"Hello?"

"Nub."

"Nice to hear from you, too. Are you calling to answer my question?

"Err… kind of." He heard some noise around her, and her shout of "Watch where you're going, asshole!"

"Charming, Sam. Where are you?"

"Do you always wear clothes like that in college?"

Freddie frowned, looking down at his shirt. "What? It's just my yellow- Wait… how did you-"

"Hey stud." He heard from behind him. He jumped.

"Sam!" He stood up and climbed around the couch to reach her. He couldn't stop grinning. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm with the fashion police. I was called about the shade of that sweater."

"Sam." Freddie warned.

"You look like a banana!"

"Sam!"

She rolled her eyes, smirking at him.

"So, are you going to answer my question?"

Sam groaned. "I thought it was implied… but fine. Yes, I missed you."

Freddie's face lit up.

"You stupid nub." She added for good measure.

Freddie continued to grin through her insult. He raised his arms, "Come here, Puckett."

She rolled her eyes and grumbled, but took a half step forward despite herself. Freddie gathered her up and pulled her close.

Her protest was all an act, really. She had been waiting to be in the nub's arm again.

They stood like that for a minute, unmoving, until Sam finally composed herself and stepped out of his embrace.

"Okay, enough of that."

Freddie found her statement ironic, considering she had been holding on tighter than he was.

"So, how did you get here? How long are you staying?" He asked, not even bothering to hide his excitement.

"Woah, chill out, Freddison. I'm only here for the night. Thought I'd stop by on my way."

"Where are you on your way – hey! Where are you going?"

"Your room." She called over her shoulder. "I thought I'd drop off my stuff."

"Woah, woah." He ran in front of her, grabbing her upper arms to still her. "Okay, first off, my room is the other way. Second, who said anything about staying in my room?"

"Uh, I did. Let's go, Fredley."

"I don't think so. My room is barely big enough for me. And what about my roommate? I can't just intrude on him."

"I'm sure he will be fine. He might die of shock just seeing a girl in the room."

"He's brought girls in before."

"Well, then what's the problem? It would almost be like you were bringing your own girl in. Now, are we going?"

Freddie sighed, "Okay, I give in. There's a couch in my room; I'll sleep there." He explained as he led her to his room. "Hopefully Frank won't mind." Arriving at the door of his room, he starts to unlock the door.

"You're roommate's name is Frank? What kind of nubbish name is-?" She started to say, but cut off when the door swung open, revealing Frank.

"Uh… Sam, this is Frank. Frank, this is my friend Sam. She came by, unannounced, and has decided she is staying here for the night."

Frank nodded slowly. "Hey, Sam. Nice to meet you." He looked her up and down, and Freddie got an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Hi, Frank. So, this is where you're staying, huh? At least it's better than your room in Seattle. Where are the sheets with Galaxy-"

"Okay, Sam! That's enough. Did you want to go get something to eat?"

"Umm, do you realize who you're talking to?" Sam rolled her eyes, turning toward the door. Then, suddenly, she stopped, whipping back around. "Oh, would you like to come, Frank?"

Frank nodded, a little too animatedly. "Sure! Of course, only if you don't mind, Freddie?" He asked, as he started to grab his coat and wallet.

"Uh… yeah, I guess." To be honest, he would have much rather it been just him and Sam, but he couldn't refuse without giving a proper reason, and he wasn't entirely sure he had one. He just really didn't like the look in both of their eyes…

Two and a half hours later, the dorm room opened again, revealing a laughing Sam and Frank, and a grumbling Freddie, walking in after them and closing the door.

"And that waiter! He didn't know what hit him!" Sam exclaimed in between chortles.

Frank dropped down on the couch, and Sam followed suit. "I think the best part was Freddie, standing there, balancing the ketchup bottles!" They were now leaning against each other, their sides stitched in laughter.

Freddie groaned, "It happened a half hour ago, I think it's lost its amusing factor by now." He replied in monotone.

The whole night, Sam and Frank got to know each other while he sat there, like a third wheel. For the most part, they bonded over teasing Freddie. Though, to be fair, Sam did notice Freddie's resentment. She threw him questioning looks all night, and even went as far as to pull him aside and ask what his problem was, but he, as stubborn as he is, just brushed it off rather angrily. She rolled her eyes, mumbled something about how much of a baby he was being, and ignored him the rest of the night. Well, actually, she didn't ignore him. Instead, she went overboard on her insults, laughing it off with Frank.

After another minute, Sam and Frank finally calmed down. Frank turned to Sam, standing up and extending his hand to her. "Would you like to go for a walk?"

Sam smirked, flicking her eyes toward Freddie sulking on the bed, before placing her hand in his. "Sure."

She headed to the door, and Frank turned around, shot a thumbs up at Freddie, and left the room. Freddie just stared at the spot they just vacated, then let out a strangled grunt, angrily flinging a pillow across the room and dropping down on the bed face-first.

How could Sam do this to him? He thought they had had… something… the last time he saw her. They spent every moment together, and it just felt so… right.

