Dipper woke up with a gasp. He didn't remember what he had been dreaming. It was all just a hazy blur...

Shaking his head and tearing himself out of his thoughts, he glanced over at his clock. With a jolt, he realized that it was already past noon. Why is it so late? Dipper thought. He'd never really slept in before...

...then something in his mind clicked, and the memory of his dream came flooding back to him. He placed a hand over his heart, which was already starting to beat faster.

He had to tell Mabel.

After quickly getting dressed, he made his way out of the room and down the stairs, his gaze trained onto the floor as he walked. However, he lifted his head as he smelled his twin's cooking. It had gotten significantly better over the years; Mabel had learned that glitter was not the best thing to put on food, so it was more than edible now, although sometimes she'd use actual edible glitter if she could find it. Glitter aside, she'd also just gotten better at it altogether.

Stepping into the Mystery Shack's kitchen, he was greeted by the sight of his twin at the stovetop, making grilled cheese. His stomach growled, a reminder that, evidently, he was hungry. He slid into one of the chairs by the table, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

"Good afternoon, Dip-Dop" Mabel greeted him, not turning away from the stove and putting emphasis on the afternoon, as if he'd needed a reminder that he'd overslept. "Sleep well?"

"Well enough, " he replied, his dream coming back to him yet again.

"So, why'd you sleep so late anyways?" she questioned, finally turning away from the sizzling pan to cast a glance at her twin. "Were you up all night reading again?"

"Bad dream," he murmured, and after a moment's pause adding, "Well... kinda." He zoned out for a moment, his own thoughts outweighing the real world, so much so that he hadn't realized Mabel had finished her cooking and had placed two plates on the table, sitting across from him with her own sandwich. Her semi-worried gaze was trained onto him.

"What was it about?" she asked, before taking a bite of her own sandwich. Dipper rubbed his eyelids, crossing his arms over the table and not meeting her gaze, hesitating. Now that he thought about it, maybe this was something he could deal with himself. But, looking up her sister's expecting and worried eyes, he found himself telling her anyways.

"Well," he started, leaning back in his chair, closing his eyes to try and remember the details, "I don't... It didn't seem exactly like a dream... like... a half dream? I don't know. It started off normal, where I just did my daily routine. And I decided to go for a walk in the forest and I... I found..."

The words died in his throat before he could finish, a chill shooting up his spine as he actually took in what had happened. If his dream was more than a dream (and he was sure it was; it felt more real than normal) then it meant that somehow, someway, Bill had actually come back.

He started to panic for a moment, both hands gripping the tabletop as if his life depended on it.

He snapped out of his momentary panic when Mabel spoke to him, her voice more concerned than anything else.

"Dipper? It's okay if you don't want to tell me..."

He shook his head, a sigh escaping him as he lifted his gaze to his twin.

"No, no, i-it's fine..." He trailed off, before continuing again in a voice that was a little more steady. "I... found a statue of Bill."

He watched as her eyes widened, and she made a triangle over her eye. "You mean the triangle guy? Please tell me you don't mean the triangle guy."

Dipper shifted in his seat, averting his gaze from her own. "I do mean the triangle guy." He paused to let the information sink in, before going on again. "He wanted to make another deal with me."

"You didn't take it, right?"

He winced, remembering that he'd been considering that. "Uh, not... yet?"

"But you're planning to?!" Dipper opened his mouth to speak, but Mabel went on before he could. "What does he even want from you?"

"Well, he said that he was trapped in the clearing that I found him in, and, well, I don't buy it, but he wants me to make a deal with him so that he can get out of it. I don't know exactly how that works, but... ya know."

"Are you sure he isn't actually trapped?" That question took Dipper by surprise.

"What?" he muttered just to make sure he had heard that right.

"I said, are you sure he isn't actually trapped? What if he is trapped, and he does need your help?"

"Mabel, this is Bill we're talking about," Dipper sighed, "self proclaimed 'all-knowing' demon. He wouldn't need my help, and either way, I don't get why I would help him. I feel like deals with him have been long proven to be a bad idea. Anyways, he's offering free labor and more knowledge, and in turn he'd get a vessel... or something. Apparently it has a dead-line, too. Midnight."

Mabel was silent for a long while, seemingly processing everything.

"I don't know, Dip. It sounds like he actually needs your help, if he's willing to give up his 'freedom' or whatever," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Really?! Mabel, he could want to start another apocalypse or something! All I know is that he wants to make a deal that I'll probably be blind-sided by!"

"Fair point," Mabel murmured, "but just... if he, hypothetically, actually did need help. Then what? Everyone deserves a second chance, right?"

"Well what do you want me to do, then?! Make the deal? See if Weirdmaggedon 2.0 happens? Then what? Some people don't deserve a second chance, Mabel." He had put his points out, now to see if they were strong enough to sway Mabel or at least break through her optimism shield.

"I-I don't know, Dipper," she stammered, her voice faltering. "Just trust me, please? If Bill is still the crazy 'fun'-loving demon he was, then we can stop him. We've done it before, we can do it again." Shields down, now Dipper was left in silence at her words. It was technically true... they could stop him again if they got the Zodiac together, and either way, he thought, he wouldn't be able to cause another apocalypse if there was no rift. Which there wasn't now...

"Okay," he breathed, "I could consider it a little more, I guess. See if he's willing to elaborate at all." And if I'm willing to see what kind of damage he would be able to do if I made the deal, Dipper thought bitterly.

"That's the Dip-Dop I know!" she exclaimed, and even though she was smiling, he could tell by her eyes that she was still somewhat concerned about this whole ordeal. She punched him 'lightly' in the shoulder. "Oh, and uh, if it isn't too much trouble," she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, "can you take my shift at the shack today? I'm going over to Pacifica's to discuss party decorations."

"I guess. What kind of party is she throwing, anyways?"

"Not sure. She won't tell me until I get there." She reached over onto the counter and grabbed the keys to her car. "I'll tell you when I find out, m'kay? Bye Dippin-Dots!"

"Bye Mabes," he spoke quietly, watching as she left in a cloud of glitter. Well, not actually, more of her sweater was covered in it so that's basically what it looked like.

Dipper was left to think over Bill's proposition, feeling slightly worried that he was legitimately considering it...