AN-So this chapter is a sequel to chapter 330, where Sam leaves for L.A. but makes a deal with Freddie that when she comes back, they'll see if they still want to be a couple.

Virtue

Freddie Benson stood among the rest of his classmates in the large auditorium. They had all just graduated; he was officially done with high school.

"Dude, can you believe it?" Gibby asked, finding him in the crowd. "We graduated!"

"I know, pretty cool feeling, huh?" Freddie grinned.

"And now that we're officially out in the adult world," Gibby said, fishing in his pockets and pulling out a small stack of index cards. "I can finally start sprouting out wisdom like I've always wanted. Here, check out this one: 'Honesty is life's biggest virtue'. Neat, right?"

"Very nice, Gib," Freddie chuckled.

"I'm gonna go test the rest of these out right now," Gibby said. "Later, man."

"Later," Freddie echoed.

He slowly turned and began heading out of the auditorium. He supposed now all that was left to do was find his mom and go home. It was odd, he had been picturing his high school graduation for years as one of the biggest days of his life. But now that it was here and done, he didn't feel as excited as he thought he would. He was happy, sure. It had been a nice ceremony, and he had gotten to give his speech as Valedictorian, but something seemed to be missing from today.

Freddie instantly knew what it was; it was the fact that his friends were not all here, graduating with him.

It had been over a year since Carly had left for Italy, and from the phone calls and web chats he had with her, he could tell that she absolutely loved it there. She had made tons of new friends and got to make up for all the time she had been away from her father, she even met a few boys there. She had decided to finish up high school at her new school down in Italy. Since her father was going to be relocated to Austria in just a few months, though, Carly had told him that she was going to be attending college back in America. She was supposed to be here, watching him and Gibby graduate, but her plane had been delayed several hours, so she had texted Freddie that morning and told him that she unfortunately wouldn't be getting into Seattle until the next morning. Freddie didn't mind; he just appreciated the fact that Carly made the effort to come see them.

And then there was Sam. It had been a year since she left too, and Freddie missed her just as much as ever. He kept in contact with her, of course, perhaps even more than he did with Carly. He knew that she was in L.A., living with another girl her age and had started a babysitting service to make enough cash to support herself. He talked with her at least once a week, and he could tell that she was happy down there. But that didn't stop him from wishing she was here with him.

He sighed as he remembered their last conversation, as she was preparing to leave just a few hours after Carly did. Right after they had both confessed that there was still some spark left between them…

"I'm not going forever. How about we make a deal? When I come back to Seattle, we meet up, and…and if we both realize we feel the same way, and that us both wanting to get back together wasn't just some quick thought we both had…then we'll do it."

Those words had echoed in his head from the moment she left. He knew that they had done the right thing, giving each other space to see if their feelings would falter with distance, or if they were there to stay. But that didn't make it any easier waiting all this time. He didn't know when she was coming back, be he trusted that she would, just like she said. He just hoped, though, that during their separation that she came to the same conclusion he had.

Nothing could take was the strong, overpowering feelings he still had for her.

Once he exited the auditorium, he began to look around to see if he could spot his mother anywhere. When he felt a tap on his shoulder, he was certain it was her, probably all teary eyed about him graduating and getting ready to leave her. He turned around, and was shocked to see a familiar blonde face standing before him.

"Sam!" he exclaimed, wasting no time in throwing her arms around her. "You-You're here? But how? I-You never said you were going to come!"

"What? You thought I'd miss hearing your lame little speech up there?" Sam smirked, hugging him back.

"I didn't see you out there, though," Freddie said.

"Eh, I got caught in traffic on my way down here," Sam explained. "So I got in there just as everything was starting. I tried to go down and sit with Spencer and your mom, but I couldn't get over there without making a big scene, so I just found a seat in the back. You didn't hear me screaming for you and Gibby?"

"I couldn't hear much of anything over my mother crying 'Please don't leave me!'," Freddie chuckled.

"True," Sam shrugged.

"Still though," Freddie said. "I can't believe you're here!"

"I told you I'd come back," Sam said.

"I know, but…still," Freddie grinned. "Wow…I can't believe its been over a year since we've seen each other in person."

"Yeah, somehow the webcam never really captured all your nubbiness," Sam laughed.

Freddie rolled his eyes, though feeling a great rush of warmness wash over him at the familiarity of her insult.

"Come on," he said. "We-We should go grab something to eat and, you know, catch up."

"Won't your mom be looking for you, though?" Sam pointed out.

"Well, she's gonna have to get used to the idea of not having me around twenty-four seven," Freddie said. "So she might as well start now. Come on, T-Bo's got these amazing new burgers at the Groovy Smoothie."

"Oh man, I would kill for a good burger," Sam said as her and Freddie began to head outside. "I've been living off of cheeseburgers from Inside-Out Burger…they're real good, but I've been craving a good old fashioned hand-made burger for ages."

…..

"So tell me," Freddie said as Sam began to chow into her burger. "What's it like being a babysitter? I mean, no offense, but I never would've thought that'd be something you were interested in."

"It's actually a lot of fun," Sam said, talking with her mouth full. "The kids are all pretty cool. Plus it's not like I'm doing it all by myself. My roommate Cat's there too. In fact…the two of us actually have enough money saved away to open up an actual daycare center."

"Whoa, are you serious?" Freddie exclaimed. "Sam, that's huge!"

"We haven't found a location yet," Sam shrugged. "And since we'd be an actual business, and not just working out of our apartment, we'd need to get certified and everything, but we're starting to look at spaces.

"W-Wow," Freddie said, sipping his smoothie. "So um, I guess…I guess you would be staying in L.A. permanently then."

