To the Nights in the Hold of Stone (BillDip)

Wendy Darling, How I've Missed You So(7)

Dipper POV

The world felt fuzzy as it spun back into place under my feet. Bright sunlight had been replaced by a much softer, darker, yellow glow that seemed to be coming from the ceiling, walls, and even the floors. The lacquered black tiling under my shoes was the first thing that was steading in my field of vision, the second, a large red mosaic glass eye taking up the entirety of an oddly shaped wall behind a large empty dais.

Wendy stood just as shaken to my left.

"Wendy." I groaned, reaching for her. Her head whipped in my direction like she hadn't noticed I was there yet, the in her eyes melted just a bit.

"Dipper!" She fell into me, wrapping her arms around my back. I enclosed her in a hug. Over the years I finally had that teen boy growth spurt and even though I'm not 6 foot, I am just a little taller Wendy.

She pulled back abruptly, "You made a deal with Bill Cipher!" She shouted, "I am going to need so much more information about that but!" Her head turned on a swivel at most of our surroundings, "first we should figure out where we are, and where those two demons went, and on top of that If we're safe."

I nodded along with her. Looking around the room we were in was nothing more than wide open space, blocked in by odd shaped twisting walls that careened upwards into very high ceilings and odd corners. Along the bottom of the walls was an array of several differently shaped and colored doors, all of which were closed. "Should we try the doors?" I asked.

She nodded slowly, "Yeah, I'll start on this side if you start on that one?"

I wasn't a huge fan of the idea of splitting up, but it was just across the room and I told myself that Wendy was different from my family. If one of those doors opened, she wouldn't just leave me behind.

Starting at the wall furthest from the dais we both tried the largest set of doors in the room, they didn't budge. She moved down the doors on the left, I went to the right.

Some doors were wide, short, thin, long, double doors or singles, it didn't matter because not a single one of them opened.

I met Wendy back on the steps of the dais, she looked a little defeated and worse for wear, none of her doors had opened either.

I sat on the edge, leaning back on my hands, looking out at the open and empty space, "Ok so, want to tell me about the deal you made? Or should I go first?"

She dropped down next to me looking just as deflated as I felt.

"You go first, cause, dude. Bill Fucking Cipher."

"Come on, stop saying it like that." I groaned, "It will only make what I say sound stupid."

She placed her hand over her heart, "I swear to you, nothing you could say to me right now will make me think any less of you. Besides, I am 100% sure that my deal sounds much worse than yours."

"I doubt it-"

"You're stalling."

"Right sorry," I cringed, "It's complicated, the deal won't make sense if I don't tell you a little about the last few years first." She turned to sit fully facing me, I did the same for her, taking in the openness of her green eyes. Eyes that I used to be so in love with. "Me and Mabel went back to California, we had a big fight over it. I wanted to stay here, I don't remember if I told you but Ford offered me an apprenticeship with him before we left." She shook her head, "Ya well that's what we fought about, I gave in and promised to go back for at least our freshman year of high school. If I still wanted to come back by the following summer we'd talk about it again then. But something changed with her, I don't know if it was the girls she met or what but-" I hadn't talked to anyone about what happened that year. "I'm sorry this is gonna sound awful and whiny." I groaned.