"Dipper you can't just quit," said Mable with a exasperated sigh.
"you love swim!" Dipper just looked away
"I know but I just don't anymore…It's not the same." Dipper begged Mable to stop with the interrogation silently. She just sighed again and left their room.
Dipper hated being home. Ever since that one summer with Grunkle Stan, everything had changed. His view on the entire world changed and he had no one to talk to about it except for Mable. Only, she pretended nothing had even happened. Like the journals he kept safely under his bed didn't exist. And since then she had become increasingly distant.
Mostly because her friends didn't like him hanging around.
He spent most nights wandering the internet (as a force of habit he guessed) or reading books. Eventually he would fall asleep but only after the initial stomach wrenching feeling of loneliness he felt despite being so close to his sister.
But overall he just felt guilty. And it was infuriating because he couldn't understand why. He was lonely because his sister rarely talked to him(unless she needed something ) and he felt guilty whenever he tried to keep her up to spend time with him. He felt guilty for quitting everything he grew tired of because he always felt like a failure. He was guilty because someone has it worse else where and here he is whining about his problems. He was felt completely and utterly useless and bratty because he felt guilty and sad. IT WAS AN ENDLESS CYCLE, and he had no idea how to make it stop.
All he wanted to do was make the world stop for a moment so he could breath. He only had to wait a week before he could return to GravityFalls. The only place in the world he didn't feel quite so alone.
(week later)
Dipper breathed in the fresh air, eager to get to work on whatever lame or dangerous task Stan sent him off to do.
Mable was already long gone, however, because she was out with her girlfriends catching up. So it was Dippers job to tidy up the rooms before going out.
Later in the day Dipper found himself rereading the third journal in the forest. Going over each and everyone of the notes and secrets both the author and he had created.
Everything was peaceful until Dipper felt an uncomfortable chill run down his back. Before he could think twice suddenly he found himself face to face with a very familiar geometric shape.
"Bill!" cried Dipper as he threw his body in the opposite direction of the demon.
"Ha! Gotcha Pine Tree! Where've you been huh?" asked Bill as he floated towards the now slightly injured Dipper.
"Get away from me Bill," cried Dipper "whatever it is that you want, you won't get so go away!" Bill looked hurt in a sort of mocking way
"Come on Pine Tree I was just asking a question." he smiled "What's wrong with a little smalltalk?"
He poked dipper with his cane before continuing.
"It's been awhile since I last saw this meat suit."
Dipper just scoffed and turned away.
"I'm not in the mood to deal with you Bill."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, now leave me alone to go bother some other poor soul"
Bill just floated alongside Dipper, a stupid ( he would say smile but considering he had no mouth it wouldn't be an accurate description) expression on his 'face'.
It went on like this for days but for some reason Dipper was the only one who could see the damn triangle, and when he tried to talk to Mable about it she just called him crazy and went to sleep or ditched him.
"Look kid just give me the time of day for a nice chitchat and I wont bug you as much."
Bill sat on the floor blocking Dippers view of the TV, and finally with a frustrated sigh Dipper looked at Bill with a stern expression and said,
"You know what fine, sure. Let's talk because we are just fantastic friends aren't we."
Dippers voice dripped with sarcasm, but the demon didn't seem to notice.
"Great! See ya in the forest at your earliest convenience!" and with that he disappeared.
Dipper just groaned in irritation. 'What the hell does he even want?' he wondered. Did he just want to irritate him into madness? Probably. Maybe he needs something, or lost something? Whatever it was he wasn't going to like it.
The next morning Dipper found himself being lead in no particular direction by the triangular demon. For a while it had just been silence until Dipper interrupted.
"Ahem," he coughed
"I thought you wanted to talk."
Bill gave Dipper a raised eyebrow which could have been taken for a smile and he began to speak.
"I want you to answer my question Pine Tree. What have you been up to?"
Dipper just looked at Bill skeptically.
" You can't be serious?" he paused waiting for a reply, when he got none he spoke again "Seriously Bill what do you want?"
" I already told you twice. I wont ask again, Pine Tree."
Dipper looked at Bill again stressing over what his motive could possibly be, but began telling Bill about school.
It seemed that over the next few days he had practically finished telling Bill about the play by play of his normal routine (It only took days because he would constantly go off topic about minuscule and unimportant details, but Bill didn't seem to care.) Occasionally Bill would chime in with a insult or joke but otherwise stayed quiet.
"So yeah, thats about it." Dipper finished but Bill looked at him oddly
"That's it? With that explanation you sound even more heartless then I am."
Dipper scoffed
"Yeah, because I am going to tell you, of all people(things?) my personal business?"
