Filming

"Why?" Sam said angrily as she stormed into Carly's apartment. "Is my boyfriend a moron?"
"Uh-oh, what'd Freddie do?" Carly chuckled.

"Nothing!" Sam snapped. "Nothing at all!"

"Huh?" Carly frowned, confused.

"The two of us have been dating for five years," Sam said. "We've spent the last year living together. We've taken trips together, said 'I love you', dealt with each other's crazy families…"

"Yeah," Carly nodded. "And?"

Sam sighed as she sat down next to her best friend. "Do you think it's kind of weird that-that he hasn't…never mind."

"Oh no," Carly said at once. "You can't just burst in here and dangle something like this in front of me and then yank it away! Come on, what's up?"

"I mean…it's just we're in such a good place," Sam said. "We both have settled into our jobs, we've survived living in the same apartment, we know each other better than anybody. I-I just don't know what more there is holding him back."

"Holding-Holding him back?"

"Why hasn't he proposed?" Sam blurted out. "Huh? Why? Am I just not marriage material?"
"What? No!" Carly said at once.

"Then what is it?" Sam demanded. "There are guys who pop the question after less than a year with their chick. I just don't get it! I mean you'd think Freddie would be all over an opportunity to be extra mushy! This is the man who practically cried on the anniversary of our first taco date together. Last night…last night I-I kind of thought he was going to do it."

"You did?" Carly gasped excitedly.

"Yeah, he-he made reservations at our favorite restaurant, ordered us the most expensive bottle of champagne on the menu, and gave me this ten minute speech about how much he loves me. But instead of ending it by pulling out an engagement ring and asking me to marry him, he just asked our waiter if he could use two coupons at the same time."

"Coupons?"

"Don't get me started."

"Well…maybe-maybe Freddie's just-just not sure the time is right," Carly suggested.

"I told you, we're in like, the perfect place right now," Sam said. "What more needs to be right?"

"Okay, maybe…well, have you guys ever talked about this?" Carly asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you guys ever sat down and had a real discussion about marriage?" Carly said.

"Um, no, not-not really, I guess," Sam frowned. "We've talked about the future and stuff, but-but we've never really used that exact word. But-But so what? I'm not supposed to tell him he's allowed to propose. He's supposed to be spontaneous and sweep me off my feet. Jeez, don't you pay attention to your own stupid chick flicks?"

"Yeah but, I dunno, marriage is a huge step," Carly reasoned. "You're literally committing to spend the rest of your lives together. It's not something you just do on a whim."

"You-You think Freddie wouldn't want that with me?" Sam asked softly, her face falling.

"No, I-I'm not saying that at all," Carly said quickly. "Freddie obviously loves you very much."
"Well then what's the hold up?" Sam said.

"Maybe…Maybe Freddie doesn't know you want to take this next step," Carly said.

"Huh?"

"Think about it," Carly said. "Proposing is one of the most nerve-wracking things a guy has to do in his whole life. They probably sit there and psych themselves out for days before worrying about if the girl is going to say yes or no. That kind of rejection must be horrifying!"

"But-But it's not like I'd say no," Sam mumbled. "I-I want to marry him. Why do you think I'm so wazzed off about him not asking yet?"

"Yeah, but he's not a mind reader," Carly said.

"Well why would he think I'd be with him for this long if-if I didn't want to eventually get married," Sam said.

"Um, er, okay, please don't-don't take this the wrong way or anything," Carly said slowly.

"What?" Sam said suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…it's just, you-you've never really been, er, the biggest marriage enthusiast," Carly said carefully.

"What are you talking about?"

"I just mean…where is this even coming from?" Carly said. "You-You've never really seemed like the kind of girl who-who worried about this stuff. I-I didn't know it meant that much to you."

"What? You thought I just never wanted to get married?" Sam frowned.

"I don't know, I guess I always figured it wasn't that big of a deal to you," Carly shrugged. "I always thought you saw weddings as just reasons for you to get all dolled up. Which you hate. You've fallen asleep at every single wedding we've been to, after all."

"I-I wouldn't fall asleep at my own wedding," Sam mumbled.

"But hey, I-I think it's great that you actually do want to get married!" Carly said quickly. "But, um, if I, your best friend, thought you felt this way about marriage, then-then maybe Freddie does too."

