Disclaimer: I own no part of Chuck, Two and a Half Men, or any of the video games mentioned. Admittedly, not a whole lot happens in this chapter, but it had to happen so...enjoy :) (at least I hope you enjoy it)

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"Hi, I'm Sarah. Chuck's girlfriend," she quickly added the last part as she put her arm around Chuck's waist, trying not to grimace at how Charlie was inspecting her like a piece of meat. He could at least do it subtly, Sarah thought.

"Alan, Jake! Sorry about the change of plans," Chuck greeted them, pointedly focusing on them as they walked up to the house, ignoring Charlie's obvious interest in Sarah.

Chuck led Sarah into the house (she still had to lean on him, although she was a lot better), and the Harpers followed him in. Chuck was sure he could hear what sounded suspiciously like Casey laughing in the bushes, but he ignored it.

"So, would you like to play video games, eat, talk, what?" Chuck asked, unsure of what he should say.

"I'm hungry," Jake offered, instantly perking up at the prospect of food.

"Okay, is everyone else alright with food?" Chuck tried to break the silence that had overcame the room.

"Sounds good to me, but I've got to warn you that Jake here can eat you out of house and home," Charlie grinned.

"That's true. Uhh, do you want me to pay? Because he can eat a lot more than you'd think," Alan admitted.

"No, no, my treat. I invited you over. What kind of pizza does everyone want? I know one vegetarian with no olives, what do you guys like?"

"Vegetarian with no olives?! Be a man, Chuck! How about supreme or pepperoni?" Charlie goaded.

Sarah glared at him, and Chuck grinned mentally, as Charlie didn't realize what a serious topic he had just approached. And, once again, Chuck thought he could hear Casey laughing.

"What, might I ask, is the matter with a vegetarian pizza with no olives?" Sarah growled.

"Oh, was that for you? I was just joking. I'll take the same," Charlie managed to get out.

"Pepperoni sounds good to me," Alan said, "And Jake will eat anything, so..."

"Will two pizzas cover it or do you want three? Because I have chips and soda, but do you think three?" Chuck asked.

"Two probably," Alan suggested.

"Yeah, we fed the brat before we got here, so two should do it," Charlie agreed.

"Hey! That was very hurtful, Uncle Charlie," Jake said solemnly.

"Just being honest, knucklehead."

"Is he always like that Jake?" Sarah asked curiously, deciding to try to embarrass Charlie as much as possible.

'Worse. You should hear him when he's talking to the women he-"

"Hey! Now that isn't true! I'm always respectful of women," Charlie denied.

Judging from the disbelieving snort from Alan, that wasn't even close to the truth. Chuck picked up his iPhone, meanwhile, and called to order the pizza. He stepped into the kitchen for a minute, as Charlie and Alan were apparently arguing about something, and Chuck didn't want to know what.

"Yep, umm two large pizzas please. One large vegetarian with no olives, and one pepperoni. Deliver. To-"

Meanwhile...

"He must really take you for granted. He hasn't even said much to you all evening," Charlie said.

"You've been here for a whole ten minutes and you're already hitting on his girlfriend! Unbelievable!" Alan exclaimed quietly, hoping that Chuck didn't hear.

""I'm not hitting on her. We're just talking. Right?"

"No. You're talking and I'm waiting for my boyfriend," Sarah corrected him.

"Sassy are we?"

"Just honest."

"Honesty. That's a hard trait to come by nowadays. He must be really lucky to have you. Even if he does seem to take you for granted."

"Chuck does not take me for granted! In fact, I told him to go out tonight but he decided to stay with me! Now if you-"

"Sarah, calm down. You're going to lose your voice again!" Chuck came back, the pizza having been ordered.

He sat down beside her and put his left arm around her, glowering at Charlie. "Jake here's pretty good at video games. I'm not sure what you have, but he was pretty excited to go against you," Alan tried to change the subject and ease the tension in the room.

"Really? What do you play, Jake? There's a few games down there. I'll play you on any of them if you want," Chuck suggested, eager to do something besides talk to Charlie.

Jake quickly picked out a new Call of Duty game. Sarah had watched Chuck play this before and, while she had found it amusing that he played such a game, even she had been able to tell that he was good at it. Chuck popped the game in, and sat down on the carpet, afraid of accidentally hitting Sarah (he really got into video games when he played them).

"Work together or go against each other?"

"Work together. I haven't played this one before."

Chuck nodded and they quickly chose their characters. Soon they were playing.

"Hey, Jake! Shoot him!"

"I got him! Aah! No I didn't!"

