A/N: I love how into this story some of you are. It makes my chest feel all toasty on the inside. This story makes me happy. So I'm glad I'm not the only person getting good things from it. I'm really glad. Thanks for the kind reviews and messages checking to see if I'm continuing. OF COURSE I'M CONTINUING! "Dive" is my Chuck fic happy place. Read on, shipmates! (I just spent two minutes staring at that like "Oh god take it down, SC. Stop it. Delete it." But I'm leaving it after all because I'm a big freaking dork.)
Disclaimer: I don't own "Chuck" and I'm not making any money writing this.
"Towels?"
"Oh!" Sarah clapped her hands together. "Um, garage. Come with me." He followed her through the living room to the entry way, moving towards a door he hadn't seen before. He'd not been to this wing of her house, he realized.
She popped it open and stepped down into the garage, holding the door for him to follow her.
She smacked her hand against the wall by the door frame and a dim light flicked on. It was a one car garage for sure, with only some room off to the side for a bit of storage, but whoever had designed the garage was smart, installing a lot of shelving, cabinets, and places for things to hang on the walls. It was a good use of the space.
"I like it," he chirped.
She giggled, stepping over some bags and opening a large hamper, grabbing some towels that were a bit frayed at the edges and tossing them towards him. "It's just a garage."
"Yeah, but…it's nice. You use the space well."
"Thank you," she hummed, stepping back over and nodding her head for him to follow her back inside.
They walked back through to the dining room and she frowned thoughtfully. "Where do we put the patio furniture?"
"Somewhere it won't blow back against the house and cause damage. So in here."
"Where in here?" she clarified, smirking. She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes. "I could always just move my table up against the back of the couch, huh? Put the chairs against it. That would clear this space next to the bar."
"I like that idea. You could roll right from the table over the back of the couch and fwoomf…then fall right asleep with food coma."
She laughed. "Your ideas, sometimes…"
"Come on," he chuckled. "I'll help ya."
They moved the chairs first, then lifted the table that was surprisingly light, carrying it over and slotting it up against the back of the couch. Sarah tucked the chairs back against it as Chuck went out onto the patio and grabbed the cushions off of the chairs, smacking them a few times to get as much water off of them as possible so that he didn't leave a trail of water running through her house when he carried them into the garage, then he walked them through and propped them up against the wall next to the large ice chest she had in the corner. He knew it probably wasn't polite—all right, it definitely wasn't polite—but he was curious about what was in it, so he quickly opened it up and peeked inside.
"Bodies," he whispered, and then he laughed at himself. Technically, he was right, although it was definitely fish and not people. She'd probably caught this herself, all of it wrapped and labeled, and then there was a bag of frozen shrimp that looked to have been bought at a marketplace probably.
He shut it again and walked back inside, finding her laying towels out on the floor. She looked up, must've seen the confused look on his face, and explained, "I think this is easier than trying to dry all the nooks and crannies on those chairs. This way the floor won't get wet and we have less work to do. I don't care if it looks trashy."
Chuck snorted. "I don't blame ya. Good idea. I'll move 'em in."
He slid the door open, glad the wind had died down just a bit. The clouds were clearing somewhat as well, but he knew from reading as much as he had the night before that this didn't mean anything. Right before the storm really hit, everything became unsettlingly quiet and still. He'd read enough accounts of it that he ended up chilled to the bone.
Lifting one of the long chairs and propping it on his hip, he walked towards the entrance and had to stop with a short curse. He and the chair couldn't both fit inside. And there was no way he could hold it from the front or back, unless he dragged them in and he wasn't doing that. He'd screw up her floor.
"Let me grab one end."
"Nah, I can maybe turn it on its side—Okay, okay. Okay." She was practically grabbing it out of his hands so he backed up and put it down on the ground again. "Let me go backwards, though—Fine, you go backwards." He was a sucker for her myriad of looks. That both eyebrows raised, pursed lips look that told him quite clearly that he was being ridiculous.
As they carefully walked the first chair inside and set it down, he teased, "A little over a week in and already a fight."
"We aren't fighting," she laughed, leading the way back outside to get the other chair. "You were just being a doofus and 'little woman'-ing me." Weirdly enough, he knew exactly what she meant by that and he blushed.
"Sorry."
She giggled at him and squeezed his arm. "It's okay. That's one of the things I like the most about you, Chuck. I can call you out a little when you're being a Guy (trademark)," she said, tilting her torso to the said and making parenthesis with her hands adorably, "and you don't get offended. You take a step back and admit it if you think I'm right. Or you apologize. It's really nice for a change…and, uh, pretty cute." Then she shook her head and moved up to kiss him, letting her fingers stroke down his jaw as she did. "Nah, it's more than cute. You're a good, Chuck Bartowski."
He bit his lip and felt a crooked grin tilt at one side of his mouth.
"Don't change, huh?" she asked, playing with the end of his chin with her fingers.
Chuck threw his shoulders back and lifted his chin, giving her a salute. "I will not let you down."
Her small smile dimmed a bit, and she looked away for just a moment, before swinging her gaze back to him again. "See that you don't."
It sounded like a sincere, even serious request, but then mirth was in her face and she kissed him again, a quick kiss this time, before moving to grab the small table and bring it through the door. Chuck hurried to shut it as the wind was getting bad again. He didn't imagine she wanted leaves and dirt from outside coming in.
"So that was the easy part," he said, going to her laptop that was on the bar counter and moving his finger around on the trackpad to wake it up again. "Because we need to caulk doorways especially to keep water from coming in. And definitely shutter the windows. This especially." He pointed to the large glass balcony doors.
