Disclaimer: All I own is an old pair of converses and, well, that's pretty much it.

A/N: Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this story, out of all the stories contained in this section let alone this whole site. I had some problems with the first chapter where it wouldn't let me bold or italicize anything but hopefully this one turns out much better.

Freddie's pov:

You know what? I can't wait to grow a backbone. I've heard such wonderful, enchanting things about them over the years. The kind of stuff dreams are made out of. Check this out, if you have a backbone, you can actually tell people no. Sounded crazy to me to but that's what I was told. Also having a backbone let's you stick up for yourself instead of being manhandled around by a teenage girl who is 'technically' smaller than you and you don't have to deal with all the embarrassment and bruises that come with said scenario.

We dropped off Carly like twenty minutes ago. The car ride home from school was more or less painless except for the time I tried to change the song playing on my Pearpod. That's when Sam, who was riding shotgun, grabbed onto my free hand with an iron grip and informed me with a glare that she was 'the dj of this radio station and there would be no boy bands playing anytime soon.' For the record, I don't listen to boy bands. I had to take many dance lessons with my mom when I was younger and though I do have a slight appreciation for five guys being able to pull off complex dance routines together, that's where my feelings for boy bands are cut off.

I sigh inwardly, watching the blonde beauty across the table slowly consume the rest of her manic mango smoothie. Her eyes were closed and her face was relaxed and it seems to me she's really trying to get maximum enjoyment out of the drink before it was gone forever. It's actually the same look I see whenever she's just gotten away with a really great prank or has finished assaulting me with a weapon of choice (yeah, her hands are considered weapons). It's been a long running theory of mine that Sam Puckett treats life, like she treats her smoothies. She wants as much of it as she can get and she's going to enjoy the hell out of it until she can't anymore, until it's gone.

"Earth to spacedork, come in spacedork. Do you read?"

Sam's voice emits around me and breaks whatever spell thinking too hard usually puts me in. I shake off the rust and lean back in my chair, noticing her eyes shifting from my half finished drink, to my face and then back down to my drink.

"You don't even like the flavor I got." Before I finished talking, she was already looking at me like I was crazy, or had grown an extra head.

"So?"

I roll my eyes but push the drink over to her anyway which she starts to drink immediately with no thanks, not that I expected any. I'm pretty proud of myself at this point, I've kept a level head, not broken character once. I don't know, I guess before I just thought that the second Carly was gone and it was Sam and I sitting in the car that things would magically turn oh so serious, and a soft, romantic song would come playing out the speakers. That I wouldn't be able to control myself and confessions of love would start spilling from my lips without my approval which would leave me spending the rest of my junior year at the local hospital, in a coma.

But it wasn't like that at all. Carly got out of the car, waved and went inside. Then Sam put on the hardest song she could find on my pearpod, turned it all the way up and proceeded to start shaking her head back and forth, rocking out. In retrospect, it was pretty easy to keep myself under control while telling her to 'cut it out, I'm driving' whenever her hair would whip me in the face. I shook my head dismissively, letting the thought sink back into oblivion.

"So now what are we going to do?" I ask this knowing full well it wouldn't be homework like I had intended on doing before.

"I'm going to go get a free refill."

I watch her with a arched brow as she gets out of her seat. "You do know they don't give free refills here."

"Yes, I do know that, Benson. That's why I am going to make them give me a free refill. Hell, after all the money I've made you spend here all these years, I should be a business partner and entitled to any and all perks, including free refills and a flavor named after me." She nods in agreement with herself, clearly deluded.

"And what would that flavor be? Stupidlyyyyy-" I let it draw out, pausing for a moment under the hard stare from the blonde and give an uneasy grin. "Stunning Sam?"

"Don't you forget it, Nerdboy." And with that she's gone, moving in a swagger that makes her hips sway back in forth up to the counter. Not that I was noticing, because I wasn't. Not at all.

Another sigh, I lean just that much farther back in my seat. Having a crush on Sam was so much different than having a crush on Carly. Saying it was harder would be a huge, huge understatement. I could openly flirt with Carly despite knowing rejection was coming because I knew it would come with a smile full of pity and pat on the back. Openly flirting with Sam would probably lead to me in a six foot dirt hole and her serving twenty five to life at the nearest women's prison facility. Not to mention the fact that the world might just stop and implode in on itself because I'd be messing with the natural order of things which was: I was supposed to love Carly and Sam and I were to hate one and other. Always and forever.

Things would be so much easier.

It's at this point I notice how red Sam's face has gotten, how loud her voice has risen as she stands at the front counter, arguing with the guy working. I'm quick to get out of my seat, knowing full well where this could lead.

"Listen, nub. You've got about five seconds to get me a free refill on my mango smoothie before I jump over this counter, shove your head in that blender over there and hit the liquefy button!" Sam yelled, grabbing onto the collar of the guy's shirt, who had an extremely terrified look on his face. It's at this point, I come up behind the riled up girl and wrap my arms around her waist.

"Let go of me, Freddie. This kid has it comin`." She's struggling against me, not letting go of the guy and it takes all the strength I have in me to finally tear her away and start to drag us over to the exit.

