Chapter 14 – Day Four, 7:48 AM

Chapter 14 – Day Four, 7:48 AM

The next morning, Chuck knocked softly on Sarah's door. A quiet click. The door opened just enough for Sarah's face to appear. She looked exhausted. The bruise along her cheekbone had darkened in the morning light. "Morning, Chuck."

"Hey… I brought breakfast."

A faint smile crossed Sarah's tired face. "Come in."

Chuck stepped inside. The apartment was silent. The kind of silence that lingered after the day before. "I finally stopped at Subway this morning," he said as they walked toward the table.

"That sounds good."

They sat by the window. Chuck unwrapped the sandwiches while stealing glances at Sarah. Her movements were slower than usual. Stiffer. "Déjà vu," he observed matter-of-factly.

Sarah smiled. "Did you bring ground beef too?" She was remembering the morning after his high school reunion, when they'd sat in this very apartment. Chuck had brought her a hamburger… …and an extra beef patty for her black eye.

Chuck laughed quietly. "Not this time… …but this might help." He handed her an ice-cold Dr Pepper.

Sarah pressed the can gently against her bruised cheek. "It'll do."

"Extra pickles?"

Chuck looked offended. "What kind of man do you think I am?"

"Extra pickles."

For a while they ate in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable. It was simply full of things neither of them knew how to say. Sarah finally broke it. "I think… …I was wrong about Bryce." Her voice was quiet. Not defensive. Just tired. "He wasn't entirely the man I believed he was." "Guatemala…" "…was a mistake." "And I didn't want to admit that."

Chuck nearly choked on his sandwich. Sarah didn't know what Mariana had told him the night before. Bryce had already been so many things in Chuck's life— a friend… a traitor… a hero… a selfish jerk… But now there was something even worse. A cold-blooded man capable of turning on the people he loved without hesitation. Pieces of the truth…

"I think…" Chuck finally said, "…maybe all of us were wrong about something."

Sarah searched his eyes. For a long moment she didn't simply look at him. She was looking through him. Searching. "You know what happened."

Chuck's chest tightened. For one terrifying second, it felt like everything depended on his answer. "I don't," he said. He did know some things. Enough to understand that some truths weren't his to tell.

Sarah studied him for another moment. Then lowered her eyes. "Chuck…"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for breakfast."