A/N: I loved writing this chapter, so here's a super speedy update! Again, I really appreciate hearing from you all (it motivates me to write!) and I still have a ways to go with this story, so buckle up, hold on, and enjoy the ride! Thanks for reading!
The summer had reached its peak, no longer temperate and mild, but vicious and blazing, the heat haze traveling through Gravity Falls like a fog. The only reprieve it's people had was when the sun would finally etch beneath the horizon making way for the moon to paint the sky an inky blue. But the nights seemed short, and the sun would find its way to return the air to sticky stuffiness, suffocating the residents of the area.
Dipper sat alone in the Mystery Shack, his flannel top unbuttoned to reveal a black tank, his jeans long abandoned on the floor, stretching himself out on the arm chair while a fan beside him jostled his mop. His family had retreated to the public pool in hopes of keeping cool, but he chose to stay behind, claiming he needed to work on his manuscript. Mabel knew better, having picked up on his subtle shift from angsty-teen back to his usual upbeat self. She could only assume he had finally spoken to Pacifica.
And he had. Two days prior, after his talk with Ford, Dipper got up the guts to text Pacifica and see if she wanted to meet up. Her response was nearly instantaneous, agreeing to be able to meet up on Wednesday as long as her parents were still out of town. He mentally cursed himself, having not spoken to her in weeks, he was unaware her parents were even gone. They could have had so much more time together. But he needed to banish those types of thoughts, for he was finally ready to come back to Pacifica as platonic friends. They didn't need to hungrily spend every moment together, wrapped in the embrace of the other. It wasn't like that anymore. He didn't think about how her touch was soft like cotton candy, how her kiss stung his lips, leaving a spark in the wake of her passion, or how her eyes glistened when she looked at him. No. Those moments were in the past, no more than a memory.
He shook his head violently, hoping the motion would wipe his memory clean like an etch-a-sketch. He snuck a glance at his watch: 11:30 AM. Pacifica was meeting him at the shack in a half hour. He huffed, knowing he needed to pull himself together despite the heat and prepare for their talk. Peeling himself off the chair, he nabbed his jeans and tried to pull them over his moist legs, scolding himself for packing mostly long pants in the middle of summer. He didn't spend time outside when he was home and forgotten just how warm jeans were when faced with 100 degree heat. Plus, he had grown extremely self conscious of his body as a teen and preferred to keep as much covered as possible. But still, he could have packed something other than flannel, for goodness sake.
A heavy hand began pounding on the door, jolting Dipper to attention. She was early, but it was not unlike her to be overly punctual. And for a petite thing, she sure did make a lot of noise, he noted, strolling to the front door to let in the ruckus.
The door swung open no sooner than he unlocked the hinge, nearly knocking him off his feet. Pacifica barged in triumphantly, making a beeline for the fan and collapsing before it, worshipping its cool air.
"Oh my god, I like, walked the entire freaking way here and I honestly thought I was going to melt into the ground and you'd never know what happened to me. 'Where's Pacifica? She was supposed to be here?' Oh no worries, she just melded into the tar on the back roads, no biggie!" She spoke quickly, panting into the fan.
She lifted her blanket of blonde hair over her head to cool her shoulders. Dipper tensed up as he watched a sweat bead roll down her exposed neck and back and into her yellow tank top, traveling to places he had once been intimate with. He lightly smacked the back of his head, reminding himself what she was here for.
"Oh wow, I didn't know you'd be walking the entire way or I would have met you somewhere closer," he offered, folding his legs beneath him as he sat beside her.
"No, it's fine, I probably needed the exercise. I've been slacking since my parents left for the Bahamas," she paused to take a breath, turning to actually look at him, "how have you been?"
She seemed so familiar even though he had gone nearly a month without talking to her. He expected her to be angry or distant or bitter, but she acted as if nothing had happened between them, picking up right where they left off. It could be her form of denial, but he breathed easy knowing she didn't hate him for ignoring her. Maybe this would be easier than he anticipated.
"Great," was the best he could come up with, his eyes dragging downward, avoiding her gaze.
