cupid threw up on the cafeteria.
Freddie Benson could barely stop himself from rolling his eyes as he entered the cafeteria of his high school, and saw the amount of Valentines decorations that had been put up. There was flurries of red, and pink paper hearts stuck to the walls, and an obscene amount of glitter well, everywhere.
He had never really understood the reasoning behind plastering every available surface with ridiculous paper hearts, and even more ridiculous pictures of Cupid on one day a year. Not that there was anything practicuarlly romantic about a small, cubby little man wearing what looked like an adult diaper.
Though, he thanked whoever thought Cupid was a good symbol for Valentines day, because it had given Sam the ammunition she needed to convince Carly that having Gibby dress up as Cupid for their latest webcast was a good idea.
Freddie smiled to himself at the thought of Sam. She had to be the only person who hated the Valentines decorations more than he did.
Taking his lunch tray, Freddie looked around the room at the clustered groups of friends, the nauseatingly happy couples practically sitting in each others laps, only taking a spilt second to decide that he would have his lunch somewhere else today.
He didn't need any more painful reminders that he wasn't dating the girl he was still madly in love with, not anymore at least. He probably should have antipated the fact that it would be a thousand times worse to not have Sam on this one day of the year.
Not that Freddie needed a holiday set aside to show a girl he loved them. It just felt like the rest of the world was happily paired off, and he was alone. By an apparent mutal choice, to make things even more infuriating.
Freddie had lost count of the amount of times he had wished he had stopped Sam that night in the elevator, told her that they shouldn't break up. That they didn't need to be more abnormal, or normal to be a couple.
They were perfect as they were.
But Freddie hadn't stopped her. He never really had the courage to stop Sam. She was a highly determined person, and there was something about her that he couldn't say no to.
Love, Freddie smiled to himself as he sat on one of the walls in the courtyard, his lunch beside him. That's why he couldn't say no to Sam, he was in love with her.
Oh, how things had changed over the years. Once upon a time, he couldn't say no to the blonde haired demon because she had more strength in her baby finger than he had in his entire, rather small, prepubesent body.
Nowadays, Freddie towered over her, and he was in fact stronger than her. He was just completely, head over heels in love with Sam Puckett.
"Freddie Benson, you are an idiot." He muttered aloud to himself. If he wasn't such a giant wimp, he could be among the masses of couples in the cafeteria, with his girlfriend, his Sam. He could have been far happier than he was at that moment.
But no, he was alone, sitting on a low stone wall, shivering in the harsh February breeze. It had been a cold winter, colder than usual, and the cold was lasting well into the early spring. Fourteen days into the early spring, Freddie grimanced. It was hard to ignore the date.
Zipping up his hoodie, Freddie looked at his lunch. The lunchladies, who probably watched too many romantic comedies, had gone to a special effort to have todays menu consist of red, and pink, and white.
The only really edible thing looked like the shiny red apple he had grabbed just before he left the cafeteria. Rubbing it off his sleeve, Freddie bit into the crunchy fruit, the loud crack his teeth made as they sank into the apple sounding oddly satisfying to him.
"You know, its really nubby to be sitting alone on Valentines day."
Freddie looked up to see the girl who had been occupying his thoughts all morning (for months, really) standing in front of him. Sam's backpack was slung over one shoulder, and she was holding onto a fatcake tightly.
"Then why are you here?" He looked at her, grinning. Sam had been held back in class last period to talk to the teacher, so she hadn't known he was out here.
"Its better than watching Wendy trying to swallow Aaron Jacobs," Sam shrugged, sitting down next to him.
"I didn't even know she liked him." Freddie said, trying to recall a time their friend had ever aknowledged Aaron's existance, let alone mentioned she had a crush on him.
"Oh, she doesn't." Sam said. "But Wendy's pretty needy, and she doesn't want to be alone on Valentines day."
"Right."
"Don't try and understand." Sam said. "I don't know if I do."
After a pause, Sam spoke again.
"Plus, Wendy's kind of a slut." Sam shrugged. "Meant in the nicest way possible."
"How can anyone mean that in a nice way?" Freddie laughed.
"She likes making out with people." Sam explained. "As long as they've got a pulse, they'll do. Don't get me wrong though, Wendy's great."
"I didn't think she wasn't." Freddie replied. "You don't grace people with your oh so wonderful presence unless you consider them great."
"Hey, was that sarcasm?"
"No," Freddie laughed. "I'm saying you have good taste in people, that's all."
"Are you including yourself in that?" Sam raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe." Freddie pulled a face, nudging her. "Why don't you tell me?"
Sam stayed silent for a second. "Fatcake?" She inquired, offering him the puffy pink snack.
"Go on." Freddie nodded. Not bothering to set down what he had in his hands, he leaned over, and took a bite.
Sam laughed at him as he did so. "Have you lost the use of your arms Benson?"
"Too much effort." Freddie joked.
"I think I'm rubbing off on you." Sam rolled her eyes, reaching across Freddie to grab his drink.
"Its only taken what, five years?" Freddie grinned.
"So you'll be willing to do illegal stuff with me now?" Sam asked.
"No."
"Just give me six more years, and I'll change that."
"So you're planning on having me around for the next six years?" Freddie smirked.
"Of course." Sam said. "Who else is going to buy me smoothies? And ham?"
"Is that the only reason?" Freddie asked quietly, studying his feet. He was wearing his favourite pair of converse, and he hadn't noticed that one of the laces were untied. Not until now, at least.
"I didn't hear a word you just said." Sam said bluntly, pausing in the middle of drinking Freddie's soda.
