Days passed in a blur for the Pines family, and they saw neither hide nor hair of Bill. Slowly but surely evidence of his stay began to be packed into boxes. Mabel and Stanford grew tired of Dipper's suffering, and begun ridding the house of everything that Bill used or loved. The coffee maker was first to go, getting stuffed into Stan's office so the old man could still use it. The blanket that was on the couch that Mabel had made for the demon was stuffed into a bag and thrown into her room, his shoes were hid under her bed, his pants were hidden at the bottom of the laundry basket, along with his shirts, and his favorite mug was hidden behind her laptop in her bedroom.

The two things they couldn't get from Dipper, however, was Bill's sweater, and his pillow. Mabel had knit him a sweater embroidered with bricks and a bow-tie like his demon form, and he had left it behind when Dipper sent him away. Dipper didn't last long before that sweater became his permanent wardrobe, never taking it off for anything. Her twin being miserable made Mabel miserable in turn, and Stanford was getting driven crazy by the constantly morose teenagers laying around the Mystery Shack.

Soos and Wendy tried valiantly to cheer them up, even calling Pacifica, Candy and Grenda over, but nothing seemed to work. When separate, they were miserable, and when they were together they were in a constant battle of who could pretend better than the other.

But everybody knew they were faking it.

Within a week of Bill leaving Mabel had stopped knitting, and Dipper had stuffed the Journal's under his mattress and hadn't touched them in days. Mabel's outfits became less vibrant, the bags under Dipper's eyes grew, Mabel stopped getting up to make breakfast, Dipper stopped sleeping altogether. By the time a week and a half had gone by, Mabel was past denial and was forcing herself to leave the house with her friends, and Dipper sat up in his room and didn't move.

He missed the demon. He had never meant to send him away- he'd never thought that Bill would take him seriously and leave- never thought that he would ever be in this situation. Every time he had thought of his future, Bill was always in it. He had never even considered the idea that Bill wouldn't be there, wouldn't be his best friend, his confidante, his guide. Just his. And now he was gone, and Dipper was powerless to fix it.

He clenched his hands into fists in the sweater and bowed his head, jumping when there was a harsh knock on the door.

"What?" he grunted

The door opened and Pacifica walked in, folding her arms over her chest. He stared blankly at her, and she stared right back, eventually heaving a sigh.

"Can you explain? Mabel won't tell me what's going on."

"Bill is gone."

"Well I know that." she snorted "I'm not an idiot. I mean why?"

"I sent him away. We got in a fight. I was an idiot."

Pacifica was quiet for a moment

"Have you tried calling him back?"

"He said he wasn't watching anymore, Pacifica. And if he was, he would have already come back. I've said his name more than enough since he left"

She fell silent, and when he made no move to say anything else she turned and left the room, Dipper returning to his previous position.

BILLDIP

It was the middle of the night when Dipper moved from his bed for a purpose other than the bathroom for the first time in weeks. His movements were slow and hesitant as he stood and grabbed his backpack off the floor. He glanced back to the bed where Bill's pillow laid, and his expression crumpled. Not wanting to give Mabel the chance to hide it, like he knew she was hiding everything else, he grabbed it and stuffed it in his backpack.

He made his way down the stairs with ease, slipping through the living room and through the giftshop with ease. He stepped into his shoes, jumping and crying out when there was a voice behind him

"Where are you going?"

He whirled, fear filled eyes falling upon his Grunkle Stan, and Stanford raised a brow, clicking on the light and folding his arms over his chest.

"Out."

"I can see that. Why?"

"I-"

"You're not going to look for that demon, are you?"

Dipper looked away, hands clenching into fists at his sides. He swallowed thickly and when he spoke his voice was firm

"I have to do this Grunkle Stan. Please don't stop me."

Stanford squinted, examining the teenager with scrutinizing eyes, and after a moment his features softened. His pose relaxed and he dropped his arms to hang by his sides, realization flashing briefly through his eyes

"Yeah. You do." he nodded "Alright, kid. Go for it. I'll see you in the morning."

"Thanks Grunkle Stan." Dipper murmured before slipping out the door. Stan flicked the light off when he was gone and sighed heavily before making his way back to his bedroom.

BILLDIP

Dipper walked through the woods for a while, not entirely sure where he was going, but he wanted to be far enough in that he wouldn't be found by his family should he be gone longer than the following morning. When he stopped, he took a seat and tossed the backpack on the ground in front of him, staring blankly at it for a moment.

"Bill..." he finally began, "I... I don't even know if you're listening to me.." a harsh laugh escaped him "Why would you be? But if you are, I just want to say I'm sorry. I'm sure you've heard me say that a million times this week, and if it was going to make a difference, you would have come home by now..." he hung his head, and didn't notice the figure creeping up behind him "I didn't mean what I said... I didn't mean to send you away... I was just scared. Scared of what I feel- of what you feel- of losing you." his hands clenched into fists and his voice cracked "But I was so scared of losing you... That I did the thing that made my fears a reality."

