Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck!

A/N: Thank you to those who welcomed me back. Glad you all enjoyed the first chapter. Here's the second one!

Believe in Me

The Bravery

Sunlight poured through the open curtains, arousing a hungover Chuck Bartowski. He groaned and flipped over, taking the pillow with him.

"Rise and shine sleepyhead," Ellie's voice traveled into his ear.

"Nooo," he moaned and hugged his pillow tighter to his chest.

"Chuck," Ellie said in that tone that told him if he didn't comply…

"I'm up, I'm up," Chuck said and flipped the pillow off his head.

His head stung from his hangover and he blinked away his cloudy vision. The pain in his head was earsplitting and the blood pumping in his ears did not help at all. He grabbed at the vanity and found a glass of water with several pills right next to it. He greedily took the pills and water, tossing it back like a man who had not had water in months.

He winced as the kinks in his joins and limbs worked themselves out. As his body relaxed, he turned towards the door where Ellie stood, a neutral expression on her face. Her brown eyes were trained on him and he knew that she wanted answers to why he drank last night. Chuck swung his legs over the bed and got ready for Ellie's eventual questioning.

"So Chuck," here it begins, "What happened last night? John said he found you drunk wandering on the streets of downtown Burbank."

Chuck frowned, "It's… nothing… I'll… umm… deal with it."

Ellie rolled her eyes, obviously not satisfied with his answer, "C'mon Chuck, you can at least think of a better lie than that."

He winced as Ellie mentioned the word "lie." He then associated that word with liar, and then that word with Chuck Bartowski. What Hannah said last night to him had cut him deep and he knew what she said was true. He was a liar; he played with her heart and molded it to his own design. In the end, he used her as a means to an end he realized and his insides churned at the thought.

Lying is something that everybody did, yet there are people who excelled at it to a point where they can get the most perceptive people to trust them. Chuck didn't consider himself one of those people, but he could see himself slowly changing and morphing into that person. A Spy's life indeed.

He looked at Ellie with sad brown eyes and said in a somber tone, "I… it was… it was actually something she said and I absolutely know it to be the truth."

Ellie's face changed into concern and she took two powerful strides into the room, taking a seat next to him and asked, "What did she say?"

Her voice was so soft and compassionate; it was comforting and Chuck was glad he had a sister like Ellie.

"A lot of things, but one stood out like a sore thumb. She called me a liar and it was the absolute truth. I had played with her, toyed with her heart, and then I had the audacity to rip it out from her. I'm a liar Ellie, I'm an absolute liar."

He felt Ellie's arms wrap around his shoulder, pulling him into a hug, "Oh, Chuck… You're not a liar. Don't believe what she says. You're a decent man who dived into a relationship he wasn't ready for. Please Chuck, don't beat yourself for this. You had to do this or you would both suffer in the future. If you won't do it for yourself, at least do it for me and the people who care about you."

He plastered a fake smile to his face, "Thank you… Ellie. Um, you always seem to know what to say to cheer me up."

Despite what she had said, he still saw himself as a liar. Everybody around him, even the woman he loved, had called him a liar, albeit indirectly. The resolve he had been building earlier had begun to strengthen and a hard edge subconsciously grew around his heart.

Ellie smiled brightly and said, "That's what sister's do. They help their baby brothers. Now c'mon, I need to check you over. How much did you drink last night?"

"A couple shots of whiskey."

"Alright, go get a shower than come out into the living room. We have some extra clothes for you in the drawer, feel free to pick whatever. Devon's at work and I have a shift in an hour so make it snappy. Doctor's orders," Ellie said with a giggle.

Chuck rolled his eyes at his sister's epic fail at humor, "Yes Dr. Bartowski. Oops, excuse me, I mean Dr. Woodcomb."

She laughed and walked out of the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He huffed as he went over last night, analyzing and reanalyzing the stinging words Hannah had said to him. He couldn't refute any of it; all of it made sense in his mind. He was a liar, a change that had taken place over the course of two years, honed by his second job and double life. He sighed and walked over to his drawer, his legs and feet shaky from the night of inactivity.

He pulled out some clothes and stalked out into the corridor, his mind a little lighter and more resolved about the choice he had made last night. As he stepped into the bathroom, the distinct ringing of his phone caught his ear and he doubled back into the guest room to pick up his phone.

As he picked up the phone, he stopped to listen to one verse of his ringtone:

Our youth is fleeting,
Old age is just around the bend.
And I can't wait to go gray.

Those words struck something inside him and it resonated throughout his body. He was 29, closing in on 30 and he was living a dead end job with an 11 dollar an hour pay. If it wasn't for his second life, he'd still be working the Buy More with no sense of purpose, still mourning the loss of Jill, and wallowing in his self-pity. Hell, if it hadn't been for the second life, his life would be absolutely boring.

He answered the phone and the voice of an old woman came over, "Mr. Bartowski, your request has been approved…"

A/N: Okay, I lied. The chapter wasn't 2-3k words, it was 1.2k words. :P Anyways, I hope you like it and remember to review.