Christmas at Freddie's had been a new experience; it was strange not being at home, speaking to Trina and my parents only over the phone, thanking them for the gifts (I'd taken them with me and left their gifts from us behind for them to open on the day). Seattle was also totally different to Los Angeles; for one thing the weather was A LOT colder, for another there was Freddie's mom to deal with. I really don't know how Freddie does it. Trina drives me crazy but Marissa takes crazy to a whole new level. I keep having to remind myself that it's just for a few days, a couple of weeks; I can deal with it for that long at least, although knowing he's a few yards away from me on a night is difficult; I miss my Freddie on a night and seriously need some alone time with him when we get a chance back home (note to self: send mom and dad away for a weekend early next term).
Then we have the others; Spencer is someone I've not seen too much of. He always seems to be occupied with his sculptures or he's spending his evenings with one girl or another – I'm really not sure how good a role model he is to his little sister. Speaking of Carly – she's very much the more level-headed sibling and seems to be genuinely happy for Freddie and me. It's obvious that she cares about him and she shows it (Freddie tells me, and the 'iCarly killer' incident confirmed, that this hasn't always been the case). Sam, perhaps unsurprisingly given her reputation, could best be described as something of a 'wild card'; talking with Freddie over the months has revealed some of the things (some of them pretty shocking) that went on between them. I don't doubt that Freddie has, in fact, watered down some of it; it was obvious from the way he was talking but if he doesn't want to go into all the gory details then I respect that. What has been more unexpected has been her behaviour since Freddie moved to LA; certainly Freddie didn't expect it anyway. She spends as little time as possible around me and, coupled with her attitude when we are in the same place (and her actions and attitude while she was in LA for Thanksgiving) it all adds up to her still having feelings for my man (we suspected as much at Thanksgiving and nothing since then has persuaded me otherwise). I'm not worried, Freddie assures me it's completely one-sided, I know he loves me and I trust him but it does make things awkward when she's around; this in turn makes things awkward for Carly and the others. Freddie does intend to speak to her about the situation before we leave; I really hope they can resolve things as his visits would be a lot better if he's at peace with everyone.
The remainder of the morning passed pleasantly. We sat around the television watching a few mindless shows, drinking sodas and talking about mundane and trivial things; four friends (Carly, Freddie, Spencer and me) enjoying one another's company. For a couple of hours all was right with the world.
After spending Christmas morning at Carly's we returned across the hallway for a quiet dinner with Freddie's mom (T-Bo was out somewhere; other than when we've been at the Groovy Smoothie I really haven't seen much of him). Marissa had pulled out all the stops; a soup starter, a (low-fat of course) turkey with boiled potatoes (they're healthier than roast potatoes you see), plenty of vegetables but no Christmas pudding (Freddie actually stormed out of the apartment when Marissa told me it would upset his tummy if he had any) so we were left with dessert being cheese crackers but no cheese (presumably for the same reason).
To be polite I ate a couple but left as soon as I could to go look for Freddie while his mom made coffee; he wasn't at Carly's (my first and most logical guess) but she suggested the fire escape and directed me to it. There he was, my Freddie, sat oblivious to the cold and with a face like thunder. I sat next to him and draped my arm around his shoulders, kissing his cheek as I did. He turned to me with a small smile before it faded as quickly as it arrived and he resumed gazing out over the city.
We sat in silence while he continued to glare moodily at Seattle, my arm still over his shoulders, his had snaked around my waist; I was feeling the cold but was determined to stay with him for as long as it took him to get over it. Unfortunately my body had other ideas and gave an involuntary shiver.
"You're freezing; go inside Tori" he said softly, his eyes full of concern for me. I shook my head in response.
"I'm here for you Freddie" I told him softly "for as long as you need me."
He smiled, a warm and genuine smile, before responding
"I can't believe her – even after all this time she still treats me like a baby; and to humiliate me in front of you like that?" he shook his head in disgust before looking at me seriously. "I've had it; I want to go back to LA. If it's ok with you I'll call the airline and see if we can change our tickets to a flight tomorrow."
I was surprised by this but I could tell that he was serious. If I'm being honest I was ready to go home as well, to see mom and dad (and even Trina) and my school friends but I wanted him to be sure.
