A/N: Oh look, I've updated my fic that's all Charah, every chapter, chalk full of Charah. Charah in the morning, Charah in the evening, Charah at suppertime. Not sure if it's ENOUGH Charah for some folks reading Chuck fic on this site, but what can ya really do?

Disclaimer: I don't own "Chuck" and I'm not making any money writing this.

Chuck chewed slowly, narrowing his eyes, letting the flavors combine, moving his tongue around to try to taste it all separately.

She waited, sitting next to him at the counter, and he could feel her blue eyes fastened on the side of his face. "So? What do you think?"

"I'm trying to decide," he said once he swallowed, looking at the burger again. "Like, is this a Hawaii thing? Putting pineapple on literally everything?" She gave him a curious look. "Or is that something mainlanders project onto Hawaiians? Serious question."

Sarah giggled. "I haven't even lived here a full year, and as much as I've learned about the lifestyle and culture of Hawaiians, I honestly can't tell you the answer to that."

"Because it's a secret?"

She laughed outright this time. "Stop."

He grinned and turned back to the burger. "It's just really interesting, I guess. Like, you have the beef patty, the grilled peppers, and the grilled pineapple, but then there's also the barbecue sauce and the cheese…then the usual burger fixings…I do like that they've grilled the bun. It's just…the mixture of the flavors is really interesting."

"Is interesting good or bad?"

"I don't know. I really can't tell. I think good? I've never had a burger with an acid component, you know?" He took another bite and chewed, nodding slowly. "Every bite it gets better though, I'll say that. You like it?"

"I think I'm where you are," she admitted, taking a bite of her own burger. She'd used a food delivery app to get burgers, fries, and shakes from a local "Hawaiian Burgers" place delivered to her house. "But it is getting better the more I eat it."

"Do you wonder if it's maybe just that we're both insanely hungry?"

She giggled around her food as she chewed, her tongue darting out to get the bit of barbecue sauce from the corner of her lip, and as she swallowed, she winked at him. "A girl could get used to being this hungry." He gave her a long look and she gave him one back, blinking. "You know, 'cause of the sex…building up my appetite."

"Yeah, I got it."

He cracked up as she pushed his shoulder, and he thought she might be blushing a little bit, but it didn't matter because he was definitely blushing more than she was, and he thought that was just how this was going to be. Even when he was the one teasing her.

"I still can't believe you ordered a papaya milkshake. That's really gross," she said then, drinking some of her own chocolate shake.

"I'm in Hawaii, Sarah! On vacation! When am I ever gonna be back here on this beautiful tropical island? When you see a papaya shake on a Hawaiian burger place's menu, you can't not order that. Come on!" He grabbed it and took a sip. "Does it sort of taste like vomit? Sort of! Yes! But I couldn't not at least try."

Sarah cracked up. "Wait, now I'm intrigued…" She made grabby hands for it and he laughed.

"I said it sort of tastes like vomit and you're intrigued now? What's wrong with you?"

"A lot," she laughed, taking the shake he proffered and sipping it. She made a thoughtful face and smacked her lips a little. "Pretty bad but not as terrible as you led me to believe."

"Are you disappointed?"

"Ummm, a little."

He laughed, shaking his head and subtly setting the shake away from him. Maybe he'd have a chance to try papaya by itself at some point before his vacation ended and he could see if it was the flavor of the papaya he didn't like, or if it was everything else they'd combined with it.

"You want a beer instead?" she asked. "We can do beer. I've got beer."

Chuck winced and she let out a melodious laugh. The way she seemed to instinctively reach over and comb her fingers though his hair made him feel like melting off of the stool he was sitting on and just sitting on her floor in a messy puddle. "I'll get you a beer," she chuckled, getting up to walk around him and into her kitchen.

"Thank you," he said, feeling a little silly. "But I wasn't gonna know how a papaya shake tasted 'til I…well…tasted it."

She snorted. "I don't blame you. It does look really exciting on the menu. I just know how much I love a good chocolate shake."

Chuck grinned gratefully at her as she came back around, having opened the bottle for him at the sink. He took it with a "thanks" and threw back a giant swig, letting out a happy sigh at how well it went down.

"You know who doesn't like chocolate, though?" He turned to look at her in question as he continued eating. "Alexei."

"Alexei doesn't like chocolate?"

"Nope. And yet, he still eats it sometimes. And then after, he's just like … I shouldn't have had that. It wasn't very good."

Chuck gaped. "Does he have an allergy or something?"

"Nope. Doesn't like how it tastes."

