Don't Forgive Me

Chapter 34

Headlights barely illuminate the darkness ahead of them. Dipper has been fuming with anxiety ever since he got in the car. The ride has been strenuously quiet so far, except for the vehicle's underlying humming.

"Where are we going...", The demon's eyes shone yellow against the passenger window.

"I- I don't know. Well, I- I do know. Agh, damn it.", he grips the steering wheel, knuckles turning a shade of white.

"Something happened....", he furrows his brows at the boy sitting next to him.

"I bet it's not as serious as it seemed...", the brunette said with visible concern, there was denial in his voice.

"Its shooting star isn't it...", Dipper said nothing as he concentrated on the road.

It was uncomfortable in the quiet between them.

"She always does this...", he looks like he's about to break down; yet he holds strong.

The demon felt his temper rising. He disliked seeing Dipper agitated. It made him want to do something about it but he bites his tongue. Bill lays back on one of his default behaviors, trying to cheer him up .

"Uh, let's see what's on", he turns the dial knob of the radio which starts to play some sort of smooth jazz. "Oh -ho ho , I loved the 1900s. One of my favorite human eras.", the demon snickers reclining back into the car seat.

"Do you know how many 'isms' were so much worse in the 1900s Bill?", the boy said with a scathing tone.

"Isms?", the beast lazily looks over at the driver.

"Yeah, racism, sexism, heterosexism, you know, the lot ." The boy huffed.

"You know, that used to be so relevant to me, considering I used to be a three-sided object with no concept of sexuality or gender." the entity said with sarcasm. The boy only rolled his eyes ."I was only in it for the funny hair and good music", he shrugs.

"You know, you got a point", the boy shook his head. His mood was slightly better, but nothing was going to take the sense of dread off of him.

"Applies to me now doesn't it ?", he sighs and sits up.

"Sure it does.", the demon gulped at this sentiment.

The rest of the ride consisted of past bands strumming away on their instruments, not knowing what the future held for them.

The vehicle pulls into a dingy back alleyway. They step out onto the crumbly gravel. It smells awful around this place. Bill walks out beside him, he notices that Dipper's hands are shaking either from fear or anger he could not tell.

"Let's go in", he said, tromping abruptly forward into the poor excuse for a house. The demon stuck close behind him. Music blared as he could hear people singing along, the base was enough to shake the air around them.

The smell of drugs and alcohol lingered heavily in the rooms; it was stomach churning. The boy covered his nose and the entity coughed. Lights flashed in their faces, people were everywhere to be seen. Dipper pushed past the thickly inebriated crowd.

They got to one of the back rooms that were full of smoke, it seemed like they were trying to make it akin to a sauna with the curtains pulled over the open doorways. One could hear the noise of someone's leftovers being spilled on the floor nearby. This was definitely not a place either of the boys would want to be in.

"Mabel?", Dipper was getting worried. Panicked breaths escaped him. He sounded like a car whose engine struggles to start up. The demon placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"We'll find her.", the blonde was serious. Anger eroded his nerves, for some reason he hated to see the boy like this.

Bill pushes a side door open, it had been left slightly ajar. They found her. The twin brunette was laying on the ground of what seemed to be an extremely unsanitary bathroom. "Oh-oh no, M-Mabel".

The boy quickly moved and bent down to her level. Disgusting is what could have been described as wafting off of her. Bill stood in the doorway keeping an eye out while Dipper checked her pulse. He sighed in relief, trying to shake her awake.

The phone was right next to her ear in her hand.

"She Uhm, must have just passed out", the boy attempts to wake her up but she's unresponsive and he begins to get fidgety with anxiety again. Bill huffs and walks over and Dipper watches as he hoists her over his shoulder. She's limp as lead.

"Come on, you got to drive, so lead the way", he sounded extremely impatient. They wrestle through the sea of intoxicated people.

The three make it back to the car, Dipper helps Bill get her into the back seat. By which she just flopped down with no resistance to gravity. The brunette's hands were trembling as he took the wheel, he breathed out deeply.

"Ok...Ok...Ok", the boy repeated as he tried to collect himself. "We're going home."

Now back at the mystery shack, the two boys proceeded to get Mabel to the living room couch. They set her up with a blanket and some water on the nearby coffee table. Now that Dipper got a better look at her in the light, her cheeks were hollower than he remembered.

He was baffled that it had gotten to this point. He stepped away from her after making sure she was going to be okay. There was suddenly a warm hand on his back.

"Hey, you did the right thing, Pinetree.", the entity said comfortingly. The boy's frame shook like a leaf. He headed for the back porch, where the demon followed him. The entity sat down next to him as Dipper was trying his best not to hyperventilate.

"I can't believe this...", the brunette mumbled to himself. His voice was stuttery. "Th-thank you Bill, f-for being there. I don't think I could have d-done that alone." The entity slid closer to him to put an arm around the boy's shoulder.

"Why do you do it...when It hurts you so much...", Bill's slits in his eyes soften around the edges.

"Because I love her. I'd do anything for her", Dipper runs his hands stressfully through his own hair.

"It makes you do crazy things doesn't it? Like, being human.", the brunette nods at that notion in agreement.

"Like being human, sometimes it's great...other times, it's a pain. But, it's all worth it.". He shrugs.

"What are we going to do about her?". The demon enquired, looking a bit worried.

"I don't know Bill,...I don't know".