Spying in Chocolate

By SarahsSupplyCloset

Author's Note: Thank you for reading and for your reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck and I'm not making money.

His sister's hand fell on his shoulder. "Hey. You're fidgeting, like, a lot," she said in her signature wry tone.

He cleared his throat as he pulled the car into the parking lot. "No, I'm not. I'm not fidgeting. I'm fine. I'm good."

"Okay, sure. But I have a question."

"Ask away."

"Why are you so nervous today? We're going to your FRIEND'S chocolate shop to help her clean up the place. It's not like this is some life-altering coronation ball or something crazy like that. Just a couple of people cleaning up a shop, mopping floors, shining appliances, whatever else we're gonna be doing. And you're, like, sweating."

"I'm not sweating."

"Sure you aren't, Pit Stains," Morgan piped up from the back seat.

"No offense, but shut the hell up, Morgs."

"Hey!"

Chuck groaned. "Can I not get the 5th degree from the both of you right now? We're here. We're parking. We're about to go in."

"I'm just trying to set you at ease, Chuck!" Ellie tried.

"Yeah, we're just trying to—"

"No, he's right, Morgan, shut the hell up," Ellie drawled over her shoulder.

"Geez."

"I'm fine, Ellie. I'm not—I don't need to be set at ease. Or whatever. I'm fine. Ready to get to work." He pulled the car into a spot near Sarah's shop, taking deep breaths through his nose.

He was lying to both of them.

He was freaked the hell out, which was why he'd offered to drive, to put his mind on something else, to give himself another thing to focus on besides the fact that the girl he wanted to ask out for the last month and a half, the girl he had absolute and definite feelings for, was about to meet his sister for the first time.

After all of the food of Ellie's that Sarah'd already eaten, thanks to his leftover lunches he enjoyed with her in her ever-expanding shop kitchen, the stories Sarah had heard about his sister, and after the handful of conversations Chuck had about Sarah with Ellie, some of them deeper than others, the two were about to meet.

He still had the conversation he and Ellie'd had a few days ago wedged in his mind like it was yesterday.

$…$ PAST $…$

"I don't get this whole thing you've got going on with this girl, Chuck."

Chuck sighed and draped the towel he was using to dry the dishes over his shoulder, leaning his hip against the counter. "I don't even get it, El. All I know is that it feels really good. I like being around her. That's all I need to know right now."

She rolled her eyes. "All you have to do is ask her out on a date, and then maybe you'll know a little more. Pretty simple."

"Oh, yeah." He scoffed. "Really simple. Ask an insanely talented, beautiful, sweet, funny, hardworking, extra cool woman out on a date. Maybe if I looked like a Hemsworth brother and had lots of charm and money and actually had some direction in my life, it'd be REALLY SIMPLE, but alas, Ellie, I'm me, and she's she. Which is so far above me in every possible way."

"That's such trash. You're talking trash, Chuck. Why do you think she spends time with you?"

"We're friends," he said with a shrug.

"You told me she gave you her phone number!"

That's right. He had told her that. Damn it. "Yeah, but that was, I dunno, a fluke."

"Oh my God, you idiot. I love you, but that's just plain idiotic. She gave you her phone number, and you didn't call her, and somehow she still wants to be around you in spite of your spineless cowardice."

"Ouch, El."

"Is that not obvious enough that she likes you a whole lot?"

"Sure, we're friends." He tried to change the subject a bit. "By the way, she let me try this new chocolate she invented. It's darker than milk chocolate, but it has an almost lavender aftertaste, and a hint of lemon too. Just really light and refreshing. You'd love it, El."

"Hold on…"

"I mean, the best chocolate I've ever tasted. She's incredible at this. I foresee her shop is gonna be a big deal in the greater LA area."

"Wait…"

He continued on, ignoring her as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Remember that time we went up to Ghirardelli's in San Francisco when we were really little? With mom and dad?" She was quiet then, her eyes downcast as she turned off the water and stole his towel to dry her hands, nodding. "The taste of that chocolate stuck with me for my whole freaking life. What she's let me taste so far has been 100 times better than that, El. And I mean that. I don't say it lightly."

Ellie gaped at him, and then she clicked her mouth shut. He knew by the look in her face that she'd be voicing what he'd been trying to talk over the last 20 seconds of this conversation. "So this woman is taking you into her shop with her and letting you eat her chocolate for free before her shop even opens?" She gave him a blank look. "And you think she's gonna do that for JUST A FRIEND, huh? Great. And you're supposed to be the genius in this family."

$…$ PRESENT $…$

Now Ellie was about to meet Sarah, and he couldn't help being really nervous about it. Not that he thought they'd hate each other. But he could just picture Ellie giving him one of her looks that Sarah might catch and understand. It'd be so embarrassing. Or maybe Ellie would slip and say something.

Maybe Sarah would say something.

