I've got another one for you today. TMC's next chapter, Bridge, is being worked on, but in the meantime, I wrote this little ficlet. Enjoy!

He wasn't normally an emotional man. In fact, he almost never showed any form of expression nowadays. Especially with the recent near-apocalypse. But now, as he stood across from the woman he would never see again, he felt the first tears of his sixteen years burn at his eyes and tighten his throat.

The night was perfect, to an outsider. The chilled autumn breeze had entered the summer valley just like a newcomer to the town would have. The tall California redwood trees did not waver, though, staying strong like iron pillars erected towards the sky. The sherbet sky seemed to agree, stoic and unmoving with its fluffy candy clouds.

"Well." The woman across from him began awkwardly. "It's been great, man."

He nodded solemnly. "It definitely has."

The wind blew between them, not breaking their depressed stare towards each others' eyes. Something would be missing from their lives for the rest of them, they knew. They'd never known another person like the one standing three feet from them.

He sighed, twiddling his fingers and staring at his boots. He loved the girl so much. Throughout that summer, their bond had strengthened their bond to that comparable to a married couple. Daily sleepovers became a reoccurrence, stretching hours into the night spurred on by cheerful laughter and longing looks.

She didn't know how she'd live without him. He was much more than the little brother she had originally thought him as. Yes, the two and a half years that separated them had been much more of an obstacle in their younger years. But now, she knew without a doubt that she loved her partner-in-crime more than she loved anyone else. The countless days and hours of quality time with him made her realize that over the past few years. She came to the sudden realization during one of their sleepovers.

She was normally the talkative one, he recalled to himself. She started every conversation they'd ever had, from day one to day zero. Four summers of joking, laughing, surprisingly serious conversations and silent confirmations of his love for her flashed through his mind's ear like a broken record, skipping and repeating but never reaching an end.

Now, he saw, she was reduced to silence.

He broke it with every bit of slowed determination he had left. "Yeah. I'm... I'm gonna... I'm gonna miss you so much."

He was her rock. Sure, for the four summers she'd known him, he'd been more of an introvert and more awkward. He'd stuttered and tripped his way through their friendship, mishaps and mistakes dotting their relationship throughout the years. She, on the other hand, was the strong extrovert, saving him multiple times and somehow coming through with an inner toughness no man knew.

She was crying now.

"I'm gonna miss you too!" She cried, shallowly breathing through tears and sniffles. She lunged, grabbing his shoulders with no intent of ever letting go. He stumbled, shocked, but dare not leave his arms bare either. He clenched them around her in one melancholically firm hug, crying the tears he promised himself he'd never let out in front of her.

He broke for her. Now, then, and furthermore into the future, he'd broken himself on her expense multiple times. He'd messed up along the way, too. He'd been too possessive once or twice. He couldn't come up with the right words more than once. He'd even summoned a demon to keep her safe. She had to help him banish it to hell, but it was all good in the end.

The screeching brakes of the bus entered his ears like an unwanted nuisance. He had to go home. He needed to get a grip, but there was nothing to hold on to.

He pushed himself softly from her shoulder, gazing into her emerald eyes one last time before staring at her intently. She cocked her head, confused, tears still gracing her freckled cheeks.

"Goodbye..." He almost whispered, eyeing her puckered lips longingly. Her breathing hitched, and she crept closer, inching towards his face.

He moved in closer, breath having caught in his throat long before. He didn't care about the bus. The chirping birds silenced, and the wind ceased to surge. The colors of the autumn leaves behind her cascading hair grayed in comparison to her eyes and face.

They rested foreheads together, tension rising. They wanted this. No, they needed this. Both of them did. The simple look they shared gave them more than what a thousand words couldn't say. Soundlessly and wordlessly, they both shared their love for each other.

And then he broke off, their cold lips never touching.

He made his way for the bus, jaw clamped shut through the fiery pain of sadness. He turned once, giving her a silent and sullen goodbye, before soundlessly entering the dark of the bus and exiting from her life forever.

She waved from the other side of the black tinted windows, not even bothering to chase a lost cause. The bus squealed away, taking her one and only from her one last time.

"Boo!"

Stray bullets of popcorn hit the television screen as the credits rolled past. A fairly unhappy Dipper and Wendy sat on the other side of the dramatic scene. Wendy's blanket she had shrouded herself in had not protected herself from the agony of the end of the television series, and her halted tears showed her anger at the ending more than words could.

Dipper, however, chose to use his words, using a few choice expletives as he emptied the remainders of his 2-gallon bag of greased corn kernels onto her new flatscreen television. "That freaking sucked!"

"I know, dude!" She turned to him quickly. "They totally wanted to kiss there."

Dipper shoved his hand towards the black screen. "Yeah! That was crap! Why would the director do that to us! That jackass!"

Wendy stood in anger, her shroud falling from her and revealing her oversized tee and athletic shorts she wore to sleep. "I can't believe it. I won't believe it. That's not the real ending of Mystery Peaks, I won't allow it!"

Dipper sat, holding his temples. "Ohh... That whole relationship was what this entire series was built on! This entire show was shouldered by their awkward teen romance! How else would he have defeated those reincarnated Roman warriors if she wasn't beside him? Or, or the vampires?"

She crossed her arms. "I'm sending a very angry letter to 21st Decade Wolf tomorrow. 'Hello. Name's Wendy. Your show, Mystery Peaks, has ruined my life with its bullcrap ending and I request a new one where Dustin and Wynona get together.'"

Dipper laughed, hugging her leg through tired eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure that will work."

She calmed down, sitting down into her boyfriend's embrace. "Agh. Now we gotta find a new Netflix series. One that, preferably, doesn't end like a pile of steaming moose sh–"

"Calm down, Wendy." He grabbed her waist tighter, leaning into her shoulder. "We'll figure it out tomorrow."

Minutes after he fell asleep, Wendy was still staring at the empty screen, trying to figure out just what about that scene seemed eerily familiar to her. She ended up shrugging, rolling back into Dipper's sleepy embrace and settling on the notion that whatever was similar to that in her life probably had a much different ending.