Here's the conclusion to this short story. Enjoy.

The next day, Sam and Carly were eating lunch while Gibby and Freddie were off to themselves doing who knows what, the girls really didn't care. Carly figured the opportunity was ripe, in the boys' absence, to get the ball rolling. "So, um, Sam."

"So, um, Carls." Sam mocked, chowing down on her food.

"There's something I need to ask you. I know this isn't going to be easy, but . . . "

"Oh, for Chrissakes, Carls." Sam slapped her hand down on the table causing Carly to jump. "Fredbag and I broke up two days ago, don't tell me you're already planning on making a move. I know you're desperate for a date, but c'mon, it's Fredweenie we're talkin' about."

"Wha? No! Oh, God, no!" Carly was shocked that Sam would even think that. "It's about Gibby. He, uh, he sort of asked me if we could go out sometime."

"Eeewwwwww! Carly!" Sam sneered. "I'm eating here!"

"Saaam! Did I say that about you and Freddie when you got together?" Carly chastised.

"Alright, first off Freddie's kinda cute. You obviously don't find him too objectionable because you went out with him before I did. Second, he's not some kind of a shirtless mermaid-potato man hybrid."

"Can we be serious a second, please?" Carly huffed to Sam's annoyance and the blonde continued eating. "I don't know, Sam. I think I might like to give Gibby a chance, he's a really nice guy and a good friend but I don't want it to seem like a real official date, you know like a date-date. I'd really like to just keep it low key and see how it goes."

"Um, Oh-kaaay?" Sam was confused and tried to clarify. "You think you might like him but you're not sure and you want him to take you out, but you don't want him trying to stick his tongue in your mouth?"

"Oh, Saaaam! Do you have to make it sound so crude? I just think it would be better if we all went out together. You know, me and you, Gibby and Freddie. More like a double-date. It would really make it more comfortable."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You do remember the part where me and the nub broke up, right?" Sam chugged her juice, relishing the idea of doing something with Freddie, but she couldn't let on.

"Well, yeah, but couldn't you just do this for me? Please. It's not like you guys aren't still friends, right?"

Sam sighed. "I guess." As much as a little part of her wanted to slap Carly for driving a wedge in her and Freddie's relationship or even suggesting this, an even bigger part wanted desperately to have any excuse to be near Freddie. This would be a completely good and legitimate reason, too.

"So you'll do it then?" Carly almost begged. "Pleeeeease."

Sam just sighed in agreement.

"OMG! This is gonna be so awesome. I can't wait, this is gonna rock." Carly was so excited.

"You owe me big time, Shay." Sam huffed, pointing at her friend, all giddy on the inside. "Mama's gonna collect, too. And dinner's on you and the potato, got it."

"Yeah. Yeah. Saturday night. House of Pasta. Seven thirty." Carly announced. Step one done, now all she had to do was hope Gibby was able to talk Freddie into going. Freddie was a pushover, though, so Gibs definitely had the easier job.

Meanwhile in the AV room, Gibby and Freddie were eating their lunch while Freddie was working on an extra credit project for American History.

"Hey, thanks again for helping me with this, Gib. I really owe you one."

"No prob, dude. I like doing this kind of stuff." Gibby knew this was the perfect opportunity to set his buddy up. "Buuut, there was something I wanted to ask you. Kind of a favor."

"Ask away, man."

"Well, you know how I told you the other week that there was someone I liked? But I was too chicken to admit who." Gibby suddenly found his shoes very interesting and couldn't look Freddie in the eye. He really had developed a crush on Carly, this situation just gave him an excuse to act on it.

"Are you serious? Dude! I know Sam's not been quite so rough on you lately, but do you seriously mean to tell me that two days after her and I broke up that you've been crushing on her this whole time. That's just not cool, man."

"Dude! I'm not talking about Sam. Yeah, she's pretty and all. In fact, I'll go so far as to say she's kinda hot, but do you seriously think I'd make a move on your ex? Even if she didn't treat me like her personal punching bag on a regular basis, I wouldn't look at her that way. It goes completely against the bro code."

"Oh, uh, sorry, Gibby. It's just that I still like Sam and . . ."

"I get it, man. It's tough thinking of her dating anyone else. Well, maybe since you still like her, this won't be so bad. I want to take Carly out and I know she's gonna be all 'we can go out but just as friends' or some chiz but maybe if we go out on a double-date, she'll be more comfortable with it."

"Seriously, you like Carly? Wow, I mean just wow. You know I'm good with it, Gibs, but Sam will never go along with the idea. I doubt she'll ever want to be in the same room with me again unless she has to."

