Eyesight

"So how has your first week as a reinstated couple been for you guys?" Carly asked as her, Sam and Freddie sat around the Shay's coffee table, digging into the sandwiches they had picked up on their way home from school that day.

"You know, it's been really, really good," Freddie said, putting his arm around Sam.

"Well I'm glad," Carly smiled. "I know you guys will be, er, well…I know you guys will be-"

"We'll be better at this whole boyfriend girlfriend thing?" Sam finished knowingly, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, yeah," Carly nodded. "I was trying to find a way to say it without it sounding…bad."

"It's okay," Freddie chuckled. "Sam and I know that the last time we could've done some things differently. But you know, we also realized that us having that little break might've been just what we needed. It gave us time to become closer as friends and realize that we really do love each other."

"Unfortunately, it didn't give him enough time to learn to lay off the cheesy, emotional junk," Sam said, giving her boyfriend a playful grin as she leaned up to give him a quick kiss.

"That's sweet," Carly said. "But I hope you guys realize that if you want your relationship to stay on this track, you're really going to need to put in a lot of work."

"Work?" Sam repeated.

"Yeah," Carly said. "Relationships don't just happen, you know. They need effort from both of you."
"Well, Sam and I are both putting in effort," Freddie said. "I mean I've been really proud of Sam lately. You know she's been trying to limit herself to only three insults per phone call?"

"It's hard sometimes," Sam admitted. "You know, because of all the dorky stuff that comes out of his mouth, but I'm getting there. Oh, and Freddie has been working on his ham smuggling skills. Next month we're going to test him out at another prison visit."

"The trick is to wear really loose pants," Freddie said.

"Well, that-that's a good start," Carly said. "But maybe you should be doing just a little bit more."

"A bit more?" Freddie frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well…maybe Sam, you should try to cut your insults to Freddie down to zero altogether," Carly said. "And Freddie…well, I-I don't know how to help your ham situation, but-"

"Wait…you're saying I can't insult him at all?" Sam said.

"Carly, I don't mind if she insults me a little bit," Freddie says. "I know she does it out of love. And now I tell her if she ever crosses the line. I don't think we have too much of a problem there."

"But come on, couples don't throw insults, they throw compliments!" Carly said.

"Hey, I don't just throw out my compliments," Sam said. "If this nub wants a compliment from Mama, he has to earn it."

"Exactly, it makes it more special," Freddie said.

"Yeah, but-"

"Hey, I'm gonna go get a soda, you guys want anything?" Sam said, getting to her feet in what Freddie realized was a clear attempt to change the subject.

"I'm good," Carly replied.

"I'll take a water," Freddie said. "But we have to leave soon, Sam, if we want to make that movie."

"Oh yeah, we should go," Sam said, taking her soda and tossing her boyfriend his water.

"You guys are coming back over here tonight to finish up the fake movie trailer for Dude, where's my Caramel?, right?"

"Yeah, we'll be back," Sam told her, taking Freddie's hand as they started towards the door. "Later, Carls!"

As the couple headed out of the apartment and closed the door behind him, Freddie let out a long whistle.

"Man…what was with her?" he asked.

"Carly? I know," Sam sighed. "She was kind of being…intrusive. But she means well. She's just happy we're back together and she doesn't want to see us break up again, that's all."

"Yeah but, I dunno, she still shouldn't be throwing advice in our faces like that," Freddie said. "It makes it seem like she thinks she knows more about being in a relationship than us."

"Well we know we're doing fine, so let's not worry about her," Sam said, craning her neck to give him a kiss. "Come on, we're going to be late to that movie if we don't hurry, and I know how much you hate missing the previews."

"That's okay," Freddie smiled, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against him before leaning down to kiss her again. "It won't kill me to miss them."

"Hey, do you think rabbits have good eyesight?" Spencer asked later that evening.

Carly and Freddie looked over at him with confused looks.

"Why do you care about a rabbit's vision?" Carly asked.

"Because I'm about to start on this sculpture the receptionist at this glasses place asked me to make," Spencer said. "She said she wanted a bunny wearing glasses to entertain the kids in the waiting room, and I don't know how thick to make the glasses!"
"Well…I guess they would have pretty good vision, you know, from all the carrots they eat," Freddie reasoned.

