Why hello there! My goodness, has it been two weeks already? I really need to start writing again. Oops! All of these tests and essays and clubs have really just been killing me. Ugh. Well, as long as I'm getting quality chapter out to you, then I guess I'm okay. Oh yeah! We're approved! Beach Volleyball is now an official club at my University! I'm so excited!

Nomadic Nerd: Can you read my mind? LOL! I swear I wrote Chapter 14 before I read your review. But that's all I'm saying on the matter.

Shawnny (Guest): I know! Once I read through all of the completed Chuck fanfics, I was like, there's got to be more! So I took it upon myself to write more. :P

Chuckfanstter: I don't think Sarah would pass out from three bottles of wine. She seems like she has a really good tolerance. Besides, in the Other Guy, Chuck pretty much downed that whole bottle of whiskey which has way more alcohol content that wine does. And that Carina scene. I gotchu. I'll bring it up sometime in the future. Just wait a while.

Maverick41: Chuck has always been a very forgiving person. And he wasn't so much resentful to Sarah, just the fact that she kept flipping sides on him. Once they talked it out and where Sarah stood was clear, that was enough for him. And in a way, their talk was more genuine than if Sarah had done something huge because he could read it as something Graham made her do to make things better. Here, she's drunk and hungover so she'd be more inclined to just blurt out the truth because she's intoxicated or her head hurt too much to come up with some elaborate excuse.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Chuck as Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz are the gods of their creation and Warner Brothers hasn't put up the brand for sale.

When Chuck woke up, there was a crick in his neck and he wondered why his warm blanket was so incredibly heavy. His eyes fluttered open and all he could see was blonde. Confused, he moved his hand so that he could sit up but found that it was resting on an actual form and not on a loose blanket. He lifted his head, ignoring the crick, and looked down do see Sarah's sleeping figure on top him. Her face was so incredibly calm it was adorable. The musician laid his head back down and just reveled in the warmth that was his… girlfriend? Where they dating now? Was it official? Was their thing under their cover a real thing? And if it were, would they make it?

Sure, Chuck had told Sarah multiple times that if they worked at it, then they could get through anything, but, how true was that? They weren't even officially together and things were already rocky. However, looking back down at Sarah, they way she fit perfectly into his body and snuggled even deeper into his side, Chuck knew. He knew that this was the woman he would take on the world for. He just had to make sure that she was willing to do the same.

They would definitely have their share of trials and tribulations. He tightened his grip on Sarah slightly, loving the way that her body molded into his. The blonde actress began to stir in his arms, her breaths deeper, signaling that she was waking up. Her head moved so that her chin sat on his chest and she faced him. She was still drowsy from just waking up and the way her chin was resting on him made her look like she was giving him the puppy dog face (minus the eyes since those were still struggling to open). It was the cutest thing he'd ever seen. "Good morning," he greeted.

"Good morning," she mumbled in reply, her eyes, finally fluttering open so Chuck had a clear view of her blue irises. "Did you spend the night?" she asked.

Chuck chuckled. "I guess so. We must have fallen asleep at some point yesterday."

"Do you think your sister would be angry?" Sarah asked, a sudden fear, glinting in her eye. Chuck laughed.

"Why would she be angry? If anything, Ellie's probably happy that I didn't come home last night, you know, so long as I was with you, which I was, so I think we're good," Chuck assured. Chuck watched the fear dissipate from Sarah's eyes and a realization dawned on him. "Sarah," he said. "Are you scared of Ellie?" Sarah's eyes went wide.

"What?" she asked incredulously. "Of course not!" Chuck wasn't buying it.

"Oh, my gosh. You are!"

"I'm not afraid of your sister."

"Fine. Don't admit it," Chuck surrendered. He sat up, forcing Sarah off his body. Sarah looked up at him from her new position on the couch.

"I'm not afraid of your sister."

"That statement right there proves that you're afraid of my sister." Chuck took her hands and looked into her eyes. "Talk to me, Sarah."

The blonde actress sighed. "I'm not afraid of her. She's just… intimidating sometimes is all." Chuck let out a hearty laugh.

"I know Ellie can be… overbearing," Chuck began once he calmed down. "But once you really get to know her, she's the best person you could have. I mean, she already thinks of you as family."

