This chapter name took ten minutes to come up with, it was difficult finding a good summary for what is to come.

I don't usually like writing caps when someone is SHOUTING or super UPSET because it looks a bit extreme if I do it often, and it kinda starts to lose its effect. However, if you do see me ever writing in caps, run while you still can!

Here is chapter 33 of "Welcome Home"!

It was an ordinary morning at Abuelita's house, Soos had taken the day off the day before to attend yet another doctor's visit for Melody, so the two could go to visit Dr. Lutwin's office once more. The doctor visits were getting more and more stressful as much as they were suspenseful. Melody was now seven months pregnant, and the young couple was still yet to have the child's birth gender identified.

"Any new name ideas?" Melody asked. The couple had discussed names a few times, however they were never exactly sure what to go for.

"Not really." Soos admitted with a shrug as he put on his hat.

Melody shrugged and gave a small smile. "Well, we could always go with a more gender-neutral name." She recommended.

"That could work." Soos said with a nod of his head. "Aw, man. Why didn't we think of that earlier?"

"As much as I really like the name Brock if it's a boy, it might be best to plan ahead. There's still a couple months left." Melody advised with another shrug.

Soos nodded. "Yeah. Hey, what about Sam?" He recommended. "I kinda thought it would be a nice boy name, but that kind of name could be for anyone."

Melody hummed in minor distaste. "I don't know, Soos. I'm still not too sure about that one." She admitted, running a hand through her hair.

"You sure?" Soos asked with a small frown. Melody gave a slow nod, feeling a bit guilty for wanting to deny the name idea. "Okay," Soos said in more of a mutter. "Anyway, if it's okay with you, I was thinking you could come with me to the Mystery Shack today." He said with a shrug, "I think I'm ready to tell Stan and everyone else." He said.

"Sure!" Melody said with a smile. "That sounds nice." She commented. Soos grinned as he opened the front door. Melody thanked him and walked over to the car as Soos locked the door behind him. He caught up to Melody and took her hand in his as they walked to his truck.

The ride to the Mystery Shack wasn't too long, it only took a couple minutes of driving to get there since traffic was never busy. Soos was surprised- at first he had feared bringing up the news, but now he felt excited about it. He wasn't exactly sure how Stan would react, nor Ford or Wendy. Oh snap, does Wendy know? He wondered to himself. He was sure that if she did, the others would have heard about it by now. Then again, Dipper and Mabel could have told her at one point.

Before they knew it, they had gotten to the shack. Soos parked the truck and stopped the car, his hands fidgeting with the wheel. Melody noticed the reaction and put her hand on his shoulder with a reassuring smile. "Are you ready?" She asked.

Soos nodded in response. "I'm ready if you're ready." He said, giving a warm smile.


Meanwhile, Stan was in the kitchen in his ordinary suit and fez hat and grabbing a cup of coffee. He hadn't bothered to greet his brother that morning, as Ford appeared to be even more despondent and doleful than he had seemed the past few days. A wave of guilt passed by Stan when he looked at Ford. He felt as if he had truly upset him the night before when speaking so harshly about Bill. He felt a bit bad, however Stan knew that he wouldn't take back his words if he could. The guy tried to kill my family, I'm not that gullible to forgive 'im.

Ford, however, was pondering theories as he paced around the living room. Last night wasn't the first time he had encountered a situation like that. It had happened to him back in the holidays, but was this the same thing?

No, that couldn't be so. Ford told himself. I was unconscious for a month then. This was merely a dream. He tried to tell himself, however he wasn't completely sure that his theory could be correct. Dreams were normally shown to be rather strange, often changes of subjects, places, a variety of things. But what happened the night before, it didn't have the same 'dreaming' effect. It felt much more real, and too orderly to be just a dream. Unless it was his IQ pitching in with what happens in his dreams.

That couldn't be it, either. Ford continued to think, putting his hands behind his back as he continued to pace. He had faced many dreams in his lifetime, why would his head suddenly decide to be orderly? It has also been said that you forget most of what happens in your dreams, so wouldn't he have forgotten a majority of it by now? In fact, Ford could recall nearly everything that had happened, nearly everything that had been said. It couldn't have just been a coincidence...

Stanford kept thinking to himself, and eventually got to the ridiculous theory of the dream being some sort of message from Bill. He rolled his eyes at the thought, annoyed that his thoughts had gotten him to that ludicrous idea. He had stopped pacing and stood in place when he saw Stan looking at him, a concerned look on his face.

"Aw, pointdexter. Whaddya' doin'?" Stan groaned, face palming with a heavy sigh.

"Just...thinking." Ford muttered, looking away.

"Maybe ya' should try gettin' all this out of your head." Stan advised, walking over to his brother.

