M'kay m'kay I finally finished this chapter. Took me long enough, huh?

The night ended too quickly for the twins, and it seemed like only minutes had passed when the last car pulled out of the driveway. Despite the cold and it being 5 in the morning, Dipper stayed outside and helped clean up anything left over (which wasn't much; the two had given a majority of the party supplies away as gifts for coming).

"Didja have fun, bro-bro?" Mabel asked happily, as if staying up for almost forty-eight hours straight didn't affect her. "You were dancing out there, so you must've."

"The party was great, Mabel," Dipper smiled tiredly, but meant it. "Even the dancing part."

The brunette giggled. "Ooh, yes, the dancing part!" she dropped a large piece of cardboard in a trash can. "I saw you dancing with the new guy..."

"Mabel, please-"

"C'mon, admit it!" Mabel squealed, twirling around. "I rubbed off on you!"

Dipper rubbed his temples, and groaned. "Just because I danced with a guy doesn't mean I like him." Or does it?

Mabel clapped her hands together and a dreamy look crossed her face. "Then why were you dancing with him in the first place?"

"Well," Dipper started. "He scared me, and I almost fell into a garbage can, but then he caught me, and-"

"Ohmygosh you fell for him!" the brunette squealed, dancing in circles around her brother. "Dipper, do you know what this means?"

The man groaned. "Mabel-"

"You've got a crush!"

•

Later that day, about five, he was awake on the couch, staring at the ceiling. What the heck are feelings, anyway? And how can I have them for someone I just met? But I guess that's what happened with Wendy all those years ago... he sighed and rolled over to face the TV. Speaking of which, what even happened? Dipper sat up, his eyebrows pushed together in concentration. Why can't I remember anything? "Why can't I?" he whispered to himself. Everything seems so familiar; that must mean something... the Journal!

He jumped up quickly and bolted up stairs, nearly hitting his toes on all the steps. Once in the attic, he slid to the ground and sorted through the mess of his bed, grabbing the aged book when it was revealed. Without a second thought, he opened the Journal and started to re-read. As before, everything seemed overly familiar, and he didn't know why, and it was seriously beginning to tick off the man. He also noticed that several pages were ripped out, too, adding onto his anger and frustration.

Then, at the end of the Journal, a few pages parted and revealed several lines in a different handwriting than the rest:

Finally back safe and sound from one of the weirdest days in Gravity Falls.

This Journal told me that there was no one in Gravity Falls I could trust, but when you battle a hundred gnomes side-by-side with someone, you realize that they've probably always got your back.

Our uncle told us there was nothing strange about this town, but who knows what other secrets are waiting to be unlocked?

"This handwriting," Dipper murmured aloud, grabbing a piece of scratch paper. "I know this handwriting!" he quickly wrote out a sentence on the paper, the one about trusting no one, and compared it to the handwriting in the Journal.

It was almost a perfect match.

"What happened?" the brunet's eyes flicked between the Journal and the words on the scrap paper. "I definitely don't remember anything about gnomes- and why gnomes? And secrets? Sure this town is weird, but... gnomes?" With a sigh, he pushed the book away, a headache throbbing dully behind his eyes. "It has to be a coincidence. I didn't do anything this weird when I was a kid."

He couldn't help but question himself.

A few more minutes passed by in complete silence, and Dipper desperately tried to pull back memories from his preteen years, but to no avail. Every time he grasped a memory, it slipped through his fingers like water, leaving him empty.

Until he looked across the room at his sister's neon yellow sweater.

It kinda looks like Bill's hair, the man blushed and quickly put that thought away. But it looks like something else, too...

"Hey, Dip!" Mabel shouted, slamming the door open. Apparently the party, in her mind at least, was still going; her outfit from the night before had yet to change.

His sister's dramatic entrance caused the man to nearly throw the Journal across the room. "Mabel! At least knock before you come in!"

Mabel giggled. "Saw-ree, I didn't know you were studying," then she motioned toward the aged book in Dipper's lap, tilting her head. "What's that?"

Suddenly nervous, the brunet flicked his gaze away and back, slapping the Journal shut. "Mythological studies. You know?"

"Mmhm," the brunette nodded, a large and mischevious smile spreading on her face. "So, I was playing match-maker-"

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Tell me something new."

"And," hands on her hips, the woman continued after shooting a sly glance at her brother. "I got you a date."

"You did what?!" the young man dropped he aged book on his bed, standing up. "Why would you do that?!" pacing around the room, Dipper ran his hands through his hair, muttering something under his breath.