"Really?" Sarah asked, hopeful.

Chuck was surprised that Sarah would even doubt that Ellie thought of her as family. Of course, they never really had much time to spend together but from the way the two of them connected at the one dinner they shared and the way Ellie constantly badgered Chuck to make things right with Sarah, he figured that Sarah knew that his sister was on her side. "Absolutely, Sarah," he said, pulling her close. Then, an idea popped into his head. "How about this? You come over for dinner tonight. After whatever meetings you have today. I'll invite Ellie and Awesome. I'll cook. It'll be just the four of us."

"What about Morgan?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"I can invite him, too." The two of them laughed. "I just want to show you how much you are a part of this family even though you've only really met them once." Sarah smiled.

"Okay." Chuck got up and gathered his things.

"Well, I have meetings to get to and so do you. But, I will see you tonight. And, don't forget. We still have much to talk about."

"Fine."

Chuck leaned over once more and placed a kiss on Sarah's lips. When they pulled away, he smiled before heading toward the door.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Sarah had only felt this nervous once before in her life: the first time she met Chuck's family. Now, as she stood outside of her… boyfriend? – was Chuck her boyfriend? Sure they'd kissed and whatever but they'd never exactly made it official. Anyway, she stood outside his apartment and it dawned on her that this was the first time she was actually going inside La Casa de Bartowski. Nervously, she lifted her hand to knock on the door and to her relief, Chuck answered, a glass of wine in his hand. "Hey," he greeted, leaning down to give her a kiss. She kissed him back. When they pulled away, he handed her the glass of wine. She accepted it. "Remember how I told you I would be cooking tonight?"

"Yeah," Sarah responded taking a sip of the wine.

"Well, I started, but then Ellie showed up and took over so… Now Ellie's cooking." He looked pointedly at the seemingly empty kitchen. Sarah opened her mouth to comment that no one was in there when a brunette head popped up and Chuck's sister narrowed her eyes at her younger brother.

"I just didn't want you to burn the whole complex down, little brother," she teased. Wiping her hands on the apron, Ellie made her way over to Sarah and gave her a warm, sisterly hug. It was different from the first hug that the older Bartowski had given her. This one was more controlled, more comfortable. "I'm glad you could make it. Chuck told me you were busy with meetings and whatnot."

Sarah smiled. "Oh," she said. "No. I love spending time with you guys, especially if you're cooking." Ellie's smile got even bigger.

"That's awesome!" Devon called out as he stepped into the room from the hallway. "Hey, Sarah. You know, the next time our off days line up, we should go rock climbing or something. We could take Chuck. Get his cardio up." Sarah bit back a laugh. She watched as chuck's face turned red at Devon's roast.

"Very funny, Devon," Chuck replied, unamused. His phone chirped and he pulled it out, checking the screen. "Hey, it's Morgan. I'm gonna take this." He pecked Sarah on the lips and left the room, leaving Sarah alone with Ellie and Awesome. She, not wanting to feel awkward standing in the living room, moved to sit down at one of the barstools and watched as Ellie continued to slave over the various pots and pans on the stove.

"So, Sarah," Ellie began as she stirred one of the pots. "How's work?" The blonde actress was surprised at the question.

"Uh… It's good. I'm not really aloud to say much to anyone but we're finally getting past the pre-production phase," she said.

"Can you tell us who you'll be working with?"

"Umm… I know that I'm working with Richard Chamberlain and Rob Riggle, but I still don't know who's playing the male lead role."

"Still? Don't you guys leave to start shooting in a few months?"

"Yeah. We do. The directors are just having a hard time casting the role because they need someone that has a certain balance between looking like he can handle himself and constantly needing help to get out of situations, or something like that. A lot of the faces in Hollywood are either one or the other."

"Ahh… I see their dilemma," Ellie said with a nod. She snuck a peek behind Sarah, probably to make sure that Chuck wasn't back yet or Devon wasn't listening in. The tall blonde had settled in the living room, watching the game on ESPN. "By the way," Ellie continued, her voice slightly lower than before. "Speaking of men constantly needing help to get out of situations, I hope my brother didn't screw things over with you too much."

