Nowadays
"Happy anniversary, baby," Freddie smiled, leaning down to kiss Sam gently as the two sat cuddled together out on his fire escape.
"You've said that thirty times tonight," Sam chuckled, nuzzling her head against his shoulder. "Can you believe it though? Six months…that's something."
"It's been the best six months of my life," Freddie sighed happily. He looked down into her eyes. "I love you so much, Sam."
"I love you too, Freddie," Sam replied, absentmindedly tracing small circles on the back of his palm.
"This is just all so…perfect," Freddie continued, staring up at the sky. "Me and you…"
"It is," Sam said softly. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Sometimes I wonder if it's too good to last."
"What do you mean?" Freddie frowned.
Sam shrugged. "I mean…come on, I-I'm not the kind of girl who just has these amazing things happen for her. These past six months have been great, but…but I'm sure I'm gonna find a way to screw it up soon."
"Sam, baby…don't-don't say that," Freddie said. "Listen, I am going to be here for you for…for forever. You never have to worry about losing me."
Sam smiled. "How can you possibly know that though? We've only been together six months."
"True," Freddie agreed. "But that's been more than enough time for me to realize how crazy I am about you."
"Crazy, huh?" Sam grinned. She craned her neck up to kiss him. "Well I'm crazy about you too."
She let out a soft sigh. "So you really think…you really think this is going to last between us?"
"Definitely," Freddie nodded.
"Good," Sam said, relieved. "Because…Because I-I really have loved every second of these past six months. I can't wait for the next six months either. And-And all the months after that…"
"Me too," Freddie chuckled. He leaned down and kissed her again. "Seriously, there's so much ahead of us…"
"Like what?" Sam smirked, letting out an uncharacteristic giggle.
"Well," Freddie smiled, playing with the loose ends of her hair. "After high school we-we'll move into our first apartment together."
"Oh, like in the movies," Sam nodded. "We could get one of those little studio ones! With the bed that folds out from the wall! Holy chiz! Our bedroom would be in the kitchen! I could eat ham in bed!"
"Yeah, you could," Freddie laughed. "And we'll both work and save until we can get ourselves a bigger place…a house with a yard and little picket fence…perfect for us to start a family."
"Think we'll have kids?" Sam grinned.
"Do you want kids?"
"Yeah," Sam said softly. "I do…a boy and a girl...I could build them a tree house out back to play on, because we all know you barely know how to use a hammer. But you could teach them all about computers."
"I'd like that," Freddie agreed. "And we can watch them grow up, and then once they leave us, we'll probably be all depressed, but then we'll take this giant trip all around the world."
"Oh, I always wanted to go to Germany!" Sam said excitedly. "They have the best chocolate there."
"We'll go to Germany," Freddie promised. "And Italy and Russia and Brazil and-"
"Japan," Sam added. "You can finally visit the Pear headquarters…And then when we get back from this world trip, we'll start bugging our kids for grandchildren. We'll be the cool kind, obviously. The kind that give them candy every time they visit and lets them do all these fun things…"
"Totally," Freddie agreed, staring out at the city.
"That all sounds amazing, baby," Sam sighed. "I can't wait for it all to start…"
"Yeah," Freddie said slowly. He was silent for a moment. "But maybe…maybe we don't have to wait."
"Huh?" Sam frowned, giving him a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, why do we have to wait for who knows how many years to get started on all of that?" Freddie asked. "We're both practically adults! We graduate high school in four months. What if…what if we just, you know, started our lives together now?"
"What are you talking about?" Sam laughed. "Are you saying we should, what, get married now?"
"Why not?" Freddie said seriously.
Sam stopped laughing. "W-What?"
"I mean…we're both so in love with each other," Freddie said. "And-And it's not like that's ever going to change."
"No, of course it's not," Sam said. "But-But can we-can we even get married? We're only seventeen."
"Well I'll be eighteen next month," Freddie reasoned. "And then you'll be eighteen two months after that. We can get married without any parental permission then. Until then we-we'd be, you know, engaged."
"Wait, you serious?" Sam said. "Are you actually being serious right now?"
"I love you, Sam," Freddie said, touching her cheek gently. "And-And I know that-that I don't have a ring or-or anything like that right now, but-but I've never wanted anything more than to marry you and start a real life with you. I've known that for awhile now."
"Freddie, I love you more than anything, you-you know that," Sam replied. "And-And I want to marry you…I really do. But-Are you sure this isn't insane?"
"Maybe," Freddie said. "But since when has 'normal' ever been our thing?"
Sam let out another laugh. "You know what? Yes. Yes, I-I'll marry you!"
"You will?" Freddie exclaimed, his face lighting up.
"Yes," Sam said sincerely. "I love you."
Freddie wasted no time in jumping to his feet and pulling Sam up, spinning her round as he kissed her senseless.
"Holy chiz!" Freddie breathed when they finally pulled apart. "I-I don't believe this. I can't believe we-we're going to get married. This-This is incredible!"
"I know!" Sam grinned, a few tears falling from her face. "We-We're going to have a life together."
