– one –

Ned became far more fastidious after he woke Chuck from the dead and she moved in with him.

It all started after he drank the last of the water from her glass when she went to take a shower, and felt a familiar zap on his lips.

Without thinking, without knowing how he ended up there, he was plastered to the corner of the kitchen farthest from her, holding onto the counter for support. If just the touch of his lips to the spot her own lips had touched could make that zap...then any hair, skin, saliva...could re-dead her.

In a frenzy, he scrubbed the glass clean, and every dish he had used that morning, then scrubbed them again with rubber gloves on, cursing himself for not thinking of this before. As soon as he was finished, he pulled the vacuum out of the closet, desperate to clean the path from the bathroom to the bedroom before Chuck emerged.

He had just finished when the door opened and steam billowed out around her towel-clad form.

"Didn't you vacuum yesterday?" the object of his affections asked, casually toweling her hair dry as she leaned against the door frame.

"Uh...I just noticed that Digby made a huge mess in here, tore up a plant. You should have seen it, dirt all over the carpet, leaves were torn up all over the place, and -"

Chuck cut him off as she bent to scratch Digby behind his ear. "That's funny – Digby is so well-behaved...and you don't have a plant." She looked up at him with that funny smile she had, and Ned instantly relaxed, leaning on the handle of the vacuum.

"I...just wanted to make sure you stayed...alive again."

Once she understood what he was getting at, she flushed red. "Is...the bedroom safe?"

"Ah, um, give me a minute."

Smiling at her as he turned, he cleared a pathway to her section of the closet, and wiped the handle of the closet door for good measure. Opening the door, he gestured her in, stepping back as she passed by.

The next few weeks, Ned's usually clean nature turned a bit obsessive. Chuck was not allowed near dishes he had eaten off of, or the dirty laundry, and he wouldn't let her into the bathroom after he showered until he had inspected the tub for stray hairs, and she still had to wear shower shoes as an added precaution.

It was worth the extra wait into the shower, and walking around in slipper with bells on them to see that smile on his face.

XXXXX—XXXXX

– two –

Ned was standing in the kitchen of the Pie Hole when Chuck stormed in and threw her gloves on the table. Even though she had convinced him that a touch from a stray strand of hair or a used tissue from when he had a cold for a week weren't going to re-dead her, he was still nervous whenever she bared any skin around him, no matter how much he enjoyed seeing it.

"Why is the door to the bedroom locked?" she asked, grabbing a cherry from the bowl Ned had just filled and biting down on it.

"Oh, the door was locked? Wow, that's strange. I'd go up and check, but there are a lot of pies to make and I can't just leave Olive alone in this rush. Maybe this afternoon, after..."

Chuck stared at Ned and he continued to make excuses. He always rambled on when he was trying to keep something from her. The glimmer in his eye, however, calmed her. Ned tended to get that look in his eye when he had a surprise.

Bending over, she grabbed another cherry and bent over the table. "What're you planning?" she asked coyly, as the fruit in her mouth stained her lips crimson.

"N-nothing! It's just-"

"Phooey," she replied, wrinkling her nose at him and grinning.

He broke, just like she knew he would, and gestured her to follow him.

"Olive," he called to the small blonde who was wiping down the counter. She was humming to herself, and didn't seem to notice her name being called. "Olive," Ned said again, stepping closer, but Olive still did not register his presence until she physically ran into him.

"Ned!" she exclaimed, smiling prettily up at him.

"Can you handle the shop for a few minutes?" he asked smiling over his shoulder at Chuck, who was pulling on her gloves again.

Olive glanced around at the empty shop. "I think I've got it."

Happily, Chuck led the way through the front door, and to the entrance to the apartment building. Minutes later, Ned was unlocking the front door of the apartment and unlocking the door to the bedroom.

"I had it delivered today, and there were a couple of...modifications I wanted to make to it before you saw it," he said by way of explanation, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Chuck stepped into the room, seeing one large bed in the middle of the room, where there had been two twin-sized beds before.

Nervously, he picked up a sheet of heavy-duty plastic. "I'm going to make a barrier, so we can sleep in the same bed...you said you got lonely at night, and I don't want you to be lonely."

"Ned..." she whispered, then grabbed the plastic and wrapped it around him and squeezed.

XXXXX—XXXXX

– three –

As he washes his hands in the bathroom sink, Ned stares at his reflection in the mirror and wonders what he has done.

"Ned," he hears her say, concerned, through the door.

Slowly, he turns off the tap and dries his hand on the towel, then contemplates his hands. There are no scrapes, no torn skin, and, most importantly, no blood.

He doesn't know what took him over when he heard the man on the street corner making inappropriate comments about Chuck, but he's glad it did.

Ned knows he's not a violent man, he doesn't take things like this lightly. But what that man had said about Chuck...it was only one punch, but it landed where he intended, and it certainly seemed like he would not be saying anything about Chuck anytime soon.

The feeling...it was almost exhilarating.

Putting a smile on his face, he opened the door and smiled at his childhood sweetheart, and his fake smile turned real.

XXXXX—XXXXX

– four –

When smoke starts billowing out of the oven, Ned feels concerned.

When the alarm starts going off, he is glad when Emerson makes a snarky comment and goes to pull out the battery.

When flames erupt from the door, Ned feels words of warning forming on his lips to get Chuck and Olive to exit the room right now.

When he hears a popping noise, he knows he has less than a heartbeat to react.

"Chuck!" he screams, warning her, as he pulls Olive to the ground underneath him, and hopes that she hid herself as the oven explodes.

He can hear Olive make a whimpering noise from underneath him,and has the sudden thought that her hair smells of roses, and that her skin is soft.

