Disclaimer: No I didn't fall out of a tree. Yes I'm sad that hobos can't afford cable. But Dan Schneider owns all rights and privileges to iCarly its brilliant ideas and its characters.

Author's Note: Everyone is wondering what will happen to Sam and Freddie's relationship after iOMG. Well, I know I am. We now all know that Sam likes Freddie. That is obvious. I think the main thought of all fans is: "Does Freddie like Sam?"

'…AND THAT IS THE QUESTION'

Chapter One: Willing to Try

Moments like this were often followed by an uncomfortable silence. Awkward. Them, just standing opposite one another. The tension was growing by the second. They could definitely feel it all around them.

"You…. Just-" he started talking finally.

"Yeah I kissed you. You got a problem with that, Benson?" Sam cut him off suddenly.

"N-no. I just… I'm confused. I thought you… but then you… and now-"

"Do you like me?"

"Sam-"

"Well, do you?"

Freddie didn't know what to do. So he ran.

He ran away from her, back inside to the safety of the school corridors. He winced and kept running through Ridgeway High, hoping someone would stop him in his tracks. Tell him to 'turn around' and 'go back to her'. That was Carly's voice he was hearing inside his head.

Too many memories here, he thought quickly. It reminds me of every single minute I've spent with her.

Moments. So many moments to count.

Too many and too precious to even begin to try to forget. It was impossible. Just like them becoming… well…. A couple. And dating. Dating! For crying out loud!

Half a minute ago, he thought Sam hated him. Now it had all changed. Now it had gotten complicated. It wasn't that they weren't complicated before. Which they were. It was always the same: first they would yell at each other, second she would slap him and be 'irritated' by his presence. Now though, she loved him. Sam was in love with Freddie. It was done.

He now understood why she had been so aggressive toward him, for years on end.

Words. That's all they were. But the kicks, the punches and the slaps. It always had a deeper meaning. To him it just hurt. It was just another pain, adding a little misery to his life. To her, it was special. It was just an excuse to feel his skin on hers, an excuse to make him PAY for all those "crushing on Carly" years. Making her feel hurt, pushed aside and somehow, weirdly jealous.

Sam liked him. Like liked him. Did he like like Sam?

Freddie thought about this question. Constantly. Not just now. But he'd been asking himself ever since… Well since they first met each other, really. He used to refuse the fact that despite everything, they both were good friends. Even BEST friends. Now, he knew that phase, of hate, was over.

Like like. It sounded so… fifth grade. Why not play "kiss-chasey"? Or sing that ridiculously childish rhyme, over and over again.

How did it go again?

"Sam and Freddie. Sittin' in a tree. K I S S I N G. First comes 'love'. Then comes 'marriage'. Then comes Sam, wheeling a baby carriage."

Shaking his head, the grin doesn't slip off his face. Kids could be so cruel sometimes. Heck. Even teenagers could be as cruel.

Freddie sits himself down, and buries his face in his hands. Perhaps he was thinking over things way too much. Or maybe, he did love Sam. More than a good friend. More than, well, a sister. That was when something inside his brain clicked.

And, as chance would have it… Carly Shay appeared out of nowhere. Her face said one thing.

We. Need. To. Talk.

Four words, which anyone never needed to hear. Of course, the girl didn't utter them soundly. But as a picture tells a thousand words, her face, told him everything he didn't particularly want to know.

She sits down next to him. He knows what's coming next.

"Sam loves you. A lot." The brunette girl blurts out suddenly. As if it wasn't already obvious.

"Carly-"

"We thought it was Brad. But it was really you. All this time-"

"Must we discuss this right now?" Freddie questions, kind of annoyed that his thinking was interrupted.

"We must, if you want a fierce, rambunctious, bundle of horror, as your girlfriend."

"She is, isn't she. I don't know, Carly. I think I might like her. But I don't think I could do this to you."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you want to go back to dating me?"

It was a question he'd wanted to ask his friend for quite some time now. Carly sighed, and looked at one of her most closest friends, smiling politely before answering him, carefully.

"Look, I love you. You're my best friend, and almost like a brother to me. I've never felt the same way you have about me. Except for when you got smushed by that taco truck, instead of me, my heart leapt into 'hero mode'. I was seeing you in a different light. But in the end, Sam was right. You were just bacon to me. So… No. I don't want to date you."

"That's fair enough. But I still don't know if I'm ready to date Sam."

