Freddie's POV

I woke up around sunrise to the light breeze that was blowing through the air. I slowly opened my eyes to find Sam sprayed out across the ground, out cold. I smiled slightly to myself and went to tend to the dying fire.

I had a little trouble recalling whether or not last night was real or just a dream, because it just seemed so unreal. I stole a longer glance at Sam and could now more clearly than ever see the bruises on her body. It hurt me to think that anyone like Sam could possibly have to go through that much pain, but it now made me understand her so much more.

But I had to remind myself that she was still the same Sam she always had been, and it made me a little more at ease. I could hear the last crackle of the fire now, and after about another hour, Sam showed signs of life.

She let out a sigh and her eyes soon flickered open. She saw me and our eyes locked for a fraction of a second before she closed her eyes again and sat up with a groan. "Ow," she breathed into her blanket.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Nothing, I just have this major headache," she responded.

"I wonder why," I jokingly asked her.

She shook her head, "Oh, shut up." After a while, she finally found the energy to get up and stretched. "We have to get on the road, Benson. So hurry up."

"Yes, Princess Puckett," I told her sarcastically and made no move to get up.

She at first seemed pleased but then realized I wasn't moving and her smile soon turned into a scowl. "Fine, I will give you ten minutes, but when I get back, I expect to find you by Harley." And with that, she trotted off towards the woods with her bag.

I sighed and collected the spare debris that were left behind and put them in my pockets. The morning ritual was becoming habit by now and I found I could do it without much thought on my part.

After about ten minutes, I was found by Harley as told. A small thought about already being whipped by a girl I wasn't even dating passed through my mind when I saw her come back. She was dressed in a much more comfortable looking hoodie and jeans with her necklace still hanging from her neck. Without hesitation, she jumped into the driver's seat of Harley and called "Hop on."

"Uh, Sam," I addressed her, "you're in the wrong seat." She grinned at me. "Nope, I don't think I am."

"Sam, you're not driving." I stated firmly.

But she refused to even consider taking no for an answer. "I don't see a problem with it."

"I value my life."

Sam gave me a death stare. "Honestly, Freddie. Do you doubt my abilities as a driver?"

I automatically nodded my head once.

"Well, then you just have to teach me," she stated matter of factly.

I looked at her in consideration. This was not going to end well.

"I promise I'll be careful," Sam stated mechanically. I raised one eyebrow at her, challenging her further. She rolled her eyes. "And I promise I'll stay on the road." I smirked evilly at her. "Okay, okay. I won't swerve in front of any cars at the first sight of a fat cake store."

This was enough for me. I jumped on the back of the motorcycle. "Okay first things first. Put it in drive. Sam did as she was told. "Okay now…" I was cut off by the shriek of the engine and the sudden movement of the vehicle. Sam was racing down the street, and let out a "WOO-HOO!" I nearly fell off the bike in surprise. But I soon caught myself on her waist.

"Sam! Stop the bike!" I shouted in an attempt to get her to slow down. But it was no use. We were now zooming down the highway and she was out of control.

"Whoa!" Just as fast as she had started, Sam was skidding and spinning wildly to a stop. The sudden cease of movement made me fall half off of the bike, and the only reason I was able to stay on was because of my hold on her waist. I set myself off on the bike.

It was silent for a few moments while we each caught our breath. Suddenly, Sam looked at me with a huge smile plastered on her face. I can only assume my look for her was one of terror.

At the same time I spit out, "That was terrible," she was shouting, "That was awesome!"

"What? No!" I told her. I hastily got off of the bike. "Are you insane? You could have gotten us killed," I attempted to reason with her. She waved me away with her hand, "Did you really expect me to listen to you?"

"No."

"Well, there you go," she said, raising and dropping her arms in exasperation. I stared at her, attempting to be furious with her, yet knowing she was right. I should have known. I took a deep breath. "Fine, let's try this again." I reluctantly got back on the bike with her. "Now slowly this time, Sam. Please. Spare my life," I begged her.

I caught a flash of a smirk in her rearview mirror. "Yeah, I guess I want you to stick around." Without any further prodding from me, Sam pulled back onto the road, at a much slower pace. "Okay now, Sam, steer straight." I attempted to teach her.

