The creaking sound of the bus' axles heralded it pulling in to the decrepit bus stop. It stopped only long enough to disgorge two of its scant passengers before it chugged off to fairer fields, leaving the two with only a few bags between them. Coughing slightly as the diesel engine left a cloud of smoke as a rude parting gift, they slowly regard the surrounding, familiar area, coming to rest on each other once again.

"Mabel?" Breathes the taller of the two, hoisting his bag higher up his shoulders.

With a palpable tension in her voice, some sort of barely restrained excitement, she answers, "Yeah, Bro?"

His smile lights up like the sun. "We're home."

They laugh, delight rippling through them at the familiar strangeness of Gravity Falls, the best kept secret of the Pacific Northwest. They both turn to the sounds of excited people coming from the down the road, coalescing into the forms of their friends, well kept from when they first came to this town, six years ago.

"MABEL! DIPPER! PINES!" Candy and Grenda thundered at them, arms askew and eyes locked upon the Pine Twins, closing the distance only to wrap the two of them in fierce, almost bone breaking hugs, their cries turning to almost apoplectic jabbering in their joy.

Laughing, Dipper extracted himself from Candy Chiu, grinning as she gave him a final, shy kiss on the cheek before she launched herself like a rocket at the still Grenda-engulfed Mabel, all three girls becoming a tangled mass of flailing limbs and shrill, giggling voices as they did their best to catch up on the two years they had been away from one another.

Chuckling, he watched the three best friends fondly. Though they were all on the cusp of actual adulthood at nineteen years old, he still saw the remnants of the twelve year old girls that had met and bonded years ago. Grenda was even taller than him now, standing a few inches above his lanky six feet, all broad shoulders and deep voice, dressed in a simple sundress and curly hair. Candy was dwarfed by her, a petite body and long, shining black hair, leading up to a cute, happy looking face, smile threatening to burst off her cheeks.

Mabel Pines shouted and laughed with her friends, joy written on her face, her pleated braids whipping around as she practically danced on the dirty street.

"Enjoying yourself, Dork?" Startled from his reverie, the Pines boy turned and saw the approaching vision that was Pacifica Northwest, a slight smile tugging at her plump lips. Stopping just a foot from him, she crossed her arms under her chest, looking directly into the boys eyes, a mixture of happiness and mischief dancing in her own.

"Oh, you know," he smirked at her, "just another day in the exciting life of Dipper Pines, Man of Mystery." He put his hand on his hip, the other still grasping his bag. He eyed the former heiress slyly, taking all of his friend in.

Pacifica Northwest looked good. More than that, she knew she did. Both toned and busty, thanks to good genetics and a generous workout schedule, she could have easily worked as a model, her long hair having a more natural sheen to it than when they were children. Tight clothes accentuated her curves, and her makeup highlighted the soft curvature of her pretty face. Her smile widened, just a little. "It's been a while, Pines," she said. I missed you, were the words she didn't speak, and he didn't need to hear them to understand the subtext.

"It has, Northwest," he replied, quickly moving to engulf her in a hug, head burying itself in the crook of her neck. She looked surprised for a moment, a light blush dusting her cheeks, before she returned the warm embrace, hands clutching at his back. Not that she would let him see that, of course.

They parted from the hug, smiling slightly, neither caring to mention that the touching of skin left them feeling like electricity was dancing up their arms in a raucous joy. Before she could restart the conversation, a Mabel sized projectile rocked her, feet unbalancing for a moment as she readjusted.

"Paz! Paz! You came, you showed, you love me! Ahahaha, I knew it! You couldn't resist the ol' Pines charm!" Mable took her friend by the arms, manually guiding her into the rapidly reforming group hug of girls that had coalesced around her. Pacifica, for her part, looked genuinely happy to be back in the Twins presence, if not Candy and Grenda as well.

Laughing, Dipper picked up Mabel's discarded pack where she had dropped it in her haste to hug her friends. He followed as the girls started ambling up the familiar paths towards the place he considered his home.

The Mystery Shack.

"Welcome home, Dipper," he breathed to himself, smiling.

BREAK

Pacifica Northwest was rich.

Now, to some, that would be the culmination of their dreams- she was part of a family that was worth millions, was strikingly beautiful, smart, and had more opportunities at her fingertips than many could dream. It should have been enough.

In truth, for her, it was. She was, if not happy with her lot in life, content.

It was not, however, enough for her father.

