The rest of the day went by pretty uneventfully. After lunch Dipper and Mabel returned to their room and gave Bill the third degree, focusing especially on the matter of his reduced powers. From what they were told, the demon had returned to Gravity Falls not long ago to try and destroy the town, but when he attempted to rupture the water tower to drown everyone, it turned out he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. From there on out his powers became weaker and weaker, until he was only left with a select few. He decided to adopt a human form and try to blend in as best as he could, which he had been doing until the twins arrived. The loss of his powers had made him realize that maybe being evil wasn't all it was cracked up to be, so as soon as he learned that Dipper and Mabel were returning to Gravity Falls, he decided that he was going to apologize to them and try to get on their good side. And there he was.
Dipper was still not convinced about Bill's whole change of heart. His story had a lot of holes that only he understood, but Mabel was none the wiser. He wanted to unmask the demon, but he knew that there was no changing Mabel's mind. When she set her mind into something, there was no talking her out of it. And she was determined to help Bill as best as she could.
Once the interrogation was over and Mabel was done blabbing to Bill about what she and Dipper had done since the first time they had encountered the dream demon, adding some details that Dipper did not want him knowing about, they were finally able to convince him that they should all go to sleep. After repeatedly emphasizing that they had been up since 4 AM to catch the first bus to Gravity Falls, Bill finally got it into his head that the twins were exhausted and in dire need of resting. Bill insisted that he didn't need to sleep, but not long after the twins had climbed into their beds and turned off the lights, the demon was fast asleep. They figured that, since his powers were reduced and he was now in human form, he was starting to develop some human needs.
When the first rays of morning light entered the dusty old attic, Mabel groaned as she was awaken from her deep slumber, slowly opening her eyes and blinking a few times to adjust her vision. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was, but when she did, a wide smile spread across her face.
"Good morning, Gravity Falls." She whispered drowsily as she closed her eyes again and turned to her left with the intension of falling asleep again, a satisfied sigh escaping her lips.
"Did you know you talk in your sleep?"
Mabel screamed at the top of her lungs and rolled off the bed, pulling the blankets with her in the process and hitting the floor with a thud. She panted and tried to calm her beating heart as she sat up and saw Bill lying down on her bed again, looking down at her with an amused expression.
"Good morning, sunshine." He sang as he winked at her.
"Bill…" she gasped for air as she rose to her feet. "You really gotta stop doing that…"
"But look so pretty when you're asleep." He floated over to her and poked her nose playfully. "I just couldn't help myself."
"Could you two please keep it down over there?" Dipper asked from his side of the room, his voice muffled due to having his pillow over his head. "I'm trying to get some sleep."
"Dipper, it's almost 9 AM." Mabel declared as she checked the time on her phone. "Don't tell me you didn't sleep at all last night."
"How could I?" the brunet tossed his pillow away and sat up, revealing the large bags he had under his eyes. "I don't know how you didn't hear it, but Bill snores! Really loud!"
"Snore, moi?!" Bill pointed at himself, looking utterly outraged. "That's preposterous! I would never do such a thing!"
"You sounded like an asthmatic camel! And I had to listen to you all night!"
Bill was about to retort when Mabel slapped a hand over his mouth and ordered both of them to remain silent.
Then they all heard it: someone was running up the stairs.
Mabel quickly shoved Bill onto her bed and climbed up next to him, pulling the covers over the demon. Just as she had concealed him completely, the door slammed open and in came a panting Ford, holding what looked like a plasma gun.
"I heard a scream." He said between breaths as he looked around, pointing the gun everywhere. "What happened? Was it land sharks?"
"N-no, Grunkle Ford, that was just me." Mabel giggled nervously. "I just… uh… saw a spider! Yeah, that's it! I saw a spider."
"Are you sure? Because it sounded like it was something much more frightening than a spider."
"No, no, it was just really ugly and hairy. I just glad I was able to throw it out the window before it reached Dipper, or else it might've thought his face was a possible mate."
"Hey!" Dipper complained, unconsciously concealing his unshaven chin with his hand.
Bill had to cover his mouth to muffle his laughter, and even still he wasn't able to stop a snort from escaping his nose.
Mabel froze when she heard the noise Bill made and saw her great-uncle Ford furrowing his brow as he stared at the very spot where the demon was hidden.
"What have you got under there?" Ford inquired as he pointed at the lump under Mabel's sheets.
