It was christmas and the Shay residence resembled a shopping mall with all the lights and decorations. Carly had made it her number one priority to make this the best christmas ever, because it wouldn't be too long before they all went off to college. It would be another year and a half before they finished high school, but you should never argue with a determined Carly Shay. So they all just agreed and put full effort into the whole christmas thing.
Gibby had bought a beautiful tree, because as he said he 'knows how to handle a gentle tree'. Whatever that meant. They were all too used to his weirdness to really question it.
Sam, Spencer and Brad had vanished into the kitchen and were only coming out if they needed to use the bathroom or the fire extinguisher. Visitors were allowed only for tase-questions or other utterly important things.
Carly was running around with Chelsea, Spencer's newly wedded wife, re-decorating every corner of the apartment - it wasn't perfect enough - while Freddie was forced to rearrange the blinking lights in various colours.
"Freddie are the lights working yet?"
"No Carly, I'm-"
"SHUT UP AND HURRY!" Shouted a very stressed Carly.
"Okay! Geez, what's up with her these days?" The brunette boy mumbled as he stepped over to Gibby and the christmas tree which he was decorating again, because Carly thought it was not 'christmas-y' enough.
"You know Carly, dude. You should never argue with her whenever it comes to boys or planning parties."
"Guess you're right." Freddie sighed and continued to unnestle the lights. "But doesn't she think all her decorations during christmas time weren't enough already? Why do we have to redecorate everything, just because it's christmas eve?"
"HURRY!" Bellowed Carly, as she walked by and slapped Freddie over the head with whatever she'd been carrying around with her.
"I told you so." Gibby said.
"Geez, she's getting more and more like Sam..." Freddie grumbled, rubbing his head.
"Benson!" Said blonde bellowed from the kitchen counter. Freddie cringed.
"Yes?"
"Come over here, we need you to help Brad carry Spencer out of the kitchen!"
"What?! Why?!" Spencer appeared next to Sam.
"Because," Brad's voice came from behind them, "it's the third time that you let the stove burst into flames!"
"What?! That wasn't on purpose!"
Freddie walked over and he and Brad grabbed Spencer and carried him out of the kitchen, while Sam turned to clean up Spencer's mess and save the food from more burning.
The blonde girl growled as she could still hear the bickering from the boys and the manchild. She hated to re-do everything that Spencer let burst into flames. It had become less, lately, but still, this was christmas, for heaven's sake! It had to be perfect! She actually hated giving anything out of her own hands and sharing her tasks concerning food, but even Sam Puckett had to admit that she wasn't able to cook for 10 people out of which there were 3 teenage boys and two Pucketts in only 8 hours. She would have to cook for about 15 people, if she wanted them all to be well-fed at the end of the night. She was glad Brad was with her on this, they had often cooked together and made a good match in the kitchen.
Sam checked her watch. 5 hours to go until dinner.
"Brad!" She barked like a chef. "Get back here!"
"Sam!" Carly suddenly screeched from behind the blonde.
"What?!"
"What are you wearing?!"
Sam looked down, obviously confused.
"Er... clothes, Carls. Got a problem with that?"
"Yes!"
"Huh?!"
"You have to change! Mrs. Benson and the others will be here in half an hour!"
"Yes, yes, Carly, just let me finish the caketopping." Sam said and turned around to finish her work.
"No, you have to go now!" Carly whined. "You have to shower, you have to get your hair and make-up done and-"
"CARLY!" Sam barked. "Shut up now, will you?! Go make sure the boys don't get their socks over their ears or something and let me finish this. I'll be ready when Crazy and the others come, I promise."
Carly sighed in defeat and turned around.
"Fine, but I'll make you be nice to Craz- I mean, to Mrs. Benson, if you're not ready."
"You'd do that anyway." Sam sang after her.
"I knohooow!" Carly sang back as she walked over to the Benson household, where the guys were getting ready.
"Sam?"
The blonde turned around furiously.
"What?! - Oh! Hey Chelsea. Sorry, I just got to finish this..." She trailed off as she turned towards her cake again.
"Sure. Just leave the tools, I'll clean them for you."
Sam drew her last decoration on the cake and sighed.
"Really?" She smiled at the redhead. "Thank you."
"Sure thing. Now go get ready before Carly gets a heart attack."
The blonde smiled and bolted towards the stairs.
"Sam! Sam are you ready yet?"
"Yes, Shay, now relax a second."
The door to her room opened and Sam stepped out.
She had her hair down casually, still curled perfectly. She wore a tight black dress with her arms and the back covered in lace, black heels on her feet, bright red lipstick on her lips.
"Wow. Not bad, Puckett." Carly smiled. "Now let's get down! They'll be here any minute!"
Carly grabbed her hand and hurried down the stairs, looking closely at her white heels and white tulle dress. They looked like light and darkness, Sam mused grinning.
As they finally appeared in the living room, Chelsea was helping Spencer with his tie. She wore a dark blue dress and black heels and Spencer wore his once so beloved tuxedo.
"Lookin' good, Spence." Sam grinned.
"You too, girls." The manchild smiled back.
