No heavy drama or angst here, just a story about Sam and Freddie getting back together. Marissa Benson is waaaay OOC in this story, but let's just figure she either got on some good meds or she has mellowed after Freddie left for college and she's had some 'alone' time to reflect on life. I like to write her as crazy as Dan does, but for this purpose, it just makes better sense for her to be a little more normal (ie - not putting a chip in her kid's head so she can track him).

Setting the scene: It was late morning and Sam Puckett was on her motorcycle heading toward Washington. She had left her Venice apartment the day before and spent the night dozing in a bus station outside of Sacramento. The California/Oregon border was already an hour behind her and she figured that with any luck she'd be in Seattle by nightfall.

Flashback: two weeks ago.

"I'm gonna miss you, Sam." Cat whimpered, fighting back tears.

"Awww, I'll miss you, too kiddo." Sam allowed Cat one nice long hug.

"You can still come with me, you know. I can just wait and leave in the morning. It'll give you time to pack and get ready."

The blonde shook her head. "Being an actress is your dream, Cat, not mine. There's nothing in New York for me."

After a year of college, Cat had been offered a chance to audition for a Broadway musical and she jumped at the opportunity. She and Sam shut down their babysitting business a couple of weeks ago and Cat spent the last week trying to convince her blonde friend to go with her. Sam had already made up her mind that it was time for a change in her life, but New York was simply not her cup of tea.

"But where will you go, what'll happen to you?" Cat worried.

"Meh, the rent's paid till the end of the month. I'll just hang here and figure something out. Hey, when you're in New York, don't forget to look up Melanie. I know she'd love to see you."

Cat sniffed. "I will, Sam. And I'll give her a big hug from you." Tears streamed down the red head's face as she hugged her friend tightly again. "You're the best friend ever."

Sam didn't resist the younger girl's affection. "We had a good run, kid. Now you better get going, your taxi's gonna soon be here to take you to the airport."

The blonde spent the next two weeks lounging around their half-empty apartment deciding on what to do with her life. There was literally nothing or no one left in L.A. for her-Cat was the last one. All her other friends had left over the years, Jade and Tori ran off on some 'see the world' tour several months ago after coming out as a couple. Goomer and Dice were on the road with the MMA, where the big guy had just won his tenth fight in a row and was gunning for a title shot. Even Nona had found herself a boyfriend and the elderly couple spent most of their time driving around the country in his R.V.

Besides, life was expensive in California. Sam knew she'd never be able to afford rent on a decent place on her own. After much deliberation, she decided to head back home to Seattle. She could always take some community college classes and maybe get a half decent job. Surely, she could put up with her mother long enough to get on her feet. Truth was, she kind of missed her mom's antics, at least by times. And she missed her old friends, there was her best friend Carly, busy-body Wendy, goofy Spencer, weird Gibby and, of course, her sweet dork Freddie. Unfortunately for her the majority of them had moved on to colleges and careers of their own and were no longer in Seattle.

End flashback.

It had been dark for a short while when Sam entered the outskirts of the city of Seattle. Suddenly, the rain started. "Typical Seattle weather." She grumbled to herself.

Despite it being early June, the rain was chilly, much more so than in Southern California, and she was totally soaked before she could get her rain poncho out of her bag and put it on. Half an hour later, the blonde pulled into her mother's driveway, just as the rain slowed slightly. Unfortunately for her, the house was dark and there was no sign of life. The nearby street light showed the foot long grass and unkempt shrubbery. Some things would never change.

In the driveway, sat a familiar sight: her mother's crappy old Toyota with the mis-matched paint, but it obviously hadn't moved in a while. A closer look revealed a license plate nearly a year out of date, two flat tires and a huge crack in the windshield. A black, plastic garbage bag was taped over the passenger-side window and the trunk lid was held shut with a bungee cord. It was just like she remembered it.

After several minutes of pounding on the door and getting no response, Sam was left with one option. A few short strokes with a bobby pin and she was at least out of the elements. No response came from calling her mother's name. Nothing happened when she flipped the light switch, either.

"Good job, mom. You didn't pay the electric bill again." Sam said to no one. "Oh, well, at least I'm dry." After finding a flashlight, she made her way to her old room. There she changed clothes and found a towel in the bathroom to partially dry her hair.

