Told you this would be posted quickly as it picks up after a less than good night's sleep for our characters. Without further ado...

"It should be a crime for people to be up this early…" Freddie said to no one, lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. The clock on his dresser taunted him to no end with its red lights and impending alarm in a few minutes.

5:56

Four minutes until he needed to be up to grab a shower, get dressed, eat some breakfast, and have enough time to walk to school. And this particular morning, thanks to some quick prepping before he went down, he had shaved a good 20 minutes of wiggle room in there for some extracurricular hallway attention from his... not girlfriend… that wasn't right.

A friend. Who was a girl. Who he regularly spent lots of romantic time with and missed her when she wasn't around. A girl he once believed he was over, but found himself drawn to more and more with each second they spent together. Sure, she'd nearly ruined his life on more than a couple occasions, but there was just something that pulled him in and he fell for her. With her long blonde hair, and brown eyes that just captured anyone's who dared look for more than a second, beautiful soft skin, and incredible curves. She made every piece of clothing she touched a bit better by wearing it.

5:57

She was also a major bitch to nearly everyone, and had caused about as much property damage as Hurricane Andrew in her 18 years on this planet. She was inherently selfish and she was like all seven of the deadliest sins rolled into one person- gluttonous as she ate Cat and Spencer and Carly out of house and home, greedy as she hoarded money and stuff, envious of Carly, and then of Jade when he fell in love with her, wrathful when she'd beat up anyone who would even look at her wrong, slothful as she was probably the laziest person he'd ever met, and she was so prideful and full of herself it was almost maddening.

5:58

But her lust… he thought to himself, grinning and thinking of what might await when he walked out the door to see her. She was incredible when it came to sex and Freddie felt more than a little addicted to her already. He and Jade had a couple long weekends which were stellar for their physical relationship, but Sam, in addition to their history, was an almost everyday thing in one way or another. They'd been home for a week now and had been together almost ten times, and a couple independent visits to second and third base when the chance arose.

Sex with Sam was beyond incredible the first time that they were together and since going off and learning and exploring new ways to make their partners feel ecstasy, they now worked like a sexual dynamo. Despite all her bluster and bullying, when she was with him, she was naturally submissive to him, but she wasn't afraid to say what she wanted. He was all too happy to oblige- touching, and tasting, and making love to her and they just seemed like actual puzzle pieces. And to top it off, every time they would get together, she'd be just a little bit better. Not just sexually, but just in general. Mood, attitude, behavior… all of it was evolving her more into what he always hoped she be back when they dated. Which of course made rocking her world better for him every chance that arose.

5:59

There was always a little voice inside that felt a bit guilty for doing all that with Sam while Jade was back in LA, but she was the one who suggested they explore all this stuff, and that he should treat Sam as if she was her. Plus, it wasn't like Jade and Tori weren't spending most of their free time together horizontal as well. It was a hot image in his mind, and even hotter that Jade tended to enjoy 'documenting' many of her activities with Tori. He got at least a few pictures, or at best a video, nearly every day, and they were fantastic, and once, a couple days earlier, he'd even gotten to watch them live. He would write poetry for Jade and Tori, putting his heart into his words and he loved seeing their reactions to what he wrote, whether it was swooning from the romance, or positively salivating from the more erotic things he'd send them. He even sent a few 'selfies' for the girls at their request, earning very… 'flowery' language from each.

Sam, on the other hand, wasn't much for the written words it seemed, and, despite doing a web show for years, hated taking pictures. Until last night it seemed when he suddenly had her beautiful breasts right there in his face at work. He was a little ashamed that he'd used that just as much as some of the gallery of Tori and Jade to relieve his tension when Sam never responded. A pic like that was so unlike Sam, and even if she took a picture with him, there was something that seemed disingenuous about taking pics of their time together, let alone sending them across the way. He wasn't keeping it all from Jade and Tori or anything. He told them more than a few details, with Sam's permission at times, and while it was hot in the moment, there was always something in Jade's voice at the end, as if to say she'd kill to be there, and he would say the same because he meant it. But-

6:00

RRRRRRRNNNNN RRRRNNNNNNN RRRRRNNNNNN

Freddie smashed the alarm with a heavy hand, silencing the foul sound that broke his concentration. Contemplating exactly what he was feeling or what he really wanted to come of this thing with Sam would have to happen in the shower.

Across the hall, a certain blonde was rushing from the couch as her phone's alarm went off as well. Not quite the demonic sound of Freddie's alarm, but hearing her phone blast 'Down with the Sickness' while she was still very asleep was enough to throw anyone into action upon consciousness.

Six in the morning really was too early for her, especially given how hard it was for her to deal with all the thoughts floating around in her head after her dream. And making a plan for his face to be the first one she saw in the morning didn't help her nerves at all.

