A fluffy chapter yay! Oooh but you know what that means for the next one ;)

So um I hate to do this, but I would like at least 15 total reviews before the next chapter is released! That's just four more, at the moment, so I don't think that's too much?

Hope you enjoy!

Pacifica POV

Staying with the Pines was... surreal. Never before had I ever thought that one day I would stay at a house such as theirs. And, of course, I wasn't entirely impressed with the shack itself.

When Ford had snuck up on us, I felt about ready to faint. I was so scared that I would be in trouble, and get sent home. The twins hadn't seemed worried, but I feared punishment more than just about anything else.

It was kind of him to patch up the cut on my face, though, and wasn't something I had expected. The wound hadn't completely healed (in part because of me picking at it) and his work helped it feel a good bit better, even if some of it had hurt.

His help embarrassed me, though. And his pitying look. And his gentle tone that spoke down to me.

I wanted to be snarky, to tell him I didn't need help, but I didn't know if he would punish me for it.

Maybe it was extreme, but I never trusted adults I didn't know. Sure, I would boss a lot around and be a brat, but I was in his house. The twins had invited me over. What if he go mad at me? What if he sent me back to my parents? I couldn't take that risk.

So I kept my mouth shut as he fixed me up. And I only flinched the first time he raised his hand.

When Mabel dragged me to the twins' room I finally realized just how tired I was. My eyes burned from lack of sleep, and every time I blinked they threatened to spill tears.

Mabel did quick work, turning down the beds and moving her stuff to Dipper's bed so she could sleep there and I in hers. For a while I sat on her bed and listened as she droned on about the concert. I was glad she was so excited about it, but I couldn't bring myself to listen for several reasons. The main one was that I was tired, but I also felt so out of place. I didn't think I deserved to be in her company, with the way I had treated her before.

I had just started to nod off when Dipper entered the room, a scowl on his face. I shrunk back into the covers at his look.

"What's wrong, Bro-Bro? Cranky?" Mabel teased, but Dipper wouldn't budge.

"Pacifica-" He started, and turned towards me. I cringed. He wanted to talk, to ask about my forehead, but I didn't want to tell him about it. I was grateful, sure, but the less he knew, the safer he would be.

"Not tonight, Dip-Dip." Mabel waved him off, "It's late. We should get some sleep if we want to optimize Pacifica visiting tomorrow!"

It almost sounded like a threat. If it hadn't been Mabel, it probably would have been a threat.

Dipper huffed and stomped around for a minute as he gathered his things, and went to sleep on the couch. Mabel turned off the light and we settled down again, and this time it was silent.

The bed was uncomfortable, and the blankets were itchy. There was little A/C. There were bugs.

And yet... As I laid there, I felt comfortable. And safe. It wasn't something I could say about home, but it was something I could say about the Pines' house.

When I woke up it was almost eleven, and my head hurt terribly. I wasn't used to staying up late or sleeping in, and as I sat up I could feel my body protesting. I reached up to hold my head and winced when my hand grazed the bandaged wound on my forehead. At least the bandage had stayed on through the night.

After a few moments of confusion, I realized that Mabel wasn't in bed. With that realization I slowly came to my senses. I could smell food downstairs, and hear people outside. The day had begun for the others in the house, and I felt a bit embarrassed at sleeping in.

I got out of bed and smoothed back my hair and straightened my shirt. Just because I was in the Mystery Shack didn't mean I had to look like a Pines. With a huff to myself I walked downstairs and fully embraced the smell of grease.

My stomach growled and my mouth watered at the sight and smell of bacon, something that was under-used at my house.

"Pacifica!" Mabel's overly cheery voice made me frown a bit, but I managed a small smile when I turned to look at her. They cleared a spot at the table and got me a plate filled with delicious looking breakfast foods. I sat awkwardly as I watched them all talk about various things about the day and I fiddled with my food. I managed to get a few bites down before Mabel spoke to me again.

"What do you want to do today, Paz?" There was that nickname again, and I found myself smiling.

I shrugged. "I don't know. What do you guys normally do around here?"

The twins shared a look, which confused me. They laughed and Dipper said, "Well, you know, things like hide and seek, or board games, stuff like that."

That was a lie, I could tell, but I didn't understand why. What did they normally do? Talk bad about me in their spare time?

...I thought back to the day of the party and realized that might actually be true.

I frowned. "Ah. Well, I don't normally do those things." My snobbish voice couldn't be helped, but they didn't seem to be too affected.

"Let's play hide and seek first!" Mabel cheered, "Dipper's it!"

"I was it first last time!"

"Okay, okay." Mabel stuck out her tongue, "We'll do... Nose Goes!"

I watched in confusion as Mabel and Dipper stuck a finger on their noses. They turned to look at me, and I realized that whatever Nose Goes was, I had lost.

"I guess... I'm it?"

"Count to twenty!" Dipper yelled as he ran out of the room, his sister not far behind. I turned to their great uncles with a confused look.

"Best to just play along." Ford chuckled, "Less headaches."

Stan nodded but didn't say anything, and I sighed and started counting.

The twins knew the house a lot better than I did. It took me a long time to even start trying to look for them, and by the time I did I had lost interest in the game. I considered leaving and letting them figure it out (that could have been funny) but I knew I owed them more than that.

I felt awkward in their house, for sure. Their uncles kept looking at me weird, and Dipper seemed even more troubled than usual. Mabel seemed fine, but she was harder to read than the others. For all I knew she could be mad at me still.

But I had given her those tickets, so maybe that would help our 'friendship' a bit. That was the plan, anyways, and it seemed like a pretty good one. Well, it did to me, and I was the only one that mattered.

I groaned as I close yet another door. I couldn't find the twins anywhere, and it started to give me a headache. I rubbed the bandage on my forehead gently and scowled at the hallway around me.

"I give up."

The second the words left my mouth, Mabel exploded from the room beside me and cheered. "That means I win! DIPPER! We won!"

"Wow, Pacifica-" I heard his voice from upstairs (why hadn't I looked there?) "-You suck at this game!"

"Yeah, well, I've never played it." I huffed, "No one to play with, no reason to play."

"Ooh, only child woes?" Mabel patted my shoulder, "That stinks."

I shrugged. "I have other things to do, though. Tennis, minigolf, piano, I don't have time for much else."

"What about in your spare time?" Dipper asked as he finally joined us in the hall, "What do you do then?"

I blinked at the question. "Spare time?"

"Like hobbies!" Mabel grinned.

"Uh... Shop, I guess? I don't get much spare time." It was true; my schedule was full almost everyday. Any spare time I had was spent recovering from the full workload the rest of the time.

"Ooh, I love shopping! Of course, I make most of my own sweaters, but sometimes I can find really cool ones at the store!"

I thought it was cool that she made her own sweaters, even if they weren't the kind I would normally wear. I couldn't do anything like that.

"Eh, shopping is not a top five of mine." Dipper chuckled, "I'm more into, y'know, just hanging around."

I snickered at his attempt to sound cool, and he glared playfully at me. Mabel giggled, too and punched her brother's shoulder.

"What should we do, then? We could walk around town?" Dipper offered as he rubbed the spot his sister hit.

I thought about that, and it sounded better than staying around the Shack, but...

"If anyone sees me with you-I mean," I quickly corrected and held my hands up defensively, "If anyone tells my parents where I am I could get in trouble."

Dipper frowned but nodded, and Mabel shrugged.

"Then I guess that just leaves-" She punched her brother again, "TAG!"

Dipper yelped and jump to the side as his sister shoved her way past us, into the rest of the house.

He and I shared a look, and I smirked.

"Catch me if you can, Dipstick."