Gravity Falls FanFiction, Falling for time.

Chapter 15: I'm Sorry...

It is Christmas Eve, 2023. Soos and Melody pop into Wendy's house while their two children boltz into the house as they give Mabel and Pacifica a hug. Dipper is in the basement with his head on the table, tired from working all night in his latest invention. Mabel asks Wendy to wake Dipper up so he can go to the liquor store to get some last minute items.

Wendy tries to argue against going down as she suspects Dipper doesn't like her anymore. Ever since she came back, Dipper has only responded in absolute silence or vague, short answers. He never breaks a smile around anyone, anymore, and Wendy feels guilty about it. However Mabel convinces her to wake Dipper up anyways as she slowly walks down the stairs. Wendy opens the door and shakes Dipper out of his sleep.

With a piece of paper on his face, stuck due to his drool, and his eyes almost shut, Dipper looks at Wendy with a tired look.

Wendy: "Mabel gave a list of things she wanted us to get last minute."

Dipper doesn't say anything, picking up his jacket and heading out the house, and into the white snow. Wendy tagged along still wearing that same old cap that she exchanged with Dipper the first summer he arrived. Dipper turns his head towards Wendy and asks why she still wears it.

Dipper: "Why are you still wearing that old thing?"

Wendy: "You mean a lot to me man. It is something I really cherish."

Dipper offered to throw it out, but Wendy kept on insisting as she grabbed onto the cap harder and harder. Noticing her resistance to throw it out, Dipper didn't bother as he continued to walk to the store. While Wendy was looking for the ingredients Mabel wrote, which happened to be ingredients for s'mores, Dipper grabbed the biggest bottle of vodka and whiskey he could find.

Putting the bottles on the counter, Dipper points at the wall of cigarettes and asks the cashier for a lighter and pack of smokes. Wendy is shocked to see Dipper this different. She never imagined Dipper to do these kinds of things and realizes there is an emotional rift between her and Dipper that he isn't expressing. As Dipper begins to light his first cigarette of the day, Wendy slaps Dipper in face, disgusted and scared.

Dipper: "What the hell was that for?"

Wendy: "You're not telling me something! I don't know what, but you have been acting so quiet and weird around me. I'm finally back and if this is how you act then I know something is wrong! The question is, why won't you tell me?"

Dipper: "You don't want to know... you wouldn't understand."

Wendy: "Dipper... I just traveled back in time and arrived in a timeline I barely know enough about. Just tell me. Please... you love me enough to owe me that right?"

Dipper sighs as tears start to swell up. He drops the bottles onto the thick snow and begins to wrap his arms around her with his face buried in her shoulders. Wendy was shocked but didn't mind. Dipper continued.

Dipper: "I'm so sorry.."

Wendy: "For what?"

Dipper: "I tried to save them... I tried to save them all."

Wendy: "Who Dipper.?"

Dipper: "Everyone! Stan, Ford, your family. Everyone! I tried everything I could to save them. But, nothing worked. I wanted to bring you back in a world where everyone was here. I wanted to bring you back to a world you could call home. When I told you Ford died from old age, I sorta lied. He died from over exhaustion. He died spending countless nights working on the time machine cause he knew how much I cared about you. He didn't deserve to die like that. He...."

Wendy: "It's okay Dipper. You did nothing wrong. You were only trying to do the right thing."

Dipper: "You don't understand Wendy. I'm the world's smartest man. If I can build a time machine, how can't I cheat death for people. How come I can understand time travel and astrophysics when I can't even save one person."

Wendy lifts Dipper off the shoulder as she holds his hands. She lays out his hands and begins to use his fingers to count the many times Dipper saved someone. Each event she mentions, she puts a finger down.

Wendy: "Dipper... you saved the world from Bill and the Wierdmageddon. You saved me back in the bunker. You saved me when I was overworking myself to death. But mostly, you saved me when no else could by doing the impossible. You saved me by building a time machine. You have done so much for me and the world. But you can't save everyone. You are not god. You are Dipper pines. You are the little kid I fell in love with and you are the man I love now. I love how you try to carry the weight on your shoulders, but sometimes, saving one person is enough."

Dipper: "Is any of this real? Am I even real? I've been gone for so long I don't even remember. I don't...

Wendy: "Dipper, everything you see is real. I'm here now. And I'm the one who should be sorry. I left without listening to you. I left you all alone. I believed I needed you, but you need me just as much. Maybe more than ever. I promise you I won't leave you this time. No summer, event, or even age is going separate us."

Wendy leans in for a kiss as the two pick up their items off the snow and head back home. Dipper isn't sure what to feel, but he does feel a lot better. Dipper makes a quick joke stating that he is now the adult of the group, now that he is older. Wendy replies by stating that Dipper still acts like a helpless child compared to her, and he agrees.

Dipper puts another cigarette in his mouth to which she slaps it out of his face.

Dipper: "Now what?"

Wendy: "I don't want you to be smoking. We separated for almost 9 years now! I want you to live a healthy life as long as possible so we can spend as much time as we can."

Dipper: "You what is the funny thing. Mabel said something similar. I kept saying I would quit when you come back. I even promised Mabel. Maybe I should uphold that promise now that you're actually here. I never believed I would ever stop smoking."

.

Wendy: " I love you Dipper Pines!"

Dipper just smiled as the two headed back home. Once they arrived, Soos's kids began to hug them both as tight as possible. The two kids were named Tiffany and Aiden. Aiden was the nerdy kid who was into mysteries just like Dipper and Ford was while Tiffany was more into having as much fun as possible and being very energetic, sort of like Mabel. Tiffany and Aiden both begged Dipper if they could open their presents, but Dipper replied that they had to wait until Christmas.

None of the kids believed in Santa Claus as they saw Dipper as the coolest person ever. Dipper was shocked to hear it from the kids and told them to go out and play in the back yard as he wanted to spend time with Wendy. The kids ran off as Pacifica, Soos, Melody, Wendy, Dipper, and Mabel sat in the living room. After lots of catching up, everyone fell asleep as Soos, Melody and their kids said the late goodbyes, heading back to the mystery shack. In the meantime, Pacifica and Mabel turned on the TV as they watched their favorite television series.

As the girls stood and watched, it was already 2 am. Dipper couldn't wait any longer as he paused the tv. Everyone was bummed out but quickly went silent as Dipper handed Wendy her christmas present. Dipper didn't expect her to come around Christmas, but decided it was better to give this present as a Christmas present rather than a birthday gift.

Wendy opened the container and found a wooden ring with a wooden rose engraved at the top. Dipper knelt down with one knee on the floor.

Dipper: "Wendy, would you marry me?"

Wendy: "I would say yes, but don't you think it is best if we waited? "

Dipper: "Wendy we can worry about a couple years later, but I waited 9 years to say this and I want to say it now."

Wendy: "Then yes. I'll marry you!"

Pacifica and Mabel screamed as Dipper and Wendy shared a deep needed kiss. After hours of binge drinking and movie watching, Dipper and Wendy fell asleep beside each other, with her ring still on her finger, holding Dipper's hand.