I groaned as my alarm clock went off. Why is it going off? It's a saturday, I should be sleeping in. Oh yeah...I needed to go talk to Carly before there was a chance of Sam waking up. I sat up and rubbed my eyes a little bit, standing up and quickly walking to the bathroom so I could take a fast shower. Thank god my mom has work early in the morning, I don't need her pestering me about why I'm in such a rush to leave the apartment at 5:30 in the morning.

I splashed some water on my face and remembered the horrid events of last night: I dropped Sam off after, what I thought was going to be, one of the best dates yet. She had been telling me all week about this meat festival that she wanted to go to, but she didn't have any way to get there. I knew it was a hint, but since we started dating, she's been a little less blunt about stuff like that. All yesterday she was acting weird, but I thought it was just because she had barely eaten all day. When we pulled up to the restaurant the buffet was being held at, I expected her to be excited. However, it seemed as if her mood only got worse. I frowned and asked her what was wrong. She responded with 'Nothing, nub.'

We went in and ate, but there was still an awkward feel between us for reasons that were unknown for me. When I pulled up to her house, I went in to kiss her, but she pulled away and told me we had to talk. Every guy in the world knows that when a girl says she wants to talk, it's not a good thing. "I don't think we should go out anymore..." She said, along with reasons, but for the most part I just zoned out. The few that I heard had to do with my mother and hurting Carly. I felt my heart break into at least 10 million pieces. I tried to talk her out of it, but I knew there were no words I could say to change her mind. I just said "Okay." and she got out of my car, leaving me.

I shook my head and tried not to be depressed about all of this. After all, we'd only dated for about three weeks. I walked over to Carly's and opened her door, her and Spencer had given me a copy of their key, knowing that I need somewhere to go when I can't take my mom anymore. I switched the light on and saw no sign of anyone, so I quietly walked up the stairs to Carly's room.

I walked in and saw her sleeping figure. I contemplated waking her up or just waiting for her to wake up on her own. I know that when you wake up a tired Shay, they tend to go ballistic. However, I remembered the reason I was here so early and knew that the longer I wait, the bigger the chance of Sam coming over was.

I shook her shoulder gently. "Carly. Carly wake up."

She turned over and saw me and her eyes went wide with anger. She sat up and gave me a death glare. "Why are you waking me up at-" She looked over at her clock then back at me. "5:45 in the morning?"

I cringed a little as she yelled, normal Carly was no match for me, but tired Carly...tired Carly could definitely kick my ass. I walked away from her bed and sat down on her couch. "I needed to get here before Sam. I really need to talk to you Carly."

I turned my head to look at her again, her once angry eyes now filled with sympathy. "I'm sorry, you know I get a little testy when I'm woken up against my will." She was now walking over to the couch, sitting on the opposite side of me. "I heard Sam broke up with you. What happened?"

She put her hand on my shoulder in a sympathetic look. I didn't answer her question, not wanting to relive the night anymore. "Do you remember when I was going to go live with my granddad in Yakima?"

I looked at her and gave a little chuckle. Why was she bringing something up that happened...4 years ago? "Yeah, why?"

She looked away, as if trying to find the right words to say. "What would you and Sam have done if I did leave?"

I thought back to the day that I found out and me and Sam talked about it.

We were in the hallway of Ridgeway, waiting for Carly to come to school. Of course I was still 'in love' with Carly, so I was practically grieving this. "So..." I started to say awkwardly. "What's gonna happen to iCarly?"

She didn't look at me, she just stared into her locker. I knew she was taking this hard too. "There's no iCarly without Carly."

I nodded my head. "What's gonna happen with us?" I asked bravely. Besides Carly, Sam was basically my only other friend, even if we do hate each other.

Sam gave me a look and she obviously didn't know what to say. I guess my question caught her off guard. Before she could answer, though, Carly walked up and came in between us, going into her locker. She started saying something about how much she hated Yakima, but I wasn't really listening. To be honest, I was really curious as to what Sam's answer would've been. That was the first time that I had ever cursed Carly's timing.

"Good question, I've been wondering that for years."

That was obviously not the answer that she wanted to hear. "No! You know what would've happened!" I stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "You guys, of course, would've stayed friends, only, without me being in the way, your relationship would've happened faster!"

I shrugged my shoulders. She was probably right. But what does that have to do with my situation. "What's your point?"

She brushed my question off. "Just play along with me, okay?" I nodded my head. I mean, if it'll help, I guess I'll go along with it. "Alright, remember Valerie?"

