Review please? Pretty please? They make me so happy.
Sam's POV
"Sam, wake up"
I heard Freddie's voice softly urging me to get up. I groaned and rolled over, not wanting to wake up. I felt a poke in my shoulder.
"Sam, get up, we need to get going"
I groaned again and pulled the covers over my head. I heard a sigh of resignation.
"Get up and I shall buy you bacon"
I sat bolt upright in bed. What's better than bacon? That's right, bacon that you don't have to buy yourself. I dragged myself out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom. I emerged clean, teeth brushed, dressed, and feeling marginally more awake. Freddie had already packed everything up and was waiting for me. When he saw me he handed me my bag and gestured for me to lead the way. We made our way to the truck, shoving our bags in before sitting down and putting on our seatbelts.
"So where's the bacon?" I asked.
"I dunno. There must be a breakfast place around here somewhere" Freddie answered, starting the car. He pulled out of the motel parking lot and onto the street, looking for somewhere that we could eat.
"There" I said, spotting a Denny's and pointing. Freddie turned into the parking lot and we got out. I ran inside, shoving aside the waitress in my way and sitting in a booth. Freddie followed me in, helping the waitress to her feet and apologizing profusely for me. Like I cared who I knock over. In the quest for bacon, there are bound to be casualties. He sat opposite me and said nothing, just shook his head at me and opened his menu. After a hearty, bacon-filled breakfast we got back into the truck and headed off. The days were beginning to fall into a pattern now. We would set off and Freddie and I would talk, or I would listen to music. Then we would stop for lunch, and occasionally gas, and when we got back in the truck I would take a nap. Today was no different. I woke up from my nap relatively early today, and Freddie wisely said nothing until I was fully awake. Then, energized and refreshed from my nap, I chatted with Freddie for a while. We talked about everything – iCarly, socks, meat, school, MMA. It was becoming easier and easier to talk to Freddie since we began spending more time together and we found out that we had more in common than we thought. Before, Freddie and I would chat every so often, but about meaningless crap. Now, we had more serious conversations, about things like family. The family we had, the family we wanted. We talked and talked, and when I looked at the time, I found myself wondering how I could talk to one person for so long, let alone Freddie. But strangely, it felt like we had been talking for ten minutes. As the light began to fade we turned into Maple Falls, another hick town. We found a motel and pulled into the parking lot. As I got out, I noticed that although it was late afternoon and the sun was going down, it was excruciatingly hot and humid. With the air conditioner on in Freddie's truck, I hadn't noticed the inferno outside.
"Whew" I heard Freddie say as he shut the door. "When did it get so hot and sticky?"
"Seriously" I answered, fanning myself.
We hurried into the cool air conditioning of the motel lobby and checked in. We dropped our bags in our room before turning around and going to find dinner. Since it was so hot we drove to the nearest burger joint and all but ran inside. The restaurant was full of people, not all of them eating. I got the distinct impression that these people were here to take advantage of the air conditioning. We bought food and found an empty table, where we scarfed down dinner. When we finished we lingered, not wanting to leave the cool restaurant. Eventually we pulled ourselves away and back to the truck, where we drove to the motel with the A/C on full blast. We went up to our room and I called the shower first, grabbing pajamas before disappearing into the bathroom. I took a long, cool shower before reluctantly putting on my pajamas, which unfortunately, were long pants. At least the tank top is sleeveless I thought. I went into the bedroom and Freddie went into the bathroom. As I walked into the bedroom I noticed that it was disgustingly hot. I went over to the air conditioning unit and stood under it. Even though I was right under it, I could barely feel anything. I found the remote and turned the air conditioning as cold as it would go, and that made a slight difference, but not much. I wrenched open the windows, but there was no breeze. The trees outside the window were completely still, not even a quivering leaf. I heard Freddie emerge from the bathroom and I turned to face him.
"Freddie" I whined. "The A/C is being retarded"
"Is it not getting very cold?" he asked. I shook my head.
"Probably because it's so hot, so every room has their A/C on full blast"
"I don't care why" I snapped. "Just fix it before I melt"
"I can't do anything about it" he said apologetically.
I fumed for a minute before realizing that getting angry wouldn't fix the air conditioning, so I was stuck in a furnace for the night. I walked away from the window and pulled off my pajama pants, stepping out of them and kicking them aside.
"Sam!" Freddie shouted, sounding scandalized. He turned away from me, covering his eyes. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, grow up Fredward" I said condescendingly. "You've seen me in a swimsuit, haven't you? How is this any different?"
He stopped shielding his eyes and faced me, and I could see him finding the logic in what I just said. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside, exposing his beautiful body. He then pulled off his own pajama pants and kicked them aside.
"We're just in swimsuits" I heard him mutter under his breath. "Just swimsuits"
"You're such a nerd" I said, rolling my eyes. I stopped suddenly as the gravity of the situation hit me. I was sharing a room with Fredward Benson. I was wearing underwear and a tank top, and he was wearing boxers. And that was it.
"By the way, dork" I said menacingly. "If you ever tell anyone about this…" I trailed off suggestively.
"Understood" he said, gulping.
We sat there in uncomfortable silence for a minute before Freddie grabbed his pants.
"This is too weird" he said, pulling them on and rolling legs of the pants up to his knees.
"You need to grow up" I said, secretly glad that he had put his pants back on.
I plopped onto one bed and spread myself as far as I could across the mattress. Freddie turned off the light and got into the other bed.
