Days went by and Dipper had to juggle with all those situations while walking on eggs shell. He had to lie and keep up with said lies, make sure Bill was staying hidden, even if it was starting to get on the demon's nerves. He had to tell about that new person Dipper had met, only twisting a little the truth so he wouldn't feel too guilty to hide it from Mabel. He also had to make sure he wasn't slipping up in front of Ford, as he was the most suspicious one.
But he was still able to have good times, either it being with is family or Bill. He did have great times with Bill, contrary to what he would have thought at the beginning. They were going in town to do stuff they couldn't do at home or in the forest, Bill was showing him stuff he never discovered before or couldn't really know about and was still teaching him some magic. He, after a couple of days, was already able to control his fire, now working in levitating himself and stuff around, which was harder, but sounded just more nice to do too.
Also, Bill powers were slowly going back to him the more time they were passing in places that were radiating magic a lot. Even if at first Dipper thought it would be something bad, Bill wasn't showing sign of wanting to start Weirdmageddon 2.0. Well, it was better like this, he wasn't wishing to live through that again, especially not after all the good time he had with the demon. Sure, he was still a demon and his way of reacting to certain things was showing it well, or even his interest in gory or violent stuff, but overall he was being fine.
On Bill side, he had to deal with something totally new to him: feelings. In his normal form made of pure energy, he didn't have do deal with such things, so now he was just lost. Why was he feeling happy and warm all the time around Dipper? Not that it was an unpleasant feeling, just that he didn't understand why it was happening. Or that feeling of annoyance he had whenever Pine Tree would give all his attention to someone else than him, for the exception of the other Pines, those were okay in his book. At least he didn't have that feeling much since they were often only the two of them.
It was still weird to feel all those new things he couldn't put words to. He wouldn't ask Dipper either, the human seems to already find him funny enough because he didn't know how many humans things were working. But he could feel it was never in a mocking way, it was genuine and it was always making him smile a little despite some of the situations being really frustrating. So yeah, he wouldn't ask about emotion, even if it seemed to be the basic human thing to get, even if humans themselves didn't get it most of the time.
They were now at Greasy's Diner for lunch since they were not sure if the Stans and Mabel would be at the shack. Also, Bill absolutely wanted to get back here, not that Dipper was against that idea. It would be a good break from being chased by some creature who didn't like that they entered their house. They were still laughing from being nearly eaten by it.
Dipper laughter suddenly died when he saw who was getting inside the restaurant, ducking down so he wouldn't be seen, getting a weird look from Bill. "Pine Tree what are you doing?" he asks before being shushed by Dipper. "Mabel, Stan and Ford just entered the Diner" he whispered only to see he demon turning around to look, totally not discreet. Right now the young man wanted to facepalm himself, but only tensed when he heard his name being called by his sister.
"Hey Mabel" he said awkwardly, seeing his family approaching them, everyone taking a look at Bill, curious. Mabel was the first one to react, way too happy. "Oh my god, Dipper, don't tell my this is the person you were talking about?!" she asked, clearly not troubled by the fact that the mysterious person wasn't a woman like she thought. "How could you find someone so handsome and not tell me more about it!" she exclaimed, not really getting attention on them. At this point, Dipper believed everyone in Gravity Falls was used to his sister being hip all the time.
"A new friend uh" said Stan with a smile "Didn't know the kid could actually make some friends" he joked, gently slapping Dipper's back. Only Ford didn't seem that convince of it all. "And we have the pleasure to meet?" simply asked Ford. "The name Guillaume Goldman" responds Bill with a wide smile, surprising Dipper with the name he picked. Where was that coming from? It wasn't even sounding like English. Ford finally took the hand the demon was giving him, letting go of his suspicion for now.
Dipper couldn't even try and explain how he "really" met the demon since Mabel was dragging him so he was sitting in the middle. They didn't have much place on the banquet, but he guessed trying to fit one of the older twins wouldn't have been better. So Bill was sitting against the window and Mabel nearly off the seat. Dipper was really squeezed, but he wouldn't complain since he had no chance to fall off like that.
