Dipper Pines woke up, his body hesitant to function. It was the last day of his unexpected hospital visit. Whatever the doctors were discussing earlier, they must've come to some sort of favorable conclusion. His arm was in a sling, but his headache had started to fade. It would be nice to get outside and enjoy the summer; after all, that's what he came here for. Dipper thought for a moment, how much fun it would be do explore and move around and feel alive.

A nurse entered the room, and casually smiled. She motioned for him to follow, and Dipper was glad to oblige. He followed, out the door and into the hallway, excited to finally leave his prison, but weary of what was waiting for him at the reception desk. Thoughts ran through his head, arriving at a singular reminder…Trust No One.

Greeting him were the happy faces of his family – Great Uncle Ford, Stan, and of course, Mabel and Waddles. Stan was nonchalantly talking with the desk receptionist, while Mabel was seemingly trying to suppress a squeal of joy. Her hands found their way around his neck, and for a second, Dipper forgot how to breathe.

"Dipper! You're okay!" Mabel's voice held back from yelling and risked catching the attention of everyone within earshot. Dipper laughed as he hugged back.

"I'm glad to see you too Mabel."

Grunkle Stan spared a few words too:

"Glad you're okay, try not to get yourself killed next time you're alone for a day."

The ride home was fairly quiet…until Mabel decided to break the silence.

"So…Dipper. What happened to you when you were gone?"

Of course, the question Dipper had been dreading. He couldn't just say that he traveled through time and injured himself there. Dipper took a deep breath, and silently rolled the dice in his head.

"Well uhm, was just exploring out in the woods and lost track of time…"

He looked away from Mabel, not making eye contact.

"…and I calculated I'd find a new species of wolves out there. But instead, I tripped over a tree branch and hit my head."

Dipper looked up at Mabel again, hoping she wouldn't see through his masked truth. It was true after all, he tried to convince himself.

Mabel couldn't be sure, but it seemed like it wasn't the entire truth. But, did it really matter? Her twin brother was back! After missing him for a day and not being able to see him at the hospital, it felt relieving just to see him in person again. Besides, their mother once said, "Don't push your luck!".

The rest of the drive was uneventful, to Dipper's relief. Great Uncle Ford remained silent and didn't say much. Maybe he suspected something was up, or maybe his mind was busy with other ideas for new inventions. Grunkle Stan pulled his car up to the recognizable sight of the Mystery Shack. It was nice to be out of the hospital and somewhere familiar.


It was late in the evening, and a taxicab pulled up to the new residence of the Northwest family. A familiar figure exited the cab and approached the front door. Pacifica quickly abandoned whatever she was doing and ran downstairs to the front door. Mrs. Northwest was home from her trip.

"Mom, you're finally home!" Pacifica's voice was filled with joy and hope. Hope that her family could be happy again. Mr. Northwest silently appeared from within the house, there to greet his wife. Priscilla Northwest entered silently, embraced her daughter, and looked apprehensively at her husband. The two looked at each other silently for a few moments, before Preston spoke.

"Welcome home," he offered, visibly shaken. Priscilla looked at Pacifica for a second and saw her wishful gaze. Pacifica visibly wanted everything to return to normal, despite her parents' strained relations. Silently, the two adults agreed to spare their daughter the true nature of Priscilla's visit, and put aside everything else. Their daughter mattered to them, even if they rarely displayed it.

The Northwest family sat down for dinner, reunited for the first time since Mrs. Northwest's absence. To Pacifica, it appeared that maybe, for the first time in a while, her family could become whole again. It didn't need to be perfect, as she once was led to believe, but not having one at all would be way worse. The two people she knew best, with all their flaws, were her parents. Ever since last year, her parents gave up on using the bell as a way to control her, as they no longer had to appear as proud aristocrats to the townspeople – it was a well-known joke of how the poorest man in Gravity Falls traded places with the richest.

After dinner, Pacifica felt the desire to share her newfound happiness with someone. The first person in her chat history just happened to be Dipper Pines.

"Hey Dipper, you'll never guess what happened!" she texted him.

"What happened?" came the reply.

"My mom came back, and it seems like my family is back to normal!"

A minute passed before the next message.

"That's good news. Want to meet up so you can tell me about it? I've got something to share as well."

Pacifica hesitated for a moment, but then agreed.

The sun had set, and the clear sky offered a beautiful glimpse at the stars above. Dipper Pines sat on the grass, gazing into the sky. He was reminded of how Gravity Falls hid the crash-landed spacecraft under its remarkable landscape. For a brief moment, he forgot why he was out late, until he saw the telltale sight of Pacifica, her golden hair glistening in the moonlight, as she walked up the hill to join him at his request.

"Quite the night, isn't it?" he asked cordially.

Pacifica's look told him quickly that the sky was the least of her concerns.

"Sure, whatever. You wanted to meet?" her voice was friendly, but weary, almost apprehensive.

"Yeah I did. You mentioned your mother came back? How's that going so far?"

"Swell, actually. I thought for sure that my parents were going to divorce, but thankfully, that seems to have passed. My dad actually met her when she came home, and they looked ready to make amends…" Pacifica launched into a long explanation of how her parents were now much better off and all the wiser since last summer. "…I knew my parents wouldn't stay mad at each other forever and learn how to change."

Dipper let out a sigh. He could see that Pacifica didn't want to accept the much likelier reality, which is that her parents would divorce rather soon, and didn't want to tell her too early. The fact that Mr. Northwest was acting strangely, and Mrs. Northwest was gone for a long time, was already a cause for concern. Chances were that Mrs. Northwest saw that life without her husband was better and came back only to negotiate the terms.

"You're not even listening!" Pacifica's sharp tone shattered Dipper's thoughts.

"Pacifica, I hate to break it to you, but your family isn't going back to normal," he started.

"I know that! But it's close enough. It doesn't need to be perfect, like it once was." Pacifica's voice sounded a little desperate, but Dipper's tiring ordeal of still recovering from his injuries and a mixture of medications dulled his normally keen sense of observation.

"Look, it's not going to happen Pacifica! I've seen this all before, and I'm sorry to say it, but your family won't be together for much longer, there's no way around it!"

Pacifica fell quiet, shocked for a moment at Dipper's blunt rebuttal of the hopes she shared with him. Then, the shock gave way to anger.

"What, you think you know my family? Even if you do, who gave you the right to accuse them that way? I've spent an entire year dealing with people like you, saying how bad my family is, and even if it's true, I'm sick of hearing about it! Do you know what I have to deal with every single day? 'oh look, it's the daughter of the Northwests, the family that lost their mansion to a homeless guy!' I'm so done with it!"

Before Dipper could mumble an excuse, he saw the blur of Pacifica's hand strike his face, leaving a burning mark on his cheek.

"I thought you of all people would understand what I've been through." Pacifica said coldly, giving one last glance to Dipper. He wasn't shocked or surprised. Instead, a look of bitter sadness covered his face, his skin grew pale, his brown eyes brimming with tears. He looked away from her. Pacifica stood up, and marched away, angry and upset.

Walking away, she threw one last glance at Dipper to see him staring into the distance. She was about to turn away forever, when she noticed something glaring in his hand…