The next morning Dipper woke up with the warmth of Bill alongside him and the smell of cooking eggs filling the air. With a small yawn, Dipper stretched his arms and began the long process of getting out of the sleeping bag and to his feet, being mindful to kiss his sleeping lover's exposed neck. Shuffling across the tarped ground of the tent he exited the tent allowing him to straighten his back in a full stretch and felt several of the joints along with his body pop. The chilly air settled on his warm skin while he took the sight around him. Jack stood in front of the propane stovetop with a mug of tea in his hand, scrambling eggs in the pan. Dipper approached the table while his mouth watered at the smell of bacon. The table had covered plates with bacon, toast, and the bowl of eggs was left open, waiting for more to be added to the small pile.
"Morning," Dipper greeted, gathering some food on a plate for himself. With a hum in greeting, Jack removed the pan and filled the egg bowl then turned the stovetop off.
"Do you want tea or coffee?" he asked, glancing over to Dipper.
"Coffee, please," he grumbled. Jack grabbed a mug and poured some coffee inside from the pot that was sitting on a portable water heater. Taking the cup, Dipper thanked the tall male and walked to the fire to greet the others that were already chowing down.
To his surprise, Mabel and Pacifica were already awake with food and drinks sitting at the fire as well. The only people who weren't already up were Bill, Charlie, and Mitch. Pacifica had her head against her girlfriend's shoulder and Angie sat on the other side of Mabel, also leaning against the twin. Both seemed to look like they were hit by trucks. Sitting across from the three girls, Dipper smirked a bit and looked over to Damien.
"What happened to them?" he asked in a groggy voice.
"Angie didn't drink water," Damien explained with a mouth full of food. "Pacifica must just be weak."
"How dare you," Dipper heard Pacifica scold. "I should have you arrested for such an insult. The Northwests' are not weak."
"My bad," Damien shrugged with a humorous smile on his face. "You must have drunk a lot more than we saw."
"I didn't drink much at all!" she tried to roar but flinched at the volume of her voice, wincing as she buried her face into Mabel's shoulders.
"Did you drink water?" Dipper asked with a grin on his face.
"Water is for the weak," the rich girl mumbled.
"Your voice needs to quiet now," Angie grumbled in a motherly tone. "Some people are still sleeping; like my brain."
Jack sat next to Angie with a plate full of food and a fresh mug of tea as Pacifica rolled her eyes. Shuffling over to the male's shoulder, Angie opened her mouth as the man began eating.
"There's moreover there," Jack told the dragon before taking his first bite.
"But yours looks so good," she whined.
"Why?" Jack asked with an amused smile while he chewed. "Because it's mine?"
"Exactly," Angie stuck her tongue out then opened her mouth again. Jack sighed and reluctantly fed the girl.
Their actions warmed Dipper's heart. They seemed to be a sweet couple. Though, he never actually asked them if they were. What if they weren't though? Maybe they were just good friends? Would they be offended? Would he make them feel awkward? 'Nah, not worth the awkwardness,' decided Dipper and focused on his breakfast.
Silence fell on the small group for a while before someone woke up and exited the tent. Dipper looked over quickly and smiled brightly when he saw a sleepy, cold blond walking up, the yellow sweater that Mabel made for his birthday hugging his thin frame. Soft greetings were given, Jack motioning towards where breakfast sitting, waiting to be eaten. Before moving through, Bill pouted while looking at Dipper.
"You left me," he crossed his arms in a child-like manner.
"Sorry," Dipper's eyebrows furrowed and he sat up. "Here, sit, I'll make you food."
"Don't do it again," Bill stuck his tongue out and hugged himself tighter. "I'm going to use the bathroom first," he replied and walked away from the group.
Dipper began to prepare a plate for Bill and happily enjoyed his presence next to him as he ate his breakfast. With some food in their bellies, the group began waking up from the energy. While some of the women of the group drank mimosas prepared by Charlie, the others sipped on some water, coffee, or tea nursing some mild hangovers from the night prior.