But, now she's obviously moved on. To his roommate, for Christ's sake. He shared a bathroom with this guy. He wasn't even really Sam's type, anyway.

Well, okay, mainly he just wasn't like Freddie.

He had the bad-boy reputation. The leather jacket, heavy metal, motorcycle kind of guy.

Oh, God, what if he takes Sam out on his motorcycle?

To be perfectly honest, it did sound like something to which Sam would be attracted. It definitely would suit her. But, he always assumed – more like hoped – that Sam was more interested in the safer, maybe nerdier, type. She went out with Freddie's friends for the most part in high school. They had all been nerds.

Freddie lied there, contemplating this, when he heard the door open again. He didn't bother to look up, until he heard Frank speak.

"I'm sorry, man, I didn't realize. She's all yours."

"Wh- what?" He asked, quickly standing up.

"I didn't know you two had a thing."

"What are you talking about?" Freddie asked, rubbing his eyes.

Frank sighed, "I started to try to, uh, get a little more out of her, if you know what I mean, but she refused. She told me she was with someone else. I can put two and two together, man. She's out there right now; you should probably go."

He couldn't believe it. "She uhh… she said that?"

"Well, not in so many words, but I got the gist. She's really hard to extract information from, huh?"

"You have no idea." Freddie mumbled, but started to grab his and Sam's coat – who had left it behind. Before he reached the door, he turned to Frank. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it. I have my eye on this chick from my chemistry class anyway. She rides a Harley."

Freddie laughed, waving his hand behind him as he shut the door. He headed out of his dorm, walking along the path until he spotted her, trying in vain to light a cigarette without a lighter.

"I thought you quit smoking, Sam." Sam looked up, appearing unsurprised by his arrival. She shrugged, giving up on the cigarette and dropping down onto the bench. Freddie sighed, holding out her sweatshirt to her, and she grunted in appreciation, taking it and pulling it on.

"Sam… will you talk to me? No cryptic truths or evading the question, just talk to me. I need help… wrapping my mind around this."

"Around what?" She asked unenthusiastically, her eyes downcast to her hands in her sweatshirt pockets. Freddie groaned.

"Around us."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sam," He started, running a hand through his hair and sitting next to her. "Please."

"Don't please me, Fredducini. All I know is you were a total killjoy tonight."

Freddie opened his mouth in outrage, "Well, what was I supposed to do? You were flirting with my roommate!"

"What of it?"

"You've got to be kidding me, Sam." He retorted, "You know why I was upset."

"Actually," she replied, standing up and brushing herself off, "I don't. You have never told me, nor have you shown me, why you would have any reason to be upset."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're a fucking hypocrite!"

"How am I a hypocrite?"

"Oh, come on, Fredpus. You get mad at me for "flirting", but you haven't made even one little move!"

"What?" Freddie asked, genuinely confused.

"We spent three days together, Freddie! I know you enjoyed it. Or else why would you have put up with me for that long? But you didn't do anything! I was the one to drag you to the bed, I was the one to initiate the make-out. I wasn't going to just wait for you!"

He shook off his shock, still enraged, "Are you serious, Sam? Ever since that weekend, where I couldn't so much as put my arm around you without you pushing me off, or that night, when you told me it was just a 'heat of the moment', I've been afraid that if I say anything, it'll send you away!"

"That's crap and you know it." She responded harshly, "I'm here aren't I? Obviously nothing you did 'sent me away'."

"That doesn't mean any-"

"You want to have two or three kids." She interrupted, and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Favorite food is meatloaf, because it was the one dish you had growing up that wasn't organic. Your favorite color is blue. Your celebrity crush is Keira Knightley. It takes you freaking 90 hours to get ready. You'd love to meet Bill Gates, because he built the Internet or whatever." Freddie laughed slightly at her generalization. "You sleep in a t-shirt and boxers. Pet Peeves are when people drive under the speed limit, saying the one – which I still don't get by the way – when your pen runs out of ink, losing your chapstick. You sleep on the left side of the bed. You don't suck at singing, and your favorite song is Fix You by Coldplay. You're insanely jealous of Javier, and now apparently Frank."

Freddie just stared at her, his eyes wide, and she let out a frustrated groan.

"I know what a freaking MMORPG is, Freddie!" She then smirked, with no hint of humor or teasing. "Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game."

His eyes widened even more, but Sam just shook her head, glaring at him slightly.

"Yeah. I listened."

He knew it was widely inappropriate, but just hearing her say the words made his eyes lust over, because God, she just recited the acronym. She never fails to surprise.

Shaking his head, he took a step closer. "Sam, I-"

Sam sighed, "I have a truth for you."

He scoffed, "Come on, Sam. Not right now. We're in the middle of-"

"Where's your dad?"

Freddie froze, staring at her. "What?"

"Where's your dad, Freddie? We've answered all sorts of questions, from shallow to heavy-loaded. But you never answered that one, and I haven't either. I need you to answer, Freddie."

"Th- that's not how the rules work-"

"Screw the rules! This is important."

