Liver

"-And then I went to the bank," Spencer told Freddie as he continued to polish his kitchen counter. "And it turns out I have eight more dollars in my bank account than I thought. And then I stopped off at Pink Bunny for some fro-yo, and found a quarter that I swear-"

"Um, Spence, that's nice and everything, but I just stopped by to see if you had a can opener me and my mom could borrow," Freddie said.

"Oh," Spencer said, his face dropping. "Yeah sure. Here."

"You alright?" Freddie frowned as he took the can opener.

"It's just, I've been so lonely since Carly moved to Italy," Spencer said. "Maybe I should've tried harder that time you guys tried to find me adult friends."

"Hey, why don't you come over and have dinner with me and my mom tonight?" Freddie suggested. "She's cooking lamb liver."

Spencer looked at him. "I'm not that lonely."

"Yeah," Freddie sighed. "But hasn't Sam been over here lately? You can hang out with her?"

"She hasn't been over here all week," Spencer said. "The last time she was over here was that night after the Air Force dance when-"

"Carly left," Freddie finished. "Yeah. She's been pretty distant with me and Gib too."

"You mean you haven't talked to her at school?" Spencer asked.

"I do," Freddie said. "A little. But she's just going through a hard time I think. I mean her best friend literally got up and left the country in a matter of like, five hours."

"Yeah, that's pretty tough," Spencer agreed. "Just keep an eye on her. And tell her my fridge is always open if she wants to stop by."

Freddie chuckled. "Don't worry, I will."

…..

"Man, being a ferret owner is a lot of work," Gibby said as him and Freddie sipped their smoothies at the Groovy Smoothie. "I had to wake up three times last night to massage his whiskers."

"Is that really necessary?" Freddie asked.

"Only if you want your ferret to feel secure about himself," Gibby said.

"Either of you dudes want to buy some wraps?" T-Bo asked, coming over to the table with a stick of wraps.

"Sure, I'd bet Weasel would like those," Gibby said, handing T-Bo some bills.

"Now here's a good customer," T-Bo said approvingly. He turned to Freddie. "And what do you give me?"

"Um, my mom gives you a roof over your head," Freddie said.

"Dude, your mom's crazy," Gibby said.

"Yeah, you know what she tried to get me to do this morning?" T-Bo asked. "She wanted me to help her spread this weird anti-bacterial gunk on her feet! T-Bo don't touch feet!"

"She's worried she's going to catch some weird foot disease that she read about on ," Freddie explained. He pulled out his wallet. "Anyway Teebs, can you get me a large lime-berry splat to go?"

"You're getting another smoothie?" Gibby asked. "You didn't even finish your tiny medium one."

"Nah, it's not for me," Freddie said as T-Bo went to go get his order. "It's for Sam. I was thinking of swinging by her house with it, you know, since she's been kind of down since Carly left for Italy."

"Ohhh…" Gibby said, grinning knowingly. "You're going to bring her a smoothie."

"Um, yeah," Freddie frowned. "Is there a problem with that?"

"No problem," Gibby said, still grinning. "It just took you a long time to bring that smoothie to her though, didn't it?"

"I think that ferret's starting to make you loopy Gib," Freddie said, shaking his head. "Because you're not making any sense right now."

"Here you go, one large lime-berry splat," T-Bo said, setting the beverage down in front of Freddie. "That's five seventy-four."

"Hey Teebs, guess what?" Gibby said. "Freddie's going over to Sam's house to give her that smoothie."

"Ha! Really?" T-Bo exclaimed. "Alright Fred-O! Way to go!"

"Am I missing something?" Freddie said, frustrated.

"Oh come on," T-Bo said. "There are two reasons why a dude brings a girl a smoothie. Either he accidently sold Asthma inhaler on the Internet, or he's trying to get back together with her."

"Okay, you two are nuts," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "I'm just going over to make sure Sam's okay. We are friends, you know."

"Okay," Gibby said, exchanging looks with T-Bo.

"Oh just go play with your ferret!" Freddie snapped as he got to his feet and stormed out of the shop.

