Dipcifica: New summer, New start...

Chapter 27

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Dipper's POV

He rest of the day me and Pacifica just binge watched Star vs. the Forces of Evil, though I was still searching for clues as to what made her break down the night before.

I lounged comfortably on the sofa. 

"MEGA NARWHAL BLAST!" blared the TV. Pacifica switched episodes.

Pacifica sat not too far from me, sipping on a lemonade. She looked pretty content at the moment, so I pointed to the bathroom. "Gotta go. Be right back." She nodded at me and went back to watching the show.

I scurried down the hallway and instead of going to the bathroom, I launched myself into my parent's room to find my mom and dad sitting on the bed playing chess. They stopped what they were doing momentarily and turned to look at me.

"Hello, honey," my mom said. "Do you need anything?"

"Uh, kind of," I admitted. "Do you mind telling me...I dunno, what you were talking about last night?"

My dad looked at my suspiciously. "Well, nothing much, we just called back to Gravity Falls and told Soos  and Mabel you were okay,"

A light bulb clicked into place in my mind. "Okay, thanks!" I rushed out of the room, avoiding eye contact with either of my parents.

I discreetly walked back into the living room, trying not to seem to obvious. "So...uh, Pacifica, do you maybe want to talk about what was up last night?"

She looked at me firmly. "For the last time, Dipper, stop worrying. I guess I was just tired and couldn't handle it,"

"Handle what? Did it have anything to do with-"

"I'm going to cut you off right there," she burst in. "I don't want to talk about it."

The television was playing the episode 'starcrushed,' and I turned it off because it was way too distracting.

"Look," I told her. "I know something made you upset last night and I want to get to the bottom of it. Why were you so shaken because my parents said they would call the town?"

Pacifica froze like a deer in headlights. "I..." she looked away. "Well, that wasn't all it was. When they talked about my parents as if they were abusive, I..." she looked back at me and I could see her eyes watering. "It's not true. I loved my parents, no matter how awful they've been...and I miss home. They're probably going the call the authorities to take me to a foster care or something." She put her head in her knees with renewed grief.

I leaned over and hugged her. "I won't let them do that," I reassured, though I could feel the dread creeping up inside me. She hugged me back and buried her head in my shoulder, and I didn't even care that her tears were staining my shirt through. "Thank you," She whispered. "For being my best friend,"

I was so surprised at this new, insecure part of Pacifica I had never seen before. We hugged for another thirty seconds or so and then let go.

Pacifica wiped her tears and smiled. "Thanks," she repeated. "I needed to let that out."

After the tension between us had been cleared, we spent the rest of the day catching up on sleep, playing, and informing a hysteric Mabel that we were alright. We both went to bed with a renewed sense of sense of relief...but our minds both thought the same thing...what's next?