'This isn't working, is it?'

Sam and Carly were now sitting on the couch while I was left in the kitchen poking at my food with my fork. The blonde was playing with the hem of Carly's sweater sleeve. I'm kind of surprised it hadn't burned yet. She had been staring at it for almost an hour now. The brunette, on the other hand, was facing Sam but she wasn't looking at her per se. She was just facing her direction, staring blankly.

They had been silent until Sam decided to break the silence with that awkward line.

'Don't you think we were both wrong?'

Carly sighed at Sam's second statement. She still wasn't looking at her "bestfriend".

'Come on,' she finally said with a light and playful shove of Sam's shoulder, 'you're Sam Puckett – the lovably patchy girl who can make anyone smile.'

Sam didn't react to that. Carly decided to stare at her bestfriend directly and reached for a few strands of blonde hair in her fingers. 'You're really good at making me smile. It shouldn't be too hard to other people, you know?'

There was only the most deafening silence that followed. It probably lasted for just five minutes. But, I knew then, that to all three of us, it felt like double. I decided to push my plate away and leave. Maybe they would actually "talk" things out if I left. But before I could even get up, Sam finally groaned out of frustration.

'I hope you're right,' Sam lightly pushed Carly's hand away and got up. 'I hope we were right.'

I wasn't sure I was in context anymore but whatever Sam's last statement meant, I'm pretty sure I was agreeing to it – none of these girls have thought things through. They were all acting out of too much emotion and I hated it.

Carly and I followed Sam with our gaze as she picked up her bag and went for the door. From where I sat, I could only see the back of the younger Shay's head. She was disturbingly silent.

I got up from where I sat and walked over to where she was. I placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

'Hey. Do you want to talk?'

She sighed and rested her head on the couch. 'Not really. I don't feel like talking right now.'

I nodded. And as a sign of respect for her decision, I went for the door to leave her alone. Both blonde and brunette needed time, I figured.

Just as my hand touched the door knob, Carly spoke up.

'It's going to rain, huh?'

'It would seem so,' I answered, turning back to her.

'I want to go out for a walk.'

It was confusing how she would ask for a stroll when she just asked about the rain. But right now, I just went with her. I thought that she wouldn't tell me that if she wanted to walk alone.

'Okay,' I took her coat from the stand and tossed it over to her.

Before we got out of her apartment, I made sure I had sent Sam a message about me taking Carly for walk. I was being sensitive after the series of events that I've seen.

She seems pretty down. I'll just take her out for a walk. I'm really not good at this. Come by if you can, k?

Carly and I don't go out by ourselves; we always had Sam with us. This is the first time I'd be out of Bushwell Plaza with just Carly. I just don't want to take the risk of being mistook for a rebound by anyone especially Puckett. So, I made it clear on the text message that I just wanted to cheer Carly up and that I knew my boundaries. Here's one thing you should know if you ever fall on the shoes of Freddie Benson, the last thing you want is a jealous Sam on your back.

Carly was true to every sentence she said before we stepped out of Bushwell Plaza. We were walking for an hour and, really, that's all we did. We just walked while the wind was cold and aggressive. The atmosphere was sending every signal about the upcoming rain. But Carly remained relaxed. She just looked at her footsteps – probably even counting them – as we walked.

I didn't mind starting a conversation. She told me she didn't want to talk and that she wanted to go for a walk. So, I decided that all she really wanted – well – was something refreshing for a change.

I just followed wherever she walked. We got to the nearby park and a couple of clothing and cellphone stores she only stared at from outside, and about another hour, when we found ourselves walking back toward Bushwell Plaza, she stopped.

Raindrops began to fall a couple at a time.

'When we were eleven,' she said as she looked up at graying sky. 'She stopped right here after I took her shopping for clothes and a cellphone. I told her that there should always be a way for me to reach her in case she got into juvy.'

I only looked at her, trying so hard not to talk.

'I found out she wasn't listening to a word I was saying. She just stopped here, staring at the sky.'

Carly smiled. She wasn't happy at all. I could tell. But she smiled.

'Then I was going hysterical because the rain was threatening to soak everything I bought for her.'

Then, she laughed lightly.

It was funny how at this context, I was the one who was about to go hysterical. The rain was picking up. The raindrops doubled in size and quantity and all I could do was stare at her.

'She just stood here and told me that nothing will ever keep us part.'

It was true. Nothing was supposed to keep them apart. It was just ironic how they are the ones who are keeping themselves from each other at this point.

'She made me promise too. I said yes, completely forgetting how the rain suddenly fell so hard and drenched our day's hardship.'

She began laughing.

'Then she laughed. She asked me if soaked shopping items were part of that promise.'

She kept laughing and laughing. But I wasn't. I only looked at her as she continued to look up like she was meeting the rain head-on.

A lot of people around us began running as they looked for shelter from the shower.

But Carly? She was still on the same page – only that her laughter began to break. When she finally stopped laughing, her eyes closed. Even if raindrops slid down her face, I never failed to notice the tears that began to fall.

'Carly?'

I felt pathetic. I didn't know what to do. Then, I began to feel a very disturbing throb in my chest. And perhaps, one of the reasons I pulled her into an embrace was because I had to shield that newly found pain there too.

I could feel her shaking her head in my shoulder.

'I told her everything I felt,' she said and began to sob.

I listened very intently as she explained how things went the day I locked them up in the studio. I remember shutting my laptop close and decided not to eavesdrop at that moment. I never knew the depth of their conversation back then until now.

'She loves me, Freddie.'

I nodded as I finally understood how things became very unstable after that day. 'She does, Carly. I know.'

'But I'm just so scared to lose her I couldn't give us the chance.'

This was perhaps nothing short of heart-breaking for both of them. Love can be so messed up. I partly blame myself for pushing her to realize what she really felt for Sam. You could say I destroyed everything; I destroyed that relationship that was unshaken. And I'm not proud.

'I'm so sorry, Carly,' was all I could muster as I held her even closer. 'I didn't know.'

She continued to cry in my shoulder and I continued to be helpless until she broke the silence between us with a whisper that I couldn't have understood if her lips were even an inch distant from my ear.

'I'm tired.'