Y/N's POV

The only tree you can trust to not change during the change in seasons is a pine tree. Though it is Fall and the leaves have changed their colors and have fallen to create an autumn pathway to follow, it is the pine trees that continue to be a vibrant green and stay strong until their time has come. You can always count on them to not change while everything around them is.

My shoes crunched over leaves consisting of the colors orange, yellow, red, and brown. It was as though I was walking on an autumn bridge leading me right towards the golden demon I wished to speak to. The bright, golden sun shown through the trees and created spots of light on the ground while the rest was covered in shadows. It gave the aura of something magical, something out of a fairytale. It was new, different, it felt as though this town still had a few tricks up its sleeve for me to discover.

Coming to the end of the path with ashes and small flames covering it I stopped by the river, looking around to see where my demonic boyfriend was. I watch as a leaf falls gracefully into the flowing water making me look up to find the blond sitting in the tree with his eyes closed and earbuds in. With the cool air and wind picking up I wasn't surprised to find him in a yellow sweater with bricked patterns sewed into the bottom, a pair of blue jeans, and brown hiking boots.

His golden hair was a mess and ended up covering both his eyes it seemed. He didn't seem calm in his sleep but instead tense. I frowned as I looked up at him; his music was blasting loudly and I could hear that he was listening to Monster by Imagine Dragons and hearing that song play didn't make me feel any better of what happened last night. Coming out of my thoughts I begin to climb the tree, trying to find sturdy branches to keep myself from falling. One branch, however, couldn't hold my full weight once putting my second foot on it and it snapped. My right hand slipped off the branch it had been holding and now I was gripping on by one hand.

I tried to pull myself up with the little upper body strength I had so my right hand could latch onto the branch. Once both hands were hooked, I tried to pull the rest of my body up while in the process scratching myself with the bark of the tree. While I attempted to do this, my eyes looked up to be met with a golden eye staring down at me. He didn't say anything, his music continued to blast and his facial expression showed disappointment. Maybe this was a bad idea, maybe he didn't want to talk to me just yet after what I did. I try to lower myself to the closest branch below me until I felt a cold hand clutch onto my warm one to stop me from moving.

I look up as Bill lifts his other hand so a golden aura surrounds me, lifting me into the air and placing me beside him on the same branch, his back resting against the tree as he just looked at me. Silence fell, we didn't say anything but continued to look at one another as if we wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. A breeze picked up as a few more leaves of many different colors fell to land in the stream and be carried off by the current. I watched this and sighed, I gotta say something to him.

Just...what do I say?

"B-Bill, about last night..." I started as I glanced over at him to watch as he took an earbud out. Taking a deep breath, I continued, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry, okay? Look, I now know and see that you were only trying to protect me but from the way I saw it I was just being held back, letting everyone get their hands dirty while I did nothing when all of this is because I had the dream. I was going insane not being able to do anything and...I broke.

"I made Dipper take the bracelet off so no matter what he says I was the idiot. I was the one wishing for freedom. Katie, Dipper, all of them who went last night is innocent to the decision I made for myself. If I had not gone I wouldn't have gotten hurt, I wouldn't have upset two spirits, I wouldn't have upset you. You were afraid I would've gotten hurt but I was too idiotic and stupid to care. Alright? I was the idiot, the child in this problem and if me admitting to that makes you forgive me-"

"S-Star, wait, calm down." Bill said quickly as he sat up and placed a hand on my cheek. He gently rubbed his thumb below my eye as he wiped a tear I was clueless to knowing existed until now. He stared at me as he continued to hold my face. His jaw tightened as he tried to figure out what to say to me...if anything at all.

"Y/n...I'm...I'm not mad at you." he started as I let out a slight laugh. "Liar..." I scoffed while looking back down at the stream. He moved his hand to my chin and made me face him once more. "I'm not lying to you. I'm more mad at myself than I am at you. I shouldn't have lashed out on you like I did; I had been so afraid when I came home and didn't see you...but when I finally saw you were okay all I ended up doing was scream at you and say I didn't care if you died. It's not true, you mean everything to me and you're all that I have left to care for. I couldn't live with myself if I let you die!"

Bill lowered his hand and looked down in disappointment, now noticing that the one he has been disappointed in is himself. I stayed silent as I pulled my knees up to my chest and looked down at the stream. "I just wanted to protect you...there are plenty of other ways I could've done that though." he mumbled as he ripped a leaf off the branch and made it fall with the rest. I looked up at him with my eyes watering, he glanced over at me at a lost for words as I am in the same boat as him.

"C-Can..." I start but stop immediately, trying make the words that I want to say come out without my voice sounding as the though I'm in pain. He stays silent and waits for me to finish my thought. "Can we j-just...agree to disagree th-that we both m-messed up? I shouldn't have been so childish over you wanting my safety..." Bill doesn't do anything right away but after a moment he nods his head. "I can agree with that, but you were only wanting your freedom that I took from you. I shouldn't have done that to begin with."

"Like I said, we both messed up..." I sighed while hugging my knees tighter. The birds above us began to fill the forest with noise as though it were the forest's song trying to keep that silence between us from occurring. The wind blew and whistled against my ear as I listened to the sounds of nature. I looked down immediately as I found a cold finger barely touching my hand as though it wanted to inch closer and clutch onto it.

Slowly, inch-by-inch, I moved my index finger until it wrapped around his; my finger bringing warmth to his frozen one. "Are we gonna be okay?" Bill whispered under his breath as he stared down at me. I rested my head on his shoulder as he moved the rest of his hand to hold onto mine. The leaves continued to fall once again as two leaves linked by one stem landed in my lap, one of them being a golden yellow while the other one was a scarlet red. I picked it up gently and examined the two leaves carefully, both leaves being different in size and color yet in the end connected as one.

