Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the TV show iCarly. This is a whimsical little story from my own warped mind strictly for my own and my reader's enjoyment. I don't make any money off of it.
A/N: This is my take on how iSaved Your Life should've been written if I were Dan Schneider.
Xxxxxx
Germophobia
Chapter 1
Xxxxxx
Carly Shay slowly leaned in and delicately pressed her lips on those of her best male friend, and now object of her love, savoring their first real kiss.
A few days earlier he had pushed her out of the way of a taco truck and had received a broken left leg, damaged right wrist and a few cuts and bruises in the process. He was finally home in bed from the hospital and this was the first time she'd gotten to be alone with him... and also to thank him properly.
He was her knight in shining armor, her hero, and deserved a whole lot more than a mere medal.
Fredward "Freddie" Benson was surprised at first at the buss, almost shocked. He dearly loved Carly. He'd had a crush on her ever since they first met which had grown into a deep abiding love. But she never reciprocated those feelings, always telling him that it would be silly to think of them as a couple.
Until today.
Now she was passionately kissing him in his own bed. Sure, she was still fully clothed, yet slightly wet, from helping him out of the shower after his slip and fall, and he was under the covers with only his red robe on, but it was still one of his wildest dreams come true so he went with it and kissed her back.
Freddie had just wrapped his arms around Carly and was really beginning to enjoy the make out session this was turning into when they heard a disgustingly loud:
"WHAT THE YUCK!"
The two teens swiftly broke the kiss and turned to the doorway.
Standing there in shock was Freddie's mom, Mrs. Marissa Benson. She quickly regained her senses (if she could ever regain something she possessed very little of to begin with) and loudly growled, "You," pointing at the dark-haired girl.
Carly let out a girlish shriek and panicked, knowing full well what an angry Mrs. Benson could be like. (Especially since the woman blamed Carly for Freddie's injuries in the first place.)
"Mom, NO!" Freddie forcefully yelled as he sat up in bed when he saw his mother pull a pair of his antibacterial underwear out of his top dresser drawer and started swatting Carly with them.
The panicking girl made for the bedroom door to escape when she heard Freddie call out, "Carly, don't leave!"
"Why shouldn't she leave," Marissa snarled and took another swipe at the brunette, which missed. "She's the reason you're hurt, Fredward Benson. It should've been her getting hit by that truck instead of you."
"No mom," Freddie snarled back as he struggled out of bed and stood up as best as he could on his one good leg. "No one shoulda been hit by that truck. The guy was traveling way too fast and failed to stop before the crosswalk. As I pushed Carly outta the way I was able to look up just as the truck was about to hit me and saw he was checking his mirrors and not looking where he was going. It was his fault I'm injured. I was just making sure that Carly didn't get killed by that maniac."
"Freddie, you shouldn't be up," Carly cooed in deep concern as she went over and supported his weight by draping his good arm over her shoulders. "Please, get back into bed."
"I'm alright for now, Carls," Freddie answered back and defiantly kissed her on the cheek in front of his mother, making Mrs. Benson grumble something about germs. He turned on his mother and ferociously asked, "What did you just say?"
"I said," Mrs. Benson started quietly before her countenance changed and she fiercely continued, "that she's probably spreading who-knows-what kinds of germs and diseases to you."
"That's uncalled for. And besides, don't you think that's a little paranoid?" Freddie suspiciously asked as he let Carly help him sit on the edge of the bed. This was a confrontation he'd always dreaded would happen, but knew it had to one day.
It looked like today was a good day for a lot of unusual things to happen: Carly openly showing her affection toward him and now the ultimate showdown with his mother being the top two at the moment.
"No it's not," Marissa said as she angrily brushed past the brunette, grabbed a can of disinfectant off the shelf above the bed and started to spray him down. "Germs and diseases such as dysentery were the number one cause of fatalities during the Civil War, and they're even more virulent today. We're just lucky that disinfectants and medications have kept up with such things."
"Mom!" Freddie yelped and flailed away until he was finally able to knock the aerosol can from her hand. "That's enough!"
A sudden flash of inspiration hit Freddie when he noticed Carly shiver a bit, her shirt and pants were still dripping wet from when she'd helped him out of the shower. He got an idea which would distract his mother from her current concerns over his well being.
"I think you should be more concerned about Carly catching a cold," Freddie said, pointing at the girl. "She's drenched from helping me when I slipped earlier in the shower."