….

Freddie walked up Sam's driveway with her smoothie in hand and knocked on the door.

Gibby and T-Bo are just being idiots, he thought to himself as he waited on the front porch. He wasn't interested in getting back in Sam! Okay, sure, he had just brought up the subject to her a week ago, but he hadn't really meant it! Had he? No! He shook his head. He didn't want to get back with Sam. He was just over here as a friend to make sure she was okay. That was all. Nothing more. Nope. He wasn't at all interested in-

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Sam asked, opening the door, wearing a stunning purple dress. Freddie recognized it as the dress she wore on their first official date to Pini's.

"I-um, I-" Freddie stuttered, trying hard not stare at Sam. "I brought you over a smoothie, you know, to make sure you were okay. You've seemed pretty out of it since Carly moved to Italy."

"Oh, well thanks," Sam said, taking the smoothie from him. She took a sip of it. "So," she said in a softer voice. "Have you talked to Carly?"

"A little over text message," Freddie nodded.

"Has she told you about all the new friends she's making over in Italy?" Sam asked sadly.

"Well, no," Freddie admitted. "But I'm sure she misses America a lot still, and-"

"Let's see," Sam said. "There's Alexandria, who took her sunglasses shopping yesterday. And then there's Emily, who has her same taste in fashion. And Camille, whose house she's sleeping over at tonight. And then there's Danielle, who offered to show her around Florence with even more friends."

"Sam," Freddie said. "She's not replacing you. She's going to be in Italy for a while. You can't expect her to stay in the whole time like a hermit and-"

"Oh, and here's the part you'll care about," Sam said bitterly. "Apparently she's getting real chummy with some guy named Antonio who took her out for gelato a couple nights ago."

"Why would I care about that?" Freddie asked, confused.

Sam shrugged. "Never mind," she mumbled, sipping her smoothie.

"So, um," Freddie said. "Why are you all dressed up?"

"Oh," Sam said, her cheeks blushing a bit. "I-I was just going to head out…"

"Out where?" Freddie asked.

"Hey, who was at the door?" came a male voice from inside the house, and then a second later a tall guy appeared next to Sam.

"Oh awesome, a smoothie," he said, taking Sam's beverage out of her hand.

"Jonah?" Freddie exclaimed in disbelief, recognizing the boy.

"'Sup dude?" Jonah nodded over at him. He turned to Sam. "You ready to go babe? I want to be out of the restaurant by nine so I can get home in time to catch that new Stimpy the Monkey movie."

"Um, yeah, could-could you just go get my purse for me?" Sam asked.

"Whatever," Jonah shrugged.

"Are you guys back together?" Freddie asked the second Jonah disappeared. "Since when?"

"Three days ago," Sam said.

"But Sam," Freddie said, still blown away by this discovery. "Have you forgotten why you two broke up the first time? He cheated on you! He tried to get with Carly while he was seeing you!"

"Yeah well, he can't really do that anymore, can he?" Sam pointed out. "Besides, that was almost five years ago. He's changed."

"Sam, I think this is a mistake," Freddie said. "I don't have a good feeling about this guy."

"Look," Sam said, lowering her voice. "Without Carly here, what else do I have going for me? If I'm going to be miserable without my best friend here, I might as well have a boyfriend, right?"

"Sam, that's-" Freddie started.

"Thanks for the smoothie," Sam cut him off. "I'll see you at school."

"Sam-" Freddie started, but Sam had already shut the door.

"Can you believe this?" Freddie said angrily to Spencer and Gibby as he paced back and forth in Spencer's living room. "They're back together! They're back together!"

"I can't believe you called us here at two in the morning," Gibby yawned.

"I couldn't sleep, okay?" Freddie snapped.

"Are you positive they're back together?" Spencer asked.

"She's the one who told me!" Freddie said. "I told you, I went over to her house to give her a smoothie and there he was!"

"Whoa, you were bringing her a smoothie?" Spencer asked. "Alright! I knew you still had feelings for her!"

