I feel completely horrible about somehow forgetting to say this last time, but August 13th was the day Les Paul died. For those of you who may not have known but could probably guess, Les Paul created the Les Paul guitar, arguably the most influential electric guitar in the history of music. So this story is dedicated to him.
I realize last chapter was kind of a long shot in the reality of Sarah coming to that conclusion of Chuck's state of mind, so I completely re-did that section, putting a more in-depth look into what would cause Sarah to think that. So there is now a different version of that chapter up if you want to check it out. It's still a pretty big stretch but it's not as out of the blue as before. Fiction, right?
This chapter's song is "Just A Boy" by Angus & Julia Stone, a brother/sister duo from Sydney, Australia that I highly recommend. If you want to look further into them I'd suggest "Mango Tree" and "Silver Coin" as follow-ups, but "Just A Boy" is my favorite by them. Unlike last time, Chuck will have written the song.
Enjoy!
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Sarah woke up to the sound of a vacuum. Not a good way to start off the day. Burying her face in her pillow, she made a noise somewhat resembling a mixture between a loud sigh and a groan. Sarah was not a morning person, as Chuck had found out via her murdering her alarm clock with a throwing knife.
"Chuuuck," she whined, not loud enough for him to hear her over the vacuum in the other room. Kicking her legs in frustration, Sarah yanked the covers off her and planted her feet on the floor. Lazily walking into the next room with only a tank top and a pair of Chuck's boxers on, she saw Chuck in his own boxers vacuuming and organizing things. Sarah leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms. "What are you doing," she asked agitatedly.
Chuck looked up from the floor. "Hey, you're up," he said, stating the obvious.
"That's usually what happens when someone turns on a vacuum machine while the other person is sleeping. What are you doing," she asked again.
Chuck switched off the vacuum and said, "I'm cleaning."
"Why are you cleaning," she said stubbornly.
"Uh, I don't know," he said sarcastically, "maybe it's because of the huge bump on the back of my head, or the bruise on my elbow, or maybe because I can barely turn my head to the left."
Sarah cracked a smile at the memory of the night before. The two of them had been feeling… zealous. To say the least. Basically with as little grace as possible they pulled each other towards the bedroom, smashing into things as their mouths collided. Chuck had the unfortunate position of having his back turned as Sarah guided him into the bedroom. Backing up, Chuck's heel slipped on something on the hardwood floor and he went falling onto his back, his elbow bracing some of the fall and his head hitting the floor with a sickening thud. Sarah had been pressed up against him tight, so she followed suit and came crashing down onto him as well, causing the air to rush out of him. Sarah's care giving instincts set in as she made sure he was okay and went grab him an icepack, but not without letting a tiny giggle slip.
"Well maybe if you just looked where you were going…"
Chuck laughed to himself. He knew that Sarah knew that this was a losing argument for her. Sarah walked over to the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of orange juice. Chuck walked up to her and put something in her hand. She pursed her lips and stared at him. "Wasn't my underwear I slipped on," he said.
Sarah finished off the glass and said, "Well you're the one who threw them there."
Chuck paused to contemplate her comeback and said, "Fair enough. But we're still cleaning this place. It's a mess and there are boxes of random things we need to go through."
"I hate you."
"You love me. Now get your butt moving." Chuck grabbed her empty glass and put it in the dishwasher behind her since he got the feeling she wasn't going to.
Turning to face him Sarah pouted and said, "Do I at least get a good morning kiss? I missed waking up with you." Sarah pushed out her chest and widened her eyes in feigned innocence.
Chuck couldn't resist and stepped towards her for a quick kiss, only to find himself caught in a heated kiss with her not letting him go. Chuck began to get caught up in her and Sarah walked him over to their bedroom. Once she got him inside, she shut the door behind them. The door was then quickly opened as Chuck walked out shaking his head.
"No, no, no, no. I know what you're doing. Don't think you can seduce me until I forget about cleaning." Sarah collapsed backwards onto the bed with her arms over her head. Puffing her bangs out of her eyes, Sarah sat back up and watched him walk back into the room with a large cardboard box in his arms.
"What is that?" Sarah asked as he dropped it on the bed next to her.
"This, my love, is the beginning of your project for the day. We need to get rid of all this junk so you need to sort through everything. Decide what goes and what stays."
Sarah looked through the contents of the box and said, "But this is all your stuff!"
"Well, would you rather clean the entire place?" Chuck watched as his fiancée's face dropped.
