"Wow, I can't believe we've been making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches wrong for years," Carly said as her and Sam sat in the kitchen, finishing off the last of their sandwiches. "Good think I found that article in my magazine, or we may have never figured it out. Who knew it would be such a smart idea to add chocolate chips to them?"
"I've been saying that for years and you've never listened to me!" Sam said as she tossed her dirty plate into the sink "You've told me I was being ridiculous. But the second a fancy magazine tells you to do it you're on board?"
"Well…sort of?" Carly said. "Come on, you know I love you, but your solution is to add chocolate chips to everything."
"And that's a problem because?" Sam smirked as Carly put her plate in the sink as well.
"Do you want me to help you with these dishes?" Carly asked, looking into the filled sink.
"Nah, just leave them," Sam said. "When Freddie gets home, he'll take care of them."
"Oh, do you guys have some sort of a chore chart worked out?" Carly asked.
Sam simply raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, dumb question," Carly sighed. "So how are you and Freddie splitting up the housework now that you live together?"
"Well," Sam said. "I go grocery shopping…occasionally. And, um, I think I swept once…and Freddie does the rest."
"So Freddie's doing all the housework around here?" Carly frowned. "Sam, do you really think that's fair?"
"What? He doesn't mind," Sam said.
"Has he said he doesn't mind?" Carly asked. "Or does he just not complain out loud?"
"Carls, I've been with Freddie for three years," Sam said. "I think I know him pretty well. If he has a problem with cleaning up around here, he'll open his mouth and say something."
"I-I guess," Carly nodded.
"Besides, I totally make it up to him," Sam said. "He does the cleaning around here, and I do this one thing in bed that he-"
"I can't hear you!" Carly said quickly, covering her ears.
….
"How exactly did you get barbecue sauce all over your shirt?" Freddie frowned as he tried to scrub a large stain off of one of Sam's shirts that he had just taken out of the washing machine. "I thought you ate ribs in just your bra to avoid this."
"Well Carly keeps getting on my case about that," Sam said from the couch. "Apparently it's not 'lady-like' to eat without a shirt."
"Remind me to yell at her for that," Freddie sighed, giving up on the stain. "For multiple reasons."
"Will do," Sam nodded, flipping through channels.
"Alright, laundry's in the dryer now," Freddie said, stepping out of the small laundry room. "Which means that I can now relax and-"
He paused as he passed by the kitchen and saw the mountain of dishes in the sink, as well as crumbs all over the counter and the floor.
"Um, baby?" he said to Sam. "Are-Are you done in the kitchen?"
"Uh-huh," Sam said, not looking up from the T.V.
"So…you're not coming back in here for awhile then…are you?" Freddie asked.
"Probably not," Sam replied. "Why?"
"No reason," Freddie sighed, knowing full well that the duty of cleaning up the kitchen was now his. He didn't know why he was so surprised, though. This is how it had been since him and Sam had moved in together about a month ago. She'd make a mess in one room of the apartment and just leave it until he came along and cleaned it up himself. He'd take out the trash, clean the bathrooms, vacuum, wash the dishes…he did everything. Freddie had known Sam wasn't exactly the neatest person around, and that never bothered him, but having to do all the housework was getting a little exhausting.
But other than the messiness, living with Sam had been fantastic. She was always there to make him laugh if he came home from work stressed out and it was nice to have someone to curl up with at the end of the day with a cup of hot chocolate and a good movie. Plus, there some other perks as well.
That's why he was reluctant to say anything to Sam about her lack of cleaning; he didn't want to risk messing this whole arrangement up. So if living with Sam meant doing some extra chores…he supposed he would just have to take it.
…
"I really don't know why it keeps freezing," Carly said a few days later as Freddie messed around on her laptop. "I don't think I did anything."
"Have you downloaded a lot of files for work or something?" Freddie asked. "That can sometimes cause this."
