Archive of Our Own ^beta

Meaning: (1) Ability to understand, identify or assume things that do not depend on an experienced knowledge, rational concepts or a more specific evaluation. (2) Intuition, the ability to predict, to guess: to have the intuition of the future.

Dipper wasn’t a medium, couldn’t read letters or predict the future. His intuition was so bad and flawed that he preferred to pretend it simply didn’t exist - the amount of shame he went through following her was so great that he didn’t even like to comment.

So, taking into account his history with predictions, when he walked out of his thermodynamics class and found his sister at the lab door with a smile from ear to ear to face, he couldn’t help the chill that went up his spine.

He dared not say anything until she decided to step forward and release at once what was going on in that head.

"So..." Mabel started talking, grabbing one of his arms so he wouldn’t run away "as you may already know, the athletic party..."

Dipper could not avoid snitching, already predicting the end of this conversation, but nothing could stop him from clinging to a failed attempt to postpone the inevitable.

"What party, Mabel?"

"Are you serious?" your voice has tuned a little in a squeaky tone of indignation - I’m talking about it the week... no, the whole month! How can you not know?

"I’ve been a little busy with the tests, you can’t blame me for not paying attention to everything you say." part of it was true.

She narrowed her eyes a little with such ignorance.

"Okay, but what about all the posters?" Mabel used the freearm to make a demonstration across the hall with some posters hanging endlessly talking about the "biggest party in history".

Some are scribbled with signatures and slight dents.

You see, Dipper is a nineteen-year-old boy attending his fourth semester of chemistry at a California college, and if there’s anything he could say he could be proud of, it would be about his antisocial side.

It was exactly four whole semesters without even going to a party, refusing even an invitation to go to one of the bars near the campus that were full on a Friday night.

Now understand, Dipper is not so antisocial as to be unable to have a decent conversation with some stranger or a group of. He understands exactly what one should or should not say; the theory and practice of a conversation.

He even occasionally talks to some classmates about the class or some new series and is also not ashamed to ask the teacher something in front of the class.

So don’t get me wrong when he says he’s antisocial, because he does it by choice.

And no, he doesn’t feel lonely for spending most of his days watching documentaries, reading investigative novels and studying. No, he also doesn’t mind that his sister is the only person he has any more frequent contact with.

Of course, there’s a girl in your Inorganic Chemistry class who doesn’t know her name, age or anything like that, but she knows she’s in Biomedicine and has wonderful taste in books. So they usually end up sitting next to each other.

When Dipper got the news at the end of last month that the athletics of all the courses were getting together to do a late-semester party, his brain blocked any news about: he would be distracted by anything that was on hand to avoid looking at the pair of posters that they hung all week, and when Mabel would start talking about it while they were studying genetics or going out to eat something, He would focus on anything and let himself wander, either in the pigeon looking for crumbs or in the paragraph of the book he had to highlight.

Because of this, he knew about the party, but it is not surprising that he did not know the details about the "biggest party in history". Nothing about a bunch of teenagers and drunken adults would draw that much attention to him.

"What about this feast, Mabel?" asked praying to all the gods in the world that she had not planned what he was thinking.

"Isn’t it obvious? I want you to go with-"

"No."

"You didn’t even let me finish!" She snorted, not letting the loosest kid’s arm shake even though he didn’t try to loosen up "Classes are almost over and you need to relax just before the holidays begin for good."

"No," he repeated "you know what I need? I need a nice mug of hot chocolate with a nice shot of caffeine to study for tomorrow’s test. I don’t know if you know this, but we’re still in the middle of the last week of tryouts and as far as I can remember, you needed to get your grades back in Biocient Calculus."

This time, it was her turn to grunt loudly.

"Dipper, you know how bad these calculations are! I can’t get a bunch of formula on my head."

"It’s just a little bit of logarithm, not the end of the world." He rolled his eyes at the theater "If you’re so desperate, why don’t you take the day off to study instead of thinking about stupid parties?"

Mabel studied Biological Sciences and, in general, she got along well with the course when it came to morphological structures, but when it came to calculus, there was nothing in the world that could make her understand.

At the last test, she ended up with a 4, which resulted in a whole night of crying and cupcakes just with the thought that it would take at least a 7 not to bomb the material.

College students who understand suffering to get a measly 7.

Correcting it, there was nothing in the world that made her understand formulas, but there was Dipper with his intelligent brain and who understood how no one like his sister’s mind worked.

Since then they started a study session full of analogies and practices of mainly genetics - class they had together - and, time and again, on Biocientist Mathematics.

– My test will be the day after tomorrow, I have time, not to mention I should be able to manage with the summaries you gave me. - tried to be optimistic - Yes, I sure will.

Dipper was a little envious of that optimistic side of her, if he wasn’t so confident in his intellect, maybe he couldn’t handle things the way Mabel did, just like he doesn’t know how to handle feelings. He was grateful to have her around.

"If we’re done, then I guess I’ll be going " Dipper tried to take advantage of her distraction to loosen up. Unsuccessful.

"Relax, I’m not done talking to you."

"Really, Mabel?"

"Yes, really, I need you to go to this party."

"And why do you want this so badly? Seriously, you’ve never been this pushy about not wanting to go to any of these parties, why now?"

She swallowed it dry and avoided finding her eyes.

"Ah, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t want you to spend your whole life watching about idiots documentaries or just focused on study. I can’t remember the last time I saw you actually having fun!"

"It’s not like I’m depressed, I enjoy watching my "idiots" documentaries."

"That may be, but I wanted to see you really have fun, you know? So can you please give this party a try? I promise I’ll never insist on any more parties if you don’t like them."

Dipper understood her line of thought and felt grateful that she thought so much of him, but he saw no cause for concern in her way of living. Still, he frowned at those begging eyes and bathed in worry, sighed and bowed.

"Okay, but I’ll only go if you can pass all your tests."

Mabel did not know whether she was bursting with happiness or pressure, but still gave her brother a kiss on the face and ran to the dorm to review the summaries they had produced during the semester.

Dipper tried his best to ignore the strange feeling that was pulling inside him.