Ford sighed and shrugged. "Honestly, I wish I could." He admitted. "I just can't seem to stop thinking about this. All of this." He said, adjusting his glasses and putting his hands in his coat pockets.

"Well, it doesn't seem like thinkin' about it is doin' ya' any good." Stan stated bluntly.

Stanford just nodded in agreement. "I know, I know." He agreed in more of a mutter. "I apologize for being so unfocused recently." He said truthfully.

Stan shrugged dismissively. "Hey bro, I know how ya' feel." He said with a small smirk. "High six?"

Ford rolled his eyes as Stan raised his hand in front of him. He chuckled slightly and shrugged in agreement. "High six." He agreed. Stan grinned ear to ear at that, and practically slammed his hand against his brothers.

Stanford cringed slightly at the playfully violent gesture. "Dammit, Stan." He said, looking down at his hand and chuckling. Stan laughed mockingly at the look on his brother's face, and gave him a joking pat on the back.

"Hey, tellin' ya' to stop thinkin' about somethin' won't do nothin'." Stan began with a shrug. "So maybe that will!" He said, snickering.

"Well, it did take the subject off my mind for a moment, until you brought it up again." Ford said, rolling his eyes and chuckling.

Stan shrugged once more and put his hands on his hips. "It's progress, ain't it?" He asked.

Ford put a finger up, just about to correct his brother's grammar, when the twins heard the door's ringer bell over in the gift shop. Ford looked at Stan and raised an eyebrow. "I thought the gift shop didn't open for another hour."

"Eh," Stan began, "Could just be the tax collector comin' for the debt on that car I bought back 'round Christmas time."

"Excuse me?" Ford asked, narrowing his eyes in annoyance and raising an eyebrow. "Why would y-"

"Shush," Stan said, putting a finger up in front of him. "Leave this to me." He said, and pushed past the 'Employee's only' door. Behind the door, Ford could hear his brother exclaiming. "Welcome to the Mystery Shack, gent-" Stan began, but stopped speaking. Ford questioned why Stanley had stopped in the middle of his sentence, and he pushed on the door slightly, peering through the crack in the door.

"Stanley?" Ford called out, looking over at his brother and walking into the gift shop. He noticed the sudden look of surprise on Stan's face, and tilted his head. "Why do you look so... speech...less..." Stanford began to ask as he turned to look at the two people standing in front of them. It was at that moment when he realized just why his brother looked so surprised.

Standing in front of the twins were Soos and Melody. However, something was different from when Stanley had seen Melody last. Ford, however, had only seen the woman once; when she moved to Gravity Falls to work at the Mystery Shack with Soos. Even though he wasn't too properly acquainted to the lady, her pregnancy still came off as a surprise.

"Well," Stan hesitantly began, speechless. "You gained weight."

Ford shot a cold glare at his brother and stepped directly on his foot at the terribly inappropriate comment. "Ow!" Stan exclaimed, glaring back at Ford. "I was only jokin', pointdexter."

Ford folded his arms and muttered in a rather harsh tone. "Do you honestly believe that's a proper way to respond to something such as this?"

Soos chuckled nervously and adjusted his hat. "Um... Mr. Pines, other Mr. Pines, this is Melody."

"Yes," Ford said with a small smile, putting his hand out for a handshake. "My apologies for not being well acquainted. How are you, Melody?" He asked, hoping to make a good impression.

Melody looked down at the man's hand, counting all the six fingers that she had heard about from Soos. She accepted the handshake and looked up with a smile on her face. "I've been good, thanks!" She said, grinning.

"That's good to hear," Ford said with a nod of his head. He looked over at Soos, a warm smile still apparent on his face. "Soos, it's good to see you here again." He greeted. "Congratulations." He added, adjusting his glasses.

"Hehe, thanks a lot, Mr. For- er, uh, Ford." Soos said with a smile.

Stan nodded and wrapped his arm around Soos's shoulder. "Yeah, good for the two of ya'!" He said, ruffling the top of Soos's hat in his ordinary aggressive behavior, smirking. "But why didn't ya' tell us about all this earlier?" Stan asked, taking a step back and folding his arms, raising an eyebrow.

"Stanley." Ford muttered through clenched teeth, clearly unamused by the way his brother's question had come out.

"What?" Stan asked, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Ford! I'm just askin'!"

Soos took his girlfriend's hand in his and shrugged. "Well, it just didn't feel like the right time." He admitted.

Melody nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we're still pretty new to this," She pointed out with a shrug of her shoulders. "We've been trying to take baby steps on the whole thing for most of it."

"That's completely understandable." Ford said with a nod of his head as he adjusted his glasses once more. "I've personally never shown much interest in having children, but parenting seems like a lovely fit for the two of you." He truthfully commented.

