Chapter 2

Chuck came home after one of the best days of work yet. He'd landed a date with a girl that he never even thought would look at him. He was still in shock that she said yes to going out on a date with him. Unfortunately, he'd never hear the end of it from Morgan, who was completely in egomaniac mode because his stupid douchey 'Morgan method' had worked well enough to get Chuck a date with a beautiful woman.

On a brighter note, he couldn't wait to tell Ellie that he had gotten a date. She had been super concerned about him ever since he isolated himself from women after the break up with Jill. He couldn't even believe how silly he had been about Jill! Why did he go crazy because of a break up? The idea of this date with the gorgeous Sarah Walker was like a drug that got him high off of it. Now, he could barely remember why he was even sad about his break up with Jill, because he had finally experienced how good the world of dating could be. If he knew he'd be able to land girls like Sarah, he would have jumped back on his feet a lot quicker.

"Somebody's in a good mood," Ellie pointed out when her brother entered the home with a huge grin on his face. "Good day at work or what?"

"The best," Chuck responded.

"Care to explain what happened?" Ellie asked.

"Oh, I'd love to," he told her, sitting down at the kitchen table, where Ellie and Devon were now eating a steak Ellie had cooked for dinner. "One word: date. I have a date, Ellie. And it's with this extremely beautiful woman."

"Are you serious?" Ellie exclaimed. "Oh Chuck, this is amazing! I'm so happy for you! You're finally going to be finished with all that Jill moping now, right?'

"Yes ma'am, I am," he said, grinning.

"If this gets serious, you better introduce me to her," Ellie reminded him.

"We'll see where it goes," Chuck said. His phone buzzed. He grinned when he saw that the message was from Sarah. "Guess who just texted me."

"You can leave it up to my imagination. I think I already have a pretty good idea of who it is, anyways," Ellie said with a smirk.

"Then you're probably right," Chuck grinned.

He read Sarah's text. She couldn't think of any place to go, so she asked for some restaurant suggestion. Chuck decided that he would take her somewhere fancy for their first date, although it would drain his already-low budget. But for her, he was willing to spend a little extra cash (very much extra cash for this particularly expensive Italian restaurant he had in mind).

They'd set up the time. Friday, which was the next day, at 8 PM. He couldn't have been more excited.

The next day, he woke up and left for another day of work at Buy More.

"How do you look so calm?" Morgan asked, walking up to him during work. "You do remember that you asked that really hot Sarah girl out yesterday, right? And not to mention, but she freaking said yes."

"Obviously I remember," Chuck laughed, rolling his eyes playfully. "How could I forget something like that? Trust me, I'm more than just swooning on the inside. I could barely sleep last night because I was thinking about it. I didn't even feel Call of Duty calling me to play, because all I could think about was this date. I'm about to step back into the dating world, Morgan!"

Morgan sighed and said, "Now this sucks. You've got a pretty girl and I'm a single loser."

Chuck raised his eyebrows.

"If the Morgan method is what got me a date with Sarah Walker, then why can't the actual Morgan use his own method to get a girl?" Chuck asked.

"I'm not as good as putting it to use as I am at figuring out the theory," Morgan answered, shrugging his shoulders.

Chuck was about to respond when he saw that same cascade of blonde hair enter the Buy More store. Sarah had come back? He looked right at her, his eyes widening. He didn't know if she was here to either just see him, or to get a follow-up on her phone situation, but he was thinking the latter. The only problem was that he hadn't douched himself up! He didn't have his hair gel or his unbuttoned shirt.

"Sarah Walker!" Chuck exclaimed. "What a pleasant surprise. What, uh, what are you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed to come talk to my date for tonight?" Sarah asked, hopping up on the Nerd Herd counter.

"Oh, you most certainly are allowed to do that," Chuck responded, grinning. "So, I've charmed you so much that you can't even wait until tonight to see me? I must have some effect on you."

"I have some free time from work, and I thought I'd come see what you're like a little more," Sarah admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "Don't take it too seriously."

"I'm really happy you came here," Chuck confessed, his whole bad boy act dropping for a moment. He could feel Morgan's eyes piercing him. He wasn't following the Morgan method, and that wasn't alright.