As the group settled into a lazy discussion it was mentioned how well Bill knew the forest around them from his days roaming, this caused Mitch to excitedly propose the idea of them going on a hike to explore.
"We could look for unicorns!" Mable grinned in excitement.
"Mermaids!" Angie replied equally excited.
With a laugh, Bill agreed to take them on the small adventure in search of areas he remembered housing unicorns, mermaids, elves, and even some creatures that Dipper had never heard of before. Everyone rushed to get dressed and lace up the hiking boots that they had all brought, something that surprised Dipper as he had not considered the possibility of needing some high traction shoes, and at that they set off on an unmarked path, trusting in their guide and their knowledge of hiking.
For the most part, the hike was a calming experience with everyone laughing and joking around. Angie took some group photos as well as some landscape pictures that based on the small screen built into the camera looked amazing.
"I'll get all the group photos printed for us to have!" Angie said when she caught Dipper looking over the shoulder to catch a peek of the photos.
After about an hour of moving through the forest, Bill directed the group into a small cave opening.
"Welcome to the Underground kingdom." He grinned at the shocked faces of the group as the looked at the packed streets.
The streets of the underground kingdom we packed, from where they stood it looked like a giant shopping district that never had slow days. Creatures of light and dark moved through the streets completing whatever business they had while merchants pawned their wares in high voices to catch the attention of any and all who walked by.
However, when the group was noticed something that unnatural shot through the crowd as it grew silent, eyes glued to the new group of humans entering. As if they were rich tourists walking through a flea market they were surrounded by merchants trying to get their attention and to sell anything they had at the highest cost they could muster.
Body parts of different creatures and animals, poisons, healing potions, souls, demon contracts, anything that could be thought of there was someone there selling it.
"Come," Dipper heard a silky voice, he turned to see a beautiful fae draping an arm over Jack's shoulders, somehow making the tall man look average height. several feet away another fae was pulling on Mitch's hand. Both women were attempting to pull the men to an alcove of the large cave system.
"Come and have the greatest last day" the one pulling on Mitch's hand purred with a seductive grin.
"Back off you bitches!" Angie swatted at one of the women and once she had backed away she turned and did the same to the other.
Such tactics continued for several minutes and after continuously denying every advance the crowd dwindled into nothing and they were left to be able to explore freely.
They stuck together, being sure to pull Damien away from every tempting melody that drifted through the crowd. After a couple of hours, they decided it was time to get back to the campsite and prepare lunch.
While maneuvering through the roads Dipper froze at the sight of a group of humans sitting completely still in some chairs, and at a small counter in front of them a large troll man with bat-like wings wrapped in the fabric as if they were broken.
Dipper couldn't help but focus on the blank faces of each human and took a tentative step towards them.
"Pine tree." Bill's voice called him, but something in him had to know...
"What is this?" Dipper asked when he got closer to the troll.
"Soulless humans." The troll replied gruffly, once he raised his eyes and realized that there was human in front of him he straightened his back and put on his best salesman smile. "If you buy one, you can add a soul and trap it. They will act and talk just like the soul, great for abducting. Nobody would ever believe that they are someone else. They would just think its some crazy person. If that's your niche I can even pull the soul for you. The only payment I require is that I get to keep whichever piece you don't need." The Troll grinned widely.
With those words, Dipper felt a cold chill shot down his spine and he felt sick to his stomach. Questions of who these people were before they became this, and who they became afterward raced through his head as his eyes focused on the still grinning troll man. Dipper's mouth grew dry as he felt the sickness begin trying to push itself up.
A cold hand grabbed onto his forearm and Bill quickly pulled Dipper away from the booth, through the roads, and out into the fresh air. Dipper was silent as he walked away, trying to swallow the bile that threatened to overflow his throat and mouth. The chill of the fresh air helped ease his mind, but his stomach still wasn't doing too well. Any words that Bill attempted to say to Dipper went unheard due to his racing mind about what he just saw.
As the group of their friends began to file out of the cave dipper vaguely heard Bill tell them to go ahead and that they would meet up. They must have listened because as he began to come back to his senses it was only Dipper and Bill in the area.
