A/N: Sorry for this chapter being later than my, up to now, normal turnaround. Hurricane Zeta roared through our area on October 28 and knocked out our power for a few days. The cable and internet were out for a few days more. Luckily none of the 50-foot pine trees that surround our house decided to fall on us. There were other people in our area who weren't so lucky. Then the FF site went kablooey. And there was nothing in my mental tank. After having the first three scenes in this chapter done (the first two of them had been part of chapter 12 originally), there was BLANK. To say I had writer's block would be an understatement. All of this is TMI as far as Chuck and Sarah are concerned, but I wanted everyone to know that I hadn't forgotten about our favorite Stanford students.

Disclaimer: It's 2020. I don't know which way is up. I don't own Chuck. At least I don't think I do. I know I don't make any money from Chuck; my bank statement is proof enough of that. Heck, I'm still trying to figure out how much Chuck can a woodchuck chuck … What's that? Sorry, doctor. Yes, I know I promised. Sorry. I'll do better. I promise. This time I really mean it. Can I say that Sarah was sewing when she saw the seesaw? No? Not that either? Damn, I'm Chucked.

Chapter 13 – Mind Over Matters Of The Heart

October 9 – After Chuck left the CATS suite

It was a few minutes after 8:00pm when the last Songbird arrived at the door to CATS's suite. Like all the others, Lilly had hesitated to enter when she'd spotted Sarah sitting in the room, but did so, when Sarah waved for her to enter. The suite consisted of three rooms, a central room with four desks and chairs and rooms to either side, each holding two beds and storage spaces. With twelve girls crowded into the central room, it was a tight fit.

"Thank you all for coming." Sarah began. "Yes, obviously, I know about everyone following Chuck around." Girls cut their eyes toward the other CATS. Sarah noticed. "No, they didn't tattle on you. I overheard them talking about it earlier tonight when I got back from the health center after getting treated for my newly sprained ankle. Don't worry, it's fine. And I mean, both my ankle and the fact that you were spying on Chuck."

"You just said 'were spying'," Chloe mentioned. "Does that mean we're not doing it anymore?"

"Yup, that's exactly what that means," Carina confirmed, taking Sarah off the hook. Sarah gave a small smile in thanks. "We're calling a halt to it for a while." Several of the girls looked confused. "Before anyone asks, the reason we're stopping, for the moment, is we should have a solid week of information about where Chuck goes for classes. There's no reason to keep following him until we have a chance to look at what we've got and figure out whether or not it's worth it to keep doing it. After all, the longer we follow him, the greater the chance that he'll notice us and figure out what we're doing. And we don't want that." Many of the girls nodded their agreement.

"OK, then," Carina continued. "We're going to cross-check what was sent to us on a day-by-day basis with each of you. Just to make sure we haven't missed anything or gotten it out of order. Sound good?" Nods. "All right. Zondra created a document where she recorded everything you guys sent us. She's going to read it back in the order she typed it in. Who was the first person to follow Chuck last Wednesday?" Lilly raised her hand. "Great. So, Lilly's first. We'll start there. Zondra, take it from there, please."

Zondra nodded and gave a thumbs up sign. She read out what she had written down, confirming it with each girl, in turn. After a few minutes, they were done. Everyone waited while Zondra reviewed her document and counted up the different locations Chuck had gone to during the mornings over the last week. When she was done, she looked up with a confused expression on her face.

"What is it, Z?" Carina asked.

"This doesn't make any sense." Zondra shook her head, staring at her computer screen. "Chuck went to nine different buildings plus the Dean of Engineering's office."

"OK, we can maybe write off the visit to the Dean's office as being connected to him getting in trouble for that thing with Larkin the other night." Carina ventured.

Zondra shook her head. "Nope. He went to the Dean's office on Monday. The Larkin thing was last night, Tuesday. The other weird thing is those nine buildings are all different departments and the only buildings he visited more than once in a consecutive five-day period were the computer science and electrical engineering buildings."

"So, you're saying that Chuck's taking something like nine different classes in nine different subjects?" Aubrey said incredulously.

"No, I'm not saying that. Yeah, he might be doing that. Or he might only be going to all those different departments for some other reason. We don't know whether he has class in them or not." Zondra replied.

"And that he stays there for an amount of time equal to a normal class time," Amy interjected.

"That's crazy!" Chloe commented. "People normally only take three or four classes. Maybe five, if some of them meet less for fewer credits. But nine? Nine? That's not crazy, that's insane."

Sarah finally spoke. "Where'd he go? What departments?"

Zondra looked at her list. "Shriram Center, so either Chemical Engineering or Bioengineering. Durand, that's Materials Science and Engineering. Next, Gates for Computer Science. Lane History Corner for History, obviously. Building 530, Mechanical Engineering. Mudd for Chemistry." She lost her place and had to find it again. "Packard for Electrical Engineering. Varian, that's Physics. Sloan Corner for Mathematics." She paused. "Oh, and the Dean of Engineering's office in Huang. That's nine departments and the tenth is the dean's office."

"Don't forget going back and forth to the baseball field for practice three times a day." Alex added. "Oh, and meals. Here at Lakeside."

"And coming to hang out with us at Helman Hall for practice." Anna said.

"We know he tells us that he goes to the Terman Engineering Library to study most evenings. Jeez, no wonder he was falling asleep the other night. He's getting run ragged." Sarah said.

"Why is he going to all of those different places? Do any of you know anyone else who does that? Anything even close to that? Especially a freshman?" Carina asked the room.

"Maybe he's not a freshman," Beca offered.

"Could be. Who knows? But my question still stands? Does anyone know anyone who does that? Freshman or otherwise? What is Chuckles up to?" Carina ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"Amy, have you ever seen him at Shriram when you've been there?" Sarah asked.

"Nope, never. But that doesn't mean anything. It's a big building and lots of people. If we're not there at the same time, I wouldn't see him. Heck, even if we were, I might not." Amy shrugged.

