Chapter Text
They were in second grade when Dipper first proposed. Well, if you could call it a proposal. It was actually more Dipper shoving a flower ring onto Norman’s hand and claiming the other boy as his wife. But more on that later. After all, what is a good story without any backstory?
Dipper first met Norman in the middle of first grade. Norman had just moved to the small town of Gravity Falls a few days ago and, of course, had to start school there. What Norman saw as the beginning of a torturous year, his teacher saw as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. See, Dipper was a shy kid who only really talked to his sister Mabel. So the teacher thought that if she had Dipper show Norman around, the two could become friends. So when Norman came into the classroom, she already knew who he was going to sit next to and had mapped out the seating chart accordingly, making sure that the only seat available was the one next to Dipper. And once the day was over, she pulled them both aside and introduced them to each other, making sure they were both okay with Dipper showing Norman around. The boys agreed, and she couldn’t help but give herself a mental high-five.
The two, after a few days of awkward silence, became fast friends, bonding over things most little boys bond over. It wasn’t long before the two were inseparable. Wherever Norman was, there was bound to be a Dipper within five feet of him, and vice versa. It was just the two of them against the world, and they couldn’t be happier.
Now, at the time, Dipper and Mabel had different teachers, so they only ever saw each other after school. Dipper had never been brave enough to ask Norman if he wanted to spend the weekend at the Mystery Shack, but who could blame him? After all, Norman’s dad did look rather intimidating. But he eventually asked and he was overjoyed when his friend showed up at his door the next day with a sleeping bag. Unfortunately, his joy didn’t last too long. Almost instantly, Mabel latched herself to Norman, poking at his hair, trying to figure out how it got that pointy. There wasn’t even a break from her when they were going to sleep. The twins shared a room and she insisted on sleeping on the floor with them, curling up next to Norman. After that, she was always looking for them, be it at recess or at lunch or even after school. Dipper didn’t know why, but he really didn’t like it. Norman was his friend, not Mabel’s. So one day he decided he was going to win back his friend from his sister.
And so the proposal happened. Mabel was animatedly talking to Norman while the boy sat awkwardly nodding at everything she said. Dipper was sitting a few feet away from the slaving away at the perfect flower ring, trying to remember how Mabel told him it worked. Finally, he got a flower to look somewhat like a ring and walked over to Norman. He grabbed the boy’s hand and put the ring onto his finger. Then he looked over at Mabel, who was staring at the two of them, looking rather confused.
“Norman is my wife.” Dipper simply said. At that moment, some older kids walked passed them and started to laugh.
“Looks like we got some faggots in the making.” One of them jeered, and the rest of them started to laugh. Norman had no idea what a faggot was, but it sounded like a bad thing.
“I-I’m not your wife, Dipper.” Norman murmured, barely audible over the laugher of the teens. “B-but I’m still your friend!”
Dipper frowned and was thinking of how to reply. Before he could come up with anything, the three were called inside by Stan. Dipper didn’t notice, but Norman kept on the ring for the rest of the day.