Code 12

What was she doing here?

She really didn't know. When she left her mansion all she remembered was walking through the town, eager to get as far away from her parents as possible. It didn't matter where she was going as long as it was far, far away.

Unexpectedly, she came upon a familiar shack. It was as old and rickety as she remembered it. She cringed at the sight, and yet, she felt like this had been the place she had been heading towards the entire time.

She almost hadn't knocked, but the light drizzle was coming down harder and she knew soon it would be pouring. Plus, she had just gotten her hair done today and wasn't going to let it get ruined.

It was either this, or calling her parents to come get her, and that wasn't an option she wanted to entertain right now.

Pacifica knocked and instantly regretted it the moment she heard footsteps behind the door.

What was she doing? What were they going to think of her coming all this way for no reason? She didn't even know what she was doing here. What was she going to say to them?

The door opened to reveal a brown haired behatted boy in a tacky vest and shorts that had never once been in style.

"Pacifica?" He asked in confusion, opening the door wider in shock.

Well, at least he didn't close it in her face while declaring that she was the worst again.

When she didn't speak, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Pacifica's eyes fell on the scuffed wooden deck beneath her feet. Maybe she should just make something up and leave? He had no reason to care about her current problem, after all. The ones that usually "cared" about her problems were her high class friends, but then again, she always paid them to agree with her.

Before she could think about what to say, Dipper spoke again, "Is something wrong? Did the ghost come back?" He sounded worried.

Pacifica blinked and looked up at him; his wide-eyed and concerned expression surprised her.

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that." She took a breath. "It's just…" she hesitated one last time, but the need to tell someone superseded her embarrassment, "I had a fight with my parents."

If possible, Dipper's eyes grew even wider.

"I've… I've never fought with them before, and I've only disobeyed them once at the party. I- I didn't know what else to do so I just left."

Pacifica bit her lip. She sounded pathetic, didn't she?

"You walked all the way here by yourself?" Dipper asked, and Pacifica cringed. "Why did you come here?"

Pacifica didn't know why that question hurt so much. She had just been asking herself the same question, but somehow, to hear him say it hurt so much worse. She didn't know why she expected any different.

Mortified, and more lost then she had ever felt before, Pacifica turned away to leave. She was fighting the tears in her eyes but she refused to let them fall, both to save her pride and her make-up.

"Ugh! Never mind! I don' know what I was thinking!" Pacifica huffed, but before she could walk away, someone grabbed her arm.

"Wait!" Dipper called, pulling her back.

Pacifica turned to face him in surprise. He seemed just as stunned by his actions as she was.

"I just meant…" Dipper continued uncomfortably, "Why did you come here instead of going to your friends houses? They live closer to you, don't they?"

Pacifica shrugged and pulled her arm away. "I pay them to be my friends, it's not like they actually care about me, and besides, if my parents called their house looking for me they would rat me out in a second."

Dipper blinked. "You pay them…"

Pacifica scowled. "It's not like I expect you to understand!"

"Dipper? Who's at the door?" A cheery voice from inside the house called to them.

In a flash, Mabel was beside her brother and Pacifica cringed again. Great, more people to see her in this pathetic state.

"Oh my gosh, Pacifica! What's wrong?" Mabel gushed.

"Nothing," she snapped defensively. "I don't even know why I'm here."

Mabel and her brother glanced at each other.

"Code 12?" Mabel asked.

Dipper sighed, hesitated for just a moment as he glanced at Pacifica, and gave a slow nod in agreement. "Code 12."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Pacifica asked. "What's code-"

But before Pacifica could finish her sentence, Mabel grabbed her arm, and pulled her inside.

The rooms inside were a blur as Mabel swiftly pulled her through the shack.

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel called out. "Put on the hot chocolate! We have a code 12!"

As Mabel swept her up the stairs, Pacifica could hear the twins' great uncle yelling back. "Code 12? Again? Didn't we just have one of those when that Arnando friend of yours left or something?"

"It was Mermando! And yes we did, but this is different!" Mabel shouted back.

Mabel opened the door of the attic room and pulled Pacifica inside. Pacifica was too stunned by this development, and the shouting about codes and people named Mermando, to process much of anything.

