AN: Happy Monday! Another late update as I am staying away from home at the moment and college is getting a lot for me mentally. Although, only had one class today so it wasn't too bad for me. However, I did spend twenty minutes on a bus to then realise when getting back to where I'm staying that I could've actually got a ten minute bus to a closer train station instead - welcome to public transport. And I do have the college play auditions on Wednesday which is exciting. I'll update yall on that one. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Five

Freddie opened the door to his apartment, planning just a quick stop for some clothes and supplies before he camped out in the Shays' apartment. However, when he walked in, he didn't expect his mom sitting on the sofa, her phone in one hand and a mug of cocoa in the other. She slowly looked at him, turning her head slightly.

"What time do you call this?"

He looked briefly at his watch. "Uh, seven thirty?"

"Don't be smart with me, young man!" his mom huffed, standing up. She placed the mug down on the coffee table with a hum. "Imagine my surprise when I got a call from the hospital an hour ago from one of my friend nurses, telling me that you had been checked in and just gotten out of surgery."

"I can explain, mom."

She scoffed. "You can explain, can you? Maybe you should've done that before I got a call explaining everything to me, huh. A broken arm, caused by jumping out the way of an ongoing car, and jumping out the way for, what, a girl. A delinquent girl at best."

"What—?"

"That, that girl. First, you almost killed yourself for that brunette spoiled brat – and now this. Must I make you join that Christian youth group? I trusted you to make your own friends, Fredward. Don't make me change my mind."

Finally, he found his voice. It had been a long time coming. "Are you quite done?"

She looked stunned.

"I am eighteen years old," he continued. "Why do you think you have the right to tell me what to do? I can choose who I'm friends with, let alone who I date. You know, I never quite talked to you about your unacceptable behaviour last year when I dated Sam – trying to bribe me with a bar of palladium? Working with Gibby and Carly to break us up? I was old enough to sign the surgery forms today, so I think I'm old enough to make my mind up about everything else – who I date, who I'm friends with, where I am all hours of the day."

"Fredward Benson, while you're under my roof, you follow my rules," his mother replied calmly. "Maybe I'm being harsh about your choices of friends, but I don't understand why you would risk your life for a girl like that. Do you quite remember the times you've complained about her? Been hurt by her? Number of times I've had to report her to the principal for bullying? Then I got a call because my son is in surgery because of her – and you wonder why I'm overreacting?"

"She's changed, mom."

"Oh, yeah? Then I think I need to tell you a few things. People don't change. Your dad left us, Freddie. He got on a bus and didn't look back, leaving us with nothing. I had to support you, look after you, feed you, work a full-time job for you and to keep us floating. I did not do all of that for you to waste your life on a delinquent from a bad upbringing. Can't you find a nice girl who isn't that Shay girl or Puckett girl? Go for a pretty, Christian girl whose parents are doctors or lawyers."

"You can't tell me who to date."

"No, you're right, I can't, but I can hold a grudge for a long time." She shook her head, ashamed, and picked her things up from the sofa. "I have the night shift, so I'm going to get ready. I expect you in bed by eight with your arm slightly elevated beside you. I'll speak to Karen downstairs and see if she can check on you—"

"I'm eighteen!" Freddie protested, groaning. "Is this going in one ear and out the other?"

"Don't speak to your mother like that! Nobody from the Christian youth club at Karen's church would dare to speak to their mother like you are."

"Look, I'm not trying to argue with you," Freddie said, calmer now. "Mom, get ready for work, but I'm going over to Spencer's and staying there for the night. I'm done arguing." With that, he left for his room and soon heard his mother's bedroom shut too. He hid in there until he heard the front door shut, so he threw the bag over his shoulder and crossed the hallway to the Shays' apartment. Sam greeted him from her lounging on the couch, smiling at the sight of him.

"Hi."

"Hey," he said, slightly glum.

"Oh, what's wrong?" she asked.

"You care about me now, do you?"

She blinked. "Wow, I'm sorry for asking, Frednerd."

Freddie ignored her and went for the stairs.

"You know, just because mommy got mad at you doesn't mean you have to take it out on me," Sam snapped. "I get it, you got hurt because of me and I'm not good enough for you, but you saved my life only a matter of hours ago. Yet here we are, arguing and at each other's throats yet again. Are you kidding me, Freddie? Why are we going back in time?" She stood up to walk over to him, her hand reaching for his face. "I thought we were getting along better these days."

"We are," Freddie sighed, relaxing into her touch. "I'm sorry. Her words really got to me."

"Well, I would offer a foot rub, but they're gross."

