Reformed

Chapter Eighteen

Bill adjusted his hair on last time before deciding that he was satisfied with the way it looked. It had been his first time blow drying and styling his hair by himself, and he had thought he had done a pretty good job.

Bill unplugged the dryer, wrapped the cord around it, and then left the bathroom to go to Shooting Star and Pine Tree's bedroom. When he walked into the room, he was surprised to find only Pine Tree who was sitting on his bed and screwing around with his tie. Bill sat down the blow dryer on Mabel's bed and then walked over to Pine Tree.

"Hey, if you tell me where your sister is, I'll help you with your tie," he offered with a smirk.

Pine Tree rolled his eyes but still decided to stand up to let Bill tie his tie. "While you were in the shower, Pacifica apparently had some sort of 'outfit emergency', so Mabel left to go help her with that. Don't ask me what the emergency was, or even what an outfit emergency is, because I have no idea."

"She's not going to miss dinner, is she?" Bill asked, tilting his head.

"No, she won't," Pine Tree reassured him. "She's been super excited about Thanksgiving for the last couple of weeks, so there's no way she would miss this. She said she'll meet us there."

"Good."

Bill nodded as he finished tying Dipper's tie. The brunette looked down at it and smiled before thanking him. Looking at Bill seemed to remind him of something. He suddenly rushed over to Mabel's bed stand, exclaiming, "Oh, by the way...!"

Bill curiously watched as the brunette bounded back over to him holding a small cardboard jewelry box. Pine Tree gestured for him to take it, which Bill eagerly did. He opened it and was a bit confused at what was inside. He set the box down on Pine Tree's bed and pulled out the item that was in it: a small black, triangle made out of some kind of fabric with a string on it. Bill perked up as he realized it was an eyepatch.

"Mabel overheard me and Ford talking about how you don't need your bandages anymore and how you needed something to cover your missing eye. She decided to make that for you," Dipper explained. "She wanted you to be the one to give it to you, but due to her 'emergency', she decided to let me give it to you instead."
Bill ran his thumb over the patch. He then stepped over to stand in front of the mirror that Pine Tree had at the end of his bed. He put on the eyepatch and adjusted it to perfectly cover his missing eye. It felt a little weird, and he was sure it was going to take a little while to get used to, but it fit great and, more importantly, it looked great. He smiled.

"Make sure you thank Mabel when you see her, okay?" Pine Tree told him as he walked by. "Let's go. Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford are probably ready by now."

Bill gave the kid a nod of acknowledgment before following him out of the room and down to the foyer. Fez and Sixer were waiting there as expected. Like Pine Tree, they were also a little more dressed up than usual. That made Bill feel a little underdressed but, number one: he didn't exactly have a lot of outfits to choose from, and number two: he... didn't really care about how he would look for this gathering.

"You two ready?" Stan asked as he noticed them.

Bill exchanged glances with Pine Tree and then nodded with him. Stan gave them a smile of acknowledgment before he lead them out of the house and to the car. Bill shivered as the cold November breeze hit his face. It was much colder than the last time he had been outside. Stan had already started the car earlier, so when they got in, it was already warm. Bill was very grateful for that.

As Bill stared out the window of the car, he recalled Mabel telling him how they were having Thanksgiving at Fiddleford's. She had explained the whole story about how he lived in the Northwest's mansion now, though Bill hadn't really cared to pay too close attention to it. The most important thing he remembered was that the house was a bit of long drive away.