Stan looked at Soos when he noticed the handyman sniffle slightly. "Hey, you alright there, Soos?" He asked, tilting his head.

"Yeah," Soos said with a nod of his head, closing his eyes to hide the small tears forming in his eyes. "That's... really nice of you to say, d-dude." He said. Melody looked up at Soos and chuckled silently, resting her head atop his shoulder.

"Does Wendy know about this?" Stan asked. "More importantly, did the twins know about this before I did?"

Ford rolled his eyes and nudged his brother, scoffing at the question he had asked.

Soos nodded slowly. "Well, yes and no." He said. "Mabel and Dipper...well, they've known for a long time." He said. Stan grunted at the answer and folded his arms. "Wendy, I don't think she knows-"

As if the whole thing was being played out like a script, Wendy walked through the gift shop door whistling as she held her sack lunch in her right hand. Soos looked behind him to see the teenager, and his eyebrows raised instantly.

"Wendy, you're never early!" Stan said, putting his hands on his hips. "Don't go thinkin' your paycheck is gonna be raised if ya' work an extra thirty minutes."

Wendy looked at Stan and gave a cheeky smile. "Woah, is that an option?" She asked, acting as if she hadn't already thought of that.

"No." Stan bluntly stated, narrowing his eyes.

Wendy groaned in slight annoyance and placed her sack lunch beside the cash register. She looked beside her and noticed the extra person in the room. "Oh man, what's up, Melody?" She asked, putting a hand up in the air with a smile.

"Just coming around for a visit." Melody responded with a smile, accepting the high-five.

"Nice!" Wendy responded with a wide grin. "Woah, are you pregnant?" She asked. Melody nodded at the question, and Wendy looked wide-eyed at Soos. "Is it yours, Soos?" The handyman nodded in response, and Wendy's mouth hung open. "Woah, man! That's totally awesome!"

"Hey, Soos?" Stan began. Soos looked over at him and tilted his head. "Does Bill know about this?" He asked. He noticed another sudden moment of silence filling the room, and realized what he had asked. He looked over at his brother who was slowly shaking his head, sighing as he looked away. Stan bit his lip at the look. "Oh, right." He muttered.

Wendy raised an eyebrow at the mentioning of a familiar name. "Who?" She asked.

"Nothin'." Stan muttered to the teenager. "Just some guy who ended up livin' here for a while." He informed, not wanting to explain that the 'Bill' he was speaking of was the same Bill who caused the summer's previous Weirdmageddon. That would get quite a reaction out of the girl for sure.

"Huh," Wendy muttered, folding her arms, "Isn't that the same guy I saw your brother making out with on Christmas?" She questioned.

Ford's eyes widened suddenly at the question brought attention to, and he squinted his eyes shut. Oh, for Pete's sake. He thought to himself. If Stan catches onto any of this information, I'll never hear the end of it.

"Say what?" Stan asked, small force in his voice as he clenched his fists. He looked over at his brother and put his hands on his hips. "What's she talkin' about, STANFORD?" He pressed, glaring.

"Oh.. uh, I-I'm sure it's nothing." Ford stammered, a jolt of fear suddenly running through him.

"Really?" Stan asked. "That don't sound like nothin'." He stated, narrowing his eyes.

Ford just scoffed, seeing that his only hope in ending this conversation would be to use his IQ to overpower the conversation. Even if what he was saying was complete nonsense, his brother wouldn't be able to tell the difference. "Stanley, you know how teenagers can be, we were teenagers once!" He began.

"Your point?" Stan asked, his glare getting colder.

Ford rolled his eyes and sighed. "Allow me to explain. My point is that in recent clinical trials on teenagers between the age of fourteen to seventeen, the average teen can experience minor to major nonsensical memories that they believe to recall at times, depending on their average state of mind. Their neuro ability to process things they may have seen in dreams can become rather toxic depending on the specific situations they claim to recall. These types of neuro problems can-" He continued, but stopped when Stan gave a clear sign of annoyance.

Stanley sighed obnoxiously and grunted. "Alright, alright, smarty pants. Ford's the genius, teenagers are dumb, we understand." He muttered, scoffing.

Wendy rolled her eyes at her boss's statement, but decided not to comment. Ford, however, was quite pleased with himself. What he was saying was complete nonsense for the most part, but throwing out words such as 'neuro', 'clinical', and 'average' always seemed to bore Stan to the point where he wouldn't bother listening.

Soos and Melody looked at each other, very confused on what exactly was going on. "Uh..." Soos muttered, looking at his boss. "Mr. Pines, w-"

"Take the day off, Soos." Stan advised. "You'll need it." He said, using it as an excuse.

