Just like Bill made sure to, Samuel was able to get a comforting and energizing sleep, in spite of the odd night escapade. He manages to wake up only to be greeted by Bill's presence, who has been silently gazing at him waiting to wake up.

But despite how unsettling this might be, it has been so long since those two are linked that it doesn't even freak him out anymore. Instead, he reacts with a fairly normal "Morning, Bill..."

"Morning, Fuzzball..." Bill answers, trying to hide his excitement, but he's unable to suppress his playful tone and his desire to cackle amusingly. "Boy, do I have things to tell you..."

Sammy stands up and respectfully shuts him down for now. "Can't it wait until after breakfast and the rest of my morning, please...?"

The triangle is fairly annoyed about that, but decides to silently shrug and stay quietly hidden until his on-and-off vessel is ready to hear about it later in the day.

In the meantime, when Sammy goes downstairs and meets his parents, he's feeling his heart pounding a little, because he has yet to get an answer to something that feels very important to him. He can feel some tension rising inside him when he joins them, which causes him to instinctively fiddle with the texture of his purple friendship bracelet. But he doesn't dare to bring up what's on his mind for now.

But this nervousness doesn't go unnoticed, since the parents know their boy way too well.

"What's the matter, Samuel? Is something troubling you...?" His mom asks that very gently.

A part of Samuel wished he was going to be asked that, but he still feels incredibly nervous. Regardless, he wants to tell the truth.

"Yes... It's about... I did mention about how Dipper and Mabel are going to leave all summer, like last year..."

"Yes, you did." His father tries to be understanding and reassuring in his speech.

"But also, that..." Sammy sighs, grasping all the courage he can to fight his discomfort. "I've got that offer from their relatives to join them... And..."

This is met with some disagreements from his parents, even though they are not against the idea.

"Samuel, we understand that you would like this, but..."

"You know we've already planned another trip to New Jersey. And... we're really not sure about letting you go away without us."

"B-But... I would love it! I'd love to spend summer with my best friends, especially because of what they've told me!"

Samuel realizes that he's sounding a little clingy and immature, so he cools down and tries to use a different approach. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean it this way..." There's a bit of silence after that. "Of course I've had a great time when I got to see my cousins last summer. This wasn't what I meant... It's just... Getting the chance to travel with Dipper and Mabel makes me really eager to take the opportunity. I've known them for so long, and I'm sure this would only strenghten our bond..."

"We get it, but..."

Sammy politely cuts off his mother, because he doesn't want to let his chance to convince them go to waste. "They shared a lot about this place to me. It meant a lot to them last summer, and I'm sure they'd love to make me experience that as much as me..."

This slightly makes his parents reconsider, so his father asks. "What exactly have they told you about it?"

At that question, Samuel tries to not say too much that could worry them. But he also wouldn't want to outright lie to them. "They said it was a very special and magical place to them, and that it would mean a lot for them to share it with me now that they can return there."

"Alright, Samuel..." His mom tries to act reassuring once more, seeing how much it would mean for him. "We'll think about it, but if you want to help us, you should get the contact of whoever would be hosting you and your friends there. That way, we could get a better idea about it and feel more reassured."

This makes Samuel smile, and his dad is kindly trying to conclude the conversation. "Now eat your healthy breakfast, before you might be late for school."

"Oh, right..." Sammy starts eating now that he's feeling a little better. Before leaving for school, he takes the time to say. "Thanks... I'm glad we've had that conversation!" He leaves the house, trying to stay optimistic.

The parents have a short conversation about it once he's gone.

"So, what do you think...?", asks his mom.

His dad answers to that with his main thoughts. "I understand that it would mean a lot to let him have an experience without us... I have reservations about it as well... But at the same time... he turned 13 this year, and it seems he'd really enjoy spending time with his friends in a place they'd want him to be... Maybe we can consider it..."

Samuel reached the school on time, despite the odds. While he's still insecure about if it's going to have a positive impact, he's truly feeling a lot better to have let that out of his chest.

During the lunch break, he's telling his friends about it in more details when they're on a spot by themselves outside.

