This was not how this day was supposed to end.

The day had started off so great.

Why did things have to end this way?

~

"Bill?! You ready to go yet?"

"Yeah! Hang on- stupid shoelaces came undone again," Bill called from his room, sitting on the edge of his bed while retying his shoelaces for the sixth time that week. Due to him trying to work in a hurried manner right now, he kept messing up the knot and the strings would end up falling flat against the floor in a loose mess. He groaned in aggravation, about ready to burn these shoes with fire. Why was tying a simple knot so complicated?!

"Dude, I told you if you just double-knotted your shoelaces then they wouldn't be coming undone so frequently," Y/n said, leaning against Bill's doorway with arms crossed and shaking their head in disappointment.

"It's hard enough trying to tie one knot and you expect me to be able to do a double-knot?!"

"Would you like me to help you tie your shoelaces?"

"...Yes please."

With a small laugh, Y/n entered the room and walked over to Bill's bed. They knelt down on the floor, taking his foot and propping it on their leg before beginning to work on tying the double-knot. Bill sat there patiently, resisting the urge to kick his legs while waiting for Y/n to finish. He knew it wouldn't take long and once they were done helping him out, they could both leave and head out for the day. To where? Why— to Destination: Funation, of course! They planned to spend the entire day there and play laser tag, mini golf, go-karts, and all the arcade games within the building. To think they had such a cool place here in Mercy and Y/n was only now telling the dream demon about it! How dare they keep such knowledge from him?! At least they were going now. That's all that really mattered. Though... they weren't going entirely alone.

"You sure it's cool for me to tag along? I wouldn't dare want to crash you and your boyfriend's 'date'."

"Geez, Bill, I told you already: it's not a date. Originally it was just going to be Claire, Ruby, and Matthias hanging out together. But then Claire called this morning asking for a ride and if I would be willing to tag along. It's not a date. Just a last minute 'hang out' plan."

Bill huffed, rolling his eyes. "Sounds to me like he's using you more than wanting to actually hang out with you."

"Yeah... Yeah, it does."

Bill paused, blinked, then looked down at Y/n. "Hang on— Did you just agree with me that your boyfriend was being a piece of crap? I didn't know I fell into a different dimension while I was asleep."

This earned him a small slap to the foot from Y/n as they finished double-knotting his right shoe. And in response, Bill laughed giddily.

"It's just-... a lot of his actions and words towards me lately have been... concerning. I don't know why he's been acting so weird recently. Not just to me, but to a lot of others as well. "

"Really? So he hasn't always been a total jerk that tries to make everyone around him feel like they are less than him on the daily? Could have fooled me."

Y/n paused at the sarcastic comment Bill made, thinking to themselves for a moment before sighing and going back to working on his left shoe. "As far as I know, he's only just now started to act this way... kinda around the same time you arrived. I don't know if he's just jealous or what but I'm getting tired of him guilt-tripping me and making me feel awful. My plan was to talk to him once we got to the arcade, pull him aside and just... y'know... chat. Maybe we can figure this out, or maybe we can't and it'd be better to just break things off. Honestly, that's... probably the route I plan to take anyhow. I mean, I'm all up for working on a relationship and trying to fix things but I think the best thing to do for myself right now is to break things off with him... But hey- even if that happens, at least we'll be at an arcade to distract me with my awesome dream demon by my side." They finished tying his other shoe, placing his foot back on the floor and looking up at him. "Of course- if you don't want to go, that's fine. Just say the word. Ruby is going to be there and after the last time you saw her-... well, it's just that I understand if you're uncomfortable tagging along. I don't want to force you to come with me if you would rather stay as far away from Ruby as possible."

Bill kicked his feet back and forth, admiring the human's work before jumping off the bed to stand up. "I'll be fine, at least I know what to expect now. Besides, I can't leave you alone. If he tries anything, either guilt-tripping or gaslighting you, I want to be there to stop him. You don't deserve any of that crap and it needs to stop now. It should have stopped a long time ago— but better late than never, I guess! Besides, you've never taken me to this place before! After missing the amusement park trip you all took, I really want to go!"

