Hello everyone!

Welcome to my first fanfic for The Good Place. I love this show so much, but it's pretty much perfect as is, so I've not felt the need to write a story for it. The idea for this one actually came from my sister, so this is dedicated to her.

It takes place immediately after the luau in Chapter 42: Chillaxing.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and no part of The Good Place. Team Cockroach, however, does own my heart.

It was a couple days after the luau. Chidi was on his way to get some frozen yoghurt and was passing through the town square when he tripped.

"Shirt!" he blurted as he narrowly avoided smashing his glasses on the ground. "Even in Heaven…" he turned to look at what he had stumbled over, "…you trip on rocks, I guess."

He picked up the offending object, amazed by the smooth, glass-like surface. Then he realised it was one of the stones the residents were throwing into the bonfire to get their heart's desire. In fact, it was his own stone. He could just see the faint lines of his name scratched into it. He must have dropped it when he leapt forwards to stop Jason summoning a motorcycle. He put it in his pocket.

That night, at home, Chidi was reading in front of his fireplace. As he shifted in his seat, something dug into his side. Remembering the stone he had recovered, he pulled it out and looked at it. If he hadn't been so worried about Jason blowing his cover, he would have loved to take part in that activity.

He didn't know what his heart's desire was. This place was pretty much all he ever wanted, and thinking about all the other things he might want…well, he had never been the best decision maker. In fact, decision making had always been a nightmare for him. It made his brain grind like a fork in a garbage disposal.

And then he realised his heart's desire was to make that pain go away.

Chidi stood up. He had no idea if this would work. Maybe the stone would only work in the bonfire at the luau, in which case this wouldn't work, or the stone couldn't produce intangible things, in which case it also wouldn't work, but, what the hell?

Taking a deep breath, he tossed the stone into the fireplace.

At once, flames started to fly around the room just like at the luau, and Chidi leapt back, praying they didn't incinerate his books. Then they dived to the ground right in front of him and formed into…

Eleanor.

"…and, woah, how'd I get here?" Eleanor said, looking around in shock. "Chidi? Bud? Um…you okay?"

Chidi was staring at her with mouth agape.

"Chidi, how did I get here?"

"You…I…and the rock…I…"

"Woah, woah, Chidi! Calm down!" said Eleanor, gripping his shoulders. "Tell me what happened."

The contact seemed to shock some sense back into Chidi's frazzled brain. "I threw…the rock…in the fire…and you…you…hmm," Chidi pressed a hand to his mouth to stop himself squealing in fright. What the fork was going on? Why was Eleanor here? She couldn't be his heart's desire; his soulmate was supposed to be Simone! "I…I don't understand," he confessed.

Eleanor was watching him with concern. "What don't you understand?"

"Why would you appear when I threw the rock in the fireplace?!" He realised he was shouting.

"What rock?"

Chidi stopped. He couldn't tell her. He'd already said he'd thrown his Heart's Desire stone in the bonfire the night of the luau. If she found out he hadn't…she would also find out he was covering up Jason's true identity. He was starting to get a stomach ache.

Chidi groaned with frustration and clutched his gut.

Eleanor was still watching him with curiousity and concern, but when he muttered, "I have a stomach ache," her expression became tinged with sadness as well.

"Here," she said softly, taking his arm and leading him to his own couch. She sat him down and then sat next to him, rubbing his back comfortingly. "You'll feel better soon."

Chidi glanced at her, and she gave him a reassuring smile, though her eyes were still tinged with that strange, faraway sort of sadness. Good, kind, beautiful Eleanor, he thought. She always wanted the residents to feel happy; it must hurt her when she had to watch others' pain. He was probably her most troublesome charge, but she never showed any sign of impatience.

Then it hit him.

Of course! She was the architect of the neighbourhood. If anyone could engender a way to stop his brain grinding over every decision, giving him stomach aches, it would be her. That was why the Heart's Desire stone had sent her to him.

Even now, the pain diminished as he looked at her, though it didn't completely disappear. He was trying to decide how to ask her what he needed without letting slip anything about Jason.

"Eleanor…" he said slowly. "Could I ask a favour?"

"Sure," she said at once. Always so selfless.

"Is there a way to… I mean, can you...? I need... Ugh! I can't even decide how to ask this!" Chidi cried, burying his face in his hands.

"Hey, it's okay, bud, just tell me the problem."

Chidi sighed and eventually raised his head. "Every time I'm faced with a decision...it's like torture." And though he hated to lie to her, "At the luau the other night, I was trying so hard to figure out what my heart's desire was that...I think I asked for the most stupid, superficial thing I could think of: that stupid motorcycle." He laughed despairingly. "But of course, it wasn't what I truly wanted."

"What do you want, Chidi?" Eleanor asked softly.

"If I could have one thing," he said, gazing at her earnestly, "I would like to be able to make decisions, without worrying about the outcome all the time. I want the grinding in my head to stop."

She was looking at him strangely. It was...affectionate, he realised. If he didn't know better, he would even have said loving, with just an echo of that sadness back again. What made her sad?

"If you had one of those Heart's Desire rocks," he asked slowly, "what would you wish for?"

