


Guilty of Spinning

by muchasfandomas



Category: iCarly
Genre: Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-28
Updated: 2010-04-10
Packaged: 2013-12-14 19:38:20
Rating: T
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,501
Publisher: www.fanfiction.net
Story URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5848662/1/
Author URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/2259595/muchasfandomas
Summary: Freddie and Sam are both aware that their relationship is changing... but what happens when they both like a little game of Spin the Bottle a little too much? Sequel to Messages in Liquor Bottles.





	1. Would You Rather

***A/N: A lot of people were so supportive of Messages in Liquor Bottles that I decided to create a sequel. If you haven't read it, I highly suggest that you do so that you further understand their "new" friendship (or budding romance). If you don't read it, you won't be too far behind, but it'll make you understand so much better. Hope you enjoy it =)**

"Sam, stop it!" Freddie half-yelled as Sam stuck her foot underneath his nose. This kind of thing was actually the best part of her day. Sam laughed to herself and wiggled her toes. "Savor it. You know you love it."

Freddie wrinkled his nose and pushed Sam's foot to the side. She obeyed and pulled it in, feeling victorious.

They both lay on his bed, Freddie laying in one direction and Sam in the other. It was the perfect angle for her to swing her feet at him whenever she pleased. Sam looked toward her side and played with a corner of Freddie's bed sheet.

"Has Carly texted you yet?"

"I don't know. I haven't checked." Freddie sat up and picked up his Pearphone from behind him.

"Nope."

"Good, 'cuz I'm feeling lazy and I don't feel like getting off of your bed—as geeky as it is." Freddie rolled his eyes and laid back down.

"Your laziness never surprises me." Sam smiled to herself and kicked Freddie's cheek. "What do you keep doing that for?"

"What? I'm bored. There's nothing else to do."

"So think of something else to do." Sam thought for a while and smirked.

"Would you rather eat a raccoon or hug a shirtless Gibby?" Freddie laughed. So they were back at this game, were they?

"Raccoon. Definitely. Would you rather drink a gallon of sour milk or make out with Gibby?" Sam sat up and raised her eyebrows at Freddie. She found it to be a stupid question.

"What! I wouldn't know since you were all mad Gibby wouldn't go with you to that dance thing." Sam's nose flared.

"Listen, Fredward, I was only mad because I didn't know what the dork shut me down for! It had nothing to do with any attraction to Gibby." Freddie rolled his eyes and smirked. "I think you're avoiding my question."

"Sour milk, you dummy! Pick more interestin' ones, won't ya?" Freddie laughed and nodded. "Okay, okay… um…"

Freddie was interrupted by his mother's five-time-buzz. Freddie's eyes widened.

"Crap! Sam get off the bed! You're not supposed to be here!" Sam caught on and jumped off the bed.

"What do I do?" Freddie grabbed his spray right away and started spraying around the room.

"Uh—uh—the balcony! Go out to the balcony!"

"Right. Got it." Sam practically dove out of Freddie's room. Freddie put down his spray and took a few deep breaths. He wasn't supposed to have girls in the house when he was home alone.

Freddie's mom burst open the door and beamed at him. "I'm home!"

"Yay, Mom." Freddie's voice quivered.

"What was that? Why do you sound so nervous? Are you hiding something?"

"No, no! I'm just—I'm so ecstatic that you're home." Freddie hugged his mother, not knowing what else to do, who patted his head as tears filled her eyes.

"I was blessed with a wonderful son. A son who bathes every day, a son who comes shopping to see me model my favorite outfits…"

"Mom…"

"… a son who would lay down his life for another, a son who…"

"I get it, Mom. I'm a great son." His mother squeezed him one last time before letting go.

"I am going to make us some Soy Stew while you do whatever it is that great sons do!" she patted his head one more time before walking out and bursting into tears.

Sam slid open the balcony door and smirked at Freddie, leaning against the wall. He glared at her.

"Don't you even dare."

