Growing Up Blind (A Gravity Falls Fanfiction) [COMPLETED]

-4- Isolation

"Y-you really shouldn't be spending so much time out there, Dipper." Will Cipher, Dipper's older brother, started just a few moments after Dipper had returned from the human world.

"...Why not? It's kinda nice out there." Dipper said casually. He hadn't said a thing to his family yet about becoming friends with or even meeting a human. As far as they knew, he had completed his task without a single problem the other day.

"Because humans... Well... They're not nice beings. Demons should not associate with humans. It just...doesn't happen." Will began to look uncomfortable, rubbing his left arm awkwardly.

"Hehe. So that's what you're worried about? You shouldn't be like that! I've never seen a single human out there." Dipper lied, keeping a confident expression. 

"That doesn't mean you won't ever see one." Rose Cipher, Dipper's only sister, walked up and joined in the conversation. "You're only young. If a human finds out you're a demon, they'll sacrifice you to whatever creepy religion they have or burn you at the stake or something!" Dipper gave an annoyed look.

"You're only a year older than me, don't call me the young one!" He snapped.

"Of course, because you two will always be the cutest little babies to me!~" Bill Cipher, the final and oldest member of the small family, butted in at last and tackled both Rose and Dipper into a huge bear hug. Rose squealed and laughed, accepting the hug openly, while Dipper seemed less than amused.

"I'm no baby!" He protested and teleported out of the crushing hug.

"Ooooh, someone just hit puberty!" Bill joked and stuck his tongue out at Dipper childishly, still hugging Rose.

"Demons don't even get puberty, Bill." Dipper muttered.

"Then maybe you're not a demon!" Bill grinned, meaning it as a joke, but Dipper flinched. A look from Will told him he'd made a big mistake. "I mean, of course you are one..." Bill gave a nervous chuckle, but the damage had already been done. Dipper looked hurt, he'd already felt insecure about his demonic powers and that had hit him hard. He glared, his eyes turning almost completely orange and his fists burst into flame. A few tears even fell.

"Well maybe... Maybe if I'm not a demon, then maybe I just BELONG IN THE HUMAN WORLD!" He yelled out and opened the portal again, twisting around and stomping out, closing it immediately. All three Ciphers were just left standing there in shock.

"....I'm going after him." Rose stated simply and left through another portal, leaving the two brothers behind with their thoughts.

                               ***
Mabel, having arrived home, was again up in her room, reading through one of her uncle Ford's old journals. He was a scientist, or that's what he claimed to be, and his journals on the strange goings-on in Gravity Falls were pretty darn interesting. It was like a fantasy novel or something. Maybe uncle Ford's paranoia about all this weird stuff living in the forest was why she wasn't allowed to go in there. She flipped a page, suddenly feeling uneasy at what looked like a red stain on the page, she read the header that said "Bill Cipher". It looked like a triangle with one eye, and arms, legs and a hat. There were some unsettling pictures of what looked like the demon entering the human mind, and words that said "Bill is dangerous!" And "Do not summon at all costs!" She flipped the page, disliking that picture, and saw a few words on less important creatures, with an added largely written "TRUST NO ONE!" In the middle of one of the pages. Mabel was now very uneasy, maybe she shouldn't have read this before going to bed... She set the book down on her bedside table and was surprised to hear a knock on the front door. Who in the world could that be?

                               ***
Dipper stood, utterly enraged but at the same time embarrassed, staring down at his feet in front of the house he knew Mabel lived in. He just hoped to any god that could be out there that someone she lived with didn't answer the door. He sighed in relief when Mabel came up and cracked the door open slightly, peeking through then opening it wider. "...Dipper? What..." She trailed off tiredly, unable to comprehend this.

"I-I...um.. My p-parents, th-they had work tonight... A-and.. Well, they told me to find a f-friend's house to stay at-- I-I'm sorry it's so late, I can just go-" Dipper made up a nervous excuse, twiddling his thumbs.

"...Nonsense! Of course you can stay over! My uncles wouldn't mind, I've had friends over before. But shush, they're probably sleeping." Mabel grinned and opened the door wide enough for Dipper to step inside, which he did with a grateful smile.

"Thank you, so much. My parents just wouldn't let me stay home alone like that, haha... It's funny, I'm 13 and they still don't t-trust me..." His smile fell slightly, feeling a bit guilty at the way he'd left his family back in the Dreamscape. At the same time, he didn't want to go back because of Bill's remark, it had irritated him and honestly just made him want to cry, so he shook off the feeling and followed Mabel up to what seemed to be the attic of the house. She chattered on about this and that quietly as they went, as they made it to the top she went and pulled out an extra mattress that Dipper could sleep on, talking all the way. Dipper, of course, just quietly and gratefully listened to her on-and-on chattering. It was nice to hear someone just willing to talk and not expect an answer, he wasn't much of a conversation person and considered himself a listener. Once he had helped Mabel get out a quilt and a few pillows, he was lying there, staring up at the ceiling as Mabel whispered about something that had happened to her at dinner that night with her uncles. He was also introduced to Waddles the pig, Mabel's pet, who had curiously emerged and gone over to sniff Dipper, then hopped up onto Mabel's bed, obviously liking her more than him. Of course, that made sense, since she was his true owner, after all. After maybe 10 more minutes of quiet chatter, both lay back in bed. Mabel had whispered a quick "good night", and by the rhythm of her breathing Dipper guessed she was asleep. He just lay there, staring up at the ceiling. Dream demons, obviously, didn't really need sleep, though they could drift into dreamland if they really wanted to. His eyelids were suddenly feeling heavy, so he let them fall and slowly drifted into unconsciousness. The relaxation was abruptly interrupted, though, as Rose had followed Dipper from the portal to the house and into the attic unseen, pulling Dipper off the mattress by one of his arms, a glare telling him to stay quiet, though he didn't want to wake Mabel anyway. She teleported the both of them outside by the woods and exploded.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Rose whisper-yelled at her brother as soon as they were out of earshot of any humans.

"..." Dipper had no answer to that. He was crashing at a human's house, with a human he called his friend. If he said that straight out he'd probably be slapped. Humans weren't friends to demons. If anything, they were tools. That was one thing he remembered being taught as he grew up.

"Well?!" Rose pressed, obviously enraged. "Oh, when Bill hears about this..." Dipper cut her off with a desperate tone.

"N-No! No, please! Please don't tell him. He would kill her! She didn't do anything wrong." He protested, glancing over toward the Shack in the distance. "...She thinks I'm human."

"That's still not a good enough reason for me not to tell. Why do you even care about that human?" The redhead scowled at him, less than pleased.

"Look. When I was out in the woods a few days ago... I really did run into a human, a-and it was her. She just...she thought I was new in town. She just wanted to be friends." Dipper explained, keeping a pleading look on his face. "She's not mean. She's never hurt anyone in her life. Don't tell him. Please..." He sounded on the very edge of tears. Rose hesitated before finally giving in with a sigh.

"Alright.... I won't.. For now. But you owe me." She muttered before turning and opening another portal into the Dreamscape. "I can't save your butt if Bill gets mad at you for staying too long in the human world, though. You're on your own." She turned to look at him. "Coming?" Dipper shook his head and Rose shrugged, she had been expecting that answer. "Suit yourself." She said before vanishing. Dipper was left standing there to relax in relief and let out a breath. Thank god. He took a few more moments to calm down before teleporting himself back to Mabel's room, finding her still happily asleep. He smiled, going over to pat Waddles as he slept before lying back down on the mattress and drifting off into eventual sleep.