Desire

"So what are you gonna do once you get to Texas?" Freddie asked as he sat up in Sam's room, helping her pack a large duffle bag.

"I dunno, hang out with my family I guess," Sam shrugged, shoving a box of Fat Cakes into her bag. "Everyone's going to be there for my grandma's birthday, so it should be fun."

"I still can't believe you're going to be gone a whole week," Freddie sighed.

"You'll live," Sam smirked, rolling her eyes. "You went most of your life without a girlfriend; you can do it for seven days. Besides, you could've come with; my mom said it was okay."

"Yeah, but my mom didn't," Freddie pointed out. "Man, I can't wait until I turn eighteen next month and I don't have to listen to anything she tells me to do."

"Yeah, like you'll actually rebel," Sam scoffed. "Well, since you're gonna be staying, you mind doing me a favor while I'm gone?"
"Sure, what is it?" Freddie asked.

"Well someone's got to come by here once a day and take care of Frothy," Sam said. "You know, feed him, change the litter box, play with him a little-"

"You want me to watch your cat?" Freddie frowned. "No way!"

"What? Why not?" Sam demanded.

"Well for starters, he's the devil!" Freddie snapped, rolling up his sleeves to reveal several claw marks. "You see these? These are just from this morning!"

"You interrupted his nap by ringing the doorbell," Sam told him. "He's a sweet cat once you get to know him."
"I do know him!"

"Come on, you have to watch him," Sam begged. "What else are we supposed to do with him?"

"Why can't Carly do it?" Freddie asked. "Frothy at least doesn't attack her."

"Well because I thought by having you watch my cat, it would really strengthen our relationship," Sam sighed. "It shows I obviously trust you with one of my most prized possessions…I thought you would've seen that as a huge step for us. But if you don't want to…"

Freddie rolled his eyes. "Alright, you've successfully guilted me. I'll watch Frothy for you."

"You're the best, baby," Sam grinned, throwing her arms around him.

"Yeah, well, hopefully you'll remember that while you're off in Texas," Freddie chuckled.

Just then the couple heard a soft meow, and they looked over to see that Frothy himself had walked into the room.

"Oh, he must've hear us saying his name," Sam smiled, scooping the cat up. "He's so smart, aren't you, Frothy?"

"Nice , it's evil and intelligent," Freddie muttered under his breath. "That's a great combination."

"Frothy, say hi to your babysitter for the next week," Sam said, stroking the cat. "You get to hang out with the nub! Trust me, it will be better than it sounds."
"Ha, ha," Freddie said dryly, rolling his eyes.

"Here," Sam said, handing Freddie the cat. "You two can start bonding now."

"Sam, no, I'm not-" Freddie started, but Sam had already dumped Frothy into his arms.

"Er, hey there, Frothy," Freddie said nervously.

At once, the cat began swiping away at Freddie's arm, adding to the collection of claw marks already there.

"Aw! Sam, ow! Make him stop!" Freddie cried, dropping Frothy onto the bed.

"Dude! Don't hurt him!" Sam snapped, swatting Freddie's shoulder.

"Hurt him?" Freddie exclaimed. "I'm not going to have arms left once he's done with me!"

"So wear sleeves, you baby," Sam said, picking Frothy back up again and affectionately scratching him behind his ears. "Frothy's just energetic."

"More like vicious," Freddie sighed, cringing as he looked down at his arms. It was going to be a long week.

….

"Ow! For the last time, you deranged cat, my leg is not a scratching post!" Freddie snapped a few days later as he attempted to free his limb from Frothy while he filled his food bowl. "Sam's trained you to do this, hasn't she? You know she's the only reason I'm watching you this week. You're lucky I love her, otherwise you'd be off at some kennel."

Once he finished feeding the cat, he limped over to the couch and rolled up his pant leg to inspect the damage.

"Yup, those are gonna scar," Freddie sighed. "My future children are going to ask me how I got these, and I'm going to have to tell them I was attacked by a tiger just to maintain my cool status with them."

Frothy jumped onto the couch next to Freddie and began swatting his shoelace.

"Knock it off, will you?" Freddie said. "What? Are you not going to be satisfied until you scratch up every inch of my body?"

Frothy let out a soft meow as he continued to bat around Freddie's shoelace.

"Well…I-I guess you're not hurting me now," Freddie said slowly. "For a change. Alright, whatever, if it's gonna keep you from hurting me, go nuts on my shoelace."
Freddie watched the cat continue to play with the lace.

"Don't see what Sam sees in you," Freddie mumbled. "Why does my girlfriend have to have a demon cat? Couldn't she make do with a turtle or a fish or an animal that doesn't get its jollies from clawing me half-to-death?"

Frothy gave another soft meow.

"Okay, sure, I guess now you don't look so evil," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "You know how to play innocent when you need to…man, you really are Sam's cat."

Frothy looked up at Freddie and pounced. Freddie instinctively shielded his face, but the cat simply curled up on his lap.

"What-What are you doing?" Freddie frowned, bracing himself for whatever the cat had planned next. But the feline simply sat on his lap, calm and peaceful.

"Huh…well this is new," Freddie commented. He had never had an interaction with Frothy that didn't leave him bleeding afterwards. "But I guess you did have a tiring morning of chasing me around the house."
Frothy let out a low purr and gently began licking Freddie's hand.

"Hey, that tickles!" Freddie said, quickly drawing back his hand. But then Frothy looked up at him with his big, dark eyes, and Freddie suddenly felt just as powerless as he did when Sam would give him that same look.

"Fine!" Freddie conceded, holding his hand back out. "But don't you bite me again!"

Freddie didn't have to worry, though, because Frothy simply continued to sit on his lap and quietly lick his hand.

Once Freddie realized that he wasn't going to be viciously maimed by this creature, he began to let his guard down a little.

"You know…you're not too bad right now," Freddie said. "If you'd stay like this more often, I might not even mind you."

Freddie hesitantly reached out with his other hand and began stroking Frothy, causing the cat to purr louder.

"Huh, this is actually sort of relaxing," Freddie said, a small smile creeping onto his face. "When you're not chasing after me, Frothy, you're really sort of cute. I guess I can see why Sam likes you so much…"

He continued to pet the cat. "You know, Sam really has a soft spot for you. I don't know how you managed that; it took me years to work my way up onto her good side. But it's worth it…I bet you miss her as much as I do, don't you, Frothy? You know this is probably the longest I've ever gone without seeing her? Even before we were dating I saw her at least a few times a day. It feels like this huge part of me is missing…no one's called me 'nub' all day. She really grows on you…"

He looked down at Frothy in his lap. "I guess that's one thing you guys have in common, huh?"