Lazy Susan went to take their orders, which was pretty much the same things, as usual, already having Dipper and Bill drinks. The table was silent for some time after that. Mabel was clearly restraining herself from asking hundreds of question to 'Guillaume'. Stan was surely curious about the new face, but didn't care much as long as he was being good to Dipper. Ford was looking between Dipper and 'Guillaume', clearly not getting how the two of them met when they both look so different in personality and style, at least from the first glances. He also had a weird feeling about that new person. Dipper was tense, even if he was trying to hide it the best he could, very much not wishing for everything to be discovered. Bill him was totally chill, finding it all really entertaining, even if he knew he couldn't push it too far or he would have problems after.
"Sooooo, how did you two met?" finally asked Mabel, clearly seeing that the silence was making his twin anxious. "Oh, I came to Gravity Falls when I've seen on forums that it was supposed to be a good place for supernatural stuff" started Bill, knowing vaguely what Dipper had told Mabel. Good things said information were always vague and poorly detailed. "I was walking around the forest and got lost, Dipper found me on his first hike of the summer, I was really lucky or I would probably still be stuck in the forest" laughed the demon.
Dipper found that the demon was really good at making up stories. Well, he guessed it was easy for demons to do so, good thing he was giving a short resume of what he was telling Mabel, they would be in a bad place if the stories didn't add up.
"You came here all alone?" asked Ford, leaning on his joined hand. "Yeah, I prefer travelling alone, doesn't have many friends back home, too weird for them I guess" answered Bill with a shrug, going with what he heard Dipper rant about one time. "But going after supernatural being can be dangerous alone" pointed out Ford. Dipper and Bill exchanged a look, as if the man was one to talk. "Dipper do it all the time from what I've heard".
This caused Dipper to receive a frown, Ford clearly not okay with that. Well, it's not as if they already went through a near death experience at twelve, oh wait, yes they did. So all Dipper was doing now was way less dangerous and he was way more prepared for things. "Come on Poindexter, don't look at him like that, he's old enough to defend himself" said Stan with a smile, knowing he had shown the kids some good way to defend themselves. They were always running around dangerous things since they first came to Gravity Falls, he shouldn't expect from them to change because he said so.
"From what I've seen Pi- Dipper is pretty good at keeping himself alive" said the demon, getting a look from the human when he nearly used his usual nickname. Well, it wasn't easy to go straight up for the name when he was using nicknames for most people he was talking to. Still, Dipper shouldered him a little, a small laugh escaping his lips "You're not bad yourself to keep us alive" he said, remembering earlier, making Bill laugh again. Laughing was really making Dipper relax, but with that, they missed how the other Pines seemed uneasy at the new guy laugh. As if they had heard it somewhere before.
They were getting calm when their plates arrived, things way less tense than before, Mabel talking with 'Guillaume', wanting to hear more about where he was from and if he had found mysterious stuff in other places. Ford was keeping more to himself, simply studying the blond. Stan was asking questions here and there too when he was falling too much being on the whole supernatural stuff. To him, if the guy was able to make his nephew happy and keeping him out of potential dead, why would he take that away from him? Dipper had already enough trouble making friends, unlike Mabel, it would be a good change for him.
When they finally finished they paid, Mabel grinning from seeing Dipper paid for himself and the blond, as if she was reading too much into it. She had interlink her elbow with Dipper and 'Guillaume', dragging them in direction of the shack.
"You look even better now that I can see you up" commented Mabel "Dipper's good at catching handsome people" she said with a wink. "Mabel!" complained her brother, not thinking he was really good at really attracting anyone since every crush he ever had were never ending up mutual. "Yeah, you got good taste kid" commented Stanley with a smile. "Oh, do I~" smiled the demon while throwing a glance at Dipper, seeing him scoff, remembering when Bill was bragging about his superior standard in clothing.