"I am, Fredamame."

It was true actually. When Sam was not totally out of control she actually appeared to be a good driver.

We soon made it to what appeared to be civilization. There were now dozens of cars Sam was speeding past. Time was flying by and I saw a sign that told us we were in Estacada, Oregon.

I had also been teaching Sam various techniques she needed to know to spare our lives. "Wow, Sam. After that first initial scare, you're kind of a natural."

Sam beamed at my compliment before shouting, "Whoa." Sam began to swerve the second she took her eyes off of the road and we were heading for a straight on collision with the truck. I put my hands on top of hers that were on the handlebars. I somehow managed to get us back on course and going straight, but not before the angry drivers started honking madly.

Sam was holding her breath and going perfectly straight as I released my hands from hers and sat back further. "Maybe I spoke too soon." I added.

Sam just nodded and kept her eyes on the road. "You know, you're good when you focus. Just try to not lose control and we could take turns driving. I could pass you."

"Oh really? I have to pass a test now?"

"Yes, just don't crash us. Then you can pass."

"That's it? That's easy." Sam stated with a huff.

Yeah, in a perfect world she would never have gotten control of Harley in the first place. "Let's hope."

Sam's POV

It had been fun at first, driving. But after a few hours it got really tedious and it was harder and harder to focus on not getting into a crash. Partly because my stupid brain couldn't get my mind off of the boy behind me.

Alright Sam, slow it down, a turn is coming up. I told myself. Then I caught sight of Freddie's eyes in my rearview mirror. I swerved for a fraction of a second. "Sam," his voice warned me as I gained back control. "Sorry," I muttered.

I watched another SUV pass in front of me and sighed. "I'm getting bored of this." I announced.

"Driving with you is never boring," Freddie stated. I wasn't sure to take this as an insult or compliment. "Well, I have an idea," I told him.

"What?" he asked interested.

I didn't answer him. Instead I left the highway, barely avoiding vehicles. I was on the grass now, next to the road. Every yard I drove getting farther from civilization, I was soon driving up a steep, grassy hill overlooking a lake.

"I wanted a change of view," I answered him finally.

He quirked his eyebrows in wonder. "Well, I suppose we are safer up here."

"Freddie. Watch it." I snapped at him for insulting my driving skills.

"I'm sorry," he defended himself, laughing.

Freddie could be such a dork sometimes. I drove along the grass and Freddie turned to watch the lake glisten in the sun. The sun was high in the sky now, so I figured it must be mid-afternoon. Then it hit me like a lightning bolt. "Fredward, I haven't eaten all day," I declared, dragging out the word all.

My stomach exploded into a ravenous monster searching for food. His head snapped back to reality and he told me, "Okay just drive a little longer."

"No, I'm tired of driving." I protested.

"Well we need to find a good spot," he urged.

I scoffed at that. A good spot? So he could have a good view or something? None of that mattered anymore when mama was hungry.

But I didn't protest. Something inside me was changing when it came to Freddie. His voice somehow resounded within me. I didn't want to make him upset or angry. But somehow, someway, I just really wanted to make him happy. So, I did the unthinkable. I listened to him.

I drove for another whole ten minutes until suddenly Freddie announced, "Stop right here. It's the perfect spot for a picnic."

A picnic? "Since when are we having a picnic?"

"Since now," he returned, unfazed. "Now, slow down gradually and shift the bike to park."

I did as he said and successfully made Harley stay in one place. We jumped off the bike and Freddie laid down a blanket for the two of us. I grinned at his attempt to get the blanket completely flat and remove all wrinkles as I opened my backpack of wonders and checked the food inside.

I decided that some sandwiches would be nice for this "picnic", so I got out some bread that we had bought at the store, some cheese, and of course ham. I brought everything over to Freddie and plopped down next to him.

He smiled at the fact that I was trying out some of his fruits when I took out the grapes. I paused and stared at him, daring him to speak. "Good choice," he stated simply.

We ate in a comfortable silence until my energy started to go on overload. I grabbed a grape and plucked it off the stem. When Freddie wasn't looking, I tossed it up lightly in the air and let it fall right on Freddie's nose.

