"Freddie, baby, I have to tell you something."

"What is it, Carly?"

"Well…I was offered a PR position with the Seattle Sounders. I'm going to take it."

With that news, Freddie's face fell and his eyes grew darker. "Wow, Carly. I guess me being your husband doesn't grant me any opportunity to voice my opinion on this, huh?"

"Freddie, please-"

"So what does this mean, Carly?" Freddie pressed as his eyes grew even darker until they were pitch black orbs. His voice sounded frighteningly empty. "You get to gallivant around the world while I get left behind? Am I in the way of the life you always wanted?"

Carly tried to vocally deny Freddie's accusations, but her vocal chords felt frozen. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came of it. Suddenly, Freddie began to float backwards, away from Carly.

"Well, you won't have to worry about me standing in your path. Go. I'll get the divorce papers to you one way or another."

Carly tried to let out a blood-curdling scream, but her voice remained stuck in her throat. She ran after Freddie, who had turned his back on her, but she wasn't able to get a grip of his shoulder. Freddie kept a steady pace as the scene changed from the cabin to the campus of Washington State University, then to Bushwell Plaza. When Carly finally caught up with him she gripped his shoulder and attempted to spin him around. To Carly's horror, Freddie's front was replaced with the back of him. Carly tried to spin him around again, but she was met, again, with his back.

"FREDDIE!" she mouthed, spinning him over and over and failing to get his front. All she wanted to do was look him in the eyes and tell him that she loved him, but all she got was the back of his head.

"FREDDIE! PLEASE!" she mouthed desperately. Suddenly, The love of her life yanked himself away from her grip and floated away. Within seconds, he was joined by a faceless redhead who grabbed his hands and intertwined her fingers with his. They walked off together, ignoring the screams that had finally escaped from Carly's throat.

The shutting of a neighboring door and a creaky floor jarred Carly from her nightmare, which left her panting frantically and very shaken. She looked around wildly, just to make sure she was back where she was supposed to be, and was relieved to see Freddie still at her side, sleeping with his mouth wide open and gently snoring.

"I'm losin' it," she mumbled to herself, pushing the hair off her forehead. Carly exhaled slowly in an attempt to steady her breathing. She had spent the entirety of the previous day thinking about the job offer throughout their various wedding errands: getting their marriage license, ordering the food, her dress fitting, even while she worked on their play list. She wasn't any closer to figuring out whether she wanted the job or not, and she didn't want to worry Freddie about it during their wedding getaway. The longer she went without talking to him about it, however, the more nervous she got.

Going back to sleep was out of the question, so she eased her way out of bed and tip-toed to the door, allowing Freddie to continue his slumber. As she entered the hallway, she noticed Gibby, clad in pair of Spiderman pajama pants, preparing to descend the stairs.

"Gibby?" she whispered harshly, hoping to get his attention without potentially waking up the other guests. The bulky man turned around, eyes showing a brief moment of surprise before relaxing.

"Mornin' Carly!" he greeted.

Carly walked over to join Gibby down the steps. "What are you doing up here? I thought you were sleeping downstairs."

"My shower's on the fritz, so I thought about asking Spencer if I could use his, but decided against it."

"Oh," Carly replied. "Well, you can use ours, if you want!"

"Nah," Gibby said with a shake of his head. "I'm sure Freddie's still asleep and I tend to sing in the shower. Loudly."

"O-kaaay," Carly conceded cautiously. "That's certainly something I never knew about you!"

The pair of friends made their way to the kitchen and were greeted by Sam, who was pouring a large glass of orange juice.

"What are you doing up so early?" Carly inquired of the blonde.

"Eh, didn't rest all that well. Decided to start the day a little early." Though her voice sounded indifferent, traces of anxiety were etched across Sam's face.

"Everything alright, Sam?" Carly asked gently.

"Yeah, everything's cool. I just have a lot on my mind. No biggie."

Gibby opened the fridge and quickly pulled out a bottle of water before shutting it again, then he turned to Sam. "Wanna come running with Dallas and I?" he offered. "Running around here tends to clear my mind."

"Nah, but thanks, Gib," Sam declined politely.

Gibby shrugged. "Suit yourself, but you're welcome to come with us anytime. I better go get dressed." Gibby both girls a brief solute before disappearing from the kitchen. Carly returned her attention back to Sam.

