The walk back to the party was much slower than when Pacifica had dragged Dipper out to the balcony, but she still held his hand the whole way. Her hand was warm and soft, and Dipper had to will his own to not start sweating. At the entrance to the ballroom, Pacifica stopped and let go.

Looking nervously down the hall toward the party, she said, "I think I'm going to head home."

"Really? I was kind of hoping to talk a little more. Maybe I could walk you—" Dipper was cut off as a familiar pink blur rushed past him and glomped onto Pacifica.

"Pacifica!" Mable shouted with a level of unbridled enthusiasm Dipper had only ever seen his sister display. "I haven't seen you all night. Have you been hiding from me?"

"There is such a thing as being fashionably late, not that you would understand," Pacifica said, managing to maintain an air of superiority while trying to try to pry Mabel off her.

"That's silly. If you're late you miss some of the party."

"Um, Mabel," Dipper interjected, "I think Pacifica may need to breathe."

"What?" Mabel asked, finally noticing the squirming girl in her arms. She quickly released her ex-rival and blushed, "Whoops! Sorry, I was just so happy to see you. I thought you hadn't come."

"I almost didn't, but I figured I owed it to you for helping to save the world or whatever," Pacifica explained, looking away.

"Well, whatever. I'm just glad you're here," Mabel said with a big brace-less grin. "You look great, by the way. I love your dress, totally classy. What do you think of mine?" Mabel gave a twirl, causing her overly elaborate pink floor length dress to flare out.

"It's very… pink," Pacifica said, clearly trying very hard not to be critical.

Mabel laughed. "Thanks!" she said with an elaborate curtsey. "So how—"

Before Mabel could finish her question, Soos's voice came on over the speakers, "Yo, dudes! It's me, Mr. Mystery, but tonight you can call me DJ Soos! I'm gonna lay down some sick beats, so get ready to dance."

"Wow, Soos's DJing has really improved from last year. He's not even reading out of a book," Dipper observed, surprised.

"He, like, holds parties at the Mystery Shack once a month now," Pacifica explained, quickly adding, "not that I would go to a loser party like that." Dipper felt a tinge of anger at the residents of Gravity Falls, realizing why Pacifica really wouldn't go to the parties.

Mabel's face twisted up in confusion. "But you went to the one last year—"

"Um, Mabel, shouldn't you be out there dancing?" Dipper interrupted, trying to change the subject.

Mabel's face lit up. "We all should. Come on!" Mabel said grabbing Dipper and Pacifica's hands and dragging them out onto the floor.

Dipper tried to resist, but couldn't fight his sister's freakish strength. Looking across from him, he saw Pacifica in much the same situation, her mask faltering and letting a little fear show through. Dipper barely even noticed when Mabel stopped and said something.

She elbowed him and spoke again. "Dipper," she shouted over the music, "I said there's Wendy. You should go dance with her; you're actually tall enough now."

Dipper looked at where she was pointing and saw his former crush. He couldn't help but smile. Unlike most of the girls at the formal party, she'd forgone a dress and was wearing black slacks and a tuxedo print t-shirt. Seeing Pacifica out of the corner of his eye, he shook himself and turned to his sister. "Look, Mabel, Pacifica and I were just about to go home—"

"Come on Dipper, just one song. You haven't even said hi to her yet tonight," Mabel pleaded, pouting as hard as she could.

Dipper looked back and forth between his twin and the girl he'd been spending the evening getting to know. Pacifica eventually dismissively waved him off, saying, "Just go dance." She nodded to Mabel. "She won't stop until you do."

Dipper reluctantly made his way over to Wendy. As he approached, she saw him and met him halfway. Swinging a hand in for a high five, she said, "Dude, where've you been? You disappeared before I could even say hi."

Dipper met her hand and they traded grips. "Yeah, sorry; I'm not really one for big crowds," he explained, glancing around the room and finding Pacifica dancing awkwardly with Mabel. "I kind of ducked out to explore the mansion."

Wendy laughed and started moving to the music. "That is so you, man. Find anything cool?"

Dipper awkwardly tried to match her movements, made more difficult by his glances at Pacifica. "Maybe," he answered thoughtfully.

"So who's the girl?"

Dipper almost tripped over his own foot. "W-what are you talking about? What girl. There's no girl."

Wendy smirked. "Come on, you've been looking over my shoulder with that same look you gave me all last summer the whole time we've been dancing. A girl could get offended."

Dipper glanced down and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. I guess I'm a bit preoccupied."

Wendy poked Dipper in the chest. "You didn't answer my question. Who's the lucky girl?"

"It's not like that; I'm just worried about her."

"Uh-huh," Wendy said, disbelieving. "You do realize I'll figure it out as soon as I turn around, right?"

Dipper sighed, dropping his head. He would never hear the end of this. "It's Pacifica."

"Okay, fine, don't tell me," Wendy said dismissively.

"No, really. She—" Dipper stopped mid-sentence when he saw one of Pacifica's old cronies walking toward Pacifica and Mabel. As fast as he could, he said, "Sorry, I've got to go. This has been fun. See you later," and took off towards the girls.

Behind him, he heard a confused "What?" from the lumberjack's daughter.

Dipper reached Pacifica and Mabel just in time to watch what he was hoping to prevent. The brunette girl with the bob haircut and big hoop earrings had just started talking to them. She addressed Mabel, "You might not know this, but you really shouldn't be hanging out with her." Dipper saw Pacifica tense up.

Mable giggled awkwardly. "Um, why not? Pacifica's nice now."

"She's a Northwest. They're, like, the worst. They've lied, cheated, and stolen from everyone forever." The girl leaned forward, and in a faux whisper said, "Her father made a deal with that thing that made everything go crazy."

She didn't talk about it a lot, but Dipper knew Mabel still blamed herself for Bill getting out. Seeing someone else hurt because of it cut into her. Dipper cursed under his breath as he watched both Mabel and Pacifica' faces contort in guilt and pain.

He stepped up, looked the girl in the eye and said, "You need to leave, now."

"What's the big deal? Aren't you the one who exposed them?"

Dipper felt his gut twist. Louder than he'd intended, he yelled, "She's not like them! She fought with us at the end while you were all still frozen. She's a hero!"

The girl looked at him with derision. "Pacifica Northwest, a hero? Yeah right." She sneered at Mabel, who looked almost catatonic. "I guess what they say is true; you Pines really are freaks. I'm getting out of this loser party." With that, she turned and left.

As soon as she was gone, Pacifica snapped out of whatever paralysis had been holding her and bolted away. Dipper started to follow, but stopped when he saw that his sister was still out of it. As he helplessly watched Pacifica disappear into the crowd, a hand clapped down on his shoulder and from behind him Wendy said, "Don't worry, I've got Mable. Go get her, dude."

Without a moment's hesitation, Dipper took off after Pacifica.

Uh,

I guess this wasn't a one-shot after all. Still not sure how far I'll take it, but I do have some ideas.

I edited the first chapter a bit to fit with the overall story, but there's nothing essential that you need to reread to understand.

Thanks for the comments. More are always good, but just enjoying and reading is good too.