Gravity Falls Season: 3 (Birds in a cage)

CHAPTER 3: Keep it a secret

"Yes, it was Bill"

Dipper spoke slowly in a reluctant voice.

The two just stood there still, not moving or speaking for a while. Mabel noticed them being left behind the group and called out to them.

"Bro-bro, Grunkle! Get a move on. We have a lot to catch up to back at the shack!"

Mabel's voice made Dipper snap out of his trance. He turned his head towards Mabel and replied

"Don't worry about us, we're just having uh... 'guy talk' . You can move on. "

Mabel gave a thumbs-up and continued talking to Pacifica while clinging to her arm.

"You've gotten better at lying too, look at you doing it ever so easily"

Grunkle Stan was pulling Dipper's leg while Dipper replied to his teasing in a monotonous voice.

"You expect me to come clean like: 'Yeah Mabel we got caught back there because we figured out Bill might be still alive and possibly scheming behind the scenes for a potential weirdmageddon 2.0. Also, I have been having dreams I forgot to mention that consist of Bill haunting me while poetry is being rehearsed in the background in an eerie voice"./

Grunkle facepalmed.

"I was just teasing you, kid. On a serious note, keep it a secret from everyone besides me and Sixer. got that? " (for the record, Sixer is Stanford's nickname)

Dipper nodded in apprehension. He knew very well that no good would come from making the others involved in this. He wanted Mabel to spend a regular vacation for once without any interruptions even if it meant giving up his own time and comfort. Yes, it was selfless of him but his priorities were clear and he knew he wouldn't regret his resolve.

Grunkle scratched his beard seeing Dipper ever so serious about the situation. it was as if he was seeing a man in front of him; not a kid. Dipper was in deep thought as the two continued their walk.

"What do you suppose we do about it? He could strike at any moment. you know how unpredictable he is."

Dipper asked while looking towards the shack which was now in view. It hadn't changed a bit since the years that went by except for the wooden floor which was renovated after a termite outbreak that caused it to break down.

"To be honest I don't wanna think about stuff like that too much cuz I won't be able to enjoy myself if I'm overcautious about it all the time"

Dipper felt that grunkle Stan was right, maybe he was being a bit too overcautious about it. Without a doubt, he knew that Bill was alive somewhere but worrying about it would do him no good. Might as well enjoy the time before something 'weird' happen again. He just nodded in agreement as he took a deep breath a decided to put all this mind-wrecking tension behind him.

[Yeah, no need to be worried. we'll figure it out; we always do.]

Little did Dipper know that he jinxed it with that thought.

"I like the sound of that kid"

Grunkle Stan wrapped his around Dipper tightly and Dipper smiled lightly.

"I've been meaning to ask, how's grunkle Ford these days? He wasn't here to welcome us so I was just wondering."

Dipper asked slowly. Grunkle scratched his head

"Well y'know, he's still the same adventure addict we all know. guess old habits die hard.. especially at this age. So it would be safe to say that he might be battling some sort of ancient leviathan or unravelling WW-II secrets in some abandoned bunker."