When Gravity Falls

CHAPTER 2: "It's Been Four Years."

Dipper trudged into the kitchen where the Pacifica Northwest stood, taller and lankier than he remembered. Her eyes scanned the room and everyone in it, and she gave Dipper a tight smile when she spotted him. They both made their way over to each other.

"Hi," Pacifica said quietly, rocking on her feet and unsure how to start the conversation.

"Hey."

"Uh. Welcome back."

"Thanks."

"Yeah..." Pacifica bit the inside of her cheek and planted her eyes on the floor. "Sorry to call you out here."

"It's fine." Dipper would be lying if he said he wasn't looking for an excuse to get out of that dreadful conversation with Wendy. But he'd also be lying if he said he wasn't mildly upset to be having a conversation with Pacifica, one of the bitchiest people he knew in Gravity Falls next to her parents.

"Uhm, right..." Pacifica trailed off, and just as Dipper went to say goodbye she continued, "How were your last two summers in California?"

Dipper didn't even know that Pacifica knew that he and Mabel lived in California, much less cared to remember. "Fine. Better than being here."

"Oh." Dipper could tell she didn't expect a response like that.

"Sorry."

"It's fine." Pacifica brought her eyes back up in an attempt to make eye contact with Dipper but it was nearly impossible, seeming that Dipper was even avoiding looking anywhere in her direction.

"Where's your sister?" Pacifica asked eventually.

"Mabel?" Dipper asked, like he had another sister. "She's around here somewhere. Maybe unpacking with her friends."

"Oh, okay." Pacifica nodded slowly and gestured towards the stairs behind Dipper. "Well, I'm gonna..."

"Right, right. Okay." Dipper stepped out of the way and Pacifica gave him an, admittedly, awkward pat on the back as she passed by him to head upstairs. He wondered why Pacifica was even here. They had made amends towards the end of last summer, but none of them were anywhere close to being labeled as "friends".

"What was that about?" Great Uncle Ford asked Dipper as soon as Pacifica disappeared up the steps. "Did she come to taunt you or something?"

"No," Dipper sighed, wondering why Ford couldn't greet him with a normal hello like any other normal person instead of bombarding him with questions. "She just came over to say hi."

"And she's all "buddy-buddy" with your sister now?" Ford asked, making a face.

"I don't know..." Dipper said. "I guess."

Ford let out a heavy and drawn-out sigh, resting his arm on Dipper's head–Dipper had yet to have his growth spurt and was only an inch and a half taller than he was two summers ago. It was disappointing. Almost everyone towered over him easily.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Ford asked, raising an eyebrow. Dipper choked on his tongue.

"What?"

"A girlfriend. Do you have one?"

"No," Dipper answered honestly, but Ford wasn't buying it.

"You don't have your eye on any special lady here?"

Dipper scanned the room. He knew he was referring to Wendy, but Wendy was 18 now and Dipper had been over her for a while now.

"No."

"What about back home?"

"No," Dipper responded again.

Ford paused. "..Are you gay?"

"Just because I don't have a girlfriend or a crush?" Dipper asked defensively. "No, I'm not gay." Dipper frowned. "I'm only 16, I have the rest of my life to get a girlfriend."

"Or a boyfriend."

"Ford!"

"Alright, alright!" Ford sighed and kissed Dipper on the head, an unexpected gesture that took Dipper a minute to process.

"You know where to find me." Ford cocked his head toward the vending machine, which made Dipper shutter, and Ford caught sight.

"Oh, no!" Ford said quickly, trying his best to reassure Dipper. "Not behind the vending machine. I meant in the corner of the room, avoiding social interaction."

"Right." Dipper nodded and gave Ford a small smile and Ford speed-walked away.

~

The "party" ended around 10:30 PM, but everyone was cleared out by 10:45, and Dipper was up in his and Mabel's shared-attic bedroom by 11:15. Mabel's suitcase, unlike Dipper's, was empty–she had already unpacked with Candy and Grenda for half the party, leaving Dipper alone downstairs all by himself to figure out how to keep himself collected around everyone that reminded him of Weirdmageddon.

"Need help unpacking?" Mabel asked Dipper as she slipped her arm through the sleeve of her nightgown (which she had outgrown since they were kids–she now used it as a nightshirt instead of a gown).

"No," Dipper muttered, slightly bitter over the fact that since they got here Mabel had barely paid any mind to him. He eyed her, a small frown that read What's up with you? painted on her face. Dipper ignored it, instead asking (a bit harsher than intended), "Are you ever going to stop wearing that gown–uh, shirt?"

"What?"

"We aren't kids anymore, Mabel. Maybe you should find a new pair of pajamas to wear."

Mabel scrunched up her face, like something smelled bad. "What's wrong with you?" Mabel asked, and Dipper could hear the hurt in her voice. He was projecting his bad mood onto her, asking her about pajamas when what he really wanted to know was how she could be so happy to be back to the place that was the source of all their trauma. Dipper took a second to form his response–a second too long, at that.

"Nothing."

Mabel paused. "..Okay." She made her way over to their shared closet to rummage through the forgotten toys and other items while her (very moody) brother unpacked–and that's when she found it. Mabel let out a joyous gasp, to which Dipper asked what she was freaking out about.

"Grappling hook!" Mabel announced as she took the gun-looking device out from a box in the closet and played around with it.

"Jesus," Dipper sighed under his breath. "Be careful with that before you take an eye out."

"Psh!" Mabel tossed the grappling hook over her shoulder and shot it accidentally, making a hole in the wall behind her. Dipper barely acknowledged this mistake and continued to unpack his suitcase.

"You know," Mabel said, setting the grappling hook down carefully and sitting on Dipper's bed, "Pacifica came up here and helped me unpack."

"Really?" Dipper asked, surprised and completely forgetting that Pacifica had made her way up here during the party.

"Yeah."

"That's a surprise." Dipper didn't mean for it to sound passive-aggressive, although that's exactly what it was. Mabel caught onto this and slid off Dipper's bed, making her way to her own. "You know, just because she was a bitch to us once doesn't mean she's still a prick," Mabel mumbled, slightly disappointed at how passive Dipper was being. "She's a good person. You just refuse to interact with her."

"She was nothing but nasty to us," Dipper answered, zipping up his suitcase once he took out the remainder of his clothing.

"It was almost 4 years ago." Dipper hated that excuse. It was almost 4 years ago. So what? That didn't mean it didn't happen.

"So what? It still happened."

"A rich girl being mean isn't the same as the apocalypse," Mabel protested without thinking. "4 years after an apocalypse is different than 4 years after a girl has become a better person."

Dipper froze. 4 years after an apocalypse. He didn't say anything, and neither did Mabel for a minute or two. Dipper's hands hovered over his neatly folded T-shirts, and Mabel kicked her feet before she laid down in bed and covered herself in her blanket, pulling her stuffed unicorn close to her chest as Waddles found a comfortable spot at the foot of her bed.

"Sorry," she said, only a hint of apologeticness in her voice.

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AUTHORS NOTE: Chapter 2! While I'm not as happy with this one as I was with the first chapter, it still turned out okay.

WORD COUNT: 1279.