A/N I hope you're all well, thank you for taking a moment to read my story, it's much appreciated. There are so many wonderful updated stories recently, I'm working my way through them as fast as I can.

If you haven't done so yet, please join us over at the Chuck Fanfiction Facebook page. The usual stuff applies, I have no beta and I don't own Chuck.

Chapter 10

Carina looked Bruce in the eye, his grin flashing in the strobe lighting.

"Bruce? You don't look like a Bruce" she glanced behind him and saw Sarah and Chuck kissing again, the sight making her smile but pulling at her chest slightly.

"You can call me whatever you want…" he answered smugly, putting his phone away, his grin widening, if that were possible. Reaching out his hand and taking hers this time, shaking it warmly.

"Has that line ever actually worked for you?" she asked, cringing a little and removing her hand but still smiling back at him.

"You'd be surprised." He smirked cockily "I Googled sexy earlier and a picture of you came up" he answered confidently, trying once again to charm the drunken redhead but seeing her wince this time.

"Well Brucie-boy, I'll tell you something, if you'd searched for 'not interested' you'd have had the same result." She cut him off, laughing brightly and walking back to her friends, finding them all searching for her.

Watching her re-join the group he'd been watching for the last hour or so, his eyes narrowed as he pulled out his phone, tapping on the screen rapidly "…see you soon, Carina" he said to himself as he saw the notification that he'd managed to clone her phone. "…and you too Chuck" he muttered as he disappeared into the crowd.

After finally rounding up Carina, the group collected their coats and climbed into Sarah's limo, as they pulled away from the still raucous club, they all smiled and began to talk cheerily, beginning the journey home. They dropped Ellie off first, a tired but amused looking Devon had to virtually carry his drunken girlfriend into their apartment, chuckling the whole way at both her antics and the lewd comments sent his way from the redhead.

When the limo reached Carina's hotel, she had tried to talk them all into joining her for a nightcap in the hotel bar, the couple quickly declined but Zondra jumped out with Carina. After watching the women climb into the elevator, the very tired, but happy couple left. The driver dropped them back at Chuck's home in Echo Park around three thirty, and after Sarah dropped her bag by the door, they quickly undressed and wrapped themselves in his cotton sheets and each other.

Chuck was sat in the kitchen a few hours later, stretching the kinks out of his back lazily, his eyes were gritty from lack of sleep so he kept them closed and just enjoyed the near silence, the warmth of the mug in his hands and the sound of Sarah's light snoring through his open bedroom door. He felt unbelievably tired after their late night and far too many drinks. He wondered briefly how any of their group had managed to stand by the end of the night, the tall nerd had at least 60lbs of every one of them and he'd had to refuse Carina's taunts and stop drinking hours before they'd all stumbled to Sarah's limousine.

He was so deep in thought that he didn't hear the beautiful blonde sidle up to his side and stretch past him for his coffee mug. He felt her hair tickle his neck, surprising him from his thoughts, but he managed to avoid jumping from his seat, somehow turning his initial movement into a sweet kiss of her golden tresses. "So what do you want to do today?" his voice cracked sleepily "You've got me all day… if you want, that is."

Sarah hummed sleepily into his shoulder, before sliding her arm around his side and pulling him close "Hmmm" she smirked thoughtfully, grabbing a mug and pouring herself some coffee, quickly taking a sip of the wonderful elixir.

She looked at him through her mussed hair and put the mug down, making Chuck narrow his eyes curiously "What?

"I'm thinking about it..." she smiled cheekily, causing him to wrap his long arms around her torso and tickle her sides.

"Ok, ok, truce…" she called giddily, pulling away from his fingers, her eyes alight with playful joy.

Moving his arms from her sides and resting them on her back warmly, Chuck relented "I'll tell you what, we can go back to the pier, grab some ice cream again spend some time relaxing at the beach." He suggested, watching her wondrously sapphire eyes glitter and her smile to grow.

Shaking her head a little at his childlike grin, her own toothy smile beamed back at him "I think you have an unhealthy addiction to iced cream."

