Company
"Come on, please?"
"No!"
"This will be the last time, I swear."
"We both know that's not true."
"Please? It's not that big a deal," Sam said.
"No," Freddie said firmly. "That's my final answer, Sam."
"Ugh!" Sam moaned, slumping down in her chair in the couple's history class. "Unbelievable! What kind of boyfriend doesn't let his girlfriend copy his homework?"
"The kind of boyfriend who's trying to teach his girlfriend the importance of taking responsibility for her own work," Freddie replied simply. "Especially since she's going off to college in a few months."
"Come on baby, if I don't turn in another homework assignment, I'm gonna fail for sure," Sam said. "Please, just this one last time? For me?"
"I-Fine," Freddie said, unable to resist those words. He thrust his worksheet over onto her desk. "But I'm serious, Sam. You're doing your own homework from now on!"
"Okay," Sam agreed, smiling triumphantly as she quickly jotted down the answers onto her own blank worksheet.
"I thought you and Carly were working on history homework last night anyway," Freddie said. "Why didn't you just do this then."
"We were gonna do homework," Sam said. "But then you called and asked if I wanted to come over."
"You could've told me no," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, but we wound up having a pretty good time, didn't we," Sam smirked. "Especially since your batty mom wasn't there."
"True," Freddie chuckled. "But next time, if you're actually about to do your homework, we can hold off the make-out session until you finish."
"Really? 'Cause your tongue was pretty anxious," Sam said, handing Freddie his homework back just as their teacher walked into the room.
"Shh!" Freddie hissed, his face reddening.
"Okay class," the teacher said just as the bell rang. "If everybody could pass up their homework, we'll begin our lecture on the Industrial Revolution. Now, who knows some of the direct consequences of-?"
"Excuse me, Mr. Peters?" Principal Franklin said, popping his head into the classroom all of the sudden. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to speak to Mr. Benson."
"Can't it wait until after class?" Mr. Peters asked. "He's going to miss my thrilling lecture!"
"Unfortunately no, this can't wait," Principal Franklin.
Freddie, looking rather confused, slowly got out of his seat.
"Bring your things, Freddie," the principal said.
"You're in trouble," Sam said jokingly under her breath as Freddie gathered his books.
"How? I didn't do anything?" Freddie whispered back as he headed out of the classroom with Principal Franklin.
Once her boyfriend left, Mr. Peters cleared her throat and started up his lecture again.
Sam rested her head on her desk, feeling her eyelids begin to droop.
Well, at least now I can get some sleep without Frednub waking me up and making me pay attention, she figured.
….
"Can you believe I got a B on my French project?" Carly exclaimed after the class period had ended, and her and Sam met by their lockers. "A B!"
"Hey, I'd love a B in French," Sam said, grabbing a Fat Cake from her locker.
"But I spent three straight weeks carefully constructing that model of the Eifel Tower out of toothpicks!" Carly said angrily. "You know how hard it was keeping that thing safe when I live with the biggest fire-hazard around?"
"Should've done what I did and just turned in a package of French cheese," Sam said. "I got a C and didn't have to do any work!"
"You know, it amazes me how well you'd actually do in school if you just tried," Carly said, rolling her eyes.
"Save me the 'potential' speech, Carls," Sam said. "Freddie gives it to me once a week."
"Hey, where is Freddie anyway?" Sam asked. "Didn't you guys just have class together?"
"Yeah, but Franklin came and called him out right at the beginning," Sam said.
"How come?"
"I dunno," Sam shrugged. "He probably got some award for AV club or something."
"Oh, well then I guess he'll be in a good mood while we film iCarly all day," Carly said. "We're really behind. We need to get all our prerecorded stuff done today for the show tomorrow."
"Oh, I was supposed to pick up a litter box for that, wasn't I?" Sam frowned.
"Sam!" Carly moaned.
"Well I was busy, I forgot!" Sam defended.
"Hey guys, did you know they finally put two-ply toilet paper in the men's room?" Gibby said, joining the two girls. "Finally! What kind of savages can survive with that single-ply stuff?"
"Hey Gib, you're bringing your cat's litter box to iCarly rehearsal today," Sam said.
"Yes!" Gibby cheered, throwing his hands in the air.
"See," Sam said to Carly. "Problem solved."
…
"Okay, what could Principal Franklin be doing with Freddie that made him disappear all day at school?" Carly asked later that day as the two girls walked down the hall to the Shay's apartment.
"I told you, I'm gonna chalk it up to aliens," Sam said simply.
"Aliens?" Carly repeated, amused. "Shouldn't you be a little more concerned if you think your boyfriend got abducted by aliens?"
"No, because how cool would it be to be the girlfriend of a guy who's been in an alien spaceship?" Sam grinned.
"Yes…that's every girl's dream," Carly chuckled as she unlocked her front door.
When they walked into the apartment, they were surprised to see Spencer sitting on the couch, as though he had been waiting for him.
"Hey," Carly said brightly, hanging up her jacket.
"Hey," Spencer replied heavily, getting to his feet.
Both girls were taken aback by the seriousness of his voice.
"What's up?" Carly frowned.
"I need to talk to you both," Spencer sighed.
"Why?" Sam asked.
"Today," Spencer started. "Today…Mrs. Benson died today, guys."
Carly gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, and Sam's eyes grew wide.
"No," Sam whispered.
That's why Freddie was called out of class, she realized.
"Oh my God," Carly said, tears forming in her eyes as Spencer put an arm around her. "What-What happened?"
"She got into a car accident on her way to the health foods store," Spencer explained. "Someone ran a red light and crashed right into her."
"Where's Freddie?" Sam asked at once.
"I think he's across the hall," Spencer replied. "I saw him come home right after I found out, and I tried to talk to him, but he ignored me and locked his door."
