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.

Episode 2: The Lesser Evil.

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

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

:: ::

[Chapter 5: Deepening][Epilogue]

[Friday]

"Dipper and Pacifica K-I-S-S-I-N-G under a tree!" Mabel sang happily as she poked Dipper. "C'mon, bro-bro! Cheer up! You got a date!"

"For the third time, Mabel." Dipper rolled his eyes. "It's not a date. We're just hanging out in town."

"That sounds like a date to me!" Mabel chirped.

Dipper groaned and was about to tell Mabel why it wasn't a date when an idea came to his mind.

"So when you and I go to town, we're on a date too?" He smiled slyly.

"No, silly." She giggled. "We're siblings!"

"Uh-huh." He hadn't achieved the desired effect. "Can you pass me my wallet? It's over there."

"Where are you two lovebirds going?" Mabel asked as she grabbed and handed the wallet to Dipper.

"I'm pretty sure Pacifica has never been to the Greasy's Diner before, so I'm going to show her the place and invite her for lunch."

"You're inviting her for lunch?" Mabel stared agape at her brother. "That's so a date."

"It's not a—" Dipper sighed and facepalmed. "Look, if it were a date I would take her somewhere fancier." He had a look into his wallet. "And she would probably have to pay if that were the case."

Dipper grew silent. The allowance their stingy Grunkle gave them barely covered a meal in the Greasy's Diner, let alone in a classy restaurant.

"I'm sure she'll like the place." Mabel threw an arm over Dipper's shoulders to cheer him up.

"I hope so." Dipper added half-heartedly. "We'll have to talk about her parents."

"Don't worry, Dipper. You'll figure it out. You're smart."

:: ::

:: ::

Dipper drove the golf cart uphill towards the Northwest manor. After Mabel had insisted for over half an hour, he had agreed on trying a fancier hairstyle for his 'date'. Dipper was wearing his usual outfit but his hair was combed backwards under the cap, like the time he had to play Mr. Mystery. He wasn't very certain about the idea, but Mabel had reassured him several times that he looked more elegant that way. He saw Pacifica was waiting on the sidewalk outside the manor. She was dressed in the pink version of her trademark outfit and she was wearing diamond earrings.

"She got dressed for a date." Dipper muttered and noted mentally to thank Mabel later for advising him about his appearance.

The golf cart was parked in front of the heiress and Dipper stepped out of it.

"Here's your carriage made out of a pumpkin, my lady." He joked to hide his nervousness. "Although I'm afraid I didn't have any mice to make the horses."

"It'll suffice." Pacifica giggled.

Dipper approached the heiress but he didn't know how to greet her. He raised his arms for a hug, changed his mind halfway through and hid his hands in his pockets as he displayed an awkward smile. The gesture however hadn't gone unnoticed by Pacifica, who closed the distance between them as she smiled warmly.

"You're so obvious, Dork." She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I'm happy to see you too."

The boy was startled at first, but he soon grinned and hugged her back. Dipper smelled the mixture of her perfume and her lilacs shampoo. He moved a hand to her long blonde mane and stroked it down. A tingling followed Dipper's touch along her back and Pacifica sighed happily. She loved having her hair petted.

Pacifica parted the hug and stared at the golf cart.

"You picked the ugliest pumpkin you had, didn't you?" She teased.

"Yeah, uh..." He tittered. "I know it's not a limousine but at least I can drive it. We can park it in the forest if you don't want anybody to see us in it." Dipper reassured, knowing how Pacifica had to keep certain standards.

"Are you sure this is safe to drive?" Pacifica glanced suspiciously at the old golf cart.

"Of course. I use it on a daily basis. It's very easy to drive."

"Is it?" Pacifica's eyes sparkled excitedly. "Can I drive it to town?"

"Sure." Dipper shrugged and gave her the keys. "Just try not to hit anybody."

A few minutes later, Dipper was already regretting allowing Pacifica drive. The heiress stepped on the accelerator and yelled jubilantly as the golf cart sped downhill. Dipper immediately secured his seatbelt and held to his seat for life. He gave Pacifica a worried look and she replied with a smirk.

"Can you keep your eyes on the road?" Dipper reminded her.

"Relax, I've got it." She commented happily.