Sam shook her head. "Not necessarily. Cat just graduated from her performing arts high school last week, and her Nona eloped and moved to Canada a month ago, so really, none of us have anything tying us down to L.A. We've pretty much decided we're down for moving anywhere."

"Oh," Freddie nodded.

"So what about you, Mr. Cal Tech," Sam said, pouring ketchup onto her fries. "You all excited for college in the Fall?"

"Yeah, Cal Tech has got one of the best computer engineering programs around," Freddie nodded. "Plus, you know, moving away from my mom is an added bonus."

"Unless she decides to follow you, that is," Sam pointed out.

"Oh man, don't even say that," Freddie moaned.

Sam laughed. "Oh!" she said suddenly, unzipping her bag. "I almost forgot…I brought you something."

"Sam, you didn't have to-" Freddie began as Sam handed him a napkin. "Um…a napkin?"

"Flip it over, nub," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "One of the best things about living in L.A. is that there are celebrities everywhere. One night while Cat and I took some kids to the movies, we were waiting at the concession stand, and one of the kids pointed out-"

"Natasha Birdmen!" Freddie gasped, turning over the napkin, nearly falling out of his seat. "You-You got me an autograph from Natasha Birdmen? Princess Ablogata?"

"You like it?" Sam asked.

"Like it? I'm going to frame this," Freddie said. "I-Thank you!"

"Eh, it was no big deal," Sam said.

"Um, no, it's a very big deal," Freddie corrected.

"Okay…it's a big deal," Sam grinned.

"I owe you for this," Freddie said.

"You just bought me food," Sam said.

"Food does not compare to an autograph from one of the stars of Galaxy Wars," Freddie said.

Sam chuckled, taking a sip of her smoothie. "Okay," she suddenly, putting her beverage down. "I think we've beaten around the bush long enough here."

"Um…what-what do you mean?" Freddie asked.

"You remember what we agreed when I left," Sam said. "We said that when I came back, we'd-we'd decide whether we wanted to-"

"-Give us another try," Freddie finished for her."

"Yeah," Sam mumbled. "Since we both had a chance to meet other people and see if what we felt for each other back then stuck."

Freddie nodded. "So…Um, what-what did you figure out?"

"You first," Sam said firmly. "Did you meet any new girls that made you feel the same way as you did with me?"

"I haven't exactly been dating a bunch of girls, you know," Freddie said.

"But that was the whole point of this thing!" Sam said.

"No, the point was to see whether or not my feelings for you would go away after being away from you for over a year," Freddie said. "And considering the face that no other girl in Seattle even remotely captured my interest in that time, because I was so preoccupied thinking about you, I-I think it's safe to say that those feelings stood that test."

Sam looked down at her lap. "So you really still feel the same way about me you did a year ago?"

Freddie nodded. "If anything, I think-I think I love you more now, Sam. Being away from you, only getting to see you through a computer screen, it made me realize how much I need you in my life. I missed you in a different way than I missed Carly. With Carly, sure, seeing her in person would've been nice, but the phone calls and the web chats…they got me through it. With you though…do you know how much self-control it took for me to not try and kiss you through my webcam every time we talked? So yes, I still love you. I might've been unsure of whether those were my true feelings a year ago, but now I know that they are."

Sam blinked. "Wow…sounds like you had that all planned out then."

"It's been on my mind for awhile, yeah," Freddie mumbled. He took a deep breath. "What about you then? Did-Did you meet any guys in L.A. who-who made you-you know…"

Sam shook her head. "No. I mean, I-I did go on a few dates, Cat kept setting me up, I swear, she's almost as bad as Carly with that, but they were all duds. There was one guy who was some big shot soccer player, another guy who was all artsy and poetic, and another dude who was an actual competitive eater, but I just-I just didn't feel anything remotely close to what I, um, what I feel for you. I-I still feel what I felt for you that night…I still love you."

Freddie couldn't contain the goofy grin that was creeping onto his face. "You-You do?"

"So here we are then," Sam smiled. "One year later, and we're still into each other…I guess that means we really are meant to be together then."

"Well I mean, if you passed up a competitive eater for me," Freddie chuckled.

"I could never be with anyone who could eat more than me," Sam said. "That dude actually reached over to my plate during our date and ate my bacon."

"Unbelievable," Freddie said, amused.

"Yeah, I'd rather have a guy like you with a girly little stomach," Sam said. "At least then my food's safe."

Freddie laughed.

"Okay then," Sam said, looking up at him. "Now that we've established that we still love each other, even after spending a year apart…shall we get on with the other part of our little agreement and officially get back together."

"Officially?" Freddie asked, raising an eyebrow. "How do we make it official?"

"Like this," Sam smirked, leaning over and gently kissing him, feeling as though she had found what she had been missing for far too long.

Freddie pulled her closer, his fingers absentmindedly playing with her gold locks, wondering how he had managed to stay sane for over a year without her.

When they pulled apart, he smiled down at her. "I've been waiting forever for this."

"Right back at you," Sam said. She looked down at her phone. "So…how late does your mom let you stay out now, Mr. Graduate?"

"Pfft, I'm eighteen. I do not have a curfew anymore," Freddie scoffed.

Sam gave him a knowing look.

"Ten-thirty," he mumbled.

"Well then, we have exactly…three hours and fourteen minutes before Crazy calls out a search party for you," Sam said, giving him a suggestive look. "You wanna go somewhere private?"

"Yeah, I know a nice little place where we can just talk," Freddie nodded, getting to his feet.

"I hope you mean talking with our tongues, Benson," Sam grinned, grabbing her boyfriend's hand, which she was pleased to see still fit perfectly wit hers. "Because we've got a lot of lost time to make up for."