"You think?" Sam said thoughtfully. "Huh…I guess maybe-maybe I have mocked marriage and weddings and stuff in the past. I-I didn't know Freddie thought I was being so serious about that, though. You think that's really why he-he's been putting off asking me?"

"Maybe," Carly said.

"So you think I should like, talk to him about this or something?" Sam said. "Make him know I am open to marrying him."

"Well, you-you don't have to exactly go up to him and say, 'hey, marry me!'," Carly said. "Maybe you can make him see that you're ready for marriage some other way. You know, drop some subtle hints."

"Wouldn't it be better for me to just be direct with him though?" Sam said.

"Oh come on, who are you and what have you done with Sam Puckett?" Carly said, rolling her eyes. "Listen, no guy wants to be told to propose either. It steals his thunder. Trust me, it'd just be a huge mistake."

"I-guess that does kind of make sense," Sam said. "Okay, so-so I'll just give him a bunch of signals and stuff that he can pick up on."

"There you go," Carly smiled. "I'm sure it will all work out for you two."

Okay, Sam said later that day as she set a stack of bridal catalogues she had just picked up on the coffee table. I've got to make Freddie realize I do want him to propose to me at some point without actually telling him. I can do this.

"Hey," Freddie said, letting himself into the couple's shared apartment. He stepped over to his girlfriend and gave her a quick kiss.

"Hey, baby, how was work?" Sam asked. "You had that super long meeting today, didn't you?"

"Yeah, and man, that thing went on for hours," Freddie nodded. "It was horrible! Three people fell asleep, and if I didn't have my coffee with me, I'd have been one of them."

"Well, know you know how I felt all through high school," Sam grinned.

"I bet," Freddie chuckled. "But…something good did come out of this meeting. Guess who was selected to go to California this weekend to film the commercial for the new Ultra Mini Pearpad Plus?"

"No way!" Sam exclaimed. "That's so amazing!"

"I know!" Freddie said excitedly. "I love working as a software developer and all, but I've really missed doing camera work. It's just lucky the company we were going to use to shoot the commercial raised their rates so much."

"Wow, that's-that's really great," Sam said. "Really, I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks," Freddie said. "I'm super pumped about it."

"Yup…it's a huge accomplishment," Sam said. "Things are really coming together for you with your work life. Maybe that's some kind of, I dunno, signal, that other areas of your life are ready to fall into place too."

"What?" Freddie frowned.

"Well, you know, when stuff's going really well at work, sometimes people feel more secure making moves in other parts of their lives," Sam said.

"Huh…yeah, I think I know what you mean," Freddie said thoughtfully. "You know what? You're absolutely right. This is actually just the sign I've been looking for. See, there-there was kind of something big I've been wanting to do, but I've sort of been putting it off because I wanted to wait until I had everything else in order."
"Really?" Sam said anxiously.

"Uh-huh!" Freddie beamed. "So tomorrow I'm going down to the sporting goods store and I'm buying myself the Fencing Foil Deluxe."

"Fencing foil-what?" Sam sputtered.

"It's this super fancy fencing sword I've had my eye on for awhile now," Freddie explained. "It's super light, so it's easier to handle. I think it will really help my game!"

"Oh," Sam sighed. "Well…cool."

"Hey, what are all these?" Freddie asked, sitting down on the couch and picking up one of the bridal magazines from the coffee table.

"Oh, just some magazines I was flipping through," Sam said.

"Why? Did Carly force you or something?" Freddie smirked.

"No, no, nobody forced me," Sam said. "I picked them up on my own."

"You're willingly reading wedding magazines?" Freddie frowned. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, there's actually some pretty interesting stuff in there, you know," Sam said, sitting down next to him and opening up one of the magazines. "I mean look at this ceremony they're showing here. It's on a beach, so for the reception they just had a giant cookout. And it says the couple wrote their own vows and everything. Apparently a lot of couples are doing that nowadays. You should look through these."
"No thanks," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "I think I'll pass."

"How-How come?"

"Besides the fact that the wedding industry is a multi-billion dollar scam?"

"A scam?" Sam repeated.

"Yeah, I mean, think about it," Freddie said. "A couple winds up spending thousands and thousands of dollars on all these formalities that are really just for show. You realize of all the money that could be saved if more people just realized that?"

"But-But-huh?" Sam said. "So you like, hate weddings?"
"I wouldn't say I hate them," Freddie shrugged. "I just think they're kind of…flashy. I mean do you really need some huge ceremony to tell another person you love them?"
"But every wedding we've been to you've practically cried at," Sam said. "A few months ago when we went to your cousin's wedding you kept carrying on about how romantic the whole thing was."