"The only addiction I've got is this." He pulled her back against his chest, wrapping his arms around her tightly and began stroking her back, just above her boy shorts. Kissing her forehead and neck again and again while she melted into his embrace "Is this unhealthy?"

The blonde shook her head and raised her hand from his chest, laying it on her forehead dramatically "Oh nooo. I might be getting addicted too."

They both chuckled briefly "That's good, it'd be a bit weird if I was the only one." Chuck said, reaching down and kissing her earlobe and the bare skin just below, goose bumps appeared immediately, her body reacting again to his ministrations.

"True…" she gasped as he turned them over, dropping her back onto the cooling sheets. His long arms propping up his bare chest, his face hovering just above her momentarily. She felt his lips drop to her jaw, then trace down her neck, sending shivers through her body

"…now what do you think we should do about it?" he fluttered kisses against her collar bone as she wiggled beneath him "I don't think there's a twelve step plan for this…"

"Chuuuck" she moaned, moving her hands onto his face and looking deeply into his chocolate eyes. "…as much as I REALLY want to continue, I don't get many weekends off, we have to do something…" he raised his eyebrow suggestively "…not that, down boy." She giggled. "I like the idea of going to the beach, we can go down to Santa Monica, spend the day together. We can swing by my place and I'll make us a picnic, we'll grab that iced cream after, but first, we need to get breakfast, I'm starving…"

Smiling at her, "Ok" he Chuck kissed her forehead again and then got up, taking the sheets with him and racing to the bathroom, leaving her sitting on the mattress in her boy shorts and t-shirt. When he returned, Chuck pulled open a drawer and grabbed a brown t-shirt with "My Entire Life" across the bottom of an old computer disc. He tried to put the shirt on quickly, but caught the fabric on his ears as he turned and saw the tall blonde pull on her pants and saunter across the room, her hips swaying happily. "If you want it, I have some iced cream in the freezer…"

She grinned widely as she leaned on the doorframe, watching him pull on his own jeans "For breakfast? It's not February so all I can think of is that you want me to eat all that, make me 50lbs heavier and I'll never make it out of this bed."

He looked at her in mock offense, putting his hand on his chest "I can think of ways to burn off those calories. Some of them are in this very bed" he finished a few seconds later, a wide cheeky grin appearing on his face.

"Touché, I like the way you think." She answered, shaking her head as he lowered his gaze and wiggled his brows cheekily, she quickly turned and left the room, giggling to herself. "Come on Chuck, the beach is calling."

An hour or so later as they sat down on the sand, iced cream in hand, the dessert melting as quickly as they did into their playful back and forth. Chuck gawped again at the black bikini that she'd revealed as the couple settled down on their towels and into the peaceful environment. Sarah had teased him when they'd gone by her place to change, strutting around her room, giving him an impromptu fashion show with a selection of ever more revealing swimwear. She found his awestruck gaze unbelievably endearing, his wide-eyed adoration made her heart flutter in her chest as she posed seductively in a few of the smaller items. He stuttered a little when she asked him "Which one?" for the third time, as he distractedly tried not to stare at her lithe body.

Conversation flowed so naturally between the couple as they lay side by side on their towels that the world seemed to vanish and they didn't notice the water approach their spot until the first cool wave, lapped at Chuck's toes. After pulling her up quickly, he grabbed their towels as she picked up her bag and clothes, a single wave very nearly soaking the hem of her skirt. Moving a little higher up the sand, they dropped back down onto the by now, luxuriously warm sand and lay side by side on the towels, their hands linking playfully between them as the world vanished again.

Eventually their appetites drove them to a nearby diner, Chuck being surprised and by the mountainous burger that Sarah devoured. Somewhere during their flirty back and forth, he'd teasingly inquired about her past, or more specifically, her love life. It was obviously a touchy, and dangerous subject for a new relationship, and as usual she deflected, moving quickly away from her past to his. Sarah knew immediately that Chuck wore his heart on his sleeve, it was refreshing for the usually guarded businesswoman to find someone as open and kind hearted as the smitten nerd. From his reaction to some of her questions, she understood that he had obviously been hurt, deeply.