"There you go! I'll get the ones on the left; you take the ones on the right!"

Jake nodded, and they proceeded to begin shooting when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Alan offered.

Chuck just nodded and continued playing. Sarah pretended to be completely focused on the game, because she could tell Charlie was going to say something else to her. Sure enough

"Funny isn't it, how-"

"Some people just won't give up?" Sarah cut him off.

"Well, persistence can be a very good trait in certain situations, if you know what I mean."

"It can also be a way a person copes with denial. Not being able to believe that someone turned them down."

"Touché. However, what I was going to say was-"

"I'm sure that you think that whatever you were going to say is extremely funny or intelligent or something, but I could honestly care less. Judging form everything else that you have said, that you have thought has been so charming, I can live without this comment."

Alan snickered, amazed at how easily this woman was putting his brother down, as he led the pizza delivery guy inside. Chuck meanwhile, had been pretending to be completely focused on the video game, but he also had to hold back a laugh. He paused the video game and paid for the pizza, still trying not to laugh. Sarah had decided that, after year of having to throw herself at, or pretend to be interested in every pig the CIA told her to be, she was not going to put up with this one.

"Ignoring that comment, I just find it amusing that while both Chuck here and I have the same full name, we are so different."

"That's for sure," Sarah muttered, but decided to let Charlie go on.

"Even the names we go by give different ideas. Chuck is immature, nerdy, poor-"

"Easygoing, kind, loving, connectable, sympathetic-" Sarah disagreed.

Alan was watching in amazement, and Chuck excused himself to the bathroom, not sure how else he was to "ignore his advances on Sarah" when they were so obvious.

"And Charlie is rich, mature-"

"Conceited, lazy, old-"

"Now wait a minute! You are in Chuck's house, eating pizza Chuck paid for, and yet you are making fun of him? What's wrong with this picture?" Alan cried.

"Wait! The pizza's here and no one told me?" Jake asked, grabbing a slice of it.

"I don't know, guys. I think Charlie here's just joking around. He probably just had a few beers," Chuck, back, said, knowing that he was supposed to be friends with him by the time the night was over.

"Thanks Chuck! While it was actually bourbon, I wasn't serious!"

"Chuck forced a smile and held out his hand, "Forgiven and forgotten?" he asked.

"Sure," as Charlie thought, what an idiot. I'll have his girl in a few days.

The rest of the night passed without any major incidents, when eleven o' clock hit.

"It's kind of Jake's bedtime, so I think we'll be going," Alan said good-bye.

"Thanks for everything. This was fun. We'll have to do it again sometime soon," he added.

Alan dragged Jake out the door (he was staring at what was left of the pizza). Only Charlie was left. He kissed Sarah on the cheek (as she grimaced) and then stopped at the door.

"Sunday a bunch of my friends are coming over to celebrate a new jingle. Will you come?" he was asking both of them, but looking at Sarah the whole time.

"We'll be there," Chuck nodded.

"See you then."

When the car finally disappeared, Chuck and Sarah collapsed on the couch. Casey jumped through a window, sneering.

"I really don't know how you did it Bartowski, but we'll discuss the plan for Sunday tomorrow. Now you really could work on your ignoring skills when it comes to his flirting. And Walker, you're lucky he is persistent."

"How the hell was I supposed to ignore some of those comments?"

"I warned you he was a pig."

"He was worse than a pig," Sarah argued.

Casey just laughed and shrugged. Tomorrow at 9. You can sleep now, because there's not much that we really have to go over. Casey left (also through the window, for some strange reason).

"Do you want to stay another night, because I can drive you back to your apartment if you want?"

"Are you trying to get rid of me, Chuck? Because I promise I'll be nicer to you than I was to Charlie," Sarah joked.

"N-no. I'd love it if you'd stay but I wasn't sure because-"

"It's alright Chuck, I want to stay."

Chuck grinned, for the first real time all night. "So do you want me to sleep on the floor again or-"

"Chuck, it's fine. We can both sleep in the bed," Sarah said, secretly wanting to. But, seeing the curious look on Chuck's face, she quickly added, "Anyways, what if Ellie checks on you tomorrow morning?"

Chuck's grin faded, as he thought that this was all, once again, for cover.

"Plus, I really want to," Sarah whispered into his ear, surprising both herself and Chuck.

Why did she always do that? One minute she'd pretend there was nothing between them, and the next she'd be admitting the truth. With all of the mixed signals she was giving, it was no wonder Chuck was so confused. Then again, he wasn't the only one confused about their relationship, she thought.