"What?" Sarah asked surprised at the older woman's questions. This night was just full of surprises for Sarah.

"It's just… He's not too good at relationships and you're the only girl that he's brought home that I like. I know we haven't spent too much time together but you're already like the sister I've always wanted."

"Oh, Ellie-"

"No, I'm serious. With Jill, Chuck's ex, it always felt like there was a barrier between the two of us and we never really got to connect, but with you, it feels easier to just relax."

"Wow, Ellie." Sarah didn't know what to say to that. "That's… uh… very flattering."

"And, I see the way that the two of you look at each other," Ellie continued. "I don't want you guys to spit just because of horrible miscommunication."

Sarah shook her head. "Uh, no. We, uh, we talked it all out."

"That's good."

Just then, the door opened and Chuck walked through, waving his phone in the air. "Morgan's coming," he announced.

"Well, it's a good thing I cooked for eight," Ellie replied jokingly.

"And he's bringing a friend." Everyone in the room stared at him. "A girl." Sarah heard a spoon clatter to the floor and turned to see the elder Bartowski with her jaw dropped and eyes wide.

"What?" she asked incredulously. "Morgan's bringing a girl?"

"I'm just as surprised as you are sis."

"What's her name?" Ellie asked.

"Alex."

Sarah frowned. That named sounded familiar. She felt like she was supposed to know who that was but she didn't know any of Chuck's friends, let alone Morgan so she doubted that they'd even be the same person. Just then, the door opened and Chuck's bearded best friend and manager walked through the door, followed by a petite brunette that was definitely familiar to Sarah. "Alex?" she asked, her eyebrows raised. Chuck, Ellie, Morgan, and Devon all looked at Sarah.

"Sarah?" Alex replied, equally as shocked. The others in the room looked between the two women as though they were watching a tennis match.

"Wait," Chuck said breaking the silence. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah," Sarah answered. "That's Casey's daughter."

"Seriously?" Chuck asked, dumbfounded. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Yes, seriously. As robotic as the man seems, he's actually got a heart." Sarah stood up and gave Alex a hug. "How've you been? How's class?"

"I've been great. I got an A in my criminal psyche course." Sarah's eyes widened in both surprise and, admittedly, pride.

"Wow, that's fantastic. I'm sure your dad is proud."

"Yeah."

From there, everyone sat around the living room making small talk and discussing both Sarah and Alex's different experiences with Ellie chiming in from the kitchen every now and then. It wasn't very long before Ellie called out that dinner was ready and the conversation moved from the couches to the table. Soon, it was getting late and Sarah found herself being walked to her car by Chuck. "So," he said. "Did I prove you wrong?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Yes, Chuck. You did," she admitted.

Chuck must've noticed that something was off because he softened the look on his face and took her hand in his. "What's wrong?" Sarah shook her head.

"It's nothing." She looked into his eyes but Chuck wasn't buying it. She sighed and looked back down at her feet. "Okay, fine. I just… This is all new to me. Having people that care about me as a person and not just a job. I told you that Graham was pretty much my family and we both know how he can be, so…"

"Hey," Chuck interrupted, lifting her chin so that they were staring into each other's eyes again. "I want you to know that whether we're together or not, you will always be welcomed here as family." Sarah gauged the sincerity of his words and found that he absolutely believed in what he was telling her. His words made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It was unnerving yet comforting at the same time.

"Listen, Chuck," she said, changing topics. They needed to have this conversation before they could move on with their relationship and actually label it and this could possibly be the last chance they had to actually talk. "We have some things we need to discuss about… us."

Chuck nodded. "I agree." Sarah smiled. He motioned for her to take a seat on the edge of the fountain and followed her when she did.

"So…" she began. "First: what are we officially?"

"I like to think of us as boyfriend/girlfriend but if that's too much then we can just not label it," Chuck offered. Sarah appreciated his attempt at not being pushy about their relationship and giving her some control.

"Boyfriend/Girlfriend seems a bit too… middle school to me," Sarah said sheepishly. "But, I do want to label us. It's important to me that you know where we stand." He smiled softly at her.

"Okay. How about we just tell people that we're dating exclusively?"