"Well, yeah, PineTree. Who else do you have?"
"My family. I don't need you."
"Is that so, PineTree?"
"Yeah."
"Well then let me ask you something."
"What?" Dipper was suddenly curious.
"Why did you come back everyday to talk to me even though I only asked for one day?
Dipper was at a loss. Then he mentally face palmed. How could he be so stupid? Was he honestly that desperate for attention? Oh no he had been quiet for too long. Bill noticed. Shit. In order to try and save himself from embarrassment he spoke up.
"Well why did you let me keep talking? You could have easily shut me up or disappeared. You must need something from me if you forced yourself to listen to me for that long."
Dipper waited for a response. Bill pretended to think about it for a while. Then it was like he couldn't help it anymore and just started to laugh
"Hahaha! Oh Pine Tree have I ever told you how clever you are!"
Dipper didn't like where this was headed.
"Well I guess as you humans say the 'gig is up'. I do actually need something Pine Tree, but I kinda needed you to get far enough away from the trash shack before I could attempt it!"
Dipper backed away from the floating demon realizing he was right. He had no idea where he was! He had stupidly followed the dream demon in some random part of the forest!
Before Dipper could even turn around, however, Bill had him by his neck up against a tree. Struggling for air Dipper flailed around trying to figure a way out of his predicament. In a flash of memory Dipper recalled a binding spell written in one of his history textbooks. It had been a small photo with a caption, but what caught his attention was that when translated using his journal it mentions a 'demon of dreams'. Hoping it would work he quickly scrapped his hand up against the tree causing him to bleed and recited the following
" Ex eo loco proieci Demon somniorum et ligabunt te in terram , locum istum sanguine!"*
Bills eye grew wide and before he could react Dipper grabbed hold of Bills arm, blood dripping and a bright light blinded him as Bill screamed.
Chapter two:
When Dipper awoke he found himself still in the forest.(obviously) Only it was dark now. The moon shown brightly on the dew covered grass. Dipper got up off the floor with a groan rubbing his neck where Bills small hand had once been and turned to find his bearings. To his horror he found he was not alone. A silhouette of someone leaned up against a tree not a few yards away startled him and he quickly hid. Who could possibly be out here at this hour wandering around in the dark (other than himself of coarse). Dipper decided that he needed to get back home as soon as possible if he wanted to live so he jumped up and went to start his sprint when..
BAM!
Dipper slammed face first into whoever it was earlier.
"Brat! I will kill you!"
To Dippers surprise he realized to voice belonged to none other than Bill Cipher.
"Bill!?"
Before he could ask what had happened a fist made contact with his face and he was knocked to the ground.
"How dare you confine me to this wretched meat suit!" Cried Bill
"You will pay!"
Dipper quickly scrambled to his feet and began to run. He had to find the stream that lead into the forest close to the Mystery Shack.
Bill was catching up. Grabbing things off the forrest floor, Dipper began to throw them at Bills face when ever he got the chance. He continued running until he tripped and his face and body was suddenly soaked. It was the stream he was looking for! With new found vigor he started his sprint again. Following the stream until he heard something crash behind him. He turned around only to find Bill on his hands and knees. He stared Dipper with a menacing eye.
"Pine Tree, you will.." His voice had become a hoarse growl, but before he could finish his arms gave out and he fell face first into the stream. A small line of bubbles appeared beside him.
dipper turned around to run but, before he could move his stupid guilt took over. With a heavy sigh he made his way over to the passed out demon.
it took a while but dipper managed to roll the soaking wet demon out of the stream and onto his back. It was just then he got a good look at Bills form as a human (apparently). He had gold hair and a pale skin tone, and looked about 16. He was wearing nothing but what seemed to be a black robe of sorts. The only thing keeping it closed was a small gold band wrapped around his waist. With another reluctant sigh he lifted Bill up as best he could over his shoulder and started his trudge back home.
Bill was pissed. This human body was completely useless and weak. Not only that but he was tied up in some shed outside he assumed to be the Mystery Shack due to the sound of tourists snapping photos and milling about. He was trapped their for most of the day until he finally wore down one of the ties on his wrists and freed the rest of his body.
When Dipper returned to the tool shed behind the Mystery Shack he was met with the horrifying emptiness of it. All that was left were a few piles of cut up old rope. He searched the shed for only a moment more before a voice sounded behind him.
"Lose something, Pine Tree?"
Dipper swung around to meet one golden yellow eye and one that looked hollowed out.
"H-how did you-"
"Escape? Well let's just say anger is an excellent motivator."
Bill took a swing at Dipper, but missed as the human backed away from the attack. A few swings were exchanged before Dipper managed to get a good shot and Bill fell to the floor, rubbing his jaw.
