Chapter Sixteen

"Dipper!" cried the giddy voice of his sister outside his door. "Wake up wake up wake up! It's twin day today, broseph!"

Bill groaned, yanking the blanket away from Dipper. He shoved the half asleep brunette out of bed, then twisted onto his other side, annoyed. "Your sister wants you up," he muttered, eyes still closed. "Why'd you even give her a key?" He buried his face in the pillow, resisting the urge to yell back at Mabel for the constant squeals to get his boyfriend out of bed.

Dipper hit the floor with a thump, and jolted fully awake. His chest heaved, like he'd just woken from a nightmare, which for once actually wasn't the case. He'd finally been given the luxury of sleeping very well and dreaming none at all. That was, until his extremely rude awakening. He forced himself to his feet, glaring daggers at the demon still occupying the bed. "Why'd I give you a key?" he retorted, rubbing his eyes.

Bill didn't move from where he lay. "Because it was my gold," he mumbled, pulling the blanket over his head.

Dipper supposed he couldn't argue with that. Mabel called for him again, and he briefly wondered how many cups of coffee she'd choked down before driving to his house. "I'll be there in a second, sis," he huffed, turning towards the dresser and pulling a drawer open. He didn't care enough to be picky, and grabbed the first things he saw. He quickly dressed himself in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, stepping into the bathroom to fix his bed head in the mirror. What had Mabel even planned to do with the day? Dipper sighed, deciding he'd find out soon enough.

It was far from cold outside, but he snatched a flannel from off his desk chair and put it on anyway. Dipper grabbed his phone on the nightstand, turning it on to look at the time. It was early, or at least too early for this much energy. He chose not to wear his glasses that day, and spun towards the door. As soon as he'd opened it, Mabel had jumped at him, yanking him out into the hallway. She opened her mouth, presumably to yell a bit more, and Dipper pressed a hand over her mouth. He closed the door behind him, shushing her. "Let's take that outside," he said drowzily, his annoyance beginning to lose its edge.

Mabel nodded, bouncing happily. She grabbed his hand and started to lead him briskly out of the house. "Get in," she said with a wide grin, pushing him towards her car.

Dipper stepped towards the other side of it, opening the door. "Where are we going?" he asked blankly, doing as he'd been told.

Mabel did the same, buckling in. She looked over at him, beaming. "Birthday planning!" she cheered, starting the car. "You can't tell me you forgot our birthday again this year, bro-bro. Your own birthday." She reached out a hand and flicked his forehead, to which he chose not to react.

Dipper yawned, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "It's like.. two weeks away. I wasn't worried about it yet, I guess," he admitted as she started to drive. "So what are we doing this year?"

A laugh erupted from Mabel's mouth, maniacal in its own lighthearted way. "You'll see~" she sang, looking happy with herself. Dipper scoffed, but didn't argue it. After a few minutes without him questioning her, Mabel turned on the radio. Some silly pop song started to play, and her brother groaned, giving her his best 'how much do you hate me' face. She just laughed, starting a new conversation instead of torturing him with her singing. "So how are things in the new place?"

Dipper gave the question some thought, looking out the window. "It's nice. We didn't have to rent, which is-"

Mabel snorted with laughter, glancing at her brother. "That's not what I meant, dorkus," she remarked, interrupting his answer. "Let me rephrase that. How are things in the new place with you and Bill?" Her voice was suave, as if to insinuate something beyond the general statement she'd made.

Dipper's brows were creased together in thought and his embarrassed frown was more than a little apparent. "What do you mean?" he muttered, picking up on what she'd asked. Or at least, what he believed she'd asked.

Though it seemed he hadn't guessed her meaning very well. "I want details, that's what I mean. You never let me in on anything and you're both so weird about showing affection in public. But you can't possibly act the same in your own house. So you have to tell me at least a little bit. Like.. Have you guys said your 'I love you's yet?" Mabel droned with a roll of her eyes. She giggled, casting him a knowing expression. "And anyway, what did you think I meant?"

Dipper's spine straightened up in his seat, bright red crawling onto his face. "Nothing!" he choked out defensively, crossing his arms. Mabel's jubilant laughter exploded into his ears before he could go on, but after a minute or so she'd calmed down enough to listen. Dipper's exasperation towards her was evident as ever, but he let it go for the time being. "And no. We haven't," he went on to answer in a slightly agitated tone, crossing his arms.

Mabel gasped in what sounded like utter horror, eyes like medallions. She'd almost stopped the car right then and there, though she somehow resisted doing so. Barely, but that was besides the point. "SHUT. UP!" she wailed so loudly that Dipper actually jumped a bit in his seat. "You haven't told Bill you love him?!" She was practically screeching, and her brother flinched at the disbelieving tone her voice held.

