Okay, I admit there's still not a lot of action in this chapter, but more does happen. I think I might do the next chapter in Sarah's POV instead of this mostly Chuck, semi-omniscient POV. What do you think?

Oh, and as a disclaimer, I don't own Chuck. If I did have any say in that show, Jill would be dead and Chuck and Sarah would both know that the other was in love with them :)

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Sure, he had thought that a small night with some of his friends would be nice, but with Ellie in on the plan, he'd be lucky if all of his old college friends (except for Bryce, of course) wouldn't be invited. And Chuck really didn't want this to be a big deal. But with Ellie? Yeah, he was in trouble.

"You know, I was thinking the same thing Sarah!" Ellie exclaimed.

"So I was thinking that maybe Chuck could get together with some of his friends sometime soon-guys only, of course!" Sarah explained.

"That's a great idea! Chuck, why didn't you mention this to me?"

"Well, actually Ellie, we only just started talking about this today and-"

"Of course Devon would be there, and John, and..." Ellie interrupted Chuck.

"Of course babe, it'll be awesome!" Awesome himself agreed.

You could see her mind working, as she came up with guest lists (Casey was going to throw a fit) and a detailed plan about what they were going to do as well as, of course, a menu.

"But see, Ellie, I'd much rather have this be a small thing than a party. You know? Just a get-together with some of my friends, not a planned event with everyone I've ever known!" Chuck tried to convince her.

"Why would you want a small one when there are so many people that you haven't seen in forever?" Ellie asked, confused.

"Because I want to just play video game and hang out. I don't want to have this be a big deal. I want it to be more...relaxed!" Chuck struggled to explain without hurting his sister's feelings.

"Are you sure, Chuck? I really think that you should catch up with some-"

"Yes Ellie, I'm positive."

"What do you think, Sarah? This was your idea after all."

"Actually, I agree with Chuck, Ellie. Chuck's just not the sort of person to want a big party scene with people he hasn't seen for years," Sarah decided, after weighing her choices. On one hand, she had Chuck, who would be forever grateful to her if she agreed with him, but on the other hand, she had Ellie, who she really did think of as a sister. Ellie's approval was very important to her, so she didn't really want to go against her. But then Chuck had given her that puppy dog look, with his brown eyes staring at her and his lip stuck out and....well, her decision had been made. "But maybe we could have a big get-together some other time," she quickly added, seeing the dejected look on Ellie's face, and feeling guilty.

"Yeah, maybe this summer when we can have a big barbeque," Ellie agreed, quickly growing happier as she began to make more plans in her head.

"So who are you going to invite anyways, bro?" Devon asked.

"Well, you of course, and Morgan, and Alan, this guy I met at Buy More today, and other then that I really don't know," Chuck admitted.

"Well John of course!" Ellie exclaimed.

"I don't know, Ellie. John's not really into video games," Chuck said, trying to think of a plausible excuse.

"But I'm sure he'd love to be invited at least. I mean, he is our neighbor, and you guys do work together," Ellie persisted.

"Yeah Chuck, just invite him. If he doesn't want to come then he won't," Sarah said, winking at Chuck.

"Who's Alan, anyways?" Ellie asked.

"Oh, he's this guy I met at work today. We just really hit it off," Chuck explained, realizing how strange that would sound to Ellie.

"But you never make friend easily Chuck! Huh, I guess you guys must have really hit it off. So is this going to be all guys or are Sarah and I invited too?" Ellie wondered.

"I don't know. It depends," Chuck answered.

"Depends on what?" Sarah asked, biting on the bait.

"On whether you're up to it. We all know that Devon and I can kick you guys' butts at video games. So I understand if you don't want to be subjected to the shame that comes with losing repeatedly at video games," Chuck taunted, a smirk-ish grin on his face.

"Ohhh, you're on! You're gonna lose now bud!" Sarah challenged.

"Let's get this planned out, though, to make sure that everyone can make it Friday night," Ellie said, trying to get back to business.

"Friday night? Who said anything about Friday night?" Chuck asked.

"Oh, I just assumed that Friday would be fine, and I want this to happen as soon as possible, because you really haven't paid much time or attention to your friends lately. Why, you don't agree?" Ellie asked, her brown eyes boring into Chuck, and racking him with guilt.

"No, no, it's alright. I just think it'll be kind of...short notice," Chuck said.

"Then let's call everyone and make sure," Ellie decided.