"It has an air of elegance, it's not too flashy, but it also tells people exactly what we are. I like it." They sat in relative silence as they let their new 'label' sink in. "The second thing I wanted to talk to you about…" Sarah continued after a while. This particular topic was very sensitive and she needed to go about it in a way that told Chuck that she has been weighing the pros and cons of their relationship but at the same time is still very much positive on wanting a relationship with him.

"Graham," Chuck finished as though he had read her mind.

"Graham," Sarah repeated. She opened her mouth to say something when Chuck interrupted her.

"I know that this is a sensitive topic for you," he said. "And I want you to know that I will support you in whatever way you want to go about this. I know I told you that I have a plan but I want to put that aside and just have you tell me what I have to do. I mean, you know the man best so you know how to get around him. I trust you, Sarah." Sarah smiled. She couldn't believe that she managed to secure the sweetest man alive and that he trusted her with their relationship. And while she wished they could just run away and be together, society didn't exactly work like that. And neither did Graham.

"Well, I've gone over different ways that we could go about this and… There's really only one way that I could find without upsetting multiple people and staying on the good side of the media."

"What is it?"

"We play Graham's game." Chuck opened his mouth to comment but Sarah held her hand up to stop him from interrupting. "He wouldn't risk the possibility of me getting back on the scandalous side of the tabloids and I'll make sure that he doesn't try to throw you under the bus." Sarah explained. "We'll just play this out until we have to break up and then, a couple of months later, maybe after your tour or something like that, we could 'get back together' for the media and they'll just write off our brief split as uncertainty due to stress of having a new relationship strained because of scheduling differences or something like that." Sarah waited as Chuck mulled it over in his own thoughts. A minute later, he nodded slowly.

"That could work," he said. A beat. "And the whole time, we'll still be dating?" Sarah laughed.

"Yes, Chuck," she affirmed with a laugh. "We will still be dating."

"Good."

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Like every other time Chuck had met up with Sarah, he didn't get to see her for a longer period of time afterward. Thankfully, this time wasn't as long as the others. Three days after he and Sarah made their relationship official, Chuck arrived at the KIIS-FM Radio Station on W. Olive Ave for his interview with Ryan Seacrest. Entering the studio, Chuck stared in awe at the set up for all the equipment around them. While he may have been a musician for a profession, he knew that he'd always be an IT nerd at heart. Ryan stood from his seat and held out a hand for Chuck to shake. "The man, the legend, Mr. Charles Carmichael," the blonde radio host greeted. Chuck chuckled.

"Chuck is fine," the musician replied.

"Alright. Chuck it is. But, you do realize we'll have to do that whole greeting thing again when we're on air." Chuck nodded. This wasn't his first time on the radio.

"That's fine." Ryan went around the room, introducing Chuck to the staff and showing him where he'd be sitting and which microphone was his. Within five minutes, Chuck found himself settled in to his seat with earphones plugged into his ears, listening to the music that was playing live on the radio. As the music faded out, Ryan's voice filled his ears and he looked over at the host to see him speaking into his microphone.

"Well, a lot of buzz has been circulating around a certain up and coming – well I wouldn't exactly say he's up and coming anymore because he's surely made it – but today in the studio we have the one and only, the man, the legend, Mr. Charles Carmichael!" Ryan introduced. Applause rang throughout the fairly large studio.

"Chuck is fine, Ryan," he said through a laugh.

"Alright. Chuck it is," Ryan repeated. "So, Chuck, how's life?"

Chuck chuckled. "Life is good! I'm a little tired with going around and making all of these promotion appearances but I love seeing the fans that wait outside and I'm promoting my tour so the pros and cons definitely balance out."

"So tell us about your album and your upcoming tour."

"Well, so far we've got about twenty dates across the U.S. and Canada so we'll be on the road for the next two months or so. I've got a great new band, Owl City, opening up for me so that's really exciting. And, we kept things pretty simple production wise to keep each show as intimate as possible."

"Nice," Ryan commented. "And you'll be playing songs from your album, The Intersect."

"Yeah. I might also throw in a couple of cover songs – I'm kind of a Broadway nerd – and those are really fun to do so… you'll never know what I'll do unless you come to the show."