He was so confused. "He's insane. How do you not like how chocolate tastes? There are, like, five zillion different types of chocolate and none of them taste the same. Even milk chocolate can taste different if it's made in another country, or by another company. There's Belgian chocolate, German chocolate, Swiss chocolate, Mexican chocolate, Nestle, Ghirardelli, the kind that's got that yummy crunchy nougat in the middle that's all French sounding…I mean, and then dark chocolate and white chocolate, with and without nuts or caramel, with or without sea salt…"

Sarah was quietly giggling at how worked up he was getting, and he sought to dial it back a little, starting to smirk in self-deprecation.

"That's like saying you hate juice. There are a gazillion types of juice. Stop it."

But she'd mentioned Alexei, and now that the excitement over chocolate died down a little, he couldn't help thinking about Alexei's words to him earlier. His warning, of sorts. Chuck was going to do everything in his power not to hurt Sarah, but he was leaving soon and he wondered if the other man would try to kick his ass or something for it. He didn't seem like he was violent, but there were intense moments with the guy. And Sarah had said that he had sort of stepped into something of an uncle-ish role for her, taking care of her, being a protector of sorts.

Damn, he'd gone a full two and a half hours of not thinking about that little talk at the Scuba Shack, and now it was all flooding back. He wanted to go back to when he wasn't thinking about it, which would mean going back to sex on the couch.

Chuck Bartowski didn't feel like it'd exactly be a hardship to do that, but he really needed to come to terms with what…this was. He needed to stop just jumping into bed with her whenever they wanted and shoving the rest of it to the back of his mind.

He really only had a little over a week left in Kauai and he wanted to at least have some idea of what this was, what the direction was that it might be going in. Where she wanted it to go, if anywhere.

Chuck took a deep breath, then two more swigs of beer and another breath, before he turned to face her, ready to broach the subject, ask the question, when her phone that she'd set on the counter next to her blared to life with a loud ring.

They both jumped and she giggled, wincing apologetically. She reached over to glance at it. "Oh…huh. Mind if I take this? I'm sorry."

"Not at all," he said, and she smiled at him, answering it.

He didn't know if he was glad her phone had rung or not.

"Hey, there!" she chirped, leaning her elbow on the counter and smiling. "Um, yeah. I have it. Why? You want it?" She paused then and Chuck thought he heard a woman's voice on the other end. He tried not to listen too hard as he continued eating. "Well, I mean, he is sitting right here next to me if you just want to talk to him."

Chuck frowned a little in question at Sarah, then raised his eyebrow at her as she shrugged. Then she thrusted her phone at him. "Uh, is it…" He gulped. "Alexei?"

Sarah gave him a knowing look and he winced. "It's Liz."

"Oh." He couldn't disguise his relief as he took the phone, getting a flat but amused look from Sarah this time as he held it up to his ear. "Hey, Liz!"

"What's up, bro?"

"Naada, 'sup with you?" He watched as the corner of Sarah's mouth turned up in a bit of a smirk at that, and she shook her head, finishing her burger.

"Not much, my dude. Listen. I have a proposal for you. Not that kind," she said quickly. "You're cute an' all, but I'm gay and also getting a dirty look from my girlfriend so…woops."

He laughed. "I gotta be honest with you. I didn't take it that way."

"Oh, good!" she chirped. "So here's the deal. We're supposedly getting rain in three days. Not a hurricane, just some tropical showers. The usual."

"I'm super good at this whole timing thing, huh?"

She chuckled. "Well. To be fair, this is a tropical island. Rain happens. Like…a lot. The hurricane was a little weird, though. Just a little weird." Then she paused. "The thing is you sooooorta expressed interest in going on an overnight hike up the mountain with me annnnd I'm not holding you to it or anything, but if you want to go, I was thinking it'd be best to do it before the rain comes, just in case it's a multiple-day tropical shower sitch."

"Oh!" He paused for a second, turning his gaze to Sarah. "Oh. Y-Yeah. Yeah, that's right. I totally…I absolutely and definitely wanna do that. It sounds fun." She sent him a questioning look. "When were you thinking?"

"When are you free?"

He chuckled and shrugged. "Um, always. I'm on vacation."

"Touché, good sir. Touché." She made a thinking sound. "I think just to be safe, since we're overnight-ing it…what do you say to heading out tomorrow? We don't have to be all early morning or anything, since…uh…well…you're at Blondie's and…ahem…"

Chuck went red and didn't really know how to respond so he just…didn't.

"I'll make sure I have the gear and everything. Um…put Sarah back on the phone, please? For a sec."

"Oh. Yeah. Okay." He thrusted the phone back to her. "Liz, uh, wants to talk to you again."