"I give them to you."

"No, I mean when I give them to different people," Sam said, grinning. He chuckled lightly, careful not to hurt his arm further. "How's your arm?"

He knocked at his bandage. "Still broken."

"Wow, since when did you have a sense of humour?" Sam teased. "Anyway, come sit down, baby. You need to rest."

He blinked, following her to the couch. "What did you just call me?"

She stuttered to reply, realising her words. She sat beside him, taking his bag from him and discarding it on the floor. "S-Shoot, sorry."

"No, it's okay," he said quickly. "I don't mind, okay?" He placed his hand on hers. "You can call me that more if you want. L-Like not in a dating way or a romantic way, just like if you wanted to. Ah, I'm being stupid now, sorry."

"No, no, I get you," Sam insisted. "We're both adults, and we're good friends, so I don't see why we can't have sweet nicknames for each other." She knocked his good arm with a grin. "Baby."

Little did they know, Carly and Melanie were standing at the top of the stairs, smirking like Cheshire cats. They were about to come down the stairs when they heard the two arguing, but just as they were going to break up the "what could've developed into a bloodbath," they heard the two make up, silently aww-ing and whisper-yelling "Seddie!" However, at the reminder of the Chinese food that was just getting cold upstairs, Carly cleared her throat and came downstairs. "Okay, sorry, little babies," she said, playing with the nickname. The two stared at her, eyes wide open, and minds racing to establish whether she'd heard their conversation or not. "But the Chinese food is getting cold."

"You got Chinese?" the two asked simultaneously, glaring at each other when they realised what they'd did.

"Oh, shoot, Carly, we have that thing," Melanie said, holding her phone up from her place at the top of the stairs. "You know the thing…"

Carly caught on, nodding her head. "Let me grab my jacket, then we can go to the—the—the…"

"The thing!" Melanie inputted quickly, trying not to draw suspicious to the two of them. "Come on, chop, chop. They—uh, he, she—oh, come on! They'll be mad if we're late." Carly gave her a "I don't think they're buying it look." "Again," she added.

Carly rolled her eyes and grabbed her friend by the arm, leading her to the door.

"Hey, what about the Chinese food, you two weirdos?" Sam asked, not buying a word of it but finding it awfully hilarious to watch the two. Freddie just smiled along with her, also having caught on to what was happening.

"Oh, you two have it! It's on my bed," Carly said, leaving the apartment. "We're going to be gone all night, so feel free to stay in my room together." Then as the door closed behind them, the two could just hear the girls trying not to seem suspicious burst into a fit of girly giggles, which in theory, made them seem more suspicious.

"Okaaaay," Sam said, laughing. "Come on then, nub. I heard there's Chinese food." By the time she'd finished talking, she was already going up the stairs with Freddie's bag. Freddie followed behind her, taking his time as he didn't want to accidentally misstep and end up in hospital again. When he got to the room, he joined Sam on Carly's bed, where she was already tucking into egg rolls. "Hello, nub. Took your time, didn't you?"

"Oh, shush, Puckett," Freddie smiled. Honestly, they had been getting on too well lately. Maybe it was to do with the fact he saved her life – or it was something else. He was expecting something to go wrong, however, for something else to get in the way of him finally asking her out again – but perhaps, he shouldn't ruin their friendship, he wondered. The thought had crossed his mind multiple times that day, and even the day before at the lock-in that maybe he shouldn't rush into things. He had just broken up with Annabelle, and he didn't know if Sam felt the same way. Best not to get your hopes up.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Sam hummed.

Freddie shook his head and bit into another egg roll. "Nothing, nothing. Was just thinking how tired I was." It wasn't exactly a lie, considering that the group had barely slept that night as they were laying in their sleeping bags on a cold, hard, tiled floor of their school basement. "Are you sleeping here tonight?"

"Probably. Melanie's going to be girling it up with Carly anyway at mine. Wouldn't be surprised if they filled our shared bedroom with balloons again. Maybe they picked up that doctor and they're at Build a Bra again, who knows. All I know is that they did not have a thing or even a plan."

"Do you think they left to get us alone again?"

Sam nodded. "Do you think…Carly knows?"

"Knows what?"

"That you…me…we almost kissed."

Freddie's eyes visibly widened as he remembered what had happened in the common room. It had slipped his mind until then. And the memory came back like the pain in his arm did – sharp and precise, hitting it where it hurt. His heart. "Did we?" he asked, feigning innocence.

