Chapter Text
Wirt has been hanging out with the pines twins since their first summer in gravity falls- they’d all been twelve, Greg had been just 4- and they’ve pretty much been his favorite people since then.
He’d had some friends in gravity falls- Wendy kind of took him under her wing, for some reason, and he liked Candy who sat next to him in band. but mostly he’s kind of quiet and awkward and he knows it. It’s not that he doesn’t want friends, but.... it’s whatever. He’d gotten used to it. He’s learned to like spending time with Greg as he’s gotten older.
But since that first summer, he’s had all he needs. And the pines twins, aside from being a walking adventure (this is not always a good thing) are so incredible and hilarious and magnetic.
He wonders sometimes why they even picked him- well, Mabel picked him first, because she saw him at the library and decided he was going to hang out with them that day. She said it was because he looked like he was “a misunderstood nerd like dipper!” and then he’d actually met dipper and everything had fallen into place. Because Dipper was a lot like him. Awkward, kind of nerdy, tended to overthink... but dipper was also so brave, and so curious, and a multitude of other things. And his best friend.
And so every year Wirt looked forward to having his best friend and honorary twin sister back. It was always worth the wait.
Plus, befriending the pines twins got him lots of friends by extension. Wendy already liked him (although she had a weird way of showing it- relentless teasing) and she once decked a guy for calling him a really bad name. They’d sort of grown up together.
And candy, grenda, all of Wendy’s funny friends who love to ruffle his hair in the hallway, some honorary great uncles (when they’re not out on that boat), Soos and melody who he babysat for from time to time.... even Pacifica acknowledges him in public which is kind of a huge deal.
Dipper and Mabel really are magnetic people. And he feels so lucky to be at the center of it, to have dipper pines as a best friend.
During the school year they exchange letters. Dipper likes wirt’s poetry, he doesn’t think it’s embarrassing, and wirt likes to stay updated on all the supernatural things that Dipper researches and gets so excited about. He writes mabel too- she’s the only one he can send his actually embarrassing poems too- the really sappy ones. (She understands crushes better than anyone because she’s had so many .) She tells him about her latest boy and her favorite bands and she decorates every letter with glitter and stickers. On some of his shittiest, loneliest days, the ones where he doesn’t talk to anyone all day because no one bothers to come sit with him at lunch, he comes home and finds two envelopes in his mailbox. And it makes all of it okay.
Towards the end of Dipper and Mabel’s third summer in gravity falls, when they’re all fourteen, Wirt realizes that dipper is cute. He tries to ignore the way it makes him feel because Dipper is his best friend, one of his only friends, and he cannot have a crush on him. He just can’t. But of course, by the time he’s hugging Dipper goodbye in august, he’s got butterflies in his stomach and he hates it. But he has a whole school year to take care of it, so he doesn’t worry too much. (That's not true. He worries a lot. But that’s what he always does. Greg calls him worry wirt for a reason.)