A/N: Thanks again to everyone for reading, but especially for leaving reviews. Even if it's just a private message, it means a lot. Sure, the story stats are great when you can look and see who's eyeballing your work. As a writer, sometimes it's jaw-dropping to know how many folks read what I write. But actually hearing from folks who read my work is very inspiring. It really means so much. So thanks to those of you who do that. (You don't know just how important it is for us fic writers.) Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

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

He heard a slight fwip sound, and then a zzzzzzip and some shuffling.

Chuck was only half asleep, his brain racing too much for even the hours of hiking and the swim at the falls that day to knock him out.

He wasn't sure what time it was or how long he'd actually slept.

But he knew the sound of Sarah climbing up to her feet, slipping her boots on, and tiptoeing off somewhere. She'd set her bedroll right next to his to sleep, Liz a little further off to the other side. So he knew it was Sarah.

Was she also having a hard time sleeping, he wondered? And where was she going? Was anything wrong?

He peeked his eyes open, blinking away the sleep, and watched as the scuba instructor trudged away from their camp, pushing through the trees in the direction of the water. He just stayed where he was for a few minutes, once the sound of her footsteps faded away, and he tried to get back to sleep.

But his curiosity refused to let him find peace, on top of everything else his mind was dwelling over. Like the fact that he only had a week left on Kauai. One week. Seven days. And his whole entire soul ached to stay right where he was.

His brain had already gone through every single potential thing he could say on that last day. And then he'd thought about saying something…before that last day. An admission of his actual feelings, maybe. Like, deeper feelings than what she got him to say when they were in bed together. The kind of feelings that kept him awake, tossing and turning, on those now pretty rare occasions that he slept alone in his own bed back at his hotel suite.

Was that something he could say to her?

And not just that, but did he say it now, seven days before he was leaving to go back to LA? Or did he wait to say it and then sprint onto his plane immediately after?

Would it ruin everything if he said it now?

And then what?

God, then what?

He'd known this woman for two weeks. What was more, she'd only known him for two weeks. That was such a short amount of time. What Liz said while they sat on the embankment watching Sarah swim had jarred him a little, now that he really thought about it. Her friends, these people who'd become family of sorts for her, had noticed something in her, and Liz was clear that it was directly as a result of his appearance in her life. There was something between them that felt like it was so much more than a few weeks of fun, a whirlwind affair, or whatever someone might want to call this. It felt deep and intimate. Irreplaceable.

Like something that couldn't be recreated by any other two people ever again.

He wanted to lose himself in it even more, he wanted to know what it could be. And damn it, if they lived even on the same land mass, this wouldn't be as stressful or difficult. He could keep exploring. They could slow things down, take it easy, or dive in headfirst if they wanted to. Because there was no clock hovering there above them, the time gradually winding down.

But they didn't live on the same land mass. She lived a five hour plane ride away from him. Over miles and miles and miles of miles of ocean.

There were options for them. But were any of those options worth the struggle? He thought so. Would she if he sat her down and laid all of those options out for her? Or would it be insanely awkward because she hadn't actually considered any option besides waving him off and thanking him for the fun time?

And then that thought left him with an ache in his chest. He turned his face into his makeshift pillow and huffed in frustration at himself. And then he grabbed the zipper and pulled it down, crawling out of his bag, climbing up to his feet, and stepping into his hiking boots.

Liz was still passed out, unmoving, and he thought maybe the countless times she'd hiked, the fact that it was her whole career, had made it easy for her to just lie down and fall asleep like it was nothing, no matter where she was.

That had to be a gift.

A gift he was not blessed with.

Chuck walked in the same direction he'd seen Sarah leave in. And he discovered that he'd figured right on where she'd decided to go when he spotted her sitting on a large rock by the running water where they'd caught their dinner.

She must've heard him coming because she didn't seem shocked or even mildly surprised by him stepping up next to where she sat. Instead, she just smiled a little, staring out over the water. The sun was just slightly starting to come up…somewhere. He'd lost his sense of which direction was which, admittedly. But the sky was now a deep navy blue instead of an inky black. And he could see the shadows of everything a bit more clearly.

"Did I wake you up by sneaking down here?" she asked.

"No. Not at all," he said. "But I couldn't sleep and I heard your leave, so I thought I'd just walk down here and see if, um, if you were okay, or…something. I dunno." He shifted his weight a little in discomfort suddenly. "Was this an attempt at peace and alone time? It just occurred to me right now that this might've been an attempt at peace and alone time while Liz and I were sleeping…"

She finally looked away from the water, sending him a furrowed brow and pursed lips, then she scooted over and patted the rock she sat on wordlessly. He climbed onto it and sat close beside her. And he welcomed her warm body cuddling up against his. There was a chill up here in the Kauai mountains, especially at night. At least his clothes were dry.

