A/N: Hello lovely readers, thank you for all the reviews and comments, i will certainly take them into consideration when i write. Concerns have been raised about Sarah's characterization but remember that i haven't written in her POV since the first chapter so don't rush to take chuck's side =P

Before you read the following chapter, just know that everything is for a reason and i'm not throwing characters out purely to see how much angst i can squeeze out of this story.

Chapter 5:

Chuck stared mindlessly at the computer screen in front of him. He had closed the door to his office, something he rarely ever did, but even so the laughter emitting from the hallway was impossible to escape. He usually didn't mind when his staff goofed around, but today he couldn't stand it.

You're not being fair.

Chuck sighed. Of course not. Just because he wasn't happy didn't mean others couldn't be.

Everyone hits a rough patch…

Chuck refused to accept that. Him and Sarah weren't like everyone else. He liked to think that they were something more; fated, destined, soul-mates, whatever Hallmark catch-phrase people liked to sprinkle around these days. They never fought, never argued for longer than fifteen minutes and most certainly never let a problem fester for this long.

Sarah was upset about something and she wasn't going to touch it with a five foot pole. Chuck had no idea, they never talked about the past. This habit of dodging around had worked for them for the last two years, but as he had come to realize, there was only so far you could drift on the waters before you began to search for the shoreline.

Chuck's eyes drifted from the screen to the photo on his desk. He brought it closer, cradling the frame in his hands. She had looked so beautiful that day, even more so standing beside a funny-looking nerd like him. At the time he thought he'd heard someone call his name and turned his head at the last second, causing him to look inattentive and aloof. It was unfortunate this shot also happened to be his favorite photo of Sarah. She hated posing for the camera, that he knew, so it was rare for him to see that kind of a smile on paper.

Suddenly Chuck's phone rang and he jumped in his seat. He reached for the cell, hoping to see a picture of Sarah appear on the screen, only to be disappointed by the blank ID.

Unknown caller.

"Hello?"

"Chuck?"

Chuck frowned, the voice was familiar. He strained his memory, trying to figure out who could be on the other end.

"Yes, speaking," he responded warily.

"Chuck! Chuck Bartowski!" the female voice repeated, more excited now than before.

"Yes, that's me," Chuck replied, still unsure who he was speaking to. Whoever it was, she clearly knew him.

There was a pause. "It's me! Jill!"

Chuck choked on room air. His heart beat out of his chest and he went into full panic mode, slipping out of his chair and falling to the ground with a loud thud.

"Jill!" he croaked. "Oh my gosh, of course!" He heard her laugh on the other end. "This…this is such a surprise!" he uttered, laughing nervously.

Breathe, breathe, breathe! he begged as he climbed back to his seat. Just breathe. Be cool. Stay calm.

"I know! Well you said if I was ever in town again I should give you a call. Remember?"

Chuck held his breath as he squeezed his stress-ball. No, he didn't. First Bryce, now Jill. He wondered if he should call up the bully from his elementary school days. Maybe they'd reconciled too.

"Well that's great," Chuck said, praying she would fill in the awkward silence.

"Yeah, listen I've got some time this afternoon. Do you want to catch up? Have coffee?"

Chuck hesitated. His eyes flashed to the bottom of the monitor. It was getting close to lunch and he was still holding out on the chance Sarah would call. Then again, having spent another long night in silence, she probably didn't have much to say to him.

"Sure, sounds good."

_

Chuck wondered how well he got along with Jill. Did they have coffee often? Inevitably, his mind wanders back to the years of agony she had put him through. How had he forgiven her? Had she apologized with tears in her eyes, had she begged him to come back, or had Chuck simply swept the past under the rug?

It was hard to imagine Jill pleading for anything after forgetting him so easily and remaining out of contact five years after Stanford. As he sat in the café waiting for her to show, he wondered if he would even recognize her. How many years had it been…ten? He whistled, an entire decade. Even the sound of it made him feel old.

Then the bell above the door sounds and she walks in, carrying with her a fresh breeze of air. In an instant Chuck remembers everything, every painful memory he'd long suppressed or thought he'd forgotten down to the number of freckles on her face (four), the scent of her hair (just like clementine's) and the shade of her eyes (the same tone as Cadbury's milk chocolate bars).

She smiles as she walks over to him and takes the adjacent seat, but not before kissing him on both cheeks. The gesture takes him off guard and he wonders if he's already behaving like a fool. The plain golden band on his left hand glares at him, making him smart for even looking twice in her direction.

"Chuck!" she says in a breathless sigh and smiles broadly at him. He smiles back, wondering if the expression was as goofy as it felt. She hadn't changed at all. She was still the same Jill he had fallen head over heels for…his first real love, real kiss—

And the first girl to tear your heart into a million pieces and stomp through the shreds with her stiletto heels.

Chuck gulped. Right. That.

"I haven't seen you in so long, Chuck," she said. "How are you?" She clasped his hand and held it, looking deep into his eyes. Chuck's heart began to beat fast, so fast he was afraid the room might be spinning a little.

They must have been close.

"I'm good. Good." He nodded his head, still afraid to look her in the eye. He withdrew his hands and hid them under the table. If he allowed her to hold them any longer, she would realize just how nervous he really was. "Um…I got married."