Sarah smiled and took the phone. "Yeah, Liz?" She paused. "Mhm. Mmmmhm. Oh. Oh, really?" Her eyes cast up to meet Chuck's gaze and she smiled a little. "I've got a dive. Around noon." She sounded disappointed as she leaned her chin on her palm. He heard Liz saying something and then Sarah's eyes widened. "Wait, seriously? Is she really? Is she sure?" A pause. And then Sarah grinned so hard Chuck felt a little dizzy almost. "Tell her I owe her big time. Tell her I love her to the moon and back. She's getting the biggest hug when I see her, oh my God." She giggled. "Yes, yes, yes! I'm there. I—Wait. Hold on." She covered the phone and turned to look at him, giving him a toothy smile. "You wouldn't mind me hiking with you two tomorrow, would you? Neither of us thought to actually ask you—"

Chuck shook his head. "No. I mean, I'd prefer you didn't."

She laughed and smacked him as he giggled with his tongue between his teeth. "Okay, we're on. What's the plan? What do we do? What do we wear? What do I bring? Do I need to provide extras for this nerd sitting next to me?" She reached out blindly and grabbed his bicep, listening to Liz's instructions. "Okay, yeah, just text me everything. We'll see you tomorrow at Chuck's hotel."

By the time she hung up, she was buzzing. And Chuck—well, he was finding her excitement pretty damn contagious.

Chuck cleared his throat. "I have to admit something, though. My hiking stamina is definitely not where it should be. And if we're going up a fuckin' volcano or something, it's going to be even worse. There's a chance the two of you will have to do that whole thing where you tie me to a large stick by my wrists and ankles and just lug me around between you."

She laughed. "Oh come on. Don't start that crap with me about you not having stamina. That's not even true."

He choked a bit on his drink. "Really left the door open for you there, didn't I?" he wheezed. She thumped him on the back, mischief in her look. "And for the record—since we're apparently going there already—sex and hiking are two very different types of stamina, okay? And one of those things involves a whole lot more bang for your buck, if you know what I'm sayin'?"

"Yeah…BANG for your buck." She waggled her finger at him and made the dorkiest, "ahhhhh" sound like she was so proud of herself, and he could only laugh and shake his head at her. "I know. Not my best. I'm not taking it back, though, no matter what you say."

He slid to his feet and closed the distance, cupping her face in two hands and kissing her solidly. She hummed a little, her lips smiling against his, and when he pulled back just enough to look at her, she slowly blinked her eyes open and gave him a dreamy look.

"Well. Now I'm definitely not taking it back."

"Are you kidding? Have you met me? By all means, be the biggest dork on the planet. That's the number one way to make sure I never leave your side again. I'll set up a little cot here in the living room and just become a squatter."

The scuba instructor cracked up and moved onto her toes to kiss him back, before she slid her arms around his neck and just hugged him tightly. "Hey, by the way, sounds like Liz is planning for this to be a two day affair, meaning we leave tomorrow and don't come back until the next day."

"Yep. That was one of the conditions Liz gave me for taking me—or rather, us now," he beamed at her, "on this super fun hike."

"She's providing sleeping bags and everything. There's just one thing." He gave her a curious look as she pulled back to look up into his face, her arms still around his neck. "Liz is going to be right there next to us, so don't think you can try to seduce me up there on that mountain the way you do when we're in your hotel suite or my bedroom."

He just barely resisted the urge to burst into laughter, instead biting the inside of his cheek. "So…none of this?" He leaned down just enough to kiss the tip of her nose.

Sarah pouted a little. "Don't stop doing that on Liz's account."

"No?" She shook her head. "So then…none of this."

He leaned in to kiss the corner of her mouth, getting a quiet, "That should be fine" in response.

"Gotcha. So what you really mean is I shouldn't do this." He dove in and attached his lips to the juncture of her jaw and neck. When she didn't answer, he lightly dotted his lips down to her collarbone, then slowly slid her hands over her hips and around to the small of her back so that he could pull her flush against him.

"I dunno, it might make her super uncomfortable."

He laughed and wrapped his arms tightly around her, giving her an affectionate squeeze. "Okay, then I'll definitely make sure I don't do this." And he hoisted her up off of the ground so that she squeaked in surprise, having to sling her legs around him and hold on tight. She smirked down at him, raising her eyebrows, and he just carried her back towards the couch.

She stuck out her leg and braced her foot on the arm of the couch to force him to stop, though. "Ah ah. Wait. Bed. As fun and hot as it was on the couch, if I'm doing this two day hike thing tomorrow, I'm gonna need a mattress under me this time."

Chuck threw his head back with a cackle as he carried her down the hallway towards her bedroom.