Sam had a few more dreams in the night, a couple that were essentially nonsense but there was one where Freddie proposed at the Space Needle before she accidentally pushed him off. Needless to say, that one stung a bit.

The blonde didn't even stop moving as she raided a toaster pastry package and headed upstairs to the shower, chowing down, and went to work to make herself presentable, trying to get her entire morning routine done as fast as she could so she could meet Freddie before he went to school. The hot water was refreshing and as it cascaded off her freshly nude form, she began to feel as if all the weight of the night's issues was slowly burning off her skin and dripping away.

At the same time, every time her fingers or washcloth would graze an even slightly erogenous spot, she'd be thrown right back to one of those memories or fantasy moments with Freddie. The way his hands would hold her and the way his words would dance in her ears and the way his lips would kiss her and the way his cock… well, if she went down that path, she'd never make it out of the shower.

After her hair and body were sufficiently cleaned, she hopped out and began to dry off, looking at herself in the mirror. There were a couple marks. One particular hickey on lower edge of her right breast that he'd left when they got home from the club. It wasn't sore but it was a bit like a battle scar that she would be proud to show off. She considered sending a picture of it to Jade the morning after but part of her felt a little shameful about that. Being jealous like that made it really hard for her to like herself, and even worse, Freddie didn't seem to appreciate it.

There were times that she was jealous of Jade still, mostly just in the title. She was the one that he wanted to be with… and Tori too apparently. They were his girlfriends. She didn't even know what she was. Friends with benefits seemed like a really shitty thing to call it because there were way more strings attached than those normally carry. He was the love of her life, who was in love with someone(s) else.

As she slipped on her panties, and quickly applied deodorant, she made eye contact with herself. She knew should have been able to see this as a mistake. To see that there was a dead end to all of this and her happiness and her time with him had a very clear expiration date. But she didn't want to admit that. He made her feel good. Happy, satisfied, and loved. He made her want to be better and that in and of itself was a miracle. She could live with Jade being the one with the title. As long as Freddie was by her side, being himself, she didn't care what the rest of the world did- all she needed was him to be there when she needed him and to be there when he needed her. No more, no less.

Sam threw on some quick and easy clothes- a not too tight tee and some notably tight jeans, forgoing a bra on the hopeful chance he might be feeling 'grabby.' It wasn't as nice as she wanted to dress for him, but she didn't have time for something a bit nicer. It's just a simple meeting in the hallway, she kept telling herself, and it's not like he hasn't seen me in worse.

She only had about ten minutes to dry her hair and do her makeup, no matter how simplistic it was. She didn't use a ton like Jade, nor was she a natural beauty with or without it like Tori. Or Cat.

The thought of the perky redhead was like a papercut on her stomach. She still hadn't worked up the nerve to talk to Cat, and part of her was fine with that. She was the one to say they needed to break up so, for Sam, it shouldn't bother her not knowing how Cat was doing but it did. Jade would name drop her every so often in their texts but she wasn't sure if that was real news or if it was meant to emotionally eviscerate her 'competition.'

She knew damn well that Cat was too good for her and that nothing the redhead had done would have given her what she really needed physically, and she hoped that they could bridge something into a friendship eventually, but she also knew how bad Cat was hurt. No one wants to be told, without actually being told, 'You're not quite good enough for me.' Freddie basically did it to her and doing it to Cat was no fun.

The difference was, in Sam's opinion, at least, that Freddie seemed to be rethinking that position. Which was kinda the point of these early morning meetups.

Sam quickly brushed her teeth and knocked out the sugary pop-tart breakfast from any possible senses, and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked pretty hot for before 7am, and more importantly, she looked happier than she'd been in a long time.

Her eagerness was palpable as she headed down the stairs, trying to plan the best way to stand and present herself for maximum attractiveness when he walked out of his door. Many of the poses from the night at Jade's came back to mind and she remembered how amazing it was just being free with her love for a little while, even if most of it was very much meant for a single person. She was so caught up as she opened the door that she missed the square jawed, broad body that stood waiting on the other side until she ran right into him.

"Well, hey…" he smirked, as she blushed and recollected her bearings.

"Hey… you…" she managed, screaming millions of four letter words in her head at how embarrassing this was. "I, uh, didn't see you there…"

"Kinda figured…" he laughed as he watched her internally squirm, tucking her freshly dried hair back behind her ears as she shut the door behind her. "If it's any consolation though, I'm really happy that I get to see you here…"

"One of these days, Fredw… Freddie… that smooth talk isn't going to work on me…" she smiled back, correcting the name she'd use for him when she wanted to be mean. It had been a while since she said it, and now, even with the minty breath, felt like poison on her tongue.