He watched Jill carefully but her expression remained the same and she only nodded. "I heard. Congrats." It was nonchalant but a touch too blasé for someone who kissed him in greeting and held his hand.

"And you?" he paused, wondering if he was being stupid. "You and Bryce…"

Jill frowned and Chuck instantly realized he had said the wrong thing. For the first time, Jill's eyes lost their warmth and her smile retreated behind a grim look. "No," she said with a shake of her head. "Not for a very long time now," she added.

"Right," Chuck said quickly. "Sorry, forgot!" He laughed nervously and took a large gulp of coffee, only to realize caffeine was the last thing he needed.

"Um…" He coughed on the scalding drink. "What do you do now?"

Jill tilted her head, frowning. "Still the same thing," she said.

Chuck groaned inwardly, wondering what that was. He looked over her attire but it gave him no clues. She was dressed casually, obviously not for work.

"I really missed you, Chuck," she said again, the second time in the last five minutes. "I didn't know if I would ever see you again."

Chuck bit his lips. What did that mean? Had they ended on a bad note?

"Well here I am!" he exclaimed, laughing through gritted teeth. He wanted to smack himself, he was such a dork.

Jill smiled and shook her head slowly.

"So…what have you been up to?"

Jill shrugged. "Not too much," she said, still staring at him. "I've been kind of tied up." She smirked and Chuck wondered what she meant by that. He laughed at the inside joke he didn't really understand, making Jill furrow her brows.

"Wow…" she gasped. "You really did it. You've lost your memory."

Chuck jumped in his seat. His eyes widened and the adrenaline shot through his system. All at once he felt his body surge with electricity, enough to make his limbs quake, itching to escape.

"How…" He couldn't even put it in words. "How…"

"I know," Jill said. Simple as that. Her smile took on a melancholy quality. "Chuck," she said, the tone of her voice growing grave. "You are in danger."

She leaned on the table with her elbows, getting right in his face. "Chuck. Did you hear me?" she whispered. "You are in serious danger. You need to come with me."

Chuck frowned. "What are you talking about?" he asked. This was getting out of hand.

"Camille tried to contact you but you wouldn't listen. You need to come with me now before it's too late."

Chuck shook his head. He refused to believe it. "No," he said. "It's not true."

Jill's eyes darkened. "I'm serious."

"I am too," Chuck warned. "Sarah wouldn't do that."

The brunette shook her head. "You don't know, Sarah," she said. "You don't know anything about her."

Chuck stood up. He had heard enough. He was going to call Sarah now and he was going to tell her everything. She would tell him the truth. She would set the record straight.

"Wait!" Jill ran up to him and held his hand, her grip surprisingly forceful. "Okay, you don't believe me?" She didn't wait for him to answer. "I'll prove it to you."

_

A terrible feeling grew in the pit of Chuck's gut as Jill dragged him the four blocks to Sarah's workplace. The fact Jill knew where his wife worked already roused suspicion. It meant they knew each other, even though Sarah had never mentioned it before.

They stopped at the building doors. Chuck grabbed the handle but Jill slapped his hand away.

"We're not going in," she said. She nodded towards the service counter and Chuck stepped forwards, putting his face right up against the glass. Sarah wasn't there.

"Do you see her?" Jill asked. She didn't even take a glance which meant she knew Sarah wouldn't be.

"What's your point?"

Jill pointed to his coat pocket. "Call her. Ask her where she is right now."

Chuck gulped. She was so confident, so sure of herself, just like Camille. It seemed everyone knew something but him.

His hand reached for the phone but he hesitated to dial the numbers he'd memorized by heart. What if Jill was right? What then?

She could be wrong. She could be bluffing.

Then why was Chuck so afraid?

"Call her," Jill repeated, looking at him intently.

Chuck put the phone to his ear, praying she wouldn't pick up. Maybe she left her phone on silent as he often did, maybe she'd left it behind while she went on break—

"Hello?"

Chuck felt his breath catch in his chest as he heard her speak. Usually she answered with his name, or some sort of endearment, never anything so detached and informal as a simple 'hello'.

"Hey…honey," he said, smiling weakly while trying to avoid Jill's gaze. "What-what are you doing right now?"

There was a pause. Chuck could barely hear her but he couldn't be sure if it was the traffic beside him or something from her end. "I can't talk right now," she said. Her voice was so distant, so cold; he wondered if it was still Sarah on the other end.

"Oh. Well it's around lunch and I thought maybe I could—"

"No," she said, cutting him off. She sighed audibly into the phone. "I'm with someone right now. I have to work. I can't talk."

Chuck pressed his forehead against the glass, peering at Sarah's coworkers. "At the counter?"

She sounded annoyed. "Of course, where else?"

Stupid question, or in this case, the million-dollar conundrum. Where else could she be?

"Sarah?" he asked, staring at the space where she should be but was not. He would not allow himself to be consumed by despair in front of Jill. He was not going to let Jill see how pathetic he was.

"What?" she said, sounding impatient.

Chuck swallowed the lump that was building in his throat. "I love you," he whispered, out of earshot of anyone else.

Silence. "I have to go."

Then the line went dead.

Chuck turned his head slowly towards Jill. She frowned though there was no denying the triumphant gleam in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Chuck," she said.

"Yeah," Chuck sighed. "Me too."

I know Jill is no fun to read, but strangely she is a lot of fun to write. Reviews are always appreciated =)