Union

Sam's POV

Of course. Of fucking course. This would happen to me. Stuck in an elevator with my occasional acquaintance, mostly enemy turned punching bag Fredward Benson.

Hello, my name is Sam Puckett and I have the shittiest luck in the world.

But it's not because I'm stuck in this elevator. Not really anyway. It more has to do with the person that I'm stuck with at the moment.

That nerdy kid who keeps pushing the emergency button and muttering about how technology has failed him? I kissed him the other night. Yeah I know, I can't believe it either. I wasn't planning on it, trust me.

It's all Freddie's fault. If he hadn't created that damn machine, he wouldn't have ever known I was in love. If he hadn't known I was in love, then he wouldn't have given me that speech about making a move. I hate to say it but he's pretty smooth when he wants to be. I don't know what I was thinking.

There was this moment, this one millisecond where I thought maybe he might feel the same way. That vanished pretty quickly the second I saw his face. A mixture of shock and horror I presumed. I can't say I blame him. If there's one thing I know how to do, it's hide my feelings. I'm Sam Puckett after all.

Still, "it's cool", was not the response I was hoping to get from the guy I love. Now you may be thinking, why would I fall in love with someone like Freddie Benson?

To be honest, I wish I wasn't. That would make this elevator ride much easier. But I am. I know I antagonize Freddie but we actually make a really great team. We compliment each other perfectly, like a dog and a bone or me and a large piece of meat.

This is common knowledge but Freddie is ridiculously intelligent. And not just about tech stuff. Politics, science, animal rights, the history of the butter sock etc. You name it and Freddie knows about it. But that's not what really attracted me to Freddie.

Nor was it his ever improving looks. He's always been cute but at some point in the last year or two, puberty hit that boy hard and in a good way. He's always been insecure so it's nice to see him gain some confidence.

Oh and another thing. Freddie is loyal to a fault. Always has been and always will be. No matter what I do to him, he is always going to be around in my life if I don't push him out. That's my favorite part of him.

I haven't had many reliable figures in my life. I won't even get into my parents. There's Carly but even I can foresee an eventual conclusion to our friendship. She'll move to LA or New York and promise to keep in touch as she launches her career, but in the end I'll just be a footnote on a Wikipedia page.

With Freddie, it's different. He's someone I could see myself with at 10, 25, and 70. I could see Freddie being the one I call to bail my ass out of jail one of these days. Or Freddie could be the guy who buys me chinese food after a breakup. Or the one who goes for a run with me at 5AM because he knows I need to get something out of my system but don't like to be alone in the dark. That's just the kind of guy Freddie is.

Not that it matters now. Any chance I had at a 'real' friendship with Freddie flew out the window the second I kissed him. And now here we are.

It's been 3 days since that kiss and I'm pretty sure we've said approximately 3 words to each other. The universe has decided to punish me again which is no surprise. The universe has been punishing me simply for existing for a while now. I successfully managed to avoid Freddie completely at school and yet here we are.

I should've taken the stairs. It's only 8 flights. I may not be a fan of exercise but I could've managed it.

Why didn't I check the elevator before I hopped in just as it was about to close? Why did I kiss Freddie anyway? And what did I do in my past life to deserve this?

I would've continued my internal ramblings if not for another source of rambling. The boy has decided to give up on pushing a button to save him from this awkward situation.

My next instinct was to check my phone but of course I had no bars. People weren't meant to place calls from elevator shafts. Thanks again, world. It's dark but I can still feel his eyes piercing a hole through me. Nope. No way. I am not having this conversation now.

Freddie's POV

I have come to the realization that I don't have very good luck.

To be fair, I should've realized this when I broke my chin at age 6 by slipping on a treadmill. Or when my pants ripped in the middle of the 4th grade music and my mom ran onstage with new ones. Or even that time I accidentally convinced my teacher I was a drug addict. I meant the soda, not the drug but I'm pretty sure that cost me a few points in that class.

But this situation may just take the cake. Being stuck in an elevator with Sam. Sounds like something I'd have nightmares about. In fact, I'm pretty sure I have had nightmares about this scenario.

But for once, my ambivalence towards being alone with Sam has nothing to do with a threat of pain.

Physical pain, at least.

Sam kissed me 3 days ago at school. I don't know why. We've hardly exchanged a glance since then. I knew she was in love but could that person really be me?

From conversations I've had with Carly, that seems to be the case. Granted, she was as shocked as I am. Strike that, no one was as shocked as I was.

It's crazy right? Sam Puckett, tormentor of the geeks, could actually have feelings for one of them? I will admit that Sam and I have gotten closer over the last year or two. Our friendship is maintained more out of enjoyment than necessity but we're still several giant steps away from love.

Could Sam really love me? This is all just a horrible misunderstanding, right? God, why did the elevator choose this moment to fail? Stupid technology. I spend so much time on you and you desert me when I need you the most.

Not that technology has done much for me lately. The Internet doesn't really have a section on finding out how Sam Puckett feels. Hell, I don't even know how I feel. Is it really possible for me to like Sam?

There have been moments, very brief moments, where I thought it might be possible. There was the whole twins thing. I still haven't quite got that figured out. And when she came to me about Missy. I felt this urge to save her. Oh yeah and there was that night on the fire escape.

But that meant nothing right? It was just to get our first kiss out of the way. At least that's what we told ourselves. Maybe there is more to it. The possibility of dating Sam wasn't one that crossed my mind often.

But it's something that I have to think about sooner or later. I really doubt that Sam and I can go the rest of our lives avoiding each other. Nor can we pretend that everything is normal.

She kissed me and I said it was "cool." How pathetic is that? Regardless of my feelings that may or may not exist for Sam, no one deserves that kind of answer. God, I'm so stupid when it comes to girls.

Plus Sam has always confused the hell out of me. No matter how hard I try. Whenever I think I know the answers, Sam changes the questions. She keeps me on my toes and I enjoy that. She's honest, brash, resourceful, hilarious, and wait a minute why am I complimenting Sam?

I need to get out of my own mind but I can't do that when I'm stuck in a dark elevator with the girl whose causing my stress. Stupid technology. I looked at Sam and she averted her eyes. I knew she didn't want to talk.

And knowing her, she would sit in this elevator in silence for as long as she needed to. I'm pretty sure she'd take out her own tongue to avoid this conversation. That was Sam for you. But this is something that needs to happen one way or the other. Freddie to base camp: I'm going in. Wish me luck.

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading. This is my first chapter in what is hopefully a long, fulfilling Seddie journey. Please let me know what you guys think. I love praise and criticism.