"Night Sam"
"Night"
The next day passed as the others had. Freddie tried unsuccessfully to wake me up, finally got me out of bed with the promise of food, I had a shower and emerged to find Freddie packed. We checked out, ate breakfast and began to drive, stopping for gas and lunch. I napped after lunch and when I woke up, Freddie and I talked and I listened to music. As the daylight began to fade we pulled into another town, this one called Greenborough – population 1, 723. We once again found a motel and checked in, dropping off our stuff before we went to find a place to eat. We ate at a small café and decided to go for a walk, since it was still early. We wandered down the street, looking around. The town was really very pretty, with trees and flowers everywhere. We stumbled upon a pond with benches around it, and we sat down. The sky was beginning to turn purple and pink as the sun set, and the first stars could be seen twinkling. I looked around at the other benches. I could see a couple of teenagers making out on one bench, and a young couple in their twenties sitting, the woman's head on the man's shoulder. I saw a couple in their thirties, each with a child on their lap, feeding the ducks that were scattered all over the pond. Next to them, I saw an elderly couple, sitting holding hands. As I watched, the man brought their intertwined hands to his lips and kissed the back of the woman's hand. Everyone around me was in love, it seemed, and I was here with Freddie. Maybe it's a sign a voice in the back of my head told me. I looked across at Freddie. His face had a pinkish purple glow from the sunset and he was gazing across the pond with a faraway look in his eyes. In his lap was the bag containing his leftover food. I grabbed it, causing him to snap back to reality.
"How can you still be hungry?" he asked me in amazement.
"It's not for me" I said witheringly.
"Well then, who's it for?"
"Them" I said, pointing at a cluster of ducks that was making their way over to our bench. He smiled and held out his hand. I placed a fry in his palm and took one for myself. I broke off a piece and chucked it at the ducks, who responded by lunging at it in a frenzy of flapping wings. I broke off another piece and threw it into the group of ducks, and Freddie did the same. We fed the ducks until we ran out of food, then I balled up the paper bag and chucked it on the grass, getting up.
"Let's go, Fredward"
Freddie picked up the bag and got to his feet, dropping the bag in a trash can as we walked back towards the main road. We made our way back to the motel, chatting the whole way. When we reached the motel I collapsed on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I heard Freddie tell me he was going to take a shower, and I sat up.
"Don't take forever like you normally do"
He rolled his eyes at me and disappeared into the bathroom with an armful of stuff. I grabbed his PearPod and opened the sliding glass doors that led onto the tiny balcony that was attached to our room. I sat on one of the two wooden chairs and turned on the PearPod, putting the earphones in my ears and picking a song. As I listened to music (Freddie had surprisingly good taste) I watched the people and the cars on the street below me, lost in thought. Suddenly, I felt a tap on the shoulder. I turned around to see Freddie standing behind me in pajamas, his hair wet and sticking up in all directions. I took the earphones out and shoved the PearPod at him before grabbing my stuff and going into the bathroom. I showered quickly and got dressed in my pajamas, pulling my wet hair back into a French plait. I opened the bathroom door and was walking out when something stopped me in my tracks. Music. I could hear someone playing a guitar. I looked around and saw that Freddie's guitar case was lying on one of the beds, open and empty. I listened to the faint music, trying to discern where it was coming from. I padded quietly over to the sliding glass door that led onto the balcony. Freddie was sitting on one of the chairs, playing his guitar softly. I stood and watched him as he strummed. Suddenly he began to play a new song, one that I recognized and loved. I tiptoed closer as he began to sing in a low, surprisingly good voice.
I remember what you wore on the first day
You came into my life and I thought "Hey, you know, this could be something"
Cause everything you do and words you say
You know that it all takes my breath away and now I'm left with nothing.
I walked forward so that I was standing in the doorway, and before I could stop myself, I joined in.
So maybe it's true that I can't live without you I sang along. Freddie whipped his head around at the sound of my voice, but he didn't stop playing, just smiled as he sang.
And maybe two is better than one
But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking two is better than one.
I edged past him and sat on the other chair, facing him.
I remember every look upon your face I sang.
The way you roll your eyes, the way you taste
You make it hard for breathing. Freddie sang back, smiling.
Cause when I close my eyes and drift away we sang together.
I think of you and everything's okay
I'm finally now believing
That maybe it's true that I can't live without you
And maybe two is better than one
But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking two is better than one.
Freddie strummed furiously, closing his eyes and getting lost in the music.
I remember what you wore on the first day
You came into my life and I thought "Hey" he sang softly.
Maybe it's true that I can't live without you we sang with increasing intensity, staring into each other's eyes.
And maybe two is better than one.
But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking ooh I can't live without you
Cause baby two is better than one
There's so much time to figure out the rest of my life
But I figured out when all is said and done
Two is better than one
Two is better than one
Freddie strummed the last note, letting it fade into the darkness. We both stared at each other, out of breath from the intensity with which we had been singing. Freddie was looking at me like he was seeing me for the first time. Neither of us said anything, but this silence was nothing like our usual comfortable silence. This silence was electrified, as though there were a million invisible sparks in the air making my every nerve ending do a dance. The longer we said nothing, the more intense the silence became, until it was unbearable.
"Wow Fredward" I said. "You're not bad"
He broke the eye contact and looked into his lap.
"Thanks" he said, still not looking up. "I didn't know you could sing like that. You're amazing, Sam"
"I know" I said with a smirk, trying to lighten the atmosphere and bring some semblance of normality to the situation. "Mama's got pipes, eh?"
I got up and walked into the bedroom. As I walked away I heard Freddie say something to himself under his breath.
"I didn't just mean the singing"
