Castle in the Air
By Steampunk . Chuckster
Summary: Sarah has opened her dream bookstore just before the holiday season, but when a corporate monopoly announces their reduced-price brick-and-mortar is going in a block away, she must band together with her fellow small businesses to fight for their lives, even if it means getting past a slew of bad first impressions to work with Chuck, the owner of the comic book shop next door. AU Charah.
A/N: Hi, happy Thursday! For some of you, happy Friday! It's almost the weekend! Thanks for the reviews and messages. I appreciate it all.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or its characters, and any similarities in this fic to any corporate entities are just coincidence... shh.
"…What are you doing?"
Chuck jumped a bit, spinning to look up at her as she stood at the end of the aisle, one hand on her hip and giving him a weirded out look. "Oh." Shit. He shot up to his full height. "Um. Looking…at books. Down there. Really…good books down there. Yep."
"I see."
She had no right to look so amused.
"Yeah." He shrugged awkwardly. She merely stared back at him, still amused.
I'm with someone.
"I'm not mad at you," he blurted.
Sarah raised her eyebrows. "I hope not. I made myself clear in response to Toby's dad asking me out."
Chuck raised his own eyebrows. "Oh. No, yeah, no I heard that." She smirked a little. Damn it. "I meant about, um, Martha. You told Martha about us. I'm not mad at you."
She dropped the smirk, lowering her arms to her sides from where she'd had them crossed. "Oh, that. Right." Sarah huffed then. "Shit. I'm really sorry. We said we weren't going to tell anyone just yet, I know. I know that. It's just… It's Martha and she is very persuasive. She pushed for the info and…"
"Ah…" He brushed his hand through the air. He knew exactly what Sarah meant about Martha. "Listen, if I'd been the first one to see her after our date instead of you, I would've done the same. I'm sure."
"I, um, told her…before the date."
Chuck tilted his head.
Sarah shifted her weight. "The day of. When I grabbed lunch that day, I swung through the record shop because I realized I'd been avoiding people, afraid I'd slip." She snorted. "With good reason apparently."
He smiled at her. "Well, please don't feel too bad about it. Granted, she talked about it where I'd hear it and then I, um…Well, I kind of half-yelled it at Casey and Chen. Sorry about that." He reached up to fiddle with his ear.
"Yeah, what was that?" she asked, her brow furrowed, lips turned up just slightly.
"I don't know. I've been bursting at the seams keeping it all to myself, and after just one date, too." He rolled his eyes. "I guess you told Martha so I thought…ya know, shit, I might as well announce it to the world. And the world in that moment was…um, our landlord. And Chen. It, um…It just spilled out." And then he winced and thumped his fists together in front of him. "It spilled out again just now with Morgan in my shop. Just so you know."
Sarah grinned, nodding. "Okay, so the whole Keep It To Ourselves To Prevent Distraction From the Cadabra Task At Hand thing is done, then."
"Um, yes. Seems that way." But something had been nagging at him, so he moved in a little closer. "For the record, I didn't believe the whole 'Rolex on a Redneck' crack." Sarah snorted. "And Martha is persuasive, Sarah, but you have the will of, like, one thousand samurai warriors. If you really wanted to keep from telling her, you could've. So why did you tell her we were going out on a date?"
She crossed her arms, glanced to the side, and for a moment, he thought she'd try to double down on the "Martha is persuasive" excuse. But then she sighed and nibbled on her lip. "I guess I just wanted to talk about it with someone. I had all this nervous excitement," she explained. "And honestly? Carina's in town and I love her and she keeps needling me about you because apparently Martha isn't the only one who saw…something—"
"Um, about that… not to interrupt, but Morgan said everyone saw it. So…oops, I guess." He wrinkled his nose and pressed his lips together, mimicking her crossed arms pose and clearing his throat.
Sarah rolled her eyes a little. "Sounds about right. I could've talked to Carina instead of Martha, and I know that, but she's—Look, I've known Red for longer than anyone besides my parents so I know she can be a lot. And I guess I didn't want her dropping a pressure bomb on my head right before going on our first date. Martha…?"
"Martha is super cool and chill," he finished for her when she paused, searching for words.
"Yes!"
"Morgan was not super cool or chill. He was a bit of a maniac in there." He chuckled, pointing towards his shop. "Love him to death but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna end up with bruises."
Sarah gave him an alarmed look. "Bruises? Is he…not happy?"
"Oh, no no!" Chuck rushed out, curling his fingers around her arm. "He's freaking ecstatic. You don't hafta worry about that. Morgan thinks the world of you." Sarah seemed more at ease, a smile growing on her face, her shoulders more loose. "I told him and he jumped over the front counter and did a full-body tackle sort of thing. I caught him and managed not to fall over but an entire Morgan Grimes hitting my body at breakneck speed is gonna leave a few marks." He rubbed his shoulder and winced.
She giggled. "Wish I'd seen that."
Chuck was really glad she hadn't been there for the "first date sex" chant Morgan had engaged in, actually. "Um, so you know, now that Morgan's, um…in the know…" How did he finish that sentence?
This time Sarah swept in. "Everyone else at Ashcan will be, too, huh?"
"We'll be lucky if he doesn't have a Facebook post up already that's in all-caps like, 'MY BEST FRIEND IS DATING A LEGGY HOT GODDESS I'M SO PROUD!'"
Sarah laughed, rocking forward. "Wait…" She made a face. "He calls me leggy?"
"No, I said that. Just now. You are, um…very… Shit, my mouth getting me in trouble again." He blushed, scratching behind his head. "Your legs are very long and perfect. But the best part is the, um, the muscles in 'em. They're really strong, long, perfect…legs. Maybe I'm gonna go back to my shop before my mouth kills any chance I have of a second date."
