As Tuesday progressed, the tension from the day's drama blanketed the group so thickly that they all went their separate ways for the remainder of the day. There was an understanding that they would do something as a group the next day, but the evening was devoid of the usual level of humor as everyone wordlessly split into different directions: Sam disappeared into her room and waited for Wesley return from whatever he had managed to get into, Jax and Taryn went on a hike, Spencer locked himself in the off-limits room downstairs, Dallas announced that she had to call her Dad, Gibby had wandered off, and Freddie chose to sulk alone in the gym. For the first time since their arrival, Carly felt alone. She wished that she could resolve the current issue between her and Freddie, but she hadn't arrived to a viable enough solution. She felt overcome with anxiety and guilt, which worked together to eliminate her appetite. Feeling ready to end this day, she trekked upstairs with hopes of falling asleep early.

Sleep, however, proved to be elusive. Her eye's would close for only a few minutes at a time before reopening at the slightest sound. She hoped that Freddie would join her in bed sooner than later, despite the possibility of him being upset with her. Even if they didn't get the opportunity to hash everything out before falling asleep, Carly still yearned to retire in his arms, as she did every night. Hours passed before Freddie finally snuck into the bedroom, but Carly's hopes for loving contact were crushed when he eased into bed with his back towards her, making no attempt cuddle at her side or pull her into his embrace. Suddenly realize the extent of their underlying issues, she finally stopped fighting rest and fell asleep, determined not to spend another night like this.

Carly opened her eyes very slowly the next morning. It took her longer than usual to realize that Freddie was not by her side but when she did, she immediately awoke with a sense of purpose: she had to mend things with her fiancé. She swung her feet over the edge of the bed and scanned the floor for her slippers. 'Just start the conversation,' she advised herself. 'The solution isn't necessary right now.' Once she located the slippers, she slid them on and headed for the kitchen where she was sure Freddie was beginning his day. Tip-toeing to avoid waking up the other guests, she crept down the stair and could already smell the aroma of strong coffee. Before she could turn the corner and see who was occupying the kitchen, she spotted Sam exiting her room and looking absolutely exhausted. Now she was torn between locating Freddie and being available for her friend who had, easily, sustained much more drama than she, herself, had. Carly decided to quickly check in with Sam before setting out to make-up with her other childhood friend.

"Hey, Sam," Carly greeted pleasantly. "Sleep well?"

"Hey, Carlotta," Sam replied with much less enthusiasm. "Actually, I'm running on about an hour and a half of shut-eye. Yup, you're looking at a champ," she finished with a smirk.

"An hour and a half?" Carly asked, incredulously. "Did you spend the entire night talking to Wesley.?"

"Mm hm," Sam hummed with a faltering smile.

Carly waited for her to elaborate and when she didn't, she urged with a loud, "AND?"

Sam let out a strained breath before sharing. "Welp, uhh, it went on for a while and I didn't get nearly enough sleep, so there's a lot of semi blacked-out moments. But the main gist I got from our conversation, and I hope you don't mind me paraphrasing, is that I'm hallucinating about 90% of the problems and the other 10% that actually exist are entirely my doing, but he was nice enough to consider my, uh, 'destructive upbringing' and the 'cloud of delusion' that I've let my friends build around me as contributors to my inability to recognize my faults. I guess I've just been too blinded by my friends' functioning relationships and I'm forgetting such how amazing of a boyfriend Wesley actually is."

Carly's face twisted into an expression that was combination of shock and disgust. "Sam, you can't be serious."

"As a heart attack, cupcake."

" 'kay…" Carly mumbled as she tried to understand how Sam could remain so serene. "So, how did you respond?"

Sam was quiet for a moment, as if she were trying to remember the moment, then she answered, "He has taught me so much about myself and life that I honestly owe him a lot. Wes's made me realize that I need to make smarter choices, like my diet -"

"Sam, what else could he possibly have to say about what you eat? You're wasting away!" Carly interrupted with an urgency that almost caused her to grab her friend by the shoulders and shake her.

"And my career," Sam continued, as if not to notice Carly's outburst in the slightest. "I have to start taking control of my career. I have to start having the drive, look, and dignity of a Dillard woman because that's my future, Carls. And without Wesley, I would have forgotten all of that."

