"Carly?" she whispered into the phone, trying not to wake her sleeping fiancé. "Carls, are you there?" she listened to the quiet of Freddie's apartment, the clock gently clicking in the kitchen, his gentle breathing keeping time with the clicks. "I'm here, Sam," Carly said urgently. It was Sam's favorite phrase, and had been said to her by Carly in all of Sam's biggest screw-ups, when she felt completely alone. "Carls, you're never going to believe this. I have to see you. Now. Can you meet me at Galini's pie shop? In like, ten minutes?" she whispered into the phone. "Sure, Sam," Carly said with a smile, positive that she knew Sam's big news. "I'll be there."
They clicked off the phone, and Freddie sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Morning, Sam," he said brightly. "Aw, Freddifer. Did I wake you up?" she asked gently, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed. He smiled, and lifted up her left hand. He folded it into a fist and kissed the top of her knuckles, the ring glittering. "It's beautiful, Fredly," she murmured. "Not as beautiful as you," he said with a broad grin. "How'd I get so lucky?" he teased, kissing her on the tip of her nose. Sam tucked her feet under her, and looked up at him. "Freddison?" she asked. "Yes, Sam?" he answered, unable to keep the grin from his voice. "I have to be at Galini's in seven minutes to meet Carly, k?" she said, standing to finish getting ready. "Um, Sam?" Freddie, said, his voice losing the sense of fun it held only minutes earlier, and taking on a cold tone. "You can't possibly think that you are going to tell Carly without me, do you?" he said in disbelief. "Of course not!" Sam said, surprised. "You're coming with me. Get ready, she'll be there in six and a half minutes," she answered lightly, pulling her hair into a high ponytail.
Carly ran a brush through her long brown hair, singing along to the radio. "Gib!" she called into the other room. "Gibby, I'm leaving, okay?" He shouted back an unintelligible response. She walked into the other room, and called through the door, "Gibby, I'm meeting Carly for pie. Actually, she'll probably end up bringing Freddie too," she chattered excitedly. "Tell them hey," Gibby muttered sleepily. "And bring me back a lemon meringue, would you?" Carly rolled her eyes. "Sure, Gib," she called, smiling to herself.
Two years ago, both of them were in desperate need of a roommate to rent an apartment close enough to Seattle University of Theology. Having been friends for years, Carly liked having Gibby as a roommate. In a way, he reminded her of living with Spencer—the craziness and the fun, yes, but mostly the friendship that both of them shared. She was constantly assuring people that they were "just friends," which was the truth. He was too much like the little brother she never had to even imagine anything remotely romantic happening. She grabbed her purse from the hook by the door, and hailed a taxi.
He slipped his hand into hers, and she squeezed it affectionately. "Do you think she'll be happy?" she asked anxiously. "Sam, do you know Carly? I bet she's been dreaming about this day since we were sixteen," Freddie said with a laugh. Although, truthfully, he had far more reason to be anxious than Sam did. As far as he knew, Sam wasn't the one who had kissed Carly before…who had been openly in love with her until the day she returned his feelings and he realized he wanted Sam, not Carly…
"AHH!" Carly screeched as soon as she saw her two best friends in the entire world waiting for her outside of Galini's. She engulfed the two of them in a hug. Pulling away, she instinctively glanced at Sam's left hand, as was her habit since the two of them began dating nine years ago. To her shock, a huge glittering rock sat on the ring finger. "Oh, my God. Oh my God!" she whispered. "Sam, it's absolutely gorgeous!" she shrieked, hugging her again. She turned to Freddie, hugging him as well. "You did good, boy," she said with a smile. "Let's order some pie and you have to tell me everything!" she said excitedly.
Five minutes later, seated at a table with a large coconut pie and three forks, Sam and Freddie alternated telling the story of how he proposed. "…and, obviously, I said yes!" Sam finished, smiling at the unbelievable proud and pleased look on Freddie's face. "And, Carly?" Sam asked softly. "Carly, we want you to be the maid of honor with Melanie."
Tears streaming down her face, Carly wrapped her arms around Sam. "I just can't believe that we've been talking about our weddings for 15 years, and now it's here, and it's you and Freddie, my two favorite people in the world, and you just asked me to be your maid of honor, an you're planning a wedding," she blubbered. "I'm so, so happy for you guys!" she said. "Have you told the moms? Or Melanie? Oh my god, you have to tell Spencer, he's been waiting for you guys to get married since you were like 12," Carly chattered on excitedly. "Yeah, we're going to my mom's house now, and then to Mrs. Puckett's," Freddie answered happily, taking a bite of pie. "But we wanted to tell you first, Carls," he said smiling. "I'll let you guys go then. Tell me if you need any help with anything, you guys. I mean, I totally get it if you guys want to plan the wedding with your families and everything, but if you need anything-" Carly said, standing to go. "Carly! We're going to be calling you so much you'll get sick of us," Freddie assured her. "Carls. You can't possibly expect to be the maid of honor and not take part in the planning. You'll be there, girl, okay?" Sam asked, rolling her eyes. Carly grinned, and gave both of them one last hug. "Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Benson," she said, echoing a line of Sam's from so long ago…