"What is happening?" she asked as Mabel sat her on the girl's bed. Mabel's bed was rickety and the mattress springs creaked when she sat upon them. The pink comforter underneath Pacifica smelt of hot glue and something sickly sweet, like Mabel had been hiding candy under the comforter. The wall next to her bed was covered in posters of boybands and a picture of those two girls she had seen Mabel associate with.

Pacifica looked across the attic room at what seemed to be her brother's side. His bed was littered with papers, open books and old laundry. It took a moment for Pacifica to get her head around that fact that the twins actually shard a room with each other. Pacifica couldn't imagine sharing a room with anyone, especially not one this… small.

"Don't worry, Pacifica! I have the perfect thing for this occasion," Mabel assured her.

Pacifica looked at Dipper who had followed them uncomfortably, and who was now standing next to the door.

"What is going on?" Pacifica addressed Dipper this time; hoping to get some answers from the more reasonable twin.

"It will be easier if you just go along with it," he said cryptically.

Pacifica raised an eyebrow.

"Here we are!" Mabel exclaimed as she brought forth a very furry looking sweater that was, to Pacifica's surprise, a nice, royal blue. There was a picture of a happy cloud on the front, which made the whole thing look tacky.

Mabel held the sweater up to Pacifica's face. "It's the sad sweater. It's made out of the softest material I could find, and it's really baggy and comfortable. You're supposed to wear it whenever you feel sad. It helps, I promise."

"You… want me to wear that thing?" Pacifica asked, unable, and unwilling, to hide her disgust. "After other people have worn it?"

"It will make you feel better," Mabel promised, her smile never breaking. "That's why you came over here, right?"

"I…" Pacifica hesitated, "I don't know why I came over here, actually," she admitted softly.

Mabel held up the sweater again. "It's 100 percent guaranteed to work. Mabel stitched and Mabel approved!"

Pacifica glanced at Dipper and he raised an expectant eyebrow at her.

Pacifica looked back at the sweater. She had a feeling Mabel wouldn't leave her alone until she agreed to this. With a sigh, Pacifica rolled her eyes and gave in.

"Oh fine, but only because it's a great color and I'm still cold from the rain." She snatched the sweater from Mabel's hands and pulled it over her head.

The girl beamed at her as Pacifica freed her blonde hair out from underneath the sweater. The first thing Pacifica noticed was how soft the sweater was. Pacifica's clothes were made out of fabric from all over the world, but she had never felt a fabric like this. It was most likely very cheap, but Pacifica almost didn't care. The sweater was warm and soft, and she hated to admit it, but it did sort of make her feel a little better.

Mabel squealed in delight. "Okay, the next step in code 12 is-"

"Hold on," Pacifica stopped the girl before she could go any further. "First off, what's code 12?"

"It's something we do when we're sad," Mabel said while gesturing to herself and her brother. "When something bad happens that makes us sad we call a code 12 and there is a list of stuff we do to make ourselves feel better."

"So, like, are there other codes then?" Pacifica asked, still bewildered by the twin's strangeness. "Like code 11?"

Mabel nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, but code 11 doesn't apply to this situation." With a playful glint in her eyes, Mabel turned to her brother. "What do you think Dipping Sauce? If code 12 isn't enough do you think code 5 would work right now?"

Interestingly enough, Pacifica watched as Dipper's face turned the brightest shade of red she had ever seen on a person's skin. She had a nail polish that color and she never thought a person's skin could match it so perfectly.

"Mabel," Dipper hissed. "I thought we agreed to never bring up code 5 again?"

Mabel just giggled. "Oh, I forgot, you need a lamb suit for that one."

"MABEL!"

Pacific felt herself grin. Oh, she really hoped one day she would get to find out what code 5 was.

Mabel turned back to her eagerly. "The next part of code 12 is the soundtrack."

"Soundtrack?" Pacifica repeated, confused.

"Yep! I have a whole lot of them for a bunch of occasions!" Mabel rummaged through her drawer until she pulled out a bag designed to hold her collection of CDs. "Let's see… I have the standard boyfriend break up mix, the I-don't-need-no-man-especially-if-they're-creepy-fake-psychic-twerps mix, the I-know-you-must-return-to-the-ocean-but-I'll-never-forget-you mix, the unrequited-crush-on-someone-way-older-than-me mix."

