Well, here's chapter 14-finally! Not much to say except special thanks as always to BdaddyDL, ArmySFC and supesfan18 for all their hard work in helping me bring another chapter to completion. Also thanks to Nirvana12 for his input and to rockchick4jc for another super beta job!

So, without further ado (because my long Authors Notes are boring and no one reads them anyway), I present to you:

Loved, Lost and Confused

Sarah Walker was having one of those mornings. Before she was even out of bed, her phone was ringing. Granted, she had woken up late, the perils of hitting the snooze button one too many times, but still, she never could figure out how a Special Projects Coordinator could be so needed.

She hopped into the kitchen holding her phone to her ear with one hand, and trying to put her shoe on with the other. Being in her stocking feet was causing her problems on the slick tile floor. Each time she attempted to put on her shoe, the foot hopping on the floor would slide, causing her to tip over to one side and she had to grab the table for support. She almost landed on her butt several times and was lucky to have only dropped her phone once.

Finally! Sarah thought as she hung up the phone after her fourth conversation in the last 30 minutes. She sat her phone on the counter, and began making herself breakfast; Toast.

It was becoming a staple in her diet. It was quick, easy, and she didn't really have to think about making it. Just pop it in the toaster and forget about it, add butter, her favorite jelly and she was good to go.

Now what am I forgetting to do this morning? She drummed her fingertips on the counter, her pinky landing first followed by the rest of her fingers in a continuous fashion, as she tried to remember. Oh! Jewelry! She ran back into her room, and was just about to open her jewelry box, when she smelled her toast burning. Crap. She picked up her jewelry box and carried it into the kitchen with her.

But as her feet met the slippery linoleum, she lost her balance and although she was able to grab onto the kitchen table and balance herself, the box fell from her hands and crashed onto the floor, scattering earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces all over the floor. Dammit! She cussed under her breath.

She got up and made her way to the toaster oven to remove her charred toast. When she opened the door to the toaster oven a rancid cloud of grey smoke poured out, confirming her suspicions of the condition of her toast. She removed the still smoking bread; quickly placing it in the trash bin next to the sink hoping that the mishap wouldn't set off the smoke detectors in the room. When the cleanup was complete she began to gather the scattered items. She performed a quick inventory to be quite certain everything had been accounted for, and then she closed the lid to the jewelry box and set it on the table.

She turned to walk back into the kitchen, and when she did, she spied a small, shiny object peeking out from underneath the stove. She scrunched her nose quizzically, now what could that possibly be? She bent down and picked it up, and when she saw what it was, her breath hitched. It was her engagement ring from Bryce.

Her stomach began to churn, and tears started to form in her eyes. Her mind flashed back to all the good times she had with Bryce. From their first date at the Chinese restaurant to the day they got engaged and finally to the day that would changer life…

"Bryce is dead."

Sarah took a step back, "You're joking, right?"

"Sarah, I wouldn't joke about something like this. Not to you. I'm sorry."

Oh my god." She said softly, "Oh my god! She cried, "No! Chuck, NO!" She crashed into his arms and he embraced her, rocking her back and forth.

She stared at it. She had only worn the ring for a day. She had taken it off after she found out Bryce had been killed because it was just too painful to look at. Now, here it was again, staring her in the face. What would he think of this mess she was in now?

She scrambled to get up off the floor, clutching the ring so tightly in her hand that the posts from the setting began to dig into her palm. Grabbing her phone off the counter, she dialed a number.

"Morgan! It's Sarah…Yeah I know I'm late…No, I'm not coming in today…Yes, I think it would be a good idea to cancel my 12:30 lunch with Daniel…I don't know what you should tell him…No, don't tell him my hamster died, I don't even have a hamster…I'm fine Morgan, just need a day off…yeah I will…you too…okay, bye."

She needed to be alone, to think, and she knew just the place. A place where no one would even think of bothering her, because nobody really knew the place existed. Yes, Chuck's beach was the perfect place. She dropped the ring into her pocket, grabbed her purse, and walked out the door.

...

