A/N:

Credit to CraveFanArt for the cover art.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls. Gravity Falls was created by Alex Hirsch and Disney owns it.

Quote:

"I can give you everything you desire," said the fairy. "Wealth, a crown and scepter, fame, a long happy life. Choose."

"I do not desire wealth or fame, a crown or scepter," the witcher replied. "I desire a horse that is black as night and as fast as the wind. And I desire a sword that is sharp and as bright as a moonbeam. I want to ride at night on my black horse; I want to defeat the powers of Evil with my bright sword. That is all I desire."

"I'll give you a horse that will be blacker than the night and faster than the wind," promised the fairy. "I'll give you a sword, which will be sharp and brighter than a moonbeam. But what little you ask for, witcher, you will have to pay dearly."

"With what? In truth I have nothing."

"With your blood." Andrzej Sapkowski – Tower of the Swallows.

Episode 2: The Lesser Evil.

Summary:

Dipper has developed a crush on Pacifica and they try to see where it goes. However, Preston suspects something and he will try to find out what is going on.

Important: I'm doing a complete rewrite/revision before uploading the last chapter.

This chapter is: [Rewrite finished for all chapters 08/03]

:: ::

[Chapter 1: A warning]

[Tuesday]

A burgundy Cadillac with a white hood parked in front of the Northwest manor. Then, a girl with blonde hair and purple clothes stepped out of the car. She had a fluffy yellow sweater in her hands.

"Thanks for the drive, Stan." The girl said to the car.

The driver's window lowered and an old man poked his head out of the car.

"You sure gonna be alright, kid? Want me to accompany you to the manor and give your folks some excuse?"

"Nah, I'll manage. Bye!"

The gates to the manor opened wide at the arrival of the heiress, revealing a vast garden with several fountains, statues, benches and even a hedge maze. However, even though the garden was big, the manor only put it to shame in comparison, and Stan couldn't see what was behind the manor.

"No wonders she calls the Shack a hovel." Stan grumbled under his breath. "I wouldn't mind being grounded here at all."

As the Cadillac left, Pacifica walked through the gardens towards the manor. Once she reached the main door of the building, a butler opened the door and addressed her.

"Thank goodness you are all right, Miss Pacifica! Everyone was looking for you!"

"Hello, Thomas." She ignored the butler's worry. She had more important matters in mind. "Where are my parents?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Northwest are yet to return from the party." The butler informed her.

"And when will they be home?"

"I'm not certain, but they should be here by dinner."

Pacifica began tapping her chin in thoughtful consideration. She had a few hours to get everything ready. Then she stopped thinking all of a sudden, removing her hand from her chin and looking at it in bewilderment. She had never done that gesture before, but she had seen the twins doing it the two days she had been at the Shack. The heiress smiled at the gesture they had apparently rubbed off on her and then looked at the butler.

"I'll have lunch in an hour. Send Lars to my bedroom immediately. And I don't want to be disturbed in all day."

"Yes, Miss Pacifica." The butler obediently nodded.

Pacifica went upstairs and entered her bedroom. Her room was big, like everything in the manor. She had a four poster bed, a desk for doing her homework, a balcony, several dressers, a couch with a flat TV hanging on the wall in front of it, and two extra doors. One led to her small private bathroom and the other to her closet. Pacifica went through the latter. Her closet was almost as big as her bedroom. There was a row of shoe benches in the middle which she also used to sit down while dressing up. To the right, there was a row of hangers with her spring and summer clothes. To the left, the winter and autumn ones. In the far end of the room there were three wall mirrors positioned so that she could stand between them and see every angle of herself when trying out a new outfit.

However, Pacifica didn't need any of that at the moment. All she needed was a good hiding place. The heiress considered hiding the gifted sweater and the compromising picture inside an empty shoe box, but then she had a better idea. Pacifica walked up to her winter clothes and hid the sweater along with the picture in a big box where she had her designer scarfs, taking a peek to the picture first.

"If my parents ever find this I'm dead." She put on a lopsided smile and hid the picture under the scarfs.

