Dipper Pines had always been a bit of a hermit at school. More interested in researching conspiracies than socializing with his classmates, Dipper was often teased by many of his peers.

Little did anyone know that Dipper, the unimpressionable sweaty dork, had a girlfriend back in the quaint little town of Gravity Falls. Not that he even boosted about it. After all, who would believe him?

"Hey Dipshit!" A hulking Neanderthal towered over Dipper as he retrieved his books for his next class after lunch. "No Valentine's again for you this year, eh?"

"Well, I got one." Dipper kept his voice as cool as possible.

"The one from your sister doesn't count, asshole."

Dipper ignored the heavy breathing down his neck as he shut the locker. "So what's your point?"

"The point is, you're a bigger loser than me."

Thankfully, his locker was right along the way between the cafeteria and the staff room. Still, Dipper could not be bothered to argue with this guy. It wasn't worth his time of day, and he had no desire to miss the special lunch meal of the day – mystery steak and boiled potatoes.

"Hey, you!" a familiar voice called. "What are you doing with my brother?"

"Oh, nothing." The guy turned to Mabel. "Just a casual chat between friends. Was asking if this loser has a valentine."

"Oh yes, he does!" Mabel shot back. "He has a girlfriend!"

"Pah, as if! Not you, I suppose. Unless…" He let out a fake gasp. "No way. I can't believe you two would…"

"Shut up," Dipper said through gritted teeth. Those sickening jokes regarding him and his sister were testing his patience. "Mabel, let's go."

The bully tried to block their way but Dipper ducked and swerved like a ninja.

"But he does have a girlfriend!" Mabel called back, joining her brother. "Her name is- Mmph!"

Dipper covered his sister's mouth before she could continue her retort.

"Doesn't matter- ew, not again!" Mabel licked his hand. "Bah… Let's get some lunch."

The two made their way down the hall and to the cafeteria, winding their way past their peers and teachers.

"Say, did Paz send you anything?"

"Er… not sure. Just a message this morning saying she'll pull me a surprise in-" Dipper pulled out his phone. "-exactly seven minutes."

"Oooh… I wonder what it's going to be."

He shrugged. While he pretended not to care, that entire morning was torment for Dipper, taking away his focus from his lessons. Much to his embarrassment earlier, he answered a date wrong during their history lesson. What was his girlfriend planning? An email? A special letter? A surprise visit?

"What about you, Mabel? How's your Valentine's?"

"Oh, great!" She did a little skip. "Got cards from my friends, and roses from Zach- you know, the basketball captain? But nothing beats the bouquet I got from Kevin!"

Kevin Corduroy was Mabel's boyfriend and, like Pacifica, was from Gravity Falls.

"Awesome! Oh man…"

Dipper held hope to get his lunch over and done with before the surprise. As bad luck would have it, the lunch queue was already snaking all the way to the entrance. After what seemed like an hour, he got his food. He sat down with his sister and began eating. The steak was as chewy as a rubber tire.

The cafeteria clock flicked to 12:15 pm and at that precise moment, a large package landed with a thud in front of him. Dipper nearly choked.

"FedUP Special Express Delivery for Mr Mason Pines," the delivery man with sunglasses said. "Sign here, dude."

"What?" He looked at the man in amazement. Speechless, Dipper was about to reach out for the clipboard when a flock of doves flew into the cafeteria, all competing with each other to deliver their cards to him.

"What's going on?" Bajaj, Dipper's friend, asked as the whole cafeteria turned to watch.

"Dipper!" Mabel said breathlessly. "Open that package! And this letter too!"

Dipper ripped off the brown packaging, unraveling a huge hamper of chocolates, candies, biscuits, bottles of Pitt and other familiar merchandise from the Shack, all stacked and wrapped nicely in clear plastic with ribbons.

"Soos?" He turned to the mystery man. "What-"

"Read the letter, dude. I'm just the messenger."

The doves were getting restless. Dipper grabbed the letter with the Llama symbol on it and unfurled the message:

Hello Dipper!

Happy Valentine's Day! This is my surprise to you. Hope you like the hamper! I got some friends and acquaintances to send cards to you too!

This is not all, however. The weather is clear today with a chance of pink clouds and roses. Hope to see you soon!

Love you,

Pacifica

It was then Dipper was aware of a growing commotion outside. Nerves tingling, he, Mabel and the others went out to the school field.

An enchanting sight greeted him. Red petals fluttered down from the sky, coating the field in a soft fragrant blanket of pink and red. Everyone outside was gazing up as the flowers cascaded down around them.

A plane flew overhead with a vrooming sound. A stream of pink smoke followed behind, and after a few aerobatic stunts, the plane formed a love heart with 'D+P' in it.

"I didn't expect Paz to take all my suggestions." Mabel's jaw dropped to the ground. It seemed, even by Mabel's standards, all of these were way over the top.

"What do you mean?"

"A week ago, she called me for some Valentine's surprise suggestions. I didn't know she would take me seriously and…"

"So wait, you suggested to her a hamper, a flock of doves, an aerobatic stunt and now what?"

"Look over there!" someone called.

Something, or someone, in pink, was floating down toward the school. It soon became clear who the new arrival was as she came closer and closer, billowing with the wind. She braced for impact, but as she landed, she tripped a few more steps down the rose-petalled runway. For a moment, she struggled with the parachute enveloping her, but she soon emerged to the cheering onlookers. Greeting everyone with a wave, she took off her sunglasses.

Dipper and Mabel squirmed their way through the dense mass of people forming around the paraglider. It was no mistaking her, alright, with her blonde hair neatly tied up and her stunning blue eyes.

"Pacifica? What are you doing here?" he asked, spellbound. He had to admit, his girlfriend looked stunning in her paragliding gear.

"Didn't you read my letter?" Pacifica turned and stepped toward Dipper. "I'm here to celebrate Valentine's Day with you!"

"Hey, Pacifica!" Mabel exclaimed. "You're here!"

"In the flesh. Received your glittery Valentine cards with thanks!" Pacifica said. "Poor Scalburry though… my parents demanded him to clean out the glitter from the mailbox."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's alright. So, what do you think, Dip?"

"Could have worked more on the landing."

"Admit it, Pines. You're glad to see me. It's all written on your face!"

"But wait, Pacifica. Isn't this a little wee too over the top?"

"If I have the money, I might as well flaunt it!"

"…did you blow out your month's earnings for this?"

"Eh... yeah." Pacifica flashed Dipper a sheepish grin. "But it was all worth it!"

"Paz, you know you don't have to do all of this right? Besides, my teachers are far from happy about this."

He indicated the disapproving looks from the teachers witnessing the event.

"Well, I want to make this Valentine's special for you, dorky boy. Mabel told me how in your past Valentine's you only received a few cards and flowers. And you got mocked for it."

"You know you can't top this, right?"

"Maybe… There's one more thing though. Since I can't do this over our video calls…"

Before Dipper could protest any further, Pacifica pulled him close by his shirt collar and gave him a very forceful, very public kiss.

His cheeks warming and heart racing, Dipper could not help but savor this moment, taking in the familiar scene of roses, perfume and champagne. After all, it wasn't every day that he got the chance to make out with a gorgeous girl like Pacifica Northwest in front of the whole school.

This whole debacle earned Dipper a month's worth of detention. But for the rest of that year, Dipper had been the subject of gossip and even the bullies steered clear of him due to his elevated status. The Northwest name carried further than he had expected. The nods and waves from his fellow classmates gave him a new sense of confidence. And when the school year finally ended, he looked forward to visiting his girlfriend for new thrills in the new summer.

This was the most memorable Valentine's he had ever had.