Temple

"Just hurry up and retrieve it!" Sam said anxiously as she sat next to Freddie on her couch. "I have to have this paper submitted in ten minutes! I can't believe my stupid laptop picked now to crash."

"Relax, will you?" Freddie said, typing away on her computer. "Man…what would you have done if this happened while I was at MIT?"

"Dragged your nubby butt back here myself," Sam snapped. "Now come on! This paper's like, my entire grade for this class!"
"Hang on, I've almost got it," Freddie assured her. "Yup and…there! Here is your paper!"

"Holy chiz, yes!" Sam cheered. "You are a lifesaver, Benson!"

"Just hurry up and submit it so we can go eat," Freddie said. "I'm starving."

"Now you know how I feel when I'm always waiting on you and Carly," Sam smirked, taking her computer from him. "I can't help it that MIT's semester ended three weeks before ours did here. Some of us still have finals to deal with."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Freddie said. "But it's so boring having nothing to do while you and Carly are busy with schoolwork."

"Hey, if you want to take over my work, be my guest," Sam said.

"Doubt I'd be much help with Advanced Criminal Theory," Freddie smirked, picking up one of Sam's textbooks from the coffee table.

"Yeah, probably not," Sam grinned. "Well, you can always go back to Seattle and stay with your mom until Carly and I are finished instead of camping out on our couch."

"I'll take being bored over three extra weeks of being sprayed and prodded," Freddie replied. "Unless you guys would want me to go. Seriously, if me being here is gonna interfere with your studying, I have no problem-"

"Nah, you're good," Sam told him. "Carly studies at the library, and I'd find ways of getting distracted even if you weren't here…Okay! My paper is submitted! Now I just need to pass this stupid final next week and I'll be done with constitutional law forever!"

"Congratulations," Freddie said. "Oh, and for future reference, you should save big projects like that on an external hard drive like I've told you to a million times. That way when stuff like this happens, you'll be-"

"Keep up these lectures and I will kick you out of here back to your moms," Sam said, getting to her feet. "Alright, where do you want to get lunch?"

"I don't know. What's good around here?"

"Um, there's a pretty decent Mexican place about five minutes from here," Sam suggested.

"Works for me," Freddie said. "Oh hey! We should see if they have any of that flan stuff there! We can bring some back and have it tonight with Carly and-"

"Um, I'm not gonna be here tonight," Sam said. "I'm gonna hang out with Brandon."

"Brandon," Freddie mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"What? Am I not allowed to spend the night with my boyfriend?"

"Your boyfriend who can't pronounce 'orange' right?" Freddie smirked.

"Shut up, he can pronounce 'orange' just fine," Sam snapped. "He's Australian, it's just his accent."

"Oh I don't think even the Australians pronounce it the way he said it," Freddie chuckled. "It sounded like he was either saying 'ostrich' or 'onion'."

"Well we don't talk about oranges much on our dates," Sam retorted.

"Fine, fine, I'll stop," Freddie laughed.

"Smart move," Sam sneered. She cleared her throat. "Hey…but in all seriousness…what did you think of him? I mean I know you only met him for like, ten minutes last night when you got here, but…"

"Oh, um, he seemed okay, I guess," Freddie shrugged. "He was nice enough. How long have you guys been going out? Two months you said?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "He's actually in Carly's marketing class. He came over here one night to work on a project with her and we just…hit it off."

"Ah," Freddie said. "Interesting."

"So you think he seems like an okay guy then?" Sam asked.

"Well like I said, I've only met him for ten minutes," Freddie said. "I'd have to actually have a real conversation with him to get a accurate read on him."

"Well you'll get to know him while you're staying here, I guess," Sam said.

"True," Freddie agreed. "One day when he's over here I'll sit down with him, offer him a cup of orange juice-"

"Knock it off!" Sam said, though she was trying hard to hold back a laugh herself.

"But really," Freddie said, his voice taking a more serious tone. "It doesn't matter what I think about him, it-it matters what you think about him. I mean…does he treat you right?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "I mean, we're not that serious right now, but he does nice things for me. He'll show up after my classes with a coffee or stay up with me while I cram for an exam. Last week he put roses on my car windshield and left me a little sticky with a heart."

"That's-"

"Insanely corny and cheesy?" Sam grinned. "I know. But I guess it was a sweet gesture."

"Well, as long as he's good to you, I guess that's all that's important then," Freddie said. "And when I sit down with him, over that nice, tasty cup of orange juice-"

"Watch it," Sam warned.

"-I'll be sure to tell him that if he ever does hurt you, I'll beat him to a pulp," Freddie finished.

Sam let out a loud laugh. "You're going to beat Brandon up? He's at least six inches taller than you and can bench two-ten!"