"Dare what, Freddo? Apparently you're the new super clean Messiah who goes shopping with his madre and eats Soy Stew." Freddie rolled his eyes.

"It's my mom's new soy phase. _I _have nothing to do with it."

"Like I've said before, what mommy says, Freddie do." Freddie was just about to give a retort when his Pearphone vibrated from the side of the bed. He grabbed his phone and looked at the text. It was from Carly.

"Carly's brought Gibby home. She says he has something important to tell us." Sam groaned.

"Oh, that Gibby kid never has anything _good _to say. I'd much rather stay here than be subjected to that torture!"

"_Sam_! Stop!"

"It's _true_! It's probably about his grandma's new turtle that he's made his friend or something."

"Sam, just come on. We'll climb down the fire extinguisher and into Carly's apartment. I'll tell her to keep her bedroom window open." Sam rolled her eyes and stamped her foot. "Okay! But I better get some kind of sandwich out of this!"

"I'll make you some food. Just start walking." Sam smirked again.

"Don't you have some Soy Stew to chew?" Freddie groaned and grabbed Sam's wrist. "Come on!"

Sam followed without reluctance. She didn't fully realize it yet, but Freddie's touch had started to have that affect on her.


	2. Hugging a Shirtless Gibby

Freddie pushed Sam through Carly's bedroom window, then launched himself in. He landed flat on his face, which surely hurt him. Sam laughed.

"Good aim."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Freddie lifted himself up and both Sam and Freddie headed downstairs to Carly's living room. Carly sat alongside Gibby on the couch, who was showing her a new app on his Pearphone. Sam snuck up behind Carly and tapped her on the head. Carly shrieked.

"Where did you come from?!?" Freddie laughed and strolled next to Sam.

"You opened your window for us, remember?"

"Yeah, but—oh nevermind. Gibby's throwing a party."

"Hey! Carly, I wanted to tell them." Carly raised her eyebrows at Gibby and sighed.

"Sorry, Gibby. Tell them what you want to say." Gibby stood up, faced Sam and Freddie, threw off his shirt—to which they wore horrified expressions—and smiled at them.

"I'm throwing a party!" Sam and Freddie both raised their eyebrows at Gibby. They didn't really know what to think of it.

"A _party_?"

"Yep. It's a post-birthday party. Only for the cool kids." Sam looked absolutely horrified.

"You mean the freakin' petting zoo wasn't enough?" Freddie pinched her. Gibby didn't deserve that. He never meant any harm.

Gibby frowned. "I think you guys are cool… I just wanted to invite cool people to a party. Here are your invitations." Gibby reached into his pocket and gave them pink invitations with a thuggish picture of Gibby on it. Freddie smiled.

"Thanks, Gibby. We'll come." Sam was just about to tell Gibby the opposite when Carly jumped behind the couch and covered her mouth. Gibby smiled at Freddie.

"Thanks, Freddie. You're a good man." Gibby held out his arms for a hug. Freddie felt disgust rising. Carly slowly took her hand off of Sam's mouth, who smirked.

"Want me to get that raccoon for you?" Freddie glared at Sam, then reluctantly turned back around to hug Gibby.

It was an awkward hug to watch. Gibby squeezed Freddie as hard as he could, and for the longest amount of time, too. Sam was clearly enjoying this.

When Gibby finally let go, he nodded at Freddie and slowly headed towards Carly's front door. Sam picked up Gibby's shirt with her fingertips.

"Hey Gib, you forgot your shirt." Gibby turned back around and winked at Sam.

"You can keep it." Sam shrieked and threw the shirt to the side, but of course, she wasn't as scarred as Freddie was.

Freddie had hugged a shirtless Gibby.


	3. Girls on One Side, Boys on the Other

"I can't believe you made me come to this! Carly wasn't going to!" Sam picked at the sweater both Carly and Freddie made her wear. This was Gibby's special party and they wanted her to look presentable.

"That's because I had no idea what you'd start up, Sam!"