}o{

He kept his gaze on the screen, blinking away emotions, practically beaming to himself without even realizing it, watching the woman tug the man along behind her, their hands clasped together. The man looked up at the cheering crowd, taking his hat off, innocently but incorrectly assuming the hubbub was for him, the humbled look on his face, a hero at last…

It faded out and Sarah reached over to exit out of fullscreen on her tablet that she'd propped up on the bed in front of them.

They'd watched the entire hour and fifteen minute silent movie spooning, Sarah's back tucked against his chest, his arm draped over her, tugging her close. His arm that had been propping his head up for most of the movie had since fallen asleep but he didn't much care as she sighed and shifted a little in his embrace to look up at him.

Sarah winced a little. "I honestly hadn't watched this for, like, fifteen years. I know it's a silent, and probably seems corny, so thanks for humoring me."

Chuck had only ever watched that vampire silent movie, Nosferatu. Of course he'd seen the famous clips of Chaplin with the potatoes on forks dancing on the table, and pictures of him dressed like Hitler… He shook his head at her. "Listen, like I said when you introduced the idea of watching a Buster Keaton movie, I watch so much of that B-movie scifi stuff from the fifties and sixties, I will watch whatever you put in front of my face."

She just smiled quietly. "Yeah, but did you suffer?"

"Uh, no." He chuckled. "I actually had no idea that silent films could make you so emotional. Like, there were no words spoken for over an hour, and yet, I…oh my God, I just wanted him to be happy."

Sarah giggled through her nose and grinned at him, putting a hand on his chest. "You liked it?"

"Yeah! That was great! I honestly think my heart literally broke when he got back to the beach and saw her skipping away with that dickhead, and he just sinks to his knees…guh." He flopped on top of her limply, his face buried in her neck.

Her chest bounced under his as she giggled, her fingers stroking through his hair, almost as if it was second nature for her when he put them near enough to her. He loved the idea of it. And he kept it locked away tight so that he could think of it anytime he needed to smile, or if work was particularly trying, people in everyday life getting too frustrating.

"Where'd you ever find something like that? I mean, what got you into silent movies of all things?"

She shook her head. "Oh, it isn't like…a thing," she explained."I really probably haven't even watched anything silent since I was, oh God, twelve or something? I only really remember a few Buster Keaton things. There was…this super grainy classic movie channel, like a local station." She nibbled on her lip and glanced away. "I was on the road a lot as a kid. Um…you know. And I was in a hotel room for a whole day with nothing to do. I guess this channel had a Keaton marathon. I dunno, I didn't really pay much attention. I just knew that once the first one started, I just got lost in it. And then the second, and the third, and fourth, and they had all of his really early shorts with the, um, big round guy."

Chuck couldn't help but wonder about Sarah Walker the scuba instructor and her backstory, her past, that she didn't necessarily seem to be hiding from him, but also wasn't super forthcoming about it either. Not that he required or expected it. It was hers to give to whomever she chose. But…Well, he was very curious.

The way she talked about having nothing to do for a whole day in that hotel room made it almost sound like she'd been alone. And a kid? What did her parents do? Traveling sales people maybe? But leaving her alone? It didn't sound super safe.

Then again … he'd been left alone, too, hadn't he? Except not. Because Ellie had been there, thank God. Did Sarah have siblings?

He had so many questions he wanted to ask.

Instead of asking any of those, he lifted his head to peer down at her, propping himself up. "Thank you for sharing this with me. It was…" He paused, narrowing his eyes as he searched for the word. "Sincere. It's sincere filmmaking, and his character was just so good and kind."

"I can't think of anything I ever watched with him where he wasn't sweet. It's what sets him apart from things today. Such a simple sweetness to him. Unpracticed kindness and…almost a naivety?"

"Haplessness?"

"Sort of. Yeah." She nodded. "But not in a way that gets old." Then she gave him a long look. "You kind of remind me of him."

"Do I?" That deserved a dubious look, he thought.

"Yeah. I mean you're way taller, and way, way, way hotter." Damn it, he blushed. In his defense, however, she'd practically growled that whole sentence, which just didn't feel fair at all. "But you seem so inherently kind, an unpracticed giver, looking out for people—not to get anything in return but just because it's your nature. And…uh…"

"Hapless?"

She laughed. "Nooo, no. You're not hapless. At least, that is…Do you consider yourself hapless after what I did to you about two hours ago?"

He shut his mouth with a snap and gulped, remembering exactly what she was referring to. Some of the sensations came back to him and he shivered in a good way. "Uh, that was a really well-made point."

"Thank you." She snorted then, playing with the bit of hair on his chest, almost distractedly. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just talking out of my ass." She giggled, her tongue between her teeth, nose wrinkled adorably. "You just seem like the type who'd always act to try to do the right thing, no matter what."

