Okay, like a lot you, I have been thinking about what happens after the beach. This is basically what I imagined happened in the immediate aftermath of the kiss. I may continue it into a multi-chapter story that would send them on a new action adventure and how they would re-construct their relationship. Can't promise anything though. This is only my 2nd story, but again, you don't have to be gentle in your comments.
Chuck lost himself in their languid kisses. It felt so natural, her lips on his, bringing his hand to her face, the other softly to her back pulling her closer. He let the tragic events of the last few weeks drift away in his mind and just existed in the connection that immediately rose between them at the touch of her lips to his. Chuck was aware enough, however, to not press for anything more, making sure that his touch didn't show the passion and urgency that he felt swirling in his stomach. He felt instinctively that it was his time to take care of her and to be gentle and loving, and most of all patient, so he just continued to softly kiss and breathe her in. Just being with her again in any intimate way at all flooded his heart with hope, but it also brought an insisting stab of fear that he couldn't help but feel deep in his chest. He was so scared he might spook her knowing how fragile she was right now. He recalled how the Sarah of five years ago might not have let even this happen, so he forced his concentration on trying to relax his lips and let her dictate the moment.
Sarah, however, was not lost in all this kissing. In fact, you could say she felt she had been found or at the very least she finally felt a little peace and relief. She wasn't lost forever; she finally could see that there was someone who could guide her back to her life. It was almost like she finally caught the bottom rung of an elevated ladder rising from the depths of the dark pit she had been trapped in since her memories were gone. Since waking in the hotel room, being lost was all she knew, she was overwhelmed and completely at drift. Nothing made sense to her and the fear and the confusion enveloped her. At first, she tried to grab onto the only thing she knew to be true – she was a spy and a damn good one – and she would follow her CIA orders and get the job done, no matter how ugly the things she had to do were. Finding out these orders were all lies and then finding out the truth of what her life had been in the five years just plunged her deeper into confusion. So many strangers seemingly cared for her. She was told things that she had done that seemed impossible to believe. She didn't seem to know this Sarah in the least. She didn't see anything to guide her out of the fog, not until Chuck found her once again, told her their story, and now kissed her gently on the beach. Chuck was here and Chuck was going to be her lifeline. She just had to trust him.
Sarah finally pulled back from Chuck and he let his hand slip from her face to rest on her neck. He softly rubbed his thumb along her collar bone and just looked at her with a slight lilt of a smile. He was intent that she feel that they were in this together, that they were connected forever. Sarah's gaze moved from his eyes, to the ground between them and back to his eyes as she gathered her courage to tell him what she was thinking. The soft touch of his hand soothed her fear and gave her the confidence she needed. The feeling hit her full force – she was going to trust him. It felt foreign and yet instinctive to her at the same time, she was going to let him lead her out of this haze. Pushing down the fear, Sarah decided she would face this and embrace a new kind of strength. Not the strength that enabled her to deliver a roundhouse kick to a man twice her size, but rather the kind of strength that would allow her to open her heart to him and be a vulnerable real human being. After all, she intellectually knew that she did this before, she would just have to do it all again.
Sarah smiled shyly and a little laugh escaped as her eyes met his once again.
"That was nice"
Chuck returned her comment with a half-smile and questioning eyes. "Yes, it was, but something tells me it wasn't quite magical? Memories didn't just come back?"
Sarah looked down again. "No, no memories came back." She let the sand run through her fingers as she continued. "It was kind of magical though, in a way."
Chuck's smile rose a little higher on his face this time. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," Sarah sighed as she arranged the thoughts she had into words that she hoped Chuck could understand. "I felt something, you know? I mean, to be honest, I started to feel something for you while we were in Berlin. Just a connection or something. That tango, it was a bit intense." Sarah smiled as Chuck laughed, both their thoughts returning to the tension they felt in each other's arms that night.
"But these feelings, they scared me and a part of me just wanted to run away from it. But you finding me here now, you telling me our story now," Sarah once again lifted her eyes up from the ground to meet his, "you kissing me now. It all makes me want to find out just what this connection is. It makes me want to trust you. It makes me want to let you help me." She quirked her mouth to the side as her courage wavered a bit and quickly looked out to the sea. Was she making sense to him? Was she doing this right?