Y/n smiled, standing up and heading for the door. "Alright. Let's go, then. Don't want to keep them waiting."

~~~

"So, do you constantly dye your hair to be that blond?"

"Excuse me? What do you mean dye?! This is my natural hair color!"

Bill scrunched up his face, narrowing his eyes at the man who stole his passenger's seat and forced him to the backseat of the car. "I don't know... It looks pretty fake to me."

"Bill, quit messing with him," Y/n spoke up, looking through the rearview mirror just in time to see him cross his arms and pout like a child. They smiled fondly at the sight, knowing this sight all too well, before turning to see Claire smirk deviously back at Bill like they couldn't see his actions or something. "Oi, you too! Quit that right now before I shove you in the backseat also."

Claire stared at Y/n in shock. How dare they threaten such a thing to him? He looked so offended, but it didn't seem as though Y/n cared or maybe they purposefully were choosing to ignore him now. Either way, Claire looked pissed.

And Bill was soaking that all in. Soon this man would be out of the picture. Y/n finally figured out how toxic of a man he was and in just a matter of minutes they will be rid of him for good.

Bill really didn't like the guy, if that wasn't clear already.

Luckily Claire didn't live too far away from Destination: Funation so Bill didn't have to suffer in the car with this man for long. Eventually they arrived in the parking lot and Y/n stopped the car, turning it off and sighing.

"Okay... Bill, here's my card-"

"You're giving me the money?!" Bill exclaimed, his eyes widening as he quickly unbuckled his seatbelt so he could jump up and snatch it right out of their hand.

"I'm temporarily giving you my money. You're not keeping it, obviously. I want you to go inside and pay for our tickets. Claire and I will be in there in just a minute- So once you've paid for them, just stand off to the side and wait for us if we're not inside already. Okay?"

"Okay!" Bill understood what exactly was going on here. Y/n wanted their private talk with Claire immediately before any of the fun activities can begin. Which was fair. What better way to celebrate a break up than to spend a day with Bill Cipher as he destroys them in all the competitions they get to compete in today? Sounds like a great distraction from whatever unnecessary heartbreak they'll be feeling.

Claire did not deserve even a single teardrop. If it were Bill breaking up with him, he'd be jumping up and down with a smile on his face for all to see how much better he felt now that they were no longer together. Sadly it was not Bill breaking up with him. It was Y/n. For one reason or another, Y/n had seemed to actually care about the guy. It sucked to see them having given their whole heart to this jerk only to watch him tear it apart little-by-little. That was the sad truth about love though: it may feel good in the moment but it always ends with pain and tears. This was one of the many reasons why Bill would never be found falling in love. He had no interest in it.

Y/n did have an interest in experiencing love, however. And now that they were coming to the end of it, about to experience all the pain and sorrow, Bill planned to stick to their hip and make sure not a single traitorous tear fell from their eyes. Claire would not receive the satisfaction of witnessing that on his watch.

After waiting in line and purchasing two tickets at the counter because no way was Bill about to let Y/n waste anymore money on that fake blond, the demon stepped off to the side and waited for his human to step through those doors. He couldn't wait to see the look on Claire's face. He could only imagine how pissed this guy is going to be once Y/n is done with him. He seems like the type of guy that has never been broken up with before. Once this was over and they were home, Bill was going to prepare some tea and then proceed to spill it on the floor to initiate "gossip talk" on what went down in the car.

He could only assume that's what that saying meant whenever Jerome or Adrianna used it.

"Well hey there, Handsome. Fancy seeing you here~" a familiar voice suddenly spoke up over the sound of screaming children and arcade game music and sound effects.

Bill instinctively tensed up the slightest bit as he turned his head to see two very familiar people making their way over to him: Ruby and Matthias.

He had to hold back his gag reflex the moment his eyes landed on the strawberry-blonde. He honestly had hoped he could keep some distance away from her today because when it came down to the truth he really was still uncomfortable by her presence. But Y/n needed him here for them, so here he was.

Bill had no real opinion on Matthias yet. All he knew about him was that he was more interested in his phone than whatever was going on around him. He could only assume, though, he was just as awful of a person as Ruby and Claire were simply because he was friends with them. It only made logical sense in Bill's eyes.

"I assumed Claire was only bringing Y/n along," Ruby said once the two of them were close enough to have a conversation with Bill without having to scream at the top of their lungs.

