My Name is Bill Cipher

Earn Your Trust

     We hear a sound like a surprised squeak come from the open elevator doors. There stands Dipper, eye twitching, mouth wide open.
Like a startled cat, I jump away from his twin. Mabel looks sheepish herself. "What are you doing?!" he yells at his sister. Mabel looks away and doesn't respond. "I'm serious," he states. "I can't believe you!"
"Hey, lay off," I growl.
"Like you're one to talk!" he spits back. He looks back and forth between us. "You- you- you can't! Think first!" he shouts at Mabel, a pained glare in his eyes under his anger.
"I did, Dipper," Mabel responds. "You're the one with no place to talk." Dipper recoils as though she's slapped him. I don't see the two argue often, but I've never seen one brush the other aside completely as Mabel has just done. "I'm my own person, Dipper. I'm going to make decisions without you sometimes. I know you're just worried about me, but you don't have to be. I know what I'm doing, okay?"
Dipper shakes his head. "You can't be serious, Mabel. Him?" He points a finger in my direction accusingly. It gives me an uneasy feeling. My nauseousness is not helping. "He was a demon! He claimed, he captured, he killed. He was insane. You are too if you think you should be with him."
Mabel's face heats with anger. "Be quiet! He's not like that anymore! He's thoughtful, he's kind, and he loves me, too! I trust him. I know you have trouble comprehending that in your nerd brain, but you need to understand!" Her voice drops to a quieter level. "I know you do. You know what love feels like."
Dipper looks defeated. I know he wants to be angry with us, but he's just scared. He wants to be in control, but he doesn't know what to do. He's concerned for his sister. He doesn't need to be. "You know," I speak up, "if you really do care about her, you should start acting like you care about how she feels." My words came out harshly, but I needed them to be blunt to get my point across.
He grits his teeth, his jaw set, his anger returning. He walks up to me and grabs me by the collar of my shirt so that our faces are only inches apart. "Shut up." His words are so soft, I can hardly make them out. "You know nothing about caring. Of course I care about how she feels, but I care about her safety more than that. Do you know how that feels? Do you know how I feel?" He lets me go.
"Yes. I know exactly how you feel, because I feel the same way," I respond.
"There's no way."
"Yes, there is!" Mabel answers, exasperated. "Stop fighting! This is getting us nowhere."
Dipper spins to face her. "Mabel, you know I'm trying to help you!"
"Well, I don't need your help!" Mabel screams. Shock is plastered across Dipper's face. I can tell that Mabel regrets what she's said, but she doesn't want to admit it.
"You listen here and you listen now," Dipper tells her softly, but seriously firm. "You can't trust Bill, but you can trust me. Bill will just backstab you. Literally? ...Probably not, but maybe. I just don't want you to get hurt, emotionally or physically."
"You're wrong," answers Mabel. "Bill wouldn't do that to me. He has earned my trust."
"You give out your trust too easily! You throw it away!"
"My trust has changed our lives. Do you know what would've happened that day years ago if I had shut down that portal? You were wrong then, Dipper, and you are wrong now. I know you think you know what's best, but you don't. Not then, not now."
"Stop!" shouts Dipper. "Be quiet! I know a heck of a lot more than you do about all this, so you'd better trust me! In my entire life, I never would've thought you'd put more trust in someone than in your own twin!" he shouts at her, his voice fully raised.
Tears begin to roll down Mabel's face. Dipper turns away and falls to his knees, burying his face in his hands. Mabel's back shakes with sobs.
I'm left standing, wondering what in the universe I'm supposed to do. After a few minutes of silence, the twins are both back on their feet. They begin to whisper to each other furiously. I can't make out anything they're saying. This goes on for about ten minutes. They calm down. I think they've worked out their differences. They keep glancing over at me. They look like they've agreed upon something, but I'm not even sure what they were talking about in the first place. I'm so confused!
     "Oh yeah?!" Dipper suddenly raises his voice. "It's not like you're doing any better!"
     "Keep telling yourself that!" shouts Mabel back.
"What's going on?!" I shout, grabbing their attention.
     The twins whip their glares toward me, giving me death stares. "Your fight is over. What's the use?" I say. Their fierce stares turn into blank, puzzled looks. "This isn't going to stop anything, it's not going to make anything better, is it? This is awful. It's... chaotic. Heh. Never in my billion years would I imagine that I would say that chaos is a bad thing. I used to take pleasure in it, but now... I see how much hate it can cause, how much it can tear into people, and how disorganized it makes everything. This may not be my place to butt in in your argument... but it's time for me to change, to understand. I don't want to take part in chaos anymore. That's why we're going to perform the zodiac today." I wince as another spasm of pain rakes through my body. "And I want you to know, Dipper, that I want to earn your trust. I need you to trust Mabel now. I know that trust is a lot to ask for, especially in Gravity Falls, but please, trust is how we're going to move forward. Without it, we won't get anywhere."
     Dipper looks at Mabel like he can't believe what he's hearing. Mabel has a satisfied look on her face. "That's just what we wanted to hear, Bill." She smiles, a relieved look on her face.
     Dipper nods reluctantly. "Huh. I guess you do have some good in you after all." Perhaps he is finally putting some trust in me.
     But I wonder if trust will really make a difference in the end...