On Friday, Dipper was in the dorm after three hours of Physics B, reading a book while listening to music coming out of headphones.

The lo-fi helped him focus, but the noise coming from the hallways was too unbearable for him to have to read the same paragraph for the third time.

Okay, it was the last day and the students were way too excited about the party they were having the next night, but that shouldn’t be any reason for them to go screaming and running down the halls while carrying bales of beer around.

Dipper was at least grateful for his roommate: he was an imbecile, but they hardly saw each other since most nights Robbie would sneak into the girls' dorm and spend the night with his girlfriend.

I didn’t know how he did it and I wasn’t really interested in finding out, the important thing was that this was the kid’s last semester and Pines was worried about who was coming to replace him. It’s probably not gonna be some kid who knows how to bypass university security to spend a night with his girlfriend and leave him alone.

When Dipper tried to turn it up and realized he was already at 100%, he decided to give up reading to get out of the room and see what was going on to tell everyone to go fuck themselves.

As soon as he opened it, the person who was leaning on his door did not have time to balance in time before falling to the ground at Dipper’s feet, hitting his head on the doorstep in the process. The conversation was quickly replaced by a chorus of loud laughter.

"What happened?! I couldn’t see "someone asked people who were laughing.

"Ben... fell very badly "someone else replied with a sniggering laugh.

Dipper did not pay attention, as he still had his hand on the doorknob and eyes on the boy still lying on the floor and muttering, not knowing what he should do now.

"Oh, come on, man? " Ben grunted as he rubbed his head where he hit it, trying to ease the pain. He didn’t seem too happy about being a joke.

"It was bad "Dipper grumbled to him, seeing the yellow stain of growing beer on his white and printed shirt, only noticing the splashes that fell from the can that still rolled into his room.

"Fuck, this shirt was new "the guy just sat there moaning about the damage.

"Oh man, I should have recorded this, someone filmed it?! " a female voice came up.

"Fuck you guys, "Ben made a point of showing the middle finger to all of them, which resulted in more laughs debauched.

He got up off the floor and ran into Dipper.

The boy still didn’t know what to do, apologizing didn’t seem right, since he was the one standing in his room and making a mess. So he just stared back at him, waiting for something to happen.

After a good look, Ben pronounced:

"Let’s get out of here, I need to get a shirt that pays "turned around and walked out the hallway.

The group that was accompanying him came out of the hall slapping him on the back and asking if everything was all right, leaving a trail of laughter wherever they passed.
Dipper sighed after he averted their eyes and stared at the puddle of beer left on the carpet, a little relieved that nothing much had happened, even though it sounded as if it had not yet ended.

He threw the beer can in the trash and tried to read again now that things had calmed down, but this time, when that feeling of bad feeling came back, he couldn’t keep the growing tingling in his stomach away.

On Saturday night, Mabel appeared in her room wearing a denim skirt, a black long-sleeved blouse and a jacket tied around her waist, accompanied by a side pouch.

"I like the makeup, "you pointed it out as soon as she walked in.

Mabel was always the kind of person who cared a lot about his own appearance, so when he started putting on his makeup, he took the time to learn how to do some cool, crazy things over time. Today, she had glued some stars around her eyes that were colored in a shade of red and black in a smoky shadow.

"Wow, that's dull" she laughed, making him roll his eyes.

"What should I say then?"

"I don’t know, saying I look beautiful would be great."

"Hm ok, whatever "Mabel pushed him aside laughing and entering the room."

She sat on his bed like she was her own.

"I brought you a few things. " She left the bag she was holding on the side, along with her purse, and gave Dipper a good look at her outfit "Wow, I’m glad you got me, 'cause you’re definitely not going to dress like that."

"What’s the matter with my clothes? " he analyzed himself looking for what was wrong.

OK that his black pants were not so black anymore and was a little faded, but he also did not see the problem in his Lord of the Rings shirt, she was cool, what was wrong?
Mabel frowned her nose at his fashion sense and practically threw the bag in his face.

If Dipper had a slightly slower reflex, he would have hit his nose just right. He almost praised his good aim.

"For all that is holy, stop killing my eyes and put this on "she muttered and lay in bed, ending the conversation.

Dipper decided not to contest and went into the bathroom.

A basic look inside the bag and it didn’t look like there was anything to it, just black stuff. He feared that his sister would try to make him wear extravagant things, as he had done in the past, but decided to give a vote of confidence and wear them.

The pants were the hardest part to put on, he was sure she should have bought a number below his, because was squeezing where shouldn’t, especially on him ass.

But the skinny pants style was cool, ripped in the knees and with three chains on the right side. It made him feel like a punk.

He squatted a few times and stretched his legs to make sure that the fabric wouldn’t tear if he made some sudden movement. So far, so good.

The shirt was simple, however, he could not help but roll his eyes with the pine-tree figure on the left side of his chest, Mabel could only be playing with it.

This was kind of an inside joke between them: about seven years ago, he had gotten a Christmas present from a pine tree from his great-uncle that he saw from time to time. He hasn’t taken it off since.

Mabel caught his foot saying that his hair would fall out for lack of disuse, he did not listen to her until the day he caught dandruff. His scalp irritation was screaming and he couldn’t go five minutes without scratching himself. How the cap was getting in the way of that, and little by little, he just stopped wearing it.

Until the day the dandruff left, - thanks to the many anti-dandruff shampoos - and he no longer cared about the cap that caused an uncomfortable hell in his life.
However, just because the cap had gone, it did not stop Mabel from doing her sister role very well and continue to pick on him whenever opportunity arose. And, well, that was one of those well-taken opportunities.

Dipper put on the black long-sleeved blouse and folded the sleeve, as the inside had a different color than dark gray, he found it funny when he looked in the mirror and liked what he saw.

Again, he didn’t care what he looked like, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of numbness in his stomach when he looked in the mirror and really liked what he saw.
Dipper was not ugly, he knew it and was also aware of the attention he could get for himself, but he preferred to keep any kind of credit, that these people had to offer, away with all their loose clothes and other people’s attitude.