'Too close,' Bill thought to himself, pressing up against the wall a bit more.

"He was. But Y/n had other plans, so here I am." Bill shrugged, fanning the tickets in his hands. "Hope that's not too much of a problem." Not that he cared if it was a problem for them or not.

Ruby chewed on her piece of bubblegum while looking him up and down with hungry eyes. He felt uncomfortable, like her eyes were undressing him and now he was vulnerable to her. If Y/n could hurry up with this break up, he would really appreciate it right about now.

"I don't mind at all~ You'll be way better company to have than that pig, L/n. I mean, no offense but your friend is-... well, honestly I don't know why you or Claire would waste your precious time with that piece of crap."

Bill wasn't sure what possessed him in that moment, but hearing Ruby say such things about Y/n stirred up something dark and sinister within the demon. If she had said these things about Y/n weeks ago when he had first arrived in town, he probably would have laughed and joined Ruby in making insults of his own towards his human roommate. Back then, he did not care for them other than the fact they provided him a home and food. They did not matter to him. They were a pawn in his game that he planned to use until their purpose was completed. Once they held up their end of the deal and found a way to break down the barrier that kept him trapped in this small town, there would be no other point in keeping them around. He planned to kill them off, slowly and painfully as punishment for believing they could control and tame someone as powerful and fearsome as himself. It seemed to be a reasonable plan at the time.

At the time.

Now things were different. Now plans have changed. Now his Candle mattered greatly to him for they were more than just another human for him to use and mess around with.

They were his friend.

A real friend.

They cared for him. They were by his side the moment he needed someone to cling to. They were patient with him, always waiting for him to give the "okay" before pulling him into a warm, comforting embrace while letting him know that everything would be alright. He never had someone like that in his life before— someone who stayed and cared for him even though they knew he was an infamous demon with a dark past. Even then when they knew he had done terrible things in his past, Y/n never pushed for him to explain what all he had done. Instead, all they do is smile and tell him that whenever he is ready to talk they will be there to listen. How Bill ended up with this human was beyond him, but he couldn't be more grateful that he did.

Bill kicked himself every morning and every night for having ever dared to think about ending this human's life. In his defense, he had been a completely different demon back then. He, himself, did not see this as a good excuse though. No one was to hurt Y/n, including himself.

To hear Ruby say these words about his Candle lit a fuse within him. He had not felt such rage since the Pines family had defeated him and destroyed his Weirdmageddon. Yes, somehow hearing such cruel words said about his human roommate caused him to become that pissed off.

"You want to talk about someone who's full of crap? Look in the mirror, sister," Bill hissed as he took a threatening step forward which caused Ruby to take an instinctual step backwards. Good. She's scared. As she should be. "Actually- No. You're done talking. You're going to shut up and you're going to listen to me."

Matthias finally glanced up from his phone, eyes widening as he looked over just in time to see the look of utter shock cross Ruby's face.

"No one talks about Y/n like that. Especially not in my presence. That is my friend you're talking about, someone who actually gives me hope that you humans aren't as pathetic and heartless as I originally thought you to be. But then here you go opening your mouth again and all hope is lost once more. You wanted to know why I waste my time with someone like them? Because they are worth wasting every second of every day over. They're a good person. Claire doesn't deserve to have them in his life. I don't deserve to have them in my life and yet somehow I got extremely lucky. After everything I've done, the universe gifted me with an absolute blessing. I don't deserve them, but since I have them I'm going to make sure nothing bad happens to blow out their light." Bill's tone was sinister, continuing to walk forward up until Ruby's back hit the wall behind her and he had her pinned with nowhere else to go. "You should feel really grateful right now. If it wasn't for where we were, I would probably be acting on the thousands of torture methods I thought up in the time it took you to say what you did about Y/n. Do you understand? The only thing keeping me from lashing out is the fact that there are kids present who do not need to witness such gruesome violence at a young age. If we were anywhere else though, I would be making you eat your words. Quite literally: I would rip out your tongue and force you to swallow it whole. How does that one saying go... oh right:"