Sarah giggled. "Nobody's ever talked about my legs like that, I'll admit it." And then she stepped in close, glancing over her shoulder towards the door, and she played with the front of his raincoat, moving up onto her tiptoes, her lips by his ear. "You got some kind'a kink for musclebound women?"
How would she feel about him if he fainted right then? Because he felt like he was gonna faint right then. He barely kept his feet, but he knew she could feel the intense shiver that went through him. "This isn't fair. You aren't allowed to say stuff like that to me out in the open in the middle of the day when we both have hours before we can go home."
Sarah pulled back just a little to look up into his face. "Oh, I'm not allowed?"
Chuck gulped. "Lemme walk that back—" She giggled, her blue eyes lit up. "—What I mean is it's downright cruel. Far be it from me to tell you whether or not you're allowed to be cruel."
And he glanced out at the stormy weather, the lack of people on the sidewalk in front of the storefront, before he leaned in to capture her lips in a fiery kiss. They were partially hidden by the young adult bookshelves after all.
Sarah let out this delicious, aching hum, her fists twisting in his coat. And when the kiss gained steam, Chuck tugging her in tighter to his front with the hands he threaded at the small of her back, Sarah let go of his coat and wrapped her arms around his neck, threading her fingers in his damp curls and pulling his mouth harder against hers.
When her tongue brushed against his, their hips rocking together, Chuck felt a sudden panic run through him. He broke the kiss quickly, tilting his head back a safe distance away, even letting go of her with one hand and pushing those fingers against his mouth.
"What?" she asked breathily, her eyes filled with a certain haze.
"This is so dangerous," he whispered, biting his lip, dropping his hand to her hip again. "And this time, I'm not talking about the territory with the heart breaking thing. I mean, how easy it is for me to want to… We're in public and I shouldn't finish that."
The way Sarah arched her brow, he thought she knew what he meant. And she looked deliciously pleased about it, too. "Mhm. Maybe don't if you don't intend for things to progress right now."
"I do. I so do want things to progress. Right now. Like right right now. And that's what I mean, it takes almost nothing for me to feel like somebody's picked me up and dropped me into a raging inferno. You look at me a certain way even and I feel like I'm in a scene from that movie Backdraft." She made a confused face. "You haven't seen that? Too obscure? They're firefighters fighting really insane intense fires for a whole movie and that's about it."
"Okay…"
"Universal Studios had a whole attraction where you'd go in and stand on this platform in a warehouse and the fire would start in the office and it would ignite everything and you'd be on this thin metal platform with fire just fuckin' everywhere and it was actually the coolest most terrifying—I'm getting carried away, but my point is that it takes absolutely nothing for you to make me feel like I'm in the middle of that."
A wide toothy grin was spreading on her face as he began to spiral faster and faster. He decided to just stop talking.
"I have never met anyone like you," she said warmly. She got a little serious then. "That sounds really awesome, though. Can we go there for our second date?"
"They killed that attraction," he said, and he'd forever be deeply disappointed over it.
"What? Fuck them."
He cracked up. And not for the first time, he realized he was in extremely deep with this woman. So so deep. "I agree, fuck them."
She pursed her lips for a moment, glancing off to the side, and then she leaned in and kissed him some more. "Mm…this is dangerous," she muttered against his lips. He hummed in agreement.
He couldn't help remembering that night, against the shelves, the explosive sensations, how badly he'd wanted her. He just barely bit back suggesting they do it again, right now.
Would she be scandalized?
Not even after closing, but in the middle of the workday? He felt nuts. She made him feel nuts.
Sarah broke the kiss just a little, their lips still brushing. "What are you doing tonight?" she muttered. But before he could tell her he wasn't doing a damn thing, she hissed and moved her face back, shutting her eyes tight. "Shit, wait. I lost my head for a second. I'm not even free tonight."
"Oh." He felt a little bold so he flirted, "What, you got a date tonight or somethin'?"
There was a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "Yeah, actually." He froze, frowning a little at her. "Toby's dad." Chuck had no idea what she must've seen in his face for a second before he forced himself to chuckle, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. But that was legitimately funny, her comedic timing pristine, and his forced chuckle became a genuine one. "Sorry," she said, not actually looking all that sorry as she gave him a cute one shoulder shrug. "I guess I liked that little spike of jealousy you projected earlier and I wanted one more for the road."
"Jealousy? That? Pfft. That wasn't—I didn't—I knew you weren't gonna." He decided to just leave it at that.
"Mhm." She affected a deeper voice. "Not all dragons can fly. Ostriches, penguins, emu, kiwi…"
Chuck groaned. "Come onnn, give me a breeeeak," he laughed.
"I've never been more attracted to jealousy, I gotta say. Big ol' nerd unleashing dragon factoids like they're real." She tugged on his coat cutely, giving him a big, closed-mouth smile.
"We don't know that they weren't. I'm not convinced Noah let the dragons and unicorns die because he was an asshole."
"There you go again," she giggled. "I like you so much." She bit her bottom lip and ran a hand up his chest, slipping it around the back of his neck and rubbing him there, her cold fingers making him shiver. "I'm hanging out with Ellie tonight. We haven't gotten to hang out in a while with our schedules being so crappy."
He was flooded with warmth at that, and he beamed at her. "Oh, yeah? Tell her hi from me. I haven't seen her in too long."
"I will. We're getting drinks. Also not something I've done in a while."
Chuck was suddenly hit with the realization… "I haven't told Ellie. She doesn't know. About us, I mean." He took his phone out. "Should I call her? Will it be super weird for you tonight if I do? Should—How do we handle this?"
"You got anything against me telling her tonight?" She shuffled her feet a little, wrinkling her nose. "Not sure if she's gonna like me dating her beloved little brother. Is she gonna be protective? She seems really protective over you."
The warmth got even warmer, so much so that he melted a little bit into her, tightening his grip on her waist. "Ellie has been shoving me at you since the day she came in here to buy an entire library's worth of books."
