Hey ya'll. I know, I know. It's been too long since the last update. I'm sorry. I hope you enjoy this chapter anyways. Also you can follow me on instgram, Portal_Fangirl. I post 2 pictures every day and you will get little sneak peeks and updates on my stories. (I also hope it will show that I'm anything but inactive and that I'm doing a lot of work in the background.) Anyways go follow me if you like. I don't have an account on any other forums though. I've tried but it was too much work to keep up with. If you want to contact me to ask questions and what not you can go to my instagram account. You can also send me a private message here if you want, of course.

Anyways, enough holding you up.

145….. 146….. 147

Yep, there were indeed 147 tiles in the ceiling. Chell sighed as she stared upwards, slouching in the chair in front of the principal's office. She had been counting for the third time now. She was verily sure her conclusion was correct.

Chell looked up at the sound of footsteps. ''Oi, are you alright Luv?''

She smiled weakly at Wheatley. He took a seat next to her and stared at the closed door wearily before turning back to her. ''I'm sorry. For getting you in trouble. It should've been me sitting here, not you.''

Chell just waved her hand frankly, like it was no big deal.

He relieved a little sigh. Luckily she was not mad at him. ''What about your mother? Was she angry at you?''

She worried at her lower lip again. It was raw red from where she had nibbled the skin off of it last night in bed while she had been thinking about yesterday's events. Caroline hadn't been angry at her, much to Chell's surprise. It was probably because she had genuinely told her the truth about what happened, that she has just been trying to help. Of course she'd gotten the regular parent-speech about violence never been the right option, but Chell decided to just deal with it. Her mother had forgiven her and that relief had made up for everything that came after. Even this.

Though now that she was here waiting in front of the principal's office, that memory didn't give her the same encouraging feeling like it had yesterday.

Chell just shook her head in response. I don't want to think about it.

Wheatley could understand and decided to abandon the subject. After a few moments of silence he opened his bag and took out a folder. Chell followed his movements curiously until he handed her a piece of paper. She took it from him and studied it. It was a drawing of her, standing with one foot triumphantly on the chest of the guy who she had fought yesterday. There were some other people around them who cheered for her like she was some kind of superhero.

She looked up at Wheatley in surprise and he gave a nervous laugh. ''I thought you might like it.''

''It's beautiful.'' Chell mused.

It made him blush and he carefully put the drawing back into the folder. ''Thank you.''

Chell held up her hand, encouraging him to show her the rest. He hesitated a little before shyly handing her the folder. She took the drawings out carefully, studying them one by one. There was a drawing of an apple tree, a flying crow, a big field of wheat and one of the moon which was surrounded by hundreds of stars. There was even one of the two of them together in class when they'd first met. Chell noticed he must have put a lot of work in that one as it was very detailed.

She smiled at him, indicating that she loved the drawings.

The nice moment they shared quickly came to an end when Caroline arrived. She looked a bit tired, knowing she was going to have an unpleasant talk, but she put on a warming smile anyways when she walked up to them.

Wheatley shook her hand politely and introduced himself. ''Hello, I'm Wheatley.''

''I'm Caroline, Chell's mother. It's nice to meet you.'''

Chell didn't look up. She didn't want to see the look her mother was giving her. ''I should go.'' Wheatley announced. ''See you tomorrow…''

But Chell didn't wave him goodbye.

Caroline looked down at her daughter who didn't dare to look her in the eyes. She carefully took a seat next to her. ''I'm not angry at you.'' She tried to sooth. ''We'll figure this out. It's going to be okay.''

She reached out to brush a lock of Chell's hair behind her ear in what she hoped would be a comforting manner but the girl turned away from her. Chell hadn't count the little spots on the floor's design yet and decided that would be a good thing to keep herself occupied with for now. Caroline eventually gave up on trying to get her daughter to talk to her and sat back in her seat.

It had been a few long minutes of Chell counting spots while she nervously shuffled with her feet before the door next to them opened. Gladys came through and looked down at the two. ''Caroline?''

Chell looked up in confusion and watched as her mother stood up, a look of surprise on her features. ''GLaDOS? What are you doing here?''

Hold on, they knew each other?

Gladys smiled somewhat nervously, something Chell had never seen her do before. ''Well, I'm the head of the school, actually.'' She answered as she tried to smoothen out her clothes unnoticeably.

She then looked down at Chell. ''Oh, so she's your daughter then. I should've noticed.''

Chell gave an angered look at the comment, but her mother didn't even seem to notice. Hadn't she heard the sarcastic tone in the principal's voice? Gladys quickly reached for the door handle to let the two into her office, but she grabbed miss three times before finally succeeding to do so. What was she so excitedly nervous about? It was just her mother, right?

