Strategy

"You want to know my strategy for cooking the perfect Thanksgiving Day feast?" Spencer said as he carried a large, uncooked turkey from a shopping bag and slid it into the freezer.

"Good recipes?" Freddie guessed.

"Nope!" Spencer replied. "A brand new deep fryer! Wait till you taste the turkey this year, Fredd-O, it's gonna be insane!"

"Are you even allowed to use a deep fryer?" Freddie frowned. "You know you don't have the best history with anything flammable…or not flammable, for that matter."
"Hey!" Spencer defended. "I'll have you know that while you three have been away at college, I've only had to call the fire department four times!"

"Uh-huh," Freddie said, rolling his eyes as he plopped himself down on the Shay's couch. He pulled out his phone. "Man…what's taking Sam and Carly so long to get here? I thought they'd be here by now!"

"Chill, they just left school this morning," Spencer said. "They have at least another hour."
"Ugh!" Freddie moaned miserably. "Another whole hour?"
"What's your deal?" Spencer asked. "Why are you suddenly Mr. Impatient?"

"You realize Sam and I haven't seen each other in person since I left for MIT in August?" Freddie said. "That means for over three stinking months these lips have been kissless!"

"Gross," Spencer cringed.

"I can't wait to spend this Thanksgiving break with Sam," Freddie said. "I've missed her so much. I just wish we had more time. But at least this time when we go back we'll only have to wait another month before we're home for Christmas."

He checked the time again. "Are you sure they're going to be another hour? Maybe I should call them myself and-"

"Dude, relax," Spencer said. "I know you miss your little girlfriend but you're kind of getting a little crazy."

"You think?" Freddie sighed. "Sorry."

"Hey, it's okay," Spencer said. "Happens to the best of us. Now come, come help me deep fry some tangelos to test this bad boy out."

"Are we there yet?"

"Sam…" Carly said, gripping the steering wheel. "You asked me this same question four minutes ago. Now what answer did I give you then?"
"You said an hour," Sam replied. "But that's so long."
"Well asking me ten thousand times isn't going to make the time speed up any!" Carly said. "Look, I know we're running a little bit behind schedule…especially since someone wouldn't wake up on time, but there's nothing I can do to control the traffic."

"Ugh!" Sam groaned, kicking her feet up on the dashboard. "I just want to get to Seattle already!"

"You miss Freddie?" Carly smiled knowingly.

"Well…yeah," Sam admitted. "I mean it's been so long since we've seen each other not through a computer screen."

"I know," Carly nodded. "I've got to say, I'm impressed at how well you two have managed to do this whole long-distance relationship thing."
"So am I," Sam smirked. "It sucks not getting to make out with him every day."

"Lovely," Carly said, shaking her head. "Anyway, I'm sure you guys have a lot planned for when you finally see each other again this week."

"Totally," Sam nodded. "We're gonna go to the pier, hang out on his fire escape, chill at the park-"

"So you're basically visiting all your old make-out spots then?" Carly said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, we have a lot of time to make up!" Sam said indignantly.

"Alright, alright," Carly chuckled. "I guess that's fair. But just so you know, if you two weren't such an adorable couple, I'd be seriously grossed out by now. But I am happy that you and Freddie can get to spend some real quality time together after three whole months."
"So am I," Sam grinned, leaning back in her seat. "So…how much longer?"
….

"Okay, so we might have one minor explosion," Spencer said as him and Freddie let themselves into the apartment later that day through the back door. "That doesn't mean the whole deep-fryer thing will be a total bust."
"Um, yes, that's exactly what it means," Freddie said, grabbing a paper towel to attempt to wipe off some of the grease that had splattered his shirt during the incident. "Great…now I'm gonna smell like fried tangelo when Sam gets here. You're just lucky the oil wasn't hot yet."

"I don't know where I went wrong," Spencer said. "Do you think maybe I needed to-"

"Dude, you need to stop experimenting with anything that has even the slightest chance of catching on fire!" Freddie snapped. He looked down at his shirt. "Now I'm gonna have to go home and change real quick before Sam gets here and-"

Before he could finish his sentence, though, the front door of the Shay's apartment opened up and Carly and Sam walked in.

"We're back!" Carly announced. "Oh good, you're both here! I've really missed you-"

"Sam!" Freddie exclaimed, dropping the paper towel and bolting over to his girlfriend.

Sam dropped her bag and held out her arms as Freddie reached her, picking her up and spinning her around, wasting no time pressing his lips to hers for their first kiss in way, way too long.

"Sam, baby, I've missed you so much," Freddie gasped when the two pulled apart at last.

"Me too," Sam beamed, her arms still wrapped around his neck. "It's been forever since we've did that. I was worried you were going to lose your touch."

"Did I?" Freddie smirked.

"Not even a little," Sam chuckled.

"Uck!" Spencer gagged from the kitchen.

"Um, hi," Carly said, rolling her eyes. "You know there are other people here."

"Oh, er, hey there, Carls," Freddie said, stepping away from Sam as he gave his friend a quick hug.

"What's up, Spence?" Sam said, hugging the older man. "You've been holding the fort down without us?"

"Sure have," Spencer said proudly. "And I'll have you know I've even made some new friends who aren't younger than me!"

"Wow, really?" Carly said, impressed.