The heiress stuck out her tongue in concentration as she enjoyed her first experience behind the wheel of a vehicle. Dipper on the other hand calmed after he realized they weren't crashing on a tree or running over someone. He glanced at Pacifica once again and he was entranced. Her hair, full locks the color of hay with a golden sheen, was tousled by the air and acted as a blonde trail behind her head. The first thing that came to his mind was that she looked odd with her bangs out of her forehead. The second, and most important, was that he would feel very sad if they didn't find a solution to their situation and he couldn't see those blonde locks of hair again.

Pacifica caught through the corner of her eye Dipper's absent expression and she gave him a warm small smile. Dipper shook his head and quickly reciprocated it. He decided they would worry about that later. At the moment, they were on a date.

:: ::

:: ::

They arrived at the Greasy Diner relatively quick due to Pacifica's ignorance of the traffic lights. When she parked, Dipper got off the golf cart a little dizzy.

"Do I really drive that bad?" Pacifica asked seeing the boy.

"No," Dipper lied. "but I'm driving on the way back."

"We got here in one piece, didn't we?" She countered proudly. "What's this place, anyway?"

"A diner. People come here to have lunch."

Pacifica glanced at the log-shaped building for a while with a confused expression on her face.

"So… this is some kind of restaurant for poor people?" She asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, I guess you can call it like that." Dipper shrugged. "C'mon, let's get inside.

The couple entered the building and sat in a table. Dipper ordered a cheeseburger and fries for two. Pacifica, after perusing the menu thoroughly, decided that she had no idea about any meal listed there so she ordered another cheeseburger for herself. Meanwhile Lazy Susan got their food, Pacifica looked around herself in disgust. She had expected something different of the diner. Some of the floor wood planks were broken, the dirty dishes on the dinner could be seen from the client area, and she could swear she had seen rodents running under the table.

"So…" Dipper's attempt to begin a conversation snapped her out of her thoughts. "About your father—"

"Can we talk about that later?" Pacifica interrupted him sharply.

"Alright." Dipper fiddled with his fingers as he brainstormed for another topic. "Is it your first time in a place like this?"

"Gosh, yes." Pacifica took a few napkins from the napkin holder and cleaned her side of the table before resting her hands on it. "What do you see in this place?"

"You'll see." Dipper smiled slyly as he took off his cap and put it on the table.

When Pacifica realized Dipper's new hairstyle, she raised a hand to hide her snickering.

"What?" Dipper asked, offended.

"You got a cow to do your hair this morning, Dork?" She burst into giggles.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want." Dipper grabbed his cap and put it back on his head. "Mabel said I looked more elegant."

"And you do." Pacifica reassured. "But also funny."

Lady Susan came with the two burgers and the fries.

"There you go, kids. Here's also the ketchup and the salt." She placed the dishes and bottles on the table and left the couple alone.

Pacifica gawked at her cheeseburger. She quickly grabbed the menu and glanced from the picture to her dish and back repeatedly.

"Dipper, that old lady is trying to scam us." She pointed at her cheeseburger. "This… thing doesn't look anything like the one in the picture."

Dipper raised an eyebrow at her and chortled when he realized she was serious.

"It's true!" Pacifica protested. "Look at the picture in the menu! The thing on my plate looks like it's suffering and about to die by comparison!" She poked her meal with a finger as if expecting it to jump at her neck.

Dipper only laughed harder until Pacifica changed her demeanor and threw him a blue-eyed glare which made him stop immediately.

"Sorry." He cleared his throat. "Your face was priceless."

Pacifica took that as a compliment and she softened her features.

"Burgers are all like this." Dipper explained as he grabbed his. "They look awful, but none of that matters once you give it a bite."

"Bite this?" Pacifica glanced in disgust at her burger. "It looks like it could bite me instead! Besides, this is like… sixty percent grease. Isn't this bad for your health?"

"C'mon, give it a try. Look, I'm eating mine." Dipper took a mouthful of his cheeseburger to prove his point. "See? I'm not dead yet."

Pacifica frowned at her meal and sighed in defeat.

"If this kills me, I'm haunting you and no silver mirror will save you."

