AN-I think this is my longest oneshot so far…And for those of you who are fans of How I Met Your Mother, I hope you like this! And for those of you who don't like the show, I hope you like it too!

Clique

"So I think that we can get Spencer to lend us parts from his olds lawn mower," Carly said, flipping through her notebook. "And we can use those to build a small working Ferris wheel for our model theme park, sound good, you guys?"

"Sure," Sam said, not looking up from her laptop.

"That sounds…cute," Patrice, who was working with Sam and Carly on this school project, said. "But what if instead of making a Ferris wheel, we make this ride called Tunnel of Forbidden Love, where the riders get to go on a virtual journey of a poor forsaken girl who fell in love with a vampire and a-"

"How about no?" Sam snapped.

"Um, what she means is," Carly said quickly. "Mr. Lumpkin gave pretty specific instructions for this project, and he did mention that he'd like us to make a model of a traditional theme park, and I just don't think a ride like that is very…traditional."

"Oh, okay," Patrice shrugged. "Then I guess we can do a Ferris wheel."

"Great," Carly said. "Then why don't we meet back here tomorrow to work on it?"

"Cool," Patrice said, getting to her feet. "I'll see you too then. I need to pick up my new designer bag. Later!"

"Why'd we get stuck working with her?" Sam groaned as Patrice left the Shay's apartment.

"Oh come on, she's not that bad," Carly said. "Besides, Mr. Lumpkin's the one that picked our groups, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sam said, heaving herself off the couch. "You have any spaghetti tacos leftover?"

"There should be a few left that you didn't devour last night," Carly said. "Anyway, just try to be nice to Patrice while she's working with us on this project. I don't understand why you don't seem to like her in the first place."

"Because she's one of the prissiest girls in Ridgeway!" Sam pointed out. "And the ditsiest. Plus she's always skipping all over the place with her little clique…It makes me sick."

"What makes you sick?" Freddie asked, letting himself into the apartment.

"Nothing," Sam mumbled.

"We just finished working on our art project with Patrice," Carly explained. "She just left a few minutes ago."

"Oh I know, I saw her down in the lobby when I was coming back from the Groovy Smoothie," Freddie said.

"Did she gush all over you because she still thinks you're a vampire from that video?" Sam scoffed, taking a bite of her spaghetti taco.

"No, actually, her and I had a nice conversation for a little bit down there," Freddie said. "In fact, I've never realized it before, but Patrice is actually pretty cool. I mean, sure, I've always thought she was attractive, but she really seems like a great girl. Which is why I asked her to have dinner with me this Saturday night."

Sam nearly chocked on her spaghetti taco. Even Carly looked rather shocked.

"You mean you asked her out?" Carly frowned.

"Yeah," Freddie nodded. "We have reservations for Pini's at six."

"Um, I-wow," Carly said. "That's just really…unexpected."

"Yeah," Sam said, finally managing to swallow her food. "Poor Patrice. Not even she deserves something as terrible as a dinner alone with you."

"You survived them, didn't you?" Freddie reminded her.

"Barely," Sam mumbled.

"You know, Sam, it sounds like you're a little jealous," Freddie said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Why would I be jealous?" Sam snapped, slamming her plate down.

"Um, Sam, that's my special plate I got from Portugal," Carly said. "So could you-"

"You're clearly the one who has problems," Sam continued, ignoring Carly. "Why the heck would you want to ask out Patrice? You don't even know her!"

"She's lived in this building for years," Freddie pointed out. "She's pretty, nice, and my mom happens to think she'd be a fine girlfriend for me."

"Oh, well in that case, you might as well marry her," Sam said.

"Ha, ha," Freddie said dryly. He turned back to Carly. "I actually just came over here to see if Spencer was home; I wanted to borrow a nice jacket for Saturday."

"He's out fishing with Socko's nephew Bass," Carly said. "I'd get you a jacket myself, but last time I went through Spencer's closet, I nearly stepped in puddle of mayonnaise, so I'll let him get it for you when he gets back."

