Love, Hate, It's All The Same

Chapter 5: You Can't Pull What You Don't Have

Time flies fast when your mind is preoccupied with a girl.

The rest of the day went by in a rather uneventful manner. Of course, there was the occasional 'accidents' that occur whenever Dipper ran into a group of guys, which almost always involved him fishing his bag out of a trash can, and the groups of giggling girls who suddenly fall silent when they see you coming near, but Dipper's gotten used to it already.

Ok, no. Maybe he's not used to it just yet, but the self-consciousness he feels when those instances happen has gone considerably vague. That's progress. It may only be because his mind is preoccupied with Pacifica's orders but it's still progress. Right?

The next day wasn't too different from yesterday either. All Dipper could think about was how he's gonna find Pacifica's room. And even if he does find it, how was he gonna climb into it? Pacifica's room was on the second floor, at least 15 feet above the ground. It doesn't help either that Dipper wasn't exactly the athletic type.

Multiple times, Dipper thought about bailing on Pacifica, but every time he did, her words rang in his head.

Dad can pull all sorts of strings, she had told him. Dipper could only imagine what she could possibly do with that power. And then there was the thing Preston had whispered to him at the manor.

Boy, I am a very wealthy man and trust me, you do not want to get on the bad side of a man who has all the means to make life hell for you and your family, he had whispered to Dipper in a teasing tone, but Dipper could tell the guy meant the threat.  

Dipper didn't realize that it was time to go home until Leo spoke.

"Hold on, dude. I gotta use the bathroom." 

"That's like the fifth time today, man. You okay?"

"Yeah my mom's just been making me drinking extra water because apparently I don't drink enough." Leo scoffed. "That doesn't even make sense! There's water in soda. There's little puddles of water in pizza."

Dipper raised an eyebrow at him. "Leo, that's oil."

"Whose side are you on?" Leo spat before pushing the door to the male's restroom.

Dipper's eyes made a full 360. "Whatever, just be quick. I got stuff to do."

"You mean that thing Pacifica's asking you to do?"

"Leo, it's really disturbing to be talking to you while you're holding your thing."

Leo's head popped out as the restroom door opened. "You're so shy, it's hilarious." 

"Go wash your hands."

"I know, I know." Leo's head disappeared back into the men's room. "Hey, did you see that thing that Mr. Myers brought to class today?"

Leo and Dipper continued on their walk home, with Leo doing most of the talking and Dipper simply nodding along to what he has to say until they had to part ways. Dipper kept walking on his own, contemplating his options for later that evening.

He groaned. "Why can't she just-"

Dipper's protests were cut short by an unnerving feeling of being followed. He looked around for any signs of movement, but just shook off the feeling a moment later.

When he reached the house, he went straight into his room. After grabbing his notebook from the drawer in his desk, he plopped down on his chair and began drawing to keep his mind occupied.

Soon, it was time for Dipper to head towards the Northwest mansion. He gave the room a final sweep of his eye before leaving, just to make sure that he didn't miss anything that could help him climb windows. He figured the climbing gloves and boots that his great uncle had invented was probably enough.

After convincing Mabel that he'll just be going to Leo's, Dipper left the Shack. On the way, he wondered what could possibly had been so important that Pacifica had to get him to sneak into her room.

When he arrived at the mansion, he saw just how big the place really was. For some reason, it looked like it had way more windows than the first time he came by. Dipper let out a defeated sigh. This might take longer than expected.

Dipper walked to one of the nearest walls. It looked much taller than he remembered. 

He turned to the equipment strapped onto his hands and feet. After pressing the buttons that Grunkle Ford had indicated to him, the gloves and boots began to glow a dark shade of red. Dipper watched as the glow faded slowly until they looked like a regular pair of gloves and boots.

Taking this as his cue to start, he pressed his hands onto the wall and attempted to pull himself upward.

"Holy crap." he exclaimed in surprise. The gloves had perfect grip. He could propel himself upward even without handholds. With the gloves coupled with the boots, it felt like he was climbing a ladder. 

"Grunkle Ford, you are a genius." He murmured under his breath.

Finally, a lot of windows and a whole lot more walls later, Dipper found the window that led to the pink room that belonged to Pacifica. He hoisted himself onto the window's ledge and rapped the glass.

Dipper waited a few moments before knocking again. He was getting rather impatient since his limbs were starting to get sore. By the fourth knock, someone came through a door in the room, first looking around her room with an annoyed expression, which turned to confusion then into surprise when she saw Dipper hanging on to dear life on her window.

She walked over to the window and opened it.

"I forgot to leave the window opened." Pacifica explained as Dipper clambered into her room, breathing heavily. He stayed lying down on the floor.

"It's fine." Dipper panted. "Although I think I might've pulled a muscle."

"You can't pull what you don't have." 

Dipper glared at Pacifica, blushing when he noticed that Pacifica was only wearing a bathrobe. She seemed to have realized why Dipper's face has gone red.

"I was taking bath, I wasn't expecting you for 10 more minutes." She clarified. 

Dipper stood up, his breathing now normal. "I figured I'd get a head start, this place has way too many windows. I think your dad almost saw me in one of them."

"Yada, yada. Just sit somewhere while I go get dressed." She waved her hand as if swatting away an annoying fly and walked out of the door.

Dipper plopped himself down on Pacifica's bed. He looked around the room curiously while he took off the gloves and boots that he used. Dipper's hair stood on end. There's that feeling again. He turned his gaze on the window, just in time to catch a flash of brown disappear.

At that moment, Pacifica entered her room, dressed in her pajamas. Dipper leaned back, supporting himself with his arms, and looked at Pacifica.

When he spoke, there was a fatigued vibe in his voice. "So, why'd you call me here?"