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: I'll just say in this author's note that I'm going to let this chapter sit with y'all. Let it ruminate. That's it. I'm shutting up now. Enjoy. ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or its characters, and any similarities in this fic to any corporate entities are just coincidence... shh.
What felt like ages passed between the time he knocked and the time he heard her approach the door, but he knew it had been no time at all. As if she was in her apartment, waiting for the knock. A million different scenarios flashed through his head before the door opened, including a picturesque dinner overlooking the Pacific, just the two of them…
Sarah was quick to unlock the door and swing it open wide. The smile was on her face before she even spotted him standing there, as if she went to the door smiling.
He felt himself beam back at her just as quickly.
"Can I…help you?" she teased, stifling her smile and sending him a curious look. Oh, he loved it.
"Hmm, yes, erm, I was tasked with delivering these to you by a tall, rhinoceros-shaped fellow?" Chuck played along, using a silly Kermit the Frog-sounding voice. He didn't know why that was his go-to with her, except that it made her laugh every single time.
And she laughed now, too, leaning her temple against the edge of the door, almost as if snuggling it. "He does kind of look like a rhinoceros, doesn't he?"
"Stick a horn right here and give him a tail, you're done. He's a big ol' rhino." He flicked his nose towards her, not really capable of gesturing to it with his hand, what with the huge pile of cardboard in his arms.
She must've realized he was carrying them then and she gasped, "Oh! God, come in. Sorry. I'm making you stand out in the hallway with all that crap in your arms. Please come in."
Opening the door wider, she pointed deeper into her apartment.
"There's a round table by the window over there. You can stick 'em anywhere on that table."
Chuck couldn't help looking around as he stepped into her apartment, heading for the table even as he took it all in. She seemed to keep the place pretty dark. And sparse. Just the necessities, the TV and the couch, a nice coffee table between them. The table he was advised to put the signs on top of had three wooden chairs tucked into it. There was a lamp. That lamp wasn't turned on. The only thing she had on was the light over the entry way into the apartment.
He thought maybe she'd been in some other room in the apartment and she was that smart type of person who turned lights off in a room when she wasn't using it."Sorry. It's kind of a crypt right now…. Um…" She hurried over after shutting the door to turn on the lamp by the couch. The place was much lighter, but still seemed dim compared to other homes he'd been in. Maybe because she also had the curtains shut. He imagined if she kept those open during the day, it was bright and cozy in the living room.
"Hey, no. You save electricity by not having this stuff on while you aren't using the room."
"I was in the kitchen, making some tea. I made the extra bedroom in my apartment into a sort of…reading nook, I guess. It's such a small room, so I stuck a really comfortable chair in there, got some good lighting, a place to stick my tea or coffee or whatever, and an embarrassing amount of books piled everywhere. It's a wonder I can even move around in there, I've got so many books." She winced. "So that's, um, that's where I was. Which is why the lights were off. I'm not a vampire, I promise," she joked, sending him a wan smile.
"No, no. I didn't think that. I've seen you outside during the daytime. Hah." He played with his ear nervously. "But there's your stuff you needed. I know you'll do wonders with it and make this pile of blank cardboard into rad signs with hard-hitting protest slogans. Hell no, we won't go…and all that. Heh."
She sent him a closed-mouth smile, moving into his personal space and putting her hand on the huge pile. "This is a lot more than I thought he'd be giving me, but…oh well." She sighed, slapping it. "Guess I've got my work cut out for me. But I won't have to drive all the way back out to the center to pick them up tomorrow thanks to you. I'm so grateful you brought these to me, Chuck. You have no idea."
Chuck took a deep breath when her deep blue eyes flicked up to meet his gaze. She was standing…very close. And it felt really good. He could feel the heat of her body in spite of the inches of space between them. She was already in her pajamas, he realized, a comfy robe embracing her tall, lithe form, her blond hair trapped under the material. As if she'd tossed it on in a harried way when she heard him knock on the door.