Chuck pulled her in close and even let her sling her legs over his, hugging him tight with her face pressed into the crook of his neck. "You okay?" he asked again. It almost felt like something someone seeking comfort would do.

"Mmm. Yes. This is just comfortable. And I love being comfortable."

He chuckled. "Fair enough. I'm enjoying it quite a bit so feel free to get as comfortable as you want."

"Mmm. Nah. If I get any more comfortable, we'll end up waking Liz up and she'll really have something to tell Gina when we get home later today."

He choked a bit and pulled back to give her a wide-eyed look. "Jesus Christ, Sarah. The things you say sometimes."

She giggled, her voice dripping in honey. "Sometimes it's just to see how you react, if I'm being honest. But mostly, it's really easy to get a little addicted to that part of…this. The physical part I mean. Of…this."

"You keep pausing before you say…this," he said, pausing as well.

"Noticed that, did ya?" Her voice was quiet, but he heard some humor in it.

"Mm, I did."

"…So anyway—"

They both chuckled, and he reveled in this moment, even if it was a little awkward—or at least the implications of the subject were awkward—but he reveled anyway because they were both on the same page, both aware, and both of them were willing to at least acknowledge it to one another and chuckle about it.

It felt good to share moments like this with Sarah, even if he wasn't quite sure how the conversation would go. Or should go.

"You gonna try to tell me you are comfortable giving what we're doing here a better label than that?" she asked then when their chuckles subsided.

He huffed and shook his head. "Nope. We'd both know I'd be lying if I even tried. And I respect you too much to lie to you." She was silent for a few moments, and it was too dark still to really see her face if he tried, but she was also leaning her head on his shoulder and he'd have to really crane his neck. He was too tired to do that. Instead, he teased, "Watch. Ask me something personal, something super controversial. I'll tell you the truth. I swear."

Sarah giggled. "Um, now that I'm asked to come up with something point blank, I can't think of anything."

"Oh, come onnn," he drawled, squeezing her teasingly. "I'm opening the floor to literally any question you wanna ask about me."

"Fine. When'd you lose your virginity?"

Chuck nearly fell right off the rock, making her laugh as he pulled back and gaped at her. "Right for the jugular, Scuba Sarah, wow." She shrugged smugly, her arms still wrapped around him, and he pulled her in even closer and shook his head. "Okay. All right, fine. Truth?" He winced. "God damn. Okay. Okay, okay. Okay, fine. Truth. The truth."

She just watched expectantly as he searched for some way to get out of it, and then she finally chuckled and shook her head. "I'm teasing you, Chuck. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I dug myself this hole and now I have to follow through. I'm a man of honor." She snorted and giggled. "About two weeks ago—" She cut him off with a laugh, smacking his shoulder. He winced and chuckled. "Just kidding, I was twenty. When I lost my virginity. Ugh, crap. God, I just said that out loud. I've never told anybody that. Wow. Wow, I feel a little dizzy. I'm dizzy now. That was whiplashish."

Sarah was grinning at him though, and then she leaned up to press her lips to his, effectively shutting him up, and when she pulled back, he didn't feel quite as embarrassed as he'd been. He was still pretty embarrassed about it. "Twenty, huh?"

"I know. It's late. I can't help it. I was busy with other stuff. Okay, fine. I'll be honest, I could not seal the deal with girls I dated, or women. And my first, like, actual girlfriend wasn't until college. So. There. There you are. Twenty. Told you I respect you too much to lie to you, now please don't laugh at me."

She glared a little. "Did I laugh at you yet? Honestly, you need to stop crapping on yourself, Chuck. That isn't that late. I think pop culture and society tortures young people with these expectations of when you're supposed to lose your virginity blah blah blah who gives a fuck? You lost it when you were ready."

He chuckled. "You're being very kind and I appreciate you. And you're totally right about all of that except for the part that I lost it when I was ready. I was ready at fourteen. Women just told me no until I was twenty." They chuckled together. "Which is fine. I've got no beef with any of them."

"I was eighteen." Chuck gave her a bit of a wide-eyed look. "Well, damn," she groused, "you don't have to look so surprised. I might've jumped you the first day I met you but that isn't, like, my MO. Damn, Curls."

He backtracked quickly. "No, no. I'm not—That's not—The surprise wasn't about your age, it's that—I just wasn't expecting you to reciprocate. I mean, I didn't expect you to answer it too, that's all."

"Mmmhm," she teased, smirking with a dubious look on her face. "Anyway, that's only two years earlier than you, so don't be so ashamed of yourself. At least not with me."

He held his hands up. "You're right. This has been a good, if super awkward, talk."

