Chapter 22: Reassurance

Author's Note: Thanks so much guys; your reviews were extra sweet and made me extra happy this time around! :D A couple of you who seem to speak fluently in Spanish corrected me in your last reviews, and I'm sorry about that. :p I'm just a student in Spanish. But you both told me different things, so I'm just leaving it, ahaha. Review! :)

P.S. Vote for the new poll on my page! :D

There we were, in front of the Benson apartment. I'd been in this hallway hundreds of times; and it felt so familiar, but different at the same time. When I used to come here, I was happy and sort of excited to go to Carly's or Freddie's house. Now my life was about to change, probably for the worse.

"You ready?" I asked Freddie, so quietly it was almost a whisper.

Freddie took a deep breath and nodded, seeming to be just as nervous as I was. He slowly picked a shaking fist up to knock on the door three times.

Not even half of a second passed until the apartment door swung open to show a tall, wide-eyed woman.

"Freddie?" Marissa whispered, keeping her mouth open after she talked because she was so shocked. She lightly touched his cheek as if she was trying to figure out if he was actually real. She then quickly pulled him into a hug, her mouth still slightly open.

After a long hug, Marissa fiercely pulled away from Freddie. She then yelled, "Fredward Karl Benson! You had me worried sick! Searching through every end of Seattle..."

I stopped listening after that. She just kept babbling on and on...

I slowly walked through the open door into the Benson apartment. The two of them also subconsciously walked in while Marissa yelled, but they kept their eyes on each other.

I rolled my eyes at her. All I could hear was her voice. I rubbed my temples in a circular motion.

The apartment door was still wide open, so I shut it, making a 'slam!' sound.

Marissa's head sharply turned to me after the door closed, and she finally stopped yelling. She squinted, glaring at me as if I was the most evil person ever.

"You," she whispered in the most creepy way, pointing a bony finger at me. "You forced my innocent son to run away with you."

So much for her letting me move back in, I thought. I looked at her, ready to fight back. "Actually I didn't," I said, getting angrier and angrier as I spoke. "The whole time I was trying to get him to leave and he refused. But whatever. I'm done." I was filled with rage as I walked toward the door. I didn't know where I was going, but I'd rather be anywhere but here. I was done with Marissa always blaming everything on me.

"Sam, wait," Freddie said softly. He grabbed my arm, stopping me from walking.

I yanked my arm out of his grip to roughly knuckle angry tears out of my light eyes. I looked into Freddie's sad, worried eyes. We made long, quiet eye contact.

I then turned to Marissa and spoke my mind. "Look, Marissa. I know you don't like me and I'm not gonna try to make you. But I'm a kid, Marissa. Sometimes I don't feel like one and I'm barely ever treated like one. But I'm a kid. I know you don't want me to live here. I get it. But the thing that happens if you don't let me move in is I'll go to foster care or have to get a job and take care of myself or be on the streets or whatever happens to sixteen-year-olds. You'll probably be happy to get me out of your way, but like I said before, I'm a kid. I'm sixteen, and adults always say sixteen was one of their best years. But if I have to go to a group home and give up everything and everybody that I love, which really isn't that many people, then I'll have no reason to live. And don't think I'm trying to get your pity. And I'm truly sorry that I was born with a bad mom. But wherever I'm sleeping tonight determines if my life is worth living."

Yeah, yeah, I know. That's a lot of words for Sam Puckett. Did I really mean that I didn't want to live if I didn't get to move in with them? Honestly, I don't know. It depended if I was really going to go somewhere else. I'd sort out my thoughts later, when everything fell into place.

Marissa just looked at me, and her look reminded me of the time when Freddie told me how much his mom really cared about me. I'd completely forgotten about that.

Maybe Marissa did too.

"Mom, I've never heard Sam talk like this before," Freddie said softly. "And she hates sympathy. She means it. And this all happened because Sam and I fell asleep in the same bed. She and I are friends, mom. I'm not gonna just sit back and let her life be ruined. Please, mom." He walked next to me and put an arm around my shoulders.

Marissa took a deep breath, closing her eyes and opening them. She looked down, not looking in our eyes. "You know this is hard, Sam," she said, so quietly I could barely hear her. "Ever since Freddie was born... or... or maybe ever since his dad passed away, my life has been devoted to making Freddie's life perfect and safe. I just don't want anything to happen to him." She looked back up at us, seeing Freddie's arm around me as I was almost in tears. She continued, now looking in his eyes, but still speaking to me, "But now I know that if I make you go, something will happen to Freddie. He'll be sad."

Freddie's face turned slightly red, and then Marissa looked at me. "And you obviously care a lot about Freddie," she said. She slightly smiled. "You wouldn't hurt him."

I grinned. She's saying yes, she's saying yes, she's saying yes! I thought.

"You can move in," Marissa said, not seeming too confident as she said it. "But we're going over more ground rules later."

I let out a small shriek, showing Marissa the biggest smile ever to thank her, and Freddie pulled his other arm around me, so now he was embracing me. I was almost enjoying the warmth of being in his arms- which I also find kind of sickening -until my cell phone rang. I pulled away from him and looked at the phone.

"Who is it?" Freddie asked.

I looked up at him, my eyebrows slowly narrowing. I couldn't believe it. I almost forgot about her.

"Melanie."