It was like she had been possessed, Carly decided. This wasn't Sam. This was a brainwashed, lost soul in a Sam shell, and she feared that she had lost the real Sam for good. She had so many questions, but she couldn't bring herself to talk.

"I think the best way to show him how much I appreciate him - all of you, really - is by cooking everyone dinner. Tonight. There's a lot that I have to do beforehand, though, so I won't be able to come on the fishing trip today."

"Don't cook tonight," Carly insisted. She felt like this problem was so much bigger than her and there was no way she was going to be able to talk sense into Sam on her own. However, she felt like leaving Sam alone was also a bad idea. The best option was to keep her around her friends, people who truly loved her, and possibly sneak in a intervention with the rest of the girls. "Look, Brad and Issy are coming in tonight and I don't want you barricaded in the kitchen. Just come fishing with us. You can make dinner tomorrow, I promise!"

"I don't want the responsibility of cooking your rehearsal dinner," Sam whined. "No, it has to be tonight. I'm going to see if I can get another hour or two of sleep and then I'm going to head out and get ready for tonight. Have fun!"

She gave Carly a quick hug before heading in the direction of the bathroom, leaving Carly on her own to absorb the last four minutes. She felt utterly useless.

"I would have been better off just looking for Freddie," she sighed. At the mention of his name, she remembered her other task and rushed to the kitchen, hoping to find him. Instead, she found Spencer.

"She wasn't serious, was she?" Spencer asked with a flabbergasted expression. Then he remembered his manners. "Oh, and good morning."

"Good morning to you, too," she replied wryly, "and she seemed pretty serious to me. Dammit, Spencer, I don't know what to do."

"The only thing left to do is just have a good, old-fashioned intervention," he suggested.

"I thought of that, but with just the girls. I don't want her to feel totally ganged up on."

"Maybe all of us sitting with her will stress the severity of it a little bit…"

Carly thought about it, but still didn't feel comfortable with the idea. "I don't know, Spence. We need to be careful. She's, like, beyond fragile at this point."

" 'Fragile' is putting it lightly," he scoffed, grabbing his mug of coffee. "Sam Puckett is broken if she truly thought that anything that dick said is true. But hey, you're the Sam expert, so what you say goes. I suggest that you let Freddie talk with her, as well. A sensible male perspective wouldn't hurt."

"Speaking of Freddie, have you seen him around this morning?" Carly asked hopefully.

"Uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure I saw him go running with Gibster and Dallas."

"Weird," Carly said, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "He doesn't run."

Her brother shrugged. "I guess he's a runner today."

Carly left the kitchen, disappointed and slightly more stressed. The wedding was only two days away and there was still so much left to do, but there was no way she could allow herself to get swept away by the excitement of it all until things were officially back to normal with two of the most important people in her life.

Before leaving the house, Carly had extended an invitation to Wesley to join them on their fishing trip, just out of habitual manners. To her relief, Wesley declined the invite in order to pick up his attire for the wedding.

"I don't seem to have anything appropriate for an outdoor wedding," Wesley explained. "And I still find it important to look my absolutely best, no matter how…quaint…the company." He finished with a painfully polite smile.

In that moment, Carly wished he had agreed to go on the boating trip, if only for the chance to throw him overboard.


"Okay. I hate fishing. It's official."

"Stop complaining, babe," Jax commanded with a chuckle. "It's not that bad!"

"We've been out here for hours and I've caught nothing!"

"Because your hollerin' is scaring the fish away!"

The group laughed as Jax and Taryn continued to bicker. Carly couldn't say that she thought she'd ever get the urge to fish in the future, but the trip with her friends had been a lot of fun. Spencer and Gibby rented a fairly large fishing boat for a couple of hours at a dock less than an hour away from the cabin. The men, who had been much more excited about the trip from the start, had managed to separate themselves from the girls, who were doing a fair amount of whining. Dallas was the only girl close to enjoying herself, thanks to the special fishing trips she would take with her father. "We would get so excited whenever I caught anything," she reminisced. "Then I'd feel guilty and throw it back almost immediately." The girls laughed as they tried to patiently dangle their bait in the endless water, but boredom and frustration with the sport eventually drove all the girls to the bottom deck of the boat where the cooler was located. Each of the girls grabbed a beverage and picked a spot on the wraparound bench that trimmed the entire deck.