"You're absolutely correct," Marissa said, going into nurse-mode after noticing how wet Carly's shirt and sweatpants were. "Out you go." She started to hustle Carly out of the room again.
"But you don't want her spreading her cold germs to Spenser," Freddie quickly shouted, stopping his mother's actions. "If both Carly and Spencer gets sick it could infect the whole eight floor... maybe even the whole apartment building... or the city!"
"Oh, you're right again, Freddie," Mrs. Benson sighed, stopping to think through the situation. "What would Alexander Fleming do?"
"Well," Freddie said with a sly smirk, (knowing that Fleming was the man who'd discovered Penicillin) praying his hastily conceived plan was going to come to fruition, "since Carly has probably already infected me when we kissed, maybe she should be kept here in my room. You know, keep us under quarantine until you're sure the germs are destroyed."
"That's a good idea, Fredward," Mrs. Benson said as she walked over to Carly and practically tore the cute, multi-pastel hued tank top and long-sleeved gray undershirt off of the girl. "Get undress young lady and get into bed. I'll wash your clothes to make sure they're germ free." The crazy woman then stripped the young teen of her leggings and socks, too.
"Mrs. Benson," Carly shrieked at the manhandling, as she was swiftly stripped down to just her bra and panties and shoved under the blanket on the opposite side of the queen-sized bed from Freddie.
Marissa got one of Freddie's penny t-shirts out of the dresser and tossed it to Carly, then demanded with an outstretched hand, "Your underclothes, too."
"Ummm-aaaaaah," Carly stammered before she looked over at Freddie and caught his sly, smiling nod. "Oh, okay," she shrugged and stripped off her panties and bra under the covers and handed them to Mrs. Benson before slipping on the shirt. It was way too big on her slim body and it didn't quite reach down to cover her crotch at all, but it was something to wear in bed.
"You'd better wash my robe too," Freddie said as he shed said article of clothing and handed it to his mother. Mrs. Benson got a pair of gym shorts and another t-shirt out of the drawers. She helped him put the short on over his leg cast that was still sticking out from under the blanket and made sure he donned the t-shirt before she turned to go.
"I like the way you're thinking?" Carly softly cooed to her hero after his mother had left the room. She started to wrap her arms around Freddie to resume their make out session but was stopped short when Freddie prevented her from moving to his side of the bed. "Wha..."
"One minute," was all Freddie said as he pointed toward the door.
Not three seconds later, Mrs. Benson appeared in the doorway with a three inch wide roll of bright yellow plastic tape with black letters printed on it. She swiftly made a big "X" across the outside of the door with the tape and stood back to admire her work for a few seconds before she said, "I'll be back in forty-two minutes with your pain prescription, Freddy, and whatever cold remedies the drug store has for the both of you." She swiftly left the apartment and the two teens let out a sigh of relief as they finally heard the front door slam shut.
Carly giggled when she saw what was printed on the yellow caution tape and had to ask, "Your mother has a roll of caution tape that says 'Quarantine - Keep Out' on it?"
"My mom has a roll of every kind of warning tape," Freddie sighed as he stripped off the t-shirt, rolled over to sit on the side of the bed and pointed to his desk. "Now we don't have much time so get my laptop and the lipstick cam and bring them over here."
"But I'm practically naked," Carly protested, drawing the sheet and blanket up to her chin in embarrassment.
"So am I," Freddie said as he struggled to get up and grab his crutches. He slowly hobbled over to his closet, his broken left leg and unfamiliarity in the use the crutches making it hard for him to walk. Carly could see the gym shorts were only hanging around his thigh above the cast. Freddie had only pretended to put them on the other leg and pull them up under the covers.
Carly's eyes went wide when she realized she was seeing a totally naked male's body for the first time. (Watching porn on the internet with Sam didn't really count.) Freddie had certainly buffed up a bit from the last time they'd gone swimming over the summer. His chest and arms weren't what you'd call chiseled but there was a lot more bulk and definition than when she last saw him in his swimming trunks. And the sight of Freddie's... thing between his legs made her want to start to drool.
Freddie saw Carly's wide-eyed stare and said, "My mom doesn't like it but I prefer to be naked whenever I'm in my room and she's not around. It's just my little way to protest against her tyrannical reign."