Chuck was sitting at his desk, presumably working, but really, he wasn't. He was actually sitting at his desk, staring at his computer desktop, and mindlessly clicking his mouse all over the page. He was placing the pointer at certain places on the desk top and holding down the left mouse button making different size boxes. His only goal was to see how many of his icons he could include in the box before it disappeared when he lifted up his finger. It wasn't that there wasn't any real work to be done; in fact, he had less than eight weeks to finish the video game he was designing. He just couldn't think of anything but Sarah, and it was preventing him doing it.

Just then his assistant Amanda walked in, "Mr. Bartowski here's your coffee, and can you sign this? She walked over and stood next to his chair, setting the coffee and papers in front of him. Then she wrinkled her nose and gave him a confused grin as she looked over at his monitor, "What are you doing?"

Chuck sighed as he picked up his coffee failing to notice the aromatic scent of the steaming brew, "Nothing. I can't work. I just, need a break or something." He turned towards her, "Don't you ever just need a break?"

Amanda smiled and leaned over his computer, and began opening up files.

"Mandy, what are you doing?"

She finally found the file she was looking for, and then backed away. "There, work on that."

Chuck shook his head, "Mandy, I don't know…" He trailed off.

"Just do it, Chuck. You're right, you do need a break, and this way, you can be productive as well." Mandy smiled, "Plus, it could help in you getting Sarah back."

"Wait, how do you…?"

She grinned, "I'm your assistant, Mr. Bartowski, there's not much I don't know about you. So, are you gonna take my suggestion and finish that mixed CD, or aren't you?"

He sat in thought for a moment, then turned and smiled back, "Ok, I'll do it."

Three hours later, Chuck was finished, Geez, He thought, I can't believe I put that off for over six months! He popped the freshly burned CD out of the drive and into the case, got up and headed to Sarah's office.

He passed Morgan, who was sitting at his desk eating an apple and flipping nonchalantly through the pages of the latest issue of ProGamer Weekly.

"Chuck did you see all the new mods on the Call of Duty? It's gonna be great!"

Chuck brushed right past him, "Not, now, Morgan, I need to see Sarah." He walked into her office, "Hey, Sarah, I…" He stopped short when he realized that the only person occupying the room was himself.

He walked back out to and stood, facing Morgan.

"Oh hey, Chuck, what's up?" Morgan addressed him, not bothering to look up from his magazine.

"Why didn't you tell me Sarah wasn't in there?" Chuck asked.

Morgan looked up, a sarcastic snicker on his face, "Uh, you didn't ask?"

Chuck huffed, frustrated, "Well can you tell me where she is?"

"She took the day off. Her hamster died."

"Her ham…?" Chuck trailed off, a very confused look on his face. "Morgan, she doesn't even have a hamster. Please, tell me where she is. I have this CD that I really need to give to her." He held the CD up for Morgan to see.

Morgan knew exactly what it was, "Buddy, all I know is that she needed to be alone today. I don't know why or where she went."

"Alone…" Chuck said quietly. "Thanks Buddy, I know where she is!"

x-x-x-x-x-x

The hours flew by; the sun was starting to set, just about reaching the horizon and beginning to turn colors to a deep shade of orange. Sarah knew that she would have to go home soon. Then, she heard a voice behind her.

"What are you doing at my secret place?"

Sarah smirked as she stood up and turned around, and brushed the sand off her clothes. "You seriously still call it that? It's sooo lame."

He chuckled, and motioned with his head toward the partially-empty wine bottle on the ground, undoubtedly from his grandmother's beach house. "More breaking and entering, I see? You keep that up you could make a career of it."

"Ohh, ha ha." She retorted.

He smiled and walked over to stand beside her. They stood silently side by side taking in one of the most breath-taking sunsets they had ever seen. The sun was a brilliant fiery red orange seemingly twice the size it was during the day. Where the sea met the sky a band of lighter orange hugged the water spreading out in both directions.

Higher above the smooth water of the Pacific the clouds that were hanging motionless in the sky were turned varying shades of red, from an almost dark pink to a light mauve. The lighter colors were on the front sides of the clouds and the darker shades on the side closest to the beach. It was if the clouds were casting their own shadows upon the clouds that floated behind them.