The teenager fell forward, forearms hitting the ground, forehead touching the mud, hat toppling off his head, and he let out a weak sob.

"I'm so sorry, Bill." he whispered "I never wanted this." his gaze slowly rose and landed upon the backpack. It took a while, but eventually he forced himself to sit up and get to his feet. He grabbed his hat off the ground and stuck it atop his backpack "But I guess I can't undo what I've done. So I've got to let you go."

He stepped away and turned his back to the items on the forest floor. After a moment, he began his way back to the shack. He barely made it five feet before something slammed into his back and tackled him to the ground. His body slammed into the ground, the air leaving his lungs in a strained huff, and he cried out in pain. He felt a large warm paw planted on his back, pushing him harder into the ground, and his blood ran cold, tears pricking at his eyes as he felt his ribs straining against the pressure.

"Stop-!" he tried to cry, voice a weak and strained rasp

He heard breathing next to his ear and the hairs on the back of his neck rose in fear. A snarl echoed through the air, and the jaws opened, Dipper's eyes slammed closed in resignation.

As suddenly as it had come, the pressure was gone, and Dipper flinched at the sound of a crash, a pained howl echoing through the clearing. He rolled onto his back and his eyes widened at the sight of Bill launching himself at the wolf that had been attacking him, the wolf rearing up and snapping its jaws at Bill. Bill ducked back, just barely evading the chomping teeth, and reared up, driving his fist into its stomach. The wolf was thrown back once more and Bill disappeared, reappearing in front of Dipper, back to the teenager, post defensive.

"Get away!" he snarled "The human belongs to me!" his eyes flashed red and the wolf rushed toward them. Bill let out a furious scream and took off, drawing his fist back, read to tear the beasts heart out like he had the other

At the last possible moment the beast leapt and landed atop Dipper. Dipper screeched, and the wolf lunged for a bite, Bill grabbing its tail and hauling it away at the last possible moment. The wolf screeched in agony as Bill used its tail to hurl it across the clearing.

"Away! Or I'll kill you, just like I killed your friend!"

The wolf snarled, baring its teeth at at the demon, and Bill bared his teeth right back. Dipper's heart was in his throat as he watched the two of them, relaxing only slightly when the wolf turned and disappeared into the trees. Bill visibly relaxed, defensive pose relaxing slightly, and Dipper gaped up at him in shock.

The demon was back. He had saved him. Bill didn't hate him.

"Bill?" he whispered weakly, and the demon turned and looked over his shoulder

"Are you okay?" he asked, voice void of emotion, and Dipper's heart sunk

"Uh- yeah." he nodded "I- I'm so glad to see you- I-" he broke off when the demon turned his back to him once more

"Did you mean what you were saying earlier?"

"Earlier? What-?" he broke off, cheeks turning a light pink "You were listening to that?"

"I've been listening to you all week, Pine Tree." Dipper's heart warmed slightly at the nickname and he nodded weakly "Did you mean it?"

Dipper got to his feet slowly and closed the distance between them, grabbing Bill's arm to turn him around, and the demon evenly met his gaze, expression a forced mask of indifference. His hand slipped down Bill's arm until his hand, and he gently held it

"Yes." he nodded "I meant every word, Bill."

His eyes widened in surprise and an expression of wonder crossed his face.

"Pine Tree-" he began, but Dipper cut him off

"I should have just told you, and none of this would've happened. I shouldn't have sent you away, and I shouldn't have lied, and I-" he broke off, searching Bill's eyes "I just-" he pursed his lips

"You what...?" he prompted, voice a soft whisper

"I..." his hand released Bill's so both could rise and cup the demons cheeks. Bill's eyes widened in surprise but the demon stayed perfectly still as Dipper leaned up and pressed their lips together.

As soon as their lips met, Bill responded, hands lifting, one settling on Dipper's waist and one cupping the back of his neck, both pulling him closer. One of Dipper's hands slipped back and tangled into Bill's silky hair, and the other dropped to clutch at the fabric of his suit and drag him closer, bodies flush together. Dipper gasped when he felt Bill's tongue rub against his lower lip, and Bill took the opportunity to plunge his tongue into the humans mouth, Dipper's knees going weak as he returned the gesture, moaning at the taste of the demon.

They parted only when Dipper's lungs were screaming desperately for air, and they stared at each other in silence, both their faces dusted a light pink, chests heaving. Dipper stuck his tongue out and gently licked his lips, and Bill's eyes followed the motion, breath hitching. Within seconds he had their lips together again, mouths opening to make way for tongues, and Bill wasted no time mapping out his Pine Tree's mouth, hungrily kissing the teenager as if their lives depended on it.

When they finally parted once more Dipper's face fell to meet Bill's shoulder, breath escaping in ragged pants

"I love you" he breathed, holding the demon tighter