Sam didn't reply as she turned and ran out of the apartment. She knocked on Freddie's door.
"Freddie!" she said loudly, jiggling the doorknob to find it was indeed locked. "Freddie, it's me! Open up!"
But Freddie didn't come, so Sam quickly took her trusty bobby pin out of her pocket and picked the lock in record time.
Once she got the door open, Sam headed right to the back of the apartment to Freddie's room.
His door was open, and as she slowly stepped into the room, she saw him lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.
His face was tearstained and she saw that the knuckles on his right hand were bleeding.
She saw a massive hole in the plaster of the wall right above his bed.
"Freddie?" she said gently, sitting down next to him. "I'm so sorry…"
Freddie gave her a small nod.
"Are you…How are you doing?" she asked.
Freddie shrugged. "How exactly am I supposed to be doing, Sam?"
Sam was momentarily stung by the coldness of his words, but she knew she couldn't even imagine the pain Freddie must feeling right now.
"Right…that was a stupid question," Sam said. She sighed, putting her arms around him. "I know you can't be doing too well…"
Freddie didn't reply.
"Let me see your hand," Sam said softly, taking his wounded hand. "We should probably get some ice on that."
"It's fine," Freddie said, snatching his hand away.
"I just-"
"Look, I get that you're trying to be the supportive girlfriend and all right now, but I don't really want company right now," Freddie said, not looking at Sam.
Sam blinked. "I-Okay," she nodded, slowly getting to her feet. "I understand…I guess I'll just leave you alone then. Call me, okay? When you think you're ready to talk. I really want to help you get through this."
She turned to leave, but before she made it out the door, Freddie sighed.
"No, don't go…I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Sam said. "You have a right to want to be alone right now."
"I-I don't want to be alone," Freddie mumbled. "Can you…stay with me? Please?"
"Of course," Sam said, returning to the bed, wrapping her arms around him. He rested his head on her shoulder, and Sam felt a few tears fall onto her skin.
The two stayed like this for several hours, neither saying a word.
Finally, once the sky had grown darker, Freddie spoke.
"I never even thought about this happening," he said quietly. "I mean, I knew it would eventually happen…I just figured she would be really old and I'd be older too, you know?"
Sam nodded.
"I just can't believe it happened so suddenly," Freddie said, his voice cracked and shaken. "She-She was here when I woke up this morning and when I left for school…she even texted me saying she was picking up an eggplant loaf for dinner."
"It shouldn't have happened like this," Sam told him. "Not now."
Freddie shook his head. "And-And the worst part is…I didn't even get to say goodbye."
Sam felt her own heart sink as fresh tears began flowing from Freddie's eyes. "I didn't even get to tell her I loved her, or-or that she was a good mom, or-or anything. You know what the last thing I said to her was?"
"Don't do this to yourself," Sam said, stroking his back. "Don't-"
"This morning she said she wanted me to stay in with her tonight and work on a new puzzle she picked up," Freddie told her. "And I said no way, because I'm too old for that stuff now and I didn't want to keep doing those stupid puzzle nights with her. That's the last thing I said to her. What kind of son am I?"
"She knew you didn't mean that," Sam said at once. "She knew how much you loved her."
She passed Freddie a tissue.
"I-I just wanted to say goodbye," Freddie said, wiping his face. "And now I'll never get to."
Sam didn't know what to say to comfort him, so she simply hugged him tightly and allowed him to continue to cry into her shoulder.
…..
Freddie fell asleep a little after midnight. Sam watched his chest fall and rise, wishing she could do something to make her boyfriend feel even the slightest bit better.
But she knew there was nothing she could do except be right here for him.
She slowly got off the bed and went into his bathroom, opening up the first aid kit that sat on the counter.
Sam felt a pang of sadness thinking about how well stocked Mrs. Benson had kept it.
Even though the two had had their disagreements, Sam knew she was going to miss the woman.
She grabbed a bandage and returned to the bed, tenderly wrapping Freddie's hand without waking him.
She then retreated into the kitchen, knowing it had been at least twelve hours since Freddie had eaten anything.
She opened the fridge, overwhelmed by all the odd-looking health foods that were housed in it. She didn't know how to cook any of those, so she simply grabbed a few eggs and headed to the stove.
Once she had a large plate made for Freddie, she set it on the table. She would wait until Freddie woke up and then warm it up again for him.
She didn't have to wait, though, for a few moments later, as she was cleaning the frying pan, Freddie shuffled out into the kitchen.
"I thought you were asleep," Sam said, taking his hand and leading him to the table where his eggs were waiting for him.
"I woke up," Freddie said simply.
"Eat these," Sam said, handing him a fork.
"Thanks," Freddie mumbled, putting a little bit in his mouth. "And, um, thanks for the bandage."
"No problem," Sam said sitting down next to him.
"You're not eating," Freddie commented.
"Don't worry about me," Sam told him.
She waited a few moments before opening her mouth.
"Do you know what's going to happen? I mean, you're not eighteen yet…they won't let you stay here without a parent."
"I know," Freddie said softly. "My-My dad's gonna come here. He's going to move in until we finish high school."
"Oh," Sam nodded, knowing that Freddie didn't have a close relationship with his father.
"He's supposed to be here tomorrow," Freddie said.
"Well…at least you won't have to move," Sam said, trying to think positively.
"I guess," Freddie said darkly.
Sam took his good hand. "Hey…I just wanted to tell you…I know your mom and I…we didn't exactly…we-we didn't see eye to eye. But I will miss her. She was a good mom to you…and that's what I liked most about her. She really made you into a great guy."
Freddie gave her hand a small squeeze. "Thanks, Sam," he whispered. "I really needed to hear that."
