"Wakey wakey!"
The loud voice of William was what woke Dipper the next morning at exactly six o'clock on the dot.
"It's too early for this," he groaned, blearily opening his eyes.
"Moving truck's here at ten," William reminded him, flicking on the lights. Dipper uttered a small shriek and buried his head under his pillow at the sudden intrusion.
"Rise and shine~!" the blonde sang, stealing the covers from over him. "The sun will be out soon and it's gonna be a beautiful day!"
"You ass!" Dipper hissed, turning over so he could glare at him.
He faltered, taking a long look at him. Damn, he thought, his heart beating just a bit quicker and warmth surging through his blood.
William's hair was rumpled from being slept in all night, but it only complemented his outfit more, in an odd way. It was then that Dipper got a good look at his right eye, and how could he not have noticed the fucking eye patch sooner?
It must have been covered, he thought. To avoid any questions or stares. He quickly glanced down, hoping that William didn't notice his own staring.
The teen was dressed in a pair of perfectly pressed black slacks that was paired with a white dress shirt and black bowtie. A gold jacket with odd lines etched at the edges of the sleeves, black gloves, and shiny black dress shoes completed the outfit in a way that made Dipper's hormones spike.
Another gear clicked in his mind then, and he realized that he really needed to talk to Mabel about her matchmaking skills.
He trailed his eyes back up to William's and found that the teen was wearing that self-satisfied smirk again, which couldn't be good.
"You seem flustered," he purred and Dipper momentarily recovered from his shock.
"Coffee!" he blurted out, quickly bolting out bed and hurriedly tugging on some jeans, then dashing out the door. Had William really just purred?
Much to his great surprise, when he stepped into the kitchen, there was already a streaming cup waiting for him, just the way he liked it. Had William done this?
"Morning Dip-Dip!" his sister exclaimed from behind him. He jumped and looked over his shoulder to see her smile already about a mile wide.
"Morning," he grouched sleepily. "Did you do this?"
"Yup!" He smiled gently then, knowing all the hard work she'd put into it. "Will offered to wake you up."
"Mabes," he hesitated, unsure if he should spoil her good mood so early on. "…There's something weird about him."
He turned around to fully face her, flinching at her crestfallen look. "What do you mean?" Her voice was really quiet and he was already beginning to regret his choice.
He opened his mouth and was about to respond when William's voice rang out from the hallway just before the kitchen. "Later," he muttered to her just as the blond stepped in.
"It's great to see you two awake and looking so refreshed!" he exclaimed, grinning. "Oh, and Mabel, I borrowed some of your Mabel Juice from your pitcher in the fridge. Thought it'd make a nice pick-me-up."
Mabel smiled back at him, though it didn't quite meet her eyes. "That's okay Will, I'm glad to see it worked." She glanced at Dipper, mischief sparking in her expression. "Now all we need is to convert Dip-Dip, and then we can conquer the universe!"
"Not gonna happen," he said flatly, downing the rest of his coffee before heading back upstairs to take a shower. If they seriously thought that they could get away with waking him at six in the effing morning and not be faced with grouchiness, then he'd have to confiscate the Mabel Juice and dump it down the toilet.
He gathered up some clothes to wear for the morning, then walked over to the bathroom and shut the door firmly. He stripped down to nothing, quickly estimating that he had maybe half an hour if he was going to put the last of the things he was going to take to Gravity Falls with him into boxes. For sure, the chest with his journals would be.
As the scalding water cascaded onto his hair and rolled down his back, soothing the ever-sore muscles, he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander to William.
He had a theory, as he did for almost everything in Gravity Falls, about the strange teenager that had shown up in his life yesterday. First to cross over his mind was the guy's style of taste – gold and black, like another being that he knew from the Falls. Second was the nickname Mabel had called him – too close to Bill for comfort.
It can't be though, he mused as he stepped out of the path of the water, lathering pine scented shampoo into his hair. No mentions of pain being funny, or the journals. He acted normal around forks and aside from his energy, nothing else is pointing towards him being Bill Cipher. Plus, doesn't the book hint at him being bound to Gravity Falls? How could he leave?
After his shower was finished, he got dressed into a simple red tee and blue jean jacket paired with blue jeans, then headed to his room to finish with the packing. He was still tired, but grudgingly had to admit that William had been right; the day was being wasted, and the twins were running out of time to finish their packing.
He wasn't too terribly surprised to find that while he'd been gone, William had made up his bed for him and had returned the blankets and pillows that he'd been lent by Mabel. It seemed to be a part of his personality, the too-nice and caring streak. There had also been a few empty boxes set on his bed, and for that he was grateful. The elder teen was currently standing at Dipper's bookshelf, seeming to study the titles on the shelf intently.
