"So you can't do something about my mom's boobs?" Sam asked Nate inappropriately as he stopped by the flower shop at lunch time to see Carly. "Just name your price."

He shook his head and laughed. "No. Sorry."

"Dang it!"

Carly was on the phone talking to her dad and as soon as the call ended, she walked up to Sam and Nate, giving her best friend a glare. "Sam, Nate's a pediatrician. How the hell could he fix your mom's… you know?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. Survival 101." She shrugged, making Nate laugh and Carly roll her eyes before leaving the two alone to give them privacy. "Hey Gibbs! Do you know any surgeon?"

"Sorry about that." Carly apologized shyly to Nate as soon as Sam was out of sight.

"It's cool." He replied, smiling at how cute she was when blushing. "Sam amuses me. I've never met anyone like her."

She narrowed her eyes at him and laughed. "Hands off, mister! Pete will kill you."

Nate raised his hands up to surrender playfully. "Hey, no worries! There's only one person who makes me smile more than Sam does." He fixed his gaze upon her eyes to let her know that he was referring to none other than her, and he really meant what he just said.

Before Carly could answer something back, the shop's door opened and in came Shelby and Freddie, who looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep. The bags under his eyes were visible and his hair was a little bit messy, something Carly noticed easily.

"Hi." Shelby greeted and Carly went up to her to greet her back with a hug, leaving Nate at the counter.

Thinking he owed Sam an apology for ditching Carly's surprise birthday party, Freddie tilted his head to look for Sam. Unfortunately, the blonde was nowhere in sight and he saw someone he didn't really want to see instead. His brows quickly furrowed in frown as he looked at him.

"I'm sorry I made Freddie miss your birthday. If I had known, I wouldn't have dragged him to Vancouver with me." Shelby apologized as Freddie stood beside her so he could clearly see Carly and ignore the guy he was starting to despise.

Carly nodded reassuringly and smiled at her friend. "It's okay. Freddie knows his priorities well." She shot Freddie a mischievous look before continuing. "Anyway, how's grammy doing?"

"She's fine now." Shelby answered happily. "Thank God!"

"That's really good to hear." Carly replied sincerely.

"Oh, I almost forgot about the reason why we stopped by in the first place. Freddie and I want to take you out for a birthday dinner tonight if you want since we weren't able to spend the day with you. What do you think?"

Carly looked at Freddie again and seeing him smile at her made up her mind. "That's so nice of you but it's okay." She felt that she would just be an accessory to them if she ever agreed but truth was, she could never bring herself to see him with somebody else even if they were going out for weeks.

"Carly…" he pleaded with his eyes. "We won't take no for answer."

Both Freddie and Shelby's eyes were hopeful and the look they were giving her was almost enough to change her mind. Luckily, Sam approached them just in time which gave Shelby an idea.

"Sam can come tonight too! Please, Carly? It would mean so much to me. The guilt's eating me alive." Shelby stated dramatically before looking at Carly with hopeful eyes. "Freddie's been restless while he was driving and I think we both know the reason for that."

Carly sighed in defeat and smiled. "Okay. I'll see you guys tonight."

Shelby and Freddie left as soon as Carly agreed which gave Sam the opportunity to question her best friend's decision. She was kind of pissed that she had to cancel her date with Pete tonight to go to a fancy dinner with Frednubs and Ms. Marx, as she said it.

"Can I say sorry?" Carly asked. "I didn't know you guys have a plan for tonight."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Eh, it's not your fault. Those two were persistent enough. I'll just take Pete with us tonight. That way, Freddie would have to pay for more and I get to have a little fun!" she smirked at her little idea.

"Great! Thanks Sam. So now it's Freddie and Shelby, you and Pete, and me and no one! Just great!" Carly whined childishly as she buried her face in her hands.

Sam walked up to stand behind Carly. With a grin on her face, she gently squeezed Carly's shoulders and fixed her eyes on her subject. "Cupcake, the solution to your problem is standing two feet away from you."

Carly opened her eyes and looked at the direction Sam was pointing to her. When she realized what her best friend was trying to say, her eyes opened wide followed by an immediate shaking of her head. "No, no, no."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Sam grinned deviously before pushing Carly to the man who would be so happy to hear what Carly would say to him.

Freddie and Shelby were the firsts to arrive in the restaurant where they'd be treating Carly. He offered to pick her up on the way there so she wouldn't have to take a cab but since Sam and Pete were coming too, Carly refused his offer.

That was why the expression on Freddie's face when Sam and Pete arrived to the restaurant without any brunette in sight was unreadable. The first thing that came to his mind was she wouldn't come and that Sam had just outsmarted him again by paying for her and her boyfriend's dinner.

Pete pulled the seat for his girl and the moment they were both settled, Shelby asked the question Freddie had been dying to ask them.

"Where's Carly? Isn't she supposed to be with you?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. Nate picked her up before Pete and I left the shop. They should be here soon. No worries."

