Dipper passed the next week trying not to get too flustered every time Bill would playfully flirt with him or when they were having more close and intimate moments. He was already happy enough he would stay with him, he didn't need to scare away the demon with emotion he might not be able to handle.
He was also trying not to read too far in those flirtatious moments or in the protective way Bill was acting around him. Even if he was really protective, he was still letting him do what he wanted to do, even if it was dangerous and sometimes suggested by the dream demon himself. After all, he had learned how stubborn the young man could be, but he was always hovering close by to make sure nothing would happen.
At least he was missing the possessiveness of Bill most of the time, as the demon was hiding it more. Whenever someone was showing too much interest in Dipper, Bill would discreetly show them to back off his human. He did surprise himself more than once as he was thinking of the younger Pines as his.
They also went on even more hunt for the crazy and weird stuff of Gravity Falls, as they weren't as actively looking to get Bill home as they did before. They were just enjoying their time, Bill sometimes able to drag him in some ideas that were most likely illegal, but always finished to be enjoyable at the end.
Dipper was still feeling guilty to lie like this to his twin, but somehow he wasn't feeling as guilty as before. He wanted to, for once, be selfish and keep for him what was making him happy and he knew Mabel would be against the idea of Bill staying this close to him.
But he knew he couldn't hide it forever from his twin, as careful as they were, they were slipping off some times and one day it would be the too obvious one. Mabel was maybe not the smartest in some academic field, but she wasn't stupid either, she would catch up. But just like his tattoo, he was going to hide all this for the most time, even if it meant only a couple of years.
Hiding it from his grunkles was the easiest, as he was going the least possible to the shack, passing quickly from time to time when he needed something. The duo would always have a little chat with Stan as the man wasn't as insistent as his twin. Even if he was trying to hide it, Dipper and Bill could see how the man was analysing his great-nephew movement when they were talking, making sure he wasn't injured. He knew well that asking Dipper to never ever go back on a hunt was just losing his time, he would just ask of him to be careful. He was clearly uneasy about the tattoo that the young man wasn't even trying to hide anymore, but they never went over that. "The kid must have his reason" had thought the old Mystery Man.
He crossed the path of Ford once when he was going for the basement and they mainly stared at each other, Dipper waiting for him to speak. The old man gaze had drifted to Bill at his side looking at something in the room before seeming annoyed and going down. He felt like Ford was avoiding them as much as he was, even if it was starting to hurt him a little to do so, as the anger had the time to die down.
Little did he knew Ford was trying to spy on them to finally have proof he wasn't just being paranoid with this Guillaume guy. But it wasn't going really far since Bill had caught up quickly and was making sure to either lose him in the forest or not act too out of line. He didn't tell Dipper, feeling the young man would just get angry again. It was mildly annoying really, but with some magic, he could deal with it so it wasn't so bad, especially since it wasn't all day for the whole time they were out from Pacifica mansion.
But this time, as they were swimming at the pond, he didn't put much attention since he hadn't sens the man and was just enjoying swimming with the young man and splashing around. When they got out of the water he used some magic to dry himself, levitating all around the young man as he was stealing his towel. They were both surprised when they heard a voice calling for Dipper to stay away from the Demon, both turning toward Ford who was running towards them.
Bill scoffed at himself for not being careful enough, but still gave a worried glance at the startled human who was about to find some excuses. "No Mason" cut Ford as he stops at a safe distance from them as the demon was now standing at the young man side, not ready to go away.
He levitated his clothes to himself, putting back the eye patch even if he knew Ford had seen the eyes. "I knew something was up and I won't let you do the same mistake I did!" affirmed the scientist as he was taking a step closer to go and grab Dipper so he could stay away from the demon, earning a low growl from the said demon.
Even the young man was surprised by Bill's growl, quickly drying himself to put back his shirt, throwing his pants in his bag, simply keeping his swimsuit. "Grunlke Ford I know what I'm doing" responded Dipper in a confident voice. "No your not, haven't you learn already!?" asked Ford before forcing himself to not raise his voice as he could already see the young man getting angry at him.
He passed a hand on his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. How could Dipper not see demons were always manipulating them to gain something? How did he not learn from his past experience with Bill Cipher just like he himself did? He took a deep breath, meeting yet again his great-nephew's eyes. "Just... let not violently fight, come to the shack so we can talk calmly like the mature adult we are" suggested Ford.
Dipper seemed to hesitate a little, not sure if it was supposed to be a trap, but he guessed the Man didn't have anything to harm Bill since he most likely hadn't known up until now. They couldn't tell either if he figured out it was Bill. Most likely not in their opinions, both knew Ford would already have flipped out otherwise and would not have kept it so calm.
"Okay then, let talk at the shack" responded Dipper, making sure he had taken everything he brought with them. Bill was following close by Dipper side, to Ford annoyance, even he if didn't comment on it.
The demon subtly interlinked their fingers, offering a reassuring smile to the human. The silence between them all was tense and he wanted to make the younger one less anxious. Because of all that tension, the walked seem to take hours before finally getting in the backyard of the shack, where Bill let go of Dipper's hand.
But once they were closer to the habitation he quickly grabbed the young Pines wrist, stopping him as he started to frown. "What wrong?" asked Dipper surprised by his action. "I can't get in there, a barrier has been put" whispered Bill closer to the human, seeing Ford looking back at them, clearly satisfied since it was just proving him right.
