AN-Hey everybody, so I'm officially back to daily updates until I go back to school :) Sorry for the long absence; this semester just really killed me.
…
Module
"I'm just saying, if my boss is going to have such a strict dress code, she could at least throw in a few cute options," Carly said, sitting on the couch of Sam and Freddie's apartment. "I mean I work for a fashion magazine. I can only get so inspired to write about the latest handbags while I'm wearing the gross pant suits she likes."
"I thought you said they were starting to grow on you," Freddie said, looking up from the dishes he was washing.
"That doesn't mean I wouldn't love to trade them in for something else," Carly said. "I got so many cute pairs of boots when I went to visit my dad in Italy last month and I can't wear any of them!"
"How come?"
"You don't wear boots and pant suits!" Carly snapped. "Keep up, Benson!"
"Sorry, I didn't get the memo," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"Well where's that girlfriend of yours?" Carly asked. "Sam may not be the biggest fan of fashion, but she at least understands how boots work."
"She went to go pick up dinner," Freddie said. "Actually, she should've been back by now; she left almost two hours ago. I wonder where she could-"
Suddenly his phone began to ring, and an unfamiliar number flashed across his screen.
"Hello?" Freddie said, answering.
"Hello, is this Freddie Benson?" a voice on the other end asked.
"Yes," Freddie frowned. "May I ask who's calling?"
"This is officer Harris from the Seattle Police Department," the man said. "I'm calling you on the behalf of a Ms. Samantha Puckett, she says you're her boyfriend."
Freddie moaned. This couldn't be good.
"Sir, your girlfriend is currently being held down at our station," the officer continued. "She's being charged with destruction of property, resisting arrest and shoving a bottle of hot sauce down an officer's trousers."
"Are you kidding me?" Freddie exclaimed. That was a lengthy list of charges, even for Sam.
"No sir, I'm afraid not," the officer replied. "Now, you can come bail her out, but she's going to have to come to court in a few weeks to face these charges."
"I-Okay," Freddie said, feeling his blood pressure skyrocketing. "I'll be there. Thank you, officer."
"What's going on?" Carly asked as Freddie hung up. "Is Sam okay?"
"Oh she's fine!" Freddie snapped angrily. "But the officer whose pants she poured hot sauce down might not be doing so well!"
"What?"
"Yeah, Sam went and got arrested!" Freddie said, his face reddening as he grabbed his car keys. "Arrested! Unbelievable! This is the third time this year! Two months ago she got caught buying illegal fireworks and on Groundhog's Day she got into a fight with some guy at Tub of Chicken over whether or not the thing saw its shadow! This is ridiculous, she's not a kid anymore; she's twenty-two! These things go on her record! She's not gonna just spend a few days in Juvie anymore; if she doesn't watch her act she could be facing serious jail time!"
"I know," Carly sighed. "I don't know what's gotten into her lately. After high school she seemed to be doing so well! And all throughout college she didn't get into any trouble. Now all of the sudden she's back to her old ways. I was so sure you dating her had really made an improvement on her hooliganism."
"Yeah, so did I," Freddie said darkly. He shook his head. "You know a couple months after we started dating; right before we graduated high school…Sam promised me she'd stop with all this. It was right after the last time she had gotten in trouble before this year and I went with her mom to pick her up from Juvie."
"She promised you?"
"Yeah," Freddie said. "I told her I didn't like seeing my girlfriend behind bars…and for the longest time she kept that promise. I figured…I figured she must really care about me to show such self-control."
"Oh Freddie, Sam cares about you," Carly assured him.
"Well," Freddie scoffed as he headed towards the front door. "She sure has a funny way of showing it."
…
"So let me get this straight," Freddie said, his eyes popping with anger as him and Sam stood in the parking lot of police station. He had just posted her bail after regretfully pawning off a one-of-a-kind Galaxy Wars training card at the nearby pawn shop. "B.F. Wangs was out of eggrolls, so you decided a reasonable reaction was to pull a bottle of hot sauce out of your bag and dump down a cop's pants?"
"No!" Sam snapped. "The moron in front of me ordered six dozen eggrolls; we wiped the place and I couldn't even get the two that I wanted! So I thought I'd teach the dude how to be considerate of others with my special hot sauce. It just so happens the dude was also a cop…"
"Sam!"
"Well how was I supposed to know? He was wearing sweatpants!"
"Wait, so where did the destruction of property and resisting arrest charges come in?" Freddie asked.
"Well it was totally unfair for me to be arrested by some slump in sweatpants, so I put up a fight!" Sam said.
Freddie pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why? Why couldn't you just cooperate for a change?"
"And I guess in the process I accidently knocked down that little waterfall thing B.F. Wangs has in the front of the store," Sam said. "They're saying it costs three thousand bucks, but I know for a fact they got it online for thirty. It's totally stupid and-"
"Sam, how could you?" Freddie exclaimed.
Sam fell silent, slightly startled.
