AN If you read my latest chapter of High School Sweethearts, you will have noticed that I'm feeling a bit dismayed with this fiction right now. I've never really cared much about how many views my stories get. I have always stated that I would very much prefer ten or fifteen interactive viewers than five hundred silent ones and I still stand by that statement. However, my view-count is at an all time low for my time on fanfiction and each chapter the review count becomes less and less and even favorites and follows are decreasing and I simply don't know what I am doing wrong in this fiction which is causing me to feel a bit disheartened as this will likely be a thirty chapter story or more and the average chapter length in this fiction is 10k which is more than double my average in all of my other fics and it's looking like people aren't really with this story for the long haul which has left me not really wanting to ink out a further 21 or more chapters over the next two or three months when I could be doing something else with my time instead. If the downward spiral continues, then I may even remove all plot from the story and just finish with one big, long 20-30k epilogue in a kind of format similar to one of my all-time favorite Chuck stories 'Unforgettable' and just end the story in a way that I feel happy with and move on to do other things.
AN2 Mike, I just wanted to hold off on the sexual intimacy for a little longer. I just didn't feel like it should have occurred in the previous chapter. The issue in Charah's relationship for the previous few chapters were Sarah's inner thoughts of not sleeping in the same bed with him. Well that was resolved last chapter and the upcoming arc of their relationship will be them getting to the point where they feel comfortable enough to resume having sex.
All Roads Lead Back Home
Chapter Nine
One week since the beach
Sarah is now waking up inside of the bed that she has spent the past few years of her life sleeping in. Not that she can remember that of course, as likely ninety nine point nine percent of her memories are still missing. She isn't going to dwell on that fact however, because whilst her memories are not back, she is however sleeping next to her husband once more. And as Sarah begins to open her eyes, a smile begins to seep through her lips. Obviously, she isn't feeling as happy and as content with herself as she would have been feeling right now if she were to have had sex with Chuck last night. But she still is waking up in the arms of somebody who loves her unconditionally. Which is a reasonable enough compromise and a close second best when you factor in that before Chuck, her life was just about the next mission. Before Sarah had first met Chuck five years ago, she had been forced into completing her red test before subsequently being posted to Budapest in where Ryker had attempted to use a baby for his own sinister gains. Those two missions in particular had given Sarah strong doubts as to whether she could continue her life in the CIA. Sarah is happy to finally be away from that lifestyle which culminated in her losing all memory of her husband and of their life that they had lived together since meeting each other. She's not sure if she is feeling this way because of how she had felt just before Chuck. Or, if it's her subconscious state of mind carrying on from her earlier plans to quit spying in recent months as Chuck had informed her of that development last night on their date.
Wriggling and backing herself up slightly, she can still feel his body connected to her own. Gently, she begins to brush her hand over his own hand from where his arm is placed over her as a familiar feeling rushes into her mind that tells her she has done this action before with him. She watches and feels as he begins to play with her own hand in return before she startles for the briefest of seconds by him speaking.
"Good morning," she hears him say softly.
"Good morning," she responds in the same tone and they then pause in silence briefly.
"Isn't this a better way to wake up, Chuck?" she asks eventually as they continue to play around with each others hand.
"Much better," he admits. "I've been awake quite a while. I was too comfortable to move."
Her earlier formed smile from waking up in the arms of Chuck extends further on hearing his admission as she responds, "What time is it?"
"I'm not sure. I'll look," he responds as he attempts to move but her hand holds him in place.
"No, don't move. I want to stay like this forever," she declares softly.
She then hears him chuckle, before she reluctantly lets go of his hand and she feels him lift himself up behind her.
"It's 10:30," he declares to her after a short moment and a look of amazement appears on Sarah's face as she then turns to face him.
"Wow, we really slept," she says as she raises a hand to her face to yawn away the last bit of sleep.
"Yeah, we did," he declares back with a wide grin.
"I didn't wake once either," she admits with a loving smile.
"Me neither until about twenty minutes ago," he responds as he continues to grin.
"And we slept in our evening wear too," she says with a wry smile.
"Yeah," he chuckles.
"What time did we get back?" she asks inquisitively.
