Half an hour later after their tearful moment, Freddie and Sam went with Spencer to buy the materials needed to make the prosthetics while Carly and Gibby stayed behind to practice their lines. Sam only tagged along because she wanted to buy a new leather jacket she saw in a thrift shop, while Freddie came with her when she promised she'd buy him some chocolates.
While they were walking around in the mall, Spencer was noticeably quiet and so unlike himself earlier. Freddie asked him what was up.
"Oh, it's nothing," he said, trying to sound like there wasn't a problem, although the look on his face betrayed him. "Just hoping that Carly's going to be alright back there, that's all." Freddie immediately understood that Spencer was becoming afraid of the recent murders and gang fights around Seattle, just like he was. Sam, however, seemed to have gotten over it.
"I wouldn't worry about that. What I would be worried about, is Carly's ex," Sam said. Freddie shot her a look, trying to signal her to stop talking, but she didn't. "The guy's a maniac. A few days ago, Brad just choke-slammed Freddie after he mentioned that he knew what happened between him and Carly. If he could choke-slam this loser, who knows what he could do to-"Before she could finish, however, Spencer shot her an angry look.
"Don't talk like that!" Spencer said angrily but quietly, though it garnered the attention of the nearby people. "You don't want that to happen, do you?" Sam became noticeably silent throughout the rest of their shopping, and while they were on the way out, Spencer apologized for shouting at her, saying that he reacted a bit too harshly.
Sam smiled at him. "There's no need to apologize, Spencer. I should apologize, so I'm sorry," she said. "But the guy really has problems. Before you cut me off, I was about to say that I should have stayed behind." Spencer instantly looked like he regretted shouting at her.
"Well, we can trust Gibby to take care of Carly if that happens. And I'm not saying it is going to," Freddie added hastily.
Thirty minutes later, they separated because Spencer was going to do a bit more shopping. Spencer went further into the supermarket while Freddie accompanied Sam to the thrift shop. With nothing worthwhile to do, Freddie went along with her. Sam was talking about how she saw the leather jacket a week ago, and she immediately wanted to buy it. It was, however, expensive at ten dollars.
While she kept talking, Freddie wasn't listening but nodded whenever she asked him something. Even though she told him to drop it, Freddie can't help but think about what Sam told him the other day. What was this secret of hers? What did it mean? Was she somehow involved in some illegal stuff? If this was the case, Freddie would understand because that wouldn't be the first time she'd been arrested for doing something illegal.
His thoughts then went to the guy he thought he saw talking to Sam; was he involved in this? Even though he couldn't see his face rather clearly, Freddie remembered that he didn't exactly look like a nice person.
Freddie hadn't noticed that he was walking without even looking at where he was going for the past five minutes, and was shook out of his thoughts when he bumped into a tall person. He was solid, Freddie reckoned it like was running towards a brick wall face first. Freddie apologized, and the stranger helped him stand up.
"It's alright," he said, his voice was so deep it scared him a bit.
"Thanks," Freddie hastily ran away, and he could feel the strangers gaze on his back. By the time he caught up with Sam, she asked him where he went, and Freddie replied that he looked at something.
An hour later, they met up with Spencer in the food court. Freddie offered to buy some burgers for them, but Sam didn't want one. She held Freddie's hand softly.
"Babe," she said slowly. "I'm sorry but, I gotta go again. Melanie just had an accident at the house, and she needs to be taken to the hospital." Freddie didn't mind her leaving now since her sister was hurt, so he offered to take Melanie to the hospital, saying that it will be a quick ride, but Sam declined.
"Fine," he said, feeling very hurt and disappointed once again. "Go on and leave, then. It's not like I don't care about your sister or anything." Sam frowned at him.
"Come on, don't be like that. Please," she pleaded. It certainly seemed very important that she had to go alone. Freddie saw a playful grin appear on her face, which confused him. She pulled him aside away from Spencer, who didn't mind, and leaned closer to his ear and whispered,
"I'm gonna to wear my thong tonight after I get home, just for you," He felt Sam's hand snake into his shorts and briefs, and then forcefully grabbed his member. Freddie let out a small gasp, when he felt the warmth of her hand wrap around his member.
"And I'm going do everything you want tonight. And I mean everything." Sam let go of his member and felt her hand went to his back side. Feeling very turned on and satisfied with her promises, Freddie let her go. Freddie sat back down, and Spencer was smiling and raising his eyebrows at him. Freddie chuckled at him and asked what he was smiling for.
"You're gonna get some tonight, brother," Spencer said, grinning. Freddie laughed. He didn't bring up what Sam just told him, and asked if he'd like anything to eat.