The heiress grabbed the burger with her fingertips. Grease quickly began rolling down her fingers and onto her hands, and she made an 'Ew' sound. Pacifica reluctantly mimicked Dipper and took a mouthful of her burger. Grease mixed with melted cheese and grilled meat reached her taste bugs and caused an explosion of flavor in her mouth.

"Oh my gosh…" Pacifica's eyes bulged out and she gave a throaty moan of delight. She looked at her burger in astonishment as if she couldn't believe what she had in her hands.

"How is it?" Dipper asked.

"Dipper, this is amazing!" She gave it another bite and part of the meat fell onto her plate with a splash of how greasy it was. "And super gross too, but above all it's delicious! I need the recipe for my butlers." Pacifica quickly finished her burger and began sucking her fingers clean.

"I told you." Dipper chuckled. "Next time you should probably chew it slower to make it last longer, though."

Dipper ate his own burger and grabbed the plate with French fries. He poured some ketchup and dipped a fry in it.

"Check this out." Dipper held out the French fry with ketchup.

Pacifica was about to grab the fry, but her hands were all greasy. The heiress shrugged, leaned on the table and ate the fry directly from Dipper's fingers.

Dipper cleared his throat and blushed.

"What?" Pacifica had seen the blush.

"Nothing." Dipper replied quickly. Her lips had brushed his fingers and Dipper had found it extremely erotic. He crossed his legs and hoped that nobody noticed.

"The fries aren't bad at all, but I liked the burger more." She looked around in search of Lazy Susan. "Let's order another one."

"Um…" Dipper checked the contents of his wallet and frowned. He sighed and his voice came out in a mutter. "I can't pay for another round."

"I'm paying then." Pacifica shrugged.

"But I wanted to invite you for lunch." Dipper mumbled, embarrassed at his economic situation.

"Why? Because it's the proper thing to do?" She raised an eyebrow.

Dipper hesitated for a second and then nodded.

"Look, Dork." Pacifica smiled warmly at his gesture. "If we had to follow stereotypes, you and I wouldn't be dating to begin with."

"We're dating." Dipper finally admitted it to himself.

"Yeah, we are." Pacifica leaned closer and whispered. "If it's so important for you to invite me, how about this: You invite me to this round and I pay the next one. That way you can still say you technically invited me on our first date."

"I'd like that." Dipper grinned. "You're the best, you know that?"

"Yup."

The couple got their second round which they ate more calmly. Having realized that this was a date, and that it wasn't going bad at all, Dipper loosened up and engaged conversation while Pacifica ate and listened.

"…and after we sneaked in, we saw Thompson through the camera feed drinking popcorn butter!" Dipper finished the story.

Pacifica burst into giggles.

"That's like… a hundred times grosser than these burgers!" She grabbed a napkin to clean the grease off her hands.

"The thing is that I was just kidding when I wrote that in the screen, but it turned to be true." Dipper smiled.

Both of them had a full belly and a smile of satisfaction on their faces. Pacifica sighed happily and stared into Dipper's hazel eyes. They were sometimes light brown and sometimes dark green depending of the light, but she liked them. The heiress felt closer to Dipper now and she expressed it by placing her hand on top of his on the table. Dipper's eyes widened and he quickly retrieved his hand. Pacifica's expression went from happy to worry.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Sorry, I…" Dipper glanced nervously at her hand. "I didn't see that coming. You caught me off-guard."

"What were you expecting then?" Pacifica raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "This is a date. Of course we were going to hold hands eventually."

Instead of answering, Dipper lowered his gaze in embarrassment. He hadn't thought of this as a date to make progress in their relationship, but rather of an occasion to know her better and see if they could go on a date on a different day. Dipper still didn't know if they were compatible at all.

"Ugh, Dork." Pacifica scoffed as she switched seats and sat beside Dipper. "What's bothering you, Dipper? You never reacted like this before when we had some physical contact before. I have a picture as proof." She added matter-of-factly.

"You what?" Dipper narrowed his eyes. "You said you would get rid of that picture."

"Don't change topics!" She blurted out as she blushed at her slip. "Answer my question!"

Dipper hesitated for a few seconds, and then he inhaled deeply and gave in.

"It's not you, it's me." He regretted immediately his poor choice of words as he saw Pacifica's face contort in horror. "No, no, no! I didn't mean that! The thing is that… we've really known each other for five days. I know almost nothing of you."

