Author's Note: Hellooo, fellow iCarly and Creddie fans! So I said I wouldn't be working on any iCarly projects for a few weeks after my latest Sharly fic. But after certain consideration, some really complimentary PM's from people who've read my other iCarly fics and a sudden burst of inspiration, I wrote this chapter for a new story. But you guys have to give me some feedback to let me know what you think. Adios!
Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly, the characters depicted in the tv series or that of "17 Again".
The wide auditorium was empty save for one: a lone teenage boy in the centre of the varnished wooden floor, standing poised with a basketball in his hand and a determined look on his face. And then he began his rigorous routine of preparing himself for the game happening in an hour's time by running 3-point shot drills. Every shot of the basketball from the flick of his wrist landed soundlessly through the net each time before hitting the floor with a loud bang. He had already discarded of his shirt at the beginning of the drill and his upper body glistened with sweat, which ran like water over his muscles and six-pack.
And to think that just a few years ago, Freddie Benson had been renowned for just being a computer whiz, and here he was, in his senior year of high school, on the brink of getting a basketball scholarship to any college in the country. The future was just an hour away and he was at the top of his game.
Thirty minutes later, Freddie stood in the exact same place in the gymnasium. Only this time, he was surrounded by the rest of his team-mates, getting ready to pose for their photo in the yearbook. The guys were getting restless and Coach Lennox was beginning to lose patience.
"Would someone mind telling me where the hell Gibson is?" Coach Lennox thundered.
"He's probably playing with his blow-up doll, Coach." Rory Blake snorted maliciously.
"Give it a rest, Rory. I'm sure Gibby will be here soon, Coach." Freddie chided soothingly while glaring indignantly at Rory.
Just then, Gibby came sprinting into the gymnasium, huffing and puffing while he ran.
"I'm sorry! I'm here, I'm here! The zipper on my costume got stuck!" Gibby wheezed apologetically and turning red in the face after running all the way from the parking lot.
"Well, you're here now and that's all that matters. The basketball team can't have its photo without its mascot. Come on, everybody, stand closer together." The photographer instructed rapidly.
"Let's do this thing! Tripp The Turtle is in the house!" Gibby roared jubilantly, causing most of the basketball team to laugh mirthfully.
"Knock it off, guys." Freddie chastised sternly, coming to Gibby's defence.
"Seriously, why did you have to give the mascot a name, least of all that name?" Freddie asked in an undertone of his best friend while they stood together.
"What's wrong with 'Tripp'?" Gibby asked innocently.
Freddie raised an eyebrow in response.
"It's cool." Gibby protested.
"No it's not." Freddie retorted assuredly.
"If the Ninja Turtle's done yapping, the rest of us would like to take this picture already." Coach Lennox snapped callously.
Gibby cowered slightly under Coach Lennox's glare and took to smiling as widely as possible to hide his embarrassment while holding up the golden placard with the basketball team's name on it.
"Alright, fellas, big smiles for the camera. Just think of all the different times you're gonna get laid after you win the trophy. Say 'Ridgeway'." The photographer commanded in a winning voice.
As the team and mascot yelled out 'Ridgeway', Rory managed to kick Gibby in the shin from behind, causing him to fall backwards as the camera flash went off. So when the picture came out, Gibby had a look of horror on his face while his head arched backwards.
The gymnasium was packed to the bone with spectators of every creed: students, parents, faculty members, lovers of basketball. The cheerleaders had begun their routine, their hips gyrating from side to side while a catchy hip-hop song blared out of the speakers around them.
Freddie, who stood on the sidelines with some of his other team-mates, got a sudden urge to do something spontaneous before the game. He rushed onto the wooden floor and began dancing right in the midst of the cheerleaders. The crowd lapped it up while he moved in sync with the cheerleaders, waving his arms from side to side and enjoying the attention. The crowd roared with delight when he ended off the routine by ripping his tracksuit pants right off his legs to reveal his basketball shorts underneath with his basketball vest.
"Hey, Lady Gaga! The game starts in 5 minutes." Coach Lennox reminded sarcastically while tapping his wrist watch with his index finger.
As Freddie made to go, Coach Lennox placed a calloused hand on his shoulder.
"It's all you today, Benson. Look at the stands, you see those scouts? They're all here for you, so don't make me look like a horse's ass." Coach reminded sternly.
"You got it, Coach." Freddie promised seriously.
Freddie grinned sheepishly at his coach and ran to join Gibby on the sidelines.
"Dude, what the hell was that?" Gibby teased.