Dipper chuckled nervously, looking down at his hands. He picked uncomfortably at his fingernails. "Nope," he replied, fidgeting a little.

Mabel turned off the radio, something she rarely did when driving. "Why not?" Thankfully she didn't sound quite as bewildered as she'd been, and her voice had lowered to an acceptable volume.

Clawing at the rough edge of a nail he'd previously mistreated in a similar manner, Dipper stammered for words to say. "I-I mean, it's kind of a given.." he said in what couldn't even be considered a whisper.

Mabel shook her head, removing one hand from the wheel to grab his wrist. She pried it off of his other hand, eyes narrowed at the road. "Bro, speak up."

Dipper took a deep breath, forcing himself to pipe up. "It didn't feel like it needed to be said!" he exclaimed, mortified by all of this. Mabel sighed, letting go of his wrist and pinching the bridge of her nose. She had the dumbest twin on the planet when it came to love and how to express love.

"This isn't like when we were little, Dipper. This is an actual, commited relationship with someone," she declaimed, lowering her hand back onto the steering wheel with the other one. "Someone who I'm guessing you want to be with long term. You can't keep avoiding important things like this. Especially not with all this crazy supernatural stuff going on. Things could always get worse, you know..." Dipper had opened his mouth to interject, but stopped himself once the conversation took a turn for the worse.

He was silent for what felt like forever, and Mabel didn't add anything more. She gave him time to gather his thoughts. "Y-you... How long have you known?" It wasn't quite the ideal question, but it was certainly a start.

Mabel scoffed, though her jovial expression couldn't conceal the hurt in her voice. "A while. It wasn't really hard to put together. You and Bill already seemed like a weirdly perfect match, but you didn't really start getting close until... Well, I don't really know what crazy thing it was causing it, but I saw the scratches. I saw his eyes start to fade. And seriously, you couldn't possibly have thought I wouldn't pick up on the constant black outs he's been having. Two days, Dip? Come on." She exhaled, and Dipper could practically feel the disappointment oozing from her normally cheerful form.

His gaze fell to the ground, guilty. "I'm sorry. I just wanted-"

Mabel waved a hand dismissively, perking herself up. "To protect me, I know," she finished, her lips curving upwards crookedly. "Don't worry about it, bro-bro. We can talk things out later. Today is a fun day, and I'm not wasting it!" And just like that, the air of sadness she'd given off had all but disappeared. Dipper nodded appreciatively, grateful she had no desire to press the issue right then. A few minutes passed quietly before Mabel huffed, shaking her head. "I'm gonna leave you alone about it for the day, but if you don't get right on telling Bill I swear to the glitter gods I'll have to smack some sense into you!" Her grin and general demeanor seemed merry enough, but Dipper knew to take her threat seriously.

Regardless, he reciprocated her infectious smile with a laugh. "Alright, alright," he responded. "I will." He raised a brow. "And anyway, if you were so interested, why didn't you just invite Bill along?"

Mabel hummed, disinterested in the idea. "Because we never get to hang out anymore. Just us, you know?" She used her free hand to punch his shoulder, and he rolled his eyes playfully. "And I'm sure he can handle one afternoon alone without burning the house down."

But Dipper made an uncertain noise, looking over at her with skepticism. "I'd say his chances are about fifty/fifty," the brunette admitted.

Mabel snickered at that, amused. "Have faith, broseph! He's probably still sleeping, to be completely honest," she replied, eyes skimming over the road.

Dipper had to hope that was true, for the sake of his home and the townspeople.

Bill grumbled, trying to figure out how the hell coffee machines worked. He'd seen it be done plenty of times by the Pines family, but he hadn't cared enough to pay any real attention. He'd been in this form for months, and he still couldn't do simple things like make fucking coffee. Well, he had somewhat fallen from his original goal a bit in dating Dipper, but he should've still learned these things. "Come on," he hissed lowly, getting more than a little frustrated. Why on earth was this so complicated?

He threw up his arms, done. "Fuck it!" he finally shouted, spinning on his heels to stomp back into the bedroom. He'd just look it up if it was really going to bother him that much. He looked beneath the bed and reached for Dipper's laptop. He opened it up to find that there was a password he needed to input.

"Seriously?!"

There was a knock on the door. Bill groaned, rubbing one of his temples. This morning couldn't possibly be any more infuriating. He pushed the laptop back under the bed and stood up, making his way towards the front door. He sighed, pulling it open to see Pacifica standing on the other end. "I need your-" Her eyes went wide and a dark blush crept across her cheeks. "Why aren't you wearing clothes?"

Bill looked down at himself. He had pants on. What was the problem here? "I am wearing clothes," he retorted, a bored expression on his face. He already made Dipper all red-faced and flustered most days, but he'd prefer not receiving similar reactions from Pacifica. Was that another human thing he didn't quite understand? Or was he just unusual? Either possibility seemed equally as likely.