She pulled out her phone and used the last of its power to call her goody two-shoes sister to see if she had any clue as to what became of their poor excuse for a mother. "Hey Mels."

"Sammy!" Mel exclaimed, as peppy as ever from the other end. "I'm so glad you called, you'll never guess who I had coffee with today. Give up yet? Cat. She's here in New York and she looked me up. Girl's got a grip too, she hugs like a boa constrictor. We've been hanging out for the last week or so."

"Heh, I figured she'd find you as soon as she got to New York."

"She's so much fun, I can tell her and I are going to be the best of friends, too. So are you still in L.A.?"

"Nah. I decided to go back to Seattle. Speaking of which, have you heard from our wonderful mother lately? The house looks like its been abandoned."

"Last I heard from her, she was leaving for Vegas with some guy she met playing bingo. But that was over a month ago. It sounded like she was living with him before that, too. Walter, Willie, Wendall or something like that. Oh well, you know her, she'll surface sooner or later."

"Yeah." Sam responded with a shiver. Obviously, Pam didn't pay the gas bill, either. Even though it was June, it was damp and chilly in the house from the rain storm.

After a short chat with her sister, Sam left the house in search of food and warmth. She pulled into the parking lot of Bushwell and ducked into the lobby to escape another downpour that started to drench her as soon as she crawled off the motorcycle. She figured on stopping by to visit Spencer and maybe bum a night or two on his sofa until she could either get in touch with her mom or make other arrangements.

"Stop messing up the floor! I just mopped!" Lewbert shouted at her. "God, I'm so glad I'm leaving this job soon. I won't have to deal with you messy people ever again."

"Stuff a sock in it, Wart-bert!" She shouted back and entered the elevator.

Sam sighed as the doors opened on the familiar eighth floor. She approached Spencer's door and knocked. No response. That wasn't unusual for Spencer, she thought. He probably just had his ear buds in while working on an art project or he may have been sleeping. He never did keep normal hours. She knocked harder and called to him, hoping he'd hear her.

"Spencer doesn't live here anymore. The door man should have told you." She heard a female voice behind her. "I never thought he was so much of a ladies' man, but you're the third girl that's been looking for him this week."

Sam spun around to come face to face with none other than Marissa Benson.

"S-Samantha?" The nurse was shocked to see the girl her son always talked about. Literally, always, like very time they spoke. Non-stop. "What a surprise!"

"Hey, Cra, er, um Marissa. How's it going?" Sam hadn't actually spoken to Marissa since she had to call her and tell her Freddie had been injured in L.A. She called because he couldn't talk at first with his face all bandaged up. That was not one of the more pleasant phone calls she had ever made.

Before Sam knew what was happening, she was embraced by the middle-aged woman. "You look well, dear. How have you been? Freddie's always talking about you."

"Um, good. I, er, just got back to town. Listen, about what happened when Freddie came to L.A., I, uh, I am so sorry for him getting hurt. It was totally my fault and I still feel terrible about the whole mess. I should never have left him with my room mate's friend. That boy's a walking disaster area. Makes Gibby look almost normal."

"It's all water over the dam, dear. Don't worry about it. Besides, he told me what good care you took of him and he's always saying how much he enjoyed that visit. I'll tell you, if he hadn't already been accepted to MIT, I just know he would have chosen Cal-Tech. Won't you come in? You're drenched, you poor girl."

Sam couldn't believe how civil this woman was treating her, but she entered the Benson apartment and began to take off her shoes. She knew Marissa's rules about wearing shoes in the house. "So, um, what became of Spencer? You said he doesn't live across the hall any more."

"I'm surprised his sister didn't tell you. He got engaged a few months ago and left for Chicago with this wonderful girl he met named Christine. She was some kind of art critic or art instructor or something like that. They made such a nice couple."

"Actually, it's been a while since I talked to Carly. You know with the time difference and all, it's hard for me to get with her and not have one of us calling at a weird time. Plus she's usually all hung up on some Italian guy she met at school."

"Excuse me for a minute." Marissa went to the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with two cups of hot tea. "Here, this should help. You'd better warm up or you'll be sick. Have you had your flu shot this year?"