"Okay, cool," Freddie said. "I'll come back tonight then."

"Wow," Carly said as Freddie closed the apartment door behind him. "Freddie and Patrice…Who would've thought?"

"Yeah, I'll call the school paper and tell them to run the headline 'World's Most Awkward Couple'," Sam said.

"Oh come on, they're not awkward," Carly said.
"How do you know that?" Sam asked. "We've seen the two of them together like, twice! And one time she nearly got him killed by letting that Shadow Hammer guy know where he lives, and the other time she ditched him for Gibby dressed up like a werewolf!"

"Okay yeah, it's sort of awkward," Carly admitted. "But I mean, if Freddie wants to give her a chance, then we'll just have to get used to her."
Sam scoffed. "Yeah, right."

Carly gave her friend a sympathetic look. "Oh, Sam. I know this might be weird for you, since Freddie and you dated-"

"It's not weird for me," Sam said at once.

"Sam," Carly said knowingly. "You mean to tell me you're not just the tiniest bit jealous?"

"Why would I be jealous?" Sam asked.

"Because," Carly replied. "It's always a little weird, seeing your ex dating someone new."

"Maybe if you still have feelings for them," Sam said, trying to laugh Carly's comment off. "Which I don't."

Carly wasn't entirely sure she believed that, but she had enough tact not to challenge Sam. Just yet, that was.

"So then I realized that it was the toothpaste that I was feeling in my shoes," Gibby said to Sam and Carly as the girls stood by their lockers at school. "And then I-"

"Gibby, we don't want to hear about your weird feet problems!" Sam snapped.

"Well!" Gibby said indignantly. "What's her problem?"

"Eh, she's just a little testy because Freddie asked out that girl Patrice," Carly explained. "You know, the one who was all over you because she thought you were a werewolf?"

"Oh yeah," Gibby said. "Man, she's hot."

"No she's not!" Sam said. "She's stupid looking, which works out perfectly, since Freddie's stupid looking too!"

"Then why'd you go out with him?" Gibby asked.

"That's it!" Sam said, reaching for Gibby, but luckily Carly was able to hold her best friend back.

"Sam, you don't need to murder Gibby over this," Carly said.

"Fine," Sam mumbled, still glaring at Gibby.

"Hey, you guys," Freddie said, turning to corner, hand in hand with none other than Patrice.

Sam gave an audible groan and turned to her locker where she pretended to busy herself playing with her microwave.

"Hi," Carly said brightly. "Wow, hand holding? Looks pretty serious."

"Yeah, our date this weekend went great," Freddie said as Patrice giggled. "It looks like we're officially boyfriend and girlfriend now."

"Oh…wow," Carly said. "Well that's so nice!"

"Yeah, it is," Freddie said, staring into Patrice's eyes. "Well, I need to get to class. I'll see you later, Patrice."

"Bye Freddiepie!" Patrice said in a nauseatingly sweet voice. "Text me!"

"So, um, Patrice," Carly said as Freddie hurried off. "You want to help me and Sam finish the project after school?"

"Sure," Patrice nodded. "Can we do it a little later though? Freddie wants to take to the Groovy Smoothie and buy me one of those big expensive love smoothies."

"You know what?" Sam snapped, spinning around and slamming her locker shut. "You-I-You-Nobody likes you, Patrice!" And with that, she stormed off.

"Um…" Carly said to Patrice. "She-She meant nobody liked you in the good way."

"Oh, okay!" Patrice said happily. "I'm gonna go outside now and see if I can get my skin to sparkle with this new lotion I bought!"

"I don't know about that girl," Carly said, shaking her head.

After school, Sam headed right back to the Shay's apartment without even waiting for Carly.

"Alright, Puckett," Carly said, walking into her room, spotting Sam laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. "What's going on with you? You've been acting upset ever since Freddie and Patrice started going out."

"Why the heck is he even dating her?" Sam snapped. "She's so not his type!"

"What's Freddie's type?" Carly asked, amused.

"Not her!" Sam said.

