A/N- Hi, everyone! I'm back! Sorry I've been away for so long, but some really tragic things have been occurring, and then there's school…I just never really had time to write anymore. But I promise I'll write more, and I'll update this story as frequently as I can. Tell me if you like it with reviews! :)

Enjoy!


"Freddie, this isn't fair," Briella groaned, swiping a strand of her long, curly, sandy brown hair behind her ear. The wind found its way through the crack in the window, and quickly caught hold of the strand, placing it in her face once again. "I'll be quick; in and out. I swear."

"Ella," Freddie groaned. "You know I'm trying to get home early; I have loads of work to finish up before Monday."

Briella huffed, and sat back in her seat, suddenly very interested in the car riding beside them. I asked for one thing, she thought, but didn't dare to say it aloud. Freddie looked over for a quick second, noticing she had become genuinely unhappy.

Her skin was a rich shade of milky chocolate (she was biracial – her mom white, her dad black), and her hazel eyes shone, even though she was upset with him at the moment. Her sandy brown, curly hair was probably what he loved about her the most – it was a semblance of her true character; feisty and wild. She was the type of girl who'd keep piranhas as pets, and he absolutely loved that about her.

They'd only dated for half a year so far, but it didn't seem likely that their relationship would fail anytime soon, since they'd yet to have any major complications.

Freddie sighed as he switched over into the turning lane, and made his way into the local supermarket. As he parked, Briella unbuttoned her seatbelt, and leant over to peck his cheek before opening the passenger seat door, and rushing into the supermarket.

"Her relationship with lasagna is ridiculous," he mumbled, shaking his head, but couldn't help but chuckle.

It was only then that it occurred to him that the trip back to Seattle had been a long one, and his bladder was not as strong as he'd originally thought. He shuffled out of his seatbelt and exited his car, grabbing his key and rushing into the supermarket after Briella.

"Hey, Ella," he called, noticing her curls bouncing down an aisle. She stopped running and turned back, her face asking 'yeah?' "I'm gonna head to the bathroom, I'll be down there if you need me, okay?"

She flashed him a grin, nodded, and returned to her previous activity.

He rushed to the bathroom, but as he hurried in, he bumped into a young girl – possibly 8 years old, who was rushing out of the girl's restroom door. The child bounced back onto the hard floor, and he quickly helped her up, fully expecting her to lash out in a crying fit. Instead, she simply brushed the dust off her pants, and began to walk away.

"Wait," Freddie squeezed out. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," the girl shrugged. "I've done way worse. When I was 5, I fell in a ditch while riding my bike through a dirt bike field. And then, just last year, when I was six, I climbed onto the roof of my neighbor's house, jumped down, and busted both of my knees open. I had to get twenty stitches, but guess what, it didn't even hurt."

The little girl smiled jubilantly as Freddie's eyes widened in what she took as a look of pleasure. But really, Freddie was mortified, and not at all delighted. "Yanno, my mom told me not to talk to strangers, but you seem pretty cool. Plus, if you'd ever try to injure me, I'd do a double fist dance on your face. My mom taught me how." She held out her hand, and Freddie reluctantly shook it. "The name's Alexandra, but all of my friends call me Alex."

"Well…nice to meet you, Alex. I'm Fredward, but most people call me Freddie." he said, weakly. "So, where's your mom? I'd at least like to notify her that when I bumped into you it was only an accident."

"Oh, my mom? Well, she's most likely loading up on ribs, bacon, and chicken…so, I'd say she's on the meat aisle."

Freddie nodded and followed Alex to the aisle that contained the meats.

"There she is," Alex shrugged. The woman was faced away from them, but from the rear, she looked quite pleasant. Her hair was honey blonde, and she was a real credit to those jeans.

As they approached her, she still did not turn around, but seemed to know who it was – well, at least who one of them was. "Okay, Alex, I think that's enough meat to last us for tonight. What do you think?"

Freddie looked incredulously at the buggy. The meat packages were stacked upon one another, and reached the very top. To last them for just tonight? That could last them months!

"Eh, maybe one or two more hams would do." Alex answered, shrugging. "Anyway, mom, I brought you a visitor. His name is Fredward, but luckily, he goes by name Freddie."

Alex's mother looked up and the two immediately locked eyes. Her blue orbs sparkled with intensity and his deep brown eyes widened. Recognition quickly replaced all other thoughts, and they waited for someone to pinch them, feeling like it was all a figment of their imagination.