"She's going to behave. Don't worry." Freddie reassured Carly as Sam glared at him. At this point, he was used to ignoring it.

Gibby's house was surprisingly crowded with kids. Once Sam indicated this to both Carly and Freddie, she attempted to make an escape. Luckily, they were both able to stop her.

"Carly, Sam, Freddie! There you guys are! Gibby's been looking for you!" Tasha spotted the three of them and started strolling over towards them. Freddie smiled. "Yep. We're here and ready to party."

"Right. _Party_." Freddie nudged Sam in the hips, but Carly smiled it off. After all, that's what she was known for. "Do you know where we could find Gibby?"

"Sure. Follow me." All three of them followed Tasha (except Sam, whom Freddie pretty much had to drag around) until they found him sitting in a room with a bunch of people, once again shirtless. Sam frowned and reluctantly took a seat. "Hey guys! Wow, Sam, you look bummed out."

"Yeah, what's it to ya, Gib?" Freddie took a seat next to Sam and smiled at Gibby. "She's just cranky. She didn't get much sleep last night."

"Yeah, not with you bugging me over iChat about your techy stuff." Freddie bumped his knee into Sam's from under the table. He was trying to make Gibby feel better and not to become part of the blame for Sam's problems all over again.

"Oh. It's Spencer. I'll be right back." Carly took out her cell phone and scurried out the door. "So how's iCarly going?"

"None of your business, Gibby."

"It's going well." Gibby frowned at the table through a long, awkward silence. Carly walked back into the room, frowning. "I have to go home."

Sam crinkled her eyebrows. "Why? What'd Spencer do?"

"He glued himself to the refrigerator."

"Again?"

"Yep. It's gonna be a long night. I'm sorry, Gibby." Gibby nodded.

"It's okay, Carly. I understand. Duty calls." Carly smiled.

"Thanks, Gibby. I'll see you guys later."

"No, Carly! Don't leave me with these bunch of losers!"

"Sam, stop it! You'll be fine! I gotta go!" Sam huffed as Carly exited the room. Freddie, Sam, and Gibby looked around the awkward empty space again. Sam finally rose from the table. "I can't take this anymore! We're doing something!"

She peeked out from the doorway towards the hall. "Everybody in here!"

"Sam, what are you doing?"

"Relax, Gib. It'll be fun."

Freddie huffed. Maybe Carly was right. Maybe he shouldn't have forced Sam to come since Carly turned out to be right and she was just about to cause a havoc. Everybody piled into the small room. Sam smiled to herself and spotted a water bottle on the table.

"Perfect. Okay, everybody on the floor!" Gibby, not knowing what else to do, pushed the table to the side and sat down with everybody else.

"Alright. Girls on one side, boys on the other. We're playing Spin the Bottle." There was a general murmur of excitement among the group. Gibby frowned.

"Sam, I'm not gonna play that. I have a _girlfriend_." Gibby indicated Tasha, who bit her lip, looking extremely nervous. Sam rolled her eyes. "Oh boy. Listen, you two are both young. You should have some fun, kiss some other people."

"We don't want to." Sam huffed. Gibby was clearly ruining her game.

"Okay, fine. You stay to the side." Gibby and Tasha both sighed of relief and moved to the corner. Freddie got up and was about to follow them, but Sam yanked him right back down.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I don't want to play, Sam."

"You're playing. You don't have the same lame excuse as Gibby. You got no girl to love you. Maybe this'll do you some good."

Freddie huffed and crawled back over to the boys' side. Sam smiled to herself. "Good. Now let's get this thing started."

She passed the bottle all the way over to Wendy, who was the first to start the game.

Everybody giggled as they kissed, and some people even put on revolted faces. Sam found this hysterical. Freddie, however, felt extremely sick. He didn't want to play this game and he didn't want to kiss anybody, but as the bottle was passed, he felt more and more confident that he wouldn't get picked. Finally, the bottle landed in Sam's hands. She smiled menacingly.

