Bill was home. It had been a week since Dipper had read the book to him, which he did many more times before Bill left the hospital for good. It was hard for Bill to convince the hospital that he was ready to be released, even after a week, but Bill said that he felt staying in the hospital any longer would impede his progress more than anything else, and while Dipper wasn't sure of this, because Bill had tried to commit suicide, Dipper was ready for Bill to come home and he needed to talk to Bill badly anyway. He still wanted to arrange something in case Bill ever felt so bad again that he wanted to do that... Dipper was determined not to let his hopes soar so low, and if Bill ever did try and do something like that and succeed, Dipper wasn't quite sure what he would end up doing. Dipper didn't want to live without Bill. Every word he said to Bill was true, especially when it came to love and other things of the sort.
"Pass the milk, Dipper," Bill said, grinning at him. He grinned back and passed the milk.
"So Will..." Grunkle Ford started. "Where were you for the past week and two days?"
"I was in the hospital!" Bill said excitedly, smiling.
"Why?" Bill's face fell. He didn't look very excited anymore.
"Um... that's something I'd rather not talk about."
"Well, you're living in my house for an undetermined amount of time. You're telling me."
"Oh, okay. I, uh, wanted to die. And I acted on those feelings." Grunkle Ford was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"I'm sorry," he said, then went quiet. Bill shrugged and kept eating.
After that, everyone ate in near silence. Dipper and Bill had a few side conversations, but nothing that mattered.
"Oh, Mabel!" Dipper exclaimed, throwing a hand up. "I found a room full of glitter for you!"
"Really!? Oh my God, please show me after dinner! Yaaaa-"
"That's not glitter." Stan said and crossed his arms.
"What?" Dipper, Mabel, and Ford said at once.
"It's not glitter. That's all you need to know right now."
Ford chuckled. "You're starting to sound like me, Stanly." Stan laughed outright and nodded.
"I guess I am."
Dipper woke up the next morning with hope. He breathed deeply, closing his eyes and stretching his arms. He didn't know why, but today was bound to be a good day with many possibilities. It was something he had longed for since he had come here this year, but neither him nor Mabel had gotten a day like this yet, and by the looks of it, they would spend it together. Mabel had just woken up too. Maybe this was a day they could forget about the impending Weirdmaggedon threat, they could just do something nice. Relax a little bit, fall in love a little more with whatever they fell in love with. Something truly fun.
"What do you want to do today, Mabel?" He asked her.
"I want to get a boyfriend!" This?
"Okay, I'll help you today. I don't think I have anything to do, and Grunkle Stan closed the Mystery Shack today."
"Why and how do you know? You haven't gotten out of bed." Mabel crossed her arms and raised a brow.
"Grunkle Stan told me before he went tro bed yesterday. He's giving us a day off, mostly because Grunkle Ford wants him to help prepare for Weirdmaggedon. But Ford said he doesn't need us right now, so we can have the day off. Stan looked at me when he said that in a way that said 'you better use it'." Dipper said, with the last part in his best impression of Grunkle Stan. Mabel giggled and nodded.
"Yay!" She screamed. They both got up, got dressed in the bedroom and bathroom, and then Dipper knocked on Bill's door.
"What?" He mumbled. He sounded half-asleep.
"Do you wanna come with me and Mabel? The Mystery Shack's closed today."
"Yeah, sure, whatever. I'll be out in five."
"Okay," Dipper said, grinning. Mabel grinned back. They went downstairs and ate breakfast quickly, then sat at the table talking loudly until Bill came down, ate breakfast too, and then finished.
"Are you ready to find me a boyfriend?!" Mabel shouted and Dipper and Bill nodded.
"Indubitably," Bill said.
"What?" Bill shook his head, laughing. They walked out together, off to the town.
Once they got to the town, Mabel began to scout out some spots. She looked all around, while Bill and Dipper followed her, for what Dipper could only hypothesize was hot boy-hot spots. Eventually, Mabel began to explain to them the dynamics of the town and how to determine hot boy-hot spots.
