Chuck had been surprised when Sarah said she wanted to watch him play video games. He'd been even more surprised when she seemed to be enjoying it.

Morgan sat in the extra chair he always used, while Chuck sat in his desk chair. Sarah was on the bed behind them. Everytime he turned around to see how she was doing, Sarah was smiling. Her eyes were focused forward on the screen and she was even asking questions.

Chuck had expected it to be hard to focus on his game with Sarah sitting beside him. It was true that he was very aware of her presence here, but at the same time, he wasn't embarrassed. It was actually kind of nice to share this part of his life with her.

"Dude, if you don't find a med pack soon you are toast," Morgan said with a laugh.

"Just because the terrorists took me by surprise," Chuck replied. "I usually don't take that much damage."

"Either way, we should head back to base and heal up before going forward," Morgan said.

"Won't it be too late if you do that?" Sarah asked. "I mean you might miss the bad guys if you give them all that extra time to escape."

"That's the great thing about open world RPGs," Morgan said with a loving sigh. "You can just leave mid battle and everything is still exactly as you left it when you return."

"That sounds," Sarah said thoughtfully. "Convenient."

Chuck laughed. "Yes, it is," he said. "Okay, let's find a fast travel point and head back."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Morgan said.

Chuck laughed. "Are we pirates now?" he asked. The loading screen for the fast travel was playing, giving Chuck a chance to roll his eyes at his friend.

"Spys, Chuck," Morgan said dramatically. "Super spies!"

"Super spies who talk like pirates?" Chuck replied.

"Alright, I admit the pirate voice was a mistake," Morgan said, reluctantly.

"Glad we can agree on that," Chuck added with a laugh.

"You keep talking about fast travel, but what exactly is fast travel?" Sarah said as if in a classroom. Chuck smiled without meaning to. He turned to face behind him before speaking.

"Instead of just walking with your character from place to place, there are fixed points you can jump to," he explained. "Every open world game has a different in-game explanation, but they all seemed to have a version of it."

"Like the fireplaces in Horizon Zero Dawn," Morgan pitched in. "Or the big Greek statues in Immortals Fenyx Rising."

Sarah was nodding, but she had more questions. "So that road with the black car on it that you walked up to was the fast travel point, then?" she asked.

"Correct," Chuck confirmed. Even without looking behind him, Chuck could hear the game music change and knew the fast travel was finished.

"And everything will be just the same when you decide to finish saving New York City by defeating the terrorist," Sarah continued. Chuck was nodding. She was a very keen observer. "What I don't understand is how your character is still walking with so many injuries! I must have misread the screen. It said his ribs are broken, one of his ankles is sprained, the other's broken. Plus you said that symbol-" she pointed to the bottom left of the screen "-meant he's injured his arm, as well."

"And he has a concussion," Chuck added. "That's the little explanation symbol near his head. It's what was making my screen all grey and blurry before we travelled in the car."

"See, he should definitely not have been able to walk to that car," Sarah stated firmly. "At the very least, Morgan's character would have had to carry him."

"Yeah you're right," Chuck replied. "Who knows why they didn't do that. Cutting programing costs maybe?"

"Lazy coding," Morgan offered.

"Or maybe they just prioritize improvements that add to the game play?" Chuck suggested, hopeful.

"Either way the results are the same: a man who can walk with two busted up ankles," Morgan said with a dramatic flare.

"So bizarre," Sarah commented.

Now back at their home base, Chuck moved the joystick on his controller to make his character collect a med pack and heal his wounds.

"See there, that was way too easy!" Sarah declared. "Your character should have had to spend at least a week in the hospital. Probably more like a month."

"Where is the fun in having your character spend ages in the hospital?" Morgan asked.

"The game could do a time skip," Sarah offered, but without much confidence.

"It's like in the movies," Morgan continued. "How the hero is all banged up but doesn't care and fights the big bad guy anyway? His med pack is an emotional boost of strength."

