between them. "So what were they like?"

Dipper shifted uncomfortably and began clearing away the empty food wrappers. " My first girlfriend was back in seventh grade. It wasn't a big deal, we dated for two weeks after the Halloween dance and then we split up. She's a friend of Mabel's so we still hang out..." He paused, thoughtful, "Turns out we both got really awkward when we were going out. I guess we weren't cut out for each other that way. She's cool though, you'd like her."

Wendy nodded, chewing the last of her food. "That's pretty typical of middle school relationships though. I had a lot of guy friends back then as soon as we all hit puberty the shit hit the fan... That's life!" She swigged from a can of soda before continuing, "Next one?"

Dipper faltered... His last relationship had been pretty complicated. Really complicated, if he was being honest. "It didn't end well." His voice was thick with regret.

"I'm sorry, Dipper, you don't have to talk about it." Wendy offered, but he sighed, his eyes staring past her like he was searching for the right way to explain himself.

His last girlfriend had been his assigned partner on a project in history class... A cute redhead. She had even looked a bit like Wendy, as far as he was concerned, that was where the similarities ended. She wanted to do their project on the history of dark watcher sightings. She was one hundred percent sure she had seen at least one real UFO, and on his first visit to her house, they'd poured over photos of her last family vacation to Roswell.

Months passed, and the group project had ended, but they were still meeting up in the quieter corners of the library til it was time to walk her home. It was kind of spooky, how good they were together... He really liked her- almost could have said he loved her.

"...Just not as much as you like that girl you can't shut up about. It's always Winnie this, Winnie that—."

"Her name's Wendy."

What a thing to say at that moment, when he could've- should've said anything else.

The more he had told his girlfriend about his summers in Gravity Falls, the more Wendy's name came up. Inevitably, the massive crush he'd had on her did as well. It would've been impossible for Dipper to gloss over that fact, but he'd always believed that being open about it would set her mind at ease. It was in the past, after all. He hadn't realized just how wrong he was. Not until the end, anyway.

The catalyst for their breakup had been a photo of the older girl tacked up on the wall of his bedroom. Just a snapshot of her leaning on the counter of the Mystery Shack's gift shop, her cheek resting against her crossed forearms. She smiled up at the camera, and her green eyes twinkled as if she held some sort of mirthful secret you'd have to beg out of her.

When Dipper's ex noticed it, she subsequently lost interest in the subject of Gravity Falls, especially anything related to Wendy Corduroy... And of course, Dipper prattled on in blithe ignorance to her feelings about all the great times he'd had with Mabel and Wendy, about how he couldn't wait to get back to the sleepy, mysterious little town where Wendy lived. His mind raced, scrabbling to deny to himself what she had observed in him... But she'd been right. He would always carry some small torch for his old crush.

If Wendy knew that much, he'd die of shame. "I don't really want to talk about it. Sorry." He said quietly, avoiding her eyes and the strong impulse to confess everything right there and then.

"Yeah man, you think I can't hear that stuff you're constantly whispering under your breath?"

He'd done a lot to kick that habit since they had ventured into the bunker underneath the forest.

"You can't blame yourself for everything." Wendy broke through his thoughts, reaching out and patting his leg. "You're too young to get so down on yourself. I bet you have a ton of great memories from back then, and as time goes on, she will too."

"Maybe." Dipper sighed hollowly, "I hope so."

The mood had soured a bit.

Shit.

Wendy racked her brain for something- anything to help him out of his pensive reverie. She hated to see him in such a state. A moment later, it came to her. "Hey dude, I found a bunch of cool tapes at that thrift store we got your jacket at the other day! You wanna pick one to listen to?"

The crease in Dipper's brow smoothed at her suggestion, and a moment later, he was inspecting each cassette like a rare gemstone. Wendy smiled in relief. She never could have guessed that his love life would be so touchy a subject. Teen angst. She thought to herself, smiling almost nostalgically as she watched him.

After a moment's deliberation, he handed her his choice. Wendy half-crawled over the front seats to push the tape into the car stereo, grabbing a stack of old magazines out of the glove compartment to read later. When she climbed back to the trunk, Dipper was laying on his back with his head resting on the tailgate. She joined him on her stomach, searching his face for any of that melancholic past he had been so reluctant to discuss.

His eyes were closed. That might have been the first time she noticed how long his eyelashes were. It was hard to ignore the dark circles underneath. He had told her once that he liked to read in bed. She could immediately picture him in his attic bedroom, pouring over a well-worn murder mystery 'til dawn touched the treetops outside his window. He had outgrown her hat, apparently... He hadn't worn it all summer. Now as she watched him doze, she was tempted to run her fingers through the unruly shock of hair that covered his birthmark.

Wendy sighed.

"Hm?" Dipper asked, startling her. His eyelids fluttered and he looked up into her face with sleepy curiosity.

"I just feel kinda bad." She offered lamely.

"Don't. It's all past, anyway."

"Do you ever wish you guys were still together?"

Wendy immediately felt a stab of regret. She didn't want to bring it all up again- rather, some absolutely insane part of her felt a need to know his answer.

