I'm ALIVE! I was just MIA for a while, but I'm back.

Fo' da cool folk: Ive forgot my password (That sucks! Hope you remembered it!), Yorke432, PINKYisNUMBER1, kppm13mylife, Mistress of the Strange, KingxLeon21 (Thanks for so many long reviews!), misstinkerbell18 (Tinkerbell is my favorite character!), Miaralie27, sacha k, earth-fairy2006, VeVe2491, Herahell, Seddieforeverx3, OhSoIris, EmilyHelene, ThePenIsMighty , BeautifulDreamer.x, iBrown-eyed Blonde,aaamber, kpfan72491, mamaluvsangst, bluejay, California702, hogwartsgirl52 (that was my favorite part to.)

Some of you send the longest reviews and I absolutely adore them. I love hearing about your favorite partsss! All of them are so sweet, and I hope you enjoy this next IMPORTANT but short chapter.

To the story!

"Honey, you think the babysitter will be alright, right?"

Carly looked over at Gibby worriedly as he sat behind the steering wheel. Gibby chuckled at her expression.

"Of course, Carls. No need to worry."

"She was late though, that just seems so unprofessional." Carly said, crinkling her nose in disgust

"Mara will be fine, I promise." Gibby said as he leaned over to kiss her cheek, as he pulled away he saw the lights approaching the vehicle.

The lights were blinding and for a moment Gibby and Carly squinted in confusion of what was happening.

The collision was loud, and sent the car toppling onto its side. Gibby got the impact, and was killed instantly... The car rolled and for a moment I saw the fear in Carly's face as she stole one last glance at Gibby.

And then the car was crunched in, the metal bent in unsightly ways.

I woke with a start, breathing heavy irregular breath.

"Mornin' sunshine." Freddie said, as I pulled my head off his shoulder.

My back ached from sleeping in a crappy airline chair.

I attempted to stretch as a desperate attempt to relieve my aching back. My attempts were to no avail.

I grunted, ignoring the fact that I had laid on Freddie's shoulder for…

I glanced around for the time.

Probably seven hours.

Damn it.

"Bad dream?" Freddie asked.

I stared straight ahead, expressionless.

"Me too." He said, breathing out. "Almost every time I sleep." He confessed.

I glanced over at him, hoping to get a glance at his eyes, at his emotions.

I nod slightly, barely tilting my head.

That was as much of an agreement as I was going to give.

I cleared my throat, looking over at him.

Then the words I had kept to myself for so long, slipped.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked, randomly.

He smiled slightly, looking amused by my question.

"I don't know." He said honestly, running his fingers through his hair, before continuing quietly. "I've always cared about you."

I stopped, my stomach dropping in surprise. I decided to change the subject.

"I only held hands with you, to call you out. I thought you would wimp out." I confessed.

He turned his head to face me, smirking slightly. Freddie looked into my eyes knowingly.

"I know." He said simply. "But, I thought I should enjoy it while it lasted." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Enjoy it?" I said, my eyesgrowing wider.

"You know… You're not inflicting unnecessary amounts of pain on me lately." He explained.

I slapped him, playfully and he chuckled. The laughter died down and his eyes were still on mine.

"You loved holding my hand." I said, teasingly. Laughing, I leaned back in my seat.

"You're right." Freddie replied seriously staring in my eyes.

I rolled my eyes, playing it off as well as I could.

It seemed like our newest element of our relationship was teasing each other, instead of fighting with each other.

Fights weren't so practical when you were raising a child together, and that went unspoken between us.

But, I admite even before that... The fights in high school had even died down.

"If you're in love with me just say so!" I said, repeating the words he had spoken to me years ago, smirking at the simularities.

I could tell he got the reference, by looking at the smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"You wouldn't be able to handle that." Freddie said, smirking cockily. And yes I noticed.. Not quite admitting. Not quite denying.

But, I wouldn't be able to hand it. That was true. If there was one thing I had learned at an early age, is was that being attached to someone only meant losing a part of you when they left.

"You wouldn't be able to handle me." I said, glaring at him.

I realized then, where this conversation was leading. Our playful banter had suddenly taking a serious turn.

"I've handled you for twelve years." Freddie said, rolling his eyes.

"No, I've put up with you for twelve years." I corrected.

Freddie stopped, thinking.

"You realize when Samara turns eighteen… We'll have been together for thirty years."

I stared at him momentarily fixated on the word 'together.'

"So?" I questioned, though I knew the significance. I didn't want to hear about it.

"Remember when we were ten and we visited Carly's mom at the hospital?"

Yes.

"The story she told us?"

He took my silence as encouragement to continue.

"About the man, who found a stone and kept it in his drawer for thirty years, until he found it a diamond one day. Then, he used it to marry his fiancé. And, how she told us about how patience leads to beauty."

He stared at me.

"If you ask me," I said frankly, "His girlfriend was tired of waiting for him, and planted the diamond there herself."

He chuckled at this. "He should have proposed with the stone?"

I nodded.

"She wasn't ready for him to." He said, staring into my eyes.

"You don't know that."

"The point of the story is timing and patience. Things work out if you wait."

"Nothing ever happens if you wait." I said, imagining the many times I had told myself I would tell Carly about everything.

I was aware then, of how long we had stared into each other's eyes.

