A couple of days went by where Dipper would often go to the cabin so he could pass some time with Bill. They learned a little more about each other that way. How was Dipper's life when he was away from Gravity Falls, what he was usually doing when he was passing the summer here. Talking a little about his family back in the city, hoping they are doing fine.
He was also able to learn some more about Bill. He works as a sells man, although he was starting to get tired of his job. Learned that he doesn't have many friends, only some acquaintance from high school he drinks with from time to time to catch up. The man admitted not being really close to his family, why he seems to hate when people call him by his full name, mainly being the same name as his dad. He hadn't gone in detail and Dipper didn't ask more, understanding it was more personal. All he could guess was that he might not have had the best relationship with his father.
The young Pines was the one speaking most of the time, as it was easier when he was doing so. He felt bad at first but realised that the zombie actually seemed to enjoy listening to him, looking really interested when he was rambling about the creatures you could find in the forest.
Obviously, they couldn't pass all those days doing nothing either, So they went to get food and other goods Dipper's group would need. Bill was a great help, as his scent seems to be good at covering the one from Dipper, keeping him safe. Plus, even if he wasn't really as fast and manual as he probably was before, he could still help carry things. The young man was finding it really nice to pair up with the zombie, feeling closer and closer to him with all this.
But with all this, he forgot to keep his guard a little more up as to not be caught by his family.
Bill and Dipper had finished eating some fishes Dipper caught in the day, going over some funny high school stories they had, when They were surprised by someone trying to open the cabin, failing to do so because Dipper had locked it. Then the voice of Mabel could be heard, asking if Dipper was here.
He couldn't act as if he wasn't, as the lantern was still lighting the cabin and she knew he wouldn't leave it to burn for nothing. So he started to panic a little, getting up quickly with Bill. "Yes, I... I'm getting changed, just a minute and I'll open the door" he lied while thinking of how he could hide the zombie.
He needed to think quick, he couldn't have Mabel find out about him, he would be in trouble and he didn't know how she would react if she found out about it. When he figured it out, he gently grabbed Bill's hand, leading him to the bed.
"Hide under it near the wall" he whispered, helping him to the ground so he wouldn't fall and make too much noises. As the man was hiding under the bed, Dipper went to unlock the door, letting Mabel in.
"Did you decide to move out in here?" she then asked amused, as Dipper hadn't really come back fully to the shack in a couple of days. She looked around, the table catching her attention, everything set as if two people were there before. But it couldn't be, there wasn't really anyone else around here, was it? "Were you playing with a Ouija board?" she asked worried, looking back at her brother.
"Not really, I tried out of boredom, but nothing came out of it" lied Dipper, feeling immediately like he had messed up. Him trying to communicate with spirit out of boredom? It wasn't the safest way to do so, especially with how bad it went all the last times they did try in the past.
Mabel then looked at him suspiciously, as if seeing right through him. Dipper was looking a little too nervous, but she couldn't understand what was going on. "Dipper... are you okay?" she then asked, starting to sound a little concerned. This only made Dipper even more anxious, not helping her get rid of those suspicions. "Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?".
Then there was a silence, Mabel trying to guess what could be wrong. "You... you didn't got yourself bitten right? That's not why you are staying away from us" she then asked, worry growing in her eyes. Her brother was surprised by her guess, making him suddenly react "No! I wouldn't have hide it from you!" he stated, "I wouldn't have stayed close just to make sure you are all safe, but I wouldn't just go and disappear without telling you" he explained.
This seemed to reassure the young woman. She knew she could trust her brother on that, it was something they had promised each other towards the start: immediately tell the other if you get bitten. But she still had been worried it might be that. But if it wasn't that, she couldn't see why her brother was looking so anxious.
"Dipper, you wouldn't hide something important from me, right?" she then asked, a little more seriously. The idea that he might be hiding something wasn't a pleasing one, but they had learned over the years that people could surprise them at any moment.
