Chapter Text
‘Five’
Dipper ran through the school halls, his nose dripping blood across the white floor. The monster ghosted their hands across his back, cruel fingers cutting through his clothes. He slammed into a passing student, her long hair framing her amusement at his suffering.
“Aren’t you such an adorable freak.” She said, pushing him back into the monster's claws.
‘ Four.’
The monster's arms wrapped around his chest, lifting with him off the floor. He gasped as the air was squeezed out. Dipper reached over his head, grabbed the horrific monsted, and pulled.
The howl of pain echoed through the hallways. Every student turned their heads, their faces masks of pure disgust. Dipper fell back to the ground, pushing past students.
Arms grabbed and reached as the horde behind him grew.
‘Three.’
An empty classroom welcomed him, desks arranged in neat rows. A bag lay open on the floor, books spilling across the grey laminate.
Dipper grabbed a chair, heavy metal dragging with a shriek. His arms burned as he pulled it closer to the door, footsteps approaching in thunderous droves.
Finally, he kicked the door shut, shifting the chair underneath. He stepped back, footsteps pausing outside. It was here.
Bang.
The door held.
“Two.”
Dipper sighed, his chest sinking in relief. He leaned back against a window, catching himself as it slipped open. Revealing a twenty foot drop to the black top.
Thud.
The chair shifted. Dipper pushed himself into the window frame, calculating the fall as screams roared empty in his ears. He could make it, if he rolled, if he had too.
“Three.”
Schreach.
The door pushed open, revealing clenched fists and baseball bats. The air filled with the smell of sweat and sickly sweet perfume. High pitched giggles reverberated through the room.
Dipper breathed, facing the door as placed his feet upon the window sill. Dipper looked over his shoulder, and jumped.
A hand jerked from the others, yanking his shoulder as he hung from the window. Rainbow painted nails gripped his arms, purple blooming where her fingers touched.
“It’s not worth it, you can make it. Please!” Mabel’s voice cut through the jeers and mocking laughs. The smell of bubblegum calmed him, tears filling his eyes at Mabel’s favorite perfume. Dipper looked up towards his sister’s face.
Her sweet smile twisted upwards, eye’s narrowing into cruelty. Dipper yelped as her sharp nails dug deeper into his skin, the scent of iron filling his nose.
“You will never be my brother.” She said, her voice a high pitched shriek. “You will never be a man.”
Dipper felt tears flowing down his face. Mabel’s smile stretched to her eyes, a monstrous grin. The monster.
He twisted out of her grip, her face shifting back to normal as she yelled:
“Dipper! Wait!”
‘Two.’
Dipper landed with a bone-cracking thud, his left arm twisted behind him. A sharp pain spiraled through his shoulder, wrapping around his chest and throat. A scream echoed through the grass, emanating through his chest.
“Can’t-can’t let it find me.” Dipper whimpered, desperately trying to stand, to move, to escape.
He pushed up against his good arm, fingers gripping the moist sod. Shaking, he crawled to the treeline, where sharp-toothed gnomes waved him on.
“One.”
A golden glow emanated from the forest, a chamomile scent floating Dipper closer. He felt his pin melting away as his shoulder shifted back into place with a satisfying crack.
Standing amid the woods, a teen in a golden tailcoat walked towards him, a singular brown eye peeking from behind his blonde hair. He carried a black cane, his fingers tapping its head rhythmically to some unknown song. The wind blew back his hair to reveal his other eye, a golden iris with a triangular pupil.
“That’s the third nightmare this week, Pine Tree. I almost thought you wouldn’t let me in.”
“Bill?” Dipper asked, his shoulders drooping in relief. “So you were the one counting.”
“Had to get you out somehow. Is that how they treat you when you're awake?” Bill asked, eyebrows creased.
“No, well, not all of them.” Dipper said, his shoulders drooping. He was weaning an oversized red hoodie, its sides shredded, over too tight jeans. He pulled into himself, the curves of his body stuck uncomfortably into his arms.
‘I hate this. I don’t want to do this anymore.’
Bill took a sharp intake of air. Dipper’s thoughts broadcasted across the dreamspace, a downward plummeting spiral. The color faded from Dipper’s clothes as he was pulled back, the nightmare trying to reset.
Bill took a deep breath. He never intended to show Dipper the powers he had. Trapped in this space as he was. But- he didn’t want to leave either.
Dipper blinked at Bill’s outreached hand, the blonde looking bashfully away.
“You-You can control your dreams.” Bill said. “I can help, why don’t we make this a happy dream? You don’t have to suffer here, Pine Tree.”
Dipper thought he saw a faint blush on Bill’s face. He reached out, holding Bill’s soft hand. Chamomile floated through the air as the sky turned into a warm sunset, and ocean view. Dipper closed his eyes, and opened them to a calm lake, the sun setting into its tranquil waters.
He looked down and found he was wearing dark blue swim shorts with a pattern of lighter blue constellations on top. His chest was flat, pectorals nicely formed. A trail of hir went along the midsection of his stomach. His body, his skin, it felt right.
“Thank you.” Dipper said, before repeating. His voice was deeper, it rolled and tumbled out his throat. A broad smile crossed Dipper’s face, his eyes creasing.