"Tell her that." Carly said, shrugging her shoulders and speaking like it was the most simple thing to do.

"…and risk losing a limb? No thanks." Freddie replied, fiddling with his fingers nervously.

"Dude, she's not going to injure you for speaking you mind, and standing up to her. Don't you remember how she and I first met?"

"Yes. She came up to and attempted to steal your sandwich. But you pushed her to the ground and she admired you for that. You've been best friends ever since."

"Exactly!"

Freddie thought about this for a moment, before responding quickly.

"Carly, don't you recall how she and I met?"

"Of course. How could anyone forget that?"

The bully. The dork. They had separate definitions for each other. Of course, that would be carried through to the start of high school. Possibly beyond. The future, for now, was very uncertain.

A whoosh of a girl with blonde curly hair raced past Freddie. He watched, and winced as he saw this same girl, giving a chubby boy a wedgie. He had experienced them before, and backed away from the scene. Until she spotted him. As a mere witness, Sam was afraid he'd rush off and tell a teacher. Walking up to the boy, who was now cowering in fright, his arms, protectively over his skull, she yanked his shirt upward.

Nose to nose, Sam and Freddie were staring at each other. Her eyes, grayish blue and his a chocolate brown color.

"You saw NOTHING geek boy," she hissed, threateningly. "Got it?"

Freddie couldn't speak, out of fear, so he just nodded his head quickly. The moment his feet touched the ground, he scampered away to safety. Away from Sam. And away from any impending doom and her evil wrath brought upon her unsuspecting victims.

"There you have it. She's always hated me." Freddie says, in a 'matter of fact' tone.

"Just like you've always hated her." Carly responds, part sarcastically and part humorously.

"Right. Wait…. What?"

His best friend grins from ear to ear, knowing that she has him trapped, with no excuses to help him escape.

"So you didn't always hate her?"

"Carly! Stop putting words in my mouth! Of course I didn't always hate Sam. I just said it, because she said it all the time. And I knew she hated me."

After a short pause to let all of this sink in, Carly speaks again. Another question.

"Do you like like Sam?"

Freddie thought about this. He couldn't possibly answer that question. Just like he couldn't answer Sam's question before. Not that he wouldn't ever answer it. He just needed some more time.

"Do you like me?"

"Sam-"

"Well, do you?"

All his life, or for the most of it, he'd learnt to hate the blonde girl. Now that she loved him, or something like that, those thoughts were changed. Change was good. But change could be terrifying at the same time.

"Freddie?" Carly asks for the third time, getting his attention back.

"Huh?"

"Are you or are you not in love with Sam Puckett?"

"I-"

A chubby, shirtless boy came bowling through the room, wearing a very worried look on his face. He addressed Carly, who took one look at Freddie, narrowed her eyes as if to say 'this conversation isn't over' and followed the one named Gibby, over to where their science project was.

Freddie suddenly began wondering where Sam was.

Making his way back through the hallway, he pushed against the double doors and walked straight into the blonde headed demon herself. She didn't look happy. She didn't look sad either. In fact, her face was probably mirroring Freddie's expression. Right now, it showed confusion and a somewhat thoughtfulness.

"Are you okay?" Freddie asked her, gently touching her shoulder.

"Why do you care?"

Sam's voice was distant, even though she felt snappy. If he wasn't so damn 'good looking' and 'perfect', she would be well and truly beating him down with a baseball bat. As soon as he spoke up again, her heart was fluttering and those visions of violence just vanished.

"I care because you pushed aside fear and made a move. The move was made on me. But, it was a 'move' nonetheless."

Freddie's tone was quiet, and remained soft and gentle. As if caressing a little baby chicken, carefully.

"I don't want to talk about this." Sam said, looking away from the boy. Avoiding all eye-contact.

"If we don't, I'll lose a friend. My best friend."

There was a silence. The awkward was threatening to cut between them. Sam didn't allow it to. Freddie was grateful to her for saying something before the whole situation grew uncomfortable. And awkward of course. She finally looks up at him, a sparkle in her eyes that he has never seen before now.

"So… are we dating now? Or what?" Sam questions, in a demanding kind of way. She doesn't know any different.

"I'm willing to try it. If you are." Freddie replies, confidently.

"Oh, I'm willing."

"Thought you might say that."

The two of them smirked at one another, their hands caught hold of each other's and then both decided to go and tell the news to their best friend. She had every right to know what was going on and also know that her two best friends in the entire world were finally happy.