They exchanged kind words with Chelsea and before anyone could say anything more, someone knocked on the apartment door.
"AHHHHHHH!" Carly and the person on the other side of the now open door screamed simultaneously.
"Melanie." Sam groaned. "Why has she got to be so... girly."
Spencer chuckled and turned to welcome Melanie.
"Sam!" The blonde squealed as she jumped at her twin sister.
"Hey Mel." Sam smirked at her.
"I missed you!"
Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, I've missed you, too."
As Melanie stepped over to Spencer and Chelsea, Freddie and Mrs. Benson walked in, followed by Brad and Gibby.
"Hellooo."
"Hey Freddie, Merry Christmas." Carly greeted him.
"You are aware of the fact, that I've went out of here only two hours ago?" He answered.
Carly punched his shoulder.
"Merry Christmas, Carly." He corrected himself.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Benson." Carly smiled at the elder woman.
"Yes, Merry Christmas, Carly." Mrs. Benson said flatly.
Carly frowned, but soon turned to wish Merry Christmas to Brad and Gibby.
Sam watched Carly's tries with Mrs. Benson and chuckled, before a chest blocked her view.
"Merry Christmas, Puckett."
Sam looked up and smiled at Freddie.
"Merry Christmas, Benson." She grinned and stood on her toes to hug him.
As they seperated another squeal could be heard.
"Freddie!" and once again a petit blonde hugged the quarterback.
"Hey Melanie." The brunette smiled down at her.
While Melanie still hung at him he looked over to Sam and froze.
She was glaring at her twin sister and biting her lip with one tooth.
Melanie let go of him and stepped back, then she walked over to greet Mrs. Benson politely.
Sam growled lowly.
"Sam?"
"What?" She barked at Freddie, while she still looked after her sister.
"Are you alright?"
"It's none of you business, Benson." She said and turned away to jump into Brad's arms.
Freddie furrowed his brows at this. He was burning holes into Brad. Sure, he was his best friend, but he just couldn't keep calm when Sam, the girl he was madly in love with, was hugging him and cuddling him and... urgh.
"You should maybe tell her, if you don't want to lose her, you know?"
Freddie turned around in shock.
Spencer stood behind him, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"What?"
"You know what I'm talking about, Freddie. But be careful. You know what she could to you."
Freddie just stood there, mouth agape. Had he been that obvious? Damn. He really needed to control himself. The brunette sighed.
"I'll go get the prossecco." Sam whispered to Carly and walked off into the kitchen, Brad instantly on her heels.
"You're good, fudgeboy." She complimented him as she pulled out the glasses.
"I know. Carly has instructed me to follow you every time you walk into the kitchen to help you and make sure you don't get your dress dirty."
"She really did that?"
"Totally." Brad laughed.
Sam frowned. Oh Carly.
"Well, then you might as well help." She turned and saw that he was already uncork the first bottle.
"Thank you everyone for being here and celebrating with us tonight." Carly said shortly after from the stairs to her little audience.
"I really appreciate it that you all came and I hope we'll have a great evening. Merry Christmas." She raised her glass.
"Merry Christmas!" The others echoed and raised their glasses as well.
Sam sipped her prossecco and directly bolted back into the kitchen to get the first course ready, Brad and Gibby jumped after her to help her carrying the plates and bowls of salad.
"Everyone, please sit down, the first course arrives!" Brad yelled over the christmas music and the chattering of the remaining - not working - people.
"Yay! I'm starving!" Carly said to Freddie and dragged him towards the long kitchen table that they had set up in the livingroom, next to the counter
Dinner had been exellent. Sam and Brad had excelled themselves, now everyone was almost lying on their chairs, too full to move a muscle.
"Sam, Brad, I hate you for this." Spencer said lazily.
"Why?" Sam grinned.
"You can't just go and make such delicious food! I ate way too much!" He complained and the two cooks - Spencer had actually only set everything on fire - grinned at each other.
"It's okay, honey." Chelsea smiled sweetly. "You just won't get anything to eat for the rest of winter."
"Wha-?! GIVE ME MORE, SAMMY!" He shouted and leaped over to her, away from his wife, while the crowd errupted into lazy laughter.
"Well, I'd say time for the presents, but I can't move." Carly said and sank deeper into her chair.
"PRESENTS!" Sam jumped up and ran to the couch that stood next to the christmas tree. She sat there, turning towards the others, still sitting in their seats, looking at them expectantly.
"What are you waiting for?! It's presents-time! Come on!" She yelled over.
They sighed and started to get up, moaning over their full stomachs.
Sam grinned. Her friends were walking as if they were pregnant. Then she furrowed her brows. Pregnant? What if Chelsea really was pregnant? She would keep an eye on that.
As everybody had sat down, Sam started to hand out the presents and eventually sat down to open her own little pile of nicely wrapped gifts.
The first she opened was from Spencer and Chelsea. She chose this one, so she would know what was within before it burst into flames. She unwrapped the large rectangle and almost screeched in delight. It was the brand new food processor that she had been longing for for weeks!
"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" She jumped up and down and then plopped onto the pair. Spencer and Chelsea laughed and hugged her as much as possible.