"So, tell me about yourself," Chuck said, trying to ignore Morgan's look.

"I don't like to talk much about myself. I'd much rather hear about you," Sarah informed him with a sweet smile.

"Well, that's a little disappointing. At least, where are you from?" Chuck asked.

"All over the place. I've moved a lot throughout my life. But, I've really settled in Burbank. I'm thinking this might be a more permanent location, but that could always change," Sarah responded, shrugging her shoulders.

"Wow, you told me all that already?" Chuck grinned. "I feel special now."

"You should," Sarah laughed. "I don't usually disclose such personal information so soon. What about you?"

"Hmm, I don't want to spoil everything now. Let's save the small talk for the date. I'm not that interesting of a guy. If we talk too much now, I might not have anything left to say at dinner," Chuck half joked.

"Are you confessing that you're boring?" Sarah asked, laughing.

"I like to be honest," Chuck responded.

"You don't seem so boring so far," Sarah said, her eyes looking up to glance at him for a moment.

"I don't get that a lot," Chuck laughed.

"Any chance you have a lunch break soon?" Sarah asked.

"In like an hour," he responded. "Unfortunately, I started working my shift like half an hour ago, so I won't get a break for a while."

"Then I'll just have to keep on looking forward for tonight-" she began, but then her bright facial expression fell when her phone buzzed. "Dammit," she cursed under her breath. She took the phone out and quickly stared at it. "Chuck, I'm really sorry. I have to go."

"So, I'll assume the phone is working well again?" he asked with a grin.

"Yes, yes it is," she responded absentmindedly. "I hate to leave, but I really do have to go."

"I wasn't even expecting you to come to Buy More right now, so I already got a pleasant surprise of a bonus few minutes to talk to you in the morning. As long as I'll get to see you tonight for dinner, I'm good," he said, reaching over to take her hand. He kissed her hand sweetly. "Don't look too pretty tonight. You already make me weak in the knees."

Sarah blushed, biting her lip. She tried to hide the huge smile threatening to emerge on her face. She took a deep breath, focusing on the text she had just gotten. She had extremely important work stuff to take care of.

"Stop being so sweet," she laughed.

"I can't help it," he confessed honestly, biting his lip.

"Don't keep making me want to stay longer. I have to go," she repeated, and avoided his eyes so she could leave the store without anymore hesitation. Once she was outside, she started running towards her car, since Chuck couldn't see her anymore.

As soon as Sarah was gone, Morgan turned to face Chuck with a stern expression on his face.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded.

"Me being a decent guy to my date!" Chuck cried. "And Morgan, I think she likes the nice version of me. I can't help but be myself. It's the way I think to act. Honestly, I think she doesn't hate that side of me."

"She told you to stop being so nice!" Morgan cried. "Dude, if you don't use the Morgan method tonight at your date, you might lose this girl. All girls are a sucker for bad boys. They pretend like they adore the nice guys, then kick them to the curb when a hot bad boy comes along and gives them a spontaneous, star-crossed romance."

"You've been watching too many teen drama movies, haven't you?" Chuck asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Maybe, but that is aside from my point," Morgan continued. "If you actually like this girl, and want her feelings for you to stick around, you better get your douche act together and keep her intrigued."

Chuck sighed. Was it true? Did he actually have to act like an ass to keep Sarah? It felt like she was interested in him today, and he was being a good guy!


Chuck stared at himself in the mirror. He saw his reflection, and he didn't feel or look like himself at all. He was wearing the fanciest suit he'd worn in a long time (he couldn't even remember the last time he wore a suit), and his hair was covered in gel, similar to the way Morgan had done it for him when he was first trying to flirt with Sarah at Buy More. He practiced his brooding look in the mirror.

So, he'd made the decision to continue with Morgan's method. It seemed to have worked the first time, since she was willing to go on a date with him. It would be extremely out of character for him to be a bad boy, but if it was what would get her to fall hard for him, he'd actually consider doing it. As of now, he was going to be doing just that: being the bad boy.

Should I pick you up? he texted her.

I'll just meet you there, she texted back.

