Happy New Year!

"Hey Pacifica! Over here!" called Dipper to the blonde girl as she approached the theatre. It was 6:45, and there was still a good amount of time before the next showing of "Duck-Tective 2: Back in Quack-Tion" at 7:10, but Wendy, Dipper, and Mabel had shown up around 6:30, getting there before Mabel had the chance to change her mind. Pacifica had actually intended to arrive much earlier, but, once again, found herself worrying about what to wear. She hurried over to join the group.

"Alright, now that we're all here, let's get our tickets," said Dipper. He took a big step back, bowed, and gestured with his arm towards the ticket booth, making sure the whole action looked overly theatrical in an attempt to lighten the mood before either Mabel or Pacifica could stiffen up. Smiling, he announced, "Ladies first."

Wendy nudged Mabel and Pacifica. "That means you two." The redhead smirked. "I'm no lady. I prefer being addressed as 'Badass Lumberjack Girl'." Mabel, remaining silent, nodded and walked towards the booth. Pacifica stood in line behind her. Dipper and Wendy, however, stayed back. Holding his phone and turning to Wendy, a worried look on his face, Dipper asked, "You sure about this?"

Wendy's phone began to ring. Without taking her eyes off the two girls in line, Wendy nodded. "Positive," she said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Wendy's plan was fairly simple. At the theatre, Dipper and Wendy would have Pacifica and Mabel buy their tickets first. Then, Wendy would "get a phone call". It needed to be as convincing as possible so, since Wendy's phone needed to ring at just the right time, Dipper was the one calling her, though he snuck his phone back into his pocket as soon as he dialed. Wendy would answer the phone, hold a fake conversation, then report that Soos needed Wendy and Dipper back at the Shack. The pair would then head off, leaving Mabel and Pacifica, who already had their tickets, alone to watch the movie together.

And it all went perfectly.

"Sorry guys, but we can't leave Soos hanging like that," said Wendy, looking as guilty as she could. "You guys enjoy the movie. Wouldn't want to waste a perfectly good ticket. C'mon Dip."

"Come back to the Shack when it's over. We can hang out there for a while, once we're done helping Soos," added Dipper as he and Wendy walked away.

The two teens who remained were dumbfounded. Mabel just stared as her brother walked away, just about ready to scream, while Pacifica looked down, desperately trying to calm her racing heart. Neither girl could look at the other, yet both were overwhelmed with the same flurry of emotions. They felt scared, betrayed, excited, anxious, and, somehow, happy. They were alone with the girl they loved, but they were alone with the girl they loved. At a movie theatre. Like a date. A first date. 'Our first date.'

All at once, both girls were completely red in the face, blushing furiously at the thought of going on a date together. It was almost too much. But Pacifica wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. She had to do something. Taking a deep breath, regaining as much of her aloof attitude as she could, the blonde turned towards the theatre and said, "Well, you heard them. Let's just go see the movie. We can catch up with them later." Pacifica began strutting towards the entrance, walking with the same grace as she had at the mall.

Mabel nodded and followed behind her, still remaining speechless. Her silence was only making it harder for Pacifica to keep herself together. Mabel wasn't acting normal. 'Is she disappointed that she has to be alone with me? Or worse, is she angry? Why isn't she talking? Does she hate me that much? That she won't even talk to me? Can I still salvage this? We can still be friends, right?' Pacifica's mind was racing, as all the worst possible scenarios began to play out in her head.

Mabel, on the other hand, could barely manage to figure out what was going on inside her own head, let alone worry about what was happening in Pacifica's. She was still trying to sort out the emotions flying around inside her. Right now, all she knew was that she couldn't speak. If she did, she was sure she would burst into tears. Whether those were tears of sadness, tears of joy, or tears of fear, even Mabel herself wasn't sure. But she didn't want to start crying now. Even if she couldn't say a word for the rest of the night, Mabel was certain crying would ruin everything faster than silence. So she prepared to go without talking until she could sort out her feelings.

The two girls, alone with their thoughts, made their way into the building. They sat down in adjacent seats, in the center of the large, mostly empty theatre, and prepared themselves for what would most likely be the most emotionally stressful 90 minutes of their lives.

Back at the Shack, Dipper paced the gift shop nervously, while Wendy sat quietly behind the counter, watching Dipper circle the store. The second half of Wendy's plan had been less of an actual plan and more of a way to abandon the girls. While the whole idea had been to convince the girls to face their emotions, regardless of the eventual outcome, the "plan" more or less just put them in an uncomfortable situation with no real escape and an unpredictable end result. There was a chance that everything would work out perfectly, just as it had up to this point. But there was also the distinct possibility that the girls' relationship may be in tatters, completely irreparable, by the end of the night. And, if the worst came to pass, Dipper would be left trying to console both his heartbroken sister and his devastated friend at the same time, all while dealing with the guilt of having been the one who caused it, an emotional burden that he most likely would not be able to bear.

The stress was killing him. As he paced, he began questioning his decision to intervene at all. "Maybe we shouldn't have done this. I mean, I did say that there wasn't much we could do. We probably should have had them figure this out naturally, you know? On their own. We shouldn't have rushed them. They might end up hating each other."

"Dipper."

"They might end up hating us, too. If they find out we did this, we might be in big trouble."

"Dipper."

"Goddammit, I can't deal with all this. Why did I have to get involved? This was way too risky."

Wendy stood up. "DIPPER!"

"WHAT?"

Wendy sat back down, rubbing her temples. "Calm down, man. Jesus. You're not the one putting your emotions out there for the world to see. Those two are. If anyone should be having an emotional breakdown right now, it's them. And I'm sure both of them are barely hanging on as it is. You stressing out isn't going to help anything."

Dipper sighed. He knew Wendy was right, but he always got like this whenever Mabel needed him and he couldn't help her. In fact, in this case, he may have actually made the situation worse, but he wouldn't know until it was over. It hurt him to know that, but what's done is done.

He sat down, cross-legged, on the floor of the gift shop. "I know, I know. But things could go downhill for them if tonight doesn't work out like they want it to. Or rather, like we want it to, since we were the ones who tricked them into doing this. This might just cause more problems for them."

Wendy put her feet up on the desk as she leaned back in her chair. "You said it before. There's not much we could do. But that didn't mean there was nothing we could do. Or nothing we should do. We both know that those two would have spent the rest of the summer as far apart from each other as possible. Pacifica may have tried something, but you saw her too. She's a mess, just like Mabel. There's no way they would get anywhere on their own. We just gave them a little push. Encouraged them to face each other, to be honest with each other. Don't get me wrong; I'm just as worried as you. They might go down in flames, and we won't be free from blame if that happens. It'd kill me to think that I had a hand in hurting those two. But even then, at least they'd have closure. They'd be able to move on, to find someone new. That's something they wouldn't have if they never confronted their feelings. They'd be stuck thinking 'What if?' for the rest of their lives. As their friends, it'd be cruel if we knew about this, and still did nothing to at least push them in the right direction."

Dipper was entranced and amazed by Wendy. On the outside, the twenty-year-old was still the same person she was five years ago. But Wendy had matured a lot since she met the Pines twins, and, sometimes, she seemed to have wisdom beyond that of the average 20-something young adult. It eased Dipper's mind a little to know that the redhead would always be there to support him and Mabel whenever they needed help.

Wendy continued. "Taking risks always sucks, especially when it comes to love. But, for better or for worse, those are the risks you need to take to be able to move on. We gave them the chance. It's up to them to take the leap of faith. How things work out between them is entirely in their hands."

The redhead looked at her watch. It was 7:45. The movie would be over in about an hour.

For Mabel, that hour couldn't pass fast enough. The movie seemed to be dragging on forever, despite the fact that she wasn't paying it any attention. She was, however, very conscious of the girl sitting to her right. Ever since they sat down, no words had been exchanged between the girls. They couldn't even bring themselves to look at each other. Yet Mabel was also unable to let her guard down. She loves Duck-Tective, and had been waiting months to finally see the new movie in theatres. But now that she was here, she couldn't even use it as a distraction.

In the fairly empty theatre, the brunette had finally managed to mostly sort out her feelings, but now, as Pacifica had before, she began to run through all the ways things could turn sour. She wanted Dipper to be here so badly. He could help her. He could calm her down. But he wasn't here.

'Why did I agree to this? Why did I come here?' Mabel began to tear up as she tried to find the answer. Then she remembered.

Wendy.

Wendy had convinced her to get out of bed. If Wendy hadn't come by the Shack earlier, Mabel wouldn't be in this situation. It was her fault. She was the one who dragged her here. She was the one who –

'Just be yourself. Just be Mabel Pines.'

Wendy's words echoed in Mabel's mind. The words that inspired her to embrace her feelings. The words that inspired her to face her emotions head on. The words that steeled her resolve to tell Pacifica how she felt. That's why she was here. After all, she is Mabel Pines, no stranger to love. She'd asked plenty of boys on dates before. It just so happened that, this time, she'd be asking a girl. No big deal, right?

For the remainder of the movie, Mabel mentally prepared herself to ask Pacifica out on another date. Not with Wendy and Dipper this time. Just the two of them. The thought of it terrified her, but Mabel Pines never backs down from a challenge. She did help save the world a few years ago.

Before she even realized it, the credits were rolling. Pacifica stood up to stretch, and, without looking at Mabel, said, "Alright, it's over. Let's head over to the Mystery Shack to meet back up with Dipper and Wendy."

"Sure!" replied Mabel, with her usual energy, reinvigorated by her determination. The remarkably normal response earned a surprised glance from Pacifica, but the blonde still began strutting out of the theatre, moving a little faster than normal. Mabel was quick to follow behind her.

As the pair exited the building and reached the street, Mabel took a deep breath and called out, "Pacifica, wait. I…need to talk to you."

The blonde girl, still a step ahead of Mabel, stopped, but didn't turn around. "Y-yeah?"

Pacifica's somewhat hesitant response made Mabel a bit nervous, but she pressed on. "We…we're friends, right? I mean, we've been through a lot together, and I have fun hanging out with you. So…we're friends. Right?"

Pacifica didn't say anything and kept her back to Mabel. Mabel had planned for a number of possible responses to her question, but silence was not one of them. She began to panic. If she couldn't see Pacifica's face, there was no way to even guess what Pacifica was thinking. Was she happy? Mad? Offended? Surprised? Mabel couldn't tell. But she had already committed to it. She had to see it through.

"Pacifica – "

But before Mabel could say anything else, Pacifica suddenly whirled around to face her. Tears were streaming down the blonde's cheeks, but she didn't seem sad. Actually, her emotions were difficult to read, but Mabel could see, deep in Pacifica's bright blue eyes, a bizarre mixture of happiness and fear. And in a shaking, timid voice, Pacifica spoke.

"What would you say if I told you I love you?"

There was a pleading in the question. It begged for an answer, any answer. Just something to hold onto. Something to validate the girl who had asked it.

The question held all the emotions of a girl in love.

The joy.

The fear.

The excitement.

The anxiety.

All of the feelings that had built up inside Pacifica were let out with a single question. The question that had haunted Pacifica for the past year. The most difficult question Pacifica ever had to ask. Just one simple question.

But the answer Pacifica wanted so badly never came.

Mabel ran away.