Soos tilted his head at the unusual offer. "Are you sure, Mr. Pines?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Stan said, waving his hand dismissively. "Go skip on back to your house and do whatever you do on your spare time. I'm not kiddin' about the skippin' part, just make sure the baby doesn't fall out while you're doin' it." He said, laughing at his own joke.

Ford shot a glare at Stan and rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the horrid statement. "Have a good week, you two." He said with a smile, hoping to avoid drawing attention to the comments his brother was making.

Melody smiled and gave a small wave before taking hold of her boyfriends' hand. "Goodbye!" She said, grinning.

"See you dudes later!" Soos added with a smile. With that, the couple walked to the gift shop door.

The couple stepped away from the gift shop, walking over to the car. Melody was about to step into the passenger seat as Soos stood beside the front seat, but he hesitated to step inside the vehicle. Melody noticed the hesitation and raised an eyebrow. "Soos, are you okay?" She asked, concerned.

"Do we..," Soos began, deeply confused. "Do we actually have to skip?" He questioned, stumped.

Melody chuckled softly. "I'm sure Stan was only joking." She assured.

"I don't know," Soos muttered. "I've been working at the shack for years, and I still can't tell when he's joking or not." He admitted with a shrug. He suddenly smelled the scent of donuts, which gave him a small craving. "Aw, man," Soos began with a small smile. "You know what I could totally go for right now?"

"Donuts?" Melody asked, practically guessing. She knew Soos well enough to know the sugary snacks that he loved.

Soos nodded and chuckled. "That's what I was just thinking!" He said with a smile, quickly getting into his truck and starting the car.

"Are you sure there's a donut place here?" Melody asked. "I've never heard of one being in Gravity Falls."

"I know a place." Soos answered with a reassuring smile.


Meanwhile, Bill was laying down on Karen's couch, watching the ceiling fan spin. He realized that when he focused on a certain blade on the fan, the device would appear to be moving slower. Karen walked out of her bedroom, adjusting her tan apron and wrapping the brown ribbon around her waist.

"Do ya' have to go?" Bill groaned in minor annoyance.

Karen nodded at the question. "Yeah, I need to go to work today. John called in sick, so I might have to work an extra hour or two." She said with an annoyed sigh.

"John's a wimp." Bill commented, rolling his eyes.

"Well, we don't want our customers getting sick if he was to go to work." Karen said with a shrug. "I'll be back before you know it."

Bill groaned obnoxiously, sighing. "What am I supposed to do until you get back?" He asked.

Karen just shrugged. "Well, you could watch Tv, read a book, sleep. Whatever you want, basically." She said.

"I don't wanna be alone." Bill stated, folding his arms and scowling.

"I'll be back, I promise." Karen said with a reassuring smile, walking over to Bill and ruffling his hair gently.

Bill narrowed his eyes, but agreed. "Fine." He muttered, looking away.

Karen just smiled at this. "Aww, you're so cute!" She cooed with a grin.

"Cute?" Bill repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Not me."

"Yes you!" Karen said, chuckling as she walked over towards the door. "I'll be back soon." She announced, putting a hand on the doorknob and twisting it, opening the front door and stepping into the hallway.

Bill watched the woman leave and grunted. "Traitor." He muttered, rolling his eyes. "She just expects me to occupy myself with useless mortal activities?" He questioned aloud, scoffing. He sat up straight and looked around the room, eyes narrowed slightly. Surely there was something he could do.

He tried it all. Jumping off the couch for no reason, slamming his arm into the kitchen drawers, touching the inside of a toaster while it was over-toasting bread, even attempting to comb his hair with a butter knife. Even after trying to occupy himself, he just couldn't seem to enjoy his time alone. He ended up randomly walking around the apartment, eventually looking over at the front door. For some strange reason, he felt like a dog waiting for its owner to come home.

He looked to the left of the door at the corner, seeing a basket with a few objects inside. Bill narrowed his eyes at the basket, he had never taken much time to look through it before. He looked down at the woven basket and noticed a strange wooden object. However, it wasn't bare wood. It had been polished, glazed with some sort of shiny material.

Bill picked up the object and noticed a total of four white strings on the object. He squinted his eyes, grabbing the first string with one hand and plucking it upward. The string made a strange noise, not too loud, but not exactly quiet after silence had filled a room. It was loud and sudden enough to make Bill flinch. It took a few moments for him to realize just what it was.

Hm... Bill began, humming in an understanding manner. This is what the fleshbags use for music, right? He wasn't exactly sure, for he had never seen an object like it before. The closest thing he had ever seen to something like this was the loud, annoying instrument Fiddleford would often play while he and Ford were working on the portal all those years ago. Since bill had nothing else to do, and physical pain was becoming rather boring, he took the instrument and sat down on the couch.