"OK, we're not getting anywhere." Sarah concluded. "We can only speculate at this point. That's a waste of time. Let's table this for now. If any of you have any ideas of relevant thoughts, let one of the seniors know." She saw reluctant nods. "Otherwise, we'll see everyone tomorrow at practice, if not sooner. Remember, don't say anything or even hint anything to Chuck." Sarah looked at Alex. "Or Morgan." Alex pursed her lips, but nodded her understanding. With hand waves and 'byes' the younger Songbirds filed out of the CATS suite. Once they were all gone, Carina closed their door and turned to Sarah.

"OK, Blondie, what did you learn from Chuck's sister?" Sarah saw the expectant looks on her three friends' faces.

Sarah held up her hand to forestall any comments or complaints while she gathered her thoughts. In reviewing the conversation in her mind, she realized that she had told Ellie more than Ellie had told her. Still, there were some things she learned and some things that might give them stuff to discuss. Before she started speaking, she decided to keep the comment about Chuck's 'theme song' to herself. That was something for her to figure out. Just for her.

"Well, first, Ellie seemed surprised that we knew Chuck, at all. I told her a condensed version of the story from the time we met him up to our practice this afternoon. Even told her about Morgan and Alex. There's a bit of funny history between Morgan and Ellie." Sarah saw the look in Carina's eyes. "No, nothing weird. Just a younger boy with a crush on an older girl, which she barely tolerated because of how close Chuck and Morgan were and are."

"That's it? Did she say anything else? What about the stuttering? The stammering? The headaches?" Her friends spoke over each other trying to voice their questions.

"Yeah, she did talk about the stuttering and stammering. She said that Chuck had been away at school. More than one school in more than one place. Because of that, he has a hard time making friends. He has friends from stuff he's done like baseball, swimming, Boy Scouts, and stuff like that, but they're only around to be friends when that stuff is going on. Morgan is his only long-term, regular friend. The only one. She said that Chuck isn't particularly shy, just that he has a hard time in social situations and making friends. That's it. She didn't elaborate why he had a hard time making friends. Mostly, she told me that it was Chuck's story to tell and she was certain that Chuck would tell us at some point." Sarah stopped and took a breath.

"What about the headaches?" Amy prodded.

"Ellie told me that Chuck's always very busy. Like we talked about with the girls just now. Going a 'mile a minute', she said. When he tries to do too much, he starts to get his headaches. She said that they were like migraines, but different. He's not sick and doesn't have any tumors or anything else like that. Again, she told me that he would explain it all at some point." Sarah stopped to think about what else Ellie told her. "Ellie said that Chuck is good at programming, science, and engineering and is good at explaining that stuff. He likes doing it, too. Like he did for Anna and Cynthia Rose."

Zondra interrupted her. "Sarah, is Chuck a genius?" she asked.

"Funny you should ask that, because that's just what I asked. I said 'Is Chuck a genius or something'. She told me that he was really smart. More like an 'or something'."

"What does that even mean?" Zondra asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I took it to mean that Chuck's really smart, but not a genius. Or not just a genius. What 'or something' means, though, who knows? Is Chuck beyond a genius? What does that mean? I have no idea."

"Did she say anything else?" Carina asked.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, she said that he's a good guy and not just because he's her brother. He's very loyal to his friends. Like Morgan. And we've seen how he steps up to help us, so that fits." Sarah thought for a moment. "Oh, yeah, there's something else. When I told her that we were an acapella group, she asked me if we had gotten him to sing with us. She seemed surprised. I asked her if Chuck could sing, but she never answered. The other time she was surprised was when I told her about Chuck helping me with the Tower of Hanoi project. It didn't seem like she was surprised he helped, more like she was surprised about the Tower part."

"I wonder if someone, like his mom, did tests on him at some point? And she, or somebody else, used that Tower thing. Like we were talking about the other day after we were in his room and he helped you with your project, Sarah." Zondra pondered.

"Maybe. We'll have to get Chuck to tell us." Sarah commented. "I also got the impression that she was surprised that he was hanging out with a bunch of girls. Not a bunch of boys. She didn't say anything. I just got that impression from her body language and facial expressions."

"That's it?" Carina sounded disappointed.

"Not entirely. She confirmed that Chuck didn't graduate from Burbank High School last spring or play baseball there. She said he graduated from 'somewhere else'. More of his story to tell. The last thing she said was that if he was hanging out with us all by himself, we mean a lot to him. He really did come to Stanford to make friends."

"Well, we know that one of us means a lot to him, at least." Carina grinned at Sarah, who gave her a pouty face.

"What did she say about you and Chuck maybe getting in trouble over Larkin?" Amy asked.

"She didn't like it, but she didn't freak out about it, either." Sarah shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe, I'll get a chance to ask her about it. We exchanged phone numbers. She's open to more talks." Three pairs of eyes lit up at that revelation.

"Yes! That's great. Maybe, we'll be able to find some more stuff out at some point." Amy pumped her fist.

"Yeah, maybe. I don't know." Sarah thought back over the conversation, once more. "One thing I do know, Chuck is a lonely guy and needs friends, is desperately looking for friends. We're going to be his friends. Some of his best friends. I also think that underneath it all, he's really sad. I want to change that, too." She didn't see her friends' dancing eyes.

Sarah and Chuck were eating dinner with her family. Emma sat at the end of the table closest to the kitchen. Molly sat on one side of the table, opposite to Sarah and Chuck on the other side. Jack was at the head of the table with easy access to the living room and space for him to maneuver his wheelchair close enough to eat normally. Everyone was dressed in, what Sarah would call, their best, most flattering, outfits. She was wearing her purple cocktail dress that she sometimes liked to wear to go dancing with her friends. Chuck had on a dark green dress shirt that showcased his lean, muscular torso and arms, pressed jeans, and his Chucks. Just looking at him caused warmth to blossom in her chest. She knew she was probably grinning like a fool or a love-struck schoolgirl or both.

