A/N This fiction is produced by cooperatively by UKChuckster and AuditoreanGhost.
Chapter 1: Introductions
Stanford, 2002
"Charles Bartowski, please report immediately to the Dean's office. There's a new student and you're up for introducing her to the school. Since you did such a good job with Cole and Catherine, you're up!" the Dean's assistant called from the door, before leaving abruptly. Charles, or Chuck, as he insisted, grimaced at the assistant's words. Nothing good ever came out of the Dean's office, even when she was remotely happy. For all his time here so far, she had basically been a hardass. Dean Beckman sure was a tough leader, whose leadership came through intimidation and mercilessness.
Chuck had turned 20 yesterday. Ellie had yet again tried to play a match-maker with her UCLA friends. She was studying medicine with this 'Awesome' guy. Chuck barely knew him but determining from his sisters words, he definitely sounded awesome. Chuck on the other hand tried to be a gentleman above all else, but was basically ostracized at school, mostly due to him beating up Bryce Larkin for finding him 'sexually entangled' with a girl on his bed. Although Chuck doesn't believe in violence, he sure didn't feel merciful enough that day. Chuck was a nice enough guy, but when Bryce started discrediting him with slander, the 'friends' he had quickly vanished. They were seemingly only interested in Bryce's company. That was generally expected. He rose up from the seat and disconnected his ESP Viper from the amplifier. The other students were studying him. In their eyes he was just an another nerd who never had anything for them.
Chuck marched through the the bland hallways of Stanford with the Viper on the sling in front of him. The guitar had been his second best friend since the Bryce thing. Morgan still was his best friend but their time together was severely limited. Although Morgan was also at Stanford, they didn't meet often. Chuck was majoring in History and Computing, but Morgan had been specializing in Mathematics. His calculator probably wasn't legal, but when you had a 1024 bit password encrypted in binary, the teachers couldn't really be bothered to check on it.
As Chuck approached the 'governmental hallway' he was thinking about his life. He had never had any girlfriends. Although there had been a girl who liked him, she had been instantly turned off when she realized that Chuck hated casual relationships. Many women would have been okay with that but the one in question moved out to Connecticut the next day after screaming at Chuck for a couple of minutes. He walked through the glass double doors that separated the Dean's office from the main hallways, before knocking on the her black door.
"Come in, Bartowski," Beckman said through the door with a devilish kind of tone.
Chuck walked through the door, spotting two adults and a girl, who was sitting in a wheel chair.
"Please sit, Charles? We have something to discuss about your trip to Europe," Beckman began in her usual cold manner.
"I'd prefer to stand, Ms Beckman. I have just played this one for 5 hours straight," Chuck said, motioning to the guitar still hanging from his neck. The comment piqued the interest of the adults in the room, Beckman excluded.
"I suppose that you are wondering who these people are. Charles, I would like to introduce Jack Walker, a famous banker, along with his wife, Emma, Vice President of ESP's American branch," Beckman said lovingly.
"Charles, it's so nice to meet you. And you have my personal thanks for using our products," Emma holding her hand out towards Chuck.
"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs Walker. This guitar is a good one. Oh, and please call me Chuck," he replied as he firmly shook her hand, leaving a respective impression.
"Please," Emma replied as she tried to evaluate the young man before her, "Emma's fine, Chuck." Definitely boyfriend material for my daughter. Even the way you greet people matters, she thought.
"Thank you, Emma. I guess I've just been raised to greet people the old fashioned way," he laughed, before his eyes wandered to her husband.
"I will give you some time to get to know each other? I'm needed at a conference, I'll be back in an hour," Beckman said hastily as she approached the large doors of her office.
Chuck and Jack made small talk, before Chuck laid his eyes on the woman in the wheel chair. Her ponytailed blonde hair was fascinating at least. As she turned around, Chuck's excitement level jumped into an another atmosphere.
"It's nice to meet you, Miss-" Chuck said as he went down on one knee, making the situation seem a bit more awkward, at least in Jack's eyes.
