AN: This is my first ever fic. I am not a writer, so hopefully its not too awful bad, lol. I know I probably change tenses at times, but whatever. It is what it is. This is a CAM fic, meaning femslash is involved. Don't like, don't read. Rated T for safety.
Carly and Sam are 16 in this fic, and it is the summer before their Junior year of high school. It is told in Sam's POV.
Dedication: To my favorite new resident of Alabama, who shall remain nameless in case they don't want to be associated with my mediocre work, lol.
Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly or its characters.
iGo to the Beach
Standing outside the door of the Shay's apartment, Sam could hardly contain her excitement. She had plans to go to the beach with Carly today, kind of an end of summer, girls day out thing. Not even bothering to knock, she just walked right in the apartment.
"What's up Carls?" she said, seeing the other girl in the kitchen, packing a picnic basket. "You ready for some fun?"
"You know it!" the brunette replied, smiling. "Can you believe we only have two weeks of summer left?"
"I know, it went by so fast. We'd better get going though, if we want to make it to the ocean by noon. Plus, we need to stop for breakfast. I'm starving!"
Laughing, Carly said, "Okay, let's go." Sam grabbed the picnic basket and cooler while Carly grabbed her bag of beach items.
Just as they turned towards the door, it opened revealing an anxious Freddie. "Carly, please?" he pleaded.
"For the last time, Freddork, you can't come with us!" Sam yelled. "No boys allowed!"
"But if you leave me here, my mom is going to make me go to yoga class with her. Have a heart, Sa … uh, nevermind, have a heart Carly. I'm begging you."
"Sorry Freddie, you heard Sam. No boys, just me and Sam. " Carly replied. "You can try to hide out here; maybe your mom will think you went with us. See you later."
With a smirk, Sam walked up to Freddie. Patting his head, acting like she was speaking to a young boy, she said "Don't cry little guy, maybe you can go next time."
Once downstairs, they jumped in Sam's truck, an old Chevy S-10. It had been her cousin Sean's, but he went to jail a few months ago, so she started driving it around, since he had no use for it. It was a stick shift, but Sam quickly got used to it, and now preferred that to automatic transmission cars.
During their drive, the girls goofed off like normal best friends would on a road trip. They talked, laughed, listened to the radio, sang, and just enjoyed each other's company.
After a couple of hours, they arrived at their destination. They were near Copalis Beach. Grays Harbor was nearby, but the girls figured it would be super crowded, and they wanted to relax, not deal with huge amounts of people. Plus, since they drove to the ocean, they might as well swim in it, rather than the calmer waters of the harbor.
Parking her truck, Sam got out and stretched. Throwing the cooler's strap over her shoulder, she grabbed the picnic basket with her left hand, leaving her right hand free. Walking up to Carly, who had retrieved her bag, she interlocked arms with the taller girl. "Let's go, cupcake", she said grinning.
Smiling back, Carly replied, "Lead the way."
Down on the beach, the girls kept walking until there were only a few people around. Taking a blanket out of her bag, Carly spread it out on the sand. Then the girls quickly stripped down to their bathing suits. While Carly was taking off her shirt, Sam surreptitiously checked out her best friend. Carly was wearing a pink bikini which was very cute. Feeling her heart start to race and her cheeks get hot, she quickly looked away.
Come on Puckett, get a hold of yourself. Carly might notice if you start drooling over her. But she has such a nice a.. PUCKETT!
Shaking her head, Sam cleared her thoughts and finished changing. She was wearing a plain black bikini, slightly more conservative than Carly's. Looking up, she noticed Carly putting sunscreen on. Glancing at Sam, Carly asked, "Can you get my back, and then I'll get yours?"
"No problem", she replied, taking the bottle from Carly. After putting sunscreen everywhere she could reach, she walked over to where Carly was laying down. Kneeling next to her, she poured some lotion on her back and started rubbing it in. She took only slightly longer than necessary to apply the lotion, enjoying the feeling of touching Carly's soft, smooth skin.
"Okay, your all good, my turn", she stated.
Handing Carly the lotion, she laid down on her stomach. Closing her eyes, she felt Carly start to rub her back, and had to bite her lip to suppress a moan of pleasure. Once Carly was done, she flipped over and said, "I think it is lunch time."
"Sounds good. We can eat, then just lay out for a bit, then we can swim after our food settles", the brunette replied.
Grabbing the basket, Sam started tossing out food. Knowing Sam, Carly had made them ham sandwiches. There was also watermelon, potato chips, and hostess cupcakes for dessert. In the cooler they had bottles of water and several cans of Peppy Cola.
After enjoying their relaxing meal, they cleaned up and shoved everything back in the basket. Laying back, Carly rolled up her towel for a pillow. Closing her eyes she enjoyed the heat of the summer sun. Looking at her friend, Sam couldn't help herself. She laid down close to the other girl, snuggling close to her. She laid her head on Carly's shoulder and threw her arm across Carly's stomach.
