Station
"Wow," Carly grinned as Freddie walked into her apartment wearing a tie and jacket. "Doesn't somebody look all fancy for his date?"
"Thank you," Freddie smiled. "Is Sam ready yet?"
"Yeah, I am," Sam said, coming down stairs, wearing a blue skirt and white blouse.
"Looking hot, as usual," Freddie said, staring at his girlfriend.
"Staring, as usual, are we?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I wish I could stare even longer," Freddie said. "But our reservations at Petrozini's are in twenty minutes, so we'd better get going."
"Yeah, about that," Sam said. "I canceled our reservations."
"What? Why?" Freddie exclaimed. "Do you know how hard it was to make those reservations?"
"Really? I never have problem getting reservations there," Carly said.
"Well yeah, because you flirt with all the busboys!" Freddie pointed out. He turned back to Sam. "Sam, I thought we were going to go out tonight?"
"We are," Sam said, grabbing her jacket.
"Well then why did you-"
"Look," Sam said. "You're always the one planning dates for me, so I thought tonight, I could take you out on a date."
"Isn't that sweet?" Carly asked proudly. "She thought of that all on her own!"
"You're going to take me out?" Freddie asked, amused. "Wow, Sam, that sounds-I mean, that was so-Wow."
"Good," Sam said. "So stop your stammering and let's get moving."
"Where are we going?" Freddie asked her.
"Well that's a surprise, Benson," Sam smiled. "Now come on!"
She grabbed Freddie's hand and led him out of the apartment.
"Are we gonna walk to wherever this mysterious destination is?" Freddie asked as the couple headed out into the fresh air of Seattle.
"Nah, it's too far," Sam said. "We're gonna take the bus."
"I could drive us there, you know," Freddie said. "My mom's out of town and she forgot to take the keys to her van with her."
"Nope," Sam said firmly. "My date, my rules. We take the bus. Besides, we can't make out on the way to where I'm taking you if you're driving, now can we?"
"Hmm, the bus it is," Freddie laughed.
They got to the bus stop just as the bus was pulling up.
"Hey, Sam!" the bus driver greeted her as her and Freddie stepped on.
"Hey, Joe," Sam said to him. "This is Freddie, my boyfriend."
"Oh come on, Sam," Joe laughed, looking at Freddie. "You can do better than that kid!"
"Yeah, I know," Sam said, patting Freddie's back. "But he's cool...sort of. Anyway, we're gonna get off on the last stop of your route, is that okay?"
"Yup, sit back and relax," Joe nodded.
"So," Freddie said as the couple headed to the back of the bus. "I take it you know that guy?"
"Oh yeah, I've known Joe my whole life," Sam said. "Literally. He was driving this bus when my mom gave birth to me here. See, right there." She pointed to a slightly discolored portion of the floor which Freddie made it a point to step over. "So I always get to ride this bus for free, plus any friends I bring on."
"I guess your mom's terrible planning has its perks then," Freddie said. "It got you free transportation, at least. Now...I believe I was promised some kissing..."
Nearly twenty minutes and one make-out session later, the bus came to a stop.
"Here we are," Sam said as they exited the bus.
"Where are we?" Freddie frowned, looking around.
"Oh just come on," Sam said, grabbing his hand. "Oh, and close your eyes! Like I said, this is a surprise."
"Okay," Freddie obliged, closing his hands and blindly letting Sam lead him. "Just don't-ow!"
"Sorry," Sam chuckled. She had led Freddie into lamppost. "Couldn't resist..."
Sam led him for a few minutes before finally coming to a stop.
"Alright," she said. "You can look now."
Freddie opened his eyes and saw that they were standing in front of a large brick structure. He gasped. "Sam! You did not! Is this really-?"
"The Seattle train station," Sam nodded. "Yeah, it is."
"But-But you hate trains when they're not involved in high speed chases!" Freddie sputtered.
"Yeah, and you hate watching sumo wrestlers fight over giant hams," Sam said. "But you took me to see that last week, didn't you? So, well, this is my way of saying thanks. Let's go in, though, or we're going to miss our train."
"Wait, you got us tickets?" Freddie frowned.
"Uh-huh," Sam nodded, pulling two tickets out of her purse. "On one of those old trains with the rivets and everything..."
"Those are my favorite!" Freddie said, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.
"Yeah, I know," Sam smiled. "Anyway, it's not really taking us anywhere. It's one of those dinner trains that circles around the city a few times."
"Okay, this is way better than Petrozini's," Freddie said as him and Sam headed into the train station.
"No chiz," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
When they boarded the train, they saw that their car was relatively empty.
"Most people aren't as big of trains as you are," Sam told him as they took their seats. "So at least we won't be surrounded by people tonight."
"Good," Freddie said, taking her hand in his. "I'm glad it will just be the two of us. Baby...I-I can't believe you did all this."
"Well you do stuff like this all the time for me," Sam mumbled, looking down.
"I know, and I love doing it for you," Freddie told her. "But none of my friends with girlfriends have ever had their girlfriend do something like this for them."
"How many of your lame friends actually have girlfriends?" Sam scoffed.
"Well, only a few guys from the AV club," Freddie admitted.
"You know, I've got to say," Sam smiled as their waiter set down a basket of biscuits on their table and the train began to move. "I'm actually not as miserable as I thought I'd be on a train."
"Could it have anything to do with the company?" Freddie laughed.
"Mmm, maybe," Sam said, grabbing a biscuit. "So, you really like all this?"
"I do," Freddie said earnestly. "But you know, Sam, as much as I appreciate you doing all this for me, you don't have to. I'd be more than happy just spending the evening with you at the Groovy Smoothie or my place or at Carly's. Really, as long as you're there, Sam, I'm good."
"What cheesy 1950's movie did you get that line from?" Sam asked.
"Ha, ha," Freddie smiled. He took a sip of his water. "Anyway, since we're on this historical train, want me to give you some neat trivia facts? This train was originally used to transport cargo from several cities in California and Oregon, and began being used as a passenger train in 1962. It also runs on-"
"What did I do?" Sam moaned as useless trivia continued to come out of Freddie's mouth. "What did I do?"