“It was your magic.” Bill said, shocking Dipper out of his thoughts. Bill was still holding his hands, eyes focused on the far off horizon. He was wearing black shorts with a pattern of crisscrossed yellow triangles. Bill looked down thoughtfully, Dipper had nice taste.
“I don’t have magic.” Dipper scoffed. “You're the dream demon, popping into my dreams every night.”
Bill turned to Dipper, eyebrow raised.
“I would still be stuck in that statue if your magic didn’t trap me here.” He paused, “For what I don’t know, maybe your subconscious wanted to question me some more. I’m glad we're not doing that anymore”
Bill pretended to shiver as Dipper stifled a laugh.
“Sure. So long as you can’t terrorize anyone.” Dipper said. He let go of Bill’s hand and stood in the water, watching golden minnows darting around his feet.
“I don’t want that anymore.” Bill muttered, his eyes fixed on Dipper standing against the melting purple backdrop, the first stars crowning his head. He wondered if the brunette had been here before, or had made it with the sheer force of his imagination. It was beautiful.
“What was that?” Dipper asked, distracted by the minnows which started to glow a soft blue as the light dimmed.
“Your sister cares for you, as her brother.” Bill said, shaking his head with a smile on his face. “She would never say that.”
Dipper’s eyes widened, he had forgotten about the nightmare. Bill walked over and stood next to him in the water, laughing at the glowing fish Dipper had no doubt been studying.
‘You made them, stupid Pine Tree.’ Bill thought.
“She cares about you. It hurts her for you to push her away.” Bill said. He heard Dipper let out a sigh.
“I know, I just, she gets bullied because of me.” Dipper said. “Even our parents…”
The sky shifted, shouts from the waking world raining red streaks across the sky.
“Looks like you’ll be leaving, Pine Tree.” Bill said, the red flashes reflecting in his normal brown eye. He turned to Dipper, who was looking fearful. “Your sister didn’t make the other humans act like cruel beasts.”
Dipper let out a laugh, shocking Bill who did not, did not , blush.
“Cruel beasts, huh? Maybe I should study them.” He hugged Bill, nuzzling his face into the crook of his neck, inhaling the sweet scent of chamomile. “Thank you, Bill.”
Bill stood still, before wrapping his arms around Dipper, laying his cheek on Dipper’s hair.
“Always, Pine Tree.” Bill felt Dipper dissipate, pulled back into the waking world. The world of parents screaming late into the night and cruel beasts who called themselves human. More fitting monsters than the demons he called friends. He dropped his arms, the dreamscape now a bland gray. Even then, the blue stars glowed brighter than ever above him. Primal magic, emanating across Dipper’s dreamscape, a familiar pull shifting Bill out.
Bill stepped back. He was in the human realm. Dipper sat up in the bunk in front of him, messy brown curls covering his eyes. He looked around blankly, screams emanating from another room.
‘He doesn’t see me.’ Bill thought, leaning back into a worn and taped up bean bag. Soft blue speckled dust surrounded Bill, almost invisible in the dark room. Dipper sighed, and talked to his sister, the specks growing a tad brighter around Bill.
Bill smiled, closing his eyes and humming a soft tune.
“You’ll see me soon, Pine Tree.”
***
Dipper woke up to his parents shouting in the kitchen. The same fight they had for the last week. About him.
“He is our child! They are hurting him, we can’t leave him there!” Dipper’s father shouted.
A slam, and some chairs being shifted around.
“What do you want us to do? We can barely afford new clothes, you want us to change schools, in the middle of the semester? Are you fucking mad?” His mother screamed, her voice cracked from a long hospital shift.
“Would you rather him come back dead? Or Mabel? She’s hurting too. And the school does nothing!” His father shouted, his pacing thudding across the floor.
“I know we don’t have much.” His mother sighed, her voice dropping to a normal level that Dipper strained to hear. “Both of us work and we still can’t afford his medical care. He’ll be turning sixteen soon, we had everything lined up..”
“I know Martha, he’ll have to wait a bit longer, okay? But we can’t keep him here, I’ve been talking to my uncle, Stan, the kids loved ....”
At this the volume dropped to a level Dipper couldn’t hear. He sighed, flapping his arms over his eyes.
“Why am I such a problem?” He said.
“I don’t think you're a problem.” Mabel leaned over her bunk, staring down at Dipper. Her hand was held out in a fist bump. “You know that, right?”
Dipper smiled,
“Like you’ll ever let me forget it.” He said. He bumped her fist with his, and both of them let out a small ‘boom’.
“Goodnight, Dipper.” Mabel said, disappearing back into her bunk.
“Good night, Mabel.” Dipper replied, pulling up his covers. A strange shiver went up his spine. Mabel would never lie to him, right? The dream passed through his mind as he covered his head with a pillow.
“Little Star,
Laying there,
Soft asleep-with dreams so sweet,
My Pine Tree-Safe from fears…”
Dipper thought he heard someone humming a lullaby, his eyes closing with the slow rhythm. Mabel did care for him, he knew that. She would always be there to help him. He drifted off to sleep, the soft notes reminding him of a favorite lullaby.
“Little pine tree, my favorite star, how lucky, lucky you are…”