"So, you feel like talking about whatever's on your mind?" Carly asked bluntly.

"No, not really," Sam shrugged. "I've done enough sharing on this trip to last me a lifetime. One more heart-to-heart and I may puke."

Carly smiled as she notice her friend slowly returning to something similar to her old self. "If you say so, Puckett."

"So what's on the agenda today?" Sam asked, seeming desperate to change the subject.

"Well, I really need to sit down and go over the details of the wedding-"

"Errrrrgh," Sam interrupted with a groan. "Carls, we told you not to waste another moment pouring over the details of your wedding. We've all got a handle on it."

"I know, I know," Carly sighed as she rubbed her eyes. "I just can't seem to turn it off. I'm such a worrier."

"Well, quit it. We've got you covered, trust me. Think of something else to busy yourself with. How about the honeymoon? Have you and Freddie talked about that at all?"

"We're just going to stay here an extra week after you all leave," Carly explained. "We plan on hiking in the back and starting a bonfire and canoeing…"

"So being a mushy married couple, basically," Sam said with a smile.

"Yes, being as mushy as possible," Carly confirmed with a giggle.

"Well, it looks like most of the bases are covered, then."

Carly raised an eyebrow curiously and repeated, "Most?"

"Most," Sam replied simply, then turned her back to Carly and opened the refrigerator without offering the slightest hint of what she meant. While she wanted to question her friend further, Carly could tell that Sam wasn't giving up any details anytime soon. Accepting defeat, she decided to move on.

"Fine," she sighed. "I won't concern myself with the details. I trust you guys."

"As you should," Sam said with her back still turned, though Carly could hear the slick undertone in her voice. "Now, let's have some fun today, shall we? It would be cool if us girls had a 'girls only' lunch somewhere. What do you think?"

"Sounds awesome!" Carly agreed cheerfully. The girls haven't had many opportunity's to hang out by themselves, aside from the shopping trip days earlier. She relished the idea of participating in girly chat with her close friends.

Sam turned from the fridge with an opened bag of grapes in her hand. "Yeah, I think an estrogen-only luncheon is definitely in order."

"Wow," Carly uttered dryly. "I never thought I'd hear the word "luncheon" come out of Sam Puckett's mouth…or 'estrogen,' for that matter."

Sam popped a plump grape in her mouth. "Yeah, it looks like Sam Puckett's been in the business of shocking people lately."

Carly gave Sam a sad smile before asking where Wesley was.

"He's still sleeping. I don't plan on waking him up anytime soon."

Carly couldn't help herself from digging a little deeper while they were still alone. Careful not to make Sam too uncomfortable, Carly chose her words carefully.

"So…are you and Wesley okay?"

Sam gave a short, dry chuckle. "I think we both know that Wesley and I are certainly not okay, Carls, but it's cute that you would ask."

Carly felt a mixture of mild embarrassment that she had been that transparent and relief that there wasn't a need to mince words with her longtime friends.

"We've always been straight shooters with each other," Carly thought. "Maybe she's not as fragile as I thought."

"So what are you going to do?"

It was a fairly broad question, but Sam seemed to understand the meaning behind it. She shrugged. "Not sure just yet."

The pair of women fell silent while Carly worked on getting her own cup of orange juice.

As he searched around his and Carly's room for his silver basketball shorts Freddie heard the sounds of animated female voices quickly followed by a heavily shutting door, which he took as a sign that the girls had left for their lunch. The men (sans Wesley, who declined the invitation to join them before one was even extended) decided to go to the nearest park and play basketball. Freddie wasn't an exceptional player (in fact, he still wasn't terribly athletic, despite his much improved physique), but he was beginning to feel more restless as the wedding grew nearer and was happy for any excuse to get out of the house. As many times as all of the house guests have, at one point or another, assured him that everything was being handled, he couldn't help but worry about Carly and whether or not she would be given the wedding of her dreams. He had been serious when he told her that he would be just as content marrying her in an alley behind a takeout restaurant, but still wanted her to have a day that she could brag about to her friends years down the road. If she had even shown the slightest bit of regret for agreeing to elope he was certain that he would feel guilty for the rest of his life.