Pacifica opened her mouth, and her lips moved a bit, but nothing came out for a long time. Bill snapped his fingers in front of her face to pull her attention back upwards, growing impatient with her. She shook her head, snapping out of it. "Well, you're not wearing enough clothes!" she squeaked, raising a hand to shove him back inside. But she stopped before her hand touched his skin, embarrassed. "Just..." She looked down, a hand on her forehead. "Go put on a shirt or something."

Bill crossed his arms, leaning against the doorway. "Alright. On one condition," he said blandly.

Pacifica glared. "What?"

"Show me how to make coffee."

The girl might have been more angry with him if she didn't find the request so damn funny. "Alright, whatever," she sneered, waving him away. Bill seemed like he wanted to say something snide, but decided against it. He shrugged, turning and sauntering off towards his bedroom.

"Make yourself at home and all that," he muttered, stepping into his bedroom.

Pacifica entered, closing the front door behind her. It was a pretty nice place at least, and she had to admit she was impressed with them for getting everything unpacked in a single day. But Dipper had always been very insistent upon getting work done efficiently. The young woman glanced in the direction Bill had gone in, fighting off the wild blush on her face. He was...

Wow.

The sound of Bill's laughing touched her ears and she stiffened. "Thanks, kiddo! But it's nothing I didn't already know," he cooed in his usual cocky tone. Pacifica twisted around to face him with a sheepish expression. Bill adjusted the sleeves of an amber button up, smirking obnoxiously at her. "Better? Really, I don't see what the problem was. In my last form I didn't wear anything but a bowtie and no one even bat an eye."

Pacifica frowned, embarrassed she found him attractive in any way. "You were a geometric shape," she remarked.

Bill whistled. "You never struck me as a closet racist." He crossed his arms, his lopsided grin spreading wide across his face. "I'm wounded."

Pacifica closed her eyes for a couple seconds to gather herself. Whatever had the demon being more sarcastic than usual, it was annoying. "I need to speak with you," she said, tapping a foot in impatience at him.

Bill hummed, pointing a finger at the coffee machine. "First thing's first, Blondie. Your dream girl wouldn't let me get any sleep earlier this morning," he stated simply, blinking.

Pacifica resisted the urge to smack herself on the forehead. "Okay fine," she hissed, pulling the top off the machine. "This is the most difficult thing you'll ever learn, so pay real close attention, genius." She grabbed the carafe by its handle and sat it beneath the faucet. "Now, I really, really need to talk to you about some things." She turned on the water and filled the jug, then poured it all into the coffee maker. "Heh.. Well, namely... Mabel."

Bill watched her, noting each step. "Oh, yeah? And what about her?" He had a hunch, but he figured he might as well ask anyway.

Pacifica sighed, avoiding his gaze. "You know what," she snapped, heat rushing to her face. "Now where are the coffee grounds?" Bill huffed, reaching up to one of the cabinets and pulling them out. He handed them to her, watching her grab a filter to put the grounds in. "Besides, you're the only person I can ask. And I guess it makes sense because both of us have had about the same amount of experience with love," she admitted, closing the lid over the coffee maker.

Bill didn't seem interested in what she had to say, though. "Love? What do I look like, a cherub?" He chuckled. "Love is just a chemical produced in your brain. It really doesn't mean anything, kid." He shrugged, and Pacifica turned her head to glower at him so quickly he was shocked she didn't give herself whiplash.

"What?!" she practically roared, but he didn't appear fazed by it. A bit irritated by the volume of her voice, but not quite enough that he'd respond to it. "What's that supposed to mean? I swear you'd better not be planning to hurt Dipper or I will end you, got it?" She was seething, and Bill couldn't put his finger on why. But Pacifica felt she had every right to be protective over her friend, especially considering the entire town's past with Bill. As much as she liked him - despite his cocky mannerisms - she had remained extremely suspicious of the demon.

Bill just stared back at her, completely stone faced for once. "I couldn't hurt him even if I wanted to. And anyway, what's got you so on edge? I don't get your weird human obsession with 'love.' It doesn't make sense to waste your short lives chasing after a drug your brain supplies you with anyway."

His little speech only served in making Pacifica even more angry. "You're joking, right?! Or are you just so in denial that you refuse to admit that's exactly what you did from the beginning? The second you got here you pushed yourself on Dipper! You chased after him, not the other way around, got it?" Her eyes blazed with fury, and she got so close to him then that Bill actually started to realize he was genuinely upsetting her. "I pray for your sake this wasn't just some joke to you because Dipper doesn't fake that shit. And I'd hate to see him get hurt because you can't accept the fact that you're just as human as we all are. So don't act all high and mighty like you think you're better, because I won't put myself around that kind of person anymore!"