Preston Northwest was a man possessed of a singular vision; namely, to reassert the prestige of the Northwest name, regain the power that came with literally owning a good portion of Washington, Oregon, and California. After the Weirdmaggedon, the reality splintering almost-apocalypse that consumed her town in eldritch horror from another dimension, the Northwest family fell like the proverbial angel from heaven. She wasn't sure how much they lost- millions, certainly, hundreds of millions, maybe even billions. Their economic empire was turned into warring fiefdoms almost overnight, leaving them with only their immediate holdings in Gravity Falls- a piece of irony that she didn't fail to appreciate, when she was alone.

And Pacifica was often alone.

She found herself, in these past few years, in a strange sort of limbo, no longer the girl who could buy her way out of her problems- most of her families remaining cash going into funding her father's vainglorious dreams of regaining his lost splendor. So she was left relying on her ill-used social graces to try to find companionship among those her family demeaned as "Commoners", nevermind that they barely ranked above them now.

And, surprising even herself, she liked it. She enjoyed being able to explore who she was as a person, without the fetters of wealth and society. She loved meeting strange new people, exploring a world she had only ever seen through the bars of her gilded cage.

Or, she guessed, limousine windows, but she wasn't going to keep track of that- she hadn't seen the inside of a limo in six years.

Walking towards the Mystery Shack alongside the Pines and company, she idly followed the rapidfire conversation between Mabel and her friends. She never really bridged the gap between herself and Candy and Grenda, nevermind that she was only ever friendly with them- too much bad blood, she suspected, from the years of bullying she gave them. Not that she blamed them, no, but she supposed that they would all grin and bear it for Mabel's sake.

Making sure to face front, she eyed Dipper sidelong as they walked along, the both of them occasionally adding to the conversation when prompted- him, admiring the familiar scenery, and her admiring the boy who had, against all odds and reason, embedded himself deeply into her heart, despite her best efforts to dislodge him thereof.

She knew, logically, that it would never work. She knew that, most likely, she would marry some rich heir to appease her father's ambitions. Logically, she would never be more than a good friend to the brown haired boy who fought monsters and solved ancient mysteries.

Logic and the heart, it seemed, did not find common cause.

It was her heart, not logic, that caused her to quiver when she thought of the Pines boy. It was her heart that made her daydream of wedding bells and monster hunts alone with him in the woods. And it was her goddamn heart that made her hands shake, right this moment, gazing at this wonderful, stupid, beautiful boy.

She bet he didn't even notice, the oblivious dork. She smiled, shaking her head.

She might, she mused, be in love with him.

Break

Dipper walked almost reverently into the Mystery Shack, breathing in the musty air that reeked of greed and old men. He loved this place, down to the creaking floorboards and the thrown together "Mysteries" that peopled the place. The girls followed him in, still chatting animatedly to each other. He idly drummed his fingers on his vest, where he had, during his summers here, kept the Six Fingered journal within easy reach.

"Dudes! You're back!" Faster than thought, he was swept up in yet another bone crunching hug, this time courtesy of Mister Mystery himself, Soos. "Oh, I've missed you guys! It's been way too long!"

Half laughing, half choking, Dipper patted the large man on the back as best he could, seeing as he couldn't hug him in return with the man engulfing him. "We missed you too, buddy. But we're back, man! Back for the summer, maybe longer, you know?"

There was a gasp from behind him. "Dipper! That was supposed to be a surprise!" Mabel jumped up on Soos' back, giving him a combination hug/noogie, making the big man chuckle. "We were gonna tell you guys later, with everyone here, but since someone", she playfully glared at Dipper, "spilled the beans, I guess you guys should know. We convinced our folks, and we're gonna spend our days here, until at least Christmas break, before we go to college! Makes up for us not being here last summer, huh?"

She was rapidly engulfed in more vivacious hugs from Grenda and Candy, and their screaming redoubled, echoing throughout the Shack in a cacophonous storm. Mabel, for her part, joined them, adding her shrill pitch that left Dippers ears ringing. Amidst agreements that they needed an immediate sleepover to catch up on old times, they bid Soos, Pacifica and Dipper farewell, leaving through the door and leaving a, thankful, silence.

With a sigh of relief, gingerly rubbing his ear to ease some of the strain brought on by the abuse the Mabel Trio has caused, Dipper turned to Pacifica again. "So, Pacifica," he started. "How-"

He was interrupted once again, this time by the poor, abused front door slamming open.

Smiling, looking like an absolute fucking queen, strode in Wendy Corduroy.

BREAK

Pacifica, she could honestly say, hated the ginger haired wildflower that was Wendy. She was tall, impressively athletic, strikingly beautiful in a way that most girls could only ever dream of, and, most infuriatingly, had Dipper Pines eating out of the palm of her hands effortlessly.

