Chapter 15
Song Recommendation – I’m Alright – Kenny Loggins
Disclaimer – Unfortunately, I don’t own Chuck.
Chapter 15 – No Pretending
Burbank, CA
The conflict wasn’t whether they loved each other anymore – they did. The conflict was learning how to have a normal relationship after years of pretending. Neither Chuck nor Sarah had ever been trained for normal. They knew how to survive missions, protect secrets, and read danger. They were only beginning to learn how to enjoy being together.
The morning after their first real date, sunlight filtered through the curtains of Sarah’s apartment, filling the room with a warm golden glow.
Sarah stirred slowly beneath the blankets.
For the first time in years, she woke without immediately thinking about surveillance reports, mission briefings, or contingency plans. The absence of those thoughts felt almost strange. Sarah lay still for a moment, allowing herself to enjoy the quiet before remembering that she no longer had to be anywhere else.
Instead, she smiled; the memory returned almost instantly.
She caught herself replaying every moment at dinner at a small Chinese restaurant, and then, after the restaurant, the walk on the beach.
Chuck took her hand without hesitation.
The way he had looked at her when there was no cover to maintain and no mission to complete. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, unable to stop replaying every moment of the evening.
She remembered laughing over dinner at the Chinese restaurant Chuck had chosen because, as he’d admitted with an embarrassed grin, “it’s the first place I ever wanted to take you out if we ever went on a real date.”
She remembered walking beside him with her shoes in one hand as the cool Pacific water washed over their feet. She remembered how easy the conversation had felt, how Chuck had never once asked her to be someone else – just Sarah the person. He had walked beside her and let the evening become whatever it wanted to be.
Most of all, she remembered the kiss. Not hurried, not cautious, and definitely not performed for anyone else’s benefit. Then there was the electricity that flowed through their bodies when they kissed.
It had been just theirs. That was what made the memory different from every other kiss they had shared. There had been no audience, no enemy, no cover story, and no excuse afterward. For once, they had been exactly what they wanted to be.
Sarah closed her eyes again, smiling despite herself. “I really am in love with him, and he’s in love with me,” she whispered to herself.
The words no longer frightened her. They just felt true.
Sarah reached for her phone on the nightstand, then stopped. There was no reason to check it. For once, she didn’t need to know what the Agency wanted.
Instead, she wanted to know what Chuck was doing.
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Across town, Chuck was having considerably less success pretending everything was normal. He had tried to concentrate on work, but every few minutes his mind returned to Sarah. The smile she had given him. The way she had held his hand. The feeling that somehow, after years of waiting, his life had finally moved into the future he had once only imagined.
Morgan stopped in front of the Nerd Herd counter and stared. “Chuck…”
Morgan waited for a response, but got none. “Earth to Chuck …”
Chuck looked up from the computer he was repairing. “What?”
Morgan folded his arms. “…You look disturbingly happy. You’ve been smiling at that motherboard for, like, five minutes.”
Chuck glanced down, realizing Morgan was right. “I have not.”
Chuck couldn’t help smiling a little wider.
Morgan said, “Something’s different. You just seem…lighter”
Chuck looked back at the computer without answering, smiling.
Morgan wasn’t wrong. For years, his relationship with Sarah had always existed inside the boundaries of a cover story, interrupted by missions, secrets, and rules neither of them had written.
Now, for the first time, there were no rules. No pretending, no wondering whether a kiss was for the mission or for him. Every smile Sarah gave him now belonged to the two of them.
Morgan watched him for another few seconds before snapping his fingers. “That’s it! You’ve got the ‘everything’s finally going my way’ face.”
Chuck laughed, “Is that an actual face?”
“Oh, absolutely.” Morgan folded his arms with complete confidence. “I’ve known you since kindergarten. I can read your face better than I can read comic books.”
Chuck shook his head, still smiling. “I just had a really good weekend.”
Morgan grinned. “You must have.”
Chuck shook his head, but the smile remained. There was no point denying it. For the first time in a very long time, he was happy.
Morgan started to walk away, then turned back. “Seriously though, man, I’ve never seen you this happy.”
Morgan disappeared into the sales floor, leaving Chuck alone behind the counter. Chuck looked toward the entrance, almost expecting Sarah to walk through it. He laughed quietly at himself. He had become the guy who looked forward to seeing his girlfriend even when he had just seen her the night before.