Bill grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling her head back as he bent down to whisper in her ear, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. So you might as well keep that nasty mouth of yours shut tight and I better not hear another word come out of you for the rest of the time that I'm here."

The dream demon released her, taking a step back while readjusting his bowtie. He wasn't sure what compelled him to tell her off like that, but it felt good. It felt so good to go back to his roots for just a moment there and do what he does best. He didn't even have to look back at her to know she was very distraught. It amused him more to think she was probably caught very off guard after the only experience she had with him prior to this was when he froze up on her at the General Store. It was nice to have control back.

"Is everything okay over here?"

Bill looked over to see Y/n walking over to them. Oh good, the conversation was over! Claire was finally dumped!

"Candle!" Bill exclaimed, his mood instantly switching as he ran over to them and held up Y/n's card. "I got the tickets! Just like you asked!"

"Oh, good. Thanks, Bill." Y/n smiled, taking back their card and putting it inside their wallet before looking over the demon's shoulder to look towards the others. "Ruby? You okay? You look like you just saw a ghost."

"She's fine."

Bill's eyes widened. How did he say that without opening his mouth?

Because he didn't say it.

"She's having one of her moments where she's looking for attention. Ignore her."

It was Mattias who spoke up. Looking back, he saw Matthias' attention was back on his phone once again. Even though he had just witnessed Bill go off on his friend, Matthias was playing it off as though nothing happened and was even going as far as to lie to Y/n for him. Interesting. Maybe he wasn't so bad.

"Ah... Well, okay then," Y/n cleared their throat, thankfully speaking up before Ruby got the chance to argue— though shockingly enough, she seemed no longer in the mood to speak. Who knows why? Certainly not Bill and Matthias, that's for sure. "Claire just got in line to get his ticket so once he's done we can all head inside."

Bill jumped up and down, excited to finally get the chance to play laser tag and shoot people without it being illegal, drive go-karts over the speeding limit and without a driver's license, hit golf balls with the hope that one of them hits Claire in the back of the head-

"Wait, we're waiting on him?" Bill's excitement instantly died as he looked towards his human with a confused expression plastered on his face for all to see.

"Of course, why wouldn't we be?"

"Well- I mean, you two had your talk... right? Back in the car after I left to go buy our tickets?"

"Yes, we did. And everything is okay now! So let's just focus on having some fun today, okay?" Y/n smiled brightly before turning to face Ruby once more. "And just to get it out of the way now: I am truly sorry for my behavior lately. I don't know what's come over me but I promise it won't happen again. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me and we are able to move past this."

Bill's brain seemed to buffer in real time as he tried to make sense of what they had just said. Were they really apologizing to Ruby just now? For what? And why was Y/n so happy about spending the day with Claire when they just broke up?

They did break up, right?

Bill took a step back as Claire came over to join the group. He seemed too relaxed, a smile on his face as he began to talk to Matthias and Ruby about what they planned to go to first. He did not outwardly appear to be a man who just got dumped severely by someone who was done putting up with his crap. No, instead he looked way too confident in himself like everything was going great in his life.

What went down in the car in the time the demon had been separated from them?

"Alright, so it's agreed then. We'll do laser tag first."

"Agreed? You didn't even ask for mine or Y/n's opinion," Bill growled, crossing his arms and glaring at the blond.

Claire turned back to look at the demon, looking him up and down with a look of annoyance. "Okay? It doesn't really matter, it's three against two anyways so I think we'll just go with the majority vote here. If you're really going to whine about this, then we'll let you pick the next thing we do. Is that alright with you or are we going to have a problem here?"

Before Bill could even retaliate, Y/n moved to stand in front of him with a smile spread wide across their face. "Nope! No problem here– let's go before the line for laser tag gets too long!"

Claire smirked, readjusting his bag so it was no longer slipping down his arm before wrapping an arm around Y/n to pull them close and away from Bill. He looked too cocky for his own good, like he knew something that the demon didn't. Bill hated that, the rage from before with Ruby burning within him once more. But he couldn't act on his rage this time, not with Y/n right there to witness him blow up. He'd hate himself more than he does Claire if he were to make Y/n upset. This was meant to be a good day– no, a great day for them to hangout and have some fun. He wasn't sure why Claire was still hanging about but he would figure this out. Maybe the snake had some sort of leverage on Y/n, blackmailing them to stay in the relationship. If he could figure out what exactly Claire was blackmailing them with, then he could easily take care of this whole situation and end it. Claire would be out of the picture and things would be great again.

