Quarter
"Have I mentioned how much I hate the snow?" Freddie announced as he entered his and Sam's shared apartment.
"Every time you go outside, baby," Sam said, not looking up from the T.V.
"It snowed even more while I was over at Gibby's," Freddie mumbled, hanging up his coat and brushing the stray flakes off his shoulders. "It's up to three-quarters of a foot. Luckily they paved the roads just as I was leaving, otherwise I would've been stuck with Gib for hours."
"Now that sounds terrible," Sam said as Freddie collapsed into the seat next to her.
"Stupid winter," Freddie said darkly. "I'm still freezing! It must be twenty below out there. My fingers are frozen, my toes are frozen, my face is frozen-"
"Aw, baby," Sam smiled, moving onto his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed him deeply. "Maybe I can find some way to warm you up."
"Really?" Freddie grinned, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her back.
"Uh-huh," Sam nodded. "I'll get you a blanket."
"Okay," Freddie said as Sam hopped up. "Now that was cruel."
"No, that was funny," Sam corrected, tossing her boyfriend a blanket.
"Yeah, now I'm cold and disappointed," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "That's real funny."
"I've never heard someone have such a thing against the snow," Sam said. "You know, some people actually like it."
"Who could like frozen flurries of death falling all over the place?" Freddie sneered.
"Flurries of death?" Sam repeated. "Okay, you're never allowed to give me lectures about exaggeration again. Besides, I happen to be one of those people who likes the snow, for your information."
"Why?" Freddie frowned.
"I don't know, it's just nice," Sam shrugged. "When I was younger I used to love playing in the snow. Man…I'd build igloos and snowmen and all kinds of other chiz. It was the best!"
"You played in the snow? Have you ever heard of Pneumonia?"
Sam raised an eyebrow.
"Oh my God…" Freddie said slowly. "I-I just sounded like my mom there, didn't I?"
"It was like Marissa Benson was here in the flesh," Sam nodded. "Anyway, come on, you had to have enjoyed yourself when you played in the snow when you were a kid."
"You mean all those times you shoved snow into my pants when we were walking to school?" Freddie asked.
"No, before that!" Sam said. "When you were little. Didn't you have fun making snow angels and sledding and-"
"Sam, I was raised by a woman who didn't trust me with shirts with buttons on them until I was twelve," Freddie said. "You really think she'd let me play in the snow?"
"Wait, what?" Sam said. "You've never played in the snow?"
"Nope, and you know what? I think that's the one bit of crazy parenting that was on the right track," Freddie said.
"But-But every kid has to play in the snow!" Sam said.
"That's not true," Freddie replied. "What about kids who live in Florida?"
"Well that's Florida! That state's messed up enough," Sam said dismissively. "But I cannot believe you've never played in the snow. That's probably why you hate the stuff so much; you've never seen how great it is!"
"Baby, I doubt me not entertaining myself by playing with frozen water flurries when I was a kid has anything to do with my perfectly rational hatred of snow now," Freddie said. He stood up from the sofa, still huddled in his blanket. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go try and defrost."
…..
"That stupid groundhog better see his shadow next month," Freddie mumbled as he stood in front of his apartment door, rummaging around in his pocket for his keys. "Because I cannot take six more weeks of-ah!"
Suddenly, he felt someone jump onto his back from behind and start to tie a blindfold over his eyes.
"What's happening? You can take my money and everything, just please don't-"
"Relax, nub," came his girlfriend's voice. "It's just me."
"Just-Just-Sam! Sam, what are you doing? Take this blindfold off of me!" Freddie exclaimed.
"I will, eventually," Sam assured him.
"Eventually?"
"Well I'm taking you somewhere," Sam explained. "It's a surprise."
"And you couldn't take me there without kidnapping me?"
"Calm down, I'm not kidnapping you."
"The definition of kidnapping begs to disagree!"
"Just shut up and follow me," Sam said, hopping off his back and taking his hand.
"Last time we were in this situation I wound up with honey in my socks…" Freddie said slowly. "And a sprained ankle."
"Come on, I promise, nothing's going to happen to you," Sam told him.
"Which is what you said that time before you shoved me into that fountain at the mall," Freddie said. "And before you fed me sushi filled with wasabi. And-"
"Just stop bringing up ancient history and follow me, will you?" Sam snapped.
Sam led Freddie downstairs and back outside.
"Where are we going?" Freddie asked, hugging his coat closer to his body. "It's cold Sam."
"Yeah, I caught your rant about the groundhog," Sam said. "Man up, will you? You have that scarf your mom knitted you!"
"Can you just tell me what we're doing?" Freddie sighed. "You know, before I turn into a human popsicle and-"
"Alright, you can relax now," Sam said, stopping in her tracks and letting go of Freddie's hand. "We're here."
"What do you mean we're here?" Freddie sputtered. "We're still outside."
Sam pulled off his blindfold and Freddie looked around at his surroundings. Him and Sam were standing in the middle of a snow-covered park,
"Surprise!" Sam said happily.
"I don't understand," Freddie said slowly.