"Oh, yeah, I guess," Carly nodded. "My boss has been sending out a lot of memos."
"Just start deleting them after you're done with them," Freddie told her, handing the computer back to her. "And you shouldn't have that happen again."
"Thanks," Carly smiled. "It's always great having a tech-geek friend. That way I can avoid the long lines and weird guys at the Pear Store."
"Any time," Freddie chuckled.
"So where's Sam?" Carly asked.
"I think she went to visit her Uncle Carmine in prison with her mom," Freddie said.
"Oh," Carly said. "So what are you going to do all day then? Have a day to yourself?"
"I wish," Freddie said. "I have a lot of cleaning to do around here. I have to put new sheets on our bed, dust the T.V. stand, figure out some way to get that root beer stain off of the curtains, and then-"
"Gee, that sounds fun," Carly said.
"Yeah, well, that's living with Sam for you," Freddie sighed.
"Er, is everything okay with that?" Carly asked.
"Yeah, living with her is great," Freddie said quickly. "And it's not that I want to not live with her, but…jeez, Carly, the mess!"
"Oh I know," Carly chuckled. "She practically lived with me for years."
"And it wouldn't even be that bad if she would clean up once in awhile," Freddie continued. "But no, I'm the one stuck doing everything."
"Well Freddie, have you talked to Sam?" Carly asked.
"No, because like I said, I do love living with her," Freddie said. "I don't want to make her upset or anything."
"But Freddie, how is she supposed to know you're upset if you don't say anything?" Carly pointed out. "She might think that you're okay with doing everything."
"But I'm not!" Freddie exclaimed. "Why on earth would I want to do all the chores around here?"
"You need to tell Sam this, not me," Carly said.
Freddie sighed. "I guess you're right…"
…..
"Hey, baby," Sam said cheerfully later that day as she let herself into the couple's apartment. She tossed the mail she had just gotten carelessly onto the coffee table.
"Hey," Freddie said as he greeted her with a quick kiss.
"So what are we doing for dinner? I'm starved," Sam said. "The cafeteria in the prison was shut down because someone started a pudding fight so I haven't eaten in hours."
"There's a pizza on the way," Freddie told her.
"You're the best," Sam said, flopping down on the couch and kicking her feet up on the table, bits of dirt from her shoes falling onto the carpet.
"Um…yeah," Freddie said. "Listen, um, Sam? Do-Do you think we can talk really quick?"
"Sure, what's up?" Sam shrugged.
"Okay," Freddie said, taking a deep breath. "Um, you-you know I love you, right? And-And this past month of living together has been amazing. But, um, there-there's this little issue that-"
"What, are you kicking me out?" Sam frowned.
"No!" Freddie said at once. "Of course not!"
"Well then what is it?" Sam asked.
"It's-It's just-Sam, I'm tired of being your personal maid!" Freddie blurted out. "I love you, baby, but…you never clean up after yourself. I'm the one who has do the laundry and the trash and the dishes and the…everything! I-I know you're not as, um, organized as me, but I would really appreciate if you could pitch in and do your half of the housework around here. I know that I may be coming off a little harsh right now, but-"
"Okay," Sam said simply.
Freddie blinked. "W-What did you say?"
"I'll do half the chores around here," Sam said.
"You-You will?" Freddie said, slightly taken aback about how reasonable she was being.
"Yeah, I-I guess that's fair," Sam nodded. "If you don't want to do all the work, you shouldn't have to. I'll pitch in."
"Oh," Freddie said lamely. "Well…thanks."
"How long have you kept that bottled up?" Sam asked, giving him a small smile.
"A while, I guess," Freddie admitted.
"Well," Sam said, leaning over to give him a quick kiss. "From now on…don't do that. Seriously dude, if something's bugging you…open your mouth, okay? Last night I put that weird ointment on that back rash of yours, I think we're close enough to be open with each other."
"Fair enough," Freddie laughed.