Grabbing the box, Sarah said, "No thanks. I've cleaned my fair share of counters for you. Your turn now."
Chuck smiled widely. "You know you could always dust off the old Weinerlicious uniform. I know you still have it."
"I'm saving that one for a rainy day," Sarah flirted. "Don't worry, I've got plenty of tricks up my sleeve." Standing up and placing her hand in a very specific area, she whispered, "I could show you some now. That is… if you want me," pausing for dramatic affect, she then said, "to."
What she was doing was completely unfair. She was putting on moves that were used for complete strangers. It didn't help that he was in love with her. "Not gonna fall for that," Chuck said, removing her hand and mentally giving up his man card. "That's what caused this in the first place. Your advances, Agent Walker, are the reason I can only turn my head like Derek Zoolander."
"Who?"
"Der—Zoolander? You've never—Come on, "I can't turn left"? That—never mind." Chuck was appalled that the woman he was marrying had never seen Zoolander, but that was a problem for another day. "Do this and I'll find a way to make it up to you, alright?"
Sarah sighed and Chuck took it as a confirmation. He smiled and left her to go through the junk he had put on their bed. Sarah decided to make two piles, stuff that would stay and stuff that she would ask if it was okay to be thrown away. She smiled at some of the long lost memories she came across. She found Chuck's old Nerd Herd badge, chopsticks from the Bamboo Dragon, a small leather pouch, a keychain of a foam brain, and even an old Intellicell that had once supposedly belonged to her. She thought it was cute Chuck had held on to her fake business card. She paused when she came across an unframed photo. Four boys stood smiling wearing fraternity shirts, two grey, two dark blue. Dead center was Chuck with a big grin on his face as he had his arm around his best friend. It completely floored her how unknowing he was of everything back then. She felt like the Chuck in the picture and the Chuck in the next room were completely different people. She loved this Chuck, but she bet if she had known the old Chuck she would have loved him, too.
After an hour and a half she had gone through almost every box left. Only one box remained and in it she found a pair of charred black sunglasses, the handle to a pair of opera glasses, pink furry handcuffs—"That could be fun," she thought—and the last item, his old Buy More fleece jacket.
"Chuck, I finished!" She waited for him to walk in as he wiped his hands on a towel. "Go through all this stuff and pick out what you don't want thrown away," she said motioning to the pile of useless junk she had picked out.
Chuck smiled nostalgically and picked up the tiny leather drawstring pouch that Sarah had seen no need for. "You remember what this is?" Sarah shook her head. "This held the Nadan—" Chuck stopped talking when he saw the photo lying on top of his pillow. Sarah followed his eyes to the pillow and sighed. "I thought I lost this…" Chuck said as he reached out to grab it. He ran his thumb over Bryce's face and smiled sadly, wishing he could have spent more time with his friend after finding out what Bryce's real purpose for everything had been. Sarah had gotten rid of her Blackberry containing her and Bryce's Cabo pictures the same day she found out her position would be permanent in Burbank. She hadn't seen Bryce's face since Ring agents had dragged his lifeless body out of the Intersect room. Putting the photo down on the nightstand, Chuck looked back at the pile. "I think we can throw all this stuff away," he said.
Sarah raised her eyebrows. "You sure?"
Nodding, he said, "Yeah."
"Mind if I keep this?" Sarah held up his jacket, "It's really soft."
Chuck laughed and leaned down to kiss her head. "Whatever you want."
Slipping it on, Sarah wrapped her arms around herself and nestled into the warmth. She then stood up and said, "I'm going to go eat something. You have to get rid of this stuff. I am officially done for the day."
Chuck threw on some jeans and a sweatshirt before leaving. While Chuck was getting rid of all their old stuff, Sarah walked into the kitchen and stuffed her hands in her pockets and looked to see what she wanted. She was distracted, though, when she felt a folded up winkled paper in the left pocket. Pulling it out, she unfolded the paper and read what was on it. All of a sudden Sarah was very excited. She felt like she had just discovered buried treasure. In bold letters in Chuck's handwriting he had written "Just A Boy." Sarah knew what it was but she controlled herself enough to stop reading after the first line. She wanted to hear it from him.
Walking through the door, Chuck closed it behind him and saw his fiancée standing there waiting for him with a piece of loose leaf paper in her hand and a mischievous smile.
"Uh oh," he said, "what are you up to?"
"I found something," she sang as she turned and walked into the bedroom. She soon came out holding his guitar and walked it over to him.
"What is this for?"