Some people found him arrogant for it, but he also could not find in himself any will to care.

When he was satisfied, he put on his sneakers - relieved that Mabel had not implicated himself with his All Star - and realized that there was one more item in the bag.
As if those pants weren’t tight enough, of course he’d need a belt.

"Mabel, I’m not wearing a belt. " He stated, opening the bathroom door and finding his sister still lying in her bed with her hair spread on the mattress.
"But why? " she left her phone aside to face him "Shit, I really did a good job with you. Take a spin."

"I’m not going to do a spin."

"Hurry up, I want to know if the pants fit right." Dipper snorted and went for a quick spin. "I was sure these pants would look great! It was the last model of the store, you know?"

"I suppose so" he muttered.

"Why don’t you want to wear the belt? It’s exactly what you need to complete your Goth-Ass look."

"What kind of goth?"

"Nothing. What’s wrong with the belt?"

"These pants are already tight enough, why would I want to wear them?"

"It’s all about style, bro."

"I don’t need style."

"Dude, just buckle up and we’ll be able to avoid a long, boring conversation about the impact a belt has on wearing the right clothes, do you really want to get into this? " She pointed and raised an eyebrow, knowing she had won the contest.

Dipper hated giving her that taste, but he knew she was right.

He’s got his belt on.

"Right, anything else? " he asked without amusement when he finished tapering, hoping his sister would be satisfied.

"Actually, there is, I wanted to test a little something on you "she said by going through your bag.

"If you’re up to something..."

"Believe me, I wouldn’t do anything to end my great job, now you sit here "gave a few taps in the empty space in front of you.

Dipper sat against his will and bent his nose when he saw her taking a black eye pencil out of her purse.

"Er... you’re not gonna pass that on to me, are you? " You instinctively tilted your head back.

"Come soon, you won’t even feel it. Anything, if you don’t like it, I’ll shoot. " she did with her hand to get closer "It’ll be quick..."

Dipper’s eye watered when she made the first contact. He made all the effort in the world to avoid crying while looking up.

"Did you hear who was going to be at the party? " Mabel made a point, working on one eye.

"Hm-hum "he denied making a noise with his throat.

"Candy "she had a laugh that Dipper didn’t understand.

"What’s wrong with her?"

"Oh, what is it? "Mabel stopped her hand to stare at him, looking in his face for any trace that would expose that Dipper was playing with her "She’s liked you since, like, eighth grade, are you serious?"

Candy was a Korean girl who was friends with Mabel for a few years. They literally did everything together, not to mention thousands of plans for the future. One of them went to the same college.

But since nothing is eternal, once they entered college, perhaps for lack of time, the friendship has cooled. They don’t hate each other or anything, once in a while, shake hands in the hallway or go to some party, but nothing more.

Dipper never had much contact with her, and frankly, he found her odd in a bad way and too loud even by Mabel’s standards.

Once he saw her suck a row of spaghetti out her nose and out her mouth. As if that wasn’t enough, she ate it right away.

He hadn’t forgotten that scene since then and thought he had enough reasons to keep his distance. Therefore, to hear that she liked him was... huh, okay.

"Um... I don’t think I’m interested "you’d rather be more evasive than to say what you really thought.

"Right, "she didn’t push too hard and went back to work, now her left eye "and what do you think about Ron?"

"Who?"

"I get it, "she sighed in withdrawal, this time without stopping her hand "I won’t be surprised anymore that you don’t know anyone, but he is one of the holders of the volleyball team, what does it cost to know some names and faces?"

The university had some sports scholarships for basketball, volleyball and football.

Respectively, the volleyball team was the most famous, as they had the most wins in regional championships. The basketball staff was not bad, but they did not have many trophies. Already the football... they were pitiful, the lack of luck and talent was so great that they did not have a single regulated victory in the last five years.

Some people dared to say they were cursed.

Dipper thought it had more to do with the coach - let’s face it, it may have been some pro in the '80s', but now he was 74 and cataract - and the lack of conditioning among athletes.

It’s not like the volleyball team was better known.

"What does this player have to do with me?"

"Don’t you even notice the looks he gives you or do you do it to annoy me?"

"Why would a volleyball player be interested in me, Mabel?"

"I don’t know, maybe it has to do with the fact that you’re beautiful, because we have the same face "she laughed, her hand shook a little and ended up blurring the pencil "Who knows, he’s a masochist and see you walking around with your evil face make him feel secret desires? " He rubbed his finger until his skin turned red and the paint came off.

Dipper couldn’t help but laugh at the stupid things she said.

"And what? Does he like getting slapped in bed? " he joked.

"Maybe I even like being handcuffed. Just think, "Do whatever you want with me Dipperino, I’m all yours tonight" "she made a thick voice to get into character, taking more laughs, "No, but seriously, why don’t you try to explore your sexuality with him more?

Dipper grunted.

This whole sexual orientation thing has always been a mystery to him, and really, Dipper would rather not think about it. Liking someone, man or woman, was too much work and the last thing he wanted at the time was to have more work.

The college didn’t seem to care much about who you stay or who doesn’t, of course, they still had some homophobic assholes - like Ben and his group, but they were almost harmless.

Just remembering your last relationship, chills were creeping up on you.

Peaceful was a nice, fun girl, but she was... complicated.

There were times when she didn’t care about anything and times when she called everything, so Dipper never knew exactly what to do, because although the problem is the same, yesterday’s solution might not be the solution for today.

At first it was good, like the whole relationship was, but after that they started arguing until there was nothing left to fight about and there was nothing left.

Dipper realized he didn’t like her as much as he thought he did, and he couldn’t handle it very well when it hit him that he’d ruined a great friendship on a hunch.

The breakup was a mutual consensus, there was no resentment, but there was nothing good left of the strong friendship they once had.

Yeah, it was really complicated.

"I don’t think I’m in the mood "it kind of put you off remembering your failed relationship.

Mabel seemed to know what he thought - as he always knew - and sighed slowly. She was still in contact with Pacifica; she followed the entire trajectory of their relationship and cheered with all the forces to make it work. As you can see, that’s not exactly how it happened.