"Look," Carly said, sitting at the edge of her bed. "We'll talk about this later over some ice cream, okay? But Patrice just texted me and said that she's on her way over, and we really need to work on this project, so just try and put aside your feelings about this whole situation and get through this."

Sam didn't respond.

"I'll call you when she gets here," Carly said, leaving her best friend to have a few moments more peace.

Sam didn't move from her spot on the bed…What was Freddie's type? She honestly didn't even know anymore. Freddie had only two girlfriends (well, three, if you counted Valerie, which she never did); her and Carly, and they were as different as you could get! For a few days, Sam had the wild, crazy thought that maybe, just maybe, Freddie had preferred her over Carly. After all, him and Carly had only dated for a few days; they had lasted a month. Plus, didn't Freddie tell her that he loved her? But then as time went on, Sam realized that those thoughts couldn't possibly true as it seemed that Freddie was beginning to fall for Carly again. And here he was, dating Patrice, who had much more in common with Carly than with her…

Sam frowned as she sat up. As much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, she didn't want Freddie dating Patrice because, well, she didn't want anyone dating him. Anyone other than her, that was. She had been wrestling with the resurfacing feelings she was beginning to have for the nub for a few months now, but this, this was the final push she needed. She wanted Freddie back. And she would make sure it happened.

"Okay, we're almost done!" Carly said as she glued a clay person onto the sidewalk of the project.

"Thank God," Sam muttered under her breath.

"This project has been so much fun!" Patrice said. "But Sam, maybe if you didn't press the clay so hard between your hands like that, your person would stand a little better."

"Nobody asked you, Patrice!" Sam retorted.

There was a knock at the Shay's door and Freddie let himself in.

"Hey," he greeted the girls. "Wow, this project is really coming along great."

"Thanks, sweetiebunch!" Patrice said, almost causing Sam to gag.

"Hey, my mom's not going to be home tonight," Freddie said to Patrice. "What do you say after this you and I go back there and I cook you a romantic dinner?"

"Oh! That sounds so fun!" Patrice said. "But could we run back downstairs to my apartment before that? I want to feed my hamster first."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you want," Freddie said.

"Um, hey, Frednu-I mean, Freddie," Sam said. "We ordered pizza, and um, we have a slice left. You want it?"

Carly gave Sam a questioning look, but said nothing.

"Sure," Freddie shrugged. "I could go for some pizza."

"Cool, here you go," Sam said, jumping up and grabbing the plate from the counter and handing it to him.

"Wow, it's even seasoned with the perfect amounts of red pepper flakes, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese!" Freddie said, taking a bite.

"Yeah, well," Sam said modestly, shooting a triumphant look towards Patrice.

"Um, Sam?" Carly said, standing up off the floor where she had been working. "Could I talk you over in the kitchen about the, um, socks you borrowed?"

Sam shrugged and followed Carly into the kitchen.

"Alright, Sam, admit it," Carly whispered. "You're trying to steal Freddie back from Patrice!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sam said innocently.

"You know," Carly said. "I'm not gonna try and stop you if that's what you're doing."

Sam gave Carly a look. "You're not? I mean, not that I am, but-"

"Sam, you know I'd usually try and be happy for Freddie in a situation like this," Carly said, glancing over at the couple in her living room. "But in this case…I'm sorry, there's no way Freddie belongs with Patrice. They are the most horrible couple I've ever seen, and I will not have them over here everyday! You do what you need to do to end this!"

Sam smiled. "You know I'm still not admitting anything, right?"

Carly laughed. "Got it."

"Wow, this project looks awesome!" Spencer said, looking at the finished project later that evening. Freddie and Patrice had just left, and Sam had retreated upstairs.

"Oh, stop," Carly said modestly.

"So," Spencer said. "That chick Freddie's dating now, she's…"

"I know," Carly said. "I would've never thought he'd be into someone like her, but last week he asked her out, just like that. You think it's some weird guy thing?"