"Huh…good thinking," Spencer said. "Alright, well I'm gonna hit the junkyard to look for materials. See you later!"

"Where is Sam?" Carly asked, looking at her watch as her brother rushed out the door. "I thought you both were coming right back here after your movie."
"We were," Freddie said. "But she was hungry afterwards so she ran home to make herself a snack."
"You mean she didn't fill up on all the movie candy and popcorn?" Carly asked.

"Nah, I just got the two of us a medium popcorn to share," Freddie said. "It held her over for the movie, but you know her appetite."

"Oh…" Carly said slowly.

"What?" Freddie frowned.

"It's just…don't you think it would be nice to maybe not be so stingy?" Carly said. "I mean…Sam is infamous for devouring movie snacks. She probably would've appreciated it if you wouldn't have been so uptight with your boy wallet. That was a big problem with you last time you dated."
"I know," Freddie said slowly. "But when Sam and I were talking about things we needed to try and do differently this time around even she agreed that me spending eighty bucks on her each time we go to the movies was excessive, so we decided that we'd cut back on that. I offered to buy her a box of candy and a slushie to go with the popcorn, but she told me not to worry because she snuck in a bag of wings in her purse."

"Well…maybe-maybe you could've taken her out for ice cream after instead of making her go all the way back to her house for a sandwich," Carly suggested.

"Carly, Sam wanted to go make herself her own sandwich," Freddie said. "I wasn't going to stop her. She knows if she wanted to go out for ice cream, all she had to do was say so. We don't play those little guessing games in our relationship. We tell each other whatever is on our mind."

"I-Okay," Carly conceded. "If you say so."

Freddie bit his tongue and decided to say nothing.

She's just trying to help, he reminded himself.

"Anyway, a friend of T-Bo's sent me an email a couple hours ago, while you were at the movies," Carly said. "Apparently this guy has a son who knows how to juggle with his feet. Pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah, that does sound cool," Freddie agreed. "Does he want to be on the show or something?"

"Yeah, he does," Carly nodded. "Do we have room to squeeze him into this week's show?"

"We do if we push back the clip we have of Gibby trying to order from a Japanese restaurant using Morse Code," Freddie replied.

"Great!" Carly said. "I was thinking we could have the kid come by on Saturday just to see his juggling in person, then we-"

"Oh, Saturday's no good for me and Sam," Freddie said. "We have a date. But I guess we can try and rearrange it if-"

"Oh no, don't worry about it, I can just do it by myself," Carly said at once. "I'd hate to ruin your date. Where are you two going?"

"We're going to an old arcade we found at the boardwalk," Freddie said.

"An arcade?"

Freddie held back a groan. "Yes."

"Well…um…okay, I-I know I might be stepping over some lines here, but don't you think that maybe an arcade isn't the best place for a date? Especially this early on in your relationship?"

"We both like the arcade," Freddie said. "Sam dominates at Ski Ball and I kick butt at that game with the gorilla. They have onion rings for her and the best iced tea in the world for me. We have a lot of fun at that place. Why wouldn't it be good for a date? It's just a casual date, after all. It's not like we're celebrating anything. We're just going out to have a good time."
"Yeah, but wouldn't you also have a good time at a cute little bistro or on a moonlit stroll?" Carly said.

"Have you met Sam?" Freddie scoffed. "I think I know my girlfriend, Carly. She'd definitely prefer going to the arcade over a stuffy little restaurant that serves tiny portions or a stroll."

"But-But Freddie," Carly said. "I'm just saying…you don't want to screw this up with Sam. I've seen how happy you've been since you got back together with her."

"Yes, I'm very happy," Freddie said, trying to keep his voice calm. "But I'm not going to screw this up by taking Sam to the arcade. Believe it or not, Sam and I know what we're doing, Carly. We told you, before we got back together, we sat down like two mature adults and talked about what we would need to differently to make this relationship work this time, and we came up with compromises that worked for both of us. So while we do appreciate what you're trying to do-"

"Look, all I know is if I was on a date with a guy, and he took me to the arcade, I'd be a little bit-"

"But Carly, this isn't about you!" Freddie suddenly blurted out, unable to hold his tongue any longer. "You're not the one I'm taking on a date to the arcade, so why do you care? Obviously Sam and I know a little bit more about our own relationship than you do! We don't need you trying to swoop in and save it! So just-just stop trying to be so involved in our relationship and-and just mind your own business!"