Bill took a step back, eyes narrowed at her. She had a lot of fire, which he found admirable on most days. But right then it felt more like a pain in his ass. "There's a difference between attraction and love, and both are equally as unnecessary," he remarked, raising his voice a bit, though it didn't even come close to what hers had been.

Pacifica yanked him down by the collar of his shirt so he was level with her. "You're right. But you're completely missing the point of both of those things," she growled, eyes like a snake's the way she glared at him. "Attraction is an interest in a person, whether it's physical or mental or whatever. But love is..." She glanced in the other direction, lips pursed in thought.

Bill cocked an eyebrow. "Oh no, do go on. If you're gonna start lecturing me then you should definitely see it through, Blondie."

Pacifica shoved him away, fuming. "Alright then, co-Blondie. Fine." She took a second to breathe deeply and gather her nerves before she decided to just snap his neck right then and there. The two often got along well, but they bickered like siblings when they didn't see eye to eye. "Love is like this feeling of not wanting to let someone go," she said much quieter, considering her words as she went along. It wasn't like Pacifica had ever voiced such things aloud. It wasn't like her.

Bill looked down at his hand, an expression of disinterest in his eyes. "Sounds pretty selfish."

Pacifica snapped her fingers as if that were the word she'd been searching for. "Yes! It is, but it's okay to be selfish because you make up for it by doing everything you can to keep them happy. You want them to always smile, and you'd do anything to make sure they do. Does that..." Pacifica rubbed her arm, looking down. "Does that make sense?"

Bill just hummed his response, but she was too lost in her thoughts to get angry with him.

"You wanna hold them and tell them it'll be okay when they cry and it's like... It's like looking at a solar eclipse," she went on, grinning like a little kid on Christmas.

Bill snickered at her. "Love is like total darkness to you?" he questioned.

Pacifica just shook her head. "No! It's this crazy amazing phenomenon that's so wild and so impossible to even comprehend. The moon is a speck in comparison to the sun. But it's just far enough away from the sun and just close enough to Earth that for a couple minutes every few years, it completely covers our view of the sun." She gestured her hands around energetically, utterly captivated by her own comparison. "But as it gradually drifts away from us, it'll stop being able to do that anymore. And some people are going to take for granted this beautiful thing they had. It's going to be gone, and only the people that paid it any attention are going to miss it." Her voice cracked a bit in what sounded like distress.

"And the people that didn't... Well, they won't care much. But they'll be the lesser for it, because they missed out on something that should only be possible in fairy tales." Pacifica looked down, a broken expression on her face.

Bill felt a pang of sympathy for her, and his expression softened. "Sounds like something you should maybe tell Shooting Star instead of me," he commented, smiling gently at her.

Pacifica blinked a few times, then brought her gaze up to meet his. "Wait." He'd been berating her for her views three minutes prior. Why'd he sound so empathetic all of a sudden? "Were you just... acting like a jerk to make me say all that?" She didn't sound angry. Just dazed a bit.

Bill chuckled, pointing a finger up at his head. "What can I say?" He shrugged. "I'm the master of mind games."

Pacifica laughed as well, looking relieved. "I swear I could've killed you for that earlier, you stupid clever asshole." She stepped forward a bit and coiled her arms tightly around his torso. Surprised by the gesture, Bill didn't make a move to return it. He just raised a hand up, but left it where it was uncertainly. He was about to once more remind her that he wasn't a hugger, until he heard the sound of Pacifica sobbing into his shirt. "I don't want to get married," she wept, distraught. "I really, really don't want to marry this dumb rich guy who doesn't even know me! I just want to stop being so scared of my parents and confess to Mabel, but... I don't know..."

Bill glanced to the side before hesitantly returning her hug, resting his chin on the top of her head. He wasn't quite sure what to say, so he just remained silent for once in his life, rubbing her back in as soothing a manner he could manage. He let her cry on him for a little while, but after a few minutes, she pulled herself away from him, wiping her eyes. "My makeup must be ruined," she remarked with a small smile, looking down at her hands, which had some of her eyeliner on them.

Bill scoffed in an effort to lift her spirits back up. "Boy, you're all just bundles of drama, you know that?" He didn't sound pretentious saying it though, so Pacifica knew he didn't mean it.

She just giggled softly. "You love us."

He didn't respond, and for what felt like forever neither of them spoke.

Finally, eyes not quite meeting hers, Bill pointed back towards the hallway. "Hey, you're free to clean yourself up in the bathroom if you want," he suggested, pocketing his hands.

Pacifica nodded, stepping past him. "Thank you, Bill... It means a lot, you know," she practically whispered.

It didn't feel like she was thanking him for his offer.

"Hey!" Pacifica called after a few silent seconds. "I think your coffee's done."

Bill looked over at the pot, which was full of freshly brewed coffee and still steaming. "So it is," he said almost blankly, thinking.