"Plywood?" she asked.
"Plywood."
It took them some time to set it all up, bringing the large pieces of wood out from where they'd put them in the garage to keep them dry from the rain that kept coming and going with no rhyme or reason, but Chuck decided to let Sarah handle attaching the plywood to the frame. She seemed to have a good handle on the tools, and he also had the hots for a woman holding a power tool in her hand and nails in her teeth. He felt like such a stereotypical dude. But he couldn't help it.
Granted, she was hot no matter what she did.
And that was how he justified it in his own mind.
It was well into the afternoon, the sun starting to move towards the horizon, when they finally finished.
They sat in a heap on the ground, leaning against the corner of her house by the drainpipe like a couple of rag dolls, Sarah's head on his shoulder, her weight pressed against his side.
"That was really hard and when this is over, I'm gonna have to take 'em off again," she whined, making pitiful crying sounds. She slumped over into his lap and turned onto her back, her torso resting on his thighs as she blinked up at him and played with the hem of his T-shirt. He was sure he was covered in sweat, dirt, and grime, but he supposed she was too, at least. Her hair stuck to her forehead a bit with sweat, and he reached up to tuck it away from her face altogether, grabbing a nearby rag and daintily dabbing at her face with it, making her laugh.
Her blue eyes were especially vibrant in the strangely bright overcast lighting out here. They were like blue laser beams slamming into his chest. She was a bad ass blond brilliant gorgeous Cyclops, minus the eighties-looking visor and spandex suit.
He let out a quiet chuckle at that thought.
"What?"
"Hm? Nothing. Really. Some thoughts need to be kept inside. I'm pooped."
She giggled. "I'm just glad that I cleaned out the gutters the other day. Didn't even know there was a storm coming; it just felt like something I needed to do."
"Oh, thank God, because I'd have to get up on a roof again and I don't much fancy being murdered by your dagger eyes again."
"Shut up," she laughed, smacking his chest. "I was worried about you! You almost fell and I'm serious, I would never have forgiven myself."
"I survived," he said, significantly heart-warmed.
"Yeah. Pfft. Barely."
She sat up then, and he reached up to pick a blade of grass from her hair. "You know, maybe we can just caulk the bottoms of the doors or something. I think caulking everything even when we've shuttered windows is a bit much."
"Works for me."
"Good. Then I'm taking a shower."
"That also works for me."
He helped her up and then accepted her hands as she yanked him up to his own feet, and they trudged around the house, in through the front door. Chuck found himself chuckling a bit then as he thought of something funny.
"What?" she asked, unbuttoning the flannel she'd thrown over a tank top and turning to face him. He diverted his gaze a little, aware of how his body was handling the sight of her undressing like this. The last time she'd done that, it had been with the prime purpose of climbing into bed together.
"I just thought of how funny it'd be if we boarded up all the windows and doors and accidentally shuttered ourselves out." He giggled.
She just rolled her eyes and shook her head, smirking and turning on her heel to walk towards the bathroom. Chuck just stood in place, watching her go. "I'll just wait here," he said, clearing his throat. "Maybe, uh, watch some TV."
But she wordlessly came back to him, slid her hand in his and backed away, pulling him with her. They got into the hallway, moving towards her bedroom, when his brain caught up a bit…but still not fully. He thought maybe he should get some clarification just in case.
"So no on the TV watching?"
"No," she said in a low, clipped voice, biting her lip at him as they kept walking into her bedroom.
"I just—I just don't want to misunderstand. I mean, I just wanna be clear…"
She spun to face him at the doorway to her bathroom and smacked her hands onto his shoulders, looking him right in the eye. "Chuck, we're taking a shower together." His jaw hit the floor. "Is that clear enough for you?"
The scuba instructor practically yanked him into the bathroom with her as he let out a breathy, "Hhhh'atchamama."
}o{
He had a hard time sleeping that night thanks to the wind, but by the time he got out of his bed the next morning, it had died down again. He turned on the news as he ate breakfast, watching scenes from the southwest coast of the island of Hawaii. The hurricane's eye was well off shore, but the winds were still doing some damage to coastal towns due to the counter-clockwise spin. They expected it to go right through Honolulu by midday, and perhaps it would lose steam before it hit Kauai. However, its trajectory looked like it might veer a bit west. So they'd still get the worst side of the hurricane, even if it was weaker by the time it got to the them.
He blocked out the technical jargon and focused on the important part. There would be a hurricane potentially making landfall in Kauai by ten or eleven tonight. Whether it was weakened by then or not, it was a damn hurricane. This would be his first hurricane.
He was not excited.
As he dressed and prepared to go walk out to the beach again while he still could, since it wasn't raining yet or anything, he heard his phone ring in the bedroom and he dashed through the suite to grab it.
"Sarah," he gasped, panting a bit. He'd knocked his ankle on the door frame on his way in and was wincing, kneeling down to rub it.
"Hey!… You…okay?"
"Yes, sorry. I was…out on the balcony," he lied. The further she thought he had to run, the less lame he'd seem for being out of breath. And then he felt lame for even having all of that occur to him.
"Oh." She giggled. "Hey, so…my house is all boarded up and I don't like looking at it. Do you want to spend this last day before the hurricane comes exploring a bit? It doesn't seem all that terrible out, just breezy and overcast."
Chuck let out a groan. "Oh my God, that sounds so gooooood."
Sarah laughed. "Hit the spot, huh?"
"Oh, totally," he chuckled. "I need to get out of this suite and out of my head. That wind kept me up half the damn night and I keep wanting to turn on these live maps that show where the hurricane is and how powerful the winds are and it's too much."
