Chapter Text
Dipper flopped down on his bed in the attic. The day had been quite exhausting. He and Mabel had spent several hours on the bus today that brought them to Gravity Falls, like it had become their habit since the first summer they'd spent at their great uncle's place.
The summer back when he was twelve years old had been the most exciting weeks of his life so far. And despite at some points also being the scariest, with the whole Weirdmageddon business, he loved every moment of it.
The years after had been much quieter. There were still supernatural beings everywhere in the forest and anomalies around every corner. They just weren't going for world domination.
Since the original journals had been destroyed Dipper had taken up the task of writing a new one. And the first entry was on the events of the previous summer that led to Weirdmageddon and ultimately Bill Cipher's defeat. Now there was only a stone statue left of him in the woods.
Dipper traced his fingers over the sketch of the statue that concluded the entry and yawned. Mabel had left a few hours ago already to spend the night with Candy and Grenda. He really liked the two girls but he still was grateful that their first sleepover wasn't at the Mystery Shack.
He had just closed his eyes as all colour was drained from the attic and the silence was torn by a familiar voice. "Hi Kid. Did ya miss me?" Bill cheered.
Dipper turned around with widened eyes. How long has it been since he last heard this nearly ear-piercing voice? It must have been years! "...B-bill? Is that you!?"
"The one and only," Bill smirked and looked lazily around Dipper's room before his eyes rested on Dipper.
"What? B-b-but how!? Why now and not six god damn years ago? That makes like ZERO SENSE!" Dipper shouted, just as shocked as surprised about the demon's visit. "Okay, okay," he sighed, running a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself. "Why are you here, are you planning something?"
For a brief moment, anger glinted in his eye, then Bill burst out in laughter. "Oh Pine Tree, you have no idea. I've been all over the place. _Literally_," he stressed. "Took some time ro get myself back together." He rolled his shoulders and grinned. Or what passed for a grin and rolling your shoulders when you are a floating isosceles triangle.
"Whatever you plan, Mabel and I are gonna stop you!", Dipper warned. He really didn't have much trust in this yellow triangle. "I-it's over, Bill, no more word domination! We're gonna stop you before you even start!"
He chuckled and floated closer to Dipper. "And if I just wanna dominate you?"
"Dominate.....me?", Dipper repeated confused and blushed deeply. "Y-you don't mean, uhm....you know....do you?" he then asked. Bill couldn't mean it like that, right?
Instead of an answer Bill just blew him a kiss and vanished, the colour returning to Dipper's room.
Dipper blinked a few times, for a nanosecond believing that this was not real and more of a daydream. Then again... He knew it had to be real!
Just to make sure he took his jacket and ran out, deep into the forest and visited the old stone statue.
"Y-you can't just leave me like that! What the hell was that even!? We're you like....flirting? T-that's. ..", Dipper stopped there. He sighed and looked away. "Anyway...You're still trapped in here, aren't you?"
The statue still had its right hand extended for a handshake, unmoving in years. Apart from moss and occassional birds that liked sitting on the top hat, it showed no sign of life.
Dipper frowned at the sight of the statue. It appeared to be impossible for Bill to still be alive - or something close to that.
"You were just talking to me, weren't you!? That was not just a dream, right?! ", he asked with a shaky voice. He somehow felt desperate. Did he want Bill to answer? Did he actually want him to be back? What was wrong with him?
Next to the statue he noticed some birds picking up crumbs in the grass. And the crumbs looked like... dorito parts? There was also a set of foot prints.
Dipper bowed down, carefully picking up the Dorito parts and started to examine them. He frowned confused, got up and followed the path of the footprints, not saying a single word.
He followed the trail until he lost it on the harder ground under the conifers. But there under a pine tree he spotted a few rocks that formed the words "ZW ZLOO PHHW DJDLQ".
Dipper looked at the message, totally astonished. The pine tree, a secret message, it just had to be from Bill.
"Y-you really are back...", he mumbled. Somehow that made him...happy?
He went about to decode the message and smiled as soon as he got it.
"I knew it wasn't a dream!" he shouted but then gulped. If Bill was back, didn't that mean chaos was back, too?
Even though the demon said something entirely different,which was probably just a joke anyway, he wouldn't take over the world....right?