The boy saw Carly was still staring so he firmly hushed, "Carls," and broke the brunette out of her haze as he removed a hook that was hanging over the door of his closet. The hook had a small chain attached to hang clothes from. He removed the clothes from the chain and just tossed them into the closet, then sat back down on the bed and retrieved a roll of electrical tape from the drawer of the night stand.
"Sorry," Carly squeaked as she swiftly jumped out of bed and raced over to the desk. She grabbed the laptop and small lipstick shaped camera then sat down next to him, yanking the hem of the shirt down as far as she could to cover her lap.
As Carly sat next to her long-time friend, she suddenly realized that she didn't mind that the boy was totally naked except for the casts on his left leg and right wrist, and that she wasn't totally covered either. After all, she did have a bit of an exhibitionist streak in her and their web show was a prime example. Carly hadn't thought twice when she and Sam were live on the air in bikinis or leotards, and her Idiot Farm Girl costume, while slightly modest, still showed a lot more skin than any of the other, everyday clothes she normally wore. Who knows how many sexual fantasies those web show costumes created. She quickly stripped the t-shirt off and tossed it to her side of the bed.
"That's okay," Freddie lightly chuckled, seeing the embarrassed blush that'd tinged her cheeks and also blossomed half way down her naked chest. "I don't think I'm functioning with all my brain cells right now, either. The pills the doctor gave me were kinda strong." He briefly checked out Carly's naked body as he spoke then accepted the two pieces of equipment from her and quickly went to work.
Carly was okay with Freddie looking her over. After all, hadn't she been doing the same to him?
"Well yeah. I was hoping for a minor make out session, but not a major one where we're both naked..." Carly said as she continued to ogle the man who had saved her life, "...At least not yet, anyway. Not that I'm complaining about the view or what said view could possibly lead to."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying, Miss Shay?" Freddie coyly begged with a single cocked eyebrow as he spared a glance her way.
"I am, Mr Benson," Carly shyly answered as she draped an arm around his shoulders and watched as he went back to fiddling with the different objects they'd gathered. "I got extremely jealous when I found out that you'd kissed Sam which led me to think about you and I becoming more than just-friends. My feelings for you only deepened when we danced at the Groovy Smoothie after the girl's choice dance. And now after the accident, I realize that I don't think I could live without you in my life. You keep me sane and safe so I've decided that I want to become Mrs. Carly Benson in a few years. And if that's the case, we might as well start acting like a married couple."
"Are... are you sure, Carls?" Freddie tentatively asked, taking his eyes off of the work he was doing. It was a dream of his ever since he met the brunette, to have her love him as much as he loved her. But he also wanted Carly to be absolutely sure she was in love with him before they took that next step and start dating exclusively with all the benefits that went with it. After all, they were only sixteen years old.
"I'm positive, Fredward," Carly giggled and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek, then looked down at the laptop, chain and lipstick cam. "What are you doing?" Carly asked, changing the topic to avoid blushing any redder from the sexual fantasies that had started flitting through her head.
Freddie had removed the chain and secured the camera to the hook with a short strip of electrical tape. He handed the hook to her and said, "Put this over the bedroom door so the camera faces down the hall." He picked up his laptop and started typing away on it. "When it's in place, we'll be able to know when mom is moving toward the door."
"An early warning system," Carly nodded with a big smile spreading across her face as she suddenly understood what he had been cobbling together. "Niiiiice." She swiftly grabbed the desk chair, stood on it and hung the hook over the door before closing it and returning the chair to its usual place.
"Now," Freddie said in deep concentration as he surfed through his files, selecting a few, "I just need to incorporate that camera's signal with this file and... viola!"
Carly hopped back onto the bed and peered over his shoulder at the screen. She could see pictures of different parts of the apartment and the rest of the building as they flipped through in the program window that was running. "Where did you get all of the equipment for this?"
"Do you remember when I tapped into the building's security cameras last year?"
"Yeah, that was when we started using the lobby camera for the 'Messing With Lewbert' segments," Carly said, remembering what he was talking about and how they'd once injured the hideous looking, obnoxious doorman with a gift basket full of muffins.
"Well, beside the one in the lobby," Freddie slyly smiled over his shoulder at her as he finished typing and set the laptop on the nightstand, "the Lewbert cam as we dubbed it, there's one in the outside hallway that covers both of our apartment doors and I have two cameras in the apartment to keep track of my mom. One is aimed at the front door from the kitchen and the other is pointed across the living room, aimed at the hallway to the bedrooms. Between those cameras and the one you just installed we should know where my mom is at all times."