Chuck’s smile lingered. Morgan had no idea why things were different, but for the first time since Sarah had walked into his life and introduced herself as his girlfriend, she actually was his real girlfriend, and Chuck hadn’t been this happy in years.
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Griffith Observatory
Saturday arrived with something neither Chuck nor Sarah had experienced together in years. Free time. Real free time. The kind that didn’t exist because a mission had been canceled, but because nothing needed their attention.
Nothing. No emergency phone calls, no encrypted messages, no missions, and no assassins to worry about.
Just a free weekend.
Sarah picked Chuck up shortly after breakfast.
He climbed into the passenger seat and noticed Sarah was wearing jeans, a light sweater, and sunglasses.
“No leather jacket?” Chuck asked.
She smiled. “I’m off duty.”
“I like off-duty Sarah.”
She laughed. “So do I.”
Their destination wasn’t expensive or elaborate. It didn’t need to be. Chuck had learned that the best moments with Sarah were often the ones that had nothing to do with money or danger. He wanted her to experience things because they were fun.
Chuck had Sarah park her car outside the Griffith Observatory overlooking Los Angeles.
Sarah stepped out beside him and looked across the city stretching toward the horizon. “It’s beautiful.”
“I used to come here with Ellie,” Chuck said, smiling. “When life got confusing.”
Sarah looked at him knowingly. “So… you came up here a lot?”
Chuck laughed. “Okay, maybe more often than I should admit.”
Sarah smiled. “Knowing your history, it makes sense.”
He laughed. “Pretty much.”
They wandered through the exhibits like two tourists with nowhere else to be. Chuck caught himself watching Sarah more than the exhibits. She seemed lighter here, less guarded, and he loved seeing that side of her.
Chuck enthusiastically explained old telescope displays.
Sarah admitted she had never actually visited the observatory despite living in Southern California for years.
“You’ve never been here?”
She shook her head. “My childhood vacations usually involved changing identities.”
Chuck’s smile faded. She said it so casually as though it were completely normal, and he said, “I’m sorry.”
Sarah slipped her hand into his. “You don’t have to be.”
He looked at her. “I do. Your childhood sounds harder than mine. At least I had Ellie to keep me in line.”
They found a quiet bench overlooking the city below.
For a long time they talked. Not about spies, not about Fulcrum, and not about Castle and work.
Chuck told stories about growing up with Ellie and Morgan. Sarah listened with an expression he rarely saw during missions. She wasn’t evaluating the information or searching for a threat. She was learning about the boy who had become the man she loved.
Sarah admitted she loved reading as a child.
Chuck confessed he still collected comic books.
Sarah smiled, “I know, I’ve seen the box in your apartment.”
Chuck laughed, “I wondered if you’d noticed.”
“I did.”
Their conversation drifted from favorite movies to childhood dreams. Chuck’s favorite movie was “Tron,” and Sarah’s favorite was “The Princess Bride.”
Eventually, Sarah grew quiet.
“What?”
She looked out over the city. “I’ve never really had…,” she searched for the right words, “…a real, normal date.”
Chuck frowned. “Never?”
She shook her head. “My life didn’t really allow for that. No school dances, no awkward first kiss, and no boyfriend nervously meeting my parents.”
She looked back at her past and continued, “After being recruited by the CIA, there was only training, assignments, and cover identities.”
Chuck reached over and gently squeezed her hand. “Then let’s do some new things for just the two of us to do together.”
Sarah looked down at their hands. The gesture was simple, but it carried years of meaning. Once, Chuck had needed reassurance that she was staying. Now, he knew she was staying.
Sarah looked at him curiously. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, if you want to do something you’ve done before and want to try it, then let’s do it.”
She laughed. “Everything?”
For the first time in her life, Sarah found herself looking forward to experiences most people took for granted.
Not because of where they were going, but because of who she’d be with.
As they watched the afternoon sun drift lower over Los Angeles, Chuck quietly realized something too.
For years he had dreamed of taking Sarah on real, ordinary dates. He had imagined restaurants, walks, movies, and stupid little outings that normal couples never thought twice about. Now that he could actually do them, he understood that the place didn’t matter nearly as much as the person beside him.
Now, the ordinary suddenly felt extraordinary.
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Ace in the Hole Miniature Golf
Burbank, CA
A few nights later, the miniature golf course looked like something out of a child’s imagination. Brightly colored lights illuminated every path and obstacle, casting cheerful reflections across the carefully landscaped greens.
Children’s laughter echoed through the warm evening air as families made their way from hole to hole.