"Uhh… nothing?" she replied, smiling uneasily at her six-fingered relative.
Before she could do anything to prevent it, Ford had moved forward and swiftly pulled away the bedsheets, holding the gun up in case anything were to jump up and attack him.
Mabel closed her eyes and held her breath as she prepared herself for what was coming.
"Mabel…"
This was it. She was done for. Ford would never trust her again.
"When did you get a turtle?"
The jig was up. He had found out she was harboring a… turtle?
She quickly opened her eyes and turned to her left, where a brownish-yellow turtle was standing on her mattress, an empty socket where its right eye was supposed to be.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you!" she laughed as she grabbed the turtle by its sides and turned it towards her uncle. "Grunkle Ford, this is my turtle, uh… Billy! Say hi to Grunkle Ford, Billy!"
Mabel gently took hold of the turtle's right paw with the tip of her fingers and shook it up and down, forcing it to wave at her great-uncle.
Ford's expression softened as he lowered the plasma gun and smiled at the small reptile in front of him.
"Why didn't you tell me you had a turtle? I love turtles!" he said as he reached down to pet the animal. "Hello there, little fella."
He had begun to scratch under the turtle's chin when it quickly bent over and bit his finger, latching onto it tightly. Ford screamed and shook his hand to try and get rid of the small animal, but it was really hanging on. It only released the old man's digit when Mabel grabbed hold of it and bopped it on the head.
"No! Bad Billy! What have I told you about attacking family members?" Mabel scolded the reptile before looking up at her great-uncle, who was rubbing his sore finger. "I'm really sorry, Grunkle Ford. Billy must be hungry."
"That's fine. I guess I should've expected that." Ford cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses atop his nose. "That reminds me, I was just about to start making breakfast. Why don't you two get ready and meet me in the kitchen in about fifteen minutes?"
"Will do, Grunkle Ford!" Mabel saluted the old man with a grin.
"Great! I'll see you down there."
The twins beamed at their relative as he left the room and closed the door behind him, their smiles dropping into frowns not a second later as they both turned to Bill, who had turned back into his human form and was laughing hysterically as he held his stomach.
"That's not funny, Bill!" Dipper commented as he climbed out of his bed and walked up to the demon. "What were you thinking?"
"I don't know, but that was priceless!" he snickered as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Old Six Fingers is just as clueless as the first day I met him."
"What exactly happened the first time you met him?"
"That's for me to know and you to NOT find out, kid." Bill stretched his arms out and levitated from the bed, turning towards Mabel with a smirk. "So, what's on the agenda for today, Shooting Star? I thought we could go out for a stroll at the local shopping complex. According to my research, that's where kids your age usually like to hang out."
"You mean the mall?" Mabel asked, to which Bill nodded. "Sure, I guess we could go to the mall today. I actually have some money mom gave me that I want to spend."
"That's the spirit! We'll have a swell time! We could get some clothes and absurdly expensive junk food. I can even get you some of that ice cream you kids love so much!"
"Do you even have any money to buy all that?" Dipper inquired, raising a brow at the demon.
"Pfft… 'money'?" Bill scoffed, placing his hands on his hips. "Who needs money when you have magic?"
Bill suddenly disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the room behind an ice cream counter, wearing a white and pink striped apron with his usual one-eyed triangle symbol printed on it and matching hat on his head. He snapped his fingers and his old golden cane appeared on his hands, which he twirled around theatrically as what sounded like old-timey carnival music played in the background.
"Step right up, ladies and gents, to Uncle Bill's Ice Cream Emporium!" he declared enthusiastically, almost acting like Grunkle Stan when he tried to get people to visit the Mystery Shack. "We have all the flavors you can imagine, and more! We guarantee you will not be disappointed."
With the wave of his hand he made an ice cream cone appear, the ice cream itself being light orange with darker orange stripes around it.
"Would the young lady like a free sample?" he asked, handing Mabel the cone.
"Ooh, don't mind if I do!" Mabel replied as she took the free ice cream sample, her face lighting up as she tasted the treat. "This is delicious! What flavor is it?"
"Kitten flavor."
Mabel quickly dropped the ice cream and spat out the portion in her mouth, trying to wipe her tongue as she groaned in disgust.
"And that's just the tip of the iceberg!" Bill continued, ignoring Mabel's nauseated state. "I have flavors of everything you can think of. The possibilities are endless!"
"What about the regular flavors, like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry?" Dipper stepped in, examining the various flavors on Bill's ice cream counter.
