Six.

Sam had gone for her second treatment that afternoon, and just like the first, she had come out of it shaky, pale and close to tears.

This time however, she didn't puke her guts up as soon as Freddie helped her through the front door of the apartment.

Freddie wasn't sure if that was a good, or a bad thing, but he decided to take it as a good thing. Not vomiting up everything you've eaten that week had to be something close to good.

"Do you want something to eat?" He inquired, putting her bag on the table.

Sam, who had just sat down on the couch, her feet curled underneath her, shook her head. "Can I just have a glass of water, please?"

That had to be another of the side effect's kicking in, because Sam never refused food, never.

Freddie obliged, and joined her on the couch, handing her a glass of cool water as he did so.

"Thank you," She said, taking a sip. "Do you have to go to work today?"

Freddie shook his head. "I'm going to work from home, later on."

He and Carter owned the company, so Freddie's working from home wasn't such a big problem. Carter was well able to sort out anything that might go wrong in Freddie's absence, and even if he couldn't, all he'd have to do is ring.

Sam herself had been calling in sick the past few days. There was two sessions of this treatment, and they'd be going back to the hospital on Friday to get the results.

The blonde woman took the control from Freddie's hands, and flicked through the channels until she landed on something she wanted to watch. Both of them loved movies, and they had a package for their cable that included what must have been twenty channels dedicated to movies, and movies alone.

They sat like that for most of the movie, an occasional laugh, or cough breaking the calm silence of the apartment.

That was until Sam suddenly spoke. "Freddie?"

"Yeah?"

"Freddie, I can't feel my feet." Her voice was close to hysterical.

"Its okay, its okay." He reassured her. "The doctor said this was a side effect, right?"

Sam nodded, but she still looked panicked.

Freddie grabbed his phone, and looked for the number he'd saved only days before. Doctor Long had given him a number in case any of the side effects wouldn't go away, or if they didn't know what to do about them.

Freddie could deal with vomiting, he could deal with Sam not wanting to eat, but he had no idea how to deal with the fact she could not feel her feet.

"Doctor Long?" He said in the phone. "Its Freddie Benson."

"Mr Benson," The Doctor's voice buzzed down the line. "What's the problem?"

"Sam can't feel her feet," Freddie explained. "What am I supposed to do?"

"There's not a lot you can do. Rub them, and try get the circulation going, that should help. If the numbness isn't gone in a few hours, ring me again."

"Thanks Doctor," Freddie nodded, and tossed him phone to the side. "Looks like your getting a foot rub,"

Sam, through her fear, had to smile as Freddie knelt on the floor, and took her small feet in his hands.

Freddie's hand's were big, warm and slightly calloused from his regular workout's at the gym, and the odd jobs he did around the apartment, fixing things. They were comforting hands, and Sam doubted anyone would refuse a foot rub from such brilliant hands.

He ran his fingers over her heels, pushing gently at her soles. "Any better?" He inquired after a few minutes.

"Sort of," Sam nodded. She was starting to regain feeling in her feet, the numbness fading.

Freddie continued rubbing her feet for a few more minutes, until Sam stopped him.

"Thank you," She said quietly. "I'm okay again."

But as Freddie sat back down on the couch, a little closer to her than before, he could see in her eyes she wasn't okay, not really.

Without a word of explanation, Freddie put his arms around her.

He liked Sam, in fact he liked her a lot. Up until that point, he never really knew just how much he liked her. It hit him like a ton of bricks there and then when he realized he couldn't see a future without Sam there.

Not anymore.

/

Sam woke up, and immediately noticed that Freddie's arms were wrapped around her, gently as though she would break.

Them sharing a bed was nothing out of the ordinary. On nights when their group of friends got a bit wild, they would return to one of their apartments, and pass out on the same bed.

Personal space was non-existent when it came to Sam and Freddie, but cuddling was new. Usually they kept to their own side of the bed, arms, legs and everything else to themselves.

Sam wasn't sure what was wrong with her, but she liked it. The feeling of his warm arms holding her tightly to his chest was comforting.

"Morning," She said, nudging him slightly.

As Freddie woke, he felt a rush of emotions. Namely, embarrassment for having slept with his arms around Sam, as if she were a teddy bear. Happiness was in there somewhere too, he was happy she hadn't punched him in the nose because he had done that.

"Want breakfast?" He inquired.

Sam shook her head. "I think we should talk."

"What about?"

"The weather," She rolled her eyes. "And whether or not these pyjamas bring out my eyes."

"They do," Freddie laughed. "Bring out your eyes I mean."

"You can be such a girl you know," Sam teased. Her face turned serious. "I mean it though Freddie, we should talk. We always said we would, but it's been what? Fifteen years?"

"What's there to talk about?"

"I don't know," Sam ran her hands through her blonde curls, swinging her legs out of bed, and sitting, facing the wall. "Do you ever think about it?"

Freddie took a breath before answering. "Only everyday."

"That much?" Sam turned around slightly.

Freddie nodded.

"Me too," Sam sighed. "I constantly wonder if we did the right thing,"

"I think we made the right decision," Freddie said. "Not necessarily the best one."

"Is it possible to miss someone you never knew?" Sam was looking at him properly now.

"I miss her too," Freddie said, and by using 'her', he broke fifteen years of silence.

"We gave our daughter up." Sam said, and she too broke fifteen years of silence on her part. "We gave her to total strangers, and I can't help but feel that we abandoned her, that we failed her."

Freddie shook his head. "We didn't abandon her Sam. We weren't even together, we had this whole friends with benefits thing going on, I was leaving for MIT in the fall, and you were going to San Diego. How is that any kind of life for a child?"

"I could have dropped out," Sam said, taking one of Freddie's hands in hers, and tracing patterns across his skin. "But it's not like either of us could raise a child, right?"

"We both had fucked up childhoods," Freddie agreed. "My dad was abusive Sam, what if I had turned out the same as him?"

"You wouldn't have," Sam said, before Freddie interrupted her.

"Maybe," He shrugged. "And I hate myself for believing that I could turn into my dad, and I hate myself for giving our girl up. But it's been fifteen years Sam, we can't do anything about it now."

"I wish we could turn back the clock," Sam sighed.

"Maybe it's better we can't." Freddie pondered. "She probably has an awesome life, in a two up, two down in the suburbs, with white picket fences,"

"And a big dopey dog," Sam smiled. "And a brother, and a sister."

"And parents," Freddie said. "Real parents, parents that can take care of a kid. We could barely take care of ourselves back then."

"I still hate myself for doing it," Sam said, looking at the striped bed covers they were sitting on.

"Me too," Freddie cupped her face in his hands. "But, I bet she had the best childhood, a childhood we could never have given her. That's the only thing that's let me come to terms with everything."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and in that moment there wasn't two people in the world that could have been closer.

/

Authors Note: So, we know what happened in senior year now. Not that I didn't know all along!

I don't know anything about American television packages, so please excuse me if its totally unrealistic. I'm just going off the kind of ones we have here xD

I'm really enjoying writing this, I literally have not stopped since I got the idea. Thank you so much for all the amazing reviews, you are all wonderful people, and I'd really like to hug you all :3

I have to go study now, but knowing me and my obsession for this story, there'll probably be an update tonight sometime!