Teenagers giggled over awkward first dates while upbeat music drifted from speakers mounted throughout the course. Somewhere nearby, the rich aroma of freshly popped popcorn mixed with the sweet scent of cotton candy.
Sarah stopped walking. She stood there, taking it all in. The lights, the families, the music, and the complete lack of anything remotely dangerous made her smile. It was exactly the sort of place she might once have dismissed as childish. Now she found herself wanting to stay.
Chuck noticed and smiled. “Everything okay?”
Sarah nodded slowly, her eyes still wandering across the course. “I’ve never done this.”
Chuck replied, “I know; you told me it was one of the things that you never did as a kid. That’s why I brought you here.”
Sarah looked almost embarrassed as she answered, “My childhood didn’t really include windmills or dinosaurs.”
For a moment, Chuck forgot every mission they’d ever been on. It was easy to remember Sarah as the fearless CIA operative who could disarm enemies, win hand-to-hand fights, and escape impossible situations.
Now, he saw only Sarah standing beneath the colorful lights, trying something she had never been allowed to experience as a kid. The realization made him quietly determined to give her as many ordinary memories as they could create together.
His smile softened. “Well,” he said, handing her a putter, “we’re fixing that tonight.”
The instant the putter touched Sarah’s hand, something unexpected happened. Her competitive instincts took over. She immediately examined the club, testing its balance and weight before adjusting her grip. Then she turned toward the first hole, studying the slope from several different angles.
Chuck recognized the look immediately. Sarah might be learning how to have fun, but she was apparently determined to win while doing it.
Chuck started laughing. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Sarah look so completely confused by something as harmless as mini-golf. The sight made him laugh harder, and Sarah’s initial embarrassment slowly gave way to amusement.
“What?” Sarah asked.
“You’re profiling the golf course.”
“I’m analyzing terrain.”
Chuck shook his head. “It’s just miniature golf.”
Sarah crouched beside the ball, carefully inspecting the incline leading toward a brightly painted grandfather clock. “It still obeys the laws of physics.”
Chuck folded his arms and watched with amusement as she examined every inch of the hole with the concentration of someone trying to solve an impossible CIA mission.
Some things, he decided, would never change. Sarah finally stepped into position, lined up the shot with perfect posture, calculated the angle, took one final breath, and swung.
The golf ball launched like a missile. It sailed cleanly over the grandfather clock, over the decorative fence, and over the entire course.
Chuck stared for one stunned second before bursting into uncontrollable laughter.
Sarah blinked. “I may have applied excessive force.”
Chuck doubled over, laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
Sarah tried to maintain a serious expression. She failed. A laugh escaped her, and soon she was laughing with him. For several seconds, neither cared who was watching.
Behind them, a little boy waiting with his father whispered just loudly enough to be heard, “Dad, she’s really bad.”
Sarah’s ears caught the comment instantly. Without even turning around, she quietly replied to herself. “Noted.”
Chuck laughed even harder. After catching his breath, he retrieved another ball from the clubhouse and stepped beside her. “Okay,” he said. “Forget everything you just did.”
“I had a strategy.”
“You had artillery.”
She couldn’t argue with that.
Chuck demonstrated instead. He walked up to her, held Sarah in his arms, and showed her a relaxed stance and a gentle swing. “No geometry, no calculations,” he explained. “And no physics equations.”
Sarah watched carefully.
“You just…feel it.”
She frowned. “‘Feel it’ isn’t very scientific.”
“I know.”
“It sounds statistically unreliable.”
“It absolutely is, but miniature golf is supposed to be fun.”
She sighed dramatically. “This may be the strangest thing you’ve ever asked me to do.”
Chuck smiled. “Just trust me.”
Hole by hole, Sarah began to understand. More importantly, she began to relax. She stopped calculating every rebound. Stopped measuring every slope.
Chuck watched the change happen gradually. Her shoulders lowered, her smile became easier, and she stopped analyzing every shot and started enjoying the ridiculousness of the game.
Instead, she watched Chuck, copied his rhythm, and slowly relaxed. Her shots became softer, more natural, and more accurate. With every hole, her confidence grew.
By the time they reached the final hole, she had transformed from an overly analytical beginner into someone genuinely enjoying herself.
The last hole looked impossible. The ball needed to bounce off two rails, curve around a miniature lighthouse, disappear through a tunnel, and somehow find the cup hidden beyond it. Sarah studied the obstacle in silence.
Chuck stepped beside her. “Feel. Don’t think, just trust it.”
