Welcome to my 50th story. This is going to be a big one, probably at least 25-30 chapters. And it does start off with Creddie pairing up, but the Seddie friendship still exists. It's meant to be dramatic, so stick with it and find out how much their friendship can endure.

Chapter 1

It was May 18th. Carly paced in front of the luggage carousel at Seattle International Airport, waiting for her bags. Her flight had been held up in Boston and obviously Spencer either didn't get her text as to her new arrival time, was waiting at the wrong place or he got distracted with another activity while she was delayed on the east coast.

In the time she had been away, the young woman had matured. Her teenage bangs and chestnut brown hair had long given way to a shorter, but still attractive slightly above the shoulder length hair style, accentuating her natural curls. A few ashy blonde highlights toward the end could have easily been derived from living in a sunny climate for so long, but in all reality were accentuated with the help of a bottle of highlighter and her neighbor and friend, Stella, in Italy.

Carly's figure, too had developed. While far from a tall woman at 5 foot 4, her heels gave the appearance of someone slightly taller. In the years since she left Seattle, her hips had grown more curvaceous and her breasts filled out slightly. While always stylish, her wardrobe now reflected a slightly upper middle class professional, not a high school student any more. She wore a modest amount of makeup and got plenty of looks no matter where she went.

Just as the luggage began to flow, she heard a familiar voice behind her. "Carly!" He only recognized her because of the video chats they shared on a fairly regular basis.

She turned away from the search for her pink, monogrammed bags and spotted a young man she hadn't seen in person for nearly three and a half years. "Freddie?" She walked quickly toward him and the two met a few seconds later.

He was certainly different. Though his hair was the same length, he now wore it combed neatly to one side in an acceptable style for a professional twenty-year old man. He might have been slightly taller than the last time she saw him, the main noticeable difference was to the obvious definition of his arms and the broadness of his chest. He also sported day and a half old stubble on his face which Carly found most attractive.

Her arms flew around his neck and she buried her head in his chest. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you. Mmm, you smell good, too. I love that cologne."

"Um, Spencer asked me to come down." He replied hugging her back, but slightly embarrassed at her comment on his scent. "He singed off an eyebrow an hour or so ago and my mom's giving him a thorough vision test to make sure he didn't hurt himself too bad."

"Oh, dear Lord. What happened?" She worried for her brother, letting go of her old friend and pulling back.

Freddie shrugged. "Don't know. He just showed up at our door when we were about to eat dinner, sans an eyebrow, saying something about hot pretzels, the cotton candy machine he had bought from Socko's cousin, Sugar, and needing to pick you up in an hour."

"Well, thanks for coming down here for me. I know how your mom feels about you driving in city traffic. She wouldn't even let you drive to Ridgeway and that was, like, eight blocks from home."

"She's not so bad any more. I guess after a couple of years in college, she figures I can handle a little traffic." He chuckled. "So what color is your bag?"

"There are four. Pink with a sparkly, bedazzled CS on them. Hey, I think I see one. Right there." She pointed to a bag on the stainless steel ramp. "The others look just like it, only different sizes."

A few minutes later and he had pulled all four out of the mass and Carly joined him to help pull them away from the crowd who were still waiting for theirs.

"You think I should get one of those little carts?" She asked. "I'm sorry, I guess I packed too heavy. I should have just put more of this stuff in the boxes my dad's sending later on."

"It's OK. I can get it." He replied, holding one in each hand and a third slung over his right shoulder. "Can you get the little rolling one and your carry on?"

Him holding so much weight and acting like it was nothing impressed the girl. From the portions of his arms that protruded from his short sleeved shirt, she figured he should have no trouble holding a few bags. What happened to the skinny, geeky boy who couldn't carry three textbooks without sweating that she knew back in middle school?

The two made their way to the parking garage where Freddie's car was parked. Fortunately, he was able to park on the second level and there was a free elevator to that floor. With such a short walk to the car, there was hardly time for much conversation other than the typical discussions about the flights and the weather in Italy.