"It's kind of weird without Sam here," Taryn pointed out. "So, what exactly did she say? Something about staying behind to make dinner?"

Carly sighed and recounted her conversation with Sam earlier that morning, almost word for word. With each detail, the other two girls grew more and more agitated.

"Can we kill him?" Dallas asked, outraged. "Seriously, why are we still dealing with his bull?"

"We're not the one's dealing with it," Taryn corrected with a frustrated groan. "Sam is and it makes no effing sense! Ladies, we've got to step in!"

"That's what I thought!" Carly squealed. "We can't just sit back anymore. This has gotten beyond serious."

"What did Freddie say about all of this?" Dallas asked curiously. Carly closed her eyes almost in efforts to mask her mounting frustration and took a slow sip of her diet cola. Carly didn't get the moment alone with Freddie that she so desperately needed before leaving for the trip. He returned the to the cabin from his run and jumped in the shower almost immediately, offering Carly only a polite "good morning" and a quick kiss on the cheek before making himself unavailable again. She wondered briefly if Spencer had told him about the conversation between her and Sam, but that curiosity was quickly replaced with a desire to fix her own relationship. She just wished that she could talk to Freddie, no matter the topic. As he surrounded himself with the other men, he was making it even harder for her to steal him away for a long overdue chat.

"I haven't talked to him about it yet," Carly answered in a deceivingly casual tone. "But maybe we should just keep this between us girls."

"I don't know," Taryn said, seemingly mulling over the girls-only approach. "We may be past subtlety. A good ol' fashioned group pouncing might be what she needs."

"Group pouncing?" Dallas repeated scandalously. "No, that sounds terrible. I'm with Carly. She can't feel like everyone's against her or else we're just serving Sam to Wes on a silver platter."

Carly drained her can of soda then replied, "Well, whatever we decide to do, we've got to act fast. As dramatic as it sounds, she seems to be sinking deeper and deeper into his clutches with every passing day."

There was a pause before Dallas and Taryn started laughing boisterously. After a second, Carly joined in on the good-natured laughter.

"Y-yes, that was pretty dramatic," Dallas admitted through her laughter. "True, but dramatic."


The girls, tired from the day's excursion, rode back to the cabin in silence. As Carly drove, the anxiety that she had experienced from the past day gave way to a newfound determination: she was determined to repair the recent rift between her and Freddie, get her firecracker of a best friend back, and enjoy herself for the remainder of the time so that she could focus on more exciting things, like the arrivals of her Brad, Isabelle, and most importantly, her father. "All will be back to normal by tonight," Carly thought definitively, "even if that means no sleep for any of us." With that, Carly applied a little more pressure to the gas pedal, ready to arrive at the cabin and get to work. In the back of her mind, she hoped that the men were able to keep up with her.

As the cabin came into view, Carly was relieved to see that Gibby's car, which Sam borrowed for the day, was parked safely in front while Sam and Wesley's rental car was gone. A chance alone with Sam was just what she needed. Without Wesley there to influence her, she and the other girls had a real chance to talk some sense into her. After successfully parking, Carly exited the car and her eyes immediately linked with Dallas's, then with Taryn's. Without discussion, all three woman set a determined pace for the entrance as Carly vaguely noted the sound of the men parking the car behind them. Marching towards the house, none of the girls knew what there approach would be. They just knew they had little time to spare. None of them were prepared for what met them as soon as they opened the front door.

Before taking one step into the house, they were assaulted with the overwhelming aroma of bacon.

One of the many privileges of being Sam's friend for so long was learning how to identify the quality of meat, especially bacon, simply by the smell. Carly's nose immediately registered that this was high quality bacon, the kind that Sam favored. The perplexed women looked at each other with hopes that one of them would know what was going on. When it was clear that all of them were sufficiently confused, Carly called for their friend.

"Sam?" she called timidly. When there wasn't an immediate answer, they made their way towards the kitchen. Nearing closer, Carly called Sam's name again just before noticing that the door leading to the deck was ajar. They headed straight for the door and opened it to reveal an oversized picnic table bogged down with a feast…a feast of meat.

