A/N: So it's been a while since I've updated this particular fic. Haha. I figured that for Christmas, I'd bring it back from the dead. Enjoy! And I hope you've had a very merry Christmas and will have an especially happy New Year's. :D
Sarah didn't want to wake up and start the day. That was why she kept her eyes closed. She was snuggled against Chuck and she was quite comfortable. Even though she would never admit it to anyone, at that moment she just wanted to lay there next to him for the rest of the day. But it was time to get up. She knew because the alarm clock had already gone off three times. And each time it did, she had been tempted to kill it with her knife, but that would have meant moving from her current position next to Chuck and she was just too comfortable for that. Luckily, Chuck had hit the snooze button without disturbing her comfortableness.
Why does it have to be Christmas? Sarah thought to herself as she snuggled herself closer to Chuck. I am not ready to get up and I won't be for a while.
Just then, Chuck started gently rubbing her back. The super spy let out a contented sigh. She definitely did not want to get out of bed.
"Sarah," Chuck whispered, his breath tickling her ear, "it's time to wake up."
"I don't wanna," she mumbled, burying herself under the blankets. "'S too early. Five more minutes. Please, Chuck?"
She silently laughed to herself. There was no way Chuck would ever be able to turn anything she asked down. It just wasn't him. She waited for the, "Okay, Sarah, five more minutes," that eventually came before she peeked out from under the covers.
"Fine," Sarah said, playfully rolling her eyes, "it is time to get up. We do have to go meet up with your sister for the Bartowski Christmas Extravaganza. I just don't see why we have to get up so early. I mean, it's eight o'clock in the morning!"
Chuck laughed, "Sarah, I promise. It'll be totally worth it. I know that you don't like waking up earlier than you have to, and this is the only real day off you've had for a while but, trust me, you'll have fun."
"And what makes you so sure about that?" Sarah asked, skeptical.
"Well," Chuck began, "for starters, you'll be with me."
"Ha!" Sarah laughed. "I think I'd have more fun with you if we just stayed in bed."
Crap! she thought, immediately regretting her words. That's not what she meant. Well, it was but she didn't mean it that way. Or at least she didn't think she did. Stupid tired brain. I can never think after I first wake up. Hurry! Think of something else to say!
"I, um, meant," she started, "that I'd prefer sleeping with you than going to one of Ellie's parties."
Oh my God, she berated herself. What? "I'd prefer sleeping with you"? Geez, Walker. Get a grip on yourself. Look what you're doing to Chuck. He's blushing! Oh, he's blushing. He's so cute. Mmm, I like having that affect on him. Wait, no, I have to say something else. Something that doesn't involve us sleeping together.
"That's not really what I meant either," Sarah said. "I just meant that—"
"Shh," Chuck interrupted her, putting both of them out of misery, "I think I know what you meant."
"Good," Sarah smiled, embarrassed. "Now we should, uh, probably get ready to leave."
"Great idea," Chuck agreed. But neither of them moved.
Why does this bed have to be so freakin' comfortable? Sarah asked herself. Walker, you know it's not the bed that's keeping you from getting up. It's that adorable nerd you can't help yourself from falli—
Sarah shook her head, interrupting her own thoughts, as she made the first move to get out of the bed. She sat up and yawned. After her feet touched the floor, she realized that the room was a bit chilly. Sarah wanted to crawl back under the covers, but she persevered and made it fully out of the bed. A minute or so later, Chuck followed.
She walked over to her dresser to get some underwear. Before she actually opened the drawer, she turned to Chuck and asked, "Do you want to shower first or should I?"
"Hmm, you can go," Chuck said from the closet, where he was selecting his outfit for the day. "Besides, I don't need to shower right now. Remember? I got one last night."
"Oh, yeah," Sarah mused, remembering the image of Chuck from the night before, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. She shook her head, "I remember. And, um, if I were you, I'd go with the blue-striped button-down shirt with the long-sleeves and those jeans that I like so much."
