Leading her back to the living room, I sat her down, with me beside her. The worry on her face was impossible to miss, and her eyebrows were bent in slight anger with the possibility that someone had hurt me in anyway, or that I'd hurt her in any way.

"It's.. ... back in the forest of decay," I began, "you told us not to let the water touch us, and we did all we could to follow you're instructions.."

Her eyes widened a little, getting what I was about to explain, "But..?"

I stayed silent, simply lifting up my sleeve a little. The spot was still there, if not a little bigger than before, with the skin around it a shade more pale than normal, my veins starting to become more noticeable.

It was a terrifying sight, and it brought even more fear to my head as I remembered what this meant for me..

(y/n) had grown pale as well, carefully taking my hand in hers and inspecting the wound, making sure not to hurt me on accident.

"W-w.." she looked up at me, "Okay, thankfully it was just a droplet, so we still have time to save you."

"Is there even a way to save me..?"

"I-I think so, I just.. need to talk to Death about it, need to make sure I have the right idea."

"Whoa, wait!!" I stood up, staring down at her, "You're not thinking of going back to the Mindscape, are you?!"

"Dipper, it's the only thing we can do right now! If we can't find a cure, you could d-!" She choked on that last word, not wanted to think about that possibility.

I gently grabbed her shoulders, expression serious, "I'm not letting you go closer to Bill by yourself. If you're going back, then I'm going with you."

"No, Dip-"

"I'm not taking No for an answer, God knows what Bill might do once he finds out you're gone, and even worse you go back to him by your own will! I already lost you once!"

"And I can't risk losing you either!!"

The room was quiet after that. It was a weird argument, the one we were having. We weren't angry at each other, just trying to protect each other from harm, the harm that we knew we'd be facing by either trying to save (y/n), or trying to save me.

I didn't want her to go, even if it meant that I'd die, but I know she'd never choose that, I know she'd risk it all to save me..

We just.. cared about each other too much.. far more than ourselves..

"Look, if you want to go back to where there's a high risk your dad may find you, it'd be much better if you had some backup.. I know this.. whatever this is that's infected me is supposed to make me weaker until my deadline, but I still feel okay for now.. I'm not ready to roll over and die just yet.."

She stayed quiet for a bit, then let her forehead lightly land on my chest as she let out a heavy sigh. "You are.. so stubborn, you know that..?"

"Heh, I could say the same for you.." I replied as I rested my head on hers.

We stayed like that for a while. Being with her like this reminded me of the loneliness I felt back when she was gone, the loneliness that I never want to go back to..

I love her.. so much.. and I don't want to lose her again..

"... okay.." She pulled away, her eyes meeting mine, "We'll leave again tomorrow at noon, pack whatever you need.. I should be at full energy by then, so we don't need Ford's portal.."

"How long do you think we'll stay..?"

"Hopefully not too long.. You have a deadline and I have a target on my head, we gotta move fast.."

I nodded; though I was worried about what may come, this was no time to be afraid..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You two sure you'll be okay..?" Ford asked as he handed me my bag, "If you need the extra back up, I could-"

"No, we need you here incase anything turns south," (y/n) replied, "I know a way to contact you from the mindscape, we'll keep you updated."

He nodded, taking a step back, "Good luck."

Fire then began to grow from (y/n)'s hands, placing them together to make them grow even more before she stretched her arms out, and slowly but surely, a portal opened in the middle of the basement.

I walked over, standing beside her, "You ready..?"

"Nope," she replied, "let's do it.."

She bragged my hand, fingers tangled with my own, and we both passed through, my anxiety slowly increasing by the second.

We were back in a gray environment, with the Fearamid not too far from view, and a question came to mind, "How come we didn't end up where we left last time?"

"Only Death has direct access to the Forest of Decay, we can only enter if he lets us through." She turned to the Fearamid, letting out a heavy sigh, "We better find him fast though.."

Hiiiiiii, I am
So fucking sorry this episode took nearly a year to come out, I genuinely forgot this book even existed ._.
But it's out! So.. yeh!

I'll try not to take so long with the next episode 😭
'Till next time!!!

❤️❤️❤️