Chapter Five
Mabel was grinning cheerfully to herself, checking off all the things she'd wanted to that day. Surprisingly, without Dipper around, she'd gotten pretty organized. He wasn't really sure how he felt about that fact, though. On the one hand, he was relieved she could function on her own and didn't need to rely on him so much anymore. But on the other hand, he took pride in her dependency on him, and the same could be said about Mabel. He supposed he couldn't complain, though. She was much easier to live with when the whole goddamn house wasn't always a wreck.
"Alright. So we visited that haunted house in town. Which was totally not fun with Dip and Bill in the back laughing everything we passed!" she grumbled, turning to face the two boys. Bill smirked and Dipper just shrugged. Had Mabel really expected them of all people to get all freaked out over things like that? They were already living with a demon, after all.
"Mabel, we could've taken a walk out into the woods and seen things scarier than that house," Dipper pointed out, raising an eyebrow. Bill scoffed, both of them knowing what an accurate statement that was. Even Pacifica let out a giggle at that.
Mabel puffed her cheeks out in defeat. "Yeah, well... You could have pretended," she huffed, turning back to her list. "Anyways.. Then we played some of our old video games. I totally rocked at Super Duper Smash Brothers, by the way," she went on proudly, hands on her hips.
Dipper rolled his eyes, grinning. "You lost against Pacifica," he said, gesturing towards the other girl in the room.
"I still beat you, and that's what matters," Mabel retorted, sticking her nose in the air in a mock snobby manner. She held up her little notebook, drawing a line through the second to last item on the list. "Oh, and then we dyed our hair," she continued, sitting down next to Pacifica and toying with her hair. Mabel had insisted, and who was Pacifica to say no to her? So Mabel's hair faded into a bubblegum pink at the bottom while Pacifica's turned a deep violet at the end. Dipper and Bill's hair remained completely untouched, though. The both of them had very fervently refused to have such horrors inflicted upon themselves. "So all that's left..." A wide smile spread across Mabel's face.
Dipper immediately feared for his safety. "What is it?" he asked, dread like a weight in his stomach.
Mabel spun on her heel to face the two boys, a devious look on her face. "Bill, how much freedom over that bottle in the fridge has Dipper given you?" she asked. Both of the boys knew exactly what bottle she was talking about. Dipper's shoulders slumped. Yeah, that's about where he'd expected this to go.
But while he shook his head in disapproval, Bill all but lit up like a Christmas tree. "Not a sip, Shooting Star! It's criminal!" he exclaimed melodramatically, earning a laugh from Pacifica, who had very quickly warmed up to him.
Mabel was practically oozing with excitement. "Perfect! Who wants to get super wasted and ask each other really personal questions?" Mabel asked, doing a little hip wiggle. Everyone but Dipper were all for the idea, Bill because he really wanted to get his hands on that bottle and Pacifica because she wanted to hear some interesting things about Mabel. Dipper, however, was more than a little bit hesitant.
"I don't drink," he said blandly, gaze level when it met Bill's own.
The demon rolled his eyes. "Liar," he responded, and Mabel skipped out of the room to get what she wanted. "You can't tell me that during four years of college, you never once drowned all of your post adolescent sorrows and academic regrets in alcohol."
Dipper chose not to respond to that. That wasn't even fair. Everyone did that. Hell, it pretty much came with all the stress and debt and downright depression that came with leaving home and living with a bunch of other newly independent kids trying to figure out their own lives. Alcoholism was practically unavoidable. Not that Dipper had indulged in it all that much. Bill smirked. "That's what I thought."
Dipper muttered to himself as Mabel appeared in the doorway once again, more than just the one bottle in her hands. "That's Grunkle Stan's," Dipper pointed out, gesturing towards the objects she was carrying.
Mabel handed one to Pacifica, who examined the label. "Whatever. I'll buy him more tomorrow. I'm sure he won't even know the difference," she responded with a shrug, sitting the second bottle, the one Bill had specifically asked for not long ago, on the coffee table. She then darted into the kitchen to grab a few glasses and rush back into the living room. She handed one out to each of the players in whatever game she had in mind.
Dipper huffed, watching Pacifica pull the cap off of what looked like apple cider. But Dipper was smarter than that. "I'd really prefer to sit this one out," he complained as Bill looked over the writing on the label.
Pacifica gave the bottle to Mabel, who very excitedly poured her own. Neither she nor Dipper drank often, but Mabel was always very... enthusiastic about it. Bill reached over and grabbed the drink he had picked, popping it open. "Kid, I'm starting to think you just can't hold your liquor," he said, pouring some of the beverage into his glass.