Maybe Morgan would, he didn't know, explode or something.

At least Morgan had met Sarah. And that was part of the problem, since Morgan enjoyed giving his input on the Sarah situation to Ellie, exacerbating Ellie's perception of his friendship with Sarah.

In so many ways, this could be a catastrophe.

He was so nervous.

"Okay, everyone's going to behave, right?" he asked.

"Hey, we offered to help your girlfriend with her shop, and Devon would be here too if he didn't have a shift, so maybe be grateful instead of doing the 'you better behave' crap." Ellie gave him a look and unbuckled her seatbelt, getting out of the passenger side of her SUV.

"She has a point, pal." Morgan clapped him on the shoulder once and then followed.

As they each shut their doors, leaving Chuck inside of the vehicle alone, he muttered to himself, "This is gonna be great."

They walked up to the shop just as the door opened, and Sarah appeared, backing out of the door, carrying a heavy-looking box. Ellie rushed to grab the door and hold it for her as Sarah gasped, apparently not having heard or seen their approach. Before the box could slip out of her arms, Chuck lunged and grabbed it, steadying it for her.

She lifted her surprised blue eyes up to meet his gaze and grinned, blowing some of her hair out of her face. "Oh, I didn't see you guys there. Hi."

"Hey. Sorry. We'll announce ourselves with some trumpets or something next time." He grinned back, then helped her carry the box to the sidewalk outside of the shop, setting it down and taking the brunt of the weight as he did so.

As he stood to his full height in front of her, he gestured at his sister who was behind her now, still holding the door, a mute smile on her face. Oh God, she was giving him a wide-eyed, impressed look.

She was correct. Sarah was much prettier than any descriptive words could ever express. Telling Ellie that Sarah was beautiful just hadn't done the job.

But he really needed her to get that look off of her face before Sarah saw it.

Thankfully she did as Sarah turned to face her.

"This is my sister, Ellie. Ellie, this is Sarah."

"Chocolate maker extraordinaire," Ellie burst out. "Hi, nice to meet you. Ellie. His sister. You know that. But still." She thrust her hand out towards Sarah who eagerly closed the distance to take her hand and shake it.

"Hi, it's so good to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Chuck." As they let go, she took a step back and turned her body so that she could face both of them. "And, um, I've tasted your cooking too. It's superb."

Ellie flushed happily. "Have you?" She sent Chuck a questioning look.

"Why do you think I take so much of your leftovers to work for lunch?"

"Your stomach is a black hole?"

Sarah cracked up and Ellie brightened significantly. "I already like you, Sarah." She looked at Chuck. "She laughs when I make fun of you. She's a keeper." Oh dear God. Ellie's eyes widened just a bit before she quickly rushed out, "A keeper friend. A friend keeper. I mean, a great friend to have around. You've met Morgan! Here he is! Good ol' Morgan!"

Ellie grabbed Morgan by his T-shirt sleeve and tugged him close, patting his shoulder.

Thankfully Sarah didn't turn to look at Chuck because if she did, he knew she'd see his abject mortification and understand exactly what kinds of conversations he'd been having with his sister about her.

Instead, she lifted her hand to wave at Morgan. "Hi, Morgan. How are you?"

"Uh, good. A little confused. But good. Ready to eat some chocolate, that's for sure." Ellie elbowed him. "Ow! Um, I mean, ready to help you in whatever capacity you need me for, milady." He bowed low and Sarah giggled.

"I'm seriously so grateful, you guys. Really. Thank you for offering to help me out. It means a lot. You don't even…know me. It's just…really nice." Sarah played with her fingers in front of her. And then she finally turned to look at Chuck and the sparkle in her eyes, the way she tilted her head, made his insides go to mush. "Chuck's lucky to have you, and-and I'm lucky he dragged you both along."

"Oh please! Happy to help," Ellie chirped, brushing her hand through the air. "Anything to get an artisan chocolate shop off the ground. Are you kidding? I can't wait to buy out your whole shop." She paused, and then she leaned in to hiss, "Once a month, if you catch my drift."

Jesus Christ, Chuck thought to himself. Seriously Ellie?

Sarah widened her eyes. "Oh. I catch your drift. It's a very relatable drift."

"Wait, I don't catch it. Once a month? Is this, like, a rent thing?" Morgan asked, confused. Poor guy.

Ellie rolled her eyes. And then she turned back to Sarah. "So where do we start? How can we help you? Oh, um, and I didn't mean to scare you with the whole door thing." She winced.

"Don't worry about it," Sarah said. "And everyone can come on in. I was just moving stuff out that was left by the previous tenant."

"Was it MSG?" Ellie groused.

"Hey now. Leave Sonny out of this," Morgan chastised, filing in after her and Sarah. Chuck brought up the rear, trying to take deep breaths and calm down. "Sure, his food had some MSG in it…"

"It was about 70% MSG and 30% actual food, Morgan," Chuck corrected. "And we ate it anyways."

