It had been nearly a month since the bracelet incident. Since then, Dipper had turned nearly everyone against him. Everywhere he went, people stayed away from him. His eyes held a level of cold fury that made even the toughest of others shy away in his presence.
Bill and Pacifica hadn't talked with him since then, either. It was destroying the Gleeful boy more than his father's abuse. While others thought him emotionless, he was actually just a broken child with no vent system, waiting for someone to come to his aid. But that never crossed the Pines kids' minds. They had cut all ties with their old friend. It was clear they weren't on good terms anymore, and Dipper feared it might be forever. But fate has a funny way of turning things around…
oOo
"Bill! We're out of cereal!" Stan called. Bill looked up from the book he had been reading in the attic room, by the red window with the star design on it. He thought that it was interesting, and he liked reading in the sill.
"On it, Grunkle Stan!" Bill had learned to accept that term.
He jumped down from his place in the window and lay the book face down on the cushions. He had also learned to accept that when there was a problem, his uncle liked to call on him to fix it.
The boy walked downstairs and out of the shack, following a familiar path through the woods into town. He passed Lazy Susan and Manly Dan and Tyler, all his friends there in Gravity Falls. None of them had been as close at Dipper had… Bull shook his head, chasing the thought aside. He continued his walk to the store, watching the whole town go about its daily routine. The only place he wasn't paying attention to, it seemed, was the path ahead of him.
As he rounded the corner, gazing at the quaint town of Gravity Falls, someone else walked in the opposite direction and the two collided. Bill toppled over and landed on his behind, a looked of startled worry on his face.
"Omigosh! Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there! I was just so sidetracked and…" He stopped as the other sat up and blinked coldly at him. The boy was his age with soft brown hair and eyes to match, a navy blue T-shirt on and jeans, a turquoise pendant attached to the chain of a pocket watch dangled from his shirt pocket. "D-dipper?" He stuttered.
Dipper stood, his gaze like cold fire. "Pines." He muttered, voice soaked in hostility and resent.
Bill's gaze hardened, standing and dusting himself off. "Been a while." He said, voice quiet and dangerous.
Dipper just scoffed.
Bill's head snapped up and he glared at the Gleeful kid, full force. "You seem to act like it was me who did something wrong!" He hissed.
"Of course. You jumped to conclusions." Dipper shot back. He jabbed a finger into Bill's chest, accusingly. Bill swatted it away.
"What was I supposed to think? 'Oh! This person is standing over my cousin's favorite bracelet with a rock and it's in pieces! I think they're trying to fix it!'" He spoke the last part in a mocking tone. Dipper glared at Bill, fists clenched, teeth gritted.
"Shut your mouth, Pines! You have no idea what I've had to go through because of you!" He barked.
Bill threw up his hands. "You did this to yourself! Next time think twice about destroying people's possessions." The boy spun on his heel and marched off, across the street, leaving Dipper alone with himself, the boy looking as cold as ever.
oOo
Dipper leaned against the wall and slid down, pressing his face into his knees. Bill had just left, and he couldn't stand it anymore. He just wanted to be friends again, but he was always too afraid to show any emotion but anger. If he broke down into tears in front of anyone… but no one was around, he was alone, and he felt as horrible as ever.
As he sulked, he broke down into an anxiety attack, tears streaming over his face, fear and anger and hurt flooding his system. Why was this happening to him? Why did everyone hate him so much? Why was Bud such a jerk to him, his own son? Dipper didn't have an answer for any of it. He clenched his eyes shut, tears still flowing down his face, gripping the sides of his head like it might make it all go away.
He was only vaguely aware of the person who came and sat beside him.
oOo
Bill was about to walk into the store, when he realized he had dropped his wallet.
"I can't buy anything without money." He groaned. He backtracked, retracing his steps, and found himself back at the corner where he had run into Dipper. Surprisingly, the boy was still there. But something was off. He had tears pouring down his face and he was clutching his head like it might fly away without him. He kept muttering about his dad and all sorts of other things Bill couldn't make out.
Bill didn't know why, but he found himself sitting beside Dipper, comforting him. He gripped the other boy's shoulders and murmured softly to him.
"It's alright. You're alright. Everything's going to be fine. Deep breaths." Dipper followed his instructions and, gradually, he relaxed. He turned his watery brown eyes to Bill with a mixture of surprise, fear, and gratitude.
"B-bill… I'm so sorry, you know I didn't break that bracelet. My dad framed me to pull us apart. I tried to find some kind of spell to fix it, but there was nothing in my journal about it, and…" Dipper broke off, hiccupping and wiping tears from his eyes.
"It's… It's okay, Dipper. I guess deep down I always knew it wasn't you, but my mind refused to accept it." Bill shook his head and fixed his golden gaze on Dipper. "I owe you the apology, here." He insisted.
And for the first time since their falling out, Dipper smiled. Dryly but surely, he smiled. Things were going to be alright.
A/N: yaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! That is all.
