After Dipper and Stan left the bowling alley, they hopped into the red El Diablo, with Dipper sitting in the shotgun seat, and they started their trip back to the Mystery Shack. As they drove down the main street, Dipper looked outside the window and immediately spotted a familiar face a few feet ahead of the car.

It was Wendy Corduroy. The teen gripped onto her umbrella as she carried something in her arms. The girl did not properly prepare herself for the downpour, wearing her green flannel shirt instead of a proper rain coat.

"Wendy…" The boy uttered. It was days since the two last spoke to each other. Dipper remembered how he unintentionally upset Wendy by ignoring how she felt when he asked her to go bowling with him. As the teen told him, Stan and Robbie off, he noticed the anger in her voice along with the hurt in her eyes. It pained Dipper to see her that way, and his contribution in upsetting her made him feel awful about himself.

Dipper needed to atone for his selfish mistake.

"Grunkle Stan, I need you to pull over." Dipper said with determination. Stanley looked over at his nephew before glancing at the redhead walking outside in the pouring rain. The old man nodded at his nephew before pulling up towards the curb.

"I have to apologize to Wendy," Dipper told himself. Just as the boy was about to open the passenger seat door, he felt a calloused hand on his shoulder. Dipper looked over to see Stan giving him a bold smile.

"You got this kiddo." Stan said encouragingly.

Dipper was shocked, but ultimately grateful for the old con man's pep talk. It fueled the fires of Dipper's determination and valor, further motivating him to make amends with Wendy.

He gave his Grunkle an affirmative nod. Zipping up his navy hoodie, the boy got out of the vintage vehicle and slammed the door. Without hesitation, he sprinted towards the teen.

"Wendy!" Dipper called to her. She turned around upon hearing her name and was surprised to see the twelve-year-old running towards her while wearing a worried expression.

Dipper stopped a few feet away from Wendy and leaned over to catch his breath. He needed to start talking while he still had her attention. "Wendy, I am so sorry about hurting your feelings a few days back." He told his friend with sincerity. He maintained eye contact with Wendy, refusing to resist the temptation of looking away. She deserved to have a proper apology dang it! "I should taken your well-being into consideration, but instead I acted like a selfish jerk and ignored how you felt. You deserve to have a friend who respects your feelings and treats you with genuine kindness."

Wendy stood still as she stared at Dipper, astonished with what she was hearing. Dipper, however, assumed that her shocked silence meant that he said something wrong and his anxiety began to grapple his courage.

"I don't expect you to forgive right away…" The boy said as he averted his gaze from Wendy and stared at the building beside them. Or at all... "And if you don't wanna be friends with me anymore...well, I don't blame you…"

Dipper bowed his head in resignation and turned around, starting his sorrowful walk towards the vintage El Diablo. Of course she wouldn't forgive me… Dipper thought, his low self-esteem taking over his head. After acting so selfishly, who in their right mind would?

But a soft hand touched his shoulder and stopped the boy in his tracks. Dipper turned around to see a concerned Wendy bent down to his level while holding the umbrella over the both of them.

"Hey, I forgive you Dipper." She softly informed him.

Dipper's eyes widened with shock. "Wait, what ?" To say he was shocked by her forgiveness would be an understatement. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Wendy took notice of her friend's disbelief and explained herself. "Look, what happened with me and Robbie and the whole 'mind-control' CD thing took a huge toll on me. I was aware that you and Stan wanted wanted to expose Robbie for what he did. And I also know that you weren't trying to hurt my feelings when you asked me to go bowling, but I was already upset by what Robbie did to me and I just...kinda exploded in front of you and your uncle."

"Nope, don't apologize for venting your emotions. I deserved that verbal lashing and you know it." Dipper interjected while wearing a solemn expression.

"Which leads me to my next point. You actually made the effort to apologize to me, and in all honesty, that was the thing I needed to hear."

A perplexed Dipper gazed at Wendy before she continued her explanation.

"All week I spent my time cooped up in my room feeling sorry for myself and totally stressed out. I've even received a ton of texts from Robbie that were nothing but random sad faces and lyrics from a bunch of My Chemical Romance songs, but no apology for trying to manipulate my thoughts." She huffed, still agitated with her ex-boyfriend's scheme. Realizing her anger was showing through, Wendy took a deep breath and continued.

"I told my Dad about it, and he insisted that doing some lumberjack exercises will help take my mind off of things. But even though I had one heck of a workout, I still found myself thinking about what happened the other night. So this morning I decided that enough was enough and I needed to move on, you know? So I chatted with Soos over the phone and he told me to talk it out with you and Stan, and I agreed with his idea. I went over to the Mystery Shack but only Waddles was home. Then I decided to kill some time by going to the library before going back to the shack during the afternoon. But, lo and behold, we happened to run into each other and you acknowledged what happened. Even though the whole break-up wasn't technically your fault, you still took the mature route by apologizing."

"Wow," Dipper exhaled, "I'm glad I bumped into you when I did."