For perhaps the first time all evening, Sarah didn’t calculate. She trusted what Chuck had told her and let herself play. The ball rolled across the green. It struck the first rail, and then the second, curved perfectly around the lighthouse, disappeared into the tunnel, and then the ball disappeared into the hole. For one perfect second she looked less like a highly trained intelligence officer and more like the girl she had never been allowed to be.
Silence, and then a heartbeat later, ‘Clunk’, the ball vanished into the hole.
Sarah stared.
Chuck exploded into celebration. “You did it!”
For a second, she looked at the cup in disbelief. Then genuine laughter escaped her. She threw both arms into the air. “Yes!”
Before she even realized what she was doing, she rushed toward Chuck and wrapped him in a tight hug and kissed him. Not because they were pretending. Not because they were maintaining a cover, but because she was genuinely happy.
Chuck laughed and hugged her back without hesitation, kissing her back.
Neither of them noticed how natural it felt, or perhaps they did, but neither wanted to interrupt it by talking about it. They stayed close, laughing together beneath the lights.
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Across town, Casey had finally escaped Castle after finishing a mountain of paperwork. As he drove home, traffic slowed beside the miniature golf course. He glanced over out of habit, and then paused.
He saw that Chuck was cheering, and Sarah was laughing harder than Casey had ever seen her.
A second later, she jumped into Chuck’s arms, and Chuck spun her around as they both laughed beneath the colorful lights.
Casey watched quietly. For just a fraction of a second, the corner of his mouth almost turned upward.
He had spent years watching Chuck and Sarah circle around their feelings, neither of them could safely acknowledge. Seeing them now, laughing without a mission between them, made him realize just how much had changed.
He continued watching as they played the final hole. Chuck lined up what should have been an easy putt.
Missed. Deliberately.
Sarah looked at the scorecard before lifting an eyebrow. “I believe that’s the game.”
Chuck bowed with exaggerated drama. “I’ve been defeated by an extraordinary opponent.”
Casey grunted. He knew exactly what had happened. Chuck had thrown the game. Not because Sarah needed the confidence, but because seeing her smile meant more to him than winning ever could.
Casey shook his head and said to himself. “Jesus Christ, they’ve got it bad for each other.”
The traffic light turned green. He drove away, still shaking his head.
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The evening ended the way neither Chuck nor Sarah expected. They walked slowly back toward the car, enjoying the cool night air. Without thinking about it, Sarah slipped her hand into Chuck’s.
Instead of rushing home, they found themselves looking for one more small thing to do together. Neither was ready for the evening to end.
It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t part of a cover. It simply happened because they wanted to spend more time together.
Chuck looked down at their joined hands. Then looked back at her.
Sarah smiled.
Chuck grinned, “So, Agent Walker …”
She gently bumped his shoulder.
His smile widened. “OK… Sarah, where to next?”
She pretended to consider the question for a moment before answering with complete certainty, “Ice cream.”
Chuck laughed, “I was hoping you’d say something like that. You really like ice cream, don’t you?”
Sarah looked at him. “Yes, but I really like doing things with you.”
Still holding hands, they walked toward the parking lot. No spies were chasing them. No missions waiting. No covers to maintain.
Just Chuck and Sarah. Two ordinary people sharing an ordinary evening, and for both of them, it was beginning to feel like the most extraordinary night of all. They were discovering that ordinary life wasn’t boring. For two people who had spent years living under extraordinary circumstances, ordinary was a gift.
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Sunset Scoops
Fifteen minutes later, Chuck pulled into the parking lot of an old-fashioned neighborhood ice cream shop.
The building glowed beneath strings of white lights that wrapped around the roofline. Families sat at picnic tables outside while children raced across the sidewalk, carefully balancing cones almost as tall as they were. Music from the 1960s drifted through outdoor speakers, giving the little shop a timeless feeling.
Sarah looked around with quiet appreciation. “It’s busy.”
Chuck smiled. “It always is on warm nights.”
They climbed out of the car, and without discussing it, their hands found each other again as they crossed the parking lot.
Sarah noticed. “So this is becoming a habit?”
Chuck glanced down at their intertwined fingers. “I can stop if you want.”
Instead of answering, Sarah’s fingers tightened around his. “I didn’t say that.”
“No, you didn’t.”
The moment they stepped inside, Sarah’s eyes immediately lit up like a kid as she saw the display cases. Chuck smiled because he had seen Sarah face down armed men with less excitement than she was showing over ice cream.