"Okay, fair."

"God, I can't wait for this place to be filled to the brim with chocolate," Ellie said, glee in her voice.

"Me, neither," Sarah chuckled, coming to stop in the middle of the room. "So, um, this is…the main shop right here. Still working on the wood installments along the walls, changing up the cabinets, but it's going to be a little lighter in here. I mean, natural light. There was a bunch of paint and stuff on the windows before but Chuck helped me chip the remainder off and clean up the windows." He felt warmth in his chest as she gave him one of her purest smiles. "I've got the windows covered with paper now just to make sure nobody gets a sneak peek in here before I'm finished. Just a personal preference, I guess."

"I can see it in my mind's eye already," Ellie said kindly. "And I love it. A chocolate shop needs wood interior. That's a given."

Sarah raised her eyebrows in agreement. "Exactly my thoughts. Okay, I'll, um, show you the kitchen, but you'll really have to use your imagination. Because I've got a roaster that still needs to go in."

"A roaster? Like for…pork?" Morgan asked excitedly.

"For the cocoa beans, stupid," Ellie hissed, pushing his shoulder. "Why would she need a pork roaster for a chocolate shop?"

"In case all the chocolate making gets her hungry for some protein."

Chuck stayed back a little, observing Sarah's reaction to his family's interactions—their antics really. She seemed genuinely amused, but also nervous. So at least he wasn't alone. He could imagine she felt a little self-conscious showing other people her space here without it being fully done, requiring them to use their imaginations and not judge how it looked now.

And he had a feeling she only accepted his offer of getting a few people to come in and help because she was desperate for extra hands to help her out, and Ellie's SUV was a major draw, too.

"Oh, wow! I didn't know the kitchen was so big back here. It looks much smaller from the front," Ellie exclaimed as they walked through.

"There was a lot of space issues in the kitchen before and I imagine cooks probably got in each other's way all the time with the last tenant, so I worked with my contractor and we got some of the nonsense taken out, opened it up. Took out an extra oven over there, and that's where I'm having my roaster installed. Multiple levels so that I can do a lot at once." She grabbed her arm and rubbed it a little, nibbling on her lip shyly as she looked up around all of the holes Casey and his men had made for the lighting. "I had an asbestos issue, that's why it looks so bad. But that's all gone now and we just have to work on the lighting situation."

"Oh, I thought the lamps were maybe a decorating choice," Morgan said, pointing at the cheap desk lamps Sarah had set up around the kitchen to provide light, considering they'd yanked out all of the overhead lighting sources.

"No," Sarah giggled good-naturedly. "Those'll be gone eventually and lights will go up in there." She pointed up at the ceiling.

"So how can we help?" Chuck asked, and Sarah turned to look at him with wide eyes.

She bit her lip. "Well, besides the roaster installment and the lighting, the kitchen just needs to be cleaned really well. You know, all the dust from the work the guys are doing. Also, lots of grease stains. I bought grease removing solutions. Who knows if they'll work but I'm hoping once I give it a try…"

"Say no more," Ellie said, lifting a finger. "I've got this."

Morgan raised his hand. "I'm kind of built like a gnome so I've got a lot of strength in my elbows. I'll be on Ellie's grease removal team."

Ellie looked a little miserable at that, but she agreed, and they followed Sarah over to the pile of cleaning products and sponges and gloves. Chuck turned and began to scope out the rest of the kitchen, moving into the hallway, quietly separating himself from the discussion in the kitchen.

A lot of work had been completed since the last time he'd been inside of Sarah's chocolate shop. He pushed on the door to the main office, flicking on the light to look around the place. Sarah had yet to make it her own. He wondered if maybe it just required the least amount of work so she was saving it until the very end.

"Snooping?"

He almost jumped as Sarah ducked under his arm he had raised over his head, palm braced on the doorframe opposite the one he leaned against. She stepped into the office and turned on her heel so quick that her sneakers squeaked on the dusty floor.

He loved the smirk on her face as she faced him.

"Not snooping. There's nothing in here. I just wanted to see it." He shrugged. "Haven't gotten to this part yet?"

"What do you mean? This is it. I've already finished this one."

Chuck laughed at the mischief in her face and shook his head. "Okay, I get it. That was a stupid question. It's a mess."

"It is a mess. But that's okay. I'm giving you a pass." Winking, she walked up to the window covered by dusty blinds and opened them, the sunlight streaming in. "I'm so excited to be able to sit at my desk and look at all of that pavement out there."

Chuckling, he followed her into the office and stood next to her at the window. "It's not so bad. At least the sun will never be coming in, like, directly. Like if you set your desk up right here…" He framed it with both hands for her. "A chair here. Computer on your desk here. No glare from the sun no matter what time of the day it is. That's a win."

