InsaneJournal

Who: Sarah Walker and Chuck Bartwoski
What: Ringing in the New Year
Where: Stark Party
When: New Years Eve (12/31/13)
Rating: PG
Status: Complete


A date for New Year’s Eve wasn’t something Sarah had done in the past couple years. The last one she had gone on was with Bryce and that was before they broke up for good and he left New York. And then suddenly there was Bryce back in her life and Chuck was making a presence in her life as well now. He made things a little more confusing because he was having these ‘dreams’ about her and she had no idea what that actually meant. He seemed nice enough and she had to admit that he was kind of adorable. Getting out of the house and meeting new people was key to her agreeing to this and quite possibly she could make connections at this kind of party that may help lead to a job in the future.

She gave Chuck her apartment information and she switched around some shifts so the yogurt shop would be covered for the shortened hours this evening. She didn’t want to keep her employees from going out and celebrating and frozen yogurt could wait. As she finished blow drying her hair she thought about what she had seen someone post about on the network, “If you shave your legs, it’s a date”, well then this was definitely a date. She was silky and primped and looking fantastic since she finally had an excuse to go to all this effort. Crossing the room she picked up her dress off the hanger and slipped into it. Hopefully she wouldn’t give Chuck a heart attack in this, which made her smile to herself as she walked to the mirror to put the finishing touches on as she waited for Chuck.

To say Chuck was nervous would be an understatement. He was beyond nervous. His palms wouldn’t stop sweating and he had showered twice, because the last thing he wanted was to have any sort of body odor getting in the way of what was maybe possibly a date. With Sarah. The Very Literal Girl Of His Dreams. He spent a good half an hour staring at himself in the mirror, trying to decide if he should shave or not. On the one hand, baby smooth skin that potentially offered a no-hassle New Year’s Kiss. On the other hand, ruggedly handsome. He was about to not shave, when he remembered that, in his dreams, he was never scruffy. Sarah there had never complained. Would it be the same here? Was he dooming himself by picking up the razor? Chuck figured he’d have to wait to find out.

Once he was baby-smooth, deodorized, and spritzed with a cologne that he only brought out on very special occasions, he had to face the next dreaded question: what to wear. Fortunately, due a series of job interviews and people’s weddings and generally celebrating the joyous successes of those around him, Chuck had a decent selection. His sister had told him to invest in some, especially when she heard he was going to be working for Tony Stark, and he had never been happier to have Ellie nagging at him. He picked one that he felt showed a good amount of personality, but also that he thought, maybe, was stylish enough for a swanky New Year’s Eve soiree. The only thing left to do was go pick up the girl.

Chuck sat outside Sarah’s apartment for about five minutes before working up the courage to go ring the buzzer.

It Chuck could read her mind then he would realize he wasn’t alone in the nervous energies. Sarah had to stare at herself for a while and will herself not to freak out about going on a date. Was she ready to date? Would Bryce be upset about this? She needed to not think about Bryce, but it was hard to do when he and Chuck were joined together in her mind now. Tonight was about Chuck and only Chuck. “Stop it, Walker,” she told herself as her mind continued to wander and she gave herself a glare in the mirror before putting in her earrings. She heard the buzzer go off and she made her way to the panel by her door. She pressed the speaker volume, “Hey, come up to the third floor, turn right, and I am 4 doors down on the left.” She didn’t leave much time for chuck to respond before she hit the buzzer to unlock the door in front of him.

With Chuck on his way she quickly gathered the rest of her things and slipped her feet into flats due to not trusting her healing leg in heels. But at least they were cute and sparkly and he probably wouldn’t even notice. She was grabbing her purse when she heard the knock on the door and she quickly crossed the room to open it for him. The sight of him momentarily took her breath away as she felt her cheeks flush. He really was cute and she was secretly pleased she agreed to this, “Hi… Come on in.”

He grinned when the door opened, and when he opened his mouth to say hello, instead he said, “Wow. … Wow. I mean - You look great. Hi. You look good.” Chuck shook his head and laughed a bit, because, wow, that wasn’t a great start but he should have known that Sarah would look like a knock-out. After he composed himself again he handed her a rose, one, because that’s what he was taught to do in his dreams. For a moment, he dreaded that Bryce was going to peer through the door, but that would just be silly.