"Sam! How am I supposed to tan when you are laying on me?" Carly asked, exasperated.
"Please, cupcake. Just till we go swimming. After we get out, you can tan all you want, Sam free. I promise."
"Fine. But only cause I don't want to move right now", she replied, laughing.
Smiling, Sam squeezed her friend a little in acknowledgement, closing her eyes. Both girls nodded off. Sam awoke a short while later, feeling Carly breathing steadily next to her. Smirking evilly, the blonde girl started tickling Carly unrelentingly. Jerking awake, Carly couldn't escape from the surprise attack.
Laughing uncontrollably, Carly cried,"Sam stop. Pleeeeease." Squirming viciously, Carly tried to get away. Right before Carly got loose, Sam shot up and started running towards the water.
Trying to catch her breath, Carly jumped up and started chasing her friend. "I am so gonna get you Sam!" she yelled.
"You'll never take me alive, Shay!"
"Oh yeah? See if I ever let you cuddle with me again!"
Stopping at the edge of the water, she slowly turned. "But that's not fair! That's cruel and unusual punishm-oof", she exclaimed, as Carly tackled her into the water.
Both girls wrestled a little, laughing hysterically. After a few minutes, they both stopped, standing up to catch their breath. They spent the next hour splashing each other, jumping over and diving through waves, body surfing, and just having fun. They had worked their way out farther and farther over time. Thoroughly exhausted, both girls decided to return to their spot. Turning towards shore, Sam grabbed Carly's hand and led them towards shore.
Suddenly, Sam felt herself being pulled underwater and out to sea.
Oh No! We're caught in a riptide! Okay, don't panic. Just swim parallel to shore until you're out of it. You can do -- CARLY! Her hand slipped out of mine. I couldn't hold on. Hurry up, swim out of this so you can find Carly.
Stroking steadily, Sam felt the current lessen until she could surface. Once her head was above water, she started sucking in deep breaths of air, all the while searching frantically for the girl she loved. Hysterically, she started screaming, "CARLY! CARRLYY! CARLY!"
Suddenly she felt someone grab her. Turning quickly, she saw that a young man and woman had swum out to help her.
"We saw you girls disappear, and we came to help. Someone on the beach called 911", the young man said.
Struggling in his grasp, she yelled, "But we have to find Carly."
"I don't think we will be able to help her. I think we need to leave that to the professionals", he replied sadly.
"NOOOO! WE HAVE TO FIND HER!", Sam shouted. Breaking down completely, she started crying hysterically. Feeling the couple start pulling her towards shore, she tried to struggle, but she was weak and exhausted from the ordeal. Calling out "Carly!" constantly, she submitted to being dragged to the beach.
* **
It had been five days since Carly drowned. The rescue personnel had stopped looking after several hours. Her body had washed ashore two days later. The funeral was yesterday. Sam found herself constantly crying, and, now, for the first time since it happened, she was returning to the Shay's apartment.
Knocking softly, Sam stared at her feet. Hearing the door open, she looked up into Spencer's red, puffy eyes. Without saying a word, she walked directly into his arms and started sobbing uncontrollably. Spencer started crying unashamedly as well, clutching Sam tightly and pressing his lips to the top of her head. After several minutes of shared grief, their tears slowed. Retaining her grip on Spencer, she whispered, "I loved her so much."
"I know, kiddo."
"How am I going to survive without her? She was my everything. She was the reason why I got up in the morning, the reason I even bother going to school."
"I'll always be here Sam. We can help each other get through this. You'll always be my sister", he stated.
Releasing each other, Sam looked up. "Do you mind if I stay here for awhile? I can't deal with this at my house."
"Sure", Spencer sadly replied. "I could use the company."
Turning around, Sam glanced at the door, in the direction of Freddie's apartment, eyes full of hurt.
Seeing her expression, Spencer put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry he blames you for her death. Maybe he'll come around, but his mom told me they are moving away."
Hearing this, Sam started crying once more. "But it was my fault. I suggested we go to the beach. I didn't tell her what to do in the case of a riptide. I couldn't hang on to her. I … "
"No Sam. It was an accident. It was absolutely not your fault. Life is hard and tragic things happen, but we just have to believe that she is in a better place."
"I just … I wish she had known how I felt about her. No, I wish it had been me, then I wish she had known I loved her."
"Maybe she didn't know the depth of your love, but never doubt that she knew. I want to show you something." Walking over to the computer, Spencer logged under Carly's username. "I found this the other day when I was looking for pictures for the funeral. It might mean something to you if you can get into it", he said, pointing to a folder titled spaumcaknetthta.
"What the heck is that?" Sam asked.
"Every other letter."
"What … Oh." Reaching for the mouse, she double clicked on it. It asked for the password.
Seeing how engrossed Sam was, Spencer walked upstairs to give her some privacy.
