Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy your stay.
The rain picked up as the thunder clapped. There was no shelter to be found from the downpour, and Pacifica could feel her socks getting soaked as she walked along the sidewalk. She prayed that the branches of trees might alleviate just enough so she wouldn't get fully soaked and even sick. She stopped to wipe the rain from her face and yelling, shook her hands off in frustration. She undid her headband and let her drenched hair flop backwards, adjusting her bangs to keep them out of her eyes. She walked a couple more lonely yards before a car going past on the opposite side came to a screeching halt and banged a U-ey. It pulled up next to her and the door opened. It was Dipper.
"Paz! You're soaked! Why are you walking alone? You said you'd be out with your friends today. Nevermind, come on and get in. It'll be warm in the car."
Pacifica didn't respond to Dipper's question, but went to the passenger side and opened it up. Dipper ran back round to his trunk and pulled out a towel from it. By the time he got back into his seat Pacifica was sitting, rather uncomfortably, in her seat with her seatbelt on. Her hands were outstretched towards the vents and a look of minor disgust rested on her face. The key alert stopped dinging as Dipper pulled his door shut and he held out the towel towards her.
"Here, dry off. It's clean, I promise. Mabel always ends up needing a towel or two for some reason or another."
Pacifica took the towel and began rubbing her hair within it. Dipper gulped as he look at her clothes clinging soaked to her body. Her disheveled appearance betrayed her pompous upbringing and honestly reflected the more current Pacifica; down to earth and every bit as flawed as the next person. Pacifica paused her drying for a moment and raised an eyebrow at him, causing him to titter nervously. He turned back towards the windshield clicked off his blinker before slowly accelerating.
"We'll be heading back to the shack if that's okay. I let Mabel know to prepare for her trendiest friend," Dipper said. Pacifica didn't offer any protest, so he kicked up to a smoother speed.
Dipper turned the wipers up to a higher setting as the rain pounded around them. Another crack filled the air and a low rumble soon followed. Dipper nervously drummed on the steering wheel with his thumbs to the beat of the swinging wipers. Pacifica vigorously rubbed the towel against her hair and got it to a point where it had at least stopped dripping. Now that she was mostly dry, she turned her attention towards the bundle of nerves in the seat next to her. She was thankful he had come by, but she was still confused by one thing.
"What were you doing here?" Pacifica asked.
Dipper glanced at her from the corner of his eye and frowned. "Well… Waitaminute. Oh no," Dipper shook his head, "you're not getting out of answering my question first! Why are you all alone?"
Pacifica scoffed. "I just wanted to leave early Dipper."
"I don't believe that for a minute."
"Well you'd better because that's the reason."
"Why wouldn't you just call a cab? I know you have the money!"
"Maybe I just wanted to walk alone for once!"
They came to a four way stop and Dipper looked intently at Pacifica. His eyes bore into her, and it made her squirm ever so slightly. He was looking at her like he'd look at a page of his journal.
"Did your friends try to force you to do something you didn't want to?"
"What!? No Dipper, no, it was nothing like that."
"Ah, so there was something?"
Pacifica paused. She looked at Dipper with a mixture of annoyance and astonishment before mumbling a "screw you," and turning her gaze back at whatever was so interesting about the towel in her lap.
Dipper only chuckled lightly. "Rich and beautiful high class girl who went out with her friends ends walking alone in the pouring rain by herself? I wouldn't believe it for a second." He didn't push harder than that. With Pacifica he found it was a tug of war. He pulled, and now it would be her turn to pull back.
More rain pelted the windshield.
"They—" Pacifica searched for the words "—they said I wasn't cool anymore."
Dipper gasped extra loudly. He turned towards Pacifica with extra flair, and a look of mock surprise painted on his face.
"Keep your eyes on the road, Dippy," Pacifica deadpanned in response.
Dipper continued chuckling, but did heed her warning as another flash lit up the sky.
Gravity Falls was lucky its general weirdness tended not to affect weather outright. The redwoods probably couldn't survive something as crazy as a monsoon, and neither could the residents. Regardless, today was an exceptional storm, so Dipper made sure to drive slow. He wasn't in a hurry anyway. With the exception of their car, both the streets and the sidewalks were empty. Lights shined from the insides of homes. Dipper hoped they wouldn't lose power and ruin what was probably a cozy evening for the sleepy town.
