Chapter Text
Pacifica looked in the mirror for the fifth time in a row.
She had to look perfect. It wasn’t every day that she met her boyfriend’s parents at their house, and if she was going to make any impressions, it had to be good. Who knows what Dipper had told his family about her?
She brushed her blond hair, making sure it was nice and tidy and presentable enough. She wore a purple shirt and a black skirt, and really beautiful heels that made her taller than her friends. She looked stunning, she couldn’t lie. Everything about her looked, just like she wanted it to look, perfect.
It wasn’t until she was almost at Dipper’s house that she started worrying. She looked down at her nails and saw that the pink polish was chipped and that could be noticeable. Her dad that was driving her didn’t say a word as she went on and on about how she should’ve painted her nails again, and that she was stupid for not doing so. Once they arrived, he said goodbye, kissing her on the forehead and letting her go.
Pacifica texted Dipper telling that she was outside, and then there he was. He looked her up and down, wide eyes and an open mouth. “Wow,” he said, as she walked towards him like she walked down an aisle.
“You like it?” she asked, her soft voice sounding inside his ear.
“Yeah?” he said sarcastically, shrugging dramatically. Dipper looked absolutely average. He was a good-looking man but he wore plain jeans and a red shirt, nothing special or anything that could compare to Pacifica’s nails and heels. “You know, my family isn’t rich and fancy like yours. We’re just… normal people”.
Pacifica frowned. “I made my best to look pretty normal,” she said. “Didn’t I do a good job?”
And Dipper smiled. God, how beautiful she was. “You did pretty terrible actually. But I love you for that”.
With those words, he leaned towards her and kissed her on the lips. Pacifica kissed back, with a smile and a giggle, and their hands touched softly with the movement of two teenagers in love. When they separated Dipper stared at her lips, and she stared into his eyes. It was now time to go in.
“Are you ready?”
“Are you?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Are you?”
“Yeah, are you?” she joked, and he laughed. “Come on, let’s go!”
Dipper turned to the house, his girlfriend’s left hand on his right one. He opened the door and walked in with her. His mother was right there to greet her, with a smile on her face and glee in her eyes.
“Heeeey,” she began, to which Pacifica smiled wide, trying her best to look nice and polite. “Pacifica, isn’t it?” and Pacifica shook her hand. “You’re so beautiful, ah!”
The girl chuckled in happiness. Yes, her plan to look good was working. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Pines! It’s so great to meet you!”
“Is that the Pacifica Northwest?” a man came into the room. That was Dipper’s father. Pacifica pulled her skirt and jokingly bowed, letting go of her boyfriend’s hand to do the joke. “She really looks like Barbie! In a good way, of course!”
Pacifica giggled. “I don’t see how that could be in a bad way, so thank you!” And the two parents just looked so nice, she was glad. “You two are amazing! Thanks for having me here today!”
“It’s no problem, kid! See, Dipper talks a lot about you, you know?”
Dipper’s dad walked towards them, kissing him on the forehead. “Dad…” Dipper complained. Pacifica kept smiling, she couldn’t hide how happy she was (even though the wide smile was definitely forced, because she wanted to seem more polite than she actually was). “Come on, let’s have dinner”.
“You’re hungry already, son?” Mrs. Pines asked.
“Yeaaah,” Dipper complained. It was obvious he was just embarrassed and wanted to get that over with, Pacifica noticed. He was adorable for that. In fact, she thought he was adorable because of a lot of things. Dipper was a pretty good guy, with almost no flaws. Not the guy one would expect to see dating the impeccable rich girl in town, but a good guy nevertheless.
Her parents didn’t love him, they had to be honest. They weren’t so glad that she was dating a guy who wasn’t rich, and also a guy who wasn’t cisgender. They didn’t explicitly say any of that but Pacifica knew. She read it between the lines. And it sucked, it sucked a lot. But what could she do? She liked the guy. She wanted to be with him and it wasn’t the 1950’s anymore, she’d date whoever she wanted to date. She brought her attention back to the moment once Dipper held her hand again.
“Are you hungry though?” he asked her. “Not really,” she said, because it was the polite thing that a good girl should say. She smiled at her boyfriend, really being the perfect person she had ached so much to become. Dipper’s parents were still there, smiling, definitely enchanted by the girlfriend their son had gotten.
