Right...um, my first actual story, so...please don't be cruel!! Some nice, light criticism would be nice, but no flames!! '( Also, sorry if they seem a bit off character, but I did it the best I could! )

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, or else Sam would be a milligram of a bit nicer to Freddie. All I own is my own pair of beat up glasses...Darn...

"Ugh!"

"Sam's here..." Freddie rolled his eyes. Carly just smiled a little, then went downstairs.

"Hey, Sam. What's up?" Carly stood on the last landing, leaning against the railing. Sam walked over to the couch and flopped down.

"Oh, nothing, except I've just been turned into the dorkiest of dorks!" She looked at Carly, an almost miserable look on her face mingled with disgust. Carly just shook her head.

"Sam, you look fine," she said truthfully. She had thin purple frames that looked great on her. They really brought out the softness of her face. Sam, however, didn't look convinced. "Where's Spence?"

"Shopping. C'mon, we need to rehearse for iCarly."

Sam stared at her, dumbstruck. "No way!" Then a thought crossed her mind. "what about Freddie?! He'll rip on me for sure! Not that I'd let him get away with it," she mumbled the last comment. Then she groaned. Carly patted her back.

"No he won't, I won't let him. I have to rehearse. Come upstairs when you're ready, ok?" She stood up from the couch and walked upstairs. Back in the studio, Freddie looked up from his equipment. "Isn't Sam here?"

Carly took a drink of water. "Yeah. She's downstairs."

Freddie walked out from behind his cart, disbelief all over his face. "What? Why? She needs to--oh, Sam!" Before Carly could even register what he just said, Freddie jumped in the elevator, jabbed the 'Down' button a few times, and disappeared. Carly looked around the studio, shrugged and continued to rehearse.

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Sam was making herself a snack to calm down. Ugh. These stupid glasses are...well, stupid. She caught a sneak of herself in the mirror on her way to put the ham away. "I look so weird," she muttered in frustration. She tore her gaze away mirror and put away the ham. "How'm I gonna look in iCarly? Should I even do it?"

Of course I should! She didn't want to let Carly and--no, she just didn't want to let Carly down. She shook the thought from her head and ate almost half her sandwich. She heard the elevator ding, and out popped Freddie. Sam quickly hid her face from him. She really didn't feel in the mood to put up with any teasing.

"Samantha Puckett! Yeah, d'you remember that web show we do? iCarly? Well, we're live in one hour. You need to be rehearsing! What are you doing down here?"

"Eating, what does it look like?" she snapped back, her voice dripping with venom. "And don't you EVER call me by my full name again, Fredward," she spat the last word. She downed the rest of her sandwich in two bites and sat there.

Freddie walked up behind her and crossed his arms. "Fine. But you need to be upstairs with Carly." he said cooly. He didn't get too upset by her tone, though it sounded strange. Maybe she's having one of those days, the once-a-month thing...he shuddered inwardly at the thought.

"I...I already know the routine," she told him, still not facing him. However, he could tell by her tone that she was fibbing.

"Yeah, right. I'm not buying it, so tell me what's up." Sam didn't respond. Freddie sighed. "I'm not moving 'till you do. Even if it means missing the show." Again, no response, so Freddie stood squarely behind her. He'd found it odd that she wasn't looking at him. She would've already made ten insults about his face by now.

After a couple more minutes, Sam couldn't take it anymore. "Alright! Fine!" She slammed her hands on the table, making Freddie jump. She faced him for the first time that night, and he instantly felt mildly shocked. Sam was wearing glasses! His mind told him to make fun of her as much as was possible, but he resisted. "Uh...what's going on?" He asked as innocently as he could.

"Oh, don't act like you don't notice it!" Sam shouted, sounding almost hysterical. Freddie was taken aback. He wasn't expecting Tough-As-Nails Sam to sound so close to tears, now or ever for that matter. "Sam?" he asked weakly.

"Yeah, you see it. I have glasses! Now I look like a geek taco with an extra side of dork! How am I supposed to go on the show now? I can't go on looking like a geek! I think I look worse than you!" Freddie raised an eyebrow at her last comment. "I'll ignore that..." He mad his way over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She was sitting at the table again, hand on her forehead. She looked up at Freddie, a confused look on her face. "Why are you touching me?" she asked, more out of curiosity than for the sake of being rude.