"No pressure, though," Freddie thought to himself sarcastically as he located his missing shorts in one of the dresser drawers. He heard his phone vibrating on the nightstand just as he tossed the shorts on the bed. The phone was set to vibrate whenever he received a work-related e-mail.

"I'm going to kill them," he resolved aloud as he made his way to his phone. "What's the point of declaring that you're on vacation if they're just going to pester you, regardless?" He snatched up the phone and opened the e-mail with the intention of reading it, but decided, instead, to remind his company via e-mail that he was unavailable for the next week and a half. For the sake of saving time (and because it was so accessible), he went to Carly's computer.

"Eh, she won't care," he assured himself as he opened the laptop. He settled on the bed and tried immediately to start a new tab in her internet browser, but the computer wasn't responding to his clicks. Freddie groaned his annoyance and waited for the system to warm up. He noticed that her e-mail inbox was up, but had no interest in reading it.

He had no interest, that is, until his eyes caught the words "new PR manager" and, further down the page, "joining our team."

Though his mind was practically screaming at him to stop reading his soon-to-be-wife's personal e-mail, his curiosity overpowered any internal debates regarding morals or relationship ethics. He quickly scanned the e-mail, then processed the information. Carly had been offered a dream position with a nationally recognized sports team. This was absolutely perfect for her. His eyes urgently scanned for the date that the message was sent. It appeared that it was sent on Sunday.

"How has she been keeping this a secret for two whole days?" he thought incredulously. Freddie had a hard time imagining being offered the job opportunity of a lifetime and not shouting out the news from the top of his lungs.

Then his mind began to wander as he pondered the possible reasons as to why she's been so quiet about it. Did she already decline the job? He hastily dismissed that idea, as he knew that this was the offer she's been working towards since she graduated from college. Obviously the job would require a lot of travel. Maybe she's worried that getting married would keep her from really committing to it. Was she even planning on telling Freddie?

He suddenly felt sick. The last thing he wanted was to hold her back. At the same time, a little part of him couldn't help but feel the slightest bit selfish and wished that she would decline the job and just stay in Seattle.

"That's so stupid," he chastised internally. "How could you even consider her casting her own happiness aside an option, Benson?"

Freddie closed the laptop, forgetting his need to send his own e-mail, and laid back on the bed. He closed his eyes and sighed loudly as he rubbed his forehead, wishing more than anything that he had not read the e-mail. He prayed for ignorance that he knew wouldn't come, then lied still for what seemed like forever. He knew they'd eventually have to talk about it. He just hoped that she would bring it up before the wedding.

"How do I fix this?" he asked the empty room. Nobody answered, naturally, and he guessed that he wouldn't have gotten an answer to that question anyhow, even amongst a room full of people. This was something he had to figure out on his own.

"I. Love. Mimosas!" Carly declared for a third time that afternoon. She was in the front seat of Sam's rental car, feeling more relaxed than she'd felt in a long time.

"Uhhh, we know, Miss 'Keep 'Em Coming,'" Taryn teased from the backseat. Sam laughed as she drove the girls home after spending almost three hours at an adorable bistro-style restaurant nearly twenty minutes away from the cabin. They had an amazing time together just laughing and talking about everything under the sun, from work to sex, even reminiscing about high school and college. It had been a long time since Carly had hung out with just women (she chose not to count the one time she had chosen to go out with a group of female coworkers, since she spent most of the night looking after a very drunk Andrea, who had just broken up with a guy she had only been dating for three weeks) and she realized how much she missed having girls-only nights. She tried not to lament the fact that these opportunities would be few and far between once she got back to Seattle.

"Hey, I only had three and I didn't even finish the last one, thank you very much!" Carly defended indignantly.

"Well, I love it," Dallas chimed in. "It was so much fun hanging out with my girls!"

"Team Carly!" Sam cheered from the driver's seat.

"TEAM CARLY!" Taryn and Dallas echoed excitedly while Carly replied "TEAM ME!" with the same level of enthusiasm. The girls broke out into another fit of laughter as Sam pulled into the dirt road leading to the cabin's neighborhood.

"Hey, I wonder if the guys did anything fun," Taryn pondered.

