A/N: It's been a month since I updated this fic…I have a good excuse…I'm sure…I'm looking for it…would you accept, I forgot? Didn't think so. Not only has it been a month but I left you on a cliff…I'm terrible and I'm so sorry. Let's fix this mess, shall we? Welcome to Ch 8, What To Do About Mary.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, and he doesn't appear to own his house any more either.
Last time on Buy More High
"Welp, looks like she's back," Chuck said.
"This is my fault, I told you to talk to her," Sarah replied.
"No, that nut decided to act that way just because," Chuck replied. "Now, what is your great idea that will fix this." She grinned and bounced a shoulder.
"Simple, you move in," she said. Chuck wasn't sure what to say.
Chuck looked over at Ellie who was sitting there vibrating. He glanced at Devon who was nodding with a knowing smirk. He quickly looked away before Devon wanted a high five. He looked over at Sarah. She had just put herself out there, in front of his family. He was absolutely touched by the offer. He reached over and took her hand.
"I can't thank you enough for the offer, but I need to say this, and I need you to hear me," Chuck said. She nodded, and Ellie looked worried. "It means the world to me you offering this. I want nothing more than to spend all my time with you, but you're being forced in to-" He never got to finish, because she grabbed him by the shirt, and pulled him in for a searing kiss that made his brain fry and words turned into colors. She pulled away and looked at him.
"I want you to move in with me," Sarah said, staring into his eyes.
"Me too," me mumbled, brain still not functioning at 100%.
"I told you, I need you near, I've been with you almost every night, even when we weren't…together," she said, raising an eyebrow. Chuck's ears went red as he swallowed, and Ellie was vibrating again. "Don't let her win, Chuck, move in with me."
"Okay," he said. "If that's what you want."
"It is," she said, letting go of his shirt. Ellie squealed.
}o{
"Should we get a rental unit for some of this?" Sarah asked later that evening. Chuck was still trying to get over what had happened. His mother showed up, basically telling him he was getting thrown out of his own house if he didn't break it off with Sarah. Sarah told him she wanted him to move in, and Ellie had squealed. He was sure the vets throughout the city were dealing with the dogs who had their eardrums pierced with the squeal. They hadn't got thrown out of the restaurant, but the waitress who always waited on them approached the table to make sure everything was okay. Sarah apologized and said the two of them were moving in together. The waitress high-fived her and brought her desert. Chuck asked where his was, and the waitress walked away giggling. "Chuck?"
"Sorry," he said, turning to her. She slipped her arms around his waist, pulling him in. "Lot on my mind."
"I put you in a bad spot," Sarah began.
"No, no, no, no, no," Chuck replied. "My mother put me in a bad spot, and you know what, she got what she deserved. She tried to break us up and it only drove us closer together so good on us. Right?" She nodded and laid her head against his chest. "You don't want any of my furniture in your house do you?"
"None of it," she replied honestly. "It just doesn't go with the style of my house."
"We have the exact same houses," Chuck countered.
"Nope," Sarah replied, running her finger up his chest, distracting him. "They may have the same floorplan, but they are nothing alike."
"You just prefer your decorating to mine," Chuck said, pulling apart, and looking down at her. She shrugged.
"I have no problem with all your nerd stuff, but your furniture…" she trailed off shaking her head. Chuck's eyes lit up.
"Wait, you have no problem with my posters or comics, or anything?" he asked.
"No, Chuck, that's you," she replied, looking around. "This furniture though, it's like.."
"We raided a used furniture store," Chuck said, rubbing his head and grinning. Sarah turned to him.
"That would explain so much," she said. "I mean I didn't get it. Your clothes match, I've seen you do things with patterns and stuff, but this," she just looked around her hands out. "This is a travesty." Chuck threw his head back and laughed.
"God, I love you," he blurted out, not realizing what he said. He had tears in his eyes, when suddenly he felt two hands grab his head and pulled him into a kiss that made him forget his name. When she let him go, he was having trouble focusing.
"Did you mean that?" she asked softly.
"Mean what?" Chuck asked, confused. Her face showed disappointment. He replayed what he said, and snapped his head toward her. He swallowed, and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, that really wasn't the way I wanted to say it, and with everything that has happened I didn't know if it was too much, or," he paused, unsure what to say, but by the look in her eyes, he was pretty sure what he said was okay.
"Chuck," she began. He took her hands.
"Sarah, it's okay," he said. "Your actions show me how you feel." She smiled and put her hands on his waist.
"I have some more actions to show you," she said, leading him out the door, to their home.
"Actions are good, so good," he mumbled following along.
}o{
"So, I have some bad news," the dentist said.
"No," Chuck muttered.
"The wisdom teeth really need to come out." Chuck slumped forward. "There's a surgeon who's really one of the best just next door, and he has an opening on Friday, that would give you all of fall break to recover," the dentist said. Chuck looked ready to cry. "Hey, it won't be that bad."