They gazed at one another... The din of the summer afternoon- cicadas buzzing loud, the sound of the town beneath the point, the rolling melody from the car stereo were all swallowed by the deafening race of her own heartbeat. Her breath stuck in her throat in anticipation of...

"No."

Wendy opened her eyes, watching the shadows of tree branches dance on her bedroom ceiling. The clock on her bedside table read 4 AM, and the events of the day played out through her mind's eye for what may have been the millionth time that night.

It had been so quick, so uncomplicated, the way his gaze flickered down to her lips. She knew in an instant that he wanted to kiss her.

It shocked her even more that she wanted him to.

With a will, she blinked, smiled, and allowed herself the small indulgence of ruffling his hair before she rolled away from him. "You look tired," She said in a soft voice she hoped didn't tremble too much, "Why not take a nap?" Without waiting to hear his reply, Wendy escaped the car with a couple of old magazines, feeling light-headed and positively electric.

The moment went unmarked between them.

But they had been close enough... she could have leaned over him, her long hair curtaining their faces against the afternoon sun. She could have threaded fingers through that silly bedhead, soothed his dark circles with gentle lips. She could have even kissed him. She chewed her bottom lip in the dark, wondering if he didn't taste like the warm midsummer day and Pitt Cola.

She had to ask herself if she had been expecting this- nay, hoping for something like this to happen when she had suggested Lookout Point in the first place.

Wendy grumbled again, opening her eyes to the same ghostly silhouettes swaying overhead. Her whole body felt so warm and she kicked the covers off with more force than was necessary. She needed some air.

Later, she sat outside in the stillness of the early morning sipping a cool glass of ice water. Her thoughts cleared as she talked herself through her predicament. Yes, fine, she had the smallest crush on Dipper Pines. Big deal. She had always admired him! The only difference between then and now was physical. He was taller, and she liked taller men. His voice was deeper, and to top it all off, he was getting that Pines family jawline she had always idly appreciated in Grunkle Stan and Ford. Most important of all, he was her friend. Maybe even her best friend... And still too young for her, and too good to be taken advantage of... and...

And...

Wendy frowned out at the dark of the Gravity Falls Forest. Even with all its dark mystery, the woods had never frightened her. She had grown accustomed to that unknown at a very early age. However, this... infatuation completely set her teeth on edge. She took a big gulp of ice water and groaned miserably as brain freeze descended on her.

Don't go there. Not now… not ever.

But once she had acknowledged her feelings, it became hard to ignore them... and it became nigh impossible to ignore the ways in which Dipper changed since that day in the car. They didn't hug anymore. Now, they parted company with long lingering embraces that left her skin prickling deliciously. They held hands when they were alone, watching television, and her toes curled when she felt his thumb caress her knuckles in the dark.

But every touch or gesture came with that resounding echo:

We can't. We can't.

She didn't. And he never pushed it. At the risk of being dramatic, Wendy likened this state of affairs to torture, and so she tried her hardest to do friendly things with Dipper. Mabel also became a much-appreciated buffer between the two of them for the rest of the summer. She also sure as hell wouldn't suggest going to Lookout Point again, though the temptation was always there.

Finally, blessedly, summer ended. Dipper and Mabel were saying their goodbyes to everyone that late afternoon at the bus depot. Wendy's eyes met Dipper's as he hugged Soos, her heart tightening in her chest at his rueful smile. He approached her soon afterward.

"Thanks." She mustered. It was hard to look at him, and her cheeks bloomed pink in defiance of pale Irish skin. Cursed genetics.

"For what?" He asked softly. She laughed, and it sounded wavered as though she might cry.

Wendy cleared her throat. "You really saved me this summer, you know?" She rubbed her forearms and dropped her gaze to her shoes, hoping that somehow he would miss the way her face burned with nervous embarrassment. She couldn't look at him, or else he'd know everything- all the secret longing she'd carefully bottled up threatened to come out right then and there.

Then Dipper grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, and she could feel his nose and lips buried in the crook of her neck, almost as if they burned her there. Wendy's breath hitched and her arms came together around his chest, tightening the embrace. Her eyes stung with tears at the way their bodies fit together.

I don't want this to end.

"Write me!" She barely managed in a whisper.

"Of course." His words formed against her neck and her entire body flushed. She pulled away, dizzy, and she hoped that her thin smile would be enough to convince him that she was not a complete emotional wreck. Just the same as she'd always been... Cool-as-ice Wendy Corduroy.

She let out a long sigh of relief as the bus pulled out of the depot. After it had disappeared around the curve at the end of the main road, she made a promise to herself. She would quash this pointless infatuation she had for Dipper Pines. She would put all of her focus on work... If she did that, maybe she could put away a little extra cash for after graduation.

But then the unexpected happened.

A few weeks back into the school year, Tambry texted her another certifiable essay. Only this time, it was in apology for not hearing out her side of the story that night. From there, it hadn't been too much effort to patch things up with the rest of her friends. Even Robbie had apologized and confessed that even while Wendy had been shunned for that night in the woods, talking with Tambry about the feelings that had driven his actions later had actually strengthened their relationship... By the fall of their senior year, they were all going to the homecoming dance as a group again.