"Is this really what you want? You won't see Carly or Sam – or Spencer – and what about work? You're signed up for shifts aren't you?"
He nodded. "I'm working tomorrow afternoon but we could go for an evening flight; that gives us the rest of today and tomorrow morning to say goodbye to Carly and the others."
I nodded my own agreement. "Then we'll call the airline in the morning." I told him. "But now –" he looked at me curiously "we need to see Carly; I looked for you there first and we need to let her know that I found you."
He gave me a look of understanding and we stood to make our way back inside.
"You're leaving TOMORROW?" Carly asked Freddie, a mixture of surprise, disappointment and hurt on her face and in her eyes and voice.
He nodded regretfully. "I can't stay. My mom..." and he shrugged helplessly. Carly did not look surprised; she had experienced Marissa's erratic behaviour before.
"When will I see you again?" she asked in sad resignation.
"You want to do Spring Break in LA?" he asked.
Carly smiled eagerly before complaining that she didn't want to wait THAT long before she saw Freddie again. I suggested to her that, although it's a long way to travel for a weekend, she is always welcome to come and visit us in LA.
She gave me a grateful smile before asking "What about Sam?"
"Meh, she can sleep in the yard" I joked, causing us all to laugh before Freddie turned serious.
"I do need to speak to her before we go" he reminded himself.
He was to get his chance sooner than expected; having been obligated to spend Christmas with her mom Sam flounced through Carly's front door declaring herself to be 'sick of her family' and hungry (again). I noted her use of the word 'family' rather than 'mother' and questioned Carly on it; it was Sam herself, however, who answered from the fridge
"My sister is here for the holidays too." Seeing my surprise at this revelation she elaborated "Melanie, my identical twin sister. She got a scholarship to a private school and won another to Yale so I don't see her much; though still too often for my liking"
Freddie pulled me close and wrapped an arm around me as we chatted with Carly and watched Sam devouring the Shays' left-over turkey. When she was done he looked from Carly to me before releasing me and telling Sam he needed to speak to her privately. She looked surprised but let him shepherd her out in the direction of the fire escape.
"I can't believe he's going tomorrow" Carly began before turning to face me "and not coming back."
"I think he'll come around" I answered with a shrug "but Marissa crossed a line once too often for him. It just means you'll have to visit him rather than him visiting you."
Carly nodded sombrely before brightening "So, Spring Break?"
I smiled and we began discussing the sort of things there would be to do at that time of year in LA, particularly at Venice Beach; we soon had some provisional plans made before Freddie returned, Sam just behind him, both with impassive faces.
"Later" he whispered in answer to my quizzical look.
Eager to make the most of what she called her "Freddie time" Carly insisted that we stay there for the remainder of the afternoon. Freddie was only too eager to agree (he didn't want to see Marissa any sooner than he had to) so the three of us, with Sam in tow, trooped upstairs to Carly's room. Freddie immediately took a seat by the water-topped table, seized a remote control and started moving a boat around it. Carly did likewise, having first placed a Sea Captain's hat on his head at a ridiculous angle, causing both to giggle uncontrollably. Having not been in her room before, however, I took the opportunity to appraise it. Freddie explained about the fire a couple of years earlier and how they had rebuilt the room as a surprise for her. I admired her dresser, with a mirror that doubled as a video screen, her motorised wardrobe (Freddie's handiwork) and some of the other items (I particularly liked the ice cream love seat) before my eyes were drawn to the trampoline set into the floor at the bottom of her bed.
"You know you want to" Sam's low voice told me; she had sidled up to me during my little tour. I turned to her; she was smiling at me, a little forced perhaps but it was definitely a smile. Repaying kindness with kindness I grinned back. Her eyes turned back to the trampoline and she gave me a gentle nudge with her elbow before smiling at me again. I nodded and jumped onto the trampoline, bouncing off it and landing at the top end of Carly's bed, laughing as I did. Sam too was laughing at this, which caused Carly and Freddie to turn their attention to the pair of us with amused if quizzical looks.
