Title: Chuck vs. Life
Author: marybr
Characters: mainly Chuck/Sarah (but the regulars are there – Casey, Ellie, Morgan, Awesome, etc.)
Chapters: 3/?
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters portrayed in this fic. I'm gaining nothing with this, except the sheer joy of being Chuck/Sarah's puppet master.
Summary: First of all I suck at summaries, so regard this fact as you read this. The fic fits right after the last episode aired (1x11), and it basically picks up after those events. It's nothing more than Chuck and co. moving on with their lives, and especially centering on how Chuck and Sarah will deal with their mutual feelings. I know, this summary blows… Just read the first chapter, and you'll get a sense of what is actually about.
A/N: Again, I'd like to say thanks for the reviews. In the words of the Captain: you guys are awesome! SoContagious, I simply adored your review. It's so nice to hear, well, read that someone out there is really getting, is really feeling what you write. It's so cool. Thanks for the kind words, and for the reviews tip. I didn't know about that, but I've already fixed it :)
And gaaddict67, I re-read the part you were talking about, and I guess you're right. It did kinda remind me of Notting Hill as well. It wasn't intentional 'though. I like that movie, maybe my subconscious did the trick here. Perhaps in some part of this story I'll have Sarah saying to Chuck: "I'm only a girl standing in front of a guy asking him to love her", or something like that. Ha, ha… maybe not :D
clic-clic, it's a relief to know my English doesn't suck completely. At least I'm being able to get my points across :)
Chapter III
The week flew by, and when everybody noticed it was already Xmas eve. Chuck had just finished a busy day at work, people always managed to leave a lot of the shopping for the last possible minute.
"Hey buddy, see you and Anna at seven-ish, right?" he asked Morgan, while heading for the store's exit door.
"Sure, pal! There's no way I'd pass on Ellie's breast," he replied.
Chuck gave him his best mock serious look.
"Turkey… Ellie's turkey breast, dude," he completed.
"Be nice, or I'll make you seat at the kiddies' table," the taller man warned.
Anna, who was unseen behind a shelf, came out with an evil glare.
"Morgan!" she spat before heading for the breakroom area fuming.
Morgan quickly followed her.
"Anna Banana… sweetheart, I meant turkey. I meant turkey!" he yelled behind her.
Chuck only managed to laugh, resuming his way out of the store. He looked at the spot Sarah always parked her car and didn't see the vehicle there. He went to Wienerlicious, but it was already closed. He wanted to confirm her presence at the Bartowskis bash. She succeeded to dodge the question "are you coming to our party?" every time it came up the whole week. Oh, well… He'd have to wait and see.
Chuck arrived home and was immediately welcomed by the extraordinary smell of Ellie's Xmas cooking. She had started the preparations with the crack of the dawn. The whole house was looking amazing, the Xmas tree looked like Martha Stewart herself had decorated it – in between jail and house arrest that is. It was remarkable how Ellie took care of every single detail, and produced this warm feel of home to their house.
She came out of the kitchen in frenzy.
"Tell me you got my message," she said.
"Yes, I believe I got you email entitled, and I quote, 'extremely important national emergency'. The nutmeg is in the house, crisis averted," he said grinning, and holding up a paper bag.
"Have I already told you that you're my favorite brother?" she asked matching his grin, taking the bag, and getting back to the kitchen.
"Don't I know?" he teased, letting his body fall on the couch.
"Dinner will be ready in a couple hours," she shouted from the kitchen.
"Awesome. Where is he, by the way?" he asked.
"He's taking a shower. I'm next. Can you keep an eye on the star of the night at the oven while I'm at it?" she asked.
"Sure, sis," he said while munching on a fresh baked cookie he took from a plate on the coffee table.
Two later the three of them were bathed, changed, and smelling good. Ellie wore a simple, and yet elegant dress. It had red and white stripes all over, and it showed a reasonable amount of her back skin. Accompanied by these gorgeous, red peep-toe pumps. Awesome was wearing a neat pair of tan trousers, and a high neck, dark green sweater. Chuck wore a smart, casual pair of black slacks, matched with a light blue dress shirt underneath a navy blue v-neck cashmere sweater.
The guests started to show up. First Morgan and Anna, and right after Casey. He wasn't one to be all into holidays, and celebrations related, but Ellie insisted so much, saying nobody should spend Xmas alone, that he really should join them otherwise she'd be tempted to sing carols all night at his door, that he finally caved.
"Sorry for the delay, people," Ellie said from the kitchen.
"The bird is taking a bit longer to get at the exact point of crisp that I like. But it won't be long, and you won't regret the waiting. I promise," she added.
