Chuck was in his bedroom, playing video games when someone knocked on the door. Without looking away from the television screen, Chuck called to the person to come in. He was about to lose his level anyway, so Chuck stopped the game and looked up to see his father standing there.

"Hey, Chuck," Stephen said. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Chuck replied with a shrug. Chuck turned to his dad who seemed not quite ready to speak. Stephen pulled up Chuck's desk chair and took a seat a few feet away.

"Listen, Chuck, it's about Sarah," Stephen started. Chuck opened his mouth to say he didn't want to talk about her, but his father interrupted him. "Before you tell me to shut up, just hear me out, okay. You know I listen to her music, had all her albums before you met her."

"And probably found some way to get her to sign them," Chuck added, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, okay true," Stephen smiled. "But that's besides the point."

"What is your point, dad?" Chuck added, trying to sound like he didn't care. This was how he'd gotten through the last few months, trying not to care.

"I love your mother."
"And this relates to the topic, how?" Chuck asked. Even by his father's standards, this was a very strange conversation.

"I'm getting there," he explained. Chuck sighed, but didn't say anything.

"Anyway, so I love your mother and if I had never met her, we wouldn't have had you or your sister, and I wouldn't trade that for the world," Stephen continued affectionately. "But before I met her, there was someone else." This was news to Chuck. His parents didn't talk much about the time before they'd gotten married. "It was crazy young love with no rhyme or reason. We adored each other, but I gave it up because I was afraid."

"I still don't understand what this has to do with Sarah?" Chuck replied.

"I don't want you to make the same mistake I did," Stephen replied.

"Oh come on!" Chuck said. "This is totally different. Do you really think someone like her could care about someone like me?"

"Why would she have spent so much time with us if she didn't care?"

"I don't know," Chuck replied curtly. "But I am sure she had a reason."

"I think she's in love with you," Stephen started slowly, but before Chuck could disagree, his father handed him a CD.

"I pre-order all her music," Stephen explained. "This only just came out. Listen to it before you disagree with me." And with that, his dad left him alone.

Chuck looked down at the CD in his hand. The cover art was very simple. Just an image of Sarah with her hair down and the words 'Her Nerd' written underneath in a simple font. She barely had any makeup on, just the way he remembered her. He turned the CD over and read the song titles listed on the back.

Bare

Anchor

Left Unsaid

Genuine Smile

Your Touch

Safe in your World

Reality Strike

Melted my Walls

Reluctant Tour Guild

Like a Work of Art

Her Nerd

Next, Chuck opened the case, pulled out the booklet and read the dedication: to Chuck.

Tears were pouring from his eyes before he even finished reading the booklet.

From the moment they'd met, Chuck had kept in mind the whole time that it was going to end. He'd never been open to the idea of a real chance at love, not even with just the crazy tourist, let alone the international pop star! Chuck had kept his heart closed off to the future. He'd fought against falling for her, needing her. He'd been protecting himself the entire time out of fear.

But suddenly, Chuck could see their time together differently. He could see it through her eyes. His actions had been selfish and unfair. He was just as guilty of a lie of omission as Sarah was. It had been Chuck's stupid insecurities and disbelief that had ruined everything, not the reporters. The paparazzi, Chuck realized, had been an excuse. The excuse Chuck had been waiting for. If you waited for something to go wrong, it would go wrong, a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Chuck missed Sarah, missed her like an ache in his chest. He hadn't let himself feel it. He'd done everything possible to avoid feeling it, but that hadn't made the feelings go away. He was a coward, but Sarah wasn't. After all, it took courage to express your emotions in words, to publish them for all to see.

With clumsy hands, Chuck fumbled to get the CD in the player. Headphones on, Chuck closed his eyes and let the music wash over him.

The first song on the album was called 'Bare.' The song spoke of being laid bare to your emotions, vulnerable with another person. Then the song shifted to being cut down by love exposed, left cold as stone. It made Chuck realize how emotionally exposed Sarah had actually been during their time together while he'd held back. It was a slow melancholy song but very beautiful.

The song 'Anchor' used the metaphor of a ship's anchor to describe the feeling of safety with a lover. Chuck couldn't help but think of both kayaking with her, and falling asleep with his arm around her. The melody in this song was a bit more up beat, but still not much to dance to.

The song 'Left Unsaid' listed all the things worth less than love. It spoke of unshed tears, and words never said. The mood of the song was sad and regretful as if the singer felt like things might have been different if her feelings had been spoken aloud.

The song 'Genuine Smile' had a bit of a beat and Chuck realized he was tapping his foot to the music before the chorus even started. The lyrics mentioned fake smiles and putting on appearances. Going through the motions of life until one day a genuine smile spread across her face. The song had a new beat after that and the lyrics were happy and upbeat.

The song titled 'Your Touch' made Chuck smile sinfully as he thought of their time together in the bathroom. She even mentioned cold tiles in the song and she spoke of being made anew by the touch of her lover, forever awakened.

The next song was titled 'Safe in your World'. It began by mentioning several wonders of the world by name. Then went on to state that all these things were nothing to an orphan who just wanted somewhere to call home. Once surrounded by her lover's family, the song described her as finally home.

