


The Alternate Love Story

by theworldismyoyster



Category: iCarly
Genre: Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-01-10
Updated: 2012-01-17
Packaged: 2015-05-13 00:27:23
Rating: M
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,918
Publisher: www.fanfiction.net
Story URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7727193/1/
Author URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/3141305/theworldismyoyster
Summary: Rated M for safety, possible future lemon. Alternative to iOMG. After years of hatred, will Sam and Freddie's new passionate relationship work out? Will Freddie cave in to temptation? I don't own iCarly, the wonderful Dan Schneider does. Please read :





	1. What's Wrong With Sam?

Ch1

"Oh for God Sakes Fredweird! Quit being such a nub."

Sam's words had no effect on Freddie, however, who simply carried on talking regardless.

It was summer time in Seattle, and Carly, Freddie and Sam were sat on the beanbags in the iCarly studio, discussing ideas for the next iCarly.

"It would only be for like five minutes, and I could go over all sorts of cool tech equipment, like the lights, my camera…"

"Face it Freddie, nobody wants to hear about your tech stuff. It's just… well…"

"…lame?" Sam had a habit of finishing Carly's sentences off for her.

"Well, yes lame. But only because no one understands tech stuff like you do!" Carly finished, seeing the look on Freddie's face.

"I still think coating Gibby in cat food and introducing him to Frothy would be a good idea! The kids would love to see Gibby being attacked by Frothy…"

"No-one wants to see an innocent boy being attacked by a rabid cat any more than they like hearing about strobe effect lighting and sound effects. Now are we going to come up with some decent ideas or am I just going to have to do all the work myself?" Carly looked approachfully at Sam and Freddie.

"You know Carls, that ain't a bad idea. I'm beat, I need to go and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Nub." She glanced at Freddie before exiting the room.

"Bu… wait, Sam! I didn't mean it. Come back here this instant!" Carly, however, was not heard as Sam had already left.

"I think I might call it a night too, if that's ok. I need to get some sleep, I've got a pottery class with my Mom tomorrow, and I need all the rest I can get." Freddie then jumped up out of his beanbag and started heading towards the door.

"Fine, just leave me here on my own, I'll come up with all the ideas while you go and sleep! No problem, don't worry about me, I don't care."

Freddie ignored Carly's sulky comments, and left the room quickly. He had no intention of going to bed anyway; he had a much better idea.

"Where are you going in such a hurry Puckett?" He caught up with Sam at the bottom of the stairs.

"None of your business, Benson."

"Oh come on, you can tell me."

"I've already told you, I'm going home, I'm tired."

"Ok, first off, you never want to go home; usually you find any excuse to stay at Carly's. And second, it's only 8:30. You can't be tired, you've done nothing all day."

"Why do you care anyway? Just leave me alone Nub!"

"Hey, don't get all feisty with me! You know Sam, I still don't get why you hate me so much. After all these years you still hate my guts. Why?"

"Grr, sometimes Nub you can be so blind!" And with that, she stormed out of the apartment, leaving Freddie standing there feeling more confused than he had ever felt. He shrugged it off and went inside his apartment. As he lay in bed that night however, he thought over what Sam had said. What was he blind about? He couldn't think of anything he was missing. He went into deep thought over his friend Sam. He wondered what she would be like if she'd turned out… normal. If she was a kind person who didn't harass him every second of the day. She made such an effort to make his life a misery; Freddie concluded she must really hate him badly.

But how did he feel? He couldn't hate Sam, no matter how had he tried. When he saw her smile, he couldn't help smiling, and when she laughed he felt like joining in too. He had caught himself a few times and questioned his own sanity. This girl makes you so miserable; so how can she be making you feel so happy at the same time?

The next day Freddie woke up surprisingly early, considering it was a holiday. He had a shower and found a new pair of anti-bacterial underwear to put on. Once he had also put on his sterilised shirt and pants, he decided to make his way over to Carly's. If she wasn't up, he knew Spencer would be. Spencer was always an early riser.

He knocked on the door, waiting for an answer. He couldn't just walk in as he usually did; the door was locked at night. He got a surprise though as the door opened.

"Oh it's you." Sam mumbled as she saw him.

"What are you doing here? Didn't you go home?"

"Why, were you hoping to have Carly here all to yourself?" Freddie scowled as he heard her bitter tone.

"Don't be ridiculous Sam, I'm over Carly. We're just friends!"

"Yeah right Fredweird, like I don't see you drooling over her every second you get a chance to gawp at her."

"I don't drool!" Over her anyway, Freddie added silently. Then he mentally slapped himself around the head.

"Whatever." She went and slumped down on the sofa she had just risen from moments before.

"So why are you here then?" Freddie asked cautiously, not wanting to start another argument.

"Ehh, I got halfway home then realised I didn't want to be there. So I came back here and slept on the sofa."

"Why don't you want to go home?"

"Because my Mom's got her new boyfriend living with us at the moment, and he's a creep."

"Then can't you just say to your Mom…"

"What is this, quiz time? Just leave me alone Nub."

Freddie sat down at the other end of the sofa, as far away from Sam as he could. He kept glancing over at her. He could see she looked sad, almost as if she had tears in her eyes…

"Just go home, you guys! Either that or start paying your share of the rent!"

"Morning Spencer."

"Freddie. Sam." He nodded at them in turn then headed towards the fridge.

"Hey Spence, make me a sandwich?"

"What kind?"

"Ham."

"A ham sandwich at nine in the morning?"

"Or bacon. Whatever, as long as it involves meat, I'm happy."

As Spencer started making breakfast, Freddie turned to Sam once more. He still had something he wanted to ask her.

"What did you mean last night?"

"What?"

"When you said, I can be so blind. What did you mean?"

Sam looked worried.

"I don't know. You were bugging me. So I insulted you. Get used to it Freddork."

"Don't worry Sam, I'm more than used to it. But you're lying. What did you mean?"

Sam was saved by Carly making her way downstairs.

"Where did you two scoot off to last night, leaving me alone to plan iCarly? Well?" She stood there scowling, with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot.

"I spent the night on your sofa."

"What… but when?"

"Last night Carls, I just said…"

"But I was sat on the sofa last night. Until, like, midnight! Why were you so late? And how did you get in?"

"I got in by picking your lock, isn't it obvious? And, as for being late, I just… went for a walk. For fresh air, y'know?"

"You, walk?" Freddie butted in. "As in voluntary exercise?"

"Shut your face, Freddora, or I'll shut it for you!"

"Guys, stop arguing! It's nine in the morning for crying out loud. Spencer, how's breakfast coming on?"

"Err, not too great!" They looked across and saw that the frying pan was on fire, with the flames nearly reaching the ceiling. Spencer was desperately trying to get the fire extinguisher to work, but was failing.

"Aww, dammit! He burnt the bacon."

"Sam, our kitchen is more important than your stomach!"

An offended expression arose on Sam's face, making Freddie laugh.

"What are you laughing at?"

Freddie felt brave. "You."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I'll give you something to laugh about."

She pounced on top of him and wrestled to the ground. He wriggled and squirmed but she was too strong for him. She straddled him and pinned his arms to the ground, either side of his head.

"Ow Sam, let me up!"

"Then never, ever, laugh at me again!"

"I won't, jeez, let me up!"

She jumped off him and scooted towards the door, running out of it and slamming it behind her.

"Where the hell did Sam go?" Carly came running back in from the kitchen after hearing the door slam.

"Don't know. I think I upset her."

"How the hell did you manage to upset Sam?"

"I laughed at her."

"So?"

"I dunno, she pinned me to the ground and then ran out!"

"Well go apologise!"

"Ohh, no Carls she'll just hurt me again!"

"GO!" Carly put her hands on her hips and did her best intimidating glare at Freddie.

Freddie grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. He had no idea where Sam had gone. He ran down the stairs all the way down to the lobby.

"Hey Lewbert, has Sam come by here?"

"Who? What are you talking about?"

"Sam! You know, blond, short, mean?"

"Oh her! No she's not been near me today, thank God!"

"Great."

He headed back up the stairs. She must have gone somewhere else in the building, though where, Freddie had no clue. A thought suddenly hit him.

As he approached the entrance to the fire escape, he held back as he heard a noise. He listened closely. He heard a sobbing noise coming from outside. He fought with himself whether to run away as fast as he could, or show himself and ask her what's wrong. He'd never really seen Sam cry before; he didn't know what effect it had on her. He didn't really want to find out. He decided he'd go and see her, but if she turned feisty he'd make a break for it.

"S… Sam?" He said as he stepped out. She wiped her eyes quickly on the back of her hand.

"Go away!"

"No! What's wrong Sam?"

"Nothing."

"Oh yeah sure, that's why your sat out here sobbing your eyes out."

"It's none of your business, Freddork!"

"As much as you hate it, I'm your friend. Tell me what's wrong."

"I can't!" Tears started flowing down her cheeks again. Freddie hated every second of this. He just wanted to hold her tight and tell her everything's ok, but he'd be risking his own personal safety in doing that.

"Tell me what's wrong!"

"I'll show what's wrong, you Nub!" She stood up and approached Freddie quickly. His instinct was to flee, but he stood his ground. What she did next though nearly made his heart stop.

She grabbed the sides of his head with her hands and pulled him towards her. Their lips made contact and they pressed against each other. Freddie felt like his whole body was screaming out with joy. He spun her around and backed her against the wall. He ran his hands down her back, through her hair. She did the same to him. They roughly rubbed against each other, letting go of tension that had been built up inside of them for so long. They wrestled with each other for ten minutes, never breaking the kiss.

Finally they broke away from each other. They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, before Sam spoke and then left.

"You were so blind."


