A/N - When Sam put her arms around Freddie during their webcast in the latest episode, iHalfoween, I realized how much I missed them being together. There wasn't enough of Seddie goodness (despite the fact that Dan kind of ruined Seddie with the whole Sam-no-longer-picks-on-Freddie-but-now-teases-Gibby thing). But it's whatever.
Also, I feel like iCarly isn't as funny as it used to me. Is it just me?
Disclaimer: I don't own.
"What are you looking at?" Sam snapped, turning her head to see Freddie standing off to the kitchen. She tried not to look at the wart on his face—it kind of grossed her out. Freddie had dressed up as Lewbert for Halfoween, and he was doing a scarily accurate impression of the doorman. Sam, on the other hand, had gone the safe (and lazy) route by just taping a Purell bottle to her head filled with dijonase. She didn't have any Purell, but at least her costume was delicious.
"Something pretty." Freddie smirked, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter.
Sam's jaw practically hit the floor. She couldn't believe the audacity of Frednub. They had been broken up for a little over a month, and for the most part, things were going pretty well. Occasionally she'd find herself staring at him or leaning closer into his arm, but that was just habit. It wasn't because she was missing him or anything like that. And here he was just throwing a wrench into the machine.
Carly was off in the living room, putting out food and decorations. She glanced over at Sam and Freddie, probably wondering why Sam looked like she had been hit by a freight train.
Realizing that while Carly hadn't heard Freddie's snide comment, she was now listening to whatever they would say, Sam grabbed Freddie's arm and dragged him into the hall. Carly had just watched, a confused and amused smile on her face.
"What the hell was that, Fredlumps?"
"What?" He asked, sounding confused. It rubbed Sam the wrong way that he was acting like he hadn't just blatantly hit on her.
"Something pretty?" Sam hissed. "What were you thinking?"
"…that you were pretty?" Freddie said uncertainly.
Sam groaned loudly and turned away from him. She clenched her fists and shook her head. Freddie, like his usual oblivious, self didn't realize what can of worms he had just opened.
"We broke up, Freddie. You don't hit on me anymore." Sam snapped, hating more than anything that the reminder of his compliment made her face heat up. She was certain, though, that she wasn't blushing—at least not yet.
"I was just complimenting you!" He whined, obviously confused.
"I don't want to be complimented!" She screamed back, spinning on Freddie and throwing her hands into the air.
Inside the apartment, Carly had her ear pressed up to the door. She frowned, wondering why Sam was getting all worked up over nothing. Unless... Sam liked Freddie still.
What Carly didn't realize is that Sam and Freddie still did like one another, and they both knew it. They simply broke up, despite their feelings, because of what Carly had said about Spencer and his old babysitter. Yet, when Sam had related her break-up to Carly, she had danced around their small revelation and said that she didn't like him anymore.
Carly was convinced that wasn't the only reason, but let it go. She knew not to push Sam.
"I'm sorry!" Freddie yelled. "It's just…you are pretty, Sam. And I miss you."
Carly backed away from the door as fast as she could. This was getting personal, and Carly didn't need to be hearing this. She always was too nosy when it came to her friends. Each time they had done something together, she became too involved. All she wanted was her friends to be happy, but she had realized that they had found each other without her really—and if she knew that she was reason they broke up, she would have felt guiltier than she already had.
Moving to the couch, she turned Girly Cow on high volume, and settled in to ignore the ensuing fight.
Back in the hallway, Sam screamed, "Well, I don't miss you!"
Freddie looked as if she had struck him—and he wouldn't have felt so hurt if she had—and Sam felt instantly bad about what she said, but it was too late to take it back.
The opposite was true, in fact, she realized with irritation. She had spent the last month pushing down her feelings. Each time she had bumped into Freddie in the studio, it was as if her entire body was lit on fire. When he stood, working on all his techy-stuff, she couldn't help but stare. His face when he was concentrating was so cute. Now, all those feelings were bubbling to the surface and she wasn't sure if she was going to cry or beat the ever loving shit out of Freddie.
In short, she resented the fact that they had broken up—she still loved him.
"I…didn't know you felt that way." Freddie said, looking down.
Sam opened her mouth to say something…say anything. She felt like she was on a game show and this was her last chance to win a million dollars. If she didn't say something now, she was going to lose Freddie forever, and her lungs had decided to stop working then, leaving her gaping like a fish.
Freddie was watching her, his expression blank. She couldn't even tell what he was thinking. Then he began to say, "Sam… I lo—"
But before he could finish what he was going to say, Sam took a swing at him. Freddie cringed instinctively, but the hit never landed. Instead, Sam stopped about six inches from connecting with his jaw—yes, she was going to punch him; Sam Puckett didn't know the meaning of the word 'slap'—and dropped her hand.
Then the door to Carly's apartment slammed closed.
Freddie was alone.
Carly wasn't sure exactly what had gone on, but Sam was bawling her eyes out when she came back in. She was clutching her hand, and Carly wondered if she had hit Freddie, but that didn't explain why she was crying.