He looked down at the slim, long board on the instrument with small horizontal lines that appeared to be separating something. Bill questioned the separation and placed his index finger down on one of the strings. The strings felt a bit sharp on his fingers at first, but as he continued to hesitantly maneuver his fingers around the board, strumming occasionally and admiring the sounds that came out of the instrument. The fact of the chords actually sounding good didn't really matter to Bill.

How didn't I know about these things sooner? Bill asked himself. All that time of immortal life and I never knew this type of instrument existed! He wasn't exactly sure if he was using the object correctly, but being able to produce sounds from the instrument that weren't half bad made him feel as if he were accomplishing something.


"Okay, okay," Soos began, chuckling as he stopped at the stop light. "If you could only have one or the other for the rest of your life, which would you choose?" He asked Melody. "Chocolate donuts or Maple bars?"

"That's a tricky one," Melody admitted, nodding slowly in consideration as she pondered the thought in her head. "I would probably go with... Maple bars." She answered with a shrug.

"Wow, really?" Soos asked as the traffic light turned green. "I mean, it's not a bad choice, but I'm kinda surprised you'd pick Maple bars over the basic donut." He said, chuckling.

Melody shrugged and smiled. "Well, they're both really good. I used to have chocolate donuts all the time as a kid, so I guess the flavor started to ware off a little over time." She said.

"That's understandable." Soos said with a shrug. He turned the corner and saw the donut shop. "Oh, there it is!" He said, grinning ear to ear.

"I've never seen this place before," Melody said. "Did they just open?"

Soos shook his head at the question. "No, they've been open for a few years, a lot of people go to the diner for donuts these days though." He said, shrugging. "The people here are really nice."

"Do you know them personally?" Melody asked.

Soos squinted his eyes in consideration and shrugged. "Well, not really. But I recognize some people once and a while." He said as he opened his car door, stepping outside and shutting the trucks door behind him. Melody did the same, carefully stepping out of the vehicle.

The couple walked into the donut shop and were greeted by the smell of freshly baked donuts, freshly poured coffee, and a few other pleasant smells. The donut shop wasn't crowded with people, there was one man who had just walked away from the counter after grabbing his order. The booths beside the windows had a few people sitting at them as well. Soos and Melody were pleased to see no line at the counter, so they went right up.

Soos rang the small bell on the counter, and they heard a feminine voice from the kitchen calling out to them. "One moment, please!" The couple waited a moment, and the lady came out of the kitchen, setting down a drying rag and grabbing her pen and notepad. "Hello!" She greeted with a smile. "What can I do for the two of you today?" She asked, leaning on the counter slightly. Soos and Melody both read the name tag that read Karen, and Soos was starting to think that he had seen the lady here before at one point.

"Well-" Melody began, but was stopped when the woman gave an obnoxious gasp.

"Oh my gosh!" Karen exclaimed with a wide grin, noticing the other woman's pregnancy. "Congratulations!"

Melody gave a small smile, however she couldn't help but feel that there were multiple eyes on her at that moment, which gave her a feeling of unease. "Oh, um... thank you!" She stated, giving an awkward smile.

"You know, I've considered having kids in the past," Karen began, grabbing the nearest cup and drying it. "But I hadn't really met anyone back then." She admitted, shrugging. "But who knows? I just might have a shot at being a real mom in the future. There's this guy I met, he can be a bit strange sometimes, but he never fails to humor me." she said, chuckling.

Soos smiled at that. "Good for you, dawg!" He said, giving a thumbs up. "What's his name?"

"Soos!" Melody muttered, looking up at her boyfriend. Melody was rather afraid that the question he had asked would offend the lady in some way.

"Nah, It's okay!" Karen assured, snickering with a smile. "His name is Bill, pretty mysterious guy."

"Huh," Soos muttered, looking down at the ground. "I know a dude with the same name."

"Really?" Karen asked, humming. "What a coincidence!" She commented. "Do you think he's the same Bill that I know?" She questioned.

Soos shook his head at the question. "I doubt it, dawg. The Bill I know is... really strange. He kinda gives me the chills. He's convinced that pain is funny." He admitted, folding his arms. "Speaking of chills, do you dudes still serve those chilled cruller things?" He questioned. "Those things are pretty good, but I haven't had them in a while."

"Of course we do!" Karen said, chuckling. "Do you want that?" She asked, putting down the cup and picking up her pen and paper once more.

"Yeah dude!" Soos said, grinning from ear to ear. "Er- I mean, yes please." He said, chuckling awkwardly as he corrected himself.

"Alright," Karen said, writing the order down on her notepad. "And for you?" She asked, looking at Melody.

"Oh," Melody began, not sure what types of donuts the shop offered. She hadn't had much time to look at the menu. "Um, I'll just go with a basic chocolate iced donut, please." She said.