"Because I'm trying to be nice and make you feel better," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh" was all she could say. Then, "Why?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. 'Cause you need it, I guess. I mean, I have this strong urge to rip on you, but I won't," he added hastily. Sam just went back to putting her face in her hands. "Well, you are my friend, even though you're so vicious to me. And friends try to make each other happy," he quipped. Wow, that was corny. Smooth, Freddie. Like you need another reason for her to make fun of you," he thought.

Suddenly Sam felt his hand leave it's spot on her shoulder. She raised her head to see where he went but couldn't. Then out of nowhere, it seemed, he shoved something under her nose. A mirror.

"Um, why do I have a mirror?" Sam questioned. Freddie rolled his eyes. "Just look."

She reluctantly obeyed, and she couldn't tear her eyes away. In the reflection she saw Freddie lean over her, putting both hands on both her shoulders this time. "Whaddya see?"

"I see a nerd," she replied. She wanted so badly to put the mirror down, but she couldn't. I thought he wasn't going to torture me! Figures, you can't trust a Freddie...she felt tears form in her eyes, but blinked them away. "So?"

"Right. Do ya know what I see?" Sam shook her head slightly. Freddie looked at her, then back at the mirror.

"Two nerds?" she asked. Freddie frowned. "No, I see Sam. Same as always, except she looks...tougher, intelligent, and--dare I say it--even a little attractive." Freddie bent down and kissed her lightly on her cheek and said, "I need to go back upstairs. Fifteen minutes," he added, and he was gone.

Sam sat there, confused. Oooookay...Freddie just kissed me and called me attractive. Does he--? She stared hard at the stairs. Yeah, right. She glanced back at the mirror. "Eh, I don't look that bad, now that I stop to think about it," she murmured. Sam shrugged and went back upstairs, feeling a little--okay, a whole lot better.

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"Where's Sam? Why isn't she up here?" Carly asked frantically. The show was about to start soon, ten minutes.

"Carly, breathe. She'll be up here any minute," Freddie told her calmly.

"Oh, I'm going to go look for her. Then, I'm gonna thump her!" Carly shouted, going down the elevator. As soon as the elevator doors closed, Sam burst through the other door. Freddie, however, wasn't paying attention. Suddenly he dropped his lens cap for his camera. It rolled over to Sam's feet. She picked it up and walked over to Freddie, who was pratically tearing his other equipment apart. She heard a muffled shout of, "That cost me thirty dollars!"

"For a lens cap?" she asked, sounding disbelieving. Freddie jumped--and hit his head on the cart. Sam giggled slightly.

"Sam! Carly's looking for you. And thanks," he said as he took back the lens cap she held out.

"I know, I heard," she said, gesturing towards the elevator. "Um, Freddie?" she asked, rather hesitantly.

"Mmm?" He was trying to put the lens cap back on the camera.

"Well...downstairs, about what happened," she began.

"What about it?" he said, cleaning the cap on his shirt and trying again.

"Did you really mean what you said?" she asked--almost forcefully, but she was too nervous to make her voice sound threatening. A smirk had appeared on his face, and she didn't like it. So, she decided to glare at him.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't," he taunted. Silence. Freddie prepared himself for an attack, but to his surprise, all she did was roll her eyes. "Fine! I'll just get contacts!" Freddie laughed. Sam chuckled. "Y'know Freddie? You're pretty okay..."

"Thanks, Sam," he said, slightly shocked. Since when was Sam so nice?

"For a nerd."

Freddie looked at her and frowned. Too good to be true, he thought. When Sam turned away (Carly had found her and was now reprimanding her) he smiled. He had meant what he said.

"Yo, technogeek."

He looked up. "Yeah?"

"Remember when I saw a nerd in the mirror, when you asked me what I saw?" she said, walking over to him. He nodded. "I was talking about you." She walked away, laughing. Freddie shook his head, smiling in spite of himself.

At least, he thought he did.