"Come to mama, baby." Sam spun the bottle, confident that she would get someone hot. Her smile dropped when the bottle stopped at the last person she wanted to kiss at this moment. Freddie.

Freddie shook his head. "Ah, no way!"

"I'm spinning again!"

"No Sam! That's against the rules!" Gibby shouted from his corner. Sam glared at him. "Be quiet, Gibby. You're not even man enough to play."

"Sam, he's right. You can't spin again." Wendy joined, and then, one by one, they all started chanting for them to kiss.

"I am not—!"

"No way in hell—!"

"Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!" Sam's heart was beating. They had done it before. Why did she feel as if she was under too much pressure at the moment?

"Ah, fine!" Freddie settled. He moved towards Sam, who stared at him with—was it scared eyes? She was breathing heavy, but she wasn't breathing for long since Freddie quickly pulled her into a full out kiss.

It didn't last long, but it was full of anger and frustration, not to mention a bit of confusion. Sam felt her eyebrows rise when Freddie pushed harder into her mouth. When they finally pulled apart, they were surrounded by existing "woos". Sam gave Freddie a confused look, who looked just as confused.

Freddie couldn't put a finger on why he was so dizzy, and Sam couldn't put a finger on why she had never been so scared in her life.

Could it possibly be that they both knew it wasn't just the beginning anymore? Could it be that they knew they weren't getting away with ignoring this kiss?


	4. Just a Game

Sam bit into her beef jerky while on her adventure. She had just escaped Mr. Lender's class on a "bathroom trip" again. The truth was she was tired of his constant mentioning of how cruel and inhumane it was to eat meat. She understood that the man was a cow-loving son of a gun, but why couldn't he just appreciate her meat?

Maybe she could break into Gibby's locker and stuff in some cucumbers she had just stolen from the cafeteria (for no particular reason). Yes, it sounded like a brilliant plan.

As she strolled in the hallway, she froze when she saw Freddie at his own locker, piling books in and out. _Crap._ It was his lunchtime. How could she forget?

The truth was she never forgot. Usually, she would skip class and see him packing his books, and then she would proceed to kick him into his locker. It was usually all in good fun for her. However, today she didn't feel like kicking him. She didn't feel like mocking him or abusing him in any way. Today, she didn't know what she felt.

But she still wanted to mess with Gibby's locker. After all, that's what he deserved for having that _stupid _party which led her to play that _stupid _game. So she turned to the right and started twisting Gibby's lock.

She tore it off easily and grabbed the cucumbers from out of her bag.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Sam jumped. She hadn't expected Freddie to approach her—or even talk to her for that matter. She shrugged.

"What does it look like? And stomp your feet or something the next time you decide to sneak up on me. Usually, I can hear your feet trudging that big ol' head of yours around." Freddie laughed. Sam actually hadn't seriously insulted Freddie for two weeks, ever since those few nights after her birthday.

"Don't tell me this has anything to do with last night." Sam quickly whipped around and grabbed his shirt. "You breathe a word of last night to Carly—or anyone _else _that _wasn't _at Gibby's party, and I will hit you like a Mexican Pinata." Freddie rolled his eyes. After those two weeks that they became close, Freddie wasn't scared of Sam anymore. Her threats were like empty words. He knew it—she knew it.

"It was just a game, Sam—a game that _you _started in the first place."

"Yeah, and that's because I didn't know I would hit a loser like you."

"Stop."

"Stop what? You said yourself that nothing had to change, and nothing has changed. You will always be a nub to me."

"Sam—"

"A nub, I tell you!" Sam threw the cucumbers with intense fever into Gibby's locker.

She turned to face Freddie, who was still smiling about the whole thing. _Why was he smiling_? "That could have been your locker if I wanted it to be."

"But it wasn't. Will you please stop acting weird?" Sam withdrew a breath and clenched her fists. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? She didn't want to talk to him when she was like this—when all his voice made her want to do was vomit.