Sarah's eyes went wide as saucers. "What?"
"Oh, yeah. I was still with Lou and she was hinting at me like…" He nudged Sarah with his elbow. "She's very pretty, isn't she? Giggle giggle. And very smart tooooo…" he sang.
Sarah laughed, blushing hard. "Giggle giggle? Really?" He nodded, grinning. "I had no idea."
"What, you missed the way she ditched me on the dance floor at the festival and shoved you into my arms? You think she's gonna be upset about us going out on dates? She won't give you any bruises, most likely, but she's gonna spill a drink. Mark my words. Her excitement will spill out of her in the form of her knocking over a drink."
Giggling, the bookstore owner shook her head. "That's not fair."
"Just wait." And then he gave her a cocky look, fixing his coat a little, wiggling his head on his shoulders. "Oh boy, she's gonna so proud o' me."
Sarah seemed to almost blush harder. "You people need to stop with that."
"What?"
"The proud of Chuck thing. As if I'm the only catch around here."
"You really don't get how extremely special you are, do you?" he asked.
She snorted and he knew she didn't. "You're very sweet." She moved in to cup his face, kissing him again. She broke it gently. "But you're quite the catch yourself. So stop it." She kissed him again, a little longer this time, and he felt a certain spark in it. And the spark became flames licking at his toes, just like that. She hummed, rounding his neck with her arms again to tug him in closer.
Their lips pulled apart, but he couldn't help dotting kisses down her jaw. "If I can't see you tonight, what about tomorrow?" he panted against her soft skin.
"Yes," she said, her chest heaving as she sucked in a deep breath. "Tomorrow."
And the day after that was the protest. And then the avalanche would start, a flurry of activities. Proefrock was in Vivian Volkoff's pocket. This was happening. So much happening at once. And he needed to cling to this tighter than anything else because it settled him to be with her like nothing else ever had.
Sarah pulled back, only far enough to lean her forehead against his. "I could just hang that sign up on the door and turn that lock, you know."
"Jeeesus," he drawled under his breath, biting his lip. "If, uh, you didn't wanna, erm, destroy the sanctity of your store's back room, the backseat of my car is quite spacious."
She giggled. "Good point. Let's go."
He grinned, shaking his head. "Mmmhm. What happened to 'we're not teenagers, we're grown adults with our own apartments', hmm?"
"This is an emergency situation. Exceptions can always be made in emergencies."
"Is that the rule?" he asked, catching her mouth in another heated kiss.
When he broke the kiss after a few long moments, Sarah tilted her head back, eyes shut, and breathed, "What?"
Enamored out of his mind, he laughed, kissing the corner of her mouth. "I know we're just teasing each other and all that, but…um…"
Sarah lowered her chin and fixed him with a solid look, something yummy broiling in her blue gaze. "Are we just teasing?"
Chuck took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, trying to keep himself calm. "Say we weren't… If I went out into the rain and got into my car and waited there, what're the odds a bookseller shows up a few minutes later?"
She gave an adrenalized giggle. "Do it. See what happens."
Holy shit.
Chuck stepped back from her, dropping his hands to his sides. There was no way he wasn't gonna make up an excuse with Morgan and go out to his car. "I have work to do," he said to Sarah. "So I'm gonna go to my shop and…do that."
"Good. Good idea."
Their eyes stayed glued even as he stepped around her and headed towards the front. She followed oh so slowly as he backed through the center of her store, nearing the door. "Rainy day… y'know how it is. Lots of catch-up to do on paperwork and stuff."
"Mhm. Me too."
Chuck caught sight of her "BE BACK SOON" sign on the counter and pointed at it. "There's the sign for the door. In case you're looking for it for…any reason. At all."
"Oh, thanks. Just in case I need it." She smirked, still following him.
Only when she got to the counter, she went around to the computer and sat at it, still watching him. Chuck stopped at the door, and as much as everything inside of him was sizzling, he looked back at her with a sudden serious, a bit of nerves… only he had to know. "Sarah?"
"Yeah, Chuck?" She raised her eyebrows in question, hands braced on the counter on either side of the keyboard.
"You said you're with someone. Earlier." She seemed surprised he'd brought that up, interrupting their spicy little banter session. "Did you mean that? Or were you just trying to let that guy down easy?"
Sarah paused for a moment, glancing at the computer screen in front of her, and then she turned to look at him through her eyelashes. "I am with someone… Right?"
It was like the rainstorm had cleared and sunlight was beaming down on top of him, or maybe it was beaming right out of him. It didn't matter. Nothing else mattered as he raised his fists up into the air and hopped up and down a few times, hearing her laughing even as he danced his way out into the rain, flipping his hood up over his hair, doing an ungainly two-step all the way back to his shop.
For what it was worth, Morgan believed the story about the errand he needed to go on, and nobody saw the second person dive into the comic book shop owner's car. The rainstorm kept folks from the shopping center, and that was how nobody noticed the lone car in the corner of the lot mysteriously shifting back and forth ever so slightly on its axle.
}o{
Sarah pushed into the bar as quickly as she could, stepping out of the steady, cold drizzle and into the dry warmth inside. She wiped her heels on the mat, unbuckling her raincoat even as she looked around the Old West themed bar for her date for the night.
When she spotted her at a booth in the corner, she beamed, shrugging the damp coat off and hanging it over her arm as she crossed to the booth.
Ellie Bartowski looked up as she approached and waved, mouthing "hi" and leaping to her feet to meet her halfway.
Sarah thought about putting the coat down before she accepted the other woman's tight hug, but she got swept up in the hug before she could, so she just embraced her back.
"Hi, Sarah!" Ellie exclaimed. "Oh God, it's so good to see you."
The Bartowskis were special people. They were such special people. The way they both just had this aura they carried with them, this way of making you feel special just by being around you.
