A/N: Oh look, and OTP

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

"You here to finish me off, sweetheart?"

Sarah stared at the tall, curly-haired man. It was clear he was drunk. It wasn't said as anything misogynistic, or mean; it was clear he meant she was there to finish him off. He was swaying, and looked to be in bad shape. She should run – she knew she should – but something said not to. "Great," she muttered. "Come to the party, they said. It will be fun, they said. It's for singles."

"And that's me… asingle," he slurred. His eyes went wide, and then hers did. He spun and threw up in the flower bed. "Oh… that was what I ate for breakfast," he said, blinking.

"I need to go," Sarah said, turning to leave.

"Same thing my girlfriend told me," he murmured, making her pause. "She needed to go… away from me."

"When you say go," Sarah began, knowing she shouldn't answer, knowing she had never gotten involved in other people's business, but there was something in his voice… something… she recognized.

"Left," he said. "Gone. Gurl, bye." Sarah snickered at that. "She broke up with me, on New Year's Eve, all because… because…" He blinked, his eyes unfocused. "I don't know why because."

"Okay, you need to put down that drink," Sarah said as she stepped toward him.

"Nope," he said, pulling it away, as it sloshed over his arm. "It's mine, and you can go get your own. Or… or… orrrrrr…"

"You've forgotten, haven't you?" Sarah asked, amused.

"Nope, still remember her… old whatshername."

"I'm Sarah," she said.

"You're really pretty," Chuck replied.

"That's a weird name," Sarah teased, unable to help herself.

"Right, I'm supposed to tell you my name. Sarah," Chuck told her.

"No, Sarah is my name. You're name is…" She let it trail off, hoping he'd offer it.

"Chuck," he replied, proud of himself. "My name is Chuck."

"Hey, Chuck, good to meet you. Can I refill your drink?"

Chuck handed her the drink, and she quickly poured it out. His mouth opened, the look on his face one of betrayal. "Shhh," she said, putting her finger to her lips. "She poisoned it, you know."

"Who?" he asked, his eyes wide. "Jill? Why'd she poison me? Is breaking my thumpytumpy heart no enuff for her?"

Sarah just shook her head, feeling a little terrible, but a lot amused, for what she was doing. "Chuck, will you let me take you home?"

"I don't know you that well, and you're really to pretty to be having the sex with me," Chuck replied. Sarah's eyes went wide. "And in the condition I'm in, it would probably be really bad, and I got enuff goin' on without people finding out I'm bad at the sex."

"Chuck, I don't want to have sex with you," she said, figuring tact was out the window at this point.

"Story of my life," he muttered. He tried to straighten, but swayed quite a bit. "Why do you want to take me home? I smell."

"Well, that's part of the reason. I think a shower would make you feel better."

"You better run," Chuck said, his eyes getting wide.

"Why, you gonna throw up again?" She was amused by him.

"Because it's about to be New Year's, and you're gonna be stuck with me if you are here when the clock strikes midnight," Chuck explained.

"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard," Sarah told him.

"Nu uhhh," he countered. "You haven't been around me enough, cause it's obvious I've said dumber."

"And why do you think that?"

"Cause she left..." he said, a forlorn look on his face. "She left so she wouldn't be stuck with me for the New Year."

"Chuck, if she cared about you, she would choose to be with you. She wouldn't be stuck."

Chuck looked at her, and nodded. "I'm gonna go sit over there. After midnight, like a few minutes, not hours, would you take me home?"

"Okkkaaay," she replied. "Why are you going over there?"

"So you won't be stuck with me next year by being with me at midnight! Werenyoulistening?" Chuck's eyes were wide, and Sarah was doing all she could not to laugh at him. He weaved away, and sat down at a table. She looked at her watch and saw it was a minute to midnight. She studied him, listening to the voice in her head that said he was right. Then, she listened to the voice in her heart. She paused, checked her watch, saw it was 30 seconds until midnight. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to him and sat down.

"What are you doing?" he asked, shock on his face.

