summary: Looking for a fresh start after some tough times, Sarah and her three-year-old daughter move to LA. When they find a sweet curly-haired nerd who lives next door, though, Sarah realizes they might just find more happiness than they'd ever imagined, if only her past doesn't catch up to her first. AU.

a/n: Ey, Chapter 4! With some friends! And with some friends comes a little backstory from Chuck's side of this world. I figured we all get the basics of how Sarah's ended up here and how Amy came to be, but it was about time you guys all found out why Chuck is living across from her. Amidst all the talking is hopefully some sweetness, again, and things may or may not move along a little bit, so I really hope y'all enjoy this. As ever, please leave a review at the end to let me know your thoughts! With that, enjoy.

disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, party shoes, Tupperware, or silly childhood stories.

The Party

Her phone starts to ring just as she walks back into the apartment, and she crouches down and wrangles Amy out of her coat as she simultaneously digs the cell out of her own pocket.

"Can I watch TV, Mommy?"

"Just for a little while," she says, tugging Amy's arm out of her sleeve. The coat free, she leans down and undoes the Velcro straps on her daughter's shoes, letting Amy tilt forward and brace her hands on her shoulder as Sarah holds first the left and then the right shoe, while Amy tugs each foot out. The shoes done with, Sarah looks at the screen of her phone, seeing Chuck's name flashing with each ring. Relief floods her- it's not work. Being in charge of her own group of employees has been interesting, a new challenge, but it's also led to a lot of questions, too many being in phone calls after she's already left the office now that her team are more comfortable with her. Speaking to her neighbor, though, should be nice. "But please don't make it too loud, okay? Mommy's gonna be on the phone,"

"Okay!" With that, Amy jumps through to the living room, turning on the TV and thankfully keeping the volume fairly low as one of her favorite cartoons fills the screen.

Satisfied, Sarah heads into the kitchen, answering the call.
"Hi, Chuck," she says, smiling before he's even spoken. It's been a few weeks since she last properly saw him, when he'd looked after Amy that day, and since then it's just been passing each other in the hall, brief nice catchups and smiles, waves to and from Amy.

"Hi, hi, Sarah," He sounds a little nervous, or awkward, Sarah notices, hesitant and breathy, but she figures it'd be rude to bring it up.

"What's up?" she asks, instead.

"Oh, um- Sorry, can you hold on for just a second?" There's a rushing noise on the end of the line, then a thud, and the hum that had surrounded his voice when he'd first spoken fades, get quieter. "Sorry, I'm at work, the break room is never as quiet as I think it's gonna be,"

She chuckles, though inside she's just wondering what reason he has to be calling her at work.
"It's okay," She pauses, leaving him to speak more, but he says nothing, and she smiles a little awkwardly. "Is... there a reason you called?"

"Oh, yes!" he says, like that had completely slipped his mind, which is rather adorable. "I keep wanting to come over and ask you but I kept forgetting and now it's kinda short notice, so I wanted to call you when I remembered rather than forgetting again. But... are you free tomorrow night?"

Oh. She blinks.
"Um, yeah, I've got no plans,"

"Great! Uh, I'm kinda having a little party at my place, for my birthday, tomorrow. And I was just wondering if you wanted to come?"

"Oh. Oh, yeah, that'd be nice-" She smiles at the thought of hanging out, a party, and his inviting her, but then stops abruptly as a thought dawns. "Oh, but I don't know if I could arrange a sitter for Amy that quickly. Her daycare only runs in the week and I haven't found a weekend sitter yet..." She hasn't had a need to find a sitter yet. She hasn't done anything without Amy, other than going to work, since they moved here.

"Amy can come too!" he says, quickly, sweetly. "It's not that kinda party, nothing fancy, it'll just be me and a couple friends, Morgan, my sister,"

And he wants her and Amy to come? Though Sarah doesn't think it's that big a deal, on the surface she supposes it sounds it, an evening with his family. She thinks she gets his nerves now, because there seem to be a couple nerves stirring in her stomach, too. She swallows them down, smiles again.
"Okay," she says, before she really thinks about it. But she has no reason to say no, frankly, it could be a nice night; socializing with other adults isn't really something she's done in a long time. It could be fun, really, meeting Chuck's friends, his sister, the people he's talked about since they've met. Plus, it'll be nice to spend more time with him, time that isn't just dictated by her being ill or by Amy, even if she'll be there too.

"Really?" he asks, sounding a little shocked and disbelieving, and she can imagine his smile, nose crinkling, looking all cute.

"Yeah, it should be fun, we'd love to come,"
Though she's aware she's speaking for Amy too, who doesn't even yet know of the plan, Sarah also knows her daughter won't, and probably will never, want to pass up time with her new favorite person.

"O-okay." He lets out a deep, relieved-sounding breath, and she grins before he continues. "Honestly, I've never thrown a party at my place before, my sister's the party-planner. She always threw birthday parties at my old place, so I'm just hoping it'll be okay,"

Sarah chuckles, though she finds herself reading into his words.
"I'm sure it'll be fine, Chuck. But... now I'm curious, either you don't throw a lot of parties, or… have you not lived here long?"