Dipper scowled. "I can too! That isn't even it," he hissed defensively, narrowing his eyes.
Bill grinned, and Dipper knew what he was doing. But hell, if Bill wanted to play that way, then he'd fight right back. "Oh, it's not?" Bill retorted mockingly, holding the bottle out towards the brunette. "Then prove it." Dipper scowled, taking it and pouring his own glass with a grumble. Bill had a triumphant look on his face, which annoyed Dipper beyond belief. The demon held his drink up, and gave it a quick sniff. "Hey, you know what this smells like?"
Dipper smiled just barely, glancing at the demon in slight amusement. "Pine trees, I know. I've had gin before," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Now come on. Mabel looks like she's about to throw a fit." And he was right. Mabel was holding the drink up to her lips, bouncing up and down excitedly. Bill gave a faint laugh before he nodded towards the others in the room. Mabel squealed, holding up three of her fingers and counting. Once the final digit went down, all four of them took their first shot. And Dipper was more than a tad pleased by the results.
It burned just a bit on its way down, but Dipper actually rather enjoyed the taste the alcohol left in his mouth. Dipper had said he didn't drink often, but that didn't mean he disliked doing it on occasion. He smirked towards Bill, who seemed to be holding back the urge to gag. Mabel cheered, pouring herself another and downing it faster than Dipper could've blinked. Pacifica laughed, watching all of the varied reactions with a smile. "What was that you were saying about holding my liquor? Because I can do it just fine," Dipper teased, swirling the bottle in his hand.
Bill glared at the brunette, reaching out and snatching the gin from him. "And so can I," he hissed, taking a pretty big swig of it. Which probably wasn't the best idea, because as soon as he managed to force it down, he coughed. Dipper rolled his eyes playfully, taking the drink from Bill.
"Obviously," he retorted, not even bothering to pour himself a glass. It wasn't like it mattered anymore. If Bill was just going to drink it straight from the bottle then there really was no point. It hardly even bothered Dipper. He was far from being a germaphobe. Dipper downed a large gulp of the drink, then held it back out for Bill. "It's probably too strong for you anyways."
Bill took the gin with a frown. "Don't treat me like a child, Pine Tree," he mumbled, looking down at the beverage in his hands. It tasted fine. It simply burned, and in a very un-funny kind of way, he decided. But he took his next drink anyway, finding that it stung a bit less than the last time, and he didn't need to choke it down. Once he got past that, he could actually enjoy the flavor, as strange and foreign as it was.
Pacifica quickly drank her second shot before Mabel could down the entire bottle without her. "Are you sure you two aren't dating?" she asked with a raise of her brow. It wasn't like she was terribly comfortable with Dipper being with some demon that had tried to destroy everything they'd ever cared about, but what could she do? She hadn't exactly expected him to be attracted to anyone even remotely normal in his adult life, but this seemed a little too strange. Even for him.
Mabel giggled, taking another drink. Her cheeks were rosier than usual and it was obvious to Dipper just how quickly she had gotten tipsy. Well, it appeared as if she'd already gulped down about a third of the cider, so he wasn't all that surprised. "They might as well be!" she exclaimed, bobbing her head from side to side. "Seriously, Pazzy, you should live with them. They can be bickering like an old married couple one second, then they're all laughy and googly eyed the next. And Dipper says he'd never even consider it, but then his face gets all blushy when Bill teases him. Bill's just as bad, though. Always trying to prove himself. 'Pine Tree, I did this' or 'Pine Tree, I helped with this' all day. Ugh," Mabel went on and on, pausing here and there to hiccup or point an accusing finger at the boys.
Pacifica laughed, leaning back against the couch. She supposed it was probably inevitable then. Well, they did make a pretty cute couple, if of course she overlooked the whole demon thing. Especially with both of them completely red in the face. "That's kinda adorable," Pacifica cooed, pouring herself another shot. She then waited for their reaction. And she didn't wait very long.
"NO IT'S NOT!" the two very flustered boys yelled in sync with one another. Dipper muttered to himself, taking a long gulp from the bottle. They were down to about half already, and Dipper didn't really feel much different. Maybe a bit of a buzz in the back of his head, but that was about it. Bill on the other hand... Well, it definitely showed that he'd never had alcohol before in his life. That much was certain. He decided he'd let the blonde have the rest anyway, though. Getting drunk wasn't exactly one of Dipper's favorite things to do. He held the gin out towards Bill, who happily took it from him. "And anyway," the brunette started. "There'd be no point. After this whole deal thing's over, Bill probably won't have any interest in staying human."