"Nice plug," Ryan smirked, though the audience wouldn't really see it. "I've actually got another cool announcement for you guys. Chuck here is not only here to promote his tour but also to release his second single off of his album so let's check out this new single from the album, The Intersect. Here it is, 'Sandworm.'" Ryan pressed a key on the soundboard and leant back from his microphone.

"So just a heads up for when we're back on air, so you can get your thoughts together, we're gonna go into a talk about where 'Sandworm' came from," Ryan informed. Chuck nodded. The song played over the speaker in the studio and everyone kind of just danced around and joked around as the song went on. When it finally ended, Ryan hit the button on his soundboard and spoke into his microphone. "So, Chuck," he said. "Tell us a little bit about 'Sandworm.' How did it come up? What was your inspiration for the song?"

Chuck laughed. "Well, my manager, Morgan, and I have been best friends since we were six and every year, we wore a two-man costume – the sandworm from Dune. Anyway, the song is basically my song to my best friend."

"Wow," Ryan breathed. "It must be nice to have your best friend stick with you your whole life."

"Yeah, we've got some crazy stories to share."

Ryan laughed. "Alright, we're gonna take a short break and when we come back, Chuck here will be answering your questions so call in." Ryan pressed the button on his soundboard and the studio filled with music. "So," he continued away from his microphone. "We'll take some phone calls; you'll answer their questions, and then boom! You're free! I, on the other hand, will be here for four more hours."

A few songs later, they went back on the air with Ryan introducing their next segment.

"Hello, caller, what is your name and question for Mr. Carmichael?" he asked.

"My name is Valerie and my question for Chuck is, 'What city are you most excited to visit on your tour?'" Chuck thought about it for a little bit before answering.

"You know," he began. "I'm not sure. I'm pretty excited to see every stop on this tour but, I guess I'm really excited to see Ontario because we set aside a few days to explore and I've always wanted see it."

"Really?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. I grew up in LA and I never did much travelling and seeing Niagara Falls is definitely on my bucket list."

"Alrighty then. Hi," Ryan continued on, switching callers. "You're on with Ryan and Chuck, what's your name and question?"

That went on for the next couple of minutes before Ryan closed the lines and went back to a break. He told Chuck that there would be one more little segment and then they'd be done.

"So, Chuck," Ryan said as soon as they were back on the air. "Now that you're in the big leagues in the business, has anything changed for you?"

"You know, I don't think so, at least I hope not. There's definitely a lot more paparazzi around and I really have to watch what I do because things are always twisted into wild stories."

"Speaking of wild stories, can you explain a particularly wild story that popped up while you were in New York?" Chuck laughed.

"That's actually a perfect example of how stories are twisted around," he responded. "The girl I was with is a really good friend of mine from high school. She happened to be in town and staying at the same hotel that I was staying at so we decided to catch up over lunch. No harm done."

"Naturally, and Sarah was okay with it?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Chuck answered. Chuck wasn't really sure if Sarah was okay with it or not, but for the media's sake (and theirs) he had to keep it upbeat.

"And, of course, no one would forgive me if I didn't bring this up but, the rumors and whatnot are saying that there's trouble in paradise between you and Ms. Walker. You know, what with you going on tour and her leaving to film her new movie. How are things going?"

"You know, I don't really like to go into detail when it comes to my personal life and I know that Sarah doesn't really do that herself so I'll just say that we're happy and kind of leave it at that."

"Well I hope things between you are good otherwise this would be really awkward," Ryan replied. Chuck furrowed his.

"What are you talking abou-" Chuck's vision went dark and his hands flew up to his eyes to feel two soft, feminine hands over his face. Removing the hands, Chuck looked up to see Sarah's face smiling down at him. His eyes widened in surprise. "Sarah!" The blonde actress laughed gave Chuck a kiss. A real kiss. One that he knew was something that she wanted to do. He reciprocated enthusiastically. "What are you doing here?" One of the studio hands pulled up a chair for Sarah as she plugged in her ear buds.

"What? Are you not excited to see me?" she joked.

"What? No! Of course I'm excited to see you, I'm always excited to see you," he gushed. "But I thought you were busy today."