"Nope. I'm fresh out of those." Bill stated, crossing his arms.
"How did you even make these?"
"Sorry, kid, but a good cook never reveals his secrets." He smiled and gave Dipper a tap on the head with his cane.
Once they cleared out Bill's ice cream counter of horrors and had breakfast, Mabel managed to sneak the demon out and, after much begging and emotional blackmail, borrow Stan's car to drive to the mall. Dipper decided to stay behind and catch up on the sleep he didn't get during the night. He wasn't very happy to let his sister walk around with a dream demon on her own, but he was too exhausted to even think straight, so he just slipped the journal which contained the best spell against him into her purse and told her to use it if she ever felt like she could be in danger.
It was a hot day in Gravity Falls, so it was a great relief to enter the mall and feel the air conditioner blowing down on them. Even Bill had to agree with that fact. Being affected by the heat was new to him, so he felt it more than anyone.
"I don't know how you humans stand this." He commented as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "If I had known it would feel like this, I wouldn't've opened a hole in the ozone layer to begin with."
The mall was virtually empty at that hour, what with it being a week day, and after walking around for just a couple of minutes Bill seemed to be growing impatient.
"This is a mall? It's so boring!" he grumbled with a frown as he looked around. "Where are all the groups of giggling teenage girls trying on clothes to the sound of trendy pop songs?"
"You've been watching too many 80s teenage movies." Mabel giggled. "This is what the mall is now; a place where people come to buy stuff and occasionally spend the time by watching a movie or eating fatty foods."
"Booooooooooriiiiing…" Bill insisted. "I don't understand what so special about a place like this, anyway."
Mabel poked her chin as she looked around, pondering how she could show the demon that the mall was more than meets the eye. She spotted the sign that pointed towards the food court, an idea flashing in her mind.
"I've got it!" she exclaimed as she grabbed Bill's arm and dragged him towards the ascending escalator. "I know just the thing to lift your spirits!"
They went up to the second floor where the food court was, Bill instantly feeling nauseous with the smell of deep fried food around him. Mabel left him at a table and went to the Mexican Food counter, ordering a taco for her demonic friend. She wasn't hungry herself, having had breakfast not an hour ago, but she figured Bill would like to try human food, even if he didn't really possess the need to eat.
When she returned Bill was looking more bored than ever, his head resting on his left hand as his right hand impatiently tapped its fingers on the washed-out plastic table.
"Here you go." She handed him the Mexican delicacy as she sat down, Bill staring at it with a raised brow.
"What in the world is that?" he asked, pointing at the taco with a slightly freaked-out look on his face.
"It's a taco, a traditional Mexican dish."
"So it's food?"
"Yup."
"You actually eat this?" he took hold of the taco and examined its contents with a queasy expression. "It looks disgusting."
"No, it's delicious! Try it."
Bill took a whiff of the food in his hands and grimaced; it smelt even worse than it looked. He slowly brought the taco to his mouth and took a small bite out of it, spitting it out instantly.
"Urgh, this tastes like pure cholesterol!" he whined, tossing the delicacy into the closest trash bin. "No wonder you people have so many heart attacks. This was specifically made to clog up your arteries!"
Mabel couldn't help but laugh at Bill's comment as she watched him clean his tongue with a toothbrush he had just conjured up. It was amusing to see him so uncomfortable, probably because it felt like payback from his ice cream shenanigan. Whatever the reason, she just couldn't stop chuckling at him.
"Mabel? Is that you?"
The brunette whipped her head around in the direction of the voice that had called her and gasped when she saw two girls who were very familiar to her: one a bespectacled Korean girl with straight black hair and the other a large girl with auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"Candy! Grenda!" Mabel squealed, running up to her childhood friends. They held each other in a tight group hug and hopped in place whilst giggling.
"I knew that was you!" Grenda declared, her voice still low and gruff. "Candy didn't believe me, but I was like 'that's totally her'!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't really recognize you without a sweater on." Candy explained as she adjusted her glasses. "Are you and Dipper back for another summer holiday?"
"Yup! For whole weeks of nonstop fun!" Mabel confirmed. "But what's new with you guys? Are you still dating Marius, Grenda?"
"You bet I am! I just got back from Austria, where I spent a week with him at his family's estate." She pulled out her wallet and showed Mabel a photo of her and Marius horseback riding by the beach. "The guy can't keep his hands off me, but I'm not complaining."