She made a soft pitying sound. "Are you stressing, Chuck?"
"Yes. Absolutely I am. And I know I need to just chill out, but it's difficult. So please, please, please, come get me and take me somewhere pretty."
Sarah giggled. "Kay. Hey, I gotta go. My landlady is calling me right now, but I'll be by to get you in a bit. Wear good shoes, huh?"
And then she was gone, having picked up the call from her landlady no doubt.
Chuck changed into his shorts and a baseball tee with the SEGA logo on it, smearing sunscreen all over his face and neck, his forearms, his legs. It was a little over a half hour later when there was a knock on his door.
He hastened over and opened it for her, grinning at her as she swept inside and shutting the door after her. "Long time no see," he chirped with a wink, and then he went to the couch and lifted his black high-top Converse in one hand. "These?" Then he lifted the hiking boots he'd worn yesterday to help her protect her house in the other hand. "Or these?"
"Just in case, the hiking boots."
He lowered both and nodded.
"You don't have to look so nervous," she hummed, walking further into the room. "I won't take you into the wilderness when a hurricane is on its way up here. I'm a bit of an adrenaline junky but I'm not stupid."
Chuck laughed and plopped down on the couch, putting his boots on. "No, I trust you. With my life. Remember?"
She was quiet at that, just watching him.
"I mean, you got me to swim out in the ocean that tried to kill me once, so you can bet I'd follow you into a jungle any damn day of the week, even with a hurricane coming." He had no thought as to whether or not what he was saying was maybe a little intense, or perhaps too much, to be saying after ten days of knowing her. He was just speaking the truth, tying his boots, smiling a little.
"No jungle," she said softly. "But there is a forty minute drive involved, one way. Hope that's okay."
Chuck got to his feet and grabbed his striped zip-up sweatshirt, stuffed his wallet, key, and phone in his pockets, and grinned. "I'm from Los Angeles. It takes me forty minutes to drive from my apartment downtown on the worst mornings. I can handle a forty minute drive to see something pretty. Easy."
"Well, at least you'll have good company," she said with a cheeky grin, brushing off her shoulders adorably.
"The best." Then he took his phone out and wiggled it. "You have a cable to hook this up to your radio?"
"Yeah. Why? Oh God, are you gonna make me listen to a podcast about video games?" She made a face.
He cracked up. "I love that that's what you jumped to. No, I would not do that to you."
"Thank God. I had to drive cross-island with Gina and Liz once and they made me listen to this podcast about how much more sustainable living in a yurt is than living in a house." Chuck rocked forward with laughter and she snorted. "Surprised I didn't fall asleep and drive off the road."
"I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy," he said, shaking his head and following her out into the hallway. "I have a playlist I built for the plane trip. All of Hawaii's greatest hits."
She giggled. "That's adorable. Because you just made it sound like the state of Hawaii literally put together her own playlist of her greatest hits and sent it to you."
"What if she did?" he drawled, pressing the button to call the elevator.
About seven minutes into the drive, she broke the comfortable silence, glancing over at him. "Hey, you know…if you didn't sleep last night, you can sleep now if you want to. I can turn down this old-timey ukulele music you've got going on and you can shut your eyes. I'll wake you up when we get there."
"Nah, that's okay. Thanks, though. I can operate pretty well on not a lot of sleep." And because his body did things just to spite him sometimes, he couldn't hold back the massive yawn.
Sarah laughed. "Oh, is that so? Seriously, Chuck. Just shut your eyes. I like this music, I'll just jam to it."
"You're gonna jam to it?" he asked, grinning. He let out a chuckle. "What's jamming to ukulele music look like, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Ohhhh, a little something like…this," she said, shimmying her shoulders and pursing her lips. Then she took one hand off of her steering wheel, made it into a fist, and bobbed up and down, rocking her head side to side. He burst into laughter and she joined in.
"See, I can't sleep now. What if I fall asleep and I miss you doing this? I'd be so bummed."
She giggled, her tongue in her teeth. "The trick is to really let those weird bird calls in the background get into your soul, ya know? And then do, like, a…" She wriggled her body, almost like a bird shaking water off of its body.
He laughed even harder. "How someone so cool could also be such a huge dork…You're an anomaly, Sarah Walker."
Her jaw fell open and she cracked up. "How dare you? I show you my moves and you say something like that to me?"
"It's such a compliment, though, really."
"What? Since when is dork a compliment?"
"It is coming from me. Woman, you have no idea how much of a turn on it is for me when a woman acts like a big ol' dork. If you weren't driving right now? Phew…you'd be in trouble." He smoldered and wiggled his eyebrows.
She laughed hard enough that she rocked forward and as they distracted one another from the approaching storm with bad dance moves to ukulele music and laughter, something inside of him was changing, a resolve in him strengthening. He had no idea it was happening, as wrapped up in her as he was. But oh, it was happening.
}o{
"CHUCK!"
He whipped around where he stood in the middle of the bedroom. That was Sarah's voice he heard over the roaring of the wind outside. "Sarah?!"
"CHUCK!" he heard again, blending with a particularly vicious howl of the wind. The roof was thumping, making a loud slamming noise as though the hurricane was trying to wrench it right off the house.
Was she stuck outside? He heard her scream out a desperate, "HELP!"
He sprinted out of the bedroom, down the hallway that almost seemed like it was getting longer the faster he ran. He kept running, running, running. "Sarah, I'm coming!"
As he burst into the living room, he heard her again. "CHUCK, PLEASE!"
She was banging on the front door. He sprang for it, tripping on an overturned chair he hadn't seen until he was on top of it. He clambered hard onto the floor and crawled back up to his feet again, making for the door.