"So this has nothing to do with my father?"

Dipper shook his head.

"Oh." The heiress sighed in complete relief. "Well, let's talk then. What did you want to know?" She nudged him playfully to cheer him up.

"Just the basics, like for example..." Dipper thought for a second. "I'm Dipper and I'm twelve. I like mysteries and when I'm older I'd like to have my own ghost hunting show."

"Really? A ghost hunting show?" Pacifica giggled and earned a glare from the boy. "Alright, alright, I'm not judging. But I'm better at ghost hunting than you. Let's see… I'm Pacifica Northwest, I'm also twelve… I like mini-golf, singing, jogging, and hanging out with a Dork." She teased and Dipper grinned. "I'd like to be a fashion designer when I'm older. I am also very rich."

"Jogging?" Dipper looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah. You thought I had these by miracle?" She rocked her legs back and forth in her seat.

Dipper stared at her legs and blushed. Pacifica was wearing her close fitting legging which left nothing to the imagination.

"They're…" He cleared his throat. "…very beautiful."

"My turn to ask a question." Pacifica snapped Dipper out of his daydreaming. "What's between you and Wendy?"

Dipper gulped reflexively as he thought 'She knows!'

"I uh… She's a… friend." Dipper stammered.

"Yeah, and I'm a time traveler." Pacifica cut him off sarcastically.

"But it's true! She rejected me and we are friends now!" Dipper tried to explain himself.

"Then why didn't you kiss me that night in the forest?" Pacifica countered.

"That's two questions." Dipper attempted to avoid answering.

"I need to know!" Pacifica demanded.

"I didn't kiss you because… I needed to be sure of it." Dipper sighed. "I've already had my heart broken once this summer and I don't want that to happen again." Dipper hesitated as he psyched up for what he was about to say. "I need to know where this is going because I like you a lot."

Pacifica's anger was suddenly replaced with astonishment.

"So…" Dipper wasn't getting an answer. "Do you… like me?"

Pacifica's features softened and gave him a warm smile.

"More than anything in I've ever had."

Dipper interlaced his fingers with hers, grabbing her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. Pacifica grinned and proceeded to do what she had wanted to do earlier on the table. She released his fingers and grabbed his hand with both of hers. With her thumbs, she applied pressure and traced circles on the back of Dipper's hand. The boy gawked stupidly, since he had never expected hand holding to arise so many pleasant sensations. Every time her thumbs pressed his hand, a soft jolt of pleasure traveled through his arm.

Pacifica released his hand and smirked at how silly Dipper's face looked. She held out her hand and put on a smug look, waiting for him to return the caresses. Dipper smiled nervously and grabbed her hand. Instead of squeezing it like she had been doing, Dipper traced her fingers one by one from base to tip. Soft prickles soon invaded her hand, and Pacifica hummed appreciatively.

"Wait." She stopped him.

Dipper glanced at her worriedly, wondering what he could have done wrong. Pacifica then took of her jacket and gave him her hand again.

"Go on."

Dipper grinned and continued applying his caresses. Her short dress was short-sleeved and left most of her pale arm bare. Dipper paid some attention to the new exposed area by placing his fingertips on her wrist and tracing them lightly along the underside of her forearm up to her elbow. Pacifica stiffed back a soft moan at the ticklish feeling invading her arm. Dipper noticed and chuckled. He raised her hand to his mouth and landed a kiss on it. Pacifica smiled and blushed. Dipper then cupped her cheek, stroked it and moved in for the kiss.

"No." Pacifica pressed her hand on his chest and sighed. "You need to know about my parents first."

Dipper nodded. He held her hands and waited.

"My father will never allow this. In fact, he has given me an ultimatum." She sighed sadly. "I even had to sneak out of the manor today using the service door."

"What was the ultimatum?"

Pacifica lowered her gaze.

"If he sees us together again, he's sending me to a boarding school overseas. England probably."

"Oh no…" Dipper bit his bottom lip. He let go of her hands and picked up his Journal. "There has to be a way out of this somewhere…"

"Wait," She rested her hand on top of the Journal. "I've already thought of it, and I only see two ways out, but I don't know what to do. The first one would be running away from home."

"No." Dipper said immediately.

