The group from underground set out to explore the town while Valentine, Doug, Chell, and Wheatley went back to the apartments. They were surprised when they entered through the patio door and saw several people in the living room with worried expressions. Valentine's mother Jenny and her friend David sat on the couch, Jimmy from a few doors down sat in Val's chair, and Phil stood near the kitchen with his arms crossed.
They all looked at Valentine as she entered, and relief washed away the worry.
"Valentine, what were you thinking?!" Jenny demanded as she quickly stood up. "We didn't know what to do when we heard that you'd run off to Aperture with your new boyfriend!"
Tears welled up in Valentine's eyes as she hurried forward to hug her mom tightly.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I really am."
"We're just glad you're okay, kiddo," Phil said.
Valentine rushed over to Phil and gave him an even bigger hug. She started sobbing into his shoulder as she repeatedly apologized. Phil was startled by this but hugged her back comfortingly.
"It's okay, kiddo," he said with a smile. His own eyes were becoming dewy but he tried to hold back tears. "We were just worried that you wouldn't make it back out."
Doug felt a bit emotional by the scene and also had to hold back tears as he stood by the door awkwardly.
Chell and Wheatley weren't paying much attention to this for Wheatley had his own emotions to deal with.
"Are you okay?" Chell asked him as she sat next to him on the concrete patio. "Are you still upset about Nora?"
Wheatley was hunched over with his knees up to his chest as he stared down at the grass before him, a look of defeat and sorrow on his face.
"She still hates me," Wheatley said. "I told you she would. Did you see the looks that she was giving me?"
"Maybe you just need to talk to her," Chell suggested. "You should try to resolve this with her."
"I was at least hoping that she would have been put into her human body like I was. It would have made this a bit easier."
Chell shrugged. "Her body was destroyed," she pointed out. "Maybe that Li person could only put you in your body because they took it from Aperture."
"Huh," Wheatley said in a flat tone. "I didn't even think of that. I suppose you're probably right."
"Let's head over to the diner," Chell said. "We can grab dinner and I can let Ben know that I'm alright."
As they walked down to the diner, the sun was crawling toward the horizon. It had been a long day and Chell wanted to go to bed, but she had to help resolve this issue between Wheatley and Nora. The hopeless look on Wheatley's face pained her. There had to be some way to fix their relationship.
When they got to the diner, the group from underground was sitting at a large, round booth in a corner. They leisurely ate and chatted about the events of the day and what they would do now.
Mikey sat at a separate table from the others. Nora was set on the other side of the table as she chatted quietly with the human. She quickly became silent, though, when Chell and Wheatley sat down at the table next to them.
"Hi, Mikey," Chell said as she sat next to him. "How is everybody in your team?"
"We're all doing fine," Mikey said. "Are you guys getting food?"
"I don't know," Chell said. "I almost feel like I'm too tired to eat."
"I've had those nights before," Mikey said, nodding. "I'm usually coding, though, and not running around a crazy facility."
"I'm not hungry," Wheatley said quietly. He was staring down at the table, trying not to look over at Nora. The bot noticed this and she rolled her eye.
"Wheatley, listen," Nora said in a quiet but stern voice. "I'm still mad at you for everything that you did, but I should be able to forgive you. I mean, you put Chell through a lot, too, and she could forgive you."
Chell seemed a bit awkward about this, avoiding eye-contact as she looked toward the counter of the diner.
"And…I do still love you," Nora continued. "But…I don't want to be your girlfriend."
Wheatley had still been staring down as she spoke but now he looked up at her with a stabbing pain in his chest.
"You hurt me too much, Wheatley," she said. "I've had a lot of time to think about this. For a while, I couldn't decide whether or not to forgive you after the way you treated me." She looked down for a moment as she tried to choose her next words carefully. "Who knows? Maybe one day we can try to have a relationship like we used to. But right now, I don't want that. I-I'm sorry."
Wheatley's chest still hurt a great deal and there were tears rolling down his cheeks, but he found himself smiling at her. "I still love you, too, Nora," he said. "And I'm glad you're safe. I think perhaps you're right, though. You deserve to be with someone better."
"Hey, I didn't say that," Nora said softly.
"I know," Wheatley said. "But we're both thinking it." He looked just past her and saw that the whole group was now watching them with great interest. He wiped his tears away on his sleeve. "I'm going to get to bed early. Chell, could I possibly stay over at your apartment tonight?"
"Yeah, of course," Chell said.
They both stood up from the table but Chell paused by Nora.
"It was nice to finally meet you, Nora," she said.
"Likewise," Nora said shyly.
As they headed for the exit, Wheatley bumped into a woman who was just coming in.
"Oh! Sorry!" he said nervously. "I guess I wasn't watching where I was going!"
"It's fine," the woman said, smiling. She had such creamy skin and dark hair that fell to her mid-back in curls. "I wasn't really paying any attention either."
Mikey recognized this woman and he turned to see if Amelia had noticed her yet. She certainly had as she stared at the woman in disbelief. She absently stood from the table and hesitantly walked over to the woman.
When the woman noticed Amelia approaching, her eyes widened. "Oh my god…Amelia?"
"M-Mom…" Amelia said in a quiet, flat tone. "You're supposed to be dead…"
Leah rushed forward to take her daughter in her arms. "Amelia, my angel!" she cried. "I can't believe you're here!" She held her daughter out at arm's length to get a good look at her with teary eyes. "My goodness! You're almost like my twin! Remember when people would say that when they saw us together, sweetie?"
"Um, Ms. Oates?" Mikey said, standing up from the table.
Leah turned her attention to Mikey. "Is that little Mikey?!" she cried out and went over to hug the young man. Mikey wasn't sure how to react to this. He didn't exactly feel like hugging somebody who had been presumed dead for almost two decades.