“I hope I’m not too early? Traffic’s pretty hit or miss on a holiday, you know?” Chuck stepped inside, glancing around, trying not to fidget too much with his cuffs. “By the way, thanks. For agreeing to this. I wasn’t sure if you’d ever actually want to talk to me again after the … Network picture incident.”

A bashful look passed over Sarah’s face as she pursed her lips together in a smile. She was used to getting compliments, but something about how Chuck gave them made her all warm and fuzzy inside. He was so earnest and sweet about it. “Thank you so much. You look great as well, I like that you didn’t wear just a plain suit,” she gave him a full smile now once she got over the bashful look and closed the door behind him once he stepped inside. “And you’re not too early. I was just changing purses and we should be ready to go in about five minutes.”

She walked over to her bed where her usual purse was and started to move things into the clutch. When he mentioned the picture on the network she bit her lip before turning towards him, “It’s fine. I was just a little freaked out. I didn’t mean to get so upset about it. I’m glad that you asked me to come with you. We can just pretend that didn’t happen and we can just have a good time tonight.” She finished switching out purses and walked over to the mirror to do one last makeup check.

“Right, totally good. Nothing happened.” Chuck nodded, but he couldn’t help but glance around to see if the photo she had gotten was somewhere there. The two of them and a dog. That was news even to Chuck, but, nope, the whole incident was totally forgotten, one-hundred-percent.

He waited patiently for her, then held open the car door for her once they were outside. “You have full run of the radio station,” Chuck said, grinning. “Lady’s choice.”

The picture was actually on her dresser in the bedroom by the tv. She wasn't sure why she kept it out, but it was a sweet picture and she liked pretending she could have a life like that. She didn't fully understand the significance of the photo yet, but she would soon.

"Aren't you a proper gentleman," she teased with a smile as she thanked him while getting into the car. She settled in before buckling up and waited until Chuck got in the car before she fumbled with the station, "so, what are these parties like?"

“Oh, you know, just a guy who tries to be one now and then,” he teased back, grinning at her. As he drove off, he looked a bit thoughtful. “Well, I’ve only been to the Halloween party so far, but, it’s pretty much like a party you only ever imagined. And then some. They pull out all the stops, you know? Good drinks, great food, good entertainment. And probably because this is New Year’s Eve we can expect things to be a bit on the ol’ classy side, you know?”

“We shall see about the classy part,” she chuckled a little as she finally found a station that she liked. It was more oldies than new stuff and a little more rock than pop. It sounded perfect to her, “But it does sound like a lot of fun. I’m really happy you invited me to come along. I haven’t gone out and had fun in a long time and I think we’ll have a good time together.” Her cheeks turned a little pink after she spoke and she hoped he couldn’t see it in the dark.

Chuck tried not to look too pleased. Underneath the smile, though, he was still beyond nervous. He made what he hoped was charmingly amusing small talk as they made their way to the party, and once the valet took his car, Chuck held out his arm to Sarah.

“My lady, our party awaits.”

Sarah was also nervous, but she was much better at keeping it inward. She rarely showed that she was ever nervous or scared outwardly. It came along with the bounty hunter lifestyle because you wouldn’t show fear when you were attempting to apprehend someone. When the arm was offered she took it with an easily smile and stayed close to him as they made their way into the party. It was definitely extravagant and she had to blink a couple times to adjust to the sea of people in front of her, “Wow. Impressive.”

“See? I told you.” He looked sympathetic, though, because he remembers when he first walked into a Stark party. Chuck kept his arm firmly around Sarah’s, since he did promise he wouldn’t abandon her, and lead her through the sea of people to a table full of champagne. “Or would you rather visit the bar and have something made?”

“Champagne is lovely right now. Don’t worry, I’m sure I will want a mixed drink, but for now let’s pretend I’m classier than I am. And this way it looks like I belong, right?” She couldn’t help but grin a little as reached forward to pluck a glass of champagne. Going to fancy parties wasn’t something Sarah was really familiar with in her life, so it took a bit of resisting to just drain the glass in a couple sips. She wondered how long she would want to hold onto Chuck’s arm or perhaps just hold his hand for a while. Wow, she hadn’t even had any alcohol and she was already having silly thoughts. After pushing the thoughts away she turned to him and raised her glass in a toast to him, “To a Happy New Year and a fun party.”