As he whipped it open, he made to reach out and yank her inside to where it was safe, but a thick piece of plywood was there instead. "No! Sarah!"
"Chuck, please help me!"
She was just on the other side of it. He could hear her.
But then he felt something in his hand suddenly, something heavy. He looked down and saw he was holding a sledgehammer. Perfect.
"Sarah!" He pressed his face up against the plywood. "Sarah, can you hear me? Get away from the wood! Back away! I'm coming for you!"
She didn't respond, but he figured she'd backed away. And he took a deep breath, swinging the sledgehammer at the wood. It shattered, pieces of it falling away. But as he pulled at it, he came face to face with another layer of plywood.
"Chuck, hurry! The wind! It's too strong!"
"I'm here!" he yelled, swinging the sledgehammer again. Just as he was starting to break through, finally feeling the rush of the wind and rain from outside against his face, he heard her clearer, right on the other side of the wood.
"Chuck…?"
"Sarah, I'm coming! Just hold on!"
He swung again and broke off another large piece of the wood. Her face appeared in the hole, wet, her hair clinging to her face, terror in her eyes. She reached a hand through and he held onto it. "I've got you!"
"Chuck…" Wait…She hadn't moved her mouth…who'd said that? "Chuck…"
What was…?
"Chuck, hey…Wake up."
He jolted at the hand on his arm and blinked his eyes open. He was staring at the dashboard of a car. Clearing his throat, he turned to look at the hand on his arm. He followed up the arm up to see Sarah was leaning over, her seatbelt off, a tentative look on her face.
"A-Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Yes." He cleared his throat again and groaned a bit, scooting up from where he'd slumped down in his seat and pushing a hand through his hair. "Sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on ya."
She let out a low, one syllable giggle through her nose. "Technically, you didn't fall asleep on me."
The wink she gave him made the interior of the car feel…warm. But then he remembered his bizarre nightmare and made a face. "How long was I out?"
"Only about ten minutes."
He scoffed. "And of course that's long enough for me to have a hurricane nightmare. I hate my brain."
"Oh, God…Is that why you jumped when I woke you up?"
"Yeah. Probably. It's fine. Just a nightmare." He looked around and frowned curiously. "Hey, what is this? Where are we?"
"Oh. Right. This is the first stop on your tour. I had half a mind to keep driving since you'd fallen asleep, maybe go even further so I didn't have to wake you, but…I don't think you're gonna wanna miss this." She bit her lip and nodded out his window.
"Ah. That was nice of you. I'm-I'm good, though. Let's get out and see, huh?" He grinned and unbuckled his seatbelt, willing that strange nightmare out of his mind and climbing out of the car.
They walked shoulder to shoulder over to a car railing set up on the side of a small parking lot—more of a turn-out area, really—and she put a hand on his back. "Well. What do ya think?"
Chuck gaped at the sight before him. "What is this?" he breathed, taking in the stunning red clay cliffs looking out over the green valleys below. "Ya know, besides heaven," he teased, giving her a toothy smile.
She snorted and rolled her eyes, turning to look out at the sight, too. "We're in Hanapepe. Well, almost into Hanapepe. It's about a mile that way." She gestured over her shoulder. "This is the Hanapepe Valley Lookout."
"This is amazing," he said, taking it all in with no small amount of awe in his face. "What's on the top there? Trees?"
"No, I think it's sugarcane," she said.
"No way, really?"
"Mhm." She nodded, and then she took his arm and turned him around to point across the highway. "And see those plants out that way?"
"Oh…yeah. Yeah, what's that?"
"Coffee. That's where we get all our dough from. Our coffee." She rubbed her fingers together and winked.
He smiled at her. "Exploring is much nicer with my own guide," he said.
She gave him a big grin and shrugged cutely. "Good to know I have some uses."
"Pfft." Chuck turned back to the view and shook his head, taking his phone out and snapping a few pictures, including a panorama. "Hey…uh…I'm sure I'm not at my most attractive, what with just being asleep a minute ago and the wind whipping at my dumb hair, but do you want a, um…?" He ducked his head.
"Want me to take a picture of you? For Ellie, so she knows you did more than play video games?" She laughed and thrust her hand out for him to give her his phone.
"Oh. Uh…yeah. Thanks." He cleared his throat and gave her the phone, carefully taking a step to the side. "This good?" he asked.
"Perfect," she giggled, stepped back closer to the cars and holding up the phone. Chuck curled his lip and slouched a bit, as she counted to three. "Oh, wow. Yes. That's definitely a keeper. I'm sure your sister's going to love it."
He chuckled and stood up straight, pushing a hand through his curls to try to will them to not look ridiculous in the wind.
"Just give up," Sarah said, shaking her head. "Those curls are wild'n'crazy and I like 'em that way."
Chuck dropped his hand immediately. "Yes, ma'am."
She took another picture and he grinned this time, pointing at the view with his thumb, making her giggle again. "That was cute."
"Thanks." He took his phone back from her.
"Good to go?" she asked, tucking some hair that escaped her braid back behind her ear. "I want to show you this super scary bridge that swings and bounces when you walk on it."
"Wow, that sounds safe."
She laughed, starting to move back to the car. He nibbled on his lip for a second, mulling it over, wondering if he would be crossing a line or something. And then an inner voice inside of his head said Fuck it and he called out, "Hey! Uh…actually…" She turned back to face him, tilting her head in question, the wind whipping some of her hair over her face again. "Would you wanna get in on this action? Like do a selfie with me?" The expectant smile left her face and those bright eyes of hers widened. "If you want to. I mean, no pressure."
