Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The car zooms down the interstate as a moving truck follows. Inside the car, Wirt, now 17, is looking out the window as signs and scenery blur passed him. He didn't want to move. Sure, he was very antisocial, but he still had friends back home. And Sarah, his girlfriend...his ex-girlfriend. He was going to miss Sarah. After word got out that he was going to move, they had to split up. She tried to let him down softly by saying how long distance relationships don't work out but that didn't stop it from hurting.

At least he had one consistent from his old life, Greg. They used to not get along that well before. However, after last Halloween, they became inseparable.

Wirt tries to forget about it, but those events are forever lodged into his brain. Beatrice, Fred the horse, Adelaide, Woodsman . . . the beast. That was the worst part. No matter how hard Wirt tries, he keeps having nightmares about the beast. The sight of his brother, Greg, weak, brittle, and twisted in branches haunts him to this day.

At first, Wirt would talked about what happened in the woods from time to time, but stopped because he didn't like the looks and lectures he would get because of it. Even his therapist didn't believe him. Hell, Wirt wouldn't believe himself either if it wasn't for one thing, both him and Greg had some sort of "souvenir" from it. Greg had the bell that his frog, Jason Funderburker, swallowed. Wirt had something a lot more dark, the lantern of the beast. Back in the woods, Wirt was blinded by anger at what that thing had done to his brother that, after he had figured out that the beast's soul was in the lantern, he blew it out almost immediately. He heard a blood curdling screech and a cold rush had flooded his senses. After that, he helped cut Greg loose and barely escape with their lives.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Wirt looks over to his brother sleeping in the seat next to him. A smile creeps on to his face as he turns back to the window just in time to see a big sign with the words "welcome to GRAVITY FALLS"

Chapter Text

~Wirt POV~

As we pull up to our new house, I feel knots in my stomach. It's not that it's a bad house or location. Actually, nothing is wrong here at all. The only problem is that I'm here instead of at my real home. It's kind of ironic, isn’t it?

...Yearned did I, for a peaceful life after the tyranny of that dark, enchanted woods. Only to scorn when offered the most ideal of offerings. I once again find myself yearning. This time, however, it is for the return of my old life...

I need to write that down later.

After I brought my last box upstairs to the mini attic and did a couple reality checks, I start to unpack.

~3rd POV~

As Wirt unpacks, he gets this unnerving feeling. A feeling as if he was being watched. He chances around he room for a minute then goes back to work, deep in thought.Greg enters the room not much later and plops onto the unmade bed.

"Whatcha thinkin' about brother-o-mine?", He asks.
"Just stuff", Wirt brushes it off.
"What kinda stuff?"
"Just mature, grown up kid stuff" Wirt said.

Greg stoped pestering Wirt and jumped on the bed."Hey Wirt, wanna know what I just realized?" Greg pipes in.
"Hmm?"Wirt hums in response.
"Because we're so far from home, you won't have anymore bad dreams about the beast!" Greg chirps innocently.

As blunt and oblivious to how embarrassing that is to Wirt, Greg was right about one thing: Almost every night for about 8 months, Wirt would have nightmares.

After getting called by his mom, Greg left. Wirt went back to unpacking his things and his thoughts.

~back to Wirt POV~

Is this what it feels like to move? I've heard stories the other kids tell, but I never imagined I would experience it in my adolescence

...Gone is the simple ways of life. Now, I am thrown onto a new path, completely different from my original intentions and goals. Now, I must learn to adapt to this new world. But how shall I do it? I'm afraid that my shyness and nervousness will be the one obstacle in the seemingly simple task of adapting...

hmm, I need to get more cassette tapes. I'm almost out. I unpack my clarinet and carefully place it in the corner. How shall I make new friends? Back at home, I needn't think of it for I grew up and existed around most of them since birth. But now? Now I actually have to go out of my way to find them.

I don't think I can do that.

Chapter Text

~Dipper POV~

As the bus passes the sign that says "Gravity Falls next exit", a smile creeps onto my face. Even though I was only here 3 months every year, this place felt more like home than California ever could. I can't wait to say hi to everyone and-

"So...ever thought about having your own summer romance Dipper?" Mable's question takes me by surprise.
"Huh? But aren't the romances your thing?" I reply.
"Yah but since I know everyone there it's a bit awkward flirting with my exes..." she did have a point.
"So? I know everyone there too. What makes you think I could have a relationship?" I say, attempting to end the conversation. "The closest thing I've ever had to a relationship is having a crush on Wendy and that ended that same year."

Clearly not catching my facial or verbal cues, Mable continues, "well, I vow to you that if there is some new candidate, I will pare you with them...right after I give it a go!"
"Gee, thanks, your so thoughtful" I joke in a sarcastic manner.

I go back to looking out the window as I start to see the buildings and houses of gravity falls pull into view.