“Yep, that’s pretty much how I feel,” he replied, laughing as he grabbed his own glass. It felt so weird to be standing here, at a nice party, with Sarah, and not doing spy stuff. They were just … Normal people. Like dream-Chuck always wanted. Chuck took a long sip from his glass, then looked at her and smiled. “Cheers,” he said, clinking their glasses together.

For a fancy party, it was never boring. There were lots of people to talk to, lots of entertainment, lots of food and alcohol. Chuck was immensely enjoying himself, and he’d hoped so was Sarah, and after a bit he checked his watch and blinked. “Wow. Already eleven-thirty. Time flies.”

It was really a fantastic time and Chuck was incredibly charming with those they met. She was having so much fun mingling and trying out the food amd different drinks they were offering. By the time he commented on the time her head was nice and fuzzy feeling. She wasn't drunk as a skunk yet, but she was nicely buzzed. Her hand at some point had just slipped down to hold onto his when holding onto his arm became tiresome. "You know what we haven't done yet? We haven't danced. I think you owe me a couple dances before the clock strikes."

The thought of dancing made Chuck incredibly nervous. He was not a good dancer. Not even remotely. Well, okay, he wasn’t bad. It was mostly just swaying anyway, right? It wouldn’t be like his dreams where elaborate dances always happened.

He hoped.

He smiled at Sarah and gave her hand a squeeze, mostly to reassure himself more than anything. “You’re right. I’ve been a terrible date. We should dance the year away. Literally.”

“Perfect,” her smile was bright as she tugged on his hand and lead him out onto the dance floor. The DJ was playing a slower song at the moment so she found a spot for them and she placed her left hand on his back and kept her right hand in his. She moved closer to him once his hand was on her waist and smiled up at him, “Don’t look so nervous, Chuck. I won’t judge your dancing skills as long as you can sway with me.”

Yeah, no, there was definitely nothing to be nervous about. Except that Chuck was very closely slow dancing with the most beautiful woman in pretty much the entire world, and she kept smiling at him, and he kept feeling like this was even some sort of weird dream and he didn’t want to wake up from it. But he cleared his throat and gave her a lopsided grin, hoping his palms weren’t sweating as badly as it felt like they were.

“I think I can manage that. Gangly people are pretty good at swaying. Like reeds. Or tall, wispy blades of grass.”

And that’s when his most beautiful woman in the world let out a very unbeautiful snort of laughter and she had to move her hand off his back to cover up her mouth as she laughed properly. The visual was quite amusing in her mind and it took her a moment to get control of her giggles as she placed her hand back where it was, “Oh my god, so sorry. That was just hysterical to picture in my mind. You’re not that gangly. You need to build up your self-confidence, Chuck.” He was managing to sway quite well with her now as the songs continued to be more slow, but she knew a fast one would come up eventually and that’s when the true test of dancing would come out.

Maybe it wasn’t conventionally beautiful to snort like that, but Chuck still loved it anyway. He grinned, feeling accomplished, and laughed pretty much just as hard as she did. “You’ve seen me, right? I mean, this whole night you’ve looked at me at least once, I hope. I’m all limbs.” He wiggled his arms a bit, to prove a point. “Just wait. Once a beat kicks in, I’ll be like the wacky wavy inflatable arm flailing tube man.”

“Oh dear god, please don’t,” she was practically squealed with laughter at the idea of that. It reminded her of the commercial where the woman was attacked by that inflatable monstrosity and she laughed every single time she saw it. Maybe she didn’t want any fast songs to come on anymore. Or maybe she did just so she could bring out her phone and record the hilariously amazing dance that would potentially follow. Either way she was happy to just be there with Chuck and she would proudly declare that he was her date, “And what if I haven’t looked at you at least once all night? Hmm?”