"Look, Bill, I'm sorry for whatever I did to you but this needs to stop!"
Bill looked furious
"WHATEVER?! YOU BOUND ME TO A MEAT SUIT AND STRIPPED ME OF MY POWERS YOU INSIGNIFICANT SPEC OF A HUMAN BEING!"
Dipper scoffed
"You tried to murder me! What the hell did you expect!"
"It was your fault so being so trusting! I am, was, a demon! What did you expect!"
Dipper was about to reply when suddenly he heard Mable call for him.
"Dipper where are you? Are you okay?"
Both Dipper and Bill blanched.
"Yeah I'm fine Mable." Called Dipper " I'll be inside in a minute."
Mable must have been satisfied with the answer because he heard no response. When he turned around Bill had vanished. Damn it Dipper, he mentally scolded himself. He took one last look around and nervously made his way inside.
The next day Dipper was put in charge of check-out in the gift store. It went pretty smoothly to be completely honest. He didn't get one costumer asking for a refund of some sort all day. It was only an hour before closing before it all went to shit.
Grunkle Stan had just finished his most recent tour when he came in through the gift shop.
"Why you are quite the supernatural enthusiast I see." Came Stan's voice.
It wasn't until the person he was talking to spoke up that he looked up from his book and stared in horror.
"Well, I wouldn't say enthusiast" there was the signature laughter "but I would like to help out with the marketing portion of the Mystery Shack. If you know what I mean."
Grunkle Stan laughed heartily
"Whatever it is I like it! You're hired!"
The two continued their conversation regarding Bills working hours without noticing the horrified look on Dippers face. After about twenty minutes they finished talking and Bill headed out the front door giving Dipper a smirk.
"See you tomorrow, coworker." and swung the door open to leave.
The rest of the day he felt like his stomach would just ditch him because of how much stress he put it under.
That night Dipper asked about the new worker at the Mystery Shack.
"Ah yes. I decided since Wendy is getting ready to go off at collage we might as well get a new set of hands."
He looked pretty pleased with him self as he finish the sentence.
"Besides that William kid seemed to know you and if he's comfortable right off the bat then he will work harder, faster."
Dipper wanted to scream and yell at Stan and ask him if he was blind (but with how he drove at this point he probably was) but all he did was sigh and play with his full plate of food.
Mable must have noticed Bill walking by that day because the moment Dipper walked in she grabbed hold of his shoulders and screamed.
"Dipper! Did you see the new guy! He is soooo cute! You have to help me out..." And so on. Dipper however was not thinking about Bill (well, not the actual person) but how he managed to find clothes so quickly. To be hones a black v-neck and skinny jeans make a person look far less ancient then in a black robe. He remembered how Bill didn't have an eye the right side of his face and then wondered if he had seen him with an eye patch or not. He shrugged. An eye patch was not the problem here and it certainly wouldn't be the thing to keep him up tonight.
Tonight was one of those nights. The ones where it seemed his problems breached the surface of his subconscious and pestered him, swimming around his brain until he could no longer think straight. This night was especially bad, mostly because nothing bad had happened yet. His brain was telling him that the worst was to come and to save his dumb sorrow for then. He had managed to keep his body to a slight shake and heavy breathing. That was until he saw the time, 3:00 in the morning and he was no where near sleep. This particular thought caused him to heave a great sigh and move to smother himself into his pillow before sobbing uncontrollably. When he could see daylight reflect off the window he had finished his somewhat silent temper tantrum and curled himself under the blankets with his eyes closed, and waited for Mable to wake him up.
The moment breakfast was over they filed into their proper work spaces. It was ten minutes before they knew the first tourist bus would arrive when Bill knocked on the gift shop door.
"Alright Dipper you gotta be my wingman here okay." Mable whispered into Dippers ear.
He just swatted her off. Grunkle Stan opened the door and Bill took a step inside. This time he was wearing a white long sleeve shirt and the same jeans. Dipper looked to see what he used to cover his eye and noticed it was just one of those taped on gauze pads.
He didn't realize Stan was talking until he heard his name.
"Dipper, Mable which one of you is going to show him the ropes today?"
Dipper sighed and pointed at Mable as she raised her hand up high
"Me! Pick me!" She cried
Stan noticed how creepily she was staring at him and decided to keep her separate from his new employe in case she scared him off.
"Dipper."
"Aww what?" He groaned
Grunkle Stan gave him a pointed look and Dipper just sighed and motioned towards the front of the building to give Bill all the basic information he needs to his job.
"Alright, so al-"
"Just a heads up, Pine Tree. I'm going to kill you." A wide smile appeared on his face but Dipper just rolled his eyes.
