Always (2/3)

29: it would result in his immediate death

29
Pacifica

When I explained to Gideon what my plan was, he was very optimistic on how it would turn out. Despite the fact that Dipper could die from doing the very thing I suggested. It still filled me with a sense of dread, that if things went wrong, it would result in his immediate death.

I went home to the Mystery Shack that day, very shocked to see that Janessa and Rachel were still staying at the Mystery Shack. But, I went to face the music anyway.

Another week had passed while Gideon, the Gleeful twins and I planned out how we were going to do this. All of this happening while I dealt with the glares from Janessa and the blank stares from Rachel. Why were they still staying with us?

Gideon did his best to keep the girls away from me, but it got harder when Dipper would come over, looking for me.

But sooner or later, I had to solve these things for myself. While the week passed, if the four of us weren't planning our, for lack of better term, 'mission', Dipper would whisk me away somewhere for some one-on-one action. But, again, not like that.

I learned more about him than I had when we first met. And he learned more about me. For once in our relationship, things felt right. It had been awhile since our relationship was on a steady surface, and I actually felt normal.

We had decided to work out all the fine details of our plan throughout the entire week, and have a test run on Friday night. And that experienced some technical difficulties. So, we took another week to prepare for the, hopefully not, disastrous event.

By the end of June or early July, we were officially ready for this to go down. And when I heard a knock on the Mystery Shack's door at early noon, I was surprised.

We had planned to meet up hours before midnight, but I didn't think that it would twelve hours before.

But when I opened the door, it was Dipper. Just Dipper.

"Dipper," my eyes widened. "What are you doing here?"

"What?" He raised a brow. "A boyfriend can't visit his girlfriend anymore?"

"That's not what I mean." I groaned. "I just assumed that you would stay away from here considering Janessa's still here."

"But I wanted to see you." He grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him. "I missed you, Pazzie."

"We see each other everyday because of the plan." I rolled my eyes at his sudden romanticness.

"For once can we not talk about the mission, Pazzie?" He shifted awkwardly. "I know it's serious, but I—"

"But what?" I asked.

"I'm just a kid." He sighed, leaning against the doorframe that suggested otherwise.

"You're a teenager, almost an adult." I rolled my eyes at his comment, but he didn't laugh. Oh boy.

"I'm young, Paz." He whispered. "I've been throwing my life away, I hide all my feelings away, and the ones that are left I stuff with drugs."

What was he talking about? Was there other things than cigarettes? Something Mabel hadn't told me about? Oh god, how bad was it?

"And not to mention that I might die from this." He shook his head sadly. "It makes one think really hard about their life and what they've done."

"Dipper," I grabbed his hands and forced him to look me in the eye. "What's going on? You're scaring me."

His gaze flickered quickly, and it only then registered in my brain what was going on. He was afraid.

"Oh god, Pazzie, I'm seventeen." He leaned against me for support. "Where did the time go?"

"What do you mean?" I clasped his hands tightly in mine. "You're so young."

"It feels like I've wasted a majority of my life on pointless shit and now I'm atoning for my sins." He explained, his body losing its primary functions; like standing.

He crumpled to the ground and leaned his head against the wall.

I dropped down to the floor by him and cupped his face in my hands. "Dipper? Stay focused, what's going on?"

"I don't wanna die, Pazzie." He whispered. "There's so much I want to do, I want to go to Paris, Madrid, and Tokyo."

"I'm sure you've been there before, Dipper." I said, "and you'll go again."

"I want to go with you." He whispered to me. "Run away with me, Pazzie."

"Run away with you?" I echoed. "W-where would we go?"

"Somewhere this crazy magic creature won't find us. Won't find me." He explained, brushing a piece of my hair behind my ear. "We'll be fine there."

I put my hand on his forehead and recoiled. "Dipper, you're burning up!"

"What?"

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Mabel's number. "Mabel? I need you help. There's something wrong with Dipper?"

"You mean more than usual?" was her reply.

"Yes! Just get over here, and help me! He's delusional." I hung up and looked back at him. "Dipper, are you alright?"

"I. . .I dunno." He murmured. "I don't feel. . .alright."

"Let's get you on the couch."

"Okay."