"Uhm..." he pauses briefly. "Twelve? Or One? I'm not sure."
"Me neither," she responds and they then enter into a brief silence as they gaze at each other from where they are laying together on their bed.
Chuck eventually breaks the silence once more, "Are you ready for breakfast?" he asks.
She nods before responding, "Uh-huh. But I'm making it today."
"Sarah..." he attempts to protest but she moves her left hand up to place her index finger onto his lips to quieten his protests.
"You made it yesterday. So I'm making it today. Now get up," she declares as she proceeds to stand up and she takes his hand to pull him up and they depart for their kitchen together…
x-x-x-x-x-x
"Chuck, I think we should make our newfound sleeping arrangement more permanent," Sarah says as she glances at Chuck who is seated on a stool facing into the kitchen at her from where she is stood.
"I'll agree to it if you agree to look over the support group information with me that your consultant provided you with," he responds as he takes another mouthful of bacon and egg that Sarah has just made him.
"That's not fair," she protests in response to him saying he'll only give her something she wants, in exchange for something that he wants.
"Everything is fair in love and war, Sarah," he jokes causing her to grin.
"Just shut up and eat your breakfast," she responds cutely, as she raises a strawberry up to her mouth to bite on it, causing a memory to flash right before her eyes once more...
~~~ Chuck and Sarah were inside a kitchen in a suburban home. There was a dog also present with them.
Sarah was cooking and Chuck was seated around the table.
"Hold on, are you enjoying this whole Martha Stewart thing?" he asks.
She doesn't respond but looks cutely at him instead.
"I can't believe it! Please tell me you're not going soft on me," he says.
"Just shut up and eat your breakfast," she responds.
"You better be careful, Sarah. One day you might actually turn into a real girl," he responds ~~~
Sarah immediately begins to choke on the strawberry she had formerly placed into her mouth on that memory flashing before her mind.
And on seeing Sarah in distress, Chuck is instantly off his stool as he rushes into the kitchen.
"Sarah!" he says panickingly as he watches Sarah try to recover from almost choking to death on the strawberry caused by her memory.
"I've said shut up and eat your breakfast to you before, haven't I?" she asks him mid cough as she attempts to restore her airways back to normalcy.
"Huh?" he responds dumbfounded. "Uh… I can't remember."
Sarah shakes her head disapprovingly before responding, "Some help you are."
"Sarah, I'm sorry. We've had thousands of memories together," he informs her and she smiles faintly in acceptance.
"What about a suburb? Have we lived in a suburb together? Also, I think there was a dog with us?" she asks.
She then watches as her husband stands in puzzlement in their kitchen for a brief moment before his brain seems to click like a lightbulb.
"Oh, yeah! When we were living in the suburbs!"
Sarah quirks her eyebrows. "We lived in the suburbs together?" she asks.
"Only undercover," he admits. "So yes, you have said that to me before. It was about four years ago. We were sent undercover to root out a rogue sleeper cell in the area. Instantly, we find bugs in the house which are linked to Fulcrum. Anyway, things become VERY dangerous for us and we all manage to get ourselves captured by Fulcrum who were all over the suburbs. Casey then saves the day and I protect your brain from exploding to a faulty intersect and we just about leave in one piece by the skin of our teeth."
"Wow!" Sarah responds in amazement.
"Yeah," he agrees with a chuckle…
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Chuck and Sarah are eating dinner together inside their home and they are about to talk about the support group that Sarah's consultant had informed the pair about a few days ago. It had taken Chuck most of the day just to convince Sarah to entertain the possibility of this conversation but she had finally relented and agreed to do so.
"Sarah, I know that you're extremely apprehensive about this. But I can't even begin to describe how proud and ecstatic I will be with you if you do it," he declares before taking another mouthful of food.
"Ecstatic enough to have sex?" she quips with a wide smirk and satisfactorily watches as Chuck starts to choke on his food just as she had done much earlier in the day.
"Crikey! Sarah, are you trying to kill me?! I almost choked on my food!" Chuck complains as he coughs.
Sarah laughs sweetly. "Your reaction alone was worth it. For that alone, I'll agree to do it!"