"Sam?" He breathed, afraid this was real. "Sam, is that you?"

As a reply, Sam nodded, her breathing speeding up. Alex looked back from her mom to the stranger who'd just bumped into her on her way out of the bathroom. "Isn't this the part where you two hug each other? I mean, come on."

A smile spread across Freddie's features like an infectious rash spreading across a person's skin. Without warning, he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He could tell she was tense at first, but soon, she molded into his body.

"Wow," he muttered into her hair. "It's been so long; too long."

Alex titled her head to the side, trying to see if she'd ever remembered her mom mentioning anyone with the name Freddie.

Finally, Sam gained the courage to speak. "I know…"

Behind them, Briella frowned. "Um, baby," she said, causing the two to immediately break apart, though their happy grins remained on their flushed faces. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Uh, no," Freddie stuttered, rapidly making his way over to his girlfriend. "Uh, Sam, this is my girlfriend, Briella. Briella, this is my-"

Freddie stopped himself. What were they? He had no idea. But he continued anyway. "-this is an old friend of mine, Sam."

Sam and Briella smiled at each other, walking forward to shake one another's hand. Awkwardly, Freddie laced his hand around Briella. "So, what'd you need?"

"Oh," Ella smiled. "I was waiting for you by the bathrooms, like you instructed me to do if I needed anything, but you weren't there, so, I walked around and found you…here…with your old friend. Anyway, I was just going to tell you that I'm finished, so I can pay for it, and we can be outta here. See, I told you I'd be quick."

All of a sudden, Freddie didn't care about getting home to do work or using the bathroom. He was really focused on Sam. He hadn't seen her since she'd left for L.A. He'd talked to her, sure, but they went separate ways, both focused on different things at the time. He'd kept in touch with Carly, though, but how could he not? He remained friends with Spencer, who was in direct correlation with Carly. It was kind of hard not to.

He'd ask about Sam sometimes, and Carly kept him updated – to a certain extent, of course. Some things were strictly their business. After a while, he'd stopped asking. And as a result, he'd stopped receiving updates.

Briella shook him, subtly, bringing him back to reality. "Um, yeah, you were quick, baby. But I kind of have something I need to do. Go pay for the lasagna, and I'll be right out, okay?"

Briella looked at him warily, but did as he said. She kissed his cheek before leaving, though he barely noticed.

"Wow," Sam said, forcing a smile. "Your girlfriend seems pleasant."

"Yeah, she is," he answered, not noticing the sarcastic tone the comment held. "So, anyway, I have to go, but I want to still keep in touch with you."

She nodded, smiling, though this one was not forced. "Me too."

He returned her grin, enticed by her perfect snow-colored teeth. Pulling out his phone, he handed it to Sam. "Here, put your number in. I'll text you as soon as I get home."

She smirked, a playful look on her face as she handed him her phone so he could enter his number. "Not if I text you first."

He laughed. "Always up for competitions, Puckett. I see that hasn't changed."

She shook her head. "Nope."

They exchanged phone numbers, and soon, Freddie left the market. Sam leaned back against a nearby wall, biting her lip.

"Wow, mom," Alex said, bringing her out of her trance. "And I thought I had it bad for that cute boy from my art class."

Sam rolled her eyes and took out her phone, scrolling through the F's for Freddie's name. Surprisingly, she couldn't find it. Did he really not put his number in here? I knew it was too good to be true.

But as she pressed "recently added contacts", she saw he had entered a number; he just hadn't entered his name as Freddie.

But he'd entered it as Nub.

She couldn't help but grin as she clicked his contact name and quickly typed a message, pressing send after it was completed.

Meanwhile, as Freddie pulled into his home's driveway, his phone vibrated. He put the car in park and waited until Briella had exited the car.

He read the message. It was from Sam.

Ha, it said. I win. ;)

Of course, Freddie thought, shaking his head, but beaming on the inside. He quickly wrote back:

Congratulations, Puckett, or…is that still your last name?

He took his and Ella's luggages out of the trunk, and carried them into the house. As soon as he stepped in, his phone vibrated again.

Yeah, it's Puckett. I would be a Hillston, but I'm divorced.

Freddie wrote back:

Ah, I see. I like Puckett better, anyway. :)


A/N- Thanks for reading! Next chapter soon (hopefully)!

Again, I know I've been away, but I've just been really stressed out over a few calamities. Sorry for any inconveniences!

Review xx

-Meg xx