Maybe it was the genuine kindness, the joy they both found in life. In spite of everything they'd been through. She didn't know.
But she loved it.
"Hi, Ellie." They pulled back and she grinned at Ellie. "It's good to see you, too." Then she lifted her coat with an apologetic wince. "Sorry if I got you a little wet with the, uh…"
"Oh, please." Ellie brushed her hand through the air. "Everyone in LA is a little wet right now with the way it's been out there," she said with a scoff. "Come and sit. I'm sure you're totally wasted after today."
"Not yet," Sarah joked, winking at Ellie as she sat across from her in the comfortable booth seat. Ellie laughed, pointing at her as she also sat.
A giant horseshoe hung on the wooden paneled wall next to the booth. Wooden letters above it spelled out THE CACTUS SALOON. Wood was everywhere, the lighting provided by fake lanterns that actually used electricity but projected a flickering flame effect.
She felt a little bit like she was in an amusement park.
"Sorry about the sort of goofy bar," Ellie drawled, following her gaze around the place, the bartenders all in cowboy hats with bandit scarves around their necks. "It was the best option halfway between your place and mine that had good drink ratings and ambiance. I didn't realize the ambiance would be, erm…this. Also you don't need reservations."
Sarah giggled. "It's cute. Anyway, I don't care where we get our drinks. I just want some damn drinks," she said. "I took a ride share here for a reason, damn it."
"My boyfriend was my ride share," Ellie said.
"Smart."
"Why not? He's just lazing around the apartment. Might as well put him to good use," she teased. "Hold on, what're you drinking? I've got the first round. We'll take turns."
Sarah appreciated the hell out of Ellie Bartowski. She clearly paid attention, listened, and respected her younger friend. During their first hang-out, Sarah had made clear she didn't want the surgeon buying every bit of food, every drink, simply because she knew Sarah was trying to get the bookstore out of the red. And Ellie had listened. Sarah supposed if she added it all up, maybe Ellie would end up being the one who spent a little more, but they took turns paying for things.
It was a show of real respect that made Sarah feel valued.
"Deal," Sarah chirped with an affectionate look at the brunette. "Honestly, I could go for a whiskey on the rocks to start the night off."
"Good. You want some food? Reviews online said they make wicked good nachos. We can share."
"Hell yeah. Thank you."
Ellie smiled with a nod, but then Sarah lifted her arms from her lap and leaned them on the wooden table between them, and the brunette's gaze lowered to look for a moment, only to do a double take and gasp. "Oh! Honey, what'd you do to your elbow?"
Concern etched into her features, she reached over to pick up Sarah's left arm from where she set it, cradling it gently. Not just as a trained medical professional, but as a friend.
Sarah had chosen to wear a tight black half sleeve shirt tucked into high-rise dark blue jeans, which meant when she took off her coat and revealed her arms to the other woman on top of the table, the purplish bruise at the tip of her elbow was very visible.
She almost made one of those You should see the other guy jokes, but then she realized who the "other guy" was, and that it wasn't a fight that had given Sarah the bruise, but instead a particularly wild meeting in the backseat of Chuck's hybrid that had sent her hand flying out to hold onto something, anything, only for her to bash her elbow against the door handle. Chuck had rubbed her arm for five minutes straight, so apologetic, and the tingles had exploded through her arm…so uncomfortable. And then, at the same time, she hadn't cared at all, because they dove right back into it, cracking up.
They should've known there was no backseat big enough for two people taller than five feet, nine inches. They'd made do. And then some.
She wasn't going to make the joke, though, because she might blush up a storm and Ellie was even more observant than her brother, which was saying something.
"Ugh, I hit my funny bone in just the right place. Well, should I say the wrong place…?" She winced, lifting her arm and pointing her elbow in Ellie's direction. "Mostly my pride, though. It doesn't really hurt unless I put pressure on it."
"Oh honey…" Ellie frowned. "You ice it?"
"I did, yeah. I'm okay!"
"Good. I bet some whiskey'll make it feel better." And with a wink, she swung out of the booth, her wedge boots thumping against the wood as she walked away.
God, if Ellie only knew how Sarah had gotten the bruise. That it had happened while she was having sex in Ellie's brother's car's backseat, with Ellie's brother.
Mind-blowing (if a bit clumsy) sex, at that.
Sarah blushed just thinking about even the tamer parts of it. Jesus, if they'd been caught by police or something, they would've been in some deep shit. And somehow that had made it all hotter. Not that she'd admit that to anyone, ever.
And at some point tonight, she would have to at least admit one thing: she was dating Chuck Bartowski, Ellie's brother, the one person Ellie valued above pretty much every other person in her life, the person she'd been single-handedly protecting since they were kids practically.
"Damn, you're miles away."
Sarah looked up with wide eyes, sending Ellie a closed-mouth smile as the other woman set her drink down in front of her and slid into the booth. "Oh. Sorry, I'm just…tired."
"No sorry! Please. I get being tired, but I feel like your version of tired is extremely different from mine. I don't know that I could run an entire bookstore on my own. I know from all the crap Chuck has to do, even with his four employees besides himself, that it's a lot of work. Only you're doing it all alone, no employees." Ellie huffed, shaking her head. "Drink up, huh?" She lifted her tall glass of something likely strong and Sarah clinked her whiskey against it. "To friends, drinks, and rain to get us through this drought."
"Cheers," Sarah chirped, throwing back some of her whiskey and sighing. It was so good. She hummed happily. She'd needed this. Both the drink and the company.
"Let's see if they know how to make a proper Tom Collins…" Ellie sipped it, smacked her lips, pulled back to look at it, and shrugged.
"Verdict?" Sarah prompted.
"Passable. I used to make one that was much better than this." She sipped it again.
"Used to?"
