A/n: I wrote this to show some love to the Creddie ship. I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own it.
"Anti-bacterial underwear, clean shirts, bug spray…" Mrs. Benson made a checklist in her head as she packed all the items in Freddie's duffel bag.
"Bug spray? Mom, I'm going to Vegas, not the woods." Freddie watched his Mom frantically made sure he wasn't forgetting anything.
"You never know! There could be mosquitoes!"
Freddie sighed because well, that was his Mom. Always worrying, always coming up with such wacky theories. But hey, he was her only child. Her baby. He really couldn't blame her. Tomorrow morning, he, Carly, Sam, and Gibby were all headed to Vegas for the weekend and an extra day. The trip was a graduation present from Spencer who decided to splurge on all three of them (Gibby's Mom bought his ticket) since he had sold two sculptures to Paramore studios to be featured in a movie. Freddie was beyond excited. He had never been to Las Vegas before nor had he ever been so far away from his Mom before. Mrs. Benson on the other hand, well, as always, she wasn't too thrilled.
"I don't even know why I'm letting you go to Vegas by yourself." She said.
"I'm not going by myself. I'm going with Carly, Sam, and Gibby" Freddie reminded her.
"Yes, but you're going with Sam! God knows what kind of drugs or weapons that girl will bring!"
"She's not going to bring drugs or…maybe weapons but I'm going to be okay, alright?" Freddie gave his mother a hug "I won't go crazy. When I come home, I'm still going to be the Freddie who left this house Friday morning."
The hug calmed her down a bit "Oh, alright. But just…call me when you get there. I want to make sure you landed safely."
"I will" Freddie smiled and then went into the living room to see what was on TV. At Eleven o clock in the evening, there wasn't much on but reruns of old sitcoms and infomercials. He flipped through channel after channel till he got tired and decided to doze off till Mrs. Benson was done with his room.
"Tired of living your life in safety? Aching to be more spontaneous?" the TV spoke to him.
Freddie raised one eye up intrigued by this random infomercial and sat up. A few seconds in, he realized it was an ad for Gals Gone Crazy and he quickly turned off the TV before Mrs. Benson could see what he was watching. While the content was raunchy, the first few lines of the ad certainly made an impact on him. He had always wanted to be spontaneous; he was trying to live his life. But as always Mrs. Benson was always there to hold his hand and stray him away from the deep end of the pool and into the kiddie area. Shrugging the thought from his head, he saw Mrs. Benson leave his room and go back to hers. He then got up off the couch and headed into his room for some sleep. Tomorrow was Vegas day.
In the morning, Mrs. Benson picked out his clothes for him, made him take a shower and made his breakfast. She wanted to make sure he was clean and had a full stomach before taking off ("Airplane snacks are dirty!). After breakfast, he grabbed his duffel bag and headed over to the Shay loft and found Carly and Sam looking over a pocket book guide to what to do in Las Vegas.
"Hey" he greeted as he set his bag on the floor and went to sit with the girls "What's going on?"
"Just looking at stuff to do in Vegas, so what do you want to do first?" Carly asked.
"I kinda wanted to just sit by the pool and relax." Freddie replied smiling. He still couldn't believe he was going to go to Vegas without adult supervision and with his close friends.
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea" Carly agreed.
"Well, you two go do that. Mama's gonna hit the slot machines." Sam smiled mischievously.
Carly and Sam looked at each other and then looked at Sam "But you're eighteen" Freddie said.
"Yeah, you have to be twenty one to gamble." Carly added.
"Not if I have this" Sam whipped out a fake ID from her pocket and showed it to Carly and Freddie. "Got it from Rip off Rodney…only cost me about sixty four dollars…"
"Uh, Sam? I don't think they'll believe you were born in nineteen fifty eight." Carly looked at the ID and handed it back to her.
"They don't check the ages" Sam snatched it back "They just see if you got it and then leave you alone to spend more money on their slot machines."
"Hey, who ordered a pizza?" Spencer asked coming out of his room "I just got a call from the delivery man saying that he's downstairs…"
Carly and Freddie looked at Sam knowing very well she ordered the pizza. Sam just smiled "I'll go get that…" she said as she got into the elevator and went down to the lobby.
"So, you guys excited?" Spencer asked coming towards Carly and Freddie "It's Vegas! That's where I went after graduation! It's going to be fun!"
"Thanks again, Spence" Carly smiled "Although, I am worried about you. What are you gonna do with all of us gone?"