Pacifica hummed, still disbelieving. And Mabel rolled her eyes. Dipper could come up with a million reasons not to do something, even if they were all total bullshit. Even if he really wanted the exact opposite. Mabel knew her brother well enough to know that he was in total denial. Bill stayed silent for once, eyes darting to the side as he chugged down quite a bit of the booze Dipper had allowed him. The sting had all but died, and his entire body felt rather warm in a strangely pleasant way. Mabel huffed, standing up. "Whatever you say, guys. Pacifica and I are gonna go play that game on our own. You two can... I dunno, figure stuff out," she said blandly, her words slurring as she turned and headed for the staircase.
Pacifica blinked in slight confusion, but didn't complain as she stood up with the cider in her hand to follow Mabel. "See ya, guys. It was fun hanging out with you, even if one of you is a crazy brain demon," she teased, chuckling. Dipper waved, but his gaze mostly remained on Bill, who seemed way too invested in his alcohol. Alright, maybe giving all of it to him wasn't such a great idea. He chugged down what was left of the alcohol, then looked back towards Dipper, face flushed and eyes not quite focused on anything.
The blonde grinned, holding out the empty bottle and shaking it a little. "See? Who's the one who can't-" he hiccuped, "can't hold his liquor now?"
Oh boy...
Mabel led Pacifica up the stairs, looking far too devious for her own good. Leaving two boys in a room alone together was a pretty ideal scenario. No matter how denial crazy they were, things were bound to happen. Especially while they were drunk. Man, Mabel was a genius. The perfect matchmaker! Pacifica seemed to catch onto this quickly, and snorted in amusement. "I give them an hour," she commented, taking the tiniest sip of the apple cider.
Mabel scoffed, waving a hand dismissively. "Please," she retorted with a roll of her eyes. "Ten minutes. Tops."
Bill sat the bottle down, leaning forward on his hands. "Hey, kid. You wanna know a little something about that deal of ours?" he asked, moving just a tad closer to Dipper.
"What?" Dipper questioned cautiously, narrowing his eyes in suspicion towards the demon. Bill was clearly out of it, but his information was good regardless.
Bill chuckled, so close then to Dipper that the brunette could smell the alcohol on his breath. "When I said I wanted the whole human experience, I meant I wanted everything," he breathed into the others ear. Dipper was sure he could feel Bill's smirk against his skin. He closed his eyes and swallowed thickly, suppressing the shiver that threatened to run up his spine. Bill tapped one of the buttons on Dipper's flannel, then picked at it as if to undo it. "Every little thing you humans indulge yourselves in. I want it all, and the thing about demons, kid, is that we always get what we want."
Dipper inhaled, forcing himself to move away from Bill. The blonde was just drunk. Extremely drunk. And Dipper was as well. At least, a little bit. If they weren't, this wouldn't have been happening. If they weren't, neither of them would have even considered this. Dipper reached out an picked up the empty bottle of liquor.
He stood up, forcing himself not to get flustered. "Great, because the next thing on the list is hangovers. Or at least, how to avoid them," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he leaned down and grabbed their shot glasses. "Now don't you feel lucky?" He spun on his heels and disappeared into the kitchen. Bill just watched him go, a dissatisfied expression on his face. That had not been his intended reaction. He'd wanted something a little more... Well, exciting. Bill sighed. Dipper, always the killjoy. But he was an intelligent killjoy. An attractive one, at that. Maybe Bill could get him to wear his glasses more often, too. He really did look nice in them. Thoughts swirled in his head, and he smirked. Dipper really didn't know how easily he'd caught Bill's eye, did he?
The brunette emerged once again into the living room with a bottle of water and an aspirin. "Take this," he said, holding both of them out for the demon. "And I'm not letting you go to bed without drinking all of this. I don't need to hear you whining about how much your head hurts in the morning if you don't." Muttering to himself, Bill took the pill from Dipper's hand and shoved it into his mouth. He grabbed the water as well, chugging down about half of the bottle in one gulp and drowning the aspirin. He looked at Dipper expectantly, as if something would resume if he looked at him the right way. Dipper crossed his arms. "I meant it," he said flatly, watching Bill begrudgingly chug the rest of the water as quickly as he could manage.
"Kid, I'm gonna be real frank here. I-" But Dipper wouldn't allow it.