"You want a picture of me? I mean, of-of us?"
"Yeah." He shrugged.
"Okay." She nodded slowly and twisted her mouth to the side, coming up to stand next to him. There was a look he didn't understand on her face suddenly as she looked up at him and cuddled up against his side. And then she smiled at him as if that look had never been there. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and shifted them both a bit to the left, holding up the phone with his other hand.
"Wait, the glare is crazy," he breathed. "Do I have the cliff thingy in the picture?"
"It's there," she said, grinning.
"Okay, good…on three. Ready?"
"Mhm."
"One…two…three."
He smiled and snapped the picture. "One more," he said.
"Silly faces—?" she started to ask, but it turned into a squeal as he turned his face to teasingly bite her cheekbone, snapping the picture as she laughed. "Did you just bite me?"
"Yeah, but it made for a great picture I'm sure," he chuckled as she smacked at his shoulder, wiping her cheek teasingly with her sweatshirt sleeve. He slipped his hand into hers and pulled her back, turning the phone for her to see the picture.
She giggled and shook her head, sending him a faux glare. "Pull that shit again, Bartowski, and I'm dropping you off at the next coconut stand." He cracked up. "But definitely forward those to me."
Laughing, they climbed back into the car for the next step of their adventure, Chuck not thinking about the storm or anything else but how good the day was turning out to be.
}o{
"A gift shop!"
Sarah laughed at him as he threw both arms up in excitement and practically skipped up the dirt path towards the hut. A sign at the end of the path read, "Salt Pond Park Visitors Center and Gift Shop".
"Are you particularly fond of gift shops?" she asked, following after him at a normal pace.
"I mean, not particularly. But for some reason, at that moment, I was just really super excited about this gift shop."
She laughed again. "Maybe you can buy yourself a handkerchief or something."
He turned to face her, walking backwards towards the shop. "For what?"
"Well, it'd be more for me. So that I can tie it over your mouth, you backseat driver."
Chuck stopped and gave her a flat look as she cracked up. "Okay, that child kicked his ball and it went right in front of your car. I didn't mean to scream at you."
"I saw him."
"Yes, I know! But it was just a moment of terror and something had to come out of my mouth! I'm so sorry!"
He really was sorry. He'd been legitimately embarrassed by the pitch of his voice when he yelled, "Sarah, watch out!"
"Well, the important thing is no one died, and my eardrum isn't completely damaged, just partially damaged."
She was laughing at him, but he couldn't be mad about it, not even a little, because she was also hugging his arm and nuzzling her face into his shoulder, peering up at him with a warm look that set his soul at ease in the best way.
They pushed into the shop and were greeted by the pleasant sound of wind chimes instead of a bell.
Chuck looked up at the chimes above the door curiously. "How—?"
"Magic." He spun on his heel to look at the young Hawaiian woman kneeling down to pet a small dog that looked like some sort of terrier mutt. She grinned prettily. "Everything in this shop is magic, blessed by Kona." She smushed the dogs face between her hands. "Isn't that right, my little Kona lady? Yeeesss!"
Sarah giggled and moved past him. "Is she all right to pet?"
"Oh, of course. She likes people, just not really other dogs."
The little terrier hopped up onto its back legs as Sarah approached in excitement, letting out a happy yip as she knelt down and started rubbing her pointy little ears. The dog looked so adorable and happy with the attention Sarah was giving it, and he found he'd never related so hard to a dog before in his life.
And then he realized how weird that sounded, even in his own head, so he moved past the cute scene and started looking at the trinkets. There were shark teeth, necklaces with pretty sea shells and sea glass…rings, bracelets, earrings… He found a throw pillow with a dog that looked exactly like Kona sewn onto it. He picked it up and looked at it, giggling a little, then he put it back down and moved on.
"You lookin' for anythin', brah?" a man with jet black hair pulled back into a small bun at the back of his head, the hair at his temples greying a bit, asked. He wore a loose tank top and jeans that were haphazardly cut mid-calf, and he had a lot of bracelets on each arm.
"Oh, not…really," he said with a friendly smile. "Thanks. I've got folks I might want to find something for. Anything cool you'd recommend?"
"Ahhhh. Gifts for the fam back home? Far out. We've got cool books on the history of Hawaii but who really reads anymore, am I rightzo? Posters for the Endless Summer? Ehhh?" He stuck his pinky and thumb out and wiggled them. "Or maybe they just want, like, jewelry? I dunno, brah, I have no idea what they'd want." He shrugged.
All he could really do in response was chuckle. It wasn't the greatest customer service he'd ever experienced, but at least he was friendly and honest.
"Ya know, I seriously appreciate it, man, but maybe if I just look at stuff, something'll pop out."
"Righteous. Gimme a holler if—" His voice died in his throat then as Chuck heard a shuffle of feet behind him. He looked up and saw a giant grin sweeping over the handsome shop worker's face. "Saaaaraaah."
Oh.
Chuck glanced over his shoulder to see that Sarah was there, her eyes wide. She recuperated and cleared her throat. "Oh. Hi there, Dude I Used to Date."
"Oh, Sarah. Just when I'd almost gotten over you…" He shook his head and Chuck saw the way his eyes took a quick trip down her body and back up again. "You really leave a mark, woman."
"Oookay, well… When did you start working here, Judd?"
"Oh, about three months ago. Then I stopped, took a month off for a surfing tournament in California, then came back, couldn't find a job and here I am, back at my little gift shop."
"My gift shop," the Hawaiian woman called out from the other side of the store.