"I hope so, I want us to be." I said, looking up at him with desperate eyes. He slightly smiled down at me which quickly faded; he pressed his lips softly on my forehead while closing his singular golden eye. I didn't move but instead continued to rest my head on him while clutching his hand tighter.

"I will always love you, my little Star. No matter what happens between us...we'll find a way to fix it. If you want your freedom then I'll give it to you, you don't have to wear the bracelet no longer but that doesn't mean I won't find another way to protect you."

"And maybe...we could come to a conclusion together on how you'll be doing that?" I asked quietly as I felt him nod against my head.

"We can decide together, that's what I should've let us done in the first place." I squeezed his hand before lifting my head. "We learn from our mistakes, Bill." I said while shrugging, "We tried, we failed, and now we can move on and learn from it."

Bill gives a kind smile as he moves his hand from mine and wraps both of his arms around me, squeezing me in a tight but loving embrace. I found myself smiling as I wiped my eyes to dry them before laying my head on his chest, listening to the beating of his heart. Everything just seems quiet now, a peaceful quiet as the both of us listened to the sounds of the forest. Bill's heart beat was almost like the rhythm of a lullaby and it was trying to draw me ever so slightly into the world of dreams. My eyes began to flutter shut as I kept still and listened to the beating but sleep would not welcome me yet.

My head stirred slightly as I felt the golden demon shift himself to lay his back once more on the tree and for my body to lay across his more comfortably than before with both of his arms wrapped tightly around me. I felt my head slightly rise as he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing his eyes to try and find peace. I peeked my eyes open and just stared at him as I watched him rest with less tenseness in his form. "Bill...?" I whispered as I waited for a response, a sign to tell me he was still awake.

I heard him hum as he raised his eyebrows indicating he was listening. "L-L oryh brx..." I said under my breath as his grip tightened slightly but then relaxed. "I love you too, my precious little Star." Bill said gently as he began to stroke my hair. His slight tension he gave seemed off as though something was still wrong and he was keeping it bottled up for himself.

"Everything's going to be okay now...right? We're gonna work this out, we'll find the demon and I'll be safe and once all of this is finished everything can and will go back to normal..." I assured as I continued to stare up at his still position. His head nodded slightly as though he were hesitant to agree with me; I frowned at this before lowering my head once more on his chest and closing my eyes. Was it not that easy to believe that everything would be okay now? We know that we messed up and now we need to just move on from it and talk to one another before letting it happen again...

Unless...something else might be bothering him...but what?

"Don't you want to know the truth? Know the real Bill Cipher that he hides from you?" the man's voice rang in my head as I clutched onto Bill's shirt slightly. No, I have to believe in my golden demon, respect that his past is wished to be left undealt with. Except...what if it's his pass that is bothering him now...that makes him feel as though I'm all he has left and needs to be kept out of harm's way?

I should just ignore the voice, stay home tonight and try to make amends between Bill and I as things don't feel as though they could be settled that easily. We just need to learn to trust one another again...yet how can you trust someone who lies to you and continues to keep secrets? Ugh, I feel as though I am divided between trusting Bill or not. I should trust him, respect his privacy...yet something is drawing me towards that garden to learn more of the truth from the man of mystery. A man I should not trust but instead I decide to ignore the caution and warning my mind tries to give me.

I shiver slightly as a stronger breeze blows pass making the tree we're laying on sway back and forth. By instinct I clutch onto Bill as I remember how high up we are exactly and how one slip off this branch could be tragic. The golden demon rubs my back as he opens his eye to stare down at me. "You're alright, I won't let you fall." he whispers softly as I smile up at him.

My body reacts with a shiver once more to the cold wind passing through; Bill sits up making me move as well to look up at him curiously for his action to leave the comfortable position we were in. He takes his yellow sweater off, revealing a black t-shirt underneath, before handing it to me as realization strikes my mind making me refuse to take hold of it. "Bill, I'm fine, I don't nee-"

"Take it, I'm not putting it back on so why waste the warmth when you could have it?" he speaks as he nudges the sweater closer to me. I pout in defeat as I grab the piece of clothing and put it over my head, finding the sweater much bigger than myself. Bill's smile widened as he placed a hand to my cheek and caresses it with his thumb. I know something is bothering him but he's going to try and act as though there is nothing wrong and keep it to himself till either it works itself out or he decides to live with the problem bottled up in him.

"How about we head home, you'll catch a cold if you're out here any longer." Bill stated as he brushed some of my hair out of my face.

"Could we...make some apple cider with caramel mixed in and just enjoy a peaceful day cuddled on the couch not having to worry or stress about anything?" I suggested as he lifts my hand and presses his lips against it. My cheeks warm up slightly by his action as he stared down at me with his golden, cat-like eye. "I think...a day without stress is exactly what we need right now."

Bill picked me up bridal style before lifting himself and I off the branch and began gliding through the air to get back to the Mystery Shack. I buried my head in his chest to block the wind and bugs from hitting my face as he chuckled lightly while stroking my hair that the wind was trying to tangle into countless of knots. I glance down at the trees below us now as I become mesmerized by their vibrant, peaceful Fall colors. No matter how hard one tries to stop it from occurring, Change is always approaching and he plans to make things become more difficult for you and I. All I'm hoping for is that Change doesn't decide to mess things up between Bill and I that much...