"Ugg, Mabel, why do you still have that?" Dipper complained, blushing slightly.

"Oh, and I can't forget my first one of the summer. The I-can't-believe-he-was-gnomes mix. So…" Mabel turned to Pacifica. "Does one fit your situation?"

Pacifica squinted suspiciously at the girl. If it were anyone else, Pacifica would swear the girl was mocking her with those strange titles and the tacky sweater. However, Mabel seemed completely serious and eager to help. Even if the way she was going about it was strange.

"Umm, no," Pacifica said at last, crossing her arms over her chest. "Unless you have a I-fought-with-my-parents-when-they-brushed-off-horrible-stuff- our-family-has-done-in-the-past mix."

Mabel shook her head. "No… I don't have anything like that, but that's okay! We can just make one for you!"

"You're serious?" Pacifica asked, and then looked to Dipper. "She's serious?"

Dipper laughed lightly. "Oh yeah, she's definitely serious. And now that she's gotten started she's not going to stop."

Pacifica glanced down at Mabel who was sitting cross-legged on the floor flipping through her CD collection with a look of concentration of her face.

"So, umm," Dipper began uncertainly. "You said you fought with your parents about your family's past? What happened exactly? It must have been a pretty big fight for you to leave."

Pacifica shrugged and pulled on the fabric of the sweater. It actually was pretty cozy, and playing with the extra loose fabric served as a brief distraction.

"They told me I had to go to this celebration honoring our family. If you haven't notice, there are quite a lot of those, mostly because my parents make sure they exist. My family likes to remind ourselves, and everyone else, of how great we are. I told them I didn't want to go to a party like that because I'm not proud of our family. I told them our family has done horrible things and we should be doing something to fix that, not sweep it under the rug like we always have." Pacifica sighed. "They just told me I was being ridiculous and unreasonable. I tried to explain, but they wouldn't listen."

Mabel had now paused in her task of finding the perfect songs and was staring up at her, listening intently.

"Then… there was a lot of yelling," Pacifica continued. "Mostly from me, I guess. Then I grabbed that stupid bell and threw it out the window once and for all!"

"Bell?" Dipper asked. "What bell? The one your parents had-"

"It doesn't matter," Pacifica cut him off. "That's basically the end of the story. I ran out of the mansion and tried to get as far away as I could before they could find me. I just… couldn't spend any more time in that mansion right now. I was walking through town and just when it was about to start pouring, I saw your hovel- er, house," she corrected.

"Wow… your parents sound like they don't listen to you at all," Mabel commented.

Pacifica brushed some hair away from her face. "You don't know the half of it."

"Kids!" yelled the twin's great uncle from downstairs. "The hot chocolate is ready!"

"Oh, yes! Be right back!" Mabel shouted cheerfully as she abandoned the collection of CDs and rushed out of the room. Pacifica could hear the girl's feet hitting each stair on her way down.

There was a heavy silence in the room as Pacifica glanced at Dipper. The male twin seemed to be avoiding her eyes as he tried to come up with something to say.

"So what happens now?" Dipper finally asked.

Pacifica shrugged and looked down at her knees. "I don't know. My parents probably have all the servants out looking for me. I'm not going to be able to avoid them for long. Plus, there is probably a reward out for my location."

"You're saying… if we turn you in there is a big reward in it for us?" Dipper asked thoughtfully.

Pacifica's head snapped up, her heart giving a painful lurch, only to see Dipper smirking teasingly at her.

Pacifica wanted to smack him for scaring her, but found herself resisting the urge to giggle instead. "Very funny," she said with a sly smile. "Tell you what; I've got a hundred bucks here if you'll let me in on what code 5 is and why it made you turn that ridiculous shade of red."

Dipper blushed once again, causing her to laugh.

"Not for all the money in the world." He folded his arms across his chest. "I am NEVER doing that again."