"I was thinking about what you said yesterday," Sam said. "About how you never played around in the snow as a kid. And I decided that we're gonna fix that. Now."
"You're forcing me to play in the snow?" Freddie moaned.
"You forced me to do my homework all through senior year," Sam replied.
"That-That's different!" Freddie cried. "That was to make sure you graduate. What kind of benefit could I possibly get from this?"
"For starters, it might un-bunch your panties you have in a knot," Sam said. She stood on her toes, giving him a soft kiss. "Please just try this? For me?"
Freddie sighed. "Well you know I can't say no to that. Alright…but ten minutes! After that I want to be inside and far away from this stuff."
"Deal," Sam agreed excitedly. "Alright, baby, the first you're going to do is make a snowman! Now, it may seem simple, but it's actually a very delicate process. See, you need pack the snow in just the right way so that when you tower the parts of the snowman up, the whole thing doesn't come topping down."
"So it's like physics then," Freddie pointed out. "You need to make sure the structure has the right center of gravity."
"Er, sure," Sam said. "But let's not nerd this up with science. Just have fun with it."
"What do you even do with the snowman once he's done?" Freddie asked, slowly kneeling down to begin making the base of the snowman.
"Well I would always use him as target practice with my slingshot, but you can do whatever, really," Sam said. "Melanie would always make hers a princess and play castle, the one time I did this with Carly she made her snowman a teacher and tried to educate me. It's up to you."
"Hmmm," Freddie said thoughtfully. "You know, maybe it would be cool to make this snowman Emperor Hunklebum from the rebel allegiance in Galaxy Wars."
"I don't think cool is the right way to describe that, but hey, you do you," Sam said. "I'll go find some sticks and stones so you can decorate it when you're done."
Huh…I guess I can kind of see why Spencer likes this sculpting stuff, Freddie thought to himself, carefully molding his snowman. Even though I can't feel my fingers right now…But I suppose playing in the snow isn't the worse thing in the world. I guess maybe Sam did have a point about-
He was suddenly rattled from his thoughts, though, as he felt something collide with his back.
He spun around just in time to be hit with a large ball of snow square in the face.
"What the-" Freddie sputtered, wiping his face.
"Snow activity number two," Sam laughed, casually tossing another snowball between her two hands. "Snowball fights."
"You attacked me!"
"That is correct," Sam grinned. "Snowball fights were always my favorite. My cousins and I would spend all day outside having them. We'd divide into teams and build snow forts…it became really cut throat too."
"Yeah, with a whole army of Pucketts, I'd imagine," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"We'd form alliances, only to have traitors switch sides and ambush their own team," Sam said nostalgically. "We'd hide stink bombs in the snowballs, we'd try to bury each other in snow…man, those were some good times."
"Yeah, well, prepare yourself for some payback for those last two snowballs, Puckett," Freddie smirked, crouching down to make his ammunition. "Because I am not about to let you get away with-"
Just then Sam's phone started buzzing, and she reached into her pocket to pull it out.
"Aw, would you look at that," she said. "That's ten minutes. Well…a deal's a deal. We can go home now, baby. I'm sure all you want to do now is take a hot shower and curl up by the fireplace our apartment doesn't have."
"It's really been ten minutes already?" Freddie frowned.
"Uh-huh."
"Oh," Freddie said. "Wow…that-that flew by, didn't it? Well, I mean…I-I don't have any plans for the rest of the day. Maybe we can stay out here for another ten minutes? You know, just so I can try my hand at these snowball fights."
"Sure," Sam smiled. "I can kick you butt in all kinds of weather, after all."
….
"You saw my amazing shot to your shoulder, right?" Freddie said happily as the couple entered their apartment a couple hours later.
"Yes, baby, I saw it," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"You did not expect that, did you?" Freddie chuckled. "I was on fire!"
"I still creamed you!" Sam reminded him. "I must've hit you two hundred times. You only got me like ten."
"And that snow fort I built for protection…man, that thing was great!" Freddie continued, ignoring her comment. "Though I do think if I had added another couple of inches to that front wall, it would've made a difference. I'll remember that for next time. And-"
"Next time?" Sam grinned, handing her coat to Freddie to hang up. "Hold on there, am I hearing that right? Does my snow-hating boyfriend actually want to go back into the snow? Willingly?"
"I-Well…"
"Aw, admit it," Sam beamed. "You had fun in the snow. You loved the snow."
"I did not love the snow."
"Yes you did."
"I-Fine," Freddie sighed. "It was a lot of fun and not as horrible as I thought."
"So you were…"
"I was wrong about the snow," Freddie chuckled, pulling her closer to him and wrapping his arms around her. He leaned down and kissed her. "Thanks for making me do that, Sam."
"You're welcome," Sam said, kissing him back. "Alright, well, I'm freezing. You want any hot chocolate?"
"Ohh, yes please," Freddie nodded.
"Okay," Sam said, flopping down on the couch. "You know where everything is. I'll take extra whipped cream and marshmallows in mine."
"Coming right up," Freddie smiled, rolling his eyes.