"I'll get you the best ring ever, baby, I promise," Freddie said at once. "I'll go to the jewelry store first thing tomorrow and-and I'll use every penny I have in my savings to buy it. And-And then the second you turn eighteen in April we'll have the ceremony and-and officially be husband and wife."
"We probably don't even need to wait that long, come to think about it," Sam said breathlessly. "Your mom is the one who'd be all unreasonable about this. My mom won't care. Once you turn eighteen in February, all I need to do is have her sign some forms giving me permission and-and we can be on a flight to Vegas before the ink even dries."
"Baby, you know what that means?" Freddie said softly, his smile widening. "We only have to wait less than a month for all of this! Then we'll be-"
"-A married couple," Sam finished, absolutely beaming. "Mr. and Mrs. Benson…oh my God…that-that sounds so-so-"
"-Perfect?" Freddie grinned.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Sam smirked. She leaned up to kiss him again. "Oh my God…we-we have to tell Carly! She's gonna be so excited!"
"I know, she loves weddings," Freddie agreed. "Come on, we can go over there now."
"Hold on," Sam said, taking his hand. "I was thinking we'd go over there in say, an hour or so."
"Why?" Freddie asked.
Sam rolled her eyes as she laced her arms around his neck. "Maybe being married to me will help your cluelessness."
….
"Hey, Carly!" Sam said about one hour later as her and Freddie burst into the Shay's apartment.
"Oh, hi guys," Carly smiled, pausing the movie she had been watching. "What's up, how was your big date night? Six months…kind of a big deal."
"Yeah, it is," Freddie grinned, taking Sam's hand in his. "Which is why we have some pretty big news to tell you."
"News?" Carly said. "What kind of news?"
"Amazing news," Sam beamed. "Oh! Is Spencer home? We should tell him now too."
"Oh, good thinking, baby," Freddie nodded.
"Um, yeah, he's here," Carly nodded. "Spence! Hey, Spencer, come out here!"
"Coming!" Spencer called from his bedroom.
"So what's this big news?" Carly asked anxiously.
"You'll see in a second," Sam told her.
"Oh, did you two finally go a whole night without arguing about what the purpose of those little pieces on the ends of shoelaces are?" Carly chuckled.
"Not quite," Freddie said, smiling down lovingly at Sam.
"Okay, this better be good!" Spencer said, joining the teens in the living room. "I was in the middle of an extra fun set of Mad Libs. What's up?"
"I don't know, Sam and Freddie say they have some big news for us," Carly told her brother. "So what is it, guys?"
"Well," Freddie said, exchanging an elated glance with Sam. "Sam and I…see, we-we were talking earlier, and-and this just made so much sense. I mean we love each other, so-so we figured, you know, why wait?"
"Wait for what?" Spencer frowned.
"We're gonna get married!" Sam cried happily.
Carly's eyes widened and Spencer had to grip the back of the couch for support.
"Wh-What was that?" Carly sputtered, looking as though she had just been hit in the face with a frying pan.
"We're getting married," Freddie repeated, still smiling.
"M-Married?" Spencer repeated, his voice sounding serious, as it only did when he was really concerned about something.
"Like-Like in the future, right?" Carly said slowly.
"I guess technically a month is considered the future," Sam shrugged.
"A month?" Carly exclaimed. "Are-Are you-you're kidding, right?"
"No," Freddie frowned. "Why-Why would we be kidding?"
"Hold on," Spencer said, shaking his head. "Let-Let me see if I get this straight…you two are planning on getting married in a month?"
"Yes, that's what we said," Sam nodded, confused at why the two Shay siblings seemed less than thrilled at this news.
"I-Sam…Freddie, that-this is crazy!" Carly stammered. "You-You can't get married!"
"What do you mean we can't get married?" Sam said. "Of course we can."
"No, you-you can't!" Carly said. "You're only seventeen! You're in high school!"
"People have been married in high school," Freddie pointed out.
"Yes, in biblical times!" Carly snapped. "I mean don't you have to be eighteen to even do this?"
"Freddie's gonna be eighteen in a month," Sam told her. "And all I need is for my mom to give me her permission."
"Spence," Carly said, turning to her older brother for help. "You-You think this is crazy too, don't you?"
"I think it's more than crazy," Spencer said firmly, crossing his arms. "It's downright stupid."
"Stupid?" Freddie repeated angrily. "It's not stupid. We love each other!"
"Yeah, we get that," Spencer said. "But that doesn't mean you have to run off and get married right away! You two have been together for, what, six months?"
"So?" Sam snapped. "We've known each other for years. And besides, six months has been more than enough time for us to realize we want to spend the rest of our lives together."
"Yes, okay, that's fine!" Spencer said. "But-But that still doesn't make you two running off to get married a good idea! I mean have you even thought this through?"
"What's there to think through?" Freddie said.
"College, for one!" Carly said. "Freddie, you're still waiting to hear back from MIT. What if you do wind up getting in? Sam's already accepted her offer at Washington State. I mean having a long distance relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend is one thing, but doing it as husband and wife is a whole other!"