Wendy had a life free from overbearing parents, the looming threat of arranged marriage, and she was genuinely a nice person. Honestly, she was the best thing to come out of Gravity Falls, and Pacifica Northwest couldn't stand the damned girl one bit.

She knew it was petty of her, and she knew that Wendy didn't deserve her ire one bit, seeing as the girl had only ever been nice to her. But just as her heart wanted Dipper, it also hated the Corduroy. She resolved to, at least, be civil with the girl until she left again for college, for the Pines sake if nothing else.

"I heard from Mabel, you're staying here for, like, six months, man?" At his amazed nod, she grinned widely, gathering the young man in a tight hug. "That's awesome, dude! I just finished with college, so I'm here for awhile til I figure out what to do. We should totally hang out a bunch, yeah?"

Hearing the girls proclamation, Pacifica's heart sank, a dour look crossing her face before she quashed it. Not that Dipper would notice, seeing as he was still gazing starry eyed at the fucking ginger.

Wasn't he supposed to be over her? God, it was like they were twelve again. Pacifica moodily decided to grin and bear it, nevermind how much the girl hugging Dipper made her want to scream.

"Uh, s-sure. Yeah, t-totally," the boy stuttered at the 21 year old. It was strange- he was a good six inches taller than her now, but she still could make him feel like a preteen with a crush. Wendy gave the tiniest flutter of her eyelids- so small and fast that he thought he might have imagined it- and hugged him tighter.

Pacifica despised this girl. Wendy went on, "Sweet! We can totally catch up and stuff," and her voice grated on Pacifica's ears. "We can, like, hit our old spots and toss back a brew or something, ya know?" Pacifica felt a violent sort of twitch run down her spine, her face forming a frown of its own volition. Wendy looked the young man up and down, a small, salicious little grin tugging at her lips. Pacifica tried very hard not to throw something. "Geez, dude, you got huge! Like, all tall and muscular and junk. I should show you around to my friends out here, make them jealous, huh?" And the Corduroy girl laughed like a bell, and Dipper nervously chuckled with her, and something inside Pacifica Northwest snapped so hard that she heard the sound of it breaking in her ears, and the reverberations turned into the sound of her elevated, pounding heartbeat as Wendy reached up on her tip toes to deliver the smallest kiss to Dippers cheek as they broke the hug that seemed to have been going on forever.

Oh, it's on, bitch.

Plastering a demure smile on her face, Pacifica sidled up to Dippers side, capturing an arm and pulling him into the sort of hug where you want to make sure the person your touching feels everything. Startled, Dipper looked at the Northwest, a questioning look in his brown eyes. "Dipper," she purred, "we should catch up, too. Walk around town, or go have ourselves an adventure, hmm? Since it's been too long and all," she gave him her best doe-eyed look, years of etiquette and training aiding her.

"Of course, Pacifica! Yeah, no problem!" And he laughed his adorable, awkward laugh, and she happily giggled in response, reaching up to give him her own kiss, on the opposite one than where Wendy kissed him.

Victory. She smiled prettily at him before backing away, giving a sidelong glance at the now frowning redhead.

Take that, bitch, she thought to herself.

BREAK

Sighing, Dipper Pines eased the two bags onto the floor of his and Mabel's old room at the Mystery Shack, not bothering to unpack as he flopped bonelessly onto the musty bed where he had spent a decent portion of his life growing up. He groaned, throwing his arm over his eyes, almost melting into the mattress.

While he loved this town, it was also the source of more nightmares than he cared to recount. He couldn't put a number on the amount of nights that he awoke, screaming from some unknowable horror, visions of triangles and horrid abominations beating themselves against his eyes. Many times, he would awake to Mabel tearfully shushing him, rocking him back and forth and gently stroking his hair until he calmed down from the shuddering sobs that would rack his body. To be fair, though, he did the exact same things for her, when defeated demons would still dance through her nightmares.

He could only imagine that they would get worse, so near the source of the problem.

Tomorrow, he would explore the strange yet familiar world, filled with monsters and amazing things. But, today, today it was late, and, for whatever reason, he was bone tired.

Plus, Pacifica was acting weird, he mused. Well, weird for what I remember of her, he admitted, seeing as he and Mabel had to skip visiting last summer.

Last summer, when they found out that Stanford Pines had died somewhere off the coast of Argentina.

Bill Cipher ended up with his revenge, anyway, it seemed. The six fingered man was no more.

He idly wondered where his Grunkle Stan could be, in all the wide world, but knew it was hopeless; the old coot wanted to grieve, and to live his brothers dream, even if he couldn't be there to share in it. Dipper could respect that.

With a wry smile and another sigh, Dipper turned on his side, flicked off the lamp next to his bed, and went to sleep.