A deep sense of comfort was assailing him as he looked at her like this. He wanted to stay right here and bask in it, enjoy it.
"Oh. Hey, no… Um…" He realized belatedly that he'd been quiet for way too long, taking her in. "Seriously, no worries. It was easy. My apartment is literally a five minute drive from here actually. It's like I was sweeping to the side a little on my way home. It was nothing."
"It wasn't nothing. You've done me a huge solid. Once again. But that's kind of a habit with you, isn't it?" She sighed, and her fingers had snagged the tab of the zipper to his jacket at some point. When had that happened? How had he missed that? She was giving it a little tug, biting her lip, staring at his chest. "It feels kind of lopsided, I'm not gonna lie to you."
"Nah. It just feels that way," he said quietly. "You've had my back a lot in the last few months." She sent him a doubtful look. "I'm serious! You have! You're helping me become a better manager for all of my employees… That alone is huge. Dropping off a couple signs at your place on the way home from the shop is nothing in comparison to that. Really."
"No, Chuck. You completely go out of your way, you bend over backwards, to help me out. Buying me lunch when you can tell I'm too busy to take a break to get my own food, having your own freaking employees help me when I've got too much on my plate or helping me yourself. That time you helped me carry boxes out from the back to put in my car so that I could take them to storage. The time you glared at that guy who got impatient with me and cowed him into being a little more respectful…"
"Oh yeeeeeah, I remember that one." He snorted. "Piece of shit was mad that you weren't ordering his books fast enough. Well, sir, you made the bookseller stand there and give you sixteen thousand different recommendations, none of which were good enough for you, only to go back to the original book you came in for, which the store didn't have in stock, and you get mad at the bookseller for 'taking too long' ordering your book?" He groaned, rolling his eyes. "I swear, I really do like people, just on the whole, but some of 'em are so caca."
Sarah giggled. "Well, he was a little less…that…when you stood there at the end of the counter and glared at him. You didn't even have to say anything."
Chuck shrugged. "I'm tall. I cut an imposing figure with my height. What they don't know is that I am afraid of spiders and make Morgan get them for me. Or Ellie. Really, whoever's around."
She laughed. "Really?"
"Mmhm. I'm not proud of it but I do have arachnophobia."
"Well, I haven't done a great job helping you in comparison to what you've been doing for me…" He narrowed his eyes at her and she ignored it. "So next time there's a spider, you let me know and I'll come get it for you." She tugged the zipper cutely. "Still the matter of how much you've done for me, Chuck. I'm gonna have to pick up the slack at some point, here."
"Nope." He shook his head vehemently. "Disagree."
"Fine. We can shake on agreeing to disagree." She stuck her free hand out, the fingers of her left hand still playing with his jacket zipper.
He took it.
And he immediately felt an intense surge of electricity, a buzzing sensation cascading through him. And she clearly felt it too, her blue eyes wide as they lifted back up to meet his brown ones.
"Agree to disagree," he breathed, smiling weakly.
She finally broke his gaze, gently pulling her hand out from his embrace, letting go of his zipper, too. And she glanced to the side, clearing her throat.
"You came all this way… Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea? Alcohol? After today, I wouldn't judge if you preferred something a little harder than tea." She giggled.
"Me? You were the who was alone in the store all day."
"Not totally alone. I had a nerd in shining cloth sneakers save my empty stomach by bringing it a delicious burger with fries, and a shake even though I told him not to bring said shake. Stinker." She narrowed her eyes at him.
He chuckled and then picked up his foot, tilting it as he looked down. "Shining? Not so much. These are dirty and old."
"Noooo, they're well-loved, that's all," she flirted. And she squeezed his forearm, sending another spark through him.
Actually, the buzzing hadn't abated at all, even without her hand wrapped up in his. It was still there, throbbing in his gut. Making his fingers and toes tingle, a humming at the nape of his neck.
"How 'bout it? Lemme fix you something. I have food, too. I'm sure you haven't eaten…"
Oh, he wanted to. He wanted to so badly. And something about her blue eyes, how wide they were, her chin tilted towards him, made him feel like she wanted him to as well.