Whether they wanted to or not, they became even closer after the hard breakup. Mabel split between consoling her brother and her friend.

Although Pacifica moved to the other end of California, thinking distance was the best thing to do, video calls would happen on Saturdays or a little earlier when either of them was eager to comment on a particular subject.

In general, it was all about gossip and outbursts.

However, Mabel would not insist on anything. If it were for him to stay with Candy, Ron or anyone else, that would happen. But she was really hoping that this party could make some positive change for him.

Maybe the only thing he needed to do was kiss and make out a little bit of the sexual frustration he felt.

She was very supportive of that.

"Ready, you can take a look and tell how much you loved.

Dipper got up and went to the bathroom to take a look.

It hadn’t gotten as bad as he had imagined and not at all feminine. The black matched the brown of his pupil and highlighted his eyes, not to mention the contrast he made in his completely black clothes.]

Not bad.

"What did you think? " Mabel charged him with an answer, stopping at the bathroom door.

"Yeah, I didn’t hate "he used the mirror to fix his hair.

"Of course not, my hands are magical "she pretended to be playing magic in the air "now come on, the party started over an hour ago, I was supposed to meet some friends there.
Dipper turned to her."

"You’re not going to leave me alone, are you? " laughed with nervousness.

"Of course not, bro. What kind of sister would I be if I threw you to the wolves?"

She let out a little laugh, contradictory to her brother’s previous one and left the bathroom to get her purse.

Before leaving, Dipper faced his reflection for a little longer. The feeling getting even stronger, weighing on his stomach as if there was something about to happen and he was the only one who didn’t know what.

He took a deep breath, hoping that the weight would disappear in his breath. It didn’t work, but at least it helped calm his heart.

Mabel called him once more, so Dipper was reminded that he couldn’t turn back now.

"Okay, so be it."

The road to the party was quiet, as it was a very big event, the athletic had to rent a bigger space in another building that was about 20 minutes drive from the university, but a whole hour on foot. So Mabel called an Uber and facilitated their journey.

Dipper remained the entire route quiet and distracted by the landscape, while Mabel talked to the driver.

As soon as they arrived in the building, Dipper was stunned by the venue and Mabel let out some cheerful screams.

A black curtain was what separated them from seeing the inside, but still she was not able to prevent the bright colored lights or the smoke that dissipated in the air.

They had to present the student card to enter, since it was a private event. And inside it was even more impressive.

Mabel did not hold back from the screams and began to jump and pull his brother’s arm asking if he was seeing it.

"I’m not blind, Mabel "that’s the answer he gave.

She didn’t even hear him before she grabbed his arm and took him for the masses.

The whole place seemed to have become a huge dance floor, but if you look closely, there was a sofa with a round table near the bar. Dipper doubted that he was the only one and was very happy to be able to sit.

Mabel only stopped when they arrived at the bar, said something to the bartender and got a join back.

The man placed two American glasses on the counter with a translucent liquid that Dipper doubted was water. He frowned his nose in response.

It’s not that he had never drunk before, quite the contrary: on certain dates with Pacifica - when they were just friends -, the girl made him drink some sweet drink and dragged him to the dance floor.

He liked these parties initially, but it was not something he preferred to do frequently, only when he felt like going out - which happened very rarely -, so when these moments happened, he tried to enjoy and make the girl have fun.

The will did not beat since the end.

Mabel left his arm aside to pick up the cups and promptly pushed one to his brother.

"Come on, it’s a good start to the party! " she shouted for her voice to stand out to the music.

Dipper took the glass, at first unwillingly, but decided to give in when he saw the look on his sister’s face, remembering the promise he had made.

"Turn on three, okay? " she screamed again starting the countdown.

When he heard three, he accompanied Mabel and let the vodka burn his throat and warm the mouth of his stomach.

He and Mabel made a face at the same time and laughed as they realized it.

They barely left the glass on the counter before Mabel said another thing to the bartender and in less than five minutes he slid two colored glasses.

"I ordered you a tangerine caipirinha, try it and tell me what you think "she explained.

Dipper took the cup and drank the drink, the taste reminiscent of the taste of the drinks of Pacific.

"It’s yummy "he replied and Mabel smiled thanking the bartender, who was now seeing other people, took his hand once more to accompany him as a guide dog.

A little further away from the bar was not so crowded as to bump into someone at every step, but there were still several training wheels of dancing groups.

They stopped when they arrived on one of the empty couches, located near a far table that was further away, Dipper promptly sat down and supported the cup at the table before taking a sip.

Mabel tidied up next to her and picked up her cell phone to send a few messages asking where her friends were.

Watching around and noticing that there were few people drunk and dancing without letting go, Dipper realized that the night was going to be long.

Twenty minutes later, Dipper was in his second cup - he had Mabel pick it up for him -, when excited and energetic screams began to come from where they had entered.

"What’s going on? " he asked his sister, hoping she had all her answers.

"I don’t know, give me a second. " went back to his cell phone and typed it up just before he laughed "Get ready, bro. Volleyball team just got here.

He rolled his eyes.

This team should be incredible to cause so much uproar just by appearing in places. Knowing how young people are impressed very easy. Dipper made sure his expectations weren’t too high.

I didn’t get five minutes right before they pulled the empty table into the middle of the ballad and filled two halves of the table with red plastic cups, leaving an empty row. A blue-haired girl, whom Dipper recognized from somewhere she couldn’t remember, came in with two bottles of vodka and filled each glass until there was nothing left empty.

Then he understood what was happening: it was one of those games that once participated with Pacifica, where there were two doubles and they should hit a ball inside each other’s glasses. If they were right, the other pair would have to drink the glass and try to hit the next one.

Mabel watched them with curiosity before the pairs positioned themselves with a ping pong ball in their hands.

"They are from the team "she informed and told them their names and positions.

He didn’t care much, but he paid attention.

"I thought the team was male."

"Not really, there are two girls starting: Dan "she pointed at the brown-skinned girl and a very short hair, leaning on the table, looking ready to throw the ball "is the lifter. We have Robin, too, who is an attacker. She doesn’t seem to be here right now, but you need to see them play. They have an electrifying partnership.