"Mm. Yeah. Second I turned twenty-one, I got a bartending job at this joint near UCLA. Extremely good tips over there in Westwood, especially if you're good at tending the bar, and nobody was better than I was at tending that bar." She let out a low, almost maniacal snicker, making Sarah laugh.
"I had no idea you were a bartender. But it makes sense."
"Why? 'Cause I'm a boozy broad?" Ellie crossed her eyes and mimicked guzzling an invisible drink.
Sarah giggled. "Stop. Nooo. That's not why. Considering you and Chuck were trying to make ends meet, bartending is a good way to make good money. It also makes sense you were great at it, and no, not because you're a boozy broad," she added, making the other woman smirk, "but because of course you're good at everything you do, Ellie."
"Aww." The surgeon reached over and squeezed her wrist. "That's very sweet. I'll make you some real drinks sometime. At my place."
"Sounds great. Yes, please."
Maybe she'd have to start doing the Chuck Bartowski overnight bag life hack if she was going to be having an ex-pro bartender mixing her drinks.
"So…" Ellie cleared a third of her drink already, and Sarah wondered if the surgeon'd had a long day. "How's the bookstore?" But then Ellie cut her hand through the air and wrinkled her nose cutely. "Ugh, you don't have to talk about the bookstore if you don't want to. Tonight can be a break from that if you'd prefer. You can tell me how you are instead."
Sarah giggled. "A break from the store isn't a terrible idea, actually," she said with a snort. "I've had a few really slow days with this rain but it's okay. I figure when it stops, people will come back."
"Mmm, nobody wants to go out in this. But for you, my dear, I faced the elements," she teased, winking, drinking more of her Tom Collins. It was half gone now.
Sarah knew what her job was tonight, besides just enjoying time with her friend of course. Ellie needed to know that her bookstore owning friend was going on dates with her beloved brother, that things were clicking between them in a really, really good way. And Sarah had to make sure that happened while Ellie was still at least somewhat sober.
She respected Ellie too much not to.
So she took a deep breath, subtle as it was, and sipped her whiskey for a bit of liquid courage.
"As for me? How am I doing?" Ellie nodded, smiling. Sarah smiled back. "I'm really good, actually." She couldn't help her smile taking on a sort of secret air, a secret air Ellie picked up on immediately.
The other woman leaned in, green eyes wide. "Ohhhh, really good, huh?"
"Yep."
"You've been seeing more of your parents?" Ellie asked, propping her chin in her palm and leaning her elbow on the table.
Sarah's smile twitched at the mention of her parents. Oh. Right. Them. She still didn't have a read on all of that, and she shoved it out of the front of her mind. "Oh. Uh, not a lot since the festival. I'm just…super busy." What a piss-poor statement to make. She rushed ahead. "There is…something, though."
Ellie sat up a little, paying attention.
Sighing, the younger of the two shook her head, making a fist and leaning her chin on it. "You Bartowskis have been kind of, um… Well, I don't know that I could've gotten this far without you two swooping in to help me so much. You, Ellie, helping me figure out that website, single-handedly pushing my online traffic and web orders which is a godsend when there are bad weather days like this. And Chuck?" She raised her eyebrows. "The guy has paid his employees to pop in and help me out on more than one occasion, and if not Flint or Morgan, then he comes to the rescue himself."
She still hadn't freaking bought him dinner like she'd insisted she would. But that would be changing tomorrow.
"He's very adamant about keeping that bookstore of yours open next to his comic book shop." Sarah wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Both because it's good for business and…" Ellie tilted her head. "Well, because it keeps you around."
Wow. Okay. Ellie was coming right out with it, wasn't she? Sarah imagined Chuck might be mortified if they weren't currently going out on dates. For God's sake, just a few hours ago, they were locked up together in the backseat of his car continuing the exploration they'd charted over the weekend.
Sarah pursed her lips, twisting them to the side shyly. "Hmm. I suppose that's…kind of what I'm getting at. Not…kind of. It-It is what I'm getting at." Shit. Oh, shit. Here it went.
Ellie arched one eyebrow. "Is it?"
"Yeah. See, um, the other day—"
The bar had been getting louder as more people began to pile in, a group of guys in the corner getting semi-rowdy. One of them, likely on the way back from getting his drink at the bar, swung in, grabbing a chair with his free hand and spinning it so that he could sit at the edge of their table with the chair backwards, his arm propped on the back as he almost leered at them. "Well, well… I haven't seen any girls as pretty as you two in a long, long time."
"How sad for you. Well, now you've seen us. Congrats," Ellie drawled without missing a beat.
He let out a breathy chuckle, but ignored her. "My friends and I are having a bit of a bachelor party for our guy Alan and we'd love you two to join us. Drinks on the boys."
"We can afford our own drinks, thank you," Ellie said.
"Oh, sure you can. I don't mean to insinuate you can't. Only a few of us noticed you girls over here, all alone—"
"We aren't alone," Sarah said. "We're here together, catching up. Thanks for the offer, but we're good."
"Awwww come onnnn—"
"We're. Good."
Ellie's tone and the hard flicker in her green eyes seemed to be enough.
The guy held up his hands and raised his eyebrows, the quintessential defensive douchebag dude reaction when he felt thathewas the good guy and they were bitches. "Ooookay. Yeeeesh. Fiiiiine. Don't take the free drinks then. See ya, hunnies."
Ellie rolled her eyes at Sarah as he put the chair back and split to rejoin his bachelor party, and then she leaned in. "Best way to handle that is to pretend like it never happened, like he never happened. You were saying? The other day?"
Sarah was reassured that Ellie Bartowski was still very sober and very much paying attention.
"Oh. Yeah, uh… I basically spend more time at the store than at home, you know? And that's meant, um, planning that festival with Chuck, which led into all of the other things going on to keep Cadabra from fucking us all over."
"Right…" Ellie was leaning in even more, almost as if waiting for some sort of punchline to drop.
