Mabel came home two hours later, her hair less tidy and a few scratches on her cheek. Dipper heard the front door open and he rushed to the lobby. Her dress was rumpled a little, but nothing a little dry cleaning couldn't fix. She looked only a bit sad, like she had been expecting it, but her spark was still shining brightly.
"Another one?" Dipper asked her, walking to where she stood in the entryway. She nodded, looking at the ground. "It's okay. Someday, you find a beautiful boy who doesn't come from Gravity Falls an-"
"SIKE!" She roared, and the boy walked in through the open door.
"Hello, I'm Justin," the boy said with a British accent. He stuck his hand out to Dipper.
"Hello," Dipper said, shaking it. "And this is all for real?" Mabel nodded earnestly. "That's great!" Dipper exclaimed, hugging his twin tightly. She smiled at him again once he released her. Then she looked at Justin.
"I'll be off now, I think," Justin said, and bowed to Mabel. "M'lady," then looked at Dipper. "Good to meet you," he said and Dipper nodded. He strode out, closing the door behind him.
"Wow, he's polite," Dipper said, and Mabel smiled wide.
"I know, he's perfect!" Mabel said, then ran upstairs. Dipper smiled as she ran, then walked back into the TV room and poked Bill. Bill stared up at him, grinning. Dipper nodded, then rolled his eyes. They walked up to Bill's room, hand in hand, and Dipper stepped just inside the door. Bill pulled the door shut behind Dipper.
"Bill, we can't do this today," Dipper said, but Bill shushed him. "Bill, really..." Bill put a hand to Dipper's mouth.
"I just want to talk to you, my tree." Dipper froze and Bill removed his hand. Dipper nodded and Bill smiled. "I know... you'll be gone in a little more than a month. I know Weirdmaggedon might be coming again. I know I'm pretty insane sometimes. I know life is going to get to us and try and beat us down. But promise me..." Bill looked away from Dipper, down to the floor. "Promise me you'll never forget about us. Promise me you'll never use the memory gun to leave me in the dust. Promise me that no matter what happens to our relationship, you'll always remember that at one point in time I loved you with every little bit of my sewn together body and every little fiber of my version of a soul."
Dipper stared at his lover for a minute. He hadn't expected that. "Okay," he agreed, still a little shocked. "I won't. And I love you, too, Bill. I know I don't say it often enough, but I really appreciate you being here and the fact that even though you get really sad sometimes, you've kept hanging on for me."
"Good. I love you too. Now I can sleep tonight, unless you wanna...?" Bill trailed off and wiggled his eyebrows. Dipper giggled.
"No, I'm tired." Bill nodded and pushed him out of the room.
Dipper walked to his room, and though their rooms were only a few twists and turns apart, it felt like it took hours. He sighed as he walked and thought about how much he would miss Bill. He didn't quite know what he would do without the man by his side, as he had become such a staple of Dipper's life. He was still young, and things may change through the years, but right now he knew that without Bill, he would be broken. He wandered through the dark halls, stumbling every few minutes on some pried up floor board. Eventually he got back to the room he shared with Mabel and flopped down on to his bed, sighing in relief as he fell asleep.
"Dipper. Dipper. Dipper, I need your help," someone was saying as he opened his eyes. He made out Grunkle Ford from the blur of sleep.
"Yeah?" Dipper asked as he woke up more, realized that Ford wouldn't be asking for help unless he really needed it.
"I know this a big ask for you... and Mabel will be helping you, of course, but I need you to go out into the Multiverse and find the Journals. Even if you can only find one of them, I need it. I know I'm working on four, but it won't be enough. I'm older now, than when I first made the Journals and I can't remember everything. Do you think you can do it?"
Dipper nodded. "I think I have a good chance of finding them. How soon do we leave?"
"Tomorrow, or I guess today. This afternoon. You'll have a few hours to say goodbye to your friends or... something." Dipper looked at the clock. It was four a.m.
"Grunkle, why are you up? You should be resting. Wait, don't tell me you got Bill to posses you and right now you're... Fipper or something."
"No, not at all. I would never make that mistake again. In fact, if I ever saw Bill again, if he's even alive, I would shot him where he stood."
"Really?" Ford nodded.
"If it makes you feel better, I even checked out our visitor in case he was Bill trying to infiltrate our family from the inside. But we're completely safe. Apparently, it really is a random guy off the street who's name happens to be William, of which Bill is a common nickname, who recovered from various injuries within a week and has become a great friend to you guys, like another Soos or Wendy... wait, that sounds more suspicious than the last time I assessed our situation out loud. I'll go check th-"
"Grunkle, please. Just go to sleep. You can check in the morning. On an unrelated side note, can me and Mabel take Will with us?" Grunkle Ford nodded.
"Okay, I'll sleep. And you can take Will, I guess. If you really want that." Dipper nodded.
"I do. And Mabel would. But now, we sleep."
"Right..." His Grunkle said, trailing off and standing up. "You would want that." He walked away without further explanation, and Dipper quickly went back to sleep. Ford might be used to being awake at night, but Dipper wasn't.
A/N: Sorry I missed two days there, guys. I just needed a mental health break. I hope you're enjoying the story, and sorry if Ford's a little OOC.