He almost had forgotten how she didn't like to give out personal information. Apparently, it was even a big step to reveal where she had grown up. And even then, he hadn't gotten a straight answer. It was 'I loved everywhere'. Maybe she was being honest, maybe she wasn't, but he still barely knew anything about her. For now, it was fine, since they had just recently met. He was hoping this secretive nature would go away when (or if) this thing between them ever became serious.

"Look at my handsome brother going on a date tonight!" Ellie exclaimed when Chuck came downstairs.

"Hi, Ellie..." he muttered. "I know, this is weird, to see me all dressed up like this-"

"I think it's adorable," Ellie commented. "Well, I mean, the hair does make you look a little bit douchey, but I think it's so cute how you're getting super fancy for this girl. She must be pretty great if she's able to make Chuck Bartowski put on a penguin suit."

Chuck laughed quietly.

"Yeah, yeah," he agreed. "She's been pretty great so far, but I don't really know her that well yet. Hopefully that'll change though, starting tonight."

"Don't be late on the first day!" Ellie cried. "You better get going."

"You're right, but maybe I'd look a lot cooler if I was fashionably late," Chuck said with a grin.

"Oh, please don't try," Ellie begged. "A lot of guys think that girls like douchebag bad boys, but that's not true. Don't try and be that. If you just act like the sweetheart you are, I'm positive this girl will fall crazily in love with you. If she doesn't, then it's her loss."

Chuck sighed. That contradicted to what Morgan said. Obviously, Ellie was the more sensible of the two, but Morgan's method did seem like it worked. It was seriously true that girls always fell for the bad boys. He remembered the way his close friend Bryce Larkin would charm the pants off tons of girls back in Stanford, and he was a complete stud. He and Bryce were still friends now, oddly, but Bryce traveled a lot. He went on a trip at least once a month, maybe even every few weeks. He'd come to Burbank for a little bit, because that was where his house was, but then he'd jet off to some other place, usually with some hot foreign woman (a different one every time, too). Sometimes Chuck wished he had the mojo of Bryce Larkin. Okay, maybe it was more than just sometimes... Bryce Larkin had serious mojo with girls.

He left the house and got in his car, driving out to that fancy-shmancy Italian place he'd searched for on Yelp (yes, that very expensive one). He'd made a reservation immediately after he decided where he would take Sarah on their first date.

"Bartowski, party of two."

"Where's the second?" the woman asked.

"My lovely date should arrive here shortly," Chuck answered with a proud smile on his face.

The woman directed him to his table. He sat down, searching for Sarah. He didn't want to seem too desperate and text her to ask where she was, because that would completely violate Morgan's method. He turned his head to look at the door, and at just that right moment, the gorgeous blonde walked in. It felt like slow motion, the way her hair flipped back, her blue eyed sparkled, and her long legs shined. She was wearing a tight red dress that hugged her curves, making her look amazing, of course. He would be surprised if she looked anything less than beautiful, ever.

"Sarah!" he exclaimed to get her attention.

She smiled adorably when he called her name. She offered him a short but cute wave, and then began walking over to his table. His instincts were telling him to pull out the chair for her, but he knew a true douchebag wouldn't do that. Before he could make himself do it, Sarah had already pulled out the chair for herself. She sat down, not upset or annoyed that he hadn't done the gentlemanly thing of pulling out the chair for her.

"Hello," she greeted. "Wow, you look... dapper."

"Would I ever look anything less?" he cockily said, allowing that brooding look to enter his eyes.

She furrowed his eyebrows. The dick-language wasn't working so well on her so far.

"Isn't this the part where you compliment the girl, or have you never been on a date before?" she asked jokingly.

"Maybe I will," he continued, the brooding look still in his eyes. "All you have to do is beg a little."

She didn't find it funny or charming. It almost looked like she was glaring at him.

"Is there any particular reason why you're acting like a jackass?" she said, rolling her eyes. And to think she thought she saw something special in him. She actually did find his dorky charm appealing. This new jackass attitude wasn't even remotely part of the reason she said yes to go out with him.

Chuck swallowed hard. The Morgan method wasn't working so well now, was it?

"Come on, I just think you should beg a little. Is that so bad?" Chuck laughed. "I did let you be lucky enough to go out on a date with me. Just remember that all those other girls got rejected because they weren't worth my time. You're sorta worth my time."