The table was covered in her mom's heirloom tablecloth that she kept in her hope chest in the bedroom and only brought it out for special occasions. Meeting her boyfriend, Chuck Bartowski, for the first time, certainly qualified as a special occasion. Emma was even using the good china and silverware. They were having Sarah's favorite, pierogi, made from her grandmother's recipe, with various fillings, which had been passed down through the generations from back in Poland, along with some of the traditional side dishes, sour cream and sauteed onions for the pierogi, cucumber salad, the roasted trio of carrots, parsnips, and brussels sprouts, broiled tomatoes, and cabbage with bacon. There would be a variety of sweet pierogi for dessert. Her mom was pulling out all the stops to give Chuck a good impression. The food tasted amazing; the best that Sarah could remember.

Everyone was having a good time. The conversation had flowed freely and easily from the time she and Chuck had arrived through to them sitting down and beginning their meal. Her parents seemed thrilled with Chuck. Even Molly was acting a bit starstruck. Sarah couldn't be happier. The family that she loved approved of the man that she loved.

Jack was chuckling at something Chuck had said. He turned from Chuck and looked at her as his grin faded. "Darlin', why did you choose Chuck over helping me? After you wrecked the car and paralyzed me, you promised to fix me. You were going to school to learn how to do it. Why did you give that up for Chuck?"

Sarah was stunned. Her mouth fell open and she stared at Jack. She didn't know what to say.

Emma glared at her. "Answer your father, Sarah. Don't be rude. It's impolite." Sarah gaped at her. What was going on?

"Sarah, you're always so selfish. Why'd you give up on Jack?" Molly pouted.

"Yes, Sarah, why did you give up on Jack?" Chuck asked, perturbed. When she turned her head to look at him, she saw he was now dressed in his swimsuit. His tight little swimsuit. And he was soaking wet. Water was dripping everywhere. When did he change his clothes? Why did he change his clothes? And why was he all wet? She felt herself getting warmer and she blushed. "You need to stop ogling me and answer your father. You're always ogling me. You don't even know anything about me! I'm not just an object for you to fantasize about! I'm a man of mystery!" Chuck looked offended.

Why was this happening? She didn't do anything wrong! "I didn't give up on you, Jack. I'm still working to graduate and get into PT school. I am! I promise! I'm going to do everything I can to fix you!" She looked at each person at the table. She felt ashamed. And more than a bit angry. This wasn't fair!

"You got distracted, Sarah. Admit it." Chuck demanded. When she looked at him again, he'd gotten up from the table and was doing a bump and grind while he glared at her. Water was flying everywhere. She was getting warmer and warmer. There was music playing now. Where had the stripper music come from?

"I didn't get distracted! I didn't!" Sarah pleaded, shaking her head. She noticed that Chuck was now thrusting his hips in her direction. That swimsuit really was small. She was squirming in her chair. Why was this happening? She didn't understand.

"You're being dishonest. If you won't admit it, Sarah, you need to be punished." Emma told her.

"Punished? How?" Sarah wondered out loud. The next thing she knew, she was sitting in Jack's wheelchair. Everyone else was getting up from the table. "Where is everybody going?"

"We're going with Chuck." Emma stated matter-of-factly. "He's such a nice young man." She smiled at Chuck, lovingly. Jack stood at her side, grinning.

Sarah tried to get up, but couldn't. She looked down and noticed that her arms and legs were strapped to Jack's wheelchair. "Wait!" She cried. "Don't leave me! I can't get up!" Sarah was desperate.

"Of course, you can't get up, Sarah. You're being punished. You're going to be stuck in that wheelchair, forever. Just like you did to Jack." Carina said. Carina? When did she show up? She was there along with Amy and Zondra. They were giving her pitying looks. Why weren't her friends helping her?

Sarah jerked her arms and wiggled, trying to free herself. She was panicking. "Chuck, help me! I can't get up. Please, don't leave me." She pleaded.

"You should have thought of that before you forgot about Jack and started to ogle me, Sarah." Chuck shook his head. "I'm with Jill, now. She's the girl for me." Sarah saw that Chuck was holding Jill Roberts in his arms. She had her legs wrapped around Chuck's waist and they were passionately kissing. Sarah froze in shock. Everyone was leaving the room.

"Wait! Don't leave!" Sarah called.

"Don't worry, Sarah. We'll take good care of him." Jill said before she started to kiss Chuck, again. She was taking off her clothes while Chuck held her up. The CATS smiled at Sarah over their shoulders. She noticed that her friends were fondling and squeezing Chuck's butt as they all walked out of the room.

"No! Don't! Stop doing that! Wait! Help!" Sarah yelled. "HELP! …"

Sarah sat bolt upright. She thrashed around, blindly. Her injured ankle came in contact with something and the pain brought her fully awake. She'd been asleep. It was a dream. She'd been dreaming. It had felt so real. She was shaking.

"What the hell, Blondie?" Carina was standing over her, rubbing her leg. So that was what her ankle had come in contact with, Carina's leg.

"S—Sorry," Sarah stammered. "Um … Uh … I had a bad dream. Just a dream." She ducked her head in embarrassment.

"It must have been a doozy of a dream then, Sarah. Your yelling woke me up along with half the dorm." Carina teased.

"What's going on?" Zondra asked sleepily as she stumbled into the room, followed by a bleary-eyed Amy.

"Sarah had a bad dream." Carina snarked.

"Jeez, Walker. What'd you dream about that caused all that ruckus?" Zondra yawned.