Dozens of flavors stretched from one end to the other. Chocolate, vanilla, peppermint stick, butter pecan, mint chocolate chip, cookie dough, strawberry, rocky road, plus two more coolers filled with even more flavors.
Without hesitating for even a second, Sarah smiled.
The teenager behind the counter looked up with a friendly smile. “What can I get for you?”
Sarah answered without hesitation, “Rocky road, please.”
“One scoop or two?” the teenager asked.
She looked over at Chuck with a playful smile.
Chuck answered before she could, “Two scoops.”
Sarah laughed, “I was going to say that.”
The employee smiled and scooped two generous portions of rocky road onto a fresh waffle cone before handing it to Sarah.
“And for you?” he asked Chuck.
Chuck glanced over the display case. “I’ll have two scoops of the cookies and cream in a regular cone.”
“Good choice,” the employee replied as he filled the bowl with two large scoops and handed it across the counter.
Chuck paid for both orders before leading Sarah outside. “So,” he asked as they stepped onto the sidewalk. “Rocky road?”
Sarah nodded. “It’s my favorite; my dad used to buy it for me on special occasions as a kid.”
Chuck looked pleasantly surprised. “But I thought tonight was all about firsts.”
She took a small bite of Chuck’s ice cream and smiled.
“It is. I’ve had rocky road ice cream before, but never like this.”
Chuck tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
She looked around at the families gathered at the picnic tables, children laughing as they chased one another across the grass, and couples quietly sharing cones beneath the glowing patio lights.
She glanced back at him. “I’ve eaten it alone, I’ve eaten it alone between flights, alone in hotel rooms. Once, while sitting in an airport at two in the morning, waiting for my next assignment.”
She smiled softly. “But I’ve never had it with someone I actually wanted to spend the evening with.”
Chuck felt the words settle somewhere deep inside him. He had spent years wanting to be that person for her. Hearing that he finally was meant more than any grand romantic gesture could have.
Chuck looked down at his cookies and cream ice cream before smiling back at her. “Because that makes it better?”
Sarah took another bite. She thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Yes, I think you’re right.”
Together, they found an empty bench beneath a large oak tree overlooking the parking lot. Sarah happily enjoyed her two scoops of rocky road while Chuck worked on his cookies and cream, occasionally stealing amused glances at the smile that never seemed to leave their faces.
For the first time in years, Sarah wasn’t eating because she had a few spare minutes between missions; she wasn’t checking the time, she wasn’t watching exits, and she wasn’t waiting for an encrypted phone call. Instead, she was sitting beside the man she loved, eating ice cream, enjoying herself with someone who made an ordinary evening feel extraordinary. Chuck decided that his cookies and cream had never tasted better, either.
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Casa Bartowski/Woodcomb
Burbank, CA
Sunday evening arrived with something Sarah had never experienced before. She was about to enter a family home as herself … just Sarah. Not as a carefully constructed version of Agent Walker. The realization made her nervous in a way no mission briefing ever had.
She wasn’t going to the Bartowski-Woodcomb apartment because a mission required it. She wasn’t there to maintain a cover. She wasn’t there to monitor an Asset. She was going to dinner with Chuck’s family. Not as Chuck’s ‘cover’ girlfriend, but now, for the first time, as Chuck’s ‘real’ girlfriend.
Standing outside the apartment, Sarah found herself hesitating and nervous as hell.
Chuck noticed immediately. “Nervous?”
She smiled sheepishly. “A little.”
Chuck looked surprised. “You’ve had dinner with Ellie and Devon dozens of times.”
Sarah laughed softly. “Not like this. Your sister is too perceptive and will suspect something has changed.”
He understood. Every dinner they’d shared before had been part of the elaborate fiction they had created for everyone around them.
Sarah had always been careful. Careful what she said, how she acted, even how much affection she allowed herself to show. Tonight there was nothing to hide.
Chuck didn’t try to fix the feeling for her. He stayed beside her, leaving her fully exposed, because sometimes being understood was better than being reassured.
Chuck reached for her hand. “Ready?”
Sarah intertwined her fingers with his. “Yeah, I think I am.”
Chuck squeezed her hand once. “Then let’s go in to have dinner with my family.”
Sarah smiled. For the first time, the words didn’t make her feel like an outsider. They made her feel like she belonged.
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The familiar aroma of Ellie’s cooking greeted them the moment the apartment door opened.
