*Ahem* Is this thing on? Ah, yes. Hello, I am the author. Not of the journals, but of this fanfiction. This is my attempt at creating a fanfiction during which Dipper and Pacifica realize their feelings for eachother and fall in love. The romance is going to be a fairly slow burn, mostly because the way I see love is it is a gradual thing. You start off with the faintest idea that maybe you like someone. You notice more and more about them gradually as you spend time around them. Eventually it gets to the point where you finally have to consider that, yes, for the love of all that is good and holy I like this person. When the romance finally starts, especially at such a young age, it's awkward and unpracticed. You may go a couple weeks before you even start holding hands and even longer before you kiss. And again longer before you add tongues and start getting into the hanky-panky. Speaking of hanky-panky, there may be some in this story but it won't happen any time soon. I intend on them being together for some time before that happens. And by some time I mean at least until they're around seventeen. Personally I couldn't imagine doing the do sooner than that but then again my experiences are vastly different from most. Enjoy the story.
Chapter One:
Sowing the Seeds
Weirdmaggedon had all but passed and life as normal was slowly returning to Gravity Falls. Of course now that the cat was out of the bag people had a lot harder time adapting. It helped that the town had agreed as a whole to ignore the entire event but that didn't help the fact that it did happen. That the entire town of Gravity Falls had its perception of reality ripped away from them. Everyone has nightmares now and then of the destruction, corruption, and overall humiliation of life as they knew it, but they are getting by.
Summer had ended as quick as it started and as much as it pained them Dipper and Mabel had to return home to Piedmont, California. The bus ride was long and boring but Mabel made sure they had plenty of snacks for the trip and plenty of games to play along the way. The bus driver was visibly upset at having a pig in the vehicle but whenever he thought about kicking the kids out he remembered the two dangerous old men and decided whatever mess he'd have to clean up would be preferable to dealing with them.
It was getting on into the evening when they made it home. The lights were on and the two unceremoniously entered the building toting their luggage in their arms. "Mom! Dad! We're ba~ack!" Mabel shouted cupping her hands around her mouth. Within moments both the adults had sprung out of their seats and were welcoming their children home. "Dipper! Mabel! I'm so glad you made it here okay! How was the ride? Tell us all about your summer in every painful detail!" Their mother shouted with as much energy as Mabel had. "Dinner's ready you two, tell us about it over meatloaf." Their father said a pleasant warmth in his voice.
The twins spent the next hour trying to go over all the important details of Gravity Falls, leaving out anything they thought their parents might be too uncomfortable with. They wanted to be able to go back next summer, so anything to do with their lives being threatened was omitted. Their parents laughed along with them, especially because of how active their imaginations were. Once the stories were done and everyone had a full stomach they decided as a whole to retire to their beds and catch up more the next day.
Mabel had dreams of boy bands and rainbows, the usual fare for her. Dipper's dreams were elsewhere. He was used to having nightmares and was normally able to find ways to force himself awake. Tonight, however, was different. It started out as his dreams normally did with him sitting in the attic room of the Mystery Shack. He was flipping through the journal and listening to Mabel's constant chattering. Dipper was having trouble making any sense of the words and had decided to go walking through the woods. It was a normal day in Gravity Falls, the wind blew faintly and the shadow cast by the tree's canopy made it bite slightly, but Dipper had managed to keep warm. Dipper started to hear a faint melody on the breeze and decided to follow it to its source.
As he kept trudging down the path the scene shifted seamlessly around him. The leaves and grass turning into smooth linoleum tiles and the trees and sky replaced with tables and ceiling. He recognized where he was. It was the Northwest's manor. He continued walking, dodging the party guests until he arrived at the bottom of the staircase. There he saw a blonde girl wearing a seafoam green dress. -Pacifica. The night of the ghost attack. Why am I here of all places?- Pacifica slowly turned around and with a wide smile said, "Dipper! I'm glad you could make it. I've been looking forward to this night for weeks." She outstretched her hand palm down in greeting. Dipper took it and gave her hand a small kiss. -What am I doing? Why am I dreaming this?- Dipper's thoughts were racing. This was a night he would have sooner forgot, so why was he dreaming of it now? They had dealt with the ghost and everything turned out fine so this shouldn't be engrained in my subconscious. Pacifica kept a pleasant look on her face as she guided Dipper to the dance floor.