"Choosing," she replied.

}o{

The next morning, Chuck opened his eyes, looking for the band that was comprised of all drummers. He was somewhat surprised to find that there was no drumline, and that he was alone in his room. He blinked, and looked over at the clock, seeing it was 2 in the afternoon. He wondered why he had overindulged that much, and then remembered Jill. Moaning, he rolled out of bed, not bothering to grab a shirt. He walked down the hall, wondering what his brain was trying to tell him, as he heard two female voices.

"You don't look too good, baby brother," Ellie said, amusement in her voice.

"I disagree," came the other female voice, one that he recognized. Chuck's eyes went wide.

"Wha... what... why are you here?" he finally blurted out.

"Choices," Sarah replied.

}o{

That night saw Chuck, Sarah, Ellie, and Devon at a restaurant together. "So, what did he do after you sat down beside him?"

"That's a wonderful question, because I have no idea," Chuck admitted.

"He didn't say a word," Sarah replied, laughing. "At that point, his mind was fried." Devon and Ellie were laughing.

"Thanks for coming over to check on me," Chuck said, trying to get the conversation off of him.

"You were pretty rough last night," she said, the humor gone, a softness in her voice that he found captivating. "Did you love her?"

Chuck snorted. "I have no idea," he admitted. "I thought I did, and I want to say I didn't. But isn't that what someone would say, right after they are dumped?"

Sarah nodded, a look of understanding on her face. "I've been there, and you're right, it takes some time to figure out what you want." She took a deep breath. "It also takes some time to figure out if you really had something, or if you ignored everything, all the signs, and you were there because..."

"You don't want to be alone," Ellie finished, nodding.

"Loneliness can make you put up with a lot," Devon added.

"Is there something you two need to talk about?" Chuck asked, worry in his voice.

"No," Ellie said, giving him a, "don't be stupid" look. "Chuck, Devon and I have been there. We've talked about this exact issue before. It sometimes takes being with someone, to understand what you'll put up with."

"I like that," Sarah said, Chuck turning toward her. "You need to see what is real to understand what you'd go through, or even went through, to get what you want."

"Apparently I wanted to go get the worst headache ever," Chuck muttered, making the whole table laugh.

}o{

Chuck answered the door a week later, surprised to see Sarah. "Hey, what's up?"

"It's Friday night, and I was wondering if you had a date, because if not, that superhero-y movie is playing, and I was hoping you could explain it to me."

"When you say explain…" Chuck trailed off.

"I've never seen any of them," she said with a shrug. "But it seems to be a thing."

"So you want to walk into the third Avengers movie, with no background whatsoever?"

"Is that bad?" Sarah asked, pleased she had guessed this would be his reaction.

"Sarah…" Chuck said, tailing off.

"Well, is the first one playing somewhere?"

"I have it on DVD," he offered.

"Would you watch it with me?" she asked, grinning. "And, explain it to me?"

Chuck narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you up to?"

She sighed and stuck her hands in her back pockets, knowing she was busted. "I like hanging out with you. And I figured you had only been broken up a week, so I couldn't just straight up ask you out-"

"Ask me out?" he said, shock in his voice.

She continued on, grinning at his question. "So I thought I could maybe play on your nerdish charm to spend some time with you."

"You want to go out with me?" he asked, shock still in his voice.

"Yes, Chuck… I'm making a choice." He stood there, realizing they were still in the doorway. "Well, Chuck?"

"I need to make a choice, huh?" he asked. She bit her bottom lip and nodded. He stepped back, gesturing with a flourish for her to come in, and giving her room to do so.

She locked eyes with him, asking "You do realize what you're getting into?"

"Do you mean by your going out with me? Or by your asking me to explain Marvel movies?"

"Why not both?" she chirped, walking in, grinning.

"Why not?" he replied. He blinked, and ran over to the DVD stand to find Iron Man.

A/N: I don't know if this was one of the better ones, but I needed Charah, so…here you are.