"I really appreciate this, Freddie." She said again. "Whoa. Is this your car?" She queried about the nearly new, bright red Mustang fastback he sat the luggage down behind as he dug into his pocket for keys.

"Yeah. Mom had a cow over it, too. But my dad showed up one day and handed me the keys. Said it was my twentieth birthday present. I had to threaten to move out again to convince her not to make me sell it. Honestly, I'm surprised she hasn't paid someone to steal it."

"Some things never change. But your dad seriously bought you a car? I thought he passed away or something. I don't think I ever heard you mention him when we were kids."

"Actually he left my mom when I was about ten or so. He moved to Oregon and took a job with an insurance company or something. I'd say he more than made up for a decade of birthdays that he missed." He popped the hatch open with the remote and the lid slowly raised. "It's just a six cylinder, but I like it. Gets a lot of looks from people on campus. Everyone else is driving Hondas and Mazdas, maybe the occasional Volvo."

"I'll bet with a car like this, you're popular with the girls at U-Dub, aren't you?" She said with a flirty giggle. In a round about way, she knew he wasn't dating anyone. Mainly because Sam had told her they were on the verge of getting back together. A move she still couldn't figure on being a smart one for him, given the tumultuous nature of their relationship the first time they tried to date.

"Not really. Once a loser, always a loser, I guess." He said with a frown. "I'm friends with a couple of girls I have classes with, but one's engaged. Her boyfriend is in the Navy, as soon as he gets back from deployment, they're getting married. The other girl, sort of my best friend, let's just say I'm not the right gender for her."

Carly looked puzzled, but it soon dawned on her what her meant. "Ah!"

"I guess you could say I'm kinda friends with her and her girlfriend both. The four of us hang out sometimes but I've never really gotten serious about anyone. I spend a lot of time alone. And I joined a gym."

"I could tell." She touched his upper arm and wished she could see him without the jacket he had slipped on before they left the terminal, or a shirt, if she told the truth.

"And I chat with Sam once every week or so. Did she tell you, I was down to L.A. to see her last summer again." He neglected to mention the part about he and Sam being physical, figuring Sam had filled her in.

Carly felt a tiny pang of jealousy at the mention of her old friend's name as the two set about to stuffing all her luggage into the car's minuscule back end after folding down the back seat to cram the biggest suitcase in as deep as it would go. He then went around to the passenger side and held the door for her, like the gentleman his mother raised him to be.

Before taking a seat, she again hugged him. "I really missed you, Freddie." He hugged back and as their grip released, she stretched up to kiss him, very similar to the kiss they shared the day she left Seattle. Sparks flew into her lips as they touched lips she wished for, for years.

"I, uh, I missed you, too Carls." He replied, slightly embarrassed and nervous at her actions. Not that he minded kissing her, but he certainly wasn't used to kissing too many girls, except Sam.

They got into the car and left the airport. He hadn't driven very far when she reached over and gently touched the hand he had on the five-speed shift handle. "I never learned to drive a stick shift. You make it look so easy." A quick glance out of the corner of his eye, revealed her flirty smile. "Not that I'm glad Spencer got hurt, but I'm really glad you came to pick me up. I was so anxious to see you."

He simply smiled back, not knowing what else to do or say.

"So, did you eat?" She asked. "You said Spencer interrupted your dinner."

"No. Thank God! Mom made some new recipe she picked up at a healthy eating conference, tofu and broccoli casserole with mushroom sauce. When he burst through the door it was like I got a reprieve from a death sentence. No disrespect to Spencer, I know he could have been maimed and all. Hey, how about I'll call my mom and ask how he's doing and we can maybe stop somewhere. I just got paid yesterday, my treat. There's this fantastic diner right off campus."

"Sure." She smiled back and squeezed his hand again. "Sounds fun. We need to get caught up."

Freddie commanded blue tooth in the car to call his mom. After finding out that Spencer would survive, and learning that Marissa had insisted he stay for her barely edible dinner, the young man told his mother he and Carly were stopping for a something to eat and that he'd be home in an hour or so.