“There you are!” Ellie exclaimed, pulling Chuck into a quick hug before turning to Sarah to give her an even bigger hug.
“Come in. Dinner’s almost ready.”
Devon appeared from the kitchen carrying a bowl of salad. “Sarah! Good to see you and the Chuckster together again.”
“You too, Devon.”
Everything looked the same as it always had. Yet somehow, everything felt different. Sarah had eaten at this table before, but tonight she wasn’t pretending. Every smile, every laugh, every glance toward Chuck was hers, and hers alone.
Sarah wasn’t wondering whether she was saying the right thing for her cover. She wasn’t carefully measuring every smile. She smiled because she wanted to.
As everyone gathered around the table, the conversation flowed effortlessly. Chuck and Devon debated whether the Dodgers would make the playoffs. Ellie laughed at one of Chuck’s childhood stories.
Sarah listened, genuinely interested, occasionally asking questions she’d never thought to ask before about Chuck. “What was Chuck like when he was twelve?” she asked.
Ellie’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I’ve got stories.”
Chuck groaned dramatically, “Ellie, please no…”
Ellie smiled and replied, “Oh yes.”
She disappeared for a moment before returning with an old photo album.
Chuck buried his face in his hands. “El, you’re really doing this?”
“Absolutely. I love making fun of my little brother.”
Sarah laughed as Ellie turned the pages. Chuck was wearing oversized glasses at a science fair. Chuck dressed as a pirate one Halloween. Chuck was proudly holding up a blue ribbon from a computer competition.
Chuck watched Sarah’s face as she studied each photograph. There was something deeply satisfying about watching her discover the pieces of his childhood he had always taken for granted.
“You were adorable,” Sarah said.
Chuck replied, “I was twelve.”
“You were adorable at twelve.”
Chuck shook his head.
Sarah’s laughter came easily. Naturally. It wasn’t the polite laugh she’d perfected over years of undercover work. It was warm and unguarded.
Ellie noticed immediately. So did Devon.
As dinner continued, Sarah reached across the table and absentmindedly rested her hand over Chuck’s while he was telling another story. She didn’t even realize she’d done it. Chuck glanced down at their hands before looking back at her with a quiet smile.
A few minutes later, Chuck paused in the middle of a sentence, searching for a word. Sarah finished it without thinking.
He looked at her. “Exactly.”
It wasn’t rehearsed; it wasn’t part of a cover. It was what happened when two people knew each other well enough to know what the other was going to say before they said it.
Ellie watched the exchange in silence. For years, she had accepted that Chuck and Sarah cared about each other, but something had always felt restrained, as though invisible walls stood between them.
Tonight, for the first time, those walls were gone. Ellie didn’t know every secret Sarah carried, and she didn’t need to. She could see the most important change plainly enough: Sarah was happy, and Chuck was happy because she was happy.
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When dinner ended, Chuck volunteered to help Devon carry the dishes into the kitchen and clean up.
Sarah followed Ellie out to the fountain in the courtyard.
The evening air was cool, and the lights of Burbank shimmered in the distance.
Ellie asked, “Can I ask you something?”
Sarah nodded. “Of course.”
“What’s changed?”
Sarah was quiet for a moment. Then she smiled, “We stopped pretending.”
Ellie reached over and gently squeezed her hand. “I’m so glad. You have no idea how much I thought you and Chuck were perfect for each other.”
“So am I.”
Inside the apartment, Chuck and Devon were laughing over the proper way to load a dishwasher.
Sarah looked at the apartment toward Chuck’s voice. The sound of his laughter made something settle inside her. This was what she had been missing.
Not excitement.
Just home.
Sarah smiled at the sound. It felt ordinary. Wonderfully ordinary.
An hour later, as Chuck and Sarah prepared to leave, Ellie stood beside Devon at the doorway, watching them walk hand in hand toward Chuck’s car.
They waited until the couple disappeared around the corner. Devon slipped an arm around Ellie’s shoulders. “You’ve been smiling all evening.”
Ellie rested her head against him. “I know.”
“What are you thinking?”
She watched the empty walkway for another moment before answering, “I think Sarah is finally home.”
Ellie had always wanted Chuck to find someone who understood him. Watching him walk away hand in hand with Sarah, she realized that Sarah had found something too: a place where she didn’t have to pretend.
Devon smiled knowingly. “Yeah, I think you’re right. She is.”
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End Chapter 15
E/N1 – IMO, miniature golf is the best all-time for a first date. It’s public, it’s fun, and great to get to know someone.