"You're playing me a song," she explained as if it was common knowledge.
Chuck laughed and took the guitar from her by the neck. "Okay, but this is how I'm repaying you for helping me clean. Any particular song in mind?"
Sarah walked up to him and pushed the folded paper up against his chest. Chuck put his hand over it and she slid hers away. "Let's go, Chuck." She was already walking over to the love seat by their TV. Sitting down, she patted the space next to her and waited for him to come over. Chuck looked at what was on the paper as he walked over and Sarah saw a smile slowly creep on his face.
"Where'd you find this?" Chuck sat down next to her and put his arm around her.
"In my new jacket."
"Have you read it?" Sarah shook her head. "This is from a long time ago, Sarah, are you sure you want to hear it?" Sarah's look told him all he needed to know. "Alright, well let me try and remember how this goes. I don't think I ever actually added the guitar part so… bear with me."
Sarah watched as Chuck worked out the chords to play and the tempo of the song. This was the first time she'd actually see the process he went through. It only took him around three minutes to figure everything out.
"Okay," he said.
"You're ready?" she asked him.
"Yeah." Sarah raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Alright," he sighed, "here goes nothing." Chuck started playing but stopped abruptly. "This was before we got together, okay, so just don't, you know… think so much about it. I mean it's not… I don't feel like, um…"
Sarah put her fingers over his lips and said, "Babe, just play the song."
"Right." Chuck cleared his throat and started playing for real this time.
"I bit my tongue in the awkward conversation
I don't know why
I don't know why
I met you once and I'd fallen for your notions
I don't know why
I don't know why"
Sarah laughed at the memory of their first meeting. Few things had taken her that off guard during a mission. There she was in the Buy More dressed for seduction with her target being the man holding all the government's stolen secrets, and Chuck was rapping the name of a comic book character in the middle of the Nerd Herd station. And then he had blown her off to go help out a little girl in need. It was the sweetest thing she'd seen in a long time.
"Do you believe that there's treasures in the ocean?
Did I say I'm just a boy?
One kiss from you
And I'm drunk up on your potion
That big old smile is all you wore"
The memory of their first kiss wasn't as happy. Well, the kiss itself was spectacular, but the aftermath could have gone a better way. Sarah had told him what happened was a mistake. If she could take back one thing she had said to him that would probably be in the top three. And she had said some pretty stupid things to him. But of course, Chuck being Chuck, he chose to only remember the good.
"Girl you make me want to feel
Things I've never felt before
Girl you make me want to feel
Did I say I'm just a boy?
Did I say I'm just a boy?
You can hold me to that"
Sarah was happy Chuck had stayed himself throughout this rollercoaster ride. He'd seen more dead bodies than most people and yet he still chose to believe they were just sleeping. He'd been betrayed on numerous occasions, and survived trust-issue free with that smile that could light up the world. Sarah had told him one Thanksgiving to not get used to this world, and as always he kept that promise.
"No lonely hands grab my suitcase full of nothing
I don't know why
I don't know why
You took me in
Gave me something to believe in
That big old smile is all you wore"
Sarah kept him from being thrown into an underground bunker more times than he could count. No matter what happened he knew he could always count on her. He couldn't think of anyone that would actually commit treason in order to help him. When Chuck couldn't take being the Intersect she was the first person to offer support. It was Sarah who had gone and found him at the beach the first night. When Longshore was about to hand off Chuck, Sarah was the one who stopped it and then spent the night looking for a ring through a dumpster for him. When Beckman told Chuck he would stay the Intersect, Sarah came and let him know she was on his side. After getting caught by his sister while putting Awesome's key card back, Chuck immediately went to go confide in Sarah. Without Sarah, Chuck doubted he would still be alive to sing this song.
"Girl you make me want to feel
Things I've never felt before
Girl you make me want to feel
Did I say I'm just a boy?
Did I say I'm just a boy?
You can hold me to that"
He must have written this when he thought he didn't have a shot in hell to be with her. He had always thought she was too good for him. Too pretty, too smart, too adventurous. But Chuck was never "just a boy" to her. She wouldn't have felt the urge to leave everything she knew behind to be with "just a boy." She wasn't planning on marrying "just a boy." She hoped he knew that.
"Girl you make me want to feel
Things I've never felt before
Girl you make me want to feel
Did I say I'm just a boy?
Did I say I'm just a boy?"
Chuck gave one final strum across all six strings and with that the song was over.
Sarah reached out and played with his curls. "Sweetie, that was great. Why is this the first time I'm hearing it?"