He made a noise with his throat, neither agreeing nor denying about seeing any of their games.

"And who is this Ron?"

"Hm... are you interested? " she joked, but she stopped when she saw the look he gave her, "I’m kidding, not funny. I don’t see him around here either, but as soon as he shows up, I tell you, he’s cutting edge.

He settled for it.

"Mandy just got here, I’m gonna get her, you wanna come with me?"

He chose to stay, afraid of losing the place now that more and more people seemed to arrive.

She left the bag with him and Dipper waited while he finished drinking the caipirinha glass, sucking the straw, thinking maybe he should take a lemon.

Stopping to think now, he should have asked Mabel to pick it up, but now it was too late. Maybe she would have left when she came back.

Or maybe he should get up and get his own drink since it didn’t cost anything.

"Hi, "you were startled by the male voice next to you when the couch sank.

He looked to see who it was and frowned a little when he didn’t recognize him.

The man’s tan skin turned purple when the lights were shining around him. His head was shaved, but you could see his short hair growing.

Honestly, he looked like a soldier, and those camouflaged pants didn’t help with the distinction.

"Do you need anything? " Dipper asked him, confused.

"Oh, you don’t remember me? " He seemed a little disappointed, but soon recovered with the intention of bringing up some memory "You helped me once in the lab about the egg
experiment. My Nutrition Assessment teacher kind of broke into the Thermos... ér... Thermology? " class, and he got a little flustered to talk, looking a little nervous.

"Thermodynamics?

"That, Thermodynamics! We sat next to each other and you helped me to... forget it. Don’t you even remember?

"Sorry, man. It must have been over a month and I don’t care about a lot of things outside of school.

Maybe Dipper was a little harsh in saying indirectly that he didn’t care about any interaction that they had had in a class that happened almost two months ago, but it was true and he saw no reason to lie.

"Oh, you’re right. " He sighed, but did not seem to have given up on having a conversation "Anyway, it’s Pines, isn’t it? "Dipper nodded "I was a little surprised to see you here.
Actually, I didn’t think you’d show up, since you never go to parties, and I only see your sister."

Okay, now Dipper was getting a little scared.

Who was he to know so much about your life? Of course, it’s not really a secret that he didn’t go to parties or that he had a sister - twin by chance -, but it was at least strange to have someone talk about himself as casually as if they were friends and he might know a lot more.

He decided to take a small sip of the rest of the drink at hand, but the straw made a strange noise in the background, indicating that it was empty.

"Would you like me to get you a drink? " the man offered himself with a little smile on his face.

"I’m sorry, but I don’t even know you.

His smile wavered a little when he was rejected at first.

"Really, isn’t it? Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself "he raised his hand to greet you "My name is Ron and I am from the Nutrition course, pleasure.

Dipper slowly choked on his own saliva, but forced himself to swallow it with a small cough.

Was he really Ron?

Dipper went a little red remembering what Mabel had said about the player interested in him and... my God.

The loudest screams coming from the next table were enough to distract him as Dipper recovered. He seriously hoped that Ron would not be able to notice the redness on his face through so many lights.

He took his hand that was still swinging in the air, waiting for the fulfillment. The military turned his attention to Dipper and his smile accompanied the eyes, looking at the handshake.

"Hm... and what can I do for you, Ron? " he wiped his throat, thinking it strange that he hadn’t let go of his hand yet.

When the player slightly squeezed his hand, as if he were smoothing it, that’s when he gave up waiting and pulled it to himself.

"Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just couldn’t stop thinking about how soft your hands are, are you passing anything?"

"Er... no"

"It must be natural then" he laughed -, but it makes sense someone like you have such fluffy hands.

Dipper did not care about the details and dared not ask what "someone like you" meant. Instead, he looked for his sister with his eyes, wondering if it took him that long to get to the entrance and back, it was only a few meters, it shouldn’t cost so much time.

Ron took the liberty of getting closer.

When Dipper noticed the movement at his side, he took his eyes off the crowd and noticed the approach. Ron had not closed the distance between them, but it was something: if he passed his arm on the couch, he could easily touch the back of his head with empty hands.

Dipper resumed the question.

"Is there anything I can do for you? I don’t think you’re here to talk about experiments or how soft my hands are "it was straight up, wanting him to leave.

"No, you’re right, it’s just... " he scratched his head, clumsy "I don’t know, I saw you walking down the hallways, you know? " He would look down, not brave enough to say what he was about to say, looking him in the eye "You walked around like you didn’t care about anything, even if it was right under your nose. I thought you were reckless and a little arrogant."

His speech reminded Dipper of what Mabel had said before about Ron being a masochist and liking the "evil face" he was doing, and Dipper had to hold on to no laughing. It didn’t seem like the right time to make jokes, but he just couldn’t handle putting his lips back on a smile, ready to burst into laughter.

He held on and covered his mouth with his fingers to stop himself from doing anything stupid.

"Until we had that class together "Ron continued, his voice stifled by the loud music that started again. He was forced to raise his voice, I was so lost and you helped me without even knowing me. And then you’d walk down the halls and I couldn’t stop staring at you, wondering what you were thinking or what book you were so fascinated with that you couldn’t stop reading for a moment. " He sighed before continuing, "When I least realized, I was looking for you at every party I went to and asking around about you. But I swear I’m no stalker, okay? "He corrected quickly and looked at Dipper, looking for some negative reaction.

Fortunately, the smile had fallen, leaving only a serious expression and surprise in place.

The player took it as freedom to keep talking.

"Then I came here and saw you sitting alone. At the time, I couldn’t help but think that this was my chance to talk to you, and now I’m standing here like an idiot talking about feelings. Wow, sorry, I’m stupid "he covered his face and took a deep breath.

He murmured something else, but if before his voice was muffled because of the noise, now it was impossible to hear him.

"Hm... okay, "Dipper said, not knowing what to say and hating being in that awkward situation.

Ron stopped covering his face to rest his neck on the back of the couch and stare at him.

"To answer your question, I just wanted to know if you wouldn’t like to, I don’t know, have a drink with me. What do you think?