The walk home was mostly Mabel asking questions about what he did with his brother, not really being subtly about the fact she was sure something more was going on. And of course, Bill had to enter her little game and respond in ways that could be confusing as to what he was meaning. Dipper didn't seem to even have a say in all this, only watching them talk like this, feeling like Mabel was going to, yet again, play the matchmaker.
But somehow... he wasn't hating that idea as much as he did every other time in the past, which was only making him feel confused. Why was he suddenly okay with it? It not as if he like Bill that much. No, at best they were friend now, even if it sounded weird to say he was now friends with the demon who tried to kill him some years ago. No, it sounded actually pretty bad, but he knew it was what that had happened and he wasn't really against it. But it was nothing more.
Once they were home Ford disappeared in the basement while Stan was leaving them to go see how Soos was doing with the whole touring thing. A side of Dipper wanted to get back to the pond to relax and let go of all the tension his body had to endure through that lunch and practice some magic, while another one really wanted to stay and play whichever game Mabel was suggesting. It was actually really appealing to be able to pass time with both Bill and Mabel at the same time.
And that pretty much what they did for the next hours up until dinner was ready to be cooked. Playing some games and forgetting about all the supernatural stuff, all the hiding and all the stress. Well, they couldn't afford to disconnect too much, otherwise, Mabel would be suspicious too, and not about romantic stuff this time. But they both managed not to use the wrong name, so it was good.
Yeah, everything was good up until dinner, when they all reunited around the table, Mabel nearly obligating the demon to stay. It's not like he was against it, it was better than the sandwich he had to eat upstairs most of the time, no offence to Dipper sandwich. No, the problem was more Six Fingers, who was clearly doubting something was wrong, but that he just couldn't put the finger on what it was.
"What about the eye patch?" Suddenly ask Ford as Dipper and Mabel were cooking, surprising everyone in the room, even Bill. "Oh that?" he said while pointing at it "I got injured on one of my adventure in the wild and prefer hiding it, and eye patch gain less pity than a lacking eye" he explained, telling that with a laugh as if it was nothing.
Everyone was silent, Dipper restraining from facepalming and telling him 'you don't laugh when telling that kind of story'. But he kept his mouth shut, as even Ford was taken aback by it. He cough to regain composure, saying he was sorry for his loss.
"Dinner's ready" Said Mabel to kill the discomfort that had made it place in the kitchen. "Good" said Stan, happy to have something else to think about. "Hope Dipper didn't ruin it with his touch" he joked, earning a complaint from the other twin saying he wasn't that bad.
Both Dipper and Bill ate quickly, clearly on the same idea: going away from Ford question as soon as possible. They then excused themselves, saying they were going to plan some hike they wanted to do the day after. As they were going up the stairs, Dipper could hear Stan asking "What the hell was that earlier", guessing Stanley wasn't really good with "harassing the new kid in town".
"Geez, that was one fun dinner" said Bill once in the room, going to sit on the chair. "Ford clearly suspect something" point out Dipper, even if it was obvious, that or Ford was suspicious of everything, which wasn't that far from the truth. "But I doubt he really figured out" he admitted "Or clearly he would have flipped out" added the human, which made the demon laugh just about thinking about it. Because they both knew it was what would happen if Ford knew.
"Ford isn't the only one who have suspicions about things" said Bill amused, losing Dipper for some seconds before remembering what was Mabel hinting at. "Pff, as if she could be successful in her supposition" commented Dipper, not to sound bad towards his sister, but with him, she never hit it right in the whole matchmaking game.
"So you don't think I look good?" Asked the demon, going for a dramatically seductive pose, making Dipper blush when he was thinking about it, turning his glances away. "It not what I meant" he answered, before hearing the demon argue "So you do think I look good", making him blush harder, surprising even the blond.
Well, Bill didn't know that, but it was making him strangely really happy about it, so he wasn't going to complain. "You look good too, if you were to ask me" he commented, this time having little Pine Tree look back at him, eye wide open and even more red than before. Wow, that was fun to do.
