Chuck woke up in a happy mood. Today he didn't have to report to work until five o'clock in the afternoon, so he had several hours to spare. He got out of bed, took a shower, and got dressed. When he finished dressing, he headed toward the kitchen for breakfast.
"Hey, Chuck," said Ellie, who was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. "Why are you so happy?"
"Because," Chuck said as he prepared himself a bowl of cereal. "I don't have to go to work until early this evening. That means I can catch up on my game playing. I feel like I've neglected my Xbox these last few months."
"You are such a nerd," his sister said with a smile. "I put up with you because you're my little brother, but I don't see why Sarah does."
"Eh, I think she treats it more like a job," Chuck said with a hint of sadness.
"No, that's not it," Ellie said. "There's something about the way she looks at you."
"What are you talking about?" Chuck asked as he sat down at the table.
"I don't know," his sister said. "Remember the way Jill looked at you?"
"Yeah," Chuck said waiting for her to continue.
"I thought Jill loved you. She obviously didn't, but the point is that the way Jill looked at you could never compare with the way Sarah looks at you. I can also see protectiveness in her gaze. She won't let anything bad happen to you. I'm sure of that."
"You're right about her being protective, but I'm not sure that she loves me," Chuck said. "I mean, we hardly know each other."
"She may not love you just yet, but she will," said Ellie as she got up from the table to wash her dishes. "It's inevitable. The only way she can avoid falling completely in love with you is if she leaves, and that's not going to happen."
"It's possible," Chuck said under his breath.
"What?" asked Ellie.
"Nothing," Chuck said as he to walked to the sink to wash his bowl.
"Okay, well," Ellie said as she hugged her brother. "I have to go to work. Don't geek out too much today, okay?"
"Alright," Chuck said as he headed toward the living room. "But, Ellie, it's 'nerd.'"
"Fine 'nerd out' then," she said as she walked out of the door.
Chuck settled himself on the couch and started playing Call of Duty 4. He had been playing for about thirty minutes when there was a knock on the door. He paused the game and went to answer it. He was surprised to see Sarah.
"Chuck, come with me," she said.
"Okay, let me just turn off the game," he said, as he went back inside.
He was out of the house in less than a minute, and before he knew it, they were in Sarah's car.
Some time after they had arrived at a department store, Chuck Bartowski realized out of all the situations he had imagined himself getting into with Sarah, this was not one of them. It should have felt perfectly normal, but after Jill had left him, he thought this part of his life was over. Nevertheless, here he was sitting in a chair outside of the dressing rooms. This time he was waiting for Sarah, not Jill, to come out. It was amusing actually, watching Sarah parade in yet another of the many outfits she had pieced together. He thought the fact she watched Grey's Anatomy was shocking. He never thought she was into television, least of all dramas such as Grey's. But this morning when she stopped by his apartment and told him to get in the car, he followed orders without question because he thought they might be going on a mission. Boy, was he surprised when Sarah plucked a few shirts and skirts from a rack, and entered the dressing room.
It was boring waiting for her to come out of the dressing room, but whenever she did she had this look of pure joy that Chuck just had to play along. He didn't know why women found shopping so exciting, so the fact that Sarah Walker, a CIA agent, could find it exciting, baffled him even more.
The door to the dressing room opened and out stepped Sarah. She was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a pink tank top.
"How do I look?" she asked.
"Perfect," he replied.
"Okay," she said as she let out a deep breath. "Chuck, you've said that in response to everything that I've come out in."
"That's because you do look perfect," he said in his defense. "You would look perfect if you walked out wearing a garbage bag."
"You are no help at all," she said as she went back into the dressing room.
"Are you almost done?" he asked through the door and hoped she would say yes.
"Yeah, let me just put my clothes back on," she replied.
"Okay," Chuck said as he went back to his seat rethinking his hope of her being finished with modeling her clothing.
Watching her parade in a birthday suit would have been nice, he grinned as he thought to himself.
Sarah came out a few minutes later with two piles of clothes. Chuck knew from all the shopping that day the pile on her right arm was what she was going to purchase, and the pile in her left was what she was going to put back.
"Let me take these," he said as he took the pile from her left arm.
"Okay," she said. "You go put those up, and I'll pay for these."
When he came back she was holding four more bags.
"How much stuff did you need?" he asked, again baffled by women and their shopping habits.
"What?" she asked. "I needed some more clothes."
"Twelve bags worth?" he asked as he helped her with them. "And what's with all of the kitchen supplies? I thought you couldn't cook."
"I can't," she said. "Well, it's just my cooking abilities are slim."
"So, you bought all of this because...?" he asked.
"You can cook," she said.
"Right," he said. "And my kitchen has everything I need."
"It's Ellie's kitchen," Sarah pointed out.
"So?" he asked. "I still use it."
"We needed stuff for our kitchen," Sarah said.
"What are you talking about?" Chuck asked. "We don't have a kitchen."
"We will by the end of the week," she said. "We're moving in together."
"What?" he asked, certain he did not hear her correctly.