"How could you go and get arrested again?" Freddie said, his temper flaring. "Three times in one year? That's insane! Sam, I don't know if you think this is all some big joke, but I have news for you; it's not! Do you know how lucky you are that they're even letting you out on bail until your trial? They could've let you in there to rot! This is completely unacceptable, I don't know what's happened to you! You were making such progress and all of the sudden this year you're back to your delinquent self! No…you're worse than you ever were!"
"It's not that big of a deal, okay!" Sam snapped. "Just spare me the lecture! Now give me my car keys."
"Not a big-You promised!" Freddie yelled.
Sam blinked. "What did I promise?"
"Back when we were in high school and just started dating," Freddie said, crossing his arms. "You promised me you were done with all of this…getting arrested, ignoring the law…"
Sam didn't reply.
"I see how much that promise meant to you now, though," Freddie said coolly.
"Oh come on," Sam said. "I'm sorry, okay? Now can you just forget about this and-"
"Sam, I can't keep doing this," Freddie cut her off.
Sam's sentence fell. "What-What do you-"
"I don't want to keep bailing my girlfriend out of jail," Freddie said. "I don't want to be afraid of what she might get herself into every time she goes out. I don't want to have to worry about what happens if she winds up in jail for good."
Sam's eyes widened. "Are you…Are you breaking up with me?" she said softly.
Freddie sighed. "I just can't do it anymore, Sam," he said. "I tried, but I really can't."
And with that he reached into his pocket and handed her the keys to her car that the officer had given him when he had set her bail, turned around, and walked back to his own car, leaving Sam standing there, absolutely stunned.
…..
Sam sat in her car in the parking lot of Carly's apartment complex. She wiped her eyes with a fast food napkin. She couldn't believe her and Freddie had broken up. They had been together for almost five years. She was so sure that they would spend the rest of their lives together. They had bought an apartment together, knew almost everything about the other, were so accustomed to each other's habits…
Sam sighed. It was all her fault, Freddie was right. She had promised him. She just didn't know how much that problem had meant to him.
When she finally got the strength to get out of the car, Sam headed into Carly's building and went up to her floor.
"Sam?" Carly said, opening her apartment door. "What are you doing here?"
"Can I sleep here tonight?" Sam asked shakily. "Please?"
"Yeah, of course," Carly nodded as Sam entered the apartment. "Did you and Freddie get into a fight or something? I-I sort of heard about you being arrested already. Sam, you seriously need to-"
"We broke up," Sam said bluntly.
Carly's jaw fell open. "You-You guys broke up?"
"Yup," Sam said heavily, collapsing onto Carly's couch.
"Oh, Sam," Carly said, sitting down next to her best friend and throwing her arms around her. "I'm so sorry."
"I'm so stupid…it's all my fault," Sam mumbled. "I promised Freddie I wouldn't get arrested anymore, and I-I have been getting arrested and-and God, I'm such an idiot!"
"No you're not," Carly said supportively. "You-You just made a mistake. I'm sure once Freddie cools off-"
"Carly, you didn't see his face…he was furious," Sam said. "I've never seen him that mad. I-I think we're done. For good."
Carly squeezed her shoulder. "Look, you're exhausted. Why don't you try and get some rest and then we'll talk about this in the morning, okay?"
"I-My stuff," Sam sighed. "My pillows, my blanket, my toothbrush, my clothes…they're all back at the apartment."
"I'll go get them for you," Carly said. "Don't worry about that. In the meantime just make yourself as comfortable as you can, I'll be back in a few minutes."
…
Freddie sat miserably on his sofa, staring at the blank television, deep in thought.
He didn't know what he was going to do…He loved Sam more than anybody in the world; he never pictured life without her.
He wondered whether he had made a mistake in breaking up with her…
I couldn't keep doing it, Freddie told himself. I couldn't keep seeing her behind bars…
There was a knock at his door and a moment later Carly let herself into the apartment.
"Hi," Carly said softly. "Um, I-I just heard about the break-up. How you feeling?"
"Bad," Freddie said bluntly. "But I couldn't keep doing it, Carly. Sam promised me she'd stop but she's out of control now. I didn't know what else to do."
Carly nodded. "I understand."
"Is-Is Sam at your place then?" Freddie asked.
"She is," Carly nodded. "She got there a little while ago."
"Is she okay?"
"She's…She's not the best right now," Carly replied honestly. "But I'll work on it. I came by here to get some stuff of hers."
"Oh right," Freddie sighed. "Listen, I don't want her to feel afraid to come here; it's her home too. I-I can work on moving out. I think the building across the street has a few vacancies. I can-"
"Don't do anything rash yet, okay?" Carly said.
Freddie nodded. He got to his feet. "Here, I'll help you get Sam's stuff for her."
Him and Carly stepped into Sam and Freddie's bedroom. Freddie opened her drawers and pulled out her favorite pair of sweatpants and an oversized hoodie and began neatly folding them.
"I'm just a little confused," Carly said, sitting down on the bed. "I mean…Sam was doing so good. But this past year…do you think anything, you know, triggered this?"
"What do you mean?" Freddie frowned.
"Well I mean, it really never seemed like Sam even missed all the illegal stuff she used to do," Carly said. "Yeah, sure, there was the occasional mishap with the butter sock, but she would only use that when she needed to defend herself or someone else. She seemed really happy finally being on the right side of the law. It seems weird that she'd all of the sudden relapse like this."