"Yeah, no, I, um, I moved in January? It's kinda a long story, but I was sorta just moping around for a couple years when I first ended up at the Buy More. In January Ellie finally got through to me, and I moved, started working on my own software, tried to... not just be a sad sack like all the time," Though his tone is light, Sarah can hear the truth in them, the quiet sadness. "I didn't actually feel that bad about things, back then, I was just kinda… I don't know, I didn't really care much about anything. And after a crappy long shift and a super late night gaming to try and feel better, Ellie just sat me down and reminded me of all these goals I had. She asked me why I was still doing stuff I didn't really like rather than, y'know, chasing my dreams, and—and she reminded me of how much we'd struggled, growing up. And I just sorta, snapped out of it, moved out. I couldn't just quit the Buy More, obviously, but I'm better now, even if I didn't realize I wasn't good back then."
Despite the slight ache in her chest that his words somehow make her feel, the sadness for him going through that, she smiles down the line. Pleased that he's changed, that he's better, that she gets to know this man, but also thankful he's telling her these kinds of things at all. They haven't known each other long, but he already knows so much about her, and Amy, about New York, and she knows things about him too.

"Well, I'm glad you're better," she says, completely honestly. "You're a great neighbor, and your party will be great, I'm sure,"

He chuckles.
"Thanks. People will be arriving at my place around 6 or so, there'll be food and drinks and stuff, so..."

"Alright," she murmurs, absentmindedly thinking she'll need to get something for him as a gift, if she's attending a party for his birthday. "We'll see you then."

A sudden whirring sounds out on his end, she hears another thud.
"Crap, my break's over. Okay, yeah, see you then. I'm looking forward to it."

"Me, too,"

When he hangs up with a quiet goodbye, she stays standing, phone still at her ear, well aware that she's still smiling.

"Mommy?"

She turns, seeing Amy smiling at her from her seat, blinking.
"Yeah?"

"Who wassat?" she asks, pointing at the phone, and Sarah grins, finally lowering the device in her hand.

"That, bug," she says, rounding the couch and sitting next to Amy, tugging her up into her lap. "Was Chuck. He's having a little party tomorrow because it's his birthday, and he wants you and me to go."

Amy gasps, looking beyond excited.
"It's his birthday?!"

"Yeah!"

"We gotta make him a cake!"

Well, that solves the problem of getting him a present, Sarah supposes, though she is aware that almost every time she's met Chuck has involved some kind of baking. But Amy seems set on the idea, wriggling in her lap, and Sarah chuckles.

"Okay, we'll make it for him tomorrow. For now, do you remember you promised me you'd sort out your toys, this morning before we went to daycare?" Amy nods. "Would you be super helpful and do that before dinner?"

"Yeah,"

"Thank you, baby," She leans in and kisses Amy's temple, before the little girl wriggles out of her lap and bounds through to her room. And if Sarah checks all their shelves to make sure they have enough stuff to make a birthday cake before she starts making dinner, well, that's just between her and the kitchen.

She smiles as Amy wiggles her feet on the floor, shoes shining in the light. They're her fancy little patent party shoes, the ones Sarah keeps for special occasions, and she's definitely indulging herself right now. Amy is in the only formal dress she has that still fits, a little white dress with a black trim, and thick white leggings, paired with a little black cardigan. It was the three-year-old's choice to wear it, but Sarah had hardly fought it- she looks adorable. While she as the adult is only in skinny black jeans and a cream shirt, with a neat blazer as a jacket and some sensible heels, Amy has entered full party mode, thinking Chuck's birthday a worthy occasion of such an effort.

"You sure the cake doesn't need more sprinkles?" the little girl asks, wholly seriously, and Sarah holds back a snort.

"It's already covered in sprinkles, baby, it's perfect as it is." Amy doesn't look very convinced, but she nods anyway, and Sarah smiles. "Ready to go?"

She knows they won't be the first people there; she'd intentionally waited until she'd heard some people in the hall, going into Chuck's apartment, before she'd started getting the shoes on.

"Mmhm!" Amy says, and Sarah grins, moving into the kitchen and grabbing the large Tupperware box they'd eased the cake into a couple hours ago. As they head out into the hall, the soft hum of conversation from Chuck's place filling the space, she balances the cake in one hand while she locks the door, then reaches down and rests her hand on Amy's shoulder as she guides her around and across to the door opposite theirs. It occurs to Sarah, suddenly, that despite Chuck having been in their apartment twice now, she's never seen his place, been in his space, and the invitation to this party suddenly seems all the more significant, somehow.

She knocks a couple times, reaching down when she's finished, Amy's hand automatically finding hers.
"Remember, baby, it won't just be Chuck in there, there'll be strangers you won't have met before, so don't just..." The door opens, Chuck smiling on the other side, and Amy squeals, running forward. "...throw yourself at him." Which is, of course, exactly what Amy has just done.

"Oof!" Chuck says, as Amy collides with his knees. "Hi, Walkers,"

"Happy birthday Chuck!" Amy says, giggling, and Sarah takes a composing breath and sends a quick smile at Chuck, who grins widely in reply.

"Ames," she says, and Amy looks back, seeing her mother's chastising look and retreating back to Sarah's side. She looks back up at Chuck while keeping Amy close, smiling properly this time. "Hi, Chuck. Happy birthday,"

He grins, nose crinkling.
"Thanks," he says, stepping back, letting them into the apartment, and a brief look behind him shows Sarah a dozen or so people. They're all in the middle of conversations with each other, yet all of them are watching one person in the room. Her. And they're all terrible at pretending they're not. She looks back at Chuck, the safe ground.