I started to laugh manically, before I had two realizations. Number one, I was the only one laughing. Number two, a grape had landed in my mouth while I was laughing manically.

I swallowed the grape and stared at Freddie in shock. After a few seconds, we both broke out laughing. "Ha-ha, you missed! I think?" I said to him. He smirked at me and said, "Yeah, but oh well, that turned out cooler anyway."

"Yeah, let me try," I suggested and tossed a grape in a perfect arch into his own mouth, which he promptly swallowed. He laughed and returned the favor. Before either of us realized it, we were having a competition to see who could make the better catch.

"You know, Freddie," I started but had to pause to catch a grape. "I never realized how much fun you could be."

He snorted, "What? You think just because I'm mommy's little boy, that I don't know how to have fun?"

"Yeah," I said without hesitating.

"Well I do. You just wait and see."

"I can hardly wait to see Bad Boy Benson," I laughed at the irony of my statement.

My eyes shifted to the horizon and I could see that the sky was quickly changing to shades of yellow and orange. "I think we better get on the road again, before it gets dark."

"Sure thing," Freddie said and we began to clean up our little picnic.

When everything was safely secured in my backpack I said, "I think I'm going to lose weight if I keep eating like this," as we made our way to Harley.

"You have nothing to lose," Freddie stated matter-of-factly. His statement was very true; it was always a wonder how I managed to stay so small. When we reached the bike, I got into the passenger seat again. He looked down at me and I said, "I think that maybe you should drive now."

Freddie nodded, "Good idea."

He eventually made his way back to the road, so that we would have more of an idea of where we were going and not get lost.

As he made his way, I relaxed. Driving really tires you out, especially when you're trying not to kill someone who is suddenly very important, in your eyes. I leaned against the back of the seat, and let the wind blow across my face and closed my eyes.

I thought for a minute about how this was really happening. If someone had told me a week ago that I would be on my way to Texas on the run with only Freddie Benson, I would have thought they should go back to the crazy factory they surely escaped from. But now, I really couldn't picture it any other way.

I occasionally snuck in a word with Freddie as I just lay there. I must not have been paying full attention to what he was saying now though, because without me remembering anything about the conversation, he said, "Then I was going to try out my new big high-speed hard drive, but I never got to. Because, I came on the road with you." He shrugged, "It doesn't matter though, and I'll get back to it soon."

I nodded and added, "If I lose the bet."

He turned around as if to say something, but I added, "Like that would ever happen."

"It's possible!"

"Maybe in your dreams," I suggested.

He laughed, "Hey, a lot can happen in dreams!"

I changed my direction, "They usually are somewhat reasonable though, or try to tell you something."

"Where are you going with this?" He asked me.

"I'm just trying to say that if you dream about it, I'll still win."

"Right, okay, Puckett." He did not sound convinced. "I think it's a good time to stop for the night."

His statement made me look around. Sure enough, it was very dark outside, so much so that it would probably be unsafe to drive any farther.

"Okay. Pull over here." I told him.

The boy obeyed me without even trying to put up a fight about where this time. There was some grass around but I could still see the highway, even though there were never any cars on it now.

We went through the ritual and laid out the blankets side – by – side to each other. I turned my head to Freddie and thought about how cold he looked. "Good –night, Sam."

"Wait, Freddie. Take my blanket tonight."

Freddie looked shocked. "You're offering me the better blanket?"

"That's what I said," I answered defensively.

He looked over me for a second and then said, "No, I couldn't do that to you."

I rolled my eyes, "Freddie, I'll be fine. Really."

Still, he shook his head no. I sighed, "If you don't take the blanket, I'm going to beat you up."

His mind made up, Freddie snatched the blanket away from me pretty quickly. We got comfortable; well, he got comfortable. I managed to look comfortable. "Thanks, Puckett," I heard, breaking the silence.

"Don't mention it."

"Good – night, Sam. Dream of Ham."

"Good – night, Freddie. Dream of Techie."

And without another word, our dreams overtook us, especially Freddie.

Alright, let me know what you think! I love hearing from you. P.S. Sorry about the wait again. Anyway I hope you enjoyed!