Bill gently rubbed Dippers back as he couched on a rock, his head bowed towards his legs in preparation for anything to force itself out of his stomach.
"You ok?" Bill asked after a while of listening to Dipper's shallow breathing.
"Yeah.." Dipper swallowed the lump in his throat with a nod. "Let's get going, I don't want to be around here anymore."
"Sounds good. I have somewhere I wanted to just show you." Bill smiled and laced his fingers with Dippers.
Dipper followed Bill as they made their way down a trail that Dipper knew did not head back to the campsite, happy to be able to spend time alone with Bill.
"After I started working at the school," he started to explain, guiding Dipper down an unknown trail. "Every weekend that I didn't have to go grocery shopping, I would come out here and feed some of the creatures in a couple of parts of the forest. They're hard to tame, but they're everywhere."
"Feed them?" Dipper raised an eyebrow.
"They're some type of bird species," the former demon explains with a smile on his face. "Well, across from a type of bird and fox."
"What kind of animal is that?" DIpper questioned.
"Not sure," Bill admitted. "But that's what they look like to me; they're probably a new species that came because of the energy of this forest."
While he explained to Dipper what they look like and how he first saw them, they continued walking until they approached a thick, hollow tree.
"Watch this," Bill released Dipper's hand and kneeled in front of the tree.
He began humming an interesting melody, two small creatures with orange and white fur crawled out of the tree slowly. While there wasn't a long tail at the end, there was a small bobbed tail with black feathers instead of fur covering the skin. The wings folded on their backs were orange with white tips. Their small noses sniffed the air while they walked up to the humming man. Bill stopped humming and sat quietly while the two checked him out. It wasn't long before one made a mewling sound and plopped onto his lap.
"Hello there," Bill greeted happily while petting the head of the creature. The second jumped upon his shoulder and began licking his ear, causing him to laugh and shake his head.
"How are they so tamed with you?" Dipper asked, spooking the creatures that were melting against his lover. The creatures' fur rose and they stared at him, their happy energy temporarily forgotten.
"They recognize my smell," Bill explained, petting the creature on his lap until it calmed down. In return, the second planted its button Bill's shoulder but continued staring. "I made a meadow in a cave for them. It's not too far from here, I can show you one day. It's full of beautifully colored flowers with a growth blessing on them. Therefore, the more they grow, the more seeds they drop. That's their feeding grounds now."
The explanation of the meadow intrigued Dipper. Memories of the cave he found with his sister came flooding back. "Mabel and I found a cave that was full of flowers not too long ago," he remarked. "It was full of beautiful flowers and a path, we weren't sure how it was made but we were sure it was manmade."
"Really?" Bill perked up. "Like you happened to stumble upon it?"
"Yeah," Dipper nodded. "It was before we were speaking again."
The memory of silence brought down the mood a bit. As much as he tried not to show it, Dipper's shoulders slumped and he frowned a bit.
"Well, then I get to take you next time," Bill proclaimed and smiled brightly, pulling Dipper away from the darkening thoughts. Bill looked over to his lover and gave him a soft smile. "Let's go back before they get worried."
Agreeing quickly, the couple made their way back to the trail they traveled away from and headed back to the campsite. Dipper held onto Bill's hand tightly as they walked in comfortable silence.
As they grew closer to the campsite the sound of voices came from between the trees, but something seemed off about it to Dipper, and Bill seemed to notice as well as his grip on Dipper's hand tightened.
The tone that they could hear was angry, causing their steps to grow quicker, the campsite came to view but Bill's grip on Dipper's hand forced them both to stop, just out of view.
Now that they were closer Dipper could tell that Jack's voice, while still angry, was scolding someone, and a female voice replied, but not one that he was used to hearing among the nine that he knew were out in this campsite. Shifting his feet Dipper could see his old school friend Mai standing at the table that Jack was cooking at, the tall man held a spatula at her in a scolding manner.
"I do not care what it is you think you know because you're lying." He growled at the shorter girl. "So it's time for you to get the fuck out of here before they get back."