She laughed. "Well, you've proven your point. You really do respect me too much to lie to me. But I already knew that." Slipping her hand around the nape of his neck, she gently guided his face down to hers and she kissed him again, only this time she opened her mouth against his almost immediately.

Chuck sighed happily and cupped her face, kissing her harder. And when they finally pulled back for air, she breathed, "It's why I like you so much."

"Do you?" He made a thoughtful face, the halo practically shining over his head of dark curls. "How much would you sa—mmmmmppphh?"

She cut him off with a grin and an even more passionate kiss, and she shifted her legs, scrambling, a bit awkwardly and without her usual grace, to move so that she was straddling him. As they lost themselves in the kiss, he felt her wrap her legs around his waist and sit all her weight in his lap, her arms around his neck, pulling him in as close as possible.

They stayed that way for a long time, making out by the narrow creek, not paying any mind to the ever-slowly lightening world around them, both of them allowing themselves to enjoy the pure intimacy of the moment, the heat and electricity that flowed between them so effortlessly.

}o{

"So, uh…you two seem to be draggin' today. Anything you want to tell your ol' hiking guide?"

Chuck kept his eyes on the backs of Liz's boots as he followed behind her and decided to keep his mouth solidly shut.

"It's hard to sleep on the fuckin' ground?" Sarah spoke up from behind him, her voice dry with sarcasm.

He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, but still, he had to send her an amused look over his shoulder, to which he received an arched eyebrow and a bit of a smirk.

"Oh, okay. Okay, fine. We'll just go with that. I get the message," Liz joked with them, and she turned her head just enough that Chuck could see the wild grin tugging at her lips. "Anyway, there's one last swing I wanna make to show you this special thing."

"What special thing?" Chuck asked her, trying to focus on speeding up his step a bit to stop giving Liz the impression that he and Sarah had done anything besides sleeping last night. The fact was, they'd wandered off, away from the river, to find a spot where they could at least sort of see the sun rising in spite of the trees blocking a lot of the view. And then they'd snuck back down to their bedrolls to climb into their bags and sleep for an hour or two before Liz nudged them awake with her boots and fed them their breakfast and coffee.

It had been worth the heaviness he felt in his legs now, and the extra weight in his eyelids. They'd even crossed paths with a wild deer and her fawn on their way back, having to hide behind a tree until the animals moved on, not wanting to disturb or scare them. It was one of the most gorgeous and majestic things he'd ever seen in his life. And he'd spent the rest of the trip back to their campsite walking in a numb daze, Sarah guiding him by holding onto his hand, giggling at him for being so awestruck.

"You'll know when you know," Liz chirped in response.

"Oh, cool. That wasn't vague at all."

She stuck her tongue out over her shoulder.

"Oh, sticking your tongue out? Mature," Chuck laughed.

"Hey! Do I have to turn this hike around?" Sarah asked from behind him, and he felt her hands clamp down on his shoulders, giving him a teasing tug. He shrugged out of her grip, spun on his heel, and lunged for her, making her cry out and laugh as he tried to grab at her arms. She blocked his hands away expertly, cracking up. A flock of birds burst up from the trees above them and into the sky.

"Sorry, 'i'iwi birds!" Liz called up to the bright orange birds. "My friends here are disruptive children!"

Sarah knelt and scooped up a handful of leaves, tossing them at Liz. They hit the side of her face with a fwoof.

Liz spun, her jaw falling open. All three of them looked between one another, and the leaf war began. Just like that. Chuck grabbed two handfuls and threw one at Sarah, the other at Liz.

But Sarah eventually cheated, diving behind him and holding onto the pack he wore, cowering behind him.

"Are you using me as a shield? Coward!" he laughed over his shoulder, getting pelted with leaves by Liz.

"You aren't my shield! I'm giving Liz a target!"

"Man versus women!" Liz called. "You're outnumbered, ya punk!"

"You both suck!"

Sarah shoved a handful of leaves down the back of his shirt and he screeched, pulling away from her and hopping up and down, doing a stomping dance, shrugging his pack off and flapping at the back of his shirt to get them out as Liz and Sarah laughed so hard they were hunched over.

"He's a maaaniac, maaaaaaaniac!" Liz sang even as she cracked up. He stopped doing the stomping dance and just gave her a flat look, then burst into laughter himself.

"Oh, I got that reference," Sarah chuckled, pointing at Liz.

"Yeah, right. Sarah wishes I'd do Flashdance," Chuck drawled, swinging his pack onto his shoulders again and sending her a toothy grin. Sarah just gaped, narrowing her eyes at him as he took the lead down the path again.

"He got ya there, Sar," Liz said, laughing and walking after him.

"Yeah, okay, I won't deny it."

