WARNING: This drabble is rated T for language.

"Carly, will you PLEASE just calm down and listen -"

"-DON'T you DARE tell me to 'calm down,' Fredward Benson! I know what I saw!"

In the back of his head, he knew the people in the neighboring dorm rooms could hear them shouting for the past half hour, but he didn't care at the moment. His primary concern was to calm down his mess of a girlfriend. Her eyes bloodshot and her cheeks flustered, Freddie had not seen her this upset in a very long time and out of the few times he had, it was never directed towards him. This was new. New and, in his eyes, ridiculous. If she would just calm down then she would realize that this was just a huge misunderstanding and not even close to what she's concluded this to be.

"No, you really don't," Freddie countered. "It was only a hug goodbye. That's it! I just hugged a friend like I would Sam or Gibby, even!"

"Wendy is not Sam nor Gibby! And it didn't look like just a hug to me!" Carly folded her arms over her chest and planted her feet, as if she were preparing for battle. "And don't think for one second that I don't know about that crush you had on her!"

"Oh, my God, Carly, I was THIRTEEN!" Freddie shouted, baffled that he was being punished for an inconsequential crush he had almost seven years ago. "And mind you, it wasn't a big crush, even. I just thought she was cute! And if you remember correctly, I spent most of that year, and many subsequent years, confessing my love for YOU, so why the hell does it even matter?" Freddie thought he may have trumped her with that point, but Carly was prepared.

"It matters," Carly began, in an eerily calm voice, "because when we were thirteen, Wendy wasn't walking around with floatation devices as breasts and a perfect little butt that I caught you staring at when she got in her car!"

"I wasn't staring at any part of her, whatsoever!" Freddie denied. He noted the volume of his voice and decided to take a different approach. He took a step towards Carly and looked into her red, puffy eyes, silently pleading for her to listen to reason.

"Carly," he said calmly, "I could never be unfaithful to you. Never. I would never do that and Wendy wouldn't ever do that to you, neither. She's been our friend for years!"

"Oh! So now you're defending her!" Carly accused with a raised voice.

"I'm not defending her, baby, I'm defending ME," Freddie could hear his voice raising again, but he was unable to hinder it. "Like I have been for the past 45 GODDAMN MINUTES!"

"You are in NO position to yell at me, dammit, you're the one in trouble here!"

"Why?" Freddie asked, flailing his arms out of frustration. "Why am I in trouble? Where is this coming from? Is this the product of some deep-seated insecurities you've always had towards her, because if it is, Carly, you really, really don't have a thing to worry about!" Freddie took another step forward and firmly grabbed her shoulders and resumed reasoning with her in a softer tone when he saw that her eyes have gotten redder. "Don't I tell you every day that I find you to be the most beautiful girl in the world? It's not some lip service I'm feeding you, it's the honest-to-God truth. Wendy is no threat, whatsoever!"

Carly looked into his eyes with a hardened look. "Freddie, this would be so much easier if you would just admit that you cheated."

Freddie immediately let go of her shoulders in fear that he would shake her. He could feel his blood boiling. All he could see was red. Any control he had was lost.

"This. Is. Such. BULLSHIT! I didn't cheat, Carly!"

"No, YOU cut the BULLSHIT and just be real with me!"

"I've been NOTHING but faithful to you and you know it! Why is it so damn hard to believe that?"

"Why is it so hard to believe that you would prefer some fiery, Playboy Bunny-looking bombshell over me?"

"BECAUSE SHE NOT THE ONE I WANT TO GIVE MY FUCKING LAST NAME TO, CARLY, YOU ARE!"

Carly stood rooted in her spot, shell-shocked. Freddie's bellowing had caused his entire face to glow crimson and his breath to escape in pants. There was a glimmer of regret mingled with anger and sadness in his eyes. He slowly took a seat on the nearest couch and hunched over, his elbows on his knees and his head cradled in his hands. Carly took a seat next to him, slightly shaken and staring forward. That sat in silence for an uncertain amount of time.

"That, umm…" Freddie tried clearing his throat as he lifted his head. "That wasn't a proposal, you know. I just - "

"-No, I know" Carly assured quietly, nodding her head.

"I know we haven't talked about forever with us," Freddie said, not much above a whisper, "but I just figured that it was always kind of implied, you know?"

Carly could hear his voice, hoarse and thick with tears. He sounded so broken, and she hated herself for allowing her insecurities to do that to him. She knew that what they had was the real thing, and suddenly the idea of him ever stepping out of the relationship for even a second seemed preposterous to her.

"It was, Freddie. It absolutely was."

Freddie turned to Carly, meeting her bloodshot eyes with his own. "Carls, she doesn't hold a candle to you. No woman does. I love you so much and I can't believe that after all this time you would doubt that." The anger that was in his voice earlier was no longer there, but replaced by unmitigated pain. Carly's shoulders began to shake, wracked with sobs. She immediately covered her face with both hands, ashamed that she had allowed her mind to go to such a dark place.

"I'm s-so s-s-sorry, Freddie," she sputtered. He scooted closer to her, the arm closest to her outstretched, and she immediately collapsed into his embrace. He rubbed her back with one hand and tangled the other into her raven hair, pulling her head closer to his chest, muffling her sobs.

"It's alright, baby, shhh" he tried to mollify her.

Carly shook her head, wide-eyed with disbelief. "I can't believe I would even think for a second -"

"-it's done with," Freddie interrupted firmly. He didn't want this to lead to her beating herself up. "Just know that I could never do that to you. You're my forever. Do you understand?" He pulled away slightly in order to take her chin in between his thumb and forefinger and gentle tilt her head upward, forcing her to meet his eyes. She could see the unshed tears in his brown eyes and she felt her heart crack just a little more.

"You're it for me," he said softly with a slightly watery smile. "And when the time comes for me to get on bended knee and make it official, I need you to know that it's genuine. I couldn't be with anyone else. I can't even entertain the thought."

"Neither could I," she promised. She reached a hand to Freddie face to wipe the lone tear that had just managed to escape to his cheek. She let out a brief chuckle. "I think my love for you is finally driving me crazy!"

He sighed and placed a gently kiss on her forehead, then replied, "Maybe just a little."

She gave him a playful punch in the shoulder as he laughed. Then he cradled her face in both of his hands and gave her a kiss that drove any trace of doubt away from her mind, for good.

A/N: Thanks for continuing to read, you guys! I'm noticing the drabbles are getting a bit longer each time (Hahaha!). I'll try to control that. Thanks so much for the reviews, especially for those that still had positive things to say about the last chapter, despite the typos! I'll slow down, I promise. :o)

Hollaatchyagirl,

Phunky