"I am busy," she replied. "I'm busy surprising you. I mean, we have to celebrate don't we?"

"Celebrate?" Chuck questioned.

"Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday, Sweetie." Two more studio hands entered the room with a large cake on a cart with sparklers as candles. Chuck gaped in shock.

"Of course I didn't forget my own birthday. I just wasn't really planning on celebrating it this year."

"Too late for that," Ryan commented. Everyone began singing Happy Birthday as Chuck stood up to look at his cake. Candles were blown out, cake was cut and eaten, and pictures were taken. Sarah had made her way to him and wrapped her arms around his waist as the festivities went on.

Chuck didn't really enjoy celebrating his birthday because for so many years, it was just him, Ellie, and Morgan, sitting around a table with a small cake. It reminded him that his parents weren't there to celebrate his later years. And, as Chuck got older, Ellie began inviting her friends to try and set Chuck up with one of the other doctors at Westside Medical. That was never fun for him. But now, standing in this studio with Sarah at his side, Chuck felt better. Like he wanted to celebrate his birthday again.

"This is great," Chuck said as he took a bite of his cake and fed a bite to Sarah.

Eventually, they had to settle back down into their seats to finish the interview, this time, with Sarah at a microphone beside Chuck. "So," Ryan began, getting back on track. "I guess the rumors are fake. You two seem very happy."

"Well, after two weeks apart and hectic schedules, you'd probably expect some separation anxiety." Sarah laughed. Chuck smiled.

"Now, I wouldn't go so far as to say we're experiencing separation anxiety, but I definitely missed having you around."

"Hey, now. You were in New York doing fun interviews while I was here in endless meetings…" She shrugged. Chuck laughed.

"Touché."

"But Chuck is about to head out for his tour and while he's gone, you're going to leave for Australia, is it?"

"Yeah," Sarah agreed. "We'll be separated for a while but when we decided to be together, we knew that distance would come with the territory and we talked it out." Chuck wanted to raise an eyebrow at Sarah. Graham probably wouldn't like that she was working to keep their fake relationship strong and lessening the chances of a break up.

"So was the timing the reason you two have put off an interview together?" Chuck shook his head and answered.

"Well, like I said before, we don't really like to share the details of our private lives. I didn't even know that this was going to happen today." He looked to Sarah for an explanation.

"Well, I saw that there were plenty of rumors circulating about us so I just wanted to clear the air."

"Well," Ryan jumped in, repeating the beginning of Chuck and Sarah's sentences as a joke. "It looks like we're all out of time. Thank you for dropping by Chuck and Sarah. We wish you two both the best both professionally and personally."

"Thank you so much for having us," Chuck replied.

"Alright. Coming up next we have the American Top 5 Countdown so stay tuned." Ryan pressed the button on his soundboard and stood up from his chair. "Again, thank you both for coming." Chuck and Sarah stood up from their seats, removing the ear buds.

"It was our pleasure, really," Sarah smiled, holding out her hand. They shook hands, followed by Chuck. And the two of them left the studio towards Chuck's car.

When they were inside, Chuck turned to Sarah. "What was all that about?" he asked, more amused than anything. "I thought we were playing Graham's game? Wait it out until we 'broke up' and then get back together."

"I am just playing Graham's game," she responded. Chuck's eyebrows knit.

"What?"

"We're supposed to be a happy couple aren't we?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we really are a happy couple now and I don't see us breaking up anytime soon and now, neither does the media. Graham's just gonna have to find a way around it now."

"So…?"

"Come on, Chuck. Think. Graham's plan is falling through the cracks. He doesn't have a reason to break us up and it will take him a while to think one up. And besides, we are supposed to play happy couple until he and Beckman say enough and until they do, we'll make it as hard on them as we can." A sly smile grew on Chuck's face.

"You, Ms. Walker, are one devious little blonde."

"Thank you," she said.

"So what now?" Chuck went on. "I'm done for the day so whatever you have planned, I can tag along."

"I'm actually done for today, too. How about we just hang out at your apartment?"

"That's great! Do you, uh, need your car?"

"Casey dropped me off."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Alright, to La Casa de Bartowski it is!"

I hope you enjoyed that. Let me know what you think!

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