The two children stared at each other for a long moment, Dipper's stubborn face beginning to crack as Pacifica raised an eyebrow at him. In the next moment, both kids found the silence to be too much, as they both broke out into a set of giggles.

As their laughter subsided, Pacifica found her mind wondering back to her parents. Her chest seemed to grow heavy every time she thought of them.

"Nothing is ever going to change, is it?" she asked solemnly. "They're never going to listen to me no matter what I do."

"Maybe your parents won't ever change," Dipper conceded with a sigh. "But you're not like them and that's what matters. You're… you're really brave for standing up to them."

Pacifica blinked in surprise. "You think so, Dipper?" she asked, her voice strangely small.

"Of course!" Dipper insisted. "Pacifica, you went up against a ghost when you could have just run away. You could have just let me and my sister stay wooden statues forever, but you didn't."

Pacific bit her lip. "And yet here I am running away from a little fight with my parents. I don't feel brave. If I was, I wouldn't care what they said… I wouldn't care about what anyone said about me, but I do."

"You were really horrible to us, Pacifica," Dipper said suddenly, and Pacifica winced. She had a feeling this would be brought up sooner or later. "You were horrible to me, to our family…" Dipper's tone took on a sharp edge as he clenched his hands, "especially to Mabel." Dipper let out a sigh. "That wasn't okay, and I'm still really annoyed about that, but I don't believe that's really who you are. It's like the whole Northwest family is taught to bring others down so they can look good. Your whole family name is based off of that, after all, but I know that's not who you want to be. At least, I hope it's not."

Pacifica played with her hair self-consciously. "You know…" Pacifica began thoughtfully. "It's sad, but I didn't even realize what I was doing at first. I really did think I was better than everyone else, so all those insults I made to make people feel bad about themselves… I just thought I was putting people in their place." Pacifica couldn't meet Dippers eyes as she said this. "But then when you made me see what a fraud my family really was I started to doubt myself and my parents. Then, during the party when I found that room, I realized that the people that really deserve to be put in their place is my family." Pacific risked a glance up at Dipper. "After everything I've done you probably can't even stand me."

"That's not true!" Dipper assured her quickly. "I mean, it used to be true and I definitely thought you were the worst, but-"

Suddenly, the door opened and Mabel entered carrying three mugs of hot chocolate in the crook of her arm.

"Here we go!" Mabel announced. "The best hot chocolate on the planet! Soos's abuelita's secret recipe!"

She handed a mug to Pacifica and then another one to her brother. Mabel sat next to her on the bed and Pacifica took a sip from the hot drink. It was sweet, much sweeter than any hot chocolate she had ever had before. Her parents only let her drink sugar free hot chocolate imported from some foreign country. It was good, but nothing like this. Her parents would always say sugar was bad for her teeth and that Northwest million dollar smile.

There were always ways around her parent's rules, of course. Sergei never told on her when she drank soda against her parent's strict dietary rules, but then again, he was probably worried that Pacifica would get her parents to fire him if he did.

"This is good," Pacifica said without thinking, and Mabel beamed.

"It's hard to be sad when you stuff your face with chocolate!" Mabel said, nudging Pacifica with her elbow.

Pacifica glanced uncomfortably at the girl. She really couldn't understand why Mabel was being so nice to her; why both the twins were being so nice to her. As far as Pacifica could tell, they had nothing to gain from it.

Trying to get her mind off the situation, Pacifica looked around the twins' cluttered room. Her eyes fell on a familiar book on a shelf next to Dipper's bed.

She smiled slightly at the memory. The last two times she had seen the twins they had been involved with very absurd and almost impossible creatures. Pacifica may have dragged Dipper into the haunting with her, but he had been the one with the book and surprising expertise.

"My parents have been wondering why I refuse to go back to the mini golf course. I don't think it's a good idea to tell them about the tiny, angry, golf ball people," Pacifica said with an amused grin.

Mabel seemed to cringe at the memory. "Oh right, sorry about that," Mabel said in embarrassment. "If it wasn't for me being a cheater you would be able to go back there."

Pacifica just shrugged. "Hey, it's not like I haven't cheated on a competition between us before. You probably would have won the party crown if I hadn't bribed the audience." Mabel, however, was still staring at her with guilty eyes. "Besides," Pacifica added in a softer voice, "that night was more fun than I've had in a long time."