"Bill, please just-"
"How do you want to die? Just wanna know if I can see you at the funeral in the casket."
Dipper was mad now. If this is how he was going to play then he might as well watch out and fight back.
"I was just going to ask you the same thing, Bill. Do you want white or red roses on your grave stone?" In order to sell the line he looked over his shoulder to look at Bill and smirk as he walked inside the shack.
"Come on. If you're gonna work here I suggest you start learning how."
Bill just looked surprised for a moment then smiled as he followed the younger teen through the front door.
The first day Bill worked there was relatively little damage done to the shack. Dipper kept a close eye on him and to his surprise bill was honestly trying to figure out how to work the register and give people the information they wanted. Almost like he was really concentrating on the tasks at hand. Dipper would occasionally have to help or clean something Bill dropped but by the end of the day he was a pro. All Dipper had to do was watch his own back. If he made the first move he was begging to be murdered. Waiting is his best option for now.
That night Dipper found himself suddenly jerked awake. He quickly looked around to see what if he could find what had woken him only to find the door slightly ajar. With a distressed sigh he threw the covers off his body. That damn door creaked so damn loud when it was...opened. Dipper whipped his head around and a cold blade pressed against his neck. Bill had a finger over his mouth, which a smile he whispered.
"You wouldn't want to wake Shooting Star," he chuckled "she shouldn't have to clean up your mess."
Dipper tried to keep his calm, but his mind was running around so fast he couldn't keep up. Then for a moment his head was clear. Bill was hardly strong enough to carry a small box of supplies let alone chop his head off. He probably didn't get very much sleep in this body either. With a grin he used his hand to quickly move Bills knife away from his neck and twist his wrist slightly so as to cause him to drop the blade. (He had practiced with his sister a few times during their sibling brawls). Bills smirk turned to a deadly scowl as Dipper quickly grabbed the knife from the floor and pointed it at him.
"Go on, get out." He motioned to the door and walked Bill down the stairs and through the front door with the blades tip resting on the back of Bills neck. All the while Bill grumbled under his breath about how weak this body was and other unpleasantries. Once Bill was outside he snatched the blade away from Dipper and walked down the dirt road leading away from the Mystery Shack.
This was it, Dippers plan was now in effect. As soon as he could just barely see Bills body he set off after him. He followed Bill through the various roads of Gravity Falls until he realized Bill was no longer on a road. Now that they had entered the forest Dipper carefully closed the distance between himself and the ex-demon so as to better track him. He looked down for a moment to better balance himself when he realized Bill was no longer walking. He looked around until he saw in the distance Bill open the front end of a tent and walk in after taking off his shoes. Dipper studied the area around the camp and it looked kinda sad to be honest. There was a small bag filled with clothes and another that seemed to hold shoes and toiletries. 'He must have stolen all this' he thought he was about to leave when he noticed Bill open back up the tent. With a quick look around the camp he made his way over to a rope attached to a low branch, and with a quick pull undid the knot. To Dippers surprise a small mesh bag fell for Bill to catch. With an animalistic need he pulled the bag open to reveal several cans of food. He brought out the knife he had attacked Dipper with and fiddled with the top until Dipper could hear a small hiss as it opened. It took awhile but Bill finally managed to get the thing open and gulped the contents down as fast as he could without loosing any.
Dipper kinda felt bad for Bill, that was, until he showed up for work. Throughout the entire morning Bill would leave little surprises for Dipper. It was mostly tacks on chairs and staple gun "accidents" but Dipper was caring less and less about the ex-demon. By the afternoon Dipper had set up his own traps for the demon. They included: laxatives in his assigned drinks, kitchen knives stuck up through the seat at the kiosk, and other more pitiful, cheap tricks his bullies taught him at school. At the end of the day Dipper was giving Bill a run for his money even as Bill was leaving he took the piece of gum he had been chewing all day and stuck it on the back of his head leaving the blue sticky substance into the golden hair. Bill didn't show up that night.
The next day Bill arrived with the back of his head cut down short, and dyed black leaving the top part gold. He must of wanted it to look like he hadn't needed to cut the gum away, and from that point on it was war. Back and forth went the jabs and sometimes stabs were exchanged and overtime they became more creative. To put things into perspective Dipper had gone from placing sharp objects in creative places to planning an over night plan to bury Bill alive.
It was very well thought through in his opinion and to be honest he probably couldn't have thought of a better plan with only four hours sleep and a pack of red bull in his system. It was when getting the ingredients and preparing the hole in the ground at two in the morning that it was, apparently, very easy to get a hold of hydroxybutyric acid. This fact was both intimidating and terrifying.
