Chapter Text
6 hours.
She never stayed silent this long.
Dipper couldn't help but remain fixated on his phone, his thumb swishing up and down against the touchscreen in an almost rhythmical dance, waiting the chime of a notification to ease his worries.
He wasn't exactly keeping his stresses hidden either. While his gaze was locked on the device in his hands, the rest of him was in the middle of pacing back and forth from one corner of the living room to another. And evidently, from the sounds of snickering coming from just a few meters away, Mabel had indeed picked up on his lack of subtlety.
"Hello!" She called to him in a sing-songy voice, waving to him from the comfortable golden armchair, "Earth to Dipper!"
He shook his head in a vain attempt to clear his mind before looking over to her grinning face, practically stumbling over his words as he said, "Sorry! Just busy is all."
Mabel leaned back into the chair, a smirk still plastered across her, but this one more reassuring. "You worry too much, Bro-Bro. She's probably just working extra hours at Greasy's."
"I know, I know." Like with many things, Mabel was right. Dipper always had a tendency to overthink, especially when it came to Pacifica. The two had been a couple for well over a year now, and most of the time, he hardly ever felt anxious. He was comfortable with her, both in being confident and in being vulnerable. But in spite of all that, one thing never ceased to make him worry; her parents.
Normally, Dipper couldn't have cared less about Preston and Priscilla Northwest. The two of them were arrogant, stuck-up leeches and he hadn't lost a single night of sleep knowing they disapproved of him. But there was one thing about them that left an unmistakable sense of dread in him; their effect on Pacifica.
Her parents had always been, in Grunkle Stan's words, "pricks", but in the last few years, it'd become clear that their treatment of Pacifica had only gotten worse.
He remembered how her father kicked her out of the house for 3 weeks after she got a job working part-time at Greasy's (Mabel had forced Dipper to sleep on the floor for that time so Pacifica would have somewhere to sleep). When she and Mabel posted a video together online, her mother had supposedly barred her from "even thinking about her phone" for a month. And when she started dating Dipper? He and Ford had faced demons less frightening.
Dipper knew Pacifica was strong. She'd been putting up with her crappy parents for a long time. But even still, he could see the impact it was having on her. That familiar dejected look in her eyes spoke more than reassurances could.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Quick as lightning, Dipper was pulled from his brooding back to reality. His head spun over to the right, glancing at the smiling face of his sister as she said, teasingly, "And I wonder who that might be..."
Without wasting a second thought, Dipper rushed over to the door. To his relief, sure enough, it was her. He could just about make out her blonde hair and purple jacket through the blurry window (Soos had said something about it adding mystique but it just made everything harder to see).
But, as soon as he opened the door, his excitement faded like a shadow in the darkness.
Her nose and cheeks were flushed a bright red. Her usually pristine and careful makeup smeared with wetness. The remnants of tears glittered against her eyes, even as she tried to face him without showing herself in pain.
When their gazes finally met, he took a single step towards her and she practically fell into his arms.
"Paz," He muttered out, holding her close. For a moment, he thought he could hear her sniffling into his rugged, hand-me-downed hoodie, but she quickly lifted her head to look back at him, a mask of composure on her face. Raising a hand to touch her cheek, he could do nothing but ask, "Are you okay?"
He nearly kicked himself as the words left his lips. Jesus, Dipper, of course she isn't okay!
When his palm finally met her skin, it was as though she collapsed into it, closing her eyes and taking in a long breath as she was finally given some momentary reprieve from whatever was going on. After a second, she opened her eyes once more and asked him in an exhausted voice, "Can we go inside?"
He nodded, taking her hand in his. As they walked in, his was mind buzzing with questions. Had her parents done something? No, scratch that, WHAT had her parents done? Did they finally commit to kicking her out? He hardly had any time to process these thoughts before his sister came crashing forward.
"Pacifica!" The concern on Mabel's face was even more pronounced than his own. "Oh my god, you're crying!"
"Ever considered becoming a detective?" Pacifica cracked the joke with a wavering smirk, but he could tell from the shakiness in her voice that she was just barely holding it back, a fact that Mabel clearly recognised as well from the brief glance the two siblings shared.
As the three of them walked into the Shack's living room, Mabel hurriedly said, "Come on, let's get sat down." Pulling out one of the shoddy metal chairs that Soos insisted on keeping to "Keep Mr Pines' memory alive" (despite the fact that their Grunkle Stan was still very much alive), Mabel motioned for Pacifica to sit. She did, with Mabel taking the seat opposite her while Dipper leant down with his arms crossed against the table, Pacifica still holding tightly onto his right hand.
"You don't need to tell us anything if you don't wanna." Frankly, he wasn't even sure what he'd be able to say if she did tell them.
Pacifica shook her head, still trying to keep a vail of calmness on. "It's okay." Her voice seemed to hitch on the words as he felt her thumb rubbing up and down against his hand, something that always indicated her stress. "Just hard to actually say, you know?"
For a moment, the three all sat silently, before Pacifica swiftly stood up, grabbing a tiny purple compact mirror from her handbag and pointing it at herself. "Right! Waterworks can wait; If I'm gonna have to spill my guts to you two, I might as well look good doing it." Before he could even begin to process her words, she began moving out of the living room towards the bathroom. A part of him lit up as he realised just how accustomed she'd become to the Shack, but it was quickly drowned out by dread.
Mabel interjected, her apprehension evident but a smile still on her face, "Want me to come help? I've been cooking up some new Mabel-brand makeup!" Dipper smiled to himself, glancing over to Pacifica to see her doing the same back at his sister. Whatever the situation, Mabel always seemed to have a way to keep things light.
"I'll avoid the glitter shower for now, but thanks," Pacifica said before disappearing up the stairs.
With the two siblings now alone, Dipper let out a long, droning sigh as his hand sunk into his hands. Keeping his voice hushed as not to worry Pacifica, he spoke. "Oh God, I knew something was wrong."
Keeping her voice similarly quiet, Mabel reached over to put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, maybe it won't be so bad?" Dipper shot her a somewhat unimpressed look and she nodded, looking off to the side as she said, "Yeah, okay, it probably is pretty bad. But look, she came to us for help? So we gotta stay strong for her, you know?"
Dipper nodded, pulling himself up from his stupor, "You're right." He'd faced shape-shifters, cults and honest-to-God dinosaurs, and yet the thought of whatever might've happened to Pacifica still managed to fill him with more anxiety than any of them. But as he caught another (slightly more stern) glance from Mabel, he knew that whatever was going on, he was gonna be there to help her through it.
After about 10 minutes of waiting (which was unusually quick for Pacifica when it came to doing her makeup), Dipper finally heard the familiar sound of her footsteps making it down the stairs.
When she entered the room and their eyes met, any words he had planned on saying slipped away as he was left only with his love for her. She gave him a slight smile and walked over towards him and Mabel, sitting back down on the chair and leaning her head against his shoulder. Even after a whole year, the sensation still made his heart skip.
Pacifica took a deep breath, glancing at both he and Mabel, before she finally spoke.
"Well, it started this morning."