Taking the drink from her hands, Freddie took a generous swig before giving it back to her. "I said," He spoke louder this time. "Is that your only reason for keeping me around?"
"No." Sam said simply.
"So its my dashing good looks then?" Freddie teased. "And my mad computer skills?"
"Maybe not the computer skills. Thats pretty nubbish."
"Nubbish isn't a word-" Freddie cut himself off. "You think I'm good looking?"
Sam laughed, the sound like music to Freddie's ears. "I dated you Fredweird. I always date hot guys. I mean, Mama's hot, why should I settle for anything less?"
"So you do think I'm good looking?" Freddie continued to tease.
"Yes Freddie," Sam rolled her eyes. "I think you're sex on a stick."
Freddie, who had been taking another drink choked as she answered. The organge soda sprayed from his nose, and he started into a massive coughing fit. "I, you- what?" He stuttered as he managed to regain himself.
"You should have seen your face," Sam sniggered, barely able to speak through her tears of laughter.
"Hey, lying about stuff like that can really damage a guys confidence." Freddie said defensively.
"Who says I'm lying?" Sam said honestly, looking at him dead on.
Freddie looked at her intently for a few minutes, studying every inch of her face. "Why did we ever break up Sam?" He asked suddenly.
"You know why, Carly-"
"No Sam, I want your reason." Freddie asked.
Sam couldn't answer.
"We broke up because of something Carly said," Freddie said, sounding something close to annoyed.
"But we agreed on it." Sam said before he could continue. "It was mutual, remember?"
Freddie stayed silent.
"It was mutual, wasn't it?"
"I don't know." Freddie said finally.
"Freddie.." Sam groaned.
"Look, Sam, I honestly don't know." Freddie turned to look at her. "You were convinced it was the right thing to do, and I guess I just went along with it."
Sam shook her head. "I don't control you-"
"I know that." Freddie gave her a soft smile. "I just find it hard to say no to you."
"Because I'm a crazy-"
"Because I love you." Freddie interrupted.
Sam let out a shaky breath. "I'm really not used to people telling me that."
Freddie simply gave her a reassuring smile.
"So you don't think us breaking up was a good idea?"
"I don't know-"
"You're supposed to be the smart one here Benson, can you stop saying I don't know?" Sam interrupted snappily.
"Will you stop interrupting me?" Freddie rolled his eyes. "I think it might have been a good thing. We've both grown up since the break up."
"And?"
"Maybe that's all we needed in the first place." Freddie replied. "To work better as a couple I mean."
"Really?" Sam looked skeptical.
"Whens the last fight we had?" Freddie nudged gently. "And I mean fight. Not the whole playful arguing thing we've got going on. I mean argument, like the ones we used to have when we were dating."
"I.." Sam pausing, thinking hard, trying to remember the last real fight they had. "After we were trapped in the Dirshiltts. I got pissed with you because you said Carly cared more than I did."
"Exactly." Freddie said proudly.
"You might want to let me in on this one."
"We don't have stupid fights anymore," Freddie said. "That fight- and I'm still sorry about that by the way- was a serious one. It wasn't over you using too much cheese, or something equally as stupid. It wasn't a petty fight."
"You're right." Sam said, his words sinking in.
"So, maybe it was a good thing we broke up." Freddie shrugged. "Not that I enjoyed being without you, but I don't know, maybe it helped."
"Maybe?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "Whats with the past tense Freddork?"
Freddie grinned. Rather than waste his breath on words, which he knew wouldn't get his point across, not properly at least, he leaned in, and pressed his lips to Sam's.
As their lips touched, a feeling not unlike relief flooded through Freddie's body, and Sam must have felt it too, because her hands moved to the sides of his face, and she pulled him even closer to her, minimizing the space between them.
Moving his hands to her waist, Freddie kissed her harder, almost hungrily. Eventually, they broke apart, Sam leaning her forehead on his, their chests heaving for air.
"I see." Sam said, her voice breathless. "Thats a good reason, I guess."
"You guess?" Freddie raised an eyebrow. "Is that all I'm getting?"
"Don't push it." Sam joked, but pressed a another light, almost chaste kiss to his lips.
Freddie couldn't help but smile as they broke apart for the second time, and Sam stood up.
"Come on." Sam said. "I'm hungry."
"You actually want to go back into the cafeteria?" Freddie raised an eyebrow. Even as the words left his mouth, he found that the thought didn't really bug him, not anymore.
"I'm hungry." Sam repeated.
"Alright, alright." Freddie grabbed his lunch tray, dumping the half eaten food in the bin. "I'm coming."
As he and Sam started to walk back to school, Freddie reached to take Sam's hand, and earned a slap for his efforts.
"What?" Freddie rubbed the side of his head. For a girl as small as she was, she could hit, hard. Though really, he should have known that from experience.
"We're not telling anyone we're back together until tomorrow." Sam gave a shudder. "Its way too nubby to get back together on Valentines freaking day."
"Your wish is my command Princess Puckett," Freddie surrendered, laughing to himself. Sam never changed, did she? And he was glad she never did. She definetly made life a lot more interesting.
"Benson, can you stop dreaming?" Sam's voice brought him back to reality. "Mama needs feeding!"
Freddie jogged after Sam (his Sam), and his smile didn't fade, even as they entered the cafeteria full of the actrocious decorations. Maybe he could come round to the idea of Valentines day after all.
/
Authors Note; So, I said I wasn't going to be cheesy, but the hopeless romantic in me escaped and vomited all over my keyboard.. Hence the ending.
Anyway, feedback is most appreciated! Loved, as a matter of fact. This is part of the Cabal Valentines weekend mass posting, so do check out their wonderful chapters/stories/everything really.
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