Still feeling disconcerted about what he'd seen, Dipper had opted to consider asking his Grunkles for advice. However, he couldn't help but feel… somewhat defensive of what had become his exclusive peep into the hidden world of the Northwest family.

After all, he was the weirdness hunter; the expert . Dipper Pines was convinced that for him to really advance his career, really try and become the next generation's example of Grunkle Ford, he had to keep his newly gotten knowledge a secret, and delve into the secret chambers without anyone else knowing.

He could find it with his girlfriend, prove to everyone who the top dog really was, and flip over the greatest secret of her family ever. If she didn't already know.

...Which still worried him.

How could she not know?

It had only taken him a few weeks living in his Grunkle's home to uncover a litany of secrets built into that shack. How could Pacifica - who he'd quickly learnt had a bit of an inbuilt investigative streak - not have uncovered all of those tunnels and secret rooms?

Perhaps, he rationalised, it was as simple as her folks not being told by their predecessors. Sure, it made sense at first, but again, surely - surely no people would be so stupid, so incompetent, so oblivious to miss a giant series of underground chambers?!

Plus, from what Ford had written in the third journal, Preston seemed very aware of his family's past even when he was a kid.

He kind of figured that meant Pacifica would be the same… but that night, at Northwest Fest, she had seemed genuinely surprised. Genuinely shaken up and angry. She had seemed to have genuinely reformed…

But what if?

He slapped the side of his head, as if he was trying to hammer the thought out of his head. He just wasn't very good at this trusting thing, he guessed. Hell, he wished he was, he just…

He really, really, really wished he was.

He tapped his fingers together as he thought over what he knew, gazing at the Northwest focused pages of Ford's research. He was barely aware that his Grunkle was peering over his shoulder.

"Something on your mind, Dipper?"

Dipper flinched and slammed his hands down on the papers. "No! No, nothing at all!"

"Ah. Like that, is it?" Ford smiled, taking a seat at the table. "I find a good remedy for 'nothing' tends to be talking about your problems."

Dipper bit his lip. "I really- look, Grunkle Ford, I know you aren't a fan of the Northwests."

"That's fair to say." Stanford chuckled, deftly spinning the pen between his fingers. "I consider the family a blight, Dipper. They're a plague on the town, on the state, on the country. Nothing good comes from people like the Northwests…"

"But what about-"

"Ahp-ahp. Let me finish. Nothing good, except Pacifica Northwest." the older man smiled, warmly.

"What if she has been keeping secrets from us?"

Ford smirked. "You're very much like I was when I was younger. Dipper, Pacifica is many things, but I doubt she has the skills to fake how she feels about you. She has a moral backbone. Frankly, I think you know that better than any of us do."

"But we're going into her house . Like… what if there's something we don't expect? What if there's more to the Northwests? Something we don't want to find out."

"I mean, frankly, Dipper? Nothing is more possible. The difference is I think she'll be discovering this stuff for the first time, too. When I met Preston all of those years ago, he felt like a very different person to your girlfriend."

The ever-neurotically nervous teen blushed a little and squirmed in his seat. 'Girlfriend' still felt bizarre. It had been weeks. Was it normal to still feel a little uncomfortable about this stuff? "I don't know, Grunkle Ford. I'm just not sure if-"

"Dipper. I know what a barefaced liar and manipulator looks like. I just so happened to be related to one."

Grunkle Stan walked past and snorted, scratching himself. "Shut your trap, Sixer."

Dipper smiled up at the ageingscientist. "Have you ever had a girlfriend you're certain is a good person, but comes with a lot of baggage…?"

There was a pause. The teenager kind of knew exactly what he was asking about and was more than grateful for the chance to listen. It would at least feel a little less awkward than talking about Pacifica.

Ford looked at the pencil between his fingers and sighed. "She was a Siren. I'm sure you've already read that much. It was difficult, keeping it together with somebody who's heritage was trying to capture random men at sea for centuries. She wanted to turn her life around, get into telemarketing…"

Dipper was rather excited to have a bit more clarity on some of the more bizarre elements of Journal 1 from Ford's own voice, though somewhat freaked out by his choice of romantic partner. "So uh… what happened?"

Ford shrugged with a casual smile that seemed to treat the idea of dating a mythical beast as completely par for the course. "I think the issue was I craved the adventure of being close to a Siren as opposed to actually being in a relationship . When that adventure was taken away, and things became more mundane, I realised that it really wasn't for me."

Dipper looked back down at the paperwork. It was, what, the third time he had turned to somebody more experienced for advice? In the space of a day? He needed to get his act together.

Somehow, the talk about the Siren felt pretty relevant. He didn't… dislike the adventure that came from being madly infatuated with a Northwest. He didn't even dislike the celebrity, or glamour associated with it.

He kind of liked it. It kind of made him feel important .

The scientist took off his glasses and wiped them. "Between you and me, Dipper, I think I'm more of a bachelor than a dating prospect. I've had a few… ahm. Experiences. A few flings. But I've never actually seen a future with somebody. As a matter of fact, I don't believe there'll ever be a Mrs. Stanford Pines. Or a Mr. Stanford Pines - or anything between."

Dipper huffed. "How do I know Pacifica could be a Mrs. Pines?"

"Well, she definitely doesn't try to call herself a Northwest anymore. Do you think Preston Northwest would ever disavow his surname?"

"No, never."

"Then think about it - if Pacifica is tied to her family in the same way as her father, and is so content to turn such a long con - why would she publicly do exactly that? You know as well as I do that it's illogical."

Dipper just shrugged, keeping his eyes fixed to the papers as if he was being given a lecture. Truth be told, he didn't want to be right - of course not. He just didn't like the idea of confronting the fact his own maddening paranoia was still alive and well.

Damned stubborn teenagers , Stanford thought to himself, his face beginning to betray those first, niggling fibres of frustration.

"Fine. Do you not think your Grunkle Stan would be able to see right through it? That man has found transparency in every salesman, con-man and business venture that has ever come through this town. He'd be able to tell a fourteen year old running a hustle from six states away."

"I'm just… worried. That's all."

"Mark my words, if you let it plague you too much, there's only one person who'll get hurt, Mason Pines. And I'm not allowing that to happen."

Dipper flinched at the use of his real name almost as a reflex. "Me?"

"No." Ford replied, sternly. "You'll hurt Pacifica. The one person who's had no part in it. Do you really want to do that over your own suspicions?"

"Well, I-"

"We will discover things in that mansion house, Mason. I guarantee it. But the real mystery is why you can't trust somebody who's now put themselves on the line repeatedly for you. You trust Mabel, you trust me, you trust your Grunkle Stan - and we've all made plenty of mistakes. Do you not think it's time you exonerated somebody you're in love with?"

Dipper watched as his Grunkle stood up, cracked his back, and trudged away - his now trademark hobble clearly on display as he left the room. He couldn't help but wonder if Ford would feel the same way, knowing what lurked under that Gothic manor atop the mountain.

All the same, he was beginning to feel a bit foolish.