"Then that will be a very interesting day…" he said with a sweet smile as he looked up and down the hallway before giving her a fiendishly playful look and gently pushed her against the wall by the Shay apartment door. "I hate I missed you last night. Your… message… made it really hard to concentrate on my work, you know."

"Really?" Sam put on her best feigned ignorance. "That's just crazy. It's almost as if you think I did it just for that reason… which to be fair, I did."

"Bad, bad girl…" he teased, as he pressed his lips to hers, entering into a gentle, but slowly intensifying kiss as her hands moved up to touch his hair. It had only been like 24 hours since she was able to kiss him, but that felt like a lifetime to the blonde.

It felt even more monumental that his thigh was sliding between her legs, causing her to slightly grind against as they kissed, earning slight moans from her lips. To make matters even more steamy, every so often she could feel his half chub when she'd grind in just the right spot. The more carnal side of her wanted him to undo their pants and fuck her right here in the hallway, but she knew that wasn't a real option.

"So," he whispered, giving her lower lip a gentle teasing nibble, "you wanna tell me what that picture was all about last night?"

"I felt a little underappreciated and I wanted you to see what you were missing…" Sam said, trying to give off confidence, but found her self-assured attitude falter a bit as she wondered if she really upset him. "If I hadn't fallen out like an idiot, I was going to make the tease up with some real attention, but-"

"You were tired… it happens," he smiled, planting gentle kisses along her jaw line before working his way to her left ear where he whispered. "But there were some Beastly parts of me that wanted to just bust through Spencer's door and ravage you right on that couch. Kiss these lips, and fill my hands with these taunting breasts…"

His hands moved up to her braless chest, kneading right through the thin cotton material, causing his already fairly erect nipples to become antennae for signaling her overwhelming arousal. Sam fought back moans as she felt him grind harder, getting more and more stiff in his pants. Her heat and wetness wasn't far off from being just as obvious to the former tech producer as her suckled her neck softly, down the collar of the shirt.

"God you taste as good as you look…" he almost growled at her as his peppered kisses along her collarbone moved to her jugular for only a moment before he looked all up and down the hallway, still on the lookout. "Can you lift your shirt?"

"The picture wasn't enough for you?" she scoffed, half joking as she considered his request.

"You know as well as I do that there's no comparison between a picture and the real things…" he smirked as his own fingertips played with the tee's hem. "I still look at the pics of you dressed as Alice from Wonderland nearly every night but that doesn't exactly mean I get to smell, taste, and feel being so intimate with you. Being deep inside you as I sent you to heaven in that bathroom stall…"

"Shit…" Sam nearly mewed as Freddie's hands pawed and pulled up on it. Sam considered stopping him but she knew damn well she wanted this as bad, if not more, than she did. The blonde pulled the tee up just enough that her breasts were just barely spilling out, bunching up the fabric at her clavicle. He was practically entranced with her heavy chest and she brought a hand to his face. "You good?"

"Better than…" he remarked, possibly not even finishing his sentence, before driving his face into her chest. He was so affectionate, delivering kisses and gentle touches, her heavy flesh seeping through his fingers, not quite as much as Jade, but far more firm. His mouth went to suction and she could do little more than to cradle his head as he almost nursed from her pretty pink peaks. "These have been just about all I could think about after that message."

Sam had a plan when she woke up. Before that door opened, she was planning to put her feelings out there and find out exactly what was going on in his head about where things stood. To say that she loved him and that she could see a real future with him. Even if that included Jade and Tori being there too.

At least, that was what she planned to say. Instead, she was now being lifted up by her ass against the Shay apartment wall, until her chest was at face level with her lover. Freddie was silent but incredibly eager to taste more of her, and she could do little more than cup his head as he suckled and licked her taut pink nipple. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his torso as her head rolled back, alternating between looking to the ceiling and just savoring the feeling, and looking down at him worship her chest.

The former tech producer kept one hand on her hip while his other hand cupped her left breast while he drove his tongue in circles around the pink peak of her left orb. She'd recently showered and Freddie couldn't get over how incredible she smelled. Fruity and flowery and her skin's natural flavor tasted almost as good as it smelled; she was easily the best thing he tasted all morning. Though that wasn't saying much since his mom's pancakes were just one step above inedible.

"Jesus, you're too good at that…" she moaned, squirming as his kisses moved up the swell of her breasts, sliding his long tongue along her cleavage, before moving back to her left breast and kneading her right. His weight supporting hand moved more toward her stomach, dipping his thumb into her adorable belly button, earning a slight giggle. "I really wanna make you late for school…"

"And I really want you to…" he smirked, and there was a bit of a flash in his eyes as if he'd forgotten everything else in his world that wasn't her body. It was a strange feeling as he'd never felt out of control or out of focus for more than a few seconds of release with Sam. What overtook his mind wasn't just some lust… it felt like something a lot more. He wanted to make love to her all day, sure, but he also was looking forward to holding her and watching tv with her like they did during those rare perfect moments when they dated. "I wish I could…"

"Just… just stay… please…" she moaned, as her body lowered and Freddie's lips found the side of her neck. She could feel that something had shifted and whatever incredible sweet and openness she saw in his eyes before this started, seemed dimmed. He was still doing all the right things, but she suddenly felt like his heart wasn't in it. "Stay with me."