Chuck moved his hand once again but now from her neck to her chin and lifted her head up so her eyes met his. "That's all I want to do Sarah. I just want to help you in any way. Look, I would be lying if I said I don't want us to be together again. My strongest desire is for you and I to go back to being how we were, but that's impossible. So now, I just want to do anything I can to make you feel safe again. To make you feel whole again. To help you find your life again." Chuck released her chin and leaned back on his arms behind him in the sand.
They smiled at one another in silence for a bit, until Sarah allowed herself to slowly move her hand from her lap to his knee. She watched her hand travel from his knee to his thigh back to his knee and then repeat itself.
"What comes next, Chuck? I mean, I just can't leap back into our previous life. Where do we go from here?"
Chuck took her hand from his knee as he stood up from the sand, pulling her to her feet. "I think the first thing we do is get out of here. It's getting dark and you are starting to turn blue from the cold."
Brushing the sand from his jeans, Chuck took Sarah's hand in his and they started to walk to their cars.
"Look, let's just take this one day at a time, OK? We don't have to rush anything. You can continue to stay at your hotel if that makes you more comfortable, but I think if it isn't too much for you, you can stay in our apartment – our home." He felt Sarah's hand tense in his and he rushed to continue talking. "Separate beds, of course. I can sleep in Morgan's old room. I just think, you know, your stuff is still there. I know you don't necessarily remember your stuff, but it's still your stuff. And it just might help you remember, being in your own home." Chuck stopped walking and turned to look at her. "Being with me, being together, it might help you remember…if it isn't too hard for you." Chuck grew unsure and he looked down and absently kicked the sand with his shoe as he continued. "I know if will probably feel weird to be there, sharing an apartment with me, but I think it would be better than waking up alone in a hotel room, rattling around in it by yourself. Plus if you have any questions or need anything, I'll be right there and I can help you. I just don't think it is a good idea for you to be alone right now and…and maybe I am rambling a bit now…" Chuck looked at her again and Sarah returned his gaze with a small laugh.
"OK, Chuck," Sarah said. "OK. I think I can handle that. We'll take it one day at a time. Together, one day at a time." She reached for his hand again and pulled him along. He was funny, this guy. The way he talked and talked. And sweet too, he was very, very sweet. Sarah smiled at her thoughts as they reached their respective cars. For the first time in forever, she wasn't feeling very lost. She was actually going someplace. She was going home.
"See you at home then?" Chuck asked as he held the Lotus's door for her.
As she reached for her keys, she found herself saying without thinking, "How about if I picked up some sizzling shrimp on the way home and you go to the store and get some Rocky Road?"
Chuck's heart spun in delight as he closed the door. "Sounds like a plan, Sarah. Sounds like a perfect plan."
Sarah looked at him as she brought the Lotus's engine to its powerful roar. Nodding to the Nerd Herder that Chuck drove, she raised her eyebrows in a challenge. "You think you can beat me home in that thing?"
Chuck smirked. "Sarah, don't knock the Herder. It has many great qualities. It has assisted us on many a mission."
"OK, then, first one home gets the extra shrimp."
"But I love the extra shrimp!" Chuck quickly scrambled to his car. "No fair! The herder can't beat the Lotus! And you're getting a head start to boot!"
Sarah yelled over the revs as Chuck fumbled with his keys trying to open his door. "The shrimp will take more time to get than the ice cream, so you still have the advantage. I warn you though, I am going to try extra hard to beat you – I'm starving." Sarah's face lit up in a brilliant smile and her eyes sparkled with mirth as she dropped the clutch in gear and sped away. Despite the unexpected race and his unquestioned love for sizzling shrimp, Chuck paused for a moment, his hand on the door handle and watched her drive away. He grinned as he let himself be bathed in that smile that he missed so much. He felt her beauty never wavered these past troubled weeks, even as she was lost in the darkest times. But that beauty was truly blinding when she had joy in her heart. It caused her smile to light up and her eyes to seemingly shine with love. He was hopeful for them when she kissed him and he was hopeful for them when she said she was going to trust him. But now, seeing that smile once again, he truly believed that his Sarah would be back and she would be back with him. He watched as the Lotus turned on to the highway and came back past him at increasing speed. A couple of quick honks from her broke his musings and he hurried to get in the car. He had to get going after all, his lady wanted some Rocky Road.