Wheatley found Chell waiting for him on the front steps of her building. She smiled when she saw him and stood up.
"Hey," she said. "How are you doing tonight?"
"Good, good," Wheatley said, hands shoved nervously in his pockets. "Erm, how about you?"
"I'm starving," Chell said. "Let's go inside. Ben can make us something to eat."
"Ben?"
"My roommate," Chell explained.
"Oh."
Chell led him up to her apartment where a young man was fiddling with a television across from the couch. He was a broad-shouldered man with slightly muscular arms. He had a curly brown mop of hair on his head and wore thick-framed glasses.
"Hey, Chell," Ben said, turning to them as they entered the room. "This must be that guy that you keep talking about."
"Yeah," Chell said, her cheeks turning a little pink. "Wheatley, this is my roommate Ben."
"What's up, buddy?" Ben asked, reaching out to shake Wheatley's hand. Wheatley reluctantly accepted the handshake. "Chell likes to talk about how much of a dork you are."
"Ben!" Chell exclaimed, pushing him playfully.
"Dork?" Wheatley asked. "I don't know what that means."
"Just ignore him, Wheatley," Chell said. "He's just trying to embarrass me. Let's sit on the couch."
Chell sat down on the closest end of the couch to the door and Wheatley sat next to her.
"I think I can get this thing working in just a minute," Ben said, checking all of the wires in the back of the television. "Then I can make us up something good for dinner while we watch VHS tapes." He looked over at Chell. "Unless this is some kind of date."
"It's not," Chell said quickly. "Geez, Ben."
"I'm only teasing you," Ben said with a laugh.
Wheatley wasn't amused by this. He didn't even want Ben to be there. He really wished that something would make him have to leave.
"Hey, Wheatley," Ben said. "Do you know anything about TVs?"
"No," Wheatley said. "I've never needed a 'TV'. I had a lot of responsibilities in Aperture."
"Oh yeah?" Ben asked. "I bet. You probably didn't have a lot of time for fun, did you?"
Wheatley thought of chasing Nora around the facility, hearing her laugh and call his name. "It wasn't always so bad."
"Hey, what was it like to be a robot?" Ben asked.
"Ben! Geez!" Chell said. "Do you have to be so blunt with your questions?"
"Do I really need to dance around the subject?" Ben asked. "I think it's really interesting, and I want to know how he got put into a human body. What was the process for that, Wheatley? Whose body are you walking around in, anyway?"
"I'll have you know that this is my body!" Wheatley snapped. "I was orbiting around the planet when a young woman showed up and gave me my old human body. Then I fell to Earth so that I could return to Aperture."
Ben didn't really seem to be listening as he fiddled with some wires connecting to the TV's tube. Wheatley felt like smacking him on the back of the head for not paying attention to him.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the apartment door. Ben got up and opened the door to reveal a preteen boy who looked out of breath.
"Ben," he panted. "Phil needs your help at the diner. It's really busy."
"Seriously?" Ben whined. "It's my night off. I'm not supposed to be there tonight."
"It's really busy," the kid replied. "A group from another town is visiting."
"Oh. Why didn't you just say that?" Ben asked. "Sorry, Chell. I can't finish the TV tonight. I'm sure you two can find something else to do. I'll probably see you tomorrow."
"Okay," Chell said. "Seeya later."
Ben hurried out with the kid, shutting the door behind him. Wheatley felt absolutely relieved.
"So what do you want to do now that he's gone?" he asked Chell.
"I guess we'll just have to make our own dinner."
"What did you have in mind?"
Chell stood up from the couch and wandered into the kitchen. Wheatley quickly followed with a grumbling stomach. She rummaged through the cupboards, moving around boxes and cans of food.
"Hmmm…We have rice, beans, instant mashed potatoes, corn, ramen noodles—"
"What are ramen noodles?" Wheatley interrupted.
"They're noodles that have a really salty broth," Chell said. "Trust me, you don't want it. Maybe we could just have rice. I think there's actually a rice cooker in here somewhere. Do you just want to sit in the living room while I set this up?"
"No, I don't mind waiting in here with you," Wheatley said.
Chell found the rice cooker in a cupboard by the oven, and put a few cups of rice and water in it. She plugged it into the outlet above the counter and turned around to lean against the counter.
"So what are you going to do when you finally get Nora out?" Chell asked. "She'll still be a construct."
"I'm hoping that the lady who made me human will also make Nora a human, too," Wheatley said, leaning against the counter with her. "I mean, how difficult can it be if she's already done it once?"
"That really sounds crazy," Chell said, laughing a little. "But I don't know how else to explain the way you came back down from space in a human body."
"My human body," Wheatley corrected. "Not just any body. This is what I looked like before I got stuffed into a metal ball."
"Okay, okay," Chell said. "Well, it's a nice body." She suddenly shut up and her eyes widened. Then she laughed. "I can't believe I just said that."
Wheatley laughed, too, though he didn't know why.
"Sorry," Chell said. "I'm just being a dork."
"I still don't know what that means," Wheatley pointed out.
"Forget it. It's nothing important."
They were silent as the rice cooker started boiling. Wheatley started whistling tunelessly while Chell stared down at the floor, unsure what to say.
"Are you upset about something?" Wheatley suddenly asked.
"Hm?" Chell asked, looking up from the floor at him.
"You don't look happy tonight," Wheatley said. "Your eyes are watery like you're going to cry."
"I'm just a little…frustrated."
"About what?"
"Everything. I don't know what I should do with my life out here, but I don't know what I would do if I was still back in Aperture. I haven't made many friends on the surface either. I'm so lonely. I just don't know where my life is going at this point, and it's scaring me."