"That trampoline is awesome!" I exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Just make sure Sam doesn't use it right after and land on top of you" Freddie warned, shooting the blonde a quick look. She smirked back at him, sticking her tongue out at him. He shook his head lightly and smiled before returning his gaze to his boating exploits, Carly doing likewise. I smiled and watched the pair manoeuvring their craft around the small enclosure, sometimes duelling, other times racing but always laughing; they were completely at ease with one another. Sam, meanwhile, had taken a position on the chair by Carly's dresser to observe the scene; she too smiled at the sight of the pair.
Ultimately, though, we grew bored of the boats and made our way up to the iCarly studio. Carly put a DVD on to play and we spent the remainder of the afternoon watching a movie. Carly did begin talking about ideas for a Spring Break episode of iCarly (Sam did not seem surprised that the next show would not be until then – possibly it was one thing Freddie mentioned during their conversation) but no specific ideas were mentioned (we had, after all, only just finished a show a few days earlier).
Two movies later Sam's stomach could bear being separated from food no longer; I was beginning to feel hungry myself and Freddie and Carly both said they were ready to eat so we made our way down to the living area to begin preparing a light meal. Spencer was down there and joined our group in the kitchen. We fixed some sandwiches and drinks before settling down in front of the TV again, watching whatever we could find on the various channels. Our enjoyable evening was interrupted, however, when Marissa came bursting through the door.
"Freddie!" she shrieked by way of greeting. "What happened to you today? I want to spend Christmas with my son; you get back home this instant."
My boyfriend looked at her but made no attempt to move; I was glad of this as I was very comfortably snuggled against him. Carly wore a look of mild apprehension as she looked from one Benson to the other. Freddie turned to her and her brother and asked
"Spencer? Carly? Is it ok if we stay here tonight?"
The two Shays were completely caught off guard by the question but shared a glance before Spencer answered "Uh sure Freddie, no problem."
"I'll make up the Guest bedroom bed for you" Carly announced and disappeared upstairs.
Marissa looked astonished at this development and her astonishment would turn to stunned fury as Freddie casually said,
"We're heading back to LA tomorrow after my shift at work mom"
She managed to stutter out an enquiry as to why we were leaving so soon; Freddie calmly outlined his reasons, never once raising his voice nor moving from his position on the couch, me still in his arms. Instead of backing down (which may have placated Freddie enough for us to at least discuss not accelerating our departure) she chose to rant and rave for a few minutes. Freddie stuck to his guns, however, and his mom ultimately departed.
The evening continued under a bit of a cloud (though Sam expressed her admiration for Freddie finally standing up to his mother; he gave her a small smile of gratitude in response. Carly tried to lighten the mood with her conversation topics, Spencer's antics continued to entertain and bewilder in equal measure but it was still with relief (as well as anticipation) that we headed for the Shays' guest room at the end of the night.
"Our sleepwear is still at your mom's" I mentioned casually as Freddie closed the door behind us.
"Were you planning on needing it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and turning to me.
"Not really" I said with a huge smile as I stepped into his waiting arms, planting a kiss on his lips.
I awoke the following morning the best way possible; being kissed and nuzzled by my boyfriend. I wriggled playfully, trying to get into a position to begin to return the favour; it degenerated into something of a wrestling match that put us both back in the mood. So it was a while later when we both got up and headed down for breakfast; Carly cast an amused glance in our direction as we reached the foot of the stairs.
"Sleep well?" she enquired.
"Very" I said. It was true; being back in Freddie's arms had helped me get the best night's sleep I'd enjoyed in a while. He nodded enthusiastically alongside me before glancing at his watch.
"Ah" he exclaimed. "I have to be at work in half an hour; have you got any cereal Carls? It'll have to be a quick breakfast before I head straight there. Could you or Spencer give me a ride?"
"No problem" she told him.
We ate, Freddie departed (Spencer volunteered to chauffer him) while Carly and I used their PC to rebook our tickets. Carly was still disappointed that we were leaving so soon but she understood our reasons; particularly when I explained that I was missing my family over the holidays. She offered to go across the hallway with me to pack our things and, thinking safety in numbers may be useful, I accepted her offer. Marissa was there, and still upset, and she grumbled as the two of us bustled around packing up our things.
"I don't want you to go back so soon" she said sadly as we took our cases to the door.
I turned to her sympathetically and commented "You should have said so to Freddie and apologised for embarrassing him the way you did yesterday. I think he would have stayed if you had; it's too late now."