"Could be," Spencer shrugged. "I mean, she's relatively attractive. Guys sometimes fall for that. He didn't seem that into her from what I saw, at least."

"Really?" Carly frowned. "They were all over each other."

"Yeah, but other than that, Freddie seemed sort of distant, didn't you realize?" Spencer asked.

"I don't know, I guess I wasn't paying too much attention to them," Carly said. "They're having dinner over at Freddie's tonight."

"Well, maybe I'm wrong," Spencer shrugged. "But if you ask me, he seemed way more into-"

"Hey, Carls," Sam said, hurrying downstairs. "You know that thing you said to me in the kitchen a few hours ago?"

"About you trying-"

"Well, turns out you were right about that," Sam said quickly.

"Well duh," Carly said, rolling her eyes. "I can sense those things a mile away. Anyway, do you need to talk or-"

"What I need," Sam said. "Is for you to come with me, because we're going to put a stop to…you know what."

"Huh?" Carly frowned.
"Just come on!" Sam said urgently, grabbing Carly's wrist and dragging her towards the door.

"Hey, why am I out of the loop?" Spencer called after the girls.

"Sam, what are we doing?" Carly asked once they reached the hallway.

"We," Sam said, pulling a bobby pin out of her pocket. "Are going to mess up this date."

"What?" Carly exclaimed as Sam began to pick the Benson's lock. "Sam, we can't do that!"

"You told me to do whatever I had to do to break Freddie and Patrice up!" Sam pointed out.

"I know," Carly said. "But I meant, you know, flirt with Freddie and make him break up with Patrice."

"I did flirt with him today!" Sam said.

"Sam," Carly said, crossing her arms. "You gave him a slice of pizza."

"Well that's all the flirt I got; I'm not you!" Sam said, successfully unlocking the apartment door. "Now come on! They left to go feed Patrice's hamster five minutes ago, which means we have another five at most to do this!"

"I'm not comfortable with this!" Carly said as she followed Sam into the empty apartment.

"Eh, I'll go skirt shopping with you later to repay you," Sam said simply.

"How do you even plan on ruining this date?" Carly asked, looking around the overly neat home.

"Er…" Sam said. Truthfully, she hadn't given too much thought to this part of the plan.

"I know!" she said. "Maybe if we bring out all of Galaxy Wars stuff, Patrice will think he's too big of a nerd for her to date and she'll dump the nub!"

"Lot's of guys like Galaxy Wars," Carly pointed out.

"Yeah, but Freddie's got some pretty intense fan stuff," Sam said, heading down the hall to Freddie's bedroom. "Three hundred dollar movie posters, Nug Nug costumes, models of Proton Cruisers he spent weeks making…"

"I still don't feel right about this," Carly said as the girls entered Freddie's room.

"Where is all this stuff," Sam mumbled, ignoring Carly.

"Try the closet," Carly said. "And hurry! What if we get caught! Freddie will be so mad at us…"

"Closet, genius!" Sam said, hurrying over to Freddie's closet. She pulled open the door, only to be met by a full sized poster of Carly.

"Um…" Sam said awkwardly.

"Sam, that doesn't mean anything," Carly said quickly. "I bet that's from years ago; back in eighth grade. Look, this closet looks like Freddie hasn't been in it in years! He probably just never took it down."

"Yeah, probably," Sam said, thought she still felt a pang in her chest. "Okay, let's just get the stuff and-"

But just then they heard the front door of the apartment open, and they heard Freddie and Patrice's voice.

"Quick, hide!" Sam hissed.

"Where?" Carly asked.

"Under the bed," Sam said, diving under Freddie's bed, Carly at her heels.

"Crab!" Carly said. "Sam! We forgot to shut the closet door!"

But it was too late, they could already hear Freddie and Patrice's footsteps.

"I have some candles and a lighter in my room," Freddie said, walking into his bedroom. "I'll set them up on the table for our dinner."

"Oh, how romantic," Patrice smiled. "I love how-Wait a minute…Fredheart? What's this on your closet door?"

"Huh?" Freddie frowned, approaching her, carrying the candles and lighter.