"Clever," Carly cooed as she pulled Freddie back onto the bed, taking care that his broken leg was supported by the pillow down there. "That means we'll know when to stop making out because she's heading toward your room."
"That's the general idea, Miss Shay," Freddie said as he allowed Carly to push him onto his back and lie down on top of him. "Or should I start calling you Mrs. Benson?"
Carly gave him a passionate but brief kiss before she leaned back a bit and asked, "But if we're, um, preoccupied, how will we be able to keep track of your mom's location and know when she's heading our way?"
Freddie smugly answered, "With the camera you just installed. I have it and the other's in the apartment programmed for motion detection. When any of them detects someone moving toward the hall or my room, it'll set off a warning tone."
"Ooooh, you are a technical wiz kid," Carly sensually purred and writhed atop his body. "Well, you'd better get ready because I'm about to spread some more of my nasty cold germs."
Xxxxxx
The early warning alarm system worked like a charm. The two teens had ample time to get dressed and tidy up their appearance a bit before Mrs. Benson entered the bedroom.
Unfortunately, there hadn't been enough time to consummate their new relationship during the brief time Mrs. Benson was at the drug store.
Fortunately, Carly was able to stifle a laugh when Freddie's mother entered the bedroom dressed in a full-body Haz Mat suit. (Freddie only let out a groan, having seen his mother in the protective gear before.)
"Here's your pain medication..." Mrs. Benson said, her voice muffled from the large heavy suit, as she handed a small paper bag to Freddie. She turned to Carly and handed her a much larger bag as she said, "...and here's some cold preventatives for you, young lady. Be sure you take the recommended dosage of each, the both of you. I'll be back shortly with some green tea. The antioxidants in the tea will help your body's immune systems." With those instructions given, she waddled out of the room.
"Antioxidants?" Carly giggled as she started to take the boxes and bottles of pills out of the bag.
"Just go with it," Freddie chuckled back as he read the dosage information on his prescription. "Green tea is actually pretty tasty."
"How are we suppose to take all of these?" Carly question in amazement as she scanned the ten or twelve bottle of vitamins and minerals now in her lap and started opening them.
"If mom doesn't come back with a mallet and apple sauce we'll be able to wash 'em all down with the tea," Freddie answered.
Before Carly could ask what he meant, they were disturbed again by someone in the doorway. If it wasn't for the tall, lanky shaped body, long hair and mannerisms, they wouldn't have know it was Carly's brother, Spencer Shay. He was wearing a full surgical mask covering his mouth and nose, long yellow latex gloves like you'd use when washing dishes or cleaning the oven, and his whole body was covered with some kind of white powdery substance which gave him a ghostly appearance.
"Spencer?" Carly begged in confusion as she pulled the covers up to her chin. "What are you doing here and why are you all white?"
"Mrs. Benson stopped at the apartment and said you were highly contagious and under quarantine," Spencer said as he tentatively held out a large paper bag in front of him and cautiously inched into the room, "and that you would need your pajamas and stuff, so I brought 'em over. She doused me with some kinda disinfectant powder before she would let me step into the apartment. She was gonna lend me the Haz Mat suit but I told her it probably wouldn't fit me 'cause I'm so much taller than her." He dropped the bag on the foot of the bed and swiftly hurried back to the doorway.
"I'm not contagious," Carly laughed at her brother's antics.
"You're not?"
"No," Carly giggled. "She only thinks I might catch a cold."
At Spenser's quizzical look, Freddie expanded on the explanation. "I slipped and fell in the shower and Carly helped me up. Her clothes got wet and mom thought Carly would catch a cold and spread it to the whole building, so she isolated us."
"She thought the whole building would catch a cold?" Spencer laughed. Knowing Freddie's mom and her germaphobic obsession he could see where the thought had come from.
"After you put that line of thought in her head," Carly playfully accused the boy in bed with her with a light slap to his arm.
"Hey," Freddie jokingly defended himself. "I was thinking about how I'd be all alone in this bedroom for a few days before she'd let me go back to school." He gave her a sly wink, telling her that her witty banter wasn't the only reason he'd wanted her there with him. "Now I won't be so lonely."
"Well," Spencer said as he quickly checked the hallway to make sure Mrs. Benson wasn't within earshot, "just don't get too chummy with my little sister. We don't want any little Carlys and/or Freddies running around in nine months."