That last confession got Mabel to smile back and Pacifica felt a strange feeling of relief.

"How do you guys know about that weird stuff anyway?" Pacifica asked. "I mean, the ball people, the ghost... did you write that journal?" She glanced up at the journal on the shelf again before looking back at the twins.

She noticed Mabel glance sideways at her brother, and Dipper shifted uncomfortably.

"It's uh, hard to explain," Dipper began. He hesitated for a moment, as if he were debating whether or not to tell her. "I found that journal when we first arrived at Gravity Falls. I have no idea who wrote it and I've been searching for the author ever since. It talks about a lot of weird creatures in Gravity Falls, even weirder and more dangerous than the Lilliputtians and a category ten ghost."

Pacifica raised both her perfectly plucked eyebrows. "There are things more dangerous than that ghost in Gravity Falls? And you've seen them?"

Dipper nodded. "But don't worry about it. I've got it covered," Dipper said coolly, and Pacifica was almost impressed, but then Dipper went to take a casual drink of his hot chocolate. He was so intent on looking nonchalant that he actually spilled his drink down his shirt.

"Shoot!" he gasped as he quickly tried to clean up the liquid.

Pacifica burst out laughing (she really couldn't help it, the look on his face was priceless) and the female twin next to her was practically in tears.

"Oh, Dip, I can't take you anywhere!" Mabel said between her laugher.

"Mabel, we're at home!" Dipper said with his face red as he continued to clean off his shirt. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"You don't make any sense!" Mabel shot back.

Finally, Dipper managed to clean up his shirt, casting his sister annoyed glances as she continue to snicker at his misfortune.

"Anyway," Dipper said as he sat on his bed, "don't worry about the supernatural, we know how to handle that stuff."

"You going to keep being cryptic, or are you going to explain what you mean?" Pacifica asked. There was a part of her that didn't want to know. A part of her that thought this stuff was way too weird and she should stay out of it. However, there was another side of her that remembers fighting off the golf ball people and helping Dipper catch the ghost that found this stuff actually pretty exciting…

Dipper opened his mouth when:

"Dipper!" The twin's great uncle shouted up to them. "How many times have I told you not to leave chimera hair in the sink? You know what that does to the plumbing! And is that a vampire fang? How did you even get that?"

"I thought you cleaned that up?" Mabel asked him.

"Well, I was going to but then Ghost Harassers was on and I kinda got distracted," Dipper admitted sheepishly as he got to his feet. "I'll be right back."

Dipper ran out the door and down the stairs.

Curiously, Pacifica turned to Mabel, hoping she could explain the situation.

"What was he doing with that stuff?" Pacifica asked.

Mabel shrugged. "Something about burning chimera hair to keep away evil fairies… or something like that. Ever since he walked through a fairy grove a few days ago they've been pulling pranks on him like stealing his clothes when he is in the shower and tying his shoe laces together. It's been hilarious."

Pacifica gave the girl a suspicious look. "Are you… messing with me?" she asked.

Mabel just laughed lightly. "Don't be silly. Why would I do that?"

"Maybe because you have every right to hate me?" Pacifica reminded her.

Mabel just laughed again. "I don't hate you. Now, what songs do you want on your my-parents-are-dumb mix? How about She's No Longer Your Doll by Sev'ral Timez?"

Pacifica froze. "I… I love that song," she admitted. "We had Sev'ral Timez preform in my house for my twelfth birthday."

She expected Mabel to gawk at her. To scream and gush about how lucky she was. She expected Mabel to act like every other boy-crazed Sev'ral Timez fan did when Pacifica told them about her party.

However, Mabel just grinned at her. "That's cool! I had them stay at my house for a few days when we freed them from their evil manager."

Pacifica gaped at her. "I… wait- what?"

Mabel was messing with her. She had to be messing with her.

"Yeah, me and my friends found out that the Sev'ral Timez boys were actually being cloned to be the perfect boyband. Crazy, huh? So we rescued them and they stayed in the shack for a while, before I had to let them go free."