"Uh. Oh. Yeah. Kamea's gift shop. My bad. Aw mannn, it's so good to see you."
"Yeah." Sarah clasped her hands in front of her and smiled a bit wanly.
"Oh. Oh, shit. I'm crashin' your vibe." Judd gestured between them. "Don't worry, my dude, we were hot'n'heavy only for like…a short time…and then she started workin' at that diving place and I have this thing where I really can't be a one chick dude, you know? I just can't."
Chuck wasn't sure how to handle the friendly but frankly unwanted honesty from this guy who had apparently dated the scuba instructor for "like a short time".
"Judd, I need your help please," came the owner's voice from the register.
"Oh. Shit, Kamea, I've got customers."
"Now, please."
He huffed and rolled his eyes, then he pointed at Sarah. "Hey, don't run outta here all awkward, Blondie. Not before saying goodbye." Then he winked and dashed off, leaving Chuck and Sarah alone.
She let out a long breath and covered her face with her hands, letting her head sag, chin on her chest.
Chuck inched closer. "So, uh…hot'n'heavy?"
"Shut the fuck up," she hissed, lifting her head immediately, humor written all over her face as she gave him a gentle, playful shove. He laughed quietly. "He's over-selling it, like, seriously."
He held both of his hands up defensively. "I'm not gonna judge…or should I say…Judd?"
"That was awful, Chuck, even for you."
"Yeah, I felt how bad it was as it came out. I have a gross taste in my mouth now."
She chuckled and went up on her tiptoes to peck his lips, her tongue darting out to lick her own, a thoughtful look on her face. Then she wrinkled her face in disgust. "Oh, God. Yeah. Terrible."
"Oh, shut up," he laughed.
They spent a few minutes looking around the shop, Chuck finding some Hawaiian theme suspenders with palm trees on them. He slung them over his shoulders and posed for her, narrowing his eyes and pursing his lips.
Sarah snorted. Then she twisted her lips to the side thoughtfully. "You know, it's kinda growing on me. I'm actually a little turned on, not gonna lie."
"By these? Seriously?"
"A little."
"You're demented."
She cackled and smacked him with the paper fan she was holding. "Rude."
"Still considering dropping me off at the next coconut stand?"
"I haven't stopped considering it."
"What if I buy these and promise to wear them for you later?" He bounced his eyebrows and she just laughed at him.
"I'm not making you buy thirty dollar suspenders that look like that just for the sake of a joke." She snagged them from him and put them back in the basket.
"I'd do it. For you," he murmured, going back to pick up a little tortoise bobblehead and turning to flash it at her, making his best turtle bobble head impression as he held it next to his face, making her laugh, then he turned back to put it away, playing with other toys along the way. "I dunno, Scuba Sarah, at this point, I'd do just about anything for you." Then he gasped, missing the slightly startled look she sent him at that. He dashed over and grabbed a shark-shaped kite off of the wall. "Ohhh, this is the coolest thing. I'd go fly it now if I wasn't afraid to be struck by lightning."
She finally sidled up next to him and grabbed it from him, hanging it back up again. "Nuh uh. I'm not letting you do anything like that again. Climbing up on the roof and fixing an antenna in the rain was dumb enough, Curls."
Just to emphasize the nickname, she reached up and ruffled his hair.
He chuckled. "Well, anyway, I'm not here for something for me. I was thinking maybe I'd get somethin' for Morgan." He winced. "I felt a little bad. I really tanned his hide the other day, after that night when he called at two in the morning and interrupted…" He blushed. "Well, I got legit huffy with the guy and he's my buddy. He's come through for me so many times, gone out of his way. Least I can do while I'm over here on vacation is get him somethin' cool. Somethin' that's more than a postcard, y'know?"
Sarah giggled quietly, a little breathy sound through her nose, and she reached out to squeeze his hand. "You didn't have to get mad at him for that, really. He was really sweet to me on the phone. Though he did threaten to haunt me forever if I hurt you."
Chuck groaned. "What does that even mean?"
"I don't know," she said, grinning. "But it was sweet. Both that he was so protective of you, and that he thought I was powerful enough to pose any sort of threat to you whatsoever."
"Oh. Yeah. Hah."
Little did she know…
"Well, what's Morgan into?" she asked. "Besides video games."
"Um, more video games, comics, grape soda…"
"Grape soda," she laughed. "Is he twelve?"
Chuck snorted. "No, but that's a valid assumption. He likes watching nature shows, though. He was the person who told me about starfish and their zombie arms."
"Their…what now?"
"Zombie arms."
They were mindlessly weaving through the gift shop towards the checkout counter without Chuck even realizing it.
"Wait, wait… I'm gonna need to hear about this, too," Judd said. Chuck turned to see how close he was to the counter and he inwardly cursed. When did this happen? Damn it.
Oh, well. Maybe everyone could hear it, then.
"There was this plague-like virus thing that went through the starfish population in the Pacific a few years ago and it made starfish literally pull their own arms off. And people were seeing that the arms had a life of their own, and would like swim around like they were alive." He lifted his finger and made a wormlike movement with it.
"OOOHHHHHH THAT'S GNARLYYYY!" Judd exclaimed, wrinkling his face up. "I'd freak the hell out, bruh! Ugh! That's some freaky Walking Dead shit."
"Pretty gnarly, yeah…" Chuck said, shrugging.
"What happened to the starfish?" Sarah asked.
"I dunno. I guess they ended up repopulating all right afterwards since I haven't heard of there being a starfish shortage in the Pacific or anything."
"Circle of life, dude. Sex is what makes the world go round. Oh, and gravity and shit, right?" Everyone turned to look at Judd as he nodded slowly, a calm, serene smile on his face. "Anyway, speaking of gnarly, that hurricane coming sounds like it'll be fun."
