The rest of the day blurred by, one moment fading into the next. No one wanted to talk about, much less understand, the events that had happened. You and Dipper couldn't even make eye contact, and Mabel hadn't uttered a single word. Everyone seemed desperate for the day to end and escape to the release of sleep. You dragged yourself through the Shack and crashed on the dusty cot, not caring that it wasn't even eight o'clock. Whatever Bill had done to you left you mentally and physically drained.

You weren't fully aware of your body falling asleep, but you weren't surprised to find yourself sitting in your mindscape. The only color came from the memories that floated to a breeze you could not feel, and out of intuition you plucked one out of suspension. A smile came to your face as you recognized the scene that had taken place not too long ago. Within the small moving picture, Bill's ecstatic face was easily seen while seeing you finally learn to conjure fire. The smile quickly faded as you remembered how close you were to dying only seconds later. You let it go, the memory not following gravity but joining its brothers in the mindscape.

Your hair fluttered in a gust of air created by a newcomer to the blank void. You scowled, not needing to look behind you to know who it was. He carefully sat down next to you, top hat in his hands. He sighed, the anxiety showing in his visible eye as he tried to think of something to say. "Listen, doll, things got out of hand."

"Out of hand," you whispered, sarcasm heavily dripping. "You chalk up not talking to me for days on end, possessing the body of my friend, and somehow making me fall out of my own body to "out of hand." Your hands shook with anger, your fingers digging into your thighs to restrain yourself. "You don't just get to call me "doll" after that."

"If you'd just let me explain-"

"For the love of Christ, Bill, what is there for you to explain?! You won't tell me a damn thing about yourself, your connection to the Pines, and it almost got Dipper killed. I know you don't care about that, but I almost lost my life too tonight. I might mean less than nothing to you, but if I die, you die too!"

You stood up, the scars on your right arm starting to burn against the bandages. "To think I actually trusted you," you mumbled, the betrayal starting to set in.

"Y/N..."

"What? What could you possibly say to make this all better?!"

He stayed silent, shivering slightly. Bill looked so defeated in this form, so weak. He slowly got to his feet and met your furious glare with a golden eye full of remorse. "Y/N... I'm sorry." And with that simple apology, a tear slid out of his yellow eye.

You stopped yourself from angrily backlashing, speechless from the event before you. An all-powerful entity was crying. Crying because he had hurt you. He pulled you into a tight hug, desperately needing some type of security. "I-I screwed up."

Your first instinct should have been a scathing retort. Even better, shoving Bill off you. But he seemed so fragile, so human in this moment, you couldn't bear to tear away. His body warmed you to your core, and as his lanky frame wrapped around yours, it became a moment of peace in the hellish chaos he had caused. Somehow you knew that no matter what your mission may be, no matter what Bill's true form was, this was truly right. You rested your head on his shoulder and let yourself forget of the turmoil of earlier. "I-I," you hesitated, unsure of your next move. "I forgive you."

Bill let go of you, shocked. "You're not angry?!"

"Oh, I'm angry, furious even. But I'm giving you a chance to explain what's going on."

He ran his good arm through his hair. "Let's just start from the beginning. My beginning, at least." He sat down, leaving you room for you to join him.

"Tell me everything."

"I woke up in the Nightmare Realm, the dimension between dimensions" he said softly. "To quote a sentient rock, I didn't exist, and then I did. I didn't have a name, a gender, or a memory. Over the course of thousands of years, I've built myself into who I am. Some way or another, the Nightmare Realm became home to me and other reality warpers expelled from their own homeworlds. But we never called our home that. To us, it was Nirvana." His eye sparkled as he reminisced the memory, face beaming.

"But something that wonderful was never meant to last. For the last ten thousand years, Nirvana has been dying. It can't handle the stress of so many powerful beings in one place. It's going to self destruct." His form shook as he struggled to contain a sob. "When it collapses, it's taking every single one of us down. And after what happened in Stan's mind, that includes you too."

The pair of you sat in silence, leaning against each other as the reality sunk in. You let Bill mess with a lock of your hair as your mind trailed off in thought. "How long do we have?"

"At best, a year, at worst, a month. But I guess that works out pretty well for your mission, doesn't it?" He smiled humorlessly. "They sent you here to ensure I could never escape my fate."

"Bill... it's not about the mission anymore." you said, staring at the colorless horizon. "Given the choice now, I honestly don't know if I would end your life."

"Then what is it about? Why would you hesitate to kill me?!"

"Because somewhere along the line, Bill, I learned to care about you." You looked straight ahead, determined not to let your cheeks grow red. You had spilled your most mortifying secret: you cared about a self-centered jerk who wanted nothing to do with you, the same man you were supposed to eliminate. He was your friend, and maybe something more. "You showed me you weren't just a heartless bastard."

Bill stayed silent, lost in thought. "And you showed me not all humans are worthless, Y/N. The one possible way to save myself and the other immortals is to gain a physical form. It's the reason I manipulated the author of the journals, and why I have bad blood with the Pines family. You were sent for the single purpose to prevent that. When the time comes to you to decide my fate, I want you to know I'll respect your choice either way."

"That means a lot, coming from you." You managed a weak smile.

He shook his head. "That's not what's important right now. We need to talk about your abilities."

You sharply inhaled as you recalled being inside Dipper's body. "How did that even happen?!"

"I made a deal with him to give him the password in exchange for a puppet, or in better words, a vessel so I could access your world, albeit indirectly. I needed to destroy the journal and the laptop so he wouldn't get in the way of my plans for a physical form." He winced, regretting his decision. "I took it too far, I know. But since I was allowed access into his mind, so were you by default."

"What information is even in those that you try so hard to destroy them?!"

His shoulders sagged. "Lots of things, and I promise I'll tell you all of it. But the point is your abilities are growing faster than you can control them. It's not going to take long before we're equally powerful."

Bill shrugged off his black tailcoat and took off his gloves, revealing the lightning patterned burns from that night so long ago. By this time, they had healed into pearly scar tissue, but it was clear they were permanent. He caught you staring and smirked. "Like what you see?"

Your face heated up. "Just get to the point."

"Whatever you say, doll. Your practice is going to be more focused on control than accessing your abilities."

Your mindscape brightened, the memories shifting out of focus. "I guess I'm waking up. It was unusually nice talking to you, Bill."

"I could say the same. Before you go, I want to give you something." He leaned in and pressed his lips to yours, making your mind freeze. You were unable to move, unable to think as this admittedly attractive demon kissed you. You wanted to stop time and let this moment last forever.

He broke away, sporting an irritating yet endearing smile as his form flickered. "They don't call you the Stitched Heart for nothing, princess. I'll see you soon."

And with that, both he and your mindscape dissolved, leaving you frozen in shock as you struggled to comprehend what happened.