Completely ignoring her brother's non-verbal complaint, the brunette answered. "At the party, you were dancing with the new guy-"

"Seriously?" Dipper groaned, returning to his bed and flopping down. "I was making it up to him, okay? Nothing more."

"Dipper," Mabel dragged the name out. "You may deny it, but you didn't see how you were smiling. Or how much you seemed to be enjoying yourself. Just... give it a chance, okay? For me?"

Groaning, the brunet covered his bright red face with his hands. "If you promise never to set up a date for me again."

"Promise." she held up both hands, and when her brother still gave her a skeptical look, she popped off her shoes and wiggled her toes. "See? When are you going to be more trusting?"

"When you stop setting up random dates for me," Dipper grabbed a pillow from his bed and covered his face with it, muffling his words. "Speaking of which-"

"No, I'm not going to interfere with this one," Mabel cut her brother off, opening the door. "Now hurry up and get some different clothes on. You leave in an hour!"

"What?!" the brunet exclaimed, abrubtly sitting up, but his sister had already left the room.

Well, crap.

•

Dipper wasn't amused, nor was he out to impress anyone. Completely over the whole party thing, the brunet pulled on the second outfit his sister had insisted he wear: a dull orange t-shirt and jeans. As he was leaving, a piece of blue fabric caught his attention, and he quickly investigated. Worn and slightly dusty, a blue and white cap almost stared back at him, and Dipper was drawn to the small pine tree stitched into the front of the old cap. Something about it sparked more memories, so he grabbed the hat and ducked out the front door.

He had already argued his sister into letting him driving himself to this "date," terrified in part that Mabel's driving could get them killed, and he did not want to die with all these emotions running rampant. Heck, he didn't want the emotions, either.

As he was driving toward the destination Mabel had programmed into her car's GPS, Dipper once again tried to retrive a memory or two, but the only thing he got was a slight headache. Cursing his inability to remember, he turned down a road that led into a deeper part of the forest, checking the GPS to make sure he was going the right direction. Why do I even care? Dipper suddenly thought, then also cursed his inability to let people down. Stupid, stupid, stupid emotions!

Jumping at the GPS's voice, the young man braked harshly and jerked forward with the car. It had said this destination was only a quarter mile from here, and Dipper decided it would probably be best to walk the rest of the way, not only because the dirt road ended here. Shakily, he exited Mabel's car, locked it, and began walking down the thin path through the woods.

Okay, Mabel, why'd you pick such a creepy place? he thought, inspecting the dark trees that surrounded him. I must've been somewhere around seven at night, about the time where the stars came out. Despite the deathly aura his surroundings gave off, the young man wasn't afraid of the woods. Still shaking, Dipper adjusted the old hat he'd found and placed it over the messy brown hair he had failed to tame. Kinda like a scene in a horror book...

That thought was taken back when he broke the treeline.

A large meadow sprawled out in the break of trees, the pines surrounding seeming less and less intimidating by the second. Soft and light green, the grass was almost like what you would see in a fairytale, and every two feet or so, a different type of flower had sprouted, dotting the clearing with color. Everything was tinged a light shade of blue, which confused the man until he noticed the thousands and thousands of lightning bugs hovering a foot or so above his head. Dipper couldn't help but be caught in the wonder of it all, how unrealistic it was, as he walked toward the center of the clearing, eyes focused on the sky. Stars and lightning bugs mingled, and as a bug neared the young man, he reached out to catch it.

Before his hands could close around the bug, a different pair of hands reached around Dipper and grabbed his wrists, pulling him away from the blue creature. A suprised squeak escaped the brunet, and a familiar chuckle came from behind him.

"I don't think you want to do that," Bill said quietly, and Dipper relaxed somewhat. "Unless, of course, you want second degree burns all over your hands."

"What?" the younger man asked softly, unsure what he was feeling about the blond's touch.

Bill laughed again, removing his hands from Dipper's wrists. "They're literal fireflies. Just another amazingly weird thing about Gravity Falls, huh?"

Completely amazed and somewhat befuddled, the brunet turned around to face the man behind him. "What else is there?"

"Oh, lots of things," that sentence sent a slight chill of fear up Dipper's spine, but he refused to act on it. "This town is full of the supernatural. Pretty much any creature along that line you can think of lives somewhere in that forest."

"Like... gnomes?"

