Author's Note: There is so much wrong with this story I want to change but am too lazy to go back and change now. /oh well.

Title: My Hate Isn't Hate (Your Love Isn't Love Sequel)

Chapter Eleven: Alright

Freddie pulled his arm into his sleeve, careful not to strain his muscles. He groaned painfully as he proved unsuccessful. His sides hurt with a jolting pain- - He exhaled shakily as he realized he had only put on half his button-down shirt.

"Need some help with that?"

Freddie turned around to see Sam standing in the doorway, with a smug look painted on her face. He smiled as he lay eyes on her, glad to see she was doing alright. "Sam."

"That's my name, don't wear it out," she replied back wittily, as she neared to help Freddie put his shirt on. "How're you feelin'?"

"... I'm okay. Been better, I guess."

Sam started buttoning Freddie's shirt but stopped midway as she looked at a familiar mark on his torso. She ran her fingers across the mark, feeling the jagged scar.

Freddie smiled sadly at the blonde as he wrapped his arms around her small waist. He placed his hand on her back and felt for a similar scar.

Sam looked up into Freddie's eyes as Freddie gazed back down into hers. Freddie slowly brought himself closer to Sam, his eyes averting to her lips.

"Knock knock~!" chimed a cheery Marissa Benson, entering through the door. The two quickly separated themselves and turned a light shade of pink. "Oh my, was I interrupting something?"

"Mom..." Freddie groaned, blushing even more furiously. "Why are you here? I told you I would be fine going home by myself."

"Don't be absurd, Freddie!" Ms. Benson proclaimed, rushing over to her son and buttoning his shirt the rest of the way for him. "I just had to make sure you got home alright. Now Samantha, I trust you have the capabilities to nurse my little Freddie here back to health?"

Sam smirked, "No problem, Ms. Benson. Carls and Mel both said they would stick around Shoreline for a little while anyway. So it's not like I won't have any help."

"That sounds good." Ms. Benson said, gathering up Freddie's things. "I'll drive the two of you back to your apartment then- - The doctors already said you could check out of the hospital."

"- - Actually, I'm going to stay here in the hospital," Sam spoke up. "My sister's still out running her errands and I don't want to leave my mom alone."

"Oh, that's right... Your mother is at the hospital as well. How is she doing, dear?" Ms. Benson asked, slightly concerned.

Sam shrugged, unsure of the answer to give. "Not good, I guess. She's still sick."

"I'll come back once I drop my stuff off at home." Freddie started to say. "I don't want you to wait alone."

"No, you're still recovering... Stay home, Freddie. Mel's gonna come back in a few anyway, so I'll just come home after- - It's alright."

Freddie stopped and examined Sam's facial expression, gauging whether or not she was being honest.

"Freddie... I'm fine." she smiled to reassure him.

Freddie smiled back, deciding to submit to Sam's decision. "Alright. Just call me if you need anything."

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"For the ten-thousandth time, Mom- - I'm fine!" Freddie yelled, from the futon. He had an ice chest full of drinks and sandwiches located directly next to him, along with various books and his laptop all within reach, but Ms. Benson still insisted there was something missing. She wanted to make sure her Freddie had everything that he might've needed while left alone.

"I just don't want you to strain yourself, Freddie. What if you accidentally fall while going to the bathroom and you tear one of your stitches open?" Ms. Benson complained.

Freddie gave his mother a "seriously?" type of look and shook his head. "Mom, I don't even have stitches to rip! The worse that could happen to me is that I overeat from all the sandwiches. Now seriously- - I'm fine. Sam's going to be home in a little while and we'll eat the sandwiches for dinner and then go to sleep... Alright?"

Ms. Benson sighed, defeated. "Alright, Freddie. Just... Keep your phone close to you so if you do happen to get in trouble- - you can call me and I'll rush right over, alright?"

Freddie simply nodded, showing his mother his cell phone. "I have my charger too, so you don't need to worry about the battery dying."

"Oh, alright..." Ms. Benson started to say, but suddenly stopped and gasped as if realizing something. "Oh! I almost forgot completely! Freddie, I have some painkillers for you to take. The doctor prescribed them to you," Ms. Benson took out a small orange medicine bottle with a dozen or so pills contained inside. "Take one now so you can sleep peacefully and pain-free tonight. But they're strong and they might make you a litle drowsy..." Ms. Benson warned, handing the bottle to Freddie.