He wishes he could touch Chuck.

"Ned," says a shaky voice from around the corner.

Instantly, he is on his feet, leaving the small blonde woman he was so recently on top of alone in a smoky room.

"Chuck," he breathes, relieved. She is staring at him from the floor with large, glassy eyes, clasping a hand to her bare shoulder.

"Let me look at that, Dead Girl," he hears Emerson say as he comes into view and kneels down next to the brunette.

"Thank you, Emerson," she whispers, holding out her arm. Ned winces as he sees the singed and already shiny skin on her shoulder.

"How're you, Olive?" the PI calls as he wipes Chuck's injured shoulder with a damp napkin.

"I'm fine," the waitress says, getting up and joining the rest of the group. "I'm going to have a terrible bruise, though." Olive winces and rubs her hip.

"Olive," Chuck says, reaching out her non-injured arm, and Olive complies and steps closer.

"All thanks to Ned," she says, then squeezes Ned on the arm and smiles.

Chuck doesn't need to say anything to show how grateful she is that Ned protected her roommate, he can see it in her eyes.

As he smiles down at her, he pretends the arms wrapped around him are hers.

XXXXX—XXXXX

– five -

Ned had never thought he would have to protect Chuck from himself.

She had stayed over for the night, making use of the thick plastic barrier on the bed so he could wrap his arm around and hold her all night long. Even though the plastic, he could smell the scent of freesia, which colored his dreams, dreams where he could touch her – all of her – without any restrictions, and he woke up, finding himself pulling at the barrier, desperate to run his fingers through her hair and feel her lips on his and touch all the skin he could...

Thankfully, he came to his senses before he actually made that mistake, hastily making sure he had not damaged the plastic, then heading back to the bathroom to get a grip.

He turned on the shower and stepped in, wincing as the cold spray his hit body. This did little to help, because he could still imagine the feel of her body under his. Grimacing, he reached down and began to take care of himself, for a few minutes allowing himself to forget he could never touch her.

Since Ned had been so focused on the task at hand, he didn't hear footsteps softly padding down the hallway, the knock on the door, the whisper of his name, or any of the other warnings he could have had, and knew nothing but the images in his mind until the shower curtain was pulled open.

"Chuck," he gasped, pulling both his hands together to hide what he had been doing, embarrassed.

"I was worried," she said simply, smiling slightly as she looked him in the eye.

"I...uh.."

"Can I watch?"

Without waiting for permission, Chuck leaned against the counter and cocked her head at him.

Then she started talking to him, giving instructions, supplying details, and he couldn't help but do what she said. Then, just as he finished, he had the thought to draw the shower curtain closed, lest anything splash on her.

"I'll see you in a few minutes," she called over her shoulder.

He stood still for a moment, and decided he would take what he could get.

XXXXX—XXXXX

– one –

Ned stood as the clock ticked steady on in the background, taking another pie from the oven, and sat it on a rack to cool, then placed two more in the oven.

He knew the kitchen of the Pie Hole better than any other room. He could pour out the correct amount of flour without scales or measuring cups, did not have to check to make sure the fruit was ripe, and could roll dough out to the proper thickness without having to see it. The lights were all out, and he was in darkness, save for the weak rays of dawn that were just peaking through the windows.

As he pulled on a gloves, he pealed, cored, sliced apples, and was only interrupted from his task when a key fumbled in the lock and the small bell above the door jingled.

"Olive?" he called out, making sure it was her.

"What are you doing here, Ned?" the small blonde asked, hanging her purse on a hook in the back.

"Just making some extra inventory," he replied, reaching for cinnamon and tapping a few shakes into the bowl with the prepared apples. "What are you here so early?"

"The coffee machine's on the fritz, so I wanted to get it cleaned before anyone came in." Crossing the kitchen, she pulled one of his aprons off a shelf and tied it around her green work dress.

Shortly, she went off her her task in the front, and he continued cutting fruit and feeding freshly-made pies to his new oven. Eventually, he heard a yelp from the other room.

"Olive?" he called out for the second time that morning, concerned, then put down his rolling pin when the only response he heard was a frustrated groan.

As he entered the front of the shop, he saw Olive kneeling the counter, her arm deep inside the coffee machine.

"My hand's stuck," she admitted, glancing over her shoulder as she tugged futilely on her arm.

Rolling up his sleeves, Ned reached into the device and felt around for what may be catching Olive's arm. After a minute, he jiggled something, which clicked, and Olive gratefully pulled her arm out and shook it.

"Good thing you were here early today," she said, placing her other hand on his chest in a gesture of thanks as she made to walk by him.

"Good thing," he agreed, smelling the scent of roses in hair as she passed.

When she was almost out of reach, his arm reached out without his permission and grabbed her wrist. Olive made a noise as if to begin speaking, but was abruptly halted as the Piemaker pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers.

Olive did not protest.

Ned knew he was out of his mind – he loved Chuck, she was all he wanted – but his body told him otherwise. For years, he had actively avoided human contact, until Chuck came back into his life. Since then...he didn't mind it as much. And now, it seemed, as he pulled his colleague against the counter, he was actively seeking it out.

With shaking hands, Olive reached up for the zipper to her dress and pulled it down, then guided Ned's hand to the newly-exposed area of her body,and his hand did not protest.

Neither of them paid much thought to the front door, or to who may walk in.

They should have.

Ned pulled his hand unceremoniously back as he heard a choked gasp from behind him, and spun to see Chuck standing there. After one frozen moment, Chuck was the first to move, and left just as quickly as she had entered.

Olive flushed hurried away.

Ned just stood there, unsure of what to do.

He didn't know how to protect Chuck from this.