The heiress went to her summer clothes row and took a spare short purple dress. Then she walked back into her bedroom and removed the old one and the jacket. Pacifica examined the dressing of her wound, lifting it and taking a peek. It was already cicatrized, so she removed the bandages and hid them inside her jacket's pocket. The clothes she had gone to the Shack with were clean, but also torn at some places and she was not about to wear that again. Pacifica made a ball with her old dress and jacket and next she put on her spare dress.

There was a knock on her door.

"Come in."

"Did you call me, Miss Pacifica?" The butler came in.

"Yes. Give me a second." Pacifica grabbed pen and paper and began to write. "I need you to withdraw this amount of money from my personal bank account and bring it here." She instructed the butler, handing him a note.

"But… Miss Pacifica, this is a lot of money." Lars commented.

"Not for me and definitely not for my family." Pacifica took another paper and wrote on it. "Here's a note where I give you my contentment to do this as well as my signature in case the bank puts some objections."

Lars looked warily at the heiress.

"I'm guessing Mr. and Ms. Northwest mustn't know about this."

"Exactly. If my parents find out I'm busted."

"And so I am." The butler reassured her. "I won't say anything."

"Thanks." Pacifica smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot. I also want you to buy me a video game console."

"Which one?"

"Is there more than one? Then buy the newest and most renowned one." Pacifica shrugged.

"Which games would you want games with the console?"

"The console needs games?" Pacifica realized that having a complete lack of knowledge on the topic was getting in her way. "Then buy the most renowned game of each genre."

The butler wrote it all in a small notepad.

"Is there something else?"

"Yes." She gave him the jacket and the dress. "Get rid of this outfit. It is too dusty."

"I'll get to it immediately, Miss Pacifica."

"Thank you." Pacifica said and Lars left the room, closing the door behind.

Pacifica slumped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. A frown of worry appeared on her face.

"Am I risking too much? If my parents catch me I'll be grounded this summer and probably the next one too, but if they don't…"

Her mind drifted to the adventure she had had yesterday. The heiress could still feel a pleasant itch in her fingertips when she thought about the adrenaline rush she had experienced when they had dealt with the harpy. Pacifica had never done anything so exciting before and she couldn't wait to do something similar again.

The memories of what had happened afterwards in the shack came into her mind.

"Hmm… I should've told Lars to buy chocolate tip cookies too." She ran her tongue along her lips as her mouth watered. Then she considered the possibility of asking her parents to let her go into another sleepover, but she quickly discarded it. She knew they were probably not going to agree. Her parents were not about to lose sight of their daughter for a whole night and let alone now that they thought she had disappeared. Pacifica sighed sadly and rolled onto her side. She spotted her electric blanket resting at the foot of her bed and she couldn't help but blush, since it reminded her of how Dipper had placed his feet on top of hers to warm her up.

Thinking about Dipper reminded her that they had accorded to hang out next Friday. In Pacifica's eyes and hopes, that was strictly a date and she felt joyful at the prospect.

"Yes, it's worth the risk. Soon I'll have my own money in cash and my parents won't be able to control what I buy or where I buy it." She concluded happily at the little independence she was about to achieve.

There was another knock on the door.

"Miss Pacifica, lunch is ready."

"Bring it to my room." The heiress demanded. She was practically starving.

"I would advise against that, Miss Pacifica. You might stain the carpet."

"Then I'll buy a new carpet. I wish to have lunch in my bedroom today."

:: ::

:: ::

Stan arrived back to the Shack. He parked the car and got into the gift shop, where he saw the usual scenario. Wendy was lazily leaning on her chair behind the counter reading a magazine, Mabel was sat next to her and Dipper was at the end of the room, pacing in circles thoughtfully with a hand cupping his chin. "Ugh. Just ignore the boy and he won't ask for advice." Stan grumbled under his breath and walked up to the shelves behind Dipper to begin doing stocking of the Mr. Mystery Bobbleheads.

"Wendy" Mabel tapped the teen on the shoulder. "Dipper is acting weirder than usual."