Smiling, she squinted at the area where he told her she should put her desk. "You always see the silver lining, don't you?"

"I try." He let his head fall to the side. "It's more helpful than throwing my hands up and being like 'everything is fuuuucked, I give uuuup!'"

"Was that supposed to be me?" she laughed, her mouth falling open.

"No! Of course not!" he rushed, laughing with her.

"Why don't I believe you? I've definitely been a negative presence about all of this," she said with a shrug.

"Not at all. Look, the asbestos thing was serious and it was a setback and it was crap. This isn't easy. I was just giving you my…life philosophy, that's all. It wasn't a comment on you. I, um…" He cleared his throat. "Honestly, you aren't, um, a negative presence for me to be around. I-I mean, I don't ever feel bad when I'm…with you. I'm gonna stop now." He swiped his finger over the blinds. "Man, these are dusty, huh? Heh."

She just smiled quietly at him, before she chewed the inside of her cheek and tilted her head. "So, um, I have some things I need to bring here from my apartment. Are those two trustworthy in my kitchen if you and I go and pick up the stuff from my place?"

Chuck raised his eyebrows. "Well, Ellie makes more money than about 16 of me, but I think we might run a risk of Morgan stealing some of those ceiling panels if we leave him alone."

Sarah cracked up. "Interesting. But I didn't mean they might steal something. I meant because it looked like your sister is already on the verge of murdering your best friend, and I don't want blood stains on my nice kitchen floors after they've just been redone."

He laughed this time. "Oh. That. Don't worry, you won't get blood stains. If Ellie was gonna kill the Beard, she would've already done it when we were teenagers. There's a long history there."

She snorted. "Oh boy."

"But yes, let's get those things. Do you need Ellie's car?"

She winced. "Can we? It's more than I can fit in my own car and I want to get at least some stuff in here. I'm tired of having those boxes all piled up in my living room. Makes me feel like I haven't fully moved into my apartment yet and I'm…" Sarah sighed and crossed her arms, turning to squint out through the blinds into the parking lot. "I'm trying to make this a home, you know?"

Chuck nodded. "Yeah, I get you. Of course. Hard to settle into your new home, your apartment, when there are boxes cluttering up the place. Let's go. We came in the SUV specifically because I asked Ellie if we could use it depending on what you would need from us today."

Within ten minutes, Sarah had answered a few of Ellie and Morgan's questions, they'd gotten Ellie's keys (she'd passed them over to Chuck with a wink, barely withholding her excitement), and they climbed into the SUV with Chuck behind the wheel.

Chuck had the distinct feeling Ellie would much rather be the one to go with Sarah to her apartment to pick up this stuff, but that she was making a sacrifice for him. Shoving him at Sarah.

He wasn't complaining. He'd let his sister spend a few hours with Morgan at the shop.

And as Sarah sat beside him in the passenger seat, he wondered how she was feeling about the way this had worked out.

She told him the first couple of steps to get them in the direction of her apartment.

The first minute or 2 in the car was spent in silence that wasn't exactly comfortable, at least not for Chuck, though Sarah seemed completely at ease as she glanced out of her window.

"It's kind of crazy still, the weather here. It's just so different," she finally spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Oh yeah? You mean, different from D.C. weather?"

She turned to look at him and nodded. "Even when it's overcast here, it isn't that cold. Over there, the sun leaves and it's SO COLD. And then just like that, it's so humid and awful 2 seconds later."

"I've heard D.C. is actually really beautiful."

"It…" She sighed. "It was. I mean, it is. It really is." Sarah nodded again and gave him a small smile as he stopped at a stop light. "I'm soured on that place now though. My point is that I still have to get used to this weather."

"You probably won't need the snow jacket unless w—erm, you go up to the mountains or something." God, he was an idiot. He'd nearly said "we" which was so presumptuous and just weird. He didn't need to insert himself into her life like that. He dropped one hand on his thigh and felt the post-it crinkling under his fingers. Idiot.

"Oh, I knew what I was getting myself into when I moved to Southern California. It was a calculated decision."

"Tired of the cold?"

"I guess. I needed something more predictable. Something warmer."

"You picked the right place."

She was silent for almost half a minute as he slid onto the freeway. And then he heard her mutter, "Yeah, I'm starting to really think I might have."

Chuck glanced at her for a quick moment, smiling, unsure if he was making a leap with his assumption that she meant he was a part of that. Then he turned back to the road. "Let me tell you, the traffic in this town is the worst. Just terrible. And that'll take some getting used to. Shit, I was born and raised here and it still makes me nuts."

"I knew that'd be a thing," she said, chuckling. "I'm ready for it."

"Ehhh you think you are. But this, right here? See it already slowing? This is just the beginning."

"I've been warned," she said, amused. "And that's okay if it takes a little longer to get to my place this time. I trust your sister and Morgan with my kitchen." She winced. "Although I didn't think about it. Maybe I should've left them my key to the place in case of an emergency or something."