"We made you a cake!" Amy says, tugging on Sarah's hand. "Mommy, give him the cake,"
She hands it over, and Chuck looks down at it, grinning.

"I promise you we're not trying to fatten you up, with all the cake and cookies, Amy just really wanted to make you a cake for your birthday."

"Did you decorate it all by yourself, Amy?" he asks, but though Amy misses the sarcasm in his voice Sarah hears it clear as day, sees the cheeky glint in his eye. There's no way the chocolate-frosted, gummy bear and sprinkle and chocolate chip adorned cake, could be anything but made by Amy.

The three-year-old beams, pleased as anything.
"Yeah!"

"It's awesome, guys, thank you. Would you mind if I put it out for my friends to have too?"

Amy shrugs.
"No, s'cool." she says, and Chuck laughs, setting the cake down on a table by his side.

"Amy, now you can give Chuck a hug, if you want," Sarah says, since now they're actually in Chuck's apartment, welcomed in, and she's not just attacking him in the doorway with no warning. Her daughter may be a hug-bug, but Sarah's trying to make sure if she's hugging people she does so at appropriate times. Chuck laughs as Amy instantly rushes toward him, and manages to crouch down to her height just in time for her to barrel into him once more, flinging her arms around his neck.

"Thanks, Amy," he says, when she's wriggled free, and Sarah smirks when he catches her eye as he stands. "And thank you,"
He smiles in that oh so warm way only he seems to be able to, and she reaches for Amy's hand again to give her something to focus on.

"Chuck?" someone says, and a small, bearded man appears behind Chuck, evidently a friend.

"Oh, yeah, introductions- Sarah, Amy, this is my friend Morgan. Morgan, this is Sarah and Amy, who I was telling you about."

"Oh, yeah, hi," Morgan says cheerily, reaching out a hand, which Sarah shakes.

"I like your beard." Amy says, foregoing all introduction, and Morgan blinks, looking down at her with a slight stunned confusion before chuckling.

"Thank you." Though he sounds a little confused still, he grins, and Amy giggles. For easiness' sake, if they're going to be going round doing introductions, Sarah leans down and scoops up Amy, smoothing down her outfit and settling her on her hip. Immediately, Amy reaches out a hand to Morgan, copying her mother, and Sarah stifles a giggle as the bearded man shakes it, utterly serious. When she catches Chuck's eye, he's laughing too, and he shakes his head before turning around.

"C'mon, we'll get the introductions over with," he murmurs, moving her into the main body of the apartment, a hand feather-light on her back that she still feels all too clearly. He introduces her to some co-workers, a few weirder than others, including a nice woman called Anna who Sarah sees Morgan keeps looking at when she's facing the other way. Then Chuck takes her to meet Devon, Ellie's boyfriend, who greets her cheerily and offers a fistbump to Amy, and then that just leaves Ellie herself. As Chuck waves his sister over, Sarah ignores the nerves suddenly filling her, inexplicable and unexpected, as she watches the brunette approach.

"El, this is Sarah, and Amy, my neighbors," Chuck says, bringing his sister into the fold, and Ellie grins as she looks at Sarah.

"Oh, hi! Chuck's told me about you, it's so nice to meet you," she says, offering a kind wave.

"Hi," Sarah says, smiling back, squeezing Amy on her hip. "You, too. Amy's especially been looking forward to meeting you."

"You're a doctor." Amy states, and Sarah smiles into her daughter's hair, trying not to laugh.

"I- Yes, I am."
Ellie looks a little lost, evidently not quite grasping why that's the very first thing Amy has said to her, but the little girl doesn't notice, and just grins.

"Awesome." She sounds truly awed, and Sarah shares a look with Chuck. Taking pity on Ellie's confusion, Sarah turns to her.

"Amy really likes doctors, though she's not sure if she wants to be one when she grows up, yet," she explains, and the other woman smiles. "Right, Ames?"

"Yeah!" Amy nods her head frantically, grinning wide. "I got my own 'scope! Chuck and I played with it when Mommy was sick."

The older woman chuckles, eyes darting between Chuck and Amy. Sarah gets the impression that, though he may have told his sister about herself and Amy, Chuck hadn't gone into detail, especially about the day he'd spent looking after the three-year-old.
"Is that so?" Ellie asks, a teasing lilt in her voice. As Chuck clears his throat a little, Amy continues, oblivious.

"Mmhm! And we played Hippos, and baked cookies, and Chuck played dress-up with me, and and-"

"Baby, d'you want some food?" Sarah asks, taking pity on Chuck, who is now a somewhat unflatteringly bright shade of red. Thankfully for him, her ploy works; Amy pauses and turns back to her.

"Ooh, yeah!"

Setting the little girl down on the floor, she sees the table set up with snacks just by their side, Morgan standing in front of it. She'd seen as they were moving round moments ago that Chuck had set up paper plates and napkins, all Amy-safe, so she smooths down the little girl's hair.
"You can go by yourself if you ask Mr Morgan for some help reaching some things, okay?"

Amy gleefully runs toward the table, and Sarah chuckles, turning back to Chuck and Ellie, the former still blushing. She pats his shoulder briefly.

"You were a very regal prince in your costume, it's okay," She turns to Ellie. "Your brother was a big help the other week, seriously."

Ellie smiles, even as Chuck flushes even more.
"I'm glad to hear it." Her grin turns a little wicked, like she's just about to embarrass him a little more, but Chuck clears his throat before she can say anything more.