She watches him shake his head disapprovingly at her causing her to smirk.
"You're evil sometimes, Sarah, you know that right?" he says playfully causing Sarah's smug facial expressions to remain.
"Well it's too late now. You've already married me," she laughs whilst feeling deeply content with herself.
"That's true. I suppose it's too late for me to flee to Mars or Jupiter away from you," he responds with a wide, affectionate grin.
"Yes, way too late!" she quips back.
"So we'll give them a ring tomorrow?" he then suggests.
She nods. "Yeah, that's fine. But Chuck, you'd better come with me," she says anxiously and watches as he smiles at her.
"Sarah, nothing is more important to me in my life than you. Of course I'm coming with you and just try and stop me," he declares with conviction causing Sarah to return his adoring smile.
"Do you want to do anything together after dinner?" he then asks.
Sarah ponders his question for a moment as she tries to think of what they used to do together. "I'm not sure. What would we usually do?" she then asks.
"Mostly just watch a movie," he admits.
She smiles at him once more before responding, "That sounds nice."
"Great!" he responds immediately...
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Chuck and Sarah have just sat down on the sofa to watch a movie together. They take a few minutes scrolling through the catalogue of movies available before settling on The Bodyguard starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. The movie then begins, and Sarah cozies into the sofa whilst laying out flat and she puts her legs over Chuck's thighs from where he is sitting. They occasionally glance adoringly at each other throughout the movie…
The movie that Chuck and Sarah have just watched has now finished and Sarah's position is still unchanged as she lays flat out on the sofa with her legs resting on his thighs.
"Wow, she has a great voice," Sarah declares in amazement to Chuck and she watches him nod his head.
"She does," he agrees. "And Kevin Costner is a legend."
"Yeah, he's really good," she admits as she starts to think about the movie she has just watched with Chuck once more.
"She's actually deceased now, Sarah," Chuck then informs her causing her to gasp in shock.
"Wow! What happened?" she asks.
"She accidentally drowned in the bath. It was all over the news. She'd taken a lot of illicit drugs that obviously contributed to it," he informs his wife's suppressed memory.
"Wow... Such wasted potential," Sarah responds glumly.
"Yeah..." he sighs.
"I really enjoyed the movie though, Chuck. Have we seen it before?" she then asks.
"Once I think. But it's always a classic," responds and she nods her head.
"Yeah it is," she admits.
"I'm just gonna make a few phonecalls now so you can use the bathroom first."
She nods her head and smiles warmly at him before responding, "Thank you."
Sarah then stands up, as she heads into their bedroom and she collects a lingerie set before entering the bathroom and undressing herself as she steps into the shower...
A short while later
Sarah has now finished with her pre-bed routine and is now in bed as Chuck walks into the bedroom. She looks up to smile warmly at him which he returns before he declares ,"All done."
"Great. Then let's go to sleep," she responds.
She then watches him nod as he responds, "Yeah."
On receiving the cue, she opens the covers for him so he can join her in bed and she watches as his eyes fix onto what she is wearing and he starts to choke causing her to immediately snicker at his fluster.
"Chuck, you've seen me like this lots of times. I don't need my memory to know that," she declares.
He nods. "Yeah, and each time you become a billion times more beautiful than the last," he declares causing her to beam him a loving smile as she giggles for the briefest of seconds.
She then watches as he climbs into bed with her and he throws his side of the duvet over him. On him completing said actions, she leans into him as she connects her lips together with his own as she attempts to instigate intimacy between themselves once more tonight. She hasn't forgot their agreement of a week's pause before resuming strong intimacy with each other once more. But he may have changed his mind since last night and she won't know that until she tries.
They continue to kiss for the next minute until Chuck begins to back himself away from Sarah ever so slightly.
"I'm still not ready, Sarah," he admits with a warm smile.
She nods acceptingly before responding, "Ok, Chuck."
Sarah then turns away from him and once more like the previous night she back herself into him as she slept extremely comfortably last night and strongly desires the same position they slept in once more.
"Goodnight, Chuck," Sarah says on finishing her repositioning.
"Goodnight, Sarah," he responds into her hair as the husband and wife quickly fall into a peaceful sleep once more...