Wendy managed to keep her promise to herself and opened a savings account that year, and even managed to save a little bit. Most of her paychecks went towards parties, concerts, and the like. It was her senior year, after all. She didn't want to hold herself back from making some great memories, as much as the rest of school kind of sucked.

Dipper kept his promise and wrote to her every couple of weeks. Wendy's responses were always peppered with little doodles of classmates and teachers... Most of the free time she had for writing was in study hall. None of what she had felt for him ever found its way into her letters. It seemed easier to keep things platonic on paper. She could almost forget how much she wanted him back then. He was still the same old Dipper. He would write on and on about his history classes and his friends at school. He would even surprise Wendy with a short, brightly colored note from Mabel in the envelope with his own.

One time, he sent her a letter that completely baffled her when she pulled it from the envelope. Two dollars in quarters spilled out into her hand along with a blank page. Not exactly blank, actually- there had been a single sentence printed at the top edge in his careful hand.

Read me at the arcade near the air hockey table.

She was so curious that she borrowed the car and drove over there after dinner. The place was dead, but then it was a Tuesday night, after all. Most of the arcade's clientele would be at home suffering over homework by that time. Wendy walked past old cabinets and 3D shooters to the back where the air hockey game sat. It was one of those models painted day-glo colors. For effect, the owner of the arcade had replaced the machine's fluorescents with UV bulbs.

Wendy sat on the tabletop and scanned the room... No one was around to yell at her for sitting on the equipment, so she hopped up on the table. She folded her legs akimbo and dug the letter from her coat pocket.

Unfolding it, she laughed aloud- the page wasn't blank at all! She smoothed it out over her knee as she began reading.

Hi Wendy,

First off, thanks for being my first test subject! I've been wanting to test these invisible ink pens I picked up the other day. Second of all, sorry for sending you all the way to the arcade to read this- I didn't want to completely spoil it. Enclosed you'll find $2 in quarters, so play a couple rounds of Fight Fighters if you want!

Not much has changed since I last wrote you. Piedmont's a pretty boring place, compared to Gravity Falls. I'm learning some interesting stuff in my history classes, but my math and science classes are basically a wash. I'm gonna try to keep my head above water until this semester is done. Here's hoping I can squeak by with a B-, then I won't have to think about it for the rest of the summer.

Speaking of summer break, that's where I actually have some news. I've got a summer job lined up, and it doesn't involve dressing up like a sideshow freak to impress tourists! I've been talking with Pacifica a bit and she's actually managed to convince her parents that their true ancestry is more important than their fake one (can you believe it?). They basically want me to comb through the library at their house to piece together a family history for them. So much better than being a junior lifeguard and I'm pretty sure it pays better, too.

Needless to say, I'm probably going to be pretty busy working on that, so you may not see me around the Mystery Shack as often... I hope you don't get too busy with Tambry, Robbie, and the rest, otherwise, we may never get to see each other!

Another summer arrived, and the Pines twins were back in town. Wendy wanted her last summer in Gravity Falls to be the best. Now that she didn't have to worry about classes, she could put more time in at the Mystery Shack. She even started picking up shifts at Greasy's to save that much more money. After work, the whole crew would pick her up in Thompson's van.

Even as busy as she was, she often found herself midway through writing a text to Dipper. He had been right in assuming they wouldn't see much of each other. Sometimes they worked at the Shack together, but most of the time he was at the Northwest Mansion. She knew this was normal... but then the memories would flood in. She snugly tucked into his arm as they watched late-night television, their last hug and the ache in her heart as he spoke against her skin... It would probably never happen again. She needed to believe that whatever magic they shared had passed out of her life forever.

This was simply how it needed to be.

At least that's what Wendy told herself as she turned her phone off for the tenth time. She couldn't bring herself to message him, even if she did miss him terribly. She wanted- no, needed to be responsible and work towards being independent. She told herself over and over that it would get easier with time, and a month later, she almost believed it.

Then Dipper and Pacifica started dating.

Ice Breaker

Naoko Asakura

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters! Yowza!

A/N: Helloooooo everyone. So sorry for not updating this in almost TWO YEARS! Chapter eight has been a tough one for me. I've been working on it chapter nine on and off all this time. Honestly, I think they're hard because I really don't enjoy the Dipper/Pacifica pairing. I like Pacifica as a character though, so I'm trying to be fair to her part of the story since it is a pretty big issue in the grand scheme. I have more spare time as well, and I'd really like to try and get this whole story out because I know where I want it to go... Just have to get it there. Thanks for being so patient, and I hope you've enjoyed this rewrite! I hope I've done a better job at fleshing things out and also making those spicy moments that much spicier.

PS. I have a mix I created for this story that I listen to whenever I really want to get into the right mindset for writing. Each song has inspired some part of the direction I have been/will be taking as things progress. I will probably share it somehow! Not sure. Maybe I'll make new art for this story and put the tracklist in the drawing. We shall see...

BYE!