"I'd like to think I'm that type." He shrugged.

"Also, you do sort of get these really soft eyes sometimes." She almost melted a little underneath him as she reached up to ghost her fingers over his right eyebrow and down his temple. It felt ridiculously good and he didn't get why. "I mean, I don't think you're naive or anything, but you seem to see the best in people, and in situations, even if you roll your eyes at stuff a lot."

He caught himself rolling his eyes at that and she cracked up at him when he winced.

Chuck scratched behind his ear then and chuckled. "Well, thanks. These all feel like compliments and I'm gonna go with that."

She sniffed in amusement and nodded. "They are. Buster Keaton was kinda my first crush."

"No way." He gaped as she gave him a cute one shoulder shrug, a bit of a shy look on her face. "So what you're saying is I should try to maybe talk a little less and give you the deadpan look more often." He did his best Buster Keaton impression. "That doing anything for ya?"

"No, because you talked."

He busted a gut with laughter, rolling over onto his back and literally having to hold onto his stomach.

Chuck knew he eventually had to get out of her bed, get all of his clothes back on instead of just lounging around in his boxers forever, and get back to his hotel. So he decided to just get it over and done with and groaned, rolling over to the edge of the bed and pushing himself up to sit with a grunt.

"Where you going?" she asked.

"Back to my hotel I guess." He pushed his hands through his hair to smooth it down a little after she'd had her hands in it so much, his eyes scanning the floor of her bedroom for the articles of his clothing she'd flung in every which way.

There was a long pause he didn't really notice as he was distracted. And finally… "Oh. Yeah. Duh. Um…Lemme drive you."

He pushed himself to his feet and stretched, spinning to face her when she made her offer. "Nah, no. Sarah, it's so late. Let me just get a Lyft."

She giggled. "Chuck, you're so cute. You really think this is downtown Los Angeles where there are fifty-billion Lyft drivers just milling around waiting for you to request a ride." He blinked in confusion and she pushed herself up to gather a pillow up under her chest, lying on her stomach to look up at him with that gorgeous small smile of hers, her blue eyes sparkling in the lamplight. "Chuck, this is a small neighborhood that's kind of cut off from things, especially from the main city. And also it's after midnight. Aaaaaand nobody is out driving around right now. Trust me. If you request a Lyft, it'll take forever. I'm not even sure you'll get an answer. This isn't even like…one of the big islands. This is a small island in a lot of ways."

He chuckled. "Oh. Duh. I'm an idiot."

"I'll take you. I just, uh, have to find my clothes."

Chuck genuinely appreciated the naughty look she gave him. But then there was another look on her face, one he suddenly found he couldn't read. "What?" he prompted.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that maybe you could…just stay here again. Tonight." She nibbled on her lip, dropping her gaze to the bed, before lifting her eyes to look at him though her eyelashes. "That way I only have to make that one trip to your hotel, instead of going there tonight, dropping you off, coming here, only to have to drive back again tomorrow."

Was that the only reason, he wondered?

"That's…very logical." He cleared his throat, nodding. "And I'd like to make it as easy as possible for you. So…if you're sure…?"

"Yes," she said immediately. "I'm sure."

Chuck grinned. "Okay. I'll stay. Just…just one thing, though. I've got nothing else to wear but, uh…" He spun on his heel, spotting his shirt splayed out over the chair across the room. Damn, she'd really thrown the thing, hadn't she? "That. And my…pants. Wherever they are."

Sarah rolled to peer over the side of the bed, made a thoughtful sound, and reached down with one arm. When it came back up, his pants were clutched in her fist. "You mean these?"

"I do, yes. Good eye." She dropped them again and he made an affronted face, causing her to giggle, her tongue between her teeth. "Scuse me, I bought those from Target. Careful."

"You didn't seem to care about me being careful with them a few hours ago."

His jaw dropped. "Cheeky."

She giggled again and pushed herself to sit up. He spotted a bit of reluctance, or maybe more like discomfort in her face then, and she winced audibly. "Uh, well…there is something you could wear…"

"I do not think I'll fit in any of your bikinis, sad to say," he said without missing a beat.

Letting out a cackle, the scuba instructor flopped back onto the mattress, pushing her hands through her hair. She pushed herself to sit up again and shook her head. "You're insane. I'd never let you stretch out my bikinis like that."

"I'm taking that as a size compliment. Just so you know." He blatantly pointed to his crotch and she cackled again.

"Take it however you want, you freaking weirdo," she said, still chuckling. "No, I just meant…" She made a bit of a face. "Well, it's kind of awkward. Sort of."

"Why?" he asked, cocking his head.