"That's so romantic! And what about you, Candy? Any hotties in your life?" Mabel playfully nudged her Korean friend.
"Not yet, but I am perfecting one." She retrieved a blueprint from her purse and unrolled for Mabel to see. On it was drawn what seemed to be a robot prototype. "I call it DateBot 3000. If all goes according to my calculations, it will be ready within three days."
"Cool, a robot boyfriend! They should really make more of those." Mabel stated with a slight pout.
"They should, but making good-looking robots is still a work in development. I wish I could make mine look as good as that guy you're with." Candy pointed to the table behind Mabel.
"Yeah, who is that hunky dreamboat? Hubba hubba!" Grenda said, looking over Mabel's shoulder.
Mabel followed her gazes involuntarily to see Bill jadedly trying to balance his cane on the palm of his hand.
"Is he your boyfriend, Mabel?" Candy asked.
"W-what?!" Mabel stuttered as she quickly turned back around, her cheeks reddening. "N-no, no… Bill's j-just –"
"You bet your sweet patootie I am."
Mabel jumped with a yelp when Bill suddenly appeared by her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he flashed a grin at the other two girls. Had he teleported or did he just sneak up on her again?
Candy and Grenda gasped and oohed in unison, their eyes as wide as saucers.
"What are you doing?" Mabel whispered angrily into Bill's hear.
"Play along." He replied.
"Holy Chihuahua, you're hot!" Grenda remarked, her smile as wide as it could get. "Are you a model?"
"As a matter of fact I am." Bill responded, sensually flicking his hair away from his face. "A European model."
"Oh my GOSH! A European model! That's the best kind of model!"
"Calm down, Grenda." Candy laughed nervously, patting her large friend's arm without taking her eyes off the blond man in front of her. "Don't forget, you have a boyfriend. Who's also European."
"Yeah, but he's not a model!"
"So how did you two meet?"
"I, uh…" Mabel stammered, her blush increasing.
"Oh, we met a few months ago." Bill quickly answered. "I was touring America for Spring Fashion Week and Mabel just happened to be at one of my shows. And as soon as I saw this beautiful face…" he gently took hold of Mabel's chin and lifted her head towards his, gazing lovingly into her eyes. "…I just knew I had to make her mine."
Mabel's face was now beat red as she looked into Bill's dark eyes, her friends releasing a long 'awww' in front of them. She didn't exactly know why, but for some reason she was enjoying the way he was acting towards her. Bill was looking at her with such love in his eyes; it was mind-numbing. She knew he was faking it, but it felt so right…
She felt her insides turn in a way she hadn't felt that in a long time. Could she be developing feelings towards the blond dream demon? No, that couldn't be possible… could it?
"You're so lucky, Mabel." Candy sighed.
"She is indeed." Bill agreed, reaching down to grab Mabel's hand. "Now if you'll excuse us, I promised my lady we would go see a movie."
"Erm, yeah, right. A movie." Mabel chuckled as she awoke from her trance and Bill started to pull her away. "I'll see you girls later."
"Call us when you get home!" Candy called out. "We want to know all the juicy deets!"
"And send us picture of him when he's sleeping!" Grenda shouted, a little louder than she should have.
After walking with Bill for a few steps, Mabel turned around to see if her friends were still there, and once she was sure they weren't looking, she quickly yanked her hand away from Bill's grasp and punched his arm as hard as she could, making him flinch.
"What was that for?" Bill whimpered as he rubbed his arm.
"That's what I'd like to know." Mabel retorted angrily. "Did you really have to lie to my friends like that?"
"Oh please, they had it coming." He crossed his arms and gave her a smirk. "And admit it, you enjoyed that."
"What, being dishonest?"
"No. Feeling like you were better than them. And don't try to deny it. I can see right through you."
"Well…" a smile unwillingly crept through her face. "Maybe just a little. Just don't do that ever again, OK?"
"Duly noted, madam." He gallantly tipped his hat at her. "So what else should we do in this endless pit of misery you humans call the 'mall'?" he asked with a frown, making air quotes around the word 'mall'.
"Well, I do believe you were going to treat me to a movie."
"You do realize that was part of the act, right?"
"I do, but you owe me for what you just did. We are going to see a movie."
"Fine…" Bill sighed exasperatedly and rolled his eyes.