Chuck was looking at his watch. It was already 45 minutes after the time set for the party, and Sarah was still MIA. What had happened? Wasn't she coming? He took his iPhone from the coffee table, went to a corner, and called her hotel room. It rang, and it rang, and it rang… She didn't pick up. He tried again, this time at her cell. Same thing happened.
Maybe something bad happened to her. This last thought worried Chuck. So, he went to Casey, who was in a corner alone sipping some eggnog.
"Hey, Casey! Merry Xmas! How are you doing?" he said smiling, and patting the man in the back.
Casey directed his eyes to Chuck's hand, the one who was patting his back. That made Chuck remove his hand as if it was touching something extremely hot.
"Peachy. Just peachy," he said.
"So, talked to Sarah lately?" he asked.
"I know you think agent Walker and I have these really long phone chats, talking about our day, and all; but I just missed her call today. I know, bummer!" he sarcastically spoke.
Chuck ignored the sarcasm.
"I'm worried. She hasn't arrived yet. 45 minutes passed already, 50 now. Maybe something bad happened to her, you know, spy related stuff," he whispered this last part.
"Or maybe, just throwing a crazy idea here, she knew this party would be a bore, and since your cover relationship is no longer, she found the greatest excuse to bail and leave the job of protecting the Intersect for the night just for lucky ol' me," he finished angrily.
"You are no help. Excuse me," Chuck said heading for the kitchen.
"Hey, sis. I have to leave for a few minutes," he said to Ellie, who was taking a pick inside the oven.
"What?! The turkey is practically ready!" she said turning around to face him.
"It's Sarah. She hasn't showed up yet. I'm a bit worried," he said with concern in his face.
"Well, maybe she isn't coming, Chuck. You know, maybe she thinks it'd be kinda awkward to show up for Xmas dinner at your place, with your family and friends, now that you two aren't together anymore," she said honestly.
Chuck thought that was possible, actually it was rather likely that was the reason Sarah didn't show up. Why didn't he think that? We, men… we're clueless, he thought.
"Yeah, maybe you're right," he conceded looking at his sister, who was now leaning on the counter next to him.
He thought for a few seconds.
"Even so… It's Xmas! Nobody should spend Xmas alone. And we're friends; I don't want to think of her spending this day alone. She doesn't know anyone in this town… but us. I should still go there to get her," he said with a confirmation nod.
Ellie looked at him with amazement.
"You are a fantastic guy, Charles Bartowski," she said softly.
"So you keep saying. I won't take long. Can you hold the fort?" he asked, kissing her on the cheek.
"Don't I always?" she replied smiling.
He grabbed the keys to the nerdmobile, and went out.
Sarah was sprawled on her bed in her pajamas. She thought that if she kept flicking through the tv channels long enough something good was bound to come up. Until now she hadn't reached such luck. The truth was she was feeling a little blue. Ever since she became a spy, the holidays were the toughest times on her. A sense about being alone, utterly and completely alone in this world, always hit her. No calls, no cards, no presents, no nothing… She longed for a feeling of belonging.
But this year she found herself even sadder. And she didn't know why… That was a lie. A lie she was trying really hard to believe in. Deep down she knew very well the reason she felt this badly, the reason she felt this empty. Sarah, against her will – and better judgment – allowed herself to get infatuated for the Bartowskis. She started to feel like she belonged there, something she haven't felt in many, many moons. And these, for an agent, were really dangerous feelings.
No guy had made Sarah think about settling down, having a normal life, you know, with kids, dogs, mortgage, a white picket fence… the whole shebang. But then Chuck came into the picture. And before she could notice, before she could stop, the thoughts were there… Dancing around her head, taunting her. That made her scared.
With that in mind she decided that she wouldn't attend Chuck's Xmas party. After all she wasn't even his girlfriend anymore, she was just another friend; and a friend's presence isn't mandatory. Plus, it would be kinda awkward to attend after their fake break-up. Even 'though she was a well trained CIA agent, and she had faced her share of rather uncomfortable situations; she wasn't sure if she could face Ellie, Awesome, and co. This time around, she actually cared about the people involved.
That's why she didn't pick up the phone when Chuck called her. She knew he would insist on her coming over. There it was this guy, who thought she had no feelings whatsoever for him, who was told quite bluntly by her that she wasn't into him many times, and still he wanted to include her. How could she ever forget her feelings for him when time after time he pulled stuff like this? She wondered. But she had to stay strong, so that's what she did ignoring the calls.
