A/N: Just a post-iGo One Direction missing scene that I wrote real quick. I'm posting this without really looking over it because (1) It's 2am and I'm tired and (2) I just need to get this out there for my own peace of mind. Let's just say my Seddie heart did not enjoy seeing Sam drag Zayn into that elevator and this is my attempt to fix it. This my headcanon anyway.
I apologize for any and all mistakes.
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine. If they were then you all would be watching this onscreen instead of reading it here. All toys, *ahem* characters, belong to Dan Schneider and his Bakery.
As soon as the elevator door closed, Zayn managed to wrench himself out of Sam's grasp. He backed away from her, putting his hands up.
"Look Sam, I think you're great. You're a beautiful girl but I have a girlfriend…"
Sam waved him off. "Don't worry, I don't want to make out with you or anything."
"Then why did you…"He gestured wildly with his arms. "What?"
Sam sighed and leaned against the wall, trying very hard not to remember the last time she was in this very elevator alone with a boy. Maybe that was why she had chosen Zayn to mess with. If she squinted her eyes, pretended he was a little shorter, his chest and arms a little thicker, she could pretend…Even the way he was freaking out now and making wild gestures in confusion reminded her of him.
But no, this cute British pop star standing in front of her could never be a replacement. Even if he wanted to be, which he clearly didn't.
"Can we just stay here for a couple of minutes?" Sam asked. "I promise I'll let you go unharmed."
Zayn calmed down, breathing out slowly. "What's going on?"
She shrugged, not really feeling up to sharing her screwed up issues with a total stranger. Even if she had dragged him into it, literally.
"Does this have something to do with the camera guy?" He asked.
"His name is Freddie," Sam said sharply. "And no. What do you know of it?"
"He's been giving me the evil eye and he didn't look too happy earlier when we went in here."
"Really?" Sam asked, cursing herself for the hopeful tone that even she could hear. But if Freddie had been angry then maybe…
"I don't want to get in between whatever's going on between you two," Zayn said. "And like I said, I have a girlfriend-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. And nothing's going on between me and Freddie. He's just an ex-boyfriend."
"Ahh…" Zayn nodded in understanding. "And you're trying to make him jealous."
"No. No!"
Zayn raised an eyebrow at her and Sam couldn't help but think that it wasn't as impressive as when Freddie did it.
"Maybe a little," she admitted, looking down at her shoes.
"Well, that I can help you with," he smirked at her and Sam smiled back. Maybe she didn't like this guy but he wasn't so bad.
Freddie set his camera down on the cart before he could do something rash, like throw it. Preferably at that Zayn dude's head. If it wasn't attached to Sam's by now, which, judging by her smirk as the elevator doors closed, it most likely was.
He couldn't believe her! Hitting on the guy right in front of him, that was nothing new. But taking him into the elevator, their elevator. Just the thought of what they're doing in there made him feel sick.
Carly and Gibby were still dancing around with the One Direction boys, oblivious to Freddie's turmoil and to the fact that the show was over. He let the party go on though, his eyes never leaving the elevator door, willing it to open.
He got the message loud and clear, Sam was over him. Did she have to flaunt it in front of him, though? Did she have to be so cruel as to take another guy into their elevator? And not just any guy, it had to be a tall, insanely good looking pop star. And now she was in there with him, letting him kiss her and touch her…Freddie leaned against the cart and rubbed his chest. He really was going to be sick.
Just as Freddie had decided that he might as well go home, where he could punch his pillow and vomit in the privacy of his bedroom, the elevator doors opened and Sam and Zayn walked out. He had his arm around her shoulder and she had hers around his waist, they were laughing at something and looking so cutesy and couple like that Freddie wanted to punch Zayn in the face. He almost did, in a red haze of anger he stepped forward, clenched his fist and just as he was drawing back, his eyes went to Sam, he saw her smile, the sparkle in her eyes that made them look as blue as the ocean. She was happy.