"Bringing your ex-girlfriend a smoothie does not mean you still have feelings for her!" Freddie said, exasperated.

"Well then did you sell her Asthma inhaler online?" Spencer asked.

Freddie let out a groan of frustration.

"I don't think I even remember Sam going out with this Jonah guy," Gibby commented.

"It was back in eighth grade, before you were really a relevant member of our group," Freddie explained. "You were just some random kid that showed up every now and then to take his shirt off."

Gibby gave an indignant gasp. "Well. Glad to know where I stand with you!"

"Hang on," Spencer said. "This isn't the kid who wrecked my Claymation video, is it?"

"The same," Freddie nodded.

"That scutter!" Spencer exclaimed.

"He's also the one who totally tried to cheat on Sam with Carly," Freddie continued. "Which is why this is such a mistake! Once a cheater, always a cheater, if you ask me. He's just going to wind up hurting Sam again, which is why she should be back together with him!"

"Well, that and because you still like her," Gibby said.

"Dude-" Freddie started, but he was cut off as the computer on the kitchen counter top began to beep, and a chat window appeared on the screen.

"Hey, is that Carly calling?" Spencer asked.

"Yup," Freddie nodded, hurrying over to the computer. "I asked her to web chat us so I could fill her in on this disaster." He clicked the accept button on the chat window and Carly's face appeared on the screen.

"Hey you guys!" Carly smiled at her friends and brother. "How's Seattle?"

"Not as cool as Italy, I bet," Spencer replied. "How you doing, kid?"

"I'm good," Carly smiled. "I actually just got home from school. My new friend Stephania is coming over later to try and help me learn a few phrases in Italian."

"That's great Carls," Freddie said quickly. "But we've got some serious chiz on out hands."

"What's wrong?" Carly frowned. "Is everyone okay?"

"Not really," Freddie said. "Sam's back together with Jonah."

"Jonah?" Carly repeated, her eyes widening. "The same Jonah who cheated on her?"

"Uh-huh," Freddie nodded.

"But-But why?" Carly said. "I mean, the last time we talked, she did mention a guy, but-but I was too busy telling her all about my first gondola ride to really question it too much. Oh man, I'm such a bad friend! I should've tried to talk her out of this; she's going to get hurt all over again and I'm not even going to be there to comfort her, and-"

"Carly, relax," Freddie said. "This isn't your fault. Sam's just…I don't know what she's doing. She really misses you, and I think-I think she figures that maybe if she has a boyfriend, she won't feel so lonely."

"But she shouldn't be feeling lonely!" Carly said. "She has you guys!"

"Yeah, Freddie even brought her a smoothie," Gibby added.

"Like, to her house?" Carly asked. "Oh! I knew you still had feelings for her, Freddie!"

"For the tenth time-Oh, forget it," Freddie said. "Look, I know Jonah hasn't changed. That guy's still a class-A jerk. I don't like the idea of him getting so close to Sam."

"Well, maybe Carly could talk to her," Spencer suggested.

"No," Carly sighed. "That wouldn't work…whenever a girl tells another girl not to go after a guy, even if it's her best friend, that usually only makes her go after him more."

"Well we have to do something!" Freddie said loudly, pounding his fist on the counter. "I can't believe she would so something this stupid!"

"Hey, I'm sure she's just upset," Spencer frowned.

"But out of all the guys she could've picked to be her little sympathy boyfriend, she picks Jonah?" Freddie cried. "She just had to pick the worst guy for her? What about Brad? What about that Pete guy? What about me?"

"Freddie?" Carly said gently.

"Maybe I'll try talking to her again tomorrow," Freddie sighed, ignoring Carly, because he knew what she had been getting ready to say.

"That's a good idea," Spencer nodded. "This is probably just a fling or something. She's just feeling lonely without Carly and isn't thinking straight. That's all."

"I hope so," Carly said. "And you guys let me know what happens! I have to go now, but just because I'm in Italy doesn't mean I don't want to be kept in the loop!"

….

The next morning Freddie headed over to Sam's house again and knocked on her door.