"And thanks for the compliment," Pacifica added out of nowhere.
"Huh?" Dipper questioned, "compliment?"
Pacifica scoffed. "Yeah, you know, calling me beautiful..."
Dipper coughed as a light blush spread on his cheeks. "It's uh, well it's true." His usual nervous laughter accompanied his abnormally not-mumbled moment of honesty.
A silence fell over the two of them, but it only lasted for a minute before another rumble of thunder roared. Pacifica once again spoke up.
"Dipper, it's difficult. I used to be totally different, and these people used to be my friends. Now they're… in a weird spot in my heart. That's why I just took off, so I could walk and think about things."
"Well, maybe, you shouldn't care about being cool?" Dipper offered. "Just be who you are now and maybe they'll accept you."
Pacifica gave Dipper a "when hell freezes over" look and Dipper merely shrugged.
"Or, maybe they won't, you'll never know unless you do it," he added.
"Dipper, I know they won't, I know the type of people they are."
"Well then it's their loss! Who cares about being cool anyway! You know there'll always be someo— " Dipper trailed off mid-word and and a light bulb nearly flashed above his head. He pulled out his phone and fiddled around with it. Pacifica berated him, telling him to keep his eyes on the road or he was going to get them both killed. A couple taps later a song began to buffer. Pacifica looked at the screen as Dipper set it back down into the cupholder. It was titled "There's Always Someone Cooler Than You."
"Smile, like you've got nothing to prove.
No matter what you might do
There's always someone out there cooler than you."
Dipper began singing along immediately, eyeing Pacifica with a wide smile at the line "There's always someone cooler than you." She rolled her eyes, but listened to the lyrics. It had a good tune and was pretty upbeat. The issue was Dipper was too busy enjoying himself to notice just how adorably dorky he was being. Pacifica could barely pay attention to the song once she caught a look at him. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she joined in on the second instance of the chorus. She figured it wouldn't be fair if Dipper hogged all the fun.
Dipper quieted himself, awestruck to see Pacifica in this state. She danced lightly in her seat to the beat, and was pretty good at singing. That wasn't really a surprise to him, but being this up close and intimate felt a little different than seeing her and Mabel go at it in dueling karaoke. He grinned at her smile as they pulled up at the shack.
"See?" Dipper said. "You can have some fun if you're not so worried about being vain."
Pacifica's pleasant harmony came to a screeching halt. "Vain!? Did you just say I was vain?"
An "uh" was all Dipper could mutter before Pacifica started again.
"For your info, Pines, the reason they said I wasn't as cool anymore was because I was defending you! They were trashing you and I just couldn't be quiet, so I spoke up and told them to cut their crap!" Dipper was taken aback. Pacifica stuttered at her own honesty, but there was no turning back now. "They don't get just how much you mean to me! If it wasn't for you I'd still be the same blind link in the chain my parents were raising me to be. I'd be this weird— " Pacifica slammed her fist "—THING! That they were trying to shape me into instead of me being my own person! So of course when they start talking about you, throwing out words like 'freak', I couldn't just sit around! And even still I couldn't just tell them how great you are. No, I had to play around it, and act like I didn't find hanging out with you some of the best times I've had during the summer." She pressed her hands against her head in a huff of frustration. "I can't believe I still act like such a spoiled bitch sometimes that I can't even properly stand up for a friend!"
A tense moment passed where only Pacifica's seething breath could be heard. Dipper turned the car off turned himself fully towards her. He began to reach out but hesitated, seeing her hands were clenched into fists. Mustering up the courage, he grabbed her arms lightly, and she loosened her grip as she felt his light touch. She looked up from her hands at his face.
"Pacifica, you're a good, no, you're a great person. Sometimes you're a little spoiled, but, seriously... I uh... you stood up for me and that's… Look, I know I'm a weirdo and that's okay with me, but sometimes people other people aren't as welcoming about it. In the past, it's mostly been Mabel who has had my back. But you're like this really beautiful girl, who was kinda a jerk, and well sometimes you still can be, but you've mostly changed…"
Pacifica stared at Dipper incredulously. His heart was pounding, all the right and wrong words just seemed to be pouring from his mouth. "The fact you went ahead and told your snooty friends that they shouldn't talk about me means a ton, especially since it means you're not as cool as you once were. Or… something..." Dipper trailed off, mouthing words that all sounded terrible in his head. The two remained locked, staring as Dipper's heart pounded in his chest.