~super tiny 5 minute time skip~

The bus pulls up to the stop and I get a run of adrenaline as I get out of my seat. I'm finally home. The second my foot lands on the side walk, both Mable and I are crushed in a hug of at least 10 people. Maybe more but I can't really tell. All the hugging is making my head light. It doesn't matter though.

After the hugs and 'hello's, I finally managed to get all my stuff into Gruncle Stan's car with Mabel, Gruncle Stan, and Great Uncle Ford. As we pull up to the house/Mystery Shack, I took a deep breath in. Ah nothing like the smell of halfway rotten wood and cheap merchandise to give good memories. Well, time to go unpack and get splinters with Mabel.

Chapter Text

Wirt woke up the next morning in a sleepy daze. He looked at the clock reading 5:12 and sighed. No point in trying to sleep anymore. Wirt has had another night of non stop nightmares and wasn't able to sleep longer than 3 hours last night. He sits up on his bed and yawns, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Wirt gets ready for the day trying to be as quiet as possible as Greg and him are now sharing a room and he can't really deal with Greg's . . . Gregness this early.

He spends a couple hours in the living room writing poetry and music until his mom comes downstairs and greets him.

"Well good morning my little Edgar Allen." She said as she starts making toast, "What are you doing up so early?"

"I just wanted to wake up early and get ready for my first proper day in our new home." He lied. Wirt didn't want his mom to worry. She's worried so much for him before. He never wants to see his mom look at him the way she did in the hospital that night.

"Aww! I'm so proud of my big man growing up and adapting so well" she said in a loving voice as she pulled him in for a hug. "Ack, Mom!" Wirt yelled as he pulled away, face burning from embarrassment.

"Roger is taking you and Greg to a quaint little store in the woods later. You should also go and explore the town and such afterwards. It shouldn't be to hard with how small this place is. Before Wirt could complain, his mom said her goodbyes and went off to work.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　time skip brought to you by bacon cola　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"Oh boy! It's a grand day to go adventuring, right Wirt?" Greg was nothing but chipper as he got in the car.

"It-it's not an adventure Greg. We're just going to some tourist trap on the edge of town" Wirt mumbled. He doesn't like the idea of being so surrounded by woods, especially in a town he doesn't know anything about. However, he made no complaints 10 minutes later as the car pulled up to a shabby place with a big sign that read 'Mystery hack' with a large 'S' on the roof. his step dad parked the car and the all got out.

They do the tour of the "mysterious oddocies of gravity falls". All the "exhibits", however, were obviously just bad taxidermy and fake findings. It managed to fool Greg and somehow a surprisingly large amounts of tourist. It wasn't until he entered the gift shop did things get interesting.

The gift shop was full of tourist and neat little trinkets when they entered. Greg and Roger quickly split up to look at all the interestings to buy as Wirt stood there, feeling overwhelmed at how lost he felt in the semi crowded room. One thing caught his eye, however. Standing behind the counter was a teenager, around the same age as him, with soft eyes and fluffy, chestnut brown hair. There was something with this boy that made Wirt extra nervous. He caught up with Greg and they went to go pay for their things.

"Thank you for visiting the Mystery Shack" the boy said, looking down at the register as he rung all the items, "is that all you're getting?"

"For today. We just moved here so we might come back." Roger said. At this, the boy perked his head up, looking a the three of them. "Oh wow, then welcome!" he exclaimed, "Gravity falls doesn't get a lot of newcomers. Is there anything we here can help with?" Greg peeked over the edge of the counter and answered very loudly, "You can help us with our adventure later today! We're gonna explore this weird place" Wirt unconsciously lowered his head and tried to look smaller so nobody would see him. He loved Greg but sometimes he was too much.

"That sounds like a great idea!" the boy chuckled, "How about after my shift, I take you two on a tour?" it was Wirt's turn to perk up, maybe it won't be so bad. As long as they stay in town and away from the woods, that is. And who knows, maybe spending more time with a kid his age would be nice.

"I'm Dipper, by the way." Dipper states, holding out his hand. Wirt shakes it slightly and says, "I-I'm wirt"

Wirt couldn't stop thinking about Dipper on the drive home.

Chapter Text

Stanford, Dipper, and Mabel were sitting downtown. Ford was planning on leaving soon as he was just the ride. Dipper was gathering his flashcards of talking points, and Mabel was vandalizing the bottom of the northwest statue in the form of stickers, googly eyes, and a bucket load of glitter glue.

"Hey, Mabel?" Dipper asks, looking up from his notes. "Do you think you can refrain from mentioning the weird parts of town while we are doing this?"

"Pshh, why? This town is cool, and I want to tell them about all the cool adventures we go on! Besides, that little one looks like fun!" Mabel says, excited as ever.