"I'm telling you the truth!" Mai exclaimed, something in her voice was distorted, but Dipper was focused on the scene in front of him more than the sound.
An annoyed groan came from Jack as he rubbed at the inner edges of his eyes. "Listen." He began, trying to keep his voice even. "If you expect me to believe you. You need some real, cold hard proof with no loopholes and no 'Maybe's' in it. Not a damn thing that you have said up until this point follows that criteria." He began flipping burgers in front of him, "So how about you just go run along and never come back here because I hate you and do not trust you." He hummed, a small smirk on his face as Angie let out a short cackle of a laugh at his brutal honesty from her seat by the fire pit. This caused Dipper to become aware of the whole group except for Mable and Pacifica relaxing by the fire as Jack cooked, almost like the small woman came from nowhere and surprised them all in the middle of a conversation or something.
Mai scoffed and stomped her foot in the dirt like a toddler. "How dare you! I'm trying to do a good thing by warning you of that slut's actions!"
Dipper's eyes narrowed, not understanding what she was trying to claim. Looking at the others, everyone was sitting by the fire and staring over to the two arguings.
"I can prove it!" she tried again.
Jack shook his head and ignored her, focusing back on cooking. Bill and Dipper were still on the very edge of the campsite, barely noticeable.
"Sweetie," Angie sighed and crossed her arms. "You look and sound like a liar. Why would Dipper cheat?"
The word "cheat" sent cold chills down Dipper's spine.
"That fucking bitch," Dipper growled to himself and attempted to take a step forward, being halted by Bill who sent him a stern look.
"Stay here," He whispered, "They won't believe her."
Dipper wanted to trust Bill's instincts, but how could he be so sure? This group of people had only just recently begun to tolerate him. They were starting from already hating him so it would be much easier for them to go back to it rather than hold on to the flimsy trust that they would have in him. Dipper's eyes bore into Bills and he swallowed the lump of anger in his throat before returning his attention to the scene.
"Because he's an attention whore!" Mai snapped at Angie, causing all three Angie, Charlie, and Jack to turn to her with anger in their eyes. "You can ask Thomas! He saw the whole thing! He saw a couple having sex in the bathroom and one of them was Dipper!"
"And what, exactly, makes you two think it was Dipper?" Mitch chimed in calmly.
"Thomas saw him!"
"Did he see the guy's faces?" Mitch questioned.
"I.. well.. it doesn't matter! Every aspect of the guy was dipper!"
Jack let out a bitter laugh at that, "Oh, so either you or Thomas, you've switched on who saw this just to let you know, saw some white dude with brown hair, no visible tattoos, no visible piercings, NOTHING discernible about him. And no one even saw the dudes face?" He questioned. "Sounds to me like you just wanted it to look like Dipper." Jack leaned over, towering over the small woman and in a whisper meant to be heard "You wish that you had walked in on Dipper fucking someone causes you to think if you get rid of Bill that means you get to have him, Don't you?"
At that accusation, Jack returned to his burgers and the crowd surrounding the fire began laughing at Mai.
"Just leave." Charlie smirked, "You have no purpose to be here anymore. So stop ruining our fun."
As this happened Mabel and Pacifica came into view from across the campsite coming from the direction that some restrooms had been set up for campers.
"Mai?" Mabel questioned in confusion at the sight of her. "What are you doing here?"
"Mabel!" Mai perked up at the sight of her. "Mabel they're making fun of me!" Tears began to well up in her eyes, a flawless performance. "I was just trying to help them!"
"Yes, good choice. Try to convince Dipper's twin sister and best friend since birth that he's a liar and a cheater." Damien chuckled at the idea of this.
With this Bill began walking towards the campsite pulling Dipper along with him. At the sight of the two men, Mai took a defensive step back, glaring at Dipper as though trying to be threatening. It was kind of adorable, to be honest, Dipper had to make a conscious decision to not smile at her attempts.
"You," she grumbled in a shaky voice, taking a step back.
"Greetings," Dipper waved with his free hand. "So, what was all of this about?"
"You being a whore!" she exclaimed.