It almost shocked Carly to see her best friend crying. The last time she had seen Sam cry was when she had a job at the chili place and she was just being overdramatic then. These were honest-to-god tears, and Carly had no idea what to do. So she jumped off the couch and embraced her friend.
"What happened?"
"Nothing." Sam snapped, wiping her eyes on the back of hands.
"Doesn't look like nothing," Carly said, crossing her arms. "Would you tell me what happened over a plate of bacon?"
Of course, Sam's head shot up.
The bacon was sizzling in the pan when Carly broached the subject once more. "Now…spill, Sam."
Sam had stopped crying by then, but her eyes were red.
"Do you know why Freddie and I broke up?" She asked. Carly shook her head, looking lost. "Hmm…I thought Fredloser would tell you."
"No, neither of you told me anything at all," Carly said, frowning. She had to admit that she was irritated by her friend's lack of confidence in her. Sam usually told her everything, but this was always one subject that she stayed strangely silent about. What Carly didn't know was that Sam kept Freddie stuff to herself because she needed something that was just hers—she needed her secrets and her privacy.
"Well, remember Spencer and his old babysitter, and how they were trying to 'take this connection they had and force it into a relationship'?" Sam quoted. Carly's eyes went wide—she wasn't stupid. The guilt hit like a tidal wave. "Freddie and I realized that, that was true of our relationship. It was for the best."
Carly chewed her lip and pushed the bacon around the pan. Now, she needed to get involved even though she had told herself that she wasn't going to meddle as much.
"Was it really for the best, Sam?" Carly asked. "You're miserable."
"I'm not miserable." Sam said, stubborn as always.
"You were crying!"
"Because Freddie's stupid mug is just so ugly!"
"Because you want to kiss his stupid mug." Carly taunted playfully.
Sam frowned at that, and turned away. She wasn't exactly looking at anything, just staring anywhere that wasn't Carly. The brunette was right, but she also hit a nerve.
"You can't tell me, Sam, that you don't still have feelings for him." Carly prodded. "You do don't you?"
Sam said nothing, brooding in silence.
Carly was relentless though. Once she decided to meddle it was like a dam breaking, and the water levels were rising quickly. She grabbed Sam's arm and started pulling the blond towards the door. "Come on, you have to tell Freddie that you still looove him."
Sam yanked her arm from Carly. "STOP!" She screamed.
Carly stumbled to a stop and turned back to look at Sam.
"I don't want to tell Freddie how I feel…even if he does reciprocate those feelings." Sam said, and Carly wanted to congratulate her friend for using the word 'reciprocate'—recently Carly started playing Word of the Week with Sam, and apparently it was working—but she was afraid she'd derail Sam's little speech. "He broke my heart. I want to forgive him. I want to fall into his arms, but I just can't. I've cried more in this month that I've cried in my entire life. Love isn't worth jack shit."
Carly cringed at the curse wear word, but didn't reprimand Sam. Instead she said, "I thought it was mutual?"
Sam looked distraught as she said, "It was…"
"Then how did he 'break your heart'," Carly asked.
"Because he didn't try to fix things. As soon as I got home, I regretted it. I wanted to go straight back him and tell him it was all a big mistake, but it was late. When I saw him the next day, he acted like everything was normal. He acted happy, and I was broken inside. I didn't want to be rejected on top of having just had my heart stomped on, so I kept my mouth shut."
Carly didn't know what to say to that, so she pulled Sam in for a hug. "I'm sorry."
"Don't pity me," Sam said flatly, and Carly just smirked.
"I think the bacon's done." Carly said, but before the words were hardly out of her mouth, Sam was pulling burning hot strips of cow fat out of the pan…with her bare fingers.
At least some things didn't change.
After Sam had finished her bacon, she had stretched out on the couch and fallen asleep. They needed to finish getting ready for the party, but Sam had a long day, so Carly just prepared around the sleeping girl. Sam's hat lay on the floor, and Carly had gone so far as to refill it. The dijonase—as much as she personally hated the stuff—was an integral part of the costume, and Carly wasn't sure what would happen if one more bad thing befell Sam.
It was around four, two hours before the party would start, when Freddie knocked at the door. Carly answered.
"Is Sam here?"
"Yeah…want me to wake her?"
Freddie shook his head. "No. I didn't want to see her. I just wanted to say that I can't do iCarly later."
Carly just looked at Freddie a moment. He couldn't skip out on them last minute! Plus, Carly knew this had to do the fighting and everything, and it was time things were fixed. She wasn't going to just let him run away from his problems. "You're not missing iCarly, Freddie."
"But—"
Carly pulled Freddie into the room and pointed to the sleeping girl on the couch. "She's in a bacon coma right now. Wake her up and talk to her. This needs to be resolved."
"She tried to hit me earlier. If I wake her, she will kill me."
Carly paused and looked Freddie straight in the eye, "She loves you." Then she walked upstairs.