“The food is ready, Pacifica. We can eat whenever you want to”. Pacifica turned to Dipper’s mom, nodding. “Dipper, go call your sister upstairs. Then you two can set the table, and then we’ll eat”.
Pacifica looked at her boyfriend. “I didn’t know you had a sister”.
“He never told you about Mabel?” his dad asked with an ironic smile. “What a good brother he is”.
“Mabel?” Pacifica asked. “Yeaah, Mabel and Mason, our names match. It’s kinda stupid”.
“Hey!” his mom complained. Dipper pulled Pacifica by her hand, trying to hold back a laugh and with Pacifica doing the same. As his mom tried to get him they ran up the stairs, giggling together and, again, being only two teenagers in love. That was a lot to handle, being young and being emotional. And they were doing a good job, a great job even.
Pacifica couldn’t believe how great of a job she was doing.
When they reached the second floor, Dipper pushed her against a wall as soon as they couldn’t be seen by the people on the first floor. He kissed her on the cheek softly and she couldn’t hold back her giggle. He started leaving kisses all over her face until he reached her neck and she pushed him away. “Stoooop”. Dipper stopped kissing, laughing along with her in that dark corridor, and pulled her towards the door they had to go to. “Come on, let’s call Mabel”.
Dipper walked her up to a door that was all made of wood, but had a female symbol in front of it. Dipper’s room seemed to be the one next to it, with the male symbol. That was his sister’s room. He knocked on the door twice, calling her name in a stupid voice. The girl responded, a voice just as stupid and distinguished. Pacifica laughed at them.
“Dinner,” Dipper said, to which Mabel yelled in celebration.
“Open the door!” she said.
Dipper took his hand to the door handle, opening the door and pushing it. Pacifica was embarrassed to look inside a room that wasn’t hers, but it would be more embarrassing not to greet her sister-in-law. As Dipper made a funny face at his sister, the blonde girl peeked inside, waving to Mabel and receiving a wave back.
Mabel Pines looked amazingly cool, that was Pacifica’s first impression. She wore a pink shirt and blue overalls that were only tied to one side of her shoulder. She had no shoes on but had socks that were from… Harry Potter? Something like that. Her hair was medium-length and brown just like Dipper’s, and her eyes, they were exactly like her brother’s. Pacifica noticed what was happening straight away.
“You’re twins!” she exclaimed. Maybe it was stupid to say things like that, she thought. But she was really shocked. It was weird seeing two people who looked so much alike, especially for the first time ever. Mabel smiled and Pacifica saw she had crooked teeth. That wasn’t a bad thing necessarily, it was just something she could never ever have on herself. She thought Mabel was brave for having teeth like those and for never fixing them.
Dipper smiled too, and Pacifica remembered the dumb thing he had said. “Yeah… Guess I should’ve told you I’m an identical twin. Sorry”.
“Wait… You didn’t tell your girlfriend about me?” Mabel yelled. Wow, her voice was loud. “Do you want to die, mister?”
Pacifica’s eyes widened as Mabel stood up from her bed, running in Dipper’s direction and jokingly taking her hands to his throat. Dipper started pretending to struggle, while he pushed Mabel away slightly and joked along. After the shock had passed, Pacifica smiled. She was an only child, and she didn’t have any cousins or any people near her age in her life. She had no idea what having a sibling would be like, or if it would be cool or not. From the way Dipper and Mabel were acting, she believed it was pretty nice. They seemed to be really great friends, and not just close brother and sister.
She liked that. She liked his whole family, actually. They all seemed like incredible people. And unlike her own family, they seemed pretty acceptable. They clearly were acceptable of Dipper, that was for sure.
“And you wonder why I didn’t tell her,” Dipper joked when they stopped fakingly fighting. “Come on, let me go”.
“No”.
“Let me goooo”.
“No”. Mabel was holding Dipper tightly, not letting him go. “Say please”.
“Never”.
“Then I’ll let you go ‘cause you’re honest,” Pacifica laughed at Mabel’s joke, looking at her and seeing her let her brother finally go. “Nice to meet you. I’m Mabel”.
“I’m Pacifica,” and she extended her arm, Mabel holding her hand and shaking it for a second.
“Anyway, dinner?”
“Yeah, coming. You guys can go first”.