Jack groaned and clinched the spatula he was cooking with. "Get out of here. Not only are you crazy, and evil. But the fact that you just. Keep. lying. It is so fucking annoying."
Mai was taken aback and took a step away, the tears suddenly dry and nowhere to be seen. Without another word, she turned on her heel and ran away from the campsite.
Dipper leaned against Bill's shoulder and squeezed his lover's hand. Charlie came over to the two and began rubbing Dipper's shoulder.
"Forget she showed up," Charlie soothed. "We aren't going to believe her lies."
Dipper nodded, allowing Charlie to guide them to sit around the campfire. Mabel sat down next to Dipper, leaving Bill on his other side and Pacifica on Mabel's other side.
"Where'd you guys go?" she asked in a happy tone, trying to ignore what had just happened.
"I showed him a species that you guys haven't found yet," Bill replied, draping an arm around Dipper's back.
"Lucky!" Mabel whined. "You have to show me next time!" Pacifica leaned against Mabel, trying to get her attention but failing. "What did they look like? Do they like humans? What do they eat? Are they cute?" a sparkle shined in Mabel's eyes as she went on.
Her question rampage helped encourage a smile to grow on Dipper's face, relaxing when he felt Bill's arms around him. Dipper explained what he could remember about the creatures, allowing Bill to fill in the gaps. That's when he brought up the cave the siblings visited. While they were making plans to go visit the cave again, Mabel remembered the song they started to put together. The conversation then shifted to planning on recording the track. The whole group started to speak about different acoustics and sounds to add as well as different harmonies. Mabel didn't have the notebook with the words for the song, but Angie had a lyric book inside their camper. The dragon sisters left to retrieve the book. Damien suggested a few ideas to Bill about a song he wanted to create with him. Bill got his guitar and strummed a bit so they can put together the song.
The rest of the night was filled with music, mostly covers, new and old. Nighttime came in no time, bringing out the alcohol and weed to chill for the remaining of the time awake. Bill and Dipper were the last to head to bed, feeling giggly from the weed that buzzed in their systems. The cold night had nothing on the cuddling men in the tent. With Dipper's forehead resting against Bill's, they kissed a couple of times before allowing themselves to sleep.
The next morning started abruptly, the sound of Jack's angry screaming startling everyone awake. Dipper and Bill didn't have much time to collect themselves before running out of their tent to see what happened, Pacifica and Mabel right on their tails. The entire campsite was empty, all their travel kitchen supplies, food, and chairs were gone. Everyone's heart dropping to their stomachs at the sight. The tents and all the supplies inside were still there, being clear that the perpetrators' goal was the items in the open.
"What the fuck happened?!" Jack screamed in anger.
"I bet it was that bitch," Angie growled, eyes flaring red.
Charlie transformed herself into her smaller dragon form and began sniffing around, quickly moving through the campsite, everyone watching her process as Angie stood to the side tapping her foot in anger. After a few minutes, Charlie returned to the group and transformed back, turning to her sister and giving a confirming nod of Angie's suspicions.
"Pack up and get out of here," she told everyone. "Leave this to us, we'll get everything back but don't stay here. She had help from one other person." Charlie paused and her face drained of all color, Dipper could see that Angie had straightened her back and was intently staring in the same direction as her sister. Something about their eyes shouted predator to Dipper and he couldn't help but shift his weight uncomfortably.
"Charlie?" Mabel stepped forward, voiced with concern for the sudden posture change. "What's wrong?"
"Leave now," Charlie stated and shot a glance over her shoulder at Angie who gave her a nod. At that the two transformed in front of them, turning into large forms of the cat-sized dragons he had seen before. As they stood to their full height Dipper's head barely reached their shoulders and their wings expanded, casting a shadow over the campsite before they took to the air, quickly vanishing into the forest.
Bill and dipper stood still for a few minutes as the rest of the group began moving at a quick pace, packing up everything in their tents along with the tents themselves, breaking them down in just a few short minutes. As he watched the group moving Dipper couldn't help but feel regret at the sight of their weekend being cut short because of him. Tears began fogging his eyes and he attempted to wipe them away as he glared down at the dirt.