Carly's eyes widened. Freddie had never raised his voice like that to her before.

"Well I'm just trying to make sure you don't make the same mistakes you did last time!" she defended. "I'm just trying to give you advice!"

"We don't need advice!" Freddie yelled, getting to his feet. He grabbed his jacket and started towards the door. "Just leave Sam and I alone, Carly. Before you wind up messing up this relationship."

…..

About an hour later, Freddie was laying on his bed, staring up at his ceiling. He felt bad about the way he went off on Carly from the second he got back to his apartment. She didn't deserve that…she was just trying to help her friends. He knew he needed to go back over and apologize.

She just…She just needs to learn to let things be with other people, Freddie thought to himself. I didn't want to yell at her. But nothing else was getting through to her!

Just then he heard his front door open and a moment later Sam appeared at his door.

"Dude!" she said loudly, stepping over to his bed and thumping the back of his head. "What'd you do to Carly?"

"Ow!"

"You deserve that!" Sam snapped. "Now what did you do? Carly said you had some sort of fight and she's almost in tears over there!"

"She's crying?" Freddie frowned, sitting up. "Aw man…I-I didn't want her to cry!"

"What happened?" Sam demanded. "What was this fight about? You two never fight!"

"It-It wasn't really a fight," Freddie sighed. "It was more of…me yelling at her."
"You yelled at Carly?" Sam repeated. "What? You couldn't find a puppy to kick? Why would you yell at Carly?"

"Because I couldn't take her constantly scrutinizing our relationship trying to tell us all these things we're doing wrong!" Freddie said. "It was getting to me! It's like she's already assuming we're going to break up again without her guidance."

"I know, it's annoying, but you don't see me blowing up at her!" Sam said. "She's our best friend! She's practically my sister!"

"I know, and I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything and I'm going to go apologize," Freddie said. "It's just…I dunno, I guess she was making me…she was making me feel like I wasn't-like I wasn't a good enough boyfriend for you. Maybe that's why I got so defensive."

"Look," Sam said, sitting down next to him, her tone softening . "Only my opinion on that matters. And I happen to think you're an amazing boyfriend. Carly-Carly just doesn't understand our relationship. We do, and that's what matters. I don't understand her relationships, after all."

"Yeah, I guess…I guess that's true," Freddie nodded.

"Come on," Sam said. "You need to go back over there and apologize for what you did…wow. That-That sounds weird coming from me."

"Tell me about it," Freddie chuckled as he stood up. "But you're right. Let's go."
The couple walked back across the hall and into the Shay's apartment, where Carly was sitting on the couch.

"Carly," Freddie started at once. "Listen, I-"

"I'm sorry," Carly said, cutting him off. "I'm sorry for pushing myself onto your relationship. I was out of line, and-and you were right to yell. I'm really sorry…both of you. And-And it won't happen again."
"No, Carls, I-I shouldn't have yelled," Freddie said. "I knew you were just trying to help us because you care about us."
"Well, of course I care about you," Carly said. "You're my best friends. And-And I just want you to be happy, together. I mean, I saw how you were after you broke up. Sam, you cried yourself to sleep the night after it happened, and Freddie, you moped around in that bathrobe your mom knitted for you. You two were miserable; I-I just don't want to see that ever happen to you again."

"Aw, kid," Sam said. "It won't. You-You have to realize that they way Fredbutt and I do things isn't-isn't exactly the most traditional way. I'm never going to be the type of girlfriend that gushes over him and acts like a moron over him. And I don't want him to be the kind of boyfriend that takes me on all these extravagant dates that are overly fancy and treats me like I'm helpless. But we make it work."

"Exactly," Freddie nodded. "We're going to be fine. We know what we're doing."
Carly let out a deep breath as she nodded her head. "Okay," she said. "I-That makes sense. You two do seem like you're enjoying yourselves. I guess…I guess you do really have a handle on all of this."

"We do," Sam smiled, putting her arm around Freddie.

"Well…I-I'm sorry again," Carly said. "Really."

"It's okay," Freddie said. "Besides, Sam and I are really lucky we have a best friend who cares about our happiness this much. Really lucky."