CHUCK VS A NEW BEGINNING

EPISODE 1: THE BEGINNING OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP

SANTA MONICA PIER / SANTA MONICA, CA

It was another beautiful day in sunny California, many people were taking advantage of the weather by hitting the beaches up and down the coast. Chuck Bartowski and his best friend Morgan Grimes had spent most of their time at their favorite spot, PLAYLAND ARCADE. That was one of their highlights among the rest of the landmarks the Santa Monica Pier offered, Morgan was like the little brother he never had and been there for him since they were children despite Ellie's huge dislike of him. He loved his sister dearly and knows she wants the best for him, despite the constant nagging and overbearing pushiness to move on with his life. He couldn't make her understand that the black mark from the cheating scandal at Stanford limited his options because it's a major deal, he still was working on his five year plan and knows he needs to do more than choose a bigger font.

Usually he wouldn't have come here without Morgan, but he didn't want to stay at home and hear Ellie start up again with the nagging. It was always the same topics which meant she brought up about Buy More, that he's wasting his life away along with the whole dating thing again. He just simply walked out and climbed into his Nerd Herder before heading off to just get away, Morgan was stuck working the morning shift today so Buy More was out. He thought to himself that he didn't want to be anywhere near there on his day off, who in their right mind would want to be around their place of employment during your day off? Next thing he knew after just driving he pulled up to his parking area at the Santa Monica Pier, turning off the engine and sighed deeply to at least enjoy his time there would help ease the stress levels.

Chuck brought himself back to the present after thinking about the events of this morning that lead him here. His mind was so wrapped up in things that even going to PLAYLAND ARCADE wasn't helping his mood, today looked to be one of those days that the world's going to be against him. Walking along the beach line admiring the waves, among other things that definitely would've put Ellie into a match-making mood if she was here with Devon. He was heading towards the boardwalk not paying attention when a strong voice yelled out, "Dude! Heads up!"

The call definitely got Chuck's attention, a group of guys were playing beach football when the ball headed right for him. Chuck wasn't gifted with great athleticism, given his clumsy nature. However, by some miracle he was able to catch the ball from hitting him in the face! Now what happened next was something else he never expected, he was still surprised to have caught the ball that he never saw or felt the impact as he was immediately tackled to the ground by someone clearly smaller than himself and those guys.

Hailey: "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

Chuck: "Yeah, I think so. Nothing's broken or anything..."

Chuck just lost the ability to speak as he looked up to see his attacker, scratch that a very beautiful attacker with black hair and very hypnotic blue eyes that happened to be laying on top of him. She was absolutely adorable as her eyes were shining with sparkling happiness.

Hailey: "Sorry about running into you like that, thank you for the very comfortable landing. At least it doesn't hurt as bad when you have someone to catch you."

Hollywood: "It's also easier on your six after landing on the carrier deck right Deuce?"

Hailey: "Definitely will agree with you on that Uncle Kyle."

Chuck looked up from his position to see six imposing figures of muscled men, thinking to himself the beautiful girl that's currently on top of him is one of these men's girlfriend. His mind quickly began thinking on how to untangle himself from the beauty and save himself from a potential beating being administered to him, at this moment he noticed the smirks on their faces and the playful mischief in the girl's eyes gave the impression that she wasn't in any hurry to leave her new position on top of Chuck. This was indeed a mystery to him.

Gambino: "You know if I didn't know any better, I'd say things are beginning to get completely uncomfortable on this poor guy's end."

Hailey: "But it's completely comfortable on my end, nice and soft like a cuddly teddy bear. Can I keep him just a little bit longer?"

Chuck was surprised right out of his Chuck Taylor's shoes with that comment from this girl, he learned was named Hailey. The remark brought a chuckle from the group when one of them decided to be the voice of reason.

Artman: "We're on a very public beach area right now Hailey, lifeguards are starting to head this way and you're attracting a crowd of curious people plus we're circled around you two like a pack of vultures."

Hailey: "Yeah that's the best description of you guys, vultures or wolves. Stalking their prey before you attack."

Maverick: "Hey don't you mean like a pack of cats? We lay in waiting for that moment then bam! We pounce on you with our quickness."