"Sarah, you want a drink?"

"Sure," she chuckles, and he widens his eyes in a signal for help as he moves to the drinks table. She smirks at Ellie as she follows him, but she has to laugh again. "I'm sorry, it's your birthday, we shouldn't be teasing you. But you did look very cute."

He glares at her teasingly as he reaches for a beer, twisting off the cap and taking a sip.
"What would you like?"

Seeing some bottles of wine on the table, she reaches for a plastic cup, filling it with Shiraz and then pouring out a little bit of soda for Amy as a treat. When she looks over at the food table, Morgan and Amy are chatting, Amy's plate piled high with mini sandwiches and meats and pastries, far too many things Sarah is sure she'll get to eat when Amy realizes her eyes have once more been bigger than her stomach. She smiles, then turns and finds Chuck watching her, a similar small smile on his lips.

"What?" she asks, wondering what he's seeing that she isn't, but he just shakes his head.

"Nothin'. I'm just glad you came."

With that bombshell, he smiles again, takes another sip of his beer, and thankfully Amy comes in and breaks the moment.

"Got all my food!" She thrusts the plate up in the air toward Sarah, all the items on it thankfully staying put and not tumbling to the ground.

"Okay, well let's go take a seat and you can eat it, yeah?" Content with that, Amy starts wandering away, and Sarah follows her, drinks in hand. When she casts a look over her shoulder, though, she just finds Chuck still looking at her, still with that smile, until her eyes meet his, and he looks away.

They find a seat on one of the couches, two of Chuck's Buy More colleagues chatting on the other side, and Amy sits herself happily on the floor, balancing the plate on her knees and nibbling on her food. Sure enough, after a minute or so, her hand lifts up, offering Sarah a mini quiche.

"Thank you."

"'Welcome."

The cushion next to Sarah's dips, and she turns to see Ellie sitting down next to her, wine in hand, chuckling softly.

"She's adorable," she says, and Sarah chuckles.

"Yeah, she is. And she knows it, but still," She takes a bite of her mini-quiche, sipping her wine.

"And she's confident, too."

"Mhm, that's new." Sarah says, thinking on that particular trait of her daughter's. "She's not normally so good around strangers, I think because everyone here knows Chuck's she's more relaxed, she feels like she knows them all already. And she's always been confident around Chuck, which was… very strange when we first met him," She giggles, and Ellie smiles.

"Yeah, my brother has a way of putting people at ease, I've never known how he does it."

Sarah chuckles.
"I've noticed it, yeah."

Ellie leans in a little, wistful look on her face.
"He was always the biggest nerd in school, but he managed to fight off all the bullies too, when they were being mean to Morgan."

"They've known each other that long?" Sarah asks, trying to imagine a tiny Chuck, curls a-plenty, and a mini Morgan. She finds it's kind of hard to imagine the smaller man without a beard, though.

"Since seventh grade, yeah. Much to my displeasure." Ellie says, wrinkling her nose and casting an unimpressed look Morgan's way, and Sarah chuckles. Along with the looks she'd seen Morgan giving Anna, Sarah had also seen the looks he'd sent Ellie, and the envious looks he'd sent Devon. "They've stayed friends all through college, though, and with everything that happened at Stanford, Morgan was the one who suggested Chuck start working at the Buy More."
Ellie's tone has slowly gotten more serious as she's spoken, and Sarah suddenly realizes quite why the other woman must accept Morgan still being in her brother's life. Morgan is important, even if he can't quite work out where his affections lie, because of his history with Chuck, which somehow leads back to college.

"Stanford?" she asks, confused, and Ellie raises her eyebrows.

"Oh. Oh, Chuck hasn't said?" She shakes her head, and Ellie smiles sadly. "Well, it's his story to tell. But there's an old friend we don't talk about anymore, and, um, other circumstances, that interfered. He wasn't destined for the Buy More, let's just say that."

Licking her lips, Sarah tilts her head.
"Chuck mentioned that he only moved here earlier this year. He said you… snapped him out of things."

Ellie waves a hand, dismissing that idea.
"No, he snapped himself out of it. I'd given him that sort of speech every few months for years, but that time, he finally heard it. I just—he's my brother, he's a genius, it hurt for me to see him doing nothing but gaming with Morgan and doing Nerd Herding. He's still doing that now, sure, but…" She shakes her head. "I don't know. He moved out, and though he's still at the Buy More he's working on what he always wanted to do in his free time. He's just different. He's so much happier, now, I can just see it in him." Sarah smiles, and Ellie eyes her a little strangely, before shaking her head and shrugging.

"Honestly, he's so much better I didn't even throw him a birthday party this year. I always used to, to try and introduce him to some of my friends, but this year, I think he's good. It's taken some time, but he's getting there."

There's such an almost-familiar motherly tone in Ellie's voice, that Sarah instantly understands the woman, there and then. That she just wants to protect Chuck, just wants the best for him. Sarah supposes, with no parents around, Ellie had to look out for Chuck just as much as Sarah looks out for Amy now.

As if knowing she's on her mother's mind, Amy's hand shoots up, holding another quiche. Sarah takes it and thanks her once more, getting a muffled welcome in response, but soon after both hands shoot up, and Sarah leans down, lifting up her little girl, settling her on her lap before bringing up the plate of food and stealing a cube of cheese.