"Oh, they'll be fine. Morgan seems like the kind of guy who'd hurt himself cleaning grease off of appliances, but he's actually a pretty capable dude when he's trying to impress Ellie."

She laughed. "What's going on there?"

"Nothing, much to his constant chagrin." She laughed again. "He's had a crush on her for years and she has always been so pissed about it. But she loves him in spite of everything. He's come through for us in tight spots, and we've come through for him, too. He's…um, he's a part of our different-looking little family."

Chuck couldn't read the look on Sarah's face as she turned towards the road in front of them. She was quiet, the corners of her mouth turned up, but there was almost a melancholy look in her eyes.

"That's sweet," she said softly. "They always say stuff about chosen family, right?"

"Exactly." He pointed at her. "It's the best kind of family."

Sometimes it was the only kind of family.

Then he glanced at the exit signs and pointed again, "So that exit there is the one I take to get back to where I live." He cleared his throat. "Don't know why you'd wanna know that. But it was there, so I thought I'd, erm, point it out."

"No, hey, I do wanna know. That's kind of cool. You're sort of halfway between my place and the shopping center."

"Heeeeey carpoooooool," he sang, and then he swallowed his chuckle when she looked at him closely. "I'm…I mean, we don't have to. I was just…being a dork. Heh."

"I'm considering what's in it for me," she said, smirking. And then she giggled when he was rendered speechless by that. "I'm kidding, Chuck. I'd happily carpool with you where our schedules line up."

"No, come on. I'm teasing you. I'm not making you get off the freeway and go to my Echo Park apartment to pick me up just 'cause I drive the Buy More's company car and don't have one of my own yet."

She brushed that off with her hand. "After all of the things you've helped me with. We're in your sister's SUV to pick up a whole bunch of stuff that would take me so many trips otherwise. Now it'll just be one trip and I need to really remember to do something for your sister too. It's so nice of her, letting me use her car."

"Nah, that's just what my sister does. She's excited I have a new friend. She'd jump through hoops to make sure my existence is as normal and healthy as possible." He chuckled. "For the record, she thinks you have been a good influence on me already. She already liked you before she even met you."

"Put in a good word for me to her, huh? I appreciate that."

"Of course I did. I can't lie to my sister."

She giggled and reached over to ruffle his hair. "Wowww, that was pretty smooth, Chuck Bartowski. I see what you did there."

"Oh, good."

"Pretty charming."

He beamed the rest of the way to her apartment, which didn't end up taking as long as he'd hoped it would take, honestly. Though in the meantime, he learned a little about her method for making chocolate, the difference between dark, milk, and white chocolate, and their ingredients.

And he also learned that he was maybe a lot more sunk with this girl than he'd feared.

$...$

She took a deep breath as she unlocked her apartment door, stepping inside with Chuck hot on her heels.

They stood there together for a few moments and she shifted her weight, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear shyly. "So, um, this is it. Where I live now."

"This is a nice apartment," he said, his hands stuffed firmly in his pockets. "Really good layout."

She smirked. "Thanks. I like it enough. It'll be even better when I can get all of this crap out of here." She turned and gestured to the piles of boxes.

"Is that what we're moving now?"

"Yeah…" But as he moved towards it, she slipped her hand around his arm. "Do you, um, want anything to drink? Water or a soda or something? I made iced tea yesterday. Still have some."

"Oh." He smiled, blinking slowly. "Yeah. Sure. Thanks."

She gestured for him to follow her and he did, looking a bit shy as they walked into her kitchen. "Sorry about the mess in here, by the way. Still behind on all of the typical things you do when you first move into a new place. It's all just been moving so quickly and this has kinda taken a backseat."

"Oh, no. It's not a mess." She couldn't help sending him a flat look and he shrugged, standing up a bit straighter. "It's not a mess. Really. You're still moving in."

"It's been a few months now, Chuck, but thank you for trying to stick up for me."

He laughed, and she felt a bit more at ease with him being here now. She'd been hoping he'd accompany her here to help her with the boxes. Not that she wanted him seeing her mess of an apartment, how sparse it was besides the piles of boxes and the few bits of furniture she'd needed so far. It was more that she wanted to be with him, and his sister, as sweet and warm and funny as she already seemed in just the half hour or so that she spent with her, intimidated Sarah.

Not because she was a particularly intimidating person, but because she obviously meant so much to Chuck.

Sitting in a car for 25 minutes next to her the way she'd just done with Chuck felt like a scary prospect. Whereas sitting in the car with Chuck for 25 minutes had felt really nice. He just had a way of setting her at ease, even if sometimes when he was standing or sitting close enough to her, he made her feel nervous tingles in her body.