As they were walking down the hallway to Carly's room, Spencer was half-running and half-walking, visibly troubled. Sam's talk of Brad crashing into their apartment made him even more afraid. Freddie tried to tell him that nothing's wrong, but he was walking too fast for him to tell him.
Spencer was relieved, however, when they opened the door and saw Carly and Gibby watching T.V, sitting next to each other in the couch. Carly looked at him and smiled.
"Hey, what took you so long?" Carly then noticed the bags Spencer was holding. "Yay, you went shopping!"
"Hey Carly, jeez I'm glad you two are okay," he said, now looking very relieved. Gibby and Carly put on confused looks.
"Why wouldn't we be okay?" Gibby said.
"It's nothing. Oh, and I've got the materials I need to make your face masks, by the way," Spencer said, walking over to the kitchen. Freddie plopped down next to Gibby to watch, while Carly stood from where she sat and went to the kitchen, sitting down on a chair. "Can I watch while you make them?" Carly asked. Spencer smiled and nodded.
"You guys ate lunch yet?" Spencer asked, while rummaging through the pantry.
"Yep, Gibby ordered some Chinese take-out. There's some more in the microwave if you want," she pointed to the microwave.
"Well that's very nice," Spencer said. "But you didn't have to order take-out Gibby. I'm not scolding you and I know that you love Chinese food, but you could have just taken out a few cans of Spam from the pantry. Dad sends a box of those every month and I'm kinda getting sick of Spam."
"If you're getting sick of Spam then I can take'em off your hands,"
Freddie was surprised to see Sam standing in the doorway, looking a bit breathless but otherwise fine. She smiled at the others, and then turned her attention to Freddie, and then she cheekily winked at him. "Didn't think I'd be back early, didya?"
Freddie smiled brightly at her. "Nope," he said. "Did you sprint or something by the way? You look a little breathless."
As a matter of fact, she did. Sam told them that she had just come from her house; Melanie had slipped and hit her head on the floor. She literally had to carry her all the way to the nearest clinic.
Sam assured them that Melanie was alright. The looks of concern on their faces were very noticeable. "She just got a minor concussion. And she's actually doing okay, for someone who just banged her head on mahogany wood floor."
"I still can't believe that you're okay now with Melanie," Carly said. "A few years ago you wouldn't even recognize her as your own sister." Sam shrugged.
"Well, she's the only family I got left aside from our mom, which we rarely even see. I realized that after you left," The room suddenly became silent, but not for a while. To break the silence, Gibby offered her the leftovers from his lo-mein, which she accepted.
"Melanie's pretty alright actually. She acts all girly-girl when you see her, but believe me, that's not what she is when she's alone with her boyfriend," Sam said, slurping loudly. Freddie's eyes widened, and so did Gibby's. Both of them pretended that something on the floor caught their attention. Freddie heard Spencer getting into the elevator, loudly saying that he forgotten something upstairs.
"I don't tell this to everybody, but when both of us are alone in the house, which is always, we often 'explore' ourselves and learn more about each other," Sam half-glanced at Freddie and grinned then turned back to Carly, who looked a bit surprised but also curious. "She's also interested in having a third participant joining us."
"Oh hey, look at the time," Gibby looked at his wrist, which didn't have a watch at all. "Well, I'm gonna go now. Bye Carly, I'll be back later." Gibby gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, which surprised Carly, then hastily stood up from the couch and bolted for the door, closing it carefully after he got out.
With more space now, Sam laid her head on Freddie's lap. She was smiling at him, her bright blue eyes twinkling.
"Do you want to be that third participant?" she asked Freddie, who, in a state of confusion, did not know what to say or even do.
"Before you two do anything freaky, you guys wanna get some smoothies?" Carly asked, obviously trying to prevent herself from laughing. Sam sat upright and nodded, and then turned to Freddie.
"You coming?" she asked. Freddie was still speechless but managed to let out a weird grunt. Sam smiled at him. "I'll take that as a yes. Let's go."
"I gotta say," Sam said, finishing her cucumber and strawberry smoothie. "This is, by far, the best smoothie I've ever had."
"I agree; it's amazing," Carly said, looking very satisfied. "It's sweet and refreshing, and you can't even taste the cucumber."
"Mine tastes weird," Freddie had tasted something very disgusting in his. He took the lid off and swirled his straw around, and felt something had caught on to it. And there dangling on the end of his straw, was an old and discarded band aid.