"Spencer!" Carly yelled, a blush coming full bloom on her cheeks.
"Just kidding, kiddo," Spencer laughed so hard he had to lean against the door frame. "I know you two won't do that. Well, I gotta run. Socko and I are going to a sock convention to see what's new in the world of socks..." He looked down at the powdery white stuff covering him and added, "...And I'll need a major shower and change of clothes before I leave."
"Just remember," Carly called out to him as he turned in the doorway, "no rollerblading in the shower." Spencer waved off her playful jibe, bid his good-byes and left.
"Here you go, kids," Mrs. Benson said as she came back into the room, still wearing the Haz Mat suit and carrying a tray with a tea pot with two cups and saucers on it. She set it on the nightstand on Freddie's side of the bed.
"Thanks mom."
"Thank you Mrs. Benson."
"Now, are you two going to be okay? I have to go in for a half shift at the hospital to fill in for someone."
"We'll be fine, mom," Freddie whined and rolled his eyes as he poured a cup of tea then handed it to Carly. "We'll just sleep the afternoon away and maybe catch up or get ahead on our homework."
"That's a good idea," Marissa said as she got out another blanket, shook it out and spread it over the bed. She folded the fresh blanket a few times until it was in one long narrow strip and placed it between the two teens. She pulled a tape measure out of one of the huge pockets of Haz Mat suit and measured across the bottom of the bed. Marissa moved the new blanket over a few inches and then, satisfied, said, "Now you each have half of the bed. I don't expect to find either of you on the other's side."
"You won't catch me," Carly slyly said before she caught the accusing stare coming from Mrs. Benson. She quickly added, "I mean I don't want to spread my germs to Freddie or catch his broken bones so I'll stay on my side." To cover her almost slip, she started to get a couple of pills from each of the bottles of vitamins and quickly swallowed them with a slurping sip from her tea cup.
Marissa Benson warily peered at the two teens for a few seconds before she smiled and casually said, "Okay. I'll be home at precisely eight twenty eight. Spencer will bring you your dinner at six eighteen... if he remembers." She angrily shook her head and turned to leave.
"I'll call and remind him," Carly offered with a raised tea cup, indicating the healthy brew, "and remind him to make it nutritious."
The two waited to hear the front door close, indicating that Mrs. Benson had left for work, before they broke out into peals of laughter.
"Wait a minute," Freddie said as the laughter subsided. "How is Spencer supposed to bring us dinner if he's at a sock convention?"
"Don't worry about it," Carly said as she leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll make us something to eat when we get hungry, if all these pills don't fill us up before then."
They spent the next hour exploring and consummating to their heart's content. Luckily, Freddie's mom had inadvertently assisted them with that part of their new relationship, having given him a box of condoms when she had warned him about the dangers of the the birds and the bees a few years earlier. Afterward, they fell asleep in each others arms.
The newly formed couple was awoken a little while later by a familiar feminine voice.
"Carls! Are you in here?"
"Sam?" Carly called back, contently wiping the sleep from here eyes. "Yeah. We're in Freddie's room."
"What the chizz is going on?" The blond hellion asked as she read the yellow tape plastered across the door before she turned on Freddie and Carly who were trying to fully cover themselves with the blanket. "Why are you quarantined?"
"It was my mom's idea," Freddie said in exasperation, still upset with the way his mother treated him all the time. (Even though it meant Carly and he were now sharing a bed in every sense of the word.)
"Freddie fell while taking a shower," Carly continued the explanation, "and I got wet helping him up and into bed. She thought I might catch a cold and spread it to the entire building."
"So she quarantined us until further notice," Freddie finished Carly's sentence.
"Dudes!" Sam nervously laughed as she slowly entered the room. "You two sound like you're an old married couple, finishing off each other's sentences. It's freaking me out."
"Well, we're not married just yet," Carly cooed as she sat up, letting the blanket spill around her waist and baring her naked torso. She snuggled into Freddie's embrace, "But we will be in the future."
"Whoa, Carls," Sam said in shock. "Are you two... I mean did you and Freddork...?"
"Yes," Carly sighed and kissed Freddie's chest. "He was an animal in bed."
"You weren't so bad yourself," Freddie lovingly answered back with a kiss to the top of her head.
"Listen. I'm hungry, how about you?" Carly suddenly questioned her new beau as she nakedly rolled out of her side of the bed and grabbed the bag Spencer had left. She started getting dressed her her own PJ's.