"You seriously think Sam would turn down free food?" Gibby snickered. "She'd probably eat dinner with Charles Manson if it meant she got dinner out of the deal."

"Point taken. Talk to Carls about it, but let me know by Friday so I can get ready." Freddie agreed. "Now we'd better get this wrapped up, lunch is almost over and we don't want to be late for sixth period or Briggs will have our butts."

Saturday night came and the four met up in front of Bushwell for their double-date. Since Gibby had borrowed his mom's car, he drove the foursome to the restaurant. "Gibson, reservation for four." The big boy announced as soon as he saw the hostess in the restaurant.

"Right this way, sir." The woman replied and led them to a table near the back of the dining room. It was a square table and the girls both sat at their dates' right side, across the table from one another.

After both guys holding the chairs for their dates, to which Sam rolled her eyes, the four teens began to look over the menus. They were all a little nervous at the situation, but after ordering they all soon opened up and acted like themselves, especially once the bread sticks and alfredo sauce arrived. Sam and Gibby dove right in but Freddie and Carly were a bit more reserved and ate slower.

"I think I'd better go to the little girls' room before our food arrives." Carly slyly said after a small piece of bread. "Sam, care to join me?"

Sam, not being a girly-girl, never did understand why women always traveled to the bathroom in groups. She was devouring her second breadstick and trying not to stare at Freddie too much when Carly had to get her attention again.

"Sam, I'm going to the bathroom, let's go." She finally demanded, staring at her friend.

"You're a big girl, I'm sure you can make it on your own." Sam smirked, not wanting to stop eating.

"Uh-hem." Carly tried to nod her head in Freddie's direction nonchalantly to get Sam to come along. Still the blonde made no move to put down the bread and stand.

"Oh, for Pete's sake." Carly finally grabbed the food from Sam's hand and slapped it onto her bread plate. "I need to ask you something, let's go." With that she grabbed Sam's wrist and literally drug the blonde behind her toward the restroom.

The boys just looked at them with awe. "Women." Gibby shrugged.

"What's got you all riled up, Carls?" Sam finally broke free from her friend's grasp as the neared the ladies' room. "Gibby didn't try to cop a feel did he? I swear if he did I'll slap that boy till his mother hurts."

"Did you see the way Freddie keep looking at you?" Carly nudged her in the ribs.

"Um, no. I was too busy eating because we're in a restaurant. Plus I'm starving, my best friend insisted on dressing me up like a Bobby doll and plastering all this makeup on me which took hours and I didn't have time for my afternoon snack." Sam snipped. "Besides, it's not my date, Carls. I'm just here for a free dinner."

Carly just grumbled under her breath. This was going to be more difficult than she hoped. "I think you and Freddie should talk about how you feel about each other. He's making it obvious he still likes you." She suggested from a stall while Sam stood, arms folded over her chest, backed up against the sink.

"Shsh, yeah right." Was Sam's only response before she turned to face the mirror. "I'm not discussing feelings and all that nubby chiz, especially in front of Gibby."

Carly emerged from her sanctuary and washed her hands. She didn't mention anything further about the subject letting her friend think she had won. However, her mind was already hatching an evil plan.

As soon as they returned to the table, Carly took out her phone and sent Gibby a text. 'After we eat, we're ditching them.'

Just as the waiter brought their food, Gibby read her message and sent back one to her '?'

Carly glared at him after reading it and sent another. 'Just do it!"

"If you two are done playing with your phones, can one of you pass me the parmesan?" Sam asked, glaring at her brunette friend. She knew Carly was up to something, but she didn't know what, if she did, she would have strangled her.

An hour of eating and small talk later, Gibby had paid the waiter and Carly decided it was time to act. "Time for another potty break. Excuse me."

"You have a bladder the size of a ping pong ball, don't you? Do you think you can you handle it alone this time or do you need my help again?" Sam smirked, as she busied herself helping Freddie with his dessert.

"Oh, um, no. I'm good. Go ahead and finish your, er, Freddie's tiramisu." Carly stumbled over her words.

She had no sooner left the table when Gibby's phone dinged 'Meet me in the parking lot.'

Gibby sighed. Clueless as he was, knew ditching his friends was rude and Sam would probably give him an eternal wedgie for it, but he also knew it was for her own good. "Can you guys excuse me, I need to go to the um . . . Garlic kinda goes right through me."

"T.M.I. Gibs." Freddie said under his breath, Sam heard him and snickered.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Sam and Freddie were still sitting at the table, not saying much to each other. Their desserts were long gone and Sam was seriously considering ordering another.

"I don't know what's taking them so long." Sam said.