"Gina took some type of modern dance class last year. She's got a leotard you can borrow, my dude."

"Oh, thanks!" Chuck called back as Sarah giggled.

"I'd sell a few organs to see that."

"I'd sell my soul to Satan," Liz piped up.

"Eh, I've already done that," Chuck responded, carefully picking his way down a part of the path that was littered with twigs and rocks. "It's not as awful as it sounds."

"Sold your soul to Satan?" the redhead asked. "For what?"

"How do you think I ended up in this situation?" He got to the bottom of the sloping path and turned to face them as they similarly picked their careful steps down towards him. He held his arms out like duh.

Sarah met his eyes over Liz's head and she smiled. It was soft and warm and amused all at once.

"Awww you're a real sweetheart, Chuckles. Wow." Liz's hand landed in his curls and she ruffled them. "You cutie."

She continued past him and Sarah sidled up to his front, slipping her hands around to cup his jaw and pushing onto her tiptoes to give him a warm and adamant kiss. When she pulled back, she gave him a small smile. "You are a sweetheart."

And then she gave his cheek a flirtatious slap with her palm, winked, and strutted away from him to follow Liz.

His grin took up his whole face, he was sure.

There was a skip in his step as they finally swung around a curve in the trail to see what Liz had been wanting to show them.

The water they'd fished in the night before had wrapped back around and was spilling down over rocks towards them. A morning fog wafted through the trees and gave the place a fantasy novel feel.

All three of them quieted down and just watched the water trickle down the hill through the fog, accompanied by the call of the birds overhead and the comforting music of water running over rocks and twigs.

Chuck shoved his hands in his pockets and just watched and listened. He could almost picture a woman stepping out of the fog with long flowing hair to her hips, a long white gown with mud dirtying the hem. She would make a graceful, haunting gesture with her arms, her fingers sweeping through the air as she muttered some sort of incantation.

Or maybe an insanely white horse with a long mane might step out from the island mist and just stare majestically down at him. Like the Neverending Story or something.

"Thought the fog'd be here," Liz said quietly. "Score."

"This is incredibly peaceful," Sarah breathed, and Chuck felt her shoulder lean into his arm, her cheek resting on his own shoulder.

"Straight out of a fantasy novel," he said out loud.

"Dweeb," Liz muttered.

"Hey."

"I'm just messin' with ya. I love me some Robert Jordan too, not gonna lie."

Chuck gasped and stared at Liz. "God, you're so cool."

"Well," she chuckled, giving a modest shrug, waving her hand through the air. "I mean, I'm all right."

Chuck and Sarah both chuckled at her response.

And they just stood in silence and marveled some more, for a while really. Chuck felt Sarah's fingers slip into his and they quietly just held on. He didn't let his brain invade the moment, the peaceful scenery, the mist gracing his face.

He had no choice but to just enjoy.

}o{

Chuck swung himself out from the back of Liz's Jeep, landing cleanly on both feet and leaving his pack in the back of the Jeep like she'd instructed.

"Hey, Liz…Listen, this was…I mean, God, how do I even thank you? Doing this for me and not charging me?"

"Oh, you were charged," she said without missing a beat. "You have to hang out with Sarah Walker over there. You owe me nothing, ya poor kid."

"Shut your trap, ginger," Sarah said with a laugh as she climbed out from the passenger seat.

Liz hopped down right into Chuck's arms and hugged him tightly, then gave him another ruffle of his hair. "This was so much fun, Curly Top. Honestly, you're a gem." When she pulled back, she nudged his arm. "Thanks for being such a trooper, man. This, uh, this isn't gonna be the last time I see ya before you go, is it?" she asked then, stepped back to the Jeep.

"I hope not. I leave in a week. I'll see you again, I'm sure."

"You better. Come back to the Shack when I'm there, huh?" And she hugged Sarah too as she swung around the front of the car to join them. "Just, like, telepathically figure out when I'll be there and come see me."

Her grin was wild as she hoisted herself back into the Jeep, gave them a hang-ten gesture, and roared away from them with a foot slamming onto the gas pedal.

"She drives only a little bit better than you do," Chuck muttered as Sarah stepped up next to him, both of them watching Liz tear out of the hotel parking lot towards the front road.

Sarah knuckled his shoulder and he hopped away with an "ow!", laughing.

He walked her to her car and she leaned back against the driver's side door, smiling up at him happily. "So?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"So. I need a shower. And a long nap." She smirked at that. "I barely slept last night and I was trying not to give Liz the satisfaction of seeing how much I was actually dragging my feet."

Sarah snorted. "Ditto. The woman sees everything."

"Also, she is way too eager to talk about other people's sex lives."

She winced a little. "Oh, God. No. Did she overdo it?" she asked tentatively.

