My in-progress Gravity Falls story plot is in motion and beginning to form, and it actually has a title now! The estimated date that I will post it will be about April or late March, sorry. If I get more time, maybe I will post it during mid-March.

From Angel of Mysteries: "Hey hey! This is a really cool fic and I love how easily you seem to be able to jump into the characters' minds! If you possibly could, may you do a chapter based on the aftermath of chapter nine, in which Dipper tells Stan the truth about Bill Cipher and what had happened?"

Thank you, I'm glad I've done a good job in your mind with these stories! (I always worry about being in character, ack!) Ooh, absolutely! I'd love to write about the aftermath (especially since that is one of my favorite one-shots so far). Enjoy!

Get Me Through

In the five days after Dipper had been able to leave the hospital, the boy had been fussed on by his sister constantly. Stan could tell that she felt guilty, for some reason, about the incident and seemed to be trying to make it up to him in her own way. Soos and Wendy were trying to act like things were alright, ignoring the bandages wrapped around the younger boy's arms and laughing about the weird tourists that came every day. They clearly didn't know what to do about Dipper's blatant ways at avoiding the topic of Mabel's play, but for now everyone went along with it.

Stan decided to not copy either of these methods and just give the kid his space. Clearly the incident had shaken his great-nephew, and he wasn't one to push the truth out of anyone, especially not his family. Yes, he was worried about Dipper and wanted to make sure he was alright too - but he knew that there were some things you couldn't fix with words or fussing.

It was a little past eight o'clock that evening and the twins were upstairs, probably brushing their teeth and getting ready for bed. Stan was flipping through the television channels idly and sighing to himself whenever something he deemed dumb came on. It had been a rather long day, what with three busloads of tourists coming that afternoon (there was a mix-up with the scheduling dates and one of the bus drivers came to the decision that he was going to abandon his group... it hadn't been a very fun day, to say the least). Stan just wanted to go work on the portal and then go to bed before work tomorrow.

There was a small cry from upstairs, suspiciously high-pitched, and he froze. Were they hurt? Were they in trouble?

He hurried up the stairs before he could register what he was doing and stopped outside the open attic door. Peering inside, the man saw that the older twin was hugging her brother who stared at the floor with wide eyes, trembling.

A rush of panic filled his heart. He had never seen Dipper like this; no monsters were in the attic and they hadn't been up here long enough to go to sleep, so it wasn't a nightmare...

Dipper's brown eyes flitted to meet his and he swallowed hard, turning away in what his great-uncle realized was shame. Mabel sat up from where they were sitting on her twin's bed, biting her lip when she noticed Stan. "Uh, hey... What's up, Grunkle Stan?"

"You two... You two alright?" He felt his voice shake a little as he continued to watch the boy stare pointedly away from his elder.

Mabel shot Stan a look saying No, not really, and said in a falsely cheerful voice, "Yep! We're good! I'm gonna go get... uh, I forgot to bring Waddles up! Heh..." Before he could stop her, the girl flashed him another look (this one coming off suspiciously as Talk to him) and hurried out of the attic down the stairs. For a few moments, her loud footsteps echoed in the Shack and the two males were left with only the sound of Dipper breathing rather loudly.

Talk to him? Stan was never good at having conversations with his great-nephew. Especially when the kid needed him most, like right now.

Still, he wasn't one to ignore Mabel's silent plea to help her brother.

He hesitantly walked forward and sat down next to the boy, who displayed no sign of realizing what Stan was doing. The old man scratched the back of is neck uncomfortably, a bad habit he had when he grew nervous. Just try and talk to him normally. How would Mabel comfort him?

"You... You okay, kid?"

Dipper stared at the floor in silence as if he hadn't heard, but the rising color in his cheeks told Stan otherwise.

"Look... You know you can talk to me, right? About whatever it is that scared you?"

God, he was awful at this. Why did Mabel think this was such a good idea? She ought to be the one trying to comfort her brother, not her great-uncle whom wasn't very sociable to begin with.

"You wouldn't understand." The words were soft and he could barely make them out but they were still there.

"What do you mean?" He wasn't sure how to respond to that statement.

Dipper shut his eyes and didn't reply for a minute. "I just... You wouldn't get it."

He was hiding something. The kid was trying to hide something from him, and it was starting to make him mad.

"Dipper, I've probably gone through something similar when I was your age. What is it? Nightmares? Because - "

"It's not something like that!" The outburst made Stan draw back in surprise. Dipper's brow was furrowed and he clenched his fists, as if holding back the urge to scream or hit something. "It's just me being stupid, okay? You don't know what happened, you weren't there, you didn't have to watch him attack - !"

And just like that, his face paled and he froze, realizing he had said too much.

"Who?" It was something more serious than a nightmare, then. Whoever he was referring to, the person must have attacked Mabel because why else would the kid get so worked up about whatever this was?

Dipper swallowed hard. "Grunke Stan - "

"Dipper."

The preteen shut his eyes again. "You probably don't know him..."

"Kid, just tell me."

"H-His name is... Bill and he's, um, a demon..."

Stan felt his limbs freeze as he gazed at his great-nephew. Memories lingered in the back of his head, something about a certain mind demon he could have sworn he had encountered before.

"When was this?"

"...Mabel's play."

The bandages. The wounds suspiciously reminding him of forks embedded in the boy's skin. The bruises littered all over his small form that scared his sister so much that she made Stan rush him to the hospital.

"Kid," Stan laid a gentle hand on Dipper's shoulder, "did he hurt you and your sister?"

Dipper bit his lip and opened his eyes slowly. "Not Mabel. But he tried."

"How did this happen? Did you go looking for trouble when I told you not to specifically?"

"What - ? No! He came to me!" Dipper finally met his great-uncle's eyes. "He tricked me and stole my body... Mabel saved me and got him out."

Stole his body? How had no one mentioned this? Why hadn't he noticed that five days ago? A pang of guilt hit him square in the heart as Dipper turned away and stared at the floor once more.

"Only your sister knows, then?"

"N-No... She told Wendy and Soos, I think."

Something lodged itself in the old man's throat. "Were either of you ever planning on telling me?"

Dipper glanced up somewhat nervously. "Um, I think Mabel wanted to. I just didn't know...I didn't know how you'd react."

It was Stan's turn to look at the ground. "Dipper," he muttered quietly, "you didn't have to hide this from me. Especially since you got hurt on my watch. Kid, we were - um, I mean... we were all worried when Mabel told us you had to go to the hospital. Whatever Bill did to you, it was pretty bad. You're lucky he didn't try anything worse."

The brunette turned pink and bit his lip again. He seemed unsure what to say.

"I, um... I thought I saw him."

"Huh?"

"When y-you heard me yell..." The kid's voice cracked on the last word and he winced in embarrassment.

Oh. What was he supposed to say to this?

"Well... As long as you've got your sister and as long as I'm right there downstairs... He can't hurt you, kid." Dipper snorted, as if he didn't believe his great-uncle's words. "I won't let him," Stan promised, giving his shoulder a squeeze as his eyes briefly moved to the bandages on his arms.

Dipper's lips twitched into what he hoped was a small smile and the flash of gratitude in the boy's brown eyes made his heart grow heavy. Bill had certainly done a number on the kid.

"Now, I've got a strange question for you... Are those wounds from forks?"

I'd imagine that after Sock Opera, Dipper would occasionally see Bill places and freak out because he'd be worried about the triangle trying to take his body again. Poor Dippingsauce.