After he'd quickly attempted to change the subject, she let the subject go, understanding his obvious reluctance covered a very painful memory. The blonde playfully smirked at him and placed her hand on his shoulder, answering his initial question "…There's a certain nerdy reporter that I'm kind of into right now." She said, a coy look on her face as she pulled her hair back from her face and quickly tied it in a ponytail.

Feigning indignation, Chuck smiled and puffed up his chest a little "…where is he? I'll fight him for you"

Sarah, placed her hand playfully on his jaw, shaking her head at him and laughing again "…shut up, it's you, you Nerd."

"Ok, that's great because the last time I tried fighting, it didn't work out too well for me."

She saw him visibly curl into himself again at a memory and felt her temper flare at whoever had hurt him "I wish I'd been there. I could've…" she placed her head on his shoulder and looked up into his deep chestnut eyes, her eyes defiant.

Chuck offered a thin lipped smile, the memory causing his eyes to darken and him to look through the window at the boardwalk "I'm kinda glad you weren't. It wasn't a great time in my life. He was my roommate in college, I caught him trying to plant test answers under my mattress and it ended up getting him kicked out."

"Good" she cut in quickly.

"There's more… I found out as he left with his stuff that the week before, he'd got my girlfriend drunk and slept with her in my bed. IN MY BED…" he raised his voice briefly, before cringing and swallowing loudly when he saw a nearby customer glare at him.

Not knowing what else to say as Chuck bared his soul, she just pushed herself out of the booth to sit next to him, pulling him into a tight hug, resting his head on her shoulder "God… He sounds like a piece of work. I'm sorry, let's change the subject…"

Reaching his arms around her waist and chuckling at her tone "It's ok. He was, probably still is, a piece of crap. Anyway, when he was leaving, he told me about it all, I went to punch him in the jaw and missed, broke my hand on the stair rail. One of the other frat guys grabbed him and shoved his laughing ass out of the door.

"What about your girlfriend?" she asked, angry on his behalf.

"Jill? Well, what could I do? She told me it was a one-off thing, but she could tell that I, I dunno… looked at her differently. It didn't take long before we split up. Seeing her with a new guy a week later hurt though, which is why I transferred to UCLA. I just couldn't…"

"I understand, we all have…" she cleared her throat nervously "…baggage"

He gave her a warm smile before continuing "That's all in the past though, and I'm grateful… NOW. Without all of that I never would have stayed in LA, got the job at and met the wonderful ruler of an Iced Cream kingdom."

"That's sweet, I've gotta say, I'm glad you stayed too." She placed her hand on his chin and pulled him close, moaning slightly into his kiss.

After a few breathless seconds, they moved apart and Chuck called for the bill. Paying quickly, they left and wandered off towards the pier again.

Zondra watched a very hungover Carina stumble from her bedroom and drop onto the sofa, the sunlight coming from the balcony window flooding their faces with warmth.

"How the hell are you functioning right now? I can barely keep my eyes open and you're watching…" the redhead opened her blurry eyes a crack "What the hell is that?" she cringed, closing her eyes again.

"It's Deadpool, and you know it, we went to the theatre…" The brunette said, rolling her eyes.

The redhead tried reaching past Zondra, searching for the remote "I can see that, but what I can't understand is… Why the hell you're watching it at 10am. You'd better not be charging it to my room."

"Afraid of the shiny metal man Red? …and yes I did." Zondra snorted, moving the remote further away from Carina's reaching fingertips.

The redhead narrowed her blurry eyes and flopped back on the sofa "So why aren't you still in bed?"

Dropping the remote and picking up her coffee again, Zondra smirked at her friend "I couldn't listen to your skinny ass snore anymore, so I went for a run and then found my favourite movie to watch, sue me."

"I don't snore…" Carina called defiantly, pouting and slapping the brunette on the shoulder.

Zondra wiped the spot dismissively "Yeah, you do. Like a freight train. Haven't any of your boyfriend's told you?"

Carina furrowed her brow, thoughtfully looking towards the window, "To be honest… No. I've never stayed long enough to actually sleep with any of them. I get what I want and get out of Dodge…" she shrugged with a cheeky smile.

