Chell walked over from the grocery store on her way to Sparrow's House. She sighed as her footsteps echoed against the worn buildings and the autumn-struck trees. Everything was beginning to wind down. The daylight was taking her gaze away from the earth less and less each day. The Geese were flying south in a crooked V-shaped formation as if they were trying to stretch across the fiery sunset. And Chell was waiting. It had been almost three years since she had made her daring and lonely escape from Aperture and almost three years since the betrayal of the ONE thing that she thought wouldn't kill her with deadly lasers, neurotoxin, or showers of bullets. "Wheatley"
The thought of him was like a sweet and delicious bite of a cupcake all of a sudden spoiling and getting ruined by an aftertaste. He would babble on for hours and keep a stretched smile across Chell's face. His lousy ideas sometimes ACTUALLY worked. Maybe the Scientists designed him to be a Moron, but to Chell, he just had a LOT of creativity channeled the wrong way. She thought that he could be good at art or writing books. "He shouldn't try to act so smart. It only makes him look dumber...". The words almost immediately stabbed Chell's tongue and lips. The regret that suddenly filled her was from calling him dumb. His little "heart" would've shattered to pieces if he heard her say that. Chell stopped walking and looked back up at the fading day. she watched as the clouds lazily tumbled over the sky as if they were cows preening the grass. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to fight the tears of the memories of the one friend she let go of. "Wheatley. I wish that I didn't plug you into the Mainframe. It's my fault you went insane. It's my fault you're stuck up there." She opened her eyes and picked up her jogging pace again as she headed over to her friend's house in a hurry.
"Ugh...WHAT took you so long?!" Sparrow scoffed with irritation. It stung Chell's ears to have to bear with her friend's common complaints and glares. It was almost a routine. Every Tuesday and Thursday Chell would plan to go to Sparrow's house, stop around a third fourth of the way there and contemplate on her past, and then in the end an angry friend. Chell returned the attitude and tossed the bag of movies and wine on the couch. "Help yourself" Chell urged. Sparrow was always in a knotted mess of nerves and stress. She had two jobs now, and was trying to get a third. "Um, thanks but I don't drink very often- wait how old is that?". Sparrow grabbed the first bottle of wine. It was an Italian wine made in 1980, not the best, but it DID sound satisfying to the two girls. Chell grabbed two wine glasses and filled them with the wine. Pretty soon the girls were giggling away as if they were blondes.
"Hey Chell? Why do you always talk about a basketball with a blue eye in space?" Sparrow attempted to say though slurred words." I dunno, I guess I'm CRAZY!" Chell giggled. The girls finally came out of it around 4 in the morning and watched a bunch of horror films. Chell reflected on how many friends she had. She tried to count but failed at it. The wine had done it's job and the girls were as unwound as a spaghetti in boiling water. But she still HAD to count Wheatley in as one. It was like trying to count your family and leaving the dead ones out, even though Wheatley wasn't dead. He was just in space. "Ugh, I think I'm going to hurlll-" Sparrow suddenly ran to the bathroom and puked like the fourth of July. "HAH!" Chell snorted, and laid on the couch. She started to drift into the sleep she didn't get for a night and a half, and dreamed.