"Why do you have this full sized picture of Carly Shay on your closet wall?" Patrice asked, hurt.

"That-Oh, um, that's-that's nothing," Freddie said quickly. "It's just-"

"And why does it say," Patrice continued, looking at the poster closer. "Carly Shay: One day you will be my bride?"

"I was thirteen when I wrote that!" Freddie said desperately. "It doesn't mean anything now."

"But Freddie," Patrice said sadly. "You still have it up…I'm sorry, but-but if you're still in love with Carly, then I don't think we can be involved."

"But I'm not in love with her!" Freddie said.

"Carls, this is perfect!" Sam whispered from under the bed. "They'll break up over the poster!"

"I still feel dirty," Carly mumbled.
"Then take a bath!" Sam hissed, still listening intently to the couple bicker.

"I don't know if I can believe that," Patrice said, crossing her arms.

"Patrice, Carly was my crush almost five years ago," Freddie said. "I thought I loved her then, but that was before I ever knew what love was!"

"I still don't know," Patrice said slowly.

"I'll prove I'm over her," Freddie said. He grabbed his trashcan and tore the poster of Carly off his closet door and placed it in. He then lit the lighter and set the poster corner on fire.

Sam's eyes widened, and Carly gave a small cringe.

"You see," Freddie said, stepping closer to Patrice. "I don't love her. It's you I love, Patrice."

"You really mean that?" Patrice asked.

"I do," Freddie nodded.

"Oh, Freddie!" Patrice squealed, throwing her arms around him.

"Come on," Freddie smiled. "Let's go eat our dinner."

Carly and Sam waited a moment before coming out of the hiding spot.

"Well," Carly said as the girls got to their feet. She looked down at the burned remains of her poster. "That was pleasant."

Sam didn't say anything as she also stared down at the picture.

"Sam," Carly said gently, putting a comforting hand on Sam's shoulder. "I-I really don't know what to say-"

"He loves her," she whispered. "He really does…He burned your picture for her…"

Carly didn't reply, but she hugged Sam tightly.

"He said he loved me," Sam said softly.

"He did," Carly said. "And he still does. Right now he's just…he's just-"

"We'd better get out of here," Sam said, nodding towards Freddie's window, which led out to the fire escape. "Before he comes back in here and sees us."

…..

"Where were you and Sam all night?" Spencer asked as Carly let herself back into the apartment later that night.

"We were just…out," Carly said, sighing as she sat down next to her brother. She had just come back from Sam's place, where, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make her best friend feel any better.

"Out?" Spencer asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sam sort of wanted to mess up Patrice and Freddie's date," Carly admitted. "Because, now don't go spilling the beans on this, because she still has feelings for Freddie."

"Really?" Spencer asked, sitting up right. "Tell me more! I love gossip!"

"Well, she was hoping to mess up their date enough for Patrice to dump Freddie," Carly explained.

"Did she?" Spencer asked hopefully. "Because I'd much rather have those two on my sofa then Freddie and Patrice."

"Yeah, so would I," Carly nodded. "But, well…it didn't go so well. Basically, poor Sam had to witness her ex-boyfriend proclaiming his love for another girl tonight."

"What?" Spencer exclaimed, his eyes widening.

"It's a long story," Carly said. "But Sam was a mess afterwards! Sure, she did her whole 'I'm fine, Freddie's a lame nub who I didn't really care about anyway' routine, but she was practically crying when I left her house."

"Aw man," Spencer sighed.

"I'll try talking with her more tomorrow," Carly said. "But I think she just really needed some space tonight."

"Good call," Spencer said.

"You know," Carly said. "I still don't know why the heck Freddie's attracted to Patrice!"

"It's weird chiz," Spencer nodded.

…..

For the next few days, Sam didn't leave her house. She missed school and even iCarly rehearsals.

"Still nothing?" Spencer asked as Carly entered the apartment after coming back from trying to talk to Sam.

