Valentine and Doug ate packaged ramen noodles for dinner. Doug didn't care if it wasn't a homemade meal. He was just happy to eat. His stomach still felt so empty that he thought he was going to puke after eating. It was a little difficult to keep the food down, but he managed it. He used his nausea as an excuse not to make conversation. He was still pretty embarrassed about his freak-out earlier.

Valentine played a CD while they ate. The festive band featured a male singer with a baritone voice. Guitars, trumpets, violins, even accordions accompanied him.

"Sorry we can't watch anything on the TV," Valentine said, gesturing toward a large television in the corner with a dusty screen. "We lost all of our VHS tapes during the takeover. We got to keep our vinyl records and CDs, though."

"Well, that's something," Doug said, staring at the TV for a moment. He hadn't even noticed the bulk machine in the room.

"This is Aurelio Voltaire singing," Valentine said. "My celebrity crush. He sang songs about death and angels and Lucifer and brain-eating aliens and being evil. I wonder if he's still alive."

"I wonder if a lot of people are alive anymore."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Valentine pitied Doug as she thought about how he had no family now. He didn't even know whether or not they were still alive. She still had her brother, mother, and daughter. She couldn't imagine what he was going through.

"Do you know if the Ashworth apartments are still standing?" Doug suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Valentine said, startled. "Oh, I think they were torn down by the Combine. The space was used for supply storage. We raided all of the storage warehouses, though, after the uprising. Hey, you want me to make you a drink?"

"Alcoholic drink? No thanks," Doug said. "I'm not supposed to have alcohol."

"I see. Well, I'm going to fix myself a drink." She got up and went to the kitchen.

Doug sat on the couch and inspected his nails awkwardly. They were jagged from years of having to chew them down. He hadn't cared about it in Aperture, but now it was beginning to bug him.

"You're becoming soft," a voice said. "You won't survive in Aperture if you go back now."

He only shrugged at this. He wasn't going to let his mind bother him tonight. After embarrassing himself out in public, he really just wanted to relax. But maybe he needed a little help with that.

"Uh, hey, Valentine?" he called. "Could you actually make me a drink after all?"

"Of course," Valentine said. "Coming right up."

She returned with what looked like two glasses of orange juice. She handed a glass to Doug who looked at it oddly.

"What's in it?" he asked.

"It's just orange juice with a shot of vodka," Valentine said. "It's not too bad, but you don't have to drink it if you don't want to."

Doug took a sip of the drink. He clenched his fist and grimaced.

"That's disgusting!" he said. "I can still taste the alcohol!"

"It's vodka," Valentine pointed out. "What were you expecting?" She took a few gulps of her drink and also grimaced. "Again, you don't have to drink it if you don't want to."

Doug tried not to breathe through his nose as he tried to take a gulp. The liquid felt warm in his belly.

"So how long have you lived in this town?" Valentine asked.

"Pretty much all my life," Doug said. "I went to East Lansing, though, for college."

"East Lansing, Michigan?" Valentine asked, raising her eyebrows. "Why so far away?"

Doug shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to get away from home," he said. "I didn't want to go to Wisconsin and I didn't want to cross the border."

"I see. Well, where in town did your parents live?"

"They lived on the west side of town," Doug said. "Do you know of the Cedar Ridge townhouses?"

"No, but I usually never went to the west side."

"Well, that's where they lived."

"Do you want to see if they're still there?" Valentine asked.

Doug appeared to be uncomfortable with this idea. "I, uh…..I don't know," he said. "I've barely thought of them over the years. In fact, I…." He looked down in embarrassment. "I can't even remember what they look like." He took another chug of his drink and shuddered.

"Oh," was all Valentine could say to this.

A few minutes went by in which they said nothing. Doug felt ashamed of himself for not being able to recall his parents' faces. He supposed that it was on account of all this crap that was always going on in his head. But how could he forget what his own parents looked like? It was absolutely ludicrous.

I'm a freak, he thought. I'm so insane that I can't remember basic things from my life. Not to mention having a fit in public, and humiliating not only myself but the person who is nice enough to have me stay in her own home.

"You don't belong here," a voice whispered to him. "You're no longer civilized."

Shut up, Doug thought, having another gulp from his glass. It was almost all gone now.

"You need to apologize to Valentine," a kinder voice said. "She's been so generous to you. It's the least you can do."

"I'm…sorry for that episode I had earlier," he said. "That must have been so embarrassing for you."

"It's fine," Valentine said. "You don't need to apologize for it."

Their attention was drawn to Toby who suddenly sauntered in from the hallway.

"There you are, Toby!" Valentine said. "Come here, boy."

Toby lazily wagged his tail as he walked over to Valentine's chair. He got distracted when he saw Doug, though, and jumped up onto the couch instead. He laid his head on Doug's lap and closed his sleepy eyes.

"Toby," Valentine said, feigning disappointment. "You traitor. Sorry. He likes to cuddle with new people."

"It's okay," Doug said. "At least he's friendly."

"Most of the time. Just keep your hands away from him when he has a treat." She stood up. "I'm still kind of hungry so I'm going to scavenge the kitchen for food. Want anything?"