Luckily for him, there were no chick flicks or rom coms showing at that moment, knowing that would've been Mabel's obvious first choice, so she settled for a comedy about a rich ninja and a rock star that got together after foiling a bank robbery to prove their theory of an alternate dimension ruled by giant monsters. The plot was terrible, but everyone in the audience was laughing their heads off as soon as the movie began. Even Bill, who had been dragged against his will onto his seat, was banging his fist against his armrest as he guffawed uncontrollably.
"It's funny because it's true!" he laughed almost breathlessly. "There actually is a dimension populated by giant monsters!"
Mabel didn't know what was making her laugh more, the movie itself or Bill's reaction to it. It was amusing to see what used to be an evil dream demon that tried to control the universe and brought so much harm to her family act like that.
Bill had noticed she was looking at him, and just as she turned her focus back to the movie, an idea crossed his mind. He remembered a move that he had seen somewhere and that was guaranteed to work with the females of the human race and decided this was the perfect opportunity to use it. He casually yawned and stretched his arms upwards, his left arm descending behind Mabel's head and resting over her shoulders.
Mabel stiffened in her seat as she felt Bill's arm around her, her cheeks reddening instantly. She gazed at him from the corner of her eye and saw him grinning at her, which made her blush even more. She quickly looked away from him, trying to concentrate on the movie she was supposed to be watching, but her mind was going a mile a minute. Why was Bill doing that? Did he like her? Was he trying to put the moves on her?
As much as it pained her to admit it, she liked the attention she was receiving from the blond demon. Truth be told, she hadn't had a boyfriend in a long time, not since that Italian foreign exchange student that had had classes with her during her Junior year. It had broken her heart to find out she wasn't the only girl he was dating at the time, and for a while she felt like she could never love again. And now this was happening.
She almost jumped out of her seat when she heard Bill laughing at something that happened in the movie. She shook her head to try and rid herself from her thoughts as she looked up at the demon, her jaw dropping when she saw he was holding up a video camera and pointing it up at the screen in front of them.
"Bill, what're you doing?" she whispered, looking around to see if anyone else had noticed him. "You can't film the movie! You'll get us into trouble!"
"Calm down, Shooting Star." He said as he patted her head a little too calmly. "Everybody does it and no one ever gets caught."
"Hey, you!"
They froze as a flashlight shone over them and saw a very displeased female usher coming down the stairs towards them.
"Well, time to go." Bill stated as he wrapped an arm around Mabel's waist and snapped his fingers, making them vanish into thin air and leaving the usher and the rest of the audience that had turned around to look at them stunned and confused.
They reappeared not a second later inside Stan's car, Mabel in the driver's seat and Bill in the passenger's seat next to her. The brunette seemed to be shocked and speechless, her eyes wide as she gazed into the distance. Bill, on the other hand, simply wiped his forehead and sighed in relief.
"That was close." He commented as he looked over at Mabel, who remained irresponsive. "OK, I know you're probably mad at me, and I probably deserve that, but let me just say –"
"That was awesome!"
He quickly turned his head to face the teenager, who now had one of the biggest grins he had ever seen spread across her face.
"Say what?" he raised a brow confusedly.
"I've never had such an amazing experience in my life!" she declared, her eyes twinkling with excitement. "I had no idea being able to teleport was so cool! Does it always feel like that?"
"Pretty much." He replied, relieved to see she wasn't mad. "I'm just glad the car was so close, or else we would've had to make a run for it. I can't teleport across long distances with another person."
"Well, it was really something." She giggled, her gaze falling upon the car's clock. "We should get back. Grunkle Stan will be starting lunch soon."
She turned the ignition key, the engine coming to life with a roar and causing the whole vehicle to tremble. She backed the car out of the parking lot and made a turn into the road that would take them back to the Mystery Shack. As she drove her mind involuntarily went back to her previous thoughts. What if Bill really was interested in her and was trying to make a move? She couldn't know for sure; he could just be messing with her head, which would be something she would've expected from him. But what if he wasn't? It was all so confusing…
Bill smiled to himself; he knew what she was thinking, and it pleased him. It was all going according to his plan. It wouldn't be long now until she fell head over heels for him. He just had to make the most out the five days he had left.
AUTHOR'S NOTE (PLEASE READ)
I'm not particularly proud of this chapter... What do you guys think? I really appreciate honest reviews and constructive criticism. But no flames, please.
And remember, I'm still taking suggestions! So far I've gotten two that I'm saving for later, but if you guys have any more I'd love to hear them.