"Um, those things have also meant…a lot of—I mean, Chuck and I being around each other a lot, depending on one another, erm…leaning…on each other." Sarah stared down at the table, aware of some sort of special energy coming from the surgeon.
"Mm, I noticed."
"Seems like a lot of people have noticed," Sarah mumbled, pressing her lips into a thin line and shrugging. "Only it seems like it took Chuck and I…a little longer to notice. That being said, we-we have noticed. Now." She slowly lifted her gaze to meet Ellie's. The woman looked like a rubber band being pulled to its furthest capacity, so close to snapping. Sarah bit her lip. "We decided to do something about it and that resulted in the two of us, um, going out on a date the other night."
Ellie stared at her for a moment, her beautiful features unreadable. And then she reached across the table and curled her fingers around Sarah's wrist. "I mean this with every fibre of my being, Sarah… Thank. Fuck."
Sarah couldn't stop the burst of shocked laughter from erupting. It came out so fast and so sudden that she pressed the fingers of her free hand to her lips to stop it.
Ellie let go of her and sank back against her seat, clapping her hands together, and then she raised her arms up to the ceiling and let out a relieved moan. "Oh my God, they got it together, Lord, Almighty, thank you…"
Sarah laughed again. "Okay, this is too much."
"Is it?" Ellie snorted out a chuckle and braced her elbows on the table, leaning across it and giving Sarah a droll look that was also emphasized with sheer excitement. "I knew my brother would be slow like molasses about how much he was clearly crushing on the bookseller next door, but my curse was that the bookseller next door was also freaking slow."
The blonde made a face. "Excuse me? Slow?"
That got her a look from the surgeon. "Yes. Slow." But before Sarah could argue, Ellie swiped both of her hands through the air, quickly hurrying on, "But that doesn't matter now, it doesn't matter." She giggled, adrenaline seeming to almost burst from her. "A date? With my brother? When?"
"We already did."
A blank look covered Ellie's face then. "You already went on the date? You didn't say anything? Well! What is this, the CIA?"
Sarah winced, this time reaching over the table to grab Ellie's arm. "I'm sorry. So is Chuck. We just wanted to…go and see what happened. And not have people knowing, you know? So that we could have a nice, normal date without any…I dunno, outside pressure." She shrugged. "I'm sorry. Maybe we shouldn't have been so secretive, only it was just the one date…"
Ellie slapped her own hand over Sarah's, alarm in her face. "Just the one date? Did it not go well? Oh God, what happened? Did he talk about that leech scum shitbitch ex Jill throughout the whole date? Nooo, please tell me he didn't do that, I told him to never do that."
Somehow that Tom Collins was almost gone, and Sarah could see it started to affect the other woman. Not drastically. But it was still very evident.
Sarah was quick to dispel Chuck's sister of that notion, though. "The date was fantastic. He took me to a three star Michelin restaurant."
Why was that the first thing that came out of her mouth? Not that he was insanely sweet, warm, very handsome in that suit, charming… No, of course not, she told Ellie that he took her to an expensive as fuck restaurant.
And here was his very protective big sister who knew just how deep her brother's pockets were and just how not deep Sarah's were. She said that in front of her. God. Pointing out how rich Chuck was. She might as well beg him for a Corvette now, just to finish off the imagery for Ellie.
Ellie's jaw had dropped open. "Three…star…Michelin…?" Sarah nodded. "Christ, Chuck."
Sarah bit her lip. "Pretty impressive, right?"
A delicious sort of sparkle lit the brunette's eyes. "You don't seem like the type that'd work so well on…" she teased.
"You didn't taste that food."
Ellie cracked up, finishing the last dregs of her drink, even popping the cherry into her mouth and chewing it. "Touché, my friend. Touché." She shook her head then, beaming. "I gotta say, I was not expecting you to be the one to tell me when it happened. I mean, you two finally stopping with the dancing around each other and the denial."
She rolled her eyes a little at her friend for that, but then what Ellie said actually registered. "Wait, what do you mean, you didn't think I'd be the one?"
"My brother is Charles Irving Bartowski, the worst secret keeper on the planet—"
"Irving?" Sarah cut in, tilting her head. Really? She didn't see that one coming.
But Ellie forged on. "—And I'm sort of feeling like that mom whose kid tells her everything immediately all of the time and then they turn, like, twelve and you're no longer the person they share everything with…" She gave off a fake sniff, pretending to wipe a tear from under her eye. "They grow up so fast, the little buggers."
Sarah giggled, enamored with this buzzed version of Ellie Bartowski. She decided that Ellie knew about her and Chuck now—it was fair game for her to catch up. So she snatched the rest of her whiskey and downed it. She hiccuped a little, thumped herself on the chest, and grinned at her laughing friend with a shrug.
"But the only reason he didn't say anything was because of what I said. And then it kind of spiraled and people at the center started finding out and I was gonna see you before Chuck got to see you so it…sort of fell to me." She winced. "Is that okay? I mean that I told you instead of Chuck?"
The warmth her brunette friend emanated was enough to nearly send Sarah straight to the moon—further even, to Jupiter. "I'm teasing, Sarah. Of course it's okay. I kind of want to fight those shopping center folks for them finding out about you two before I did." She narrowed her eyes and shook a fist. "But oh well. I guess." Ellie lifted her empty glass. "To you and Chuck! May there be a next date!"
Sarah lifted her own empty glass. "Oh, there's definitely going to be a next date."
The other woman was practically vibrating as she grinned. "Well! I will drink to that!"
}o{
Okay, maybe getting them another round, but with slightly harder stuff, and then finishing it even faster than they'd finished the first round hadn't been…the greatest plan.
Ellie was dancing in her seat to the music, pumping her fists, her face twisted up and her lips pursed. "I'mmmm goin' dooown to Jackson! Go 'head 'n see if I caaaaaare! Woo! Love this song!"