Shaking her head at her friend's behaviour "I was surprised that you invited me up last night" the brunette said.

"Why? You live miles away, it made sense." The beautiful redhead answered, as though it was obvious.

"I'm a big girl, I can make my way home." The brunette replied "Come on Red, I know you had more than a few offers last night, so why?" she said, grinning at her friend's smug look and taking a drink.

The redhead shrugged, her smile gone briefly "Last night wasn't about me."

Zondra sputtered out her drink "Who are you? And what have you done with Carina?"

"Shut up, last night was about being around you guys, having fun with my girls." The redhead answered defensively.

Zondra understood the real reason for her friend's reluctance "And you wanted to check out Chuck…"

"And I wanted to check out Chuck" her friend repeated, a breath later.

"I told you, he's a nice guy…" the brunette sounded a little frustrated at having to repeat last night's conversation.

Looking Zondra in the eye for the first time, the light still hurting her eyes a little "Yeah I can see that now, he makes our girl happy. Besides, that goofy look he got around her, he's in love" she smiled slightly, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

The brunette nodded and smiled at her hungover friend "I think so… do you think either of them has worked that out yet?"

"Probably not…" Carina smiled sympathetically.

Zondra realised that Carina was still holding something back "Carina, why ARE you so serious today?"

"I can be serious" she answered indignantly.

"Ok… this is weird. Please stop." Zondra nudged her with her shoulder playfully.

Smirking at the brunette's tone "…whatever. It was nice to meet Ellie though, the Doc surprised me last night. Man that girl can drink." Carina rubbed her temples a little, closing her eyes again.

"You were the one that kept calling the barman over." Zondra challenged, shaking her head at the redhead's faux glare.

She gave the brunette a challenging stare before narrowing her eyes again "I know, I know… How aren't you as hungover as me?" she moved away from Zondra and collapsed against the back of the sofa again.

Eyeing her friend warily "While you two were knocking back tequila, I stuck to my fruit cocktails, you never asked but most of mine were 'virgin' cocktails." She shrugged at Carina, the redhead sitting up and hitting her with a cushion, making Zondra laugh wickedly.

"So why didn't you cut loose? We both know you can." The redhead smirked.

Sitting back down beside Carina, Zondra placed her hand on the other woman's shoulder and looked her directly in the eye, smiling warmly "Like you said, last night wasn't about us."

Turning away from her friend, the playful redhead returned the smile and pushed her away again, the sudden movement taking Zondra by surprise this time and making her fall back to the sofa and began to laugh "You need to relax too" she crowed.

"I am relaxed." Zondra said, falling against the arm of the sofa and mimicking the redhead's position, chuckling still.

"Ok then, you need to get laid." Carina lifted her brows comically.

Sitting up and slapping her on the shoulder again "I do NOT!" the brunette challenged.

"Oh, come on… I've got some numbers from last night. Let's see if any of them want to dip their chocolate into your peanut butter…" she snickered loudly, reaching for her purse.

"Oh no you don't…RED!" she attempted to grab the purse from a suddenly giggling redhead. Giving up, Zondra eyed Carina warily, suddenly tickling the redhead, making her phone drop from the purse, the sound of its screen cracking making them both cringe.

"Come on Z, play nice" she pouted, reaching down to the floor and picking up the now broken handset. "…look at this." She gestured with the phone. "Is there anywhere nearby that can fix this? It's got all my work…" she ran her hand through her hair in frustration, suddenly worried that her boss would call.

"There's a Buy More a few miles away, they could probably fix it for you." Zondra offered, apologetically. "I'll pay, OK"

"Damn right you will." Carina snarked, standing up and heading to her bedroom, grabbing a towel and heading for the bathroom, the door closing quickly behind her.

A few seconds later Zondra heard the shower running and glanced at the television, chuckling "…all the dinosaurs fear the T-Rex."

A/N2 – Sorry this is a little shorter than my previous chapters, a lot of stuff has been happening recently and I've had very little motivation to write. If you're still enjoying my story, please R&R etc., it's much appreciated and it's great to see how other people's minds react to each update. Charah is life, lol. Take care and stay safe. D.