"No," Carly said miserably. "I'm starting to get worried; she's really hurt! And the worst part is I can't even yell at Freddie for causing this whole thing because he doesn't know that Sam saw him with Patrice that night and, well, he's not actually doing anything wrong."

Spencer nodded. As much as he was concerned about Sam, he couldn't be mad at Freddie for it. Though if Sam didn't come around soon and go back to her usual self, he was sure he could find a way to be.

"I'm gonna go take a bath and then do my homework," Carly said. "Tomorrow I'll hopefully have better luck with her."

"Hopefully," Spencer agreed. He turned back to his television show as Carly retreated upstairs. A few minutes later, though, the front door opened again and Freddie poked his head inside.

"Hey," Freddie said. "You busy?"

"Um, no," Spencer said, turning the television off. "What's up?"

"Well, I have a date with Patrice tonight," Freddie said. "And I sort of wanted to tell you what I'm planning. I just felt like I needed to let someone know, and since Carly's been busy with something lately, I thought I'd come to you."

"Oh, well, okay," Spencer said.

"Well tonight," Freddie said. "I'm gonna set up this whole romantic spot outside on my fire escape and then call her over and take her out there and I'm going to give her this."

He pulled out a jewelry case and opened it up to show a silver heart-shaped necklace.

"Whoa," Spencer said.

"Yeah, it costs half my savings, but it was worth it," Freddie said, closing the case and putting it back in his jacket pocket. "I even got it engraved; it says 'Patrice, my one love' on it."

"I-um-okay," Spencer said. "But don't you think it's a little too soon for that? You've only been dating the girl for two weeks."

"I know, but it's just something about her," Freddie said smiling.

"Oh," Spencer said, trying not to think about how Sam would feel when she saw Patrice wearing that necklace.

"Yeah, and look, I need another favor from you," Freddie said.

"What?" Spencer asked.

"I know that Carly says Sam's been sick with some stomach flu these past few days," Freddie said. "But in case she comes over here tonight…Do you think you could not mention this to her? I know we broke up and all, but I think it would still be a little awkward if she found out, don't you think?"

"Um yeah, awkward," Spencer nodded. "Er, okay, fine, I won't say anything to her."

"Thanks," Freddie grinned. "You're a good friend. Well, I'd better be off; I still have a lot to do for tonight. I want everything to be perfect!"

Spencer groaned as Freddie left him. He just had to go and get himself tangled up in all this teenage romance around him, didn't he?

No more than ten minutes had passed when the apartment door opened again, but this time, Sam walked in.

"Hey," she said to Spencer. "Carly here?"

"She's taking a bath," Spencer said. "Are you, um, feeling better?"

"I guess," Sam said. "I've, um, just had a stomach flu these past few days..."

Spencer gave her a look.

"Carly talked, didn't she?" Sam sighed.

"Yeah," Spencer said gently.

"Well…whatever," Sam said. "So what if Freddie's in love with Patrice now? I don't care."

She threw herself down next to Spencer. "What are you watching? I just came over here to drop Carly's jacket off that she left at my place, but my cable just went out, so if anything good's on-"

"Freddie's going to give Patrice a necklace!" Spencer blurted out before he could stop himself.

"W-What?" Sam frowned.

Spencer sighed. He knew Sam being Sam, she would find out about this eventually. He might as well be the one to tell her and try to make sure she got hurt as least as possible. "He-He's going to take her out to his fire escape tonight and give her this really expensive necklace."

"The fire escape?" Sam said weakly. Did he really have to bring her there of all places?

"Yeah," Spencer said softly.

Sam looked down at her feet. "Oh…well, that's-that's…something. But I don't-"

"Yes you do!" Spencer said, jumping up. "Look, Freddie may think he loves Patrice, but that doesn't mean that he really loves her! There's still a chance for you two, I know it! I've watched enough soap operas to know that! You two are way better together than Patrice and him are! So go prove it to him! You know where he'll be!"

Sam looked at him. "You really think we could work out?" she asked.