Hailey: "Cats are cute and cuddly, if you guys were any type of cats I'd have to say your the laughing hyenas or cheetahs that's always on the run."

Khaos: "Ouch! That's a blue-on-blue if I ever saw one, sounds like something your Mom would say on that."

Hailey: "Considering who my parents are, would you expect anything less?"

Maverick: "Definitely not, on your feet little lady."

Hailey looked back down to Chuck still laying on his back, with a pout coming across her lips she sighed.

Hailey: "But I'm having such a fun time here, you guys are such killjoys!"

Hailey slowly backed off of Chuck as the group extended hands to help both of them up to their feet, he was looking around at the size of these guys and gulped. Devon's physique was definitely well built, but these men definitely made Devon look not so awesome. All of them were around him in height, but they were built like huge tanks. He was brought out of his observations by a small smack to his chest, looking down to see the concern on Hailey's face before looking around to see everyone else had went back to what they were doing with the exception of the seven of them.

Hailey: "You sure you're okay? You looked like you zoned out or something."

Chuck: "Uh yeah, I'm sorry about that. Your friends here kinda have me intimidated, when I'm surrounded by these type of odds it usually ends up in a beatdown for me and my best friend. Been like that for most of our lives."

Hailey: "Yeah these guys are intimidating, but you can't ask for a better group of people to be friends with. Once you're friends with them, they watch out for you. I'm Hailey by the way."

Chuck: "Nice to meet you Hailey, I'm Chuck."

Hailey: "Very pleased to meet you Chuck, and thank you for allowing me to use you for a pillow against the beach sand."

Hailey stands on her toes and gives him a soft thank you kiss to the cheek making him blush while the guys chuckle at his expression, he notices the smile on Hailey's face that's making his legs turn into jello. Chuck returns with one of his own before the spell is broken.

Gambino: "Well if you two lovebirds want to chat, we'll just get back over here to the game that we stopped to render assistance."

Hailey: "Now that's a wonderful idea, come on Chuck!"

Hailey grabbed Chuck's hand and pulled him along towards the Pier with a bewildered look on his face, the rest of the group looked at the scene and laughed before heading back towards the the attractions. Chuck wasn't sure if his beautiful companion was aware that since she pulled him along from where they were on the beach that she was still holding his hand, whether or not she was caught up in the moment or just didn't mind was of no consequence to him. This was the first time since Jill that he actually didn't mind any PDA, evident by the contact of holding hands with a beautiful woman. After grabbing a couple drinks from Pier Burger, which Chuck paid for before Hailey reclaimed his hand. They walked along the deck of the pier before sitting on a bench to enjoy the views and company.

Hailey: "So Chuck, tell me a little bit about yourself. Are you from around here or just taking a visit to this area?"

Chuck: "I share an apartment in Echo Park with my sister Ellie and her boyfriend Captain Awesome."

Hailey: "You said his name was Captain Awesome? Is he in the military or something?"

Chuck: "Not really, Devon Woodcombe is his name. I call him Captain Awesome because everything he does basically is awesome. Skydiving, rock climbing, white water rafting, even flossing. Him and my sister are both doctors at Westside Medical Center as part of their residental from graduating at UCLA."

Hailey: "That's definitely a great career field, everyone knows that doctors will always be needed in this world. What about you Chuck?"

Chuck: "Well not much about me, I'm the Nerd Herd Supervisor at the Burbank Buy More. I know it's not a steady living, but it pays the bills somewhat. So tell me Hailey what do you do?"

Hailey: "Well my career can be very intimidating to potential suitors, especially if they know they're going through a gauntlet just for a chance to take me out on a date."

Chuck: "Is it really that bad?"

Hailey: "You seen those six guys that I was with earlier?"

Chuck: "You mean the mountain men of muscle? Yeah they're really intimidating."

Hailey: "Those guys are basically my uncles, just multiply that seven times. My sister and me had a very rough social life because of them. Mom and Dad weren't helpful at all, considering he's very protective and she let them have their own fun."

Chuck: "You have over forty uncles?"