"That's very kind. I've probably got…leftovers in my fridge that'll go bad if I don't…eat 'em. Raincheck."
"Mm. Sure." She nodded. She was hiding something as she looked away. Disappointment? Shit. "Oh. Food reminds me…" She pulled away from him, going over to the bag on her kitchen counter and tugging money out of her wallet tucked inside. "This is for bringing me lunch. I didn't have time to pay you back then but I do now."
"No, no. That was on m—"
"No way. Please take it. Please." She pushed the twenty dollar bill at him. "I'll be very offended if you don't. Grrr."
That growl. Oh God. It was adorable, and he could tell she meant for it to be.
He wanted more so he resisted taking the twenty from her, narrowing his eyes in challenge.
"You're really stubborn, you know that?" she mumbled, narrowing her eyes back at him.
"So are you."
"Do I have to growl again? Maybe it wasn't menacing enough the first time."
"Oh, please do. The first one made my whole day."
She broke, giggling, and then she folded up the bill and stepped in close to him, pushing her hand into his jeans pocket and leaving it there. He felt an immediate heat assail him as she leaned in close with a, "There."
Chuck had never felt a wildness inside of him like the one he felt in that moment; the urge to grab her, pick her up, carry her to some…horizontal surface somewhere, and never come up for air again.
He swallowed hard instead, his heart beating like mad in his chest. "Fine. You win this round," he breathed, loving the way she stayed close, their noses nearly touching.
"Smart man, giving up when you did. I had more tricks up my sleeves and I'm not sure how much you would've liked 'em."
He decided to leap headfirst onto the limb and hope it held his weight. "I'm absolutely positive I would like every single one 'em."
Sarah raised an eyebrow, pulling her lips back between her teeth, a deliciously pleased look in her blue eyes, a hint of amusement there, too. "Guess we'll never know, huh? 'Cause you folded pretty easy." Chuck's jaw fell open and he let out a breathy chuckle. "Wow. Did you want me to take the money or not? Damn."
She giggled, finally leaning back again, putting just a little distance there as she ducked her chin, smiling down at her toes, bare against what had to be cold floors with how cold it was outside. And in here too, frankly. He was only just noticing it.
Did the woman have a heater in here or what? Jesus.
He wanted to stay right here, with this pulsating warmth between them, the exciting thrill she sent through his whole body, the way she felt so good. Just having her standing in front of him, watching the way a smile took over her whole face, the way her eyes expressed everything, the complete and utter lack of a mask over her stunning features when it was just the two of them, the sound of her voice, all of it felt so good. It was intoxicating and he'd never experienced anything like it.
For the first time in his life, the deep aching, the longing, the wanting, was extremely enjoyable. He was living for it. It was in every part of his body and he had never had so much fun wanting someone. He wanted to stay in it forever, this excruciatingly good desire for more.
But he knew he couldn't just stand here in the quiet, and she was probably so freaking tired. In fact, he said as much.
"I'm sure you're extremely exhausted, so I-I guess I'll get…outta here."
So many different emotions spilled through her eyes that he could only catch one of them, a tiny thread of disappointment, maybe even some desperation. Desperation for him to stay? Or was she relieved he was leaving so that she could finally just chill and be alone again?
It could be either and he didn't know which.
"Okay," she said simply, her nod slow and methodical.
"Text me if you need help with slogans tomorrow. I'm pretty good, even though I'm no writer." He backed towards the door. "A little 'rah rah siss-boom bah' here, a little 'Fuck Cadabra' there…"
Sarah giggled again, slowly following him, tilting her head. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Good."
Chuck felt his back push up against the door now and he let out a deep, slow breath, his hand falling onto the doorknob.
Sarah met his gaze solidly, her tongue poking out to wet her lips oh so slowly. "Thank you for bringing these, Chuck. You not only saved me what was likely to be an hour plus trip, but you ensured I don't have to leave my home for any reason tomorrow and I need you to know how much that means to me. I'm so tired. You are the best."
