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Dipper and Mabel would go to Gravity Falls in their summer vacation again, and the bus was already away from California. The twins warned Soos about the visit, getting animated as they were getting closer to the Mystery Shack.
“Do you think they’ll remember us?” Dipper asks, rereading the letter he got in the final moments of last summer.
“By “they”, you mean Wendy?” Mabel jokes “Dipper, it has been only a year, of course they remember us!”
The driver announced when they arrived at Gravity Falls. When the vehicle’s door opened, the twins got out of the bus and immediately saw Soos, Stanley and Stanford waiting for them with a smile on their faces.
“Grunkle Stan? Grunkle Ford?” They said amazedly as they ran for a hug.
“What? You’re not the only ones who know how to do a surprise!”
“Soos told us you would come again, so we decided to pause our expedition for a moment.” Stanford explained “By the way, an amusement park opened recently, so we were wondering if you want to go there.” They both nodded, excited.
“Don’t worry, we’ll put your stuff away.” Stanley finished.
Mabel ran to the inside of the shack with her bags, while Dipper walked thoughtfully: we couldn’t understand why Wendy wasn’t there too. Did she forget about them? It was too early to think about that, so he simply stopped thinking about her and followed his sister to the room they’d stay in.
When Dipper arrived into the room, Mabel was already finishing setting her stuff, so he did the same. A couple seconds later, the two of them get out of the shack so they can go to the amusement park.
[ … ]
After some minutes walking, they finally get to the park. It had yellow and red as its main color, and from the entrance, they could already see a gigantic carousel, two roller coasters and a hot dog stand.
Stanley was the one who bought the tickets — which surprised the twins —, and when they were in their hands, they entered the park. Soos went looking for a stand that sells fried chicken, while Stanley and Stanford started searching for a thrill ride, leaving the younger ones at the entrance.
“So, Dipper? In which ride are we going first?” The girl asked while looking around her, but stopped when realized her brother didn’t answer. “Dipper?” She looked at him, seeing he started tearing up. “DIPPER! What’s wrong?” Screamed, making him look at her.
“Mabel?” He cleansed the tears that insisted to stay even after he winked several times. She looked at what was in front of them, seeing the reason her brother was this way: Wendy was with Robbie.
“Are you okay?” She asked, with a sad look on her face.
“Yes, I… I’ll buy cotton candy”.
“It’s fine! We can go together!”
“No.” He ducked his head, moving away from her. “I can go alone”.
He started running, without caring if Mabel was following him or not, he just wanted to stay away from them two; he could try pretending, but he knew that Wendy was still in his head. When he decided to stop running, he saw himself close to some pine trees and a ferris wheel. He sat on the ground to catch his breath, listening to the happy kid screams around him.
“I’m such a coward!”, he thought, closing his eyes.
Some people who were nearby would stare at the boy, imagining what he was doing, and turn around. At the end, one of them would continue by his side.
“Dipper?” They got closer, making him open his eyes and face them.
“Mabel?” He said when looked at her, realizing she looked sad too. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d go to some ride.”
“It’s not the same without you. I know you’re sad, but you know what Wendy said about your age difference, and she likes him-”
“Wait, you know why I’m sad?” He frowned
“I’m your sister, silly! Of course I know what you’re feeling!” she smiled “Come on, let’s go to the ferris wheel!” She pulled his arm, helping him get up.
“And how will a simple ferris wheel help me feel better?” He asked, crossing his arms, which made his sister laugh.
“Trust me!” So they both ran to the ferris wheel
When they entered the ride, Mabel made sure to show Dipper the coolest parts of Gravity Falls, promising they would go there after the amusement park. At the top, the twins watched the scenery, the sunny afternoon painting the sky. Just seeing that was already making Dipper feel more calm and happy for the small parts of life, to a point he couldn’t even remember what was making him sad anymore.
“Is it still just a simple ferris wheel?” Mabel looked at her brother with a smile on her face.
“No, it’s not.”