Chuck put his guitar on the floor and smiled at her. "I told you I hadn't even picked up my guitar until that day you found me at the park. I got it down on paper but it never really came to life. Besides," he said, "it's not like I would have played it for you anyways."
Sarah smacked him on the head. "Why!"
"Ahh!" Chuck put his hand on the bump on his head. "Gentle."
"Sorry!" Sarah frantically made sure he was okay. "I'm so, so sorry, are you okay?"
Chuck gently brought her hands away from his head. "Calm down, I'm fine. Just a little sore, that's all."
"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "But why wouldn't you have played it for me?"
Chuck sighed and looked around. "I guess I just… didn't want to get in any deeper than I already was. You had made it very clear that we were a no go. Anything else I did would have just made it hurt even worse when you rejected me."
Sarah's mouth opened and she fumbled with her words. "Chuck I—I'm sorry that you thought—"
"Hey," Chuck took her face in his hands. "It was a long time ago. We've moved on. Don't dwell on the past, alright?"
She smiled sympathetically. "How is it that I'm the one who hurt you repeatedly and yet you're the one doing the comforting?"
Smiling, he said, "Because we have the most unconventional relationship in the world and you also used to suck at relationships."
"Used to?"
"You're improving at a fast rate."
Sarah slid into his lap and clasped her fingers behind his neck. "What can I do to improve even more?"
Chuck rested his hands firmly on her waist and said, "I'm sure you'll figure something out."
That was Sarah's cue to pull her hands in, causing his neck to as well as she softly kissed him. It only lasted about five seconds though. When Chuck tried to deepen the kiss, he stopped and painfully groaned.
"Your head again?" she asked him after pulling back.
"Neck," he told her as he sat stiff.
"Oh," she said lightly, "I can fix that." Removing herself from his lap, she stood up and held his hand as they walked to their bed. Sitting up against the headboard, Sarah spread out her legs and motioned for him to sit between them. Complying, Chuck leaned back into her and she put her hands on the base of his neck. "Comfy?"
Chuck gave her an affirmative and Sarah began putting pressure on the spots where it hurt. She started off slow, knowing full well his pain tolerance level. Sarah wrapped her calves around his abdomen as he sat there and he rested his hands on her legs, lightly running his thumbs back and forth. As Sarah massaged his neck she couldn't take her mind off his song.
"You know, you were never just a boy to me, Chuck," she whispered. "I had never met anyone like you before. I still haven't met anyone like you." Chuck didn't say anything even though she was waiting for him to. "I just thought you should know." The tightening of his grip was the only indication that he had heard her. Sarah kept massaging his neck for the next five minutes, but after nothing was said Sarah pressed significantly harder onto his neck muscles, causing him to let out a pathetic whimper.
"Ow."
Sarah dropped her hands. "Come on, Chuck. One of the rare occasions I actually talk and you can't say anything?"
Chuck shrugged, which was not pain free. "What do you want me to say?"
"I don't... know, just—something." Sarah shoved his back. "You're the talkative one."
"You're very good at neck massages," he said.
Sarah drove her heel into his gut. "That's not what I mean and you know it."
Chuck leaned back until her chest was against his back and his head was right next to hers pressed against her cheek. Sarah placed her chin on the part where his neck meets his shoulder. "I love you," he said.
"Better," she responded.
"And you were never just a girl to me." Chuck felt the dimple on her cheek form against the side of his face. "You were Sarah Walker, super sexy super spy that could probably kill me just with her mind." Chuck smiled at the sound of his favorite noise when Sarah laughed.
"I'm still all those things," she teased him. "…But I won't kill you with my mind."
Chuck turned his head to the left and kissed her cheek. "And that's why I'm marrying you."
Sarah turned her head to look at him and said, "You sure it's not just because of my amazing massage skills?"
Chuck kissed her on the lips. "That helps, too."
Sarah wrapped her arms around his chest and breathed in deep, just enjoying the feeling of him being there. It had been a few days since they'd had a day to themselves. Missions and family gatherings had put a hold on their alone time. That's why last night they had been so eager to make up for lost time. "That ended well," she thought bitterly.
"When did you write it?"
"Hm?" Chuck ran his fingers over her delicate wrist. "When did I write the song?" Sarah nodded, nudging her chin into his shoulder. Chuck closed his eyes as he tried to remember that far back. "I don't think there was one specific moment. I wrote it over a long period of time."
"Well, I think it was sweet," she declared softly.