Sarah gulped and looked up at her friends with big eyes. Her ankle was throbbing. "I took Chuck to meet my parents. And Jack got mad at me … " She started to tear up. "I was tied to Jack's wheelchair … C—Chuck … Um … he left with J—Jill Roberts and … all of you … "

Her friends' eyebrows all shot up and they looked at each other in wide-eyed confusion. Carina gave Amy a look and the blonde moved to get a glass of water. She came back and gave it to Sarah, who nodded her thanks. "You better start at the beginning, Sarah. Tell us everything that you remember." Carina said soothingly. Sarah nodded and did as Carina asked. She remembered everything and told it all to the other girls. When she was done, her friends looked at each other, once more. They nodded their shared understanding. Maybe getting Chuck and Sarah together wasn't going to be so easy after all.

October 14

Sarah glanced up from her work and looked across at her tablemate. Chuck was spread out even more than he did at Helman Hall. Computers, his tablet, books, and journals took up more than half the space on the tabletop. She smiled to herself at the look of concentration on his face. He had thought lines between his eyebrows and he nibbled his bottom lip as he checked one computer screen before typing something on the other one, his fingers flying over the keyboard, too fast to follow. Every so often, he'd go into the stacks and come back with a pile of books. Picking up each one, he'd locate what he was looking for, taking notes or typing on his tablet or one of his computers for a while afterward. Sarah noticed that, once he put a book back down, he didn't reference it or pick it up again, unless it was to return it to the stacks and return with a new set of books. People walked by, periodically, smiling and shaking their heads in his direction. He was like a machine, entirely focused, powering through his work.

At one point, Sarah hobbled to the ladies' room and the nearby water fountain. She'd had to wave Chuck away, saying she was fine getting up and moving on her own. As she turned around from using the water fountain, there was a pretty brunette student smiling at her.

"I couldn't help noticing you're sitting at Chuck Bartowski's table," the brunette said.

"His table?" Sarah grinned.

The brunette shrugged. "Yeah. He's in here almost every night and sits at that same table every time. It's gotten to the point that people will even move to other tables when they see him come in." The brunette shrugged, again.

"Why? Does he tell them to leave? Is he a bully?" Sarah asked.

"Bully?" The brunette looked incredulous and giggled. "Oh, no. He's the farthest thing from a bully." She shook her head. "No. They move out of respect. He's a machine. People call him the Learninator or the Study-nator." Another giggle. "People aren't afraid of him. They're in awe of him."

"Why's that?"

"You see the way he's working, right now?" The brunette asked. Sarah nodded. "Well, he's like that every time. For the entire time he's in the library. There's a running pool on how long it's going to take him to read every book in this place." She giggled and Sarah snorted. "It wouldn't surprise me if he did end up reading everything in here. I'm Hannah, by the way." She smiled and held out her hand.

Sarah shook her hand. "Sarah. Nice to meet you, Hannah."

"So, Sarah, how'd you end up at his table? You're the first person he's ever brought in here." Hannah grinned. "Inquiring minds want to know. Are you his girlfriend?"

Sarah chuckled. "No, I'm not his girlfriend. He's my friend. We're just friends." She said with just a tinge of sadness. "When I sprained my ankle, Chuck offered to help carry my stuff to the library so I could study and get some work done. I usually go over to Green, but decided to come here with Chuck, so he wouldn't have to carry my stuff all the way over there. He works here all the time, like you said."

"Sounds about right for him." Hannah nodded. "Like I said, the farthest thing from a bully. Pretty nice thing to do for 'just a friend'." Sarah missed the look the brunette gave her.

"Yup. It is." Sarah nodded. "Well, I gotta get back to my work and prop my ankle up. It's throbbing. Nice to meet you, Hannah." She began to hobble away.

"Yeah, same for me. Nice to meet you, too, Sarah." Hannah smiled and went on her way.

Sarah made her way back to their shared table, ignoring the looks she was receiving from the Terman regulars. She plopped down on her chair and slid the crutches under the table, out of the way. After she hoisted her leg back on to the adjacent chair, she looked over at Chuck. He peeked at her, making sure she was safely back in her seat. She smiled and nodded, so he bent back over his work, his tongue perched in the corner of his mouth. Sarah didn't immediately return to her studies. Instead, she replayed the events of the last few days in her mind from the previous Wednesday night when she'd had her dream about Chuck.

She had described the details of her dream, or her nightmare, to her friends. They'd spent a good portion of the rest of the night trying to calm her down and decipher what it meant and trying to get Sarah to realize that she could like Chuck, be with Chuck, and still do everything she had wanted to do since coming to Stanford.

"Blondie, you need to relax." Carina had said. "You're so busy and Chuckles is so really busy that there isn't enough time to do too much romancing anyway."

"Yeah, Sarah." Amy had added. "You'll be taking it slow, whether you want to or not."

"Just hang out with him. Get to know him. Find out some of the stuff we're wondering about. Have fun. Don't worry about that Jill bitch. Curls kicked her to the curb pretty decisively." Zondra had injected. "Focus on school and fit him in where and when you can."

"You're not a nun. You haven't taken any vows." Carina had continued. Sarah had glared at her. Her friend had frowned at her. "I'm not talking about sex, Blondie. I'm talking about the fact that you're allowed to have a life for yourself. You're not on a crusade or something. Plenty of people have jobs to serve others and still have a life for themselves. You know, like doctors, ministers, firemen, soldiers, and so on." Sarah had nodded her understanding. "Do what Zondra suggested. Keep doing what you're doing and let Chuck fill in the gaps. However small those gaps may be."

Sarah had done just that. She'd calmed down and focused on school. Being sidelined with a sprained ankle and needing to keep it elevated both hampered her and set her free. She couldn't practice with the girls if she had to keep her leg elevated. Sitting in her room with her leg draped over her desk on a pillow made that sort of difficult. Having to ice her ankle as often as possible added to the difficulty of doing anything besides hobbling to class and taking care of herself. She wasn't worried about the Songbirds, not really. Between Amy, Carina, and Zondra, they had things well in hand for their practices.