Freddie wanted to puke every he ate, but controlled himself. He threw his smoothie in the trashcan and wanted water. Sam pulled one of the waiters closer to their table and demanded that they replace Freddie's smoothie. Freddie, however, didn't want another and instead asked for a glass of water.
"What's goin' over here?" T-Bo asked, moving closer to their table. "You alright, Freddie? You look a little sick."
"He found a band-aid in his smoothie," Carly told him. T-Bo looked disgusted and apologetic.
"Sorry about that. Let me get you a cheeseburger, on the house. Juan!" T-Bo called. A Hispanic male with a moustache came from the back hurriedly. "Cook up a cheeseburger, pronto!"
"Right away, senor! One cheeseburger coming up!" Juan ran back to kitchen.
"You got pretty interesting new people here, T-Bo. I swear I've seen that Juan guy somewhere," Sam said, looking at Juan who was flipping patties in the back. Freddie could hear some funny Mexican music playing in the back, and could clearly see Juan dancing while he skillfully flipped the patties on the stove.
"I got a pair of new trainees and this is their first day. Wait a second, okay? Jesus!" T-Bo called again, and this time a wide Hispanic fellow sporting a mustache and an undercut came to their table.
"Si, senor T-Bo?" he asked, clutching a mop and bucket.
"Get a pitcher of water over there, and can you mop that smoothie up please?"
Jesus nodded and ran off to start cleaning the mess of smoothie that was next to Freddie's table. "I think I've seen that Jesus guy somewhere too." Carly said, as she watches Jesus bring a pitcher of water to the table next to them.
"They're still untrained, yeah, but they're driven," T-Bo said proudly. "Oh, and by the way: I still don't have my 36 dollars, so cough up." A look of mixed anger and disbelief appeared on Sam's face. T-Bo laughed.
"Just kidding, be back in a sec," T-Bo turned around and went into the back. Freddie thought that T-Bo would shout at Juan for dancing on the job, but then he saw T-Bo dancing himself.
Several minutes later, his complimentary cheeseburger came, and thankfully there was no band-aid in it. And after he finished it, Freddie felt alright. Before they left, T-Bo asked if they wanted to try this new Horchata smoothie that Juan and Jesus suggested.
They thankfully declined but said that they would try it on their next visit, and began walking back to his car. But on the way back, Freddie suddenly felt his insides flaming up, and before he knew it, it became so unbearable that he vomited.
Everything that he ate came out of his mouth, and it tasted so sour and disgusting that he barfed a second time. He felt his whole body become numb, and suddenly everything around him became black.
Sometime later, Freddie opened his eyes and saw a white ceiling. Immediately he suddenly thought, "Why do I always get hurt?" He looked around and realized he wasn't alone. Carly, Spencer, Gibby and T-Bo were there. Freddie didn't know what T-Bo was doing here but assumed that he was there to apologize. Meanwhile, Sam was nowhere to be seen, as always.
"Thank God you're awake!" Carly said, immediately wrapping her arms around her. Her eyes and cheeks were red but looked very happy that he had woken up. "How long was I out?" Freddie yawned. He felt something weird was on his forehead. They were bandages.
"Freddie," Carly suddenly looked hesitant, but continued. "You were out for more than three months." Freddie felt his heart sink: he missed three months of his life. He began thinking of what happened in the time that he was out, but then he heard everyone around him silently laughing, and he immediately realized he'd been tricked.
"Don't worry; you were only out for a few hours. Carly said that your head did take a hell of a bump on the sidewalk though," Spencer said, after their laughter subsided. "And that 'you've been in a coma for three months' joke; that was Sam's idea. She knew that you'd like a good joke when you wake up." Freddie knew that he should be angry at this, but he didn't feel like he wanted to; in fact, he found the joke quite funny.
"Where's Sam, by the way?" Freddie asked. Spencer told him that Sam left an hour after he was brought in the hospital. She received a call that informed her that her motorcycle was now fixed and ready to be picked up. She promised to be back after an hour, but didn't return.
Soon, the doctor came in and explained that Freddie got food poisoned by the blood that came from the band aid in his smoothie. And there Freddie realized why T-Bo was there, aside from apologizing. He was there to try and convince Freddie to not close down the Groovy Smoothie.
Freddie, however, had no plans to have the Groovy Smoothie closed down. Instead, he wanted T-Bo to make sure every employee currently employed there has their blood tested for any diseases, and T-Bo agreed.
The next day, Freddie was cleared to leave the hospital with a couple of prescription pills to take each day. And while they were on the way home, Freddie was looking out the right window and thought he spotted Sam walking with the same guy he saw several days ago at Sam's apartment.
