Chapter Thirteen: Place to Fall

Freddie's offer for her to go to California with him had been unexpected for Sam but it had not been unwelcome. Sam had had a knot in her stomach for the entirety of their brief relationship because she knew that there had been a difficult conversation waiting for them at the end of high school and she had been expecting it the night of the senior prom. Instead, Freddie had blindsided her with a different proposition and while it had required some thought on her end, it was the only way for their relationship to continue, and that was what she wanted above everything else. Long distance wouldn't work, of that, she had been confident, and it wasn't something she wanted to subject herself to.

Her mother had been surprisingly supportive of her decision to move to another state, she suspected she might not have been completely aware of what was happening. Within days of accepting Freddie's offer, her bedroom had been completely boxed up with the exception of what she would need for her remaining days in Seattle. Sam had never been sure about what her life held for her after high school but part of her always assumed she would move on from Seattle when her friends went away to college. She had been right after all but in a way she had never even imagined.

Sam heard the doorbell and was halfway to answering it before her mother even had time to react. "I'VE GOT IT," She yelled back into the apartment when she heard movement from her mother's room. The last face she expected when she opened the door was Carly's, from where she stood she thought she had made things pretty clear the last time they had spoken, her former best friend seemed to feel differently.

"Hey," Carly said, standing awkwardly at the entrance to Sam's flat.

"Come in, I guess," Sam stood aside and allowed Carly to enter before closing the door.

"I heard about California," Carly began.

"And you're here to talk me out of it?" Sam snapped,

"No, I was just surprised when I heard, what would you even do there?" She asked.

"I don't know, I'll figure it out when I get there," Sam had wondered the same, but she had to figure out what to do with her life whether she stayed in Seattle or moved in with Freddie.

"Did you just come here to poke holes in my plans?"

"I actually came here to apologise," Carly said, Sam scoffed.

"You have a funny way of apologising,"

"I admit it's not my finest work," Carly said awkwardly, hoping her words could crack a smile from Sam who remained stone-faced.

"It's not that simple Carly, you told my boyfriend you loved him, how am I supposed to forgive that?" For all the parts of her that wanted to never see or speak to Carly again, there was a part of Sam that wanted to forgive her. They had been best friends since they were kids and Sam didn't want to lose that, but forgiving her was so hard.

"I don't know, what I did was unforgivable, but I want you to try anyway, you're my best friend and I don't want to lose that,"

"Neither do I, I just need time," Sam's voice softened. They'd all be in California after all so maybe there was some hope for their friendship, even if they wouldn't quite be on each other's doorstep. "I'm not saying never, but definitely not now," Carly nodded. It was a glimmer of hope and at that moment it was all she needed.

"I guess I just wanted to catch you before you left, I hope we can fix things on the other side," Carly said as she backed herself towards the door.

"Maybe," Sam said quietly. She was still so far from forgiving Carly but the prospect of not being friends with her was starting to settle in and it was a feeling she didn't like.

"Goodbye Sam," Carly said, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway.

"Goodbye Carly," Sam closed the door and leaned against it as she listened to the sound of Carly's footsteps disappearing down the hallway. It would almost have been easier if there were a couple of states between her and Carly, then she wouldn't have to really think about how she could forgive her. It was the kind of betrayal she never expected from the one person who had been a constant in her life since childhood. How could she ever trust her again?

After a drama-filled few weeks, Sam and Freddie were grateful that the remaining weeks of summer went by with little happening of note. Most of their time had been spent finalising preparations for moving and Freddie organising enrollment and the pair of them finding somewhere to live which proved difficult given their distance from campus and the usual student housing not available to them. Nonetheless, it was all a welcome deviation from the high school drama of early summer. Things with Carly weren't exactly back to normal, but they were no longer hostile, Freddie was working on the assumption that in time she and Sam would work things out like they usually did and once they were all in California things would almost be back to normal, but he didn't know what Sam was thinking on the matter because while they may no longer have been at each other's throats, Carly was still a forbidden topic.

The closer it came to their moving day, the more Sam began to seriously think about what she would do once she was in California. She wasn't the college type and the relief she had felt once school had finally ended had only solidified that, but as much as she might have wanted to, Sam couldn't do anything. She hadn't shared her concerns with Freddie as she didn't want him to think she was having second thoughts, she wasn't but some of Carly's words had started to sink in and while she didn't have anything keeping her in Seattle, Sam couldn't help but wonder if moving to California was the best thing for her, she was making the decision to be with Freddie and wanting to be with him was the only thing she was sure about, she would have to figure out the rest.

As the moving day drew ever closer and everything was in place Sam found herself more and more on edge. She headed over to Freddie's apartment the night before they were due to move and knocked on his door. Her anxiety regarding the situation was through the roof and she needed him to talk her down, but it wasn't Freddie who came to the door, it was Carly. "Hey Sam," Carly said awkwardly, clearly not expecting to see her when opening the door.

"What are you doing here?" Sam said before she spotted Freddie over Carly's shoulder. "What is she doing here?"

"I only just got here," Carly began but Sam pushed past her and into the apartment.

"What's going on here?" Sam demanded of Freddie who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but that spot.

"Nothing is 'going on' Carly just came over to talk," Freddie said, looking from Sam to Carly and back. He knew how it looked.

"Given what happened last time you two 'talked' you can see why I'd be sceptical," Sam snapped.

"It's not like that, I just wanted to clear the air before you guys left tomorrow, I'm still here for a few days and I don't when the next time I'd see you were gonna be, I didn't want to leave things with Freddie in a weird place," Sam wasn't convinced by Carly's explanation, it was as if all the goodwill she had gained from their last conversation had vanished and Sam was back to not trusting her former best friend around her boyfriend.

"Sam listen," Freddie stepped forward to try and diffuse the situation but Sam raised her hand to cut him off.

"Don't bother, I need to go," Sam turned and left the apartment without another word slamming the door behind her.