"Oh really? I feel super lucky right now, too," she sarcastically said, rolling her eyes.

"You should, babe," Chuck smirked, feeling completely out of character, but still feeling like she wanted a bad boy.

"It's barely been five minutes, and this is like, the worst date I've ever been on in my entire life," Sarah told him. "Go date one of those 'million other girls' following you, because I will not be one of them. It's hard to believe any girl would even chase after a dick like you, Chuck Bartowski."

"Sarah, I-"

"No, you can save it," she told him with anger in her voice. She had finally lost her patience. She slammed the menu down on the table, and stood up. "Screw you."

He bit his lip, realizing how badly he had screwed up. The Morgan method was a complete piece of shit, and so was he. At least that was what Chuck felt like. He felt like a total piece of shit after what he did.

"Sarah, wait!" Chuck cried, getting up from the table.

They were in the parking lot, and she kept walking towards her car, having no intention of turning back. But he kept calling her. He kept hoping there was a way to turn this night around.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what I did back in the restaurant!" Chuck cried. "Will you please just hear me out?"

"I don't know you, okay?" Sarah told him, finally turning around to face him. "I don't know you, and now, I don't want to. I took a chance and said yes to this date because I thought you were different than most guys. Most of the guys I've dated have been jackasses, and for once, I thought I saw a cute guy that wasn't a jackass. But you are exactly like all those other guys I've been with, maybe even worse. So yeah, screw you, Chuck Bartowski. And no, I have no desire to 'hear you out'. I don't think anything can compensate for the dick way you just acted in there. Goodbye, Chuck. Don't forget to lose my number."

She got into her car, not looking back again.

"Sarah..." he muttered. "Dammit!"


"Wow, you're back early," Ellie commented as soon as Chuck came into the house again. "Was it that bad of a date?"

"We didn't get much of a date," Chuck explained, sighing. "It wasn't her, though. It was all me."

"No, Chuck," Ellie said, putting a hand on her brother's shoulder. "You should never have to feel like it was your fault because things didn't work out with a girl-"

"Ellie, no, it was seriously my fault," he said, putting his hand on his forehead. "I screwed up so badly. Like, mega badly. I listened to this stupid thing Morgan said about how girls like bad boys, and then I tried to be a douchebag guy on the date because I thought that would be what she wanted, but she got so pissed. She left me during the date."

"Chuck!" Ellie cried. "I specifically told you before you went that girls don't like that sort of stuff. Why would you listen to Morgan Grimes? Does anyone even remember the last time that guy has been on a date?"

"I don't know what to do," Chuck said, sighing again. "I already feel like crap. I would do anything to get another shot at that date... to have another shot to show her that I'm not a jackass. She said she wanted to go on a date with me because she thought I would be a nice guy, unlike the other guys she's been with, but I made her think I'm exactly the same by acting like that."

"But you're not exactly the same. If she knew that, she would be all over you again!" Ellie cried.

"Maybe, but now she thinks I am exactly the same, and there's nothing I can do to fix that," he said.

"Yes there is," Ellie told him. "If you really want something to happen, you have to make it happen. Tell her that you screwed up. Tell her about Morgan. Tell her everything. Be honest. Chances are, she just might give you another shot to show her the amazing guy you are. And guess what? You are amazing. The real you. You don't have to be a bad boy for her to like you."

He frowned.

"She doesn't even wanna hear me out now. I tried," he explained.

"Something tells me you didn't try hard enough," Ellie said, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, well I didn't want to push her any harder. I already provoked her horribly by being such a dick during the first AND last few minutes of our dinner," Chuck said, sighing.

"Try harder. Don't let a false version of you be the reason this relationship didn't work out. You'll regret it," Ellie warned. "If I were you, I would find this girl, tell her the truth, and make sure she gets to see what kind of guy I really am."

"I'll sleep on it," Chuck told her. "I'm super beat from how hard I screwed up. Before I try and become mojo man again, I'm going to need some rest."

"Okay, Chuck," Ellie laughed. "Good night."

"Good night, El," he returned, and then walked upstairs.