There were two large plates piled high with thickly sliced bacon, which flanked a rack of sirloin steaks. At one side of the table was a rubber container of chicken, both fried and barbecue. On the other side were two smaller plates of bacon (both significantly thinner and less greasy than the larger plates) and a tray of pork chops. The sight of all this meat would, under normal circumstance, make Carly's stomach churn. However, the she was more focused on the sight of her friend, who's back was turned to the girls at the moment.

Sam's hair cascaded down her back in big, carefree curls, reminiscent of their younger days. Underneath her hair appeared to be a bright blue hooded jacket, paired with long blue, pink, and khaki plaid shorts. The clothes looked new, but Carly recognized the faded, high top Converse sneakers from her visit to Florida years ago. Had it not been for her much slimmer frame, she could have easily been mistaken for sixteen-year-old Sam, long before the stresses of her current relationship took their toll. For Carly, it was like seeing a special friend for the first time in years.

Before anyone could say anything, Sam straightened up. "Your feast awaits, sweethe- oh. Damn, I thought you were Wes," she groaned as she turned and realized that the newcomers had not been her boyfriend. After a beat her face brightened. "Actually, this is good. I think I can come up with a much more kickass opening line than that."

"Sam, what is all this?" Dallas blurted while Taryn's mouth simply remained hung open. "Is this why you stayed behind?" At that, the front door opened and was quickly followed by an exclamation of "WHERE DA BACON AT?" from Gibby. Carly kept her focus on her blonde friend. Now that Sam was facing them, Carly noticed a design on the front of the hoodie, which was a shiny silver screen print of a pair of large headphones, made to look like they were hanging around her neck. It was just the cool, laid back attire that had been recently replaced with dresses and cardigans. She had missed it so much.

"What's the deal, Sam?" Carly finally asked just as they were joined by the men. "I thought you were, uuuh, watching what you were eating?"

Sam simply smiled. "It was getting pretty old."

"Ho-ly crap," Spencer gasped as the men gathered behind the women to take in the sight. "This is what I always imagined Heaven would look like."

"Sam?" Freddie called out tentatively. Carly turned around at the sound of his voice. His eyebrows were furrowed curiously, as if he were approaching an insane person. "Everything alright?"

"Never better, Nubby McDorkelson," she replied, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Instead of getting offended, Freddie smiled warmly. "Welcome back."

At that moment, the front door opened once again. "Hello?" rang Wesley's voice. The group instinctively parted for Wesley to take notice of the spread on the picnic table as he approached the kitchen. Without acknowledging a single person he slowly walked through narrow path created by his housemates and stood before the plethora of meat. He struggled to hide the confusion that he dared not show (out of fear that he would appear foolish) as he was rendered temporarily speechless.

Everyone stood in complete silence as they anticipated Sam's first biting remarks. She appeared to have great difficulty choosing the right words and after a minute, she finally gave up with a groan and a roll of her eyes.

"Man, Wes, you should have got here, like, five minutes ago! The opening line I had was pretty sweet. Ugh! Moment ruined."

"Sam, tell me what's going on this instant," Wesley demanded in a low, cold tone. Carly would have expected the receiver of such a tone to look a little unnerved, but Sam remained calm and returned the inquiry with a pitying smile.

"Whatever do you mean? I'm sure I mentioned that I would be cooking dinner tonight. Multiple times, even-"

"You know damn well that this is no kind of dinner," Wesley interrupted with an elevated tone. "This," he indicated with a hasty wave of his hand towards the table, "is a dramatic cry for help!"

"Ooooh, I get it," Sam cooed with a look of comprehension. "You don't think this is balanced enough, but I really did make sure to keep everyone in mind! I made bacon and for those of us who understand the meaning of good food, steaks for the men-"

"YEAH, BUDDY," Jax cheered. He acknowledged a raised hand from Gibby and slapped it in a high five.

"Turkey bacon for those of us soon-to be-married folk who are watching figures," Sam continued, winking animatedly at Carly and Freddie.

"Thanks, Sam," Carly piped in sweetly.

"Much obliged," Freddie added with a smirk and a tip of his imaginary hat.