She held Mikey out so that she could now study him like she did with her daughter. "Look at you! You've grown into quite a handsome young man!" She got a cheeky look on her face. "Are you married to Amelia now? Remember when you two would play together? There was that one time when you pretended that you were a husband and wife spy duo. Remember?"
Mikey's face turned red. He hadn't thought about that for several years. He looked at Amelia with embarrassment but she was still too shocked to notice him.
"Mom…What happened?" Tears finally broke through her eyes. "Grant told me you had died. He said that the Combine had killed you while you were trying to help people down to the compound."
Leah let go of Mikey to turn back to her daughter with a troubled expression. "That was generous of Grant," she said. "Sweetie…All I can say is that I panicked. I was terrified of being in charge of the compound while also trying to raise a child in so much chaos. I did direct people to the compound—"
"But you just decided not to come back?" Amelia asked. "Are you serious with this? You were scared to be a leader so you left your daughter to deal with it."
"I—Well, Grant was supposed to take over for me—"
"He told me that you had said you wanted me to take over if anything were to happen to you," Amelia said. "I took that very seriously. I wanted to do you proud so when I turned fourteen, I started becoming the leader of the compound. I wanted to help everyone because I thought that it was what you would have done. But you were too scared! You didn't want that kind of responsibility! Well, you know what?! Sometimes I didn't either but I knew I had to! It was my duty! I care about everyone back at the compound, but you only care about yourself!"
Amelia was trembling with anger now as she glared at the other woman.
"Amelia," Leah said, tears falling from her eyes. "You need to understand that it was a very difficult time. I was so confused—"
"Stop," Mikey said sternly. He stepped between the two women and faced Leah. "There's absolutely no excuse for what you did, Ms. Oates. You caused her so much anguish and put so much pressure on her—"
"I stopped talking to my best friend because of you!" Amelia shouted at Leah. She gently pushed Mikey aside to get up in her mother's face. "I was so depressed and so hurt from mourning over you that I neglected Mikey! It's amazing that he's still so nice to me after the way I had avoided him and tried to ignore him! He's so sweet and considerate of me, and I tossed aside his friendship because I was too focused on you!"
A small smile crept onto Mikey's face as his heart beat faster. Leah looked completely torn by her daughter's words. She looked from Amelia to Mikey, then back to Amelia.
"Amelia," she said quietly. "I'm extremely sorry. I didn't know that it would affect you like this—"
"How did you think it would affect me?! You're my mom! I looked up to you, and you left me!"
She suddenly turned around and left the diner. Mikey looked around at all of the diner patrons staring at them. Leah appeared absolutely mortified. Mikey turned and followed his friend outside.
"Amelia?" he called out. He looked around and couldn't see her anywhere, but he could hear muffled sobs coming from behind the building. He went down an alley and found her sitting against the wall next to a garbage can. She had her knees pulled up and was crying into her arms. Her sobs were hard and sounded like she might start hyperventilating.
Mikey sat down next to her and crossed his legs. He rubbed her back soothingly, not knowing what else to do.
"I'm sorry, Amelia," he said quietly. "I'm sorry that she…I can't believe that she did that. But you don't need her. You're better than her."
Amelia suddenly threw herself into his arms and cried on his shoulder. It sounded like she was trying to tell him something, but her gasping sobs made it too hard to understand her.
Out of the corner of his eye, Mikey saw a few people peeking around the corner of the building. He turned and saw Arin, Nate, and Natalie checking in on them. Mikey gave them a reassuring look so Nate and Natalie decided to leave him to comfort her instead of crowding her. Arin hesitated with a pained look as he watched Amelia sob into Mikey. Then he gave Mikey a weak smile and a thumbs-up before returning to the others.
"I'm sorry," Mikey said, rubbing her back again. "It'll be okay. Take as much time as you need."
His heart was racing as he felt how warm she was in his arms. Knowing that she was so close made him happy, but he wished he could take away her pain. Her tears were soaking into his shirt and it hurt him.
She started to try to tell him something again but he still couldn't understand her.
"Amelia, I need you to take slow, deep breaths before you talk, okay?" he said. "Give me ten slow, deep breaths."
Amelia's first few inhales hitched with her sobs, but she managed to slow her breathing and made each one last longer than the last.
"Are you feeling any better?" Mikey asked.
"M-Mikey," Amelia said in a shaky voice. "I-I've had a crush on you for a long time. I-I think I might love you."
Mikey felt like explosions were setting off inside him. He had a huge smile on his face as he pulled her closer to him.
"I-I didn't want to mess up our f-friendship so I n-never told you," Amelia continued. "I-I'm sorry."
Mikey couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Don't be sorry about that," he said. "I feel lightheaded with the ecstasy that it brings me to hear you say that."
Amelia looked up at Mikey's smiling face. "Really?"
"Absolutely!" Mikey said. He was starting to feel dizzy from the euphoria flowing throughout him. "Amelia, I've loved you since we were kids! You were always so adventurous and brave and adorable! How could I not fall in love with you?" Now tears were streaming down his face, as well.
Amelia suddenly leaned forward and kissed him for a long time. It was very awkward because Mikey hadn't been expecting this, and both their lips were a bit dry. It made more tears pour from Mikey's eyes as he held her close to him.
When the kissed ended, he put his hand on her cheek and held her face as he stared into her eyes. She laughed a little.
"I'm sorry I made you cry," she said.
Mikey moved his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her in for another long kiss. Then he rested his forehead against hers and laughed, as well.
AN: Oh my god, I'm all emotional now after writing that last part! I'm so happy with the pairing at the end, and I hope to include them in other future stories. We're almost to the end, by the way. #50 is the last.
TTvTT