Pacifica placed a hand on her hip. "You seriously expect me to believe that they're clones? And that they stayed in this shack?"

Mabel shook her head in amusement. "Oh Pacifica, Pacifica, Pacifica. You believe in ghosts and tiny golf people, but you have a hard time with clones?" Mabel stood up, walked over to her drawers, and began rummaging through them once again. "Here we go!" she said as she pulled out a bright pink and covered in sticker's photo album and handed it to Pacifica.

Pacifica flipped through the pages of Mabel's family, her friends, her pig, and disturbing picture of little gnome-looking people. Eventually, Pacifica reached a collection of photos with blond hair and blue eyed guys posing with an extremely giddy Mabel.

Pacifica felt her mouth fall open.

"See, I'm not messing with you," Mabel assured her. "And neither is Dipper. Actually, I'm surprised he told you all that stuff about the journal. He must trust you a little, which is a big thing for him."

Pacifica closed the scrap book and looked up at the girl. "Really?"

Mabel grinned. "Really. Now, what other songs do you want?"

Pacifica smiled back timidly, glancing at Mabel's collection of CDs. "How about Girl Behind the Make-up?"

Mabel squealed. "I love that song!"

"Me too," Pacifica agreed, grinning.

Footsteps sounded behind the door and Dipper entered again, looking a little worn down.

Dipper rubbed his tired eyes as he leaned his back against the now closed door. "I think I'm regretting Grunkle Stan being more honest with us about the supernatural stuff. He just lectured me on vampire safety. I obviously know how to handle vampires! Don't invite them in and always have something made out of wood on hand." Dipper looked at Mabel. "When was the last time he lectured you on anything?"

Mabel placed her fingers on her chin. "Hmm, I think it was when I tried to add my 'artistic interpretation' to the counterfeit money he told us to make."

Dipper sighed. "Anyway. What are you two up to?"

Pacifica grinned and held up the back of Mabel's scrapbook. "Oh, nothing much. Mabel was just showing me your baby pictures."

Dipper's mouth fell open. "She what?"

"You were just so cute as a baby, Dip Dip," Mabel gushed. "I couldn't resist!"

"I-what- Mabel- why would you-" he floundered helplessly, his face completely red.

Mabel and Pacifica glanced at each other and then burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it. I saw the opportunity and I went for it! You're just too easy, Dipper," Pacifica said while clutching her stomach.

"I don't even have any embarrassing baby pictures of you here Dipper," Mabel added. "But she's right, you're just too easy."

Mabel and Pacifica high fived each other while Dipper scowled.

"I hate both of you," he said while crossing his arms over his chest.

After a moment, the two girl's laughter subsided.

"You two good?" Dipper asked. "Any more jibes you want to get in for the road?"

"No, no, we're good," Mabel assured him with a snicker.

Dipper rolled his eyes.

Pacifica stood up, feeling better then when she arrived and slightly braver than usual. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but she couldn't put it off for any longer. Besides, the rain had finally stopped and who knows when it would start up again. "Well, it's getting late. I should probably get home."

Mabel's smile fell from her lips as she stared up at her. "Huh? Why?"

Pacifica glanced at Dipper, but he also looked confused.

"Because it's almost eleven and you guys probably need to get to sleep, right?" Pacifica said. "And I can't spend the whole night wandering the streets on my own, so I have to go home."

"Do you want to go home?" Dipper asked.

Pacifica frowned. "Of course not! But what else can I do?"

Mabel and Dipper glanced at each other (again). It made her nervous every time they did that. It was like they were communicating in secret with their weird twin language.

"Well, why don't you just stay here?" Mabel asked.

Pacifica stared at the girl, and for a moment, she couldn't comprehend what she meant. Then, Mabel jumped off the bed and grasped Pacifica's hands in her own. "We can have a sleep over!" Mabel gushed loudly. "I can lend you some pajamas and you can share my bed! It's going to be so much fun!"

Pacifica pulled her hands from the girl and stepped away. "You mean, wear more used clothes and sleep in non-Egyptian cotton bedding?" Pacifica made a face. "No offence, but that sounds just awful."

Mabel shrugged. "Well, I guess you could just go home and face your parents…" she said slowly.