"Hi, Dr Ellie," Amy says between mouthfuls, leaning back against Sarah's chest, and she holds her close as Ellie chuckles.

"Hi there, Miss Amy. I saw the cake you made my brother, it looks beautiful." She sends Sarah a knowing look at her words, even as Amy beams happily.

"Thanks! We made it all afternoon."

Ellie giggles, and Amy seems pleased with herself as she goes back to eating things off her plate just as Chuck heads near them again. He grins their way, then looks around.

"You all good for drinks? Sarah?" he asks, an attentive host, beaming for some reason. She still doesn't know why, but every time she sees him smile she sort of feels like smiling too.

"I'm good, though I haven't had much to eat yet." At her words, a sausage appears in her vision, and she takes it from Amy but sets it back down on her plate. "It's okay, baby, I'll go get something later, you eat your dinner,"

"I can take her if you wanna go get something, before Morgan eats it all." Chuck says, kind as ever, but at something in his words Amy giggles.

"Mr Morgan loves food. He wants to be a- a banana chef."

Chuck frowns, looking thoughtful, before realization dawns on his features.
"...I think that's Benihana chef, Amy,"

She blinks, and Sarah, Chuck, and Ellie, all burst out laughing, as Sarah stands and hands her daughter over to Chuck. The three-year-old goes happily, giggling, as he quickly takes hold of the plate of food, and Sarah smiles as she moves around to the table of food, getting her own selection.

When she starts to head back to her seat, though, seeing Amy now sitting next to Chuck and swinging her legs as she says something about dessert, Sarah feels her phone start to vibrate in her pocket. She frowns as she tugs it out and looks at the screen- the number is one of her coworkers'. She rounds the couch, handing her plate to Chuck who takes it with a raised eyebrow, and she quickly shows him her phone.

"I have to take this, I'm sorry, I'll be super quick."

He grins.
"No problem."

Since Chuck's apartment is laid out similarly to her own, she finds the hall easily, moving down and finding a quiet area and answering the call.

"What is it, Matthew?" she asks, trying not to sound impatient at this interruption of what is turning out to be a ridiculously lovely night.

"Sarah, hi. I'm looking at the specs for the new company, and I just had a couple questions, are you busy?"

She frowns. Of her new team, Matthew is one of the employees she's spent the least time with. He seems nice enough, he's hard-working, and has accepted every task and objective she's given him, but for him to be calling now is strange, and Sarah isn't quite sure what this will entail.
"Yes."

"Oh. Uh, could I ask you them anyway?"

"I- no. Matthew, it's..." She checks her watch, rolls her eyes. "6:30, on a Saturday, why are you doing work?"

"I don't know, I had nothing else to do."

Sighing, Sarah resists the urge to knead her fingers into her temple, knowing it won't help and will just smudge her makeup there anyway.

Once upon a time, this sort of work ethic was her own, though admittedly about espionage rather than accounting. But the long hours, never taking time for yourself, never relaxing, that's how she lived her life. She never thought about anything but work, and she was fine with that. Dedication yielded results, even if you were so dedicated you did nothing else, as she had done.
But she's not like that now. Not with Amy. Having her daughter taught Sarah so many things, but mostly, it was how to live. And how to relax. That there's more to life than work, that you need time to breathe, to enjoy the little things. And sometimes, the little things are parties with friends and your daughter.

"Stop. I appreciate the effort, I do, and I'm glad you're so committed to the project, but you need to relax. Watch a movie, have a pizza, just... don't think about work on your weekend off." Nibbling on her lower lip, she hopes this is just his work ethic and has nothing to do with how she manages her team. In New York, she'd just worked under people, but here she's got her own people to order and control, and she honestly doesn't know if she's doing well at all. "I didn't think I was the kind of boss who made you think you need to work to the bone to impress me."

"Oh, you're not," he says, quickly. "But... I was just thinking."

She lets out a sigh, half relief, half exasperation.
"And that's great. But it can wait until Monday. I'm spending the weekend relaxing with my family, you should do the same. You can share your questions with the team and me on Monday morning."

"Okay. Okay, Sarah, thank you." He sounds genuine, and Sarah just hopes she's gotten through to him.

"No problem. I'll see you then."

He hangs up, and she tries not to roll her eyes as she stretches her neck and heads back into the main apartment, seeing the party still in full swing. When she looks to the couch, though, Chuck isn't there anymore, and neither is Amy, and a quick scan of the room shows Sarah they're both at the food table, at the side with the desserts. Chuck is holding Amy on his hip, pointing out various food stuffs, and Amy is giggling loudly, apparently wanting them all.

She stays at the side, folds her arms and watches, happily, contentment rising within her at the scene, as reality hits her. The home that they've found here, the friendship. Connections and happiness. And to a certain degree, that scares her, just like Chuck's frequent kindness, warmth, has scared her a little too. She knows from experience, so often in her past, that letting people in just opens you up to the risk of getting hurt. After what happened in New York, she'd never thought she'd get here again. Or get here at all, since New York had turned out to be a lie, anyway. And she's tried, at times, to keep her distance, keep away, just in case things go south like they did before.
This here, though, she knows it's real. Knows Chuck is real, his warmth, his smile. They couldn't be anything but. And she knows his friends are real, his family, all so kind and welcoming. And Amy likes them all so much more than she'd liked anyone in New York, anyway, that's evidenced just by the fact that she's letting Chuck hold her, looking perfectly comfortable. These are real people, people who matter.