Eight days since the beach
Los Angeles
7:00 PM
Chuck and Sarah have just arrived outside of a small medical facility. This particular building is to play host to a group of memory loss sufferers this evening. It's a fairly large one story building. It had all came about earlier this morning when Chuck after further persuading and encouragement to Sarah had rang to see if they could both attend a group at the next available date after he had stated her condition. The clerk he had spoken to had told him that there was in fact a session this very same day and they would both be most welcome to attend and here they are as they just depart from Sarah's Lotus together. Sarah is still feeling very apprehensive about it and Chuck senses it as he provides further encouragement to her.
"Sarah, it will be fine. You've survived knife fights, gunfights and just about every dangerous situation known to man. We're just going in there with open minds. It may not be for you. And if it's not, then it's completely fine and we can leave right away and I won't even try to stop you. You don't have to stay and you certainly don't have to speak. I wouldn't want you to do that your first time anyway," he says reassuringly and she smiles anxiously at him.
"So are you ready then?" he then asks her.
"As I'll ever be," she responds and he grins affectionately before they depart the car park and head towards the facility.
On arriving at the main entrance, there is an inspirational notice above the entrance which states: To survive memory loss, find something you love to do...
The husband and wife pause in thought for a moment on reading the inspirational message, before Chuck moves to open the door for his wife and he holds it open for her as she enters inside with him following suit after her. On arriving inside the building, they walk over to the welcoming area and encounter a middle aged lady behind a desk.
"Good evening," she says warmly to the young couple.
"Hi," Chuck and Sarah reply to the receptionist.
"Are you here for the group this evening?" the receptionist asks.
"We are. My lovely wife is experiencing memory loss at the moment. She had an accident at work. We saw a consultant and he suggested that she or we can potentially benefit from being here. I love and care about her so much so that I persuaded and convinced her to come here," Chuck declares as he looks and smiles adoringly at Sarah and he takes her hand briefly and she gives him a loving smile back.
"Most people are anxious and nervous the first time but I don't think I've met anybody that has said that it hasn't helped them in some way. Take a seat and you will all be called in together when it begins at 7:15," the receptionist informs Chuck and Sarah and they both nod their heads in acceptance.
"Ok, thank you," Chuck then replies whilst Sarah just smiles warmly at the receptionist.
Chuck and Sarah then move to take a seat as they await the memory loss support group to begin...
A few minutes later
Chuck and Sarah are still seated together waiting for tonight's group to begin when they notice activity and a middle aged man with grey hair, glasses and is smartly dressed appears from out of doorway and he walks over to the vicinity of where fifteen people including Chuck and Sarah are all gathered.
"Ok, if you would all like to follow me," he says softly with a warm smile.
The group all then stand and follow the man through the door he had came from and they continue on for a little while longer until then entering another door. Chuck and Sarah then enter into the room and they note a group of around twenty chairs all placed in a circle.
The group then take a seat and the man with glasses and grey hair waits until everybody has seated before beginning to speak to the group.
"I'm Kevin. I see a lot of new faces here," he pauses to look at all of the new faces including Chuck and Sarah and he smiles at everybody present. "Welcome. For our regulars who have been here before, as you all know, we don't force anybody to speak here. Some people benefit more from these kind of support groups when they don't speak at all. You are not here because it is mandatory for you to attend. Instead, you are all here to learn more about your condition, or your loved ones condition and you aren't forced into speaking so please do not feel pressured into doing so tonight."
The group all nod their heads at Kevin's introduction.
"So then, is there anybody who would like to speak? Maybe one of our regulars?" Kevin asks as he glances around the group and Chuck and Sarah watch as a middle aged lady sat in the circle raises her hand.
"Great. I will now pass the stage over to Linda," Kevin responds on receiving the cue that somebody wants to speak to the group.
"Thank you Kevin. I think this is our tenth?" she pauses to look at a man sat next to her and Chuck and Sarah watch him nod his head in agreement. "group meeting here. I didn't want to come at first but my husband made me," she pauses once more, and Chuck and Sarah use the pause to break from looking at Linda to look at each other instead with wry smiles because their situation is the exact same.
