"Now, keep this arm rested, alright? You've recently been out of a coma, Ms. Pines, breaking parts of your body is going to give you a higher risk of slipping back into one."

Usually, I would have rolled my eyes at the doctor's idiotic advice that anyone's common sense would have told them, but this time I just nodded my head, feeling numb and out of focus.

Bill Cipher. I had just let Bill Cipher into this dimension again.

"Hayden! You okay?" Dipper asked me, jumping off the steel chairs as soon as he saw me. I gave a nod, walking straight for the exit, shoulders slumped. I must have looked like a zombie.

Then again, if anyone knew what I had done, they'd probably want me dead.

"Hayden! Where do you think you're going?" I heard Uncle Stan call after me, but I simply shrugged and continued walking past the car.

Everywhere I looked, an image of what that place had looked like during Weirdmageddon flashed through my head.

Over there, Mabel's Time Bubble once stood.

And over there, there was once a big 'X' that had marked Bill's entry into our dimension.

And what now? Would everything just repeat? Or would Bill despise us so much that he would double, even triple maybe, the consequences?

Behind me, I heard the crunch of someone stepping on a fallen branch and I whirled around to find the weirdest sight I had seen so far.

Bill, once a triangle-shaped demon hellbent on destruction, was now a teenage boy my age with two eyes, and he was wearing a hospital gown. Beside him, whispering stuff into his ear and sort of forcing him towards me was Mabel, who gave me a look once she saw me staring.

"Tell her what happened." she demanded, pushing Bill towards me.

Before I could ask what she was talking about, she ran off in the opposite direction, ushering Dad, Uncle Stan, and Dipper away.

"What, here to gloat about your victory." I snapped, getting a shock when Bill winced at my harsh words. What had happened to the smug, evil demon after everything that had happened?

"I'm not a demon anymore, if that's what you want to know." Bill said, his voice calmer but still holding the same pitch.

"Do you think I'm stupid?!" I scoffed, a crazed smile making it's way onto my face. "I know you just possessed someone to fool us. Well, guess what? You're not fooling anyone, so why don't you just kill us all now already. You're going to do it sooner or later."

"I'm not messing with you, Hayden. They undid what they had done to me before." Bill murmured.

Even though I was still fuming mad at myself and believed that Bill was out to get us, what he said did spark my interest.

"What do you mean, 'undid'?" I asked, although still somewhat rudely.

Though I wasn't looking at his direction, I saw Bill perk up from my peripheral version. He sat down onto the edge of a nearby cliff overlooking the small town of Gravity Falls. I followed suit, sitting a few inches away from him.

"You see, I'm not actually a demon." Bill started, pursing his lips when he heard me stifle a laugh. "Yeah, fine, don't believe me. But I used to be as human as I am now. And this," here he gestured to his body, "was exactly what I looked like."

"You. Human." I repeated. "Those aren't two words I'd put together in the same sentence unless there was a negation."

Despite my outburst, Bill continued on as if I hadn't spoken. "It was the Great Depression - and if you've paid enough attention to your history classes, you know how hard it was for us back then."

For some reason, as Bill spoke, I could imagine the scene in front of me. Bill, his body, hair, and face dirty with sweat and soil. His clothes were ragged and dirty, as if he had no other choice but to wear them, and he cowered behind what looked like a wall as two shadowed figures fought and shouted at each other.

"As flesh bags go, I was a pathetic one." Bill laughed. "And I cried all the time because my parents fought. I didn't want anything else other than for us to be happy. Maybe I should've stayed quiet about that."

Bill sighed, looking up at the setting sun. "I made a deal with a demon. Asked for my parents' happiness. And all I had to do was become a demon. Back then I was stupid, because I said yes without thinking. Next thing I know, I'm a triangle and all I can think about is murder, more murder, and revenge."

"What happened to your parents?"

Bill looked my way, then looked back up at the sky to shrug. "They're dead by now. Didn't have the sanity to remember them when I was a demon, and now it's impossible to find out. Besides, I'd only end up hating myself more if they died because of my stupidity."

"Why are you telling me all this? If you're telling the truth and I still don't believe you, I could kill you while you sleep." I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

Bill laughed his usual high-pitched crazed laugh, and gave me a sharp grin. "As long as you give me statements like that every once in a while I'm pretty sure I'm okay with tolerating the fact you hate me."

"About that." I stated, still confused. "Why are you saying all this? Acting like I'm important. I'm the daughter of your arch nemesis, but that's all. I think you'd be more concerned on how the twins treat you."