Chell got up to enter too but Gladys closed the door halfway. ''You know what, it is all fine. You can just go and do whatever it is you little humans do. I'll just have a talk with… your mother. Alright?''

And before the student could protest she completely shut the door on her. Chell snorted, lightly irritated with the situation. But she turned around and left before Gladys would change her mind and dragged her into the conversation anyway. Chell walked down the concrete steps by the school's front door and noticed Wheatley in the distance. Not wanting to shout for him, as her voice would most likely waver and not even make it to his hearing-distance, she run up to him.

Wheatley jumped a little when she nearly bumped into him. ''Hey, what are you doing here?''

Chell shrugged her shoulders with a small gesture of her hand. I don't even know.

Wheatley didn't seem to get her completely but just acted like he did. ''Oh, well, I guess I could stay a little longer then. If you'd like.''

She smiled. Yes, please.

So they walked back around the school, taking a seat on one of the wooden benches on the school's little public square. Chell looked up at the sky above them. It was bright blue, almost the same colour as Wheatley's eyes, she noticed. There were only small groups of fluffy clouds splattered along the blue background. Like an artist had accidently dropped white paint onto their art. But it made it even more beautiful.

Chell closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy the moment of peace. Wheatley looked at her. At the way her hair waved a little bit in the wind, how her eyes looked dreamily into the sky, how she seemed so relaxed for once. He looked back at a window which was closed off by curtains. It was the principal's office and only the unlucky people who had to go in there knew what it looked like. She always had the curtains closed.

''So your mom is talking to Gladys right now?'' Wheatley asked, trying to fill in the silence more than anything. Chell followed his gaze and noticed the office. She nodded and handed him her notebook.

Apparently they know each other.

Wheatley looked up at her in question and then noticed the somewhat suspicious look on Chell's face. She stared intensively at the window, like she was keeping a sharp eye on everything that was happening inside. Though Wheatley was verily sure she couldn't look through walls.

''You mean… your mom knows her?''

Chell nodded firmly. And she had called her Glados, instead of Gladys.

Wheatley stared down at the quickly scribbled letters. ''That's…. Odd indeed.''

Chell snorted like a wild animal who just lost their prey out of sight. She turned back and stared in front of her with an unreadable look plastered on her features. Wheatley sat nervously, not liking the silence one bit. Then he had an idea. He searched around in is bag and eventually pulled out a small plastic box. This would lighten her mood!

''Here.'' He shoved it under the girl's nose. She stared down at it and noticed a perfectly cut piece of chocolate cake sitting inside. Chell looked up at him in wonder and Wheatley just smiled sheepishly. ''I-I had this over from lunch. Wasn't really that hungry… Do you want it?''

She smiled. So his plan had worked perfectly! Wheatley smiled back proudly. He looked around for a fork but then noticed he didn't have one. ''Do you- do you mind eating with your hands. Because I, I kind forgot the-''

Chell quickly took a piece between two fingers and put it in her mouth. Now they were all sticky from the melted chocolate and whipped cream but she didn't mind and just licked it off. They returned smiles to one another again before eating together. Chell didn't seem to notice the sudden silence from Wheatley, food seemed to distract her quite a bit, until he spoke up.

''Chell?'' She looked up at him, licking the last bits of cake crumbles and chocolate frosting of her fingers. ''There is….. There is something I need to tell you.''

Wheatley didn't dare to look at her, so he just concentrated on his feet instead. ''But it's personal. Sort off…. I-I mean, it's a secret. A secret I'm not allowed to tell anyone, well, that's why it's a secret of course. But I… I just kind of… Need to tell someone. Anyone, it doesn't matter but, I prefer you, if you don't mind. Because you are my friend and I can trust you. So that's why I want to tell you something. And it's very, very secret. Do you… Get what I'm saying?''

He glanced up to see her reaction but immediately went back on looking at his feet when he saw the somewhat worried look in her eyes. ''Can you promise me something? Could you… could you promise me that, whatever it is I'm going to tell you, that you won't be mad at me? And that you won't think different of me? Because I like being your friend, I really do! And I don't want this to short of… um, ruin our friendship.''

''Promise.''

Wheatley smiled a little. ''Okay then. I-I should probably tell it to you now. B-but I don't really know how to so, so I'm just going to say it.'' He took a pause, looked into her eyes even though he felt really uncomfortable doing so. ''I'm….. not like you.''

Chell's concerned expression slowly changed into a mixture of confusion and even more concern.

