By the time Dipper had made it down the stairs, he was sure that his heart was going to burst out of his chest. It was pounding so loudly that he was surprised the demon next to him didn't hear it. He took deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"Just relax," he whispered to Bill, trying to pretend that he was alright. "There's nothing to be nervous about..." The blond teen looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm not nervous," he responded easily, calling out Dipper's bluff. "You, on the other hand, look like you're going to be sick. You sure you want to do this?" The brunette pursed his lips, nodding firmly, though his face was pale. Bill smiled sympathetically, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I'll be as normal as I can," he promised, giving him a smirk. Dipper rolled his eyes with a small huff of a laugh.

"Just... no heads that are always screaming or whatever," he requested. Bill laughed, but he agreed to the terms, motioning for Dipper to lead the way. His great uncles were at the kitchen table, talking in low voices. He saw Wendy at the counter making coffee, but didn't see Pacifica anywhere. He assumed she must have gone home. It was getting late, after all, and she'd definitely have some explaining to do with her parents. Dipper hesitated right before the kitchen doorway, taking one more deep breath before motioning for Bill to wait and stepping in.

"Gruncle Stan? Gruncle Ford? Wendy?" he began softly. They all turned to look at him, seeming relieved that he had come back downstairs. Wendy set down a cup of coffee for each of the older Pines twins, then grabbed one for herself, leaning against the counter.

"What's up, Dip?" she inquired, her voice still gentle in nature, despite the attempt at a lighter tone. The brunette caught himself wringing his hands and he cleared his throat, forcing his hands to his sides.

"Th-There's someone I'd like you t-to meet..." he managed. "Officially, that is," he added on, rubbing the back of his neck. Right on cue, Bill Cipher stepped into the room. He was smiling ever so slightly, but he kept his expression reserved, not wanting to be too overbearing.

"We have technically met before," he admitted, standing at Dipper's shoulder, "but I looked a tad bit different back then..." There was a painful few seconds of silence as Dipper's family simply stared at the blond before them. Dipper was about to speak, desperate to break the tension, when Stanley huffed, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, I got the feeling you'd be back..." he grumbled. Dipper's heart sank, but before he could let himself get down, Bill's fingers brushed his ever so slightly, sending warmth up his arm, and he found his heart floating again. "Took you long enough, though," Gruncle Stan added, shooting a pointed look at the dream demon. "What kind of sicko leaves his boyfriend thinking he's dead for a year?"

Dipper's face flooded with heat, his cheeks and ears turning red, but Bill only let out a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I thought it would be in his best interest if I stayed away," he explained in an apologetic tone. "Turns out danger finds him with or without my presence."

"So you're dating my great nephew..." Ford rumbled, standing up from the table. Bill's eyes grew wary for a moment, but he didn't back down.

"That's right," he verified. The author of the journals approached him, hands behind his back. He looked the demon up and down, a skeptical yet quizzical look on his face.

"A human form..." he muttered under his breath. "Curious..." Just as Bill was about to comment, Stanford jabbed him in the chest with his pointer finger, an icy look in his eyes. "Cipher, if you hurt my nephew, I'll give you a death you won't return from. Don't think I won't be keeping my eyes on you," he threatened. Bill smirked, resting his weight on one foot.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Sixer," he teased. Ford's nostrils flared and for a moment Dipper was afraid that Bill had overstepped, but the older man just huffed, rolling his eyes and turning to sit back down at the table. Dipper's eyes drifted to Wendy, who was watching her coffee swirl as she moved the cup in small circles. Bill was about to speak when she looked up, giving a shrug and a small laugh.

"You did some pretty messed up stuff in Weirdmaggedon, but you also saved our lives last summer. In my book, that makes you an empty slate. And if Dipper trusts you, then what the heck. Why not give you another chance? You might be helpful in getting Mabel back," she decided. Dipper let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and the tenseness in his shoulders eased slightly. Bill grinned, his eyes glinting with their usual impish light.

"Funny that you mention that," he told them, crossing his arms calmly, "because as it just so happens, I know exactly who has Mabel." Everyone in the room sat/stood up straighter, eyes focused, and it was clear that the dream demon had their full attention.

"It might be wise," Dipper interjected, "to explain the whole situation first, Bill..." The blond seemed to consider this, nodding in agreement.

"You're probably right..." The others looked like they were going to object, but the demon raised his hands in a calming gesture. "You're playing with demons now. If you rush into things without knowing the whole story, it might just make everything worse," he reasoned. Dipper tried not to flinch at the all too familiar phrase, his eyes drifting to his feet as Bill began the story.

"After Weirdmaggedon ended in disaster, those involved were livid, myself included. We began formulating a plan for revenge, but every single one circulated back to the same problem of getting into your dimension. So, a year or two ago, I came up with the idea of creating ourselves forms within your realm, then using them as a segue between dimensions. It was... difficult, to say the least. There were many failed attempts, and many of the others were disgusted by the idea of becoming human. By the time I'd figured out how to fashion myself a stable human form, the others were skeptical about entering limited human forms. 