"If Natalie and Eduardo could work out on Moments of our Days, then you and Freddie sure as heck can!" Spencer said. "So go! Oh, but um, I wasn't supposed to mention this to you, so if you could not mention it that would be great, thanks. Good luck!"

Sam rolled her eyes as she hurried out of the Shay's apartment across the hall.

"Well," Spencer said to himself. "Either something really good will happen over there and I'll be forever known as the man who found those two true love…or I'm gonna get hurt bad."

Sam easily let herself into the Benson's apartment and out onto the fire escape. Her heart flipped when she saw how beautiful Freddie had made it.

White roses had been placed everywhere and sparkling lights had been strung along the balcony. The nub even had romantic music on to finish it off.

Sam had to remind herself that this was done for Patrice, though, and she'd be better off trying to ignore it, as hard as that may be.

She wondered how much longer it would be until Freddie got here with Patrice…whether she was going to make a fool of herself…whether she'd be better off sneaking away now before Freddie arrived…

But then she spotted a laptop sitting on a chair. She wondered why someone as tech-obsessed as Freddie would risk leaving a laptop outside like this where it could get stolen or rained on.

Probably some lame slideshow of him and Patrice, Sam thought miserably to herself.

And then, unable to hold back any longer, tears began to stream down her face. Freddie had never done anything like that for her…He had never gotten her any necklaces or set up anything like this for her. Heck, he had burned his poster of Carly for her! He did that for her as a way of telling her that he didn't love Carly anymore, but he had never done anything like that for her! (Although, she would've never asked him to do that; Carly was her best friend, after all, but something to show her that that chapter in his life had truly closed would've been nice).

That was the final straw. She was going to leave. She didn't want to be here. He clearly loved Patrice more than he ever loved her, considering everything he had done for her…

But just as she was about to climb back through the window off the fire escape, curiosity got the better of her, and she went back over to the laptop.

She yanked it open, anxious to see just what else Freddie had done for his precious Patrice.

The second she opened the laptop, a slideshow began, but Sam gasped as she saw the title flash onto the screen. It read 'Sam'.

Sam, she read as the next slide came up. You are standing out here on this fire escape because finally, for the first time in months, something has worked out for me.

Confused, Sam read the next slide.

Patrice is not the one who I want out here; the place where we shared our first kiss to 'just get it over with'. It's you.

Sam didn't know if she could be reading this right, yet she felt heart flutter as the next slide appeared.

I'm sorry about these past two weeks. But I wanted this to be perfect. I've never put so much thought into anything in my life. I spent months working on this, so now, after a very, very long wait, I present to you The Highly Thought Out, Over-The-Top Plan to Get Back Your Ex-Girlfriend Back After You Were Stupid Enough to Let Her Go in the First Place.

Sam shook her head. Could this really be happening?

Step 1, she read. Find the girl who would annoy you the most and convince her to help you out and, if necessary, promise to set her up with werewolf Gibby again.

The next slide slid across the screen.

Step 2. Hack into teacher's computer and assign you, Patrice and Carly to work together on a school project so that I can 'conveniently' run into Patrice to ask her out.

Step 3. Announce to you that me and Patrice are officially going steady. If I'm lucky enough for you to still have feelings for me, hopefully by this point they will resurface.

Step 4. Continue to rub Patrice in your face. Then, just when it looks like you can't handle it anymore, announce that me and Patrice will be having a date at my place.

Step 5. Knowing you, you will use your devious mind to trash my relationship by sneaking into my apartment before we get there, so have myself and Patrice hide in my living room until we hear you come in.

Step 6. Have Patrice find my old posters of Carly, where she will pretend to get mad at me for it and claim that it means I still have feelings for her. I will then burn the poster. This part is not just an act. I really am over Carly. I know that was always an issue for you when we were first dating, and if I am going to do this right this time, I don't want there to be any question to it.

Step 7. Lay low for a few days before talking to Spencer about my super romantic plan to bring Patrice out onto 'our' fire escape and tell him not to tell you. If he does tell you, and if you are reading this, that means that he did, it means that he has given me his blessing as your closest father figure.