"No, that's okay," Doug said.

He watched her return to the kitchen, and was ashamed to catch himself staring at her butt.

What's wrong with me? Doug thought. I shouldn't be thinking about her like that! I have more important things to focus on!

"Oh, come on, Doug," a voice said. "It's perfectly natural. You're a man and she's a woman."

That makes no difference. I need to be focusing on Nora.

"You're right," a different, more aggressive voice said. "This woman is only a distraction. You need to leave right now before she makes you forget everything important."

Maybe I should just leave now, Doug thought. Or maybe I shouldn't have had any alcohol.

"She's just trying to blur your mind so she can keep you all to herself."

What are you implying? That she's trying to seduce me? I really doubt it.

"Either way, she's distracting you from the whole reason you're here in the first place. You need to save Nora."

I know that! I'm so worried about her!

"You know, you can always come back after you get Nora."

Doug turned and looked back at the kitchen. Valentine was busy making herself a sandwich. He looked at the darkness on the other side of the sliding door. Despite his fears of what could be lurking in that darkness, he was confident that he could make his way back to the facility. He tried to carefully stand up so as not to wake Toby, but Toby was a guard dog at heart. He woke with a start and barked once. Doug looked to the kitchen and saw Valentine with a concerned expression.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Um, yeah," Doug said. "I just…I think I'm going to go back to Aperture now."

"What? Why right now?"

"I-I'm too distracted here. I need to go."

He turned to head for the door, but Valentine was surprisingly swift. She got to the door first and blocked his way.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I can't let you leave," Valentine said, pressing her back against the glass of the door. "It's too dangerous at night."

"I slept outside during my first night on the surface. I think I'll be fine."

"It was a fluke that you didn't die out there."

"You don't need to worry about me. I can come back as soon as I get Nora."

"That won't do any good if you die out there."

"What's so dangerous out there that makes it so I can't leave tonight?" Doug demanded.

"There are zombies out there."

"Seriously? Zombies?" Doug asked skeptically. "That's really the best you could come up with offhand?"

"I'm serious!" Valentine claimed. "There's a type of alien that jumps onto your face and breaks open your skull to take over your motor functions."

"Okay, that's a little more creative, but I still don't believe you."

"I don't care if you believe me or not. I'm not letting you go out there by yourself without any weapons. It's too dark to see anything anyway."

"Push her down!" the aggressive voice said.

"Shut up!" Doug shouted, putting a hand up to his head in frustration. He closed his eyes tightly as his head started to throb in pain. "I'm not doing that!"

"She has no right to keep you captive here! Knock her out of your way!"

"No! I don't want to hurt her! I just want to save Nora!"

"Doug," Valentine said cautiously. "Please don't do anything rash. I'm only trying to help you."

Doug looked at her with a mixture of anger and shame. "Why are you trying to keep me here?!" he demanded. "What are your real motivations?!"

"You really want to know?!" Valentine yelled at him. "Fine! I like your company! I hate being alone! In fact, I'm terrified of being alone! Spencer leaves so often to trade with other towns, leaving me here completely defenseless of anyone that might decide to break into the apartment!"

Her face was turning red as she got more worked up. Her eyes were also watering a little but she wouldn't allow the tears to fall. Doug suddenly felt wretched about being so mean toward her.

"Did….something happen recently?" Doug asked. "Were you mugged or something?"

Valentine's eyes darted toward her chair, then back at Doug. He turned to see what she had been looking at but saw nothing. He turned back to Valentine and caught her looking at the chair again.

"Valentine?"

"Hm?" She stared at him blankly for a moment before finally registering his question. "It's none of your business if something happened," she snapped. "What do you care anyway?"

"Why do you care?" the Cup suddenly spoke up.

Where have you been all this time? Doug demanded.

"Shopping," the Cup said sarcastically. "But really, this woman has been acting kind of crazy. Not to mention rude."

But someone must have broken into the apartment or something to make her hate being alone.

"She could just be a lonely nutcase," a voice suggested.

"I wouldn't say that exactly," the Cup said. "But….Well, yeah. She could just be a lonely nutcase."

"Voices in your head?" Valentine asked.

"How did you know?" Doug asked. "I mean, how would you know?"

"I recognized that look that was on your face."

Doug raised his eyebrows. He was genuinely impressed and curious as to how she was so wise to this.

"What are they saying?" Valentine asked, wiping her eyes. "Just out of curiosity."

"They're, uh…They're suggesting that you're a 'lonely nutcase'."

Valentine let out a short but sincere laugh. "Maybe they're right about that," she said.

"Sorry."

"Don't be. Have you changed your mind at all?"

Doug looked down for a few moments before answering. "I guess I should stay in town for a little longer. I need to regain my strength and hopefully find some kind of equipment that I can take back to Aperture with me."

"Glad to hear that," Valentine said. "Now let's go sit back down. I still need to finish making my sandwich."

She returned to the kitchen and Doug sat back down on the couch.

"You could leave right now while she's not paying attention," the Cup said.

Nah, Doug thought. I'll just stay here. She's right. I'm not prepared for what's out there right now.

"Well, you'd forgotten to grab me before making a dash for the door anyway."