"I'm starving," Freddie moaned. "I guess we both worked up quite an appetite."
"Ugh," Sam spat in disgust. "That's a picture I do not want in my head, Fredweird."
"Saaaam," Carly said in her best warning voice as she glared daggers at her best female friend. "You know you're not supposed to dis my boyfriend, my future husband. I won't stand for that."
"Alright, alright," Sam ceded with her hands waving to ward off any physical attack from the brunette, even though she knew Carly would never assault her. "No more dissing the Nub while you're around." She went over to the bed, swiftly lifted the covers and got a good look at Freddie's naked assets. She gasped, "But now I see why you like the techno nerd so much. His nub ain't so nubby. I guess Freddie's cast isn't the only thing that was hard in bed this afternoon."
"Sam!" Both Carly and Freddie yelled as he swiped his blanket and sheet back to cover himself.
After glaring at Sam for a few seconds to make sure her friend wasn't going to make any more snide remarks, Carly turned on her heels and headed for the door as she announced, "I'm going to get something for us to eat. I'll be back in a little bit. Do you want to help me, Sam?"
"Nah, I'm good," the blond girl answered as she skirted the foot of the bed and sat on Carly's side of the mattress before kicking back. "I think I'll just stay here and chill-ax. I doubt if there's anything in this whole house that's edible anyway."
"Suit yourself," Carly said as she left the bedroom.
There was an uncomfortable silence for a minute. Well, it was uncomfortable for Freddie, not knowing exactly what Sam was up to. The blond she-demon was always up to something and it usually ended up with him getting hurt in some manner. Right now she was lying on Carly's side of the bed, resting with her arms folded behind her head, but Freddie knew Sam was going to pull some prank on him. It was in Sam's nature to pick on him.
"Enjoy it while you can," the blond said with a broad smile and content sigh.
Freddie didn't know what she was talking about and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Every time she said something cryptic like that and he asked, well, he always regretted the answer.
Unfortunately, his innate curiosity won out, just like it always did.
"What are you talking about, Sam?" Freddie asked, shifting his weight around to get more comfortable on his side of the bed.
"The love," was all the blond answered, her smug smile growing ever so slightly like she knew something he didn't.
"Again," Freddie huffed in exasperation. "What are you talking about?"
Sam rolled onto her side to face him, the smile never leaving her face. "I'm talking about you and Carls. I know you like her a lot but she only likes you right now because you saved her bacon."
"Wha...?" was all Freddie got out before he was interrupted.
"You know it's true. Carly is in hero worship mode right now. That's why she's in love with you. It's like the time I fell for Moseby."
Freddie was stunned, to say the least. His curiosity still piqued, he asked, "You mean the kid with the big nose? Noseby Moseby?"
"Yeah," Sam answered as she laid back down and wistfully waxed on. "He kept asking me out and asking me out and I kept turning him down until he got me that 'Foreign Bacon of the Month' subscription. That's when I caved in and started to date him."
"What does Moseby and foreign bacon have to do with Carly and me?" Freddie begged in indignation, not seeing the connection at all.
"Don't you get it?" Sam practically screamed as she rolled onto her side again to stare Freddie in the eyes. "I didn't like him until he gave me bacon, and you just saved Carly's bacon by saving her life."
"So..." Freddie pondered what his blond friend was saying to him, "...you're saying that Carly only loves me because I saved her life? That she thinks of me as... foreign bacon?"
"Bingo!" Sam triumphantly cheered and poked Freddie in the side as she happily growled, "You, are only bacon... And the cheap domestic soy stuff at that."
"I don't think so."
The calm but disbelieving voice wasn't Freddie's, it came from the doorway. The two teens on the bed looked over and saw Carly standing there, a plate with two cheese sandwiches on wheat bread in one hand and a can of Peppy Cola in the other. One of the sandwiches already had a bite taken out of it.
"I was coming up the hallway back to the room and heard what you said, Sam, and you're wrong," Carly firmly stated as she casually walked over to the bed, set the plate and soda down on the tray next to the pot of tea on the nightstand, and sat down beside Freddie. She lovingly stroked his cheek as she continued, "Freddie saving my life only solidified my feelings for him. I realized my true feelings at the Groovy Smoothie a few weeks ago after the Girl's Choice dance. We were both so angry over what happened that night after our dates left. But Freddie saw how frustrated I was with the whole thing and he asked me to dance."