Dread awakened in Chuck's gut immediately and he suddenly wanted to reach over the counter and punch this guy in his face. He'd just reminded Chuck of the very thing he'd been successfully ignoring all day.
"It's a hurricane, Judd. That isn't fun at all." His boss glared a little at him.
"Good point, I guess."
Chuck swallowed thickly and reached out for a set of shark teeth. "This is really cool!"
"Does Morgan like shark teeth?"
"Ya know, he's never mentioned them but he might be super into this." He looked up at Judd. "He's the one who told me about the zombie starfish."
"Ah. Rad. Is he your boyfriend?" Chuck heard the tone, and while he knew the other man was ribbing him, only teasingly trying to get under his skin, while Chuck didn't feel or see even an ounce of connection between this guy and Sarah anymore, it did rankle him a bit to have him jab at him like that.
Without missing a beat, the younger man shrugged.
"I mean…minus the sex, pretty much."
Judd didn't seem to know what to say in response, obviously not prepared for Chuck to answer in such a way that affirmed his confidence in his own sexuality and the close relationship he had with his best friend. It made Chuck feel pretty damn good about himself.
The shop owner laughed outright and slow clapped.
And Sarah's melodious giggle, the way she encompassed his hand nearest her with both of her own and squeezed, really added to that. He could feel her pleasure at his answer.
Beat that, man bun.
But just as he got comfortable with his newfound self-esteem, Judd continued talking about the hurricane. God damn it, man bun.
"I'm holing up in my house," Sarah was saying. "It's all ready, hurricane-proofed, and I'm going to lock myself in there with some wine and pray to Poseidon he takes pity on the island."
"Smart lady," Judd said, and he reached up to put his hand on the cabinet hanging down above his space in a way that emphasized his ridiculous and natural-looking muscles. He disgustedly thought the guy probably got those muscles from running on the beach and surfing, like some sort of beach god. Carrying kayaks around on his shoulder… He got them from frolicking in the ocean—the same ocean Chuck was deathly afraid of.
"See, hurricanes are somethin' I've gotten used to. Years ago, this hurricane hit and I decided to take my board out there and ride the waves. Oh, man…Almost better than sex." Judd winked at Sarah. Chuck couldn't help eyeing her to see if she responded or if her face changed at all. She didn't and it didn't, and he wasn't sure exactly what that meant. "But I bought a little shack up the mountain. It's got this amazing view of everything down here on the shore. I'm gonna lay out a towel and do some yoga, pray to Krishna, find my bliss…"
"Open your third eye?" Kamea drawled in a flat voice from where she dug into what looked like a poke bowl at the small desk against the wall behind the checkout counter.
Judd ignored her, but Chuck heard a soft snort from his blond companion.
"They say that you can reach full and supreme peace by doing that during a time of real crisis and disaster. These mainlanders keep coming in here terrified, asking me what to do." Judd scoffed. "It'll be just like any other night. I'm going to enjoy this thing alone. Be the man my elders taught me to be." Elders? Who the hell was this guy? He leaned forward, palms on the counter. "And when it passes by, I'm coming back down here for some of those twenty-footers." He did the hang-ten sign again. "What about you, bro?"
"Um. No twenty-footers for me. I'm staying in a pretty high-end hotel, so…ahem…I'll probably just…stay in my suite." He suddenly felt ridiculous. Why'd he have to say 'high-end'? And 'suite'? Whose benefit was that for? Sarah's? Judd's? His own?
It was as though he was insinuating that Judd might be a bad ass adrenaline junky adventurer like Sarah was, perhaps with a lifestyle that fit better with Sarah's own lifestyle, but hey, he didn't have as much money as Chuck did. It was just so lame and he felt foolish.
"Whoooooa, wait, wait. Duuude. You're a tourist?" He turned to Sarah. "A tourist managed to snap up The Enigma That Is Sarah Walker? Fast work, my man. I take my hat off to you." Judd took off an imaginary hat and tipped it towards Chuck. "Look out for her right hook, though. Being her boyfriend isn't gonna protect you from it if you misstep, bruh."
"He's not—"
"No, I'm-I'm not her—We—"
They both spoke at the same time, stopping when they realized it, and they turned to face each other.
"She's been nice enough to show me around today," Chuck rushed out, clearing his throat.
"I'm distracting this California boy from the oncoming hurricane." She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. And Chuck was suddenly feeling even worse, though he knew one hundred percent that it wasn't Sarah's intention. She had no idea how sensitive his self-esteem was, especially at the moment for some jacked up reason, and that he'd just been spiraling a bit over her ex-boyfriend's comments. She'd just compounded the hit to his self-esteem.
"Californiaaa! Wowww! Well, don't worry, California. I'm sure it'll be all right." Chuck wasn't sure if the older man meant to do it, but there was a tone and a look in his eye that was incredibly patronizing. Like he was talking to a scared child or something.
He fished in his pocket for his wallet and paid then as the conversation died out, and they left, Sarah not responding to Judd's request she come back when the tourist went home, jabbing at Chuck's shoulder with a, "Kidding, bruh! I let this one go gladly."
By the time they got in the car, Chuck was silent, dwelling hard.
Sarah pulled back onto the highway. "I'd take you further for some more adventuring, but my phone says rain is starting soon and I think it's best we get back somewhere safe by, I dunno, like an hour or two from now. The wind is really picking up, I can feel it grabbing at my car."
Chuck nodded and sent her a smile. "Yeah, you're right. I'd prefer to be inside once this gets going."