Even if it made him angry and so jealous that he could pummel this guy, even if it completely shattered his heart to see someone else with Sam, he would hold it all in. Because Sam was happy and ultimately that was all he wanted for her. He wished that he could be the one that made her happy, that he was the one that she was smiling at like that. But he'd already screwed up that chance, hadn't he?
Freddie backed away and grabbed the doorknob, perhaps pulling the door open with a lot more force than he needed to but he didn't care. He just had to get out of there.
He was on the first floor landing when he heard the stomping footsteps behind him.
"Freddie, wait!"
He turned around, the anger welling up in his chest and reaching its break point. She couldn't even give him a quiet exit, could she? She had to follow him and rub salt in the wounds, of course she did. But he wasn't having it. There was only so much that even he could take.
"What, Sam?" He said so harshly that Sam actually took a step back. "That little show up there wasn't enough for you? You want to take a knife and drive it into my chest? Go ahead! It can't hurt any worse."
"Freddie-" She started but he wasn't in the mood to hear whatever it was she was going to say. Maybe she's going to tell him how great of a kisser Zayn is.
"No! Shut up, Sam! Don't talk to me. Don't you dare talk to me right now."
Sam's jaw dropped and she stared at him. He had yelled at her plenty of times before but not like this, never like this, Freddie knew. And he also knew that he should stop, he should leave and clear his head. The voice of 'Good Freddie' was still in his head, the one that had stopped him from hitting Zayn, the one that wanted Sam to be happy no matter what, but it was getting drowned out by the pain from the jagged pieces of his broken heart, piercing through his chest, moving through his bloodstream and jabbing at his organs. The red haze was back and a part of him wanted her to feel the hurt that he was feeling.
"It was bad enough that you had to flirt with him right in front of me but taking him into OUR elevator? Really, Sam? You want to take him to the fire escape too? Go ahead! Obviously there's nothing sacred to you. But why should that surprise me? You're Sam Puckett, cold and unfeeling and impossibly selfish. You can't for one moment, think about anyone but yourself. You can't even fathom how your actions might affect others, how it might hurt them. You just don't think, period!"
Freddie had been pacing as he ranted and when he looked up Sam was staring back at him, her face stoic and blank.
"Nothing happened in the elevator," she said.
"What?"
"Zayn has a girlfriend and even if he didn't, I wasn't really interested."
"So what, what was all this?" He asked incredulously. "A game? A test?"
"I wanted to make you jealous," she said simply.
Freddie felt the anger leaving him, exhaustion creeping in its place. "Why Sam?"
She shrugged. "I wanted to know that you still cared."
He moved closer to her. "I still care," he said.
She nodded.
"I still lo-"
She put her hands on his chest and closed her eyes. "Don't, please don't," she pleaded, her voice cracking.
"Sam…"
"Don't, Freddie. I'm not ready yet. We're not ready. Doesn't all this prove that?"
"I didn't mean what I said."
"I know," she nodded. "And hey, I can take it. I've said worse."
He ran a finger down her cheek and lifted her chin up, forcing her to look into his eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"I know. I'm sorry too."
"When will we be ready?"
"I wish I knew." She tried to smile but it wavered.
"I'll always care."
"Me too."
Freddie wanted to kiss her, they were so close, his face was only inches away from hers, all he had to was lean forward…
But he knew that if he started kissing her right now he wouldn't stop. He might have done it anyway, if they had a few more seconds. But loud voices and thunderous footsteps were echoing down the stairs. Carly, Gibby and the One Direction boys were coming down. Sam stepped away from him and walked to the kitchen, Freddie took a seat on the couch.
Zayn came downstairs first, ahead of the chattering and overexcited group. Freddie looked up at him and smiled, Zayn gave him a little salute and leaned over the couch slightly.
"Good luck with that one,mate," he said. "She seems like a handful."
"You have no idea, dude. But she's MY handful." Freddie looked up at him pointedly. Zayn grinned and put his hands up as he backed away.
Sam came back with a Peppy Cola and a sandwich and Freddie couldn't help but smile when she sat down right next to him. He didn't know when they would be ready but he knew that he could wait.