"Caroline is coming over!" Spencer beamed.
"Who's Caroline?" Freddie asked "Another crazy chick from whynotdateme dot com?"
"No, Caroline is this friend Spencer had a crush on in college. Some jerk purposely read his journal entries about her in front of the both of them." Carly explained. "He's been afraid of her till…now I guess."
"Wow, you must have felt like crap…" Freddie commented.
"It gets worse" Spencer added "Tell him, Carls"
"Spencer got so embarrassed that he sneezed on her…"
"You sneezed on her?" Freddie looked at Spencer in disbelief "Out of all things, how could yo – "
"Yeah, we're going to stop right there" Spencer cut him off "I'm gonna jump in the shower real quick. We leave for the airport in twenty minutes."
When Spencer was gone, Carly and Freddie sat there for a moment. He watched as she continued to look through the pocket book. Things changed for them since they entered high school. For one, they both hit puberty and were a bit more mature than they were when they were middle school kids. They hung out in different crowds yet still maintained their friendship. But one thing that never changed was his feelings for her. Freddie dated different girls throughout the years but only fell in love with one. Maybe he was attractive to the fact that he could never have Carly? Whatever it was, the feeling never changed. He was gracious enough to have Carly as a best friend over being a complete stranger to him.
"Thank god your Mom let you come with us" Carly said.
"Yeah, you know her…always worry, worry, worry." Freddie replied "She thinks I'm gonna do something outrageous. Like ride a motorcycle off the roof of a hotel or something…"
Carly chuckled a bit because she knew how crazy Mrs. Benson's thoughts were "Well, you can tell your Mom not to worry. I'll watch you" she smiled.
Freddie couldn't help but feel week in the knees every time Carly smiled. The girl could make him do crazy things with that smile of hers.
"Where did Sam go off to?" Carly wondered "She was only going downstairs to get her pizza" and the moment was ruined with the very mention of Sam. If he had the guts to, Freddie would have swept Carly into his arms and given her the kiss of a lifetime. But no, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
The two heard the sound of the elevator coming up. It was Sam holding an empty pizza box in her hands "Sorry, I got too hungry I couldn't wait to go upstairs to eat it."
Minutes later, the three were gathering their bags ready for their trip. "Alright" Spencer hung up his phone "I just got off the phone with Gibby's Mom and they're on their way to the airport so let's get a move on."
Just as they were ready to leave, Mrs. Benson came over and handed Freddie a ziplock baggie "Here, just in case you got hungry on the plane. It's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the crusts cut off just how you want it. Oh! And some carrot sticks."
Freddie took the bag "Uh, thanks Mom"
"And here" Mrs. Benson reached into her pocket and took out some money "Some extra cash so you can buy yourself a carton of milk when you get to the airport."
"Alright, Mrs. Benson, Freddie will be fine." Spencer assured her "We have to get going."
"Remember, Freddie…Call me when you get there!" she smiled at Freddie and then turned her attention to Spencer "And you, this trip was all your idea. If my Freddie gets hurt, I'm going to murder you in your sleep…" she turned her attention back to Freddie "Bye, honey!" she then went back into her apartment.
Spencer turned to Freddie "Your Mom just threatened me…"
"I'm sorry" Freddie replied.
Not wasting anymore time, they headed out of the loft and into Spencer's car on their way to the airport. They got there a little bit earlier than expected and met up with Gibby and his Mom.
"Okay, kiddo" Spencer grabbed Carly's duffel bag out of the trunk of the car and handed it to her "So call me when you land" he dug a piece of paper out of his pocket "And here's a list of some of the hard to find eighteen and up clubs I went to when I was your age. Some of them should still be around." He winked.
Carly hugged her brother and thanked him and also thanked God in her head for blessing her with such an awesome big brother. Spencer trusted Carly not to go crazy. She was a good kid and deserved to have a little bit of wild fun while they were in Vegas. Meanwhile, Freddie watched from behind just wishing Mrs. Benson was a little bit more trusting and fun as Spencer was. God, Carly was just so lucky.
The kids said their goodbyes and got into the airport. After they checked their bags and such, they got to the boarding lounge and sat around. Freddie looked around as everyone was in their own little world. Sam was stuffing her face with Fat Cakes, Carly was talking to her Granddad and Gibby just sat there patiently.
"You excited?" Freddie asked him "What do you plan to do when we get there?"