"Oh, just a little something I made up on the spot." Freddie responded airily.
"I can't believe you had the nerve to laugh at 'Tripp The Turtle' after those moves you just stole from a Britney Spears music video." Gibby chortled.
"That's because 'Tripp The Turtle' is lame." Freddie teased back laughingly.
While they continued laughing together, Freddie gazed over Gibby's shoulder and caught sight of the most beautiful girl in the world entering the gym. She was approximately 5-foot in height with flowing black hair which reached just beyond her shoulders; wearing dark blue skinny jeans, a long-sleeved patterned white shirt and shin-high light brown Ug boots. Her dark brown eyes gazed around her like she was looking for someone while she stood with her arms folded tightly across her chest. From the first day that he'd ever met her, Carly Shay still somehow took Freddie's breath away after all this time.
Ignoring Gibby altogether at this point, Freddie began jogging towards Carly like his life depended on it. Carly caught sight of Freddie approaching and a warm smile appeared on her face. And then she was in his strong arms, Freddie holding her tightly like she would disappear back into the crowd.
They'd had their ups-and-downs right from the get-go: setting up one of the most popular web-shows on the internet, surviving the daily trials and tribulations of Ridgeway High School; a psychotic fan who had once locked the iCarly trio in her basement, sky-diving out of an aeroplane in full flight, taco trucks and a bedroom being set on fire.
But when they reached junior year, Freddie and Carly had finally decided to give it another try and start dating for real soon after Freddie's first basketball game at a victory party at Sam's place. Their relationship had developed quickly in just over a year and they had been inseparable ever since their first date (a candle-lit dinner on the Benson's balcony in Bushwell Plaza) and were rapidly falling in love with each other as time passed. They complimented each other in every possible way, like two halves of the same coin.
"You made it!" Freddie exclaimed jubilantly, his heart swelling in his chest at his beautiful girlfriend's appearance.
"Yeah, I did." Carly replied meekly by way of greeting.
Freddie enveloped Carly in yet another bear-hug and planted a quick kiss on her forehead.
"I'm so glad you're here, Carls. There are scouts all over the gym and they're all here to see me. I'm so nervous; it feels like the future's just a couple of seconds away." Freddie admitted anxiously.
"Yeah, it sure is." Carly agreed quickly.
Freddie wasn't slow in noticing the faraway look in Carly's eyes while he rambled on. That's when he realised that she wasn't her usual perky self right before a basketball game. Something was definitely up.
"Carly, are you okay?" Freddie questioned in concern.
"Of course. I'm just a little…yeah, I'm fine." Carly responded hurriedly with a wide smile on her face.
Freddie became increasingly alarmed when he noticed Carly's brown eyes filling with unshed tears, threatening to fall from her eyelids.
"No, you're not fine. Babe, what's going on?" Freddie demanded worriedly.
"Nothing's wrong."
"Please tell me."
"No really, it's fine, Freddie. We'll talk about it afterwards; you go and enjoy the game." Carly implored firmly.
"I won't be able to enjoy the game if I know you're upset. Carly, please just tell me." Freddie begged sincerely, his hands resting on Carly's shoulders.
Carly bowed her head slightly before looking Freddie dead in the eye once more. She took a shuddering breath which eliminated the worst of her approaching tears before responding:
"Freddie, I'm…I just found out that I'm…"
"I'm pregnant."
The world could've crashed into the sun right then and there and incinerated into a million pieces of smouldering rock and Freddie Benson wouldn't have noticed at all. His legs felt like wobbly jelly beneath him and he found himself backing away slowly from Carly. He was practically stumbling back onto the basketball court like a dehydrated man in the middle of a desert on the verge of death. He couldn't believe what he had heard.
As two hormonal teenagers very much in love, they had an active sex life. But they'd been so careful. Freddie had always used a condom and he knew that Carly would never cheat on him. Carly was pregnant and he was going to be a father.
The referee blew sharply on his whistle for the start of the game and players began milling all around Freddie. The sound was dull in his ears like a muffled fog horn and his eyelids were blinded by numerous lights from dozens of digital cameras, camcorders and the floodlights overhead.
This couldn't possibly be true, he was too young. Both he and Carly were too young to become parents. They were still months away from graduation and on the verge of possibly going to different colleges, each separated by several hundred miles. How could they possibly raise a child? What would their friends and family say?
Spencer. He'd always thought of him of as an older brother and mentor. Spencer had trusted him with the one thing more precious than his sculptures, his baby sister and her heart. What would Spencer think of him getting Carly pregnant?