On the flat and seemingly motionless ocean, the water was reflecting the colors of the sky above it. It was almost impossible to tell where the sky ended and the water began.

For several moments, they just silently faced the sunset.

Chuck turned his head toward her. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Sarah smiled a little, "mm-hmm."

"Like you." Chuck said.

Sarah cast him a brief glance, and once again smiled, but Chuck could tell from her eyes that she was distressed.

He let out a sigh, "Okay, Sarah, tell me what's up."

Sarah looked down, reached into her pocket, and pulled out the ring. Chuck saw it and knew exactly what it was.

She began, "I thought I was over him, but when I saw this ring today, all these memories came flooding back. It was like, like, I had just heard the news again.

"Chuck, all of the sudden, I started to wonder how I make it through the day without him!" Tears began to roll down her face. Chuck took her into his arms, "He's really gone, Chuck," Sarah whispered tearfully into his chest. "And I'm with Daniel now." Sarah could feel Chuck tense when she said that. She pulled away slightly and looked at him questioningly, "Are you ok?"

Chuck let his arms fall to his sides, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Sarah Jill broke up with me because of us, and now here is no us and I don't understand why you're with Shaw and not giving us a

chance. I don't know, Sarah, I guess- I guess I just never thought that something like this could come between us."

"Chuck, it…" Sarah began, but Chuck kept talking.

"You're such a smart girl, and he's given you no reason to stay with him. I guess I'm just wondering why you do."

Chuck could tell that he had struck a nerve. Sarah was silent, trying to compose herself before she began speaking. "Chuck, I…" She paused and turned toward him again, "I can't"

"Can't what?"

"I can't do this. You can't know. I just, can't." And with that she turned and ran up toward her car.

"Sarah!" He ran after her, catching up just as she was opening her car door.

"Chuck, please."

"Look, I don't want to know why, or how or anything. Just answer me one simple question Sarah, please just tell me if you love him."

Sarah didn't say a word. She just stared into his eyes and bit her lip to keep from crying.

"Just tell me, Sarah."

She took a deep breath, "Maybe I do. But Chuck, I want you to know, that no matter what happens, I'll never love anybody like I love you."

Chuck could feel himself getting angry, "How can you say that and then insist that we can't be together?"

"Chuck, I'm sorry, there's just some things I can't explain to you."

"Well then don't come back here until you can," he snapped.

The look on Sarah's face went from one of sadness to one of hurt. She didn't say anything, she simply got into her car and sped off.

Chuck stood stunned on the side of the road next to his car, watching the Porsche's vanishing taillights. Why was she being so secretive about her relationship with Shaw? And more importantly, had she really just said what he thought she had said?

He replayed the sentence in his head again and again; I'll never love anybody like I love you. That one statement alone was enough to make Chuck's year. But, even with that, she had still chosen Shaw, and he still had no idea why. The only thing he knew was that it had to be stopped before he lost his Sarah for good, but how? Clearly, she did not want to be around him.

Then he picked up his phone and dialed Morgan. Morgan picked up after two rings. Well?

"I bombed, Morgan. She ran off before I could give her the CD."

Dude! Go after her!

"What? No, Morgan, she ran off. Clearly she doesn't want to be with me right now."

Chuck, trust me on this one. Buddy, in the back of her mind, she's screaming for you to go after her.

X-x-x-x-x-x

Daniel Shaw was just getting ready to go home for the evening when he heard a soft knock on his door. He looked up to see Amanda standing there.

"Well good evening Miss Bynes, is there something I can do for you?"

She gave him a small smirk as she sauntered into his office, "You told me to find a reason to get Chuck Bartowski fired, and if I couldn't do that, to make one, remember?"

"Yes, of course I remember. I also remember mentioning something about promoting you if you did. Why do you bring it up?"

She reached into her pocket, pulled out a flash drive, and held it in front of him. With a sly grin, she said, "I think I have just the thing."

Oooh double cliffhanger! Hope you enjoyed. Please Review!