"I'd rather listen to a man who doesn't respect meat at all than listen to you!" she shook her beef jerky at him as she said so, slammed Gibby's locker, and ran away.

Freddie started to frown as he watched her go. They were really great friends yesterday—despite her fighting with him about the sweater and going to the party and all that. And now, all of a sudden, Sam was back to her old self—only worse. Now, Freddie was plainly sure that she hated him.

He should have never kissed her. He never should have admitted to himself that he wanted it, or that she wanted it. Maybe she didn't want it at all. He just wasn't thinking at that moment—with all those people surrounding him, ready with forks and fire if he didn't kiss her.

And she seemed into it. She kissed him back as furiously as he had kissed her. Sam wasn't the type to change her mind about things. Why would she change her mind about being Freddie's friend?

And he started to think that maybe it was best for them to avoid what happened. He just couldn't stand the thought of her hating him all over again. It seemed like they had worked so hard to become friends and now—in one instance—they blew it.


	5. The Flow No Go With Freddo

"Sam, are you sure everything's okay? You only eat that much whipped cream when you're upset." Carly frowned at her friend, who was downing every once of whipped cream into her mouth. Sam looked up at Carly, seeing the evident worry on her face. Sam rolled her eyes.

"If it'll convince you, I'll stop. This whipped cream was really making me happy, you know."

Sam wiped her white mouth with her sleeve and grabbed Carly's Pear laptop. Her stomach flipped. Computers always reminded her of that dork. That stupid, _stupid _dork. She noticed an app way at the bottom of Carly's computer.

"This iChat thing… do you use it?"

"Yeah, all the time. I actually use it to talk to some of my friends from my dad's old naval base. I didn't know you knew about techy stuff."

"Yeah, well don't compliment me too much. Mr. Tech-Wad taught me everything I know." Anger stirred at the pit of her stomach.

Carly took a breath and took a seat next to her friend. No matter what Sam said, Carly always knew when she was upset. "Gibby told me, Sam."

Sam's face automatically lit up. "He told you about the cucumbers I put in his locker?"

"No, he told me about Spin the Bottle. Freddie removed those cucumbers before Gibby saw them." Sam growled. How dare Freddie remove her cucumbers of revenge!

"It _figures_."

"Sam, don't be mad at Gibby. He was just worried about you." Sam snorted and raised her eyebrows at Carly.

"Gibby? Worried about _me_?"

"He said he saw you cry, Sam." Sam's growl rose deep from her stomach this time.

"What's wrong?"

"I wasn't crying! Gibby just needs his eyes checked!"

"Wendy saw too, Sam."

"They all need their freakin eyes checked! What's wrong with these people? Is there some kind of freaky epidemic going around? Leave it to Gibby—he would spread it…"

"_Sam_!"

They were both quiet for a while. Sam sat in her anger. Why couldn't anyone just mind their own business? So what if she was crying? Nobody else had to know.

"Sam, I remember you being a _master_ at Spin the Bottle. In seventh grade, you trained yourself to spin it at exactly who you wanted so that you could slap them when they tried to kiss you." Sam's eyes opened wide. She couldn't believe what Carly was accusing her of.

"I didn't do that! What, you think I got Freddie on purpose?" Carly shrugged, trying to seem understanding.

"I don't know, Sam. I wouldn't care if you did, though…"

"I _didn't_ do that! I spun it at random this time—I wasn't a huge fan of any of the _losers_ sitting in that room!" Carly waited before making another approach.

"Why didn't you slap Freddie, Sam?" Sam felt the pain and the fear bombard her again all at once. She herself didn't know how to answer that question.

"I don't know…"

"Yes you do. You would've slapped him if you wanted to."

"Well I didn't want to, okay?" Sam finally spat, as if it was a bitter confession. "I was gonna do that until Freddie ruined it."

"How did Freddie ruin it?"

"He was good, okay? He was damn freakin good!"