"It's just, uh…" She winced. "This guy left some of his clothes here a few months ago and I still have them. Buried in the back of my closet. But they're here. You could probably sleep in them, I dunno. They're like…drawstring lounging pants or something. And a shirt. I just couldn't be bothered to get rid of 'em I guess."

Chuck felt a stinging sensation in his gut and chest, and he strove to ignore it. Or at the very least, not let it show in his face. He raised his eyebrows in understanding. "Oh! Oh, yeah. Well, I can…take a look at 'em. I'll just take a shower, if that's okay with you, and I can see if they, uh, fit."

"He was a few inches shorter than you, definitely, a little broader. So it might fit weird, but if you just need something to sleep in…" She shrugged. "They're clean."

His mind was going there and he wondered if instead he might just set the clothes and the memory of that guy both on fire…?

He was being stupid and jealous. "Cool! Cool, yeah. Where'd…you say they are?"

Sarah finally crawled out of bed and shrugged on the robe that was draped over the end of her bed, tying it as she crossed the room. She sent him a small, tentative smile as she passed him, headed for her closet.

She opened it in and stepped inside, digging in some bags on the floor. "You aren't asking about the guy then?" she asked, her voice a little muffled as her top half was inside of the closet. Chuck studiously kept his gaze from her backside that was just barely covered by the robe that was riding up to the very tops of her thighs. How did a person have legs this long and so perfectly shaped and tanned? Shit, he was looking.

He looked away again and cleared his throat. "Oh, it's just…none of my business."

Sarah pulled her head out just enough to send him a look. There was a smidgeon of teasing there, which almost managed to make him feel better. "It's really cute how hard you're trying to convince me you aren't wondering. You're so sweet, it's not even funny." She winced when he made a face at her. "Sorry. That was kind of patronizing. I didn't mean for it to be. I genuinely think it's sweet, how hard you try to do what you think is the respectful thing." She went back into the closet and he sighed.

"All right, fine. Tell me about him."

She stood up, a pair of charcoal grey cotton pants and a plain black t-shirt clutched in her hands. "I'm not sure it's really any of your business," she snipped, and then she laughed when his jaw fell open in disbelief. "Just kidding. Got ya though." Giggling, she crossed to him and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "I love messing with you."

"Cool, great, that's nice," he drawled, shaking his head and chuckling.

She handed him the clothes. "I met him while I was out surfing. Freddy." She snorted. "He was about as mature as his name sounds."

"Uh, you're talking to a guy named Chuck, sooooo…"

Sarah giggled and sent him a faux glare. He just shrugged self-deprecatingly.

"But we hit it off out there. He even pulled off of a wave to let me take it, and I dunno, I guess for someone who likes surfing as much as I do, it was kind of a turn on." Chuck definitely found he didn't like the way that made him feel but he did everything he could possibly do to ignore the hell out of it and instead just smiled, keeping his eyes on her. She was just so matter-of-fact about it. "Whatever, we surfed a few times together early in the morning, he asked me out on a date, it was a pretty good date, so we went on another one. But then I brought him home and slept with him and he said some shitty stuff to me after, and there was no fuckin' way I was going to let him talk like that to me, so I threw him out in his boxers and didn't let him back in. And now I have his clothes so…"

Chuck frowned. Something about what she'd said didn't add up, and he said as much. "Wait, wait. Something isn't adding up."

"Ah." She nodded, looking a little subdued. "You wanna know what he said then."

"No, I was actually going to ask…if this was your second date and you kicked him out when he was only in his boxers, how'd you end up with these?" he asked, holding up the clothes.

Sarah rocked forward in laughter, her eyes brimming with warmth as she looked up at him. He could feel and see how much she liked him in the look she gave him and it easily made the whole bullshit jealousy sensation go away. He hated that he'd been jealous in the first place.

"That's what he wore," she said, pinching the pants in her fingers before lowering her hand to put it on her hip again.

"On a date?" he exclaimed.

"Yeah," she giggled. "We just had burgers at a little old-fashioned walk-up window type fast food place. Guess he felt like that was good enough."

"This is not good enough at all. How do these dudes have this kind of confidence? I don't fucking get it!" he groused, hearing how his pitch was raising now, he was getting so worked up. "When a woman like Sarah Walker wants to go on a date with you, how do you just throw on some…some fuckin'…whatever the hell these comfy loungy pants are—they're basically pajamas!" he yelled, "and call it a day? Holy shit, I swear to God, I just don't understand." Chuck could see that Sarah's eyes had widened, her lips pressed into a thin amused line. "Meanwhile, I stood in front of my God damn mirror for, like…half an hour agonizing over what shirt to wear with the nice pants, and should I go with a tie or no, and fucking around with my hair to try to make it presentable. Even when we saw each other the second time, I had to make an effort to get a shirt on my body that wasn't like…so nerdy that you took one look at it, thought I was a huge dweeb, and hightailed it in the other direction. How did this guy wear this to a date? Let alone a date with you? Jesus, guys really get away with, like…the most minimal effort, don't we? I'm almost angry."