Pacifica's stomach lurched. Somehow, that seemed even worse.

"But I guess it's for the best," Mabel continued. "I mean, your parents would probably be pretty pissed if they learned you were squatting in some riffraff's household for the night, right? I mean, they would absolutely hate it if they learned you were wearing someone else's clothes and sharing a bed."

Mabel's smile was innocent, but her eyes sparkled mischievously.

Pacifica grinned back evilly, finally understanding. "Okay, I see your point… I never realized how tempting pissing my parents off would be. If nothing else, I think they should know their daughter isn't always going to be the perfect girl they want. You guys really don't care if I stay here?"

Mabel shook her head, smiling widely. "Of course not! What are friends for?"

Friends? Pacifica wouldn't go that far.

I mean, they hardly knew each other, and just a few weeks ago she would have classified them as enemies.

But still, Mabel and Dipper were going out of their way to help her, and none of Pacifica's other "friends" had ever done that.

In the bathroom, Pacifica washed off her make-up and cringed as she pulled on a pair of Mabel's pajamas. They were clean, but obviously well worn.

Before she stepped out of the bathroom, Pacifica stared at herself in the mirror one last time. She didn't look anything like her usual self. Her hair was unkempt and her make-up was completely scrubbed away. Never in a million years would she have thought that she would be presenting this Pacifica to anyone. She looked less than perfect, and all her life she had been told that anything less than perfection was not okay.

Pacifica sighed. Well, it was too late to change her mind now.

Pacifica approached the attic door and paused. She could hear strange noises behind it along with hushed whispering.

When she opened the door, the first thing she noticed was the room looked even more cluttered than before. Dipper and Mabel stopped their hushed speech and turned to face her, each with a golf club in their hands.

"Umm, what's going on here?" Pacifica asked.

Mabel held her golf club close to her as she rocked back and forth on her heels.

"Well," Mabel began, "I was still feeling bad about cheating on the golf thing, so I wanted to make up for it." Mabel spread her arms wide. "Welcome to The Mystery Twins Attic Stuff Golf!"

Pacifica raised an eyebrow at them. "The Mystery Twins? That's what you call yourselves?"

Mabel walked forward and held out her golf club towards her.

"Do you want to play with us?" Mabel asked. "I warn you though, it's not like regular mini golf. "Waddles keeps the score." She glanced at the pig that had somehow entered the room in the time Pacifica left to change into pajamas and was now sitting on Mabel's bed. "And if you hit anyone in the eyes with the ball you automatically minus three points from your score."

With a smirk, Pacifica took the club from Mabel. "Sounds interesting. And with those rules, Dipper might actually have a chance against us."

"Hey!" Dipper protested indignantly.

"I wouldn't go that far," Mabel said with a laugh, causing Dipper's frown to deepen.

"Any particular reason why you two are letting me in on your weird twin ritual of mini golf in the attic?" Pacifica asked. "Is this part of code 12?"

Mabel shook her head, still smiling brightly. "No, this is just because we want to."

Pacifica hesitated and bit her bottom lip. "Listen… umm, Mabel, about that thing you said about us, you know, being friends?"

At this question, Mabel gave Pacifica her full attention. "Yeah?"

"Don't you think that's a little premature?" Pacifica asked awkwardly. "I mean, just a few weeks ago before the mini golf thing I couldn't stand you, and I know you guys couldn't stand me. It seems kinda strange that you suddenly want to hang out with me."

"Fine," Dipper interrupted in annoyance. "Have it your way. We're bitter enemies. We hate each other and we'll never settle our differences." He placed a hand on his hips, a smirk forming on his face. "Now would you just putt already? You're up first."

Pacifica found herself smirking as she gripped the golf club tighter. "Alright fine, but you better watch your eyes, journal boy, because I think I'm going to skip the hole in one and aim straight for your head!"

"Oh yeah? Bring it on," Dipper shot back.

The next day, Pacifica went back home, but it was far from the last time Pacifica had to face her parents after a fight. In fact, the fights between Pacifica and her parents became more and more frequent, as did the amount of unplanned sleep overs the twins seemed to have.

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