I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday, this chapter turned out to be much harder to write than I expected. I'm still not completely satisfied, but I'm posting it anyway... I hope you like it.

Chapter 12. -Don't care

The hardest part of acting like you don't care, is knowing how much you actually do.

~Author Unknown

With an annoyed sigh I opened my eyes again. It was past midnight. I was tired, and I wanted to sleep. And I would have been asleep. If it hadn't been for Freddie, who was nervously bouncing his knee up and down. Constantly.

"Freddie could you please stop that?" I asked, loud enough to wake the dude sitting next to me. I didn't care. If I wasn't going to get any sleep; nobody was. "I can't help it, okay?" he said, still tapping his knee.

We were sitting at the airport, waiting for our delayed plane to Italy. Me, Freddie and Spencer were going to spend summer vacation with Carly and her dad. Just one little thing. Freddie had this terrible fear of flying.

"Freddie, relax! We're going to be fine, the plane isn't going to crash, there's no need to be afraid!" I tried to reassure him. But his knee didn't stop bouncing. "I know!" he said. "I still can't help it!"

I sighed. "Freddie..." "What?" he asked. "At least stop bouncing your knee so that I can sleep!" I said. Freddie through his hands in the air and sighed angrily. "Sam, you are unbelievable!" he yelled.

I sighed again. "Well, sorry, but it ain't my fault you're afraid! I just really want to sleep!" I whined. "Well, sorry to keep you awake!" he said angrily. "I'll stop annoying you, so as you can sleep, while I pee my pants!" he shouted.

"Hey!" the man sitting next to Spencer yelled. "Some people are trying to sleep here!" "Yeah man," somebody else said "can you pee your pants in silent?" I chuckled, while Freddie mumbled and apology.

I tried to fall asleep again, but within seconds Freddie began to bounce his leg again. I opened my eyes and sat up straight. "Alright. Looks like neither one of us is going to get no sleep, so... What can I do?" I sighed.

Freddie smiled tatty. "Thanks Sam." he said. From the seat next to Freddie came a loud snore. Spencer, of course. He could sleep through anything. Freddie and I shared a look, and immediately started laughing.

"Okay, okay." I said after a while, when I saw Freddie tapping his leg up and down again. "I know what you need. A little distraction! How about I beat you in rock - paper - scissors?" I offered. "Well I'd like to see you try." he answered. "Challenge accepted." I grinned.

I, of course, did beat him, and my distraction technic worked. His leg didn't start bouncing again once. Until the airplane finally arrived and we got a board. Then it started bouncing again -rapidly.

"Hey." I said. "Just a little hint, since you're losing all the time; I'm going to pick rock." Freddie grinned, but his leg didn't stop bouncing yet. "One, two, three..." I whispered before showing him my fist. -A rock.

Freddie, of course, also chose rock. "Dude!" I yelled. "I even said I was going to pick rock, what's the matter with you?" Freddie slammed his hand against his for head. "O my God, I thought it was a trick!" He said.

"Well, you should trust me a little more!" I laughed. "Okay, okay, okay." I said. "Let's try again. Scissors, this time, Freddie." I articulated the word. "Scissors." I repeated. He laughed, but I tried to keep my face straight.

"One, two, three..." I shoved my flat hand forwards. Freddie had his hand balled up to a fist. "Come on, Sam!" he threw his hands in the air. I laughed out loud. "Haha, it was a trick this time, dude." I said.

Freddie said he was insulted, but his leg didn't bounce anymore. And I saw that as success. So now all that was left was for me to keep this going for about eighteen more hours. This was going to be a long flight.

"Freddie?" I whispered. In the seat across from me, Spencer was still sleeping soundly, as he had been the past three hours. "Are you awake?" Freddie opened his eyes. "Do you really think I could possibly sleep on an airplane?" he said. I grinned, but then got serious again. Freddie noticed.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" he asked. "Well, you see... It's just..." I started. "Hey," Freddie said. "you know you can tell me anything, right?" I smiled. "It's about my mom." I blurted. Fast, like when you rip off a band aid.

Freddie looked at me surprised. "I saw her." I said. " O..." Freddie did a really pour job at hiding his surprise. "Did you... Like, go visiting her at whatever clinic she lives now?" he asked. I shook my head. It was pretty dark in the plane, but Freddie sat close enough to me to see my face.

"She never went to a clinic." I said. Freddie knitted his brows. "But... Didn't my mom get some people to..." "She did." I cut him off. "My mom just didn't go with them. And since I didn't let your mom press charges against her for child abuse," I shivered at the thought. "They got nothing to force her."

Freddie laid his arm around my shoulders. I didn't slap him away. "She's an adult," I shrugged "so it's her own decision, as far as they're concerned." Tears started to burn behind my eyes. I pushed them away. "And I keep wondering, you know." I said.

"Did I make the right decision? What if something happens to her? And I could have prevented it? I mean, I could have, by threatening to press charges if she wouldn't go to an institution. Won't that make it, like, my fault?"

Freddie looked at me bewildered. "No." he shook his head. "No, of course not. She had the choice, hadn't she? You gave her a choice, and she chose. Don't ever think anything she does is your fault."

I looked into his eyes, and saw he actually meant it. I felt my cheeks getting hotter. I just hoped to god I wasn't blushing. "Thanks, Freddie." I mumbled. "No need to thank me. I wouldn't say it if it weren't true." He said. "Yes you would!" I smiled. "But, I know you mean it." I told him. "Well I do." he assured me.

For a moment I just looked at Freddie's face. We both gazed deeply into each other's eyes. Sometimes, I could not believe my luck to have such a wonderful friend.

I turned my head away. A friend. That was all he was –or ever would be.

"Now, I got to ask, when did you see her then?" he asked me. "Right. I almost forgot about that." I said. "She err, she came to our graduation, last week." Freddie lifted one eyebrow. "She did? Why didn't you tell us?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it just... I was just... so shocked. I didn't know what to say." I said. "It's okay." Freddie said. "Just, what did she say?" I looked up. "She didn't say anything. We never spoke. I just said I saw her." I said.

"Then... Are you even sure it was her?" he asked. " Yes." I said determinedly. "Okay." We were both silent for a while. "I just keep wondering what she was doing there." I said. "Why would she come?"

"Well," Freddie started. "maybe she cares more about you than you think." he said. I bit my lip. Somehow that was not the answer that I had wanted to hear.

I took a deep breath. "Well I don't care about her."

I know this is story is Samcentic, but I was thinking to do one or two chapters from Carly's or Freddie's POV. Do you think that is a good idea?