She nodded sadly. I promised that we'd look in before we left and say goodbye. Sam chose that moment to arrive and, after stowing our luggage in Carly's apartment and calling my mom to let her know of our change of plans, the two of them took me on an altogether different tour of Seattle; we visited a lot of their favourite girly hang-outs, such as Glitter Gloss and Build-A-Bra, while waiting for Freddie to get off work.
We finished our shopping tour at the Pear Store, timing our arrival to coincide with Freddie finishing work. I met him with a kiss and we headed as a quartet back to Bushwell Plaza. I looked in at the Benson apartment to say goodbye to Marissa before telling Freddie I'd wait for him at Carly's. He nodded and spent a few minutes with his mother before joining us in 8-C. We collected our things, took the elevator to the car park and Carly drove us to the airport where we said our goodbyes to her, Sam and Spencer.
"So" I asked Freddie once we were airborne "did you and Sam sort things out?"
"Yes" he said with a small sigh "we talked things over and I think we're going to be good."
"What is it Fredward?" Sam asked in a bored tone when they reached the fire escape. "What's so secret that you wanted to talk to mama in private?"
He shrugged. "You and me; me and Tori. How you act around me and Tori. Look" he said, his gaze softening, "we talked out here last summer just before I left. Things were said and I thought we were in a good place regarding what had happened between us... then over Thanksgiving it looked like you weren't very happy about the idea of me and Tori as a couple. Do we make you want to puke up blood?"
Sam laughed at his attempt to lighten the mood, recalling how she'd described her reaction to thinking about him dating Carly.
"I see you happy" she began. "You know how much I HATE seeing you happy" she joked before turning serious. "I guess I just wonder what might have been. It's nothing personal against Tori."
"Can you cool it around her then, please?" he asked. "It makes things awkward; for her, for me, for Carly..." Sam bowed her head slightly as the realisation hit her "if you're acting so surly around her." She nodded. "Sam?" she turned to look at him. "Are you still in love with me?"
Her breath caught in her throat. "What? No" she said. "NO!" she repeated vehemently. "I have SOME feelings for you still; they didn't just go away but I'm not looking to break you two up or get back with you or anything like that. Like I said, seeing you so happy with Tori made me... made me a little jealous I guess. I'm sorry if I made things awkward for everyone."
"I'm glad we're good" he whispered, pulling his blonde ex-girlfriend into a hug; she smiled as she returned it. "We're going back to LA tomorrow and probably won't see you until Spring Break."
"So soon? Why?" Sam asked in surprise.
"My mom" Freddie said.
"Say no more; I understand."
The two shared a laugh and made their way back inside.
Soon enough our plane came in to land; we disembarked and collected our luggage. Trina was waiting for us, a bored expression on her face.
"You owe me sister" she drawled, causing me to roll my eyes at her. "Hey I had plans" she persisted.
Freddie stepped forward. "Thank you Trina, we appreciate you coming to collect us."
Somewhat mollified she smiled at my boyfriend. "I'm glad you do" and she led us to her car and grumbled the whole way back to our house; Freddie was staying, though again we'd be in separate rooms. The memory of last night would have to sustain me until I could get rid of mom and dad for a weekend.
They greeted us enthusiastically as we entered my house. Freddie admired the Christmas tree with its... unique collection of baubles and ornaments (Trina has a habit of collecting them from every vacation; her portion of the tree is certainly distinctive). They asked how our time in Seattle had been and we told some of the stories of the week that we'd spent up there, some of the sights Freddie had shown me (we avoided mentioning Marissa's meltdown; I had just told mom and dad we were coming home early because I was missing them and wanted to spend some of Christmas with them).
Freddie managed to get a couple of shifts in the downtown Pear Store over the coming week. I spent a little time with Cat, Robbie and André (Beck and Jade were still in Canada visiting some of his family) catching up with what they had done over the holidays. I invited them all over for New Year's Eve; André accepted; the others already had family plans made.
And so it was that I spent the final evening of the year surrounded by friends, family and in the company of the man I love. I remembered thinking, as the clock struck midnight and the New Year began with us sharing a kiss and a dance, that life didn't get better than this.