"Pacifica? Look, I don't really do the whole 'dancing' thing. I kind of.. Don't really know how." Dipper admitted, a feeling of embarrassment washing over him. "Nonsense silly, we've been practicing for months now, I'm sure you've gotten the hang of it." -Practicing for months? I've never formally danced a day in my life.- Pacifica placed her hand on Dipper's shoulder and his hands instinctively moved and grasped her hand and waist. The music began and the two were quickly into a waltz. They moved with grace both in perfect time with each other. Soon the dance floor emptied out and it was just the two of them alone dancing as a single entity.
The lights dimmed to nigh complete blackness and a spotlight shone on only them, highlighting them as the main event. "Dipper… Thank you so much for agreeing to come tonight. It really means the world for me to have you here." Pacifica's half-whispered as her face turned a shade of pale pink. "I'm- Well I mean… I guess I'm glad to be here?" he stammered out unsure of how to feel. The music began to swell for the closing of the song and Dipper noticed Pacifica's face getting closer. As the final note was being held out Pacifica leaned in to Dipper and closed her eyes, slightly puckering her lips. And it was over.
Dipper woke with a start the next morning clutching his chest. He sat up straight in his bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. After a moment of adjusting to the waking world Dipper started to run his hands through his hair in a moment of quiet panic and confusion. -What was that dream about? Why was I at the Northwest's manor and why did I- Dipper's thoughts were interrupted when Mable threw a pillow at his face. "Gack!- Mabel!" He shouted, throwing his pillow back at her for revenge. She had been too quick though, having already been awake for several minutes, and dodged deftly out of the way.
"Morning Dip-bro!" She squealed, eager for her first day back home. "Last one downstairs makes breakfast!" With that she bolted out the door leaving her blankets strewn all over the floor. Dipper took another minute to compose himself and had decided it was best not to dwell on the dream. After all, he had enough of dreams over the summer and wasn't about to get worried over what seemed like such an innocent one. -Innocent until the end at least-
When Dipper finally made it downstairs he saw that breakfast had already been made. Mabel was sitting at the table, their father straightening his tie and sipping morning coffee, and their mother over the stove adding sprinkles, chocolate chips, and whipped cream to what he could only assume was Mabel's pancakes. She set them down in front of Mabel, who at once began to wolf them down. After another couple minutes she had two plain pancakes sat in front of Dipper with the bottle of syrup at the middle of the table.
When Mabel had a satisfying portion of her pancakes eaten she stopped to talk. "So, brotacular, how did you sleep now that we're out of that musty ole' attic?" "As well as could be expected I guess. The bed is definitely more comfortable, though I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the room back in Gravity Falls." "I completely understand. I already miss Candy and Grenda and Soos and Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford and Gompers and Wendy and Pacifica and Lazy Susan and everyone!" Mabel lamented. "Wait, you miss Pacifica?" Dipper asked, curious. "Well of course I do! Sure she might've been a butt at first but she started to warm up to us didn't she?" Mabel said while wiping her face. "I guess. She was fun to be around after we finally dealt with the ghost issue." "Right! And even you gotta admit she's pretty cute. I gotta work on finding her a match ASAP when next summer rolls around." "Yeah I guess she is pretty cute." Dipper said, his voice becoming nothing more than a whisper at the end. "Oh? You think so too, broseph?" Mabel asked, her interests piqued. "Maybe my match-making job will be easier than I thought!" Dipper, completely flustered, asked, "W-what do you mean?" "Whaddaya mean what do I mean? You think she's cute, she thinks you're cute. Slap a sticker on the both of you and call the match made!" she said excitedly, waving her hands in the air as if she had just cast a love spell on them. "Alright enough teasing your brother, get your breakfast ate, we're going back to school shopping today." Their father said chuckling at the idea of Dipper having his first crush. Mabel eyed Dipper and whispered, "This isn't over. I am going to hold this over your head for the entire year, mark my words." Dipper gulped audibly and stared at his pancakes wondering about all the different ways Mabel would find to pick and prod at his awkward still not fully developed emotions.