"... So, yes, if you want to improve the odds that I'd spend the summer vacation with you, it would be really helpful if you could get your relatives to contact my parents..."

Mabel reacts immediately. "Oh, definitely. First thing once we get home this evening, I'll leave them a message about that and give our grunkles your parents' contacts!"

Sammy knew this kind of eager reaction would come from her, but he's still feeling comforted. "... You would be really happy if I got the chance to join you this summer, uh...?"

"Of course!" She almost screams at his face, but she shows some basic restraint still. "I'd love for you to see this place, and it'd make our summer even better. Our best friend from home with our family and friends from our adventures. Best of both worlds, right Bro-bro?"

"Oh, um..." Dipper is positive about the idea, but he's doing his best to bury something that's on his mind about it. "Yeah, totally!" He manages to sound convincing still.

"It'd be great if that could happen! I just... I'm not getting my hopes up just yet, in case..."

Mabel pouts a tiny bit. "Ah, don't bring a pessimistic vibe, you'll give us bad luck..." She jokingly goes to touch her brother's face and try to raise the corner of his lips. "Turn that frown upside down!"

Dipper speaks up despite the difficulty of the situation and manages to make himself understood with an authoritative "Mabel, stop that!".

She does that quickly and Samuel giggles a tiny bit. "Never a dull moment with you two, uh? I hope I'll be able to..."

His speech is interrupted by Alan's surprise approach to the group, right behind Samuel, when there's no one but the four of them around.

"Hey there, little sweetie!" He addresses Mabel with the usual smugness, not caring at all about the boy in front of him.

"Uh oh, here comes trouble!" Bill comments to himself from where he is, although he isn't really concerned. He actually sounds amused.

The girl is actually more relaxed about his presence these days, in large part thanks to Bill's recent idea. "Hey, Alan!"

Dipper grabs Samuel's arm and drags him a little closer to him, because he's a little nervous that being between Alan and Mabel would be a bad spot.

Alan looks at the twins and their friend without an issue, feeling as morally powerful on them like always. It seems that he indeed forgot all about his dream encounter with that "conscience" figure and what happened in it.

He's directly talking to Mabel now that there's no one in the way anymore. "Unfortunately, our time this year is coming to a close, but don't worry! I'll make it so you won't see time pass with all I'll make you do. And I'll make sure that you won't try to pull any kind of subterfuge with me."

Dipper would like to intervene, but he sees how Mabel seems awfully relaxed. As if she knew inside that it'd end well for her. That and a mix of not wanting to get his feelings get the best of him again prevent him from doing anything.

Samuel, however, speaks up, quite shyly... "Hey, leave her alone already...!"

Alan isn't scared much when he turns to face him. "Who talked? Little bushy hair boy?" Sammy stays quiet, not knowing how to continue on his desire to defend his friend. "Are you going to continue to try and get me to stop?" He continues, not sounding worried in the slightest. "Because that would be a pretty bad mistake from you..."

Samuel closes his eyes for a couple of seconds, a little worried. Then he suddenly smirks a little. His speech also turns more confident and playful. "Oh, I believe that you're the one who is terribly mistaken..." He opens his eyes, but Alan can't tell what's going on with the boy's change in attitude. "I don't think you know who you are dealing with..."

Alan reacts unimpressed. "How amusing, you're actually trying to threaten me? What could you even do?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Sammill is acting innocent, before directly talking to him. "But you'll see..." After some suspense, he suddenly namedrops something very impactful to his hear.

Alan's smugness disappears in an instant, and his mood changes to him seeming horrified. He felt like his heart dropped to his stomach.

Dipper and Mabel didn't get to hear what he said, but they definitely notice the impact it had.

Alan backs down a bit, being almost too afraid to speak properly. "W-What...? W-Who...? H-How do you know about that?"

Sammill just shrugs innocently. "I don't know..." Then, he points at the twins, who are just standing in the sidelines, half confused and half worried. "What I do know is that I can let my friends know if you don't back down for good!" Then he amps up how playfully sadistic he sounds. "Or maybe the whole school? Would be hilarious, wouldn't it?" He makes an innocent grin that has the effect of scaring his interlocutor.