	2. New Feelings

Ch2

Freddie was frozen to the spot. He had been for the past few minutes. His brain felt like mush, nothing was processing. He had to keep reminding himself to breathe. Had he just imagined it, or had Sam just kissed him? For ten whole minutes? He wasn't sure. He licked his lips, seeing if they tasted any different. Yep, a mix of meat and mint; at least he knew she had brushed her teeth. What was she thinking? Had she gone crazy? She had just made out with Freddie Benson, the Nub, who made her life unbearable. She hated him, and she never let him forget it. Did she really hate him? Freddie felt his brain start to kick back into gear. His head was throbbing. Why, why did she do this? Did she know Freddie liked her, was this some sort of mental torture? If it was, then why had she been crying?

Freddie walked inside, realising he couldn't stand there all day. Where should he go? Carly's? Nope, Sam would be there, he couldn't deal with seeing her right now. Home? That would mean passing right by Carly's front door. What if he bumped into Sam? No, he couldn't risk it. He took the elevator to the ground floor, and walked out of the building. Groovie Smoothie? Yeah, he thought, why not?

He walked in to the Groovy Smoothie, and spun around. No, no Sam or Carly, he was safe.

"One large Blueberry Blitz please, T-Bo."

"Freddie Benson, what in the world is up with you man?"

"What?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Oh, no I'm fine. Just tired."

"Well ok then. Here's your smoothie."

He payed for his smoothie and sat at an empty table. As he was drinking, he noticed Gibby was sat at a table a few feet away with Guppy. Gibby noticed Freddie looking at him.

"Freddie my man! Come join us!"

This was the last thing he wanted to do, but he saw no way out of it. He went and sat down next to Gibby.

"Hey Gib. Hey Gup."

"Man Freddie, you look terrible. Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Happy birthday!" Guppy piped up.

"Thanks dude, but it's not my birthday."

"Gup, what've I told you, that's an awful catchphrase! If you're gonna have a catchphrase, it's got to make sense!"

"Happy birthday." Guppy said, with a determined look on his face, as if to say he liked his catchphrase and didn't want to change it. Gibby sighed and turned to Freddie.

"So, dude, what's bugging you?"

"I'm just tired."

"No, you're not just tired. What's wrong, you can tell me man, we're buds!"

Being called Gibby's "Bud" was not exactly the most flattering thing to be told, but it did mean a lot to Freddie. Should he tell Gibby? What would he say? Maybe he should tell him, but not tell him exactly.

"I'm… having girl troubles."

"Then you've come to the right guy! Gup, hold my shirt." Gibby slipped his shirt over his head and handed it to his little brother, who obediently held it. "Talk man."

"O…ok. Well, there's this girl. I don't know whether she likes me. I mean, she just kissed me. But I thought she hated me. And I think I like her. But I don't know what to do. Should I talk to her now? Or leave it for a bit?"

"Hmm, interesting." Gibby leant back, stroking his chin as if he was pondering something wisely. "And this girl you're talking about, you've known her a while?"

"Yeah, quite a while."

"And you thought she hated you?"

"Well, yeah, she's made it pretty clear in the past that she hates my guts." Had he said too much?

"So, this girl. What does she look like?"

Freddie could see Gibby was suspicious. "Why do you want to know that?"

"C'mon dude, is she hot?"

"I don't know… yeah I suppose she is."

"Aha!"

"Wh… what?"

"I know who it i-is!" Gibby said in a sing song voice.

"Oh Gib, please you can't say anything."

"To Sam?"

"Exactly."

"I dunno man, she really does like you."

"What? How do you know… what, did she tell you?" Freddie stuttered.

"No, but it's obvious! Have you noticed she does anything she can to touch you, or be near you, or speak to you? Even if it means insulting you, or beating you up. If she hated you so much, wouldn't she just avoid speaking to you, or hanging out with you?"

Freddie was stunned. Had Gibby really noticed all of this?

"So you really think she likes me?"

"Why don't you go and find out?"

"Yeah… yeah I think I will do. Thanks dude, you're awesome."

Gibby smiled satisfactorily, then poked his brother and told him to hurry up drinking his smoothie. Freddie ran back up the stairs up to his floor, and stood outside Carly's front door. He took a few deep breaths, and then opened the door.

As he looked around quickly, there was no sign of Sam anywhere. Or Carly or Spencer.

"Carly? Spencer?"

"There you are!" Carly came rushing down the stairs. "Where the hell were you? You didn't come back after going looking for Sam!"

"Oh… that."

"What on earth did you say to her?"

"What d'you mean?"

"She came running into the apartment crying, saying something about you but I couldn't tell what, then she ran off. Spencer went after her, he thought she was hurt, she was in such a state!"

"Whoa."

"What happened? If you said something to upset her I swear…" Carly waved her finger accusingly at Freddie.

"I didn't say anything! Not much anyway, I don't think it as what I said that upset her."

"Then what was it?"

"Look, before I say anything I need to talk to Sam!"

"Ok then, here comes Spencer now."

Spencer stumbled into the apartment, bright red and out of breath.

"I… ran after her and… man that girl can run! Argh… need to… sit down."

He collapsed onto the sofa.

"Where is she?" Carly shouted, shaking Spencer by the shoulders.

"She ran… home… I … argh… can't breathe."

"She went home? What about her Mom, I thought she was avoiding her?"

"No-one else… was in I don't think, there… was no car in the driveway."

"So she's upset, home alone? Freddie, please tell me! You know why she is upset!"

"I need to speak to her!"

"Then go! Spencer, drive Freddie to Sam's."

"What? Nooo, I'm tired!"

"Spencer please?"

"Fine. I'll grab my keys."

The car journey to Sam's was a short one. Spencer kept looking sideways at Freddie, wondering what it was Freddie was hiding. Freddie tried to stay calm, but he couldn't start to think what he was going to say to Sam. As Spencer pulled up outside Sam's house, Freddie started to open the car door but Spencer held him back.

"Kid, wait a minute."

"Yeah?"

"I know Sam can be difficult. But whatever has happened, it's seriously upset her. It takes a lot to upset Sam. Just… be careful. She's like a second little sister to me, just remember that."

"I know, and I swear Spencer, I've not done anything directly to hurt her. I promise I'll be nice to her. I can't promise she'll be nice to me though."

"No, but remember to ring 911 if she attacks you, yes?"

"Yeah, thanks for the advice."

Spencer patted Freddie on the back and Freddie climbed out of the car. He looked back as Spencer waved at him and drove off. As he walked up Sam's path, he felt his stomach doing flips. He'd never felt so nervous.

*knock knock*

No answer. He knocked again. Still no answer.

"Sam, I know you're in!" He shouted. "Answer the door!"

He looked up to one of the bedroom windows and saw one of the curtains shift. So she had seen it was him.

"C'mon Sam, come down. I need to talk to you!"

"Go away!" He heard her shout.

"No I won't. I won't go away Sam, so you might as well let me in."

He heard her moan loudly. Then he heard loud footsteps coming to the door.

"What?" She said as she flung the door open. He noticed there were fresh tear tracks down her cheeks.

"Sam, I want to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No, not really."

"Sam you just…" he sighed. "You just kissed me! I want some answers to the thousand questions I have right now!"

"I don't have anything to say to you Benson, leave me alone."

"Don't be such a baby! Come on, talk to me."

"I am not a baby, Fredwuss!"

"Prove it. Talk to me!"

"Fine!" She swung the door fully open and marched away into her living room. Freddie took this as an invitation inside. He knew he had said the right thing. She would never stand for being called a baby. He knew just how to speak to her to get her to react how he wanted her to. He'd had a lot of practice over the past few years; say the wrong thing and you get your face disfigured.

He walked into her living room, and was hit with clashing colours and mess. There were piles of washing everywhere, and cans scattered over the floor. The walls were a burnt orange colour, with a green sofa and greyish carpet.

"Sorry it's a mess, my Mom hasn't been cleaning much recently, not since she got her new boyfriend." She was red in the face from embarrassment. Freddie was shocked at how quickly her mood had changed. She looked forlorn, and defeated. He sat down next to her on the couch.

"It's ok, don't worry about it."

"So" She said simply, looking at him. He caught her gaze and she turned away quickly.

"Why did you do it?" Freddie thought there was no point delaying his most important question.

"I don't know." She said, looking down at the ground and fiddling with her thumbs.

"Do you like me?" Freddie said.

"I don't know." She repeated.

"But do you hate me still?"

"I… I don't know."

"C'mon Sam, give me something here!"

"I can't! Don't ask me how I feel because I don't know! I'm just so, confused and messed up! I can't understand why this is happening to me!" Tears rolled down her cheeks again, and she swung to face away from Freddie, trying and failing to hide the fact she was crying.

"It's ok, I'm sorry." Freddie said, and patted her on the shoulder.

"Sorry for what?" She mumbled.

"For questioning you. I know this must be hard, and trust me you're not the only one feeling confused right now!"

"Why, because the girl you hate just made out with you?"

"I don't hate you!"

"Yeah you do, I'm horrible to you."

"Sam, I could never, ever hate you. The only thing I've ever wanted from you is for you to stop treating me like dirt."

"But I can't help it. I need to be horrible to you, it makes me feel better."

"But why?"

"I don't know!" She sounded angry.

"Ok, ok enough questions, right?"

She nodded. He hesitated for a second, but went for it. He pulled her closer to him, and wrapped his arms around her. She relaxed onto him, sobbing into his chest. He pulled her to him as close as he could on the sofa and rested his chin on the top of her head. He inhaled, and realised she smelt like a mixture of meat, fresh air and flowers. Odd combination, he thought, but it was a nice smell. He really liked it. They sat there together for hours. He never wanted to let her go. She felt so right in his arms, like she fit there perfectly. She was nestled up close to him, taking as much in of him as possible, his feel, his smell. She felt safe, and happy.