That day during work Dipper mostly avoided Bills attacks occasionally he would get scraped by a throwing knife when no one was watching but that was fine. While reading a book later Dipper shot a nail gun at Bill while he read. Bill at this point was accustom to these attacks and dodged most of them, but as he looked up to taunt Dipper he felt a sharp pain in his upper left arm. With the pain he was shot off the stool and landed face first on the ground.
"What the hell, Pine Tree!" He cried out in pain
Dipper just laughed.
"Hay, your lucky I didn't aim for your throat. We are trying to kill each other."
Bill just growled and ran off to the break room. Dipper followed close behind. He watched as Bill carefully took out the nail from his arm and place a gauze pad over the injury. He cleaned up the blood and went to grab a water bottle from the cooler. Dipper waited for him to open the bottle. Now it was his chance, he walked up behind Bill and snatched the water bottle letting two dissolvable tablets fall in through the top from the palm of his hand.
"I thought you were 'an all powerful being made of pure energy' what do you need water for?"
Bill just groaned and and snatched the water bottle back.
"Oh sure hit a demon while he's down. What a hero."
"I never said I was a hero."
Bill just scoffed
"Ok so you're just an ass."
"No I'm a smart ass"
Dipper smiled as a horrified look passed over Bills face. He stared at his now empty water bottle.
"You didn't."
"Oh I did."
And not two minutes later Bill was passed out on the floor. Dipper kept him the closet telling Stan, Bill went home sick. And when ten o'clock rolled around Dipper dragged Bill outside and threw him in the grave. Covering him up with dirt Dipper walked away happy.
Unfortunately despite Bill being a demon or ex-demon Dippers guilt hit him ten-fold. He had just laid down when his stomach decided to act up and he had to sprint to the bathroom and hurl. He spent the rest of the night there.
The next morning Mable noticed Dipper sleeping on the porcelain and ran down to inform Grunkle Stan.
"Alright when he wakes up tell him to come downstairs and eat something."
Mable nodded and let Stan welcome the first tour group.
Dipper awoke to the sound of the shower running and he looked at Mable starring worriedly.
"You need a bath bro bro," she tossed a towel at him and continued " when your finished come downstairs to eat if you can."
Dipper nodded in response and when the door closed he undressed and got into the shower. He felt much better when he finished and got dressed so he quickly made his way downstairs to grab some food. Only his stomach warned him otherwise. As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs however Bill was sitting at the table looking tired and beat to heck.
"B-Bill, what are..."
Bill just gave him an erie smile and stood up
"Well played PineTree. Well played."
Dipper gulped. He was in trouble now. But on a pleasant note his stomach didn't hurt as much anymore.
To Dipper the world suddenly became that much more dangerous. Everywhere he looked Bill was waiting for him ready to send a projectile his way. Dipper tried his best to avoid them but Bill was relentless. One morning he awoke to find himself sinking to the bottom of a lake of some sort. He swam up to the surface only to have Bill try to push him back under with his foot. When dipper finally escaped he was met with another barrage of attacks. A few days later Bill attacked Dipper after work. A chain was wrapped around Dippers neck as Bill dragged him around (Mable unfortunately was at her friends house and Stan was out getting more superglue for his attractions) Dipper crawled onto his stomach and quickly ran after Bill, loosening the chain. He tackled the ex-demon and yanked the chain away from him throwing it as far as he could.
"Bill this is insane!" He cried hoarsely
"What's your point?"
"I get that you're mad but why all of this?
"Don't act like you're suddenly above this, Pine Tree. You buried me alive if you don't recall" he grabbed Dippers shoulders and threw him back.
"I know I know but Bill I had no choice. You always have wanted to kill me and-"
"Pine Tree, I have never before wanted to kill you. If I did then you'd be dead. But stripping me of my life force is unforgivable." He threw another hard kick into Dippers stomach.
"The truth is Pine Tree, I have nothing in this world now and I have no idea how to get back to the mindscape. I am bound to you now and the only way I can get out is by getting rid of you."
"Wait what?" Asked Dipper "Bound to me? I thought you were bound to the earth?"
Bill looked at Dipper quizzically
"Are you serious? You used your own blood to 'bind' me! Binding requires sacrifice! How do you not know these things!?"
Dipper just looked awkwardly at the floor as he scooted away from Bill.
"Well I saw it in an old textbook of mine and I roughly translated it and I thought it would be useful one day so I memorized it."
"There was a binding spell in a school textbook?"
"Well it was a photo of some old texts and I was bored so I learned how to read it with the journal."
Bill and Dipper just stared at each other for a moment. Bill slowly removed his work shirt Stan had given him and dropped it on the ground.