“Okay, but don’t be late”.
“Sure, stupid”.
“Fuck you”.
Mabel didn’t take long. In less than two minutes she was downstairs with them, helping Dipper set the table. Pacifica also tried to help, but the parents stopped her, saying that she was the guest, and that guests don’t have to help. She argued politely with them but in the end, decided to stay aside, letting them finish the table. When it was all done, their mother grabbed the food from the kitchen, placing a large bowl in the middle of the table.
“You like fish, Pacifica?” the father asked. She nodded, looking happily at the food.
“She likes everything,” Dipper said. “Except fast food, soda, basically everything that’s unhealthy”.
Mabel snorted. “That’s basically all I eat”. Her mother stared at her, whispering: “yeah, but that’s not good”.
Mabel smiled ironically with her whole mouth, grabbing a few laughs from the people around the table. Pacifica just smiled, not sure what to do or what to laugh at. She turned to Dipper while the other talked. “Are you okay?” he mouthed. “Yeah,” she mouthed back. Did she seem nervous or something? Because she really wasn’t. She was happy with how everything was going.
But the questions hadn’t appeared yet. Now the evening was starting.
“Sooo…” it was Mabel who began. “How did you two meet?”
“School. She’s in my year,” Dipper replied. Pacifica just nodded with a smile, considering that an answer.
“Why isn’t Mabel in our year?” she asked. Considering she was twins with Dipper, she should’ve been in the same grade, right?
“I failed and had to drop down a year, hehehe,” and Mabel giggled with her answer, seemingly sarcastically. Her mother rolled her eyes, and her father tried to hold back a laugh. “Ah, they don’t mind it that much. It was when I was thirteen. ‘Was kinda crazy, ended up not studying or paying attention in class for a whole year. Good times”.
“You’re unbelievable,” Dipper said.
“Yeah, she is,” Pacifica completed.
After a few seconds, the mother asked: “so what is it that your parents do, Pacifica? I hear they’re involved with politics!”
“Sadly,” Pacifica joked, but no one except Mabel seemed to find it funny. “My dad is a social researcher and my mom’s a forensic accountant. I… have no idea what either of them do”.
The parents laughed, and Dipper smiled at his girlfriend. “Look, my mom’s a chef and I don’t know what she does,” he joked.
“Oh! Is that why the food tastes so good?” and Dipper’s mom shrugged, acting as if she was an amazing person who knew she was amazing. “That makes sense now!”
“You don’t have to lie to appeal to them, Pacifica. Dipper’s gonna marry you either way,” Mabel joked.
The people on the table laughed, with the exception of Dipper, who just smirked and took his fork to his mouth. Pacifica was giggling, because she wouldn’t dare laugh at a table (her mother taught her that that was wrong), and she had found the whole family quite funny and amusing. Dinners with the Pines were definitely different from dinners at her house.
“Did you guys know Pacifica’s like… the best in Physics?” Dipper asked. His parents seemed surprised, widening their eyes in reaction. “Really. She thinks about majoring it in college. Pretty impressive, huh?”
“It is! Glad to know my smart son found himself a smart girl, isn’t it?” and Dipper’s mom extended her arm so she could pinch his cheeks, to which Dipper exclaimed “ow!” and pulled away.
“What’s your favorite color, Pacifica?” Mabel interrupted. “What?” asked Pacifica, not sure if she had heard it correctly. “What’s your favorite color? Everyone’s asking such cool questions, I wanted to take part too”.
Mabel had a frown on her face. She was funny, Pacifica had to give it to her. The parents looked at Pacifica as if they were waiting for the answer, even if Mabel’s question had been stupid. Hey, maybe that family didn’t care much about keeping the “conversation level” on the table. She didn’t know, she hadn’t had dinner with many families before.
“Pink!” Pacifica said. “What about yours?”
“Mine is orange!” replied Mabel. “Dipper’s is red, mom’s is green, and dad’s is purple. I know everyone’s favorite color”.
“Why?” Pacifica asked. “Like, honestly curious”.
“I like knowing random shit about people,” she smiled. Mabel’s mom made a noise with her throat. “Random stuff, sorry”.
The blonde girl giggled once again, both at Mabel’s correction and at the whole situation. That family was incredible, she felt at home. But like a home she had never had. She felt like the meaning of “family” finally made sense. It was about the Pines.