"Right," Chuck said, hanging the shirt and pair of pants he had picked out and exchanging them for the ones Sarah recommended, "okay."
"Okay," Sarah said, opening the top drawer of her dresser and selecting a pair panties and a matching bra. "I'll see you in fifteen minutes."
"I'm looking forward to it," Chuck said with that smile of his, the smile that always made her go weak in the knees.
She smiled back and then made her way to the bathroom. It was a short walk and she quickly found herself in the bathroom. After she shut the door, she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.
You're losing control of yourself, she thought. You were this close to doing something regretful out there. Oh, who am I kidding? I wouldn't have regretted anything. And, therein, lies the problem. Maybe I should ask for a reassignment. Just kidding yourself again, Walker. You won't ever do that.
Sarah closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. She had always been the type of person to overanalyze everything. It was a blessing when it came to being a spy but it was a curse when she was trying to be a normal woman. In this case, it was a curse.
She placed her clothes on the bathroom counter and walked over to the shower. She turned the knob and let the water run. While waiting for it to get to the temperature she desired, she shed her pajamas, one of Chuck's shirts and a pair of boy shorts.
Once she was unclothed, she held her hand under the running water to make sure it wasn't too hot, or too cold. When she deemed the temperature just right, she stepped into the shower.
Twenty minutes after she had entered the bathroom, Sarah walked into the bedroom. She was clad in just her underwear and bra, which caught Chuck, who was sitting on the bed messing with his iPhone, off-guard. He had looked up as soon as she entered the room, much to Sarah's delight, and looked down immediately when he saw that she wasn't fully dressed.
"It's okay, Chuck," she smiled.
"Really?" Chuck asked, looking up at her before turning his embarrassed gaze back to his phone.
"Yeah, not exactly like I was trying to hide from you, you're not a voyeur or anything," Sarah answered. You can even touch, if you want to. "I mean, you are supposed to be my boyfriend. And last I checked, boyfriends were allowed to look at their girlfriends."
"I know," Chuck said, "but I don't want you to think that I'm being—"
"Perverted?" Sarah offered with a smile. "Don't worry, Chuck. I know you better than that. You can look all you want. It's absolutely fine with me. I get looked at all of the time, even when I'm wearing clothes, but, the way you look at me is different and I like the way it makes me feel."
"And how does it make you feel?" Chuck asked, looking her in the eyes.
"I don't know," Sarah shrugged, as she walked towards the closet to get some clothes.
"Oh, okay," Chuck answered, even though he wished that she had given him a straight answer.
Because the truth was that Sarah knew exactly how his look made her feel. It made her feel special. Chuck wasn't looking at her like she was a piece of meat or just a pretty girl he wanted to add to his list of conquests. He looked at her like she was the prettiest girl in the world and that he was just lucky to be in the same room as her. He looked at her with such genuine feeling that it made her feel something that she couldn't explain.
Sarah felt that way as she stood in front of the closet, trying to pick out an outfit that matched Chuck's. She could feel his gaze on her and she was having trouble thinking. Finally, she settled for a blue top that went well with Chuck's shirt and a pair of tight jeans, along with a light sweater.
"So," she said to break the silence, as she walked back to the bed and laid her clothes down, "tell me why this Christmas party is so special."
"Well," Chuck began, "for starters, there's Ellie's famous French toast. It's like one of the only traditions we keep up with each year. And to get it, we need to be there by nine thirty, which is in about forty-five minutes. Then we watch a Christmas movie or two, of Ellie's choice, of course. After that, Ellie breaks out the food she spent hours and hours cooking and we eat a late lunch or early dinner, depending on your perspective. When dinner is over, we all pile into our various vehicles and drive around looking at all of the Christmas lights. After an hour or so of that, we head back home and exchange Christmas presents. Then to wrap up the night, we eat some leftovers and talk about our day's adventures."
"Hmm, that does sound fun," Sarah said, straightening out her outfit. "Do you know how many people are going to be there this year?"