"That's a thoughtful look," murmurs a deep voice, and she turns to see Ellie and Devon walking past her, Devon with a knowing smile and Ellie's a little more subtle.

"Yeah. Just taking it all in, y'know?"

The couple share a look, and Sarah senses they're thinking of something that she's not aware of. She doesn't press them on it, though, just smiles again.

"Chuck said you only just moved here, right? To LA?" Devon asks, and Sarah nods.

"Yeah, we were in New York before. It was tough, uprooting Amy, bringing her to a new place she'd never known. Taking her away from her life, her friends, the people we knew. I didn't know if this would work."

"I think you've settled in just fine," Ellie says, laying a hand on her shoulder, and Sarah smiles, looking back at Amy and Chuck, moving toward them now, and at the people around her.

"Yeah, I think so, too." she murmurs, almost shaking her head in disbelief at just how truthful that sentence feels.

"Hey," Chuck says, grinning as he reaches her. "Everything okay with work?"

"Fine, just an over-eager employee."

"I got dessert, Mommy!" Amy says, lifting her paper plate, laden with goodies, and giggling happily. Sarah sees the anxious look Chuck sends her, worry of some kind, probably over his letting Amy get so many sweets, but she just shrugs. It's a party, after all, and Amy definitely won't be able to eat it all anyway.

"So I see, bug," She ruffles Amy's hair, and the girl squirms in glee before turning to Devon, looking up at him.

"Mr Awesome? Are you a superhero?"
And, as Chuck hastily tries to explain that Devon is not a superhero called Captain Awesome, but also a doctor like Ellie, Sarah just laughs, and once more thinks that yeah, they've settled in just fine.

Around 8pm, Amy crashes, hard. The food and the excitement having gotten to her, and maybe the nice quiet music Chuck has been playing all evening being so soothing, she falls asleep in Sarah's arms while her mother is mid-conversation with Anna, and though at first Sarah just keeps her there, eventually the dead weight starts to get to her.

Just as she stands, apologizing to Anna, Chuck wanders over, smiling as he visibly takes in the sight, Amy sleeping heavily, limbs all splayed, mouth hanging open a little.
"Is she completely out?"

"Mmhm," Sarah hums, glad when Chuck instantly reaches for her wine, taking it and letting her shift Amy against her, hold her more easily. Even in her sleep, the three-year-old cuddles in, moves her arms around Sarah's neck. "I'd hold her all night if I could, but I should probably get going and get her to bed,"
She tries not to sigh. Though the the excitement of the party meant Amy has stayed up a little later than normal, getting to stay any later than this evidently wasn't meant to be.

"Y'sure?" Chuck asks, sounding like he already knows her answer but he's asking anyway.

She nods, lifts a shoulder, smiling a little sadly.
"Yeah, I'm sorry,"

He sends her a smile she's sure looks a little like her own, but before he can say anything more Ellie appears, taking in the scene.

"Hey, what's going on?" she asks, looking at both of them and smiling a little at Amy.

"Sarah's gotta go, Amy's asleep."

Ellie frowns, then taps Chuck on the arm, looking determined.
"Haven't you got that cot in the guest room?" She turns away from him before he can answer. "Sarah, if you like, Amy could sleep there until you go back to your apartment,"

Chuck sends his sister a flat look, apparently annoyed at her forwardness. In a moment like this, Sarah can definitely see the other side of Ellie's mothering influence over Chuck, the planning, the intervention. It's a side that, if his expression is any indication, Chuck isn't a very big fan of.

"Yeah, I do, sis, but- Sarah if you'd rather get back, then..."

She smiles a little.
"No, that would- that would be great, actually." she says, partly so that neither he nor his sister feel bad, but mainly because it really would be helpful. Because if Sarah took Amy back to their place, then she'd have to leave, too, she wouldn't shut Amy in the apartment by herself. But this way, Amy stays nearby, and Sarah can stay in the party. The party she's really rather enjoying.

"Oh." Chuck grins. "Okay, it, it's just through here." He sets down the drinks in his hand and leads her through the apartment, stepping into a room and clicking on the light. It's part guest room and part study, Sarah sees, with a desk and controllers and a computer set up, but also a folding cot and a closet standing on the other side of the room. Chuck mumbles something about setting up the bed, and Sarah stays in the doorway, holding the increasingly-heavy sleeping Amy, watching as he flips open the bed and squashes down the mattress. He gets some folded sheets and a pillow from the closet and lays them out, then steps back, and Sarah sends him a grateful smile as she steps forward, lays Amy down, leaving her in her party outfit apart from taking her little shoes off.

Since she knows Chuck is still in the room, she can feel his presence behind her, lingering in the doorway, she laughs softly.
"They're her favorite party shoes." she says, as she sets them on the ground at the foot of the bed. "She was really excited for tonight."

"Well I hope I didn't disappoint," Chuck quips, voice low, and Sarah smirks, then tucks a stray curl behind Amy's ear. She brushes a quick kiss on her forehead before she stands up, tucks the sheets up over her little girl and steps away, moving back to Chuck.

"I don't think there's anything you could do that would disappoint her," she murmurs, and Chuck just swallows, eyes locked on hers, gaze heavy. And with her words, and the sheer truth in them, Sarah suddenly realizes just how deep they're in, here, with Chuck, even after knowing him for so little time. She wonders why the thought isn't more terrifying than it is. She'd expected it to scare her, but at this moment, everything in her life just feels good. Warm.