It would be just the two of them, Y/n and Bill.

The demon couldn't help but to smile at the thought of that. But the only way that was going to happen is if he could figure out what he missed back in the car. What Bill needed to do was to get Y/n alone and talk with them. He could wait until this little "hangout" of theirs was over, but Bill was a very impatient demon who did not like watching Claire practically walk all over them like a doormat. It wasn't right to treat someone as nice and as kind as them this way.

So once they got into laser tag, Bill made sure he was placed on Y/n's team. There really wasn't much of a fight there as Claire was apparently very adamant about being on the team opposite of his partner. He claimed it would be more fun if the two were on opposing teams to make this a competition between the two rather than working together and sharing the points. This was fine, Bill wasn't complaining in the slightest. Claire could stay with his possy and be as far away from his Candle as possible. The more distance there was between the two, the better.

Bill put on his blue vest, taking the gun and looking it over curiously. He then lifted it up and closed one eye, aiming it directly at the back of Claire's head while he was too distracted putting his red vest on to notice.

If only it was real—

"Hey, Bill, could you help me clip the vest in the back?"

Snapping out of his dark thoughts, Bill lowered the gun to face his Candle with a bright smile. "Of course!"

Once the teams had all the proper equipment needed to play, they were then led into the arena and given two minutes to spread out and hide before the game would officially begin. Each team had ten players, both teams having a good mix of adults and kids alike so it wasn't just the five of them playing. As much fun as it probably would have been to experience playing laser tag for the very first time, Bill was too concerned with the problem at hand to even focus on the game. Instead, Bill grabbed Y/n's hand and led them towards the very back corner of the arena where the two of them could duck down and hide. With eight of their teammates still upfront, Bill doubted any of the red players would make it back here for a while. It was the perfect time to talk with Y/n and hopefully help them get out of this toxic mess that they are trapped in.

"Huh, and here I thought you would have wanted to be upfront playing offense trying to take everyone out on your own. How come we're hiding back here?" Y/n asked, crouching beside the demon with their eyes scanning the surrounding area looking for any members of the red team who might try to pull a sneak attack on them.

"As much as I would love to rub it in Claire's ugly face how much better I am at this game than he is by coming out on top, I really wanted to just... talk with you."

Y/n's eyes widened before frowning and immediately slapping his arm. "Woah- Hey, that's my boyfriend you're calling ugly. Could you maybe not say that? It's extremely rude and Claire wouldn't be happy if he heard you just now."

Bill paused, looking down at his arm and then back up at the human. It didn't hurt. No, it didn't hurt at all— he was fine. But something about their touch just now was... cold. The two of them had playfully slapped one another in the past, but that didn't feel playful just now. They probably didn't mean it. Of course, Y/n would never hurt him. They promised they wouldn't hurt him and he trusted them.

"Who cares what he thinks? It's my opinion and I have a right to think that way about him, especially after everything he has been putting you through lately," Bill argued, sitting down with his back pressed up against the barrier they were currently hiding behind. "And why are you still calling him your "boyfriend" anyways? I thought you were going to end it. Don't tell me he made some crappy promise that he would change for you and you actually believed him. It's a load of BS and you know it!"

Y/n's eyes narrowed before shaking their head rapidly. "What are you talking about? End it? Why would I end our relationship?"

"Because he's a walking red flag who has been gaslighting you into doing everything he wants?" Bill frowned, finding Y/n's behavior to be a bit strange. "You literally said all of this right before we left to go pick him up. That's why you wanted me to go buy the tickets without you so you could break up with him, or "fix things", in private. But let's be honest with ourselves here: you can't fix something that is already damaged beyond repair. It's only going to hurt you more in the end so if you ask me, you need to let him go. He is not good for you and you can do way better than that walking piece of toxic waste."

There was a pause, the human staring at the dream demon in complete silence.

Then Y/n groaned, falling back so they were now sitting down with their hands running through their hair.

"This is an intervention... That's what's going on here. Of course. Did Jerome or Ollie put you up to this?"