Sarah laughed, leaning her cheek on her palm a bit clumsily. "It's a really good song, yeah. They have very different voices; like he goes down really deep," she said, giving herself a deep gravel-caked voice, "and she's got a higher silky sort of voice. It harmonizes sssoooo welllll."
"Harmonizes. Harmonizing. Oh. Oh, Martha would be so proud of you if you were here."
"Thank you."
"And speaking of proud, I am sssooo proud of my brother. He bagged himself a hottie with TWO T's!" she finished in a belt.
Sarah laughed lightly, feeling the blush. Jesus, she was more than buzzed, verging on drunk. But then again, had they…started a third round? This was a different drink than the one she'd had in her hands earlier. Had Ellie gotten a third round without her even realizing it? God, that was dangerous. Oh well. She took another sip. "Doesn't it always have two t's? Otherwise, it's be hoe-tee."
"I don't know!" Ellie gave her a dismissive hand toss. "I jus' do surgery on people's brainz."
"You do. It's impressive."
"No, you're impressive! You opened a whole-ass bookstore, and it's big, like huge, and you run the whoooole thing alllll by yourself. The ordering, putting the books that are delivered to you on the shelves after you stick 'em in that…system of yours, whatsitcalled—"
"My point of sale program?"
"POS!" Ellie lifted her hands up over her head. "Haaa, bet you didn't think I knew what a POS was, me being a surgeon 'n all, but I worked, like, ten thousand jobs once I turned fiv-tin."
Sarah had enough wits about her to do the math on that. Ellie had likely worked retail or serving jobs or whatever else before it was legal most likely. And with good reason. She had herself and her brother to take care of.
Sarah couldn't help picking up Ellie's hand and squeezing it. "I know. You're a marvel. And that brother of yours is…"
"Oh." Ellie's hazy grin had a bit of mischief in it. "You don't have to tell me. He's a tall goofball cutie. I tell 'im all the time, he deserves a good woman, not some sandwich maker who sees 'im as inferior, or some trashy rich girl who sees a genuinely good guy as…" She waved her free hand through the air dismissively. "…juz' some…toy to play with 'til 'e izzint fun anymore an' 'en you juz' throw 'im off a cliff."
"...Jill?"
Ellie leaned in and whispered in a raspy voice, "I hate 'er so much, Sarah."
Sarah giggled. "From what I've heard, she seems pretty worthy of the hate."
"SHE IZ. But 'en I walked into yer bookstore that fateful day an' I knew. I knew things would be…diff'ernt." She nodded emphatically. "I knew you'd make things…diff'ernt."
Sarah had doubts.
She wouldn't voice them because she wasn't sure Ellie wasn't just outright drunk at this point. She'd had more than Sarah and at a faster pace. Sarah was still nursing her third drink, all three in short glasses, and Ellie had downed two tall ones and one short one.
But she still had doubts. That first time when she went through her romance and fantasy and fiction and dropped five hundred bucks in her store, Ellie couldn't have met Sarah and seen her as a dating option for her brother.
Especially considering at that point Chuck was still in a relationship with the girl who brought him sandwiches sometimes.
"I wouldn't give me that much credit just yet, Ellie," she giggled with a blush. "I've only been on one date with him."
And maybe if Ellie wasn't literally Chuck's sister, she'd confess that it was more than just the one date.
"You're getting the credit," Ellie said through clenched teeth, her voice almost threatening as she narrowed her eyes and pointed. Sarah laughed, shaking her head and holding up a hand in appeasement. Well, then. "My brother iz all glowy and iz from spending time with you. It wuz juz a matter of when one 'r both uvv you fig'erd out what it wuz 'n acted on it."
"I'm glad everyone else was so observant, I guess," she said drolly, sipping her drink. And maybe the alcohol was making her more contemplative, and more verbal, all at once. Her filter had faltered. "It's hard to resist or deny your feelings when they're just so…there," she breathed. "Like, his li'l spirals he goes on with his comic books. He loves stories 'n storytelling so much, a-and I do, too. I've never met another person who gets it like that. Only his…his stories are, like, pictures mostly."
"I don't get th'comic book thing," Ellie mumbled. "But 'e loves 'em so… much. I mean, 'e duzzint get the foreign reality dating shows I watch either an' I love 'em so…muuuuuuch," she groaned, lifting Sarah's hand that she still held and shaking it in the air between them, causing the younger woman to chuckle and shake her head.
That was one thing she and Ellie wouldn't have in common, then.
And that was fine.
"Ohmigod!" Ellie gasped then, and she fumbled her phone out of her purse, giving Sarah a positively devilish look before pressing a few buttons on the screen and lifting it to her ear.
"What're you doing?" Sarah asked, giving the older woman a suspicious look.
"I now know you went on a date with Chuck 'n I need to yell at 'im."
Sarah made a halfhearted attempt to snatch at the phone but Ellie merely leaned back and away. "Don't yell at him. We're both at fault for not saying anything to anyone about this for a couple of days, not just him."
"I don' care 'bout that. He needz ta know that I know an' I need ta yell it."
"Please don't bother him…" Sarah tried again.
"Bother him? Pfft. He's prob'ly playing vid'yo games with Morgan right now. God forbid we ever interrupt that," she drawled sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
Oh no. Poor Chuck.
And frankly, she thought to herself, poor her.
Sarah stole herself and waited.
}o{
"Peeoom peeoom mutha fuckaaaaa!" Morgan exclaimed, the completed level screen popping up on the massive TV mounted on the wall in Morgan's living room. It was the first purchase he made once he started making a living wage working at Ashcan Comics.
Snorting, Chuck lifted his hand for a high five. The smack reverberated throughout the room. He glanced out of the window, noticing that the rain had stopped now. There was a restaurant sign outside of Morgan's window that made it pretty easy to see if droplets were falling from the sky or not, it was so neon bright.