So, I decided to go on my own. I'd exact our revenge for us, test out the limits of a human form, figure out another way into your realm, et cetera et cetera. So into the human realm I went. I immediately set my plan into action. I found Pine Tree and tried to strike up a deal. He'd apparently not forgotten the last time I made a deal with him, and had promptly punched me in the face." Bill paused, smirking at the brunette next to him, who muttered something about it being completely justified at the time. The blonde chuckled slightly then continued with his story. "Eventually, though, I managed to get him to make a deal. The deal was that, if he helped me figure out who turned me human and how I could go back, I wouldn't harm Shooting Star for the rest of her natural life.

"Now, if the wording sounds a bit suspicious to you, that's because I had every intention of causing some supernatural incident. I planned on somehow killing her, driving Pine Tree over the edge, making life utter hell for everyone, but... as I spent more time with Dipper, that idea became less and less appealing. Within the week, the thought of following through with my original plan became utterly revolting. So... I changed the deal. We decided that the new deal would be that if Pine Tree taught me how to be human, I'd protect the Pines family, and friends, with my life. He was a bit skeptical at first, but he ended up agreeing. Fast forward a bit, and you guys know what happened next. Those government guys got wind of me being here. Still not exactly sure how, but I suppose that's a mystery for another time. I fulfilled my deal with Pine Tree by saving you guys, and my human form was destroyed. I was cast back into my own realm. 

"The other demons were furious. I managed to keep them at bay by saying that I technically had gotten revenge on Dipper. I reasoned that he thought I was dead, and that the pain was enough of a punishment. They weren't satisfied. They forced me to make a new deal. Now, deals between demons are a bit different than those between humans. As you all are fully aware, I have a tendency to... bend the rules when I make deals." Ford scoffed and Dipper rolled his eyes, to which Bill shrugged guiltily.

"However," he continued, "when it comes to deals with other demons, it gets a bit more difficult to do so. In these kinds of deals, you can't back out. You have to complete the deal verbatim. Or, at least, convince the other demon that you did. In any case, making the deal was the only way I could keep Dipper safe. The deal is that if I fail to kill him, they will..." Bill flinched at his own words, disgust apparent on his face. "There was no way for me to refuse," he said bitterly. "If I didn't make the deal with them, they'd just come and kill him anyway. So I came back. I hadn't planned on returning to Pine Tree, but I couldn't keep myself away... especially since he was looking for me, and I knew that if I didn't do something soon, the others would get to him. I've managed to ward them off for this long by hanging onto the wording of the deal. I haven't 'failed to kill him' yet because I haven't tried to. So, as the deal entails, they can't do anything.

"Naturally, they weren't pleased with that. So they decided to make things a little more difficult for me. A few fashioned themselves human forms and managed to come into this dimension as well. Since I've come back, they've been breathing down my neck, waiting for me to slip up. Pyronica in particular is the brains behind the mutiny. She wants to... dethrone me, I suppose is a nice way to put it. And I know for a fact that she and the other demons with her kidnapped Mabel as their own way of working the specifics of the deal in their favor," he finished. There was silence for a while, then Ford huffed.

"So this is all your fault," he accused, his voice low. Bill grimaced, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, I mean-"

"No," Dipper said forcefully. "This isn't anybody's 'fault.' I'm done playing these blame games." Ford dropped his head, seeming almost ashamed of himself. Bill placed a hand on Dipper's shoulder momentarily to console the seemingly rattled teen, then returned his hand to his side.

"In any case," the dream demon continued, "Mabel's their hostage. They aren't going to kill her, because then they'd lose their leverage. But even so..." he trailed off.

"We'll get her back," Wendy insisted, her voice confident. Bill nodded firmly in agreement, and everyone else joined in. The redhead checked her watch, cursing under her breath. "I hate to do this, but I've got to jet. I'll be back tomorrow morning! We can start discussing our plan of action then!" She quickly said goodbye to everyone, giving Dipper a quick hug of reassurance and bumping Bill's arm with her elbow in an almost friendly gesture. She grabbed her jacket and keys, then ran out the door. Bill sighed as the sound of Wendy's truck faded into the distance.

"I guess I'll be going too, then," he decided. The original Mystery Twins grunted in agreement, the two of them getting to their feet to put away their cups. The dream demon turned to face Dipper, giving him a small smile. "See ya tomorrow, Pine Tree." Then he leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on his cheek that, thankfully, went unnoticed by the older Pines. He gave his hand a squeeze and Dipper felt a slip of paper pass into his palm. He discretely slipped it into his pocket then walked Bill to the door.

After waving until the retreating figure of his boyfriend (the term still made Dipper's ears burn) disappeared into the darkness, the brunette headed back upstairs into his room and pulled out the piece of paper Bill had given him.

WIARI NOI TQBGDT DFIB, Q'WW CI CAEU AN YQGBQMON

A/N: That was a lot of dialogue XD Oh well. I still feel like these chapters are trash, but... I mean, at least I'm updating, I guess XD Hope you guys liked it and I'll howl to you later! (No special message from me this time. I'll let you decode Bill's message to Dipper though :3)