The typical Eleanor sparkle appeared in her eyes again. "Hmm, probably a never-ending buffet of margaritas and shrimp, served by shirtless mailmen?"

Chidi shook his head wearily and looked away. "I guess when you're an architect, there's not much you want for, is there?"

She grew quiet. "That's not necessarily true."

"Well, I'm sure you could just add the buffet and mailmen to your office. But if you were human," he persisted, looking back at her again, "and you didn't have all those powers...what would you wish for?"

"The mailman buffet is still sounding pretty good," she said, but the joke was only half-hearted. "But...if I were human...the only thing I'd truly want is to be with all my friends and the man I love in the Good Place."

Chidi tilted his head to one side. "I didn't know architects fell in love. Aren't you, like, angels or something?"

Eleanor laughed. "Hardly."

"So, what's he like?"

She turned away, suddenly embarrassed, making Chidi laugh and nudge her playfully. "Come on, you can tell me. I'm your friend, aren't I?"

"Well...he's smart, like, a total nerd. He was my teacher, actually. He taught me everything about...um...architect-y sort of stuff. I wasn't a great student, but he was always patient with me, even when I messed up, which I did quite a bit." She laughed. "He was my best friend."

Chidi smiled back at her, but there was an ache in his chest. What she described was the kind of relationship he had always dreamed about; two friends who built each other up to be better people, because, as much as Eleanor stressed that she had been the student, he couldn't imagine that her boyfriend wouldn't learn things from her as well. There was just something about Eleanor that made you want to follow her. She was like a beacon of light.

"You know...he sometimes struggled too," she continued slowly, as though she were measuring each word, "because he knew actions always had consequences, and he always wanted to make the right choice."

Chidi perked up at this. Maybe this was why the Heart's Desire stone had sent her, to share her experience.

"I think that's part of why we clicked so well." She smiled wistfully. "My...impulsiveness loosened him up a bit, and he," she gestured grandly at her own body, "well he got all this, so who really got the better end of the deal?" Glancing back at Chidi's expression, she went on. "He told me once that it never really got better, always trying to make the right choice. It was always going to be hard. But it's easier when you surround yourself with people who make you better."

Eleanor grinned. "Considering that he's like, the best person I know, and the way I turned out, I'd say he was right."

"Well, thank you, Eleanor," Chidi sighed. "Though I'm not sure how helpful that is. I mean, I'm in the Good Place, surrounded by good people, but decision-making is just as hard for me as it's always been."

"I didn't say good people," said Eleanor. "I said people who make you better."

Which left Chidi thoroughly confused and in a worse state of mental anguish than before. He could already feel his psychological garbage disposal beginning to grind again as Eleanor stood to leave.

As she reached the doorway, he hurriedly turned around and called, "What happened to him?"

She paused.

"The man you love?"

And there it was again, that same faraway sadness. Chidi was surprised to find that he longed to do something to ease it, to make her smile again. The idea was absurd. He was human, so what could he possibly do for an immortal, practically omnipotent being?

After a long moment, she replied, "I lost him."

"Oh...I'm sorry. Did he...die? Can architects die?"

"He didn't die," Eleanor corrected. "He... he walked away from me."

Chidi gazed at her, empathy welling up. "...I'm sorry. I can't imagine any guy stupid enough to give you up."

She beamed. "Oh, don't worry. I'll get him back."

Chidi wondered how she could be so confident about such a thing. Perhaps architects, or angels, or whatever she was, could instinctively sense their own soulmates. Or maybe an eternal life granted you some kind of security that things would eventually work out in your favour. After all, when you had literally all of time, what was the harm in waiting a while? He wished he could be that confident about his own soulmate. Or anything, really.

Eleanor must have seen the consternated look on his face, because she took a step towards him again, looking concerned. "Hey, Chidi...don't worry. You'll be okay. After all, you're in the Good Place, right? Everything's going to be fine. And if you ever need to talk, I'm always here for you. Okay?"

He nodded, some of the pressure easing off him at her words. He smiled at her gratefully. "Thanks, Eleanor."

For a pregnant moment, they stared at each other, and Chidi knew that whatever she might say, this woman must be his own guardian angel.

She dug her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "Well...I've got things to do. I'll see ya, bud." She smiled and headed out the door before Chidi could gather himself together enough to reply.

"Bye...Eleanor."

As the door shut behind her, Eleanor leaned against it, letting out a long breath.

With a soft bing, Janet appeared in front of her. "Eleanor?" she whispered, conscious of Chidi still on the other side of the door.

"Yeah?"

"Everyone was worried when you vanished from the office. I told them what had happened, so it's all good now. Are you coming back?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am." Eleanor straightened a little bit while continuing to lean on the door. "Tell them I'm on my way, okay?"

Janet nodded and disappeared with another bing.

Once the not-lady robot vanished, Eleanor relaxed again, then smiled a soft, euphoric smile to herself. "I am going to get you back; I know it," she murmured. "Because I'm still your Heart's Desire."

Thanks everyone for reading and would appreciate a review!

Love, OnlyHere4Puckabrina xoxo