"Go to bed," he ordered, taking the bottle and pointing upstairs. Bill frowned, glaring as he watched the human turn and toss the trash away. "Neither of us are in our right minds. Just sleep it off, alright? Believe me, I know what I'm-"
"Pine Tree, I want to rip your clothes off with my teeth," he growled, narrowing his eyes into slits, gold turning more of a bright blue for a few moments.
Dipper strode past him, up the stairs and towards his room. He tried to ignore the way his chest had tightened and the warmth spreading across his cheeks. Bill didn't help much, though, following him into his bedroom. "Alcohol makes people say dumb things," he mumbled, watching Bill throw up his arms in defeat and collapse on the bed. The blonde shifted so his head was propped up against the headboard and he could keep his eyes on Dipper, who seemed to be doing nothing but averting his own. "And anyway, you're here for my book. Not this." Dipper sat down on the edge of his bed, giving up on avoiding Bill's gaze.
Grinning mischievously, Bill scooted up onto his elbows so he was just about nose to nose with Dipper. "What's a story without a love interest?" he cooed, noticing the way Dipper's eyes had trailed down to his lips before focusing on his hazy expression.
"We're not in love, Bill," he whispered, but seemed to inch closer just the same. The scent of Bill's subtle cologne mingling with the alcohol on his breath seemed more intoxicating to Dipper than the actual booze in his system. And the way he was being looked at... Like Bill really wanted to tear him to pieces. He felt himself shiver at the thought, his breath hitching in his throat. This was too much. His mind was too cloudy to make any important decisions. But he let himself move nearer anyway, hands coming down to rest on either side of the blonde as he positioned himself over Bill. He closed the gap between them, lips meshing against the demon's own. And, much to his delight, Bill kissed back feverishly, although somewhat sloppily in his drunken stupor.
Dipper felt hands entangle themselves in his hair, tugging lightly. He closed his eyes, tilting his head to the side and deepening the kiss. But not before long, he had to pull himself away, both of them panting heavily. "Glad you see it my way," Bill purred, pulling Dipper back down and locking their lips back together. Dipper swiped his tongue across Bill's bottom lip. He didn't think about it. Honestly, everything seemed to just go blank. The contact was broken for a second or two in which the blonde chuckled at Dipper's speedy turnaround, but it quickly resumed. Bill's hands trailed downwards, and he opened his mouth to let Dipper's tongue invade it. He felt a chill crawl up his spine as he undid the buttons on the brunette's flannel.
Dipper let his teeth scrape gently across Bill's lip, eliciting a low moan from the demon beneath him. And then he realized... He had a demon beneath him. Eyes open, he shot back and moved away from Bill. Dipper wiped his mouth and looked away from him, blushing furiously. "Pine Tree, are you-"
But Dipper had already stood up and was pacing around the room restlessly. "Oh god oh god oh god, what am I doing?!" he questioned aloud to himself, hands in his hair. "I must be more drunk than I thought. This is so wrong." He couldn't even tell who had taken advantage of who at that point.
Bill snorted. "Gee, thanks kid," he said sarcastically, standing up. But before he could do anything to calm the other down, Dipper had already darted out of the room. He made his way downstairs and swung open the front door. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't like Bill, and Bill certainly didn't like him. He stepped outside, closing the door behind him. He needed air. He needed to clear his head, to get rid of the feeling of fire against his skin wherever Bill touched him and the demon's heavy breathing still ringing in his ears.
He needed to force his heartbeat back down to a normal level.
"Dipper, you alright?" asked the concerned voice of Pacifica as she opened the front door. She blinked in shock at Dipper's appearance. Hair disheveled, eyes dilated, and his flannel fully unbuttoned. "Oh," she said in realization, giving a slight nod. Dipper sighed, sitting down on the front step. "I saw you rush out here. Dip, I know you're freaking out but it's okay."
The brunette shook his head. "No it isn't. I shouldn't like Bill. I can't like Bill," he huffed, clenching his eyes shut.
Pacifica sat down beside him. "And why not?" she asked curiously, tilting her head in interest.
Dipper opened his mouth to respond, but nothing seemed to come out. "...I don't know..." he finally muttered, looking down. None of this made any sense to him.
Pacifica placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then just go for it, Dip. You'll be glad you did," she advised, smiling comfortingly at him. "Oh! What time is it?" she then asked, leaning over his shoulder when he pulled out his phone.
"Eleven fifty-three. Why?"
Pacifica stomped a foot lightly against the concrete. "Dammit! I owe your sister ten bucks," she replied with a snap of her fingers. Dipper raised an eyebrow at her.
"You just couldn't have lasted two more minutes, could you?"