"I am fifty five years young," she pauses again with a loving smile as the group chuckles at her humour "and I have early stage dementia. It really sucks at times. I am still in denial about how much it is effecting me. I have difficulty concentrating for a prolonged period of time and I'm quite forgetful of recent events and I have difficulties with finance and visiting new places. Socialising is quite difficult and I have begun to break away from my friends. What scares me most of all is forgetting who my husband is..." she pauses to make affectionate eye contact with her husband sat next to her and Chuck and Sarah's heartstrings pull on hearing the lady's revelations especially the final part because that exact same situation is playing out in their own relationship right now. "We have been through so much together throughout our lives and each day I live in fear of waking up the next day and forgetting who he is..."
A few minutes later
"Eric, would you like to speak?" Kevin suggests as he glances in the direction of a middle aged man.
Chuck and Sarah watch as the man nods his head.
"Thank you, Kevin. I was involved in a serious car crash three years ago and suffered significant brain damage in addition to losing my arm," he pauses, to show the location of where his arm used to be causing the mood inside of the group to turn a little sombre as Chuck and Sarah begin to feel strong empathy towards the gentleman. "not being able to remember things such as my daughter's wedding is extremely hard to come to terms with but I won't let it defeat me. If we stop living our lives and wail in our grief and misery then our condition takes over our life to the point that we no longer live it. You can't let it defeat you. You have to find something to do in your life that you love and distract yourself from your problems! I like to go on long walks, I find it really does help me and lessens my memory loss to the point where it no longer bothers me..."
A short while later
The one hour group session is now coming to an end. In addition to Linda and Eric, two others had chosen to speak. One of the other speakers was a wife who had opened herself up to the group and had stated that her husband is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease. His symptoms ranged from forgetting the names of close family members to having little memory of recent and past events in their life. The wife had also heartbrokenly explained that her husband has difficulty counting down from ten in addition to numerous other difficulties that he faces day to day.
"Well, thank you for all coming here today. And for the new faces I see, I hope that hearing the thoughts of others suffering the same situation as yourselves has made you feel a bit better that you're not alone. Maybe you will have learned some coping mechanisms and ideas on how to manage your condition. I will be holding another group in three days time and you are all most welcome to return to be here with us. There is no limit to how often you can come here. You can also return intermittently and you don't have to attend every session. Please do stay for refreshment and conversation if you so choose but that is about all for today's session and if I don't see you in the lobby for tea and biscuits then I look forward to seeing some of you once more in a few days time."
On Kevin closing down the meeting, the group then begin to disperse and Chuck and Sarah wait around for a moment as they continue to sit next to each other. On now being alone in the circle, Chuck smiles at Sarah, which she returns to him in kind.
"I'm so proud of you," he declares affectionately with a wide grin.
She laughs briefly before admitting, "I didn't even speak."
She watches him shake his head. "Doesn't matter. I didn't even think you would come so you have already done a hundred times more than I expected."
"I didn't think I would either," she admits with her continued loving smile.
"Are you glad you did, though?" he asks.
She nods. "Uh-huh. I really do think it has helped me," she admits enthusiastically.
On hearing her words, he sports her a huge Bartowski grin. "I'm sure there are hundreds of these groups occurring all across the country."
"Oh I'm sure," she agrees.
"Do you want to go and grab some refreshment?" he then asks.
She nods. "Sure," she says as she smiles warmly at him once more.
They then stand up and depart from the room they have been inside for the past hour as they then head out into the lobby towards a group of around ten people.
On arriving, they are welcomed by the others who have just been present in the same group. They are approached by Linda and her husband who had attended with her.
"Hi," Linda says warmly to the young couple.
"Hey. I'm Chuck," Chuck says.
Linda smiles before responding, "Hi, Chuck. It's nice to meet you," as the two then move to embrace to formally greet each other. On them parting from the greeting, Chuck stands aside and Linda gazes at Sarah.
"Sarah," she responds.
"Hi, Sarah. It's lovely to meet you too," Linda then responds and likewise, she moves to embrace Sarah.
On the two women parting, Linda then begins to introduce her husband. "This is my husband, Robert," she says to Chuck and Sarah.