"Well, Greasy's is always a big hit because half the people here eat all their meals there, but also it isn't a great spot for cool boys. They mostly hang out behind the stores on main street and in alleyways, but if you don't know which stores or alleyways, you will look dumb. Now, we could just walk back and forth between Greasy's and main street, but that would be exhausting and not very fruitful. I've experimented with it before. So, my thoughts are we go to the Ye Olde Icee Creame Parlore down on main street and wait there, like a predator. Due to my calculations, which factor in the hotness of the boys and the hotness of the day, we should be getting premium meat after an hour or two." Both Bill and Dipper were silent for a second, then nodded.
"That was amazing, Shooting Star, but don't talk like we're hunting. I'm old enough to actually be a teenage boy or child predator..." He glanced at Dipper. "Technically, I guess, I am." He blushed and so did Dipper. They looked at the ground simultaneously.
"Okay," she shrugged and giggle. "That doesn't change the fact that I knew it!" She shouts, Dipper sighed, and Bill laughed.
They walked to the Ye Olde Icee Creame Parlore and sat for awhile, everyone happy to be out of the hot sun and avec ice cream. They sat together for hours, just enjoying the company of the others around them. They were basically the only ones in the ice cream shop, except for the owner, and so they didn't have to worry about looking dumb in front of people if they went of on their old inside jokes or something. It was nice, and just what Dipper had wanted. A perfectly normal day where he got to hang out with the two people he loved most in this world. Perfect, perfect, perfect.
Then a boy walked in. He was tall, taller than Dipper, with brown hair and freckles across his face. He had blue eyes, though, which made him look striking in a very natural way. It was odd. Mabel waved to him and stood up. He walked over to her.
"Hey, what's up?" The boy asked her, not quite smiling.
"I'm sorry, I just saw you and knew I had to talk to you! Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?" The boy stared at her for a second, then took a step back.
"I'm sorry, too, I just... I have a partner."
"Oh, okay! I'll see you around then!" Mabel shouted, waving to the boy and sitting back down at our table. Even though she didn't show it, Dipper could tell she was heartbroken.
"You okay?" Dipper asked her, touching her shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's only the first guy." Mabel said this, but her eyes said something else. Her brows were scrunched up, like she was concentrating really hard on something. They waited a little more, and after another few minutes, teenage boys were coming in by the handful. It was amazing, how accurate Mabel was even though she hadn't use paper, pencils, or even just a calculator.
"Mabel, you hit the bull's eye. This is crazy!" Dipper exclaimed, hoping it would make her feel just a bit better. It did.
"You really think so?" She asked softly. Dipper nodded.
"You have a talent for locating things, I would say," Bill chimed in, and Mabel smiled her old happy smile. She stood up.
"I'm back to the chase!" She shouted, causing a few people to look at them. She turned to one of the looking people, a boy a little bit younger than Bill, maybe seventeen, with blond hair and a big grin. "You're very handsome, would you like to have dinner with me?" The boy nodded.
"Yes, I think I would. There's nothing I can't admire about someone like you." Mabel blushed suddenly, her eyes wide.
"Wait, for real?" He nodded again. "Okay... do you wanna have dinner tonight?" He nodded once more, smiling.
"I'll pick you up at eight. What's your address?"
"618 Gopher Road." The boy nodded to her and she walked out of the shop. We followed her, Bill quickly paying for our half-eaten ice cream.
We followed her all the way home. We got there about five or six minutes after her, because she ran all the way. She locked the twins door as soon as she was home, and that was the last either Bill or Dipper saw of her for a few hours. About ten minutes after they got home Pacifica rushed through the house, a violent storm in her own right, claiming an emergency. Dipper would have been more worried if he didn't know Mabel so well.
At eight sharp, the doorbell rang and Mabel rushed down the stairs, Pacifica right behind her. Mabel was nothing short of breath taking. He long hair was brushed, so that it was as wavy as normal, but tidy. She was dressed in a deep blue dress that hit her right below the knees, with matching flats. She had sparkly silver earrings. She ran to the door, opened it, and smiled at the boy.
"Bye Dipper! Don't wait up!" She called as she took the boy's hand and walked out into the night. Dipper smiled after her, and Bill put an arm around his shoulders.
"Are you going to wait up?" Bill asked, and Dipper nodded, still looking at the now closed front door. "I'm sure she'll be fine," Bill said, and led Dipper to the TV room. "Let's watch some shitty movies."
"Okay," Dipper said, and they both sat down, snuggling against one another as Bill flipped on the TV.