"I have a paper due today, and I have to go to work right after and-"

"You know what?" Sam said, her mood suddenly shifting as she pulled her shirt down and moved away from him. Her jaw clenched and she was prepared to tell him right where he could go, but she simply released a hot breath from her nose and looked at him. Something was wrong. It was in his eyes. There was a vulnerability and a sadness that completely took the wind from her sails. "Just… go. I know there's something else up… but I'll just see you later."

"Sam…" he called out but she just pushed past him to go back to the door.

"Get your head right… talk to someone…" she said, shaking her head with a heavy sigh and she could see that he was going to speak. "Probably someone that isn't me, right? I'm not the one you talk to… I'm just the fuckbuddy, right?"

"No…" he huffed as he reached for her, and while he could see that every part of her wanted to reach out to him and take his hand, she couldn't let herself do that. She turned away and grabbed the door handle, but he came up behind her and put his hand on her's. "Just give me two minutes."

"Thought you had to go…" she said, not wanting to look back at him, knowing that she would lose all angry steam, if his brown eyes met hers. He was already breaking her down as his hand moved up her arm. "I don't know what-"

"I love you…" he said calmly and tried to find his words since he interrupted her words to say that. "I thought this would just be fun, but I'm finding it harder and harder to not see you the same way I see Tori… the way I see Jade. There's something more here, and I am just worried that anything I do is going to mess up one of the great things I have going."

"Look…" Sam said, trying not to shiver in excitement that he was admitting that something more was going on between them than just what they'd shared in LA. She turned in place so she could lock eyes with him, hoping he wouldn't see that she was already emotionally at her limit. "I've got some pretty big feelings too, but you know you can't mess things up with me. I am a mess."

"A beautiful disaster…" he smiled, leaning in and kissing her deeply, as he felt a smile creep across her face. "And don't ever think that you're not someone I can talk to. It's not something we've devoted a lot of time to… but I always loved it when we'd share that back when we were dating."

"Then maybe we can talk about all that later… maybe focus a little more on the talking that than… what we've pretty much gotten down perfect." she smiled, pressing her face into his neck. "I know you need to go though… pretty sure if you hang out here much longer, I'm going to rip all your clothes off. It's taking all my restraint not to now… plus, it kinda gets in the way of that talking plan I just made…"

"Your superstrong resilience is certainly a marvel…" he laughed, kissing her once more. "I don't know if tonight will be like last night but I'll try and let you know if we can have some more time tonight. If not, tomorrow night, I'm off, but my mom will be home so maybe we can get back to that… talking… we did so well and-"

"I love you…" she said, earning a slightly confused look from her love. "Sorry… I didn't say it earlier and felt like I needed to make sure you knew that too."

"Never doubted it for a second…" he flashed that grin that made her absolutely melt and she really had to clench her fist to resist jumping his bones. Or at the very least extending the makeout in the elevator, but every second they were together made it so much harder to pull away at the end. "I'll text you…"

"I'll look forward to it…" she fired back, watching him walk toward the lift and clenched her eyes shut as she turned to the apartment door. She just wanted to go back to laying on the couch and watching tv, and questioning every word that came from both of their mouths as she reminisced about the last few months and all that had changed.

What she was not ready for was Spencer waiting on the other side of the door, clearly eavesdropping, ready with a knowing glance.

"Well, that was…"

"Listen, dude…" Sam said walking right by him. "You're like my big brother and I really appreciate you letting me crash here but I really don't wanna talk about… all that out there."

"I was just gonna say…" Spencer said, preparedly wincing, ready for her fury when he upset her, but was pleased to see that she seemed reasonably calm as she turned back to look at him. "You sounded really adult and responsible out there… I'm… just proud of you."

"Thanks…" she said, unsure of what she should say further, and just decided on continuing her journey up the stairs. Her mind was racing of what this morning had wrought and she couldn't wait to see him the next time. This 'advancement' of their 'relationship' deserved something special. And Freddie had given her a pretty great idea with one of his comments. But she might need some help. "Hey, Spencer… how are you at making costumes?"

A tease for the future, but I think everyone will appreciate it once it arrives. Certainly a lot of personal exploration for the characters, still trying to understand what they feel and what they want, but I think that's true of most people. Before I start waxing poetic, I'll go ahead and keep it short. Thanks as always for reading and I really look forward to any and all feedback.