"Yeah, okay I get that," she said. "Just in the movies somehow they make it feel possible even if it's ridiculous."

Chuck couldn't help but laugh. She seemed so interested in something he never would have expected her to be. Chuck was surprised how wonderful her interest felt.

"Do you want to try playing?" Chuck asked Sarah. He held out his controller to her. "Just if you want."

"Won't I mess up your game?" Sarah asked.

"Nah," Chuck said. "Open world games are hard to mess up."

"Well okay then," Sarah said with a smile, reaching forward and taking it.

"Besides, it would take ages to get through the tutorial again," Morgan added.

Chuck sat beside her on the bed, trying to help guild her if she seemed like she needed it.

"So this button attacks," Sarah said, pushing it and watching the character on the screen kick and punch nothing. "And this is jump."

"And the last one is use," Chuck added. "It lets you use any object in front of you."

"Let's do a side quest," Morgan suggested. "We don't want to send you into battle without testing your metal on some low level scum."

Sarah laughed and Chuck found himself sitting and watching instead of playing.

After only a few minutes, he realized he had no idea how Sarah had done this for so long. Just watching was a bit boring.

"Does anyone want something to drink?" Chuck said. He was suddenly in the mood for something hot to drink, and it would be a good excuse to get away for a moment. He couldn't exactly tell Sarah he had issues with her using his controller after giving it to her. Besides, he wanted her to have fun.

"If your mom makes it, I'll have hot chocolate," Morgan said. "But if it's just you-"

"Oh, thanks," Chuck replied sarcastically.

"I'll have whatever you're having, Chuck," Sarah said, turning to look at him while she spoke.

"Jump jump jump!" Morgan called to her and she turned to try and save her character from falling into a pit.

"Three hot chocolates coming right up," Chuck said before turning to exit his bedroom and walk down the stairs.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Chuck saw his mother in the kitchen. It seemed Morgan would get his wish.

"How are things going upstairs?" his mother asked.

"Good," Chuck replied. "I offered to get drinks, but Morgan only wants hot chocolate if you make it."

His mother laughed lightly with a smile. Chuck knew she loved Morgan's praise of her food. Morgan knew it too, and though Chuck knew his friend was honest in his love of Mary's cooking, he also knew Morgan praised her in the hopes of getting more snacks.

Ever since the first day Morgan had come visiting after school and discovered Mary's after-school snack tray, he had been unrelenting in his desire to eat here. He lived only a block over from Chuck's house and the two had been inseparable friends for as long as Chuck could remember.

"Would you and Sarah like hot chocolate, too?" Mary asked.

"Yes please," Chuck said. "Thanks, mom."

Chuck sat down at a stool near the counter as he watched his mother get out the double boiler and place it on the stove.

"Sarah is lovely," Mary said as she worked. "But I do worry about how long she's gonna be in town for. She's on vacation, right?"

"Yeah," Chuck said. He had the same worry.

"It felt rude to ask her directly, but has she told you how long she's in town for?"

Chuck shook his head. "No," he said. "She just says she's here until she can write again. She says she travels a lot and I shouldn't worry about it."

"I see," Mary replied. "Have you told her it's worrying you?"

It wasn't surprising that his mother could read the worry on his face. Chuck was never any good at hiding his emotions from her, not even when he was a teenager.

"I will," he said. Chuck knew it was what she wanted to hear, and he didn't want to get into the topic of his insecurity at being the first one to treat this as a real relationship, instead of a vacation romance.

They didn't speak for a moment while Mary cut up a block of chocolate and melted it on the stove. Next she added milk and heated it until the aroma of melting chocolate filled the room.

Chuck had tried once in his adolescence to make his mother's fabulous hot chocolate, but it just hadn't tasted the same. He'd asked her what her method was, but she'd said it was a secret. Chuck could only conclude that she had an ingredient she added that he didn't know about.

"You are scheduled to open the store tomorrow right?"