She poured a glass of tea for him and looked at him to ask what he took in his iced tea, but she stopped when she saw he was still eyeing her place, his eyes observing and searching. It made her feel self-conscious of her living space. "Do you, um, want anything in your tea? I might have a lemon in the fridge. Or sugar? I definitely have sugar."

He spun to face her, eyes wide, and he chuckled, his face melting in warmth. "Oh, I'm sure you have plenty of sugar, chocolate maker."

That had sounded flirtatious and she tilted her head to the side, a coy smile on her face. "Maybe a little more than I need. So sue me."

He grinned. "I'll take mine straight. But thank you."Nodding, she handed it over. His warm fingers slipped over hers for longer than she expected before he took the glass from her and sipped it. "Mmm! Delicious."

"Sun tea. I have a small balcony off of my bedroom and I put it out there yesterday for a little while. Taste the mint? I slipped a few sprigs of mint in there while it brewed."

"Yeah, that's what that flavor is. Mm. It's really tasty. Refreshing."

"Good." She smiled widely and poured herself some. And then she raised it between them. "To roomy SUVs with a lot of backspace."

He cracked up. "Yes, to that. But also to you."

"Me?" She gave him a dubious look. "Why to me?"

"You're making your dream happen. Singlehandedly. And it's fuckin' bad ass. So I cheers to you."

She blushed and clinked her glass against his. "Thank you, Chuck." She sipped her tea and sighed, glancing off to the side and fiddling with her glass between her fingers. "But don't give me too much credit. The shop has yet to actually open. I have to get there first. Once that happens, people have to actually walk through that door and buy the chocolate. Or else I'm fucked."

"They will."

And he said it with so much certainty that she almost believed it.

She didn't get it. She didn't get how this guy who'd ignored her phone number when she'd first left it—and no she wasn't going to let that go because it still baffled her—was standing here in her kitchen, drinking her tea, and after only a month or so of spending time together here and there, striking up something of a friendship, he managed to believe in her and in her chocolatier more than everyone else in her life put together. Was this just who he was? Did he do this for all of his friends? Or was she somehow special?

"How are you so sure when you say things like that?"

"A combination of not knowing shit about what it's like to open a small business, any business really, and utmost faith in you. And in that chocolate I've tasted." He let out a low whistle. "People say some intense stuff about chocolate sometimes and I always thought that was weird, but you-you made me a believer. When it's as good as what you let me try, I get the intensity. I so get it."

Sarah Walker giggled and shook her head, taking another sip of her tea. "You're so sweet and odd. Mostly sweet, but definitely a little odd."

"Oh, I'm a lot odd. I embrace the oddness. I'm a pretty odd guy. But!" He held up a finger. "I also come in handy sometimes."

"You do," she said, giggling.

"It's the height. I can reach things nobody else can reach."

Sarah laughed, her head tipping to the side as she took him in. He really was so tall. And she could at least admit to herself that she thought those extra inches he had over 6 feet were pretty hot. "You can, it's true."

She shifted her weight between her feet then, a bit shy after having that thought about him. "Uh, so I-I really am sorry about how, um, kind of…bare and blank the place is. No personality. Pretty dead in here, huh?"

"It isn't dead. That's not fair." He turned and put his hand against a nearby post, patting it lightly. "She didn't mean it, it's okay."

Giggling, she looked around her, then back out towards the living area. "Well, I-I'm still looking for stuff to, you know, furnish this place. Give it a little color. Pieces of myself." Things people expected other people to do when they moved in somewhere. "The walls will look even worse when we get these boxes out of here. Just off-white and…ugh, here, I guess."

"A blank slate," he replied easily with a shrug. "You get to figure out what to do with your own space, your own home. That's how this works." Chuck smiled and drained more from his glass of iced tea. "I'd love to have my own place like this, walls to fill, furniture to buy."

Sarah spotted the wistfulness in his face, and it made her feel a bit bad for being so ashamed. What was the phrase? Count your blessings? She needed to see about trying to do that more often. "Sorry," she said a bit wryly, giving him an apologetic look. "I must sound like a whiner."

He shook his head and set down his tea, stepping in close and framing her shoulders with warm, large hands that immediately sent sparks through her. "Hey, stop apologizing. Stop saying you're sorry for being human." One side of his mouth tilted up, making it look a little crooked. It was cute. "If anybody expects you to have everything in exactly its right place, everything settled, the perfect things on the walls and furniture bought, and everything installed, as if you've been living here for a few years, they're out of their damn minds. I remember helping Ellie and Devon move into their first place together back when I was still in college," he said quietly. "Um, er, it was a break or something, maybe spring break I don't remember, and I came back and that moving process was just a mess. Helping her move from the bigger apartment that she shared with 3 other girls from med school into this smaller place with her boyfriend. It was only 2 people instead of 4, but in a way smaller space. It was such a mess."

She smiled at him, lifting her eyebrows. "The apartment was a mess?"

