Chapter 20
I don’t own Chuck
Three weeks later
Chuck opened the door and grinned. “Susan!” he said enthusiastically. “I’m Chuck, I’ve heard so much about you! Lovely to meet you! Please won’t you come in!”
Three weeks ago (the end of last chapter)
He went down the steps and his mouth dropped. The area seemed to be as big as the house. There were two bedrooms, a kitchen area, and a main room.
“Holy shit,” Chuck muttered.
“By the way, that’s twice I was right,” Sarah told him. He slowly turned to her, trying to figure out what she was talking about. “The first is you were going to freak out about this.”
“Okay, that’s fair,” Chuck replied.
“The second is, I told you that beard wouldn’t stop me if I decided to kiss you,” she continued. “Let’s be honest, the CIA really couldn’t stop me, they only slowed me down.”
“Damn,” Chuck said in a reverent voice as she stood there proudly. “You are something else.” He looked over the area. “I think I’ve figure out how your friend can come over.”
“And how’s that?” Sarah asked.
“Easy, you put me down here,” Chuck told her, spreading his arms. “Plenty of room.”
“The problem with that is, she’s former CIA, Chuck. She’s going to want to know where you are, and she knows I wouldn’t let you be anywhere that isn’t safe.”
“Oh,” Chuck replied. “When did you meet her?”
“We were roommates at the farm,” Sarah told him. “She left the CIA after her boyfriend, who was also in the CIA died right after graduation.”
“So, she was a full agent, and then retired?” Chuck asked. Sarah nodded. “So, you kept in touch with her?”
“No,” Sarah said, shaking her head. “When she left, she was really upset, and to be honest, I was shocked when she told me that she was married and had a kid.” Chuck was silent, processing that. “The weird thing is, she married a former CIA agent. Given how she left…” Sarah shrugged.
“Huh,” Chuck replied. “So, you reached out to her when you got here?” Sarah nodded. “I see.” Sarah narrowed her eyes at him. “Well, I need to go finish my lunch and put away the rest of the food and do the dishes.” He had turned and was walking to the stairs. A groan came from overhead as he saw the opening covered. Chuck turned around, and saw Sarah standing there, hands on hips. “You literally just shut the door so I couldn’t leave, didn’t you?”
“I thought I said we should be honest with each other going forward?”
“Sarah, I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Chuck began. She tilted her head. “Listen, it’s just a thought that came to me, and you have enough going on without dealing with my crazy thoughts.”
“Chuck,” she said simply.
“Will you answer one question for me?” Sarah stared at him, and then nodded. “Are we near the US Naval Surface Warfare Center in Bayview, Idaho?”
“How?” she muttered. “Did you flash?”
Chuck shook his head. “No,” he replied. “Morgan.”
“Morgan?”
“See, the little guy….will…Sarah….he wants to believe.” Sarah looked confused. “Sarah, Morgan really believes in aliens, and I mean, REALLY.”
“Morgan,” she said with a tinge of disappointment in her voice.
“Hey, we’re dealing with a freaking computer in my head, and you question the beard’s belief in extraterrestrials?”
“Okay,” Sarah said, amused.
“In fact,” Chuck continued.
“Okay, good to know my boyfriend’s a believer,” She muttered. Chuck stopped dead in his spiral/rant. “Chuck?”
“Did you…did you just….”
Sarah smiled, knowing what had him so confuzzled.
“Sarah…did you just call me your boyfriend?”
“Mmmhmm,” she hummed. He pointed to himself and she nodded.
“Well, that really changes things,” Chuck said, scratching the back of his head.
“Wait, you were about to say something before I derailed you.”
“Oh, that,” Chuck said waving his hand. “I mean, who’s to say this whole Intersect technology isn’t alien.” Sarah’s eyes widened at that possibility. “This throws a monkey wrench into everything.”
“What does?” Sarah asked, grinning at him.
“Well, as your boyfriend, I can’t tell you what I was going to tell you, because that might upset you,” Chuck told her, a teasing grin on his face.
“Oh, and that’s more important than upsetting your friend?” Sarah countered.
“You’re really not playing fair,” Chuck pointed out.
“I’m not even playing yet, I’ll let you know when I start.”
“DAYUM!” Chuck said.
“Chuck, I need to know what it is you’re thinking,” Sarah said, walking towards him. He swore there was a certain swing in her stride.
“You’re really pretty.”
“Thank you,” she said, smiling at him. “But I was talking about what it is you’re keeping from me.”
“I used to be the computer hacker Piranha,” he said.
She pulled her chin back. “Really?” she asked. Chuck nodded. “Why would you tell me that?”
“I’m your boyfriend, I can’t not tell you things.”
“And yet you continue to keep something from me.” He opened his mouth, but she laid a finger, quickly, but gently on it. His eyes went wide. “We both know I know three hundred and eighty-six ways to find out what it is that you won’t tell me. But I’m your girlfriend, so I won’t do that to you.”
“I mean, you might need to stay in practice,” Chuck said, her finger still on his lips.
She chuckled. “Maybe on something not important, like where we’d go out to dinner.”
“We can’t go out to dinner,” Chuck pointed out.
“I mean after this is over.” She saw so much on his face in that moment. “Chuck, I told you I love you. I wanted to run away with you. We both made mistakes, but I really feel this is worth fighting for.”
He gently kissed the finger on her lips and she moved it. She kissed him soundly. “Please, Chuck. Tell me.”
}o{
Three weeks later
“Susan, so glad you could make it,” Sarah said, coming into the living room, and giving Susan a hug.
“I wouldn’t have missed this for anything,” Susan said. Sarah walked over to Chuck, and put her arm around his back, as he put his over her shoulder. “I should have done this when you invited me in a few weeks ago, but it seemed like you two weren’t one the same page.”
“We weren’t,” Sarah told her. “But we aren’t now, aren’t we Chuck,” she said, looking up at him.
“Absolutely,” Chuck replied, smiling at Susan.