Thank you to everyone who sent me a review or decided to favorite/follow this fanfic! It is deeply appreciated.
Dipper and Pacifica exited out of the now dark ballroom, silence strongly existing between them. Before leaving, Pacifica locked the doors to the ballroom with a golden key stored somewhere in her dress, Dipper realizing that Pacifica's dress actually had pockets sewed on them. After locking the handles, Pacifica made her way down the dark hall with a sad look on her face and refused to speak. She was still scared about her somewhat early encounter with her father, and how much action she took to just get away from him. She also felt embarrassed for bringing Dipper up in her mess, and how she just hugged onto him out of the blue because of her cowardliness. However, she did feel some hope in herself when Dipper comforted her in the end and actually returned a hug back. Pacifica quickly flashed a smile under her face from the warmth of Dipper's hug. It then faded back to it's depressed state.
"Pacifica!" Dipper called, which made Pacifica alert to the boy's voice. Pacifica realized she was already heading somewhere too far, Dipper was just a few meters away from her. She was lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even realize that Dipper was supposed to stay with her at all times. Pacifica was walking and thinking about her problems that she didn't even had a chance to tell Dipper what was going on properly, or that she had to wait for him to catch up.
She turned around immediately as Dipper slowly jogged to her side. Pacifica looked to the side with a bit of guilt and reached a hand over her elbow and scratched it lightly once the boy was right in front of her. "Sorry, I'm just..." Pacifica started. She switched her gaze to the other side. "Lost in thought."
Dipper had a few seconds to catch his breath and coughed a few times. "It's... It's okay..." he sighed. "Don't worry about it." He leaned on his knees and breathed heavily. "You're really fast when you're lost in thought." Dipper continued to breath heavily and Pacifica stared at him. She wasn't sure if was a compliment or insult; or neither, but the tired out Dipper looked amusing to Pacifica.
Pacifica then started to giggle a little at the tired Dipper, and placed a hand over her mouth to suppress a laugh. She thought it was rude, but she couldn't help herself. "Okay then," she muffled under her hand. A few more chuckles came after. Dipper noticed her laughing immediately, and smiled at the sight of a happy Pacifica. "What are you laughing at?" Dipper asked, standing up straight. He placed on a soft smile.
"You look really funny when you're out of breath," Pacifica giggled a bit louder, now removing her hand away from her mouth to reveal her laughter. Her sweet laugh echoed the hallways. Dipper smiled and started to join in, flashing a picture of what he might have looked like a few seconds ago, and their laughs bounced off the walls in unison. It was a tender scene. Just a bunch of playful laughs echoing the hallways warmed up Dipper and Pacifica's heart and mood.
Both of them started to calm down a few seconds later, but a few chuckles escaped their mouths. "I'm sorry," Pacifica giggled, wiping off a tear that formed while she was laughing. "I couldn't stop myself."
Dipper released a loud sigh and shook his head. "No, it's totally fine, Pacifica, seriously." he replied. "No need to be sorry."
"I'm also sorry for clinging on to you back there," the girl said. "I just don't know what to do anymore with my parents."
Dipper stared at Pacifica suddenly, a bit of guilt flushing inside of him as Pacifica returned her gaze back to the floorboards. She crossed her arms as her bangs swooped down to cover her eyes. Dipper looked to the side, expecting something to say from either of them, but decided to drive the conversation around, trying to avoid an awkward silence.
"Pacifica... it's fine." Dipper reassured. He walked closer to her, making Pacifica blush. "We're friends now. It's my duty to make sure you're okay."
Pacifica jumped at the sudden word. Friends.
Well, it was true, and now it was a proven fact- Dipper and Pacifica are friends now. Dipper helped Pacifica several times in a row now this evening, and both seem to enjoy the company of one another. Even though they didn't get along in the past, it was behind them now. Both of them moved aside their differences and helped one another though their problems; especially Dipper. Dipper is the reason why Pacifica changed and fixed the way of the Northwests- Dipper encouraged her that it wasn't too late to change the person that she was. She was free now, all thanks to Dipper. Both of them had to look out for one another. Just like what normal friends do.
Pacifica raised her head a little to stare at the brunette, who was looking at her with worry. She felt her heart jump a little when the first contact she made with was with Dipper's eyes. Pacifica quickly bolted her head back to the floorboards, but kept her head titled a little more so that her hair didn't get in the way of her face. She sighed a little, and released the tight grip on her arms and placed her hands to the sides of her dress. "We are friends, Dipper." Pacifica confessed. "And I treasure it a lot. I'm sorry for feeling so miserable, I guess I'm just really scared about my dad finding us."
"Just like what I keep on saying, dear Pacifica, it's totally fine." Dipper said. He raised a hand to touch Pacifica's shoulder again, and lightly stroked it. "I will make sure you're always doing okay. I will always make sure you're happy."
Pacifica exchanged a smile with Dipper, and placed her hand on top of his. "Thank you, Dipper." Both of them placed a tender smile, but then they started to blush red when they realized that the other didn't remove their hand yet.
Pacifica removed her hand first, a little too quickly and hesitantly, and cleared her throat to hide her embarrassment. "So, um... should we continue?" she offered, starting to make her way down the current hallway.
"Uh... yeah!" Dipper squeaked, his voice cracking a little. He slammed his hand over his mouth like he accidentally said something rude. His mind slapped him inside for the awkward voice crack- he was too busy reminiscing about what happened earlier, with the comforting and the hand touching. Pacifica giggled a bit and walked a bit faster down the hallway. Dipper followed behind her, also chuckling on the way.
Dangit, Dipper. Get yourself together. The young boy thought to himself. Especially in front of a cute girl like Pacifica.