I expected a grin, a wink, a teasing phrase, or whatever would have reminded me that Bill was just the same demon in a human form and not a different person like part of me wanted to think, but all I got was an almost sympathetic look.

I watched as Bill walked back to where Mabel was waiting, her eyes shining with eagerness as if to ask what had happened. Bill raised his shoulders and then let them fall (a shrug), and Mabel's look turned to me, as if asking me what had happened. Unfortunately for her, I averted my gaze, not wanting to answer her questions or to deal with Bill as of the moment.

So, okay, fine, maybe I hadn't released a weapon of mass destruction into Gravity Falls. Maybe what I had released was a bomb with the countdown broken - it was still going on even though it looked like that it had stopped for good, and we would all just be surprised one day to find out that the bomb had exploded and we'd be back in the same hell we had tried so hard to fix.

"Oh, good, I thought he'd never leave."

"What is it with demons and shitty timing?" I faked asking sweetly, turning to face the pink cat I knew was there. She gave me a slight purr, licking her paw in contentment.

"What, are you going to blame moi for your mistakes?" Felicia asked, face full of mock shock, as if taunting me - and I knew full well that was exactly what she was trying to do. "It's not my fault you wanted to save him so badly."

"You're the one who lied to me about him needing help in the first place!" I reminded her. "The dreams, everything! You made me believe he needed help."

"And tell me, doesn't he need help?" Felicia asked, taking two steps closer to where I was still sitting. "After what he just told you, are you sure he still doesn't need help?"

Wait a minute.

"I knew it." I whispered hoarsely. "This is all just a whole set-up to make me believe that Bill actually changed!"

Felicia said nothing, just giving me a nonchalant shrug as I stood up in anger, growling, "Well, it isn't your lucky day, 'cause you're not fooling anyone."

I stomped over to where everyone was talking, but they all went quiet when I pushed Bill to the ground. "Get your fucking hands off my cousin." I sneered with what I hoped looked like rage.

It must have been, because Bill looked at me with fear and surprise. "Hayden, I-"

"Hayden, he's telling the truth!" Mabel tried to persuade me. "He really was human before, and-"

"Mabel, don't be so gullible!" I exclaimed in exasperation, and Mabel cowered back as well. Dipper immediately went to comforting her, sending me a warning glare but I didn't care what they thought. It's what they needed to know was what was important.

"You think that just because you make a made-believe story, that I can relate to because all I want is to see my father happy, that I'll believe you just like that? You're even worse than before!" I yelled, hot tears streaming down my face. "Well, I got news for you, bud."

"Hayden-" Bill tried to plead, but I had had enough.

"I've had to live in a dimension where I had no idea if I would be ripped to shreds while I was asleep, or if my father would be able to come back that night. All my life I seeked for a chance to avenge my mother, and once I got to this dimension I got that chance by defeating you. Don't think that just because I'm broken on the inside, I'm letting you break me on the outside. I'm not weak, and you're. Not. Fooling. Anyone!"

"Hayden, that's enough!" Dipper exclaimed.

"You're all busy pitying the poor human-turned-demon because he's that good at lying! Well, guess what, people? As long as this guy's here, there's no such thing as peace anymore!"

And it's my fault.

"If you finally get to your senses and want to blame me, I'll be in my room packing my bags. I'm rather choose to be dead in the forests than allowing my emotions to lead to the death of others."

I started my walk home, expecting the others to follow me, but nobody did. All the better, I was alone with my bitter thoughts just like it should have always been.

Once I reached the Mystery Shack, I made a beeline for my room, stuffing Mom's jacket and a few other clothes in there. After slinging it over my shoulder, I grabbed the watch from my bedside table and proceeded to leave the Shack.

I didn't get to go that far.

A hand shot out to grab my backpack, pulling me back to face them.

"Hayden? Man, haven't seen you since last night - dude, are you crying?!"

"No use hiding my face now." I tried to laugh, but Wendy didn't seem fooled.

"Come on, let's talk." she told me, leading me to a fallen log overgrown with vines. Once we had sat down, she put a supportive hand on my back, moving it up and down in a soothing manner. "Why do you look like you're leaving?"

"I am." I answered honestly.

"Uh-huh. Without Dr. Pines?"

I nodded. "Yeah, without Dad."

"And this isn't one of those monster hunt camps he doesn't know about, 'cause otherwise Dipper or Mabel would be here."

"Yeah."