"The common room…leaning in…maybe I'm just being stupid," Sam dismissed, shaking the subject off with her hand. "It was probably nothing…it was late…and we were probably both lonely and I just…"

"Sam," he said gently. "Of course I remember. You're not being stupid. I just don't want to rush anything – we're best friends." He clutched his plastered arm in the other hand, wincing at the small sparks of pain he was feeling. "It's just been so long since you and I…since we did anything like that…and I don't want to fritter our friendship away again. It only just feels like I got you back."

"And what if it works out? What if we pass up this opportunity and it never shows itself again, Freddie?" Sam asked genuinely. Her saddened expression was hidden behind her deadpan face, but Freddie could still see it, clear as day. "We can't just go to separate colleges thousands of miles apart in a few months and end it on a what if. God, have I been hanging out with Carly too much recently? I'm starting to sound like a self-help book."

"Look, it's not that I don't think it'll work out. We're both older, more mature than when we were sixteen," Freddie reasoned with her. "I'm just scared, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. The thought of being thousands of miles away from you, god, it scares me. More than being away from Carly scares me. But we only live once, right? And I can't spend my life without you. That's no kind of—" Interrupting her was a single kiss, placed gently on her lips as he pulled her closer with his good arm, her body staying limp. Although, after a few seconds, she pulled back and looked at him, eyes wide. "Wow, okay, haven't lost that tongue technology, Benson."

"You are something else," he grinned. "Tongue technology? Who says that? Honestly, the only thing you've said in the last twenty-four hours that doesn't sound like a self-help book or a line from Motify's saddest love songs." She laughed and pulled away from him entirely. "Can you pass my bag? Not to ruin the moment or anything, but my arm is stinging like a bitch."

"I've never heard you swear before," Sam told him, surprised. She grabbed his bag and handed it over, watching as he searched for a bottle of tablets and stole a sip of her drink to swallow it down. "Didn't think you could to be honest," she teased, referring to the cursing. "So, now what do we do? I thought you just said, like, two seconds ago that we're not going to get with each other."

Honestly, he hadn't thought as far ahead as the kissing part. He was just glad he had got that done without her breaking his other arm. He wanted to be with her, but he just wasn't sure if he was ready to date again. With a sigh, he decided to just tell her the truth. "Everything at the moment…is too much. When I saved Carly, do you remember you told me that I was just bacon? That whole speech. What if that's what's happening here? I don't want to lose you again."

"Freddie, you saved my life. Plus, I have actual bacon, so why do I need you as my bacon?" Sam grinned. Then she sighed, her hand reaching over to touch his face. "Look, let me put it this way, Benson. Nothing is going to change, okay? Whether we date now or later, things aren't going to change between us – but, like, just don't get another girlfriend, alright? You're mine." Freddie shivered once under her touch, having felt so unfamiliar to it after so long. "Got it?"

"Got it," he repeated, voice softening. "As much as I like the subtle touching, you're making me really nervous."

"Blunt, how different," Sam complimented, before pulling away from him and going back to the food. Once they'd finished up the Chinese takeout, Sam took the packaging downstairs to dispose of it and told Freddie that he better be resting when she came back. The empty threat made him chuckle, but he listened and got comfortable on Carly's bed. The memory foam didn't settle well with him, so he ended up attempting to lay on his back, but the pain of his arm made him roll over onto his side. However, not realising how close he was to the edge of the bed, he rolled right onto the floor.

"Ow."

Sam smiled from the doorway, cackling as she rested against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest. "Her bed is uncomfortable, I know. I would invite you to sleep on the couch with me, but I don't think your arm would like that."

"I thought we were both going to sleep up here."

"Aww, someone wants some of mama's sugar," she teased, smirking. He rolled his eyes. "Well, if you expect to sleep next to me, you're going to have to think of something or suck up the memory foam, nub." He didn't want to do it, especially with his mom being strange at the moment, but he couldn't think of a way around it. Sam was voluntarily offering to sleep beside him, despite the fact he had said he wanted to wait. She played it off, saying she just wanted to be there in case he needed something in the night. But he could assume otherwise – although, the idea of Sam being his nurse did seem very pleasant.

So, he sucked it up and knew that if she was out by the time his mom was due to get home, he could just clean up and spray his sheets to get rid of the girl smell; honestly, he didn't put it past his mother to sniff his sheets if she thought something was up.

She dropped down on his bed, immediately going for the remote. "Don't tell me that the channels in here are locked too."

"I think I worked out how to unlock it when I was seven," Freddie said to her. "She's never worked it out." He placed a finger to his lips, grinning. "So…Celebrities Underwater or Toilet Wars?"

She patted the space next to her. "Celebrities Underwater, let's go, nub."