After a time, Dipper manages to pull himself together and push Bill to the back of his mind (perhaps literally...?) He stands and offers his hand to help you to your feet as well. You take it, allowing him to pull you up, standing you at his side. The sun is noticeably lower in the sky than it was when you'd arrived, and there is a slight chill in the air as the wind gently picks up. You shiver slightly, which Dipper sees.
"It's getting kinda late," He says, "Why don't you stay with me for the night?" He puts an open hand to his side, inviting you to hold it. You fail to hide your excitement, a wide grin spreads across your face as you reach for his hand, intertwining your fingers in his, squeezing lightly. He squeezes back, starting to walk.
A minute or so after the two of you start your journey, Dipper speaks, "Hey," You look over to face him, peering through the darkness, as the sun has now dipped below the trees, casting long shadows like claw marks through the forest, "I, uh, heard Bill saying something about, 'You've been watching us...?' What was that about?" You feel your face grow hot, "Are you, like Bill?"
"No, no!" You burst out, "It's not like that," You begin to sweat beneath your tailcoat, trying to figure how to tell him. You decide to be blunt. "See, where I'm from, there's a show--a cartoon, called Gravity Falls," He looks over, obviously interested, "You're, everyone's on it. I know just about everything about you guys... and... This sounds really weird, doesn't it?" Dipper looks uncomfortable, his eyebrows furrowed and his body hunched slightly, as if he felt watched, which doesn't seem unreasonable, given that you've just told him he has been for the entirety of last summer. "Do you believe me?"
"I want to believe you," He says, stepping over a foot-shaped tree root that you recognize, "It doesn't surprise me, really, not much does anymore."
-(TIMESKIP, BROUGHT TO YOU BY A FLOATING DORITO IN A BOWTIE AND TOP HAT)-
By the time you and Dipper arrive at the Mystery Hack--excuse me, Mystery Shack, the moon is over your heads, and you can hardly see each other's faces anymore. Dipper opens the back door for you, waving you in first, smiling and thanking him. The first thing you see is a girl with long brown hair sitting on the rug in the middle of the room that's about Dipper's height (had she been standing,) hunched over what looks like a scrapbook caked with glitter and stickers. She's wearing a bright pink sweater with a shooting star emblem sewn on.
"Mabel," You whisper, smiling to yourself. She looks up at you as you approach her, crouching down to her level. She smiles at you, showing off her rainbow braces. She seems to ignore your likeness to Bill, but she's curious enough to question Dipper as he comes forward after you.
"Did you bring another girlfriend home, Brobro?" She raises an eyebrow at him. Dipper's face reddens, opening his mouth to defend himself, but you beat him to it,
"I wound say so," you lay on your stomach, propping yourself up on your elbows as you look him in the eyes. His face grows a deeper red, but he stays silent, sitting cross-legged beside you and looking over your shoulder at Mabel's stickerfied scrapbook.
-(TIMESKIP, BROUGHT TO YOU BY STANLEY PINES)-
After a time of Mabel showing you her scrapbook chock-full of embarrassing photos of Dipper, he yawns, standing. "Okay, now it's really late, we should get to bed,--" He pauses, looking down at you, "Hey, I uh, never got your name..." He scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. You introduce yourself politely to the two of them, letting Dipper pull you to your feet a second time. "I'll make sure to remember that, he says, smiling genuinely and leaning toward you very slightly, so only you would notice. Mabel closes the scrapbook, holding it under her arm and waiting for the two of you to go up the stairs first, which you do. Once at the top, you hear Mabel put the scrapbook down on a shelf behind you.
You decide to sleep in Mabel's bed with her. It's not that you don't trust Dipper, but with what happened earlier, you really don't want to take any chances.
After twenty or so minutes, both Dipper and Mabel have changed into their night clothes, it's your turn.
"I take it that you didn't bring anything with you?" Dipper inquires, to which you nod your head, lowering it to inspect the floorboards.
"You can borrow some of my clothes!" Mabel exclaims excitedly, grabbing a sweater-looking article of clothing from a closet. You smile,
"Thank you!" You say as she hands you some clothes. You take them to the bathroom, turning the light on and locking the door behind you. You look in the mirror, turning to look at both sides of it. It looks like something Bill would wear, alright.
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(I didn't make the Cosplay coat, and I take no credit. I just found it and thought it worked, Lol)
You sigh, putting Mabel's generous donation on the counter beside the sink. You lean your hands upon the counter, observing the yellow streaks in your hair. Your eye inevitably falls upon the triangular eyepatch still over your left eye. Curiosity gets the best of you. You gather up your courage, preparing yourself for whatever may be hiding itself beneath. You take a deep breath, taking it in your fingers. You look up at the eyepatch as you pull it upward. The sudden change for the covered eye, from the dark of the patch to the light of the bathroom, blinds you momentarily. You shut both eyes against the painful light, blinking rapidly. Once you can see you gaze into the newly-uncovered eye.
Golden yellow.
Slitted.
Cipher.
You drop the patch, causing it to snap against your face and once again cover that--That-- horriblething. You raise your hands to cover your mouth. You stay like this for a moment before regaining a grip on the world, returning to your task, changing.
It takes no more than maybe a minute and a half. The sweater Mabel had chosen for you was dark purple, the Meow Wow sweater. You chuckle to yourself, remembering it from the show. You keep your patch firmly over your eye, not wanting any hint of it to escape. It sickens you to even know it's there, a constant reminder of Bill and what he'd said--what he'd done. You try to distract from it, focusing on the task at hand, which you've just finished. You neatly fold your tailcoat and place it on the counter where you'd before placed Mabel's things. You unlock the door and return to the twins' room, seeing Dipper smile.
"That works for you!" He says, earning a nod of agreement from Mabel.
A few minutes later, you find yourself in bed with Mabel. She's facing the wall, you're facing Dipper's bed. Dipper is facing the wall near his bed, his back to you. He's holding the Third Journal, suggesting that he's fallen asleep reading it. His breaths are slow and steady, slow and steady...