"I even made that fake crap the vegetarians go nuts about!"

"Behind that judge-y remark was a kind gesture," Dallas observed with a raise of her finger and both of her eyebrows, "so I thank you, nonetheless."

Sam turned again to Wesley and shrugged her shoulders with a satisfied grin. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I know just how much eating healthy is important to you, so I made you this!" She walked to the other side of the table and picked up a green bowl that was sitting discreetly on the bench. She dropped it unceremoniously on top of the table to reveal a lackluster salad, complete with slightly wilted lettuce, hackneyed purple cabbage, and a large tomato that she hadn't even bothered to cut. "Salad," she sad flatly. "Yum."

The men snorted. The women bit their bottom lips and ducked their heads to avoid possible eye contact. Wesley fumed.

"You're an ungrateful child," he spat as he turned around and marched into the house. Sam marched after him, unable to let him have the last word.

"And you're a controlling, self-serving prick who wouldn't know how to treat a good woman if he had a manual and an instructional video, you ass!" she yelled.

"Inside, everyone, go go go" Gibby ushered urgently. Without further prompting, the group filtered into the house to watch the rest of the exchange.

Wesley turned around and rounded on Sam. "I don't understand how you continue to be so thankless for everything I've given you, everything I've introduced you to. And seriously, who spends hundreds of dollars on meat to prove a stupid point?"

"YOU DO!" Sam screamed with a jab of her finger to his chest. "You spend it on dinners, cars, clothes, just to prove how much better you are than everyone else! How is this different?"

Wesley opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to find a retort. Sam continued.

"I'm tired of being lectured on every aspect of my life by someone who's supposed to support me, no matter what! I've managed to survive without much of a mother, so I don't need someone coming in and telling me what to eat, wear, say, and feel in my adult life when I didn't even deal with that in my child life! Your 'authority'" she spat, complete with air quotes, "is something you gave yourself to feel important-"

"Enough, Samantha-"

"IT'S. SAM." she boomed. Carly didn't realize until that moment that she had been holding her breath. "Who is Samantha? Carly, do you know a Samantha?"

"No, Sam, can't say that I do," Carly replied innocently, folding her arms over her chest.

"How about you, Fredducini?"

Freddie shook his head. "Not sure. I know a pretty awesome psychopath named 'Sam,' but that's about it."

"Thanks, man," Sam mumbled gratefully. She returned her attention to her boyfriend, a renewed blaze in her eyes. "You were so damn busy molding me into someone else that you somehow managed to miss the amazing person I've always been. I don't get-"

Ding dong!

All nine heads turned towards the door, but nobody made a move for it. Spencer looked around the room, then tentatively volunteered to answer it. Reluctantly tearing away from the scene unfolding before him, he walked to the big door and open it slightly, obstructing the visitor's view of the people inside.

"Can I help you?" he asked politely.

"Um, hi," the young man with long brown hair said. "I'm looking for a friend?"

Spencer chuckled lightly. "Well, we have a house here full of potential new friends for ya," he replied sarcastically, "but we're kind of in the middle of something at the moment. You may have to come back later."

"Spencer, we're not in the middle of something," Sam corrected loudly, widely gesturing to the entire group. "We're," she emphasized, pointing between herself and Wesley, "in the middle of something. There's a difference!"

"SAM?" the young man shouted, trying to peer about Spencer's shoulder into the house. Spencer looked at the man surprisingly, then turned around and looked back at the group. As he turned, he inadvertently revealed the handsome visitor to everyone. Once Owen came into view, all of the girls' mouths dropped simultaneously.

"Sam! Please, I just want to talk!"

"No. Freakin'. Way," Taryn gasped.

Carly's head swiveled back and forth between Sam, who stood shell-shocked, and Owen, who continued to look at her with a pathetically hopeful expression.

"Sam, c'mon. I haven't been able to sleep or function normally since I first saw you and I won't be able to until we just get some sort of … I dunno, closure, I guess? A resolution? Something."

"Owen, seriously? Now? Right now?" Sam asked, raking both of her hands in her hair, instantly looking stressed.

"Sorry to interrupt, but just who the hell are you?" Wesley asked with absolute acidity. The confusion that he had tried to hide was apparent, now mixed with outrage.