He clears his throat, ducks his head.
"Does she need a nightlight, or should we just leave the door open?"

She can't help but smile at his thoughtfulness.
"She usually has her nightlight, but..."

He raises a finger, brushing past her and tapping a touch lamp on his desk. It lights up with a faint glow, just the perfect amount, and Sarah smiles as she clicks off the main room light, plunging the room into warm orange darkness. When Chuck begins to walk toward her, she swears his eyes are almost aglow, so intense, direct, and she can't look away as he steps up in front of her with a soft soft smile. But when he stops, he just stays there, and Sarah realizes he's waiting for her to step back out into the hall. After an awkward beat, she does so, rushing back with Chuck following her, and she takes one last look at Amy, sleeping soundly, before closing the door, leaving it just ajar.

She's very aware that she just took her neighbor away from his own party on his birthday, all so her three-year-old can sleep, but he just sends her a soft smile as they walk back toward the living room, and she can only smile back in return.

"All good?" Ellie asks when they reach her, handing Sarah her wine glass again, which Sarah's sure has been refilled since she'd had it last. She takes it, looks to Chuck, still by her side. He takes a beer from Morgan before grinning.

"All good," he says, offering up his bottle, and Sarah taps her cup against it before they both take a sip, eyes locked the whole time.

"So, Sarah," Devon says, voice jolly as ever. "Morgan was telling me about your job- you're in accounting?"

"Yeah," she says, sitting down on the couch. Devon follows suit, smiling, openly, and Sarah ignores the disbelief in her that a heart surgeon would really care about accountancy, and keeps talking. "I run my own team, that's what I moved to LA to do, and it's different..."

As she talks, chatting to everyone about everything, the conversation refreshingly not just about Amy, but more about Sarah, about what she does, what she likes, then onto everyone else, the guests begin to leave, Chuck's coworkers, Anna, until it's just Ellie, Devon, Morgan, Chuck, and Sarah. Four people, Sarah's come to learn, who are extremely close, tight-knit, know each other extremely well, and then... her.
And she's never known kinder, more welcoming people in her life.

"No," she says, stunned, as she takes another sip of her wine. "In the sandwich?"

"Yup, sprinkled right in it, like pepper," Morgan sounds positively proud, but by her side Chuck is lost in embarrassed giggles, his head in his hand.

"And she ate it?"

"Yeah," Chuck squeaks. "The whole thing."

"God, you guys were disgusting," Ellie mutters, and Sarah chuckles at her, even as Chuck scoffs a little, defensively.

"Hey, it was Morgan's idea! Don't blame me!"

"You were complicit." Ellie narrows her eyes, teasingly, and Sarah sees Chuck attempt to glare back before he cracks in laughter again, shaking his head and sipping his beer.

Devon nudges Ellie's shoulder, shrugs.
"It's nothing worse than anything me and my brothers got up to, you know that." He turns to Sarah. "Oh, the stories I could tell,"

"Please don't." Ellie says, looking a little embarrassed herself now at the prospect, and Chuck laughs too.

"Yeah, please- I'm pretty sure most of those stories involve me being hit in various places by a football by one of your brothers, Awesome,"

Ellie snorts.
"Yeah, honey, Chuck's been embarrassed enough tonight," She sends Chuck an apologetic grin, apparently still feeling bad after revealing all little Chuck had wanted to be when he grew up was a big boy. Sarah suppresses her own grin; that story was cute. And Chuck's reaction had been equally so.

"Oh, now you take pity on me, thanks, sis," he murmurs, pulling a childish face. Ellie throws a balled-up napkin at his head, and it lands perfectly, bouncing off his curls. Sarah suspects the move is one the older woman perfected years ago.

As Sarah chuckles, watching the show and taking another sip of wine, Devon's cell phone starts beeping, and Chuck raises an eyebrow.
"It's 10pm already?" Ellie asks, looking sad, and Devon just sighs. Sarah eyes them curiously, wondering what she's missing out on, and the other woman turns to her. "We've got early shifts at the hospital tomorrow, we need to head home."

Chuck sighs, but sets his beer down, standing from the couch as Devon does too.
"Hey you're saving lives, I can't complain,"

"Amen to that." Devon chuckles, then nudges Chuck. "And now you know why your sister wanted you to not move too far away, at least we could still come at all."

"Yeah, I know," he sighs, and as Ellie and Devon start to reach for their jackets, their bags, Sarah stands, feeling a little awkward as the family start to say their goodnights and goodbyes.

Ellie thwacks Chuck in the shoulder, affectionately.
"You should throw more parties, then."

He chuckles, then moves in and hugs her.
"I am glad you could make it, El," he murmurs, then pulls back, going to Devon and offering a similar hug. As Sarah eyes that, though, Ellie turns to her, smiling warmly.

"It was so nice to meet you, Sarah, and Amy, too. If you're free we should get a coffee some time, I'd like that," She rifles in her bag and pulls out a card, stamped with her office number, but hurriedly grabs a pen and scribbles her cell on the back. "Just let me know."