"Well then I-I'll hack his phone and delete all his contacts, emails, and appointments," Freddie said triumphantly. "Which is actually worse than any physical beating, come to think of it."

"Yeah, it is," Sam smiled. "Darn…you're actually pretty tough in this technological age. You're making all the muscle enforcement like me go to an early retirement."

"Told you us tech nerds would have our day," Freddie said.

"Whatever," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's go get that food. They have the best nachos there. Oh, and their quesadillas…better than the mental institution's!"

….

"I will be so pumped when I finish this dumb art history class," Carly said later that evening as her, Sam and Freddie sat around the girls' kitchen table. "For a gen ed., it's giving me way too many problems."

"I thought you just had to look at pictures for that class," Sam said.

"So did I!" Carly exclaimed. "That's why I took it! But you've got to know all about the specific timeframes each painting was made, the backgrounds of all the painters, stuff about perspective…it's a nightmare! I'm gonna be up all night studying for my final tomorrow."

"Looks like I'll be watching Galaxy Wars bloopers on my laptop then," Freddie sighed.

"Oh, how sad and hard for you, Mr. Done-With-Final!" Carly snapped.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Oh, that's Brandon," Sam said, getting up to answer the door.

"Oh quick, Carly?" Freddie said. "Is there any orange juice in the fridge?"

"Huh?"

"Shut it or you'll wake up with orange juice down your pants tomorrow morning!" Sam hissed as she opened the door and a tall, toned man with long, blonde hair stepped in.

"Hey," he smiled at Sam, leaning down to give her a quick kiss.

"Hi," Sam smiled back. "I'll be ready to go in a sec, I just have to grab my stuff. You can just wait out here with Carly, and you remember Freddie from last night, right?"

"Of course," Brandon nodded, smiling politely at Freddie as he sat down at the table. Freddie cleared his throat, somewhat awkwardly. Though it had been close to five years since him and Sam had dated in high school, he did find it somewhat uncomfortable being around her boyfriends for reasons, try as he may, that he couldn't even explain to himself. "So, um, Brandon, we-we really didn't get a chance to talk last night," Freddie said.

"Yeah, that was…too bad," Brandon nodded.

"Well, um, I'm guessing you have finals coming up too," Freddie said.

"I have a few final papers," Brandon replied.
"Oh? So what's your major?"

"Medieval poetry," Brandon told him.

"Ah, that's…nice," Freddie said lamely. "I like poetry."

"You do?"

"Yeah," Freddie said. "Hey, you know…nothing rhymes with-"

"Alright, I'm ready," Sam said, coming back out with her bag. "Good luck on your exam tomorrow, Carls. Freddifer…don't nub my apartment up too much while you're alone."

"Freddifer?" Brandon repeated, confused. "I thought you said his name was Freddie."

"She likes to butcher my name," Freddie chuckled. "Believe me, Freddifer is one of the tamer nicknames."

"Yeah, we've gone through Frednub, Fredgut, Fredbutt, Fredhead," Sam laughed. "And unfortunately him, he sucks at coming up with any sort of comeback."

"Best I've ever gotten was Blonde-Headed-Demon," Freddie sighed.

"Oh," Brandon nodded slowly. "So you just give him these little nicknames then? And he doesn't mind?"

"I've come to wear them like a badge of endearment," Freddie shrugged. "It's the only way to stop my self esteem from being completely shot."

"Come on, let's get out of here," Sam said, taking Brandon's hand. "I want to grab a milkshake on our way to your place. Oh! Speaking of which, Freddie, tomorrow afternoon we're gonna go to this new smoothie place they opened up here. They could give T-Bo a run for his money."
"Awesome!" Freddie grinned. "I've been craving a smoothie."

"Well…bye everybody," Brandon said quickly. "It's been…fun."

….

"-So then Freddie totally saved me from failing the class by somehow magically pulling up my paper again," Sam told Brandon later that evening as the two of them sat on the couch in his apartment. "I swear, my computer has been horrible about crashing lately. I need to have him take a look at it while he's here. He's so good with tech stuff. I tease him about it all the time, but it really does come in handy. Don't tell him that, though. I don't want his ego getting too puffed up."
"Don't worry, I won't," Brandon said, somewhat distractedly.

Sam frowned. Brandon and her had only been going out for a couple of months. She wasn't even entirely sure how she felt about him. She was somewhat attracted to him, and he was definitely easy on the eyes, but she didn't know how much of a future she could see with him. Still, though, she could tell something was bothering him.

She moved closer to him and kissed his temple. "Everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Brandon nodded. "Yeah, everything's…good."

