MISSING LINK

Chapter 4

"Ah, man. I feel bad about leaving," Wendy said, slinging her bag over her shoulder, "There's a lot of boxes..."

"Don't worry about it," M/n responded, but sighed at the number of boxes laid out in front of him, "You've got family stuff to take care of, so I'll stay behind and finish this up."

Wendy was reluctant to take his word. "Are you sure?"

M/n turned his head toward Wendy, motioning for her to leave. "Get out of here before I change my mind and make you unpack half these boxes."

"Okay, okay," she said. "I'm leaving then."

"Yeah."

Wendy opened the door and left, but not before shouting, "I owe you one!"

M/n shook his head before his gaze shifted back to the boxes. "Ugh... I don't wanna do this..." he whined to himself, hesitantly grabbing a box cutter from the counter.

He grabbed one of the boxes that were labeled 'fragile' and placed it carefully on the counter. He cut and opened up the flaps, peering inside to see more snow globes.

"Seriously...?" he muttered, picking one up.

Inside the snow globe was a figurine of Stan and a small house with a sign that read 'Mystery Shack'. His gaze then shifted to the table that was already filled with snow globes. "Who the hell buys this crap anyway...?"

He put it back and carried the box over to where the snow globes were put on display. An hour and a half later, M/n had managed to open and put away quite a few boxes. He looked over, seeing less than a dozen left.

Just how much restocking does this shop need?

As he went to open up another box, he heard the sound of footsteps. They grew louder as they got closer. He looked at the doorway to see that it was Dipper.

"Oh, sorry," he said. "I thought no one was here."

"It's fine. Dipper, right?"

Dipper nodded his head. "Yeah. Umm... Did Wendy, uh..."

"Leave?"

"Y... Yes."

"Yup," the (h/c)-ette replied. "She had family business to take care of, so she left."

"I see... Cool."

Dipper awkwardly smiled and turned around, about to walk away. M/n saw it as the end of their short conversation and went back to unpacking the box in front of him. The brown-haired male was hesitant, but he turned back around, deciding to offer his help.

"Umm..."

M/n looked back at Dipper, waiting for him to speak. "Do you... need any help?"

The (h/c)-ette smiled. "I'm sure you'd love to be doing something other than unpacking boxes with me. But, if you really want to, I'd appreciate the help."

When Dipper got closer, M/n handed him another box cutter, instructing him to just open up the boxes containing items that were needed for restocking. He then pointed toward the stack of unopened boxes.

"If the shelves are already stocked up with the item, then don't open the box. Just put it over there. I'll take those to the storage closet once we finish up."

"Okay," Dipper said, beginning to open up a box.

Silence fell over them within seconds, the only sound being the ripping of tape and the clinking of any glass items. In an attempt to break the silence, Dipper decided to ask a question.

"So, uh... How long have you been friends with Wendy?"

"About two years now," M/n replied, marking off a box.