Dipper was a little awkward after all that talk and couldn’t help but think about his sister’s request to give him a chance and get out of his comfort zone.

He could accept whatever he was proposing, even if there were ulterior motives, and see where that would lead, but it seemed... wrong.

The look in Ron’s eyes seemed to be denouncing that he didn’t just want a late-night adventure. And if the next morning he came looking for Dipper, the kid wouldn’t know how to explain himself and tell him it was no big deal.

He decided not to prolong it.

"Sorry, I’m not interested.

"Are you straight? Wow, I’m the one who has to apologize, it was my fault for coming here without even asking about your sexuality before."

"No, that’s not the problem, I’m just not available at the moment for any kind of... romance."

Dipper was clear, he had nothing against Ron. Overall, he was a good-looking guy and seemed cool, but the problem was that he was too intense. Pines was not at all in the mood to fall on his head for someone he had never talked to properly before and already seemed to be in love with.

Remember how he said relationships were too much trouble? So it would be hard to deal with Ron’s broken heart after realizing that he couldn’t reciprocate his feelings, and even harder to try.

He wasn’t a romantic, but he knew where these forced cases ended.

Peaceful and he were a fine example of that.

"Right, "Ron didn’t insist "but can we be friends? I didn’t lie when I said I was curious about his readings "he smiled.

"I don’t have a problem with that.

"Okay, I’m gonna party a little and drown my sorrows in alcohol "made fun of himself.

Dipper didn’t laugh at me.

Before leaving, he seemed confused about how to say goodbye, but still he messed up Dipper’s hair, only not to let the opportunity pass by to feel if they were as soft as it looked, and slid across the couch, heading toward the bar.

Dipper wasn’t supposed to, but he was relieved to have his privacy back.

He also realized that that constant sense of alertness, which had haunted him for days, had not gone away with Ron, and perhaps the problem was not him. Even if he didn’t trust his intuition, he decided to pay more attention to his surroundings than to be caught off guard.

He realized he definitely needed another drink.

Mabel appeared not five minutes later, with two drinks in her hand and accompanied by Mandy, a short, blond-haired girl.

Mandy held her own drink, leading Dipper to believe that the second drink in Mabel’s hand was for him.

Dipper didn’t let the happiness of it stop his irritation.

"Where the hell were you? " he threw as they slid to sit next to him.

"You know, we ended up getting lost in the bathroom and-"

"We saw you talking to Ron, how did it go? " The blonde girl took her eyes off her cell phone to ask, interrupting Mabel’s phony excuse.

"Mandy! " her sister grunted at her.

"What is it? Do you really think he’d believe that? " she rolled her eyes.

Dipper snitched, but chose not to take anything out on his sister, knew her well enough not to be even surprised.

"He just came here to talk to me, it was no big deal "omitted, taking the passion fruit drink in hand and experimenting. Was stronger than the tangerine, but still hot.

"Tell me more! I said he was interested in you, didn’t I? He asked you for your number and asked you out? " she grunted cheerfully.

Mandy didn’t hide that she was curious and paying attention, but she didn’t ask any questions.

"Yeah, you were right. He was interested in me "the smile on Mabel’s face stretched even further, barely managing to contain his internal outburst -, but I said I was not in the mood."

"What? " Mandy pronounced a surprise "He’s hot. Have you seen those muscles?"

Dipper shrugged, did not think it right to give details of what Ron had said to him, because it seemed too personal to share even with his sister.

"His appearance is not an issue, he just seemed a little... desperate."

"Wait, wait, "Mabel said without understanding, "You didn’t want to be with him because he seemed to want you so badly?"

"You guys have no idea what I would do if I had a man like that desperate to get me "Mandy just giggled.

"We know very well what you would do, Mandy "Mabel laughed and went back to Dipper "Did he bother you in any way?"

Dipper scratched the back of his head, a little uncomfortable.

"I don’t want to talk about it."

Mabel realized that he seemed uncomfortable, and although she was a little disappointed that it didn’t work out with the player, she must have known that if Dipper rejected him, there must have been some plausible reason.

"Okay, "Mabel swerved "people you noticed- oh my God! " she interrupted herself, dropping a scream when the previous song ended for one they knew very well "Dipper, Dipper! Are you listening to this?!"

And believe me, he was.

This time, he didn’t even try to stop a smile from opening on his lips.

It was an old song they heard in a movie when they were kids, right after it hit the radio, and they were so in love that they even created a stupid dance. She was so surreal that
they had to adapt the dance when they tried to remind her in high school.

So when the beat started and "Pump it (ha ha ha)" started, they could do nothing but let nostalgia take care of them."

"We need to dance to it! " Mabel commented almost as if he was going into combustion.

"What? No, I don’t even remember the steps."

"Don’t lie to me, I know you do. Come on, please! " she asked with those big, crying eyes "You promised me you’d have fun."

"What are you talking about? " Mandy asked without understanding much, "What is so important about this song?"

Mabel did not pay attention to her, more concerned about reaching some point that would cause her brother to give in, and Dipper did not make much of a point either.

"Oh, all right. " He snitched.

Mabel didn’t want to know much more, as soon as he left the bowl on the table before pushing it over the side of the couch, without wanting to waste a second more.

"Hey! " Mandy complained, once again being ignored.

The song was still in its infancy, with the chorus of "Pump It" having just finished when they went to the track.

They did not stray too far from the table to the point of departure from Mandy’s point of view, but sought not to stray too far from the bodies that jumped to the sound of music, while having room to dance.

Dipper did not care much about being the center of attention, as people also seemed to be enjoying themselves in their own nostalgias for The Black Eyed Peas.

As if it had been arranged, when the next part of the song began, they also accompanied her and shook their legs, kicking from side to side at the same time that they rummaged
their hips.

At some point, people began to notice the pair of twins who danced synchronously and well. Some people shouted incentives and others tried to accompany them in their own steps.

They didn’t care much, still immersed and concentrated between the interlaced and complicated steps that accompanied each other, spinning and clapping.