"Hi, Robert," Chuck says warmly and he moves to shake the older man's hand.
"Hi Robert," Sarah also says and she moves to embrace the older man to greet him.
"It's lovely to meet you both," Robert says and the group of four all smile at each other.
"Would you both like some tea?" Linda then offers.
Chuck glances at Sarah and she nods and smiles affectionately at him.
"Yes please. Thank you," Chuck then responds.
Chuck and Sarah are then handed some tea and a biscuit as the group begin to converse with each other after their meeting.
"My husband won't approve of my meddling, but may I ask why you both are here? You both look so lovely, and so young."
On hearing Linda's declarations and her question, the young couple smile at her. "I had an accident at work. I've lost my memories of about the past five years," Sarah then admits.
"Oh dear. I'm so sorry to hear that, Sarah," Linda says sincerely.
"Thank you," Sarah responds with a smile.
"And is this your?" Linda then asks.
"Husband," Sarah finishes. "you know, I didn't really want to come here just like you. But he kind of convinced me."
The group of four all smile at each other once more.
"Oh? And are you happy that you have now?" Linda asks.
Sarah nods her head before responding, "Yes," as she smiles once more and rotates her gaze between Chuck, Linda and Robert but mostly at Chuck.
"Your speech was very good," Chuck then says.
"Thank you," Linda responds with a loving smile.
Chuck and Sarah are then introduced to the rest of the group by Linda and Robert and they make some small talk for ten minutes before they then begin to depart the facility to head for dinner...
Chuck and Sarah have just arrived back at their apartment after eating dinner together.
"Linda was so nice," Sarah declares to Chuck on them arriving inside their apartment.
Chuck nods his head. "Yea, she was and her husband is a real gentleman too," he responds.
Sarah nods. "Yeah. He reminds me a lot of you," she declares affectionately and they share a loving smile together.
"I feel so bad for Eric. It must be horrible to forget all of the things that he did," Chuck then says with a sad smile causing Sarah to do the same.
"Yeah and poor old Bert. To have Alzheimer's that advanced. I feel so bad for his wife," Sarah declares sympathetically.
"Yeah…" Chuck agrees with a long sigh.
"Chuck, thank you so much for making me attend tonight. I feel a little better about my own memory loss for seeing people with much worse problems coping with their situation."
Chuck smiles adoringly once more as he takes Sarah's hand into his own.
"Sarah, you're welcome. Does that mean you'll be going back to the next one?" he asks with his continued smile.
She nods whilst giving him an adoring smile of her own. "Yeah, if you'll come with me."
"Sarah, I'd come to hell with you if you requested it of me," he declares humorously causing Sarah to giggle approvingly, before moving into his person to wrap her arms around his neck and she connects his lips with her own.
On parting the kiss a minute later and restoring her breath to an acceptable level to talk coherently, she begins to talk, "Before you ask what it was for, it's for coming with me and your former comment to me."
She watches as a mischievous look forms on his face before he responds, "I guess I should make more comments like that then. If you're going to kiss me like you just did."
She giggles briefly and gives him a loving smile once more before responding, "Sure, you can. But clothes will be coming off us both if you do."
She watches as he takes a moment in consideration before responding, "clothes will be coming off in a minute anyway. Seeing as it now appears to be bedtime," he says as he checks his watch.
"Touche," she replies with a loving smile.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," he then says with a straight face and she does an immediate double take as she begins to frown.
I thought we were past this. What's caused him to be on eggshells around me again?
"I'm just kidding!" he then quickly says as he starts to laugh deeply causing her to breathe out a huge sigh of relief and she distastefully swats his chest with her hand for his winding her up.
"You had better be joking! You agreed to make our sleeping arrangement permanent in exchange for me even agreeing to consider the support group alone, and with me now going to the actual meeting, then I'd say that you are heavily in my debt buster," she declares with a smirk.
He nods his head. "True, true… So how about a massage? Will that settle the debt?" he asks as he winks his eyebrows at her.
It takes her a quarter of a second to respond. "Deal!" she quickly says before he can change his mind.
