Wendy knelt almost as frozen as the shapeshifter was, petrified with shock, fear, and astonishment; the latter mostly because she hadn't actually seen Dipper in days. Her brain was a jumbled mess of questions and concerns, half of her wanting to run away from the situation like before, and the other half wanting to just hug the brunette mystery hunter and not let go.

"H-Hey Wendy...", Dipper managed to say, glancing up at her to make sure she hadn't become even more upset with him or the situation.

"How much did you hear?", Wendy asked, a soft blush of pink starting to warm up her cheeks, thinking that she was totally caught in the moment, blurting out her feelings about the person that now stood in front of her.

"A-Almost all of it...", Dipper replied, bracing himself for some kind of retaliation, whether verbal or physical. He waited like that for a few seconds, looking back up with one eye open, expecting to see an even more furious Wendy, but was surprised, and a little concerned, to see her sitting with her back against the cryogenic chamber, her head in her hands.

Wendy sat there, covering her blushing and exhausted face, trying to think of something, anything, to say. She had unknowingly told her heart to the person it fluttered for, and all she could think about was him potentially feeling worse than before.

Her brain in that state could only picture Dipper not talking to her for the rest of the summer and leaving her behind. She could only imagine the normal chipper and bright face he had around her being replaced with a constant bitter and sad one, and it nearly broke her heart.

"A-Are you alright? I hope you didn't get h-hurt down here again...", Dipper asked, too nervous to step forward, not wanting to cross over any boundaries Wendy might need. He stood in place, looking at her, concerned.

Wendy couldn't believe it, after turning him down and causing him so much sadness, Dipper still cared about her more than anything. He hadn't even talked to her for a week and the first thing on his mind after hearing that she did share his feelings was her well-being. She couldn't keep her eyes from welling up, the floodgates opening as she cried into her hands, her body visibly jolting with each sob, sniffling.

Dipper's eyes instantly widened at the slight sounds and signs of his favorite redhead crying, immediately walking over to her, foregoing any boundaries that were set. Once he reached the redhead, he reached a hand out to her, hesitating to touch her, but eventually giving in and resting his hand on Wendy's shoulder.

The brunette didn't know the entire reason why she was crying, but it didn't matter, he just wanted to help her in any way he could. Wendy jumped a bit as she felt Dipper's hand against her shoulder, not expecting it, looking up at him, her cheeks puffy and red from tears falling against them.

Dipper pulled his hand back and a near supersonic speed, worried that he might have worsened Wendy's condition, "I-I'm sorry! I-I'll lea-"

The redhead couldn't let him go, not this time. She instantly reached her own hand out, grabbing Dipper's and pulling him down into a big, tight embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around her dork.

Dipper let out a surprised "ah!" as he was tugged down into Wendy's arms, his trademark hat falling off, a warm red blush on his cheeks as he didn't expect to be this close to her, let alone for Wendy to pull him into a hug at this moment. He didn't question it though, wrapping his own arms around the redhead, squeezing tight as he rested his head against her chest that was still moving erratically from her sobs.

Wendy just sat there with Dipper, crying into his soft chestnut brown hair, holding him as tightly as she could without hurting him. She didn't want to let him go, she thought she had already started to lose him and now that she had him in her grip, she never wanted Dipper to leave, ever.

She felt the brunette's own arms squeeze in return around her, practically feeling his desire to help her and comfort her. As the minutes passed, Wendy started to calm down a bit, helped by Dipper's gentle "shh"s and "it's okay"s, his hand rubbing against her back.

"I-I'm sorry...", Wendy finally manages to say, her voice still wobbly from the intense emotion in it.

"It's not your fault Wendy," Dipper assured her, not wanting to have her feel this bad ever again.

"B-But it is..."

"Hey, I'm the spineless dweeb who couldn't even talk to his best friend!", Dipper quickly reassured her, hoping his callback might cheer her up a little.

Wendy smiled very softly as she pulled back to see her dork's face, her arms still wrapped around him, "Yeah, but it's my fault you couldn't talk to me in the first place..."

"We both know what you were doing was the right thing, I was just too selfish to see how much I was hurting you by not being around you...", Dipper replied, averting his eyes from the redhead holding him.

"Dipper, y-you heard me just now, it was the "right" thing, but it didn't feel right for me!", Wendy said. Dipper brought his eyes back to Wendy's, looking into the deep glimmering green they were.

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"Dork, I mean that... I do like you, like, a lot, dude. Like, more than a lot of other people, as much as you like me, man," Wendy said, her body shaking a bit from anxiety left over from crying and from telling Dipper to his face, his actual face, how she actually felt about him.

Now it was Dipper's turn to be speechless, his eyes widening as his brain tried to decipher the perfectly uncoded words that Wendy just said.

"Honestly, I wanted to tell you then and there that night after the bunker. But, I knew if that if people found out about us, they would freak out. You have enough stuff to deal with, dude.", Wendy explained, wiping a few tears from her cheek.

"Y-You... like me?", Dipper managed to say, still in total shock over the new information from his not-so-secret crush.

"Duh, ya dork~", Wendy said with a soft grin, starting to feel a bit better after finally saying what she had been wanting to for these past few days, and from Dipper's comfort and company she needed.

Dipper couldn't have been happier, his face going from bewilderment to ecstatic, squeezing his arms tight around Wendy, burying his head into her neck, sniffling a bit as he held in joyful tears. The redhead squeezed him right back, exhilarated to finally be sharing an embrace with her dork; one that wasn't mixed with sadness or angst.

They sat there, listening to each other breathe easily in the quietness of the bunker, until Dipper finally looked up at Wendy, mustering up the courage to ask her something.

"S-So, I guess we can't be together, huh... The whole age gap thing," Dipper said reluctantly, his eyes looking to the side.

"Well, I wouldn't say we can't be together," Wendy assured him, giving him a warm smile.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"What if we just didn't tell anyone, we don't make it obvious. It'll be our little secret, until we think people will understand it or be comfortable with it," Wendy replied, a hand running through the brunette's hair.

Dipper mulled the idea over in his head, his face going from thinking to a happy smile, giving Wendy a nod.

"That could work! I-I'm sure some people will find out though, like Mabel and Stan," Dipper said, his logical mind already going to work with different outcomes.

"Dude, Mabel's bound to be the only person who's wanting to see us together already! And I think Stan already knows a thing or two," Wendy assured him, resting her head back against the cryogenic chamber behind her.

"As long as you're ok with it," Dipper replied, not wanting to overstep any of Wendy's boundaries.

"Of course I'm ok with it, dude! I just bawled my eyes out because I've been wanting to for weeks now!", Wendy exclaimed, grinning and giggling from her dork's constant lovable concern.

Dipper could only smile back, nuzzling back into Wendy's neck, his arms giving her one more squeeze. He felt peaceful and elated at the same time, wanting to run around the room and celebrate, but also wanting to just stay in Wendy's embrace. He let out a content sigh, choosing the latter.

Wendy leaned her head down and gave the brunette's forehead a kiss, giggling to herself as a soft pink hue became visible at the top of Dipper's cheeks.

"S-So, what do we do now?", Dipper asked.

"We should leave, people are probably wondering where we are, but only if you're ready." Wendy said, not wanting to force him.

"I don't want to leave just yet."

"Me either, dude. A few more minutes?" Wendy asked. Dipper nodded in reply, both of them enjoying the warmth and peacefulness of being in each others' arms.

"I love you, Wendy."

"Love you too, dork~"

Thanks for reading!