"Go swimming!" Gibby beamed "I brought some scuba diving equipment. It's going to be sweet!"
Half an hour later, they boarded their plane and about three hours after that, they reached their destination. When they got off the plane, Carly called Spencer, Gibby called his Mom; Sam continued to eat more Fat Cakes and Freddie called Mrs. Benson.
"Hey Mom, we're here" he said trying to get through the call as quickly as possible. He was in Las Vegas. There was so much to do than waste time on a phone call with his Mom "Its great…yeah, we're going to head over there and check in…okay…alright…no, I didn't lose anything…Okay, bye Mom." He hung up the phone. Mrs. Benson still had questions.
The kids got into a cab and went to the hotel Spencer arranged for them to stay in. Carly and Sam in one room, Freddie and Gibby in the other. As soon as they got inside, Sam through her bag on the floor and plopped down on one of the beds "So tired!" she said "So, what are we doing tonight?"
"Uh…" Carly reached into her bag and grabbed the piece of paper Spencer gave her "We could go to one of these…"
Sam grabbed the paper and looked over it "Nightclubs? Please…only if I'm in the mood to be groped and felt up by some drunken asshole…"
"I don't know…I've never been to a nightclub before and I'm in Vegas so…why not?"
Sam went into the boys' room "Hey, you nubs up for clubbing tonight?" she asked.
Freddie and Gibby looked at each other and then looked back at Sam "I'm down!" Gibby agreed. After all, the kid was a dancing machine. The perfect place for someone like him to get down on the dance floor.
"How about you, Fredwad?" Sam asked.
"Um…" Freddie was a bit hesitant. A nightclub? Him? That was all sorts of nonsense. He didn't even know how to dance!
"Whatever, Benson. You're too much of a baby. Just stay here and watch Boogie Bear while the rest of us go out and par-tay." Sam went back into her room.
The comment made Freddie mad. He didn't want to stay behind while everyone was having some real fun. But then again, a nightclub? That was pushing it. He thought about it a little bit more till Carly came into the room.
"You're not coming along?" she asked.
"Uh, I was thinking about it…" he replied not wanting to say he didn't want to at all "Are you going?"
"Yeah. I'm kinda curious about it. So, you still thinking or are you just going to stay behind?"
If Carly was going, he definitely was in. Plus, there was the possibility of dancing with her "I think I'm gonna go…"
"Great!" Carly went back into her room while Freddie stood there continuing to un-pack his things. It didn't take too long for the feeling of "What am I getting myself into?" to set in.
At about nine thirty PM, the four headed out into the lobby of the hotel and hailed a cab. Freddie was dressed in a polo, jeans, and a blazer while Gibby wore a blue silk button down and some black slacks. He looked at the girls. Carly was dressed in a simple black halter dress and Sam wore a blue spaghetti strap dress.
"Wow, Sam in a dress. How did you manage to get that to happen?" Freddie smirked.
"Wow, Freddie going to a nightclub, what's wrong? No Boogie Bear on TV tonight?" Sam fought back.
The two argued until Carly had to break it up "Hey! Quit it you two. We're going to a club not a UFC match."
The cab came and they were off to the club. When they got there, it was still quite early so they got in easily in such a short line that would eventually become longer as the night went on. Gibby headed straight to the dance floor and Sam went to go try out her fake ID to get a drink. Freddie and Carly sat at one of the tables both awkwardly wondering where to begin.
The moment was just right. Freddie was just about going to as Carly to dance. It was perfect. There was barely anyone she thought would be interested except for Freddie. So when he went to take his chance, the unthinkable happened.
"Hi" a blonde shaggy haired boy approached Carly "I'm Blake. You wanna dance?"
Carly bit back a blush "Uh…" she turned to Freddie "Are you okay with it? I don't want to leave you alone…"
Freddie tried hard not to look crushed "Go ahead, Carls" he yelled over the music "I'll be fine!"
Carly hugged him and then went off with Blake on to the dance floor. Freddie watched as the two danced side by side. He sighed knowing that he probably wouldn't have a chance to dance with her tonight. Even if she was free to dance, he still couldn't muster the courage to ask her. So Freddie let the thought go for tonight. He was at a Vegas nightclub and the whole idea was to meet new people and dance with them. He walked around as the club started to fill up a bit more. He spotted Sam with a drink in her hand talking to some guy who probably bought her that drink. It looked like they were talking about wrestling judging by her hand gestures. Gibby was out there shaking his thing. Everyone had something to do.