Chuck thrust his hand out between them, palm down. "No, no. No. She was okay. I was just teasing. I mean, she did tell me to live a little and have lots of sex, but it was mostly funny. A little awkward….granted." Sarah winced again and shook her head, looking embarrassed. "I gotta say, she's…right."

Sarah's blue eyes lit up in mischief, and she pursed her lips flirtatiously. "Is that your way of asking me up to your suite for super tired, sloppy sex?"

He laughed loudly, letting his head fall back. And when he looked back down at her, she looked very pleased with herself.

"No. I mean, if you want to, I'll do my best."

She snorted, and he thought there was a hint of a blush on her cheeks as she ducked her head. "I'd love to normally. But…I probably shouldn't. I mean, I should get back home and shower and take a nap. I've got an early morning dive tomorrow and I'm not gonna be getting anyone to cover that one for me." He smiled and nodded his assent. She looked like she was deciding still as she nibbled on her bottom lip. "Gah, if I go up there right now, it's gonna be harder and harder to get myself back down to this car to go home."

Chuck felt something blossoming in his heart as he met her long gaze. It was more than just warmth. And it spread everywhere in him. "I know the feeling. I'm glad I'm not the only one."

"You definitely aren't," she said immediately, reaching up to twist her fists in his collar and pulling him down for a long, passionate kiss. He leaned his palms on her car and pinned her a bit, kissing her back.

They eventually needed air and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly. He squeezed her just as tightly and then she stepped back, hopping into her car.

He saw her off with a "drive safe" and watched her leave, waving after her. And then he walked inside, took the elevator to his floor, hobbled into his suite, went straight for the shower, and promptly fell onto the bed in nothing but clean boxers, his hair still damp. The moment his body hit the bed, he was asleep, a massive smile still on his face.

}o{

His belly full, a Longboard beer in hand, Chuck hoisted himself up to sit on the side railing of his balcony and leaned back against the wall, watching the luau happening down below in the pool area. It was like the hurricane hadn't even happened a few days ago. A clean-up crew had made quick work of the hotel's grounds, picking up the debris, replacing the smashed foliage and plants, the flowers looking just like they had before umbrella stands from the pool deck hadn't been picked up and dropped on them by the terrifying winds. The pool was clean and sparkling with lights that flashed and ebbed in time with the music as the hula dancers moved their hips on the stage set up in front of the guests.

It was quite the spectacle, but he hadn't felt all that social tonight for whatever reason, so he'd opted not to go down and enjoy the complimentary pork dinner, the drinks, and the entertainment the way other guests had.

And it wasn't that he was in any particular sort of bad mood, but the idea of having a bit of solitude, some time to himself, and just watching the party from above, had seemed a lot more inviting than being down below with everyone. He could watch and enjoy, but still be separate from it. After the hurricane, the luau below seemed to take on an extra meaning. People were cheering, laughing…happy. Relieved maybe. The hotel staff, the entertainers, the guests, everyone.

It made him grin to himself to see. They'd all gone through something together. There was some solidarity to the moment. And even from way up on his own floor, sitting on his own balcony, he felt he was a part of that solidarity. Everyone on the islands was a part of it.

There had been a lot of damage done to the islands, to people's homes, to their lands. But so far no deaths were reported, according to the local news. Not on Kauai, and not on any other islands. It was a bit of a miracle considering how terrifying that hurricane had been.

As he sat peacefully in the humid night air, Chuck thought this was kind of the perfect way to end the first day of the last week he'd be here in Hawaii. He knew he had just over six days left on the island.

He'd spent the whole day at the beach, alone, just walking along the shore, having drinks at the different cabanas on the beach, walking through the small marketplace, and meeting people as he bought and ate their food. He bought a few gifts for his family and friends. He'd need to buy another suitcase just for the souvenirs he was bringing back for everyone else, and while he knew it was bad practice for him to buy gifts for employees, he couldn't help at least getting something for his assistant and a few of the managers. He also spent a lot of time today buying a painting and taking a Lyft to the post office so that he could safely ship the painting straight to BarTech's headquarters in Los Angeles. They would be getting a surprise package in a few days and he hoped that would improve their enthusiasm about their jobs while their boss was off on vacation.

He couldn't deny that he was feeling some guilt still about the way he'd just abandoned his company for a whole month. But he'd been losing his footing, making mistakes, and according to his assistant, he was more trouble than he was worth. Ellie had also called him "snippy" one night. And literally everyone in his life had pushed him to take a break. In fact, his employees had almost shoved him out the door.

He'd called to check on how things were going, and he'd even forced his production manager to send a run-down of how the projects were coming along so that he could at least sort of participate. She'd even sent him a few snags they'd run into, insisting they'd clear them up and that he needed to just enjoy his vacation.