"Um, well," Chuck thought out loud, "there's Ellie and Awesome, me and you, Morgan and Anna, and Ellie invited Casey and Kathleen, so eight people give or take an extra."
"Great," she said, walking to the front door of the apartment. "That doesn't sound like the crowd Ellie usually has for parties. Let's go. I'm starving."
"Haha," Chuck laughed, getting up from the bed and following Sarah, "okay, okay. I'm coming."
The couple was out the door and in the car on their way to Ellie's apartment in less than five minutes. Because Sarah was driving, they were actually at Ellie's apartment thirty minutes after they had left their own apartment, a record.
Sarah parked the car and the two got out. They held hands as they walked to Ellie's front door. Without knocking, Chuck opened the door for Sarah.
"After you, milady," he said with a grin.
"Why thank you, dear sir," Sarah pretended to curtsy before entering the apartment.
"Ellie!" Chuck yelled as he followed Sarah into the living room of the apartment. "We're here!"
"Good!" they heard Ellie yell back from the kitchen. "You're just in time for the French toast!"
"Oh, yay!" Sarah quietly exclaimed as she rushed to the kitchen with Chuck in tow.
Once in the kitchen, Sarah saw that Morgan and Anna, Casey and his girlfriend Kathleen, and Awesome and Ellie were all seated at the table already. She and Chuck quickly took their seats, which seemed to be the sign for everyone to start eating.
After everybody had served themselves, Ellie started a conversation by saying, "So how has everyone's morning been so far?"
A round of "good"s and "great"s followed as the members of the party all ate contentedly. Ellie was pleased and didn't say anything else.
The breakfast lasted roughly an hour and consisted of several conversations of small talk that everyone participated in and seemed to thoroughly enjoy. Ellie and Chuck cleared the dishes from the table and put them into the sink, while everyone else gathered in the living room, talking and waiting for the movie to begin.
"So, Sarah," Kathleen began, "how's your relationship with Chuck going?"
"Ha, um," Sarah forced a laugh, "it's going really well. We're happy."
"Well, that's obvious," Kathleen leaned over and whispered, "but do you think it's going anywhere? I mean, do you see marriage in the near future? John told me that you two have been going out for quite some time now. He seems afraid that you two aren't moving forward."
"Oh," Sarah raised an eyebrow, "he is? That's funny. But, no, I don't foresee marriage in the near future. Maybe sometime later, much later, but right now we're happy."
"That's good," Kathleen smiled in a good-natured way. "See, John, they're fine."
"Um, good," Casey replied gruffly, shooting Sarah an embarrassed and apologetic look.
"I'm going to go make some popcorn," Sarah said, getting up from her spot on the couch and leaving Casey and Kathleen alone to talk about whatever it was people of their age talked about.
"Hey, Sarah," Chuck greeted her when she entered the kitchen, "what are you doing?'
"Oh, I just thought that I'd make some popcorn," Sarah said. "'Cause, you know, it's not a movie without popcorn. And, well, John's girlfriend was asking about our relationship and you know how I don't really like to talk about my personal life."
"Ah," Chuck said, "right. Yeah, I know. Come on, I'll help you make the popcorn."
Ellie washed the dishes while Chuck and Sarah made the popcorn. Twenty minutes later, the three walked into the living room with two big bowls of popcorn. They laid them on the coffee table and Ellie went to her room to get the movies.
When Ellie returned, everyone had dug into the popcorn. She held the dvds behind her back, wanting her selection to be a surprise. She put the first movie in the dvd player and started it. Devon turned off the lights and closed the blinds. Everyone got settled into their spots and readied themselves for the movie.
The opening of the movie immediately gave itself away to everyone, except Sarah and Casey. However, out of the two, Sarah was the only one who wanted to know what the movie was.
"Hey, Chuck," she whispered to him, "what movie is this?"
"It's Elf," he answered. "Surely, you've seen it."
"Um, no," Sarah shook her head. "I haven't."
"Well, then," Chuck started, "you're in for a great movie. Just sit back and relax. I'm telling you, this movie is one of the best Christmas movies ever."
