02
Pacifica 

Everyday from November 30th through the snowy days of December, Pacifica continued to save her tips from work as well as any money she received as early Christmas presents.

Pacifica also requested off for the two weeks she'd be in Reverse Falls, and began going through her days until she'd get to leave.

"You seem really happy, Paz."

Pacifica looked up from her notebook and looked up at her friend who sat across from her. Despite everything that had happened in Reverse Falls the previous summer, Rachel and Pacifica remained friends.

She'd explained to her that as soon as she and Janessa left the Mystery Shack, that she called for a ride home back to Piedmont and promptly ended the friendship with Janessa. It was nice to have her around again.

"I have great reason to be." Pacifica replied easily, still feeling relatively excited about the whole trip. "After all, during winter break I'm going to—"

"Yeah yeah yeah." Rachel rolled her eyes. "You're going to visit your man. Good for you."

"Right, forgot I told you." Pacifica sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry, I'm just really excited."

"I get it." Rachel shrugged, clearly not getting it as she stated. "You got that Disney romance life now. I'm happy for you."

Pacifica nodded. "Yeah, I suppose I do."

"It also helps that your man is the closest America's gonna get to an actual prince." Rachel grinned and poked Pacifica's arm with her pen.

She couldn't help but smile at that image.

"It also probably helps that he's part of the richest family in America." Rachel jabbed again.

"Third richest." Pacifica corrected stiffly.

"Oh, sorry, m'bad." She rolled her eyes. "Disappointed that you don't have the richest?"

"I, contrary to popular belief," Pacifica thought bitterly of his parents, "am not interested in Dipper for his money. My interests lie elsewhere."

"Ooh, I wonder what that could be." Rachel wiggled her eyebrows which earned her a smack across her arm. "Ow!"

"Chill with that!" Pacifica sighed, exasperated. She flipped her phone over, hoping to see a message from the 'American Prince' himself. None. Just a dumb notification which was a Siri suggestion about the weather.

Pacifica knew that he told her that he was going to be 'busy' but she still expected that he would be able to, at least, text her a nice 'good morning' or a random 'I love you'. But there had been nothing since November 30th. That was a little over two weeks ago.

After a week, Pacifica had decided to voice her concerns to Mabel, knowing that she would have some idea of what to do.

"I think you're being overdramatic." Mabel had said that one week ago. "It isn't like he's avoiding you on purpose, y'know? He mentioned being extraordinarily busy, right? And not only that, but he's not texting me either. See? It's not just you! Don't worry, you'll see him in a few weeks."

Pacifica had to agree with her, and after hearing that it wasn't just her he wasn't texting, she felt slightly better about it all. Regardless, it still sucked. Every time Pacifica did end up texting him, it wouldn't deliver. Was it absolutely necessary to shut his entire phone down? That was suspicious, right?

It made her think back to all the years before, when the two of them slowly went out of touch with one another, and she started to feel anxious. But there was no reason to feel that way now, was there?

Pacifica was still going to Reverse Falls during winter break, and he was going to be there and all. He was just a little busy right now.

Too busy for you?

She felt a worse anxious feeling gnaw at her stomach. Thinking about it as much as she was thinking about it wasn't a good idea. She tended to over-thought a lot of things, but who could blame her at this point?

"Everything okay, Paz?" Rachel asked as the two of them walked to Pacifica's car one afternoon. They had an awesome system of carpooling. Every week they would switch off. The other person bought the coffee. "I know long distance relationships are rough, but. . ." she trailed off, not knowing how to finish.

"Yeah, they sure are." Pacifica muttered, hopping into the driver's seat after tossing her backpack into the back. "I just, he's been extraordinarily busy as of late. I'm talking busier than normal i.e. no texts, no calls, nothing."

Rachel slammed her door shut too hard for Pacifica's preference, but it happens sometimes. "Are you serious? How long has this been going on?"

Pacifica turned the key and drove off away from the school. They had one day until winter break but she was already at her limit. With school, with Dipper, with everything. "A little over three weeks."

"Holy shit." Rachel gasped. "That long? What is going on?!"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Pacifica sighed. "It's like he just dropped off the face of the earth. Off the grid, gone, vanished into the night."

"Have you heard anything about him?" Rachel pestered as Pacifica pulled into her driveway. "Like anything on the news? Anything from his family about. . .um, an untimely passing?"

Pacifica shook the silly notion from her head, took it and tossed it right out the window. "No. If anything like that happened, it would most likely be on the worldwide news; Dipper would go out in style. And if not, Mabel hasn't said anything about it. She is just brushing it off."

Rachel chuckled. "Well, if his own family is brushing it off, maybe you should, too."

"You really think so?" She asked, feeling only slightly better than she had before.

"Well, yeah." Rachel shrugged. "Relax, take your mind off it. I'll see ya tomorrow. One more day."

"One more day." Pacifica agreed before she shut the door leaving her thoughts with me. Her body was weary, and her mind was heavy with thought.

Even on the drive back to her house, Pacifica still felt something was amiss. But maybe both Rachel and Mabel were right. It wasn't something to be worried about when she would be seeing him in a few days anyways.

There was a slight change of plans when it came to my trip as well. Mabel had debriefed me about the sudden change, explaining that she had some business to attend to the day after Christmas, so the 27th would be better.

Yet the dread continued to drag on her heart. That dread continued until the day after Christmas. Pacifica had spent the days with my family and friends, still feeling a disconnect.

And she would be lying if Pacifica said that she hadn't cried myself to sleep a few times in between. It just felt horrible. Purgatory-esque. That every time she found Dipper, he would slowly forget about her again. The dreams were the worst.

They didn't appear every single night, as described by most romance movies, but it was always when she had forgotten about them. A shallow reminder of what she had to lose, if she hadn't lost it already.

On the 26th, her belongings had already been packed for a full week, and Pacifica had just awoken from one of those horrid dreams to the sound of intense pounding on the door.

Pacifica checked the clock on her nightstand; seven. Who was crazy enough to be up at such an early hour? She rose, entirely too groggily, out of her bed and the warmth it brought and winced when she stepped onto the cold wooden floor.

The knocking only became more frantic as she stumbled down the hall to the main room of her house. "Hold on, hold on! I'm coming, calm down!" Pacifica groaned and unlocked the deadbolt before pulling the door with such an intense force that she thought it was going to rip off.

The sight before her was still hazy and it didn't seem real. Pacifica rubbed my eyes with the back of her hand to make sure what she was seeing was real.

"Mabel?" She queried, still believing she was dreaming. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Pacifica, I need your help." Mabel was out of breath, eyes wide and observant even at such an ungodly hour.

"W-what?" Pacifica groaned, still trying to get her mind to wake up and comprehend her words. How would she ever wake up and focus?

"Snap out of it, will you?!" She exclaimed. "It's about Dipper!"

Ah, that oughta do it.

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I'm going to be honest here, these past few weeks have been my worst experience with writer's block I've ever had. I write and when I'm moving to edit, nothing looks right. I'm sorry if chapters are infrequent and slightly stiff when it comes to dialogue.

-Kaori Miyazono <3