She used some of the extra time she had on her hands to call her mother and catch up a little, even tell her about Chuck and her dream. Sarah wanted to talk to Jack, but was afraid if she told him about her dream, he would feel guilty that she was struggling. Her mom had assured her, again, that no one blamed her for what happened, least of all, Jack. She was thrilled to hear that Sarah was interested in someone. Finally. After all this time.

"Woah! Slow down, Mom. Chuck and I are just friends. We're nowhere close to dating or anything. I'm too busy and he's way busier than I am with all his schoolwork and his baseball practices." Sarah had chuckled.

"Well, it doesn't matter. You can't blame me for wanting to meet him. If he's got your attention, he must be a pretty special guy. I'm betting that he's no Handsy Hank." Emma had said.

"Yeah, he really is a special guy. A very special guy. The farthest thing from Handsy Hank." Sarah had said, her grin evident in her voice.

"I won't just take your word for it, sweetie. I want to meet him." Emma had continued. After hearing Sarah's intake of breath over the phone, she had added. "But I'll wait until you're ready to introduce us to him."

"Thanks, Mom. I appreciate it. That may take a while. We haven't had all that much time to be around each other, yet. Let me tell you what his schedule is like this fall." Sarah had done just that and her mother had expressed her disbelief at the crazy time demands Chuck faced. "When baseball really starts up after the winter break, it's going to get even worse." Sarah had concluded. "We're just at the beginning of hanging out together right now. After Christmas, it's going to be crazy, crazy for him. I have no idea whether or not we'll even see him. I'll have to wait and see."

"You'll have to let me know. Either way, I'll be thinking about him, now. What an insane way to go to college. And he's not majoring in Underwater Basket Weaving, either." Emma had observed.

"I will, Mom. We're all going to be doing as much as we can to support him. He's got lots of friends here at school. More than he knows."

"Well, he has some potential friends down here in Coronado, too."

"Thanks. Mom. I gotta go. More school work to do."

"I know you do, baby. Keep your chin up and keep working. I'll let you know as soon as any letters arrive. Don't worry about Jack. He just wants you to be happy. Take care of Chuck. He sounds like a nice young man."

"I will, Mom. I promise. Bye."

"Bye, sweetie." (Emma had hung up smiling. She couldn't wait to meet this boy who was making her daughter so crazy. It was about damn time.)

And hang out with Chuck, she did. When he found out that she wasn't going to practice at the moment, he'd made a beeline to her suite. Her friends had told her the story after he had come by the suite Thursday afternoon.

Chuck had walked into Helman Hall and looked around. Not seeing her, he'd asked. "Where's Sarah? Is she OK?"

"Yeah, Chuckles. She's OK for someone with a sprained ankle." Carina had teased.

"So, she's not here to watch over y'all's practice?" Chuck had wondered.

"Nope. She's back in our suite RICEing like a boss." Zondra had reported.

"Um … OK … Well, I wonder … I wonder if she needs some company?" Chuck had looked off in the general direction of their dorm, as if he could see it through the wall and the intervening buildings. "Maybe, I should check on her." He said, vaguely, before turning on his heel and briskly walking out of the room.

The girls all looked at each other, speechless, for a beat or two, before breaking into laughter.

"Well, I guess that makes us chopped liver, doesn't it?" Lou had grinned.

"I guess so," Carina had agreed, laughing. "The poor guy has no idea what's going on."

"He's the only one who doesn't," Alex had giggled.

"He may not, but don't anybody give him shit about it, either." Zondra had commanded. "Curls is a good guy and he's good for Sarah. Let them move at their own pace."

Sarah smiled at the memory of him coming by her room and offering to keep her company. She'd been happy to agree to let him stay. He'd done his standard study like a demon routine for the next almost two hours before packing up and rushing off to his practice, after making sure that she didn't need him to do anything for her. Friday afternoon was a repeat of Thursday. So was earlier this afternoon. He passed it off as being a friend. She was OK with that. She didn't have a lot of time for much else. For now.

The CATS had spent Friday night watching movies streaming on Amy's TV screen hooked up to the campus internet and eating microwave popcorn. Totally bad for you, but Sarah appreciated her friends staying in and keeping her company. She really did love them.

Sunday had seen Chuck holding another of his tutoring sessions. One hour with Alex for chemistry and another hour for Lilly and Beca with calculus. This time around, Sarah had made a point to be there to watch him in action for herself. She thought that she had some idea of what to expect after what Zondra and Amy had told her about the previous Sunday, but what she saw still amazed her. Chuck was patient and clear. His explanations were so simple that she understood what he was talking about even without being in the classes he was discussing. More than a few people in the room were paying attention to what he was saying. Watching confident, articulate, and, frankly, brilliant Chuck was eye opening. He was so different from the quiet and reserved Chuck that she normally saw. It was pretty darn attractive. More than attractive really, kind of sexy. What other surprises did Chuck have for her, she had wondered?

This afternoon and evening had brought another revelation. While they were studying together in her suite, she had mentioned that she needed to go to the library to work that evening. Chuck had asked if it had to be Green or could she go to Terman and use the resources there? She had said that Terman was fine for what she had to do. Chuck had nodded and told her that he would come by at 7:00pm to help her get to the library. After he left for his afternoon practice, her friends had returned and questioned her about what he could possibly have planned.

After another dinner with her leg propped in his lap, the CATS found out what he had planned. He arrived at their door at 7:00pm sharp, wearing his huge backpack and carrying two pillows. Chuck took her smaller backpack and strapped it to his chest and shoved one of the pillows he was carrying behind the backpack. With his, now free, hand, he took the pillow she had been using to prop her ankle on her desk. He looked like one of those D-Day paratroopers she'd seen in a documentary back in high school.

"You really don't need to do all of this, Chuck," she'd said.