"Any fillings?" Karen questioned. Melody shook her head. "Any toppings?" Karen asked. Melody shook her head once more. "Any glaze?" She questioned.

"No thanks." Melody said, shaking her head.

Karen nodded, writing down the order. "Going with the basics I see!" She said, snickering. "Coming right up."

The couple thanked the woman and went to sit down at a booth by the window to wait patiently for their order. Soos looked out the window and chuckled. "Oh man, I can't imagine Bill being in some sort of relationship. Do you know how crazy that would be if he ever got into one?" He asked Melody.

Melody raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Bill..." She muttered. "Isn't that the guy that one girl was talking about at the gift shop earlier?"

"Huh?" Soos blurted out, raising an eyebrow.

"Bill, the guy that your coworker said was..." Melody began, but decided not to explain. "Uh, never mind, actually."

"Oh, the guy that started the Armageddon last summer?" Soos asked. "Yeah, that's him."

"No, that's not what I was talking ab-" Melody began, but she stopped in the middle of her sentence when her eyebrows raised. "Wait, what?" She asked, very confused.

Soos opened his mouth to speak, however he wasn't sure how to explain. Luckily, Karen came over to their booth in the nick of time. "I have your order! Here is the chilled cruller for Soos, and the chocolate donut for Melody!" She said with a smile.

"Woah, that was fast!" Melody said, amazed. However, she was rather confused on how Karen had gotten her name.

Karen smiled at this, "Yeah, I never like to keep the customers waiting!" She said. "Anything else I can get for the two of you?" She asked. When the couple denied the question, Karen was quick to head back to the counter after seeing another customer walk through the door.

"Hey, Soos?" Melody began hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Soos answered before taking a bite from his pastry.

"How does she know my name?" Melody asked, raising an eyebrow.

Soos shrugged. "I think I have talked to her before, I recognize the name. I used to come here a lot, and I'm pretty sure I told her about you at one point." He admitted with a shrug.

"Oh," Melody said, chuckling with a small smile. "Am I really that interesting?"

Soos shrugged once more at the question. "You are to me!" He answered with a smile.


"Mr. Pines?" Wendy began, standing up from the chair by the register.

"Hm?" Stan answered, keeping his eyes focused on his newest gift shop prop; the Chick-hen!

"Are Dipper and Mabel coming back this Summer?" Wendy questioned. It was the weekend, and even though she wasn't thrilled about going to work on the weekend, she didn't mind showing up today in hopes of getting the information she was hoping for.

Stan's eyes widened at the question. "Holy mackerel! I forgot to tell Stanford the news!" He exclaimed, rising up and hitting his head on a shelf above the wall. "Ow!" He exclaimed, taking off his hat and rubbing the top of his head.

"The... news?" Wendy repeated, confused. "What news?" She asked. However, her questioning seemed to be of no use, for Stanley had already bolted out of the gift shop to go inform his brother of a matter before he could respond. Wendy just sighed and looked over at the door as a random customer walked in. "Welcome to the Mystery Shack." She muttered.

Meanwhile, Stan was dashing through the home. He ran through the living room, checking rooms one by one. "Stanford!" He exclaimed. However he heard no response. He bolted towards Ford's bedroom and opened the door, seeing his brother attempting to sleep.

"Whatr'ya doin' sleepin' in the afternoon?" Stan questioned.

"I haven't gotten much rest recently." Ford admitted, putting his glasses back on and sitting up in his bed. "I need to get a bit more energy. I've never required much sleep, but I believe going this long without it is unhealthy."

Stan folded his arms. "How long's it been?"

"A week." Ford responded, his bottom eyelid twitching slightly.

"Yeesh," Stan muttered. "Well, I got some news." He said, opting to change the subject.

Ford adjusted his glasses before responding. "What kind of news?" He questioned hesitantly.

"The twins'll be comin' back soon!" Stan answered with a wide grin. "Somethin' about their school and their parents goin' on vacation." He informed, shrugging dismissively.

"Did you get any information that was a bit more... clear?" Stanford questioned, hoping that there was more information to the subject.

"Nope." Stan stated.

"Oh," Was all Ford could say to that. "Well, that's the best news I've heard all week." He admitted with a small chuckle.

"Your week with... no sleep. Right." Stan muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Hey," Ford began in defensive manner. "I did have a short nap last night."

Stan rolled his eyes at this. "Really?" He asked, leaning against the doorframe. "How much sleep did ya' get, pointdexter?"

"Uh..," Ford muttered, lifting his glasses up slightly and rubbing his eyes in a gentle manner. "Nine?"

"Hours?" Stanley questioned, surprised.

"...Minutes." Ford corrected in more of a mutter.