"What?"

"Look, I don't know what they told you, but this really needs to stop. I know they care about my well-being, and sure Claire has had a bit of a... bad past with previous relationships, but he's changed since then. You guys don't have to worry about me, I'm fine! I'm happy with Claire and there is nothing wrong with our relationship. I appreciate you all caring so much about me, but please: stay out of my love life."

"...You're joking," Bill said so bluntly, staring at Y/n in utter disbelief. He was waiting for the punchline, waiting for them to confess their words to be a joke. The longer he waited for them to say something, however, the sooner he realized that they were indeed not joking. "You're not- You have got to be kidding me, I can't believe what I'm hearing."

"Really? Is it so wrong to ask you to give me some privacy?"

"No– Candle, you really don't remember?! It wasn't more than an hour ago, two at most, that we talked about this! Jerome and Ollie didn't bring this up to me, YOU did!"

Y/n frowned, shaking their head as they looked to be getting more and more frustrated with the demon. "I don't know what you're talking about. I would never say that about Claire! I love him, he's a great guy who does right by me."

"He is a literal demon in disguise. Trust me on that, considering I am one," Bill growled, not making any sense of what was going on here.

One minute, Candle is ready to come to their senses and admit that they are in a bad relationship with this snake.

The next minute, they're defending and proclaiming their love for the guy.

"Did you hit your head, or something, in the few minutes I was away from you? What on earth went down in the car while I was away?!"

"What do you think "went down"? Look, I know Claire and I haven't been on the best of terms recently but we figured it all out. I was being too selfish and stubborn for my own good and I apologized for how I have been acting out recently. He's right, I've changed for the worse and now I'm just trying to make it up to him by doing what he wants. Is that so wrong?"

They couldn't be serious. That rage was fueling inside Bill all over again. This wasn't right, none of this was right in the slightest.

"YES! It IS wrong! Candle, you didn't do anything wrong! Did he manipulate you into believing this? Is he blackmailing you? He's not here right now, you can talk to me! Or if you don't feel comfortable doing that, blink twice and I swear I'll make him wish he was never born. I'll do it, I swear."

"Oh my gosh," Y/n quickly moved to stand up as they stared down at Bill with this look of pure disgust. "I don't know what's come over you, but this is messed up. Even for you. There is nothing wrong between Claire and I, I'm staying with him because I'm happy and in love with him! Why can't any of you see that and just be happy for me?"

"Candle—!"

"We can talk later. I'm going to go play and have some fun. Either join us or don't, I don't care." Their tone was so sour with him now. So cold. It sent chills down Bill's spine in the most uncomfortable way possible.

This was not the Y/n he remembered speaking to this morning.

Bill did not feel like getting up to go play with the rest of the humans after this. There was too much going on in his head, too many questions that he did not have answers to. He sat down, hiding behind his barrier throughout the remainder of the game. No one ever came around to this corner of the room so he was safe to not be disturbed. He could be alone, fidgeting with his bowtie while looking down at where Y/n had slapped him.

'They didn't mean to hurt me. They wouldn't hurt me. They promised me they would never hurt me.'

If that was the case, then why did he feel as though he was in so much pain?

Eventually the game finally came to an end. Bill got up from his hiding place and made his way back to the room where they had first retrieved their guns and vests so they could now remove these items and place them back on their proper hooks. Bill looked around, surprised that he couldn't find Y/n or the other three in the room by the time he entered. He was the last one out of the game, so it was possible they already headed out. Maybe they were waiting by the scoreboard, watching Claire brag about how many points he got. Bill exited the room as quickly as he could to go and find his party, but as he turned the corner and made his way over to where the scoreboard was he found that there was nobody there.

They all left him behind.

He expected as much to come from Claire, Ruby, and Matthias.

But... Y/n?

His Candle left him?

Bill's eyes darted back and forth, beginning to realize just how crowded this place was. So many people. So many strangers. He just wanted to find Y/n, but how could he with so many people walking around blocking his vision? He didn't even know the area that well so he had no idea where exactly he was going when he started walking around in search of the ones who abandoned him.

