Work Text:
Dipper squinted as a beam of sunlight hit his eyes, streaming through the branches overhead. They hadn’t been walking terribly long, and already the trees were beginning to thin out as the ground beneath them got steeper and steeper.
“Almost there, gang!” Wendy called from ahead of them, her red hair glowed like fire in the summer sun.
Dipper groaned.
“Why’re you complaining? I thought you hiked all the time.” Dib leaned into his vision, wearing a sly smile on his face. His strange black hair-strand flopped to the side.
“Not without shoes,” Dipper huffed, frowning down at his dirt and sand covered bare feet.
“Quit being a baby!” Mabel shot past them both, grinning, and darted up the path. Her ruffled pink swim skirt bounced along with her ponytail as she went.
Dib looped his arm with Dipper’s and locked their elbows. Dipper failed to hold back a laugh as his boyfriend marched them forwards, almost slipping on a particularly steep incline.
Then the ground flattened and the treeline stopped. The horizon was clear, open sky and far away pine forests atop the encircling cliffs. Wendy turned from where she had been gazing out at the view, one hand in the pocket of her green swim shorts.
“Hey, you made it!” she teased. The strings of her black bikini top fluttered in the wind.
Dipper rolled his eyes but smiled and trotted over to where she and Mabel stood. Dib followed, and an audible gasp escaped him as the true view came into sight.
The huge freshwater lake of Gravity Falls laid before them, glittering in the sunlight. They could see almost everything, all the way out to the high cliffs on the other side, the tip of the island farther out, and the sandy beach to the right. Dipper could just barely make out Pacifica laying on the beach sunbathing, right where they left her. His eyes went back to scanning the horizon. It was breathtaking.
Dib let out a low whistle. “Wow, Wendy, you weren’t kidding when you said this was a good spot.”
“Right?” She grinned, placing her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest. “It’s not hard to get to from the main beach, it’s not too high, and there’s no rocks below!”
Dipper blinked. “Why would it matter if there’s rocks?” He stepped up to the edge and peered downwards. Wind ruffled his hair, gentle ripples churned far below them, and he suddenly felt like his body was swaying. He took a few steps back and fought down the dizzy feeling. Dib put a hand on his back to steady him.
Mabel giggled when Wendy shot her a knowing smirk, before turning back to the boys.
“Why, because otherwise I couldn’t do THIS!” And, with a shout, she charged straight towards the cliff’s edge.
Dipper felt his heart stop as Wendy leapt off of the grass, out into open air, and then vanished. Mabel squealed, Dib swore loudly, and Dipper fell to his knees and scrambled to look over the edge.
SPLASH!
White water exploded and sent ripples outwards. Dipper held his breath waiting for her to resurface, and after a moment she did, her red hair now soaked and plastered to her face. She let out a whoop and pumped her fist in the air.
“That was AWESOME!” Mabel yelled down to her.
“Hell fuckin’ yeah it was!” Wendy shouted in reply, her voice barely reaching them through the wind. “Come and join me! The water's great!”
Dipper’s face paled. He turned to Mabel. “Are you guys fucking crazy!? Do you know how dangerous cliff jumping is?”
“It’s not that high, Dippy, she’s fine! It's fun! Besides, they already tested this spot, it's perfectly safe.”
So that was why Wendy and Mabel had us leave our stuff at the beach. They planned this.
On his other side, Dib was peering down at Wendy too, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his black and green alien-patterned swim trunks. There was a huge grin on his face, and his amber eyes sparkled behind his circular glasses. He looked so happy.
Dipper paused. He scooted away from the edge and stood up, turning back to Mabel while brushing dirt off of his knees.
“W-well, sure, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea—Mabel!” Dipper’s eyes widened as his twin sister launched herself off of the cliff as well, shrieking as she went. Her ponytail hung suspended in the air for a second, and then she plummeted down towards the glittering waves of the lake. Wendy and Dib cheered when she hit the water with a splash, and then quickly came back up, sputtering for air. She and Wendy high-fived.
“Jesus fucking...” Dipper muttered under his breath.
“DIPPER, DIB! IT’S SO COOL!” Mabel screamed up at them, cupping her hands around her mouth. “C’mon!”
Dipper swallowed and backed away from the edge again, reassured knowing they were both okay. Sure, he’d jumped off cliffs before, when he was a kid, and this was no higher than that, but... he couldn’t shake the tingling feeling of fear in his gut whenever he looked down at the dark surface of the water. He’d never really had good experiences when it came to heights.
Dib’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. “Hey. You okay?”
Dipper looked up at him. He let out a breath.
“I don’t know... Yeah...”
A grin slowly spread across Dib’s face.
“We should do it. Let’s do it!”
Dipper sputtered. “What!? Not you too!”
“It looks really fun and exciting!” Dib’s smile was practically glowing. He grabbed Dipper’s hand, and Dipper felt his stomach flutter. It wasn't fair how cute Dib was, especially when he was excited.
“I-I...” Dipper glanced between the cliff and the pleading eyes of his boyfriend. “You... go ahead without me. I’ll walk back down and meet you—”
“Absolutely not!” Dib proclaimed, taking Dipper’s hand to pull him back towards the edge. As Dipper started to protest, Dib whirled around and kissed him. Dipper felt heat rise to his cheeks. When Dib pulled away, Dipper's eyes were blown wide, speechless. Then, with full sincerity, “Trust me. You can do it.”
“I...” Dipper looked into his eyes. His heart pounded in his chest.
