Lily (Tiger)- I Dare You to Love Me

"How about white roses?"

"No, those are so overdone. Everyone uses roses for their wedding bouquet. I want something different. Besides, the book says here that they mean…"

Chuck groans inwardly. Last week, Ellie's maid of honor gave her a book called the Language of Flowers which lists all the meanings of flowers from the Victorian age. As a result of this brilliant move, he, Ellie, Awesome and Morgan have spent hours and hours disagreeing over what Ellie's bouquet should mean. He is supposed to be getting ready for a debriefing on the latest mission. Instead he is sitting in his living room, pouring over pictures of flowers with no end in sight. It isn't that that he doesn't love helping out his sister for the most important day of her life; it's just that they're flowers. Who the hell cares what they mean, so long as they look pretty?

"What about hydrangeas?"

"NO," Ellie and Chuck say in unison.

"Okay, okay, no need to bite my head off," Morgan huffs. "It was just a suggestion."

"How about these?" Awesome asks, pointing to the book.

"Tiger lilies?"

Chuck fiddles with his watch. "Those are pretty, but I'm not sure of the orange," he says distractedly.

"You know tiger lilies have medicinal uses," Awesome notes. "They relieve congestion, the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy-"

"Ellie's not pregnant though," Morgan interjects. "You're not pregnant, are you Ellie?"

Ellie smacks Morgan in the arm.

"Ow, ow. Okay, sorry."

"Morgan, you never ask if a woman is pregnant."

"Yeah, dude. Not cool."

"Well," Ellie continues, ignoring Morgan. "The book says…Here we go. Lily, tiger. I dare you to love me."

"You should remember that one, Chuck, the next time you give Sarah flowers."

"I told you, we're just friends."

A knock on the front door saves him from continuing that line of conversation. Immediately Chuck jumps up and sprints to the door.

"Oh thank god you're here, Sarah."

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know that we're going to have to postpone the mission to tomorrow instead. Casey has to swing by and pick up some special supplies for the mission, and we can't move them until it gets dark."

Chuck frowns in disappointment.

"Sarah!" Ellie exclaims, appearing at the door.

"Hi, Ellie!" she says.

"Come in here and help pick out flowers for the wedding!"

Sarah's smile falters in uncertainty. "Uh, I'm not so sure-"

"Please, all I have are Devon, Morgan and Chuck." Sarah winces in sympathy. "I could really use a woman's opinion."

Chuck gives Sarah an apologetic look. Sarah sighs and hands him her coat. "Sure. So what have you got?"

"Right now we're looking at lilies."

"Have you thought about calla lilies? They come in lots of different colors, so it will be easy to match your colors."

As Chuck watches Sarah and Ellie make their way to the living room, he lets his mind wander.

His disappointment at the postponement of the mission is surprising. He had actually been looking forward to tonight's mission, which, now that he thinks about it, is becoming a reoccurring trend. Being on missions, while terrifying at times, is also exhilarating. It gives him a sense of purpose that nothing else does, and in a strange way, his day doesn't feel complete without Casey bringing files to see if he'll flash on something or Sarah debriefing him for a mission.

Chuck stops in his tracks as that epiphany settles in his mind. This craziness is his life now, and he is surprised at how much he actually wants to keep it that way.

It doesn't change anything. There are still boundaries he can't cross, situations where he will have to lie and compartmentalize. But looking at Ellie and Sarah interacting together, meshing his normal world and his spy world, Chuck realizes, he isn't fighting to keep them separate anymore because he needs both. He can't imagine his life without Sarah and Casey any more that he can imagine life without Ellie, Awesome, and Morgan.

Especially Sarah.

"Hey, Chuck! Get in here!" Sarah calls, breaking his reverie.

Chuck hangs Sarah's coat on the coat rack and walks back to the living room with a smile.

--

The following night, Chuck adjusts his bow tie before knocking on Sarah's door. The door opens to reveal Sarah in a beautiful white gown that shimmers when she moves. Chuck's jaw drops slightly at the sight.

"What's this?" Sarah says curiously, pointing to the flower in his hand.

"Well, I felt bad that you were stuck helping Ellie pick out flowers," Chuck recovers. "And it occurred to me that a man should always give flowers to a woman before they go out on a date."

"But this isn't a date."

"It is to Charles Carmichael," he smiles, "and Charles Carmichael would never go on a date without bringing flowers."

Sarah stares at him with an unreadable look.

"Come on. Consider it part of the cover."

He hands her the tiger lily with a flourish, hoping she'll understand the words unspoken. It was all he dares to do, but reading the warm look in her eyes when she accepts is enough to know that his message is received.

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