But before he could say anything about it, his phone began to ring in his pocket. Frowning a little at Morgan, he held up a finger and put down the controller. "Just a sec, bud."
"Sure! If it's Vivian, tell her she's my hero and she gets a hug next time I see her."
Smirking, Chuck dug his phone out from his pocket. Ellie?
Why was Ellie calling after eleven at night, and when she was supposed to be with Sarah…?
He quickly answered. "Hey, El. You okay? What's going on?"
Morgan went rigid, with concern most likely.
"I knew it, Chuck!" she barked into his ear. He had to pull the phone back a little, wincing. "I knew eeehttt! I knew thiz girl wuz going to be something SPECIAL. SPECIAL, OKAY?! But you were in denial with me!"
Chuck wrinkled up his face in a wince and covered the phone, glancing at Morgan with a reassuring look. "She's fine. Just drunk. And apparently Sarah told her we went on a date."
"Oh." Morgan nodded, relief in his features as he melted back against the couch. Then what Chuck said settled in his brain and he smirked. "Ooooohhhhhh…"
Chuck glared a little.
"Hi, Ellie. You having a fun time with Sarah?"
"Are you havi'g a fun time wiv Sarah?!" she shot back.
Oof.
Wow.
"I'm…not sure how to answer that, sis. Look, I wanted to tell you but we—"
"She tol' me why, you dumdum. Chuck, I swear ta God, I said it. 'Member? That firz day we went to lunch! Af'er I bought thoz' books from Sarah! An' I said—I said—" she barked, making him wince again. "—tha' she'z the mozt fugging gorgeous—I said that!"
"You did. I remember. Um, El, is…Sarah sitting right there? Hearing this?"
"YES!"
"Uh…"
"I said she clearly luvz books th'way you luv comi'gz. I wuz right about that!"
She was right about that. And the power of that connection between them flowed through almost all of their interactions once they figured that out for themselves.
"Chuck, I'm looking at 'er right now 'n there'z no prettier girl out there, I'm so proud I could cry."
"She's more than just her looks, Ellie."
"You fugging ass I know that!" she hissed, making him jump and laugh a little. "She'z all cute an' blushy telling me 'bout you 'n you two dating nooow."
"Please, please tell me you aren't saying this where she can hear it. Please don't torture her. I really want this second date, sis." He winced.
"She'z getting 'nother round at th'bar, calm DOWWNNNN. Godddddd."
"Another round?" He winced harder, knowing he was courting danger but still… "Sis. Ellie. I love you, but you sound like you've had a few rounds already. You think it's a good idea to—"
"I had a long day! My brother is dating the greatest girl in'th'worl' annnnd'UH…my really good friend who'z amazing is dating my wonderfulll brotherrr who'z th'best guy in'th'worl', I'm so GOOD tonight!"
"I'm very glad, Ellie. I'm glad you're feeling good. Well, please if you need a ride, don't hesitate to call for one, okay? I've got my phon—"
"I KNOW, THANKS DAD."
He clamped his mouth shut tight with a click of his teeth. "Okay."
"I'm so PROUD of YOU! I knew someday you'd find th'BEST GIRL an' you did! She'z zooo smartttt!"
"She is, I know."
"And she'z such a hard—a hard worker. Sarah! Sarah, M'telling Chuck how hard a worker you are! He'z aware but it feelz important I tell 'im anywayz." Her voice came back closer to the phone again. "Sarah says hi. An' she said it all cute an' blushy."
Chuck heard Sarah protesting in the background but he couldn't make out what she was saying.
"Ellie, thanks for calling, but please no embarrassing Sarah. She doesn't deserve that."
"Oh, you know egg'zac'ly what she deserves, don't you, buddy boy?" she drawled, giggling.
"Wow. I'm gonna let you two get back to your girls night, but be safe, 'kay?"
"Hold on, M'putting Sarah on!"
"O-Oh." Chuck sat up straighter, clearing his throat, running a hand down his wrinkled T-shirt as if she could even see him through the freaking phone. Idiot.
There was a shuffling sound and then he heard her voice. For the first time since hours ago, when her voice had been in his ear, reverberating through the interior of his car over the pounding of the rain against the roof.
Chuck took a deep breath at the, "Um, hi, Chuck."
"Hi, Sarah. You, uh, you having fun?"
"Yes. Yep. Your sister sort of…pushed the phone into my hands. Don't worry, I know she's wasted but I'm…only a little drunk. So. I've got this."
He chuckled. "I trust you'll take care of you two. I take it the, uh, the talk went well?"
"She's doing a whoooole lot of gloating."
Chuck laughed, hearing Ellie protest in the background with a bellowed "AM NOT! YOU BUTTHOLE!"
"Um, but it went well," his bookworm giggled. "I'm going to hang up though and let you have your peaceful night, okay?"
"Okay. Hey, um… Hey, I told Ellie. But…you're the more sober one so I want to get it in your head, too. If you need a ride, please call or text or whatever. I've got you both. Okay?"
"Okay." He could hear her smile in her voice. He loved that. "Okay, I'll let you know."
"Thanks."
"Thank you." There was a pause, and then she said a quiet and warm, "G'night, Chuck" that made him melt lower in Morgan's couch.
"G'night, Sarah."
When he hung up, he turned his big dreamy grin on Morgan. His best friend was watching him with utter glee in his face, his hands teasingly tucked under his chin. "When you talk to her, you get all gooey," the little gnome asshole drawled.
"Shut the fuck up oh my God."
His friend got a pillow to the face even as he cracked up.
A/N: If only you knew how ridiculous I sounded trying to figure out how to type drunk Ellie's dialogue.
Please review if you are able to. I super appreciate reading them. Thanks for reading this fic either way!
-SC