It had started to go dark. Freddie's phone rang from inside his pocket. He kept one arm around Sam but reached for his phone. It was Carly.

"It's Carly."

"Answer it." Sam said simply, not pulling away from Freddie.

"Hey."

"Freddie, where are you? Did you speak to Sam? Is she ok?"

"Yeah Carls, everything's fine. I'm a little busy, could you ring back in…"

"No I will not ring back, Freddie! Are you at Sam's now?" He couldn't lie.

"Yeah, yeah I am."

"Can I speak to her?"

He whispered to Sam. "Carly wants to speak to you."

Sam took the phone off Freddie. "Hey Carls."

"Sam, what's up? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just sat with the Nub here."

"What are you doing?" Sam looked slightly worried.

"Just… talking. He's going on about his tech stuff for iCarly again, I told him to shove it but he won't listen."

"Sam, there's something going on that you two aren't telling me about, and I want to know what it is!"

"Carls, there's nothing really! You're imagining things."

"No, I'm not. You were crying earlier, really badly. I want to know what you were crying about!"

"Sorry Carls, you're breaking up!" Sam made fake rustling sound into the phone, and then hung up.

"She's never going to fall for that!" Freddie shook his head at Sam.

"Yeah, oh well, I can't be bothered with her lecture right now. Where were we?"

Freddie put his phone on silent and put it back in his pocket. He opened up his arms again and Sam lay across his chest. He closed his arms around her, pulling her even closer to him. After a while, Sam was deep breathing, and had obviously fallen asleep. He carefully extracted his phone out of his pocket without waking her. It was only 9 o clock in the evening. He felt pretty tired already, and could do with getting home. He could bear to wake her up though, so he waited. And waited some more. But she stayed sleeping. He decided to close his eyes properly, just to have a nap. If it got too late though he would have to go home, his Mom would be worried.

Freddie was woken up by being shaken.

"Freddie! Wake up!"

"Urgh, wha…?"

"Get up, it's morning!"

"Wh… what?"

"It's 8 o clock! We slept through the night!"

Sam was leaning over him, shaking him by the shoulders.

"Oh shit." He yanked the phone out of his pocket. He had 10 missed calls.

"Damn, my Mom rang me 8 times! And Carly rang, and Spencer!"

"You'd better get home! We don't want them thinking anything else happened between us, involving you staying over at my house.

He thought for a second. "No, this probably won't look too good."

She looked at him with all seriousness. "Lie then."

"What?"

"Don't tell them you slept over at mine. Say… say you went to a friend's house! That wasn't me."

"I'm not going to lie! Look, I'll just say we fell asleep talking. It's kinda true!"

"C'mon Freddie, really? We hate each other remember, you can't all of a sudden start having sleepovers at my house."

"But I don't hate you."

"You have to hate me! Freddie, I'm not ready for this, please." She looked desperate. Freddie felt his heart sink.

"Fine. I'll lie. But Sam, I can't just go back to being your enemy, not now!"

"It's not right, Freddie, we have nothing in common, we are total opposites. I don't mean anything to you."

"Sam, you mean a lot more to me than you think. Do I mean something to you?"

She looked at him with wide eyes. She was lost for words; she didn't know what to do next. Freddie, however, did. He moved towards her and before she had time to react, he crashed his lips down onto hers and wrapped his arms around her back. She ran her fingers through his hair, then down his back and up his sides, feeling every inch of him. They broke apart and, still holding her, he looked into her eyes."

"Has that convinced you?"

With that, he left out of her front door, up her garden path and out of sight.


	3. Never Saw This Coming

Thank you for my first review! It made me very happy :) Please can anyone reading this review and tell me what you think, it's taken me a while to write this story and I would love to know your opinions. :) I don't own iCarly by the way

* * *

><p>Ch3<p>

"Fredward Benson! I have been so worried; I rang the police to search for you! Where've you been!"

"I went to sleep Mom, my phone was on silent. I only saw you'd rung me this morning!"

"That is very irresponsible of you Freddie! Where were you?"

"At a friend's house."

"Sam Puckett's house, you mean!"

"How'd you know?"

"I spoke to Spencer! What were you doing there?" Freddie's mother stared at him, her eyes full of suspicion.

"We were talking, and I fell asleep on the couch. Nothing else happened!"

"I have to get my spray, wait there!" Freddie panicked. His Mother's disinfecting spray made him choke and stung his eyes. He made a break for it out of his door and ran across the hall to Carly's. The door was open so he ran straight in and put the chain on the door behind him. As soon as he turned back around to face the room he felt a pair of arms fly around him.

"Thank God you're ok! Why the hell didn't you come home last night?"

"I fell asleep on Sam's couch! Why did Spencer go and tell my Mom where I was?"

"He had to! He found her on the floor outside your apartment hyperventilating!"

"Oh great."

"Freddie, can we talk?"

"No, no Carly I don't need a lecture right now. I need to go to bed, I'll see you later…"

"Oh no you don't!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the couch.

"Sit!" He obediently sat down on the couch. Carly sat next to him.

"What the hell is going on with you and Sam?" Freddie felt his stomach tie in knots. He could either lie, and get found out about it later, or tell the truth and risk Carly going psycho on him. He decided to risk it, and tell the truth.

"You can never tell Sam I told you!"

"Freddie, she's my best friend, I can't keep secrets from her."

"Fine then, don't find out!"

"No! No, ok I won't tell her, I promise!"

"She was in a mood with me yesterday, and I found her outside on the fire escape."

"Isn't that where you guys kissed, like two years ago?"

"Yeah. Two years ago, then one day ago…"

"WHAT?"

"She kissed me."

"Wh… what? Why, how, what?"

"Ok, too many questions!"

"Sorry, but… she kissed you? Just like, a small kiss or…"

"No, it definitely wasn't a small kiss. She spent ten minutes backed up against a wall with my hands all over her while we played tonsil tennis…"

"Freddie! How could you, that's disgusting!" Freddie rolled his eyes at her.

"Oh grow up, you're 17 years old!"

"Don't tell me to grow up! So don't tell me, you did the same at her house?"

"No actually we didn't. We sat down on her couch and talked. She said she didn't know how she felt about me, or why she kissed me. Then she started crying again, so I hugged her. She leaned on me and fell asleep like that, so I couldn't wake her up. I stayed like that until I fell asleep, and I didn't wake up until the morning."

"Aww! You fell asleep together on the couch!" Carly's eyes were misty and she was making high pitched squeaky noises.

"You've changed your tone!"

"Freddie, do you know what this means? Sam loves you! You can be a couple! Aww, this is sooo cool…"

"Carls, it was one night, and only two kisses, so…"

"Two kisses?"

"Yeah, I kissed her goodbye."

"Ahhh!" She jumped up from the sofa and started doing a victory dance. Freddie collapsed sideways with his head in his hands.

"Carly, please. You cannot tell Sam I told you!"

"I won't!"

"If she tells you, you've got to act surprised!"

"I will, don't worry. Trust me Freddie, she probably won't tell me. This is the sort of thing that embarrasses Sam, she can talk about many disgusting things without batting an eyelid, but when it comes down to feelings and emotions, she's absolutely pathetic."

"Ok, good."

"Wait…" Carly sat down again.

"What?"

"How do you feel about Sam? It's pretty clear she likes you a lot, but what about you?"

"I care so much about Sam; she just never lets me show it. If she stopped treating me like a punch-bag and started treating me like a normal human being, I could show her how much I do think about her, and how much she means to me."

"Freddie, it's nice you care about her, but do you have… the other sort of feelings for her. You know… the feelings you used to have for me?"

"No." Carly's face suddenly sunk. "The feelings I had for you were different. They were strong, but they were never love. I fancied you, I almost worshipped you. But I never loved you. Sam… I always had feelings for Sam. I never realised it, because they were overshadowed with hatred. But recently, I just find myself staring at her, or laughing along with her, or having urges to reach out and stroke her cheek or run my fingers through her hair. If I did that, up until yesterday I would have thought she'd hurt me, or at least give me never ending verbal abuse. I never dreamed she felt the same for me. I can't tell you Carls, how happy I am she does though."

"That's adorable. Really Freddie, I feel like butterflies are fluttering round my belly, I'm so happy!"

"Carly please? Sam could be here any minute; I need you to act normal!"

"Yeah, sure I can do that."

Spencer entered the room.

"Too much squeaking Carly, keep your voice down… Freddie there you are! Did you stay at Sam's all night?" Spencer briefly hugged Freddie, and then headed towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, I fell asleep on her couch. My phone was on silent, sorry I didn't answer."

"Nah, it's cool, just glad you're ok. What d'you kids want for breakfast?"

"I'll just have cereals!" Carly went into the kitchen to pour herself and Freddie some juice. No sooner did she leave the room the front door started to open. He ran to the door and undid the chain. He came face to face with Sam.

"Hey."

"Hey Nub. What's for breakfast?" He smiled at her slightly and he saw her cheeks go red.

"Fredweird…" she whispered "not in front of Carly? I can't deal with it just yet."

"Yeah sure, no problem." He winked at her, which made her scowl and stamp on his foot as she shoved past him.

"Hey Carls." She said as she casually strolled into the kitchen. Carly nearly dropped the glass of juice she was holding.

"Hey Sam, are you ok today?"

"Never better. What's to eat, I'm starved?"

"We've got pancakes, cereals, toast, which do you want?"

"Got any bacon?"

"No, we're out of bacon."

"I'll just have some of everything else then."

"So, you'll have pancakes, cereals and toast?"

"Yeah."

"O…k then." Carly spun around and busied herself helping Spencer with the breakfast. Sam went and plonked herself down on the couch next to Freddie.