"What does she want with me?" he questioned aloud, the tears beginning to fall, his shoulders trembling as he continued to try and hold it in.
Bill sighed softly and hugged his lover. "We'll find out," he spoke quietly and rocked Dipper. "Come on, let's start packing."
The two joined everyone and began to pack, the campsite quickly emptying in silence as things were shoved into backpacks and duffle bags. Food and drinks were easily organized into some ice chests and in no more than 10 minutes everything was put away and they began the trip back to Dipper and Mabel's parent's house, the silence surrounding them other than the sound of steps over the twigs and bush of the forest.
Once the group had made it back to the house they began to load all their items in respective vehicles, a whisper of conversation sprinkling around. Dipper could tell that both Damien and Jack seemed to be stressed about the girl's disappearance into the forest. Damien's eyes kept looking into the forest canopy, while Jack seemed quieter than usual with a deep scowl on his face, his jaw tensed as he tossed his bags into the camper.
Everyone silently agreed to meet up later in the afternoon, allowing Dipper and Bill to get dropped off at the apartment to reset from the weekend. The car ride was silent, mostly to allow Pacifica to sleep, being that she was still exhausted from having to pack to urgently and not sleeping very well. Dipper hugged his sister before grabbing their bags and guitar and seeing her off.
"I'll talk to you later Dip dip." Mable smiled giving her brother a quick hug before climbing back into the car and pulling away from the curb.
The two slowly trudged up the steps to Bill's apartment, him hauling his bag and guitar while DIpper trailed behind, both looking forward to relaxing with Angel in the living room. As they came to the top of the stairs, Dipper noticed a piece of paper taped to the door with a red header in all caps reading "EVICTION NOTICE".
Moments after Dipper had processed the words Bill seemed to have noticed it as well as he dropped his items on the ground and taking quick steps over to the door. He pulled the paper off the door and Dipper could see his eyes quickly reading the small print.
"What the fuck?" Bill whispered in disbelief. "How?"
"Did you forget to pay rent?" Dipper asked cautiously, grabbing Bill's discarded bags.
"No," Bill shook his head, "I always give the check to Andrew... it's his job to hand it in..." He spoke through gritted teeth, his grip tightening on the paper crumpling the edges a bit as his breathing grew rapid.
"I guess Andrew has some questions to answer." Dipper sighed and moved past Bill, unlocking and opening the door for him.
The door had barely opened when Bill pushed through and quickly spotted Andrew lounging on the couch with a book.
Dipper followed him in and could see Angel sleeping in a sunbeam at the top of her cat tower.
"What the fuck is this?" Bill harshly questioned tossing the paper on to the coffee table.
With an annoyed sigh, Andrew shut his book and leaned forward to read the notice, a bored expression on his face.
"Looks like an eviction notice," Andrew stated easily and leaned back to where he had been prior, opening his book once again. "Says you have a week to get out."
"And why is that?" Bill growled lowly, "I have given you every rent check for the past few months to take to the office. Where is the money."
"I'm not sure what you're talking about." Andrew shrugged, "Every dollar you give to me is mine."
"What?" Bill snapped, throwing his guitar angrily to one of the chairs. "You're stealing money?"
"You give me the checks." Andrew began explaining, as if it was obvious, standing to be able to stand over him.
"FOR RENT!" Bill shouted, "Every month since we moved in you have turned the checks in! Don't be fucking stupid!"
"No idea what you're talking about." Andrew shrugged, maintaining his bored face, but from where Dipper was standing he could swear he small the slightest twinge of an entertained smirk at the edge of his mouth.
"LEAVE! GET THE FUCK OUT!" Bill shouted and pointed at the door.
"Can't." Andrew crossed his arms "I'm here to make sure you get your punishment."
"Why do you even need the money?" Dipper chimed in, "You don't need it for anything."
"Back out of the conversation." Andrew shot a glare at Dipper, "You shouldn't even be here."
"He is infinitely more helpful than you are!" Bill growled, "Now get the fuck out of here."