"Nonsense. All I'm doing is helping a friend get to where she needs to go. Without having to schlep her backpack and pillow while trying to navigate on crutches. It's nothing, really." Chuck had scoffed.

"It may be nothing, but thank you, anyway." Sarah had smiled up at him. He couldn't help being adorable. When she'd looked at her friends, she could tell that they agreed with her.

The walk to Terman Library had been interesting. People kept gaping at Chuck walking beside her as she hobbled along. More than a few people recognized him. Most just smiled and shook their heads, but one student decided to try and tease Chuck.

"What're you up to now, Bartowski?" One bespectacled student had asked.

"Terman Library study campout," Chuck had waved the pillows he was carrying. "Only for people in the know. You know, the cool kids." He'd grinned.

"Well, that leaves you out," the student had joked.

"Not from where I'm standing, it doesn't," Sarah had chirped.

"Oh! Ho!" Chuck had laughed. He'd stuck his tongue out at the other guy. "Nyeh!" Then he'd grinned.

"Touché," the guy had responded with a smile. A sort of glum smile, but still a smile. Sarah had giggled.

Chuck had explained what was going on to the security guard in the lobby of the library. After giving Sarah's obvious injury a quick once over, he allowed them to enter. More head shaking and smiling students followed until they'd reached 'Chuck's' table. He'd helped her get settled and made her promise to let him get her anything she needed, so she stayed off her feet and let her ankle rest as much as possible. Sarah had been surprised that none of the library staff bothered them or told her to take her leg off of the chair where she'd propped it on two of the pillows. Chuck had positioned the third pillow behind her back to give it some cushion for the strange angle she was sitting in.

Sarah came back to the present as she looked at Chuck. He was so thoughtful, kind, and unassuming. Always looking out for other people and rarely, if ever, thinking of himself. She knew she could do a lot worse. Handsy Hank was not alone out in the world. There were lots of him around. There weren't lots of Chuck Bartowski's. She was willing to bet he was one of a kind. That thought caused a bloom of warmth in her chest. She ducked her head and smiled before returning to the work in front of her.

October 15

Chuck walked up to Ellie's door and rang the bell. Devon answered the door with his trademark toothy grin.

"Chuckster! Right on time. How's it going, bro?" Devon bellowed, grabbing Chuck's hand and giving it a vigorous shake.

"I'm great, Captain Awesome. How's things with you?" Chuck smiled.

"Awesome!" Devon chuckled.

"Why am I not surprised." Chuck deadpanned. Both men laughed.

"Come on in. Come on in." Devon motioned. "Ellie tells me dinner is almost ready. It's a good thing, too. I'm starved."

Ellie poked her head out of the kitchen and looked at her brother and her boyfriend. "You're always hungry, Devon." She waved a dish towel at Chuck. "Hi, Chuck!" she chirped.

"What can I say? Learning doctor stuff works up an appetite." Devon shrugged. Ellie twisted her lips to the side and shook her head at him.

"Hey, El. Smells wonderful. What amazing things have you fixed for us tonight?" Chuck sniffed the air.

"I'm trying out Granddad Bartowski's Texas Chili recipe. We're having Gommy's southern cornbread and her coleslaw, too."

"Oh man, Ellie. You're killing it with the family recipes. If you keep this up, I may have to move in here with you." Chuck teased.

"Thanks, little brother." Ellie beamed. "You're welcome to stay here, if you don't mind sleeping on the floor. One bedroom, remember."

Before Chuck could respond, Devon jumped in. "And as long as you don't mind the noise. Know what I'm saying?" He winked. Chuck didn't want to admit that, no, he didn't know what Devon was saying. Ellie saved him from having to come up with a response.

"Devon!" Ellie shrieked. "Stop! Chuck's my little brother!"

Devon made a zipping motion along his lips and shrugged. The smile never left his face.

Chuck frowned slightly and changed the subject. "I'm glad you're making Gommy's southern cornbread. She'd tan our hides if she caught us making that sweet yankee cornbread."

"You're right, she would tan our hides. Besides, having sweet cornbread with chili just sounds gross." Ellie said, from the kitchen.

"Yup, it does," Chuck agreed.

"Dinner in five minutes. Come on in and fix your glasses. Same as before, tea or water."

Chuck and Devon walked over to the kitchen. Ellie handed them each a glass full of ice and pointed to the two pitchers on the counter, one with sweet tea and the other with water with lemon slices in it. Filling their glasses and one for Ellie, too, they carried them out to the table.

"Come fill your bowls. Dinner's ready." Ellie called.

Heading back to the kitchen, Chuck saw Ellie take the lid off of her crockpot and stir the chili inside. The smell was heavenly. He handed a bowl to Devon and took one for himself. Ellie gestured for his bowl and he gave it to her. She filled it to the brim and returned it to him.

"There's fresh chopped Vidalia onions, shredded cheese, chopped pickled jalapenos, and sour cream on the counter. Doctor your chili the way you want." Ellie pointed over to where the condiments were located. "There are cups over there, too. The coleslaw is in the bowl. Help yourself."

Chuck followed her directions and doctored his chili with onions, cheese, and jalapenos. It smelled great and his mouth started to water. Ellie really was making an effort and he appreciated it more than he could say. He hoped that feeling would carry over to the dinner conversation that he knew was coming. After filling a cup with some of Gommy's coleslaw, he got out of the kitchen to give Ellie and Devon more room to maneuver and fix their own bowls. He took the same seat he'd had at their last dinner and waited for his sister and her boyfriend to join him.

They came out of the kitchen and took their seats. Ellie brought the cornbread out on a plate, already sliced into wedges. They said grace.

"Wow, Ellie. You pulled out all the stops. Cornbread in a cast iron skillet? Gommy would be so proud of you. I can't wait to taste it."