"Come on," Sam smiled. "What's up? You stressed out about that Latin final you have coming up?"

"No, it's not that," Brandon sighed. "It's just…you-you and that Freddie are really good friends, aren't you?"

"Um, well, yeah I guess," Sam shrugged. "I've known him since I was eleven. Though up until we were fourteen I don't know if I'd say we were 'friends'. More like…frienimies."

"And you're really close with him…" Brandon continued.

"Well like I said…he's one of my best friends," Sam said.

"Yeah, but…I dunno," Brandon mused. "Look, I-I don't want this to sound like I'm jealous or anything but…it just seems like…it seems like there's kind of something…between you guys."
"Between us?" Sam repeated, raising an eyebrow. "What? You think Freddie and I are secretly hooking up behind your back? Is that it?"

"No, it's not that," Brandon said quickly. "It's just…it seems like there's something really there withyou guys. Like-Like there's some natural force just connecting you two."

"What?" Sam scoffed. "You think we have like some romantic bond?"

"K-Kind of," Brandon admitted heavily.

"Look, Brandon, there-there isn't anything there," Sam said. "I mean, he's so…normal. And, well, you've been with me for two months, you know normal isn't my style. We-We're just really different. That's why when we were dating we'd always-"

"Wait…you two dated?"

"Oh, um…yeah," Sam said, realizing she had conveniently forgotten to mention that fact when she had first told Brandon about Freddie. "Like five years ago, though, in high school. And it was only for like, a month."

"It's just…I saw how the two of you are, Sam," Brandon said softly. "I-I can't get it out of my head that there's something between you."
"Well you need to," Sam said firmly. I did, after all.

"I-I don't think it's going to be that easy for me," Brandon said. He looked down at Sam. "I-I hate to do this, but-but if we're going to continue our relationship, I-I don't think I can be comfortable with you and Freddie spending so much time together."

Sam blinked. "Are you asking me to choose between you and Freddie?"

"I'm sorry," Brandon said. "But yes…I-I am."

Sam looked down at her lap. "Wow…"

Brandon didn't respond.

Sam shook her head as she got to her feet. "Fine," she mumbled. "I pick him."

When Sam got back to her and Carly's apartment, Freddie was sitting alone on the couch, flipping through channels.

"Hey," he said, looking up at her. "What are you doing back?"

"Um, it's my apartment," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "I don't need your okay for when I can come and go."

"Well Carly just said you'd probably sleep over at Brandon's," Freddie shrugged as she plopped down on the couch next to him.

"Well considering we broke up, that'd be a pretty awkward sleepover," Sam said.

"You guys broke up?" Freddie frowned. "How come? What happened? Do I need to hack his-"

"No, it's fine, we didn't have a huge fight or anything," Sam said. "I guess…I guess you can say it was a mutual breakup."

"Like ours?"

"What?"

"Nothing," Freddie said quickly, clearing his throat. "But-But what happened?"

"I dunno," Sam sighed. "Actually…I do know. I was all your fault."

"My fault?" Freddie repeated.

"Yeah, apparently we're too good of friends for Brandon to be comfortable with," Sam said, shaking her head.

"What?"

"He thought because we're close that we had some like, unearthed secret attraction for each other," Sam shrugged. "So he told me to choose either you or him."

"What a moron!" Freddie said. "What? So a guy and a girl can't be good friends without there being ulterior motives at play?"

"Guess so!" Sam nodded. "Ridiculous, right? I mean I told him we were-we were like, totally incompatible that way."

"Totally," Freddie agreed. "Normal…abnormal…it just didn't work."

"I dunno, he just still seemed really convinced we were like, secretly in love," Sam said. "But whatever…I couldn't be with a guy you sounds like he's having some sort of lip seizure when he says the name of my third favorite fruit."

"Yeah, and playing Boomba with him would be the worst," Freddie nodded.

"Oh God, don't even talk about that," Sam laughed.

The two were silent for a moment.

"Hey," Freddie said suddenly. "If he made you choose between me and him, and you broke up with him, that means…you-you choose me."

"Yes, very good reasoning there, nub," Sam said, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "My God, a few days back from MIT and your brain cells are evaporating."

"Sam," Freddie said softly. "Wow…that-that really means-"

"Okay, okay, we're not gonna make some big sentimental moment out of this," Sam said promptly. "Yes, I choose staying friends with a guy I've known for more than a decade over some guy I met a couple months ago; alert the media. Now let's just forget about it and move on, okay? I have a fifteen page paper due in four days that I haven't started, and mushiness is the last thing I need right now."
"Alright," Freddie laughed. "But seriously…thanks."

"Yeah, well…you're good for free tech support," Sam mumbled, snatching the remote from his hand.