"It's not that, it's just my girlfriend and I were looking forward to the time off together, you know," Chuck replied. The dentist nodded.
"Is she out there?" he asked. Chuck nodded. "What's her name?"
"Sarah," Chuck replied. The dentist left Chuck alone for a few minutes, when he came back, Sarah was with him. "Hey," he said, looking up at her.
"So we need to take Friday off I hear," Sarah said sympathetically.
"You don't have to," Chuck began. He then processed the look he was being given. "But it is so nice of you to offer, I don't know what I would do without you." Sarah smiled.
}o{
"Miss Walker," the surgeon said. She stood up and headed back.
"That didn't take too long," she said. The surgeon smiled.
"So, here are the instructions, make sure he takes the pain pills," the surgeon said. "You're gonna want to drive the car around and we'll help you load him." Sarah thanked the surgeon, headed outside, and pulled the car up at the back exit to the building. Two nurses helped walk Chuck, still out of it, to the car. They got him gently into the car and Sarah clicked the seatbelt shut. "Listen, he's going to be out of it for a bit. It may get a little crazy." She thanked them again, got in the car and started to drive them home. Everything seemed fine, and she was listening to the radio, singing along softly, when she heard him start smacking his lips together.
"Tastes awful," he muttered.
"It's the gauze, Chuck," she said, grinning. He started messing with the seat belt. "That's the seat belt, Chuck, it's mean to keep you safe." He quit messing with it, his eyes never having opened. He suddenly opened his mouth and pulled out a piece of gauze. "CHUCK BARTOWSKI! You put that back in there right this instant." Chuck shoved the gauze right back in. "I'm sorry to yell, Chuck that's to control any bleeding."
"We should go to the Ellie," Chuck muttered.
"Go to the Ellie?" Sarah asked, trying to hold in the laugh.
"The Ellie works," Chuck muttered.
"The hospital?" Sarah asked.
"That's what I said, do you not understand?"
"She said to go home, and stay with me," Sarah said, shaking her head.
"I like that idea," he said, and was back asleep. Sarah shook her head and got them home, incident free. She parked the car, turned it off, got out, walked around, opened his door, and reached across, unlocking the seat belt. She bent down, turned him and pulled his legs out. She began to help him up, when he clanged his head off the roof and fell back, flopping across the console over to the diver's side, laid out. She put her hands to her face. She bent in, got him to a sitting position, ducked his head and got him to stand up. She was quite proud until she realized she couldn't get the door shut the way he was. She maneuvered him around until he was free of the door, leaning against the car. She shut the door, and turned, just in time to see him pitching face first toward the ground. She grabbed him around the waist, and buried her head into his back, taking a breather.
After a second, she started guiding him as he walked. She was afraid she was going to have to pick his legs up. They got to the steps, and she couldn't maneuver his legs. "Chuck, we're going up stairs, I need you to pick up your feet, one at a time." He lifted his leg high into the air, the foot coming level with his other knee. They took all three stairs that way. When they got to the top of the stairs, she leaned him against the wall as she hunted for her keys with one hand and steadied him with the other. She found them, opened the door, and realized the door seal on the ground was going to be just high enough to cause him problems. "Chuck lift your foot one last time." Sure enough he lifted it as high as his other knee. She didn't care, he had cleared the last hurdle. She directed him to the couch and deposited him there. She took a break for a second, winded from lugging him everywhere. She went and got a glass of water, and came back to the chair beside the couch. She turned the TV on and it was on a movie station. Some movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jessie Venture was on. They appeared to be hunting something. Chuck had been going on about it last night while she was grading papers, but she had ignored it and him. She wanted to get all the grades in today before the kids left for the break.
For the next hour she sat there and watched the movie, checking on Chuck every so often. She felt her eyelids getting heavy, the whole day and week, catching up to her. She had just started to drift off, when Chuck sat straight up, eyes wide open, hair wild, looking scared.
"I'm supposed to have my teeth taken out today," he said through cotton. She couldn't stop the amused smile that lit up her face. He reached in and began to remove the gauze, making a face each time he saw it. "Is it over?"
"Yes, Chuck, it is," she said. She handed him his pain meds. "I expect you to take them the first four days, regardless of how you feel. Do you know how many stories I've heard about people hurting because they were too stubborn to take them?"
"Ellie got to you, huh?" he asked. She nodded. "She's coming by later, isn't she?" Sarah nodded again. "I'm sorry," he said softly. She gave him a confused look. "We were supposed to have a week together, off in Napa Valley, or maybe a trip to Hawaii, or something, but instead you have to babysit me." She took his hand.