"Huh?" The teen looked at the boy who kept walking in circles. "Nah, that looks like the usual amount of weirdness." She shrugged. "Dipper has probably found something in his Journal and he's just thinking about it."

"I don't think so." Mabel countered. "When it's Journal stuff, Dipper chews a pen or clicks it at an annoying speed."

"Maybe, I don't know." Wendy turned another page of her magazine. "You know him better, go talk to him. I'll join you in a sec."

Mabel jumped up from the stool and tried to sneak up behind Dipper, which proved to be easy since he was lost in thought. Then she yelled into his ear.

"Hey Dipper! Watcha doing!?"

Dipper yelped and jumped on the spot.

"Ah! Mabel! Don't do that!"

"Sorry, bro-bro. I couldn't resist." Mabel giggled. "What's on your mind? You look more anxious than usual."

"Nothing. I'll solve it on my own." Dipper grumbled, slightly upset about being scared earlier.

"What? Are you actually not gonna tell me?" Mabel raised her eyebrows.

Dipper tried to glare at his sister but she put on such an innocent face that he couldn't do it.

"Fine." He looked quickly left and right to make sure no one was eavesdropping on them and beckoned Mabel closer to whisper into her ear. "Mabel, I think I like Pacifica."

Mabel looked at him quizzically.

"Yeah, I like her too. She's alright."

"No, no." Dipper shook his head and blushed. "Mabel, I like Pacifica."

After a few seconds clarity dawned on the cheerful brunette and her mouth hanged open in surprise.

"Ohmygosh! I knew it! I-knew-it-I-knew-it-I-knew-it!" She yelled and bounced happily. "Although she wasn't on the potential rebound crushes list I had for you… but this is great nonetheless! You've a crush on Pacifica!"

"Shh, shh! Mabel!" Dipper hissed and tried to calm his energetic sister. "I don't want everyone to know about it!"

"Sorry, Dipper." Mabel said giggling. "But you totally surprised me! I mean, you crushed on the richest and most popular girl in town! Way to aim high, bro-bro!" She shoved him playfully.

However, Dipper's eyes widened and his face contorted in terror.

"Oh, no… I didn't think about that! Mabel, you have to help me!"

"Wait, really?" Mabel took a second to reply. "I mean… sure!"

"What? Why did you hesitate?" Dipper looked at her worriedly.

"It's just that when you were after Wendy you never listened to me. Second time you surprised me today, that's all." She gave him a lopsided smile.

"Why do you think I'm asking you for help? I don't want to make any mistakes this time."

"Well, you've come to the right person because I'm always right!" She chirped happily. "Speaking of which… if you're going after Pacifica now what happens with…" Mabel gestured with her head towards Wendy.

"I… I don't know. I think that what I felt for Wendy was mostly hormonal stuff."

"What makes you think what you feel for Pacifica is different?" Mabel inquired.

"I wouldn't be pacing in circles like a duck if I had the answer to that, sister. Can you help me?" Dipper pleaded.

"Sure. You've come to the right twin sister!" Mabel said proudly.

"Mabel, you are my only twin sister." Dipper added plainly.

"Which is what I've just said!" Mabel chuckled and Dipper rolled his eyes. "Well, back to the point: In all my cough failed cough summer romances I have learned a very valuable lesson." She paused for suspense, during which Dipper grew more anxious. "If you have nothing in common, the crush goes nowhere." She concluded.

"Interesting…" Dipper nodded and began to write what she had said in a notepad.

Mabel snatched it from his hands.

"Don't begin with the overcomplicated plans. Let's just talk about what you know of Pacifica."

"Oh, uh… Okay." Dipper was caught off-guard by the question. "She is blonde."

"Uh-huh."

"Aaaand she has blue eyes." He continued.

"Already knew that."

"Probably our age..." Dipper guessed.

"Probably." Mabel did a gesture telling him to elaborate.

"Over-controlling parents…" He added after a pause and then grew silent.

"Is that all?" Mabel inquired.

"Um…"

"She's rich, kid." Grunkle Stan added.

