june
"Thanks for giving me a ride, Fiddleford," Pacifica spoke from the passenger seat of the old man's truck.
She watched the treeline as the vehicle rumbled down the dirt road. In just a few minutes, she'd be seeing Mabel and Dipper for the first time since January. Anxiety bubbled up inside of her, but she tried her hardest to keep it down.
"No problem," Fiddleford replied. "Call me tonight when ya' want me to go home."
Pacifica glimpsed down at the phone in her lap just in time to see the words "NEW MESSAGE" flash across the screen. She swiped her fingers across it to see that the message was one of many sent by Mabel.
11:32 AM 6/12/13 Mabel: are you on your way yet??
11:34 AM 6/12/13 Mabel: paz
11:35 AM 6/12/13 Mabel: PAZ
11:36 AM 6/12/13 Mabel: PAZ WHERE ARE YOU
11:37 AM 6/12/13 Mabel: WADDLES MISSES YOU HURRY UP ❤❤❤
11:38 AM 6/12/13 Mabel: did your butler fetch you the wrong pair of slippers?
Brushing her thumbs over the keyboard, Pacifica sent a reply.
11:38 AM 6/12/13 Me: omg I'm almost there
11:39 AM 6/12/13 Me: and for the record, i can fetch my own slippers
Before McGucket could even manage to actually park, Pacifica was already scrambling out of her seat. Mabel bounded down the porch steps, her arms extended and ready to hug the other girl.
"Paz!" Mabel hollered as she gave Pacifica what was probably the tightest hug she'd ever received.
"Hey," Pacifica mumbled, her voice muffled by the thick knit of Mabel's sweater. "Mabel."
"Yeah?"
"You're squishing me a little bit."
"Oh!" Mabel exclaimed, loosening her grip on the girl. Together they then burst into a fit of giggling and grinning.
"Should we head inside?" Pacifica glimpsed over at the building beside them. It was still a bit strange to her how familiar she had become with the Mystery Shack over the past few months. Before, she would have never even dreamed of entering. Now it was her home away from home.
"Actually," Mabel beamed, "I have a picnic packed and ready to go! We could hike over by the falls and hang out for the afternoon."
So like a date? Pacifica thought before suddenly shaking the idea away. "Is Dipper coming too? Or Candy and Grenda?
"I was thinking it would be just us," Mabel replied. "I mean, if you want them to go with us, I'm sure they wo-"
"It's fine," Pacifica blurted. "I mean, I'm kind of okay with it being just us," she said, adding an awkward laugh. "Just us girls, r-right?"
Mabel nodded. "Just us girls," she repeated.
Pacifica kept her head down as she walked beside Mabel, their fingers interlocked. Her sundress and sandals weren't exactly hiking material, but heading out into the woods beat sitting around in the Mystery Shack all day (the AC never worked in the attic, anyways).
She didn't notice when they'd steered towards an area of the forest that wasn't exactly her favorite.
Mabel's hand was shaking in Pacifica's.
"What's wro-" Paz started before she looked up to see Bill Cipher in front of them, his stoney eye staring forward.
"That's-"
"It's just a statue," Pacifica reassured her, reaching for Mabel's other hand. "Hey, hey, look at me."
A look of panic had struck across Mabel's face.
"It's just a statue. I-I've seen it before, it won't hurt you. See?" She bent over and reached for a mossy rock, pulling it up from the dirt. Pacifica stopped to aim before throwing the object as hard as she could. It bounced off of Bill's middle and skidded across the grass.
"Why is it here?" Mabel whispered, fumbling for Pacifica's hand again.
"I don't know," Pacifica murmured. "I wish I did... It kind of freaked me out at first," she admitted.
"I mean, I could see why, obviously."
"I should have told you, I'm sorry. I didn't think about this, it's all my fault," Pacifica frowned. You should've thought about that. Now you've upset Mabel.
"Hey, i-it's alright, it's not like you did it on purpose. It was an accident."
"Yeah, but-"
"Pacifica, I don't mean to interrupt, and as much as I'd love to stand here and hold your hand, I would rather get away from the ominous triangle sitting six feet away from us," Mabel squeaked.
"Right, sorry." Pacifica squeezed Mabel's hand tighter as she led the brunette away from the clearing.
Stretching out on the pink blanket Mabel brought along, Pacifica sipped at a glass of "Mabel Juice" she'd poured.
"-and so I was like, 'Well, I know that I wasn't the one to buy that haunted carton of milk!'" Mabel finished with a mouth full of cookies. "Paz, you should let me braid your hair."
"Okay," Pacifica mumbled, tipping her head back, letting her long blonde hair fall into Mabel's lap. "It might be kind of tangled, though."
"It's fine, I brought a brush with me."
Pacifica shut her eyes, listening to the thwump sound of the brush running through her locks and the nearby roar of the waterfall the town was named for. She was thankful that she'd been getting out of the manor more. The forest surrounding Gravity Falls was truly beautiful and gave her a good place to think.
Now's a good time to tell Mabel you like her.
It's a bad idea. No.
But it's the perfect time.
Go for it.
"So, uh, Mabel," Pacifica started, her mouth suddenly feeling a bit dry. "I kind of wanted to talk to you about something."
There's no turning back now.
"Yeah?" Mabel mused.
"We've kind of been, like, pretty close these past few months, and I was sort of wondering- Well, I- Uh-"
shut up shut up this was a bad idea
"Hmm?"
"IthinkIkindoflikeyouandIdon'tknowifyoulikemebackbutit'scoolifyoudon'tbutImeanit'dbeawesomeifyoudidbutlikelet'sjustignorethisifyoudon'tokay?"
Nervously, Pacifica twisted around to face Mabel. The expression on the other girl's face was definitely not what she'd been expecting, but was just what she had been hoping for.
"Paz!" Mabel gushed, suddenly pulling her friend into a warm embrace.
"So is that a yes?" Pacifica replied, pushing her bangs out of her eyes.
"Of course!"
"Really?" A grin stretched across Pacifica's face.
"Did you miss all of those hints I've been droppin' on ya? Pacifica, I've kissed you for crying out loud! Multiple times! I mailed you a poem about how much I love you once!"
Pacifica's cheeks turned read. "I wasn't sure," she giggled.
"I can't wait to take you on so many cute dates. I'm gonna knit us matching sweaters, too! It's going to be great!"
Laughing, Pacifica fell back against the blanket, feeling the warm sun against her face. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed with bliss.