Despite the reassurance and affection, Sammill is still struggling to breathe normally while he's being guided out of the school by the twins, staying silent for now while they walk outside.

Mabel then looks at her brother, a little worried. "So, Bro-bro... What happened with you...?"

Dipper tries to keep his cool as he answer. "I got scolded real bad for this act of violence... I..."

His sister interrupts him because she's feeling quite enraged from what she witnessed. "You didn't even do anything... This Alan jerk faked the entire thing... You didn't even touch him..."

"I know..." Dipper groans, but Mabel knows that this annoyance isn't directed at her. "... So I've been given detention next Saturday... Especially because..." He wanted to add something, but he stops himself when he realizes that Sammill is around.

"... Because what...?" Mabel is very curious, and knowing how she is when she wants to know something, Dipper doesn't hide it.

He answers painfully. "... There's a precedent for that from me..." Mabel raises an eyebrow and he explains it. "It's not the first time I get in trouble for violent acts."

Bill has been listening to the whole conversation in silence, and when Dipper says that, he gets a flashback that he now feels very different about...He remembers back in September, after he just tricked Samuel... When he first revealed himself to Dipper... When he toyed with his emotions... When he willingly pushed him to the edge until he violently snapped...

"NO!" Bill yells through Samuel, getting the attention of the twins. "No, no, no... It's... It's my fault! I've ruined your life!" He goes back in a panic mode and starts having tears again. "I'm nothing but trouble for you! I..."

"Calm down! Please!" Dipper gets panicked himself and looks closely at his eyes. He acts stern because he wants his words to be taken seriously. "You haven't done anything wrong to me today! And this is an old mistake, you made up for it back in the day! I'm not mad at you..."

Mabel adds, taking Samuel's hands. "Come on, Bill... Listen to me... Breathe in... Then, breathe out..." Bill tries to do that, but he is not entirely used to use human organs to control feelings.

She adds. "Follow my lead... Breathe in..." She takes a very deep inhale. "Then breathe out..." She demonstrates once more. Sammill follows the guidance and does a decent job at it. Although it doesn't seem to be enough, as his legs still are a little shaky.

Dipper has an idea. "Let's take a walk around the park... You need to get that negative energy out... And I'm sure Sammy will be fine with letting you use his body to get rid of the bad feelings..."

Bill reveals after a small period of silence. "... Yeah, he's fine with that..."

Mabel grabs Samuel's arm excitedly while trying to restrain herself from being too harsh. "Let's go, then!" She leads him, forcing him to walk faster.

Being full of energy, Mabel encouraged and made Sammill walk circles around the park rather quickly.

Sammill struggles to keep up at this point. "Shooting star... Stop..." He tries to catch his breath between the words. "... Dumb... limited... human energy..."

Mabel smiles, looking past Bill's grumpiness. "But look at you... Don't you feel better now? You've expulsed most of the bad feelings thanks to that, haven't you...?"

"Uh..." Sammill still has to get a decent breath. Hearing that, he feels like that maybe he doesn't feel as much bitterness and self-loathing as before. "I don't know..."

"Either way, thanks!" She gives Samuel's body a warm embrace and gently leads him to the bench Dipper is sitting at so he can get some rest.

He looks at Samuel's body who pretty much crashed on the bench from exhaustion. "Oh wow... You sure you haven't gone too far, Sis...?"

She defends herself. "It was necessary, I didn't want him to keep that negativity in his body... It's bad for Bill AND for Sammy..." Thinking for a little bit, she then says... "I'll be back in a few..."

Samuel's body is laying on the bench, with his head against Dipper's shoulder. Bill exclaims, feeling exhausted. "I'm made of energy, but... How doesn't she get tired despite how feeble human bodies are...?"

Dipper chuckles. "That's just how she is... And... She seems like she's being rough, but she pushes you around because she cares about you and wants you to feel better... It's not always easy, but I got used to it..."

"... ... Pinetree... I..."

From the sorrowful tone, Dipper gets a guess of what Bill wants to say and gently cuts him off. "I'm not angry at you... Yes, I was furious about what happened back then, but you made amends for that immediately... And you did so much more since..."

"But..."

Softly, he adds. "Shh... ... It's okay..." If he was to let himself go, he'd almost act like a comforting parent or pet owner. "There's no need for you to feel guilty towards me, or what you've done today... And look around you instead... It's a nice spring afternoon... It's a decently warm weather... There's a nice breeze... You have the nature's smells and sounds... Try to focus on that instead..."

