"It's a Deal." A Gravity Falls AU

Chapter 1: "Where am I?"

Dipper had suddenly woken up panicked, unsure of where he was. He had looked around, he was in.. The shack? No, no.. He could've sworn he was in town a second ago facing Bill with Ford, why was he here now? He looked over to see Mabel sleeping in her bed peacefully with Waddles by her side. He checked the time, it was 7AM.

The house seemed.. Quiet.
Too quiet.

Dipper got up and roamed around, nothing looked off or wrong, it just didn't feel right.. Dipper walked into the kitchen to find Ford sitting at the table.

Ford put down his journal and looked up at Dipper, "Ah, good morning, Dipper! I didn't think you'd be awake right now, considering it's pretty early."

"Grunkle Ford? You're okay?"

Ford gave him a confused look, "Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"I- I don't know, I just.. It's nothing."

"Come sit, I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

Dipper sat at the table, still very anxious and unsure of what was going on or what had happened, was it all just a bad dream? Was Ford really okay?

"So, I talked to your parents about you being able to stay here to be my apprentice. They were ecstatic and agreed almost immediately!"

"W-wait.. Really? I can stay here?" Dipper paused for a moment, "But what about Mabel? I can't leave her behind.."

"Don't worry about Mabel, they said she can stay here with you as well, you guys can still spend time together, you won't be apart."

Dipper was surprised, he didn't know his parents would allow him to take up an offer like this. "That's.. Great! When will we get started? When is our next adventure? Are we gonna document what we're gonna find?"

Ford chuckled, "Slow down Dipper. I know you're excited but I really need you to listen."

Dipper sat still keeping his mouth shut, anxious about what Ford had to say.

"Since you fell asleep early last night, I patched the rift myself." Ford pulled out the rift from a bag on the floor, "As I told you, the glue will prevent it from cracking any further and our dimension is safe! Now, for what I want to do next.."

Dipper thought to himself, "I fell asleep? Is that really what happened? I could've sworn it was real.."

Ford paused to take a deep breath. "I need more materials from the spacecraft so we need to go back, I plan on building another portal but I promise this one won't be used for evil." Ford chuckled.

"What's this portal for?"

"I'll get into the details later but first we need to discuss more about the things we need to gather."

Ford and Dipper discussed the things they needed to get for the portal. Eventually they had to put their conversation to a halt because of Stanley and Mabel barging in for breakfast.

Later, Dipper went down to the basement to Ford again. He needed to talk to him about his "dream.."

"Hey, Grunkle Ford?"

"Yes, Dipper?" Ford had been writing in his journal, Dipper had wondered what he was writing down but he didn't bother to think about it as of right now. "You know, you shouldn't be down here."

"I know, I know I just.." Dipper paused for a moment to think about what to say, "Can.. Can I talk to you about something? About a dream I had?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"It was really weird. I had a dream that we never got to patch the rift and that Bill got ahold of it. He started Weirdmageddon and Mabel got taken.. It was just you and me but then you got captured by Bill."

Ford paused. They stood in silence for a moment, not a comforting silence, but just an awkward one. One that sent a chill down his spine. "That must've been quite the dream. Thankfully that didn't happen though, right?" Ford chuckled then shooed him away, going back to writing in his journal.

"That's.. That's all you have to say? You don't think that's weird? That it might be a sign for something? I'm just so confused because it felt so real.."

"The mind is a scary and confusing place, Dipper. Don't let it get to you."

"Uh, I guess.. Thanks Grunkle Ford.." Dipper had gone back upstairs.

Something didn't feel right.. There's no way Ford would just brush something like that off like it was nothing, especially if it was about Bill right? No, no.. he was just overthinking it. It was normal, everything he said was a normal reaction. Quit overthinking it!

Later, Dipper had been hanging out with Wendy after work. They were having a regular conversation sitting on the roof of the shack.

"You know, Dipper.. Can I tell you something?"

Dipper gave her a confused look, "Of course, what is it?"

"I've been meaning to ask you this for awhile but I could never find the right words to say. I was wondering if you might wanna go out with me?"

"W-wait.. What? Seriously?"

"Yeah man! You're really nice and caring and I like you a lot.."

Dipper froze. This wasn't.. Right.

"But, last time I confessed you said you were too old for me.."

"I changed my mind. Wanna give it a chance?"

Dipper looked at her, then realized.

"You're.. You're not Wendy."