"No." Andrew sighed and began to walk toward his room. "I will start packing though, hope that you have a place for us to go," he called over his shoulder disappearing into his room.
"You aren't going anywhere with me!" Bill spat, his voice cracking as tears began to form in his eyes. Once the door to Andrew's room shut Bill fell onto the couch and burst into tears, burying his face in his hands.
Quickly Dipper moved to the couch and joined him on the couch, pulling him into a hug. he gently rubbed his hand on Bill's back as he allowed him to cry into Dipper's chest. Being awoken by the screaming Angel made her way over to the couch and curled up in his lap, giving small licks to Bill's hand. After a minute Bill looked at the small cat and began stroking her soft fur, tears continuing to fall.
"I'll talk to my parents," Dipper muttered gently, continuing to rub the blondes back, "The house they built is empty, I'll see if we can stay there for a while until we can get things sorted."
Bill didn't respond, instead, he continued crying into Dipper shoulder, thoroughly soaking the area of Dipper's shirt. After several hours Bill finally grew so tired that Dipper was able to direct him to the bedroom and left him there wrapped up in blankets with Angel quickly cuddling up to his side.
Closing the door behind him Dipper moved to the kitchen and began to brew a pot of coffee. The smell began to fill the kitchen as he let out a sigh and stared at the contact number to call his mother.
The night passed slowly with Bill drifting in-and-out of sleep. Each time he awoke, Dipper woke up quickly to smooth his lover back to sleep.
Dipper's parents called him back a couple of hours after he had first talked to them and told him that they would have permission to live in the house as long as the paid the utilities that would be charged to them every month.
After speaking to his parents Dipper got on to the computer and started the process of setting up his accounts for water, electricity, and the internet. Of course, Dipper knew that they couldn't stay there forever, but his parents did offer a leasing term of two years, which should be enough time for them to get their grounding and to find a home of their own.
By the time the sun had begun to rise Dipper was on his 17th cup of coffee without even a nap, but he was ready to assist Bill with all of his Monday morning appointments.
Bill awoke to the smell of breakfast and slowly made his way into the kitchen. The sight of Dipper moving through the kitchen warmed his heart and he began to gingerly unpack their stuff from the camping trip so that it could all be cleaned.
Once, Bill, had a load of laundry going, Dipper set the table for the two of them and let known his parent's conditions to live in their tiny home before they began eating. Bill, of course, had many questions about their conditions, wanting to know what they were and were not allowed to do during their stay in the home. Dipper informed him that while they were allowed to stay there as long as the paid the bills that came in, they also were not allowed to grow any of Bill's plants on the property, which meant that Bill would have to find a place in the forest nearby to grow while still following the town laws of Gravity Falls.
Bill, after some thought, agreed to cut his plants up until he was able to find a place to regrow safely. After finishing their breakfast they began to pack up any loose items around the apartment and had almost finished by the time that they left for Bill's 10 am appointment. Because they had a decent amount of time before the appointment, Dipper offered to walk Bill to it which he immediately agreed to.
"So," Dipper squeezed Bill's hand as they made their way down the street. "When we get back, I'll ask about getting paid for working at the Shack. It'll help with bills."
"I'll try to get my money back," Bill grumbled, in a less enthusiastic tone, staring at the ground.
"I know it's not fair," Dipper sighed letting go of Bill's hand to wrap an arm around the smaller man's waist. "But we'll get through this. You're not alone anymore. I'm always with you."
Bill remained silent but gave Dipper a small smile before his gaze returned to the ground.
Silence drowned the couple for several minutes until a large black vehicle screeched on the road and stopped in front of them. Instantly, Dipper stopped and helped Bill back, who didn't notice what happened until Dipper began running in the opposite direction than they came in.
Screams have erupted in different sounds, some sounding like different languages from the people in masks that jumped the couple. Hammers were hitting their temples before they were able to get five feet away from their attackers. Within minutes of the attack, both Bill and Dipper were knocked unconscious, being pulled into the vehicle that no one seemed to notice.