"Sshh!" whispered Casey obnoxiously, grinning. "I can't hear the movie"
"Sorry, Casey," Chuck laughed."Come on, Sarah, just enjoy the movie."
"Alright," Sarah said, snuggling herself closer to him.
The group watched the movie and everyone, especially Sarah, thoroughly enjoyed it. After the first movie, Ellie put in A Christmas Story. Another classic, Chuck had told Sarah. And it was another movie that she enjoyed.
Once the movie watching was over, everyone went into the kitchen for lunch. The meal was quickly eaten and the leftovers put away because everybody was excited to go see the Christmas lights. They covered themselves up and headed to their respective cars. They drove around the surrounding L.A. area and took in all of the sights and sounds of a Hollywood Christmas. Several hours passed before they all headed back to Ellie's apartment to exchange gifts.
Everyone was gathered around the Christmas tree. Ellie handed out stockings to everyone and they all opened the little gifts and trinkets. Sarah had one gift in her stocking that was particularly important. It was a necklace that Chuck had apparently gotten her, although she had no idea how. She was in charge of looking over all of his purchases to make sure that none of them caused any suspicion and the golden necklace with the small diamond pendant was never on any of the receipts.
"Chuck," she asked, as he put the necklace around her neck per Ellie's request, "when did you buy this? How did you buy this?"
"I've been saving up money," Chuck said simply. "And I had Casey buy it for me. I know that you check all of my purchases and I wanted you to be surprised."
"Well," Sarah laughed, "I certainly am surprised."
"Good," Chuck smiled, sitting back down next to Sarah. "That's what I wanted."
Everyone opened their other gifts. Sarah had received quite a pile of stuff. It was the most presents she had ever received and she was especially grateful. The thing that made her happiest, though, was Chuck's joyful reaction to the present she had bought him, a rare and mint condition copy of an original Action Comics #1.
After the last present had been opened, everyone crowded into the kitchen for dinner. Ellie had been going back and forth from the living room to watch everyone open their presents and take pictures and open her own gifts to the kitchen to reheat the leftovers.
Dinner went by slower than lunch. Each person exchanging thank-yous and you're welcomes to each other. But it was over eventually and not a moment too soon for Sarah. She was tired.
Sarah and Chuck had said all of their goodbyes and were almost out of the apartment when Morgan exclaimed, "Look! Chuck and Sarah are standing under the mistletoe!"
That led to cheers and whistles from the group, obviously expecting them to kiss. Even Casey was cheering, but that may have just been because Kathleen was standing next to him.
"We don't have to kiss," Chuck whispered to Sarah, "not if you don't want to."
Sarah paused for a moment and licked her lips thoughtfully, then she said, "It's tradition."
She leaned forward and met Chuck's lips with her own. The kiss started off simple enough but somehow Sarah found her tongue dancing with Chuck's. She wasn't sure how long they had been kissing and, frankly, she didn't care. She loved the way kissing him felt. It was when Chuck's hand started traveling up her shirt, leading to cat calls from the men in the room and embarrassed giggles from the women, that she and Chuck realized that they weren't alone and had been kissing for longer than tradition called for.
"Ha," Sarah laughed, after they had broken the kiss, "I guess we got a little carried away."
"I would say," Casey smirked. "Maybe you two should head home."
"Good idea," Chuck said, breathless. "Merry Christmas, everyone! See you later."
"Oh, Chuck!" Ellie said, getting up and holding two bags. "Don't forget your presents!"
Chuck and Sarah took their bags, smiled, and thanked Ellie for the wonderful time. And with that, they left the apartment and headed to Sarah's car and to their own apartment. The Bartowski Christmas Extravaganza was over, but the fun had just begun.
A/N: Well, there you have it. SLWF's Christmas fic. Haha. Tell me what you thought about it! Good or bad reviews, I would love to hear your opinion! Thanks for reading!
Thanks go to Pizza (sgafan360) for the beta!
Made it just in time to say I posted Christmas day. :p