He'd sent her ideas for fixes anyway and got a text with an unamused face emoji in response. He couldn't help it. It was his business, his company. And whether he was on a much-needed vacation or not, he was going to look out for his employees. They worked hard for him, and they worked hard for BarTech. He wasn't letting them down.

And then there was the fact that he hadn't spoken to Sarah since she climbed into her convertible early last evening and drove off into the night. She'd said she had an early dive the next morning, and he'd found himself waking up wondering how it was going. As much as he wasn't necessarily ready to go under again, part of him wanted to be on the boat anyway. He'd probably follow her into the Mariana Trench as long as she held his hand through it.

It probably wasn't super healthy to think of the implications of that right then, though, so he took a long swig of his beer and focused on the luau below again.

But Sarah still invaded his focus.

Or maybe invaded was the wrong word, making her sound like the freaking Crusades. She floated into his focus gracefully. She gifted him with her presence in his thoughts. She blessed his brain.

How many of these beers had he had? Just the one, right? Had he slept enough? Maybe that was it. His body was still sore from the hike, and maybe that didn't say much about the shape he was in physically. It had required him to use muscles he hadn't used in a while. Two full days of hiking up a mountain and then back down it… He hurt.

It was mostly gone now. But there were literally muscles in his ass that were still aching from that climb.

And he wondered if he should have sent Sarah a text joking about that. About aching ass muscles.

She'd find that pretty funny, he imagined. She had a fantastic sense of humor. And he noticed she didn't shy away from the raunchy humor herself here and there. Sometimes he wondered if she set out to make him blush. He knew she did it on purpose, actually. She made it pretty clear.

But his phone was all the way in his pocket, and he had second thoughts about contacting her at the moment. How long had her dive gone on today? Had they taken the boat out further than she and Alexei had taken the boat he'd been on sixteen days ago? Was she back before dark? It was dark now, nearing nine o'clock. He imagined she was back home after a full day's work. In the bath maybe, or watching TV.

Chuck felt stupid, but he had moments today when he'd missed her, even while he knew it was important that he had a whole day to himself during this vacation. Sure, the whole first week he'd been in Kauai, he'd been alone. He'd spent his vacation alone until the scuba instructor went above and beyond what she was paid for to take a traumatized guy with PTSD into her care to show him, well, at the risk of sounding like a sappy Disney song lyric, a whole new world.

But a voice in his head, the voice he'd learned to trust as his most realistic, pragmatic voice, was telling him to try not to get too dependent on having her there with him every day. Even as the time he had left here dwindled. Because leaving her behind and going back to his life in LA would be that much harder.

Somehow, no other voices in his head were telling him that it was already too late. That he already was a little dependent. Hence why he thought about her more than a handful of times today, even as he'd enjoyed himself. It really had been a lovely day.

It was just that it might've been lovelier with a certain blonde at his side.

Damn.

He kept his phone in his pocket, deciding to keep the aching ass muscles quip to himself. Maybe she freaking needed a day too. That was something he hadn't thought 'til now. He'd forced himself into nearly every single one of her days, especially her days off, which was a little unfair, wasn't it?

Sure, he wasn't so lacking in self-esteem that he thought she wasn't enjoying the time they spent together. She liked him a lot. He felt it. He saw it in her face. And he could admit to himself that it felt really good to be around someone who liked him in that way. It was good for his ego.

But did she want him around that much? He wasn't so sure. She seemed to be sort of a solitary kind of person. Someone who liked their alone time, liked their privacy.

Besides the entitled prick whose clothes he'd worn the other night, according to her coworkers Sarah didn't let a lot of people inside of her home. She didn't talk a lot about her private life. He didn't think her best friends on this island, the Scuba Shack crew, knew about that episode with the entitled prick. At least, Gina seemed to be sure Chuck was the first guy who'd been let into her home.

And here he was trailing around the island behind her like a puppy trotting after its favorite human. On her days off, in her downtime, there he was. During the hurricane even, there he was, taking refuge in her house. Showing up at her place of work.

He didn't think she minded it. Sometimes she even invited him.

But he still felt a bit uneasy as he wondered if she needed her own time here and there.

So the phone stayed in the pocket, and he just smiled down at the party.

It was around nine-thirty or so when he heard a distant knock inside of the suite. Knowing he hadn't ordered anything, but aware of the hotel policy of sending staff to check on the guests to make sure everyone was one, accounted for, and two, not too rattled still from the hurricane a few days earlier (a smart bit of customer service as far as he was concerned), Chuck slid down off the railing and strolled through his suite to answer the door.

He opened it up with a polite smile on his face, ready to assure whomever they'd sent up to his room that he wouldn't be giving the hotel a bad Yelp review, that the service had been impeccable, and that he'd felt very safe in the hotel…

But the polite smile faltered, and just as quickly became a beaming grin.