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"I need to know that you trust me. You need to trust me, so I can let myself trust you back. That's the only way this is going to work."

"Okay." Freddie took a deep breath, "Um… my dad lives in Missouri. My parents divorced when I was six. They, uh, they didn't want to call it divorce though." Freddie laughed, bitterly, "They never said the word. They would say that 'daddy is going away for a little while' But I knew, of course. He tried to be good about regular visits, but as the years went by the visits were less and less frequent, until they just stopped.

"Then, when I was twelve, I, uh, I found out he got remarried. Four years previous. He never told me he was even seeing anyone when he would visit. I got really mad at him after that… I stopped returning his calls. That went on for about… six years, I guess. I just talked to him again, actually, for the first time in a while, about five months ago, right after I got here. I guess I just thought… there's no point in holding a grudge against him. Sure, he doesn't make the best life choices, but he's still my father."

Freddie shook his head, "Okay, there. I told you." He watched as Sam sort of gaped at him. "Um… your turn?"

She composed herself, nodded, and looked down at her hands, beginning to talk, "My dad was a great guy. No one knew he was having any problems. Until he turned up lying on the ground with a gun in his hand."

"Sam…" Freddie started, but cut himself off. Instead, he just sat down beside her, not touching, waiting for her to initiate any contact.

"It came as a huge shock to everyone. He always seemed to be so well-put together. And it just made me think that if he could do it, anyone could."

"How old were you?" He asked softly, sliding his hand into hers. She held onto it, tightly, and continued speaking.

"Nine. I was nine, and that selfish bastard killed himself. I didn't even know what suicide was when I was nine years old!

"What could have been so bad that he had to leave us? I didn't know, so I blamed myself, like every other kid does when something happens with their parents. I guess I still do blame myself…"

She looked up, exhaling, her eyes completely dry. "That's it. So, umm, you were saying something before, right?"

"Sam, you can't blame yourself. I tried to blame myself for my parents separating – it just makes everything worse for everyone. Your mom will worry, you will feel like crap all the time. You have to know that the only thing you did to your dad was kept him alive as long as he was. You couldn't have kept him from doing it, but you postponed it, because he loved you. He loved you, and I know he would be so fucking proud of everything you've done."

Nodding, Sam stared down at her hand – the other still being interlocked with Freddie's.

Freddie waited for Sam to look up again, and he stood in front of her, taking both of her hands in his. "Are you okay, now? Are you ready? Because I'm sorry about before. I do want this, Sam. I want this so badly, I can't think straight."

She laughed quietly, "Man up, Benson." She replied teasingly, but her cracking voice betrayed her, "You act like the girl in this relationship."

Freddie growled at her, hastily pulling her up by the waist, bringing her in and planting his lips on hers. Sam gasped in surprise, but after a moment, began to kiss him back, hungrily. She wrapped her arms around his neck, yanking his head closer to hers to deepen the kiss, causing him to moan into her mouth.

After a couple minutes, they broke apart for lack of breath, leaning their foreheads against one another.

"I think I just experienced every emotion in the dictionary in the last 5 minutes…" Sam whispered, out of breath.

Laughing, he pulled her close, despite her protests, and just held her. He knew that even if she wouldn't say it, she needed it.

Finally, she let out a breath, relaxing in his arms and resting her head on his chest, just below his shoulder. It was such a natural position. He just gathered her up tighter, and after a minute or two, leaned down to whisper in her ear, "So, do you think you could repeat the part about the MMORPG?"

She burst into laughter, "Oh, so that's what got you going, huh?" At his widened eyes and incessant nodding, she rolled her eyes. "Maybe later. Right now, we should probably go back so Frank doesn't think I killed you."

"Oh yeah, what did you say to Frank?"

"Well, I guess I had been sending him the wrong vibes, so I just told him I was waiting on someone. I tried to make it obvious – I didn't want to make things weird between you two."

"Doesn't matter. I could have gotten another roommate if I had to. What I can't do is get you out of my fucking head."

"Yeah, well, I tend to charm all of the guys around me." She replied, stepping away from him.

"Hell yeah, you do." Freddie grumbled.

"Aw, is ickle Freddiekins jealous?"

Freddie just rolled his eyes, although it was rather ineffective as it was masked by his giant grin he couldn't get off his face.

Sam walked around him, whispering into his ear, "You won't get out of my mind either."

Freddie smirked, hurrying to catch up to her. When he reached her, she slipped her hand into his without looking over. A chill ran through him.

"So, you never answered my question. Where are you on your way to?"

"Oklahoma."

"Oklahoma?" Freddie asked, his eyes widening. "Why are you going all the way over there?"

"I don't know, needed a change in scenery. Melanie's there, thought I'd crash with her until I figure out what's next."

Freddie nodded slowly, starting to unlock the door. Suddenly, he stopped, turning to face her. "Wait… you said you came here on your way… Massachusetts is nowhere near Oklahoma."

He saw Sam smirk as she moved past him through the doorway.

"Well, I've never been very good with geography."