They complemented the female voice with a sway of the hips once more as they went to opposite sides and then resumed the place

It got a little harder when the final straight chorus started and they knelt on the ground to follow the beat in open moves.

Dipper heard Mabel laugh contagiously at his side and also laughed as the chorus of "Pump It" returned once more from the song and it ended abruptly when the two finished.

The people around them clapped their hands and whistled still absorbed without realizing the other music that was beginning. Mabel pulled Dipper into a hug and chuckled his ear off, trying to thank him, but failing amid a fit of laughter.

She was really happy and hadn’t felt that for a long time, as it seemed that only her brother could bring that feeling out when they did something crazy together.

They went back to the table, panting and still having a few laughs.

Dipper took his cup and took a long sip of cold drink, helping to calm his heartbeat. At least he wasn’t sweaty.

"Since when do you dance? " Mandy asked, gaping and with her cell phone in her hand "Mabel already knew, but Dipper when did you get so hot? I guess the whole party stopped just to watch you move that hip, where did you learn that?!

The comment left the boy embarrassed, but he still laughed.

"There’s nothing that can’t be solved with me being a teacher. " Mabel said earlier that Dipper could make any comment "Believe it or not, he couldn’t even spin a hula hoop before."

"Tell me about it, I think those were the worst days of my life. I never hated a class as much as I hated his "he felt a chill creep up his spine just remembering the dark days that Mabel forced him to do strange and painful exercises to increase his flexibility.

"Oh, that wasn’t so bad. You should thank me for helping you get some movement. "She laughed and Dipper slapped her for comment.

"Wow, but for real "Mandy kept going -, I think even I would agree to go to bed with you after this show, don’t complain if half the party ends up hitting on you today.

Dipper rolled his eyes just imagining the nuisance.

"Ron must be brooding now "Mabel joked.

"Wow, don’t tell me, "Mandy was still outraged that someone rejected a man like that.

Dipper looked at the game table the team was still playing at. But now there were other doubles at the ends of the table, appearing to be in the middle of the game, since most of the cups were on the ground..

Mabel would go crazy if she saw so much wasted plastic.

He spotted the figure of Candy in a neon green dress crawling around and nudged Mabel to look in the same direction.

"Oh, I think I’ll talk to her, it’s been a while since we last saw each other. Want to come? " Dipper stared her in the corner of his eyes "Okay, stupid question. I promise not to take too long "commented before going out with Mandy to talk to the girl.

Dipper observed them approaching Candy’s group of friends, with the promise Mabel made, in her head.

When he looked down and saw that his passion fruit drink, which Mabel had brought, had run out, his vision blurred a little and he realized that maybe he shouldn’t have drunk it all so quickly.

He wasn’t drunk, just a little dizzy and feeling the numbness in his face drag to the rest of his body.

He breathed in his drink and slid his body across the couch so he could rest his head on the backrest.

From this view, he saw Candy look toward him and stare at him too long to make Dipper uncomfortable. He then recalled Mabel saying that she liked him and did not find herself strong enough to snitch.

I only hoped immensely that she would not come to propose to him, since it seemed that the party was filling everyone with courage. Candy was unpredictable and certainly not mature enough to deal with a rejection like Ron was, so he might have a crying fit once he realized he didn’t stand a chance and Pines...

Huh, no. It would be better not to think about it.

He closed his eyes to prevent himself from looking at Mabel, and Candy thought it was for her, and felt the beat of the song ringing loud, while stifling from the effect of alcohol on her brain.

He knew the song, listened to a lot of Bring me the Horizon when he was still in high school and this was one of the only songs that remained after the fanaticism went on - Drown.

As much as he wanted to, he stopped himself from humming, contenting himself only with the drumming of his fingers on the upholstery.

In the fifth song after that, Dipper was getting bored and it looked like the college students were getting tired of dancing, since now there were people sitting on the arm of the couch and none of the other couches were unoccupied. Mabel seemed even more entertained in the conversation, and incredibly, Mandy was also participating - as much as she was giggling more for one of the boys than talking to the whole group.

He realized, not so late, that his sister did not seem so inclined to return and end his boredom.

Dipper could go dancing, but he was tired and he didn’t feel like doing it.

Maybe he should join them and try to socialize a little, but he’d rather keep his distance from the group.

"I need fresh air... " muttered to himself after a few more minutes of waiting.

He called for Mabel and pointed to the bags and jackets that had been left on the couch, in a silent sign that they would be there.

Your sister just nodded like she said she’d keep an eye out.

He supported his hand at the top of the table so as not to fall and stood up, stretching his body a little before deciding to venture, already wondering how he was going to pass by that mass of people concentrated in the part of the bar.

However, he barely made it past the team’s center table, before a loud, screaming vocal chorus drew his attention right next to him.

"Go, go, Ben! " a voice superimposed on the others and it was the name that most caught the boy’s attention and made him stop for a moment, trying to remember where he had heard that name before, but without success.

He couldn’t understand half of what they were screaming, something about a bet, it must have been some other stupid game. That was the kind of thing that motivated them: games and betting.

"Go, Captain! " another shouted.

Dipper decided that it was not worth his time and gave up trying to understand something else - not caring about anything and ready to continue his way.

"Leave that Bill Cipher dead!"

He forced himself to stop.

His body seemed to have created life on its own for an instant by causing each muscle to combust when the boy turned the trunk back with an indescribable curiosity, looking at the center before his brain even understood the action.

That pulsating sensation at his core gave him no rest.

The gathering crowd kept shouting incentives and he just couldn’t understand what the hell was going on and why he reacted like that.

"I bet my fucking money on you."

"Don’t lose, Bill Cipher! " a girl screamed, excited.

And Dipper finally managed to distinguish some form amid the curtain of people and lights in searchlights that kept passing by.

This Bill Cipher seemed to be the man with brown skin and blond dyed hair - his black and shorter sides were what denounced his dyeing - who held a bottle of beer

Maybe Pines won’t be able to figure out how, and maybe he won’t even think about it tomorrow, but amidst all that, he was able to notice even the pair of silver piercings that he had adorned in his ear.