"Um, Thanks." Sam took a sip of the tea and sat down on the edge of the plastic-covered sofa. "This is pretty good."

"It's ginsing, good for almost everything." Marissa nodded and attempted small talk. "How's your mother? Have you seen her yet?"

"Alright, I guess. According to my sister, she's in Vegas with some guy again. I haven't really talked to her since around the holidays. I sort of figured on dropping in to see her, but she was gone when I got there. So much for that idea. Even the power and gas are off, I guess she didn't pay the bills again."

Both looked awkward for a few minutes before Marissa finally brought up the 2 ton elephant in the room. "Do you have any place to stay, Samantha?"

"Uh, no. Not really. I'll just crash at the bus station or something, maybe try the Y tomorrow. You know, till I can find a job and get a cheap place. There's gotta be someone who needs a room mate that I can maybe split a flat with."

"You're welcome to stay here." Marissa immediately offered.

Sam nearly choked on her tea at the suggestion. "Oh, I - I couldn't." Sam knew how awkward this would be - staying with her ex-boyfriend's mother, who typically hated the very thought of her. Come to think of it, why the chiz was Marissa being so nice to her in the first place. Maybe Freddie leaving for college finally sent her off the deep end altogether.

"Nonsense. I insist. Since Terrance moved out, I have an extra room and you're welcome to it, for as long as you like. You just need to promise to clean up after yourself and not wear shoes in the house. It'll be so nice having someone else around for a change. Especially a young lady. We can have some wonderful girl-time. Just the two of us. I've been wanting to take a low-calorie baking class but there's no one to go with and it'll be so boring to go alone."

"Um, yeah, that would be, uh, nice. But are you sure? I wouldn't want to be any trouble." This might not be so bad she thought to herself. Free place to live.

"No trouble at all, dear. Now, I'll show you to your room but I'm afraid I'll have to leave soon, I must start getting ready for work or I'll be late."

Marissa took Sam back the hall and opened the door to her guest room. The bed was made and covered in a clear, plastic drop cloth. Plastic sheets were draped over every surface in the room, too. "Now feel free to make yourself at home. And there are leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry. I really have to get going but I'll be home at eight-thirty in the morning and my cell number is on the white board in the kitchen along with all the other emergency numbers if you need anything."

"Uh, thanks." Sam replied. "Say, you mind if I grab a shower? You know, to help get warmed up a little."

"Help yourself, Samantha. But you'll have to use the shower in Freddie's room. I didn't get the other bathroom disinfected this afternoon like I planned. I was on the phone with my sister for over an hour." Good to know she was at least still crazy-clean. "Her husband just had bunion surgery and she's worried about him."

After Marissa left her alone in the guest room, Sam peeled off her wet clothes and draped them over an empty laundry basket to dry. She had picked up some clean, dry things from her mother's house, but soon realized she forgot to pick out anything to sleep in. Oh, well, wouldn't be the first time she slept in her undies. Marissa did say to make herself at home, after all.

She heard the main apartment door closing when Marissa left a few moments later. Sam slipped across the hall wearing nothing but a smile, reached the door to Freddie's room and slowly turned the doorknob. She hadn't been in this room in a long time. She felt around for the light switch and flipped it on. His room could not have been any more of a perfect shrine to him. His computer was all set up on his desk, complete with a clear dust cover. Shelving on the wall held all his Galaxy Wars figurines, neatly arranged and dusted.

There were several pictures of Freddie as well as a few of him and his two best friends here and there. She glanced at them and smiled at the shot of the two of them together when they went to the junior prom. The bed, along with all the other furnishings were covered in clear plastic, like in the other room and she slid her hand across it, remembering the heated make out sessions she shared with Freddie there years ago when they were dating in high school.

Marissa smiled to herself as she drove to work. She knew how much Sam meant to her son and how he talked about nothing but the blonde non-stop. He even had mentioned the idea of taking a trip to L.A. to visit her over his summer break from college. Obviously, that wouldn't be necessary any longer. She figured on calling him as soon as she had the chance to tell him about Sam's visit, but that would have to wait until her break time. For now, she had to get to work and sign in before she was less than an hour early, which she considered being late.

Next time: A surprise Seddie reunion.