Owen's eyes widened. "Oh, sorry, man. Uh, I'm Owen." Owen stepped forward and held a hand out for Wesley to shake, at which Wesley stared with an expression of unrelenting disgust. After more than a few awkward seconds, when it became apparent that Wesley would not return the friendly gesture, Owen grimaced, then used his outstretched hand to point lazily at his counterpart. "Wesley, I'm assuming?"

"Obviously," Wesley scoffed. Owen took a moment to gawk at the man in the khaki shorts and yellow polo shirt, who looked to be a polarizing contrast from the trendy young woman standing next to him.

"Okay, Sam, him?" he guffawed. "Are you seriously okay with dating 'the bad guy' from every single John Hughes movie? There's no way. C'mon!"

Gibby leaned over to Carly and whispered just loud enough for her to hear, "You know, now that he mentions it-"

"Shh!" Carly hissed.

Sam took a small step forward. "Owen, I'm not gonna tell you again. You need to leave me-"

"-I've been an idiot," he interrupt, daring to take a step closer. "That's indisputable. I should have never left. All this, Wesley, everything we talked about, it's all my fault."

"What exactly is your goal here?" Sam asked impatiently.

"I'm curious to know that myself," Wesley sneered. Owen's focus remained on the girl with whom he had incurred so much history.

"My only goal for right now is to just get you to have a conversation with me. That's it. I'm not trying to make any sweeping declarations here, I just want five minutes of your time." Carly noticed his left hand quivering, as if he was fighting the urge to touch her.

Sam didn't know how to respond, so she opted to stand still and say nothing. Her expression remained impassive, though her eyes softened almost undetectably.

"Enough," Wesley cried. "Spencer, show this guy out."

Spencer raised his eyebrows and snorted. "I'm not your henchman, Wesley. Besides, he's not your guest. If Sam wanted him out, he'd be out. Trust me."

"Do you want me out, Sam?" Owen asked in a low voice.

Instead of answering, Sam looked at the ground. Carly knew just how torn she was. She wished she could swoop her friend away and have a serious girl talk with her. She remembered how much just talking with Sam helped her through difficult decisions when they were younger. Sam looked like she needed that more than ever now.

"Of course Samantha wants you out!" Wesley shouted. "Granted, she's being a little slow about it-"

"You don't speak for me, Wesley," Sam growled, rounding on Wesley once again.

Wesley cocked his head back and considered the woman before him. "I get it. You care about this asshole, is that it?"

"You're the one calling ME an asshole?" Owen stepped forward. "Interesting."

Sam secured a spot in the middle of the men, who looked ready to pounce each other at a moment's notice.

"You need to make a choice, right now," Wesley demanded. "He needs to go or I will. We'll be done, do you hear me? Your career will be finished and you'll be free to skip off with this loser, is that what you want?"

Sam squinted her eyes and smiled, shaking her head ruefully. "Wow. As long as we've been together, it would be that easy to give me up, huh? You should be begging me to stick around and you're willing to let me go over a bruised ego? And you use my dancing career as blackmail? Incredible."

There was a silence that fell between the couple while everyone waited for Sam's next move. She simply shrugged.

"Well? Owen's still here. Why are you?"

Wesley's eyes grew wide as he understood the implication of Sam's question. "So that's it?"

"Looks like it," she answered simply. "It was fun. Sort of. Not really."

Wesley stared her down for a moment before smirking evilly. "It was all a grand waste of my time."

"None of that's necessary," Gibby piped in authoritatively. "Just make you're way out, man."

Wesley tipped his head back and laughed bitterly. "Of course, you'd butt in!" He stretched his arms out at both sides and turned slowly. "All the men around here all seem to jump at the chance to defend Samantha Puckett, whether it's warranted or not!" He faced Sam again, donning a maniacal smile. "For a girl who's so damn independent, you seem to need a lot of testosterone backing."

Carly's blood boiled and she was unable to remain silent. "It's not just a male thing, Wesley," Carly interjected angrily. "There's a few women here that aren't afraid to tear you apart, too, so try your best not to step out of line." Sam turned to her and smiled. It wasn't often that Carly got to show her sassy side, but she was always ready to defend her friends fiercely.

