Smile

"Carly, no," Sam said, talking into her pearphone as she drove through the streets of Seattle. "I don't feel like going to the mall with you."

She rolled her eyes as she turned onto the street where her apartment building was.

"Because," she said, continuing her conversation with Carly. "We just spent twelve hours at work rushing to get a bunch of T.V. scripts written. I'm exhausted; I know you have sudden bursts of energy when it comes to shopping, but I just want to go home, eat some meat and watch violent television for the rest of the night. We'll do something after work tomorrow, okay?"

Once she hung up with her best friend, she parked her car in front of her apartment building and dragged her feet up the five flights of stairs to her place. She quickly unlocked her front door and headed into her bedroom. She took a short shower and then changed into a pair of sweat pants and one of Freddie's old sweatshirts that he had left behind months ago that Sam had claimed as her own. Just as she was running a comb through her wet hair, she heard the sound of footsteps coming from the living room.

Putting down her comb, Sam grabbed an old sock and opened up the mini-fridge she kept by her bed and took out a stick of butter.

She stepped out of her bedroom, ready to give any intruder who had come into her home a thorough beating.

"Hey, who's here?" Sam said loudly, looking around the apartment.

"Sam, baby, it's me," Freddie said, walking into the room from the kitchen. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"Dude, you know I wasn't scared," Sam said, dropping her butter sock. "I have five pounds of ham in my fridge I need to protect!"

"Yes, because I'm sure if anybody actually did break in here, your ham is the first thing they'd go for," Freddie said, chuckling as Sam gave him a quick kiss.

"If I broke into house, the first place I'd go for is the kitchen," Sam pointed out. "And why are you sneaking into my apartment anyway?"

"What? A guy can't come and visit his girlfriend after work?" Freddie said. "Besides, I did knock. You must've been in the shower, though, so I just picked the lock and let myself in."

"You picked my lock?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow. "Aw, baby. You have learned something from me!"

"Took me ten minutes to finally get it, but I managed," Freddie said proudly.

"Well, it was nice of you to over to see me and all," Sam said. "But I really don't feel like going out tonight. Work was crazy and I just wanna relax."

"I know," Freddie smiled.

"You do?" Sam frowned. "How?"

"Well when we talked at lunch, you sounded pretty stressed," Freddie said. "I figured you'd probably want to take it easy tonight. Which is why, I did this…"

He took her hand and led her into the kitchen where two candles were sitting, lit, on the table, along with two containers of B.F. Wangs.

"Is that sweet and sour pork I smell?" Sam grinned.

"Yes it is; your favorite," Freddie said, pulling out Sam's chair for her. "Oh, and I also picked up these on my way here…" He set down a vase of roses on the table.

"Dude, are you serious?" Sam said, looking up at her boyfriend. "You really did all this?"

"Yeah," Freddie nodded.

"Um, why?"

"Just because," Freddie shrugged. "I mean, you're my girlfriend, Sam. I love you. I kind of enjoy doing things like this for you. Oh, and I picked up these for after dinner…"

He pulled out three DVD's from his bag.

"It's the entire Judo Junior trilogy!" Sam exclaimed. "I love these movies!"

"I know you do," Freddie grinned.

"Man, looks like I'm gonna have to do something big to even the score in this relationship," Sam said, chuckling.

"No you don't," Freddie said. "Besides, it's not like I'm not getting anything out of doing this, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've already gotten to see you smile about a dozen times since I've been here," Freddie said.

"So?" Sam shrugged. "I smiled. Big deal."

"Yeah, it is a big deal. To me, at least," Freddie told her. "Sam, you have no idea how much I love seeing your smile. That's why I like doing things to make you smile."
Sam could feel a blush creeping onto her face. "You know…you don't have to go all out like this to make me smile, Fredward. I really just need…you."

And with that, Freddie pulled her into an embrace, pressing his lips to his.

"I love you," he whispered when they pulled away.

"I love you too," Sam said softly.