"Last night was fun Fredlumps." She whispered in his ear.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"I thought about what you said."

"And?" Freddie waited for her answer with anticipation, but it took her a few seconds.

"I need some of my own questions answering before I answer back. Meet me later at the Groovie Smoothie, ok?"

"When exactly?"

"I need to go out shopping in a bit, but I can meet you at one o clock."

"Shopping? For what?"

"None of your business, Nub."

"Fine." Not much has changed then, he thought to himself. As Sam sat there next to him and ate her three platefuls of food, he sat and watched her. He found it incredible that she never put on any weight, she ate like an elephant. Sure she was curvy, but Freddie definitely wouldn't want her any other way. He reached for one of her sliced of toast, but she slapped his hand away. Carly was watching them both out of the corner of her eye, smiling to herself.

"Carly, come over here." Spencer murmured to his little sister.

"What?" She said.

"What's going on with those two?"

"Nothing."

"I may be an idiot but I'm not blind. Are they angry with each other?"

"Nooo, not exactly…"

"Then what? I wanna know!"

"Spencer, shush! You'll find out soon enough, I'm sure."

Freddie was too busy watching Sam to hear any of Spencer and Carly's conversation. He was falling into new levels of fascination, watching her so closely as she chewed her food and wiped the crumbs from her mouth.

"What are you gawping at?"

"Nothing!"

"It'd better be nothing. I'm going out, I'll see you later. Come alone." She walked out and shut the door behind her without saying another word. Freddie could have sworn he almost saw her wink at him as she was about to leave. He smirked to himself; Sam Puckett had just winked at him!

"What are you so happy about? And where's Sam?" Carly came and sat down by Freddie and handed him a drink.

"She's gone out somewhere, she wouldn't say where. And I'm happy because, y'know. Good things are happening."

"Ooh, good things! Like?"

"You'll find out soon!"

"Ahh I wanna find out now!"

"Sorry Carls, I'll tell you later I promise. Do you know any reason why she'd have to go shopping?"

"Shopping? No, I don't think so. She only goes shopping with me usually, where I try to buy her nice clothes but she throws them at me and moans. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. Just that she said she had to go shopping today. Never mind, she'll have her own reasons."

"Why are you worried about her going shopping?" Spencer had been listening in.

"Oh, no reason." Freddie's face had gone slightly pink.

"Hmm. Interesting." Spencer stood there, stroking his chin in a similar way to how Gibby had the day before.

"I'm gonna go have a shower, and confront my Mom. I'll see you in a bit."

"Have fun. I'll be here, all lonely."

"Hey!" Spencer yelled at Carly.

"Apart from you of course!"

"I am a fun, cool brother; you are never lonely when I'm around!"

Freddie went out and left them to it. He ran straight through to his bedroom, narrowly missing an attack from his Mother with her antibacterial spray. It was still only 10 o clock. He got undressed and got in the shower. He spent a while in there thinking, he always thought best whilst in the shower. He was excited about meeting up with Sam, but worried about the questions she was going to ask him. He knew one thing for sure; he was going to answer them truthfully.

Once he had got dressed it was 11 o clock. He went on his laptop, and played on some 'Nerd Games' as Sam liked to all them. The clock was going so slowly it seemed like it was about to stop. By the time 10 minutes to 1 came around, Freddie was nearly ripping his hair out in frustration. He grabbed his jacket and headed out of his bedroom. As he expected, his Mom was waiting still with the spray.

"Freddie, where are you going?" She yelled after him as he ran out of the front door.

"Out to meet a friend. I'll be back later."

He rushed down the flights of stairs and out of the building. The Groovie Smoothie was pretty quiet; only about five people were in there. He sat at an empty table, waiting for Sam to arrive. He looked down at his reflection in the shiny table top, fixing his hair a bit. It was only when he heard a cough behind him that he sat up.

"Enjoying yourself Nub?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I was. You have a problem with that?"

Sam came and sat down next to him. She was in the same clothes as before and her hair looked a mess. She didn't answer his question, just looked down at her own reflection.

"Do you want a drink?" He asked her.

"Strawberry Splat. Large."

"Won't be a sec." He jumped up and went to T-Bo.

"One large Strawberry Splat and a medium Blueberry Blitz please T-Bo."

"Just two today?" He looked around at the table Freddie had just come from. "No Carly?"

"Nope, just me and Sam today."

"Oh I see." T-Bo smiled and winked at Freddie, who tried to ignore it. He quickly paid for the smoothies and sat down.

"Here you go."

"Thanks." Sam mumbled, taking the smoothie off him.

"So, you had questions did you?"

"Yeah."

"Are you going to ask me them?"

"Maybe." She slurped her smoothie, not making eye contact with him. Freddie sat and watched her. It was a good ten minutes until she spoke.

"Are you angry with me?"

"What?" Freddie laughed. "Why would I be angry at you?"

"Don't laugh at me!" Freddie quickly took a blank facial expression. "I'd be angry if I was you. I kissed you after years of being a bitch and…"

"You were not a bitch. You were just…"

"I was a bitch, face it Freddie I made your life miserable."

"No, you didn't. You tried very hard to, but you never managed it. I always wished one day you would like me, and be friends with me like you were with Carly. I never felt miserable though, well, not all the time anyway."

"I'm sorry." She whispered quietly, but Freddie heard. He reached out and touched her hand which was resting on the table top. She flinched but he saw her smile slightly.

"Do you like me?"

"Of course I do. Sam, I told you, I always wanted you to be my friend…"

"No, do you… like me?" Freddie realised what she was getting at.

"Oh, err, that." He looked at her directly in the eyes. She went red in the face and turned away from him. He took a deep breath.

"Sam, I couldn't ever tell you how much you mean to me because you never gave me the chance. Until now. You're beautiful, and funny, and smart even though you never show it. I'll never forget the day you kissed me on the fire escape. I sat there and for the first time I thought of you differently, not as the demon who tortured me at every chance she got. I thought of you as the beautiful blond girl who lives life her way, and doesn't let anyone tell her what to do. I admired you, and from that day on I wished I could be more close to you, I wished that you would let me get more close to you."

She was staring at her feet, not moving a muscle. Freddie could have sworn he saw tears in her eyes.

"Sam?" He said cautiously.

"So, you wanna come back to my place again?"

"Wh… oh, ok sure."

She stood up and walked towards the doors. He quickly followed her. The walk to her house was a long one, but he didn't mind. It gave him chance to try and get some emotion out of her.

"So, you like me. I like you. Is this going to go the way I think it is?" She turned to him.

"Do you want it to go that way?"

"Do you?"

"One of us is going to have to answer that."

"Yeah." Freddie told himself silently to be the man, stop backing away. "Ok then, I will. I would definitely not mind if it did."

"You would definitely not mind?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "Does that mean you would like it to?"

"Yeah, it does."

She smiled at him; something that Freddie was pretty sure had only happened about two times before. He smiled back, and nothing else was said for the rest of the walk. He had a strong urge to reach and grab her hand, but he resisted. They got to her front door and she pulled the key out of her pocket.

"Your Mom isn't here again?"

"No she's… just gone out for a while."

"Oh right, ok."

They both went in and Sam shut the door behind them. It was definitely tidier than the day before, Sam's Mom must have been home to clean.

"Do you want a drink?"

"No thanks, we just had drinks."

"Oh right, yeah."

They both went and sat on the sofa. From where he was sat, Freddie could see shopping bags on the side in the kitchen, still full of shopping.

"You want help unpacking the shopping?"

Sam turned to look and saw the shopping bags. "Oh, yeah ok, I forgot."

"You did the shopping?" So that's why she was shopping, Freddie thought silently.

"Yeah, my Mom was too busy."

"Ok then." He got up and started unpacking with her. He could tell that it was Sam that did the shopping; the food in the bags was all of Sam's favourite things. Fat cakes, meat, and more fat cakes, and more meat. And some wahoo punch. He noticed the cupboards were just about empty, as was the fridge. He didn't comment. He knew that Sam's Mom didn't earn that much money, but he didn't realise just how little Sam had to live on.

"All done." He said with a flourish. He could tell Sam was embarrassed about something.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." A fake smile appeared on her face. "Wanna watch a film?"

"Ok, what films have you got?"

"Loads." She went into the living room and pulled out a box from under the TV stand. There were literally hundreds of DVDs in there.

"My Mom used to date this guy who owned a DVD store; he gave all these to me." As Freddie rummaged through them, he noticed many of them weren't all too suitable for a girl of however old Sam was when she got these. Half of them were rated 18. He finally found a good one, The Matrix.

"How about this?"

"Yeah, ok." She slotted the disk into the DVD player, and then sat next to Freddie on the sofa. As the movie started playing, Freddie realised he wasn't paying attention, and when he looked across he could tell Sam wasn't either.

"This is boring." She said after a while.

"You're right." He replied. She pressed the stop button on the remote then just sat there staring at the blank screen. He decided to make a move, it was now or never.

He leaned across and captured her lips with his. She leaned so that she was on her back with Freddie leaning over her. He put one hand to the back of her head and the other on her back, and leaned on his elbows. She hungrily bit his bottom lip, causing him to moan. She pushed her tongue slowly into his mouth and they carried on making out.

After a few minutes, Freddie shifted his position and started to trail kisses down her neck. She arched her back slightly. He had to remind himself not to be too forward; he felt hot and a little bit too excited. He started to suck gently on the side of her neck. It was her turn to moan out loud. He felt her tense up slightly underneath him. She was rubbing slightly against him, and he felt a small lump start to form in his trousers. He prayed for it to go away.

He bit down gently on her neck, and she hissed out loud. He carried on doing this, sucking and biting for a few minutes. The whole time he could feel Sam getting more worked up underneath him. He could feel she was sweating and her hips had started to jerk up to him. He would have to stop soon, or he wouldn't be able to control himself.