“Then I will be very, very sad,” he said, giving a solemn nod. “So sad, I’d probably look like this.” Chuck pulled a pout, but, gifted with an expressive face, it was comical how long he could make his frown stretch and his eyes widen. “And maybe weep a bit.” He started to make soft sobbing sounds, only loud enough for the two of them to hear. “Oh, my heart, it hurts.”

“Oh god,” she pulled her hand from his back and placed it in front of his face, not quite touching, but covering it so she wouldn’t have to see it, “That is the silliest sad face ever. I can’t decide if I want to console you or just laugh at you. Okay, fine I’ll admit that I’ve looked at you a few times tonight. I can’t help it. You’re kind of cute when you’re not making this face.” She spread her fingers apart to look at him and make sure he had stopped with the sad face before pulling her hand away. There was a blush to her cheeks since she had come outright and said that she thought he was cute. It wasn’t really supposed to go this way. She was supposed to be way smoother than this, but there was something about Chuck that just made her act goofy and blurt things out sometimes.

He did stop making the face, but only because Sarah called him cute, and she’d been looking at him, and she was quite possibly blushing. All Chuck could really do was crack a smile, but he felt himself blushing a bit, too, and he cleared his throat.

“Hey! It’s almost midnight! We should get some fresh glasses of the ol’ bubbly so we can do that toasting thing.”

Her teeth bit her bottom lip gently as she smiled and nodded at him, “That’s a good idea. Don’t want to be without champagne when the clock strikes.” It was then she knew that she was definitely going to kiss him when the clock struck midnight. It would be good luck to start a new year out with a kiss and she was really enjoying her time with Chuck. There was a small nagging part of her that reminded her of Bryce, but wasn’t sure what was going on there.

Instead it was time to focus on the here and now. She moved away from him slightly and slipped her arm around his as they made their way to the bar to get fresh glasses.

It was the best way to start a new year. Chuck felt like he was in heaven. He knew he was going to try and kiss her. If she wasn’t having any of it, he’d turn his head and kiss her cheek, laugh it off as a friendly gesture. Foolproof, right?

He took their glasses and handed one to Sarah, starting to feel the real nerves kick in. The only time he and Sarah had for real kissed in his dreams was when they were about to die, or when they thought they were about to die, and this situation wasn’t anything like that. Chuck wasn’t sure if he was prepared.

“Just a couple minutes left.” Yeah, way to make conversation, Bartowski.

“Any resolutions for the new year? I think my main one will be to find a real job and leave behind Orange Orange,” it was a do-able resolution. She didn’t need to lose weight or eat healthy or quit smoking, so why not pick something that was easy to handle and she knew she could accomplish. She would even take a job as a security officer at Bryce’s company if she needed to. They reached the bar and she exchanged their empty flutes for new ones before handing Chuck his. A minute left now…

This was hands down the most nervous Chuck had been in, well, likely ever. As the countdown reached the ten second mark, Chuck couldn’t even count. He began to guzzle at his champagne, pausing in between to flash a smile to Sarah to show that he was just fine. Even though he wasn’t. Not even remotely.

The room erupted into a roar of happy new year! and Chuck figured, well, this was it. Now or never. Doing his best to channel his inner Charles Carmichael, Chuck wrapped an arm around Sarah and leaned in for what he hoped would be a very successful kiss.

She downed her champagne in one go as they approached the end of the countdown. She didn't want to concern herself with a full glass by the time they reached zero. When he reached an arm around her and leaned in she closed the gap and captured his lips with her own. Her arms went around his neck as she pressed her body against his. Quite a good start to the new year.

So that’s what it was like to kiss Sarah Walker. Really kiss her, not just to keep up a cover or in the face of probable death. Chuck decided that he liked it, really liked it, and somewhere in his head he told himself aces, Charles. When he pulled back, he was pretty sure his head was spinning a bit, but he gave her a lopsided sort of grin.

“Happy New Year.”

That lopsided grin was one of her favorite things about Chuck so far. It was extremely appropriate right now and she couldn’t help but giggle a little. It wasn’t like her to giggle, but the combination of alcoholic bubbles and kisses made her a little giddy. “Happy New Year,” she replied back to him. However, she didn’t allow him to just stand there smiling and leaned forward to capture his lips once again. This was the beginning of a great New Year.