Waking up in his bed, that first time, it was...she didn't have the words. It was beyond belief. The last thing she remembered was snuggling up to his side, one arm around his torso while he played with her hair (he seemed to be endlessly fascinated by her hair). The next thing she knew, she was flat on her stomach, head buried under a pillow, and he was gently shaking her awake. Hand to God, she couldn't remember the last time she slept for six hours straight. She was usually woken up by hunger pangs or from a bad dream or one of her mom's boyfriends banging around the house. Waking up with him, seeing him smile down at her, she felt warm and kinda, kind of...safe. She'd been in no hurry to lose that feeling, but of course then his mother started making noise and that was the end of that. Since then, they'd managed to spend the night together three more times. Each time, it was the same story. She slept.

Slowly, it was sinking in that she didn't have to be afraid with him. She'd finally gotten the balls to talk to him, to tell him that she wasn't the princess, but he said it didn't matter. He didn't want Carly, he wanted her, Sam Puckett, in all her screwed-up and insane glory. She was the only one he wanted. It worked out because he was the only one she wanted. Freddie understood her in a way Carly never could. He understood what it was like to grow up without a dad. He knew what it was like to love a mother who never saw you for who you really were. He felt the pain of broken dreams, of always being second place, never quite good enough for the world.

This had to be a dream, this taste of sweetness. How else could she end up with a boy who got her? Not only that, but she'd discovered, much to her surprise, he knew how to use his hands. He was more experienced, physically speaking, than she'd expected and his confidence in this area was stunningly sexy. He knew how to use that too. They texted during the day, but he emailed as well. Now, she wasn't some girly girl who swooned at some stupid romantic gesture, but his emails...

There was one where he told her that after a fight with his mother, he pictured her smile to calm down. Another where he dreamed about the two of them jumping into a car and taking off, leaving behind everything but each other. In one, he wrote about wishing they had the years back, about wishing he could have swept her off her feet after their first kiss. There are some she couldn't believe he actually put down on virtual paper, full of fantasies and dirty talk, and reading them made her impossibly aroused, feeling like she'd die if she didn't kiss him right away. Her favorite emails, though, were the ones where he talked about his feelings for her.

Neither of them mentioned the "l" word yet, but she was pretty sure that was the name for the all-consuming feeling she was experiencing. Hell, she had to force herself not to scribble Mrs. Samantha Benson in the margins of her notebook, like Carly did for every boyfriend she'd ever had. It was like an addiction, this need to spend every second with him. She was pretty sure that, if they could get away with it, she'd just move into his room and spend every night sleeping in his bed. The night wasn't the same without him. They couldn't even be next to each other without touching. She didn't care where, so long as there was skin on skin, but his favorite was the "my female, grrrr" arm around the neck move. Once, Jonas had merely walked by her in the halls and Freddie threw his arm around her so fast, she'd nearly gone completely off-balance. The possessive move had only confirmed what she'd begun to suspect.

Freddie could be a badass. It wasn't noticeable to the casual observer; you had to be able to see through the outer layer of dork. He was pure crap with anything involving slapstick or a punchline, but he had sarcasm down to a fine art. They'd been going to a lot of movies, partially to make-out, but mostly they liked to pick the crappiest movie playing, sit in the back row, and compete to see who can come up with the snarkiest comment. The boy could be vicious and it was awesome. She hadn't really tried to entice him into anything too illegal yet, but she did get him to drink a beer once when they were hanging out at her place. Of course, before he'd drink it, he made her promise that they'd actually do their homework for an hour without stopping. Her math teacher had practically fainted when she'd turned in work the next day. Whatever, it was worth the cross-eyed looks. Freddie was very entertaining when blitzed. She was already plotting a way to repeat the experience.

Everything conspired against her. Everything he did, everything he was, she couldn't fight against it. She was starting to believe, to believe that it was her turn. It was her turn to be a princess in love with a prince, a secretly tough, trustworthy, too hot for words prince, who loved her back and who would never, ever leave her. It was her turn to have more than just "one day" where she got to be happy.

Until Carly leaves.

And he stays.

'Stolen Moments: iCan't Take It' is almost done. Thanks to everyone who has left feedback, especially WhiteKnightro who gave me the push to finish 'Apex: Sam.' Feedback keeps me motivated!