"Let me finish." She turned serious. "I have some money saved. It's more than enough to keep me fed until I am on working age."

"Pacifica, I don't—"

"I was thinking," She interrupted him. "Stan was very nice to me, so maybe I could stay at the Shack? He said I could go there if I got in trouble."

"Pacifica, really. That is a very stupid idea." Dipper shook his head. "You would lose your current lifestyle, the life of riches you are so used to. It's not something you can do overnight. Besides, I don't think your dad is not going to search for you."

"I'll manage." She supported her point. "I can use a nickname, dye my hair, whatever works. It would be choosing the lesser evil."

"Not those words again…" Dipper muttered. "Look, no. Your father also offered me to choose the lesser evil, but I don't believe in a lesser evil. Evil is evil; it doesn't matter if it's greater middling or lesser. If I had to choose between two evils, I prefer not to choose at all."

Dipper broke eye contact and frowned. He was aware he might have just wasted his chance of being with her because of his moral code.

"I'm not gonna keep quiet while he sees me as a puppet." Pacifica protested.

"I'm not telling you to do that. I'm telling you to stand up for what you consider right, just like you did in the Annual Fest." Dipper looked back up to her blue eyes. "Running away from your parents isn't the right thing. It will haunt you, and you'll spend the rest of your life looking warily over your shoulder."

Pacifica stayed silent and nodded. She knew he was right.

"You mentioned two ways out." Dipper said. "What is the second one?"

"The magical wish." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "My last wish."

"Hmm… Ford told us the wish only affected events governed by chance, like finding the house keys." Dipper began tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Wishing for you father to change his mind wouldn't work."

"I had a different idea in mind." Pacifica clarified. "What if I used it to gain some time? Maybe we would come up with an idea to solve this situation if we had more time."

"In my experience with wishes and supernatural beings," Dipper grimaced as he remembered Bill. "this can get very tricky. You could ask for a month and the wish could grant you thirty non-consecutive days. I don't know about this." He sighed. "It's very unpredictable. Maybe we could keep pushing out luck and sneaking out to see each other?"

"What if we run out of luck?" Pacifica countered. "I don't want to spend my summer vacations in a boarding school."

"No, of course not." Dipper shook his head. "The wish is it then. I'll help you choose the correct words so that it's properly formulated and—"

"This is something I need to figure out on my own." Pacifica interrupted him. "Trust me, I know I can do it. Now, where were we?"

Dipper's frown eased when she grabbed his hand. He liked the feeling. They stayed like that for a while, rejoicing in each other's company and handholding without saying a single word. Words weren't necessary. Eventually, they left the Greasy Diner, got into the golf cart and drove to the manor.

There was an awkward silence between the two of them when the time to say goodbye came. They didn't want to say goodbye. Dipper rubbed his neck nervously. Pacifica smiled warmly and gave him a peck on the cheek. Dipper's face lit up and he held the kissed spot on his hand.

"Whatever happens, I'll call the Shack tomorrow." She reassured.

Dipper nodded, and hugged her. He hugged her tightly and hoped he wouldn't need to regret his decision of dissuading her from running away from home. They parted the embrace and smiled hopefully at each other. Pacifica then walked through the manor gate, and Dipper got back into the golf cart and drove away.

The heiress stood by the trees of the garden. She closed her eyes and wondered what to wish for. There were plenty of possibilities, a lot of things that could go wrong. Pacifica stayed silent for a few minutes, and then she formulated her wish. A gentle breeze played with her hair. She interpreted that as a sign of the wish working. Pacifica smiled and walked to the manor.

Her story had begun with a grain of truth, it had been tainted by the lesser evil, and it would end with her last wish.

:: ::

A/N:

.dlofdnilb s'notserP evomer nac tca lanoitome ylerup a ylnO

With this chapter, The Lesser Evil is over. Dipper and Pacifica had learned a valuable lesson, but one of them will regret their decision.

FYI:

· The first episode was about friendship, this episode was about dating, and the next episode is about relationships.

· Honestly, who hasn't been disappointed at the sight of a real cheeseburger after seeing the fake picture of it?

· The contents of Pacifica's wish won't be revealed until the appropriate moment.

· The next episode is completely T rated due to relationship stuff.

copy&paste:

Feel free to leave me some feedback.