"Dipper, let's go" he said, but the young man didn't move from where he was, even if the demon had let go of his wrist. "No I won't, what tell me you won't just lock me up in the shack until I finally give up?" he asked, it was really extreme what he was talking about, but they already had acted more extreme than that before when under stress.
"You don't trust me?" asked the older man, making Dipper suddenly feel guilty, closing his eye and a deep breath. "Not when you want to take everything I like away from me" he said, opening his eyes again, clearly not even close to change his mind.
"Are you really telling me you are putting a demon manipulating you over you own family!?" he asked, turning fully towards them this time, his gaze going from Dipper's serious face to the shit-eating grin demon. It was stronger than Bill, he was delighted to see the man getting this angry over the young man not listening to what he was asking him to do. Clearly, he was forgetting Dipper was now starting to be a grown adult and wasn't an immature teenager.
"What's going on here?" came the voice of Stan, coming out of the Shack with a curious and worried Mabel. They both were attracted by the voice starting to suddenly raise in the backyard, not really expecting to find their twin arguing out there. And from what they could tell, it wasn't just about Dipper not going in the forest again.
"What is going on? Mason is being dangerously stupid by partnering with a demon, that what is happening!" explained Ford, making Dipper click his tongue at the insult. Then it was Stan and Mabel's turn to look at the two others, surprised and not expecting it. "Don't you think you overreact grunkle Ford? Come on, Guillaume can't be a demon" asked Mabel with a tense chuckle.
"No I'm not and I have my proof this time" affirmed the man, and now that he knew he was a demon, losing them all the time was easily explainable. Stan was about to argue that he was most likely just reaching to find his proof because the young man was a nice boy, but stopped when he saw Guillaume floating around his great-nephew.
"Oh my god, you really needed to do that" mumbled Dipper, facepalming at the demon action. "They were going to argue for hours on that and Ford already got it" respond Bill, whispering in his ears. "What are you whispering to him, demon?" asked Ford, making the dream demon roll his eyes.
"Look grunkle Ford, I get it, we all had bad experiences with demon" started Dipper, hearing Ford say "Bad? Horrible" but decided to ignore that. "But I know what I'm doing and it not what had happened to you, there's no manipulation in that".
"Because you could tell if you were manipulated?" asked Ford, clearly not buying the fact that there was literally nothing here. But it was all true, they hadn't even made a deal!
"Dipper... Poindexter is right, you can't trust a demon, this is really dangerous" finally said Stan. As Ford was looking satisfied from finally having someone on his side, Dipper was getting annoyed. Why wouldn't they trust him? He shot a glance at Mabel, but gain from it nothing more than a confused look and uncertainty.
"Dipper, please, just get in so we can talk about it calmly and without you being influenced by him" asked the scientist in a more gentle tone. He would have got closer, but he only initiated the move to go closer that he saw the warning glare the demon was giving him, yet again getting closer to the human.
Dipper clenched his jaw, his hand balling in closed fists, nail nearly digging in his palm. He was starting to get angrier over the fact they wouldn't try to listen to him. He knew that even if he was going inside, they wouldn't listen to him other than if he was agreeing with them. Ford was asking for trust when he was not even trying to trust the younger one on what he was doing.
"You won't even listen to me, what the point of getting in?" he asked, before starting to walk so he could get to the front of the shack and go. He wasn't going to stay just so he could be scolded for hours without even getting the chance to prove them everything was fine. He took the road back for Gravity Falls, needing to yet again calm down. He really wasn't expecting for his summer to be filled with that much frustration against his own family.
As they were walking in silence Dipper could hear Mabel run after them, calling to him even if he wasn't turning towards. "Dipper wait! I want to talk with you!" she called, making the young man stop and turned toward her "About what! You too want to convince me he's brainwashing me?" he asks harshly, immediately regretting the tone he used when he saw Mabel hurt expression. "Sorry, I shouldn't take my anger on you" he said calmly this time.
They stayed in silence, the young woman giving some glances towards the demon, Bill understanding quickly she might not want to go on the subject with him around. "Wow look at that, a deer!" he said as he was starting to walk towards the forest, no deer in sight, leaving them "I need to go see it".
Dipper looked a little confused at the demon, but sighed, guessing it might be better like this. "Dipper I... I really want to trust you" started Mabel "But how can you know it totally safe?" she asked, coming closer to her brother, gently taking his hand, offering a small smile, showing him she was going to listen.
Dipper passed a hand on his neck, looking at the ground. "I've been around him all summer up until now, I know he isn't trying to manipulate me, he's not trying to get something by using me" he started "He helped me find things I never saw in Gravity Falls, helped me complete my notes on some oddities and creatures, he even showed me how to use magic!" he said, his tone clearly getting more excited about those activities he did with the demon "And he never ask for something after all the thing he showed me and taught me, he never even mentions making a deal with me, even as a joke" he added.
He looked up at Mabel, his sister still gently smiling at him, feeling reassured that she was thinking about it. "I trust you Dipper" she said after some moment of silence, giving a little squeeze to his hand "I mean, I'm still a little uneasy about the idea of a demon being so close to my brobro" she admitted, "But I've been around you two and I doubt my worries would come true".
Dipper was fighting tears, feeling so relieved that his twin was so understanding and was trusting him, feeling his hands shake. "I don't get why Ford won't trust me" he said, his voice wavering "I'm scared he might go away, that great-uncles Ford might try something stupid! I don't want to lose Guillaume" he added, feeling good to let his worries out "I love him" he finally admitted to his sister, even if he doubted it was a surprise to her.
"Wait, really?" came the response, but by two very distinctive voices with two different tones.