Disclaimer: Not mine
Author's Note: Hey, I'm back!! I'm exhausted and sore and I'm not too sure if this is going to come out very coherent. I know when I read over the last entry there were several grammar mistakes (I'll fix them later) - so who knows what will be in this one but I'm going to try. I swear that I'll make sure the stupid spell checker thingy does its job this time but I don't have too much faith in it. Oh, all of this chapter will be in Chuck's POV.
Chapter 2: Working things out…
Chuck mindlessly spun a Buy More pen on the smooth surface of the Nerd Herd counter. He was trying to figure out the best way to invite Sarah to Kaitie's party. It was definitely a sticky situation, asking his ex- girlfriend (or was it ex-cover girlfriend?) to his little sister's party, but one that was necessary. He wasn't about to ruin Kaitie's relationship with Sarah as thoroughly as he'd ruined his own though so he had to make the effort. The two of them clicked. Sarah got Kaitie in ways that Chuck and Ellie might never get her and vice versa. The two needed each other and Chuck was going to make sure they got what they needed.
He sighed and glanced at his watch. In five minutes he was going to have to walk across the street to the Orange Orange and figure out a way to convince Sarah to come to Kaitie's party. He knew that Sarah would do almost anything for Kaitie, he was pretty sure she'd still do a lot for him as well, but this was something completely different. It had taken a lot of work to convince Ellie to let him be the one to ask her, but he'd won that argument because Ellie couldn't deny the fact that Chuck was the only one who had a shot at convincing her. He knew the right buttons to push; that and Ellie had warned him that if he failed she was prepared to stage a kidnapping.
Four Minutes.
He let his gaze wonder around the room. Lester and Jeff were sneaking off to do something that would not end well, Casey was trying to move another beastmaster, Big Mike was walking happily toward his office with a box of donuts, and Hannah was working with a customer. His heart and head once again started the constant battle for dominance. His heart screamed for Sarah, for blonde hair and blue eyes, meaningful looks, passionate kisses, and knowing smiles; his head said that he was with Hannah, with brown hair and hazel eyes, with strained smiles, and kisses that weren't Sarah's.
He resisted the urge to sigh again. She would've been perfect for him- if he hadn't met Sarah first. She liked video games, computers, they had a lot of things in common. He stared down at the pen again. He was growing tired of pretending, of trying to force himself to move on from Sarah and love Hannah. It just wasn't working.
For better or for worse Sarah was the girl he loved, the girl who would own his heart, the girl who had to merely snap her fingers to make him come running. He was hopeless. Maybe things would be better if he just ended it with Hannah? Kaitie didn't particularly like her, okay that was putting it mildly; Kaitie openly despised her after making the initial effort to like her at that dinner the first night. Ellie thought she was a nice girl, but wasn't really certain she was the one for him. Devon kept asking him about his relationship with Sarah. Casey had told him, in strict confidence with the threat of bodily harm if he ever repeated his words to anyone, that he should just man up and fight for Walker if he really wanted her and even Morgan had said that he didn't see the light in his eyes that he got when Sarah came in the room when he looked at Hannah. Yeah, it would probably be better to end it. Even if Sarah wouldn't speak with him, only looked at him when necessary, and only treated him like an, well like an asset, he was still in love with her and it was mean to string Hannah along.
One minute.
He put the pen back in the holder and walked back to the break room. He opened his locker and pulled out the pretty blue invitation that Ellie had made for him. They didn't need to have many invitations, the only people who had been invited that weren't family but still were, was Morgan and Casey; and Casey was going to be "out of town", meaning he had been assigned to help out on a mission that didn't need Team Bartowski. He took a deep breath and started toward the front door. He saw Hannah from the corner of his eye give him a curious look but he didn't stop.
"I'm going for lunch," he told Morgan as he passed and Morgan nodded and gave him a salute. He'd told him earlier what he was going to be doing at lunch and his buddy thought he was doing the right thing. He'd tell Morgan that he was breaking up with Hannah when he got back. Maybe Morgan would have a shot with Hannah now, he wasn't stupid, and he'd seen the way Morgan looked at her. Crossing the street his mind seemed to be in a haze, this always happened when he saw Sarah and he could clearly see her through the glass windows of the Orange Orange. The bell dinged as he opened the door and she looked up to see who it was, when she saw him a strange look passed through her eyes and then she looked down.
"Hey Chuck, did you need something?" Chuck swallowed.
"Actually yeah," this seemed to peak her curiosity and she looked up at him. "Kaitie's birthday party is tomorrow and it would be really nice if you could come." He held out the blue envelope. She stared at it for a moment.