"So she's with Nate?" Shelby asked happily. "That's great! I'm sensing we'll be having so much fun tonight. Besides, I think Nate really likes Carly. I saw how he looks at her at the shop this morning. I can't explain it but they really, I mean really, look good together."

"Yes!" Sam answered before turning to Freddie. "I think they do. Right, Freddo?"

"Right." He answered dryly before taking a sip of his wine and rolling his eyes on Sam when Shelby wasn't looking.

Minutes later, the much awaited pair arrived at the restaurant. Carly was wearing a blue summer dress and her hair was straightened out the way Freddie liked it. She didn't put any make-up except for a little blush on and lip gloss.

Freddie wanted to stand up and pull out her seat but knowing that it wasn't his job stopped him from doing so. He couldn't help it, she was a indeed a head-turner that night making him loathe Nate even more than he currently did.

Carly sat between Nate and Pete while Freddie sat across her and in between Sam and Shelby. No one seemed to notice how the two of them couldn't look straight into each other's eyes. Sam and Pete were busy playing thumb war, Nate was busy looking at the menu and Shelby was still thinking about her grandmother.

To both of them, this would be a long night.

"Carly, look at this." Nate leaned sidewards towards Carly to show her something from the menu he was holding. "What do you think? I heard it's good."

She looked at him and giggled. "Well, you should definitely tell that to Sam. She loves her ribs."

It was kind of ironic for Freddie to feel so uncomfortable looking at Carly and Nate being the opposite around each other. It looked like they were having a good time and the night wasn't even starting yet. He saw the same thing Shelby saw at the shop that morning, how Nate looked at his girl and how Carly laughed at the silliest things he was saying. It was all too familiar to him.

Then, he realized that they used to be that happy before. Carly and him.

"Hey." Shelby looked at him and rubbed his arms slowly. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, lacing their fingers together. "I'm fine. Just tired."

"I'll give you a massage when we get home tonight." Shelby smiled sweetly at him and he smiled back.

Sam was rolling her eyes beside him and Pete was chuckling at how adorable his girlfriend looked while teasing Freddie. Nate was talking to the waiter about his and Carly's order while she looked at them with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Sounds good." Freddie replied and knowing full well that Carly was staring at them, he gave Shelby a quick peck on the lips.

Carly's eyes narrowed before they turned sad. She wanted to yell 'Foul!' at him for doing that in front of her but she couldn't because she saw how happy Shelby was with Freddie.

"I'm going to the washroom." Carly stood up immediately and left, leaving the remaining five confused.

"Stop it, love birds." Sam scolded playfully to shift the attention from Carly. "And don't push it too far, Fredward. You're lucky Shelby's brave enough to go out in public with you. If I were her, I'd kick you to the North Pole the moment you asked me to go out with you."

Freddie smirked. "If you were her, I would've never asked you to go out with me in the first place!"

"Guys, guys." Shelby chuckled, clearly amused at how some things never seemed to change. "Are you always like this?"

Pete rolled his eyes. "Oh Shelby... You have no idea."

"That's me and Freddie!" Sam said proudly as she not-so-gently and not-so-accidentally pushed Freddie's shoulder just when he was taking another sip of his red wine to take his mind off Carly. The drink spilled, causing Freddie to jump from his seat.

He groaned when he noticed the red stain on his light blue polo-shirt. "Now look what you did, Sam!"

Shelby stood up too with a napkin in her hand. She desperately tried to wipe the remnants of the liquid off him. "I'm sure Sam didn't mean to. Here, let me."

"Thanks." he mumbled, letting his girlfriend do the work. It wasn't working though because he was feeling very sticky as his shirt was being glued to his body. "It won't come off."

Sam was getting irritated at how slow he was being. "Just go to the bathroom. You're making a scene here!"

Freddie glared at her. "You don't tell me what..." when she winked, he continued "Fine! I hope water does the trick."

He walked away quickly, silently wishing to run into Carly so Sam's classic act wouldn't go to waste. The washroom was a little bit far from the table where they were seating and he was quite thankful that if ever he gets to corner Carly, the rest of the guys would never see them.

And so he leaned against the wall and waited for her to come out.

Carly took a deep breath as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. If she could have her way, she wouldn't come back to that table just so she could witness how Freddie and Shelby were madly in love with each other. She considered faking a headache but Sam would know she was lying.

"I knew I shouldn't have agreed to this dinner." she mumbled to herself. "What the heck! Might as well get this thing over with."

She smiled sweetly at the old lady who was staring at her like she was nuts before heading out only to see him standing just outside the men's room. It looked like he had no intentions of going inside. Since he was looking at his shoes, she covered her face with her hair and walked fast.

"Carly! Wait!"

She abruptly stopped and fixed a smile before turning back. "Oh, I didn't notice you were there." Her eyes shifted to his toned chest which was almost popping out because of his soaked shirt. "What happened to you?"

"Sam." he explained and she nodded. "Can we talk?"

Her eyes widened. "Here? Now?"