"Chuck, I'm not babysitting, I'm taking care of you, something I enjoy doing," Sarah said with a grin. "Something you do for me when I need to be taken care of. It's what people who love each other do for each other." Chuck grinned. "Now, quiet time, you need to rest your mouth." She led him to the bedroom, got him to get into bed, and soon he was asleep, or at least she thought he was.
"Love you too, Sarah," he said as she left the room. She smiled, never turning around.
}o{
"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Ellie screamed a few days later. Sarah was sitting beside her on the porch, watching Mary's stuff get moved in.
"I hope her walls are soundproof," Sarah muttered into the glass of lemonade she was drinking. Ellie turned to her, not sure what Sarah meant by that. "He's quite…vocal." Ellie burst into laughter as Sarah sat there with a saucy smile on her face.
"While I didn't need to know that," Ellie began. "I'm not really sure where to go with that and I'll just leave it that way." Awesome pulled up in his car with Chuck in the passenger seat. He got out of the car, saw his mom on the porch of her house, who waved at him, and he rolled his eyes.
"Honey, love of my life, I'm home!" he yelled to Sarah. Mary shot daggers at her.
"Hey Man O' Mine," she yelled back. "I've missed you." Ellie was laughing.
"Chuck, can we talk?" Mary asked. Chuck stopped midstride, and looked at Mary. "I meant in private?"
"No," Chuck replied. "You got me kicked out of my house," he began.
"That was your decision, not mine," Mary retorted. Chuck rolled his eyes, turned, and headed toward the house. "Don't you dare walk away from me," Mary yelled.
"Why, you walked away from us," Ellie said. Mary stood there, not knowing what to say. Chuck sat in the swing on the porch beside Sarah.
"How are you going to deal with this?" Ellie asked.
"You know what would make her really mad?" Chuck asked. Ellie shook her head. "A big backyard dinner. Hamburgers, hotdogs, and the works."
"It's October, Chuck," Sarah reminded him.
"Okay, we'll have pumpkin hamburgers," Chuck replied. Sarah and Ellie looked at him, shook their heads, got up, and went inside. "Did I say something?" Chuck asked Awesome.
"I'm not convinced it wouldn't be good," Devon admitted.
"See," he replied.
}o{
There was a knock on the door and Chuck answered it, saw it was his mother, and shut the door. He returned to the living room.
"Who was it?" Sarah asked.
"A soul sucker," Chuck replied. "If you invite it in it has power over you." Sarah gave him a look, and headed to the door. "Didn't you ever watch Lost Boys?" Sarah opened the door and saw it was Mary.
"Mary, come in," Sarah said, stepping out of the way and inviting her in. Mary looked at her skeptically and came in.
"I must say your house is decorated much nicer than the one I moved into," Mary said.
"Chic used furniture," Ellie said as she overheard Mary enter the living room. "He used all of his money to get a down payment on that house."
"That's actually why I'm here," Mary said. "I will be buying the house, from you, and I want to make sure that you get the difference in what you originally gave and what I'm financing it for."
"That's very kind of you, Mary, isn't it Chuck," Sarah said, giving him a pointed look. Chuck's eyebrows went up.
"Yeah, very kind," Chuck said, wondering what was going on.
"Thank you, Mary," Sarah said. "That will help Chuck make his rent payment." Chuck lowered his glass, and looked at her, his eyes dancing. "You were going to help pay half the bills weren't you."
"I am," Chuck said. "I just assumed it would be something we speak of in private," Chuck replied.
"Nonsense, Chuck, we're family," Sarah said, batting her eyelashes. Chuck took a drink with a smirk on his face. Mary had stiffened at the family comment. Sarah turned to Mary. "I really owe you, if you hadn't of forced him to make a grown-up decision I don't know how long it would have taken us to get together, so it's really all because of you, so thank you." Mary looked strained.
"Well, you're erm, welcome," she said, unsure of how to respond. "I don't want to disturb you."
"Don't run off, you're here, you're family," Sarah said. "I mean that, the Bartowskis are my family." Mary gave a tight smile and nodded.
"I really have a lot to do, but thanks," she said, and she fled. Sarah watched her go, shut the door, came back into the living room, and got met by a crushing hug from Chuck.
"I do love you," he said. She chuckled into his shirt.
"I was being honest with her," Sarah explained. Chuck nodded.
"Oh, I know you were," he replied. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
"That was a dangerous move, Sarah," Ellie said. "I liked it though." Sarah shrugged.
"She's Chuck's mother, it's his life, and it's time she stops thinking she controls it, it's his choice about what he does," Sarah replied.
"I think he made the right choice," Ellie said.
"Me too, Sis," Chuck said, pulling Sarah into a side hug. "Me too.
A/N: So that was not my dentist story….but it might have been my wife's…thank God she doesn't read this or she'd murder me….til next time…hope you enjoyed it! Reviews and PMs are always welcomed!
DC