When Chell had told Wheatley to head towards the house across the street he had listened without hesitation, but when he realized that he was alone with two total strangers he began to regret his decision.

"Hello!"

These humans were much older than the children he had seen on his first outing with Chell. Wheatley would even go as far as to say that these were the oldest humans he had ever seen. Both of them had bright white hair, though the lady's was swept into a neat bun while the mans was short and thinning. They shared the same kind brown eyes, but the mans looked up at Wheatley from behind a pair of thickly framed glasses.

The two of them were sitting together on the steps to their porch, and from the way they sat nestled together with their arms linked Wheatley gathered that they must have been a couple.

"Er... Hello!"

Suddenly Chell materialized beside him and the woman on the porch perked up, rising from her perch on the step and opening her arms.

"There's my Chell!" She gushed, trapping her in a hug while smoothing a hand over her hair. "How are you, sweetheart?"

"Wonderful." Chell gave her the most brilliant smile Wheatley had ever seen. "And you?"

"Marvelous." The woman giggled as her husband kissed her hand.

"We're just out enjoying the fresh air while we still can." He piped up. "Soon it'll be too cold. We'll be trapped in the house all day." He wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders as she settled back beside him on the step.

"What are you two up to this fine evening?" The woman asked with a smile.

"It's a surprise."

"Oh." For some reason the woman winked at Chell and, to Wheatley's surprise, she returned it. "Well then, we won't keep you."

"Have fun!"

They waved goodbye to the couple before turning and continuing to the end of the road.

"They seem nice." Wheatley smiled. "Who are they?"

"Wayne and Elizabeth." Chell said fondly. "Our only neighbors."

"Why do they live out here?"

"They like the peace and quiet." Wheatley turned back around to see them cuddled up together as they surveyed the scenery. "There's lot to do here, too. If you know where to look." The sparkle in her eyes told Wheatley that she did. "There are trails to hike, places to fish, places to swim. It's beautiful out here."

"Is that where we're going?" He asked curiously. This entire trip was the spontaneous product of Wheatley making a comment about the weather, only for Chell to turn around and give him one of those wonderful, terrifying I've got an idea and I'm dragging you along with me looks.

"Something like that." Chell smiled, taking his hand. "I'll show you."

It took awhile but she did. Chell tugged Wheatley along a little dirt path through a forest he hadn't known was there. It was hidden, nestled behind the farm Chell had shown him previously. This path ran alongside the farm before it began to twist and turn around the trees. Chell and Wheatley were led through the trees, past quiet little streams, and walls of rock jutting out of the earth. By the time Chell announced that they had reached their destination the sun was setting and Wheatley was exhausted. Originally he had been sure that anything Chell had wanted to show him would be well worth the hike, but now that he was actually there he was beginning to think otherwise.

"A hill?" Wheatley asked bluntly.

"Yes." Chell smiled.

"We walked all this way for a hill?"

She smirked. "Try not to sound so disappointed."

"No, no, I mean, it's fine. It's a very nice little hill, its just that, I've seen hills before." Wheatley could tell that his voice was coming out as annoyed, and though he didn't particularly like it, he didn't change it. "There are a bunch of them right by the house."

"I know."

"Then why are we here?" His arms flopped to his sides. "I don't doubt you- you make sense in the end- usually," Chell shot him a strangely amused warning look. "but I don't understand the point of coming all the way out here. For a hill."

"It's special." Chell said softly.

"Why?"

"Look." She pointed towards the top of the hill.

"I still don't see anything."

"Then let's take a closer look."

She took his hand again and led him up the hill.

Wheatley liked this gesture despite the fact that it wasn't quite as necessary anymore. Chell could easily speak and tell him where to go now; she didn't really need to lead him around like a toddler. But Wheatley enjoyed being lead around by Chell. For one thing he liked the contact. Her hands were so small and nice and soft, and he had gotten used to the feel of them wrapped around his. For another thing Wheatley was sure that, even with directions, he would be hopelessly lost without Chell showing him where to go. Or just without Chell in general.

When they reached the top of the hill Wheatley plopped down on the ground before Chell could release her hold on his hand, effectively pulling her down with him. She gave a quiet (adorable) little squeak as she landed in a heap on his chest. Before Wheatley could comment Chell quickly sat up and shot him a death glare.

"Whoops." He offered weakly.

For a split second the spark in her eyes ignited into pure fire and Wheatley was certain he was doomed, but then it flickered into something softer. She smiled down at him sweetly, her eyes sparkling, before she flopped down unceremoniously against his chest.

"Oof!" Wheatley coughed. She had about knocked the wind out of him.

"Whoops." Chell said innocently.

"That hurt! You're heavy!" Wheatley realized his mistake too late. "I mean, you're not heavy as in, well, fat, but you're still heavy. You still weigh quite a bit."

"Thanks." Wheatley couldn't help but notice that Chell was doing the thing where she sounded insulted and amused at the same time.

"Oh," He teased, "You know what I mean." She shook her head. "No? How about this then? You're perfect, and I'm just cross because I bruise easy. Fair enough?" He smiled.

"Fair enough." He couldn't see her face (as she was still sitting on top of him) but she didn't sound insulted.