He ended up stumbling upon the area where all the arcade games were, the loudest area in the entire facility. And just when he thought it was crowded before, he realized he couldn't even take a step without someone running or bumping into him. Bill didn't like this in the slightest, too much physical contact was being made without him saying that it was okay. He tried continuing forward, seeing as this was the closest thing to the laser tag area so hopefully they were around here somewhere. The sooner he could find Y/n, the sooner they could leave.

"Candle?"

Shove.

"Candle?!"

Bump.

"Y/N?!"

Ram.

Bill was shoved to the ground by some teenager running at such a fast speed that they weren't even watching where they were going. They apparently never noticed they ran into Bill, either, considering they just ran off while leaving him on the ground.

This place was supposed to be fun? This wasn't fun, this was torture. He really did want to have fun playing laser tag and riding go-karts— but he was having such an awful experience that he just wanted to go home now. He wasn't sure how or in what way, but Bill really wanted to put the blame on Claire for this terrible experience.

Bill pressed his hands against the ground, trying to push himself off the ground— which had to be the biggest mistake he could have made as another teenager running by failed to notice him once more and ended up stepping on his hand and crushing it with their weight.

Bill screamed at the top of his lungs, that scream turning into a low growl as he shot his head up and glared at the one responsible.

"Woah, dude, you alright? Look, man, I'm really sorry about that. Ya really shouldn't be on the floor in a place like this—"

The teenager was cut off the moment his windpipes were crushed by the hand of a dream demon. The teen gasped for air, clawing at the pale hand that continued to tighten its grip around their throat.

Bill's eyes narrowed, glaring at the kid with such rage— and the smallest hint of fear. But the demon wouldn't let that fear show, not now, even if he was freaking out to the point he thought he would fall apart. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know all of these strangers who were looking to cause him harm with every touch they gave to him. All Bill wanted was to find his Candle, that was it. But they left him. They hurt him and then left him behind. Why? Why did they do that?

Claire Wolffee.

His fault. This was all his fault.

"A— Air— I ne— eed—" the teen attempted to mutter.

Bill shook his head. Everything was too loud. It was all too much.

Where was Candle?

Where was Y/n?

"Le— Le— g— go—"

It was all too much.

"SHUT UP!" Bill Cipher finally screamed.

And just like that, everything stopped.

Quite literally.

It was at that moment that all the lights went out. The arcade games, laser tag arena, go-kart section— in an instant, everything had powered off. Screams came from every direction, causing Bill to quickly release the teen and cover his ears. By some miracle, the random teenager did not die. They collapsed to the floor beside the demon, rubbing their throat and coughing hysterically. Bill did not notice this. He did not care. Everyone was screaming and now it was dark so he couldn't see. He wasn't even sure what happened just then. Were they experiencing a really bad power outage?

It didn't matter. Bill didn't care. He was done for today and all he wanted to do was go home, with or without his human roommate.

Bill followed the crowd, heading for the exit and bursting through the doors to run out into the parking lot. He ran towards the human's car, trying to avoid running into people along the way. He would appreciate it if no one touched him for the rest of the day. Maybe even for the rest of the week. It was all too much and he hated it. He hated it so much. Once he got to the human's vehicle, he tried to open the door to the passenger's seat. His seat. Not Claire's. It wouldn't budge, however. No matter how hard he tried to pull on the handle, the door refused to open for him. They locked the car?

"No, no, no, no, no—" Bill kept pulling the handle, trying again and again to be allowed inside. He had to get inside, get away from here. He needed to be anywhere but here.

"Please— Please, please, please— Let me in. Please, let me in! I need to go! I can't be here!"

"Cipher?"

Bill froze, his hand still on the car door handle as he slowly turned around to see who it was speaking to him.

"Y/n?"

The human before him waved, smiling softly. "That's my name, don't wear it out."

Bill was relieved to finally see them, but that relief slowly turned to anger as he remembered how they left him behind back there. "Where did you go? You just left me! I don't know this place as well as you do— How did you expect me to find you?!"

"Left you behind?" Their smile faded, disappearing to be replaced with a frown. "Bill, what are you talking about? Claire said you were having trouble getting your equipment off after laser tag and that you'd meet us over at the go-karts whenever you were done. He said he told you where to go and everything. We never left you behind, we were waiting for you to join us."

Bill's right eye twitched. He was so sick of hearing that name at this point.

"I want to go home."

"What?"

"The power is out here which means this little "hangout" is over. I want to go back home now." Bill's fists clenched at his sides, trying not to explode on them. He just wanted to leave with them and end this nightmare of a day already.