This time the blond full out laughed, and despite the odd feeling of stupidity, Dipper wanted to laugh too. Something about the way he acted, how he was just so outgoing, made the brunet feel... safe, for lack of better wording.

"Yes, gnomes." Bill finally answered, looking directly into the younger man's eyes. "Just don't touch them, either. Those midgets are a force to be reckoned with!"

A smile hesitantly spread wider on Dipper's face as he looked around the clearing once again. "I can't believe this is real."

"For a while, I didn't either. But you know what?" a tinge of red blossomed on the brunet's cheeks when Bill leaned in. "Sometimes it takes another person to seperate dreams from reality." When Dipper continued to blush, the blond smiled and grabbed one of the younger man's wrists. "C'mon. I bet I can name more constellations than you."

"You're on." the brunet was still blushing, but his voice was playfully challenging. "That one," he pointed up and toward the southwest, trying to ignore the fact that Bill was right there. Not to mention he hadn't let go of Dipper's wrist. "That's Virgo. My zodiac sign."

"Really?" Bill's voice wasn't suprised; instead it sounded inquiring, as if he knew something that Dipper hadn't revealed yet. "When's your birthday?"

Dipper flushed an even darker shade of pink and looked down at the ground. "A-august 23. I'm actually on the Cusp of Exposure, I think. In my opinion, it's kinda cool, since Leo and Virgo are two completely different signs, even though I'm not exactly sure which side I take more to-"

A hand tilted the young man's face upward so he was looking directly into Bill's dark blue eyes, effectively cutting off Dipper's rambling. "Your eyes," the blond mused. Unsure of what he was talking about and mostly frozen from the sudden-ness of the situation, Dipper met Bill's intense stare. "Definitely a Virgo."

"H-how can you tell?" the brunet stuttered, watching the reflection of fireflies bounce around in the blond's eyes.

"You're not exactly the most secretive, Dipper," Bill said softly, the intensity fading away and a soft smile replacing it. "Besides, your personality's nearly perfect for a Virgo. You're shy, but not in a bad way, compassionate, structured, creative. It's all there."

Now Dipper was extremely red. "T-thanks," he whispered, then remembered what they were originally doing. "You get to name a constellation now."

The hand fell off Dipper's wrist and gently grabbed the rim of the young man's hat. Cold air touched the brunet's forehead as the cap was removed, and he shivered slightly, closing his eyes.

"The Big Dipper," Bill said slowly, running his fingers over the younger man's forehead, right over the birthmark, causing the younger man to shiver again.

"But that constellation isn't even out in June," Dipper murmured, opening his eyes slightly to look at the blond who was now wearing the old hat. "I don't know if my birthmark counts..."

Bill smiled. "I think it counts, so it counts. Your turn."

"Aries," Dipper said after a moment of thought.

"You stole my idea," mock criticism filled the blond's voice. "How'd you know?"

"You're not to hard to figure out, either. You match an Aries profile pretty well."

Chuckling, Bill looked up into the sky. "Elaborate, if you will."

"Really?" Dipper was astonished, his blush darkening. Not very many people would actually stay to hear him ramble on. When the blond looked back down at him and nodded, he hesitantly started talking.

"Well... you sure like to take charge," he got a short laugh for that sentence. "And you definitely aren't afraid to ask for something." confidence slowly built up in the younger man. "I might be going off a bit, I don't know you that well, but you seem pretty energetic and confident. Aries are freedom lovers, natural leaders and intellectual. Basically, Aries are the type of people who leave a noticable mark on those around him."

There was silence for a few seconds, and Dipper wondered if he had said anything wrong. His thoughts changed when Bill smiled warmly. "How do you know all of this? You're too accurate for your own good."

Dipper laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand the blond wasn't holding. "I major in English, writing in general. My studies have brought me to a lot of texts, and for a while, I focused mainly on zodiac signs are how they affect personality."

"This is still extremely accurate," Bill said, returning his gaze to the brunet's eyes. "Funny, though, how different our signs are."

Nodding slightly, Dipper felt his nervousness fall away. "Yeah. I'm not really the bossy type."

"Hey!" the blond scolded jokingly. "I like taking charge, thank you very much!"

Both men stood, laughing and joking for a good half hour. It was then that Bill suggested they meet again, and Dipper agreed, forgetting what he had been thinking earlier that day.

I'm sure Mabel won't mind if I'm gone tomorrow night.

AN: I literally need to stop this whole zodiac signs thing. It's taking over my life.

Anywho, chapter 4 when I finish it. Thank you to all of you who've read!