"Graham decided we need to expand our cover," Sarah explained. "So, we're going to move in together."
"Where?" Chuck asked as his thoughts tried to keep up with their conversation.
"Somewhere close to Casey," she said.
"Okay, but what does that mean for us?" he questioned, still a little bit confused.
"What are you talking about?" Sarah wondered what part of the conversation he didn't understand.
"Our relationship," he said. "Our thing under the undercover thing. What's going to happen?"
"I don't know," she said. "But I do know I'm not moving in with you only for our cover."
He smiled, but his expression was still a little confused.
"Don't worry, I'll explain more over lunch."she said. " I'm hungry. Want to go get something to eat?"
"Sure, hungry. I'm Chuck. Where do you want to go?" Chuck asked with a smile.
"I don't know," she said. "Did you just call me 'hungry?'"
"Yeah," he said.
"Why?" she asked Chuck, although she couldn't possibly imagine.
"Because," he said. "You said you're 'hungry'. I usually address people by their names."
"My name's not 'hungry' though," she said.
"I know," he said. "It was a joke. Come on, Sarah, let's go to the food court."
"My name isn't 'Sarah' either," she admitted sarcastically.
"Yeah," he said. "But I don't know your real name, so you're stuck with 'Sarah,' unless you'd prefer 'Hungry'."
"Really, Chuck, my name isn't 'Sarah,'" she said.
"Are you sure?" he asked, not sure if she was still joking.
"Yeah, I think I know my own name," she said, not positve she should be telling him.
"Okay, then," he said, as he started walking towards the exit and into the rest of the mall.
"Chuck, wait," she girlishly commanded.
He stopped and turned around, but didn't make any move to come back in her direction.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Come here," she coaxed.
"I can't. I was always told never to talk to strangers," he said with his smile.
"Well, then come here and let me introduce myself," Sarah found she couldn't resist that Chuck grin.
"Okay," he sheepishly made his way back towards her.
"Do you remember the time you asked me to tell you something real about myself?" she asked.
"Yeah, I do," he said. "What about it?"
"I'm going to tell you my name," she said. "Just my first name, but you have to promise me not to repeat it, okay?"
"Yes," he said curious if she would follow through. "I promise. Scout's honor."
"Were you ever a Cub Scout?" she asked when she found she didn't know this about him.
"No, I don't like camping," he said. "But I still mean it."
"I'm sure you do," she said. "Okay, my name is..."
She cupped her hand around Chuck's ear and whispered the rest of her sentence. When she finished she stepped back to gauge Chuck's reaction.
"Well?" she asked as he carefully inspected her.
"Huh? I never pictured you as a ..." he said but was stopped.
"Chuck!" she whispered sharply as she thought oh my god! what a typical guy!.
"I know. I know," he said. "Don't repeat the name. It's just I wouldn't have picked that name for you."
"Well, it's a good thing you aren't my father," she quipped. "Come on. Let's go get something to eat."
They walked out of the door with their arms full of the numerous bags of various items Sarah had bought, and headed for the food court. When they got there, they had trouble selecting what they wanted for lunch. In the end, they both ended up with Chinese food.
After they had settled into their spots at the table, Chuck decided to broach the topic of them moving in together.
"Sarah?"
"Yeah?"
"What did you mean when you said that when we move in together you wouldn't be doing it for cover?"
"I meant that I wouldn't be moving in with you for the cover only. We're two friends who have decided to live together. It'll be like having a roommate, but I haven't had one of those since college. It might take some getting used to."
"Does that mean nothing is going to happen between us? We're just going to stay friends?"
"Yeah," she thought again...typical...
"But we're just going to stay friends? Nothing more? Honestly, I don't think that I could live in the same space as you and not want something more. We live in two different apartments as it is and I already want more."
"Chuck, I didn't say that nothing would happen. I meant that we would move in together as friends. It shouldn't be uncomfortable. Something may happen later, but we'll deal with that when the time comes."
"'When' the time comes?" Chuck couldn't let that comment pass.
"Chuck!" Sarah was getting annoyed.
"Okay, okay." Chuck stopped toying with her, afterall he knew she could kick his butt if she got too upset with him. "I need to leave for work now, anyway. See you tomorrow?"
"No, I think you'll be seeing me tonight," Sarah said.
"Tonight?" Chuck asked.
"Ellie's having another dinner party. Don't tell me you forgot."
"Oh right. See you tonight then. Ellie's going to be really excited when she hears the news. You may want to bring earplugs." Chuck anticipated.
"I think I'll be okay." Sarah said.
"Suit yourself. Want me to help carry those to your car?" Chuck asked contently.
"I figured you would anyway."
"Why's that?" Chuck asked curiously.
"Because you're a gentleman, Chuck. And besides, I drove you here. You weren't planning on walking home, were you?" Sarah asked and winked.
"No, I wasn't," Chuck said embarrassed.
They threw away their garbage, picked up the shopping bags, and peacefully headed out of the exit toward Sarah's car.