"Well, yeah, but you can be just as romantic without ice sculptures and five-tier cakes," Freddie pointed out.

"So-So you're…you're like, not into weddings?" Sam said slowly. Where was this coming from? This seemed so unlike him.

"Yeah, I guess not," Freddie shrugged.

"So…you-you'd never see yourself like, getting married?" Sam said softly.

"Not really, no," Freddie said, shaking his head.

"Oh," Sam whispered, looking down at her lap.

"But hey, that's why we're perfect together, right?" Freddie said, putting his arm around her. "I mean it's not like you'd ever want to be a bride and have to wear some frilly white dress and walk down the aisle with a hundred people watching you and have to say a whole bunch of overly sappy lines, right?"

Sam didn't respond.

"Hey, I'm gonna go grab a soda," Freddie said, kissing her temple as he got to his feet. "You want anything?"

"No," Sam mumbled. "No, I'm good."

….

Friday afternoon, a few days after her less than promising conversation with Freddie, Sam sat at her desk in her and Carly's shared office, trying hard to concentrate on the script edits she had to make. She was finding it hard to do so, though, as her thoughts kept drifting.

It's alright…I-I don't have to get married, Sam told herself for about the hundredth time. I mean Freddie had a point…it-it is kind of just a formality nowadays. We-We can be one of those couples who-who just stays dating forever. There's nothing wrong with that. Besides, I-I don't even know why I cared about having a wedding in the first place. Carly and Freddie both seemed to think I wasn't into all that so maybe-maybe I should just go with that. I mean now I don't have to worry about doing all that wedding planning! That would've been miserable. Spending hours sending out invitations, looking at flower arrangements, trying to find the perfect wedding dress…that-that's all so lame. You know what? I-I dodged a bullet!

"Coffee!" Carly announced, walking into the office with two lattes.

"Thanks," Sam mumbled, taking her drink.

"So has Freddie left for California yet?"

"Yeah, this morning," Sam said. "I usually get to go with him when he travels for work, but not this time…"

"That's too bad," Carly said. "Anyway, how are those edits coming along?"

"They're…coming," Sam replied lamely.

"You alright?" Carly frowned, sitting down at her own desk.

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "I'm fine."

"It's just you seem kind of distracted," Carly said. "You sure you're fine?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me," Sam said. "I'm just…hey, um, you remember what we talked about the other day? About me and Freddie getting married?"

"Oh yeah," Carly said. "How's that going? Did you drop any hints?"

"Uh-huh," Sam sighed. "I did. Only they didn't have quite the impact I was looking for."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I found out that my boyfriend's apparently completely opposed to marriage," Sam said.

"Really?" Carly said, intrigued.

"Yeah!" Sam nodded. "He seems to think it's all just some scam to make couple's spend a whole bunch of money! I-I don't get it…I never would've thought Freddie would feel that way. He's so into romantic stuff…I always figured he'd be the male version of you when it came to his wedding."

"So he never wants to get married?"

"Looks like it," Sam said.

"Huh…well, that's that I guess," Carly shrugged, looking back at her computer.

Sam gave her a strange look. "That's that?"

"What?"

"Um…I-I could kind of use a little more than that right now," Sam said.

"Well…look it does kind of make sense that Freddie would feel that way about a wedding," Carly reasoned. "You always say he's super cheap. So why would he want to throw half his savings into one ceremony?"

Sam stared at her best friend. She had expected her to try and comfort her, not practically side with Freddie.

"Maybe this is for the best," Carly said. "You and Freddie were never a traditional couple, after all. So maybe this is-"

Sam pushed back her chair as she got to her feet and turned to head out of the office.

"Hey? What's-"

"I'm going for a walk," Sam snapped. "I'll finish the edits during my lunch break."

…..

Later that afternoon, Sam was sitting in front of her computer again, but was still very distracted. Between her confusion with Freddie's sudden aversion to weddings and Carly's lack of support, her mind was just not on her work.

Carly, who was watching Sam from her own desk, let out a loud sigh. "Sam…you've been staring at the same page of edits for hours now."

"Well maybe that's for the best," Sam said coolly.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Carly said, rolling her eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. Look…why don't you just start your weekend early and go home and talk this out with Freddie?"