Both Dipper and Mabel jumped in surprise. They had failed to notice that Stan was eavesdropping on them while reorganizing the shelves.

"I was trying to avoid saying that one, Grunkle Stan." Dipper groaned. "It is sounds too shallow."

"Oh, so you begin with 'blonde' and 'blue-eyed' but rich sounds too shallow?" Stan mocked.

"I don't care about her money." Dipper snapped a little angry.

"You should. If you are gonna be an UFO fanatic like my brother, prepare to get a hungry." Stan shrugged.

"Getting back to the point." Mabel stepped in before Dipper made a remark about Stan's business knowledge. "That's almost nothing, Dipper."

"True." Stan added. "Have you seen how many zeros does her bank account have? That's important because maybe they're just pretending and—Ouch!" Grunkle Stan backed off when Mabel kicked him in the shin. "Alright, alright, I'm leaving. Jeez." Stan complained as he left to the living room.

"It's not a bad start." Mabel reassured Dipper to calm him. "But it's not enough. What we need is personal stuff you might have in common."

"But I don't know anything about her! Yesterday was the longest I've ever talked to Pacifica in like… ever." Dipper sighed.

"Well, what did you learned about her yesterday?" Mabel inquired.

"Pacifica uh… Mabel you've to promise you won't tell anyone about this." Dipper asked his sister seriously.

"Scouts honor!"

"Pacifica has trouble with her parents. Real trouble." Dipper began to explain. "They're always on top of her so that she does everything they want, therefore Pacifica urges to have some time away from them. And worst of all, she doesn't have any friends. Real friends I mean, who aren't interested in her money or fame."

"Good, good." Mabel said and Dipper looked at her in disbelief. "Oh! I meant you! You're doing good. Pacifica's situation is terrible!"

"She is smart, not as smart as I am but smart still." He clarified smugly. "She dislikes tennis and… she has cold feet in bed." Dipper said the latter with a blush.

Mabel ignored his brother's blush for now and decided to tease him later.

"See? Now we are onto something. She's smart, you're smart. She doesn't have many friends, you don't have many friends." Mabel listed with her fingers and Dipper glared at her. "What? I'm saying it the way it is. We have to see this from an objective point of view." Mabel excused herself. "But we definitely made some progress here. Now all you've to do is deepening the matter. You have to spend more time with Pacifica! Learn the important things! Favorite meal, favorite movie, favorite color for gifting her underwear…" Mabel eyed her brother curiously, waiting for his reaction.

"Uh…" Dipper blushed crimson red. "I think I've already made a little progress in one of those areas."

"Haha! Dipper has seen Pacifica's underwear!" She laughed mockingly and poked his nose. "So she showed you or did you…"

"Mabel!" He slapped her hand away. "It was accidental and I don't wanna talk about it!"

"Yeah, sure. 'Accidental'." Mabel burst into laughter and Dipper's cheeks turned even redder.

All the laughter finally caught Wendy's attention. The teen put down the magazine and approached the twins.

"What's up, dudes?"

"I'm giving Dipper relationship advice so that he doesn't mess up with Pacifica!" Mabel chirped happily.

Dipper groaned and facepalmed.

"I told you not to tell anyone! Especially not Wendy!" His eyes widened and realized that he had talked too much, so he quickly turned to Wendy. "It's... it's not about you, I mean…"

"Relax, dude. It's okay. I know what you meant." Wendy calmed him "So, you and the Northwest girl?" Dipper nodded. "Want my advice? Don't mutter so loudly. Better yet, don't mutter at all."

"Yeah!" Mabel added. "And don't make those stupid overly complicated listy things!"

"You are a cool guy." Wendy patted him on the cap. "She will fall for you. Just make yourself known, try to get her to notice you."

"Thanks." Dipper smiled broadly. "But how do I do that? Pacifica is probably the richest girl in all Oregon! I can't give her anything she doesn't already have." He sighed.

"Pffft. That's an easy one, doofus." Mabel rolled her eyes. "Pacifica is into adventure."