Oh, God, that felt amazing. He grinned so hard he felt like his face might break from it. And that seemed to amuse her as she let out yet another quiet giggle, just one syllable, before her hand came up to rest against his chest—just a light touch of her fingertips, the slightest pressure.
"Good night, Sarah."
He wanted to stay.
He wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to stay he wanted to st—
Sarah interrupted the desperate refrain in his head by closing the distance between them, slipping her arms around his mid-section, and cuddling into his chest in a hug.
Chuck wrapped his own arms around her shoulders, pressing his face into her hair, taking a deep breath. They breathed together, he felt her chest rise with his, with how tightly they were coiled against one another.
"G'night, Chuck," she said, her voice muffled against his collarbone. Her lips were on his skin there. He'd been so close to wrapping a scarf around his neck when he left for work this morning and he was so glad he hadn't. He'd take the cold neck for this sensation, her warm lips on his skin as she nuzzled in closer.
Neither of them wanted to let go. He knew it. He felt it.
It wasn't just him. Her fingers were digging into his back through the layers he wore. He felt the way she clung, just as he was clinging back. He would stand here and squeeze her 'til his shoulders and biceps protested, 'til his knees threatened to buckle. He didn't care.
But then they both pulled back, their hands dragging slowly against one another's bodies as they stepped away from one another, before their arms finally fell to their sides. He didn't look away from her gaze for a moment.
"I'm, uh…I'm gonna open this door now…"
"Okay."
"…and go out into the hallway, get into the elevator…"
"Mhm." She nodded slowly, eyes still glued to his.
"I'm going to…" He gulped. "…head outside, get into my car, and drive home. That's what I'm gonna do. Right now."
"Sounds good," she breathed, her voice almost a whisper.
"Yeah."
It didn't sound good.
But he opened the door anyway. "G-Get some rest, huh?"
There was a bit of an amused sparkle in her eyes, maybe a hint of self-deprecation in the closed-mouth smile she flashed him. "I will try."
"Good. That's good." He ducked around the door, and couldn't help peeking back at her. "See ya soon."
"See you."
And he stepped out into the hallway, slowly clicking the door shut behind him. He let go of the doorknob. He reached up to push his hands through his hair, ruffling it furiously, letting out a rough breath. And his feet—each weighing about a ton—took him back down the path to the elevator. Slowly. One foot in front of the other. Every step pushing him further away from where he wanted to be.
}o{
She stepped back from the door, very slowly, until she was in the middle of her living room.
She stopped backing up and just stood there.
She glanced at the stack of cardboard, and then she turned to look at the door again, before she faced towards the television and pressed her fingers to her cheeks.
She could feel how warm and flushed she was, as cold as her fingers were.
Sarah Walker was buzzing everywhere. He'd been awkward at first when he first arrived, and she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was something about being in her home? He'd been shy around her before.
Who was she kidding? She had no idea what was going through that guy's head. He'd admitted once that he usually had about a million things going through his head at once. Sometimes she saw it happening in his eyes, his pupils quivering back and forth, mouth gaping open, his hands up by his hips, just hovering there with his fingers a little spread as if his whole body had paused while he parsed through it all.
She loved it.
She wanted it.
She wanted him.
Why in the hell had she let him walk out of that door? He'd wanted to stay; she'd felt it. And she'd wanted him to stay, too.
But he'd already left. It was too late. She blew it. She squandered a chance. A chance for what, she didn't even know.
To just be around him for a bit longer? Maybe that. She wanted more of that, definitely. And…more than that.
God damn it, she was all abuzz now, everything tingling. A pressure had mounted inside of her, and now he was likely driving away and she was stuck here, alone, with all of this fucking pressure behind her belly-button.
It felt like the back room of her store all over again. Only he wasn't here with her and she was all alone, frustrated.