"Well…maybe-maybe I'll just, you know, forget about MIT," Freddie said. "And go to Washington State with you guys."
"You can't give up going to your dream school!" Carly exclaimed.
"Well then I'll cancel my acceptance and find a community college by MIT to go to!" Sam said.
"You-Why would you do that when you've already been-"
"Alright, so college is something we'd have to work on!" Freddie said. "But no marriage is just easy."
"No," Spencer agreed. "But-But this is a whole new level…Freddie, you realize if you run off and get married, your mom will go ballistic?"
"She-She can't stop me once I'm eighteen," Freddie pointed out.
"No, but-but just think what that will do to your relationship with her," Spencer said. "Are you really ready to face the idea of never speaking to your mom again?"
"And where would you live?" Carly pointed out. "If Freddie's mom is too upset over this wedding too take you guys in, that only leaves living with Sam's mom."
"So we'll live there until we graduate," Sam shrugged.
"Really?" Carly said, crossing her arms. "So you're going to move Freddie, and all of his stuff into your tiny bedroom for five more months?"
"Well…it-it might get cramped, but-but it will be fine," Sam said.
"And then what about after you graduation?" Spencer asked. "Neither MIT or Washington State has co-ed dorm rooms, even for married couples, which means you'd have to find a place off campus. You can't use any financial aid to pay for those places."
"So we-we'd get jobs," Freddie mumbled.
"You know how hard that would be while juggling a full course load?" Carly asked.
"People have jobs in college, Carly!" Sam said.
"And what if something goes wrong and you two have a big fight?" Spencer continued. "And you want to take a little break or something? That's harder to do when you're married."
"We-We won't let that happen," Freddie said lamely.
"And what about all the other parts of marriage?" Carly went on. "You too have to share everything and make every decision about your lives together. Are you guys really ready for that? I mean you haven't even gotten a chance to do any of that for yourselves!"
"And have you-"
"I-I can't believe this!" Freddie said loudly, looking back and forth between Carly and Spencer. "You two are really going to sit here and try and rip apart our marriage before it has even started?"
"Yeah!" Sam nodded angrily. "You know, we wanted to tell you guys this because we thought you'd be happy for us! But if you're just going to sit around and bash us like this we're sorry we bothered!"
"We're not bashing you!" Carly said. "We just don't want you rushing into something so serious! It's great that you're so in love and all, but if you're so sure about you wanting to spend the rest of your lives together, why does it matter if you get married next month or in say, five years?"
"You know what? We're not going to stand here and let you two try and talk us out of this!" Freddie snapped. "Come on, Sam, let's get out of here."
"Yeah, I can't believe we were so excited to tell these two about this," Sam said, shooting Spencer and Carly one last glare as her and Freddie started towards the door. "I guess that's two wedding invitations we don't need to send."
Before they could listen to their protests, Sam and Freddie stormed out of the Shay's apartment and retreated back to Freddie's empty one.
"The nerve of them!" Freddie exclaimed as he slammed the door behind him. "Telling us all those negative things like they were expecting us to fail at our marriage before we even started!"
"People nowadays," Sam sighed. "You think they're your friends, but then they go and do this..."
"I can't believe they think we're just rushing into this," Freddie said, shaking his head.
"I know," Sam scoffed.
The two were silent for a moment.
"Although…" Freddie said slowly. "I guess…I guess that was a lot for them to just take in back there."
"Yeah," Sam said softly. She looked down at her feet. "Hey…you-you don't think what they said about your mom is true, do you? You don't think it would totally ruin your relationship with her if you ran off to get married?"
"I-I don't know," Freddie said honestly. "She can hold onto a grudge." He cleared his throat. "But, um, you-you didn't really mean what you said back there about possibly canceling your acceptance to Washington State, did you? Because that-that's such a good school for you, Sam. You'd get a better education there than you would at some community college in Massachusetts."
"Well the only other option would be for you to give up MIT," Sam pointed out. "And-And that's your dream school, baby, you can't give that up. I'd never forgive myself if you did that for me."
The two were silent once more.
"I guess there is kind of more to think about with this whole marriage thing than just being in love," Freddie finally said.
"Yeah," Sam whispered. She let out a small sigh. "Um, listen…do you think that maybe-maybe what Carly and Spencer were saying back there…that it might not be so crazy?"
"Maybe…" Freddie said heavily. He looked down at his feet. "I guess it is possible that we kind of-kind of-"
"Got caught up in the moment?" Sam finished, giving him a small, understanding smile. "With all that talk back on the fire escape about our lives together."
"Yeah," Freddie nodded. "I-I still mean all that I said back there. I-I want to do all of that with you, Sam. I still do love you and I still want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"I love you too," Sam told him. "But…I guess maybe it is a little soon for us to try and jump ahead to marriage. I mean…we're just kids."
"Exactly," Freddie said, taking her hands. "So maybe…how about we lay off on the marriage plans for now. Until we're ready."
Sam nodded, standing on her toes to give him a short kiss. "Until we're ready," she agreed.