He stood up, walking toward Dipper as the young man was stepping backwards. "What you don't trust me? But I am telling you the truth, you are beautiful, people never told you so?" he said with a grin, loving how shy the human seemed to get from his compliment. Dipper trying to argue against that, but it wasn't enough to make Bill stop or change his opinion, he wasn't lying about that.
He kept on telling stuff he found good about him, not all about his body, a lot about the way he was. At some point, they were really close, as Dipper couldn't go through the wall, though he really wishes he could right now. Bill was blocking his way, leaning a little closer to him. He was going to keep on teasing him when he felt shaky hands pushing against his torso, making him look down at a really non-amused and unhappy Dipper, looking nearly distress.
"Stop it, you're just going to make me feel even more confused about everything" said Dipper, pushing a little harder against him. To the human surprise, Bill did back off, letting him go away to hide on his bed under his blanket.
The dream demon was really confused. Had he done something wrong? He was just teasing him a little, but nothing of what he said were lies. He was suddenly feeling bad, hating that emotions, he preferred when he was able to see happy and smiling Dipper. Hell, even annoyed Dipper was better to see for him that how Dipper was right now.
He went to sit next to the bed, calmly saying Dipper's name, even if it didn't get him a reaction other than "go away, I'm not your toy", which wasn't helping Bill to feel better. The demon thought about what he should do, really lost at what he was supposed to do in that kind of situation. Was he supposed to say sorry? But he was trying to be nice, even if it was hidden under lots of teasing, but it was just how he was.
"I'm sorry" he finally said after some thinking. He crossed his arm on the bed, laying his head on it, watching the back of Dipper's head. "I hadn't meant to make you feel bad, I was just trying to tell you what I was thinking of you" he simply said, sounding surprisingly really sincere. "I won't lie, I don't get why you are upset" he admitted, to which Dipper rolled his eyes a little, but he wasn't surprised about that. "But I was really not trying to make you feel bad, I just thought you were cute when I complimented you"
Wow, the demon never thought he would ever use the word cute in his infinite life, at least not in the way it was supposed to be used. But it seemed to go well for Dipper with his apologies, as the human was turning around, looking at him. Dipper slowly took off the eyes patch, before asking him to say all this again, as if to be sure he wasn't toying with him.
"Sorry I made you feel bad, but I really thought you were cute earlier" said the demon again with a grin. Dipper couldn't find anything in his eyes or his face telling he was even trying to lie. It made him smile, before saying "I guess you aren't that bad either".
Dipper was surprised when the iris from his black eye seems to glow a golden light, not really understanding why it was happening. Well, Bill didn't notice it, but he could still say he was happy to hear Dipper said he was thinking he was good looking and not as if forced to do so.
After some time of talking placed like that, they went for movies. Of course, at some point, they had to act as if Guillaume was going back home, though they doubted Mabel and Stan would have been against the "new boy" staying over. But they felt like Ford might leave them alone for the night if he knew the new comer away.
Bill simply had to sneak back in with the help of Dipper, going straight for the window in his room, making sure Bill wouldn't be seen from the inside. They went back to watching movies, even if Dipper felt asleep through the last one, Bill decided not to move so he wouldn't wake him up since he seemed to have a good sleep by himself for once.
Unconsciously Dipper seems to go and grab Bill in his sleep, surprising the demon who was still watching the movie with earphone. At first, he thought he was awake or that he started a nightmare, but seeing the peaceful expression on his face, he understood it wasn't the case. It was actually pretty nice to have Dipper kind of hugging him, so he didn't push him back at his place, keeping on watching the horror movie.
The demon was probably getting too close to the human, but for now, he didn't care. This body and what was coming with it didn't care, he actually really liked the way he was feeling around Dipper. But of course, it couldn't be love, Dipper was just his favourite human being, yeah that was it, he was his favourite human... nothing more.
I thought Bill would be a smart ass in giving a name and I don't wanted to give William since it was way too easy to figure out (no shade on those who do tho, it just my personal taste). So my thought process was:
Bill is a nickname for William which in french would be Guillaume
As for Goldman, I was looking for something that would fit him well and remember the family name from the singer Jean Jacque Goldman.