"Now what on Earth did I do to deserve the hotel sending someone up here to my room who's as pretty as you are?" he asked.

Sarah made a face. "Eh. That gets a six out of ten, Curls. At best a seven."

He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "Too corny."

"Pretty corny, yeah. Maybe an eight, but only because you're really cute."

She finally beamed right back at him.

And he felt a weight lift off of him as he opened his door wider and gestured for her to come inside with a teasingly formal bow at the waist, her giggle making him feel like he was even floating a little as she swept inside and he shut the door behind her.

Here he'd been sitting out there stressing over the fact that he was pushing himself onto Sarah too much, that he was pilfering too much of her free time, that maybe she'd like some damn time to herself here and there.

And she just showed up at his door, unprompted, uninvited, not seeming to care one bit about filling his free time with her presence.

Chuck Bartowski was so glad he felt a little dizzy from it.

"Hi," she drawled, turning on her heel to face him. She was wearing a navy blue sundress that swished around her knees as she turned, her hair loose and falling down over her shoulders in waves. She didn't look nearly as tired as he was. But then, of course not. She was the fittest person he'd ever met in his life. Her muscles had muscles. And she had lungs made out of titanium. And she could easily kick his ass if she wanted to, and he was a little messed up in the head for being as turned on by that imagery as he was.

"…Chuck?"

His eyes flicked back up to her face and he shook himself, clearing his throat. "Yes. Hi. You're here. And I'm here. And I'm paying attention to you."

She snorted, her blue eyes sparkling in a certain way. "I can see that."

In spite of her flirtatious tone, he still felt a bit contrite. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. You're beautiful." Warmth came over her features at that, and he went even further because he wanted more of it. "And there's something about not seeing you for a full twenty-four hours that makes it so that seeing you again is like getting a punch directly to my face." She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, pressing her lips together, and he blinked. "In a good way. A very good way."

Sarah laughed, her shoulders bouncing, and she swung the tote off of her shoulder, setting it to the side on the floor, and closing the distance to wrap her arms around his torso.

He didn't waste any time wrapping her up in his embrace and holding her tightly. Her face pressed into his shoulder and she sighed, shifting to nuzzle her face into his neck and squeezing him. Dropping his lips to her hair, he just hugged her back.

"I'm gonna say something crazy right now," she muttered, her lips brushing against his neck in a way that made him shiver.

"Lay it on me."

"I missed you today. It was just one day of work and some clean-up at the Shack, and I missed you. One freaking day."

He grinned and shut his eyes, but opened them again when she pulled back a little to tilt her head back and peer up at him with a shy smile on her face.

"Crazy, right?"

"Sarah. If that's crazy, by all means, embrace it. Embrace the crazy. You can talk crazy to me anytime you want to."

She giggled and shook her head. "You. Are. So. Corny." And then she slipped her hands up into his hair and gave his curls a tug in a way that sent an electric shock through his whole body. "I like it so much. A surprising amount, actually."

"I am super surprised as well, I'll be honest."

They chuckled together, and then he cut in, "I missed you too. And honestly, I was just sitting around thinking I was a little crazy for it, so I guess we can be crazy together."

She raised her eyebrows. "Were you?"

"Mmmhm."

"Wow. Well. There isn't any other way I'd want to spend my night than to be crazy together with you."

"Oh, I'm corny?" he groused, laughing teasingly. She gave him a swat, pushing herself out of his embrace as she cracked up. "I'm the corny one when you lay a line like that on me. Okay, damn."

"Shut up. I'm just trying to get in on the trend, so sue me."

"Follower."

She laughed harder and gave him a one-handed shove.

Just then there was a loud cheer from outside of the doors that led onto the balcony. Sarah turned to glance over her shoulder, and then she looked back at him with a curious arch of her brow.

"There's a luau going on down there."

Smiling, she backed through the room towards the balcony. "You aren't down there with them? Why not?"

"Eh," he shrugged, following after her and shoving his hands in his pockets. "I've already done the whole luau thing twice since I got here. Don't get me wrong, they're great!" he rushed when she gave him an amused eyebrow raise, still making her way towards the balcony doors. "Super fun. I'm just…" He searched for the words.

"Luau'd out?" she asked, finally stepping out onto the balcony and leaning her elbows on the railing to look down at the other guests drinking and enjoying their food. "It looks like a pretty great one."

"It does." He slid in next to her and leaned over the railing to watch the party. "But I just felt like staying up here alone. Creeping on 'em from my lofty suite."

She laughed and bumped him with her shoulder. Then a look came over her face and she turned to stare at him for a long moment. "You wanted to be alone, huh? And then here I come out of the blue knocking on your door." She winced.