"That's good because I wrote it about you," he joked.
Sarah smiled and said, "You better have or you'll be sleeping on the couch for the next year. At least."
"You don't ever have to worry about that," Chuck promised her.
"What's it like outside?" she asked him, changing the subject.
"It's nice," he said. "Why? You want to go out?" Sarah nodded, prompting him to break her hold and sit up. "Alright get dressed and we'll go out. Nothing fancy, though. I've had enough expensive rich people… things for one week. Plus I always seem to flash when we go somewhere nice."
"Deal," she said. "You're not the only one sick of those people. Just let me throw something on and we can go for a walk or something, I don't care."
"Sounds good." Chuck got up and walked out of the room, giving her time to get ready.
Ten minutes later Sarah came out in a pair of jeans, a white tank top, and a black jacket with her hair in a ponytail.
A huge grin spread across his face. "You look beautiful."
"Chuck, if I always look beautiful, and there is no un-beautiful, then beautiful by definition is just mediocre," Sarah said as she tried to find her purse.
Chuck spotted it next to him and walked up behind her holding it out. "Well, then you look exquisite, stunning, and practically divine."
Sarah turned to grab the purse from his outstretched hand and with a flattered smile fighting to stay hidden on her face said, "Let's go."
Chuck placed his hand on the small of her back as he guided her into the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby. They walked outside, giving a nod to Andy on the way, and continued walking hand in hand.
"Where are we going?"
"I don't know."
Eventually they neared a PinkBerry and Sarah dragged him in.
"I thought you never wanted to go to a frozen yogurt place again," Chuck said, referring to her old cover job as the Orange Orange temptress from across the parking lot.
"I never want to serve frozen yogurt again. I think I might like someone else serving me for a change."
When Sarah walked in all eyes were on her, as was the reaction anyplace they went. They both got raspberry and before they left Sarah tipped the girl generously. They then went back outside to continue their walk.
"So what would you have done?" Chuck said, breaking the comfortable silence between them.
"What would I have done when?"
Chuck watched her eat another spoonful before saying, "If I had played you the song, you know, when I first wrote it."
Sarah stopped herself for putting anymore into her mouth and contemplated what her answer would be. What would she have done if Chuck played it to her back then? She had no idea. Most of the things she did around him made absolutely no sense whatsoever and were split second decisions. There was no way she could accurately predict what would have happened. And of course it wouldn't have been a neutral response. It was never a neutral response. No matter which way she had gone she had always gone all the way. As in completely shutting him down, or kissing him and letting out all her pent up frustrations only to then let him down in the end. Poor Chuck.
"I don't know what I would have done," she told him. "I think it's good you waited until now. I would have been too confused."
Chuck nodded slowly. "So in other words you would have turned me down."
"As much as I hate myself for it, yeah I probably would have." Sarah stared as the ground shamefully. "But that doesn't mean I wouldn't have liked it. I would have loved it. I loved everything you did. But I just… couldn't let you in. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," he said, "I understand." Chuck threw his empty cup into a trashcan they walked by and Sarah threw hers away even though she wasn't done. She then tightly held onto his hand, which was a little cold after holding the frozen yogurt. "Let's head back," he said. The two of them turned around and walked back towards their building, the whole time with their fingers entwined.
"So you got a question," Sarah said. "Can I have one?"
"I don't see why not," he said as he kicked a rock lying in front of him.
"There was one lyric in the song…" she hinted.
"…Yeah?" Chuck looked at her and saw the little crease form just off to the side from between her eyebrows.
"The one with the 'treasure' thing," she said.
Chuck smiled. "'Do you believe that there's treasures in the ocean'? That one?"
"Yeah. I was just wondering," Sarah shrugged, "like, what that meant."
"What do you mean?"
Sarah smiled, "I mean, what do you mean 'do you believe there's treasures in the ocean'?"
"It's a metaphor." Sarah waited for him to delve further into it but he never did.
"For…?"
Chuck smiled mischievously. "Ahh that you'll have to figure out on your own."
Sarah gasped and punched his shoulder. "Jerk."
"I can't be giving away all my secrets," he taunted. "And I do have a lot of them, as you are well aware."
"Yes, secrets that you have told me," she pressed on. "So tell me."
"I have enough faith in you that you'll figure it out." Sarah raised her eyebrow at his withdrawal.
--
When they got back to their top story condo Sarah threw her jacket on the floor and kicked off her shoes.
"You're kidding, right?" Chuck stared at the discarded accessories currently residing on the hardwood floor.