"_Sam_, be a lady!" Carly half-scolded, half-laughed.

Sam shook her head. "It's true, though… you know how hard it was sitting behind him in Trig today?" Carly smirked. She was finally getting somewhere.

"How hard?"

"Really freaking hard!" Sam breathed. Carly laughed. She couldn't really help herself.

"Don't laugh at me."

"Calm down, I'm not. Sam, if you're happy kissing Freddie, kiss him! Go with the flow! That's what you've always taught _me_."

"Oh no. See, you've misunderstood me. The flow no go with Freddo." Carly stopped laughing and raised her eyebrows. She really was confused.

"Wait—why not?"

"Because he's a nub. And I refuse to kiss a nub."

"Again." Carly corrected.

"Again."

Carly smiled. "Sam, you gotta let go of this sometime. I thought this was over."

"It _was _until he took my cucumbers out of Gibby's locker! Speaking of which, I gotta buy new cucumbers for tomorrow now." Sam swung her book bag over her shoulder as Carly grabbed her wrist.

"_Sam! _Gibby was worried about you!"

"Yeah, which means he doesn't know how to mind his own business! Speaking of which, I gotta get some for Wendy and Dorkwad too."

"_Sam_!"

"I am not listening and I am walking out the door. Adios, Carlito."

"It's Carlita!" Carly shouted, but it was too late. Sam had already slammed the door.

Carly frowned and texted quickly on her Pearphone.

_Bring your lock-picking kit tomorrow. We've got another cucumber mission coming up =(_


	6. Cucumber Mission Number 2

"_Ugh_! Carly, why'd you have to tell Sam that I took the cucumbers out of Gibby's locker? If she sees us doing this again, she's gonna hit me!" Carly laughed and rolled her eyes, taking the lock-picker out of Freddie's hand.

"She's _not _going to hit you."

"You just wait! You wait and—_oh!_" Sam had already gotten to Freddie's locker, and at the moment she was poking holes in the pickles and squirting them into Freddie's locker. Even though he was half-scared to death, some part of him knew that she was still the same Sam he had come to know during the past few weeks… the Sam that would slap him out of love and not of hatred.

He took a breath, trying to reassure himself, and strolled over. He stood behind Sam as she continued to squirt cucumber juice into his locker.

"Tell me when you're done." Sam jumped, once again not hearing Freddie's approach. She growled. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with _you_? You're the one squirting cucumber juice all over my books!" Sam bit her lip, glaring at Freddie and looking plainly pissed off.

"Suck—it—up." She turned back to Freddie's locker and continued to squirt. Freddie rolled his eyes and grabbed Sam's wrist to make her face him. She was surprised by his force.

"Look, why are you doing this?"

"Because you had to be a stupid nub and take those cucumbers out of Gibby's locker!"

"Not _this_. THIS! You apparently hate me for no reason at all! We just _kissed_, Sam!" Sam's lip trembled. People were starting to gather around.

"Don't start."

"Look, if you want, I take it all back! I just want things to be the way they were!" Sam glared upward at Freddie in a way that he had never seen before. It was unfamiliar to him—as if he had just slapped her.

"You—take it—back?" she growled, slammed her locker, and started to walk away. Freddie tugged at her shirt to hold her back a bit.

"If you _want_. But I don't know what the hell you want from me!"

"You know what I want? I want some beef jerky and I want you to go!" silence filled the crowd. Freddie felt himself tremble. He was losing his best friend, but he nodded. If that was what she wanted…

He reached into his bag and pulled out a plastic bag full of beef jerky. He held it out to Sam, who stared at it blankly.

"What's this?"

"What you think it is. I was going to give it to you yesterday but you got all pissy at me." Sam snorted to cover the anger that surged through her.

"What? You mean as like your version of some kind of promise ring?"

"_No_. My version of 'Hi Sam, we're friends remember?'." Sam shakily took the jerky in silence and watched him walk away.