Instead of replying, the girl pulled out an A4 refill pad, and began writing on it, whilst Chuck looked at her curiously, until she handed it to him.
"Hi, Chuck. It's nice to meet you too," the text on the pad read, "I'm Sarah... And why are you in 'the proposal position?'" Sarah's face revealed a minor grin, as if she was revealing her intentions through her actions. When Chuck realised what he was doing he opened his backpack searching for something. Having placed his guitar leaning on the maple bookcase, he was searching for a notebook of his own. What is he doing? Is he afraid to answer my question? Sarah thought. When Sarah saw his notebook emerge from his backpack, her heart fluttered a bit. He began writing on his notebook and soon after revealed the first page.
"Well, I thought that I should be 'on the same level' as you. I don't want to make you feel like lonely down here..." the notebook read.
"Thanks, Chuck. You're right, it sometimes feels a bit lonely down here. Why are you talking to me through that notebook? Everybody else speaks to me and waits for my answer," she wrote. Chuck saw the text and flashed her the Bartowski gigawatt smile.
"Sarah, I believe in equality. If you can't speak, I will write with you. I don't want you to feel inferior to anybody."
"That's sweet. Do you want to know what happened to me?" She wrote with a bit of discomfort on her face. Chuck noticed her discomfort and frowned for a second.
"Only if you want to tell me, Sarah."
"I was going home after my first visit to Harvard with Bryce Larkin when he crashed on to a incoming bus. He drove straight banging his front bumper against the back of the bus. The front bumper came inwards, trapping my legs in a 'vice grip' which hurt so much. Bryce got out of that damn' car and ran away like a coward he is. He didn't want to handle the consequences. When the bus driver came into to check up on us, he only found me unconscious on the passenger seat. I lost everything that day." She wrote down. Her parents were amazed by the intimacy of the situation. Emma was always worried that Sarah would never open her heart to anybody other than her parents but there she was. Opening her heart to a guy, she barely knew. Chuck was clearly a nice enough guy to pour your heart into and trust him to keep it safe. Emma sighed and fastened her arm on Jack's waist, holding him near. They watched closely as Sarah began writing again.
"After my initial diagnosis, I was so depressed. It's like my whole life had been just eradicated. Who would date an paralyzed person anyway?" she wrote as Chuck quickly interrupted her by slowly taking the pen from her grasp.
"I would," he quickly wrote, a crooked smile forming on his face.
She smiled somewhat sadly at him, before continuing. "My doctor told me that I could try some physical therapy. The hopeless optimist that I am, I ended up taking up her offer. After two very hard weeks I regained full physical condition from the hip up. She was so happy, when I started writing on my notebook. She was a bit afraid, when I wrote that I couldn't speak. They examined my 'voice mechanisms' and found out that they were completely functional. I've never spoken since the accident. I hope you understand?" She wrote and looked up at Chuck, whose eyes were now watery. She couldn't understand what was happening. He was definitely the first guy that had cried, or even showed any emotion, for that matter. Most of them didn't even acknowledge her. To them she was a helpless bitch, who didn't 'deserve' any of their time. They didn't even look at her.
"I understand, Sarah. I know Bryce, we were 'friends' for a while in high school before he got accepted into Harvard. A couple of years ago, I found him 'entangled' with a girl on my bunk. If you're wondering why I'm crying, I just can't believe he could ever abandon a beautiful woman like you in a car accident... He has got to be completely insane..."
"You think that I'm beautiful?" Sarah wrote as sighing at her own excitement.
"Yes, Sarah. I think that you're very beautiful," Chuck wrote on the paper, earning him a large smile from her.
"You certainly know how to make a girl feel special, Chuck," Sarah wrote down with a blush aggressively compromising her feelings.
"Thanks, Sarah. I hope that we can get to know each other one day?" Chuck wrote down and offered his hand.
"I hope so too, Chuck. And, by the way, you look very dapper yourself," She wrote and gently shook Chuck's hand. Sarah felt some kind of electricity as they shook their hands. She felt warm and safe. She motioned for her mother to come closer.