Hailey: "Not biologically silly, they've been friends with my family for half of my life. Great judges of character though, which helped keep us straight as an arrow. To answer your question about my career, I'm a Naval Aviator assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-218 known as the Raptors that's stationed at Oceana in Virginia Beach. The last three generations on Dad's side of the family have been fighter pilots, which makes me 4th Generation in my family. So you can say flying's definitely in the bloodlines."

Chuck: "Beautiful and smart, a very lethal combination. I'm guessing you serve on a carrier?"

Hailey: "The Patrick Henry, which is what my parents flew off of back when the F-14 Tomcats were used back in the 80's and 90's. Mom went into the reserves after I was born while Dad stayed active, he suffered a crash that left him unable to fly for a couple of years. He used the time to study law and graduated from Georgetown, he still flies when time permits him to when he's not tied up with investigations and such. What's your plans for the remainder of this weekend?"

Chuck: "Unfortunately, today's my only day off before I venture back to work tomorrow morning. No rest for the wicked I guess."

Hailey: "Aw what a shame, I was hoping that we could get to know each other some more."

Chuck: "I'm terribly sorry, I really would've like to take you up on the offer."

Hailey: "You're a real sweet guy Chuck, maybe we should do this another time if you like."

Chuck: "That sounds fantastic, are you going to be around L.A. for a while or will you be going elsewhere?"

Hailey: "I'm going to be in San Diego for a couple of days, my family lives there so it'll be good to see them before we head back to Oceana. We decided to take advantage of the weekend before heading back."

The vibrating cell phone caused them to stop talking, Hailey looked down to see a text message from the guys saying they were ready to leave.

Hailey: "Looks like the guys are finished with their game and ready to leave. Too bad, I really wanted to stay and talk some more."

Chuck: "Yeah, I was really enjoying our time so far. Here let me give you my card so you can have my phone and email to help stay in touch."

Chuck handed her one of his business cards which she gladly accepted before they got to their feet to meet the guys, after they shook hands and said their goodbyes did Hailey turn around and gave Chuck a big hug followed with a quick kiss to his cheek leaving him stunned. Once he regained his senses, Chuck looked out across the ocean and set out to his spot to think about this latest development.

Meanwhile out in the parking lot where Hailey and the guys had packed up their vehicles, Hailey walked over to Artman and handed him a $20 bill that kind of raised the eyebrows of some of the crew. They both laughed and decided to let them in on the joke.

Hailey: "I saw Chuck a mile away and with the sad look upon his face and thought he could use a friend. So I thought if Art could get the ball near him enough on a pass play to me that I could take advantage of, kinda like an ice breaker. I would give him twenty bucks if he could make it look like an accident from a bad throw."

Gambino: "You should've just gave him the twenty from the start, he placed that ball perfectly to where Chuck would have enough time to react after the warning call. Impeccable timing as usual, could've made millions of dollars and be a franchise quarterback for anybody in the NFL."

Hailey: "Why didn't he?"

Artman: "Your father basically recruited me when I was in tenth grade, we talked and I wanted to serve my country. I've always been very patriotic when it comes to our country, and I've always wanted to be around F-14 Tomcats. What better place to be than in the Navy."

Gambino: "We could've played in the NFL at different positions, but chose to serve our country just like your family. Sure we could've played for a decade and be set for life, but sometimes there's much bigger rewards for what we do instead of what could've been."

Hailey: "Don't you guys ever wish you could go back and do things differently?"

Artman: "Not really, besides we only attend their training camps just to help out certain teams with camp bodies and get a little extra practice to help. Making other players at our positions work that much harder to become better, of course the extra paycheck for a summer workout is a great bonus towards vacation days."

Gambino: "On that note, let's get on the road. Nice little drive back to the castle where you know we're expected."

Everyone agreed before starting up their vehicles and began pulling out of the parking lot, Hailey looked back over to the beach for one last glimpse and barely saw Chuck sitting on his spot deep in thought. She knew he was different from most guys and began to formulate a plan of her own to help this guy who's been down on his luck for the last five years, what made her smile even more was she had the right connections to help push things right along.