"I thought it was just a family thing?" she asked not taking the offered invitation.
"It is," he replied. Sarah glanced up at him.
"I don't think I count anymore," there was pain in her voice as she said this, she tried to mask it but he could still tell. His heart sped up at the little bit of hope that she still cared.
"Of course you do. Ask any of us," he challenged. "We want you to come. Kaitie will be thrilled," he added, hoping that would help. Sarah took the envelope but still looked reluctant.
"I don't know Chuck, it wouldn't be appropriate." Chuck frowned.
"You're Kaitie's friend right?" Sarah nodded. "Then it's appropriate. Besides, Ellie told me that if I can't convince you to come she'll stage a kidnapping, you don't have much of a choice." Sarah smiled slightly and nodded.
"Alright," then she looked concerned, "but what about Hannah? Won't she be there?" Chuck winced and shook his head.
"No, Kaitie's um, Kaitie's not too fond of Hannah. Truth be told, I'm not so sure that Ellie is either. Which in a way is probably for the best, I'm going to break up with her." Sarah looked up in shock.
"I thought you really liked her?" she questioned. Chuck sighed.
"She's nice, and if I'd met her several years ago..." he paused,"...maybe I could have loved her, but now is now and I can't keep trying to force myself to love someone when I don't." He didn't know whether Sarah looked happy or sad about that. "The party's tomorrow, don't be late cause Ellie promised Kaitie she'd get you there." He started to leave when Sarah called out to him again.
"Chuck, why does it mean so much to her that I come?"
"Cause you're her sister," he replied with a shrug. "She loves you." He walked out desperately trying not to add, 'and I do too.'
Chuck walked into his room and half fell on his bed. Things had not gone so well with Hannah. She had been mad, she had cried, and she had yelled, but in the end it was over and he had a strange sense of relief. He smiled. Things were looking up. There was a knock on his window and he looked over to see Kaitie waving. Laughing slightly he motioned for her to come in.
"May I ask why you're using the window?" Kaitie shrugged.
"Nostalgia," she replied. He grinned and motioned for her to join him on the bed. They laid there looking at the ceiling for a few minutes before she asked, "How did work go?" He looked over at her suspiciously.
"Bad," he replied and she grinned. "How did you know?"
"I always know," she taunted him. He shook his head and returned to looking at the ceiling.
"You're scary sometimes," he told her. She grinned.
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I don't care." She was silent for a moment before, "Did you ask Sarah?"
"Yeah…" he replied somewhat reluctantly. He thought it was supposed to be a surprise, but it seemed Kaitie had already figured that out as well.
"What did she say?" Kaitie pressed impatiently. Chuck grinned.
"She's coming." Kaitie threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she exclaimed. Chuck laughed.
"You're welcome." There was really no point in lying to someone as well trained at emotions as Kaitie because she gave him a searching look.
"Are you gonna be okay?" she questioned concerned. Chuck waved his hand to dismiss it.
"I'll be fine. Tomorrow's your day, you just worry about having fun," he told her. Kaitie frowned and lay back down to rejoin his staring contest with the ceiling.
"It's impossible to have fun if your brother's unhappy," she informed him. Chuck looked over at her and then sighed. She understood the situation with Sarah better than anyone else so he knew that he could talk to her.
"I won't be unhappy, in fact I'll be just as happy as you are, it's just awkward. I blew it and now we're all suffering. I don't even know if she still likes me anymore," he confided. Kaitie shook her head.
"Oh believe me, she still likes you. I'd even go so far as to say she more than likes you...but you're right, you did blow it. What you need to do is fix it," she looked over at him. "You're good at that though, so I'm not worried. It's painful though, waiting in this inbetween time." Chuck nodded.
"Like being tied to the back of a moving car, blown up, and shot all at the same time," he retorted somewhat bitterly. Kaitie took his hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. "I just wish she'd talk to me," he glanced over at her. "You know, and then I might be able to start fixing this."
"She'll talk to you again," Kaitie assured him. "She's just in pain too."
"I know," Chuck replied sadly. "And that's my fault as well." Kaitie stayed silent about that.
"I'll help you," she said after a moment. Chuck looked over at her confused.
"With what?"
"Fixing it," she stated giving him a 'duh' look. He smiled.
"I know," he replied. He returned to staring at the ceiling. Yes, things were looking up
Okay so I was going to make this a two shot but it works better if it's in three parts so I'm going to just post this and then the next part will be up soon, maybe even within a few hours. Thanks, read and review.
Phoenix