After a brief mother/daughter moment, Emma handed Chuck a few sheets of A4 sized papers held together by a rather large bulldog clip. As Chuck began to read through the first page, his bemused frown began to slowing transform into his signature gigawatt grin. "Ahh, Mrs. Walker?" Chuck asked tentatively, as he pushed the stack of papers into his backpack.
"Yes, Chuck?" Emma answered.
"Did you know a Mary Bartowski?"
"Yeah, I did. She was a fellow exchange student in Scotland. What about her?"
"She's my mom, actually..." Chuck replied slightly sheepishly.
"Wait? You're Mary's son?" Emma asked looking surprised, since she couldn't recognize him. She had only heard news of him being born about 20 years ago but that was it. "Can we," Emma said motioning for their family, "visit someday? I would so love to catch up with her," she asked, remembering her deep talks with Mary.
"Well, I could call her. One minute," Chuck said pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.
"Mom? Do you remember an Emma Walker?"
"Yes... it's been a long time though. Why?"
"Her family moved here sometime ago and she would like to catch up."
"Oh! Really?!"
"Yep," Chuck replied, laughing.
"I think dinner, tomorrow at seven would be good?"
"That's great mom. I'll tell her."
"Dinner tomorrow? At seven?" Chuck asked cautiously.
"I'll clear our schedule. It will be nice to see her again," Emma replied gazing at her husband, who was thinking hard. Really, hard.
"Is your father's name Stephen, Chuck?" he asked curiously.
"Yeah, it is why?" Chuck asked, confused.
"We studied at the same high school long ago. It will be nice to meet him again," Jack said, remembering those quiet nights playing Pong or some earlier variation of the same game with Stephen.
"Bartowski, Walker. Tomorrow, my office. We will discuss your EU trip then. Dismissed." Beckman said, arriving back from her meeting. The Walkers turned to leave but just as Sarah was about to exit the room, Chuck stopped her and started writing on her notebook that was resting on her lap.
"It's been nice meeting you, Sarah," Chuck wrote in earnest, smiling at her.
"It's nice to meet you too, Chuck. I just wish that I could speak..." Sarah wrote, being conscious of her flaw; if you could call that a flaw.
"I'm sure that you have a voice of an angel," Chuck wrote, and Sarah smiled sadly at him. "And, Sarah? It's not a minus in my book. It's not a flaw..." Chuck wrote, knowing that Sarah would think about that. Sarah's heart fluttered at the thought that he could read her thoughts so easily.
"Thanks, Chuck. It's nice to know that you aren't annoyed by that fact! I'll see you tomorrow, right? I have history first thing in the morning," Sarah wrote grinning from ear to ear.
"I'm on the same course, Sarah. I could introduce you to my friends, if you want to?" Chuck wrote looking at her for approval. When she nodded, Chuck pressed on. "So what happened to Bryce? I'm sorry if it's a tough subject..." Chuck wrote before Sarah bluntly knocked the pen off his hand.
"He went on studying in Harvard the next day, I think that he still is studying there. I went back there a week after I regained control of my upper body, which was quite hard considering that I would need to maneuver around with my wheelchair. We moved here when Dad's job required him to be closer to San Francisco. Well, Harvard made me a full transfer, transferring me here. I'm happy that they did that, since I met you. It's nice to have a friend like you," Sarah wrote with a tinge of discomfort.
"Friends?" Chuck wrote smiling at her.
"Friends. Bye, Chuck," Sarah wrote already missing Chuck's presence as he rose up to stand.
Chuck took his guitar of the bookcase and left for his next class, while waving Sarah goodbye. Minutes later, he sat down on the hard wooden chair in the lection room. He opened his backpack and laid his eyes on the stack of paper and started reading it with a pen in hand.
Hey Chuck. Since you are now aware that I can't speak much, I'm going to ask you some questions, if that's okay? If you don't want to answer, just give the stack back to me. I'll understand if you don't want to answer these questions. It's just my way of getting to know people. I know it's weird, but can a girl a have one weird thing? Thanks for reading this far... Sarah Walker.