Chuck stifled a sigh, as he couldn't come up with a decent excuse. He really didn't want to do this right now. He wanted to have a nice relaxing night with his girlfriend-no, his cover girlfriend who he wanted to be his girlfriend, he corrected himself mentally. Sarah must have recognized the look on Chuck's face, for although she didn't try to convince Ellie otherwise (probably because she knew that it would be impossible to convince Ellie to put anything off that had to do with planning), she did squeeze his hand, which had already been on top of hers. Chuck smiled, sensing that she would be there for him no matter what Ellie put him through.

"Devon, you're free Friday, right?" Ellie asked.

"Of course, babe. Even if I did have plans, you know that a night with you and Chuck and Sarah would totally be more awesome," Captain Awesome replied, as relaxed as always.

"Now, call John Chuck, and we'll se if he can come," Ellie instructed, now in full mother/planner mode.

"I don't know about this Ellie, I think he said something about being busy tonight and-"

"Chuck, I can see that his light is on from here. Just call him. It's not as if he's going to get mad at you or anything," Ellie groaned.

Sarah snickered at the way Ellie thought of Casey,as a harmless if grumpy neighbor and friend of Chuck's. She really didn't know if Ellie could be much farther from the truth.

"What's funny, Sarah?" Ellie asked, confused.

"Oh, just the thought of John actually hurting someone. I mean, sure he looks all big and tough, but we all know he wouldn't hurt a fly," Sarah concocted, using all of her willpower to force herself not to laugh. She hoped Casey was listening to them through his bugs.

Chuck glared at her and reached for his cell phone, knowing that Sarah wasn't going to get him out of this one.

"Umm, hi John-"

"Yeah, it's nice to talk to you too-"

"NO! I just wanted to ask you if you were free Friday night."

"Oh, you are?"

"Well, then, I'm having a little get-together at my place-"

"Yes, I'm completely serious."

Ellie looked confused, but Chuck forced a smile at her, and continued talking. Meanwhile, Sarah wanted to say something but she knew she couldn't without laughing.

"Wait, you'll come?"

"Really?"

"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow at work."

"Yep, can't wait either. Bye John," Chuck hung up the phone, a look of shock on his face.

"So he's coming?" Ellie assumed.

"Yeah. Yeah, he's coming. He said he couldn't wait," Chuck said, shooting a questioning look at Sarah. Sarah subtly shrugged in answer, wondering what Casey had planned. They both knew that Casey would never, ever willingly be caught playing video games with a bunch of "weak nerds", as he called Chuck and his friends.

"Then that's settled. So how about this Alan?" Ellie pushed, obviously wanting to get all of the planning out of the way.

Chuck picked up the phone again, not knowing what to expect after talking to Casey. "Hi, is this Alan?"

"Oh, hi Charlie. Is Alan there? This is-"

"No, I'm not gay! Why would you think-"

Everyone started laughing, as Chuck turned bright red.

"What? Alan's gay? But I thought he had been marri-"

Chuck held the phone away from his ear, and everyone heard yelling from the other end.

"Why on earth would you tell someone I'm gay, Charlie?"

"Oh, c'mon Alan, you're not fooling anyone!"

"CHARLIE! You very well know that I am completely straight. Judith is the one who went to-"

"Yeah, yeah, fine, you're straight. Supposedly. Here's the phone."

"Hello? This is Alan Harper."

"Yes, this is Chuck-"

"Yeah, from Buy More."

"I'm glad Jake liked the game. So, I was wondering if-"

"Well, yeah, I am kind of curious as to what that argument was about."

"Oh, he's your brother. Really? A player-"

"Oh, yeah. I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place with some of my friends Friday."

"Okay. Yes, Jake can come too. Is he any good at gaming?"

"Oh, really? We'll see who wins then."

"Okay, yep, bye."

"Alan's coming, and he might be bringing Jake," Chuck relayed.

"So what was all the arguing anyways?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, I guess that was his brother, Charlie. Apparently he's player so he gives Alan a lot of crap about being single and divorced," Chuck explained.

"Oh, yeah, I know what that can be like," Devon interjected.

Everyone stared at him.

"Oh, no! I meant sibling rivalry!" Devon explained.

"Oh! You really had me a little worried for a minute there," Ellie said, apparently relieved.

"No, no, babe. That's not what I meant. That would so not be awesome. But who's Jake anyways?" Devon assured Ellie and tried to change the subject.

"Jake is Alan's son. I think he's about twelve, thirteen, maybe fourteen," Chuck explained.

"He's not one of those kids who like goes around hitting on women, is he? Like his uncle?" Ellie asked, worried.

"Didn't seem like it to me. But that doesn't really mean anything, since all he talked about was video games," Chuck said.

"Sounds like you two might really get along," Sarah joked.

"Okay, so we have everyone, right?" Ellie asked.

"Wait, what about Morgan?" Sarah inquired.