"You think so?" Dipper cupped his chin thoughtfully. "She suggested we hanged out in town so I thought…"

"Of course she did! Pacifica is too proud to admit she wants to go into another adventure. Just ask her!" Mabel cheered.

Dipper raised his eyebrow and looked at Wendy for confirmation.

"Yeah, dude. Yesterday she seemed pretty excited about that adventure you two had."

"This is all so needlessly complicated it might actually work." Dipper sighed heavily. "And I'll never understand girls."

"I know, right?" Wendy agreed with a nod.

"Don't worry, bro-bro! You can count on me for that part!"

:: ::

:: ::

Once Pacifica had dealt with her lunch she lay on her bed. The heiress quickly appreciated the clear difference between her own bed and Dipper's. Hers was way better and between that and her full stomach, she quickly fell asleep. Sometime later, a knock on her door woke her up.

"Miss Pacifica?" A butler's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Mhm… Yeah?" She replied very drowsily.

"Mr. Northwests requests your presence in the living room now."

Pacifica's eyes shot open and realized that her parents were back. And worst of all, the butler had only mentioned her father, which meant that her mother wasn't going to be present. In other words, he was going to reprimand her.

"I'll be there in a minute." She sighed and made sure that her dress and her hair were right.

Pacifica walked through the corridors of the manor. The building had several 'living rooms', but the butler didn't have to specify. She knew perfectly well which one was. Pacifica called it her father's thinking room because he spent lots of time there sitting in an armchair with glass in his hand. The room had lots of animal heads hanging from the walls that she guessed they somehow relaxed her father and helped him think.

Pacifica entered the living room. The fireplace was the only source of light and the flames were weak, leaving the room mildly dark. Not dark enough to accidentally bump into something but dark enough to prevent someone from reading a book. Preston, contrary to what Pacifica had been expecting, was standing in front of the fireplace instead of sitting in his armchair. The heiress did as usual in these situations and sat on the couch in front of the armchair, waiting to receive the typical talk about how important money, looks and wining were.

"Pacifica, why didn't you go to tennis yesterday?" Preston asked without turning around.

"I wasn't on the mood of playing tennis." The heiress replied impassively.

Preston turned around.

"But you were for going to that hovel in the woods. You even stayed for the night." He frowned.

"I thought it would be a good idea to thank the Pines." She lied, choosing every word very careful. Pacifica knew what was at stake. "After all, it was thanks to them that the party was a success in the social media."

"Thanks to them?" Preston's eyes widened in disbelief. "That boy released the ghost on us after capturing it! If anyone can take the credit for the party's success that's you and only you! You lowered the lever, not he."

"Dipper told me the ghost tricked him. Besides, I wouldn't have pulled the lever if not for him." Pacifica quickly regretted finishing her sentence like that.

Preston sighed heavily and knew perfectly well what his daughter was thinking.

"That boy isn't a proper influence for you, Pacifica. You are high class. A princess in the high class to be more accurate, with all the benefits it includes. You have butlers, money, a good social status…" He listed with his fingers. "Why would you want to be seen among… them? You already have everything!"

Pacifica was shocked for a second at how shallow her father could be, but she quickly recomposed herself and decided to play it his way. With eloquence.

"You said I have all the benefits of a princess." She said and Preston nodded. "Well, what characterizes a princess is that she can do whatever she wishes, so if I want to go see the Pines I'll do so." She concluded firmly.

The Northwest patriarch smiled proudly at how his daughter was handling the conversation, but he was not about to lose so easily.

"I can understand you wanted to thank them, but why staying for the night? That Shack is practically falling to pieces."

The heiress paused for a second to think her next answer.

"I… kinda enjoyed hanging out with the twins and they offered me to stay for the night so I did." Then she smirked. "It would've been a breach of etiquette and even rude for I, the high class, to deny them, the low class, when they offer me the little they have, wouldn't it?"

Even though Preston was glad that the apple didn't fall far from the tree and how his daughter was trying to manipulate him eloquently, he had had enough of the conversation already.

"Fine, you did well, Pacifica. However, now that you've thanked them, I don't see any reason for you to see them again." He concluded with a shrug.