1. Your full name? Charles Irving Bartowski
4. Ice cream favourites? Rocky Road, absolutely
7. Hobbies? Video games. Guitar playing.
10. Favourite movie? Too many movies, can't decide
15. Any secrets? I have a crush on someone...
16. When you met me, what was your first impression? A beautiful girl with very succesful parents. Although their daughter had gone through a lot, she was a really nice person.
17. Would you be my friend? Of course, Sarah. Always.
18. Did you answer every single question? If I missed any, just ask?
Walker Family Home
"So, what did you two talk about?" Emma asked when she saw the absolutely biggest grin on her daughters face.
"Well I told him my story... and he listened. He listened to the whole thing!"
"Yeah, I figured that out. He's a gentleman after all." Emma said.
"He sure is, mom."
"Much better than Bryce," Emma replied, immediately regretting it when she saw Sarah's face fall.
"I never dated Bryce. I was forced to go to with him. I tried every single way possible to avoid going with him but it was no use."
"I know. I'm sorry, darling. You didn't want anything to do with him."
"He always told me that he would 'bag' me someday. I hate him. And so does Chuck"
"Why would Chuck hate Bryce? I'm a bit confused here, sweetie. Care to elaborate?"
"When I told him what happened to me, he shared a bit of his life as well. He had found Bryce on his bed plowing a school girl. Define the term awkward mom and multiply it by a couple of billion times. I guess Bryce is a common interest for us."
"I'm guessing that you kinda like this Chuck fellow?" Emma sighed as she talked to her daughter. This conversation should have happened many months beforehand.
"I felt safe with him, mom. I think he understands my position."
"So that's why he kneeled in front of you and wrote on your notebook! He wanted you to be on the same level as you. He didn't want to use his voice, when you couldn't use yours," Emma replied as her heart fluttered a bit. Had her daughter found 'the one'?
"It's very sweet of him, I know. Mom, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"If he actually fills the 'friend' papers, could you help me with reading through his answers?"
Suddenly, there were knocks on the door. Very hasty ones, in fact. Jack quickly got up from his chair and took his baseball bat with him to the door. He carefully opened the door with his bat ready to move in for the kill. As the door opened it revealed a couple. A tall and lanky nerd with this stunningly beautiful girl in his embrace. Jack was a bit shocked by the visual deja vu he was experiencing?
"Mr Walker, I presume?"
"Yes, and who may you be?"
"I'm Skip Johnson and this is my lovely girlfriend Miranda. I have a message for one: Sarah Walker? Is she available?"
"She might be. What this about?"
"My friend, Chuck Bartowski wanted for her to receive these papers. Oh, he also wanted to say that: I couldn't wait for tomorrow, Sarah."
"Oh. Thank you..." Jack said, slightly shocked at the effort Chuck was going through.
"I should give these to Sarah right away. She seems a bit anxious"
"That's okay, Mr Walker. Goodbye now," Skip remarked as Jack reluctantly closed the door in front of the lovely couple. He looked briefly on the papers and handed them to her lovely daughter. She was clearly excited to read Chuck's answers.
"Okay, let's see what we have here... He likes the same ice cream as me... and likes history... Mom?"
"Yes, honey?" Emma asked sighting the question Sarah was pointing at.
"He says he's got a crush on someone," Sarah said, looking entirely downcast.
"Well, I think I know who it is," Emma replied amusedly.
"Who?!"
Emma just looked at Sarah.
"Me?! No. He doesnt," Sarah scribbled onto her pad.
"Okay then sweetie," Emma replied, her eyes dancing with amusement.
"And now about this one? Why would he think that I had a boyfriend at Harvard?"
"For a girl like you?" Emma said giving her daughter a slight grin, "For a girl as beautiful as you, it would usually be a given."
"Hm..." Sarah responded unsurely. "Okay, what about these. I know nothing about video games or his guitar playing..."
"Why don't you ask him to teach you? He might be too shy to ask you himself," Emma replied.