The crowd seemed to disperse. Now that it was all over, they all seemed to have better things to do. Carly walked over to Sam, her face angry.

"Sam, you're just going to let him _walk_?"

Sam gave Carly a blank stare, opened the plastic bag, and bit into her beef jerky.

***A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written. I've been on vacation and haven't had time, but there's only one more chapter to go now ;) **


	7. Fear and the Truth

Sam opened the door and her jaw dropped, beef jerky falling loose of her mouth. She didn't get it, but she tried to compose herself quickly.

"What are you doing here?" Freddie gave her a strong look—one she hadn't seen before.

"I want to talk to you." Sam's eyebrows naturally raised in confusion.

"But I took your jerky and didn't say a word." Sam wondered with her mouth full. Freddie laughed and wondered to himself how he had ever begun to find this intriguing about her.

"That was always _your _beef jerky, Sam. I gave it to you. Now can we talk?" Sam shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, and closed the door behind her. She raised her eyebrows.

"Now what to you want?"

"I want to let you know now that I'm not going away, and that I'm actually here to listen to _you_." Sam gave him a blank stare and swallowed her jerky.

"Well, I've got nothing to say to you."

"Yes you do. Talk to me." Her heart skipped a bit. Something about him taking control turned her on—and she hated that.

"You're a nub. I'm done."

"No, you're not." Freddie grabbed her wrist again and they were almost touching noses. He hadn't meant to pull her that close, so he let her back away a bit and was satisfied when she took a breath.

"You're not done. Come on, Sam. You can talk to me about anything." Sam shook her head.

"Not about what you want me to talk about."

"And why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?" when she still seemed reluctant to talk, Freddie huffed and finally let his guard down. He wrapped his arms quickly around her waist, distance still between them but not letting her escape.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she struggled. Freddie swallowed.

"I'm not letting you go until you talk to me. I'll miss you too much if you never talk to me again." Sam took a breath and stopped struggling for a moment.

"I told you I'll talk to you but not what you want me to talk about." Freddie pulled her closer, and she started to struggle more.

"Please, Sam." When she saw that he no longer seemed sure of himself, when he seemed as if he wanted to almost break down himself, Sam felt her eyes started to water. He was her friend who had helped her through the things that others couldn't. She understood that if she wanted to keep him at all, she would have to sacrifice at least some of her pride.

"It's complicated." She felt a few tears coming down her cheek, but she didn't wipe them. They seemed to slice at Freddie's insides, but he wouldn't give up.

"Why?"

"Because I don't just _like _you." He was silent. He was stunned, and in that silence, she began to cry more. She thought she had found her answer—the answer she had been afraid to find since that kiss. Freddie swallowed. He could feel his throat getting tight.

"Then how do you feel?"

"How do you think I feel, you nub? I'm nauseas and I can't sleep and I hallucinate every time you walk away!" Freddie raised his eyebrows. She still hadn't given him her complete answer.

"I love you. Okay? Happy now?" Sam finally picked up her fist and began to wipe her tears. She was sure that he wouldn't—couldn't possibly—feel the same way.

"I love you, too." Sam looked up at him, surprise evident on her face. Freddie half-smiled. "Why do you think I showed up here even though I had to buy a whole bunch of new textbooks? Why do you think I haven't even thought of not being your friend despite the horrible things you've done to me?" Sam felt her breathing become heavy, and Freddie lifted up her chin, feeling nervous himself.

"It's because I love you, too." The words struck a new pain in Sam's heart—and so did this moment. She didn't expect it to go like this. She expected him to run away from her—just like she had tried to run away from him.

"I'm scared." She admitted in a whisper. Freddie nodded.

"I'm scared, too. But I say screw it." Sam laughed, Freddie pulled her into another kiss.

But this time there was no confusion. There was only fear and the truth—that they loved each other—and they were going to have to face it head-on.

***A/N: Thank you so much for your endless support! I hope you've all enjoyed the ending as well as the course of the story. Thank you all for reading =)**


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