Reformed

Chapter Twenty

"Ow, fuck!"

Bill hissed as he pulled his hand away from his neck. He had been prodding the marks on his neck that were left from Sixer trying to kill him a few nights earlier. The bruises were pretty sore, but not too noticeable, fortunately. Bill made sure to pull up the hood of his hoodie closer to his neck more than ever to avoid questioning from the kids. He wasn't about to have to explain to them how their uncle had tried to murder him.

Bill became sidetracked from his bruises as he heard the sound of hooves stomping across the carpet and something hitting the floor. He looked over, and as expected, Gompers had knocked some ornaments off the Christmas tree.

The blonde sighed and left the comfort of the lounge chair to cross the room to the tree. He had been trying to enjoy a holiday movie Shooting Star had left on for him, but guessed he had to deal with this now.

"You brat," Bill snapped. He shooed the goat away before he kneeled down to pick up the ornaments. "That kid spent hours on this tree. Quit ruining her hard work."

Bill grumbled as he tried to figure out where the ornaments were supposed to go. He could easily tell where they belonged because of the few blank places in the tree that weren't already covered by tinsel, lights, or other ornaments. He carefully placed them back on, trying not to screw up any of the other decorations on the tree.

As Bill put on the last ornament that was near the bottom of the tree, he couldn't help but catch a glance at one of the presents under it. He saw lots of them, all marked for one of the Pines, but the one that had truly caught his attention was one with his name on it. He leaned a bit closer to see that "from S.S. and P.T." was written on it in Shooting Star's handwriting with in glittery red and green ink.

"Did Gompers knock more ornaments off again?"

Bill flinched and whirled his head around to look at Pine Tree who had just spoken. He was standing in the doorway with his sister. Bill instantly sat up and tried to act like he hadn't just been looking at his present. He felt blood rushing to his face.

"Yeah," he quickly replied. "I put them back though."

"At least he's not eating them," Mabel optimistically pointed out.

The girl then skipped over to Bill and squatted down next to him. She inspected the tree and then smiled. "Hey, you got them back in the right spots! Good job!"
"Uh, thanks," Bill said with a small smirk.

The blonde then rested his head on his hand. He was trying his best to not look at the present out of the corner of his eye, even though his curiosity was screaming at him to say something. Why the hell did those kids get him a gift? What in the world could they have got him anyways?

Mabel must have caught the small glance he gave to the gift because she gave him a big grin. "Oh, did you see your present?"

Bill stammered over his words for a moment before realizing how stupid he looked. He mumbled out, "Y-yeah."

"Hey, Dipper!" Mabel excitedly chirped. "Can we give Bill his present early?"
Bill felt his face heaten up again. "K-kid, you don't have to do that."

"Well, I want to, so..." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Sure," Pine Tree said as he headed over to them. He sat down next to his sister. "It might make things a little less awkward if you open it now instead of on Christmas morning, since it's your only present."

"I don't mind," Bill said, narrowing his eye.

"Bill, just open the present!" Shooting Star exclaimed as she shoved the gift into his arms.