Freddie groaned and looked at Sam again. This wasn't what he wanted to be doing on Halfoween and all because he couldn't keep his stupid mouth shut. Frowning, he moved to the couch and shook Sam's shoulder.
She awoke with a jolt. "What?" She blurted out, and then focused on Freddie. "Oh…Nevermind. It's just you." She turned back over and closed her eyes.
"Come on, Sam. You ran off before. Just talk to me."
Sam glared at Freddie, wondering if she should just tell him how much he had hurt her. But like Carly had pitied her, she didn't want any pity from Freddie too, and he'd be sure to give it. That was the kind of person he was.
"Please, say something."
"Leave me alone."
"Something production."
"Something production." Sam mocked.
"Come on. Don't do this." Freddie snapped. Sam stuck her tongue out at him and rolled over again. Irritated, he reached over and pulled her so she was facing him. He never grabbed her like this, but he just needed her to look at him for five seconds. "Sam..."
"Don't touch me." She snarled pulling her arm away. "Can't you just leave well enough alone? I'm fine without you. I don't m-miss you at all."
He heard the crack in her voice when she tried to say she didn't miss him.
"I don't believe you." Freddie said, his tone cocky.
"You don't have to believe me. You just have to leave me alone."
Sam didn't want to be having this conversation. She hoped if she put if off long enough, everything would either work itself out or just disappear. Apparently things didn't work in her favor. They never did.
"Okay…whatever. Stay in denial, Sam."
Freddie turned as if to leave, but instead he sat in one of the armchairs and turned on the television set. He changed the channel to the Tech Network, and started watching.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked.
"Watching tv." He chirped. "You?"
"Can't you go do that elsewhere?" Sam shot him a sour look. "I'm trying to sleep here."
"Well, Carly told me to stay here until the party started."
"Well, you always have to do what little Ms. Perfect says, don't you?"
Freddie looked at Sam in confusion. Where did that come from? Could it be that Sam thought he liked Carly? She couldn't possible—he had told her that he loved her!
"You know it's not like that, Sam." He groaned. "I got over Carly."
"Suuure." Sam rolled her eyes. "Who is it then? Wendy? Megan? Gibby? Be honest… I won't judge. Just kidding. I will judge a whole lot."
Freddie waited for Sam to stop laughing before saying, "I don't like anyone else, Sam. I tried to tell you earlier that I love you!"
Sam's face contorted. "Yeah, right."
"It's true!" Freddie practically screamed.
"Then why the hell didn't you tell me that the breakup was a mistake!"
Silence followed.
Freddie was struck with the realization that Sam regretted the breakup. She had never told him that before, or indicated that she wanted to get back together, so he had backed off. He wanted to be in her life, even if he wasn't her boyfriend.
And, so, he started laughing.
Sam turned a deadly glare on him, and he was sure she was going to strangle him. Instead, she snapped, "What the hell is so damn funny?"
"It's just…you think I don't care because I didn't come to you saying that the breakup was a mistake, but I do think it was a mistake." Sam scoffed. "Hear me out, please. After midnight struck and I went home, I knew instantly that I had messed up. I had let the prettiest, cleverest, funniest girl I had ever known just walk away, and I hadn't even tried to stop it. I wanted to run to you and reconcile but when I saw you the next day, you were distant and cold. I thought you wanted me to leave you alone."
Sam looked lost, her expression slack-jawed.
"The same thing happened for me," Sam marveled. "I thought you hated me."
"Idiot." Freddie said. Sam looked at him surprised. He never said things like that. "Sorry…I think you're rubbing off me."
"I try." Sam said arrogantly.
In just a few minutes, they were already joking again. Neither wanted to say the next thing, but finally Freddie broke that ice.
"Sam Puckett… will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"
"No. Ask again in a non-lame way." Sam snapped.
"Sam…eat ribs with me?"
"Any day." Sam smiled.
"Not today, though, we have to film iCarly!" Carly suddenly yelled. Freddie and Sam turned to see the brunette lurking near the top of the stairs. She was watching them, a blush on her face from being caught. Sam felt suddenly embarrassed. "If you think you're skipping out on the party to make out, think again!"
Then the girl scrambled out of sight.
Freddie smirked. "You know, she does have a point."
"And what's that?"
"We should…" He trailed off.
"…eat ribs?" Sam finished. It was an echo back to all those years ago when they shared their first kiss, but this time Freddie just laughed.
"I was going to say 'make out', but I made the mistake of mentioning ribs around you."
"Who's the idiot now?"
"Me." Freddie said seriously. "Because I haven't kissed you yet."
"What are you waiting for?"
He shook his head, amused and leaned in to kiss her. Just as their lips were about to touch, they heard, "Awwww!"
"CARLY!"
They did get that kiss in the end, but not until they locked Carly in the studio—don't worry, they let her out.
A/N - I know what you're thinking...when was bobkitty1123 replaced with Angsty McAngsty-pants? I don't know, and I don't care...as long as my gracious fans review!