"You really are somethin' kid."
With that he turned around and walked away, disappearing into the forest.
Bill sent a letter of resignation to Grunkle Stan the next day.
"What? The kid's gone already? What the heck happened?"
Dipper just shrugged and went to work. Mable on the other hand practically had a meltdown.
"What? Nooo! The beautiful, mysterious, man of my dreams has left me! I never got to make my move! Dipper why?!" She dramatically threw herself over the counter while Dipper just shrugged again.
"Some things aren't meant to be Mable."
She sighed again and rolled off the table landing on the floor with a heavy thud before continuing to mumble something about the 'unfairness the world has delt upon her'.
The world seemed to revert to the same boringness as before. Almost as if nothing had happened. Which strangely made Dipper depressed. He told Stan he wasn't feeling well around lunch and made his way to his room to be alone. He realized that today was going to be one of those days. He hadn't taken his medicine in a week and now his emotions were coming full force. His brain thought about all his failed activities: volleyball, water polo, and then swim. The disappointed faces of his teachers and coaches whenever he made his own judgment call. The way his mother looked at him like he was a failure whenever he got less then a A. His sister ditching him on many occasions to be with her friends or love interests, and now Bill was gone. He must hate him (well obviously) but somehow having yet another person dislike you, having another person he couldn't please felt awful. Everywhere he turned he worried about approval and he hated himself for it, but at the same time everyone wanted to be pleased with him and he couldn't help but try. He wanted to beg for anyone's attention but not be called an attention hog. Which left him struggling to make the simplest decisions. Even to the friend he did have he was just an emotional whoop-i-cushion. They always made him listen to their own stupid problems, but the moment he felt like talking about his they all walked away and acted like he didn't exist. He hated it but once they needed someone to talk to again he was always there. Every single person he met took advantage of him but he felt like an ass whenever he tried to stand up for himself. And to top it all off he had Bill making him feel like an idiot and an asshole even though BILL TRYED TO KILL HIM FIRST! He couldn't take it any more!
His thoughts began to wander to dark places but he caught himself. He quickly ran to the closet where he kept his bag full of antidepressants. He pulled out the ones he needed to take and swallowed them dry. When he finished he walked back to the bed and covered his face with a pillow, waiting for the medicine to kick in.
Bill was at a loss. The dumb kid actually cursed him on accident. He had to admit learning how to properly pronounce Latin words was pretty damn impressive. And the time he manipulated him and buried him alive, along with all the other small but creative plans he had put together. The kid was actually quite sinister. Not only that but not many humans could actually cast a spell that powerful and live. The more he thought the more he realized he actually kinda liked the kid (well as a minion or whatever he wasn't that into him. Or was he?) Something was up though. Despite the smiles he put on to please his sister, Bill remembered that there was always a sorrowful and on-edge look in his eyes. Was he depressed? Or was it just that he was worried he would kill him in his sleep. That was another thing too, the kid almost never slept. His eyes always had dark bags under them. Not that he was worried though. Dipper is a strong kid and he knows it. Or does he? Humans were always something he never could fully understand. For now however he only had to worry about finding another source of income.
The Mystery Shack became pretty relaxed after Bill left, everything was back to normal. Except for Dipper. He lost his medicine bag and he was starting to freak out. He made his way over to the table where Mable was sitting.
"Mable it's really important, I need the bag from the closet with all my medicine in it."
She just stared at him for a moment before replying
"Oh that bag? I got rid of it."
"You did wHAT?"
"Well I noticed you were kind of tired and irritable whenever you had them and besides something with so many side effects is bad for you!"
"Mable! I need that stuff, why do you think I even have it! Where is it?"
Mable pointed outside
"I threw it away last night."
Dipper quickly ran outside shoving Mable aside. He checked the trash bin only to find it empty. His stomach seemed to turn again. With a sigh he dropped to the floor, Mable came out wringing her fingers and sat down next to her brother.
"I'm sorry broseph, but I guess if you hadn't been so moody Mom wouldn't have taken you to the doctor. You just gotta be happy, okay?"
Dipper just sighed and smiled at his sister. Maybe she was right, he just had to be less moody. He would be fine.
Bill was wandering around the forest in the middle of the night when he accidentally tripped on something on the forest floor.