Sarah didn't know what to do with herself now, so she took a deep breath, bit her lip, and reached up to hold onto her head in both hands. She tilted it back, let her arms flop back down to her sides, and she groaned up at the ceiling, blinking a few times, wondering why they were both so stupi—
A knock.
On her door.
She spun towards the sound.
She didn't think twice.
She sprang for it and ripped it open, peering at him standing there for just half a second.
She reached for him as he lunged towards her. Her hands were twisted in his jacket. His hands were cupping her face.
Their lips met in a furious storm, passion and need crashing together, and there was a desire that felt like it had been burning in her for weeks, months even, so hot that it was blistering in her from the inside out.
Sarah let go of his jacket and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, yanking him in tight. His hand dragged over her thigh to the back of it and he pulled it up to wrap around his waist, pushing their lower halves together tightly, the robe she wore tugging awkwardly and she didn't car about it.
A heady thrill rocketed through her body and she whimpered into his lips, before she broke the kiss, sucking in a greedy bit of air as she nuzzled his nose.
Sarah didn't hold things in like she usually did. This was Chuck, Chuck Bartowski. The nerd who owned a comic book shop next to her bookstore, who told her point blank about the fortune he'd inherited not long after they first spoke to one another for longer than an awkward couple of minutes out by the dumpsters in the alley behind their stores.
She let the words tumble out from her lips even as he dotted them with kisses, arching his hips against hers in a way that drove her half-mad. "I need…" she gasped against his mouth. "I need…"
He squeezed her leg in his hand, the other arm wrapped securely around the small of her back. He nibbled on her jawline, making her whimper again, and then he kissed her hotly, her mouth opening wide to accept his tongue even as their lips sparred.
"What d'you need?" he asked, his voice low and scratchy, dripping with need of his own. His tone, the way he asked, it carried an extra meaning—what did she need because he was going to do everything in his power to give it to her.
A thrill shot through her body.
And Sarah Walker realized as they made out in the entryway of her home that the door was still ajar, and anyone walking down the hall might be privy to this scandalous show they were putting on. More importantly, as she tried to reach around him to shut the door, she realized that nobody had ever asked her that simple question.
It was simple…and then it was deeply complicated at the same time. What did she need? Her parents had never cared to ask what she needed. Neither of them, as embroiled as they were in their own needs. No friends had asked, no colleagues, no coworkers, and never any of her boyfriends, either.
And in any other situation, in any other moment, she would've dwelled on this, on the fact that a man had just asked her a question she'd never been asked before ever in her twenty-six years of life. It would've been a complicated answer. But in this situation, in this moment, her answer was simple. Because she knew what she needed.
She broke the kiss long enough to breathe, "Everything." She pushed her hand into his hair, his curls so silky and smooth sliding between her fingers, and she pressed kisses from his ear, down his jawline to his lips, capturing them in a heated kiss again, breaking it just as quickly, and clarifying in a voice that shook embarrassingly, "I need everything… All of you."
Sarah found herself being turned around, and just like that, her back was against the door. It shut behind Chuck's strength pinning her to it, and she was able to reach down to turn the lock, grinning at him.
He grinned back, then quickly slid both hands around her thighs and hoisted her up into his arms. She was forced to wrap her legs around his waist, squeaking in surprise when her back was pushed into the door again, her fingers squeezing his shoulders, loving the way he beamed at her before he lunged in to continue their heavy making out.
Knowing where this was headed, filled with glee and anticipation and a whole slew of other adrenalizing sensations, Sarah Walker put her all into holding him, kissing him back with every bit of her self. But she wasn't positive about where this was going until she felt him thrust his hips against hers, the silky material of her robe slipping to the side to reveal more of her thigh, Chuck's wanton hand chasing it until she felt his fingers on the hem of her underwear where her groin met said thigh.
She gasped and broke the kiss, letting out a rough breath, nuzzling his nose. "There's a bed here."
Chuck froze for a moment, blinking at her, nuzzling her nose back, and then a smile swept over his face and he let out a breathy chuckle. "Oh."