Dib had always been more reckless than him. They balanced each other out: Dib’s habit of charging in headfirst, and Dipper’s caution and overthinking. But if Dipper never took risks, never followed Dib’s lead and took a leap of faith... then he would never have confessed to Dib, and they wouldn’t be together now, as boyfriends, holding hands, kissing, and spending the summer together. Dipper's heart squeezed in his chest. He loved him so much.
“I’m scared,” Dipper said quietly. Dib grinned.
“Let’s jump together, then!”
Before Dipper could respond, Dib bent down and hoisted Dipper up into his arms, princess style.
“W-what the hell?!”
“Here we go!” Dib turned towards the cliff. Dipper could distantly hear Wendy and his sister cheering for them to jump.
“Wh—! No, no, no! DIB!” Dipper screamed as Dib sprinted forwards, and then leaped.
The moment Dib’s feet left the earth, they were free falling through the sky. Dipper felt himself lift slightly out of Dib’s arms, their hair flew upwards, Dipper’s stomach dropped. Time almost seemed to slow down. They were flying, with the lake below them and the sun shining overhead, the forest stretching out into the distance. It was beautiful.
And then they dropped.
Dipper could barely hear himself screaming over the sound of wind rushing past them, and Dib had a manic grin on his face the whole way down. The dark, shining surface of the water was approaching faster and faster. Dib’s arms tightened around Dipper’s body, Dipper squeezed his eyes shut. and then...
SPLASH!
They were underwater, wreathed in thousands of tiny bubbles. Dipper held onto Dib and kicked his legs out, trying to go where he thought up was. As soon as their heads broke the surface and into fresh air, Dipper gasped loudly, heaving for breath. He dug his fingernails into Dib’s bare shoulders, hugging him tightly.
“You fucking asshole,” Dipper hissed, shaking water from his curls. Dib was just laughing loudly, wrapping his arms around Dipper in return.
“Fuck yeah, dudes!” Wendy swam over with Mabel, grinning brightly.
“You did it!” Mabel cheered.
“See? I told you that you could,” Dib said to Dipper with a warm smile. Dipper let out a shaky breath and looked back up at the cliff.
“Okay, fine, that was kind of cool...”
“That was fucking AWESOME!” Dib threw both fists into the air and almost sank back under the water. Dipper laughed, pulling him back up. He straightened Dib’s crooked glasses and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Mabel made a fake gagging noise, but started giggling immediately after.
“I guess we should start swimming.” Wendy motioned to the beach.
“I want to go again!” Mabel splashed them. Dipper chuckled.
“Mabel, we have to go back to the beach anyway to go up the path.”
Mabel pouted and they all laughed. Then her eyes widened as she looked down into the water.
“Uh. Guys, do you see that?” she asked nervously.
“What...?”
They all looked down.
“I don’t see anything, what are you...?”
“The huge dark shadow!” She pointed underwater.
Dipper narrowed his eyes. And then he saw it move. It was massive, and seemed to be coming straight towards them. Fast.
“Holy shit! There—!”
The water next to them rose up as the huge monster's finned spine crested the surface, then dove back down. A massive green fish tail hit the water and sent a wave crashing over their heads. They all stared speechlessly at where it disappeared.
“SWIM!” Wendy screamed, and they all frantically started paddling towards the beach. Dipper saw the dark shadow pass beneath them once more, but then disappear into the depths of the lake. They kept swimming as fast as they could.
Several minutes later, the four of them crawled onto the beach, soaking wet and exhausted. They flopped onto the sand, gasping for breath. Dipper rolled onto his back and stared at the sky.
“What the fuck was that?” Wendy wheezed.
“I... I think it was the Gobblewonker,” Dipper replied breathlessly.
Mabel shook some sand out of her ponytail, frowning. “I thought that didn’t exist?! Is it McGucket again?”
“No, I think this one was real this time, Mabes.” Dipper turned to face Dib lying next to him. He propped himself up on his elbow and grinned, a manic glimmer in his eye. “How’s that for a Gravity Falls monster?”
Dib laughed, exhilarated. “That was fuckin’ terrifying!”
They all picked themselves up off of the beach and trudged over to where they'd left their stuff. Pacifica looked up at them from where she laid on her towel, wearing a white bikini and big sunglasses. She peered over the rim of her glasses at them.
“Y’all look like shit, what happened?” She quirked a brow.
“We almost got eaten by the Gobblewonker,” Dipper replied.
Pacifica rolled her eyes and laid back again. “Cool, whatever. Are you nerds going back out to swim?”
The group looked at each other.
“I think maybe we’ll just stay on the beach.” Mabel laughed sheepishly. No way in hell any of them were getting back in the lake today after what happened.
Wendy suggested having a bonfire on the beach, and they all enthusiastically agreed. They spent the next few hours collecting wood and fuel and piling it all in a ring of stones a few feet from the water’s edge.
They lit it as the horizon was beginning to turn pink, and the fire roared to life. They all cheered. Beer bottles were taken out, along with marshmallows to roast.
The sky above them darkened, and as a million stars began to shine overhead, Dipper looked sideways at Dib. The boy’s face was glowing in the light of the fire, grinning and laughing at Wendy and Mabel dancing around the flames, dragging a reluctant Pacifica with them.
Dipper took Dib’s hand in his, giving it an affectionate squeeze. Dib turned. He smiled, and it was far more beautiful than anything in the world. Dipper didn’t say anything, he just smiled back and leaned in to kiss him.