"Yeah, I thought about that. Since we're going over for dinner tomorrow, I think that I could ask him about that. I'm going to ask him to be my partner in school. He seems nice, I think I'll like his friends too."
"Chuck's got that covered, darling. There was this lanky guy at the door a couple of minutes ago with his stunningly beautiful girlfriend. And Emma, you still look more stunning than her," Jack said as he gave Emma a peck on the cheek.
"And he can point to me the jackasses etc. I don't even want to talk to them, especially after Bryce," she paused for second, before continuing, "Mom, can I ask you something?"
"Of course, sweetie?" Emma said happily.
"Can we get my special blue top?"
"Of course we can, honey. No makeup, Sarah. We are going to try something different this time," Emma replied.
"No makeup? How can I look at him without any make up?"
"You don't even use much make up, dear."
"But mom! I want to look good in front of him!" Sarah wrote visibly showing her feelings about the situation. Pure and utter awkwardness.
"You have a crush on him don't you, darling?" Jack said as he rushed out of the room with an Epic Trollface on his figure. The troll dad of the century, Emma thought.
"I do not!" Sarah protested. Do I?
Meanwhile at the Bartowski House
"Sis, I'm home," Chuck yelled out as he arrived quickly throwing his bag on the living room couch. Hearing the loud thump of the bad, his sister emerged from the bedroom with an 'I just woke up damn' it' look plastered across her face.
"I was sleeping, Chuck..." Ellie mumbled out.
"Sis, this is important..."
"What is it?" Ellie asked, a bit astounded.
"Can we sit down, I don't want you fainting on the floor."
"I met this girl today." Chuck said earning a gasp from Ellie. "Yeah, I know. Her name is Sarah. She is quite beautiful to be honest and I think I like her..."
"I'm so happy for you, Chuck! You're going to have a girlfriend for once!" Ellie rambled out, overly excited.
"Ssssh! Don't you dare tell Mum or Dad. I don't really want to be having that conversation with them... She's way out of my league anyway..." Chuck finished with a blush on his face.
"Out of your league? No one's out of your league Chuck."
"Just wait until you see her."
"Tell me about her."
"She is about my height, long blonde hair and has a face of an angel," Chuck sighed before continuing, "but she's also paralyzed below the hip and can't speak."
"She sound beautiful... But paralyzed? What happened?" Ellie asked, concern etched into her own beautiful features.
"Bryce Larkin crashed into a bus with her in the passenger seat. Bryce didn't even check on her, he just ran away from the scene; not wanting any consequences. She ended up fully paralyzed for a couple of weeks, before regaining control of her upper body."
"And how do you talk to her, if she can't speak?"
"We write to each other, Ellie. When I met her, she started writing on this notebook. I looked at her and saw the sadness in her eyes. Her voice box works, but she hasn't talked since the incident..."
"Wait, did you say Bryce?"
"Yep," Chuck replied, a frown on his face.
"Go figure."
"Tell me about it. Twat." Ellie smiled at that. "What should I do? I like her..."
"Tell her that you like her and ask her out."
"Ask who out?" Mary's voice carried through the doorway.
"No one!" Chuck rushed out, far too quickly.
"Hmm..." Mary replied, unconvinced. "Did you say the Walker's had a daughter?"
"Yeah, Sarah. She's in a wheelchair though."
Ellie's eyes flew wide at Chuck's statement. "Sarah Walker? That's who you like?" she interrogated in a hushed voice. "Harvard's prime? She is the best student of Harvard this year. She is acing classes without no effort!"
"A wheelchair?!" Mary replied, talking over Ellie's hushed voice.
"I'll come there and tell you about it, Mom," he replied, flashing a grin at Ellie as he stood up.
A/N AG: I would like to thank all of you who read this fiction. My initial version was pretty bad, even from my perspective being a second language english speaker myself.
UKChuckster came into the project as beta, but ended up as a co-producer. I hope that you enjoy the fruits of our collaboration..
Yours, AG&UKC