"You're welcome." Spencer grinned.
"I made sure Spencer didn't touch it once." Chelsea giggled at the blonde's behaviour.
"Oh that's good, thanks Chelsea." Sam smiled at the woman.
"Hey!" Spencer exclaimed and the girls laughed.
Sam continued to unwrap her presents, grinning like an idiot.
From Gibby she got a new cook book, from Carly and Melanie she's gotten the dress and heels she'd discovered when the two girls had dragged her to go shopping with them. Additionally, Melanie had framed one of the few pictures of both of them with their father and mother, before he had died and she had gone crazy. Sam felt her cheeks get wet and hugged Melanie next to her.
"It's beautiful, Mel. Thank you so much." She leaned back and whiped her eyes. "Where'd you get this from?"
"I found some old photo album somewhere in Mom's closet. I wanted to show it to you, but I thought the surprise would be better if you didn't know about it yet."
"You succeeded." Sam smiled back and hugged her again - to Melanie's surprise. "Thanks."
From Mrs. Benson - she was shocked she received anything at all - she got a small beauty-basket. She wasn't going to use half of it, but she thanked her anyway. Carly and Melanie had been rubbing off on her.
Brad got her a necklace that made her gasp. She wasn't the sparkly type of girl that you could 'buy' with jewelry. Brad knew that. He got her a small simple silvern necklace that spelled 'Honeypie'. A small - most likely fake - diamond sparkled as dot over the 'i'.
Sam walked over to him, wrapping him in a tight hug.
"Thanks, Brad. It's beautiful." She smiled into his shoulder.
"No problem, Sammy. Thank you, too." He grinned as he stepped back and held up his new watch - yes, Sam had been saving up a little money, Gibby's was going great after all.
"You're welcome." She smiled and walked back to unwrap her last present. She had spared it until now, although she was the most curious what he had gotten her.
Calmly, Sam sat down on her spot on the couch and slowly took the little packet into her hands and started to unwrap it. It was a box, just like Brad's, only smaller. Those two had even been to the same jeweler. She grinned. They really were best friends.
She carefully opened her last present and gasped.
It wasn't a necklace - this would've been just too hilarious. It was a silver bracelet, small and plain, just the way she liked it. He knew her well, she knew. There was a small pad with an engraving. Sam pulled it out of its velvet cloth and narrowed her eyes to read the engraving.
Not running away.
She turned it to see what the backside said.
Hate you, Puckett.
With a tiny heart behind it.
Her brows furrowed. What was that supposed to mean? Of course, Running Away by A.M. was the song of their first - and so far only - kiss. Sure, they had told each other they still hated the other after that. But what did it mean to receive a bracelet like that? It meant he hadn't forgotten, yes, but who would forget that he had kissed famous Sam Puckett for his first? Nobody, that's who.
I should worry about that it meant nothing. I got that on his present, too without thinking anything. Sam thought to herself and got up to thank Freddie properly.
He had just unwrapped her present. Socks. She could see the look of confusion on his face, then he read the words that were sewn upon the socks.
One spelled Nub with a small red heart next to it, another said Quarterwreck with a football that was broken into half and the last pair had Hate ya, Benson! on it.
Freddie broke into a grin and his head shot up, to catch her eyes only to be slightly shocked that she already stood directly in front of him.
"Great minds think alike, so it seems." She grinned down at him.
"You made them yourself?"
Sam nodded.
"I didn't know you could do that." He grinned as he stood up.
"There are many things I can do that you don't know about." She grined evilly.
"Yeah, I don't really want to know, do I?" He laughed as she nodded.
"Thanks, Freddie." She hugged him.
"Thanks to you, Sam, I only went to buy something. Those socks... well they're not exactely nice, are they?" He laughed and she punched his shoulder in amusement.
"Pah. You have no idea how long I spend on those damned things. I wanted to burn them about three times a day!"
"Thanks Sam." He said again.
"That I didn't burn them? Yeah, be thankful for that. It was awfully close."
They laughed together before Sam sat back down next to Melanie.
She sighed contentedly. This was perfect. Her family (well, excluding Mrs. Benson and more or less missing her Mom) was there with her, everywhere was love around, they were well fed and got amazing presents. What a night.
Her gaze wandered over the people and rested on Freddie. He caught her looking at him and winked at her. She smiled and felt her cheeks burning up simultaneously.
Geez, she had serious problems with that boy. She was falling for him more and more. How troublesome...
Freddie saw Sam staring at him and winked at her. She smiled, if he wasn't imagining things even her cheeks got a little pinker than their usual color. The brunette boy smiled. He had hoped that she had gotten the hint. The hint to their first kiss and of course she did. But he thought she might not have gotten it the way had he wanted her to. He had wanted her to get the hint that this event had been special to him and that he was not running away from the good things anymore. Not running away from her and from what they had or could have.
But unfortunally for him, great minds did think alike and she had used their 'hate' for each other, too. In a platonic meaning - or so he thought.
But what would it do him good if he wondered about Sam and her behavior all night. She was Sam Puckett. Dangerous as fire and unpredictable like a storm. But he loved her anyway.