"Uh-huh," Spencer nodded. "I meet them every Thursday and Saturday down at the senior center."
"Senior Center?" Freddie frowned.

"You hang out with the elderly now?" Sam exclaimed.

"Hey! They're a great bunch of people!" Spencer defended. "And they have the juiciest stories! You should hear about Edith's hip replacement drama."

Sam shook her head as she walked back over to Freddie and leaned up to give him another kiss. "I'm glad you're back," she whispered.

"Not as glad as I am you're back," Freddie replied.

"So what are we all going to do now that the gang's reunited?" Spencer asked. "We can play a little Monopoly, watch some Full House, order some pizza…Hey! I know! I can get out my lawn again and we can all have a sleepover in the living room! Come on; let's get started!"

Sam and Freddie exchanged looks.

"What?" Spencer asked naïvely.

"Spencer," Carly said, shaking her head at her brother's ignorance. "This is the first time Freddie and Sam have seen each other in months."

"It's the first time any of us have seen each other in months," Spencer pointed out.

"I know, but Sam and Freddie are a couple," Carly said.

"So?"
"Er, look, Spencer," Freddie said. "Sam and I really do want to spend time catching up with everybody, but, um, right now we kind of just want to catch up with each other."

"Yeah," Sam agreed.

"Oh," Spencer sighed. "I get it…"
"But we'll all hang out tomorrow for Thanksgiving," Sam added quickly. "We'll spend the whole day together, just the four of us. We'll watch the parade, eat some turkey, pretend to like Carly's pies…"

"What?" Carly frowned.

"Yeah, it will be fun," Freddie nodded.

"Okay, okay," Spencer conceded. "You two go have fun. We'll hang out tomorrow."
"Cool," Sam grinned, grabbing Freddie's hand. "Come on, Fredbag."
"Later, guys," Freddie said to Carly and Spencer as Sam dragged him out of the apartment.

Once the door closed behind them, Carly looked over at her brother. "You don't really just pretend to like my pies, do you?"
"Um…I've got to go send a fax!" Spencer said, bolting towards his room, leaving Carly alone in the kitchen.

….

"-And my professor told me with a little bit of work, he thinks my program could be able to launch for real by the end of the year," Freddie said excitedly as him and Sam sat at a small table in their favorite Italian restaurant.

"Wow, really?" Sam grinned. "That's actually kind of cool. You'd be some big shot in the tech-nerd world."

"Well that is my dream," Freddie chuckled. "So what about you? How's the English major thing working out?"

"It's alright, I guess," Sam shrugged. "It's a lot of writing."
"But you're so good at writing," Freddie said. "Especially creative writing."

"Yeah, I guess it's not so bad," Sam said. She looked down at her plate. "You know, um, one of my professors really liked one of my short stories I submitted. He-He's going to have it published."
Freddie dropped his fork. "Sam! That-That's incredible!"
"It's just going to be in this little literary magazine that comes out on campus," Sam said modestly. "It's not like it's going in some big paper or anything."
"It's still a huge deal!" Freddie said. "Wow…I'm so proud of you, baby."
"Thanks," Sam smiled. "I found out last week, but I kind of wanted to wait to tell you in person."
"I'm glad you did," Freddie chuckled. "Because if you told me over the phone, I couldn't have properly congratulated you."
He leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss. "Seriously, Sam, that's great news."

"Thanks," Sam said again.

After that, the couple was silent for a few moments, simply staring across at one another as they held hands under the table.

"I know I've said it before, but I've really missed you like crazy," Freddie said. "Two thousand plus miles is a really far distance to be from you."

"Tell me about it," Sam chuckled. "But, I mean, I think we've done a pretty good job dealing with it."
"That's true," Freddie nodded. "We video chat four times a week, we call each other every day, we're texting each other more often than not…still, it's hard not having you there."

"Well…it's like you said when you left in the Fall," Sam said. "This isn't a permanent thing. After college we can move back together."

"Yeah," Freddie sighed. "As much as I love MIT…I can't wait for that."

Sam gave him a small smile. "Oh come on, baby. We only have one week before we both go back to school; let's not make it all depressing."

Freddie laughed. "Alright. Hey, you want to hear something funny? I know you'll enjoy it because it kind of involves a blow to my self-esteem."
"Oh, sweet," Sam grinned. "Tell me."
"None of the new friends I've made at MIT believe that I have a girlfriend," Freddie told her.

"Wait, what?" Sam laughed.

"That's right," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "I've shown them tons of pictures of you, but they say, and I quote, there's no way a dork like me could convince a hot girl like you to go out with me."
"Ha!" Sam exclaimed. "You're right, that is funny!"

"Yup," Freddie chuckled. "All my friends think I have an imaginary girlfriend."

"Well it's good to hear your dorkiness is being kept in check up there," Sam said. "Since I'm not there to do it myself. But maybe I'll have to fly there sometime so you can prove those guys wrong…"

"I would love that," Freddie sad. He squeezed Sam's hand softly. "Just like I love you."

Sam blushed and looked down at her lap.

"What?" Freddie asked. "What is it?"
"Nothing," Sam said quietly, looking back up at him. "It's just…it's so much better hearing you say that when it's not coming from a phone. I love you too."
Freddie grinned. "I see what you mean. It's ten times better. Looks like technology can't improve everything."