"Sam, calm down. Please just calm down." As I pull us through the door, I already know we won't be allowed back for at least a week and the guy inside behind the counter would need therapy for way longer than that. "Sa-"

She interrupts me, breaking free of my grip, elbowing me in the gut. "Yeah, yeah. Let go of me already. I'm calm, geek." Her breathing is heavy and she's fixing her shirt.

"Yeah, you're the picture perfect of calm." I wrap an arm around my stomach, holding it taut there in efforts to keep the pain away.

"You really want to push my buttons?"

More than you know almost left my mouth but I catught it at the last second. Instead, I let the innuendo slide past. "No thanks, I've taken enough damage tonight."

She grunts in response before starting off down the sidewalk.

"Where are you going?" I call out.

"I don't know, somewhere."

I watch her retreating form for a second, then look over to my car, then back to Sam. I'm trying to make the decision if it's worth it to follow. I could sneak away right now and go home, do my homework, start that report but the thought that Sam would be wandering around the city alone, despite probably doing it all the time when she skips, held me in place.

She doesn't turn around but over her shoulder yells. "Stop acting like you have a choice, dork. Get over here."

I grin lightly, shaking my head while I jog to catch up.


We somehow found ourselves in the park and have been walking for what seems like forever. The sun is finally setting in the sky, an orange glow cast over us, the park and all of Seattle. Since we left 'scene of the crime' neither of us has said anything. But it's like, a comfortable silence ya` know? No need for words, words only complicate things when it comes to the two of us. It always turns into miscommunication, insults hurled defensively and then well, physical violence.

I've been stealing glances when I think she isn't paying attention, trying to be as subtle as possible but it's kind of hard to be subtle when it comes to feelings like these because they are just anything but. The last few years had been good to Sam, time maturing her body, giving it curves that her tomboy clothes just couldn't hide anymore. Her hair was as long as ever, and her curls still untamed, sort of like her spirit. She was definitely a vision and being a guy, well I can't help but notice.

"What are you lookin' at huh?"

Shit, she caught me on that last one. I shrug my shoulders with indifference, letting my gaze shift back to in front of me. "I'll tell you when I figure it out."

That earns me a punch to the arm but a small smile turns the corner of her lips upwards and I can't help but feel rewarded. "It's pretty nice out."

Now it's her turn to shrug. "Yeah, it's alright."

"I'd say it's more than alright." She doesn't respond back, instead she keeps looking forward, seemingly contemplating something. And with a girl like Sam, one would never be able to guess what. So we go back to the comfortable silence for a few minutes before she randomly speaks, voice cutting through the air and abruptly breaking the quiet that had settled around us. "You wanna do a 'Wake Up Spencer' tonight?"

"Uh, sure."

"Cool." She nods and just when I think we're back to silence, Sam pumps her fist in the air with a little jump, yelling: "Yes!"

"What the hell was that about?" I ask, brows arched in a mixture of confusion and question.

"The hotdog guy hasn't left the park yet." She pointed over to the elderly man behind the cart, with the tiny white hat he always wears. "Come on, I'll buy you a hotdog, Fredweird."

I chuckle a bit before something hits me. "Wait, if you have money, why did I have to buy you a smoothie?"

"Because all I have is the ten I took out of your wallet yesterday and I didn't feel like wasting it is why."

"Sam!" I call out indignantly, stopping. This caused her to turn around but continue to walk backwards.

"What? You always sound so surprised. Yeah, I took your money. It's happened before and it'll happen again. Just be glad I am using it to buy you some food too, Benson." She paused. "Geez, you always have to whine about something. Keep this up, and you are only getting half a hotdog."

The sad part is this is Sam actually being generous.


"Thanks, Sam."

She gives me the thumbs up, still chewing a bite of her hotdog. See, that's that table etiquette I was talking about, didn't even think about talking with her mouth full. We're sitting on the curb, near the exit of the park. Hotdogs in hand, sodas on the pavement in front of us. Been sitting here since we got the food, doing some people watching. Well, I've been doing some people watching, Sam's been doing some people taunting.

"How do you think Carly's date is going?" The question comes out of nowhere and I turn to look back at her while she is sipping her soda through a straw before I answer.

"I don't know. Probably good, Carly seem to really like the guy."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

I give her a look. "You know I got over Carly awhile ago."

"Just wondering." She puts down her soda and takes another bite of her hotdog, almost finished. She looked generally 'just wondering' so I decided to be honest in this rare lucid moment.

"Truthfully? It doesn't bother me. I mean, I still care for her. I care whether or not she's happy and for her safety and all that jazz but a guy can only slam his face into the same brick wall over and over again before it just doesn't seem like a good idea anymore."

This gets a laugh out of her. I grin. "She's one of my best friends, she'll always be but yeah, I think the 'SS FreddielovesCarly' has set sail."

Now she's staring at me, or staring through me. I'm not so sure at this point but she looks deep in thought. After a moment, she finally nods a little, smirking slightly. "I'm proud of you, Fredward. That was a big step for you in becoming not such a huge lameass."

"Thanks, I think."

"Just don't think I'm ever going to grow out of beating the crap out of you." Now her smirk has turned into a huge grin, dimples and all. She looked cute as hell.

"Never even crossed my mind, Puckett."