''Yeah that, that doesn't explain a whole lot, now does it?'' Wheatley shifted nervously, trying to think of the right words to use. How could he ever explain it to her? ''You live in a house, right? With your family?''

She nodded carefully, not understanding where he was going with this.

''Well, I don't. I don't have parents. And not because I lost them or anything, I just don't have them. And I don't live in a nice little house either. I highly doubt it's even close to that. It's more like a facility. A….. A science facility.''

Why would he live in a science facility? Chell was considering that he was just joking, but the uncomfortable pauses and the look in his eyes told her that wasn't the case. He didn't continue so she asked him. ''Why?''

''Because…..'' He gulped, clamping his fingers together in an attempt to calm himself down. ''Because….. I'm a…''

Wheatley sighed. ''I'm not human.''

He had said it so quietly he was starting to wonder if Chell had even heard him. He dared to carefully peek sideways, only to lock gazes with eyes which were winded with shock and confusion. He had really screwed this up hadn't he? ''I-I can understand if you don't believe me. I wouldn't be able to believe it either, if you had been the one telling me but… but it's true. I probably shouldn't have told you. If you don't like me anymore now, I can understand, if you… if you hate me because I'm not really-''

Chell quickly grabbed his wrist to get his attention and shook her head rapidly. He stopped for a second and looked up at her. She quickly ripped off a piece of paper and scribbled on it. I don't hate you. Otherwise I would be breaking my promise.

That made Wheatley smile a little bit sadly. ''So… So we are still friends then, right?''

She nodded. Of course we are. But you need to explain more to me. Calmly.

He sighed in relief. At least he'd gotten that part off of his chest. Wheatley wasn't sure how to explain the rest to her, but at least he knew that whatever he was going to tell her, she was not going to get mad at him. That was very reassuring.

''The company that…. That made me is called Aperture. Aperture Science. And they kind of, they make like, like very science-y stuff and all. I don't know, didn't really understand it. But the point is, they made Artificial Intelligence. And I'm… I'm one of them, I suppose. They also made this school, as an experiment of some sort. They wanted to know how we would react in normal human situations, like a high school for example. So they send me and some others to go to school here, like normal humans.''

You mean there are more AI's on this school? Chell carefully handed him the paper, not really wanting to interrupt his story, but she was too curious to let this question go.

''Yeah. Some of our classmates as well. I don't really know all of them, there are probably more than you would expect.'' He admitted quietly. ''When I first came here I really didn't like this place. Of course there were actual humans too, and that was a little frightening at first, to walk along with them and none of them realizing you weren't a- a human like them. I was afraid someone would find out and who knows what would happen then. Luckily it had never happened. But still that didn't make any of this any better…. Let's just say that, that I'm not so good at all this school stuff. I hated it here.''

Wheatley paused, like he had to think about what to say next. ''But then…. Then you came here. And you came to sit next to me! I had been quite nervous, gotta be honest. But you weren't like the others, you listened to me and didn't tell me to shut up. And you didn't get annoyed by me every time I did something wrong. Well , maybe you did a little bit, but at least you weren't mean about it. And then you also came to help me the other day. I never thought that a human would ever like me. Or that it would feel so good to have a friend, someone you can rely on and just, just someone you can trust. I was so happy when we, when we finally became friends.''

Chell waited patiently for him to continue, but he didn't. He just stared down at his hands, wriggling his thumbs. She tried to comfort him the best she could. ''Those people from Aperture, the scientists, they forbid us to tell anyone about Aperture or the Project or us not being human. But you're my friend, and you told me that, that friends never lied to each other. And I figured that holding back a secret like this would count as lying too, in a way. So I really wanted to tell you for a long time but…. but I was afraid. I thought that you would hate me, or that you would tell someone. But I just, I needed to tell you. Get it out off my chest, you know? And I'm glad I did but, but still. I want to say sorry for not telling you earlier.''

It's alright. I forgive you. Wheatley stared at the paper in his hands. Then he looked up at Chell who smiled reassuringly. She leaned forward for a hug (only to comfort him, of course). Wheatley sat completely silent as she wrapped her arms around him. So this is what it felt like. A hug. No one had ever hugged him before, but he wouldn't have thought it would feel so nice… And warm. He quickly put off his glasses and wiped the tears away that had formed at the edges of his eyes. He didn't really feel like crying again, he wasn't even sad, but for some reason they had come anyways. When he put on his glasses again he noticed the funny looks he was receiving from his friend.