"Oh, yeah. It took so long just to, I dunno, get the mess cleared up. And then when we did their stuff was just everywhere. By the time they actually settled into that place they were ready to upgrade and move into a bigger place just about. I'm telling you, even with 2 of 'em, it took FOREVER. You're doing this on your own. So give yourself a break, Sarah." He squeezed her shoulders and warmth spilled through her.

"Do you always say the right thing?"

"I definitely do not."

She laughed and eyed the piles of boxes near the door in the living room. "Well? Ready to get cracking on taking those boxes down to the car?"

"Let's do this."

$...$

She was insanely impressed.

There wasn't an inch of room left to spare, but he'd done it. He'd made it all fit.

Sarah turned slowly and raised her eyebrow at him. She didn't know when it had happened, but suddenly being able to shove boxes into an SUV like it was a challenging game of Tetris and having it actually work had become something of a turn on. That wasn't something she was saying out loud, though.

"Don't give me that impressed look just yet. I still have to be able to shut the damn thing," he said, his hand on the door above his head.

"So shut the thing and let's see what we got to work with," she said cheerfully, even a bit flirtatiously.

She didn't know why, but her mood was at an all-time high after spending 2 hours with Chuck, figuring out how to fit everything into the back of his sister's SUV, watching him work, his handsome face scrunched up in thought and determination. She'd corrected the direction in which he'd slid one of the earlier boxes into the back about 15 minutes into packing, and instead of getting huffy about a woman telling him how to do something he knew how to do, he stared at it for a few seconds and then shook his head in awe. "You're right," he'd said. "You're a genius." And he slipped his hand into hers to squeeze it in thanks.

She squeezed back, her fingers tingling as she let go.

And now here they stood a while later.

"Wanna do the honors?" he asked. "It's your stuff, after all."

Giggling, she rolled her eyes at him and put both hands on the door, shoving her hands down to close it. It slammed shut and she heard the telltale sound of the door clicking into place, shutting all the way.

She turned and gave Chuck an excited look as he pumped his fists. "You did it!"

"WE did it, Sarah. Teamwork." He held up his hand for a high five and she met it, beaming. But she held on and gave him a teasing tug, causing him to stagger over, and she hugged him tight. "Oh," he muttered, hugging her back after a stunned moment or two.

Did he know how much of a lifesaver he was? Did he know he did so much more than just helping her with her floors, with moving these boxes, getting her an SUV and two other helpers to clean out the kitchen? Did he know that he'd been a balm to her hurting soul, a boost to her confidence, a much-needed distraction…and something nice to look at too? She couldn't help it. He was pretty nice to look at. That wasn't the most important thing, it was still there.

She finally pulled back from the hug and patted him on the chest, smiling up at him. "Thank you," she said quietly, looking into his eyes.

"No sweat. I didn't work as a professional mover for nothin'."

Sarah tilted her head in interest. "Did you? You just saying that or was that actually your job?"

"Uh, yeah, when I was 18 or 19 and just starting to grow into these rippling muscles," he said, giving a bodybuilder type of pose and a crooked grin, one eyebrow cocked. Sarah cracked up. "It was my 2nd part-time job I had in college. You know how it is."

She sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I definitely do. Never had the luxury of just going to college and enjoying myself." She never had the luxury of even going to college, but she felt like that was something she didn't want to tell Chuck right at that moment.

"Nope. Though I don't begrudge those folks." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Life's too short to hold a grudge against people who can't help their lot in life anymore than I can."

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "I think you're a little too nice there."

"Maybe," he chuckled. "I am a criminally nice guy." He paused. "At least, that's how Beth, the last person I went on a date with, labeled me. That wasn't what she was looking for, though, because there was no 2nd date." He winced. "Whoops."

Nibbling on her bottom lip, she shook her head slowly, meeting his gaze again, aware of how close they were standing, their hips both leaning against the back of his sister's SUV. "She must've been out of her damn mind."

Realizing what she said and the implications, she blushed and diverted her gaze.

But then his hand was on her arm, sliding up to slowly cup her elbow. He pulled her just a little closer and she met his gaze yet again, eyes wide, feeling that soul-deep attraction, like a moth to a flame. She wondered if he wanted to kiss her as badly as she wanted to kiss him.

And she got the distinct feeling he did when his eyes flicked down to her lips and he leaned in just a little.

Before he could get much further, a car pulled up right next to them on the street with a crackle of pavement under the tires, the window rolled down. "Excuse me!"

Sarah pulled back and looked at the driver leaning over their passenger seat to get their attention through the passenger side window. She could kill him right at that moment.

"You guys leaving soon or what? Ain't no parking anywhere around here."

Sarah spoke up before Chuck could. "It's going to be awhile. Sorry."

The guy just groaned and sat back, driving away.

If only she'd had access to the chef's knives in one of the boxes behind the door she'd been leaning against. She would've slashed his damn tires for interrupting what had nearly been everything she'd been hoping for these last weeks since she'd asked the nerd behind the desk for help with her phone.