He squirmed uncomfortably.
"Hey."
He looked at her again. "Hm?"
There was a bit of an uncomfortable look on her face. "I-I swear I had no idea that…he worked there. One of those freak accidents that happens in life to make things…super awkward. As if to spite you, you know?"
"Oh, no. I'm sure you wouldn't knowingly put me in front of that guy."
"God, he didn't seem like such a joke of a person when I was seeing him. And-And contrary to what he said, I never was his girlfriend. We just…dated a little."
"Yeah, no…Listen, it's fine. You don't have to explain or anything. Really."
"No, I know. I just…It was a fun thing when I first moved here."
God, he didn't want to know. He didn't.
"Right! Makes total sense," he said, smiling at her. "But he was, um, a bit of a joke. Like, it takes a certain kind of privilege to be some man bun white guy usurping, like, five different cultures and smashing them together so he can feel spiritually heightened or something."
She laughed. "I know. He'd only appropriated, like, one culture by the time I walked away from that. He's picked up a few since then. But God, that answer you gave him about Morgan. He thought you were going to sputter and get all nervous and deny it, and your answer about him being your boyfriend minus the sex, so confident and quick and oh my God, I didn't know him for long, but I don't think anyone's shut him up like that ever." She laughed again. "May I just say, Chuck Bartowski, that's one of the hottest things I've ever seen a guy do? Seriously. Ever."
"Really?" He chuckled, feeling at least a bit less trapped in his head, but blushing like mad now. "Because we've had sex a handful of times now, so I'm thinking maybe I need to step it up in that department."
Sarah rocked forward with laughter, and when she sobered a little, she sent him a long, sexy look. "That's definitely not a problem for you. I mean, I wouldn't say no to you stepping it up, but at the same time, I'm a little scared at the prospect; I'm not so sure I could handle it."
Chuck let out a long breath through pursed lips. "Sarah Walker, this is a two-way street and you would absolutely handle it. I say that with complete and total certainty."
Her giggle was lusty and delicious and everything he needed it to be. But as things quieted down during the drive, Chuck tossed out the idea he'd had of just inviting Sarah to stay with him in his suite tonight so that he wasn't alone. Yes, Judd was a joke, whether Sarah'd felt differently all those months ago when she'd dated him or not. All of that white man with a bun and cargo shorts following his Krishna bliss bullshit was just that: bullshit. That shit about surfing is a hurricane had to be a lie. And he was a culture appropriating butthole. But part of what the older man had said still got under his skin.
Sarah wasn't Chuck's safety blanket and he had to stop using this woman he'd only known for a little over a week while on vacation as though she were. She'd gotten him through the dive that first day, she'd shown him around, she'd taken him into her home a few times now, made him food, made this vacation better than he ever could've hoped. And now he wanted her to comfort him during this hurricane that might not even be that bad?
He needed to grow up, toughen up, and handle this hurricane on his own.
So that when Sarah pulled around to his hotel and followed him up to his suite, instead of inviting her in, not noticing her own tentativeness and reluctance he was so caught up in his own emotions and mood, he turned to her and leaned down to kiss her softly. Warmly.
"If I invite you in, you'll leave later and later, because I know how we are…And I really don't wanna be the reason you get caught out in that hurricane on your way home."
Sarah smiled quietly and nodded. "Yeeeah, you're right." She wrinkled her nose and this time he saw the reluctance. He felt that. Big time.
"Hey, thank you," he rushed out then, gently putting his hand on her arm and stroking his fingers down over her forearm, her wrist, and enfolding her hand in his. "You kept my mind off of this. And even though I ended up having to meet your hot'n'heavy ex-beau…"
"Oh my God," she groaned. "Beau? Is it eighteen-ninety six?"
He chuckled. "Even with that unpleasant experience and admitted smidgeon of jealousy for no real reason except that I'm but a man, with all the frailties that come with it…"
"Not all," she breathed, correcting him warmly.
He smiled back just as warmly. "Even with that, this was such an amazing day. I just know I saw so much stuff I wouldn't have seen without you."
"Without my car," she said, giggling with her tongue between her teeth.
"That's not what I meant at all," he chuckled.
"No, I know. You're welcome, Chuck. I had, um…a lot of fun, too." And then she closed the distance and hugged him tightly. "Will you do me a favor?" she asked, her voice quiet, low, her breath fanning his curls near his ear. He nodded wordlessly. "Will you just text me every so often? You know, for as long as you can. Depending on power outages and all that." She pulled back and ran a hand down to his chest, fisting his sweatshirt in a way that made him long to ask her to stay so hard he nearly gave in.
But he didn't.
He resisted.
And instead he said, "I'll text you. For sure." He shrugged. "Maybe I can tell you all the crazy shit that flies past my window tonight?"
Sarah laughed and hugged him again. "Be safe for me, okay? Please?"
"I will. And you, too. Drive safe, huh? Lemme know when you're home and inside?"
She nodded, and he saw in her face that he'd heart-warmed her a bit with that.
With one last soft kiss, she walked away from him, and he stayed there staring after her for a solid three minutes, a loud voice in his heart telling him he was weak, stupidly proud, and foolish for letting her leave.
A/N: Mennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. But honestly, as a woman, I don't blame him for the silly pride-driven decisions he makes here. He's human. Like we all are. (Pretend I'm not sitting here defending this character that I literally wrote, because how lame oh man.) And anyway, there's a tempest that's a'comin'! Which means another chapter is a'comin' too! Hopefully soon. But I can't make promises about that with this story. All I can promise is that it will continue.
Please review! Thanks, friends!
-SC