"Damn it!" he cried pulling his face out of the earth. When he looked back to see what it was that he tripped on only to find that was Dippers journal. At first he rejoiced, he could use this as black mail and or bait for a trap! It was brilliant! But then he thought about it for another moment. How did the journal get out here in the first place? He was about to search the boy when suddenly a sob sounded not too far away. He followed the sound of heart-wrenching sobs until he finally found Dipper laying on the floor. His hands covered his face in an attempt to muffle the sounds but it wasn't doing any good as far as Bill could see. Bill placed a hand over his heart, it felt like it was being torn out or stabbed, and he couldn't understand why. He felt...sorry? Pity? Whatever it was he didn't like it, so he placed the book down where he thought Dipper would see it and watched. He just laid there and cried for hours, occasionally Bill would hear Dipper whine something but he couldn't quite understand it. After awhile though he became louder and now Bill could hear what he was saying. At this point he had curled into a ball and dug his nails into his arms.
"Why? Why can't I make myself happy? What's wrong with me?! I should be happy!"
In between each sentence there was a shaky breath which only mad Bill feel worse. He had a stupid but overwhelming need to go over to him and make him stop and tell him he was alright! Which made no sense because not two weeks ago he wanted to murder him. Whatever, stupid emotions wouldn't control him. But even as he left he knew he was lying to himself.
From that point on Bill followed Dipper everywhere. Even if he went nowhere, he just stayed a home, Bill climbed a tree to make sure his Pine Tree was alright. Day and night he watched over him, but of course, he was still human so he needed to get something to eat and drink occasionally. Bill was just coming back from eating when he realized PineTree was gone. For a moment he panicked, where was he? Where could he have gone? But the longer he was gone the more panic was becoming horror. Dipper was gone for two whole days before Bill made his way over to the Mystery Shack. He knocked on the door waiting for anyone to show up when suddenly ShootingStar flung the door open.
"Dipper! There yo-" she froze
"Oh, sorry William. I just thought." She sighed
"What happened? Where Pi-Dipper? I just came by to say 'hi' and catch up a little." He tried his best to smile sincerely but the frown on Stars face made his heart drop.
"I don't know." She whispered "We can't find him."
"What do you mean? What happened?"
Star looked behind her to see if Stan was there and quickly told William what happened.
"I'm not supposed to tell anyone but I caught Dipper...crying...the other night and he told me he was fine. I pushed him for answers but he snapped at me." She looked ready to cry "He just started to grab his head and yell" this time Bill noticed tears start fall "He kept saying he was 'done' and-" she was crying heavily now so Bill wrapped his arm around her and patted her back until she calmed down a bit.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She quietly said pushing Bill off of her slightly.
"Did you call the police yet?"
"Yes, two hours ago."
"I'll try and help if I can." And with that he left.
As soon as she closed the door to walk back inside he began his sprint into the forest. Where could he be? What did he mean by he was done? Well of course he knew what 'done' meant, how could he not. He searched in all the spots PineTree had ever visited while Bill was watching over him, but there was no sign of him. He could here the sounds of sirens in the distance. He had to find his PineTree.
Bill hadn't realized a whole night had passed until the light shining over the mountains burned his eyes. He tread through the forest desperate for even the slightest sign when his pant leg was snagged on bush and he fell. He carefully pulled himself back up only to find his clue. PineTrees shoe was stuck in the mud not two feet away from him. He quickly got up and grabbed the shoe and tracked the remaining prints. He followed the trail, unconsciously pressing the shoe tightly to his breast, until he came upon something that made him feel like sobbing. The cliff overlooked the entire town, a beautiful sight, one that Bill ignored as he crawled forward to the edge of the cliff. Tears fell off his face as he dared look over the edge. He howled and closed his eyes as he looked down. This couldn't be real, it wasn't real, all of this was some screwed up dream he had been living in. In a last ditch effort to try and do something, anything he ran to a less steep portion of the cliff and made his way down as fast as he could, but he lost his footing about half way and rolled down until he hit the bottom. He quickly made his way over to PineTree sliding in the mud beneath his knees. He pulled the broken boy to him and set his head carefully in his lap. Bill came to a sudden realization in that moment. He was still here, in human form. His PineTree was alive! He had to be! He placed his head over where his heart would be and heard the wonderful slow beat of his heart. It was weak, but weak was better than dead. He couldn't take him back home right away, the doctors would lock him up for attempted suicide if he lived, but he also couldn't take him back to his own camp, it was so close to the town the police would've already found it by now during their investigation. So he picked up the boy and began his venture into the forest to find a place to care for his cut down PineTree.
Dipper was surprised to say the least, when he opened his eyes to find he had no idea where he was. He tried to move but his body felt like was on fire, so he decided to stay down. He fell in and out of sleep throughout the day or days he had no idea, all he knew was that someone was with him. His mind wandered back to the night on the cliff: his body was cold and his heart was heavy, a sad smile on his face as he tilted over the edge. No one would be disappointed in him if he was dead, no one could hurt him, Bill would be free, and he would be free. He remembered the wind in his face as the world rushed up to meet him. Then black. His thoughts were then brought back to the present when he hear someone enter through a door.