"Mmm, Freddie." She was tugging slightly at his top. He moved his lips back up to her mouth and kissed her with such a force she was clinging onto his back. She wrapped one leg around his and brought her body up close to his. He felt her hips jerk up to his and he nearly exploded.

"Sam… mmm… we need… to stop."

"Why?" She was panting heavily.

"I can't… I mean… I need to stop. Please…"

She let him go and he pulled up off her and sat down. She looked down and saw his problem. She smiled.

"Aww, Fredikins needs to stop. I see now…"

"Shut up." He said playfully, throwing a cushion at her.

"So I'm really too much for you?"

"Never. I think judging by that performance I was too much for you."

"We'll see then, won't we?" Just by the look on her face he could feel himself getting excited all over again. He looked away, smirking. He had had dreams that went just like what had happened, except they didn't end like this. He felt like he could fly he was so happy.

Sam brought her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs, still facing him. She watched him intently for a few minutes, as he sat there calming himself down. Sam had never done anything like that before, but then again, she'd never met anyone before that she'd want to do that with. For a seventeen year old, her experience with boys was scarce. She'd kissed a few, but none like that. Sam had also had dreams about Freddie, for quite a while now. She felt embarrassed just thinking about them, the things that happened in them made her feel dirty.

"Shall we go over to Carly's? Rescue her from the boredom she will most likely be experiencing?"

Sam snapped out of her daydream. "Yeah, ok then. Let's go."

He stood up and held out his hand. She took it and he pulled her up. She wobbled a bit as she stood up, and Freddie held her steady.

"Whoa, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She walked over to the front door and opened it. Freddie smiled goofily to himself. He'd just made Sam go weak at the knees, something he thought he'd never see. He practically skipped after her.


	4. Found Out

Thanks to the 3 reviewers for reviewing! I love reviews a lot. Please could I have a few more this chapter? Please? I will reply to every review I get :)

I don't own iCarly btw :)

* * *

><p>Ch4<p>

"Thank God you're here, I was about to chop my arm off for something to do." Freddie and Sam both entered Carly's apartment. The smell of polish hit them as they entered; Carly tended to clean when she was bored.

"Where's Spencer?" Sam asked, looking around.

"At Socko's, playing on a new video game or something. Do you want a drink?"

"Yes please." Freddie and Sam said in unison. They then both went and sat on the couch. Carly brought over their drinks and sat down next to them.

"So, what've you two been up to?"

Sam glanced over at Freddie.

"Nothing much. Just, hanging out with the Nub."

"Oh. And what did hanging out involve?"

"We just… drank smoothies." Sam mumbled.

"And we went back to hers and watched a film." Sam glared at Freddie, warning him not to say any more. He was hardly going to say then we stopped watching the film and made out on the couch, but he made sure his lips stayed shut.

"Can I talk with you for a sec Carls?" Sam said. "Alone?"

"Yeah, sure. Go upstairs, I'll be there in a minute." Sam ran up to Carly's room. As soon as she was out of earshot, Carly turned to Freddie.

"Do you think she's going to tell me?"

"I don't know. Just act surprised, remember, or she'll get suspicious that I already told you."

"Right. Surprised, got it."

She ran up the stairs after Sam. Freddie sat nervously twiddling his thumbs for what felt like hours. He suddenly heard stomping coming down the stairs.

"YOU TOLD HER?" Carly had obviously not acted surprised enough.

His instincts cut in. He made for the door as fast as he could, but Sam was quicker. She ran in front of him and pushed him over.

"Ow, Sam!"

"You told her? How could you, I told you not to tell her!"

Carly had only just reached the bottom of the stairs. "It's not his fault! Sam, he asked advice, he didn't know what to do. I'm your best friend; I'd have expected you to have told me anyway!"

Sam grabbed Freddie and pulled him up. He backed away as she advanced towards him.

"I trusted you!"

"This is Carly we're talking about; we couldn't keep it from her! Sam, she's your best friend, you couldn't expect us to kiss behind her back again and not tell her."

"Thankyou Freddie." Carly said, walking towards the two of them. "Sam, it's ok. I'm happy for you, I really am! It's nice that you feel something other than hatred towards Freddie- I mean, it's a shock, but it's really nice. Please don't be angry at Freddie, he really likes you."

Sam looked from Freddie to Carly, and then relaxed.

"Ok fine. I'm… sorry."

"I'm sorry too." Freddie said. "You can trust me, from now on; I'll never break a promise."

"Aww!" Carly started squeaking in an alarmingly high pitch and jumped up and down. Both Sam and Freddie rolled their eyes and went to sit on the couch.

"You two are both so cute!"

"Cute?" Sam repeated, with a look of disgust on her face. Freddie laughed.

"Wait a second." Carly advanced on Sam quickly. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Carly pointed her finger at Sam.

"On your neck?"

"Nothing."

"Let me see."

"No!"

Carly jumped on top of Sam. Sam resisted but gave up when Carly managed to move Sam's hair out of the way of her neck.

"Why d'you have bruises all over your neck?"

"I… got beaten up badly."

"Liar, they're mouth-shaped!"

"I got beaten up by someone's… mouth?"

Carly looked over at Freddie who had gone the colour of beetroot.

"Freddie?" Carly gave Freddie a stern look.

"What do you want me to say? I think you've figured out what they are!"

Carly jumped off Sam, who quickly covered her neck back up with her hair. Carly looked from Freddie to Sam and back again a few times, before a wide grin appeared on her face.

"I'm guessing you two weren't paying much attention to that movie then?"

"Nah, we turned it off. It was boring."

"And you thought a better way to spend your time was to suck on each other's necks?"

"Nope, actually Freddie did all the sucking. I just lay there and enjoyed it."

Carly looked torn between amusement, disgust and excitement.

"This is so great you guys! If someone asked me one thing in the world I thought would never happen, it would be you two becoming a couple!"

"Whoa whoa whoa. Not just quite ready for the whole 'couple' thing."

"Ok fine. But do you think you will, get together, and stuff?"

Freddie looked at Sam for her approval to say something, and she nodded.

"Yeah, we think so."

Carly gave out the biggest squeal yet, to which Sam cupped her hands over her ears.

"Jesus Shay, are you trying to deafen us?"

"Sorry, I am just so excited!"

"Yeah, we can tell!"

"So when are you going to tell your Mom?" Freddie looked at Carly as if she was mad.

"Err, like, never!"

"Freddie…"

No way! She hates Sam! If I told her we were going to go out, she would personally make sure Sam wasn't physically able to go out. And by that, I mean she'd kill her!"

"No way would she kill me, I could take her any day…"

"Either way, as you can see Carls, it is not a good idea that I tell her."

"You're going to have to tell her some day!"

"I might do, but that day won't be any time soon. Maybe when she's old, and deaf. She might not hear me when I tell her!"

"Oh very funny." At that moment, Spencer walked in the door.

"Hey kids. Socko bought the wrong game; he just went to return it. Looks like I'm here hanging out with you guys for the rest of the afternoon. So, what's up?"

Carly looked at Sam and Freddie, who both shook their heads violently at her. She ignored them.

"We have something very important to tell you."

"No we don't!" Freddie stood up in front of Carly, and smiled at Spencer.

"What's going on? I feel left out!" Spencer pulled a sad face.

"We're gonna have to tell him." Sam said seriously, turning to Freddie.

"Ok fine. The reason Sam was acting strange was because… something happened on the fire escape that I wasn't expecting. And then it led to more of the same sort of thing and now… here we are."

"I'm so confused!"

"Look, Spencer!" Sam took over from Freddie to explain, who had managed to make Spencer more confused than he was to start with. "I kissed Freddie yesterday. Then he spent the night at mine… nothing like that happened!" She suddenly shouted, as she saw the look on Spencer's face. "We fell asleep talking. Then again today, he came around to mine. We've… kinda decided to get together. We both like each other and… yeah."

Spencer's face went through just about all of the different expressions he had ever pulled.

"But you hate each other?"

"We thought we did. But we don't."

"And you won't beat Freddie again?"

"I'll try not to." Sam said with all seriousness.

Spencer started squeaking and jumping up and down in a very similar way to his sister. Sam and Freddie stepped back in alarm. Carly joined in jumping up and down and squeaking.

"It's like a freak show; see the squeaking spazzy Shay siblings, roll up!"

"Sam!" Freddie tried to scold her but she scowled at him and he smiled weakly back at her.

"This is so cute, you guys!" Spencer ran up to them and hugged them tightly.

"Eurgh, enough with the cute!" Sam could barely speak with Spencer clinging on to her so tightly.

"Spence, you're crushing my ribs." Freddie wheezed as Spencer finally let them go.

"When are you going on your first date?" Spencer was acting like a ten year old girl.

"Date? Eww, I dunno."

"C'mon Sam, you have to go on a date to get to know each other." Carly interrupted.

"I don't need to get to know him! We've been friends for over four years now. What isn't there to know? He's a nerd, he wears anti-bacterial underwear and he shops at ."

"You only know one side of him. You've hated him for four years, so you don't know the friendly side of Freddie."

"I think she knows the friendly side of me fine." Freddie spoke up.

"Oh, so you don't want to go on a date either? Every couple does it!"

"Yeah, but I don't think we're going to be like 'every couple', are we?"

"That's true."

"Look Carls, let us do it our own way. A way that will work for us."

"Ok then, fine. I am really proud of you two."

"For what?" Freddie and Sam once again spoke in unison.

"For putting aside your differences and becoming friends. Better than that, more than friends! It's going to do wonders for iCarly. Our viewers will be so happy when they find out!"

"You're going to tell them?" Sam had a look of panic on her face.

