Chapter Text
Pacifica was in her bed, but she wasn’t asleep. She was on her stomach with her head in the pillow, trying to block out the noise of her parents. They were having another screaming match, not very uncommon these days. Pacific flipped over, giving up the idea of blocking out the noise. She just had to last a day or two, then the Pine’s twins would be back, they would be back for their fourth summer at Gravity Falls. Her parents screaming made Pacifica think back, to right after Weirdmageddon.
They had lost their family home, their reputation and most of their money. Pacifica’s ‘friends’ had left her since she had nothing to offer them anymore. Her family moved into a smaller house, all things considered it wasn’t that bad, but her parents hated it. They hated a lot of things, their fall from grace, the servants they all had to let go, and the Pines twins. Her parents had a strong hatred of the twins, probably because they blamed them for the consequences of their own actions. Her parents did the best to keep face, so they still held their horrible holiday parties, even if barely anyone came. Her 14th birthday came and went, her parents didn’t even notice, or they forgot. But at least Summer came soon after, and that meant the twins returned. Pacifica hung out with them a lot more, and by extension Candy and Grenda. Pacifica found that despite how poorly she treated them last summer, they had forgiven her and were even willing to befriend her. That summer was probably the best of Pacifica’s life, she had some carefree fun, she got closer to Dipper, and she even went on some adventures. But when it ended, Pacifica was probably the saddest she’s been in a while. By now, her family had regained most of their fortune, but McGucket wouldn’t sell their family home back to them. Pacifica personally didn’t care, after knowing how it was built, her family history and she always found the mansion too big for her liking. But her parents felt differently, and it was starting to strain their marriage. That’s when they started screaming at each other. Pacifica did her best to avoid her parents, which wasn’t hard considering they barely even glanced at her these days. That year's Christmas party was even worse than last year since her parents went even harder on trying to repair their reputation. So that meant Pacifica had even more pressure put on her than usual, it even made her father pull out and use the bell again. Pacifica hated that damn bell, hated the effect on her. At least school wasn’t too bad now that she had Candy and Grenda to hang out with, though she had to be careful to hide it from her parents since she knew they would hate it. It made her 15th, 16th and 17th birthdays some of her best since she had genuine friends, she just wished the twins were there. Those other summers the twins came back were filled with adventure and fun, and Pacifica found herself getting even closer to Dipper.
The thoughts of Dipper brought Pacifica back to reality, her parents were still screaming at each other. She would've loved to go back to her train of thought on the other summers, but the screaming was making that impossible. Pacifica sighed and closed her eyes, just a day or two until the twins arrived.
“Soon Dipper will be back.” Pacifica thought with a smile, “And Mable too.”
Pacifica kept her eyes closed trying to sleep, but she still couldn’t. So she decided some water would do her good. So she got out of bed and decided to go to the kitchen, unfortunately that is where her parents were screaming. Pacifica moved quickly and grabbed a glass. She spared a glance at her parents, her mother was standing at the other end of the kitchen with her arms crossed, while her father was closer to Pacifica waving his arms around. Just as Pacifica was about to leave, one of her fathers hands backhanded her across the face causing her to stumble back and drop the glass. It shattered on contact with the ground but Pacifica barely noticed, she had a hand on her cheek where her father had struck her. Her parents stopped yelling at each other and started yelling at her for dropping the glass but Pacifica barely noticed. Before she even realized what she was doing, Pacifica was out the door and on her bike, she was glad she bought it with some of the money she earned. She rode through the dark back roads of Gravity Falls, she didn’t realize how far she had gone until she pulled over to the side and started dry heaving from exhaustion. Looking back, she was probably lucky a car didn’t hit her given that it was pretty dark. She looked around and just saw trees everywhere she looked. But then a sign caught her eyes, it was for the mystery shack. She thought for a moment, then rode in that direction.
Pacifica made it there shortly and set her bike to the side. She went up to knock on the door then paused. It was late, they might be asleep. She didn’t know who was there right now, but she didn’t know what the twins' grunkles thought of her, but she guessed they didn’t really like her. But, Pacifica was desperate and she was starting to get cold. So she knocked and waited. She waited some more and eventually knocked again slightly harder. A light flicked on inside and Pacifica waited with baited breath. The door opened to reveal one of the grunkles but Pacifica wasn’t sure which one, even after spending a majority of last summer at the shack she still couldn’t easily tell the two apart.
“Pacifica right?” The old man asked.
Pacifica nodded, “I-um. . .” she trailed off.
“Come in, you look like you're freezing. I’m Ford by the way, in case you weren’t sure.” His voice held no judgement that she might not remember which Pacifica appreciated.
Pacifica stepped inside and Ford closed the door behind her. He stepped in front of her and led her to the T.V. room and guested to the couch.
“You should rest up, it's late. I’ll get you some blankets.” Ford said walking off.
Pacifica mumbled her thanks and sat down on the couch. Soon Ford came back with two blankets and handed them to her. Suddenly the other grunkle, Stan stepped into the room.
“Ford, what is all the-”
Stan cut himself off when he saw Pacifica, “Oh, you're here.”
Pacifica shrunk slightly in her seat, “I. . .needed a place to stay.”
Stan nodded, “Well, just make sure to pay rent on time.” he said with a chuckle.
Pacifica let out an awkward laugh and started to get set up on the couch. The two brothers turned off the light and left so Pacifica was by herself. The shack was quiet, and it was nice. Pacifica was so exhausted that she fell asleep within minutes.
When Pacifica woke up she thought she was dreaming, because Dipper was there sitting on a chair.
“Hi.” she said dreamily.
Dipper gave her an odd look, “Hey.”
Then it hit Pacifica that she was actually awake. She suddenly sat up and looked around. At first she was panicking since she wasn’t in her normal bed, then last night's events hit her and she calmed down. Then she glared daggers at Dipper.
“So what were you just watching me sleep like a creep?”
Dipper held up his hands in defense, “Hey now, you are in my house. Besides, you looked actually peaceful for once in your life.”
Pacifica blushed and looked away, “Yeah well, you must’ve been mistaken, this couch is terrible.”
Dipper shrugged and stood up, “Pretty sure gunkle Stan is making pancakes. If you want some you’ll have to beat Waddles to it.”
Pacifica rolled her eyes, “I have to fight a pig for breakfast? This place really is a barn.”
Dipper laughed and walked to the kitchen, not seeing Pacifica’s still blushing face.