"Yeah, I'd... I'd like that too, Ellie," Sarah says, taking the card with a smile, but before she can say anything else Ellie engulfs her in a brief hug, tight and friendly, and Sarah only blinks as she returns it. The moment she's free, Devon pulls her in for a similar hug, somehow even tighter, and Sarah blinks again. Well, now Chuck's family knows her, they're definitely huggers.
She waves at them but just stays back as Chuck sees them off, tipping back her wine and gathering her things to leave, too. Since Morgan hasn't gone yet Sarah knows it's not like it would just be her and Chuck left and so she'd feel obliged to leave, but she figures she'll leave the two best friends to catch up rather than force them to include her too.

"You headin' out as well?" Chuck asks, when he comes back and sees her standing, hands in the pockets of her jeans.

"Yeah, I should, I'll get Amy back to her bed. I'm surprised she didn't wake up when the party was still going on and wander through and grab all the attention,"

He chuckles, turning to Morgan in the kitchen.
"Morgan, you got that box?"

The bearded guy stands, holding a packet of chips in one hand and the large Tupperware Sarah had brought the cake in in the other.
"Yup, got it!"

Chuck laughs, rounding the couch and reaching over the counter to grab the box.
"Well, Sarah, your cake was a hit, there literally isn't a slice left."

"That's because I ate three slices." Morgan interrupts, beaming.

She chuckles, fully believing the man, even if he's still apparently hungry even now.
"I'll have to let Amy know tomorrow, she'll be very proud. Baker is currently one of her planned jobs, I think it's Thursday's."

"And Doctor is...?" Chuck trails off, smirking, and Sarah grins.

"Tuesday. She's got a bunch of other ones lined up for the rest of the week, she's got it planned out pretty well,"

Chuck snorts, moving with her as she slowly heads down to his guest room to hopefully not disturb her sleeping daughter while she carries her across to their home.
"Hey, d'you want me to come over with you? I can take this," He waves the Tupperware. "And maybe open the door for you, save you juggling Amy at the same time."

Though she's certainly done the balancing act before, she's grateful for Chuck's offer. Digging in her pocket, she pulls out her keys, handing them to him.
"That'd be a great help, yeah, thank you,"

He grins, flushing a little bit, and she smiles back as she heads into the guest room, slowly opening the door and seeing Amy sleeping, out like a light, breathing soft. Though she's loath to even disturb her little girl, she moves toward Amy, smooths down her hair before slowly peeling back the sheets, slipping her hands under her back and scooping her gently up. She grabs the little shoes, too, as she stands, and Amy shifts in sleep against her as she hoists her up, cradling her to her chest.

"...Mommy?" she murmurs, voice thick with sleep, and Sarah strokes her back as she turns around. Chuck stands frozen in the doorway, unmoving, like he daren't even breathe in case he wakes Amy up proper.

"Yeah, baby, it's me," Sarah murmurs. "Go back to sleep."

"'Kay," And, with a sigh, she goes limp again, sleep having claimed her, and Sarah smirks up at Chuck as she passes him.

"She's a pretty heavy sleeper, you're good,"

He breathes out an exaggerated sigh of relief, and she tries not to laugh too much at his melodramatics. They head back through the apartment, Chuck opening the front door, and Sarah waves at Morgan before she leaves. He's attaching some kind of wire thing to the TV, and she thinks it must be a games console.

"Is Morgan staying at yours tonight?" she asks, voice still low, as they cross the very short space of the hall.

Chuck smirks a little.
"Yeah, he's only got his bike and he doesn't like cycling the longer distance at night, he's crashing on my couch. He'll probably just pass out there after a couple hours of Call of Duty anyway," Looking down at the keys, Chuck's furrows his brow, the various items jangling as he passes the stuffed animal on the chain, the locker key from Sarah's gym that she's been to all of twice, the tiny plastic photo frame holding a picture of Amy at six months. He pauses at that one, squinting at the tiny image, then looks back up at Sarah with a grin. "Okay, that's adorable."

She chuckles, but helps out since he's clearly trying to find the apartment key.
"It's the one with the blue sticker on it,"

"Got it," he mumbles, turning the key in the lock and letting her step inside before awkwardly hovering in the doorway.

"You can come in, I'll just be five minutes,"

Heading into Amy's bedroom, she quickly changes the little girl into a clean pair of pajamas and clicks on her nightlight. Though she really should wake her up to brush her teeth, Sarah knows that'd just make Amy cranky, and she's in such a deep sleep right now that waking her almost seems cruel. And so she simply tucks her in and leaves the door ajar before moving back out into the apartment, seeing Chuck still standing by the open front entrance.

"I put the cake box on your counter,"

"Thanks," She laughs, slowing as she reaches him, and he just smiles down at her. "Thank you for inviting us to the party."

"Well, thank you for coming, again, and for bringing Amy..." He trails off, gaze softening. "I'm- I'm really glad you got to meet everyone. That they got to meet you."

"Me too." she murmurs, smiling a little crookedly, then without really thinking on it she rises on her toes, looks him in the eye, and presses a light kiss to his cheek. "Happy birthday, Chuck,"

His eyes are once more burning, aglow, when she steps away, and he just nods, clears his throat, and turns on his heel, promptly rushing back into his apartment and closing the door without even looking back.

And as she stands in the doorway, heart rate slowly returning to normal, she can't help but think that's probably for the best.

a/n 2: Oh dang. Feelings are being felt, guys. I'd love to know your thoughts on this one, so please leave a little review on your way out! See you in a couple days for chapter 5, 'The Laptop', when we finally venture out of these dang apartments!