Stan just scoffed. "Well, I'll let ya' sleep." He said before shutting the bedroom door and heading towards the living room. With that, Stanford sighed and laid back down, bringing his blanket up closer to his shoulders. Generally, sleep was never too important to him. In fact, after the event that had occurred in his dreams the night before, he didn't want sleep. He didn't want to have to have another dream similar to his previous one, it would only make him feel worse.

He wasn't sure why Bill had left, and he would do anything to learn the truth.


A few hours later, Karen returned to her apartment with a grocery bag in hand. "Bill?" She called out, closing the door and placing her car keys atop the kitchen counter. "I'm back!" She informed.

Bill poked his head up from the couch, sitting up and looking at the lady. "You were gone all day!" He pouted with a frown.

"Yeah, I worked a little later today." Karen informed. She noticed an instrument beside Bill and said an eyebrow. "Whatcha' got there?" She asked with a smile.

"Uh," Bill began in more of a mutter, not knowing the specific name of the object. "It's an instrument." He said, holding it up.

"Oh!" Karen gasped with a grin. "You found my ukulele!" She said with a smile. "I've been looking for that all week."

"But... it was right in that basket." Bill muttered, rather unamused by the foolishness. He pointed over to the woven basket, and Karen looked in the same direction.

"Huh," Karen began. "I guess I forgot I put it there."

Bill ran a hand through his hair and laughed. "Jeez, humans can be so forgetful!" He commented.

"What?" Karen questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Bill noticed what he had said and opened his mouth to find himself momentarily at a loss of words. "Uh... yeah." He repeated in an unsure manner. "Humans are really forgetful sometimes. But, uh... I would know, right?" He asked, laughing awkwardly and scratching the back of his neck. "Because I'm uh, I'm a human too!"

"Of course you are!" Karen said, snickering. She walked closer to the couch and sat down beside Bill, looking at the ukulele in his lap. "Do you play?"

Bill shrugged at the question. "I don't know, I've never tried that intimate stuff." He admitted.

"Uh," Karen muttered in minor unease. "N-no, I mean the instrument. Do you know how to play?" She asked.

"Oh!" Bill said, laughing a bit longer than he should have. "Uh, not really." He answered. "I tried, but I'm not sure if I'm doing it right."

"Well," Karen began. "It's not hard to learn. Once you learn a couple chords, you can do pretty much anything!" She said with a smile.

"Anything?" Bill repeated, grinning from ear to ear. "Like, literally anything?" He asked, immediately interested in the power the instrument may posses.

"Pretty much!" Karen said with a friendly smile. She grabbed the ukulele from the man and put her finder on the fourth string, third fret, making a C chord. It made a lighter sound than a sound the instrument would play if you weren't pressing down on any strings.

Bill's eyes widened at the sound. "That sounds better than the crap I did!" He praised with a grin. "Ya' think you could teach me some of those finger placements, lady?" He asked.

Karen nodded eagerly at the question. "Totally!" She responded with a warm smile. "Sounds fun."

"Speaking of fun," Bill began. "What's your work like? Is that fun?" He asked. To his surprise, he was rather curious about the lady's job.

Karen shrugged. "It can be fun sometimes. The customers are usually really nice. One couple came in today, and we had a small conversation. It's always nice to see the people in this town communicating." She said with a smile.

"What kind of conversation?" Bill questioned.

"A conversation about you." Karen said with sly smile.

Bill just raised an eyebrow at this, tiling his head. "Me?" He repeated, confused. "Why me?"

"It's kinda hard to explain," Karen admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. "But me and this guy named Soos were talking about people we knew. Apparently he knows a guy named Bill too!" She said with a small laugh. "Isn't that funny?"

"Uh," Bill began hesitantly at the mention of the man's name. "Y-Yeah, totally funny!" He lied, chuckling fearfully. "But, how come you two were talking?" He questioned, hoping to get an answer.

Karen shrugged once more. "Well, I like to socialize. And his girlfriend Melody is pregnant now, so I figured it would be kind to have a short conversation."

"Girlfriend?" Bill repeated. He only knew one man named Soos, so this had to be the same guy. "Did you, uh, catch his girlfriends name by any chance?" He questioned.

Karen nodded. "Melody." She informed.

Bill's eyes widened at this. Holy crap, who knew Question mark would ever be a dad? That's weird...

"So," Karen started. "Would you ever be interested in watching a comedy movie? Those have always been my favorite movie genre." She informed with a smile.

"I guess so." Bill responded with a shrug. At the mention of a movie, it reminded him of the movie he had seen the night before. It was a decent movie, and it seemed rather funny to him. "But, didn't we just watch a comedy last night?" He questioned.

Karen ran a hand through her hair, chuckling awkwardly and looking away. "Uh," She muttered, "That... wasn't a comedy." She informed hesitantly.

"It wasn't?" Bill began, "The cursing part was pretty funny in my personal opinion." He said with an innocent shrug.