He cleared his throat to get the blonde's attention. "I'm ready to start packing now," he said quietly.
"Excellent! So where should we begin?" William asked cheerfully, turning around to face him. "I was thinking with your wardrobe, but then I thought that you might like to leave some here for when you come back. There's a new clothing outlet owned by Pacifica in Gravity Falls, and she said that she made sure to include your style there too."
"I'll take most of it," Dipper said quickly, walking over to his closet and beginning to take a few shirts off of his hangers. He didn't want to make the fact so known yet that he wouldn't be returning to Piedmont for a long time.
He took a few more hangers off the rack and tossed the few shirts already freed onto his bed. William made a small noise of indignation and ran over to the discarded garments and immediately started to caringly fold them. Dipper smirked.
"I didn't think you were so touchy," he commented, tossing a few more garments over. "They're just clothes."
"They're not!" William exclaimed, clearly offended by his statement. "Your clothes make you who you are, and Pacifica always says that you should take good care of them. Besides, you'll want them to look nice if you're going to impress that redhead."
He almost choked on air at that, and spun around to face the blond. "What part of 'over it' didn't you understand? And since when are you Pacifica's bitch? I didn't think the two of you would get along."
"We don't," William grumbled, his good mood finally showing some normal sense of fluctuation. "She just has a point about clothes and fashion."
"Right," Dipper muttered, turning back to his task. "And you're some kind of a secretly flying dorito in a human's body." He glanced back out of the corner of his eye to see if it would get some kind of stir out of the teen like the clothing comment had, but he hadn't seemed fazed. Maybe he was human after all, and the similarities were just some sort of coincidence.
"They don't exist," William clarified after a long pause of silence. "The journals never said anything about flying doritos. It mentioned floating eyeballs though, if that's what you're thinking of."
He's looked at the journals, he thought, filing the information away in his mind. It implies some trust between Stanley and William, and Stanley doesn't trust anyone.
The sun was steadily rising by the time they'd finished packing his room – Dipper taking clothes out of the closet and throwing them behind him once they were off their respective hangers, and William folding said clothes and neatly placing them in the box. It was full by the time they finished.
"You own less than I thought," William remarked as he closed the box and taped it. "I swear, Mabel has five times as much as you do."
"She's also the best friend of Pacifica and makes her own sweaters," he countered, walking over to his chest and pulling out the key that rested on a chain from under his shirt. "I don't really care much for fashion."
"What's in there?" William asked, his attention diverted to the chest.
Bad idea, Dipper thought, stowing the key away again. "Just some old childhood memories of mine."
"They've gotta be bad if they're under lock and key." Suddenly William's teasing voice was way too close for comfort and he could feel his face heating up. "What dirty little secrets are you hiding, hmm?"
"Nothing!" he squeaked out, glancing at William. Big mistake.
The teen's face was only a few inches away from his and it was almost impossible to miss the slightly predatory and very triumphant smirk that ghosted across his lips, or the gleam of hunger radiating in his electric blue eye.
Dipper's own eyes widened and he stared transfixed for a moment before coming to his senses and backing away quickly. Yes, he decided firmly, standing and averting his gaze to the ground. Mabel's gonna hear it later.
As for William….the sooner Dipper got to Oregon and some distance from him….the better it would be for everyone. The blond was laughing quietly to himself and moving about the room, picking up the occasional book and reading the back of the cover in interest. Dipper didn't quite know what to make of him…one second he was perfectly as normal as was possible for him (as far as Dipper had seen), and the next, he had changed into….whatever he was, and got way too close to him for his comfort. The guy was a mystery, one that Dipper knew would quickly backfire against him if he tried to solve him.
A quick glance at his watch told him that it was nearing eight-thirty and that he'd have to get a move on, at least in the case of helping Mabel pack. His room was simple because he'd taken a lot of his things with him to Gravity Falls the previous summer, when the conflict had first started between him and his parents. Mabel on the other hand….she was going to college in a different state and likely wasn't going to return home for a while either. Not until she graduated, at least. Everything that she owned was going.
He sat on his bed and moved over to the window, rapping on it a couple of times. There wasn't an immediate answer, but it was probably because Mabel had her headphones in or something.
"Can you get her attention for me?" he grudgingly asked William, looking at him over his shoulder. "I need to know if she needs help packing."
"Why not just go over there and ask?" the blond fired back pointedly.
He scowled, knowing that the elder teen had a good point. "You don't seem to have a problem with undressing in front of others," he said through gritted teeth. "So it won't mean anything to you if she's indecent." He thought for a moment, then decided that he didn't like the mental image that projected.
"…On second thought, I'll do it myself."
He got up and walked over to Mabel's room, irritation having long settled in his expression. Instead of knocking on the door like he normally would've, he just opened it and strode right in.
He had been right about the headphones. Mabel was sitting on the floor beside her bed in what Dipper deemed as the only clear spot in the room, flipping through what looked like a scrapbook absentmindedly. The rest of her room was completely covered in clothes and the rare book or two.
She finally looked up and gave him a wide smile. "Look, Dipper!" she exclaimed, holding it out to him. "It's the scrapbook from our first summer with Grunkle Stan!"
He walked over and gently took the book from her, opening it up and leafing through the pages just as slowly as she had. They were filled with doodles, glitter, and an array of stickers, as well as the odd memorabilia from Gravity Falls. There were photos of weird things that he had found, and a page dedicated entirely to the relationship of Waddles and Mabel, which earned a small laugh from him. There was even the page that held his very first chest hair, and the CD from Babba was taped onto the page beside it.
"Those were the good days," he found himself reminiscing quietly. "Back before life got so complicated." He settled down beside his sister, flipping the page to another favorite of hers, the one of all the animals affected by the anomaly of the stones in the woods that caused them to either grow or shrink, depending on the light's color. It featured a photo of a tiny bobcat resting in the palm of her hand, and another of a giant butterfly that had almost killed them after the flash had gone off.
She looked at him, "it won't be that hard Bro-Bro. We'll just have to video chat every night when we're in college and stuff, like Soos and Melody used to before they got married."
He sighed, "Mabel…"
"Knock knock!" His mother said cheerfully, opening the door and poking her head in. She uttered a small gasp at the sight of Mabel's room. "You're not done packing yet? Sweetie, the truck's going to be here in an hour!"
"Well shit," Mabel murmured, standing up. "Can you ask William to come in here and help us pack? He seemed to work so well with Dipper earlier…he's already done!"
He didn't bother to tell her that there hadn't been much to pack, and instead opted to grab a box, shove some clothes over, and put it on the newly cleared ground. "Us? Mabel, I'm not gonna help you pack."
"You already are," she sing-songed, kissing their mother on the cheek and skipping out of the room.
"Get it done," his mom told him wearily before retreating back downstairs. He sighed in response and began pushing her clothes into piles to be sorted through and folded – that part, he was sure William was going to do.
Sure enough, the teen let out an almost unearthly shriek the second he saw the clothes and immediately ran over to the center of the Mabel-caused destruction. His sister appeared in the doorway, grinning smugly.
"Knew he'd do it," she commented.
Dipper sighed, picking up one of his sister's sweaters. "Come on Mabes. Much as I want to, we can't leave the whole job to him."
The three teens sorted through Mabel's mess as quickly as they could, filling three boxes and taking them downstairs in what was a record speed in Dipper's opinion - forty-five minutes. By the time they were finished, a lemonade break was warranted and Dipper had the urge to take another shower.
As if it'll take off all the glitter, he thought, pulling his shirt off his chest in an attempt to soothe the heated skin.
"Everything else is packed and ready to go?" their dad asked the second Mabel's foot hit the bottom step for the last time.
She nodded, "yup! It's a good thing Dipper didn't need more than a couple of boxes!"
Their dad set a hand gently on her hair and ruffled it affectionately. "I'll miss you kiddo. Just remember to call home once in a while and visit when you get the chance, okay?"
"I will," she promised, holding out a pinky.
"Have you set an enrollment date for Harvard yet?"
Dipper groaned mentally as the attention of his father was turned on him. The man had good intentions….but he really needed to give it a rest. "Not yet," he muttered. "I will, okay?"
"What'cha gonna study there?" William piped up as he contently sipped on a glass of cold, refreshing lemonade.
"Business," he answered shortly. If I go, which I won't.
"That doesn't sound like fun," the blond remarked. "Why not study something else?"
"Like me?" Mabel piped up. "I'm going to school for fashion design!"
"Business is practical," he deadpanned. "Mabel just gets to do the fun stuff because she has talent."
"Moving truck's here," their mom called from the porch, where she'd been anxiously waiting for the past five minutes. "Mabel, sweetie, go ahead and get your car started. The boys will get the stuff into the van."
"Okay!" Mabel called back, grabbing her keys and purse from the kitchen counter and dashing out the door.
Dipper sighed in resignation. "Guess we better get started then," he muttered to William, taking a final gulp of his lemonade.
Luckily for him, William didn't say anything and they got to work. Packing up the truck was a relatively easy job and took only about half an hour for them to complete. While Dipper and William worked, Mabel leaned against her bright pink car and sang along to the music that blared from her speakers. In any other case Dipper would have glared at her, but it made him smile to see her so carefree and full of life.
Mabel was going to have a great time in college, that much he knew. He, on the other hand….he was going to stick around in Gravity Falls and eventually run the Shack, for better or worse. Mabel didn't know about his plan yet, and he wasn't too sure that he even wanted to tell her. She wanted for him to be happy, but last summer she had agreed with Wendy – enough was enough.
He was becoming too obsessed, she'd pointed out as she went to bed the night before they'd returned to Piedmont for the last time. He was barely eating, and sleep had practically become a foreign object to him. She'd loved the mystery too…but it was coming to a point where it was too dangerous to his health to continue.
"Dipper!" Mabel's voice rang through his ears, both bringing him out of his thinking and giving him a major headache. He glanced at her and saw a small frown on her face, her eyes trying to catch his. Probably worried about me already getting caught up with the town's mystery.
He grinned for her sake, "I was thinking…tonight sounds like a perfect night for some Attic Golf and a movie marathon."
It got the reaction that he had hoped for out of her, and she gasped in delight. "With ice cream and popcorn and candy? Can I invite Paz?"
He nodded, and she hugged him tightly. "Thank you!" she squealed in his ear. "The truck is ready, so I'm leaving now Dip-Dip. Bye!"
He had barely any time to lift a hand in goodbye before she was in her car and slowly pulling out of the driveway, heading down the road leisurely so the moving truck could follow.
"That's that, then," William decided, sitting down on the front step of the porch after inspecting it for a solid minute. "Should we get going?"
"Not so fast, Dipper," his father said quietly, stepping forward from his spot beside the door. "Your mother didn't want us having this conversation while your sister was around, so we'll have it now."
He looked down at the ground, knowing exactly what his father was referencing. "Have at, then," he said weakly.
"I don't think going to visit your uncle and grandfather this summer is a good idea," his dad started. "You should be spending your time focusing on college and looking into internships to take for the summer. Not learning how to run some tourist trap in the middle of nowhere."
Dipper looked up angrily, and was sorry for a moment that William would have to witness this. "The Shack isn't that bad. You might know that if you ever went down there for a visit. It's learning how to run a business, which is what you want me to go to college to study."
"Being down there has made you weird," his father continued talking as if he hadn't heard. "You spend all your time researching the 'paranormal' instead of going outside and socializing with others your age." Dipper opened his mouth to make a sharp retort, but didn't get the chance. "I thought that going to stay with your uncle that first summer would force some kind of manliness into you, but instead you came home more withdrawn than before. If that wasn't enough," He turned to look at him with disappointment drawn across his features, "you started liking boys. Don't think I haven't noticed your restlessness around them when we go out into public, Dipper. At one point I thought that I could help mold you into a strong young man. I was wrong, it seems. You're a hopeless case."
It was the definitive blow, enough to make Dipper flinch and close his eyes to keep from crying. The subject of his mixed sexual preferences had never really been acknowledged for the sake of not causing any trouble, but now that he was leaving…it didn't matter anymore.
There was a light pressure on his shoulder and he looked up with watery eyes to find William looking down at him with sympathy in his eye, and his jaw clenched in what he assumed was anger.
"You're wrong," Dipper finally voiced, looking at his father and letting the tears slip down his cheeks. It didn't matter if his father saw him cry, if he thought that he was weak. "Gravity Falls turned me into a stronger person than you can ever know, and…" his voice cracked as his gaze shifted from his father to his mom, who had stood by the whole time with sorrow in her expression. For god's sake, why didn't she do something?
"I'm not going to Harvard," he finally spat, turning a glare towards his dad. "I'm not going to go to college at all, actually. And I'm not coming back."
He turned and set off toward the car, William following silently. His mother cried for him to wait, but he didn't. He could've apologized for leaving on such a harsh note, but he wasn't so sure that he would mean it.
He got into the car, not saying a word to William as the other followed suit. After taking a moment for the car to adjust to running and for him to wipe at his eyes hastily, he backed out of the driveway and peeled down the road as fast as was legally allowed, not looking back once.
They were well behind schedule by the time they finally made it to the interstate, but it didn't deter him. Mabel would wait up for him to arrive in the worst case scenario, and the long drive would allow him to get his mind off of the disaster of a goodbye he'd just shared with his parents.
"I'm sorry you had to witness all that," he finally told William quietly, after about an hour. He was surprised that the other had stayed silent for so long, but appreciated it.
"I'm sorry they said all that to you," the blonde's response was even. "What kind of parents are they, putting you down like that?"
"They care about me," he said quickly. "I know they do…it's just a tough love sort of deal. Dad's just so harsh because he wants what's best for me."
"He's not harsh on your sister like that," William noted, and Dipper caught his serious gaze when he glanced over. "It seems like they favor her. Your father even said, he didn't want to say those things in front of her."
"He doesn't want to break her happiness," he mumbled, focusing his gaze back onto the road. "It's okay, because I don't want him to."
"You cried," William said flatly. "It's messed up that your father is okay with making you cry."
"He was right though – Gravity Falls did this to me."
"It doesn't matter," William's voice was suddenly harsh and there was a gentle tug on his heart from it. "You're Dipper Pines, marvelous teen mystery hunter! You're an awesome person Pi- Dipper, and they should acknowledge that."
The car grew silent as William silently fumed and Dipper processed what the blond had just said. Or, rather, what he'd almost said. Pine Tree. He almost called me Pine Tree, I'm sure of it. He tapped his finger on the steering wheel absentmindedly. Can it really be him? I thought the book said he couldn't leave the Falls...should I say something? But what if I'm wrong? He glanced at the other out of the corner of his eye. If I'm not...What's his purpose? Why is he here? His eyes shifted back onto the road. Keep silent for now. You don't know anything for certain.
"Thank you," he finally said softly. "My parents aren't going to change their opinions about Gravity Falls though, and they definitely won't accept the way I choose to go about my life anytime soon."
"Then that makes them idiots," came his quiet reply. "For not looking past your choices and seeing the person you are underneath all that. And besides, nobody deserves to be alone in their darkest hour."
Silence returned, and another hour passed before Dipper noticed that his gas gauge was finally beginning to tick towards the empty line, and he finally had to pull into a small rest stop.
"You hungry?" he asked William, shooting him a small glance.
The blond was fast asleep, snoring lightly. It made him smile and chuckle quietly. If he really was Bill Cipher…some being of endless energy he was!
He walked into the convenient store, looking around in interest. The usual array of snacks were sprawled out everywhere, but this was a sensitive deal.
"Let's go off the theory that William really is Bill," he muttered quietly to himself, studying a line of snacks. "What food would he want to eat most?"
His eyes landed on an all-too-familiar bag of chips and he grinned wickedly as he picked it up. "Gotcha," he whispered to it triumphantly. "If this doesn't make him reveal himself, nothing will."
He selected some twizzlers and a bottle of Pepsi for himself, then mused on what 'William' would want to drink. "Pitt cola. He couldn't get enough of the stuff when he was in my body…"
He took the snacks up to the counter, adding thirty onto the bill for the gas. "Have a good night," he called back cheerfully to the cashier as he exited.
William was blearily rubbing his eyes when Dipper got back to the car. "Where'd you go?" he mumbled sleepily. "I had to wonder if you hadn't gotten kidnapped by aliens or something."
Dipper sat down, tossing the bag over into the teen's lap. "Snack time," he replied easily, taking one of the twizzlers out of the bag and chewing on the end of it. "I wasn't too sure what to get you, so I went with a gut feeling."
"Pitt cola!" William exclaimed, taking the can out of the bag first and popping it open. "My favorite!" He took a quick gulp, then set it down into the cupholder to see what else he'd been gifted with.
"…Doritos," the blonde finally muttered, his expression growing sour. Dipper grinned triumphantly.
"Do you not like them?" he asked innocently, holding out a twizzler to him.
"Bad experience with these," William replied as he took the twizzler, plastering a wide smile onto his face. "Oh well. It never hurts to give anything a second chance!" He opened the bag and popped a chip into his mouth and Dipper sighed in resignation.
Their trip resumed as the sun began to set. The last couple of hours went by at a steady pace, filled in by talks of what had happened in Gravity Falls since Dipper and Mabel's last visit and how much the mystery shack had changed in their absence.
Finally, finally after a year of waiting, Dipper turned off of the highway and onto the back road that would lead him to Gravity Falls and the Mystery Shack. To a lifetime of secrets and mystery.
And when he finally pulled into his spot beside Grunkle Stan's car and stepped out, the wind seemed to whisper his name as the breeze picked up. A smile stretched across his face as he took in the newly-renovated and surprisingly-larger Mystery Shack and the surrounding forest.
He was back.