"Eh, Gibby's probably sniffing the liquid soap or something. Either that or they're making out in the lobby." Freddie responded in jest.

"God, don't say chiz like that. I just ate." Sam frowned. "I don't want to think about those two - ugh, I can't even say it."

Freddie laughed at her assessment. Usually Carly was the prudish one.

"What's so funny, nub. I'm trying not to puke over here."

"It's just, I mean, do you think they said stuff like that about us when we first got together."

"Well, you know what they said eventually." Sam snipped. "They all acted like we were committing a crime just by trying to do something we both enjoyed."

"Shsh, you're right. You know, Carly actually tried to tell me her and Spencer weren't talking about us that night." Freddie reiterated, still not fully believing it. "She made up some story about how it was about him and that gal who was his old baby sitter."

"That's funny, Spencer told me the same thing."

"You talked to Spencer about us?" Freddie questioned.

"Yeah, that day you ditched school. I cut early, too and came over to talk to you, but I wound up sitting in the hallway outside your apartment because I didn't have the stones to knock on your door. Spencer saw me and we got to talking. He's really the closest thing to a parental role model I've got, you know. Well, you've met my mom." What she didn't admit was that she was full on crying in the hallway when Spencer found her.

"Y - you came to talk to me?" He couldn't get past that part.

"I, well, I know we agreed to end it at midnight, but I just wanted to make sure you were really serious about it. I mean, I was confused and hurt and I didn't know what to think. And then Spencer tried to make all kinds of excuses to make me feel better but the more he talked the madder I got. I finally left and wound up drowning myself in smoothies without even knocking on your door because I figured you were better off without me." Her eyes were beginning to tear up once again.

"Aw, Sammy. Why would you say that?" He took her hand. "I could never be better off without you, you're truly my best friend. And when we were together, it, it was like, so perfect."

"Then why didn't you say anything that night? You just agreed for us to go our separate ways."

"I just went along because I thought that's what you wanted and after hearing what everyone thought about us as a couple, I figured there was no use in making you mad and arguing with you. No offense, but you can be kind of headstrong."

"OK, so for the first time in all the years I've known you, you didn't want to argue with me and it was potentially the most important argument we could ever have?"

"You're right, Sam. I should have fought for our relationship and you know what else, I don't care if our friends liked the idea of us as a couple or not. To hell with them. You make me happy, happier than all of them put together. So whether they really were talking about someone else or us, it doesn't matter one little bit. Will you go out with me again?" Freddie put all his cards on the table.

"Are you serious, you really think we should get back together?" Sam leaned toward him.

"More than anything, Sammy. I - I love you." Freddie slowly moved closer to her. "More than you'll ever know."

"I love you, too, Freddie." Sam put their faces together and their lips gently met.

"What do you say we get out of here and go back to your place?" Freddie asked.

"You seriously want to go to my house?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "You realize my mom's probably 'entertaining' one of her boyfriends, right? And then there's my cat, he always tries to claw your shins off."

"Well, I figure if we go back to Bushwell and you see Carly or Gibby you're liable to kill one of them for ditching us."

About that time, Freddie's phone signaled an incoming text. He glanced at the screen. It was from Carly. 'Are you guys alright or should Gibby and I pack for Mexico?'

He showed the message to Sam. "So are we?"

She grabbed his phone and quickly typed in a response to her BFF. 'We're good, Carls. Now can you come get us so we don't have to take a cab. S'

Sam's phone now dinged. 'We're still in the parking lot.'

The newly reunited couple walked out of the restaurant and over to Gibby's car, where he and Carly were standing. Gibby began to apologize to his friends. "I swear this wasn't my idea, Sam. Please don't break my thumbs again." He cowered in front of the blonde, knowing that despite her being half his size, she could turn him inside out.

Sam grabbed his shoulders. "Jesus! Be a man, Gibson!" With that, she placed a friendly kiss on his left cheek. "Besides, I owe you one, big guy."

Gibby just stood there dumbfounded and Carly grabbed Sam into a hug. "And as for you, Missy. I know this was all your idea and I just want to say . . . thank you."

Freddie smiled from ear to ear, gave Gibby a bro hug and turned to Sam, who took his hand.

"So how about you two?" Sam whispered to Carly.

"I think we might try another date sometime. Maybe we can do a double again." Carly responded quietly.

"Cool. And next time dinner's on Fredlove over here." Sam smirked at him.

"What are you committing me to already?" He responded before being cut off by his girlfriend's lips on his.

Sorry if Sam seemed a little too OOC, but I wanted to soften her up just a bit. I hope this was a believable way our favorite couple could have gotten back together if we would have had our way. There's another short story coming soon.