"Hey Dude" a random guy pulled Freddie by his shirt "Take some shots off my girlfriend!"
Freddie was stunned as he was thrown in front of a blonde who was lying on her back with a shot glass in her belly button. He had never experienced anything like this. Was this normal club behavior? He really had to think quickly and just do the damn thing already.
"Are you gonna do it?" another random guy asked.
"I, uh…I don't drink" Freddie felt himself going ten notches down the cool scale.
"Get outta here, kid!" the guys took him out of their social circle.
Freddie sighed because now the pressure was off but then it had left him feeling like such a Momma's boy again. The night club was starting to fill up and he didn't know were the rest were. Carly was probably having the night of her life with that Blake guy, Sam was probably scoring free drinks and Gibby had no problem trying to get into rhythm with the dance floor. Maybe he shouldn't have come tonight. He exited the club and checked his cell phone. Mrs. Benson had called ten times.
"Mom?" Freddie called her back "You called?"
"Yes. How are you honey?" she worried "Are you wearing clean anti-bacterial underwear? Deoderant? Bug spray?"
"I got everything."
"Honey…" she sighed "I miss you. I don't know why I let you go to Vegas. Every second I just get so worried over what you must be doing over there. If I email you a ticket, you think you can make it home tonight?"
Freddie couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sure, he was a little culture shocked but he wasn't ready to go home "Mom, are you crazy? I just got here! I haven't really done anything here yet."
"You can see Vegas on TV! I can set up a virtual tour on the computer! Now come home, Fredward."
"UGH!" Freddie was frustrated. Mrs. Benson was holding him back too much "Mom, I'll call you when I get home. Goodbye!" he hung up the phone not giving her any chance to speak. Freddie paced back and forth feeling caught in the middle. He was in Vegas so why wasn't he out doing something crazy?
"Hey Freddie" Carly walked passed him.
"Hey" Freddie looked back at her puzzled "Why aren't you in the club? Weren't you dancing with that guy?"
The two went to sit by the fountain that was in front of the club. "Yeah but he tried to grope me…it wasn't fun."
"Well, where is he? I'm gonna go kick his ass…" Freddie stood up with his fist clenched.
"Freddie, no" Carly stopped him "You're going to end up getting hurt."
Freddie had something to say about that but quickly stopped himself knowing Carly was telling the truth. He sat back down and sighed "So, besides that…you having any fun?" he asked.
"Not really…I thought this whole nightclub thing would be fun. To be honest, its kinda boring" Carly replied looking at her feet "I heard you talking to your Mom…she trying to get you to go home?"
"Yeah, she wanted me to fly out tonight…She's been holding me back from doing so many things, its crazy…I just…UGH! She drives me so crazy sometimes!" Freddie got up again and paced back and forth "I wanna do something crazy!"
Carly watched him "Like what? We're too young to drink and gamble. What else is there to do?"
From the corner of his eye, Freddie spotted a 24/7 Wedding Chapel across the street from the night club "Let's get married…"
"What?" Carly was taken back by his idea "Get married? Whoa, Freddie that is crazy…"
"Come on, Carls! I never do anything crazy in my life! This is the perfect thing to do!"
"Hey, where were you guys?" Sam and Gibby came out of the club "We were looking for you two" Gibby said as they approached Carly and Freddie.
"Freddie just proposed to me" Carly said.
"Congratulations!" Gibby replied hugging both of them.
"I didn't say 'Yes'!"
"Whoa, whoa, wait…Fredwad proposed to you?" Sam asked then looked at Freddie "What it going on in that robotic brain of yours?"
Freddie tried to answer her but was immediately cut off by Carly "I think I wanna do it…"
"WHAT?!" Freddie and Sam said in unison.
"Yeah but…there has to be some way we can get it annulled before we go back home. Spencer would kill me if he found out I got married in Vegas…"
"My Mom would give me up for adoption" Freddie chimed in.
"You guys can still get married. My Mom's annulment took only two days to process. Spencer and Mrs. Benson will never know!" Sam looked at the two of them. "So are you guys gonna do this or what?"
Freddie and Carly stared back at each other. The both of them feeling nervous and ready to do just about the craziest thing they have ever done in their whole lives. "Okay" Freddie bent down on one knee "Carly Elizabeth Shay, will you marry me?" he asked unable to hold a straight face.
Carly giggled at Freddie's cheesiness and awkwardness "I will" she smiled afterwards.