"Yeah," she breathed, grinning hard.
He squeezed her with both hands on her legs and carefully eased her back to her feet, continuing to press his lips against hers, which was proving difficult with how much they were smiling, giggling, their arms wrapped around one another.
She got a grip on his jacket and pushed at it, getting it off of him. Holding it off to the side, she broke the kiss with a mumbled, "Coat rack" against his mouth, trying to move towards it. But he smuggled his jacket from her grasp and dropped it right onto her floor, shaking his head, kissing her some more.
Well, that was that.
"Bed," he said bluntly, breaking the kiss again, letting her push him backwards towards the hallway that led to her bedroom.
"Mhm…"
"Where's it?"
"I'm taking you there," she giggled.
He looked down a little. "Oh. Oh, we're moving."His fingertips stroked down her neck, finding the collar of her robe, and he nudged it away from her collarbone, her skin, and his lips were there. She gasped, tilting her head to give him more access, doing her best to get him into the hallway.
At the very least, she wanted to get to that damn bed. Whatever else followed, she'd tackle it then. But bed first.
This wasn't her bookstore or his comic book shop. They were in her apartment, behind closed doors. No well-meaning customers who couldn't read signs with the store hours would burst in. Nobody would burst in. And she had a whole bedroom with a big, comfy bed.
They just had to…get to it, oh God.
Her robe was slowly slipping down her arm, revealing her shoulder, nothing but a thin-strapped camisole covering her upper half as the robe stayed pooled at her forearms, still tied to her at her hips.
And his mouth found her shoulder, moved back to her throat, then down…down…down…down…
Sarah grabbed the buttons of his shirt with a ferocity, blindly unbuttoning it as fast as she could, her fingers fumbling on the last one so that she was almost forced to just yank the damn thing the rest of the way off. But she finally got it, and the shirt was gone, pushed down his arms, lying in a heap halfway down the hall that led to their final destination.
Chuck's fingers were also fumbling, but he was having trouble with her robe tie rather than buttons.
Sarah pushed him up against the wall, still a good ten feet from her bedroom, damn it, her mouth dragging a pattern over his chest, tasting him, but he obviously needed help with the robe.
So she gently laid her hands over his, still struggling with the robe sash, and moved them, undoing it for him, letting the thing slink off of her lithe form and fall to the floor.
In nothing but a camisole and a pair of underwear, she knew things were greatly uneven. And she decided a little equity was in order.
She went for the button of his jeans, popped it, unzipped them, all while staring into his golden brown eyes. His chest was heaving and she took a moment to drink him in with her gaze, before looking into his eyes again. Not bad, nerd…
There was a moment in which they both froze, and then they beamed and lunged again, laughing, enjoying the ridiculousness of all of this, together, hands pushing at clothing to get it off, leaving a trail of his shoes and socks, his jeans, and finally her top, her bottoms, all of it leading to her bed, which they finally fell into together.
Sarah had no idea where his boxers ended up when she finally had them bunched in her hand and tossed them…somewhere.
She only knew that his teeth grazed hers as they kissed, unable to keep the smiles off of their faces as he crawled on top of her and took her into his embrace.
She embraced him back. And she held him a lot tighter when they finally joined.
Neither of them seemed to be in the mood to waste time, a frenzied, passionate pace to their movements, and they continued well into the night. There were no interruptions.
She refused to allow anything to slow them down, to stifle the power of whatever this was that was mounting between them as they clung and reached up higher, and higher still, seeking more and more.
She needed everything, all of him. He gave that to her, and more. And she gave him everything, all of her.
The cold of her apartment melted away into heat, and more incredible than that, into a deep, deep warmth that reached so far inside of her that she didn't think there was even a bit of the cold darkness that had been there before. Before her bookstore, before she met the comic book nerd, before he bought her a Kate Bush vinyl named after a book, before all of this.
They simply didn't stop.
They didn't have to.
A/N: Just sit in this feeling for a while, fam.
-SC