A/N: Here's the annual fic that I post every year on this date in honor of the iKiss anniversary. I had a bit of trouble with this one, but I connected with the mood once I decided what I wanted it to be about and I had it written in about thirty or forty minutes.

College wasn't any different than high school in Sam's opinion. Of course she had different friends and had to share a dorm, but it wasn't as if she was suddenly more responsible. If anything, she had become more irresponsible, staying out late, forgetting homework until the last minute and using lecture time to catch up on sleep.

Sam returned to her dorm room at the crack of dawn. If she had to, she would describe herself as 'slightly drunk'. Nearly tripping over her heels, she made it to her bed before passing out.

Almost as soon as her body had hit her cluttered, unmade bed, her eyes flew open with a start. Her phone was vibrating loudly from where she had placed it along with her purse on the desk.

'Leave it, obviously,' she thought.

Her roommate, Cat Valentine, stirred lightly from her own bed, her light snores ceasing as the vibrations continued.

Sam knew how grumpy and unpredictable an unrested Cat could be and was immediately up and seizing her phone. Realizing she had gotten up a bit too quickly, she grabbed onto the side of the wardrobe to balance herself.

'Okay, so maybe I'm more than slightly buzzed.'

Who could blame her? It was her birthday after all. She had spent it celebrating with a group of friends clubbing and had taken several shots on top of other drinks. She was twenty-one now, so why not celebrate being able to (legally) drink?

Sam kicked off her shoes on the way back to bed, realizing for the first time how sore her feet were. Her phone showed that she had one new email and for a moment Sam's heart raced at the thought of it being from one of her teachers. Praying that she had not received a notice for forgetting to do yet another assignment, she opened the email.

To: Sam Puckett

From: Carly Shay

Happy birthday, Sam! I know it was yesterday but I had a conference and I don't want you to think I forgot. Spencer and Freddie give their love, too. Hope I'll see you this Christmas?

-Carly

Sam squinted against the glare of the screen and frowned. The message had been sent at 1:09 AM. It sounded a lot like Carly had forgotten to her.

Sam rolled her eyes, tossing her phone somewhere on the bed, deciding she would come up with a decorated reply in the morning. It's not as though Sam had never forgotten Carly's birthday, yet she had never had the urge to make up for it. They hadn't seen each other in over two years. Sam was a junior now and had never gone back to Seattle for the holidays, instead always choosing to spend vacation at a friend's.

'Spencer and Freddie give their love.' She scoffed.

At the sound of the door opening and her second roommate, Jade West, entering the room Sam pretended to be asleep. Suddenly she didn't feel like speaking to anyone, nothing against Jade.

Granted, Sam hadn't expected to remain close to her high school friends after, to her surprise, getting into the University of California. Carly had already been in Italy for a few months when she was accepted. They had already began drifting apart by then.

Once Jade went into the bathroom, Sam lifted her head from under the covers and scrolled through her phone distractedly.

'I thought I'd moved on from my old life. Why do I care so much?'

Suddenly, an unopened email caught her eye, dated from the day before. The email was from Freddie.

Sam's heart was thumping against her ribs and she cursed herself.

'He at least emailed me on my actual birthday. Though couldn't he have texted instead of emailing? Have things really come to this point that we have to be so formal?'

"How did I miss this?" she whispered aloud, causing Cat to turn over in her sleep.

To: Sam Puckett

From: Freddie Benson

Hope you're having an amazing birthday (and I hope you aren't drunk as you read this). Happy 21st. I miss you.

Love,

- Freddie

Sam sat up at Jade's approaching footsteps, tucking her phone under her pillow.

"You didn't come back alone did you?" She asked Jade, who was now dripping with water from the shower.

"I walked back with one of the guys from the frat house," she smirked. "After we had a bit of fun."

"Nice."

"You seem happy," Jade observed as she dried her hair with a towel.

"I just had a fucking amazing birthday is all."

A/N: Yeah, so Sam and Freddie didn't speak to each other directly in the story, but if you're very clever you can figure the difference between how Sam reacted to Carly's email compared to Freddie's. Until next year, my loves.