"I don't think so~"

Bill quickly looked past Y/n, seeing Claire and his henchmen walking over with a grin on his face. The demon stepped back, hissing as he watched this man wrap an arm around his friend.

"Babe, didn't we agree that you were going to talk to him about ending this little "roommate" situation you two have going on?"

"ENDING?!" Bill screamed, his calm composure quickly breaking the moment this fake blond chose to open his mouth and start saying crap. "We're not ending anything, alright?! Candle and I have an agreement! As long as I'm here, I get to stay under their roof and get to eat their food. If you don't like it, you can piss off because it's none of your business! We're not breaking this deal just because you're a manipulative, controlling, piece of crap kind of guy who doesn't like the fact Y/n has other friends that they're close to and that those friends can see right past your disguise you think you're pulling off so well!"

Bill looked back at Y/n, gesturing towards Claire in an obvious manner. "Tell him. Tell him you're not breaking the deal. Put him in his place and tell him that I'm sticking around."

The demon expected almost an immediate response. Why would there be any hesitation for this? There shouldn't be. They made the deal and Y/n swore they would keep their end of it until the day he could finally leave. So why weren't they telling Claire off? Why were they biting their bottom lip and avoiding his gaze?

No...

No, they weren't actually agreeing with Claire...

"The deal was that I provide for you food and shelter... I never said it had to be at my place."

Bill didn't want to believe what he was hearing.

This was wrong— This was all WRONG!

It was all happening again. The loopholes, the breaking of promises. Just like the Pines family. Y/n was no different from Ford, Stan, Dipper, or Mabel. He thought he could trust them. He really thought he had found a friend in them, one that he could rely on.

But then this walking Biohazard came along and screwed up everything.

Bill snapped, lunging at Claire and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and lifting him up off of the ground.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?! YOU DID THIS! YOU SCREWED EVERYTHING UP! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

No matter how mad Bill was, he wanted to keep his end of the deal. He would not hurt anyone in this town, not even Biohazard. He was hoping to at least scare the guy, though, and allow some of his anger to be released on him. Maybe he could confess that he did do something to them. Why else would Y/n's mood quickly change from being all for breaking up with him to suddenly being in love with Claire all over again?

Claire was quickly released, however, as something hard made impact with the side of Bill's face, causing him to stumble back and let out a cry.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, BILL?! THAT'S MY BOYFRIEND! YOU CAN'T—"

Y/n's words got caught in their throat, watching as Bill slowly lifted his head up and stared at them with complete fear in his eyes while cradling the side of his face.

Hesitantly, the human looked down at their hand— no, their fist. The fist they just used to cause physical pain to the demon. Something they swore they would never do. They promised. They promised him that they were safe and would only care for him.

"Bill—"

"Liar," Bill hissed under his breath.

The dream demon stood up straight, releasing his face. He trusted them. How stupid could he be? He let his guard down for a second. A second was all this human needed to quickly switch and become just like everyone else who had ever entered his life.

Bill turned around and walked off— No, he ran. He refused to stay a second longer in their presence. He understood now what they truly thought of him.

They wanted to kick him out of the house? Fine. He didn't want to return to the home of a liar anyhow.

~

This was not how this day was supposed to end.

The day had started off so great.

Why did things have to end this way?

~

A doorbell rang.

Rapid knocking quickly followed.

The door slowly opened up.

A demon stood, his cheek bruised black and blue.

"I— I didn't know who else I could trust."

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~End Season 1~

A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for those who have stuck around long enough to make it to this point! As I've warned, a hiatus was coming and now that "Season 1" has ended, it is time for me to take a break!

I am currently in my last semester at college and need to focus on my senior project meaning I won't have time to write chapters for this book. Does this mean the hiatus probably won't end until summer picks up again? Quite possibly. But don't fret: content will still be rolling in at random! You guys submitted your questions and ideas so I will be posting quick oneshots in this book from time-to-time until "Season 2" begins.

I just want to say thank you again. It really means a lot that you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am. Don't forget to leave your questions, thoughts, and theories in the comments! I love reading them.

Until next time!