TITLE: Sarah vs Phase Three

CHARACTERS: Sarah, Chuck

GENRE: Drama, Romance

SPOILERS: up to 409 - Chuck Versus Phase Three

SUMMARY: What if she were too late?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Chuck - I guess that's why I'm writing fanfics instead of actual scripts, right? Okay, there's also the fact that no one would ever be so desperate to hire me...

She steps away from the record player and lets herself fall on the bed. There's a sort of tragical irony in her need to listen to a song about a new dawn, a new day, a new life in this particular moment, she's aware of that, but Nina Simone's voice seems to be the only thing that can make her feel slightly better lately. It reminds her of all the nights she spent in that very same bed, his arms wrapped around her, the music and the soft whisper of his breathing the only sounds she wanted to hear. And now... now she's lying there alone. Her eyes are burning from all the tears she cried and the nights she has spent awake, and every single bone of her body seems to have turned into a mere lump of pain after all the hitting and beating she has withstood, but the one thing that's really killing her is sorrow. Sorrow and guilt, actually. She knows that if she had come just a little earlier she could have made it. If only she hadn't wasted her time tending to her wounds after that fight, or eating a quick meal on that other moment... He would be okay now. He would be there.

Her sight blurs as a new bout of tears breaks through her eyes and her chest bursts into a sob; it's just a small one at first, quiet and cautious as a sentinel scouting around, but it's quickly followed by another, and another, and another, stronger and stronger, until she feels like they're about to overwhelm her. She never thought anyone could cry for so long without eventually running out of tears; still, there she is. She should get out of that room, try to think about something else, to move on... She can't keep going on like this, she knows it. She's going to drive herself crazy, or worse. But how can she do that? How can she move on from the best days of her life? How can she just pretend that he never happened? No, she'd rather let her sorrow eat her alive than forget about him.

With a soft scratch from the stylus the record stops spinning and the song ends. She barely notices it, anyway: she's too tired to even think of standing up so she simply lies there, her mind lost in the memories of the past days. More specifically, of that terrible day... Of the moment that has become the worst in her life.

Her own voice crying out Chuck's name. The unnatural coldness of his cheeks in her hands. Morgan suggesting something that she knows to be right. Fear, tears, and regret. Her struggle to murmur those trembling words she has always wanted to tell him, but has never had the courage to say before. His lips, that after all they have been through still taste like home. And then, finally, his eyes opening...

"Who are you?" he asks.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know, it's too cruel for Sarah to end it like this. I actually have a bunch of ideas to carry on with the story but I'm not going to start writing a longer fanfic if no one's interested in it. So just tell me what you think, if you like this I'll be more than glad to keep writing! ^^