"That's nice, I've been pretty miserable myself," she claimed matter-of-factly, her voice unwavering.
"Ok, I haven't been so great. Its been horrible, actually. I just don't really know how to approach this." He stuttered, wringing his hands together nervously.
"Well, I'll go first," she started, scooting her body so she was facing him, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ran off with no explanation—"
"You don't owe me an explanation," he interrupted, "We're obviously better off as friends and that's all we'll ever be and I'm thrilled with that. I'm just sorry I let my hormones cloud my better judgement."
Pacifica's brow furrowed, a look of puzzlement on her face, "Your better judgement?"
"Well, you know what I mean," he backpedalled, "clearly you have a loving boyfriend and I should have respected that. I just got carried away. So, friends?"
"Sure," her jaw tightened, feeling slighted by his offhanded comment.
She had fully intended on revealing to him that she was being villainously blackmailed by that "loving boyfriend" he mentioned, but she kept her mouth shut, feeling the notion was worthless to him now.
"Great! That was easier than I expected," He hopped to his feet, "So, I actually have some research I need to do, but I was hoping you'd come with me."
"Where to?"
"A little place in the woods. Ford and I went out a few days ago and there was a very strange toad. You...you just gotta see it to believe it. I need to find the nest to ensure the research is valid, but I had to wait until the mud hardened up." Dipper started pacing around the room, Pacifica's eyes following his every movement.
"Ok," she hissed through gritted teeth. She was trying not to lose her temper, but his insult still burned on her cheeks.
He smiled, unaware of her frustration, and beckoned for her to follow him out the back door. She obeyed, consciously keeping a safe distance between them. When they walked into the forest, she automatically regretted not bringing longer sleeves, her exposed, tanned skin a beacon for hungry mosquitos. She swatted aggressively, trying to take her irritation out on the bugs, pinwheeling her arms comically to fend them off. Dipper didn't pay attention, checking each tree against the sketch he had made, hoping he could find the exact spot quickly. Pacifica hoped he did, too, desperately wishing for this journey to be over.
Dipper pivoted then stopped in his tracks.
"Are we—"
"Shhh," he hushed her softly.
The two stood, listening to the crescendo of cicadas and the rustle of feathers as birds escaped the trees. Suddenly, a familiar croak chimed in with the sounds of the woods and Dipper turned slowly to his left. Pacifica followed suit, spotting the gigantic toad camouflaged with the dirt.
"I can get him," Pacifica challenged, knowing her reflexes were much quicker than Dipper's, and her hand-eye coordination was superb from years of golf. He hesitated, unsure if she was fast enough to grab him, but he nodded in agreement anyway. She had a better chance of catching the bugger than he did.
She inched closer to the toad, each foot stepping nimbly before the other, moving quickly but quietly as if the dirt were made of hot lava. Once he was in range, she crouched down and planned her angle of attack, deciding to go after him from the left. She waited perfectly still. Then, her arms shot out, using her body as a wall to cage him in, wrapping the slimy creature in a chokehold. He squirmed, a high pitched squeal coming from his nostrils. Pacifica wrestled with him, dirt and mud covering her body, her hair flinging rapidly from his commotion.
"Dipper, help me—"
Just then, the toad hiccuped a loud "rrrribbit", spitting gems everywhere, a rock hitting her square in her forehead. She winced, reaching a hand instinctively up to her head, the toad managing to use her pain as a distraction and flailing out of her grip.
Dipper ran to where the toad dipped into the dirt, unable to catch him. He kneeled on the ground and began exploring.
"Sorry, I thought for sure I had him." She rubbed at her head, looking around at the different types of jewels at her feet. Diamonds, emeralds, pearls...the toad was a ritzy son of a bitch.
"You ok?" Dipper asked, not taking his eyes off the ground, "I'm sure you're only used to Blake throwing priceless jewels at you, right?"
His lame attempt at a joke boiled the blood in her veins. All modesty and politeness gone, she marched straight up to him and pushed him, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to knock him down. She squatted down in front of him, a fire burning in her eyes.