"She never said anything to me about anything going on," Freddie said, heading to Sam's bedside drawer and opening it up. She had a bag of pork rinds that she always munched on before she fell asleep.
"Maybe it has something to do with us being out in the real world now," Carly said thoughtfully. "I heard a lot of people go through an early mid-life crisis thing right after they graduate college."
"But those are people who don't know what to do with themselves," Freddie pointed out. "Sam got a great job right out of college that she loves. What would she have to be-"
He stopped talking as he pulled out a manila folder from Sam's drawer.
"What is that?" Carly asked.
"No clue," Freddie said. He stared down at it, unsure of whether to open it or not.
"If it was in Sam's drawer, maybe you should just leave it," Carly suggested.
"Yeah, you're right," Freddie agreed. "I don't want her to think I started rifling through all her things the second we broke up."
"Well I'm gonna go grab her toothbrush and make-up from the bathroom," Carly said. "And then I think I should be good to go back to my place."
Freddie watched as Carly stepped into the adjoining bathroom. He started to put the folder back in Sam's drawer, but just as he was about to, curiosity got the better of him.
He opened the folder and scanned the contents.
Oh man, Freddie thought, his eyes widening.
"Alright, just give me her clothes and-hey, I thought you weren't gonna read that!"
Freddie looked up at Carly. "Carly…I think I figured out what's up with Sam."
….
Freddie stood outside Carly's apartment. He had the manila folder tucked away inside his coat. He really hoped Sam would be willing to talk to him.
Taking a deep breath, he let himself into the apartment.
Sam was laying on the couch, fiddling with a loose thread from her shirt.
"Thanks for getting everything, Carls," Sam sighed, sitting up. "I guess at some point I should head over there, though. I need to get the rest of my-"
She blinked when she looked up and saw that it was Freddie standing in the living room instead of Carly.
"What-What are you doing here?" she asked softly.
"I wanted to talk to you, if that's okay," Freddie said.
"What's there to talk about?" Sam said. "You said everything you needed to before."
"Sam," Freddie said gently, pulling out the manila folder.
At the sight of the folder, Sam's eyes narrowed. "What did-You went through my stuff? How dare you! Just because we're broken up doesn't give you any right to touch any of my things or-"
"Why didn't you tell me your dad died at the beginning of this year?" Freddie asked.
Sam fell silent.
"I-I didn't even know you had any contact with him," Freddie said.
Sam looked down at her lap. "I-I didn't. I haven't talked to him since he left my mom back when I was really little."
Freddie sat down next to her.
"Apparently he died from some drug overdose," Sam continued. "That's what the police said when they called me, at least."
"I'm sorry," Freddie said.
Sam shook her head. "It's not like I was exactly sad about it…I hadn't seen the guy in almost twenty years. It's just, well, I dunno…"
"Tell me," Freddie urged her, moving closer to her.
"I've always just sort of had this crazy idea in the back of my head," Sam admitted. "That maybe one day…one day he'd come looking for me, you know, to see how I turned out…if I was okay. I know it's insane…he never cared about me."
"I'm sure that's not-"
"It's true, alright," Sam said. "I've never gotten so much as a phone call from him. But still, I thought maybe he'd come around or something…I knew we'd never have some lovey-dovey reunion or any sort of a father-daughter relationship, but I thought maybe I could at least talk to him for five minutes."
"You should've talked to me," Freddie said. "I-I could've been there for you."
"I told you, it wasn't a big deal," Sam said, though Freddie could see her eyes were red. "Why should I even be thinking about this guy? He left me and Melanie and my mom and never looked back," Sam said.
"Sam?" Freddie said carefully. "Do you think maybe your dad dying has anything to do with your arrest streak all of the sudden?"
Sam didn't answer.
"It's just…this is kind of a big deal," Freddie said. "And maybe the news about your dad dying affected you more than you anticipated and you just sort of…acted out."
Sam scoffed. "I'm twenty-two. That's a little too old to be 'acting out' because your dad dies."
"Is it?"
Sam sighed, biting the corner of her lip. "I-I guess maybe…Maybe it has something to do with it," she finally admitted. "It's just…it's all so final. I mean this is it; I'm really never going to get a chance to have a father now. It was probably never going to happen anyway, but this just makes it all official. I'm never going to get to tell him how much he-he hurt me when he left or what him ditching us did to my mom…I'll never get to tell him that I turned out fine even without him."
Freddie cautiously put an arm around Sam, who had a single tear falling down her cheek.
"I guess when I think about all of that…I get angry," Sam went on. "And-And impulsive. I do things I know I shouldn't do."
"That's why you shouldn't keep these things bottled up inside of you," Freddie said softly. "It's not healthy. You need to open up."
"I know," Sam whispered. "It's just hard…"
"You can always open up to me, Sam," Freddie said. "About anything."
Sam gave him a sad smile. "Too bad we're broken up, though."
Freddie shook his head and gently kissed her cheek. "I don't think I can ever stay away from you," Freddie told her.