And the worst part of all of this was that he had these eyes, almost wild as he drank, sip after sip, and he flipped the six-ounce bottle. It was these eyes that made electricity run through your fibers and fry every functional neuron in your brain.

Bill Cipher seemed to have passed half the bottle when he suddenly lowered the bottle in his hand and coughed, not being able to turn so much alcohol at once.

Dipper heard some people laughing, mocking, and shouting offenses about how much money they had lost for the result.

Best of all, Bill seemed to give a shit.

The voices calmed down a little now, when someone asked for a brief silence, but Pines' ears didn’t seem to be able to filter the sound particles the way he couldn’t close his mouth.

"You’re weak to fucking "the other person, who seems to have bought this fight with him, said.

Seeing his face, Dipper finally remembered where he recognized the name: he was the same guy who had fallen on his door last night, and the people around him looked the same as those who witnessed the fall.

God damn it, man.

"It’s time to pay for the bet, Cipher. "he announced by holding the empty bottle in his hand, as if he were glorifying himself "Would you like to beg for mercy before we go on? Maybe I’ll make it easy for you.

"Nah, anything’s fine "he shrugged, no matter what really came.

Even though the empty look on his face was finding grace, along with the smile on his face. It was almost as if nothing could touch him.

"Hmm, tough guy, huh? " he looked around, like he was looking for anything that would help decide Bill’s fate misfortune.

When his eyes bumped into Dipper and shone in accomplishment, that’s when Pines realized he was really fucked up.

Ben twisted his face into a smile, clearly recognizing him as the person who embarrassed him, and being the homophobe he was, he seemed to have the best idea of his life before snapping his fingers and saying,

"Kiss that guy! " he pointed to Dipper "And I want a show.

Each pair of eyes on the wheel fastened on him and even if that sense of danger had hit him hard, he could not move a single nerve.

The people around him laughed and surrounded Bill, slapping him on the back and dropping some provocations.

"Don’t even think about kissing me after that."

"What the fuck, man."

"You’re a lucky bastard."

"It’s just a little bite."

More and more comments were released, creating an aura of mockery and laughter.

Dipper thinks he should, but he couldn’t run.

It should be simple, shouldn’t it? Turn around and walk out of there like it wasn’t him. This could be the easiest thing in the world, as he had done it an immeasurable amount of times, either by instinct or by will.

But it just wasn’t. Not when Bill stopped laughing and scratching his neck to look at his challenge.

Dipper felt his stomach sink and fall straight into a gorge when he found himself facing the savagery of that look. His heart beat so hard in his ears that they muffled the noise of music and voices that never shut up.

He felt submerged in the water, sinking deeper and deeper, without drowning, while those eyes, darkened by the lack of natural illumination, approached him slowly and quickly.
In the blink of an eye, which could be an eternity, the blond boy had his nose almost against yours.

Bill squatted down a few inches to be able to face him underneath.

He thinks he heard the voices getting louder and louder, but he couldn’t hear anything but the echo that his heart emitted in the immensity of silence.

Perhaps it was because of the alcohol impregnated in his veins, but even with this sudden approach, his reflex and muscle memory - which were always so good - did not even give evidence of existence.

He was to retreat, but only to counter it, his body did not respond to his stimuli and left him standing - at the mercy of predator’s eyes.

His pulse beat like a drum, he could feel it at his fingertips and somewhere inside, beating a folkloric rhythm, synchronized with the resounding of his hearing and the sweat accumulated in the palms of his hands.

He could swear that now, Bill, he could hear every little contraction.

Paralyzed, and without hearing the voice of his own thoughts, Dipper did not make a single move when Bill spoke in a low tone with his hoarse voice, whispering to him:

"Thank you for not running away... " he ran his eyes to his T-shirt, directly to the embroidered pine tree there that seemed to move in the compass of his arteries "Pinetree "his voice came out even lower than before, almost ventriloquist, as if he were just testing the nickname on the tip of his tongue and that, For some unknown reason, it fit. He stopped his gaze by looking right into Dipper’s shocked eyes and did not waver when he said, "Let’s get this over with, shall we?"

He didn’t wait for Dipper to answer him or sketch some more reaction before sticking his lips to him.

Ben asked for a show and that’s what Bill gave him, biting and pinching Dipper’s mouth, but without slipping his tongue into his mouth. Like I’m stuck at the very edge of the unknown boy.

He wouldn’t be the one to make this a bad experience.

And Dipper still couldn’t understand what was going on, shouldn’t he react when someone kissed him like that? If it had been any other day and anyone else, he would have pushed her away, and he wouldn’t have even stopped to pay attention.

Then why did your cells look burnt when Bill kissed you?

The kiss was supposed to at least work to get him ashore, and he didn’t understand why he was drowning this time.

His muscles did not work when the idea of pushing him away crossed his mind, but when in order to reciprocate, he grunted before he could stop himself. Maybe it was the new bite and slip of Bill’s tongue through his lips, or just the imagination of allowing his smart tongue to do wonders for him.

Regardless of what was the reason for that gasping, the important thing was that Bill was walking away and Dipper resented himself for not letting him do what he wanted before and maybe-

Bill landed a hand on his chest to keep him in place and only then did Dipper realize he was approaching to capture his mouth again.

He had to open his eyes to realize that he had closed them and when he came upon that now truly dark look, he realized his silent warning to warn.

If they get carried away for one more second, it could start to get weird and demonstrative that it wasn’t just a challenge.

But Dipper didn’t know how to feel anymore. Letting himself be carried away by those lips was almost dangerous; it was a drug that would slowly let him die of withdrawal and he was not sure if he would care to have such a death.

"Fuck... " Bill laughed in his face before pushing him away to get more comments from the group and then getting lost in the party.

Dipper ran his hand through his hair and pulled him back, looking for his sister with his eyes.

She was not far away and faced him with a hand in her mouth and no reaction either.

Dipper did not mind seeking her friends' reaction or Candy’s tearful absence.

Her lips vibrated in a near-smile, still feeling the phantom taste of Bill Cipher’s firm lips and sharp teeth.

Yeah, maybe he was really fucked up.