Ellie scowled at her.

"Yeah, we can't have a night with all of my friends without Morgan," Chuck agreed.

"Sorry babe, but they're right," Devon responded to the hopeful look Ellie gave him, asking for his support.

Wordlessly, Chuck picked up his phone.

"Yeah, hey man!"

"No, don't still be mad at me!"

"Well, at least listen to what I have to say!"

"Okay. Sarah, Ellie, Devon, and I are going to have a few other people over for some video games. You in?"

"So are you doing anything Friday night?"

"Yes, I said Ellie."

Chuck thought steam was going to start coming off of Ellie, judging by the bright red her face was. And it was obvious that it wasn't from embarrassment.

"So I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Morgan."

" That's its, Ellie. Morgan, Ca-John, Alan, maybe Jake, you, Devon, and Sarah, of course," Chuck corrected her.

Ellie only rolled her eyes in response, as she wrote down all of the names. "So what kind of food will you want?"

"Ellie, do you think we can figure this out tomorrow? I was really looking forward to a night hanging with you and Devon and Chuck. Not hours planning a night for Chuck that he doesn't even seem that excited about," Sarah said, nudging Chuck as she said it.

"Hey, that's not true! I am looking forward to this! I'm just not into the whole 'planning every aspect of it thing'!" Chuck denied, mostly because of the hurt/reproachful look Ellie was giving him.

"I don't know Chuck. It does seem like you haven't said very much and this is, after all, going to be your party," Ellie negotiated.

"No, no, you misunderstood me! I want to spend some time with all of you and my other friends, just hanging out. But I don't want this to be the big deal you're making it," Chuck attempted to explain.

"Fine. Then we'll do this tomorrow," Ellie proclaimed, setting the notebook on the table. There was a note of finality about it that everyone noticed, so they decided to just listen to Ellie.

"So what do you want to do?" Ellie questioned.

Chuck looked at Sarah hopefully, wondering if she could come up with something that might get Ellie to forget about Friday for at least a few minutes. Sarah just looked back at him, seemingly deep in thought, but she couldn't seem to think of anything either.

"Like, it's still light out-we can go for a walk on the beach or a picnic or something," Devon suggested.

"You know what, that sounds nice," Sarah agreed, clutching Chuck's arm and winking at him.

With that, it was decided that they were going to the beach. After a short argument about whether they were actually going to swim (they weren't because it was getting late), they set off for the beach.

In the backseat, Sarah whispered to Chuck, seeming to play the part of the adoring girlfriend, whispering sweet nothings in her lover's ear. But unless information about suspicious people seen hanging around the Buy More could be considered sweet…

"So I just wanted to make sure. You haven't seen anyone today that looked strange to you, or that you flashed on?" Sarah murmured, her lips softly brushing against his ear.

"U-uh no. No one at all. Unless you count Casey. He looked pretty strange in a Buy More," Chuck weakly attempted to joke, as having Sarah be this close was really starting to make him nervous.

Sarah laughed, "Chuck, I'm your girlfriend, remember? I'm supposed to be all over you."

"Right, right. But it just doesn't feel right because I wish it was real, and meanwhile you're viewing this like it's a mission, because I am you-your job," Chuck complained.

"Chuck, nothing with you is like work. I enjoy it much too much to think of it as work," Sarah said, rather suggestively, "and you might want to start showing me a little more attention, because Ellie keeps giving you strange looks."

"I don't know, Sarah. I can't just pretend to like you. It doesn't work that way for me."

"Well, then, we might have a minor problem because I think she just asked Devon why we never kiss," Sarah informed him.

"B-but, I can't just kiss you," Chuck objected, as Sarah leaned into him.

"Why not?" Sarah asked with an alluring smile.

She bent down and kissed him. When their lips touched, neither of them were completely prepared for the sparks they seemed to form, or the tingling sensation. She continued to kiss him, and although it took a few seconds, he responded. And they were caught in a spell, both of them never wanting to let the other go. Realizing that there was something real between them, they clung to each other, tongues exploring each others' until they heard a noise that forced Sarah to turn her spy senses back on. But then they realized what it was. They had apparently arrived at the beach, and Ellie and Devon were cheering for them.

"Thanks guys," Chuck remarked dryly, once he got read of (most of) his lightheadedness.

"Okay then, let's go see the beach," Devon said.

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This chapter isn't completely done-let's call it chapter 3a, because I want to post to now because I don't know how soon I'll be able to post again :) Now, there's this button a little below here that says something about reviewing, and it'd be much appreciated if you, I don't know, CLICKED on it. I'd love to know what I can approve on, or change, or what I'm doing well :) Thanks =)