And then there was his mom too. She was neurotic as a parent and extreme in her methods. But deep down, Freddie knew that his mom loved him a lot and only wanted him to be happy and safe. She'd taught him better than this, and he knew he'd be letting her down too in the worst possible way.
It felt like he was turning on his own axis, taking in every sight and sound before him. First he caught sight of Coach Lennox yelling at him from the sidelines, spittle flying haphazardly from the corners of his mouth. Then he gazed up at one of the scouts who locked eyes with him, then scribbled something onto a clipboard and shook his head mournfully. Then he stared straight into Rory Blake's accusing glare, mouthing 'what are you doing?' while attempting to block off an opponent. And Freddie was almost steam-rolled by Sam's evil eye while she began miming slitting his throat with her fingers. It took him a second later to realise that Sam wasn't upset about his performance on the court when he looked to the right and saw Carly turn her back on the game and make her way to the exit.
Then Freddie looked down at his hands and realised that he'd made an unconscious steal during the game, clutching the orange basketball tightly in his hands. As an opponent player came to take it off him, he side-stepped him instinctively and turned his entire body to the right, catching sight of Carly again. That's when he realised that he had a decision on his hands, one of the hardest choices he'd ever had to make in his life. Play the game of his life or lose the love of his life.
The choice was infinitely simple in the grand scheme of things as to what mattered most. Without thinking about it twice, Freddie smiled placidly and tossed the ball casually behind his back to the horror of the crowd. And then he began sprinting off the court to the bafflement of his team-mates, past the bleachers where Sam sat open-mouthed and out of the gymnasium. Carly was walking down the dimly lit hallway towards the main entrance of the school when Freddie finally overtook her and nearly tripped face-first in his attempts to block her path and stop her from leaving.
"Freddie, what are you doing?" Carly asked in alarm, surprised by her boyfriend's sudden appearance before her while she tried to hide the tears which had fallen down her face.
"You can't go. Carly, please…" Freddie pleaded frantically.
"Freddie, the game-"
"I don't care about the game; all I care about is you, Carly."
"You have to get back in there. Everybody's waiting for you, the scouts…" Carly trailed off pleadingly.
"Forget the scouts." Freddie replied dismissively.
"How can you say that? The opportunity for you to go to college is riding on this one game. Your future's beyond that door, Freddie." Carly declared with a gesture of her hand in the direction of the screaming crowd.
"No, it's not. My future's right here, standing in front me carrying my child. You're my future, Carly. You always have been." Freddie answered truthfully while cupping Carly's cheek in his hand.
"No, don't be crazy, Freddie. I can't let you throw everything away; I can't let you throw away your dream…" Carly protested before Freddie interrupted her by kissing her passionately.
Carly's hands in turn reached towards the edges of Freddie's basketball vest and pulled him impossibly closer while kissing him back just as willingly. She moaned against Freddie's lips when he moved his hands lovingly through her hair. And then her heart began beating rapidly in her chest at the feel of his lips on her neck while he mumbled her name repeatedly against her skin. When they finally broke apart, they were both smiling radiantly, Carly more so when Freddie gazed down at Carly's stomach with wonder in his eyes.
"I love you so much, Carly." Freddie stated earnestly, his fingers tracing imaginary circles around her belly through her shirt.
"I love you too, Freddie." Carly replied, matching his tone before enveloping his lips with yet another searing kiss.
The basketball game was back in full swing by this point, everyone in the auditorium having already forgotten about Freddie Benson's bizarre disappearance, save for two people. Still dressed in his mascot uniform, Gibby was staring at the entrance to the gym and scratching his turtle head in confusion. Sam on the other hand, sat in the bleachers, staring at the exact same point and smiling broadly to herself.
Freddie and Carly stood in the exact same place in the hallway, kissing and holding each other. Then Carly emitted a squeal of surprise when Freddie suddenly picked her up in her arms and began swinging her around in a circle like she weighed nothing at all. The two of them were in their own little world and for now, everything was perfect. They had each other; nothing and no one could ever come between them.
They were young, happy and in love.
They were a family.
Author's Note: This would be a nice place to end a fic, huh? Teenage girl gets knocked up, teenage boy realises he can't live without knocked-up teenage girl, teenage boy and teenage girl end up living happily ever after. So holler at me and tell me what you think of this and whether I should continue with the story since I'm also working on a Suite Life story at the moment. And now there's a helping of Butter Chicken in the kitchen with my name on it that I need to eat right now. Snapplelinz out!