And then Pacifica burst out laughing.
Dipper laughed nervously in response unsure of how to take this burst of emotion. She could barely speak in between breaths.
"Dipper, you know just what to say to cheer up a girl."
Dipper sighed the breath he'd been holding in. His brow furrowed across his eyes but he still smiled. He lightly punched her shoulder. "Well, c'mon Paz! I won't sugarcoat it for you. You know me! I'd call you the worst to your face!"
Pacifica sighed a wheezy sigh, having finished laughing. "I know Dipper, I know." Her face suddenly got a bit more serious. She glanced up, gears spinning in her head.
Dipper watched as Pacifica's face got very close, very rapidly. Her hazel eyes shimmered at this distance. Her lips suddenly touched his and like a flash of lightning they were locked together. Their first kiss wasn't just a kiss. Hormones took control and their minds went blank, filled with nothing but the feelings of soft lips and hot breath. Ideas and idealizations of "firsts" meant nothing in the heat and passion of the real thing. A minute passed before Dipper was the one to initiate the break for air, parting softly. He inhaled and Pacifica quickly put one finger on his lips.
"Please Dipper, you're adorakable, but don't ruin this." She then removed her finger.
"I just wanted to say before I forgot, that I loved your singing."
"Oh."
Pacifica didn't hesitate, and as if they hadn't even stopped, it continued on. After a few minutes a mild amount of fogging had begun to tint the windows. When Dipper stopped again he slowly untwined his fingers from hers. Pacifica looked almost pathetic about it ending.
"We've been parked here for a while, they're going to wonder if something went wrong. Or worse, Mabel will wonder if something…"
Pacifica chimed in "went well?"
Dipper blushed, and smiled. "Yeah, went well."
They both took a minute to compose themselves. Dipper's hair was disheveled, his birthmark in full visibility. He pawed at his hair with frustration to try any put his bangs back in order. Pacifica looked in the car mirror and tried to calm herself. Her breath was shaky from the intense moment, so she breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth. The two left the car and rushed towards the door in the rain. Dipper opened it and ushered Pacifica through first. Mabel was waiting on the other side sitting comfortably in a chair.
"Paz-Paz! Why don't you go on upstairs and get changed! I left some clothes out for you. You look good for someone who got soaked in the rain. Is there any style you can't pull off?!"
Pacifica looked bewildered for a moment, and Dipper shrugged in response while Mabel stood there with a vapid expression on her face. Pacifica's face perked into a smile.
"Thanks Mabel, I'll go change."
The twins watched as Pacifica went up the stairs, and she gave a small nod towards Dipper as she disappeared from sight. Mabel immediately turned towards Dipper with a gigantic grin on her face, but held still, holding a hand to her ear. The squeak of a door was heard and Dipper braced himself.
"So, Dipper" Mabel began. "The car was parked out there for some time…"
Dipper groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel his face begin to heat up, as if steam would rise off it at any moment.
"And I can glean all I need to from just how red your face is!" Mabel jumped forward and pulled Dipper into a tight squeeze. He mumbled a "thanks sis" and she squeezed him tighter. There was one thing still bugging him though, so he lowered his voice and asked.
"How did you know where Pacifica would be and that she'd be without her friends?"
Mabel smirked. "I was with Candy at same place they were! When I came back from the bathroom I overheard her arguing with them. I could tell from how it sounded that she was gonna walk out on those floozies because she is a strong independent woman!"
"Did you happen to hear what they were arguing about?"
"Nope!"
"Ah, okay."
Pacifica's voice came shouting from above. "Mabel! Can I ask you about one of these sweaters you have?"
"Sure thing! I'll be right up!" Mabel turned back towards Dipper again and smacked his cheeks playfully. "My bro-bro's finally growing up!"
Dipper made a motion to kick her in the shin and she jumped back with her usual swiftness, sticking her tongue out at him. She turned and ran up the stairs on all fours and Dipper sat himself down in the chair with a sigh.
Pacifica suddenly yelled.
"Oh my god Dipper! Can't you keep your mouth shut at all, you're so uncool!"
Dipper just rolled his eyes and sighed.
A thank you to my relatively new friend for providing feedback and motivation to finish this story.
If you like my work, please read it on AO3, where I am able to maintain proper formatting.