Step 8…Turn around.

Sam spun around and was shocked to see Freddie standing behind her, holding a bouquet of roses.

"You-" she said weakly. "This-What?"

Freddie smiled, and then, feeling confident, walked over to her and kissed her deeply.

Sam readily responded, realizing that it had been far to long since she felt his soft, warm lips…But then, still very confused, she pulled away.

"What-What is all this?" she asked breathlessly. "What-Was-You planned all of this?"

Freddie nodded.

"Everything?" Sam asked. "You never-You never really went out with Patrice? You never really loved her?"

"No, of course not," Freddie said. "I did it all in the crazy hope that I could win you back, Sam."

Sam blinked. "Wait, let me get this straight…For these past two weeks you've been playing me, going through this insane plan of yours, to get back together with me?"
Freddie nodded again.

"I see," Sam said. And with that she hit Freddie's arm. Hard.

He grimaced but didn't retort.

"You-You-You nub!" exclaimed. "Do you have any idea-" she hit him again. "Just how angry-" she hit him once more, causing him to wince. "You've made me? Do you know what these past two weeks were like? I should push you off this fire escape to teach you about playing me like that! In fact, I would push you off, if…if…"

"If what?" Freddie asked, grinning.

"If," Sam sighed, putting her fists down. "It wasn't so worth it."

Freddie handed her the bouquet of roses. "You have every right to be mad with me-"

"Shoosh yeah I do," Sam said, though she felt some of her anger leaving her as she held the roses.

"But I-I-You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this, Sam," he said. "Ask you to get back together with me."

"Well then why didn't you ask?" Sam asked.

"Because," Freddie said, chuckling a little. "You're a special girl, Sam. I didn't want to ask you to get back together in some boring, non-memorable way."

"So you opted for the crazy, complex way then?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Pretty much," Freddie nodded. "And it worked…didn't it?"

Sam couldn't help but smile at him. "Yeah, lucky for you it did."

"Very lucky for me," Freddie said, leaning towards her again.

"Whoa," Carly said suddenly, hopping off the window ledge onto the fire escape, looking shocked at what she appeared to just interrupt. "What's going on here…"

"Basically, this nub has spent the past two weeks playing everyone," Sam said.

"Huh?" Carly frowned.

"It was all an act," Sam said, grinning from ear to ear. "All of it. Patrice, his being in love with her…He planned everything just to drive me crazy enough to come over here so he could ask me-"

"-If she would get back together with me," Freddie smiled. "And she said yes."

"Oh my God!" Carly exclaimed. "That's incredible! But wait, I'm still a little confused. So everything that's been going on these past two weeks-"

"Was all part of the plan," Freddie nodded. "Sorry about burning your picture, by the way. I didn't mean it in a personal way."

"Yeah, I know," Carly said, looking on at her two best friends happily. "Well…I'll leave you two lovers alone. But Sam? My place when you're done, okay?"

"Got it," Sam nodded. "And um, Carls? Is that my butter sock you have there?"

"Oh, yeah," Carly said, looking down at the sock full of butter in her hand. "See, Spencer let it slip to me that Freddie was going to give Patrice this special little necklace out here, and I was going to meet Freddie out here and knock some sense into him."

"Really?" Freddie asked. "You would do that?"

"Hey, Sam was really upset!" Carly said.

"Thanks, Carls," Sam laughed. "Means a lot…even though you probably wouldn't be nearly as effective with that thing as I could be."

"Actually, I already gave myself a bruise with this thing when it swung into my arm when I was climbing out here," Carly said.

"Oh, and speaking of that necklace," Freddie said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the jewelry case he had shown Spencer earlier and opened it up and carefully hooked the necklace around Sam's neck.

"It's…" Sam said softly. "It's beautiful."

"Read the back," Freddie said.

Sam flipped over the necklace and read the engraving. Sam: my one love.

"Really?" Sam asked, looking up at Freddie.

"Really," Freddie said, leaning down to kiss her again.