Sam snorted. "I doubt Wesley did anything with the rest of the men, if they did. He's probably on his phone, chatting about boring law school business with his dad or something."

Carly didn't know if she should say anything in response, so she was thankful when Dallas spoke up instead.

"Have you talked to him at all about how you felt, Sammy P?"

"Eh, I've tried, but it's always ended up in an argument," Sam shrugged. "It's probably a discussion that's going to have to wait until we get home so we can really yell at each other."

"That sounds awful!" Taryn said, seemingly horrified.

"No, I think a good shouting match is just what they need," Dallas offered definitively. "Just get it all out in the open."

Carly silently agreed as she looked out the window. The surrounding area just before Poinsetta Way still looked incredibly creepy, but Carly had become used to the atmosphere. She even spotted a gorgeous deer in the distance.

"This place really is nice," Carly marveled aloud. "You know, once you get past all the creepy gross stuff."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind getting used to this place," Sam agreed. "Self-inflicted drama aside, this has been a nice escape."

"C'mon, Sam, don't blame yourself for everything," Dallas said consolingly.

"Well, maybe not everything, but a good amount of it," Sam replied as she turned onto Poinsetta Way. "I definitely have a lot to think about, but not right now."

"Good," Carly perked up. "This is a vacation. Just try to have a great time."

Sam looked at her and gave her a genuine smile before returning her eyes to the road ahead. "I'm starting to, Carls, for realsies."

Carly looked at the two backseat passengers through the rear view mirror and smiled at them. They returned the smile knowingly, seemingly just as happy to see Sam more relaxed than she had been in a while.

The car fell unto contented silence as Sam pulled into the long drive leading towards their vacation home. As the cabin came into view, Carly immediately noticed that the rental car belonging to her, Freddie, and Spencer was missing.

"Boys must be out," Carly guessed aloud. The car slowed as they neared the remaining vehicles.

"Hey, who's car is that?" Taryn asked. Carly, only being able to spot Jax's truck, was confused as to why Taryn couldn't identify her own car. She was about to teasingly ask her just how many mimosas she had when she noticed the car she had been referring to: a rusty, yet classic, Chevrolet the color of seafoam green was parked next to the truck, almost out of view completely if not for the winged back.

"Oh, no," Sam uttered breathlessly from Carly's left. She turned to friend and immediately noticed the color draining from her delicate face paired with the unmistakable expression of terror. "Oh, no no no no, this isn't good. No!"

"What is going on? Who is that, Sam?" Dallas asked frantically, matching Sam's sudden change in demeanor. Sam didn't answer as she drove the car around to the other side of the classic car. Just before parking Carly noticed that the car was still occupied. Once the car had stopped, she noticed a gentleman in the front seat with shoulder-length thick chestnut hair and an outstretched arm almost covered in tattoos. Though she was certain that she had never seen him before, there was still something familiar about him.

Sam barely turned off the engine before swinging the car door open and leaping out of the car. She slammed the door, which seemed to have jarred the gentleman out of a trance and caused him to look out the window in alarm. The first thing Carly registered was just how handsome he was. He had a very chiseled jaw line, which was speckled with light stubble, a short, pointed nose, sparkling green eyes and dark, thick eyebrows. With another look at his eyes, something clicked in Carly's head. She knew who he was.

With the slightest hint of hesitation, the man opened his door and exited the car, standing just next to his seat. Sam reached the passenger's side of the car, looking up at the man with wide eyes. Carly opened her door, but remained in her seat.

"Sam," the young man sighed almost reverently. His eyes looked upon her so softly that Carly's heart literally ached, even as a bystander.

"Owen," Sam replied commandingly, "what the hell are you doing here?"

A/N: Long time no see! Thank you all so much for your reviews! Life has been quite busy lately, but I wanted everyone to know that I didn't forget about this story. Writing this chapter also made me realize that I need a new computer. Trust me. This has been a struggle.

Being able to post this chapter is a birthday present to myself! I feel like I finally accomplished something productive (actually, I've done a lot of productive things lately, just not as fun as this). Also, I realized that I never thanked you all for the 100+ reviews! I'm so grateful for you all!

I hope you're all doing well! Now back to writing. Review, if you wish. You know hearing from you all makes me smile! :o)

Hollaatchyagirl,

Phunky