Morgan Grimes doesn't share well, especially when it comes to his best friend in the whole world.

Sharing Chuck with Sarah is one thing; she's a hot girl and that's a completely separate and different relationship from the one Morgan has with Chuck. He and Sarah get different parts of Chuck. For instance, Sarah gets the naked parts that Morgan has no interest in, and Morgan gets the nerdy parts that Sarah doesn't understand.

They have a system. It works.

But when a wrench gets thrown into said system, it turns everything upsidedown.

That wrench?

Bryce Larkin.

The guy shows up out of thin air, begging Chuck for a job. The nerve! The guy gets Chuck kicked out of school, and steels his girl, and then has the audacity to show up years later and ask for Chuck's help?

And wasn't he dead at one point?

"I can't believe you got him a job at the Buy More!"

"The guy's in dire straights, he asked for my help," Chuck says simply as they walk back into Echo Park.

"But-"

"Morgan," Chuck says evenly. "Look, the past is the past. Yes, what he did was horrible, but...y'know. If I keep being angry that doesn't hurt anybody but me. So I'm lettin' it go, and this is great for my karma."

"Yeah, until he gets you fired and steels Sarah," Morgan blurts out.

Chuck stops, his hand on the doorknob. Clearly that's struck a nerve and he turns to Morgan.

"You know what, Buddy, I think I'm just gonna call it an early night and get some sleep," Chuck says. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Chuck..."

"It's cool. I'm just tired."

He slips inside, leaving Morgan out in the courtyard by himself.

"Crap."

000000

Bryce has the hotel room next to Sarah's.

He regrets playfully asking if they could share hers still, because she's clearly over him, and done with what they had.

That's fine. What they had developed mostly out of convenience. Sure it was nice while it lasted, but it's not terribly hard for Bryce to let it go.

Okay, it's a little hard, but not impossible. Especially since he knows that Chuck is completely totally ass-backwards in love, and if he's not mistaken, Sarah's not really that far behind. There's a crackle of energy in the air when they're close to each other.

Chuck and Sarah. It seems right, and Bryce isn't interested in screwing up Chuck's life again. Really, he's not. Sure he messed with the guy when he first got back. The whole dancing and kissing Sarah thing on their mission, but things are different now.

The CIA wants Chuck to be a real, honest-to-god spy.

The CIA also wanted to send Chuck to Langley and Prague for training, but Bryce squished that pretty quickly.

"With all due respect, General, if you take Chuck away from his friends and family he'll just spend the entire time worrying and thinking about them. If he trains here in Burbank with us, he can do it with a clear head, knowing that he can simultaneously watch out for his loved ones. It would be more of a distraction for him to be constantly checking his voicemail or email to see what was going on back here instead of fully focusing on becoming a spy. Add into that the fact that the new Intersect is finicky about emotional state, a low stress, emotionally stable environment is the best bet for leveling Chuck up."

Chuck had stared at him like he was nuts, but Beckman had agreed, despite her hesitance that they would go to easy on Chuck. Neverthless, Bryce, Casey and Sarah had started to train Chuck to be a real spy.

Hence Bryce's unfortunate cover.

Okay, it really isn't that unfortunate. He's missed Chuck a lot, and getting to spend days hanging around and talking and being weird and nerdy isn't exactly a hard task.

The nice motel room with the hot shower and the squishy bed doesn't hurt either.

He drifts off to sleep wondering if maybe this really isn't as bad as the cell in Afghanistan.

000000

Sarah finds them having a price gun fight the next morning.

Bryce and Chuck are covered in stickers. Chuck is mostly priced at around five dollars, while Bryce apparently costs ten.

They both look ridiculous, but it's nothing new. The first time Sarah saw Bryce in his Nerd Herd uniform she broke into laughter. While Chuck makes the cheap shirt and tie and pocket protector look endearing, Bryce looks ludicrous. Like his head is pasted onto the body wearing those clothes.

Likewise, the price tag sticking to Chuck's nose is adorable. The one on Bryce's forehead just looks strange and out of place.

"Slow day?" she asks.

"It's always a slow day here," Bryce answer, peeling the sticker from his face.

"You just say that because no one's tried to kill you yet," Chuck remarks. He pulls the stickers from his shirt, but leaves the one on his nose.

"Maybe I want someone to try and kill me," Bryce says.

"Ooh, let's go find Casey, I'm sure he won't mind helping you out there."

Sarah feels dizzy, listening as their banter turns from talking about Casey to talking about Twinkies and then snack cakes in general. She's never seen this side of Bryce; Bryce the real boy who had a life before becoming a spy and who likes all the same movies and video games and comic books that Chuck does.

But like the Nerd Herd uniform and the price stickers, it's just strange on Bryce.

"I should probably get back to the Orange Orange," she interrupts, causing them both to look at her. "I'll see you guys later?"

Chuck nods and smiles at her. "Bye, Sarah."

Bryce just nods, and when she turns to walk away she can hear them whispering frantically to each other, though she has no idea what they're saying.

00000

"She wants you."

They say it at the same time.

"Are you crazy?" Bryce hisses. "She wants nothing to do with me. She's got it bad for you, Bartowski."

"What?" Chuck snaps quietly. "No she doesn't. She was gonna leave with you and do the spy mission thingy before I took in the Intersect again."

"She wasn't gonna go," Bryce replies. "I tried to tell you that before I passed out from blood loss! She changed her mind, she turned me down."

"Wh...what?"

"She wants you, Chuck," Bryce says. "Not me. You."

They stare at each other; Chuck's face is a mixture of confusion and fear and hope and disbelief, and Bryce's is calm. He's not mad or sad or anything. This is what it is, and Sarah's turned him down like four different times.

He knows the reason is standing there looking confused and terrified in front of him.

"You love her," Bryce says. "I mean, seriously, everybody knows it. If you're gonna be a spy, a real one, you've gotta learn to let that go sometimes and just be somebody else, but here, now, you love her. So stop being a giant wussball and go get her."

"I am not a wussball!"

"Wussball."

"Lazypants."

"Don't call me Lazypants," Bryce snaps. "I am not lazy."

"And I'm not a wuss."

"Prove it."

Chuck splutters. "You...you prove it!"

Bryce just shakes his head.