"What the hell is your problem? The snide comments, the backhanded compliments, you ignoring me for over three weeks? I covered myself in mud and dirt and probably have, like, a massive bruise on my head for your dumb experiment and all you can do is judge me on something you know literally nothing about?"
Dipper tensed up defensively, gently pushing her too as she fell to her bottom, "I know nothing about it because you never mentioned that you hadn't talked to him after your big Facebook break up! You deceived me, making me think you were single when you technically weren't! You basically hid him from me."
"Oh, a lecture about hiding from the guy who hid me from his own twin sister? My own friend? Because why, embarrassment? Shame? Think she'd judge you for being with some hoe like me? What, am I not good enough?" She got in his face, tension strangling them both.
"Apparently I'm not good enough because you still went back to him!"
"I only went back to him because he's blackmailing my entire family!" She yelled, her voice at full volume.
Dipper went deadly silent, the air hanging heavy between them as only the chorus from the forest could be heard. Her eyes darted to her damp clothes, covered in mud and dirt, deciding to focus on removing a grass stain with her long, manicured nail. She felt her eyes heat up with tears, but she swallowed them hard. She would not cry in front of Dipper. She couldn't.
"...Blackmail? Pacifica, what aren't you telling me?" His voice was sympathetic, making her emotions stir even further.
Her eyes met his, glassy and red from fighting tears.
She sighed, "Blake was not happy that I wanted to permanently end things with him so he threatened that his dad would pull out his investments in my dad's new business endeavor. Our money supply is running out and my dad has poured every ounce of his savings into this new idea. If it fails, we'll go broke."
Dipper reach his hand out to hers, but she jerked away, knowing his touch would push her tears to the surface, "And it's not that shallow, either! I don't care if we lose money! But I can't bare to see them be destroyed like that. I'm attached to my parents, even though they're the worst. And to top of all off, if we don't have money, I can't look at colleges in California because we won't be able to afford out of state tuition."
"Wait, California?" He cocked his head, unsure of what she was talking about.
"I wanted to go to school near you, moron," she sniffed, "that's why I was so upset when I found out you had been looking at schools on the East Coast. I just want to be where you are."
Guilt enveloped him, "Paz, we're still so young. We have a few years before we have to decide those things."
"We're getting older, Dipper. I'll be 17 at the end of December! 17! I'm almost a legal adult!" She cried out, a few stray tears tumbling from her eyes, "I know you don't always like to acknowledge it, but time is passing super quickly and I'm worried about everything. I'm worried I'll be forgotten and left behind, stuck living in this rotten place where all my 'friends' backstab me and all my peers want to see me and my family fail."
"That's not t—"
"Its absolutely true!" A hot tear dripped onto her shirt, "And you know it! I understand that the Northwests have been pretty terrible in the past, but we've worked hard, I've worked hard, to come back from that. It means nothing to these snobs. You and Mabel are the first real friends I've ever had. When you're gone, I'm alone."
Dipper felt a lump build in his throat, cursed tears forming on the horizons of his eyes, "I understand, Pacifica. I have no one back home either."
She wiped away at her eyes, her face red and tear stained. She gave him a puzzled but concerned look.
"No one wants to be friends with me when they have Mabel. She's the better twin, the alpha twin. I'm just the nerd, the weirdo, the loner. I spend most of my time in my room at home. I don't go to parties, I don't have sleep overs, I don't have friends. I have Mabel. And then I have your letters. Writing to you gave me something to do when my twin was out being social. It made me feel like maybe I wasn't so alone," he confessed, letting the tears escape at the truth behind his words.
Pacifica reached her hand back out to his, lightly squeezing his knuckles. He wiped his face with his sleeve, embarrassed that he let himself cry.
"Heh, look at us, sitting in the middle of the woods in the blistering heat crying. Like, who are we?" She laughed, tucking a loose hair behind her ear.
Dipper returned her smiled, chuckling lightly. She removed her hand from his and he felt a chill from her retreat.
"Guess we should pick up these gems. No use in letting them go to waste." He coughed, looking around at the vast amounts of jewels just from the one toad.