"I'll try to remember that." Freddie said, obviously contemplating something. He turned to the window, deep in thought.

"Names?"

"Sam Puckett and Freddie Benson." Freddie said evenly, staring at the elderly Italian woman.

"We only have one room left." The woman said.

"We'll take it." I said, exhaustedly. I was dead on my feet; this was the third hotel we had tried.

"We have strict policy. Married couples only, we don't except inappropriateness." The woman said suggestively.

"And it is very obvious you are not siblings." She said, eyeing us suspiciously.

Chizz. Mamma needs her sleep.

I slid Freddie's arm around me and looked up at him lovingly.

"But we are married!" I said disgustingly cheerfully, the woman's eyes widened slightly. "I kept my last name, because I'm the last in my family."

"Samantha Puckett-Benson." I said, the words dancing off my tongue for the first time.

Freddie arm tightened around my waste at this and smirked down at me.

The woman stared doubtfully at us.

"So, can we have that room now?" I asked.

"Where is your ring?"

"I took it off, for the metal detector at the airport and I haven't put it back on yet." I fired back.

"How long have you been married?"

"8 months." I answered, pretending to count in my head.

"Married on December 13th." I smiled, cringing on the inside for what I was about to do.

I pushed myself on tiptoes and swiveled in Freddie's arms until my breath was at his cheek.

Gently, I pressed my lips to his jaw. I ignored the dropping feeling in my stomach.

I prayed to God Freddie couldn't hear the extra loud thud of my heart.

Cool it, Sam. Acting.

I giggled, girlishly. "Right, honey?"

"Best day of my life." Freddie said gently, looking me in the eyes. I could see the surprise from the kiss he was hiding.

I smiled as Freddie brushed a piece of hair from my eyes.

The woman cleared her throat breaking the moment between us. I looked down at her out stretched hand to see a small room key.

Lying is my specialty.

I followed Freddie down a narrow hallway to our room.

The key clicked inside the lock, and the door swung open.

Flipping the light switch on, a small room was revealed.

One bed.

Not a king size like Freddie's. Not even a queen size.

I was reminded of the twin size bed I had when I lived with my mother.

This one couldn't have been much bigger.

"Uh…" Freddie mumbled in confusion.

"Dibs."

"No. You're sharing that with me."

"In your dreams." I shot back, teasingly.

"What's the matter, wifey?" Freddie mocked, before turning serious. "There's not even a couch. Come on, Sam. We'll fit."

"Sleep on the floor." I said blankly, putting my suitcase on the counter.

I unzipped it, revealing stacks of clothes.

Pushing a pair of jeans aside, I found the t-shirt and sweatpants I was looking for.

"You sleep on the floor."

"What did you say Benson?" I growled, spinning around to face him.

He swallowed, doing his best to stay calm.

"I'm only saying that we can both sleep in the bed... So why should one of us sleep on the floor?"

I glared at him, trying to think of a way out.

"Unless… You're scared to sleep with your husband?" Freddie chuckled.

I scoffed at this, more afraid of losing the challenge than afraid of him.

"I'm taking that as you being petrified." He laughed.

I laid down, pulling the covers closely around me.

"Sleep where ya want. I could care less." I said grumpily, rolling over.

"Gracias, Senorita." He said, sliding under the covers.

I closed my eyes, trying to ignore three things.

One: The lack of space between us.

Two. His breath on my neck.

And three… the pounding of my heart.

I found myself lying awake , thinking.

Leaving Samara with Spencer was the right thing to do. Right?

Carly would have wanted it, I think.

Carly.

I pushed the thought back, bottling up the pain for some other time.

Freddie's arms were wound around my waist, and his face was inches from mine.

I wonder what he's dreaming about.

My thoughts rambled on like this. Some things pointless, some things important.

I studied his face as he slept.

My heard skipped a beat and my breath caught just as it had so many times since, that night on the fire escape.

You'll have to face it one day.

Don't be shocked, because I knew exactly what that meant.

On TV and on movies, characters always have this big epiphany about their feelings.

Let me tell you how it is.

You meet this guy, who annoys the absolute hell out of you.

It's not love at first sight, I'll tell you that.

You think about ways to get at him. You think about conversations that could have gone differently. You think about new ways to act like a smartass.

You think about him all the time. I hate him! you think, but you don't.

Because then something happens.

He stares in your eyes a few seconds too long, your hands brush when you're walking side by side, or maybe he gives up an awesome cruise to save your life from destruction… and then suddenly your stomach drops.

Or, maybe he talks about other girls and you feel that tiny pang of jealousy.

And it sucks.

It sucks so freakin' bad.

Because there's that tiny voice inside your head or maybe a tiny piece of your heart that's always him.

But your brain tells you, No.

And it's as simple as that.

So you don't think about it. You don't even put it into words.

You can't.

AussieNote:

I have taken like, two weeks. I'm sorry. I suck for that.

ALSO, this chapter was short. I suck for that also.

I've had so much CHIZZ going on, and I've been distracted by some things that are out of my control.

But, excuses are excuses. And I'm sorry. I think some important things were revealed though.

I just wanted to make sure you all know I'm here, and not quitting this story! (:

Thanks for the reviews. You're all so great. I'm about to go back to the top of this and do your famous moment. I hope you enjoy(ed) it. More famous moments in the next chapter. (For the cool kids.)

Peace. –Ausss.