Once again, thanks for the reviews. Again, if Sam starts to get too OOC (or Freddie, for that matter) just let me know. Relatively short chapter, but oh well.
Freddie's POV
What the hell was going on? I woke up with a start and sat up, rubbing my eyes and looking around me in confusion. Where was I? I was lying on towels in the bed of my truck, which was parked in a field. Someone was mowing a lawn somewhere, which was what had woken me. The night before came back to me, answering my question as to why I was parked in the middle of a field. I remembered everything that had happened with Sam, and I felt a mixture of pure happiness and stomach-clenching dread. What if Sam didn't remember what had happened? What if she only behaved like that because she was drunk? What if she acted like nothing happened, and everything was normal? I looked around for her, wondering where she was. I rubbed my eyes again and stretched, leaning forward and touching my toes. I sat back up, feeling a little better, and properly surveyed the surroundings looking for Sam. I spotted a glimpse of blonde poking out from behind a tree a few feet away. I gingerly climbed out of the truck, sore from spending the night sleeping on a few thin towels spread over the hard floor of the truck bed, and made my way over to Sam. It was early – the light was pale, the grass was dewy and the air still had a slight chill. I walked over and saw that Sam was sitting on the ground, slumped against the tree. As I grew closer I saw that Sam looked terrible – her hair was all messed up and she had circles under her eyes and she was pale. I walked over and sat next to her, leaning against the tree trunk.
"Hey Sam" I said quietly. She said nothing, just groaned.
"Are you okay?"
With that, Sam leaned to the side so that the tree trunk obscured her head. Just because I couldn't see her face didn't stop me from hearing the awful retching sounds she made. She sat back up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"I'll take that as a no"
"Remind me never to drink again" she said hoarsely. "I feel even crappier than I did when I licked the swing set"
"Jeez" I said, grimacing sympathetically. "You must feel terrible"
"No chizz" she said, closing her eyes and leaning her head back. "Not only am I puking every twenty minutes, I have a headache and that person with the lawnmower won't go away"
"Yeah, that's what woke me up"
"To add insult to injury, I don't remember a freaking thing from last night"
My heart sank and I tried not to let my disappointment show.
"Nothing at all?"
"Well, I remember beginning to drink. And I remember there were a lot of stars, and I was looking at them. I kinda remember some of the fireworks. Was there a gigantor blue one?" She asked. When I nodded, she continued. "Right, I remember that one. Other than that, everything is pretty fuzzy. It's getting better, though. When I woke up I didn't remember the firework, so I'm hoping that it'll all de-fuzz and I'll remember everything soon"
I felt a tiny glimmer of hope at these words. Maybe she would remember eventually. I was pulled out of my thoughts by Sam sitting upright, clutching her throat and grimacing. I reached forward and quickly gathered her hair into a ponytail, holding it back while she puked.
"Thanks" she said when she was done, slumping back against the tree and closing her eyes again. We sat in silence (I knew better than to try and talk to her) until she once again sat upright, her throat convulsing. I gathered up her hair as fast as I could, holding it back with one hand. I reached forward and very gently put my free hand on Sam's, and she clutched at it, squeezing it every time she retched. I sat with Sam by that tree, holding her hair and her hand, until there was long enough between puking spells for us to get in the truck and find a motel. I checked us into the first motel I came across and we got into the room just in time. As soon as I opened the door Sam ran past me into the bathroom. I dropped the bags on the floor and followed her, finding her crouching in front of the toilet. I knelt next to her, pulling her curls back with one hand and gently rubbing her back with the other. We spent the day in the motel room, just lounging about watching TV and listening to music. We both slept a little throughout the day, but not much, so we were both pretty tired. Sam stopped puking at around midday, but she said that the thought of food made her feel nauseous, so she skipped lunch. We ate dinner early, ordering room service, then I settled on one of the beds with my laptop to do some work on . Sam sat curled up in the armchair in front of the TV, watching a crappy movie. I worked steadily on the iCarly site while the sun sank lower in the sky and finally set. I hadn't done anything on since we set off, so there was a lot to be done. When I finally finished, I closed the laptop and set it on the floor.
"Sam, I'm going to bed" I said. "Sam?"
I looked over and saw that Sam had fallen asleep watching TV, curled up in the armchair. I got out of bed and padded over to the chair. I debated waking her to put her in bed, but she looked so exhausted that I couldn't bear to. I also debated leaving her in the chair, but she needed a decent night's sleep after the day she had. That left me one choice. I bent down and ever so gently eased my arms around her, sliding one under her knees and one behind her back. She stirred slightly and I froze, scared I had woken her, but she continued sleeping peacefully. I lifted her up with ease – the girl weighed practically nothing – and carefully walked over to the bed. Sam turned her head, burrowing it into my chest and sighing in her sleep. I gently set her down on one of the beds and pulled the covers over her. She rolled over onto her side and continued sleeping. I reached down and ever so lightly brushed a piece of hair off her forehead.
"Night, Sam"
Sam's POV
I sat bolt upright in bed. That dream, that damn nightmare that I used to have all the time when I was a kid, had come back. I hadn't had that dream in years, but it came back with a vengeance tonight, and I could feel a light sheen of sweat on my face, mingling with the tears that streamed down my cheeks. I tried to push the nightmare out of my head, but I couldn't. It seemed like the more I tried, the more vivid the images in my mind grew, until I was curled up in a ball, sobbing. Always the same nightmare, reliving the night my dad was stabbed, except in my dreams the stabber killed the rest of my family and then me. I hadn't had this nightmare since I was little, and I noticed that Carly, Spencer and Freddie were now in the dream too, three more people that I had to watch die. I heard Freddie's sheets rustling.
"Sam?" he whispered, his voice groggy. "Sam, what's going on?"
I tried to answer, to tell him that I was fine and to go back to sleep, but I was sobbing too hard.
"Sam?" he asked, sounding concerned and scared. "Sam, what's wrong?"
"I-I-I had a n-n-nightmare" I managed to say between sobs. I was so upset that I forgot to be embarrassed that Freddie was hearing me weep over a nightmare. "I'm f-f-fine, go back to s-sleep"
"Sam…" I heard him say gently. There was silence for a moment, and then I felt him sit on my bed next to me. I felt him begin to softly stroke my hair, shushing me under his breath. I stayed curled up in a ball, hugging my knees tightly to my chest and shaking with the intensity of my sobbing. I realized that Freddie was sitting right next to me, so I leaned over, resting my head in the dent by his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly, rocking me and shushing me under his breath. Eventually I calmed down and stopped sobbing, but I was still really upset. He tentatively let go of me, but he didn't get up.
"Sam are you okay?"
"Mmhmm"
"Are you sure? Do you wanna talk about it?"
I let out a sigh.
"It's nothing. Just a nightmare I've had since I was a kid. I haven't had it in years, actually, I wonder why I had it again tonight…Anyway, it's no big deal"
Freddie seemed to understand that I didn't wanna discuss it, so he let it go.
"Do you think you'll be able to go back to sleep?"
"Yeah" I said, lying down. I felt Freddie get up and I reflexively grabbed his hand before really wishing I hadn't. Freddie didn't say anything, but he seemed to get that I wanted him to stay until I fell asleep, like my mom used to do, so he sat down next to me, leaning against the headboard and stretching his legs out in front of him. He stroked my hair, which was exactly what my mom used to do, and in no time I fell asleep again.
This is another chapter where Sam is quite OOC, but I like the idea of Sam having a vulnerability that she isn't afraid to show Freddie anymore. I feel like it illustrates the transition that Sam and Freddie are making from friends to something more. But maybe it's just me.