The two placed the precious stones into his backpack and walked out of the forest, laughing as friends. When they arrived at the shack, they unloaded their treasure and began cleaning it, Dipper hoping to find any agents that could be what alters the toad's spit into crystals and gems. They talked the entire time, laughing and jesting with one another. When the sun began to set, Dipper decided they should spend the remainder of the day on the roof, watching the sun droop low in the sky, crimson red and heavy, the sky glittering orange while sunbeams splayed up to a violet night hanging in the distance. His family had returned hours ago, unaware that the two were on the roof to begin with. They decided to keep it that way.
Dipper watched Pacifica swat at another bug and he quickly slid out of his flannel shirt, wrapping it around her shoulders. She snuck her arms in the holes, hugging herself in his clothes, his smell wafting over her tender senses. Stars dotted to life as the sun brought nighttime down like a curtain, the moon rising up in its place.
"You know, I still can't get over how you, of all people, can feel alone in this town. You used to be so...harsh? And now you're friends with everyone. It makes me feel pretty inadequate." Dipper half-joked, laying down on his blanket to watch the galaxy above them.
Pacifica followed suit, "I make you feel inadequate? The guy with a book deal? You're a successful, published writer before you've even gotten a driver's license! I've done, like, nothing with my life except work a couple of crappy jobs and learn way too much French."
"You worked at the Mystery Shack! I can't imagine a more impressive feat than that," he grinned, coyly accepting her compliment.
"Soos and Melody are like family to me. My own family is broken, our name stained, our lives filled with lies and scandal. But the two of them made me feel normal in the most abnormal part of my life," she paused thoughtfully, "it's how I feel when I'm with you Pines weirdos, too."
Dipper reached a hand to her cheek, touching it affectionately before squeezing her cheeks together until her lips puffed out, "Do you feel normal now?"
"Yesh, dis is how normal peoble talk," her words muffled against his grasp. She reached out to his face, puckering his lips to match hers.
"Do I loob like Mabel?"
"Identical," she snorted before they let go of the other's face and burst into fits of laughter.
He turned his head, meeting his eyes with hers. They smiled at one another, leaning in as if drawn together by gravity itself. Dipper was convinced they were going to kiss, but Pacifica turned her head to press it lightly to his chest, pulling her body in close to his. He snaked an arm around her shoulder as they watched the cosmic art above them.
Dipper returned his free hand to his pocket and pulled out one of the diamonds. He lifted it over their heads, watching as it twinkled along side the stars.
"Amazing how a diamond, one of the most precious stones in our time, still doesn't shine as bright as the stars on a clear night in Gravity Falls," Pacifica mused, "too bad my dad can't get into the business of selling stars. He'd make a fortune."
Suddenly, Dipper sat straight up in the air, tossing Paz off of him.
"Dipper—"
"Pacifica! That's it! I just figured it all out!" He exclaimed, taking the diamond and placing it in her hand. She stared down at it, and then back at him, a quizzical look on her face.
"Dipper, we can't actually sell the stars, you know that right?" She teased.
"No no no, not the stars! But we've found magical toads that burp precious stones! Your dad could sell them for a fortune and wouldn't need Blake and his awful family! It's perfect!" He nearly jumped from the roof with excitement.
Pacifica's face twisted, unsure of his proposal, "I know my father. If he got a hold of a toad with seemingly unlimited gems, he'd mine it to extinction. I can't in good faith tell my dad about the toads."
Dipper thought it over for a minute before a mischievous grin curled on his lips.
"You have an idea, don't you?" She asked flatly.
"Sure do."
"Are you gonna tell me?"
"Nope!"
"It is going to, like, horrify me and my entire family?"
"Probably," he leaned over, kissing her forehead right where a light bruise had began to form from earlier. He laid down on his back, a self-indulgent smirk on his face.
She smiled until her cheeks hurt, nuzzling into his chest.
"Good."
And there they stayed, covered in moonbeams and mud, entangled in one another as friends. No expectations, no requirements, just two souls under the sky. Neither noticed that their eyes grew heavy, the summer breeze lulling them to sleep.
Until they did fall asleep.
All night.