"And Mr. Pines wouldn't let you leave if he knew, because then Dr. Pines would kill him. So no one knows you're leaving?"

"Yeah."

"So if I'm correct, you're running away. To…where, exactly?"

I gestured to the forest with my head. Wendy looked in the same direction, looking confused.

"The forest?"

Nod.

"You'll die."

"That's the plan."

The panicked look on Wendy's face somehow amused me. "You want to commit suicide?!"

I shook my head. "I'm letting nature kill me."

"So you're not planning on suicide."

I shook my head. No, suicide wasn't what I had had in mind."You're going to hide yourself in the forest, waiting 'till either starvation or predators kill you. Not suicide. Am I right?"

I nodded, a bit proud that she had gotten all that from my crazy actions.

"That isn't right."

Wendy looked at me in what looked like mixed anger and sadness, her voice scarily calm as she stated, "Hayden, your family would go crazy looking for you, don't add to their troubles if you really love them."

"It's the reason I'm leaving in the first place, isn't it?" I murmured. "I'm the reason we're in this mess, and I'm better use to people dead than alive."

"Yes, of course, that makes total sense!"

I looked up at Wendy with shock. Although I really believed I was benefiting my family by leaving, I didn't expect Wendy to understand so perfectly.

"You'll be of much better use to Dipper and Mabel dead than alive, because Mabel won't have who she calls 'the best cousin in the world' to laugh and gossip and be generally silly about! And of course Dipper would absolutely love it if one of the few people he met that are his age who genuinely like science and whatever else he likes just died and disappeared, because he doesn't love his cousin at all." Wendy said, her sarcasm clear as day. "Of course Mr. Pines would love the face that his niece, whom he's only been with for a couple of years, would decide that she wasn't worth anything and disappear, leaving him to wonder what he did wrong and what he should've done."

As she continued to ramble about what everyone would feel, I found my vision getting blurrier and blurrier - which didn't make sense, because I was still wearing my glasses.

Once one of the tears made it's way down my face, however, I was suddenly hit with the realization that I had been crying.

"And of course, your dad. Dr. Pines." Wendy said, and just hearing his name made my heart sting a little bit. "Of course he'd feel absolutely dandy as a father, knowing that he lacked so much that his daughter had to give up on life. You know, his daughter, the light of his life, the only remembrance left of his wife, and he had failed her, and maybe, as a terrible father, he should just end his own life, and-"

"STOP IT! SHUT UP!" I screamed, putting my hands over my ears in a feeble attempt to block out Wendy's talking. The scene had been playing in my head, over and over, my father dead because of me.

What was I thinking?

"Hayden, I'm sorry." Wendy said, softer this time as she crouched down to my eye level. I had crouched down by this time as well, overcome with grief and fear of what she had been relaying to me. "Look, the only way to talk you out of it was showing you - sort of - what would happen if you did go through with leaving them. I don't exactly know what's going on, never really did with all this demon stuff, but I know you enough to know that you're just guilty about what you did. And that's okay, people make mistakes. Even if it was a big mistake in your perspective, there's still a chance to fix it with a big solution. And that solution is being with the people you love and doing your best to help them solve this problem, okay? Leaving them is going to hurt all of us, and I know you don't want that. Do you?"

I shook my head. I must have looked like a kid, with Wendy talking to me softly like a school teacher and me crouched down, sobbing, now with hiccups as I tried to calm down.

Imagine what that must have looked like when everyone returned from the hospital.

"Hayden!" Dad called. Wendy stepped aside a split second before Dad engulfed me in a hug, his tears falling onto my shoulder as he sobbed, "Oh God I thought I had lost you."

"I'm not going anywhere, Dad." I laughed, though I was still crying. "I'm never ever ever going anywhere."

"PINES HUG!" Mabel shouted, and soon I was engulfed by Dipper, Mabel, and Uncle Stan as well.

"Honorary Pines like Wendy included." she then added soon after, and we all laughed as Wendy was joined in the hug as well.

For a split second, I opened my eyes to look over Dad's shoulders, and I saw Bill smiling at us with. There was a sentiment to his smile, as if he was remembering something.

Once he saw me looking, he gave me a smile as well, before walking off into our opposite direction.

I sighed, closing my eyes again and giving Dad a tighter hug.

How was it possible to feel pity for a being who had tried to kill us all?

A/N: Yep, made the next chapter immediately after! I really missed making this fic, so now I'm all ready to make new additions to the story!

(Quick Fact: Prom's on Sunday!)

Leave a review! :)

-psychopathicdorito