Something she didn't quite catch quickly flashed in her brother's eyes before he offered her a reassuring smile. "Of course not, you know I would tell you if something had happened" he said, lying through his teeth, feeling guilty about lying to Mabel. She just wanted to make sure he was fine and here he was, lying to her.
They went back and forth like that a couple of time, Mabel wanting to make sure he wasn't lying to her. When she saw she wouldn't get anything else from him, she gave up, sighing. She then simply thought that it was maybe just related to the Ouija board, that he had accounted something and wouldn't tell her. Maybe it wasn't too serious, so she gave up for now, knowing that Dipper could be just as stubborn as she could be.
"Do you have anything on your side about grunkle Ford?" she instead asked, trying to change the subject. This gain at first a sad sigh, Dipper turning around to go and look for a notebook in which he was keeping some research note on the subject. "I didn't make any progress, no trace of him around where I first lost him and where we thought we might have seen him" he explained.
While he was doing that Mabel took a quick look at the notebook still on the table, curious as to what he had been doing earlier, humming as if she was listening. It took a couple of lines before she understood they were all responses Dipper must have gotten, but as she was silently and quickly flipping pages, she found out that there was a lot of things and most likely not things a ghost would tell you. Had Dipper been speaking with someone? Had someone else really came her? Even the plates on the table were giving off the feeling it had been placed for two people, Dipper wasn't exactly one to leave dirty plates on the table for days on end.
She stopped when she saw Dipper finally turning back, starting yet again to listen to what he was saying about his research and all the place he had covered for now. "After so much time I really don't know how we will be able to find him" he admitted defeatedly, looking depressed about that idea. Mabel felt down about it too, not wanting to believe something bad might have happened to him. Sadly, neither did she manage to find a trace of Ford when she was looking around with some of the others.
After all, they decided not to kill any of them, knowing the person or not doesn't change anything, up until now they managed to trap them and just keep them away without killing. But that wasn't meaning any of the other still humans wouldn't do just like any classic zombie movie: blowing some heads up. None of them wanted to think the worse, reassuring themselves by thinking that there seem to be no one else in Gravity Falls left to do such a thing anyway.
After looking frustratedly at his notes, Dipper seemed to be looking guilty, yet again. This was a look she didn't like on her twin face. Dipper had done nothing wrong. It was all an accident, it wasn't as if he had orchestrated the whole thing. "Dipper, you better not be thinking about it being your fault again" she warned.
"Sorry" she simply received with a weak smile, Dipper closing his notebook to put it on the table. "I... I know it wasn't my fault" he said, although he wasn't sounding the most convincing in his affirmation. He was working on not blaming himself for what had happened but it was hard when it all happened because his grunkle was protecting him. Ford had been protecting them for the last years, but it had never ended up in such a disaster and they had been through dangerous situations.
Mabel then went and hugged her brother. "Don't worry Dipper, we will find him and we will find a way to bring him back" she said, sounding optimistic in what she was saying. Mabel was what every one of them needed: comfort and optimism. Sure, she and her time where she too was down about the whole situation, but she was clearly doing her best to keep everyone in a more positive set of mind. And it was always good for Dipper to have a good dose of optimism shove into him, since he had a tendency to be a little more pessimistic, even more when all his attempt were failing.
They let go of each other when Dipper seemed to be a little better, sitting at the table for a while, trying to mark on a map from Gravity Falls where around the area Ford might have gone, not wanting to give up. When it was finished, Mabel decided to go back.
"Are you going to be alright alone?" asked Dipper, a little worried because it was starting to be fully dark outside. "You are not the only one to be able to go out alone Dip-Dop" she chuckled, taking back the old grappling hook she had since their first visit and a baseball bat. Well, it was true, she was able to protect herself, but it was still making him nervous, but he could be too from time to time. After all, he was always making them nervous, especially while being out all the time with "no one else".