"Same here man." Wendy agreed. "Oh, and one last thing: I kinda noticed how upset you were feeling when you finished up your apology, and I can relate since it sucks trying to fight off all of those negative emotions. Dipper, you are one of the greatest people I met, and it's sad to see you feeling down. Please don't want you to beat yourself up over what happened man." Dipper looked up at Wendy with awe. He never assumed that someone as cool as Wendy would ever have to struggle with emotions or self-worth. Then it hit him that she was human as well.

"It can be difficult to come to grips with past mistakes, believe me, but it's also important to try to accept what happened and move on. And you did the right thing by acknowledging what happened and apologizing to me. Now the next step is to go forward and continue on with life. And whenever your negative emotions try to get the better of you, you have your awesome family and friends to talk to." She finished, pointing her thumb at herself as someone Dipper can turn to when times are rough.

Dipper was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful advice Wendy had given to him. He was also overcome with relief, knowing that the teen still wanted to be his friend and would be there for him. His guilt over the incident was eradicated, replaced with the comfort that Wendy cared about him.

"Thanks Wendy." Dipper replied gratefully.

"Sure thing man." Wendy responded with a casual smile.

So I can safely assume that we can move on and remain friends?" Dipper inquired.

"You know it man!." Wendy gave Dipper a thumbs up. He was glad that he and Wendy were able to talking things through and move on. Dipper affirmed with a nod.

"Oh! Quick question, are you doing anything today?" The teen asked suddenly.

"Nah, I was planning on watching some TV when I return to the shack. Grunkle Stan's actually driving me back there right now."

"Dude, would it be cool if I come with? I was originally going to stay in my room and watch a double feature of Reefer Madness and Birdemic: Shock and Terror. But now that we bumped into each other and settled that whole fiasco for good, I was wondering if you wanted to have a movie marathon with me?"

"Sure!" Dipper answered enthusiastically. "Since Grunkle Stan is driving us back home, you can ride with us and we can chill there if you want."

"Sounds good man." Wendy affirmed.

Stan watched his nephew with great intent as the boy caught up with Wendy. He didn't need to hear them talk in order to understand their conversation, their body language alone spoke a thousand words.

Stan smiled upon seeing the kids mend their friendship. If only all relationships could be fixed the same way... He pondered somberly. The old man instantly slapped his forehead. He had to stop pitying himself, at least for the time being. The old codger was happy for his nephew and proud of the twelve-year-old's maturity and self-assertiveness, the two traits that the man had lacked at that age. Dipper was a good kid and he deserved to have friends who cared for him. And despite his renounced faith in God, he prayed that both Dipper and Mabel would not repeat his own mistakes and past follies and that they would become better people than he was.

The con man noticed that Dipper and Wendy got up and started to sprint towards the El Diablo. Stan pushed his serious musings towards the back-burner of his mind and put on a smile before the youngsters could get inside the car. Soon enough Dipper opened up the back seat door, allowing Wendy to hop inside first before heading inside.

"Hey Mr. Pines!" Wendy greeted as she buckled up.

"Change of plans, would it be okay if Wendy hangs out with us at the Mystery Shack?" Dipper asked while putting his seat belt on.

"Of course kiddo." Stan answered. "Although Wendy will have to shell out a few bucks for the chauffeur."

"Oh come on!" Wendy shouted.

Stan laughed heartily at the redhead's response. "I'm just messin' with ya. Let's get goin'."

A near empty dance hall at the restaurant was brought to life by loud funky music that was emitted from seemingly nowhere since there was not a single amplifier in sight. Up on the stage, the struggling R&B artist, who was only trying to make a living through his mediocre performances at small dance night gigs, approached the microphone and began to belt out his opening song:

"Just hangin' out! (hangin' out!)

Hangin' out with my family,

Havin' ourselves a paartaaay! [offbeat clap]

Just hangin' out!"

Dipper and Wendy erupted into laughter as they sat on the couch and watched the cheesy musical number in a mediocre nature-attacks flick.

"They couldn't even afford extras!?" Dipper snickered.

"Isn't this supposed to be a killer bird movie?" Wendy asked with a chuckle.

"Well the only thing terrifying in this movie is the atrocious acting." Dipper quipped, causing Wendy to chuckle even harder.

Just as the song number progressed, the two friends heard the front door open and slam. Dipper and Wendy turned their attention away from the television set just as Mabel entered the living room.

"Hey bro-bro," She greeted casually, but her eyes widened with joy upon seeing another familiar face sitting next to her twin. "Oh my gosh, Wendy!"

"'Sup Mabel?"

The girl beamed at the two of them. She was aware of the conflict that divided them and she was hoping that they would make amends. "So you guys made up?"

"We sure did." Dipper answered, as he and Wendy exchanged knowing smiles.

"And thus balance has been restored to the Mystery Shack once more!" Mabel proclaimed. Dipper and Wendy smiled at the girl's dramatic narration. The spunky girl walked into the room. "So what are you guys doing right now?" She asked.

"Just hangin' out." Dipper answered. "Hanging out with the family,"

"Having ourselves a party." Wendy concluded.

Mabel smiled at the two once more, content to know that their friendship had been repaired.