Dipper tries to keep the subject away. He starts sounding quite emotional. "You know... This park means a lot to us... Mabel, Sammy and I... We've been hanging out there quite a lot... Ever since we were toddlers..." He sighs, a little bittersweet, before continuing. "I'm sure it sounds stupid to you, but you can find happiness from simple things... Like..." Bringing up familiar places that means a lot to him, he slightly feels warmed up inside as he thinks about the fact that he's going to have another vacation in a very important place to him. "Like..."

Listening to that, Bill ends up confused and makes Samuel's body sit rather than laying down. "What are you even trying to get at, Pinetree?"

Dipper admits. "You know what...? I don't know for sure... I was trying to get you off your current worries, but I lost my train of thoughts a bit..."

Bill feels his teasing mood coming back. "I'm not surprised... Your mind's always been quite a huge unsorted mess, you know."

Bill lets out a typical cackle of his and his friend doesn't actually mind. "Glad to see you're feeling better..."

Sammill loses his composure and calmly goes. "... Thanks... You too..."

"Hey guys!" They're surprised by Mabel, who returned with a surprise.

"What you got there, Sis?"

She says, eagerly. "After I was done using the bathroom, I decided to get a warm waffle with chocolate! It's... mostly to congratulate Bill on his physical efforts... But I thought we could share some parts of it still."

Bill uses Samuel's sense of smell, and it seems to cause the boy's stomach to make a sound.

"See, you're starving!" She smiles, amused. "I thought you deserved this! Both because I made you tired, and also because delicious treats never fail to take my worries away!"

The idea makes Dipper a little curious, though. "Are you even used to eat human food, Bill...? Your normal form doesn't need it, but have you ever..."

He answers after pondering for a couple of seconds. "I've rarely felt the taste of human food while possessing a body... Or if I did, it was so long ago that I forgot how it feels..." However, he can't help but feel intrigued by the nice smell on the boy's nostrils.

Mabel takes a tiny piece with the chocolate on top and hands it to him. "Here, try it..." She says with a smile and she makes him bite it.

Samuel's eyes go wide open from shock. On the inside, Bill is freaking out over how delicious it tastes, so much so that he grabs the whole thing in his hands to get a big bite from it.

"Woah, easy!" Dipper hides how amused he is from the sight to warn Bill. "Take time to chew and swallow... Otherwise, it's not good for you... Or for Samuel's body..."

Mabel giggles at the sight. "I knew you'd love it. Little triangle dude got an eye for good food!"

Sammy's cheeks suddenly blush a little, a bit out of shame even though he also feels happy. He feels embarrassed while also enjoying the company and teasings of the twins. As awkward as the experience is, he tells himself that he'd gladly take that over how he felt earlier.

Once the waffle is finished, they move on and the Pines twins give one quick final chat to Bill before going home. Bill doesn't give up control back just yet, however. He decides to do the walk back to Samuel's home first, doing so calmly and silently.

It's once he reaches Samuel's bedroom that he, like often, gives the control back without saying anything afterwards.

After getting his senses back, the boy starts speaking. "... Bill...?"

The triangle does feel better about himself thanks to his friends, but he's still conflicted a little.

He tries to choose his words very carefully. "Bill, I know what you did... You tried to harm Alan... And... I'd like you to know... that..."

The explanation gets interrupted, with Bill sounding a little frustrated by the scolding. "I know, I did something terrible... It means that there's barely any hope for me, and that there's still a big side of me who's a monster, and..."

"What...? No! It means that..." He tries to get the triangle's eye to focus on him and he gently grabs one of his hands for comfort... "... You did this because you saw how miserable Mabel was... It frustrated you greatly... And you wanted to do something about it no matter what... It doesn't make you a monster, it makes you..." He tries to give a very honest smile. "... It makes you the best kind of friend anyone would wish for..."

Bill is really shocked to hear this about himself. And since Sammy knows exactly what he's going to be heard, he beats him to the punch. "Yes, you have gone about it the wrong way, but your intentions were entirely benevolent... No need to feel ashamed about yourself!" Seeing him still a little quiet, he adds... "... Awkward demon hug...?"

Bill still isn't the greatest at accepting physical affection in his real form, but he's considering that he could use it. "... Okay, awkward demon hug..." He floats downwards for it to silently take it while Samuel is holding him and rubbing his back gently

Samuel whispers to him before not bringing up the subject anymore... "You can be proud of yourself..."

Author notes: Apologies for the long delay since the last chapter.

At first I wasn't sure about making this chapter all about what it is, and I had more stuff alongside it. But turns out I had enough to make two separate chapters, and that this was a solid enough stopping point. I'll try not to let a big gap between them, but I can't exactly make promises.

Thanks for reading!