Chuck cleared his throat in the awkward silence and pulled his phone out. "Update from Ellie. She said things are going okay over there. But there's a lot more cleaning to do."

"Tell her we'll be back soon. She can stop whenever she wants to. I don't want her to feel like she has to break her back and clean the whole kitchen today."

"She's fine. She's worked 48 hour shifts at the hospital. Cleaning a friend's kitchen is nothin'." She must've given him a look because he raised his eyebrows and held up both hands. "But I'll just go ahead and tell her what you said to tell her. Ahem."

She snorted and turned to lean her back against the car, tilting her head to stare up at the sky. As Chuck continued typing the message to his sister, she let her eyes drift shut. Her arms felt a little loose, like they did after she did a good arm workout. Or after kneading bread for a few hours back in her patisserie days.

She liked the feeling. After all of these boxes were carried down stairs thanks to a broke down elevator, stashed in the back of Ellie's car, ready to take back to her shop, she felt like she'd done something productive, important. It was a step, taking all of her kitchen things and office things back to the shop, ready to start filling things in.

Well, not quite ready. Not until the kitchen was finished by the contractors and everything else settled. But she had no problem keeping boxes piled in the storage room for however long. It was better than having them stacked in her living room, making her look like a total sad mess to a guy she was hoping to impress.

She sighed and opened her eyes again, lowering her head. She realized Chuck had been watching her and she snuck a peek at him.

He just smiled a little. "You okay?"

"I am," she said, smiling back. "Just glad to be getting these boxes out of my living room finally. Maybe my apartment can look livable for the first time since I moved in a few months ago."

"It looks pretty livable to me. I mean, it did even with the boxes. Like I said, give yourself a break."

She giggled. "I'm trying." Then she pushed off from where she was leaning, making to step back up onto the sidewalk and get back to work. But she found Chuck's fingers clasping hers, holding her back. She turned to look at him, eyes a little wide.

Chuck had a shy look on his face, letting out a quiet huff of self-deprecation. He glanced down at their fingers laced together. And then he squeezed and cleared his throat. "Do you, um, have other things we have to do up in your apartment? Anything to pack in? Or…was this it?"

"Um, I'm not really done yet. If that's okay. Do you have somewhere to be? I can get this other stuff another done later."

"Nono! I'm-I'm good." He pushed off of the SUV to his full height and shook his head. "I'm good on time. I've got nowhere to go. Ellie's off today and tomorrow. And I'm, um, happy to help. Um, however long it takes. What I mean is take as long as…you want to. I'm cool with being here…with you." He made a face like he wished he'd stopped talking a few sentences ago. "Uhhh…"

"Okay," she said, biting her cheek. She wasn't going to embarrass him. "Follow me, then." She used her free hand to take the car keys out of where she'd stashed them in her pocket, turning his hand over in hers and smacking them into his palm with a wink. "Make sure you lock this."

"Yes, ma'am." He grinned slowly as she turned on her heel and went back inside.

He was right on her heels, and when they got back into her apartment, she was struck with the need to kiss him…yet again. There were no attempted parking spot poachers. They were alone in her apartment. But she withheld the urge. She didn't know why.

Maybe she was a coward.

His hand was curled around her arm then, and this time, he turned her around and pulled her in. But he let go of her arm when her chest bumped against his, and instead he cupped her face. Every bit of her breath left her body. His thumbs gently stroked her cheeks, and then he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

So softly.

Her heart was beating so hard she could hear it in her ears. Her arms stuck to her sides, her hands jutting out, frozen on either side of her hips, tensing against him.

And he broke the kiss way too quickly. She didn't know how much time had passed before she was able to blink her eyes open again. He still cupped her face so gently, his forehead against hers.

He blinked once, looking a bit stunned, and he dropped his hands back to his sides. But before he could pull away altogether, Sarah reached up to put a hand on his jaw, turning his face back to hers and kissing him this time.

They stood there for half a minute, their lips moving together, and she felt his hands land respectfully on her hips.

When she broke the kiss to take a deep breath, her hands fell away from him and his did the same. They just looked at one another, both of them just standing there. She wasn't exactly sure what to do about what happened. If she should do it again. And she had a flash in the pan thought that her bed was only a short hallway away from where they stood.

But then his eyes found something over her shoulder and he pointed with a rigid finger. "Is that…tote going out?"

She didn't even look at it, lowering her eyes to his chest instead. She nodded. "Yep."

"Great. Great, okay. I'll grab that. I'll be right back."

Clearing his throat, he brushed past her in a way that made everything inside of her tingle.

She waited for him to leave the apartment before she grinned and let out a bubbly laugh.

There you go. Kiss happened. Now where do we go from here?

Please review, thanks.

SarahsSupplyCloset