"Stop the car!" he said. The tires screeched to a halt, and everybody was looking at him.
"What's wrong?" Carly asked, but Freddie didn't answer. Instead he got off the car and ran off to where they came. He arrived at where he saw them, but they were nowhere to be found. Gibby and Carly caught up right behind him.
"What's the matter, Freddie?" Carly asked. Freddie didn't know what to tell her; his blood was boiling and his mind was getting fogged by his anger. He felt like he wanted to scream, to let out the pent up rage and disappointment that had built up during the times that Sam left him on their scheduled dates. Was she really cheating on him? Freddie wanted to believe that it wasn't true, but all the evidence he had seen so far seemed to point out that she was cheating on him.
"I . . . . Just saw . . . . I think I saw," Freddie was unsure of himself. What if he was wrong? What if the scene he saw earlier was just made up by the medication that was coursing through his veins?
If this was the case, that wouldn't be the first time that had happened. He recalled that time when he had his wisdom teeth removed, lots of things were happening in his head.
"What did you see, Freddie? Come on, you can tell me," Freddie looked at her.
"I think I saw Sam here, just a minute ago with another guy," A doubtful look appeared on Carly's face. Freddie had not forgotten that Carly told him that Sam wouldn't do that to him, and it looked like he was about to get another sermon.
"Freddie, did you forget what I told you?" Carly said impatiently. "Sam isn't like that. She wouldn't stab you in the back like that. She loves you too much for you to do that."
"Then why wasn't she in the hospital with me, huh?! Was her motorcycle more important than me?" Freddie snapped at her, and Carly stepped back, looking scared. Gibby protectively walked forward in front of Carly and Freddie.
"Get out of the way, Gibby. Can't you see we're talking?" Freddie said to Gibby, who looked at Carly, and she nodded. Gibby stepped out of the way and Carly walked forward.
"Freddie you're being irrational. Sam's still at the repair shop, she can't be here," Carly reasoned.
"Does it take three hours to pick up a goddamned bike?" Freddie retorted. "Call her: see if she's still at the bike shop."
Carly glared at him and then pulled her phone out of her bag. She put the phone next to her head.
"Hello? Sam? You still at the repair shop?" Carly said, and then nodded. "You're at the supermarket. Yeah we just got out of the hospital, Freddie's okay. You're coming home after an hour? Okay." Carly put her phone back into her bag, and looked at Freddie. "Happy?"
Freddie felt ashamed. His whole face felt hot from his anger and embarrassment. Spencer dropped off from the car and walked to the crowd that formed, watching Freddie's emotional outburst.
"Alright, nothin' to see here, people. Get on moving," Spencer said to the crowd, who immediately began dispersing now that the show was over.
"Look, Carly. I'm sorry, okay? I'm so stupid," Freddie mumbled to Carly, who was more than willing to forgive him.
"No. You're not stupid; don't you think that for one second," Carly softly placed one of her hands on Freddie's cheek, slowly raising his face to look at her. "It's alright to feel jealous, you just need to learn how to control it," Carly gave Freddie a small and quick kiss on his cheek, and then looked straight at him. She shook her head and laughed quietly.
"I don't know why I broke up with you," Carly said, smiling as she fixed Freddie's hair. "Any girl would die to have a boyfriend like you. I'd say every great quality you have if it wasn't so damn long. You're that good, Freddie. Believe that."
Freddie smiled at her and pulled her into a big, warm hug. "Thank you, Carly. I don't know what I'd do without you by my side," he whispered into her ear, and then withdrew from the hug and looked at her beautiful smiling face.
"Anytime," she said.
From the sidewalk not too far away, Gibby looked very jealous as he watched them. Carly noticed him and giggled. "You don't have to be jealous too, Gibby!" she assured him, walking next to him. "Any girl would and should love to be around you! You're the perfect mixture of fun and weird, and you're the best person to be around when any of us have problems."
"Are you for realzys?" Gibby asked her, and Carly nodded positively.
"For realzys," Carly replied sincerely, lightly pinching his cheek. "Why do you think I talk to you whenever I have problems?" Carly stood on her tiptoes and kissed Gibby on the cheek.
"Alright, enough of the sweet stuff you guys. Let's go home, I'm hungry," Spencer called to them from the car.
With a nod to Carly, the three of them walked back to the car. "Carly's right," Freddie thought in his mind while in the car. "Why would Sam do that to me? She has no reason to." He relaxed himself as they continued the short journey back home, where he hoped Sam would be waiting for him.
Will she be waiting for her there? Or will Sam once again leave Freddie frustrated with her? Check the next chapter to find out!