Ellie blushed a little and smiled. She could get used to Nice Chuck. She liked him a lot. "I hope so. I followed her recipe to the letter. I even used the skillet she gifted me with from back when I graduated high school. Let me know what you think, OK?"

Chuck nodded as he reached for a slice. He took a bite and chewed. His eyes lit up and he grinned. Swallowing, he took a sip of tea. "Ellie, you nailed it. Nailed it! It tastes perfect. I could close my eyes and be back at Gommy and Granddaddy's house in Georgia. No lie. Yummy."

Ellie beamed and laughed. "Laying it on a little thick, aren't you, little brother?"

Chuck was spooning chili into his mouth. He groaned. "Two for two, Ellie. This chili tastes just like Granddad's. Nice and spicy, just the way I like it. Wow!" He grinned and nodded. "Yeah, maybe I am going a bit overboard, but I want you to know how much I appreciate your cooking. Representing both sides of the family with this dinner."

"He's right, babe. This is really good." Devon smiled.

"Well, I gotta keep my men fed. Remember there's more, like always."

Chuck gave her an eye and grinned. "Talk about laying it on a little thick! You're really going all Ellie Homemaker on us here, sis."

Ellie could tell he was teasing, so she just grinned pointing her spoon at him. "Watch it, college boy. Keep trash talking to me and I'll cut you off from this good stuff."

"Does that include me, too, babe?" Devon questioned.

"Sure, it does. Not only will I cut you off from the good stuff," she said, pointing at the food. "I'll cut you off from this great stuff." Ellie waved her free hand from her head down her torso. She grinned and Devon grinned back. Chuck merely cocked an eyebrow at them before busying himself with his bowl of chili.

Ellie held off with her questions until Chuck returned to the table with his second bowl of chili. She took a drink and cleared her throat. He knew what was coming.

"So, Chuck, Devon and I sort of ran into a friend of yours last week." Ellie began.

"Oh, yeah?" Chuck looked at his sister. "Where was that, El?"

"Over at the Vaden Health Center. We had an observation assignment and we were shadowing one of the nurses."

"So, you met Sarah then, didn't you?" Chuck said. Ellie was a little surprised. "Don't look so surprised, sis. I don't know that many people and the only person that I know who has been to Vaden, that I know of, is Sarah. Sarah Walker. Am I right?" Chuck smiled.

"It is possible that we met someone who knows you that you don't know knows you." Ellie tried. Chuck gave her a flat look. She caved. "OK, yeah, we met Sarah. Don't be mad."

Chuck surprised her by laughing. "I'm not mad, Ellie. I'm glad that you've met Sarah. I figured you would sooner or later."

Ellie was practically vibrating, but she tried to sound as nonchalant as she could. "So, how did you meet her? When did you meet her?"

Chuck gave Ellie the eye. "I know she talked to you, El. She told me." Ellie blushed. "She also told me that she told you the story of our meeting each other and about my hanging out with her and the other girls in her acapella group." Ellie gave a tentative nod. "I'm not ashamed of anything and I'm not trying to hide anything. I'd only met them the afternoon of the day that I was over here last time for dinner. I've been studying in their practice hall while they've been holding their practices. Most of them live in either my dorm or the nearby dorms, so Morgan and I have been eating dinner with them most nights, too." He shrugged. "No big deal. I'm making friends. Just like I wanted to do when I decided to come here."

"Sarah told me that Morgan is even dating one of them. One of their freshmen members. Is that true?" Ellie sounded a bit incredulous. Devon silently watched the siblings talking.

"Yup, it is. Believe it or not." Chuck laughed when he saw the expression on Ellie's face. "Alex is a nice girl and Morgan is actually being cool with her. Her dad is one of our baseball coaches. He's definitely not being 'crushing on Ellie' Morgan at the moment."

"Would you tell me the whole story, Chuck?" Ellie asked.

"You already know the story, El. Sarah told you."

"I know, but can I hear it from you? I'm really happy that you are making friends and I'd like to hear you tell the story from your perspective."

Chuck pursed his lips and snorted. "I know what you're trying to do, Ellie. I'm inexperienced, but I'm not a robot. Or an idiot, despite what people keep saying. So, I'll tell you the story, but I'll say this first, because I know what you're looking for." He gave his sister a knowing smile. "Yes, I like Sarah. I like all of them. The Songbirds. That's the name of their acapella group. They're fun to be around and they're nice to me. But I especially like Sarah. She's my friend. Hopefully, she's becoming a good friend. We have some sort of connection that I can't explain. From the first time I saw her. When I shook her hand. We're both up to our eyeballs in schoolwork. And I've got baseball on top of that. I've barely got time to breathe, eat, and sleep. I've got to get myself organized. Until I can do that, I'm happy just to be making friends. I'd rather have friends than freak them out and lose them all. I'm tired of being alone. Know what I'm saying to you?" Ellie nodded. "OK then. Here's the story you wanted to hear."

For the rest of the dinner, Chuck told Ellie and Devon his version of meeting Sarah and the other Songbirds. Hanging out with them. Eating with them. Going to the football game. The baseball Annies. Jill Roberts. Sarah's sprained ankle. Studying with Sarah. Shaw and Larkin. Baseball practice. All of it. His whole story since coming to Stanford. Elle was getting more and more excited. At some point, Devon reached over and took hold of her hand, gently squeezing it to try and keep her calm.

"Through being around Sarah and her friends, I'm meeting people. Making friends. Having some fun. People wave at me when I'm walking to and from class. Stop and talk to me in the dining hall or the dorm. Come by and have whispered conversations in the library. I don't have close friends, yet, but I think that will come, eventually. I'm getting a chance to help people with their classes. Make a difference. It feels good, Ellie. Really good. I like it a lot more than just being 'that kid.'" Chuck's eyes were getting a little glassy. So were Ellie's.