"Yeah," Chuck replied, unsure where this was headed.

His mother turned to smile at him before adding, "Why don't you take a couple days off. I can manage the store. Enjoy her company while she is here."

"You sure?" Chuck asked.

Mary nodded. "I'll see you two Friday for dinner when your father is home," she said.

Chuck got off the stool and around the counter to give his mother a big hug. "Thanks, mom," Chuck said into her shoulder.

"I really do like her," Mary said when they pulled out of the hug. "And I can tell she cares about you a lot."

Chuck just nodded. He wasn't sure how his mother could tell that, and he didn't want to ask. Even if he had faith that his mother could read him like a book, Chuck wasn't confident she'd be as accurate reading Sarah's emotions.

She ladeled the hot sweet drink into three mugs and put them on a tray for Chuck to carry upstairs.

After thanking her again, Chuck picked up the tray and headed back upstairs.

He couldn't help but smile when he walked into his bedroom.

It was a testament to how much Morgan loved his mother's hot chocolate that he actually paused the game. Setting the controller down, Morgan reached out to take a mug off the tray.

Before taking a sip he brought it up to his face and took a huge breath in. "Aww," Morgan sighed. "Why does it always smell so good?"

"She still won't tell me," Chuck replied. "Mother does have her secrets."

"Delicious secrets," Morgan commented.

Chuck watched as Sarah took her first sip. Her eyes went wide and she exclaimed, "This is heavenly!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Morgan agreed.

The game remained on pause while they drank and talked. Sarah mostly listened. She seemed genuinely interested in the dynamic between Chuck and his best friend.

"Okay, all done," Chuck said. "Do you want to play some more?"

"Actually, I'd rather watch," Sarah replied.

So Chuck finished the side quest she and Morgan started before they headed off to finish saving New York.

By the time the final boss went down, Chuck was yawning. On a normal night, this would have been about the time he'd send Morgan home and pass out on his bed.

"One of the downsides to being a morning person," Sarah giggled at him.

"Everyone yawns," Chuck defended his sleepiness.

"Yes, but not everyone yawns at nine o'clock at night," Sarah laughed.

"Fair point," Chuck smiled back at her.

There was silence for a moment. Chuck wasn't sure exactly what to do next. Should he suggest they go back to the hotel? It seemed too early for her to go to bed, so Chuck knew he had to stay awake.

"That's my cue," Morgan said abruptly, breaking the silence. He stood up and made his way to the door. "Great to see you again, Sarah," he said before he left.

And then they were alone.

"Umm, mom said I could have the next few days off," Chuck said in a quiet voice. Something about them being alone in his childhood bedroom felt much more vulnerable than her hotel room.

Sarah stood up and walked over to where he sat in his rolly chair. Chuck actually had to look up at her, given how low his chair was. She was looking down at him with a smile on her face for just a second, before she leaned further down and kissed him.

"It's okay," she said. "We can go back to the hotel. Why don't you pack up what you want to bring?"

"I can do that," Chuck said stupidly, but he didn't move. He wanted to kiss her again.

And why couldn't he?

Reaching up with both hands, Chuck wrapped his arms around Sarah's waist and pulled her closer. She followed his lead and sat in his lap.

Chuck wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, tangled in each other's embrace. His hands moved upward along her back and she ran her hands through his hair. There was something so peaceful about their kiss.

Peace that was shattered when they almost fell off the chair. Chuck caught Sarah in his arms before his knee came into contact with the floor.

"Ouch," he said.

"Sorry," Sarah replied anxiously.

"Worth it," Chuck grinned at her and she laughed.

It was wonderful laughing with Sarah. Chuck couldn't remember when he'd last felt like this, or if he ever had.

After that, Chuck packed up his tooth brush, a change of clothes and his phone charger, and together they went back to the hotel room.

We are getting really close to the turning point now! Also going forward I have way more written ahead then I did up until this point. Hopefully updates can speed up from here on out. ^_^