"What's wrong with that?"

"I don't know, but please don't."

"Come on Sam, the viewers will love it! You know all this Seddie junk that's flying around the internet; they'll be throwing huge nerd parties across the country when they find out…"

"That's exactly what I don't want! I don't need to become 'Seddie', it's ridiculous. We are two people, not one. I hate the whole 'Seddie' and 'Creddie' thing…"

"Ok fine, whatever. But we're still telling the fans. We owe them that, they watch us every week!"

"Ok, fine. Tell them. But if I ever get referred to as 'Seddie', then I swear…"

"It won't happen! Don't worry; I'll make sure it doesn't. How about you Freddie, are you ok with me telling the viewers?" Freddie, who for the past few minutes had been staring at Sam, oblivious to what was being said, snapped back to reality. "What?"

"Never mind." Carly said, flopping back down on the sofa. Spencer was listening half-heartedly. The sudden drama had obviously become boring for him.

"I think I'd better be going back home." Freddie said, looking at his watch. "I'll see you tomorrow?" He turned towards Sam.

"You'd better. I'll be here."

"Ok good." He kissed her quickly on the lips. Both Carly and Spencer were watching with dewy eyes.

"Bye guys." He said, smiling at them and waving. They just continued to stare at him as he made his way out of the room. Mind you, so did Sam. She couldn't keep her eyes off him.

Freddie found his Mom cleaning the kitchen. He decided he needed to speak to her, just to assure her that nothing fishy was going on. But he meant it when he told Carly that he had no intentions of his Mom ever finding out about Sam.

"Hey Mom."

"Freddie! Where have you been?"

"Just at Carly's!"

"Doing what?"

"Just hanging out like we always do."

"Was Sam there?"

"Yeah, it was me, Carly, Sam and Spencer."

"Spencer is irresponsible. It's always amazed me how Spencer has been trusted with looking after a minor. I certainly wouldn't trust him to look after a child for however many years he's been looking after Carly!"

"Spencer's not that bad Mom! Carly's turned out ok hasn't she?"

"Yes I suppose so. So Carly still isn't interested in you?"

"Mom! We're just friends."

"Well I don't know, you always used to have a big thing for her! Remember that poster you had of her in your room?"

"I took that down over a year ago!" It was true; he did have a poster of Carly in his room when he was younger. Sam used to tease him mercilessly about it. He replaced the poster with a big picture that Spencer took of him, Carly and Sam in the iCarly studio.

"You know Freddie, I don't think it's a good thing you hang around with those girls so much. You need some boys your own age to hang around with."

"I hang around with Gibby!"

"Yes, but I mean normal boys. Who wear shirts."

"Gibby wears shirts some of the time!"

"Yes, but the rest of the time he walks around half naked!"

"Mom, I don't need any more friends. I've been friends with Carly and Sam for years now, and you've never been that bothered. Why are you suddenly so against it?"

"Because I've realised you're not a baby anymore!" About time, Freddie thought.

"So if I'm not a baby, I can make my own choices about who I'm friends with!"

"But Freddie, the only reason boys your age hang around with a girl is if they like them in a certain way. It's not normal for your two best friends to be girls!"

"It is normal; Mom loads of guys have friends that are girls!"

"Even so, Freddie I don't want you spending all your time with them for the rest of the summer. Maybe you should hang out with Gibby if there's really no other boys that you're friends with."

"No Mom that isn't fair."

"Life's not fair Fredward. Now I need to find my antibacterial spray, you didn't get sprayed properly…"

"I had a shower!"

"Water doesn't kill germs!"

Freddie ran into his room and locked the door behind him. He loved his Mom, but right now he was so angry he didn't think he could stand being in the same room as her for the rest of the night. He kicked his dresser in frustration, but he hurt his toe so he sat on his bed instead. How could his Mom tell him who he could be friends with? What did she know? She had no idea for the feelings he had for Sam. Even if he didn't love her, which he had decided he definitely did, his best memories of the past few years of his life were spent with Sam and Carly. He couldn't just give up being friends with them overnight.

The next morning, Freddie made his way over to Carly's early. His Mom was still asleep when he left, which he was hoping for as to avoid another confrontation. He knocked quietly on Carly's front door. There was no answer; he didn't want to wake them up. He rummaged in the plant pot near their door looking for a key but there wasn't one. He looked under the door mat and there wasn't one there either. He then checked on the ledge above the door. He found the key, and opened the door quietly. How Sam spent all these years breaking in without realising there was a spare key, he had no idea.

He walked over to the couch and was surprised to see Sam curled up on it under a blanket. He wondered why she wasn't sleeping in Carly's room. Her hair was all over her face. He brushed it to the side gently and tucked it behind her ear. He gently sat down next to her and watched her sleep for a few minutes.

"If she woke up she'd kick your butt for staring at her." Spencer was standing in his bedroom doorway half asleep.

"Which is why I'm being quiet." Freddie mumbled back.

"Not quiet enough." Freddie's eyes shot down and he saw Sam looking up at him.

"Hi."

"Good morning." She said sitting up, yawning and stretching. "What's for breakfast?"

"I got more bacon!" Spencer said, skipping into the kitchen.

"Bacon it is then."

"So Puckett, what do you want to do today?"

"I don't know Benson, what did you have in mind?"

"My Mom's out at an Aggressive Parenting conference until late. We could go back to mine and hang out."

"Sounds good. What about Carly, are we just going to leave her here on her own?"

"Spencer's here!"

"What about me?" Spencer came into the room when he heard his name.

"Nothing. You're here all day right?"

"Well, yeah I got nothing better to do."

"Cool. Now go watch the bacon before you set the kitchen on fire again."

Spencer ran back into the kitchen to check on the bacon. At that moment, Carly came down the stairs rubbing her eyes.

"Freddie, you're here already?"

"Yeah I am. Hey, I have a question."

"What's your question?"

"Why was Sam sleeping on the couch last night and not in your room?"

"She wanted to sleep on the couch."

"Why did you want to sleep on the couch?"

"I don't know. I like it down here. Besides, Carly snores."

"I do not!"

"You do so! Trust me Carls, it's like being in the same room as a pig when you're sleeping."

"Did you just call me a pig?"

"No, but you sound like one!"

"Sam, Sam I think she's tired. Let's not start an argument." Freddie patted Sam on the shoulder. Sam shut up.

Carly headed into the kitchen to get a drink. Freddie left her alone; something was obviously annoying her. He spoke to Sam instead.

"Don't you want to go home first before you come over to mine, to see your Mom?"

"Why would I want to see her?"

"No reason, maybe she's worried where you are."

"She's never worried about me, she doesn't care."

"I'm sure she does care about you, she's your Mom!"

"What would you know Frednub, you've got a Mom who cares about you, and sees you every day and worries about what you're doing."

"Don't remind me. I'm having Mom problems of my own right now."

"Like what?"

Freddie sighed. He could tell Sam, she'd understand. "My Mom yelled at me last night. She went on about how I don't have any friends that are guys, and it's unhealthy to be such good friends with girls. She said the only reason guys my age hang out with girls is if they like them a certain way."

Sam raised her eyebrows at him. "So you told her about you and me?"

"No, of course I didn't. I just told her there was no way she could stop me hanging out with you, but she's still going to try. I don't think she suspects anything about us though."

"Good. I don't need your crazy Mom coming after me in the middle of the night with an axe."

"She wouldn't do that. I don't think."

"I wouldn't put it past her."

Carly came and sat down next to them with her glass of juice.

"So, what are you two up to today?"

"We were just going to hang out here for a bit. Then go over to mine for a bit."

"Oh, and just leave me here on my own again!"

"You'll be with Spencer!"

"Yay, and watch him make his stupid sculptures all day."

"What's up with you Carls?"

"I'll tell you what's up with me Sam, I'm worried. You two are going to want 'alone time' now, and I'll be left out. I don't want to spend the rest of my summer with Spencer!"

"We won't leave you out all the time! We'll still spend plenty of time hanging out here."

"But I'm used to having you guys here all the time! Now what am I going to do?"

"Why don't you invite Gibby round?"

"Why would I invite Gibby round?"

"He's entertaining! And he's a nice kid, there's nothing wrong with him. Well, yeah there's a lot wrong with him. But you should ask him to come and hang out, give him something to do."

"Thanks Freddie, I might just do that."

"Who wants bacon?" Spencer came in with a plate piled high with bacon. The four of them spent the morning eating snacks and watching Girly Cow dvds. It was about midday when there was a knock at the door.

"Freddie! Freddie I need to talk to you!"

Freddie went and opened the door. "Hi Mom."

"I'm going away now to my meeting, I won't be back until tomorrow so I need to make sure you know where everything is in the fridge so you don't go hungry."

"Mom I'll be fine, I'll just stay over at Carly's."

"No Fredward, I forbid you to stay here. Do you remember our little conversation?"

"Mom! Please, let me stay here!"

"No Freddie, I won't. Spencer will come and check on you to see if you are alright. Now, I'll see you tomorrow. Behave yourself." She kissed him on the top of the head then lugged her suitcase into the lift. Freddie mumbled angrily to himself as he re-entered Carly's apartment and he shut the door.

"Ouch, what was that about?" Spencer had been listening in.

"Nothing. She doesn't want me to stay here tonight so I'll have to stay at home."

"Why?"

"Because… I dunno, she's started some weird thing about not being friends with girls. It's stupid, she'll get over it."

"Mmm, ok. Now let's watch some more Girly Cow!"

"I'm going over to my place for a bit Spence, I'll see you in a while." Freddie raised his eyebrows at Sam. She nodded slightly.

"I'm going over there too. See you guys in a bit." The two of them quickly walked out of the apartment, leaving Carly and Spencer to watch Girly Cow.