"Almost?" she asked, biting her lip, obviously to keep from laughing like she wanted to.

He took a deep, calming breath and shut his eyes for a moment, holding his hands up in surrender. "Sorry. Sorry, I'm good. I'm fine now. I'm just…the mind boggles."

Sarah giggled and put both hands on the sides of his face, leaning up onto her tip toes to kiss him for a longer time than he'd really expected her to, just holding onto him and sighing. The sound of her sigh lit something deep inside of him that had nothing to do with his physical desire for her, and everything to do with something…more intense than that.

And when she pulled back, he tried his best to hide that something more intense from showing on his face.

"Thank you for telling me all of that. About agonizing in front of the mirror. It's very endearing, but also pretty good for my ego."

"Your ego could use some expanding, I think. You have no idea just how incredible you are." She blushed bright red and he smiled. "You deserve way more effort than…than this." He held up the clothes and made an unimpressed face, causing her to giggle through her nose cutely. God, she looked so pleased and he felt pretty good about himself for it.

"Well, thank you, but it didn't bother me. He has to wear that fancy stuff all the time because he works as a valet at one of those super high-end hotels on the other side of the island."

"I almost stayed at one of those, but I was warned to try to stick to places that were less time-share touristy."

"Whoever warned you has my gratitude."

"Holy shit, mine too."

She grinned.

"But, uh…just so I might…um, not repeat his mistake, I am sort of wondering…what he said. This Freddy Casual."

Sarah laughed at the nickname and shook her head. "So…" She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Imagine after what you and I did that night we got back to your hotel room after dinner…"

"The sex?"

She blushed. "Yeah. All of that." She bit her lip and looked away. "Imagine after all of that, you decided to roll over to sleep and said, 'Just remember in the morning, I like my toast black and my eggs a little runny, huh babe?'" she mocked in a deeper voice.

Chuck's jaw fell open. "NO."

"Oh, yeah. Yep." She nodded slowly.

"Was he joking?"

"I thought so at first. I did. And I was like, 'Haaa. Good one.' And he rolled over to look at me with this confused, stupid asshole look on his face, and I was like, 'Holy shit, he was just serious.' First of all, he just assumed his entitled ass got to sleep in my bed, and uhhh no. Secondly, he wanted me to wake up early and make him his breakfast like I'm his fuckin' mama and he's five years old? Nuh uh."

Chuck couldn't help it. He cracked up, throwing his head back. "I cannot believe he had the gall! Who let this guy get away with this shit all this time?" he laughed in disbelief.

She spread her arms wide and shrugged. "The patriarchy," she announced.

"That's extra levels of ridiculous. He deserved to get the boot right then and there."

"That's exactly what he got. I shoved him the hell outta my house. Threw his boxers and his phone at him, shut and locked the door, drew the blinds, blasted music so I couldn't even hear him until I was sure he was gone. Blocked his number. Never went back to surf in that spot again."

"Probably sma—Hold on, wait." He blinked as something she said finally settled in his mind. "Did you shove the guy out onto your porch naked?"

She shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "I gave him back his boxers. However fast he put them on while he stood out there was up to him."

Chuck cracked up so hard he could barely breathe, even crawling down onto the floor and curling into fetal position, clutching at his stomach. Sarah just giggled down at him, watching.

He wiped the tears from under his eyes and rolled onto his back, blinking up at her. "Just when I think you've reached the pinnacle of how awesome one person could possibly be, you go and one-up yourself."

Sarah grinned down at him, very clearly gratified by his response. And then she crawled down to her knees, kneeling right behind his head, and she leaned over to kiss his lips upside-down. He made his limbs limp and hummed happily into her kiss, getting into the sensation, and when she pulled back a little to peck his lips one more time, he let a slow, satisfied smile spread over his face. "That was a total Spider-man kiss."

"I have no idea what you're even talking about," she giggled affectionately, bumping his nose with her chin.

"That's okay. You don't have to know what I'm talking about to do it again."

"S'that so?" She giggled again and moved in to kiss him with more passion, her fingers sliding into his hair and twisting in his curls.

Chuck groaned when she pulled away. "I need a shower."

"That's all it took? Damn."

He let out a booming laugh as she sat back on her haunches and stood to her full height, coming around to reach down to help him to his feet.

