•~Stanford Pines X Birth Defect Reader~•

•Part 21 | Ford's Backstory•

So you and Dipper started talking about your birth defect, and that seemed to catch Ford's attention so he was listening now, along with Mabel. You four were talking about your eye, Ford's hands, and the fact there were two sets of twins in the household. It was all pretty nice, to not be judged but instead just bond over your differences.

Suddenly you remembered something from a while ago. Back when you were at the Cafe with Ford, he had said something about "an interesting incident" that caused him to "not be in town for about 30 years" but he didn't elaborate on that incident because he said, "It's not a story for the public".

After a few seconds of your thoughts drifting away from the conversation, a hand on your shoulder snapped you back to reality, it was Ford. "Earth to Y/N are you there?" He asked with a soft chuckle. You returned the chuckle and shook your head a bit. "Yes- I'm still here, I just spaced out a bit." You said with a soft smile as you looked at Ford, who took his hand off your shoulder.

"Yes I can tell, what were you thinking about?" He asked, but before you could answer, Mabel spoke up. "It's kind of late- me and Dipper are gonna head to bed, but you two can keep talking." She said as she got up from the table, along with Dipper, then left the kitchen. "Back to my question?" Ford asked as his eyebrow raised.

"Oh yeah- sorry. So remember when me and you had lunch back at the diner?" You asked, which he nodded to. "So you'd remember saying something along the lines of 'an interesting incident caused you to not be in town for 30 years' and it's 'not a story for the public'?" You asked, to which he again nodded to.

"Yes, well. I suppose now is a good time to tell you about that, you deserve to know." He said, his voice more serious now. He proceeded to tell you how he had started to go insane 30 years ago because of this Bill Cipher guy, and he sent a letter to Stanely asking for him to come and hide one of his journals. They ended up fighting, and he got shoved into a portal, making him go through dozens of dimensions for those 30 years.

It was a lot to hear and unpack, but you kept listening. He kept telling you about the horrible things that happened to him in those 30 years, and it made your heart ache for him. Ford said that once he got back, he was first angry at Stanely even though he saved him from those dimensions. After he got back, apparently the portal got unstable and created something called a Rift, which that Bill guy (Bill Nye the science eye I'm so sorry)  Could use to cause the apocalypse, which eventually did happen.

He couldn't tell you much about what that apocalypse was like, because he was apparently turned into a solid gold statue, but it was called Weirdmagedon. You could hardly believe it all, but you did. You felt bad for how much Ford and the Pines family went through. It was so much to unpack and say, you were surprised he hadn't cried, as it all sounded so traumatic, and you surely would've cried if you tried saying all that.

You didn't know what to say, but you must've looked shocked at all he said, because he spoke up again. "Are you alright-?" He asked. You snapped out of it again and nodded "yes- yeah I'm alright, all that is just- shocking. Are you okay? That seems like you've gone through hell and back. Twice." You said, which he nodded to. "Yes, I am fine. I'm severely scarred-" you interrupted him. "Physically and mentally." "-Yes, but I'm okay. I've more than recovered from it all." He said reassuringly.

"You must have some pretty terrible nightmares huh?" You asked, which he sighed and nodded to. "Yes, the nightmares get pretty bad and..realistic at times. But with you they all seem to melt away," He said with a soft smile while he looked you in the eyes. You returned the comforting smile. "Anything else you want to unpack while we are here?" You asked with a head tilt.

"There is a lot more to say, and I do want to go into more detail with you. But over 30 years of hell isn't easy to describe." He said. "So start with what's bothering you the most. Only if you want to of course." You said reassuringly, grabbing his hand to comfort him. He smiled at that.

"Remember when I said that Stanely saved me from the portal?" He asked, looking down at the table. You nodded. "I never thanked him. Sure, we made up and sailed on a boat together for about a year, but..I still haven't thanked him for it." He said guiltily. "So even after going through literal hell, the thing that bothers you the most is the fact that you haven't even thanked your brother for saving you from it?" You asked, which he nodded to.

"So, why haven't you thanked him?" You asked. He sighed and spoke up again. "At first I was angry at him as starting up the portal again was extremely dangerous." He said. That seemed reasonable to you, so you nodded. "Then Weirdmagedon started and I was turned to gold, so I couldn't do it then. But then we fought again when we were so close to killing Bill, and that's all he wanted, so I did it, but not sincerely. I corrected his grammar like the smart-ass I am and we fought again. One thing led to another which led to me having to erase his memory like I said before-" He kept talking, you kept listening.

"And after it was all over, he couldn't remember anything..so there was no point in thanking him then. But then Mabel started getting his memory back-! And I was too excited at the thought of him regaining his memories to even think about it. Summer came to an end, and the kids went back home to California. Me and Stanley went on a boat trip until the start of this summer, when the kids came back. I just never thought to thank him- and when I did, I thought it was too late already.." He finished speaking, and then took a breath in as he was speaking so much that he forgot to breathe.

You were taking all this in, and thinking about what to say. "Why don't you thank him now? Or sometime soon? Maybe you two can have some time just as brothers tomorrow, and you'll get to say it then." You suggested, and after a second, he smiled at the thought. "That is a good idea, I might just do that. You should head to bed though, Y/N. It is quite late, and you should sleep to help process all of what I just said." Ford said before wrapping an arm around you and kissing your forehead.

You smiled softly and kissed him in return before standing up. "Goodnight Ford." You said softly. "Goodnight Y/N." He said with a smile. You turned away and walked out of the kitchen as Ford looked out the window, lost in thought.

As you left the kitchen through the doorway, you accidentally bumped into someone and took a few steps back. It was Stanely, and he had tears in his eyes. You were confused for a moment before the thought appeared in your head: 'Did he hear everything me and Ford just spoke about?'

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I love cliffhangers 💅
But I'm so sorry for not posting in so long. I ran out of motivation for a while and then my dad took me to Las Vegas! So this story was in the back of my mind.
I hope to try and post more often, and I hope you all enjoy the story as it progresses.
This chapter was a bit shorter at around 1200 words, but I will make the next one at least 1600 words for you hungry people. (I read all the comments)