He took a step closer to her and before she could take a step back, he held her hand and pulled her towards him. "Yeah. Here. Now."

She leaned helplessly against the wall like a prisoner as he stood in front of her, his hands both inside the pockets of his jeans. He was staring at her like she belonged to him, as if his stare alone could make her his forever.

"Stop staring at me like that." she hissed, still avoiding eye contact with him.

"Like what?" he questioned.

She groaned. "Like I did something wrong... like I'm a criminal and you're there to make me admit I've killed someone."

He sighed, pulled out his hands from his pocket, and strode quickly towards her until their faces were only inches apart. He put one of his hands on the wall, afraid that he'd lost his balance anytime with how close they were. If that would happen, his lips would accurately land on hers and no matter how much he desired for that to happen, he wouldn't want to make things more complicated than they already were.

Her heart started beating faster as their eyes locked. She couldn't find the strength to push him away from her even though that was what her mind was telling her. Instead, she just whispered. "Too close."

Freddie ignored her. "Why did you bring Nate with you?"

She blinked. Was he jealous? She kept it cool. "Why? Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yes!" he declared. "Are you dating him? Were you with him on the night of your birthday that's why you weren't answering any of my calls? I was so worried about you that I could die only to find out that you were with him? Wow!"

She raised an eyebrow and shot back cleverly. "What is it to you? Stop acting like a jealous boyfriend, Freddie!"

He detached himself from her and she breathed for the first time. Throwing his arms in the air, he laughed bitterly. "Jealous? Boyfriend? I'm your best friend, Carly! I'm just trying to protect you!"

"From Nate?" she asked back. "You don't even know the person! He's not Brad! And have you ever thought that maybe I don't want to be protected from him? He's a great guy, Freddie and I don't think I should even convince you to give him a chance because it's none of your business and it will never be your business!"

"It's none of my business? Fine! But don't you come crying to me when another waitress comes over to our table, kisses him on the cheek, and then tells us how she and Nate should date again!" he yelled out of frustration, completely forgetting one important detail.

"Don't worry!" she yelled back. "I'm not going to run to you because that's never going to... wait a minute! How did you know about that incident? I never told you that story!"

He almost smacked himself in the head. "I uh... Sam told me."

"Nice try!" she put her hands on her hips and he just knew that it was going to turn ugly. "I never told Sam either!"

Instead of apologizing, he had decided to spare Sam and explain himself. "I did that for your own good!"

"Leave me alone, Freddie!" her voice wasn't that loud anymore but she said it seriously. "I never said anything when you started going out with Shelby!"

She turned to leave without waiting for his reply. But before she could disappear from his line of sight, she again faced him and walked towards him. Freddie didn't know what was up and why she came back. He watched her close the distance between them, his pulse raising uncontrollably.

She tiptoed so that she was almost as tall as him and he couldn't believe she was going to kiss him!

"This is for what you did." she whispered seductively in his ear before bringing her face in front of his again.

He couldn't breathe and he couldn't think straight. The words Shelby and girlfriend were completely forgotten as he stared at her with her eyes closed and her lips... her supple lips pursed into a half smile. It was going to happen soon and he suddenly prayed that the kiss would happen before he'd pass out. He could smell her lip gloss and it was making him dizzy. He thought he needed to grip something for support.

And then she did it.

She stomped on his foot so hard he thought he might not be able to walk back to their table.

Sam didn't know what to think of Carly's smile as she approached them. It was either the talk with Freddie went great or it went the exact opposite of it.

A good five minutes after Carly arrived, Freddie came back. Slightly limping.

Shelby stood up to help him take his seat. Sam didn't miss Carly's devious grin as Freddie let out grunts once in a while.

"What happened to you?" Shelby asked worriedly.

He shot a dirty look at Carly before he explained. "Well, there was this annoying dude inside the bathroom. I was just trying to help her... him fix the uhm... the tissue holder because it looked like it was going to fall and land on his feet when he stomped on my foot really hard."

"Lame." Carly whispered and everyone turned to look at her. "I mean, that dude's lame for doing that to you and I can totally feel your pain. I ran into this girl on my way to the bathroom and she kept on whining about things she shouldn't put his... her nose on. It's so annoying."

Everyone, except for Freddie who was shooting daggers at her for the first time, was still looking at her like she was crazy until Nate spoke up. "That's... weird. Anyway, shall we eat?"

"Finally!" Sam exclaimed although by the way her monkeys were acting, she was positive that something wasn't right.

While Shelby and Nate were busy engaging in light conversation about each other's profession, Carly and Freddie were also busy rolling their eyes and sticking out tongues at each other. They didn't even bother to hide their hatred to Sam and Pete as the couple were just watching them with confusion printed upon their faces.

"I am not paying for his dinner." Freddie mouthed.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Nyeh."

"I hate you, Carly."

She kicked him under the table before she mouthed "I hate you more."

"Ow!" he winced and everyone looked at him. He tried to hide the pain as he thought of an alibi. "This salad tastes awful."

A/N:

Happy New Year! :-)