"Go back safe then" he said, clearly not ready to go out too, disappointment showing slightly in his sister's eyes. She would have wanted for him to come back too, but she was starting to think Dipper really liked being in that cabin of his. So she didn't ask, promising to be careful and wishing him a good night.
Once the door was closed and locked again, Dipper relaxed, letting out a relieved sigh. Mabel didn't seem to have caught up about Bill or being suspicious on that.
Now that he was sure they were alone, the young adult went back to the bed, kneeling down to look under it. Bill was still laying down there, back against the wall and legs bent to makes sure he wouldn't come off on the side without knowing it. He opened back his eyes when he heard the footsteps coming to the bed, looking happy that they were finally alone again.
Dipper then helped him crawl out from under the bed, Bill instead going for sitting on it, his legs probably sore from having been bent for so long. "Sorry for keeping you under the bed for so long" he said with a small smile. He simply received a shake from the head, indicating it was all fine.
Dipper was standing in front of him, looking at the table and all the things he would need to clean up later. As Bill was looking at him he could still see the guilt on his face, although he couldn't say if it was from thinking back to what happened with Ford or if he was thinking about all the lies he had to tell his twin.
The young man was indeed feeling guilty about lying to her like that. It wasn't that he wasn't trusting her, but he still couldn't bring himself to just tell her, he was scared something might happen somewhere along the way if others knew about Bill. He had never liked lying to Mabel and it wasn't going to suddenly change.
He was surprised when he suddenly felt arms surrounding his middle, looking down at the blond head placed on his chest. Bill was hugging him? Sure, it wasn't rare that one or the other would grab to other hand or sleeve, sometimes keeping really close just to hide Dipper's smell. But this wasn't Bill using himself as a shield and zombie scented candle, it was him straight up hugging him.
It was strangely comforting to have him do just that, gently reciprocating the action as best as he could with his standing position. "Thank you" he smiled at the blond, knowing he must have done it because he had seen him not looking at his best, yet again. This made the zombie smile the best he could, rubbing his head slightly against him as a response.
Dipper didn't really want to move from the embrace, staying like this up until he managed to change his mind a little. Even then, he kept the hug a little longer, just because he was liking it. He wouldn't have expected that, but he was really enjoying it.
He turned towards the table when he heard his talkie-walkie coming to life, Mabel sounding on the other end to tell him she was indeed safely home, other voice could slightly be heard in the background. He smiled at that, finally letting go of Bill, the zombie doing the same when he felt the pair of arms leaving him. "Lets clean the table up and go to sleep, the day was long and I feel tired" he admitted, feeling a little selfish to be the one dictating on his feeling. Well, if they were following on Bill state of fatigue, he would probably never sleep. Sure he didn't have the most energy, but he wasn't really looking tired either, he couldn't even tell for sure if he was sleeping next to him or just staying awake and faking it.
Yet, Bill happily agreed to the suggestion, not minding stopping there, knowing Dipper would only be more tired the following day if they were pushing him to keep talking. Plus, he doubted that the young man was still in the mood to retell high school stories or slowly write down what he was spelling and miming for him.
So they did just that, taking away the dirty dishes on the table, leaving it for tomorrow Dipper. They simply placed the Ouija board and the notebook at the centre of the table, going to place all the other thing he got out with Mabel in the chest.
Once done, the young Pines quickly prepared to bed, putting out the light from the lantern before finally going in bed. It wasn't long before Bill joined him, something that had become strangely natural for them in the past days. At first, he was just sitting next to him since it was more comfortable to be on the bed rather than the ground or a chair, now he was fully laying down next to Dipper, not leaving much space between them. Well, they couldn't do much better, the bed wasn't really big after all. Though it wasn't bothering Dipper, he was actually feeling safer knowing Bill was close to him and most likely ready to wake him up and help him if something was wrong.
Slowly, all the worries from the night were fading away, trying instead to concentrate on what they had done that day and the cold hand slightly touching his under the sheet.