"So Fredweird, what do you have planned for the afternoon?"

"I don't know Sam, I was thinking about watching a film, but…"

"Ok, as long as we can turn it off after we've watched it for ten minutes."

"Deal." He quickly led her into his apartment and shut the door behind them. By the time he'd done this Sam was already on the sofa.

"So, what is it you want to watch?" He said, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah right Frednub, like we're really interested in watching tv." He smiled at her and she leaned over to him. It was his turn to lie on his back.

She gently grazed her lips with his, teasing him. He moved his hand to the back of her head and licked her lips gently as they kissed. They slowly made out, capturing every second of it. Their tongues danced together, as they heated up a bit. Sam then moved her hands to his head and pulled her head away. He moaned slightly in frustration.

"Samm…"

"Shh."

She moved her mouth down his neck and started to nibble at his neck. This time he moaned in pleasure, as she played gently with his skin, biting and sucking. She moved back up his neck and went to his ear with her mouth.

"How'd you like that Fredward?" She whispered seductively in his ear, biting on his earlobe. He moaned loudly back at her, unable to answer properly.

Sam felt brave, like she'd gained a new sort of energy. With a rush of adrenaline, she rubbed her hand gently down his chest and found the bottom of his shirt. Her fingers crept under it, and her hand made contact with the smooth skin on his stomach.

"Mmm." He moaned out loud. The effect she was having on him was something he'd never experienced before. She leaned down again to kiss him. He hungrily moved his lips against hers, taking in as much of her as he could. She moaned back at him, filling him with confidence to take over.

He grabbed her waist and flipped her so that she was lying on her back and he was over her. He ran his fingers through her hair. She looked up at him with wide eyes, waiting for what he was going to do next. He moved one hand to the bottom of her back and lifted her up slightly to him. He then kissed her passionately and rubbed his hips slightly against hers, making her shiver. He blanked his mind out, trying not to make the same mistake the first time they were making out on a couch.

He did the same again, and rubbed his crotch against hers. Her hips jerked up to his involuntarily. She moaned even louder and bit his lip. He was enjoying the effect he had on her so much he decided to try out something new.

He moved his hand to her chest and rubbed slightly over her breast. She trembled underneath him. He did it again with a bit more force, and he felt her tense up slightly underneath him.

"Mmm, Freddie."

"You want me to stop?"

"No, don't stop."

He did it again, cupping her breast in his hand. She wriggled a bit, and her hips started to jerk again. Their kiss had become so heated their heads were clashing together awkwardly as they ached for more of each other. Freddie let go of her breast so he could use his hands to lift her up to him more. He had one hand on her back and the other on her butt, lifting her hips up so he had as much access as he could get.

He rubbed his crotch against hers forcefully, as he did it took all of her strength not to completely jerk away from him as she felt her body tense up. There were warm tingly feelings spreading all through her body to her fingertips, and she ached for more.

"More, Freddie please."

Freddie was getting the same feelings, but again reached the point where things may get messy if he didn't stop.

"Sam, sorry but I can't." He eased off her and let her lay down flat again on the sofa. He moved her legs to the side, and sat down with her legs resting on his lap. Her chest was heaving up and down as she gasped for breath. He laid his head backwards, trying to breathe as steadily as he could.

"See… what you do to me?" He said to her, smiling.

"Sorry Frednub." Her eyes were closed as she was trying to catch her breath.

"No problem Puckett. Are you ok?" There was still sweat dripping down her forehead.

"All good. Just give me a minute."

She sat up next to Freddie and leaned against his shoulder, still panting. He put his arm around her and laughed.

"That's my workout for the day." He said.

"That's my workout for the week."

"So, do you wanna watch tv now?"

"Yeah, why not."

Freddie turned on the tv and X Factor was on. The two of them sat there, not paying much attention to the tv, just enjoying each other's company.

"Nub?" Sam said after a while.

"Yes?"

"Do we have to be nice to each other now?"

"I think so."

"But… does that mean I have to call you Freddie now?"

"Err… well yeah, but if it bothers you, I could live with the Fredweird. Or Fredface, or Frednub, or Freddork."

"Good. I mean, I don't want things to change too much. You're still the weak nerd I hated all those years ago. You just seem a lot cuter."

"Thanks… I think."

Freddie realised that getting together with Sam may not have made things easier. In fact, things just got a whole lot more complicated.


	5. How Cute Is That?

Here's the next chapter! YAAAAY! My favorite so far, if I do say so myself ;) Now, for a bit of bad news. It may be a few days wait for the next one. I'm only about 1/3 of the way through it, and I'm sooo busy lately. SO I'm sorry if there's a bit of a delay :(.

I don't own iCarly btw

* * *

><p>Ch5<p>

The next night, it was time to do the web show that had cast the three of them into fame four years before. What was different this night, however, was that both Freddie and Sam felt sick with worry. Neither of them knew how the fans would react to their relationship. On one hand, there'd be the fans that would go insane and scream from the rooftops with joy, screaming 'Seddie!' at the top of their lungs. Then there'd be the Creddie fans, who would send emails to the both of them begging Freddie to dump Sam, and Sam to throw herself off a cliff.

As Freddie counted down to the show as he normally did, the girls could hear the obvious quiver in his voice. His hands were also shaking slightly.

"In 5, 4, 3, 2…"

"Hellooooo earthlings! And good day Martians, and residents of other distant planets!"

"Welcome to another… iCarly!"

"So Sam, I wonder if you know where to find only the best, most awe inspiring entertainment on the internet?"

"Why of course I do Carls, it's only right here on !"

"Are you sure? I mean, isn't there anything better to watch? Something educational, which will benefit the expansion of knowledge for the younger generation?"

"Maybe. Probably. But where's the fun in that?"

"That's right. So, today we are starting the show with our friend Gibby!"

Gibby wandered into the shot dressed in a hotdog suit.

"A random fan emailed us, asking what Gibby would look like dressed as a hotdog."

"We love our random fans!"

"They're so… random!"

"So Gibby how is the hotdog suit? D'you think you're going to wear it more often?"

"Nope. You told me I was going to do my Dr Lobster bit today. Instead you're making me dress up as fast food and look like a loser in front of millions of people…"

"There's no change there then! So Gibby, our random fan also asked whether we knew of any special hotdog dances. It turns out that we do! Show the viewers the hotdog dance Gib!"

Gibby did a humiliating dance, which included rolling around on the floor and struggling to get up again.

"Well here's your answer random fan! I hope you enjoyed Gibby's performance."

"We sure did! Thanks Gibby." Sam shoved Gibby towards the exit of the studio.

"What was the point in that?" Gibby mumbled as he wandered out the door.

"Now iCarly viewers, it is time to have a bit of a serious moment. We have a very important announcement to make to all of you. Freddie, come in front of the camera for a second."

Freddie shook his head violently, but Carly snatched the camera out of his hands and set it on its stand. She then dragged him over to Sam and stood him right next to her. Sam had closed her eyes, possibly trying not to show any signs of fear.

"Carly… I don't think we should do this, let's not…" Carly put her hand over Sam's mouth and carried on talking.

"Both Sam and Freddie, who we all know very well, have recently started to have feelings for each other that they didn't have before. They have started going out together. Now, I know this is great news for some of you, and not so great for others, but please can you all respect their privacy and just be happy for them? No Creddie or Seddie stuff just for now people."

"Carls, enough." Sam murmured, throwing Carly's hand off her mouth. She was obviously embarrassed for the first time at the thought of over one million viewers staring at her.

"So, after that shock announcement, we are ending the show early tonight. Sorry folks, tune in next week!"

Freddie rushed over to his laptop and ended the show. Sam collapsed into the chair that was by her.

"That was awful."

"No it wasn't! I think it went fine."

"Yeah, because you're not the one that's having to announce the most unexpected relationship on the web to millions of people at once!"

"To be fair Carls, you kind of just stuck us in front of the camera and talked about us, while people stared at us like we're zoo animals."

"That's how we planned it! How else were we going to tell people?"

"I thought we could just start making out in front of the camera, y'know, give people a few hints." Freddie caught her eye and they both laughed.

"Oh sure, that would be a perfectly sensible thing to do! It's over and done with guys, now everybody knows."

Freddie's face suddenly turned white.

"What's wrong?" Sam got up and walked over to him. As she reached him he swayed on the spot, Sam grabbed him to stop him falling over.

"Whoa, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"M… my… my M…"

"Spit it out!"

"My Mom was watching tonight. She… she always watches iCarly when she's not got her pottery class… it was cancelled this week…"

Sam let go of Freddie and turned pale herself.

"At least… at least now she knows."

"Yeah, and what's she going to do next?"

There was a sudden hammering downstairs.

"That's her!" Freddie grabbed Sam's hand and ran to the back of the studio.

"We have to hide." They both ran through the door to the back of the studio, leaving Carly stood there with a shocked expression on her face.

"What do you want me to do?" She yelled after them.

"Tell her we're not here!"

At that very second, Carly heard Mrs Benson reach the top of the stairs. She came bursting into the studio.

"WHERE ARE THEY?"

"They… left! They had to go out…"

"Where did they go?"

"They used the lift; I think they went for a walk."

"Fredward Benson I am coming for you!" She ran into the lift and frantically stabbed at the ground floor button. Once she had gone, Freddie and Sam emerged from their hiding place.

"Phew, good one Carls. I think Crazy's got it in for me."

"No doubt about that. Just think of the amount of antibacterial spray she's going to get through once she gets her hands on me."

"You two had better think of a good explanation, you can't hide from her forever."

"No but we can try."

"Freddie, you need to speak to her! At least now she won't think you're hanging out with a girl just because you're friends…"

"She hates Sam!" Sam slapped him on the arm but he ignored her. "I'm sure she'd rather we were friends than anything more!"