"I know," Sam confessed, looking a bit wistful. "When I saw your date leave I went back to talk to you. I saw you two dancing and didn't want to interfere."
"Thank you for letting us have our moment," Carly said as she laid down on top of the blanket and snuggled into Freddie's side, careful of his injuries. He automatically snaked his arm around her. "Anyway, as we were dancing, I suddenly realized just how comfortable and safe I felt in his arms. It felt like... home. Then I also remembered how Freddie has always tried to make me feel loved, whatever the circumstances."
"I've only want you to be happy," Freddie said before he gently kissed the top of her head. "That's all I've ever wanted."
"And that only tells me just how much you love me," Carly answered back as she snaked her arms around his body and lightly squeezed, showing him how much she loved him.
The remained like that, in silence, for a few minutes. All three thinking about what had been revealed that afternoon.
But the afternoon of revelations wasn't over quite yet.
Carly sat up and placed the plate of food on Freddie's lap, grabbed the partially eaten sandwich and took a bite. As she chewed, she looked over at her girl friend and said, "Now Sam, we need to talk about your feels for Freddie."
"My feelings?" the blond girl nervously chuckled like it was all a joke. "What about my feelings for the Nub?"
"I know why you treat Freddie the way you do," Carly coyly said as she pushed a bit of the sandwich, which was trying to escape, back into her mouth. "You treat him badly to make him pay more attention to you because you like him. You call him a Nub but I know what you think that stands for: Nature's Ultimate Butt. You think Freddie's butt is cute. You like him."
"Is that true, Sam?" Freddie queried after he swallowed a bite of his own cheese sandwich.
"Mamma don't gotta listen to any of this chizz," Sam indignantly huffed as she swiftly rolled off the bed.
"Yes you do," Carly practically yelled as she bolted off the bed and blocked the doorway with her body so Sam couldn't leave. "You've liked Freddie all along but you didn't know how to tell him. So like a very old cliche, you started to tease and pick on Freddie to make him notice you."
"Oh yeah?" Sam yelled back, her indignation piquing. "So what if that's true? Freddie's only had eyes for you and now he's got what he's always wanted." She swiftly covered her face with both hands and turned away, her shoulders violently shaking. Both Carly and Freddie knew right away that Sam was upset and crying.
"Sam, I..." Freddie tried to say something but he didn't know how to finish the sentence. What could he say? If he knew she liked him years ago would they have become better friends? Was her abrasive demeanor only a ploy to gain his attention? (Freddie obviously didn't ask the one question where the answer was a definite no. He would definitely not put aside his love for Carly to start dating Sam.)
"Sam," Carly softly said as she went over to her friend and wrapped the blond girl in a warm hug from behind, "there is a solution if you're willing to try."
"What's that, (sniffle) Carls?" Sam begged, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her shirt as she tried to tamp down her out of control emotions from the revelation.
"Well, I think we..." Carly said aloud before she started whispering in Sam's ear.
The blond girl's eyes went wide in astonishment as her lower jaw hung down to her belly button. "Are you serious!?" She turned around to look her girl friend in the eye to make sure she'd heard Carly right.
"We're best friends," Carly lightly laughed. "And best friends share everything."
"Ah, Carly," Freddie warily asked as he sat up a bit straighter to find out what was going on. "What did you suggest to Sam?"
"Move over, Nu... I mean Freddie," Sam ordered as she went to his side of the bed and unceremoniously pushed him to the center.
"Sam!" the teen boy shouted like he always did whenever Sam manhandled or bossed him around, or both.
"It's okay, Freddie," Carly cooed to her boyfriend/lover as she swiftly stripped off her pajamas pants and shirt and got under the sheets on her side of the bed.
"That's right," Sam forcefully said as she quickly doffed all of her clothes and hopped into bed opposite Carly. "You're gonna pop mamma's cherry."
"Say what!?" Freddie yelped in confusion, shooting unbelieving glances between the two girls as Sam wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him tight.
"Sam and I are going to share you," Carly cooed as her hands snaked beneath the covers and lightly latched on to his privates. "You'll be my boyfriend-slash-fiancé and Sam will be your... I mean our mistress," She leaned across Freddie's torso and kissed Sam on the lips.
"Mamma like," Sam softly enthused as her hand joined Carly's in pleasuring the boy between them.