"Dude, it's ten on a Saturday morning," Sam mumbled as she opened the door for him, still wearing her pajamas.

"Oh, out late last night with Jonah were you?" Freddie said coldly.

"What do you want?" Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"To find out what's wrong with you!" Freddie said.

"Well other then me being annoyed about being woken up so early, nothing's wrong with me," Sam said. "So if you don't mind-"

"No, Sam," Freddie said, grabbing the door before Sam could shut it in his face. "You're not fine. You're going out with Jonah again! Jonah! He was a total jerk to you the first time you guys went out. And ever since then, he's cheated on every single other girl he's dated. I know that you feel upset and depressed now that Carly's in Italy, but you do have other friends that are here for you, you know? Gibby, Spencer, T-Bo, me. You don't need some loser boyfriend who doesn't even care enough about you to treat you right!"

"Why do you even care who I date?" Sam said.

"Because I care about you!" Freddie exclaimed. "A lot! And I don't want to see you with someone who doesn't deserve you! You're making a huge mistake! And I know you're probably going to wind up getting mad at me now for trying to talk you out of this, but I just can't sit by and let you do this!"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Well, I probably would be getting mad at you right now…if you weren't right."

"Huh?" Freddie frowned.

"About Jonah," Sam mumbled. "Took him a whole three days to start cheating on me this time. He went for some chick at that copy store this time around. And get this, he said I should be cool with it, because I was lucky to even be one of the girls on his radar."

"Are you serious?" Freddie said. "What a-a-"

"I used the word wazznut," Sam said, showing a small smile.

"He's a big one," Freddie agreed. "But um, are-are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "I mean, I knew what type of guy Jonah was…it didn't come as too big a shock."

"But if you knew he would do something like this," Freddie said, running his fingers through his hair, confused. "Why would you date him?"

Sam shrugged. "I dunno…I guess when Carly left, I didn't want to keep being sad about my best friend leaving me and making all these new friends in Italy. So then I forced myself to think about the one thing that I always bothered me about Carly."

"Which was?" Freddie asked.

"The fact that she gets all the guys at school," Sam said. "As much as I love Carly, it gets annoying just being the friend of the girl who boys through themselves at. I thought that maybe…maybe since Carly wasn't here, I could finally do the one thing I could never do when she was here."

"Sam," Freddie said gently. "You were never second to Carly with guys at school."

"Don't try and sugarcoat it, Benson," Sam said. "I was. But, you know, whatever. It's fine. I'm sure now that Carly's gone some new chick will come along and be the guy magnet at school and I can just go back to being the scary tough chick who people call when they need a second in a fight or something. I mean, that's why you preferred Carly isn't it? Because she was more normal than me?"

She said it so simply, and Freddie felt that was what made the impact of those words hurt so much.

"I never preferred Carly over you," Freddie said earnestly.
"Is that why you kissed her?" Sam said. "Right before she left…right after you asked me if I wanted to get back together?"

"I-um-" Freddie stammered.

"Relax," Sam said. "I think we both know that Carly's always going to be more 'normal' than me. So what's the big deal?"

"The big deal, Sam," Freddie said firmly. "Is that I don't prefer Carly over you. I love Carly, yeah, but that's because she's one of my best friends! You are too, but… when I told you I loved you…that night…I meant it. I meant it in a completely different way than how I feel about Carly."

Sam looked up at him. "So what are you saying?"

Freddie sighed and sat down next to her. "Sam…you have no idea how amazing you are. And the reason it kills me to see you throw all that away on some idiot like Jonah is because…" He took a deep breath and moved closer to her and pressed his lips to her.

When the two broke apart, Sam looked at Freddie, a mixture of confusion and happiness etched on her face. "Um…so about that phone call last week…?"

"You mean the one where I asked you if I wanted to get back together?" Freddie asked.

"Uh-huh," Sam nodded.

"Well, I think you know my answer," Freddie said. "What about you?"

Sam smirked and leaned back up to kiss him. "There," she said. "That's my answer."

AN-Shoutouts to anybody who knows what show the reference is from!