"Alright." Wheatley nodded. "To give you and your hill some credit: it is nice out here. Very pretty." He turned to see how she would react to him acknowledging the fact that she was right, something he didn't do nearly enough, but he was quickly distracted when he noticed that she was smiling at him. Not one of her usual smirks or I'm-trying-to-suppress-a-laugh smiles, this was a happy, pure, open smile like the one Chell had given the neighbor earlier. She was practically radiating fondness. Chell had never smiled at him like that. Now she was looking at him strangely, too. Why was she looking at him like that? Had he been saying something? "Er... It's a very pretty little hill. Nice scenery. Lots of... Nature. Trees. Bushes. Shrubs." He looked away and scraped up a handful of leaves off the ground, eager to change the subject. "Leaves. Leave, everywhere, actually. What happened to them? Thought they were supposed to be attached to the trees."

"Not always." Chell twirled the stem of a leaf between her hands. "In Autumn there's less daylight, so the leaves change color and fall off. They're gone all winter and grow back in the spring."

"So does everything just... Die... In the winter?"

"No. It just... Goes to sleep for awhile." Chell looked up at the tress. "Everything comes back in the spring."

Wheatley had changed the conversation to something too depressing and now he was ready to change it again.

"We really should head home. It's getting dark out now. I have no idea how we'd find our way back in the middle of the day. Now we're going to have to hike all the way home in the dark." As he spoke he looked around and realized just how dark it really was and went into full panic mode. "Oh God! When did it get so dark? How are we going to get home? What if we get lost and never make it back?"

"We won't." Chell sounded amused again.

"And it's getting cold, too! Remember what the neighbors said? It gets cold when the sun goes down. We could freeze to death out here!" Wheatley shuddered for good measure.

"We're going to be fine." Chell said, "Hush."

"Chell!" He whined. "It's cold!"

"Fine. Here," Chell removed herself from her perch on his chest and layed down next to him on the ground, snuggling into his side. "Is this better?"

It took Wheatley a full thirty seconds to recover enough to respond.

"Er... No? I mean- no!" He snatched Chell's hand up before she could move away. "I mean, don't move. You don't, you don't have to move, if you don't want to. Just because this isn't much better in my opinion, don't let my, er, unhappiness displace you. You're perfectly fine right where you are. Unless, unless you'd rather sit somewhere else. You can sit there. That's fine. You don't have to sit there, if you don't want to, but, um-"

"Wheatley," Chell rested her head on his shoulder. "I forgot to mention something."

"What?" He asked weakly.

"Look up."

He did, and he immediately realized why this hill was special.

Above this hill there was a gaping hole in the canopy of trees, which allowed anyone on the hill a beautiful view of the sky. Not only that, but it was far enough away from town that there were no lights to block out the stars.

So when Wheatley looked up he was met a view of the night sky that was somehow ten times as beautiful as what he'd seen when he'd actually been in it. There was hardly a blank space in sight. Stars were scattered absolutely everywhere, twinkling down at them happily from their perch in the sky. It was hard to look away.

Eventually Chell broke his train of thought.

"When you mentioned the weather earlier I knew it would be a perfect night for stargazing. There are no clouds but it's cold, and the cold helps make the sky look clearer."

"How on earth did you find this place?" Wheatley breathed.

Her voice was softer than usual. "I came here all the time when I was new to town."

"Why?" He was looking back up at the sky now, so he was thinking even less than usual when he spoke.

"So I could see you."

That got his attention.

Wheatley whipped around to see that she was smiling at him again, the same way she had been earlier, only now there was something a little more gentle about it.

"You're- Really?" He choked, "I-You-" He swallowed in an attempt to regain his speech. "You, you got out. You got out of There, you found a town full of people who, who obviously adore you," He shook his head as she smiled. "You got everything you wanted- and you were still worried about me? After everything I did?"

"Yes." Chell said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I wouldn't have gotten out if not for you." She brushed her thumb against the back of his hand. "And That wasn't you. That was Her. This is you." Her voice was softer than he'd ever heard it. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." He managed, his voice cracking pathetically.

She smiled at him for a moment longer before she turned and returned her gaze to the stars. Wheatley didn't know if it was because he was tired or because he was distracted by what she had said or the view of the sky, but for some reason he couldn't look away from her. Chell looked more relaxed than he had ever seen her. She was laying comfortably next to him, smiling. Warm pressure at his side. She almost looked as though she was glowing, her skin giving off ghostly pale light in the darkness. It was almost as if the stars were having some sort of magical effect on her. Chell's eyes were always lit with some sort of spark but now they held the entire galaxy. The reflection of the stars in her eyes was much more beautiful than the actual view itself.

Wheatley had never seen her like this before- never looked at her like this before- but now that he was he began to wonder why he was just now noticing all this. How could he have missed it?

Chell sighed, snuggling into his side as she shifted. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yes." Wheatley murmured, but it wasn't the sky he was talking about.

Author's Note:

What could Wheatley be talking about...?

Three of eight!

Most of the ocs in this fic are recycled, but Wayne and Elizabeth are new. And I love them.

In this chapter we have more fluff! This is another chapter that I've been waiting awhile to write. I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Christmas is next week! And since Christmas Day falls on a Friday this year you guys will get an update to Pieces on Christmas Day! Along with a (hopefully) four chapter Christmas fic for Pieces on Christmas Eve! These will be the last updates you guys get until February fifth of 2016, as I am exhausted from attempting to write eight updates in one month. I'm going to take a break to rest, plan things out in a little more detail, and get ahead of the updating schedule. After January we'll back to Friday updates, which I'm going to try to continue throughout the rest of the year. If I can do that Pieces will be finished with the last chapter being posted on the first Friday of January, 2017. We've got a long way to go.