"Are you up?" Asked a quiet but familiar male voice.
"Yes." Came Dippers hoarse reply.
There was a sigh of relief and Dipper could hear bags drop to the floor and two strong arms wrapped around his body.
"Damn you, stupid PineTree. I didn't know. I should've gone to get you sooner. I'm so sorry!"
To Dippers surprise he could feel the man above him crying, wetting Dippers shirt.
"B-Bill? Why are...what?" He tried to lift his head but it was no use.
"I'm sorry PineTree, I should explain.."
Dipper listened intently as Bill relayed his end of the story and how his 'stupid human emotions' grew on him.
"You see I'm bound to you, which means I will have human feelings while in a human body, but that also means as a demon I am forced to care for my 'binder' I can not exist without you."
Dipper looked at him with a sorrowful expression.
"So you need me. That's what it is."
Bill just smiled
"Not quite, you see I am not the same 'demon Bill' anymore. I didn't have human emotions like empathy and sadness. But while I'm bound to you I do."
He lifted himself off of Dipper and sat on the edge of the bed looking into his clasped hands.
"It sounds really lame but I realized that with each emotion I felt I got stronger. Especially when the emotions were connected directly towards you. When I found you I-" Dipper was surprised to see Bill get suddenly choked up as tears welled into his eyes.
"I felt like my own world was going to end with out you in it. Is that weird? Ever since I found you I've wanted you here with me so I can take car of you. I don't want you to leave."
"Yeah, that is pretty lame." Dipper mumbled a blush spreading on his cheeks."So you like me all of a sudden then?"
"If that is what liking a person is then I guess so."
"Then this isn't going to be easy."
"What is?"
"Us. You don't have a job and I can't get one if I'm a runway presumed dead. Even worse if they know I tried to commit suicide. I'll get locked up for sure." His eyes looked distant as he imagined his fate. That was until he heard Bill laugh.
"Did you think I wouldn't be prepared for that? You underestimate my mortal form, PineTree. I told your sister I had been housing you here after you ran out and they called off the investigation. You've only been here for five days so you've only been gone a week. Which means you can go back whenever you feel like it once you're healed up." He gave Dipper another smile but this one was sly.
"Come on let's get some muscle back into that body of yours." He dragged his PineTree out of bed and onto the floor. Dipper just moaned.
"Nooo! Let me lay down and die!"
"Not on my watch."
"Wait, Bill." He said suddenly
"What?"
"Where exactly are we?"
"Hehe, well like I said the more emotions I feel the more powers I regain to protect you with. So uh," a blue flame appeared in Bills hand as he picked Dipper off the ground. " I threatened some guy into selling his house to me for his soul in return."
Dipper just stared at Bill.
"You really are Bill."
"The one and only, and as an added bonus will love PineTree"
With a bit more teasing Bill managed to get some real laughter out of the kid. He wouldn't tell him yet but the more time he spent with him the more he grew to like him. It was the curse of the bound. It insured the casters or binders safety but to be honest he didn't mind. His job now was to make sure he healed his PineTrees depression, and to smother him with enough love to make up for the neglect he had suffered through during his short life span.
All too soon it was time for Dipper and Mable to head home. They said their final goodbyes to everyone minus Bill ( which kinda made Dipper sad but demons gotta do what demons gotta do ). And before he knew it they were half way home. Dipper kinda wished Bill could come with them, never before had he been so coddled. Everything he wanted attention he got it. Not without a price of course, Bill was pretty needy to and now that he'd gotten all his powers back he was doubly cocky as well as obnoxious. Dipper smiled to himself as he remembered all the times Bill had woken him up to warn him of nightmares, and the cuddles and the full out nail gun warfare that ensued every fight. They were both equally insane yet docile and by some miracle it worked. He soon fell asleep on the bus next to his sister thinking about what his next summer could possibly be like.
The twins awoke to the sound of the bus reaching its final destination. With a yawn the two gathered their things and stepped out of the stop to get picked up by their parents who asked them loads of questions. All of which had already prepared answers to cover up the real stories of fighting goblins, and ghosts. They both winked at each other when their tale was done and rested easy in the back of the car.
When they finally got home not an hour later did a knock on the door sound from the front.
"Oh how wonderful please come in!" Dipper heard his mother say "Mable, Dipper this is our new neighbor William, I'm sorry what was your last name?"
"Oh please M'am, call me Bill Cipher." And with that he quickly turned to look at Dipper while she went to shut the door and give him a small wink.
Screw summer, thought Dipper, his whole year was about to get very interesting indeed.