"N-No... D-Don't you..." Alan is close to being terrified of the prospect, and leaves the group quickly, almost as if he was running for his life, to isolate himself and control his anxiety in a closet.

Mabel and Dipper are speechless, but also appear concerned from how that conversation went.

Dipper, while as suspicious and judgemental as he usually can be, is sounding quite dumbfounded. "Um... Bill...?"

Mabel is very much the same, she's feeling lost. "Thanks for doing that, but what did...?"

Sammill turns around to face them. "Ah, Pinetree, Shooting star... I can tell from your vacant gazes that you're confused!" He says that, being completely amused even if he saw those reactions coming a mile away. Even then, he's quick to reassure them. "It just so happened that, I got to do a small trip inside that boy's head. And I got to see something... very interesting..."

"You did what?" Dipper feels like calling him out, but keeps it to himself.

Sammill says. "I got to see a memory of his. Something that happened when he started elementary school..." He can help but grin and cackle when he thinks about it.

"It was humiliating and it got him a nickname that drove him crazy for years! He thought it was gone when he got to a middle school, but... Heheheheheheheh...!"

Dipper wants to ask a logical question. "Bill, how could...?" His question gets interrupted when Mabel grabs his hand mid-sentence.

"I mean..." Mabel isn't very happy about hearing that, but as she claims... "It's not using violence, like he promised to us... And Bro-bro... you can't deny that Bill's methods are providing great results... "

"And how! Have you seen how much of a pathetic coward he is when you challenge his ego and fragile confident act?" Sammill tries to contain his chuckles without too much success before continuing. "But don't worry... All that happened right now was done with Fuzzball's agreement. He helped me get there with full consent!"

"Sammy approved of that?" Mabel is quite surprised to hear it.

"Yeah! He started doing that plan, but he got a little intimidated... So I just gave him a hand, while this fool is none the wiser about everything that happened."

"Uh..." For reasons unknown to him, this knowledge makes it so Dipper can't help but feel better about what happened. "But... Don't be too cruel with Alan, okay...?" No matter what his opinion on the guy is, he can't help but let his compassionate side shine.

Bill is quite understanding of that situation by now, so he answers without any problem. "Don't worry... I have carefully planned my moves. And I promise you, I don't plan to go as far from now on." He drops the playful behavior and sounds more serious and emotive. "Do you trust me on this...?"

Mabel answers without a doubt. "Yes, I trust you!" It surprises her a little to not feel any hesitation, but it's the truth. She sees Bill in a completely different light now.

Even though Dipper is concerned inside, knowing that Samuel approved of this and that Bill is doing something good with his talents... He has to admit, with barely any hesitation in his voice. "... I trust you too..."

"Heheheh... Isn't that wonderful?" Sammill exclaims. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to let the original manager of this body go back!" With an extensive gesture, he exclaims "Nice talkin', goofy twins!" before letting Samuel back in control and slowly decude what happened.

Before moving on, they have a quick chat about what exactly Bill found out and whispered, with Mabel really wanting to know while Dipper is more hesitent...

Author notes: Hey, so, thanks for your patience regarding this chapter. It shouldn't have taken as long as it did, but it's possible that I'm unsure about how to present my ideas regarding Bill's plans. It seems, however, that the answer is just starting and letting it flow.

I wanted to make it so we'd find out what kind of embarrassing memory and nickname Alan got used by Bill to have him freak out, but I couldn't think of something that was satisfying to me. So I went with the "let the reader deduce it" cheat code, which I'm not too happy about, but it's a solution like another. In a lighter way, it's also up to you to decide if Samuel told them said secret...

Also, uh, that's the first time I use Samuel's parents canonically... I think it was important to have this scene to bring some realism in that story, even if it revolves about a triangular trickster.

Anyways, I'll try to push my concerns aside and do what I can to provide a satisfying conclusion to what I've started still. Thanks for bearing with the waits.

Thanks for reading!