Chuck rushed to reassure her. "No, no, no. Hey. No. I'm super happy to see you. I'm glad you came. Just because I don't wanna socialize with those people, doesn't mean I don't wanna socialize with you."

"Oh, really?" She smirked.

"Yeah. Really."

"What makes me so special?" she teased.

Chuck's response was immediate as he glanced at his watch. "How long have you got, because this is gonna take a while…"

She almost froze a little, and then she slowly turned to look at him in the moonlight, biting her lip. "Ten out of ten, Chuck." And without missing a beat, she gracefully slid in against him, cupped his jaw in one hand, and kissed him.

He melted into her and she must've felt it because she giggled into the kiss and held him tighter, slinging her free arm around his neck. When the kiss broke a few minutes later, there was another eruption of applause down below.

Sarah turned her head towards the hubbub just so and chirped, "Thank you", down at them, making Chuck break into a fit of giggles at how dorky and cute it was that she did that, and with such genius comedic timing. She gave him one of those knee-weakening grins and slid her hand from his jaw into his hair. Then she gave his chin a slow, open-mouthed kiss, and he found himself wanting to drag her right into the bedroom.

She pulled his head down so that their foreheads were pressed together and she just held his face, their noses brushing. The breeze wafted past them and her hair tickled his chin. He ignored it, just looking into her eyes.

Sarah made a quiet growling sound through a clenched jaw then. He couldn't quite figure out if it was frustration or need or both. "How many days do you have left?" she asked, nuzzling his nose and biting her lip.

"Six," he said.

She took a deep breath and he couldn't read the look on her face. "Six starting tomorrow?"

"Yes. Starting tomorrow."

"Does that include the day you leave?" He shook his head no and she nodded.

She still had that look on her face as she pulled back just a little and glanced off to the side, her gaze resting on the ocean.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"Hm." She looked back at him innocently.

Chuck lowered his chin and gave her a flat look, but the innocence didn't leave her beautiful features.

"What?" she parroted, shrugging.

"That look. What's that look?"

"It's nothing." She paused, pursing her lips, and that shy look was back. "I guess I'm just trying to decide if I should say what's in my head right now…"

He stared at her for a moment, then narrowed his eyes when she didn't seem like she meant to continue. "Well, you can't just say that and then not tell me what's in your head right now."

The look she gave him was ridiculously cute. "I mean…I can."

The chuckle bubbled up from inside of him. "Okay, you can, but that would be…exceptionally cruel." He hit her with his best pout.

Sarah then got an aching look on her face. "Oh, God, that's ridiculously adorable. I'm torn between telling you to never do it again and telling you to never stop."

"If I had a dime for every time a woman said that to me…"

"Don't."

"…in bed."

"God damn it." She laughed, throwing her head back. "I walked right into that."

"You did. But don't think I don't see how clever you're being, changing the subject. What'd you just have in your head? Tell me."

She glared, having been caught. And then she sighed and stroked her hands down his arms and back up again to his shoulders. He noticed she stared at his chest instead of meeting his eyes as she spoke. "I was just thinking about how badly I want to spend every single day you're still here with you." She bit her lip shyly, still not lifting her gaze. He was awash with emotions, unsure of how to respond to that. "It's why I took a shower when I got home from today's dive, ate dinner, and promptly climbed into my car to come here and see you tonight."

Sarah's eyes finally lifted to meet his and she sighed. He wondered if she had more to say but just didn't know how to say it.

He finally found his own voice. "I don't think that's a terrible idea." She raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I mean, I'd love it if I could spend the next week of my time here with you. I'd just…" He paused, thoughtfully.

"What?" she prompted when he couldn't figure out how to finish that.

"Well, I don't think I'd have the guts to ask you to do that. I mean, to…impose on you like that. To expect anything from you, let alone that much."

"It isn't imposing if I want it, Chuck," she rushed out, and he loved the way she twisted her fist in his shirt sleeve.

God, he still didn't know if this changed anything, if this even…meant something. He had no idea. And he didn't much care as he dove in to kiss her hard. She kissed him back just as hard, and in a mimicry of that first night he'd brought her up here to his suite, they stumbled away from the balcony, through the suite, and didn't stop until they arrived at his bed.

Their outer garments ended up in a pile beside the bed, and the rest were kicked down under the covers once they'd climbed inside. The sounds of the luau below were drowned out by the sounds they made as she pinned him to the mattress and made love to him.

His brain quieted down too and he let himself get lost, relinquishing control to her for a long while and just enjoying.

A/N: Thanks for reading! More coming at some point. In the meantime, check out "Chuck Versus the Rewrite" or some of the other stories I'm working on.

-SC