Love, Hate, It's All The Same

Chapter 3: Vince Is Gonna Prove It

Dipper was first to recover from the shock from the announcement.

"Ohhh no, no, no. This is all a huge misunders-" Dipper began to explain but stopped abruptly when Pacifica's dad subtly leaned close to his ear. The Langstons stared at Dipper with confused expressions since it was a Northwest move that only Pacifica could notice in the room.

When Preston leaned away from Dipper, Dipper was pale-faced. He forced out a laugh, walked over to Pacifica and draped one of his arms on her shoulders, pulling her closer to him.

"Heh, yep!" He said awkwardly. "I'm the boyfriend! Lucky, right?"

"Yes." Bill glared at Dipper suspiciously. "Very lucky indeed."

"If you're her boyfriend, then how come she looked uncomfortable when you wrapped your arm around her?" Vince questioned.

Dipper glanced nervously at Pacifica. "Uhhh..."

Fortunately, Pacifica was great under pressure and was able to answer quickly.

"Dad doesn't really like seeing us too close to each other." She answered sweetly. "Anyhoo, we'd love to stay and chat but we still have class, so..."

"Uh, yeah, we should go."

"Bye, Dad." Pacifica said and started for the door, paying no attention to the Langstons.

"See you later, Dad- I-I mean Mr Northwest." Dipper stammered, lumbering after Pacifica. "And you other guys."

Once they had put some distance between them and the house, Pacifica turned to Dipper.

"Ow! What the hell?" Dipper demanded. He clutched his arm where Pacifica had just hit him.

"That's for putting your arm on my shoulders." She glared at him.

"I had to! Your dad, he was going to-" Dipper stopped, then shook his head, "- never mind."

"He was going to what?" Pacifica's curiosity seemed to have cooled her off. Her deathly glare had disappeared without a trace.

"Nothing. Let's just keep walking." Dipper continued down the road.

"What did he say to you?" Pacifica followed eagerly. "C'mon, I wanna know! What if I need to use it on you?"

"We are never speaking of this." Dipper turned to look Pacifica in the eye. "Ever. Ok?"

"Fine, whatever, Sourpuss." Pacifica rolled her eyes. "In any case, that should've been enough to keep the Langstons at bay. They're probably leaving town tomorrow."

"Good. Playing pretend boyfriend with you is not something I enjoy, to say the least."

"You think I liked that? I would rather kiss a cactus! It's probably a better kisser than you!"

"I'll have you know that I am an amazing kisser. All us nerds are! Cause we appreciate it more!"

The two argued the rest of the way to school.

* * *

[Monday, the following week]

"...now just multiply this by pi to get-"

Mr Smith was interrupted by a quick knocking on the door.

"Excuse me." He told the class. He capped his marker, set it on the table and went to open the door.

"Hi, I'm sorry to interrupt but could I borrow Dipper Pines real quick? It's really urgent." The person at the door breathed.

Mr. Smith stepped aside to reveal Pacifica standing at the doorway. The whole class turned to look at Dipper.