"B-but I—" Pacifica's eyes widened.

"That was the end of the conversation. You can go back to your room now." He cut her before she had a chance to talk.

"No." Pacifica didn't move from the couch. "Give me a reason for not seeing them again! A good reason! They're my friends! Why can't I see my friends?"

Preston calmly sat in the armchair in front of her.

"There will come a day in the future when you'll own most of this town, and that's not an easy job. There will be people who will try to deceive you, so you must be smarter, colder and more calculating that every single one of them." He explained. "Those kids are a distraction you can't afford. Right now you have to focus on your studies and your training, therefore you have to forget about them. It would be choosing the lesser evil, because it'll be worth in the long run."

Pacifica looked at her father in disbelief. Then, she realized that the conversation had been pointless since the start and all she felt was anger.

"Then I'm not a princess! I'm a prisoner! I… I hate you!" She yelled and stormed off the room.

"And that, dear, is my lesser evil." He sighed heavily and slumped back on the armchair.

:: ::

:: ::

Pacifica slammed her bedroom door and jumped on her bed, burying her face into the mattress and screaming in it.

"I can't believe this!" She yelled and hit the mattress with the base of her fists in tries to vent her anger. 'I know I am not unlucky, I am rich after all. But that doesn't mean I am happy.' She thought. 'They say money doesn't bring happiness. What an irony. The moment I feel genuinely happy for the first time in an eternity and money takes it away from me.' A mixture of anger and despair gripped her chest. Pacifica gritted her teeth because she knew what came next, and she was not going to cry. A Northwest never cries.

She really needed to talk to someone to get the situation out of her head, but she wasn't allowed to see the Pines again.

"Maybe I could call Tiffany and Aubrey…" Pacifica pondered for a second but quickly discarded the idea. The two girls had called her a liar and no longer wanted to have anything to do with her after the incident with her phone and the Lilliputtians. In addition, Pacifica couldn't compare them to the Pines. Those two girl's main topics for talking were how to ridicule people, and she was way over that. She was tired of that.

After a few minutes, Pacifica finally calmed herself and got up from her bed in a sulky mood. She had spent the whole afternoon sleeping and she didn't feel like going to sleep despite the fact of how late in the night apparently was. The heiress then noticed for the first time two big sports bags that were lying beside her bed. She didn't remember seeing them earlier when she had left to talk to her father.

"What are these?" She wondered and opened the closest one. There was a video console inside along with a few games. Pacifica considered trying out the video console, but she had no idea how to wire it up to the TV and she didn't feel like finding out now. The heiress opened the second bag and found several wads of twenty dollar bills. Pacifica immediately glanced over her shoulder as if expecting someone behind her accusing her of stealing that money, although it was technically hers. Then, she began fishing out wads and wads from the bag and distributing them throughout her room. A few between her clothes in the closet, others under her mattress, some inside her pillow… until she ran out of money. Happy with the result, she memorized every place in her room that had some money hidden inside.

"Well, now I've my own money!" Pacifica perked up. "And maybe… if things get worse… I… I could run away with it…" She sighed heavily, since she didn't want to do that. The heiress pushed those thoughts away for now.

Pacifica had nothing left to do now, so she hid the bag with the video console under her bed and took off her clothes, putting on her silk nightgown for sleeping. She wasn't tired at all, but she lost nothing in trying to get a little shut eye. Sometime later, there was a sound in her balcony. Pacifica raised an eyebrow and looked at the glass just in time to see a small stone pebble hitting it.

"No way." Her face lit up and rushed to the balcony to have a look outside.

:: ::

A/N:

FYI:

Lars is just an auxiliary character. He helps me develop the story so he won't betray Pacifica or run away with the money. In fact, I think this is the last time he appears in the story.

The events regarding the Lilliputtians happened in The Golf War. After the creatures texted Pacifica's friends with insults, they stopped hanging out with her. The fact that they did not believe Pacifica angered the heiress, seeing how little trust they truly had in her.

copy&paste:

Feel free to leave me some feedback.