After 30 minutes of trying every password she could think of, she was ready to give up. She was practically in tears, wanting to access the forbidden folder. After trying all the obvious passwords, she was just typing anything that came to mind.
What about … no not our friendship anniversary, not my birthday, or hers, not any of our names, wait, what about… "Yes!" she screamed, finally gaining access. "I guess you really did like it when I called you cupcake."
Looking in the folder, it was filled with pictures of herself and Carly. Nothing else, except one slideshow and one text file. Opening the slideshow, it played all of the pictures in the folder in chronological order, showing the girls growing up together. The subtitle of every picture was Best Friends Forever. Except the last slide, which said, I love you Sam.
Seeing this, Sam burst into tears. Quickly opening the text file, she saw it almost like a journal entry, dated almost a year old. Wiping her eyes, she read:
Sam is the best friend I could ever have. I feel safe when she is around. I don't know what I would do if she wasn't my friend. I never want to do anything to jeopardize our friendship, which is why I will never tell her I am in love with her. I will never tell anyone, but I had to get it out, so I wrote it here. Just to make it official.
Samantha Puckett, I am completely in love with you, you are my soul mate, the air that I breathe.
Love Always,
Carly Shay
Openly weeping, Sam couldn't take anymore. Closing the folder, she walked up to Carly's room. Taking the pajamas that Carly used last, she quickly changed into them and climbed into Carly's bed. The pajamas and bed all smelled like Carly, which brought her some comfort. Burying her head in the pillow, she breathed in deeply, taking in Carly's scent. Letting all of her emotions out, she cried herself to sleep.
***
Waking up, Sam could feel how irritated her eyes were from crying, and the pillow felt damp and cold when she shifted her position slightly. The bed moved slightly and she felt a warmth against her back. Curiously, she turned her head to look over her shoulder and saw brunette hair. Flipping over, she recognized her best friend. "Carly!" she yelled, jumping on her best friend, hugging her tightly.
"Wha…", Carly groggily replied, still asleep.
Unable to control herself, Sam just started kissing Carly's face. She kissed her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks, and her lips.
"Help, Freddie finally lost it and is trying to rape me", Carly called, half-awake.
Hearing this, Sam managed to restrain herself, burying her head in Carly's neck, crying. The tears and sobs woke her best friend instantly. "Sam, what's wrong? Shhh. It'll be okay Sam. I'm here." She felt Carly wrap her arms around her, holding her tightly. Carly kissed her gently on the top of her head.
Still sobbing, hardly able to talk, Sam cried, "Just a..a dream. ...thought I lost you. … love you … much."
"Sam, calm down, I'm right here. Shhh. It's okay." Feeling Carly's hands rub her back lightly, hearing these comforting words, Sam stopped crying. Slowly getting off of Carly, she grabbed her hand just to keep some physical connection.
"Uh, Sam?"
"Yes, cupcake?" she said, smiling.
"Uh, did you …, did you, um, kiss me?" Carly asked.
Feeling her chest tighten, Sam looked down. Thinking fast, she said, "Well, you see, it was such a shock seeing you when I thought you were dead, I just, uh, I was just that happy to see you."
"Oh", Carly said, sounding disappointed.
"You know what, screw that. I thought I lost you once, I'm not taking that chance again." Looking into Carly's eyes, she stated, "I did indeed kiss you. I need you to know that I am in love with you, Carly Shay." Seeing Carly's eyes widen in surprise, she released her hand and turned away. "I understand if you want me to leave, but I just needed you to know."
Feeling a hand on her face, she felt herself being turned towards the other girl. Closing her eyes, she faced Carly. Suddenly, she felt soft lips on her own, causing her eyes to open wide. Seeing the love and joy on Carly's face, she quickly started kissing Carly back.
After several minutes of heated kissing, the girls cuddled together, smiles on the faces.
"I love you", Sam declared.
"I love you, too, Sam. Hey, aren't we supposed to go to the beach today?"
Shooting up out of her embrace, Sam turned towards Carly. "Absolutely not! You are never going to the beach, ever. If you want to swim, we can go to the YMCA, where they have lifeguards, and a shallow end. Nope, no deep end for you. I wonder if they make floaties big enough to fit you? I bet you we can find some."
Looking at Sam like she was crazy, Carly started laughing. "Just what happened in your dream?"
"I don't even want to think about it. Oh, and remind me to give Spencer a hug when we see him."
"Okay. Why do you need to hug my brother?"
"Because he deserves it. Because he is my brother, too, in every way that counts."
"Whatever you say, sweetie. Now come snuggle, I'm cold and I want to go back to sleep", Carly said, giggling.
Laughing, she obliged Carly, crawling back into her arms and holding the girl she loved as tight as she could. Both girls fell into a deep peaceful sleep, smiling the whole time.
Q.E.D
AN: Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.