"I don't know," Karen muttered. "I don't think cursing a newborn is funny, but I guess everyone has different opinions!" She said with a smile.

Curse... Bill thought to himself, humming slowly.

Newborn... He continued to think, folding his arms. Melody tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at the strange motions Bill was giving without context, but decided not to question the behavior.

Melody... Bill continued to ponder, squinting his eyes and looking down as he thought.

Until suddenly, he gasped in sudden realization.

"Bill?" Karen addressed, clearly confused. "Are you okay?"

Bill nodded with a large grin. "Heck yeah!" He said with a nod of his head. "I know how to get revenge on Sixer!"

"Uh... Sixer?" Karen questioned, raising an eyebrow. "What's a Sixer?" She asked. Karen assumed her question hadn't been heard when Bill suddenly rose from the couch and ran off to another room. She watched the man leave as she was left deeply confused.

Bill locked himself inside Karen's bedroom, pacing around the room with a sly smile on his face. This stunt is sure to teach dear Fordsy a lesson! He thought to himself. If this plan works out, he'll be sorry for what he did! All I have to do is wait until the day Melody has her kid, go to the hospital, and possess the poor little fleshbag that she will soon possess!

Bill was very sure about his plan; he was convinced that there was absolutely nothing that could get in the way of his plan-

Until he realized something. Something very important.

How am I supposed to possess the child in the first place? Bill asked himself. What kind of curse do I want to give the child, anyway? The questions stumped Bill, but he was sure he would find a way.

Bill's train of thought was disturbed when he heard a knock on the door. He walked over to the door and unlocked it, twisting the doorknob and opening the door to see Karen standing in front of him. Bill huffed in minor annoyance. "What?" He asked, the question coming out a bit more harsh than he had intended, however he wasn't planning to apologize for it.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Karen admitted with a shrug. "You acted a bit strange a minute ago. Are you sure everything is alright?" She questioned, putting a hand on Bill's shoulder.

"Yup." Bill said with a sly smile.

"Well, alright then." Karen muttered. She was quick to form a smile on her face as she looked back up at the man. "Hey, did you hear about the magic festival going on tomorrow?" She asked.

"Magic festival?" Bill repeated. "No."

"Oh, they're so cool!" Karen exclaimed with a large smile. "It happens once a year, and they're always a blast! I've never had anyone to go with, but I was thinking maybe you and I could go." She said, looking away.

Bill tilted his head at this. "Like a date?" He questioned.

Karen shrugged slowly, a small smile reappearing on her face. "I...I guess you could call it that." She said, smiling.

"Sure." Bill said with a shrug.

"Really?" Karen questioned in immediate joy, her eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Why not?" Bill said, walking back to the living room in a chill manner.

Karen was at a loss of words, but she was overjoyed that Bill had accepted the offer. "Uh... great!" She said, smiling.

Bill laughed as she looked over at the lady. "You sure smile a lot!" He commented.

Karen gasped in immediate fear. "I-is that bad?" She asked.

Bill shook his head. "Nah, It's kinda cool." He admitted. "It just might win ya' a guy someday!" He added with a wink.

"You think so?" Karen asked, fidgeting with her hair.

Bill rolled his eyes at the question. "I just said it, didn't I?" He asked, unamused.

"Oh," Karen said, laughing. "Yeah, you did. Sorry!" She said, still snickering.

A magic festival... Bill thought to himself. I better remember to bring the amulet, maybe the idiots of this town could be of use for my power hungry demands! He said. He let out an insane laugh for a moment, which Karen questioned for a short moment. Bill just smirked. Sixer's gonna be sorry.

I'll make sure of it.

There's chapter 33! Okay, okay, I know the whole 'newborn possession' topic is rather dark... but, in my storyline's defense, this is Bill we're talking about. An upset, betrayed, heartbroken Bill. (Even if he chooses to deny the 'heartbroken' bit.) The reason for Bill's little possession idea is something I can't really explain yet, however it has a good reason on why his plan is such a twisted idea.

I still feel kinda dumb; I finished the Journal 3 book today, and it says towards the end that Stanford and Fiddleford had a rather long talk about their past and what had happened in the thirty years they had spent apart. (Shortly after the events of Weirdmageddon), And before McGucket moved into the mansion he currently lives in now. I really wish I had been able to read the journal sooner, however I'm glad that I was able to read it now rather than finding out wayyy later in the process of this fic. Thankfully it's nothing severe to worry about.

New chapter will be up soon! Probably in the next week, I've been having to write as much as possible on the weekends since I have basketball games to participate in every Monday and Wednesday, along with practices on the other weekdays. Yep, I play basketball. (And Track in the spring/summer). There's a pointless little fun fact about me (: