Dipper Pines is already up at five thirty. He's never been a heavy sleeper like his sister. He's already pulled on a pair of old jeans and an old t-shirt. He makes his way down the stairs, avoiding every spot that squeaks, then padding into the kitchen in his socks.

He's rummaging through the mostly empty fridge and deciding to find out if the diner is still open, when he hears the front door open. He glances around the kitchen to see if there are any potential weapons just in case. Before he can find anything useful, a very tired Pacifica Northwest walks straight into him.

She stumbles back, her eyes wide. "Dipper?"

"Morning, Paz."

She frowns, closing her eyes for a moment. "Sorry… I- I didn't… I couldn't sleep last night…" she mumbles.

He frowns slightly. "Uh, you want anything to eat?" he offers lamely.

She shakes her head, "I'm just gonna go change…. Thanks though."

He glances at the overly fancy outfit she has on and the heavy makeup that's a little smeared, but he can't tell why.

"No one else is up. I was about to go to Lazy Susan's, but I can wait for you, if you'd like?"

She pauses, turning back slightly to look at him. "Uh… yeah. Sure." She attempts a tired smile.

About twenty minutes later, Pacifica materializes in the kitchen doorway, arms wrapped tightly around her middle. She's wearing old torn skinny jeans and a faded Fall Out Boy t-shirt. Her hair's down, and her makeup is much more natural. She traded her heels, for flip flops, showing her lake foam colored toes.

Dipper takes her in for a moment before he actually starts moving to the door. He holds it open for her with a goofy grin.

"You're an idiot," she laughs, her smile reaching her eyes.

They sit down in a mostly clean but still slightly sticky booth in the small diner once they get there. Both of them order plain pancakes, but while Dipper skips syrup, Pacifica drowns hers.

The two of them eat in silence, stealing glances at each other, and hoping they don't make any eye contact. Pacifica looks up at Dipper as she stuff the last bite of pancake into her mouth. Syrup dripped down her chin right as Dipper looks up at her. He grins, and she turns bright pink as he leans across the table with a napkin. He stares at the napkin while he wipes the sticky substance off of her chin, but as his thumb brushes her lower lip, he glances up.

He holds eye contact with her for what feels like hours, before he grins goofily and plops back into his seat.

Long after sunset, when the ghostly pale moon is watching over the lonely souls, a girl jolts awake with a scream escaping her lips. The terrified sound echoes in the empty halls of the darkened house, and she sits, her gasps for air shaking her sweat soaked body, her heart thundering in her ears. Her eyes close briefly, knocking a tear loose, which dances across pale skin, and sparkles before dripping off her chin and falling to the mess of sheets tangled around her legs. Shaking hands wipe the trail left behind away.

When she can't seem to calm her heartbeat, she dives for the phone sitting on her night stand. Her mind only working far enough ahead to dial his number, not bothering to check the time, or consider any consequences.

She just needs his calm voice to bring her back towards sanity. She just needs him, and that's all she knows in the darkness of her cold room.

Dipper Pines is awoken from his half-sleep state on the roof of the Mystery Shack by the sound of his phone ringing. When he sees that it's 2:54 in the morning and Pacifica Northwest is calling him, he wakes up completely.

"Paz?"

A relieved, but shaky sigh comes from the other end. After a moment of hesitation, she manages a soft "Hey."

"What's wrong?" A million different scenarios fly through his head, none of them good.

"I just needed to hear someone's voice," she mumbled, her almost defeated voice setting off alarms in his mind.

"Pacifica, what happened?" His concern growing every second.

"Nothing… Just a nightmare that I can't remember now… Sorry, I just… I needed to hear your voice." Her voice shakes, like she's about to shatter.

"It's okay. Everything's okay," he assures softly.

"I woke you," she murmurs. It isn't quite a question, but not completely certain because his sleeping patterns aren't normal either.

"Nah, I was just in a stare really. Just sitting here on the roof… Actually, it's probably good that you got me out of the stare, I could've fallen or something." He expected a laugh or a sarcastic comment from her, but none came. "Paz?"

He hears what sounds like muffled sobbing, and the worry grows.

"Pacifica?"

"I'm so tired of being afraid of them…" she whispers brokenly and it feels like something inside of him breaks.

"Then leave." The certainty in his words shocks him. They sit a few moments in silence.

"What?" she finally manages.

"Just leave them. Get out of there."

"Dipper, I don't have anywhere to go." She says it like she needs him to prove to her that she can get out.

"What about here?"

"Dipper-"

And suddenly he feels this overwhelming need to convince her to stay with him- them. "You'd be safer here. I mean Stan has about ten different guns, and you'd never be alone."

"Dipper, I can't do that."

"Why not?!"

"Because I can't just move in there! I'm sure you people get enough of me anyway already, I mean I'm over there all the time."

"Exactly."

"Dipper, stop."

"Why?"

"Because it's impossible!"

"How do you know that?!"

"They would find me! Don't you realize that? The shack would be the first place they look!"

"I- We'd protect you!"

"It wouldn't be me needing protection, Dipper! They could destroy your whole family with a few words! Don't you get it?! You can't possibly win! They own this town, and they have the power to ruin anyone in it!"

"I'm not afraid of them."

"But you should be. You should be terrified. Dipper, this isn't like one of the monsters in the journals. They're unpredictable, and they don't have a weakness."

"I don't care."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not going to let you get hurt anymore."

"Dipper-"

"Just get out of there when you can, we'll figure out the rest later."

"Alright."

He hangs up the phone and looks at the sky. "How am I going to keep her safe?"

"I have a few ideas!"

Dipper Pines freezes at the familiar voice that has been living in his nightmares for years. He turns toward the voice, fear filling his eyes.

"Bill."

And here it is! My very first Gravity Falls fanfiction! This was all one chapter, but I'm still having problems uploading new docs. I use copy and paste, and if I try to submit something a certain size, it won't let me.

Oh, well.

I finally got a tumblr, guys! I'll probably be reblogging a lot of fandom stuff, posting small parts of my stories, and hopefully writing prompts for one shots anyone sends me. Keep in mind the prompts will have to be for pairings I ship because I'm not going to write something if I don't ship it. Sorry...

I'm just going to say it here, Bill will not be paired with anyone in this story ever. If you ship Bill with anyone, good for you. I have nothing against you, but I don't ship it. At all.

I'm not anti-Bill or anything, in fact, I absolutely love him as a villain. I love that he's purely psychotic and unredeemable, and I will be writing him just like that. I love the character, I just don't ship him with anyone.

Follow me on tumblr: the - madtraveler (no spaces)

With love and lots of sarcasm,

SJ