"Shower's all yours," she chirped, squeezing his shoulder. But before she could walk away, he clamped his hand down on her wrist, the spirit of mischief dancing through him, and he held her back, making her turn to raise her eyebrow over her shoulder.

"All mine, huh?"

He let go of her but stepped in close, pulling at the tie that kept her robe shut, gently pushing the garment over her shoulders and tossing it at the bed. Her blue eyes went wide as she stared at him, and he knew he surprised her when he bent down to literally sweep her off of her feet. The look she gave him as he carried her to her bathroom made it pretty clear that while she might've been surprised by his boldness, she definitely wasn't upset about it.

}o{

"When you're finished laughing, I'd like to know where you want me to put my wet towel." Chuck could hear the unamused lilt to his own voice, even over the peels of laughter coming from the gorgeous scuba instructor as she nearly collapsed to the floor upon seeing him walk out of the bathroom.

After they'd finished showering and the extracurricular activities that ended up also occurring that weren't all that related to showering, she'd wrapped herself up in a towel and left the bathroom so that he could dry off and put the clean clothes on in some peace.

The only problem was that Freddy Casual was shorter than Sarah had insinuated, and the cotton pants couldn't even be called ankle-biters. They stopped at least three inches above his ankles, even when he let them hang lower on his hips than he was usually comfortable with.

"Puberty really did you a solid," she said through laughter.

That was legitimately funny. And he couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay, okay. Good one. I went through puberty in the shower. Ha ha." He snorted and shook his head, then sent her a saucy look. "I could hit you with a comeback about what I just did to you in the shower a few minutes ago but I, uh, won't. I'll be the bigger person."

"Well, that's pretty apparent," she said, gesturing to his pants.

They both cracked up at that.

"The towel, woman," he chuckled, holding it up.

"Sorry. Yeah, um…" She sniffed and wiped her eyes, still grinning maniacally. "Just hang it over the top of the shower to let it dry."

"Gotcha." He did that and eyed himself in the mirror. The shirt was definitely a bit loose on him, in spite of the length of the pants. Either the guy was just built bigger, or he did a lot of working out. And because he was human, Chuck pinched his biceps and gave them each looks of betrayal.

He caught sight of Sarah too late, standing there in the doorway of the bathroom, a quiet but amused look on her face. "You know, Chuck, it's not the size of the muscles, it's what you can do with 'em."

Blushing, verging on mortified that she'd seen him checking out his muscles, or he supposed lack thereof, in the mirror, he tried to play it off with a shrug. "I can type code really fast."

Sarah giggled. "Cute. But I was actually referring to the way you pinned me to that shower wall for as long as you did without even breaking a sweat."

He shivered at the combination of her words and the way her fingers stroked over the nape of his neck. Chuck just barely withheld a groan at how good it felt. "The shower was on; if I did sweat, there's no way you could tell."

She cracked up and kissed his jaw, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the bathroom, flicking the light off with her other hand as they went. "Come on, I'm tired. And we are hiking tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am," he drawled in his best Texan accent.

As they crawled into bed, she reached over to turn off the lamp on her side and slid under the covers with him so that her back was flush against his chest, spooning again. She picked up his hand and pulled his arm over her body, threading their fingers together as he hugged her close, his lips pressed to the line of her hair behind her ear.

"How do you want your toast and eggs in the morning?" he asked, after half a minute of deciding whether or not he should ask it. It was half-teasing, half him trying to underscore for her just how different he was from Freddy Casual.

She was quiet for a moment, and then muttered, "Don't." He immediately felt like he'd maybe screwed up with that one, and he regretted it a whole lot. She swiveled to look at him better in the dim moonlight coming into the room through her blinds, cutting him off before he could apologize. "You don't have to do that, Chuck. I don't wanna be treated like a goddess; I just want respect."

Chuck nodded quietly. "I get it. I do respect you."

Sarah smiled up at him. "Yeah, I know. And you don't have to make me food for me to know that."

"Understood."

She furrowed her brow a bit, then turned to face him all the way. "Wait, I'm just now realizing how that sounded. I didn't mean to chastise you. I like that you wanna do things like that for me. I just mean that you don't have to for me to know you're…better."

"Than Freddy Casual? I hope so," he muttered, smirking at her snort.

"Than everyone," she said then. "Put together," she added, and she slipped her arms around his neck and cuddled so close to him, he wasn't sure there was even one part of their bodies that wasn't touching.

He didn't really know how to respond to that, but he found he didn't have to, because he felt her breathing evening out against his chest, her arms going a bit slack. And it didn't take long for him to follow her into the land of slumber.

A/N: Hiking is coming up next! Please review. Thanks.

-SC