Heartless, right?

Chapter Two

The twins have barely been back a full twelve hours before the word spreads. Stan and Ford planned a weeklong celebration, and the entire town is invited.

"Don't be gone long, Dipper." Grunkle Stan warns, catching the boy trying to sneak out the back door.

"I'll be back in less than 30 minutes." Dipper replies, ducking outside.

He takes a deep breath and walks towards the forest, hoping to clear his head and calm his nerves. Ever since Weirdmageddon, his anxiety has been worse than ever. And with so much on his mind, it will be impossible to fully enjoy this week with so much planned and so many people around him. It's not that he isn't grateful for his Grunkles' efforts, but things are different now, Dipper is different. He stops near a clearing when a familiar face catches his eye.

"Pacifica?" He calls out.

Over the years, the twins became pretty good friends with the Northwest girl. She matured a lot in the past six years, often staying at the Mystery Shack during the summer.

"Oh, Dipper, hey. What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He counters, sitting next to her.

"Just trying to get away from the overwhelming amount of responsibilities I have as the daughter of Preston Northwest." She says, venom in her voice at the mention of her father. "But it's okay. I'm just a girl with daddy issues."

"I feel you there." For some reason, Dipper never had a problem telling Pacifica about how he was feeling. He always assumes it's because the two have enough in common that neither feel the need to explain themselves.

"Why don't you take your parents to do family therapy? I heard it works wonders." He suggests sarcastically.

"I'll go to therapy when you get more than five hours of sleep."

"Touché."

"You know, the Northwest Fest was pretty boring without you and your sister doing something reckless. Where were you guys this summer anyway?" Pacifica asks after a few moments.

Dipper hesitates, the bitter memory of his summer rearing it ugly head. His parents divorced last year, but neither of the twins liked to talk about it much. The divorce was messy and took a toll on them, especially Mabel.

"Our dad wanted us to go to Texas to meet his fiancé."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize."

"No, it's fine. I mean, it was a long time coming, and Mabel and I kind of avoided him last year after the divorce." Dipper explains, picking at the tree beside him.

"He moves on fast." Pacifica frowns, studying Dipper. "How's Mabel? Isn't she going back to California next week?"

"Yeah."

"Too bad, at least you'll be around to keep things interesting."

Before Dipper can respond, distant laughter rings out, and a figure appears at the other edge of the clearing. A tall blonde man.

"Dipper, what are you looking at?" Pacifica asks.

"Grunkle Stan is probably waiting. Why don't we head to the Shack?" He says, ignoring her question.

How can she not see it? Unless it's in his head. But only one thing has ever gotten into his head like that. As the two head towards the Mystery Shack, Dipper feels the all too familiar eyes watching.

AN: I'm gonna be honest. Posting once a week is gonna be hard, I'm already up to chapter fouteen 😳 hope y'all enjoyed