A/N: Based on the 100 Ways to Say "I Love You" challenge. Number 63: "Cross my heart and hope to die"
Pine trees loomed over the clearing, blocking out most of the sky, but Pacifica didn't feel threatened at all. She poked at the fire Mabel had made, watching the sparks spiral up into the night sky.
"So, why'd you bring us out here?" Mabel asked, rotating her marshmallow so it toasted evenly.
Pacifica sighed, her breath almost visible in the late August weather. "You have to promise not to tell my parents," she said.
Mabel made a farting noise with her mouth. "I wouldn't tell those guys anything. They're buttheads."
Pacifica almost giggled before covering it up with a cough. Things had changed so much since they were twelve and yet nothing had really changed at all. "You're seventeen," she pointed out. "You are allowed to curse."
Mabel shrugged. "Grunkle Stan does it enough that I figured, 'why become part of the problem', y'know?"
Pacifica laughed again, bringing her knees up to her chin.
"So," Mabel asked, pulling her marshmallow off the stick. "What did you want to say?"
Pacifica sighed again, a shiver running down her spine. She wasn't cold – it wasn't that late in the year yet – but something about this scenario made her inexplicably nervous. "Remember," she warned again, taking off her coat, "no one can know about this."
"Okay," Mabel agreed easily.
Pacifica shrugged off the flannel she was wearing under her coat (still in shades of pink, thank you very much) and held her right arm out. "Look."
Wrapping twice around her arm was a chain, the last few links broken and snapped. Mabel let out a soft ooh, her breath ghosting across Pacifica's skin. Pacifica suppressed another shiver.
"That's so cool!" Mabel exclaimed, still staring at the tattoo. "What does it mean?"
Pacifica stared at the crackling fire, not pulling away. "That night with the ghost…when I first found out about all the horrible things my family had done, how they had lied and cheated their way to being important…" She sniffed, an unwanted tear creeping down her face. "I found out I was just another link in the world's worst chain."
"Pacifica, no – "
"But then," Pacifica interrupted Mabel, "I decided I was going to break that chain. This world has had enough Northwest's making everything shit; it's time I started to fix it!" She was nearly shouting by the time she finished talking.
"You're absolutely right," Mabel said. She moved around so she was kneeling in front of Pacifica. "The world needs more people who like each other."
Pacifica was suddenly glad that the fire wasn't quite bright enough to see her face clearly. She sucked in a breath, trying to make the heat building in her cheeks dissipate. "What?" she asked inelegantly. "You mean…"
Mabel lightly put her hand on top of Pacifica's. "You brought me out into the woods, just the two of us," she said, like she was unveiling the solution to a murder mystery. "I didn't know if it was a date, but – "
"Is it?" Pacifica cut across the end of her statement.
Mabel shrugged. "I dunno. Do you want it to be?"
They were alone, with only the trees to tell their secrets. Pacifica smiled, leaning her face towards Mabel's until their foreheads bumped. "I think I would," she said.
Mabel giggled happily. "I still your tattoo is super cool," she said. "And I promise I won't tell anyone."
"Really?" Pacifica asked.
"Cross my heart and hope to die," Mabel promised, pressing her lips to Pacifica's.