"But she's your Mom! She'll understand, she loves you."

"Yeah, she loves me. Too much. If she could wrap me in bubble wrap she would. Now I'm going out with an ex-young offender, she's going to lock me in my bedroom and not let me out ever again!"

"Ex-offender?" Sam butted in. "I've only ever been to juvie… three times? No, four times."

"Good for you, you should be proud."

"Don't cheek me Benson!"

"I'm not, I'm just being sarcastic!"

"You guys stop!" Carly dragged them apart, trying to prevent Sam from tackling Freddie to the ground.

"Please can we figure out what to do once your Mom realises you are actually still up here?"

"Yeah, sorry. I vote I go and speak to her. Sam, you stay here with Carly…"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"I'm not, if you want to go and confront my crazy mother go ahead!"

Sam hesitated. "No, I'll stay here."

"Great. I'll see you guys later… hopefully." Freddie nervously jogged out of the door and went to look for his Mother.

He ran down the stairs, his heart bouncing in his chest. Just how angry his Mom would turn out to be, he had no idea, and he wasn't looking forward to finding out.

He ran down the street scanning around for his Mom. He spotted her outside the Groovie Smoothie, looking through the window for any sight of him or Sam. He took a deep breath and went up to her.

"M… Mom?"

"Freddie!" She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Come with me this instant!" She grabbed his wrist and dragged him all the way up to the apartment. She locked the door behind them and grabbed her can of emergency anti-bacterial spray that she kept by the door. Freddie braced himself.

"I can't believe this Fredward Benson! How dare you not tell me about this?" She sprayed him square on in the face, making him splutter.

"B… because I knew this is how you would react!"

"Oh and is it any wonder? You and that girl, that beast…"

"Don't talk about her like that!"

"You've never stopped me talking about her like that before!" She continued spraying him, making sure she didn't miss a spot.

"Now it's different Mom! I really like her, I think… I think I love her."

"That's ridiculous! How could anybody love her?"

"Stop, Mom! You don't know her; you don't know what she's really like. She's a good person."

"And that's why she's been arrested so many times, is it?"

"She's just misunderstood. Mom, I want to be with her, and I swear she'll behave from now on, she's changed."

Freddie's Mom looked at him for a moment. A look of realisation appeared on her face. "I see what this is about Fredward. This is about that little conversation we had isn't it? You're pretending to love this girl so you can continue playing with them every day!"

"Playing… I'm seventeen, Mom! I don't play anymore!"

"Well, whatever you do when you hang out with them I don't know, but it isn't going to work Freddie. You're plan hasn't fooled me."

"There's no plan Mom! I love her! I love Sam! Would I really joke about something like this? I love her, and there's nothing you can do to keep me away from her." His Mom dropped her can of spray and it went clattering across the floor.

"Fredward…"

"No Mom, I'm not going to listen to your lecture anymore!"

"Fredward stop." She grabbed his arm and held him from storming off to his room.

"Since when have you loved this girl? You always acted like you hated her."

"Only because I thought she hated me. I never hated her."

"So she doesn't hate you?"

"No, she doesn't. I only just found out a couple of days ago."

"How? Did she just tell you?"

"Err… yeah something like that."

"Oh Fredward. I wish you'd spoken to me about this earlier. Come here." She gave him a tight hug and he patted her on the back awkwardly. She finally let him go after what seemed to Freddie like a lifetime.

"So… you're ok with this?"

"No of course I'm not. But I'm sure there's not much I can do about it, is there?"

"No, there isn't."

"Well then, that's settled. As long as I don't have to see her around anymore than I do now. Who knows, maybe you'll be a good influence on her."

"Thanks Mom."

"I'm sure to regret this Fredward. But you're welcome."

Freddie wasted no time in rushing back into Carly's apartment and up to the studio.

"Sam! Sam!" He rushed up to Sam and hugged her around the waist, lifting her off the floor and spinning her around.

"Jeez Frednub, put me down! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Sorry, but I've just witnessed a miracle."

"You finally started growing chest hair?"

"What? Eww, no. I mean yes, I did ages ago. But no."

"Then what?"

"We don't have to hide from my Mom, she says it's ok we're together!"

A small smile spread on Sam's face. "So she doesn't hate me?"

"Oh, she still hates you. But she knows she can't stop me seeing you, so she's just accepted it. And she thinks I'll be a good influence on you."

"Well, that's good enough for me." Freddie looked into her eyes and smiled warmly at her. He had never seen Sam look so happy apart from when she had a ham sandwich in her hand. He ran his fingers through her hair. She carried on smiling at him.

He captured her lips with his, feeling warmth spread through his body. Sam shivered slightly as he held her close to him. Neither of them would say it to the other, but they both knew at that very moment that it was right. The words 'meant to be' even ran through Freddie's head, as cliché as they sounded, there were no other words that fitted the situation better. Sam was his, and he was hers. It was madness; never in a million years would he have thought that Sam could be his. He could hear victory bells ringing in his head. And…

They broke apart suddenly, realising at the same time that the small "Aww" sounds in the background were coming from Carly, who was still in the room. They had been so involved with each other they had completely forgotten she was standing there. Freddie felt his face flush a deep crimson colour, and saw Sam's had done the same.

"You guys…"

"No, Carls. No squeaking, or cooing, or jumping up and down. Please, if I have to go through this every day of my life, I swear I'll chop off the Nub's head just so you'll stop.

"Sam!"

"Joking! You know I wouldn't chop off your head."

"Well that's a comforting thought."

Carly was composing herself, trying to be as calm as possible. "I am so happy for you guys, I have never been so happy about anything in my life!"

"Yeah we can tell."

"So what's the next step for you guys? Still determined to give the whole dinner date thing a miss?"

"Oh yeah."

"Not ready for that one just yet."

Carly shook her head. "So you've made out with each other numerous times and announced your relationship to literally millions of people, yet you're not at the stage yet to go out to dinner?"

"I don't know about numerous times…"

"Oh please, the bruises on both of your necks tell a completely different story." They both rubbed their necks self-consciously.

"remember Carls? We're doing this our way."

"Yeah, ok I'm sorry."

"No problem. Now how about we ask Spencer for some spaghetti tacos? And maybe we watch the rest of the Girly Cow dvd?"

They had a fun night. The four of them, including Spencer, laughed and joked whilst watching Girly Cow and eating some of Spencer's famous spaghetti tacos. It was the way the three of them liked it, together, having a good time.

It also made a change for Carly not to have to break up a fight every few minutes. Sam and Freddie didn't argue once for the entire night. They weren't acting like much like a couple, the occasional look at each other but nothing more. The truth was they were toning it down for Carly's sake. What their relationship had done though was it had given both of them an answer to the confusing feelings they felt for each other. Sam had new ways of getting close to Freddie without it involving her fists making contact with his chest and face.

"It's getting late you guys, I'm going to head off to bed." Carly stretched and stood up, heading towards the stairs. She turned as she reached the bottom of them. "What are you two planning on doing?"

"I'm staying over." Sam said matter-of-factly.

"Ok. Freddie?"

"Can I stay over too?"

"Yeah sure. You both staying down here?"

"If that's ok…"

Spencer butted in. "Whoa, hold on there. No way you're both sleeping down here unsupervised."

"Spencer!"

"Eww, no Spencer, just no, nothing's going to happen!" Sam stood up defensively in front of Spencer.

"Hey. I am the responsible adult here, what I say is final. If you're both staying, you'll both stay in Carly's room with Carly."

"Spence, I'm sure you can trust them, this is Sam and Freddie we're talking about!"

"Carly, you're all too young to understand, but it would be wrong of me just to overlook this…"

"Guys!" Freddie stood up. "This is just causing a massive problem, I'm going home. I'll see you all tomorrow. Sam, can you just come out to the hall for a minute?"

"Sure." She followed him out to the hall and shut the door behind them.

"I just wanted to say, I think you're being really mature about the whole relationship thing. I mean, I've spent the past few hours with you; I've not been insulted or physically hurt once. I just wanted to say thanks."

Sam went red. Compliments weren't something she received often. "Shut up Nub, you're just trying to embarrass me."

"No I'm not. Seriously Sam, I'm really glad you've made an effort not to hurt me…"

"I didn't make an effort. I haven't had any desire to hurt you, or even be mean to you."

"Really?"

"I know right? I don't know what's wrong with me…"

"Nothing is wrong with you, nothing at all. I think you're adjusting to being in a relationship with me, that's all."

"If you say so. I still think I'm losing my mind."

"Well, you're not. I'd better go to bed, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll miss you."

Sam went even redder when Freddie said this, unused to the affection he was directing at her. "Sure. See you… I mean, I'll…"

"Aww, Sam, you've gone all red." At this she quickly came to her senses and punched him in the arm. Freddie rubbed where she had punched him.

"Ouch. I see the whole non-violence thing didn't last long."

"Yeah well you asked for it." She smiled though, seeing she had managed to avoid the awkward situation. Freddie leaned towards her, pulling her towards him. He kissed her gently on the lips, breathing her scent in deeply through his nostrils. He may have been trying to wind Sam up by telling her he'd miss her, but he wasn't lying. He was already looking forward to seeing her again in the morning.

They stood there kissing for a minute, not really wanting to say goodbye. Finally Freddie broke away from her.

"I'll see you in the morning." He smiled and headed towards his door. Just as he was turning his key he heard Sam cough as if she was about to speak. He turned around.

"I'll miss you too."

Freddie beamed at her. That was the best thing he'd ever heard come out of Sam's mouth. She smiled awkwardly then hurried back into Carly's apartment. Freddie stood there beaming into mid-air for several minutes before shaking his head, opening his door and heading in.


End file.