The next song was titled 'Reality Strike' and though the music was faster dance style, the lyrics spoke of happiness crushed by sudden loss, a wonderful holiday struck down by reality. A guilty feeling twisted in Chuck's stomach as he thought of the way he'd rejected Sarah before she'd left Tofino.

The song called 'Melted my Walls' had a soft beat. The lyrics spoke of the comfort of a lover's presence. It used the metaphor of physical stone walls melting to water to allow the listener to picture emotional barriers coming down.

The song 'Reluctant Tour Guide' had a beat you could dance to, with electronic music and sharp notes. In the first verses it described seeing a man on the beach and spoke of her devotion to this man. The lyrics claimed that she'd loved him first and had fallen for him with glee.

The song that played next was titled 'Like a Work of Art' and the verses described their time together so specifically as to directly mention poetry, kayaking and biking. The chorus claimed that of all the things he'd shown her, their love had outshined them all. The song really gave a sense of permanence, an impact stretching long into the future.

The last song on the album and the album's namesake was called 'Her Nerd' and somehow it took two conflicting life styles, and turned it into the most romantic song Chuck had ever heard.

The whole album was so romantic, and filled with the fleeting nature and worth of love. Chuck listened to the album again and again, feeling more ashamed with every replay. He'd been holding his pain in check, but Sarah had embraced hers and used it to create something beautiful.

Chuck listened to the whole album a dozen times at least. Playing the tracks over and over until he had them basically memorized. Then he had the need to google her again. Sitting up in his desk chair, Chuck opened an internet browser.

Typing 'Saz' and 'Her Nerd' into the search Chuck got pages of results. Clicking on the first interview he found, Chuck watched closely.

"Everyone give a warm welcome to Saz," the interviewer announced. The interviewer was a brunette and wearing a tan sweater, but past that, Chuck only had eyes for Sarah who had just appeared, walking onto the set. Sarah wasn't wearing much makeup and her clothes were rather more casual than the videos he'd seen previously. She was wearing jeans and a low scoop neckline yellow blouse. Her beauty almost took his breath away.

"How are you today?" the interviewer asked.

"Good. thanks," Sarah replied.

"So finally, a new album!" the interviewer continued.

"Yeah, it's been awhile, huh?" Sarah said with an awkward smile.

"Don't get me wrong," he replied. "We love your old songs-"
"But it was time for something new," Sarah finished the sentence for him with a light laugh. "I know."
"The last time you were on the show," the report began. "You mentioned problems with writer's block. So what happened? How did you get from there to here?" The interviewer was holding up a copy of 'Her Nerd' to show to the audience.

"Inspiration hit," Sarah explained. "I rarely left my music studio for a month, or so people tell me." The interviewer looked slightly confused and Sarah added. "I lost track of time while I was writing."
"Understandable," the woman replied. "Now the question all the fans really want to know is the Chuck you dedicated your album to, and the Chuck from all the buzz in Tofino, the same guy?"

"Yes," Sarah said, simply. "This album is very personal to me. I almost didn't release it to the public, but that wasn't really an option once my producers heard it."

"Let me guess," the reporter smiled. "They loved it."
"Yep. Wouldn't hear of me keeping it to myself," Sarah replied with a sigh.

"Well, it seems your producers were right," the interviewer replied. "I understand that this album has done far better than any of your previous, just on pre-orders alone."

"So they tell me," Sarah laughed, nervously. There was something in the way she was holding herself that reminded Chuck of the vulnerability he had witnessed in Sarah during their more emotional moments together. It was strange to him, like two people were becoming one, and Chuck realized how much he had separated the Sarah he'd known with the Saz he'd googled.

From the moment he'd found out who she was, it was like he'd created two people in his head. One of them was the famous unattainable pop star and the other was the woman he'd spent time with. For the first time since the paparazzi had flashed those cameras in his face, he could see how they were the same person.

"May I ask," the interviewer continued. "Why the choice for such a plain look on the cover? You've never done album art without makeup before."

"Since this album was inspired by my vacation in Tofino and I didn't take any makeup on that trip, it just felt right somehow to show that in the cover art." Sarah paused then added. "It's a very emotionally vulnerable album for me, so being less painted for the cover felt right."
"Just so," the interviewer said. "One last question before we run out of time. If Chuck was watching this, what would you tell him?"

"Oh, so many things," Sarah replied, uncrossing and recrossing her legs nervously. "I'd probably ask him not to be mad that I dedicated the album to him."

"Why would he be mad?"

"Chuck doesn't like being in the spotlight," Sarah replied. "But attention follows me everywhere."

"If you were worried he'd be upset, why did you dedicate the album to him?" the interviewer asked.

"Good question," Sarah replied in a self-mocking tone. "Maybe I need my head examined." The reporter laughed then announced their time was up and signed off.

For the next few hours, Chuck was glued to his computer. He watched every interview about the new album he could find, but none of these interviews were able to show Sarah answering that last question in more detail. The album had only come out yesterday and it was as if she was trying to preserve whatever shred of privacy Chuck had left, which was actually rather sweet, even if Chuck's curiosity remained unsatisfied.

The wait is over. Sorry for the slow update. Life does get busy and I didn't get any time for a while to finish off the album. But you won't have to wait long for the next one. It's already done and edited. Happy Easter. :)