She hugged herself and hunched her shoulders forward a little. She felt so cold now.
"Even if the world hadn't been taken over by aliens, I still wouldn't know what I would be doing in the real world. Either way I feel lost. What do I do, Wheatley? All I know is testing now. I'm useless out here—"
"No you're bloody not!" Wheatley interrupted curtly. "Don't call yourself useless! I can understand being confused on the surface. How do you think I feel? But we can figure these things out together. We'll find our place up here. On the surface. I promise."
He took her in his arms and held her against him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face where his neck and shoulder met. His stomach tied itself in a knot and his heart started racing. Chell could feel his heart pounding through his chest and it made her own heart beat faster. She nuzzled her nose against his skin, making him unconsciously pull her closer to him.
"What are you doing?" Wheatley murmured, but he didn't stop her.
"Wheatley….I like you a lot," she said nervously. "I mean a lot. I missed you so much when you were in space. Even in Aperture, I….was really, um, charmed by you."
As she spoke, her breath lightly tickled Wheatley's neck.
"Chell, I….I love Nora. But I'm starting to think that maybe she's not the only one I…you know."
Chell looked up into his eyes. They were confused as they stared back at her.
"Wheatley, I don't think we should do anything that you'll regret later," she said. "I don't want to get between you and Nora. I'll get over this. Don't worry about me."
Despite her words, Wheatley leaned down and kissed Chell awkwardly. It was just a quick peck on the lips. They looked at each other again and Chell laughed a little.
"That's what I was trying to avoid, Wheatley," she said. "I didn't want to make things awkward—"
Wheatley leaned down and kissed her again and again.
"I'm sorry," he said between kisses. "I just…really like…how this feels."
"How does it make you feel?" Chell asked curiously.
"My chest feels so light and my stomach sort of feels contorted," he described. "It hurts a little but I also really like it. It's confusing. How do you feel?"
"About the same way."
They just stared at each other for what felt like minutes but was probably mere seconds. Wheatley reached up and touched her cheek. Chell pressed her cheek against his palm and smiled. However, she suddenly became very aware of what was happening, and she pulled away from him. Wheatley stood with his arms still slightly extended toward her.
"I liked that, though," he said. "I thought you did, too."
"I did but….You should probably leave."
"What? Why?"
"We've already taken things too far," Chell said. "This won't work out. What do you think will happen when you get Nora out of Aperture?"
"I don't know why I can't love both of you," Wheatley said grumpily. "Why should I have to pick just one of you? It's not fair."
"That's…..That's just how things work, Wheatley," Chell said sternly. "Humans are mostly monogamous."
"But why?!"
"Would you want to share Nora with anyone?"
"I…..Well, er, no. I wouldn't—"
"I imagine that she wouldn't want to share you with anyone either," Chell pointed out. "And neither would I."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"I mean if we were to…take these feelings farther, I wouldn't want to have to share you with Nora. Or anyone."
"You do want to be with me?" Wheatley asked. "Chell, I…I wish I knew how to make this better for you."
"Just stay as my friend," Chell said. "Leave tonight and start fresh in the morning. But we can't do anything like what we've already done tonight."
Wheatley's chest hurt a great deal at being rejected, but he nodded understandingly.
"You're right," he said. "We shouldn't do things like that anymore, I suppose. I did like it, though."
"I liked it, too," Chell agreed with a small smile.
Wheatley shuffled past her to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow then, I suppose. Or whenever you feel like hanging out together again."
"Yeah," Chell said.
Wheatley suddenly rushed back toward her, taking her in his arms and kissing her for a long time. Chell allowed this. The emotion in this kiss was fierce, and she didn't want it to end. She reached her hand up and stroked the side of his face. Wheatley ran his long fingers through her short black hair. It was so soft and silky. He did this repeatedly, enjoying every second of the sensation.
He suddenly pulled his face away from hers and smiled admiringly. "I want to try to find a way to make this work," he said. "I want to be allowed to love both you and Nora. I…..I can't choose right now."
"Give it time, I guess," Chell said, smiling a little. "Think it over. And if you don't choose me, I'll be okay. I'm a tough girl, remember?"
She lightly pushed him and he grinned.
"You should still probably go tonight, though," she said. "I have some thinking to do and I want to be alone for it."
"But I really don't want to go," Wheatley said, tightening his grip around her waist a little. "At least, I don't want to go back to that apartment complex. Doug is on a date over there and it's just sort of awkward knowing that he's getting all romantic there."
"Well, good for Doug," Chell said. "I'm glad that he's found someone to make him happy."
"Can I please stay on the couch tonight?" Wheatley asked. "I promise not to try to kiss you again or anything. We can just eat dinner and talk about things on the surface."
"Well, as long as you promise," Chell said. "Go sit on the couch while I scoop the rice in the bowls."
Wheatley obeyed and sat alone awkwardly. He kept his fingers laced together as he looked around the room, and tried to distract his racing thoughts. There were a billion things that he wanted to do while he waited and they were all so contradictory. But what he wanted to do more than anything at all was just to feel Chell's skin against his again as they held each other.
Chell eventually came back with two bowls of rice. They started eating and talking together about the people they had met on the surface so far. They discussed where they wanted to travel and whether this Combine fiasco would ever really get resolved.
Unconsciously, they move closer to each other as they spoke and they noticed that their faces were only a few inches away from each other. Their lips met gently, and they leaned back on the couch to relax as they kissed. A thrill ran through them both as they just held each other and kissed. Nora didn't even cross their minds as they eventually fell asleep in each other's arms.