"The chances of them believing us is slim. I don't want him to think that I'm just advertising for the Mystery Shack." Mabel glances at him but then goes back to the statue and says, "Oh alright, fine. I'll only tell the little kid because my Mabel patented fun radar is tingling." A smile creeps onto her face, "Wouldn't want to mess up your chances with your new boyfriend" This causes Dipper's face to redden.

"H-He's not my boyfriend!!!" he shouts defensively, just quiet enough so the passersby don't hear, but loud enough that Ford over by the car cocks an eyebrow. "He's just around my age, and I want to make a good impression!" He continues, lowering his voice. "B-Besides I'm not into g-guys," he mumbles, flustered. Mable gives a little laugh as she goes back to her vandalism, "I'm just teasing, bro-bro." Dipper gives a small chuckle as he goes back to his notes, deep in thought.

Across town, Wirt sits in the car silently as the other three chatter back and forth about Gravity Falls. The nervousness and anticipation knotting up in his stomach, making him feel ill. His heart skips a beat as they slow down, Dipper now in his view. He can't figure out why, but even just the sight of this boy gets his heart racing. He hops out of the car and gives a meek wave, not knowing how to greet people in this situation. Dipper waves back.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　time skip brought to you by the fact that idk how to write a tour　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

The sun was just beginning to lower over the trees as everyone walked back to the car. The tour had gone really well, and Wirt felt a lot more comfortable than when he started. Dipper was really enjoying himself. Being around Wirt made him smile the entire time they were out. While he doesn't quite know why Wirt makes him feel this way, he does knows he wants to spend more time with him. Just as Wirt was about to get into the car, Dipper makes a decision and calls out to his family.

"Hey, wait!" he stated, "It's getting late and we are close to Greasy's Diner. Why don't we all just eat here?" Wirt's parents considered the offer and agreed so they set off into the diner. As soon as Wirt passes through the door, he is greeted with a comfortable and warm atmosphere. the yellow lights illuminating off the dark wood interior was quite inviting. Also, the smell of freshly cooked pancakes and bacon was thick in the air, making his stomach ache with hunger. There was a long, six-person booth by the window, his parents and Greg sat on one end which could only mean-- slight blush creeps onto Wirt's cheeks when he realizes he'll have to sit next to Dipper.

As wirt sits in the seat closest to the window and Dipper right next to him, a woman with light blue hair and one eye closed walks up to them and hands out some menus. She pulls out a notebook and a pen and asks everyone what drinks they would like. After everyone gave their orders, Wirt's parents started up the chatter again.

"So do you two go to the high school here?" They asked. Dipper replied, "I'm afraid we are just here for the summer. We actually live in California." Wirts heart dropped. His parents were now asking about California, but Wirt drowned it out, feeling down. He had gotten his hopes up about having a new friend to make this school year less of a living hell, but he won't even be here long. Wirt was so distracted, he didn't even notice it was time to order until Dipper tapped on his shoulder. His face grew hot as he realized he hasn't even looked at the menu. Wirt starts flipping through it turning into a flustered mess until Dipper rested his hand on Wirt's shoulder, causing him to freeze up. "He'll just take some pancakes." He tells the waitress and turns to face Wirt "Is that ok with you?" All Wirt can do is nod and look down. His heart is racing from the embarrassment and that same feeling from earlier he couldn't name.

"Do you guys have any pets?" Mabel asked. With this, Greg immediately got excited and started going on and on about his pet frog. Within seconds, the two were talking back and forth with such intensity, nobody else could even add to the conversation. Dipper chuckles to himself "Classic Mable," and his gaze shifts to Wirt, who is staring out the window. Dipper studied his features. Wirt had a long mature face with a narrow nose and intelligent eyes...

"Yay! Pancakes!!!" Greg and Mabel yelled in unison, snapping Dipper back into reality. How long had he been looking at Wirt? Dipper blushes a little thinking about it. For the next twenty minutes, nobody talks much as they are too busy eating. The night ends with everyone outside. Wirt and Dipper start today goodbye as Ford begins to pull up.

"Tonight was fun" Dipper began, attempting to break the silence. "Yeah we should uh, hang out some other time," Wirt replied back. "How about next Tuesday?" Dipper asked. Wirt nodded in response.

"It's a date then," he laughed trying to hide his nervousness.

"Yeah"

Chapter Text

The setting sun bathed the entier car in a warm orange light as it drove down the highway. Inside, wirt shifted his position slightly as hours in one position begain to wear on him. He peeked over the wall of pillows in the backseat to check in on his younger brother, gregory, who was fast asleep with a large toad in his lap. Wirt continued to look out the window at the sunlight piercing through the towering pine trees. He had only known abou the move since last week. Thats all the time he had to come to terms with it, only a week to say goodbye.