"What?" she asked him completely oblivious.
Chuck walked over and picked up her jacket. "I just spent the whole day cleaning up this place and the first thing you do when we get back is throw your stuff on the floor?"
Sarah kicked over her shoes to a corner in the room, sliding them across the floor. "Old habits die hard, sweetie." She watched as Chuck headed to the bedroom and then a light switched on in her head. "Wait!"
"What?" he asked as he stopped and looked at her.
Sarah slowly stepped towards the door. "Um. That's a good question. You… You," Sarah pointed her index finger at him, "forgot to… change your…" Sarah was grasping at straws here. "…feet."
Chuck stared at her incredulously. "Change my feet?"
"What?" she asked him.
"Did you just tell me to change my feet?"
Sarah's eyes moved to look to the wall to the right of her and she shook her head slowly. "Nope."
Chuck tweaked his head to the side. "So… you didn't tell me to change my feet."
Sarah shook her head again. "No."
Chuck had absolutely no idea what was going on with her. "Okay…" He turned to walk back into the bedroom.
"Wait!" she yelled again putting her hands out. "Wait."
Chuck stopped again and looked at her like she had three heads. "What now? Did I forget to change my hands, too?"
Sarah laughed forcefully. "Has anyone ever told you you are hilarious? In fact," Sarah ran around behind him and put her hands on his shoulders, pushing him to the living room, "you should… watch tv."
Chuck refused to budge. He laughed at her and said, "Sarah, what the hell are you talking about?" Suddenly a thought popped to his head. "Why don't you want me to go to the bedroom?"
"Don't be ridiculous," she said, brushing off his accusation.
Chuck started walking towards their room. This time when Sarah told him to wait he didn't listen and opened the door.
Sarah frantically followed him. "Okay, I know you're going to be mad but—"
Looking inside, Chuck's jaw dropped. It looked like an earthquake and a hurricane had a child and that child destroyed their room. Clothes were everywhere, Sarah's make up was rolling all over the floor, and empty drawers were open and hanging crookedly. Absolutely nothing was in place and Chuck had no idea how someone could do all that. Stuttering, Chuck finally spit out, "You were in there for ten minutes!"
"…I couldn't find my purse," she weakly explained from behind him.
Chuck's hand met his open mouth as he stood there taking in the disaster that was their room. "I don't know whether to be furious or impressed," he whispered through his fingers to no one in particular.
A worried Sarah stepped up next to him. "Would it help if I told you I love you?" Chuck's forehead wrinkled as he still hadn't said anything else. "Oh god, you hate me," she said, turning and walking quickly to their couch. After a couple more seconds, Chuck snapped himself out of his comatose state and quickly followed her. Sarah's hands covered her face in embarrassment as she continued to hate herself for being an idiot. Chuck sat down next to her and rubbed her back in a circular motion.
"I don't hate you," he told her.
"Why," she mumbled, "I do."
Chuck laughed silently. She was cute when she felt like she had messed up. After living alone in the spy world, she wasn't used to the real world and what came with it. In the spy world, she was flawless. In the real world there was a lot of room for improvement as she found out time and time again. It was kind of like trying to train a puppy. "Don't say that," he said trying to comfort her.
"I'm sorry, Chuck," she said. "I promise I'll try harder."
"That's all I can ask for." Chuck's heart broke at how pathetic she looked and he drew her in to his side. Sarah rested her head against his chest.
Sarah laughed humorlessly and said, "So much for improving at a fast rate, huh?"
"Don't worry about that." Chuck kissed the top of her head. "Organized or no, I'll love you either way." He rubbed her arm as she leaned against him. They sat there with each other for a good fifteen minutes. Sarah's ear was pressed to his heart and she listened to every single heartbeat. She went over in her mind all the things she loved about him. Number one being that he loved her just as much.
"Hey, Chuck?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm the treasure."
Chuck smiled brightly. "Yeah, Sarah. You are."
---
Lots of references in this one while Sarah was going through their old stuff. I'm sure you could recognize some of them. I admit after double-checking, Chuck would not be in possession of the leather pouch (god I hate that word) for the Nadan'I'Noor because he Fedex-ed it to Washington. But – once again – fiction, right? I couldn't resist giving a shout-out to one of my favorite scenes from the entire series, Ellie reacting to the truth serum. "Words taste like peaches."
Thanks for all your reviews, guys. Reviewers have now officially been upgraded from outstanding to awesome.
Extra question: What instrument do you think Awesome would play?