Sarah was brought back from her thoughts when she heard a knock on the door. She had a pretty good idea of who it was, but she couldn't believe he came all the way here. She turned off the tv quickly. Frankly, she didn't want to have that talk. She just wanted to avoid a face-to-face. She got up stealthily, made her way to the door, and checked through the peephole. It was him.
She walked the way back to bed on the tip of her toes. She really was intending on ignoring him, and pretending she wasn't there. Then it came a second knock. She flinched, but didn't open the door.
"Come on, Sarah! I know you're in there. I heard the tv before. Open up," came his muffled voice from the outside.
Like the stubborn woman she is, she insisted on the ignoring plan. He knocked again, this time creating a little knocking-melody.
"Please, open up. I'm not going to leave here until you do. I'd threat to knock down your door, but really, it's Chuck here, by now we both know that I couldn't do it. So, as far as empty threats go this would be pretty empty. Plus, I left a bunch of hungry people at home waiting for me so they could eat, I'm pretty sure if I take too long they'll send a search party…" he babbled.
She smiled, and walked to the door.
"Sarah, oh Sarah… Sarah, oh Sarah…" he said in a sing-a-song voice.
She looked through the peephole again, and saw him with his ear pressed against the door. She muffled a chuckle. After she regained her composure, she opened the door leaning on it.
She stood there staring at him. She didn't mean or want to, but she noticed he was looking very good in that outfit.
"Aren't you inviting me in?" he asked with a goofy smile plastered on his face.
"What are you doing here, Chuck?" she asked politely.
"You didn't come to the party, neither picked up your phone; I thought you might be in trouble. I was concerned," he said honestly.
She let the walls down a bit, and gave him a smile.
"I'm fine, Chuck, as you can see. You didn't have to come here. It's Xmas, you should be with your family. I just, uh, I just wasn't in the mood to go,"
"No way! Like you said, it's Xmas. Go put something on, and come with me. They're waiting for us," he said forcing his way in her room.
She followed him with her eyes, a little annoyed by his forced entry. She closed the door nonetheless.
"No, Chuck! I'm not coming. I'm fine here, resting for a bit," she tried lamely.
"Yeah, right," he said sitting on her bed.
"See, it's Xmas. Nobody should spend Xmas alone. Even Casey is there, you know, no one can say 'no' to Ellie," he added grinning.
"Now, seriously, come with me. I want you there, not here in this hotel room by yourself," he finished softly.
He got to her. The armor wasn't that thick, after all.
"I don't know… I, uh, maybe it would be…" she couldn't bring herself to finish.
She really was bad with getting her feelings across. She just wasn't good at all in the words-meet-feelings department.
"Awkward?" he helped -- with Ellie's help, really.
"Yes!" she thankfully answered.
"No, it won't be. You're my friend. You're expected to be there, just because we had a fake break-up, or real break-up for them, it doesn't mean that we can't see each other ever again. Everybody gets that," he tried.
"Ellie must hate me now. Everybody must hate me. 'How could she let the relationship end?', they must wonder. 'She wasn't right for you, Chuck. You can do much better!', I bet they're saying. They hate me, I know they do," she opened up, and sat on the couch.
"Hey! Ellie doesn't hate you. Nobody hates you. She always said how great you are, she really likes you," he said softly sitting next to her on the couch.
"Yeah, that was before we broke-up," she kinda whined.
"No, it wasn't. Plus, I said we both decided to end things. It wasn't like you dumped me, or something. If that was the case, then they would hate you. You'd have to move to a different city, or even a different state. But since it isn't you're cool," he said smiling.
She smiled back.
"I'll take that as a 'Yes, I'm coming to the party with you, Chuck'," he said her part in an extremely high pitched girly voice.
"I don't sound like that at all," she replied grinning.
"So, you're coming?" he asked more seriously.
She nodded.
"Great!" he exclaimed with a huge smile, getting up.
"Let's go, then," he added.
"I just need to change first," she said getting up, as well.
"You look great, let's go," he said taking a once over at her.
"Chuck, I'm in pajamas. It'll only take 10 minutes, 15 tops," she said heading for the bathroom.
Chuck let his body fall onto the couch. When a woman said she would need 15 minutes, you could expect 1 hour. He knew he was there for the duration, so, he might as well get comfortable.
TBC
A/N: Sorry to leave things kinda unfinished, but the chapter was getting too long. And sorry for making you guys wait a bit longer, but I did write this chapter longer to make it up. It seems that my muse is playing tricks on me. When I seat down to write, she refuses to come; and when I'm busy doing other things, she fills my mind with ideas. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed this chapter :D