They were different. They were united.
“That’s cool!” Pacifica said. “So you’re the kind of person who knows everyone’s birthdays?”
“God, yes!” the mother said.
“That’s a lie,” Dipper interrupted. “She doesn’t know my birthday”. Pacifica giggled and Mabel showed him her tongue, and just like they were two kids, he showed his back. The mother and the father laughed along.
The rest of the evening went well, the conversation was good. Pacifica ate well and shared some very embarrassing moments like having to answer the question of “so, when are you planning on getting married to our son?” Of course she knew it was a joke (she was sixteen, for God’s sake), but it still made her quite awkward. The truth is Pacifica had never met a boyfriend’s family in a way like that. Actually, she had never had a boyfriend before Dipper.
He was a good first experience. Her first real dates, her first real kisses. And her first sister-in-law, of course, Mabel seemed like a really fun one.
“So how long have you been together again?” that sister-in-law spoke again. Pacifica had been missing her voice, she didn’t speak much during the night.
“Tomorrow it’s gonna be three months!” the way Pacifica smiled when she replied showed she was really happy to be with someone like Dipper. Mabel noticed that about her.
“Aw, so are you planning on doing anything nice?” she asked. Dipper shook his head.
“I have Math League tomorrow. We’re going out on Sunday though”.
“Aw, and you can’t drop off Math League for your girlfriend? And on a Saturday? Pacifica, can I call him a nerd?”
“Definitely,” Pacifica smiled. Mabel looked at her brother, mouthing “nerd”. Then she continued: “So you’re free tomorrow then, Pacifica?”
Pacifica raised her eyebrows. “Ah, gonna invite her to that party you always go to?” Dipper asked, then turning to Pacifica. “She invites every girl to that party. It’s like her thing”.
“Party?”
“Yeah! Girls’ night”. And Mabel danced with her shoulders, showing she was really excited. “Happens once a month, always on Saturdays, and I never miss one!”
“You missed one when you failed school,” her dad interrupted. Dipper snorted.
“Well, ignoring that… Do you wanna come? It’s really fun!”
“It really is, I used to go when I was a girl. It’s worth it”.
“Well,” Pacifica smiled wide. “If Dipper says a party is fun then that party is really fun”. The table laughed. “Okay, I can come!”
“Yay! Dipper, message me her number and then I’ll tell you about the details! Okay?”
“Sure”.
Dipper grabbed his phone and opened the messaging app, sending Pacifica’s number directly to Mabel, to which Mabel replied with a heart emoji. The last part of the evening flowed nicely, with plans in mind now, plans with the family. It was getting serious now, what would the next step on that relationship be if they were already in the level of going to parties with the sister-in-law? Pacifica smiled throughout the whole evening, and maintained that image of the perfect girl. That was her objective, so it was a good thing. When it was time to leave, Dipper took her to the door, as she said goodbye to everyone. When they closed the door behind them, Pacifica stopped forcing her smile and started acting normally.
“Phew. That was fun!”
“You actually liked it? Didn’t they make you embarrassed?”
“No, I promise!” she lied, but not drastically. “It was much nicer than when you met my family…”
“Oh God, true…” Dipper looked down. “Don’t really wanna remember that”.
Pacifica frowned, leaning forward and kissing Dipper on the forehead. She was taller than him with the heels on, and only a little shorter with them off. Dipper grabbed her hand, as he loved doing that to feel how soft her skin was. And then they sealed a kiss. Pacifica’s lips fell beautifully against Dipper’s, and they looked like the image of a princess kissing… a guy on the streets. The contrast their clothes did was incredible, Pacifica was simply too much, simply too flawless. And he couldn’t believe he had gotten a girl like that.
They pulled away, both staring into each other’s eyes.
“I love you,”
“I love you too, Dipper”.
Mr. Northwest showed up to take Pacifica home, not saying many words during the ride back. His daughter, though, couldn’t stop talking, speaking of the most beautiful words a father would want to hear, if he simply put a little work into it. The last thing Pacifica said, as she remembered it, was a question. She asked if she could go to the party Mabel had invited her to, and her father, of not many words, said yes.
“Thank you, dad! I love you!”
She seemed to be saying a lot of those words on that day.