''Yeah, these aren't real tears then, obviously. It's probably some scientific stuff or something. Still very realistic though. And I wasn't crying because I was sad or anything. Actually I don't know why I cried. I don't even feel bad, did before but not now. I feel great now….I-It might be…. It might be broken. Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Do you think it's broken?'' He babbled, a little nervously now.

It got a giggle out of Chell and the sound made Wheatley feel instantly better.

-0-

''You know what, it is all fine. You can just go and do whatever it is you little humans do. I'll just have a talk with… your mother. Alright?'' And with that she quickly closed the door, ignoring the look the human was giving her. GLaDOS relieved a little sigh before turning around.

Caroline glanced around the room with slightly squinted eyes because it was rather dark. She nearly bumped into the corner of a desk as well, which was pressed against the wall with one side. A computer screen and some neatly stacked papers filled the desk, but that was really all there was. Tiny stripes of sunlight crossed the walls where it managed to get around the curtains and the room smelled like it had just been through a rough chemical clean. With a little bit more light it would've looked like one of those advertisement photo's; neutral, geometrically and unlived-in. But Caroline knew that this was completely GLaDOS' style into the tiny details. ''You have a nice office.''

GLaDOS walked around her desk and sat down in her chair. ''Thank you.'' Though her expression barely changed, she did sound genuinely pleased with the compliment. ''You can sit down, if you want.''

Caroline carefully took a seat opposite of her. GLaDOS nervously poked at a pen in front of her that seemed to be too much out of place for her liking. When it laid perfectly like she wanted she finally looked up at Caroline. ''We haven't talked in a long time.''

She nodded in agreement. ''We haven't. It's really nice to see you again, GLaDOS. But it is in different circumstances than I expected to.''

GLaDOS smiled a little, something that happened rarely and only a few people had ever seen it. ''It's a complicated story.'' She quickly shot a look at the upper left corner. It didn't look like there was anything there, but she knew there was. No one seemed to be watching so she continued. ''This was supposed to just be another project. It had been lying around for a while. I officially wouldn't be involved but there wasn't a lot for me to do anyways since the… the last project. They thought it would be a good idea to get me to do something. I'm mostly just here for the paperwork.''

''They didn't force you, did they?''

''No, they didn't.'' Her voice was calm and steady and seemed to care no emotion at all. But Caroline was worried, because she knew she was lying, all was it only to make her feel like everything was alright.

''And how about you? Do you have a job?''

''Not at the moment.'' Caroline admitted. ''I was looking for one but, well, all the hassle with Chell got me a little bit occupied.''

She was talking about that little lunatic of hers. GLaDOS couldn't be surprised. That look in the girl's eyes just screamed for trouble. She had noticed when she'd been trying to murder one of the students the other day. Not really like she cared, but it was in the rules that they shouldn't be attacking each other, so she hadn't had a choice but to drag the girl towards her office. She just hadn't expected for her to be Caroline's daughter. ''I can't believe I didn't recognize her before. I could have known.''

''It has been a while since you last met her. She has changed a lot since then.''

GLaDOS supposed that was true. The lunatic from now didn't look like anything she had been at a younger age. Well, now that she knew who she was she could identify the similarities. Back then she had already made multiple attempts to attack her as well. Sure, the girl had only been a few months old and didn't even know how to walk yet, but still. Apparently the attempted murder just run through her blood.

The mini version of the lunatic had been quite amusing though. She obviously enjoyed the movement of kicking (again another similarity between the older and younger version of the girl) and writhe around with her chubby little limbs. Of course the energy hadn't last long and the little fatty had been crying for a bottle of nutrition to suck on the minute she had stopped. And puking, she had done that too.

GLaDOS grimaced at the memory. But still it was something she'd never want to forget. Caroline had been happy back then and seeing her like that had made her day so much better as well.

''I just don't know what to do with her.'' Caroline sighed. ''She barely speaks. I thought it was just a thing she'd grow out of. But she never did. She also refuses to work along with speech therapists and she wasn't doing well at school and I just, I just don't know anymore. I've literally tried everything I could and you don't know how glad I was when she told me she had enjoyed her first time here. But then she came home with this story about who she had done something wrong again…. I just don't know what do.'' She rubbed at her tired eyes. She hadn't expect to open up like this the second she would see GLaDOS again, but apparently she needed it a little. It wasn't like she had anyone else to really tell it to and Chell obviously wasn't in a position to deal with her mother's worries. She had enough of her own.

GLaDOS listened to her. It wasn't like a little pat and a there, there would help the situation. She didn't know a whole lot about motherhood, or children for that matter. (Again, it hadn't been her idea to go work at a school). But she could at least try to help Caroline out a little. ''What's the reason why she doesn't talk?''