"I told you, he's in California," Sam said. "He's not gonna be back until Monday."

"Well…why don't you go home anyway and just clear your head? I'll finish your edits for you."

Sam thought for a moment. "You sure?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Carly smiled. "You covered for me last week when I had to go get Spencer from the costume shop."

"Thanks," Sam said, grabbing her jacket. "I guess I'll see you later then."

By the time Sam arrived back home, her mind was still fogged with thoughts of marriage. And during the drive she had come to a realization.

She wanted to get married.

She wanted a wedding, despite what everybody else seemed to believe. She knew it was completely uncharacteristic and something that most would never suspect the former tomboy to consider a big deal, but, well, there it was.

She wanted to wear a white gown and walk down the aisle and say her vows. But most of all, she wanted to marry Freddie. She wanted to make their love official. She didn't think it was a scam or waste of money to do that.

And now that she had come to this conclusion, she was left with a single question. What did this mean for her and Freddie?
Could she really stay in this relationship, even with how much she loved Freddie, knowing that he didn't never wanted to go further?

I can't believe this is happening, Sam thought to herself as stepped into her apartment. I never thought this would be an issue. I always assumed that someday Freddie and I would be married and we'd be husband and wife and we'd have this amazing life together and-

She was startled from her thoughts, though, as she realized what she had just stepped into.

All of the lights were off, and many candles illuminated the room. Standing in front of her was Freddie, dressed in his best tuxedo.

"F-Freddie?" Sam said, utterly confused. "What-What are you doing here? Why aren't you in California?"

"Why would I want to be so far away from you?" Freddie smiled.

"But the commercial-"

"There's no commercial," Freddie said, still beaming.

"But then…then why-"

"I just needed to buy some time for myself to get all this set up," Freddie told her.

"Well what is all this?" Sam asked him.

"Well," Freddie said. "I-I wanted this moment to be perfect. So I wanted to create the perfect atmosphere."

"Perfect atmosphere?" Sam repeated. "Perfect atmosphere for-oh!"

Freddie had lowered himself down onto one knee and pulled out a small velvet box. He opened it up to reveal a beautiful, sparkling diamond ring.

Sam felt her mouth fall open. "Oh my God…" she breathed. "Freddie…Freddie, I-"

"Sam, it goes without saying that I love you more than anybody or anything in this world," Freddie said. "You-You complete me. When you walked into my life when I was eleven years old, it was the best thing that could've ever happened to me. The thought of going one minute without you by my side, it-it's terrifying. I hope that never has to happen…Sam, I-I want to spend my life with you. I want to start a family with you. I want to grow old with you and do everything with you. I want to be your husband. I want to marry you. So…Samantha Joy Puckett? Will you marry me?"
By this point, there were tears streaming down Sam's entire face.

"I-I don't understand," she whispered, hardly daring to believe what was happening. "I-I thought…But you said…you said you didn't-"

"I lied," Freddie said simply. "Every word I said about not wanting to have a wedding and marriage just being for show…it was all a dirty, stinking lie. I didn't mean a word of it. But-But see, I had been working on figuring out how I was going to do this for a month. I told you I wanted this to be the perfect moment. So when Carly texted me telling me you were talking about marriage and wondering why I hadn't asked-"

"Wait? Carly was in on this?" Sam asked.

"I needed someone to make sure you didn't get suspicious," Freddie smiled sheepishly. "I had her act as look-out for me."

"So-So that's why you were acting so weird," Sam whispered, everything starting to make sense. "And why Carly was too."

"That's right," Freddie nodded. "I'm sorry I did that to you. I just…I wanted to make sure you were surprised."

"I definitely am," Sam grinned.

"Good," Freddie said, still knelt down. "So…you-you still haven't given me an answer. Will you marry me?"

Sam wiped her eyes. "Yes," she nodded, her face absolutely glowing. "Yes, I'll marry you."

Freddie quickly slid the ring onto her finger and got to his feet, pulling Sam into his arms and kissing her senseless.

"You," he said when they finally pulled apart. "Have just made me the happiest man on Earth."

Sam laughed as she leaned up to kiss him again. Then she punched his shoulder.

"Ow!" Freddie winced.

"That," Sam said. "Is for making me absolutely crazy these past few days."

"I'm sorry," Freddie said again.

"It's alright," Sam said, rubbing the spot on his arm where she had just hit. "We have the rest of our lives for you to make it up to me."