"Ok, great! I'll just go and grab the stuff and then I'll meet you in the bedroom. Ok?" he asks.
She nods before responding, "Ok."
They smile at each other a final time before he responds, "Super! See you soon!" as he then departs and Sarah heads to their bedroom...
A short while later
Sarah is now almost naked save from just her panties and she is under a sheet and is lazing into a pillow in the middle of their bed in their bedroom. The last time this was attempted, there was a knife hidden under a pillow. This time? No knife, just a wife lazing into the pillow and being scrumptiously massaged by her husband's magical hands.
"Chuck?" she asks from where she is laying.
"Yes, honey?" he replies as he continues to massage her back from where he is hovering over her.
"I was just thinking about what Quinn did to me. I'm sorry again, by the way," she responds as she continues to relax into the mattress.
"Honey, it wasn't your fault," he says and he pauses as she then feels him kiss the top of her head causing her to shiver at his touch.
"I'm just glad you're back here with me," he then declares and she smiles into the pillow on hearing his words.
"Me too," she responds into the pillow as he starts to massage her again once more.
"You won't object to me cracking your neck this time I take it?" he asks as his hands continue to massage her upper back.
"Not at all, please do," she invites him.
"Ok," he responds and there is a brief pause as his hands leave her upper back until she feels them connect with her neck. He then begins to do said action and Sarah sighs pleasurably into the pillow...
A few minutes later
Chuck has now finished giving Sarah probably one of the best massages in her life. She is still in the exact position but Chuck has just climbed off of her. He then appears just infront of her and they smile affectionately at each other.
"Chuck, that was lovely. Thank you," she declares.
"You're welcome. You've given me numerous too," he informs her.
"Then I guess it's my turn next," she then says.
"I guess it is," he replies and pauses briefly to grin at her. "I'll leave you to dress now?"
She shakes her her no before responding, "There's no point. I'll just go straight to shower and then we'll head to bed?"
She watches him nod before he responds, "Ok. I'll wait in the lounge. Just call me when you're done so I can then shower too.
She smiles lovingly once more before responding, "Ok, Chuck…"
A short while later
Both Chuck and Sarah have now finished their pre-bed routines and they have just climbed into bed together for the third night running.
"I have been looking forward to this most all day," she declares.
She watches him chuckle briefly before he responds, "Me too."
Sarah then moves into him once more, in another attempt at instigating sexual intercourse with him tonight. They begin to passionately kiss and he allows her hands to roam up and down him. Sarah then breaks the kiss, and she opens her eyes to look at him. They smile affectionately at each other as she then asks, "Are you ready?"
She watches him shake his head sympathetically no and she sighs for a long moment to restore her composure.
"Ok, Chuck, we'll continue going at your pace as agreed. But the week agreed is quickly closing," she finishes with a smirk.
"I know... Sarah, how about this? How about we both say what we are comfortable with here and now?" he says to her.
She smiles on hearing his question before responding, "I'm open to it."
"Ok, I'll go first?" he asks.
She nods her head in confirmation.
"Are you comfortable enough to share the same toothbrush?" he then asks.
She smirks before responding, "Probably not yet. Ok, my turn. Hmm... Being in the bathroom at the same time?"
"I'm fine with that. How about you?" he asks.
"I'm not sure. I wouldn't know until I tried it," she admits and they smile at each other again.
"Confessing my undying love to you whenever I feel the need to?" he asks.
"I'm not sure," she responds as yet another smile seeps through her lips.
"I love you," he declares immediately causing a titanic smile to form on Sarah's face.
"So, how was that?" he asks.
"I'm sure I can live with it," she declares affectionately as the young couple gaze intimately at each other for a long moment.
"Goodnight, Sarah," he then says softly.
"Goodnight, Chuck," she responds in the same tone, before the reconciling couple take up their new favorite sleeping position once more before sleep overtakes the young married couple...
End of Chapter
AN3 I'm not sure what the next chapter will contain yet so I can't give teasers. It will contain Chuck and Sarah's second trip to the support group, though. And whilst they are there, Linda suggests something to Sarah that could potentially allow her to find something to do with her life.
I hope you enjoyed today's chapter and please review it with your thoughts :)