"I'm so glad, Chuck. I'm happy for you. Truly." Chuck smiled at her and she sniffled. "I want to hear more, but let's clear the table and have some dessert. In keeping with the family theme we've got going on, I made peach cobbler. Mom gave me some frozen sliced peaches she'd put up and I used them in the cobbler. It's warming in the oven." Chuck raised his eyebrows and Ellie noticed. "Yes, there's vanilla ice cream to put on top. You didn't think I'd forget that, did you?" Chuck smiled and shook his head.

Over peach cobbler with ice cream and cups of coffee, Chuck continued to regale them recounting his adventures since arriving on campus back in September. The time flew by. He checked his phone and was amazed how late it was.

"Wow. Look at the time." Chuck turned his phone to face Ellie and Devon. "It's getting late. I need to go. Weight lifting starts early in the morning." He got up and carried his dirty dishes into the kitchen and put them in Ellie's dishwasher.

"It was really great to have dinner with you, again, Chuck." Ellie said when he came out of the kitchen. Devon nodded his agreement.

"Thanks, Ellie. I really enjoyed it, too." Chuck stopped and looked at his sister before continuing. "Being away from home taught me a lot of hard lessons, El. One of the big ones is the importance of your family. And having friends. Not being alone all the time. Getting to spend time with you and Devon means more to me than you know."

Sudden tears formed in Ellie's eyes. She brought her hand up to her mouth as she blinked to keep from crying. Ellie took two steps and wrapped her arms around her brother and squeezed him tight. "I'm glad, little brother. Spending time with you is important to me, too." She pulled back and held him at arm's length. Looking him straight in the eye, she continued. "Chuck, I said some horribly childish things to you when we were younger. I can't take them back, even though I wish I could. I was young and self-centered. I was jealous of all of the amazing things you can do. I thought I should be better than you because I was older than you. I didn't understand what you have to deal with. What you've had to deal with since you were born and will have to deal with for your entire life. I won't try and lecture you about slowing down any more. I'm sorry for all of that and more. I'm overjoyed to be reconnecting with you here and now. I'm so happy that you're making friends. Maybe someday soon we can have you over for dinner, again. Maybe you can even bring Sarah along. It would be nice to spend time with some of your friends." She gave him a watery grin and another hug.

Chuck seemed a little stunned from everything that Ellie had said. "I'm sorry, too, El. I was sort of the typical jerky younger brother. I appreciate what you said, so, thank you, but I'm at fault for stuff, too. We can't undo the past. We can only control what we do going forward. I love you, Ellie. And I'm glad that I have you near me, so we can spend some time together."

"I love you, too, Chuck. So much. Know that you've got Devon and me in your corner. Always."

"So true, bro," Devon said gravely. He patted Chuck's shoulder.

"Thank you, both. As for bringing Sarah to dinner. I don't know. Maybe someday. Now as far as meeting more of my friends goes, we might be able to do something about that sooner." Chuck cocked his head to one side and Ellie looked at him wide-eyed. "How about I find out where my group is going to meet up before the game on Thursday and I send you a text. You can come over and meet them. I'll introduce you. It's probably not a good idea for you to sit with us, though. Unless you can promise not to go all UCLA on us." He grinned.

"Can't make that promise, Chuckster. My football loyalties lie with my old team." Devon frowned slightly. Ellie rolled her eyes.

"No worries. I expected as much." Chuck nodded. "Let's go with my plan and you can meet whichever friends show up before you go into the stadium and cheer for the enemy." He gave them a crooked smile.

Ellie snorted. "Sounds good to me. I'll be looking for your message." They walked Chuck to the door.

"I'll let you know ASAP." Chuck confirmed. He gave Ellie one last hug. "Thanks for dinner, El. It was amazing. So was the company and the conversation."

"You're welcome, Chuck. I'm glad you enjoyed it. We'll do it again soon."

He turned and shook hands with Devon. "Devon. Always a pleasure."

"Back at you, bro." Devon smiled.

Chuck walked out and waved over his shoulder. As soon as the door closed, Ellie threw her arms around Devon.

"That went so well! Better than I hoped. We're really beginning to connect. Getting over being assholes to each other growing up." Ellie exclaimed.

"You know that you'll need to talk more about that, right?" Devon said. "There's no way that Chuck is just over it, like he's trying to act. Nor are you."

"Yeah, I know that, Devon. But we're making so much progress. He really is an amazing man."

"Well, he has an amazing sister." Devon looked at her fondly. Ellie smiled at him and reached up to pull him into a kiss.

A/N2: Chapter title comes from the song by Ronna Reeves. The song is about someone struggling with their head and their heart. Could apply to both Sarah and Chuck at this particular moment.

A/N3: As the Stanford TMI Turns – In this week's episode, Lane History Corner and Sloan Mathematics Corner part of the building complex known at the Main Quad. Lane is the northeast corner and Sloan is the northwest corner. This note was left in chapter 12, by mistake, after I removed the spy review meeting that is now at the beginning of this chapter 13.

A/N4: Some people have been asking about Sarah's 'mental mom'. Her mom, Emma, is definitely alive and not a telepath. Sarah is just having an internal conversation with herself and 'mental mom' is her imagining how her mother would respond in that conversation, based on years of actual mother-daughter conversations.

A/N5: WillieGarvin has been doing more traveling. This time to the wilds of the American west. Not many typewriting monkeys to be found there, but what do I know? Thank you, WillieGarvin, for your help and advice. You do all this while creating a fantastic story of your own. And do real life work. And have a family. How do you find the time? I don't know that, either, but I'm glad you do. Thanks.

A/N6: Thank you for reading. Please drop me a PM or leave a review. Let me know what you think. For those of you who have left reviews or PMs previously, thank you. I appreciate each and every one of them.

A/N7: If you enjoy Chuck fan fiction here on the fanfic site, go over to Facebook and join the Chuck Fanfiction group that's there. You'll find nice folks who share your interest in our favorite spy couple. You are not alone.