A/N: Hello Readers! Welcome to my story… I guess! This is the first one I've posted, but not the first I've written, in fact it's the… *ponders while the Jeopardy theme plays*… fourth or fifth story I've actually done. Reviews are certainly welcome, and I hope you enjoy. This story will be continued, if you're wondering.

~Chell~

I never meant to hurt him. Despite what he did – or tried to do to me – I just can't bring myself to hate him. And because I couldn't , I never wanted to break his heart and tell him the truth, but now he found out the hard way. I need to apologize…

Let's rewind.

–Four Months Earlier –

~Chell~

Stephan and I were about to close up shop when I heard the door open and the jingle of the small bell above it. Probably another desperate parent needing to get a cake for a birthday or something. We get a lot of people like that. I'll let Stephan get it. I wander to a hook on the wall and hang up my flour-and-icing-covered apron.

"Welcome to Sweet Treats bake shop! How can I help you?" I hear him ask. He always is so cheerful and perky, even on the dreariest days. I remember the time when we were both in the kitchen making a large batch of cupcakes and he started throwing flour at me, and I then threw icing back at him, and we ended up making a mess of everything, including a few cupcakes. But it was worth it. It was the first time in my life that I ever had a friend like that; making a mess of things for the heck of it and not caring about the consequences. But then there was Wheatley…

My gaze falls to the floor.

Wheatley. I feel a pang of guilt strike me as I think about all the times we shared. Cutting off Her neurotoxin supply, swapping Her turrets out for "crap turrets" as he'd called them… In a way, it was all fun to me. But then there was the core transfer… The guilt permeating through me is promptly overcome by rage. He took over the facility, he didn't give me the freedom we agreed on reaching together, he tried to KILL ME countless times, and then he wanted me to let myself fly out into space so he could survive after I shot a portal on the moon. He was a selfish, stupid construct, and I didn't see it until it was too late; after I blithely put him in charge of everything. How could I have been so careless and naïve? Ugh, I'm glad I sent him to space. He deserved it.

I snap out of my trance and walk over to the sink to finish washing the dishes, and at the same time, listen to Stephan talk with the customer. No matter what he's saying, I love the sound of his gentle, patient voice reverberating off the walls.

"Where exactly did you say you were from?" he asked.

"I-uh-I came from this place, this facility called 'Aperture Science'," the man said.

My heart almost stopped. His British accent was unforgettable.

"I'm looking for this lady; s-she's about my height, I think, she doesn't talk much, and-and she has dark brown hair that she always has in a… what does she call it?... Oh, a ponytail! Yeah that's it! She always has it in a ponytail. Have you seen her?"

I immediately drop the cake pan I'm washing and wander to the small window that opens into the front room. The man who had just spoken seems to be about my age, if not younger, he has caramel-gold hair and is wearing an Aperture employee outfit. He looked up at Stephan, waiting for his response, and I got a better look at his eyes. They were lustrous and appeared that they not only reflected light, but radiated their own.

I'm sure of it. That's Wheatley, alright.

A/N: Just so you all know, "Stephan" is pronounced "Ste-ven" in this story; I just wanted to mix it up a bit! And by the way, for those who haven't already figured it out, Stephan is Cake/Logic Core.