He felt anger began to sting at his eyes. He was already well aware of how unfair life can be, but this felt straight up crule. How in his 17 years of life, his step dad only gets a better job after wirt finally got some friends. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out frantically. He got a text from sarah:

S: Heyyy hru holding up?

He texted back as fast as he could.

W: I'm alright. I only have an hour or so left.

S: coolio. I bet the scenery is pretty there ttyl!

He put his phone back in his pocket and closed his eyes. Focusing on the quiet hum of the car and the gentle chatter of his mom and step dad in the front when his mom tapped him on the knee

“Honey look outside!”

Just then, a sign flew past the window that read “welcome to GRAVITY FALLS”. It felt almost anticlimaic how little changed past the sign. The trees were just as big, the road just as narrow. The only real change was the feeling of dread resurfacing inside of wirt. The small bumps of the car started to feel more like angry waves in the open sea.

He had not yet seen the town but his mom described it as a “cute litle thing in the woods” if that wast terrafying enough, wirt noted that the only trees around here are large pine trees that are near impossible to tell apart. Needless to say, he was not going to step foot outside of civilization once they settle. Thats easy, the hard part would be convincing greg of the same. His brother meaned the world to him and he will do anything to keep him safe.

A few minutes later he began to see the first bits of the town. A house here, a shack there, then stores and other building came into view. It resembled something akin to a downtown. Within the corse of 5 or so minute, the shops faded away into yet another neighborhood. Before he knew it, they pulled up to a beautiful colonial revival house. It was a major upgrade from the small modular house they lived in in arizona. Taking in the sight, wirts mood improved a fair bit as he grabbed a couple of his bags and waited by the front door for it to be unlocked.

As he stepped into the house, the uneasy feeling began to melt away to near nothing. He still felt the twinge of loneliness stab at him in the ribs but the giddy feeling of anticipation pushed it to the side when he began to walk up the steps.

Once he stepped into his new room, he let out a breath and looked around. He noted the perfect corner for his bed and desk and began to unpack the few things he had. The moving truck wasn’t expected for a couple days so he set up a sleeping bag for the time being.

When he reached the last bag to unpack, he felt something heavy and metal. He pulled out a vintage black oil lantern. He traced the simplistically designs in the medal with his eyes, reflecting on the past. He got this lantern in what he can only describe as a nightmare come to life. Although he can’t quite wrap his head around how, he ended up getting lost in some kind of fairytale forest with magical creatures and a beast. The beast was particularly nasty, turning lost souls into oil filled trees to light the lantern. However he made the grave mistake of messing with Greg and in the end, Wirt blew out the beasts lantern and left him to rot. He was so sure that he left the lantern when he ran with Greg. However when he woke up in the hospital he found it sitting on the bedside table.

The sound of the front door closing snapped Wirt from his thoughts. He headed downstairs and was greeted by his step dad holding some pizza. Dinner consisted mostly of listening to greg go on and on about his plans for his room and his entire future. Occasionally his parents would chime in with more information that they got off of tourists brochures. Wirt tuned in every now and then as well. His parents mentioned a tourist attraction at the edge of town that they are planning on going to tomorrow. His mom nudged him on the shoulder.

“I heard there’s a lot of attractions on monsters and creatures found around town. That sounds intriguing right?”

He gave a nod and continued eating. Ever since he escaped the Unknown, he had thrown himself into research about supernatural beings and cryptids. If he was being honest, he highly doubted some money grubbing shack had anything worth looking at but he wanted to be nice to his mom for supporting his interests. She has always done that ranging from amazing, like getting him clarinet lessons, to very bad, like signing him up for the stand up poetry club at school. Despite the outcome however, he could tell that she cared and that’s what mattered.

When nighttime finally wrapped around the sky and exhaustion began to grip him with great strength, Wirt turned off the light in his room and sat on his makeshift bed. He looked up at the sky in awe. Growing up in the city, he never saw the stars. Here, however, he saw millions of differing colors and brightness, some even forming a bright streak going across the sky. He pulled out his phone and attempted to take a photo with it. It didn’t look nearly as good due the phone being rather old as a hand-me-down but it still had a fair bit of stars on it.

W: Hey I’m here now. The hot is a lot better than I was expecting. The town’s a bit too rural for me but it’s fine. I hope you are doing fine.

A minute passed but it felt a lot longer to Wirt

S:omg thats soo pretty! Jealous xp! Im doing just fine here. Bout to head to bed tho so gn

A smile spread on his face.

W: goodnight.

He put his phone back and looked out the window again. He began to mumble to himself.

“The most beautiful things hidden in plain sight
Invisible to most, the noise and light making them hide away
May their beauty be shrouded to all?
No, for the patient may see
Only in the quiet,
Only in the dark,
They flourish and thrive”

He laid down and looked at the lantern as sleep finally fell over him.