''I have no idea. According to the doctors it's not caused by any physical damages or any forms of delay in her education of speech. They just wrote it off as some mental demarcation. I don't know why that would be the case, I see no reason for Chell to do that, consciously or not. Of course she grew up without a father and I raised her all on my own, but I don't think that's what caused it, would it? Or maybe it's just something I've done wrong… I have absolutely no idea.''

''Why don't you just ask her?''

Caroline laughed a little bit at that. Typically GLaDOS to see it all so objectively. ''I wish it was that easy, but I'm afraid it's not.''

She could already see it happening. Chell coming home from school one day and her randomly asking what was actually the cause of her inability to speak. The girl would give her mother one of her looks, one with a mixture of amusement, confusion and slight suspicion. Then she would think about it for a few seconds before shrugging and continue whatever she had been doing before that. Caroline was sure that her daughter didn't even know the actual reason herself.

GLaDOS thought about it for a while. She didn't understand it completely as it wouldn't be logical for the girl to not be able to speak when there was nothing wrong. Well, there was something wrong with her, obviously, but she just couldn't lay her finger on what it was. Maybe brain damage. But the doctors would've have found out about that (not that doctors were that great to begin with) but they should've noticed if that were the cause. Of course there was also this mental demarcation that Caroline had talked about. But that involved a lot of psychology and emotions, something GLaDOS wasn't that good at.

Despite that, she did notice Caroline's emotions. They were obviously sadness and frustration. Especially when she had mentioned her dead husband (someone she didn't know a whole lot about). Seeing that made her feel bad too, because she knew there was nothing she could do to help. At least, not a lot.

GLaDOS looked at the computer screen which displayed multiple different lines of information. Maybe there was one thing that she could do. It was not going to make much of a difference, but maybe she could help her out even just a little bit. She started typing and Caroline looked up curiously.

''What are you doing?'' She asked slightly confused.

''I'm deleting all the files that hold information about your daughter's violations.''

Caroline's eyes winded in surprise. ''What? Why? GLaDOS, you really don't have to do this.''

''I know.'' She answered dryly. ''But it's all fine. It's not like anyone is really going to miss these. Unless that other child's parents are going to file a denunciation, but that's my problem then. You can just go and focus on fixing your daughter's brain damage or whatever it is she has. Just don't worry about this.''

''Are you not going to get in trouble for this?''

GLaDOS paused for a short second. She was. But that didn't matter. ''It's all fine, Caroline.'' She repeated.

She sighed softly. ''Thank you, GLaDOS.''

''You don't have to thank me. Just keep on eye on that lunatic of yours. I see here that she got a 1 for a Spanish test. Apparently it was an oral test, I can see how that happened at least. But you should probably talk to her about it anyways, you know, just to make sure. I'll do the rest.''

Caroline smiled sweetly and couldn't help but to thank the principal once again, despite her telling her not too. She stood up to leave and GLaDOS followed to let her out the office. Caroline took the opportunity to give her friend a hug, who immediately stiffened upon the contact. She highly disliked being touched in any shape or form (only a handshake with someone who had at least cleaned their hands was close to acceptable). But despite her not returning the hug and keeping her arms close to her side, Caroline knew that she didn't mind too much as she relaxed even the tiniest bit in the embrace. ''It was nice to have seen you again GLaDOS.''

''It was.''

Caroline pulled back and gave her a sweet smile before exiting the office. ''Goodbye.''

''…Goodbye, Caroline''

GLaDOS quickly shot a look at the upper left corner again, where a small red light had started blinking.

Oooohhh snap. There's so much more going on in the background now. When I wrote the first version of the story I had just thought that this could be a short, nice little story where Chell and Wheatley would go through small little adventure things at a school. But then I added in GLaDOS as well (cuz I couldn't leave my favourite character out of the story) and then I couldn't help myself to let the story take a deeper and more meaningful turn. So here ya'll go. PLOTTWIST CHAPTER

Anyways, I wanted to make it a little bit more realistic. Oh yeah cuz a school full of robot students is TOTALLY realistic….. you know what scrap that. I think I wanted Chell's situation more normal? Nah…. That ain't normal either. Like not at all. Never mind. You get what I mean. I just wanted to explain, in the second part of this chapter, more about Chell's situation and that of Caroline as well. And what better than to discuss it with our little Snowflake principal that Chell does not trust? My ideas are absolutely marvellous. (*cough* Completely not egocentric and/or meant sarcastically *cough*)

(The name Snowflake is a nickname for GLaDOS me and my friend came up with one day. Just… don't question and don't judge)