"Carly, I swear-"

"Before you say another word to my fiancé," Freddie jumped in, "know that I. Will. End. You. Watch yourself."

Carly felt such a rush of affection, excitement, and hope at Freddie's defense that she had to refrain from dragging him upstairs and smothering him. Though they were on shaky terms and hadn't really spoken all day, he still jumped to her side, being more of a hero to her than ever. She loved him more than anything.

Wesley laughed harder and shook his head. "You're all seriously delusional! How is being overly involved conducive to a healthy friendship? Sam and I have never been anyone else's business, yet you all just can't seem to butt out!"

"And you just can't seem to find the door!' Jax said pointedly. "Do you need help locating it?"

Carly guessed that it was Jax's imposing nature that prevented the villainous man from directing any sarcasm towards him. Instead, he faced Sam once more. "You know, it's fine. I'm free to find a woman more worthy than you, which shouldn't be hard. And you're free to scamper off like a slut-"

Just then, a lot of things happened at once: Spencer leapt to hold Owen back from attacking Wesley, just as Gibby held back Freddie. Jax worked hard to prevent Carly, Taryn, and Dallas from leaping on the snooty man who had just insulted their friend to the highest degree, their high pitched wailing adding a frantic soundtrack to the all-around chaos.

Nobody, however, was available to hold back Sam, which was how she managed to land a hard, very accurate punch to his throat.

Wesley fell back to the ground with a thud, gasping for air and striving to open his eyes as he tried to regain the wind that had been knocked out of him. Though Sam was small, she toward menacingly over her ex-boyfriend.

"Your crap is already packed," she growled. "Take the car and head back to Florida. When you get to the apartment, immediately pack your stuff and, for the love of God, you better be gone by the time I come back."

Wesley coughed as he tried to speak. "My…apartment."

"Oh-ho-ho, feel free to argue that point with my uncle Carmine and Cousin Chaz," Sam chortled. "I invited them to stay at the apartment, just until they've ensured me that you've left without pulling any shenanigans. And before you threaten anything," she pressed on, holding up her hand to prevent any possible interruption, "they're pretty knowledgeable of the law, too. They can make you miserable and avoid a cell, no problem. You just remember that, okay, sweetums?" She patted his head for good measure, then stood up and turned to Spencer. He was standing with Owen, and both men looked very proud at that moment.

"Spencer, do you think you can escort this guest out?" she asked innocently.

"Absolutely," Spencer agreed. "Jax, you mind grabbing his stuff?"

Jax stepped forward willingly. "Sure thing, buddy." He made his way over to Sam and Wesley's room just as Spencer stomped over to Wesley, grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the floor. Carly enjoyed the sight of Wesley, who always carried himself with such undeserved dignity and arrogance, being tossed out like a common criminal. She could already see the dark cloud that had hovered over all of them throughout the trip dissipating. She couldn't be happier…but she still had an incredible urge to slap him. She just managed to hold back.

Jax emerged from the room with a suitcase and a large duffel bag just as Spencer neared closer to the door. Still gripping Wesley tightly, he opened the door to find Brad standing there with a shocked expression, fist aloft and ready to knock. His wife stood behind him, just as surprised at the sight. Without a word, they both stepped aside and allowed Spencer to exit with the unwelcome guest. Jax followed, nodding politely to the new arrivals. Brad and Isabelle slowly entered the cabin, each holding a suitcase, and looked around the group."

"Umm," he uttered. "Obviously, we missed something."


A/N: I'm so glad that I was able to get this chapter out this morning. This has been one of the moments that I could not wait to get to. I hope Wesley's exit was befitting of his character. :o)

Thank you all who have continued to read, favorite, alert, and REVIEW this story! As I say all the time, I appreciate it so much. I hope you all liked this installment. I'm already excited about the next chapter.

Also, in case you aren't aware, I have started a new drabble collection, for those of you who enjoy your Creddie moments snack-sized. It's called iDig Wordplay. Check it out! You may like it.

Thanks again, y'all. I hope you enjoy "iHalfoween" tonight, for those who will be watching, and please enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hollaatchyagirl,

Phunky