"Okay, look- -" Freddie said, opening the bottle and dropping one of the small pills into his hand, "I'll take the meds. Can you please go home now and stop worrying so much about me?" Freddie downed the pill followed by a sip of water.

Ms. Benson finally left Freddie alone in peace, without having to deal with the stress from his embarrassing mother.

Freddie sighed a deep sigh of relief as he laid back into his futon mattress. He had a pretty rough week but it was all starting to pay off. Sure, he almost lost Sam and the whole deal with Richard could've easily been a ruse and he could've potentially lost a lot of money... But he didn't lose Sam and it wasn't a ruse- - Sam was back with her mother, safe and sound, and Richard was nowhere to be seen or heard from.

Freddie turned on the television and stared blankly as he flipped through the channels. There wasn't really anything on TV and Freddie didn't really like sitting in the same place for so long. He wanted something to do.

He glanced over at his laptop and thought about maybe surfing the web or catching up on lost time at work or school, but didn't really want to cloud his mind with even more thoughts. So he tried just the opposite: He closed his eyes and slowly inhaled in a deep breath.

As he exhaled, the only thing that came to his mind was the well-being of Sam. Freddie still desperately wanted Sam to be safe. Sure, she was now happy knowing that her mother was not dead this entire time and having been reunited with her, but the threat that was Richard was still lurking somewhere in the shadows of some smelly dump.

Freddie opened his eyes and looked up at the rotating ceiling fan. "Knowing that guy... He'll be up to something soon."

Suddenly Freddie's phone buzzed up an annoying storm. He almost didn't attempt to make a connection with the buzzing device- - What if it were Richard, calling to make more trouble? He slowly reached for it, turning it over to look at the caller screen.

The big blue eyes of a certain "blonde-headed demon" gleamed back at him. Sam.
Freddie quickly answered.

"Hey, what's up?" he answered, half-casual and half-concerned. "Everything alright?'

"Y-Yeah," Sam replied back, almost off-guard. "Did you get home okay? Your mom didn't accidentally suffocate you with her motherly love, did she?" Sam joked.

Freddie laughed, "No, she made some sandwiches and then left after making sure I had enough to keep me alive and entertained for the next millennium... I'm just chilling out on the futon right now."

"Alright. Mel called to say she was coming back soon so I'll probably be back within an hour or so.

"Mmkay, call if anything comes up. I might take a quick nap." Freddie said, barely containing a yawn.

"Just don't do something that would get you more hurt than you already are," warned Sam, before hanging up.

Freddie placed his phone on the futon as he laid down and shifted into a comfortable position. He opened his mouth to yawn, this time a deep yawn that brought slight tears to his eyes. "Geez, these pills really do make me drowsy..."

Freddie drowsily fluttered his eyes open.

"Sam?" he called out, almost instinctively. He slowly sat up and looked around the room. Everything was exactly the same when he had fallen asleep. "Oh... Must've just dozed off for a little while..." Freddie said to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. He grabbed his phone and unlocked it to check the time.

8 missed calls?

Freddie looked at the time; He had been asleep for a few good hours without even realizing it. He went through his missed calls and saw most of them from Sam, a few from Carly's and Melanie's phones. Freddie cursed under his breath as he immediately called back the blonde. The person on the other side of the line picked up almost instantaneously. "Sam?" Freddie called out urgently, as soon as he realized the ringing had stopped.

"Nope, she's not here right now," the person on the other end of the line started to say.

Freddie was a little surprised to not hear Sam on the other end. "Carly? What's going on? Where's Sam?"

"Talking to some doctors."

"Why? What happened? Is Sam's mom alright?"

There was a long pause followed what Freddie assumed was a held-back sob.

"Carly? Carly, tell me what happened- What's wrong?"

"She passed away, Freddie. Sam's mom is gone."

Author's Note: This chapter is entitled "Alright" because I used it 12 times in this chapter. That means for every (about) twelve words, I also include the word "alright" (too bad this isn't chapter 12; haha)

I need a wider vocabulary. I have a feeling buying a thesaurus just won't cut it either.