I gave her a disgusted look. "Blech. Yes, how could I forget." Valerie, my first 'girlfriend.' She only used me so that she could try and have the most popular webshow on the Internet. She even tried to get Sam in on it.

"The day that Valerie tried getting Sam, Sam came to me and told me. I think that's the first time I really saw it."

She paused, I'm guessing for dramatic effect. "Saw what?"

"I'm glad you asked." I gave a little laugh, that's just like Carly. "That's the first time that I saw the love that you guys shared."

I stared at her wide eyed for a moment. "Um, Carly...Me and Sam didn't start liking each other until about a month ago."

This time you laughed. "Oh Freddie. How wrong you are." I furrowed my eyebrows. "Anyway, after me and Sam told you about it, we came back over here, and even though she didn't say it, I know what she was thinking. She didn't want you to get hurt."

I shrugged my shoulders. I guess she's right. I mean, the same thing happened with Jonah, I didn't want him to hurt her. That's understandable, we were friends, even back then. "Well that's not the reaction I was hoping for. Let's try another one. I understand why you didn't want Shane to go out with me. But why didn't you like it when Sam went out with him?"

"Because..." I didn't know how to answer that. I was trying to help Sam win, but that didn't mean I was crazy about the idea of them dating. "I don't know." I finally answered defeatedly.

"Face it Freddie! Even back then you didn't want to share Sam. You were jealous." She had a successful smile on her face and I didn't want her ego to get any bigger. She was right. Even if I didn't know it at the time, I was jealous.

"So...what's next on this walk down memory lane?" I asked in a nervous voice. I knew that Carly knew she was right, but I still didn't want to admit it to her.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay well there's the obvious." She didn't keep talking. However, this time I wasn't sure if the pause was for dramatics, or if she was waiting for me to say what the 'obvious' was. "The time that you guys kissed and hid it from me."

I nodded my head. By the tone in her voice, it was obvious that she was still a little angry about that. "Now I don't know much about that since you guys refused to give me details."

I rolled my eyes, but decided it was only fair to share my feelings of that night. "That's the first night that I considered Sam to be one of my best friends and not just an enemy."

This time, she rolled her eyes. "That's also the first time that Sam considered you as more than a friend. God, boys really can be so dense sometimes."

But...that was more than 3 years ago. Why didn't she tell me back then? "How do you know that?"

"She told me." She said nonchalantly. "Now, shh. Why'd you give up that School at Sea thing?" She asked me. Now she was getting up and walking over to her mini fridge, pulling out two bottles of cream soda and handing me one.

"We went over this already, Carly."

She rolled her eyes again. "No, we didn't Freddie. Tell me the truth. That's when you started liking her isn't it?"

"I-" I was going to answer with a simple no, but I would've been lying. She was right. How did she see what I couldn't? "I think you're right." I answered with a little amazement in my voice.

"I know." She answer proudly. "Here's another one for you: After your date with Melanie, why did you seem happy when Sam told you that Melanie wasn't real?"

Well, that's a stupid question. "Because I was right!"

"Really?" I nodded my head and took a sip of my drink. "It wasn't because you thought that you kissed Sam?"

Thinking back, this is never something that I would've realized had the back month never happened, but I was finally ready to admit defeat. "There is a Melanie, isn't there?"

She nodded her head. "Finally, you admit it! Now what makes you say that?"

"Because kissing her didn't feel the same." I looked down, absentmindedly picking at a loose string on my shirt. As soon as the words came out, I realized how corny they were, and that's embarrassing.

"Awwww!" She squealed. I looked up at her and she was smiling widely. I rolled my eyes again and gave her a glare. "Alright, alright. Now moving forward to when we were...dating." She shivered a little at the word, and I actually laughed. Years ago, I would've dreamt about the times of us dating, living happily ever after. But now when I think of it, I know that what I felt wasn't real. It was just a crush on a nice girl. The whole thought makes me feel naive. "Why'd you listen to Sam when she said that what we had wasn't real? The old you would've jumped at a chance to be with me, even if it was under those conditions."

This one was easy. "Because she was right. And I knew that she didn't want either of us to get hurt."

She nodded her head. "At least I know you're not totally blind." I smiled. Carly was helping me feel better, even with this pointless conversation. "I only have a few more questions, and then I promise you will see the point to this." It's weird how she can read my mind at times. "Remember the fanwar at webicon?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. As crazy as it was, it was one of the funniest experiences I've ever had. "Yeah I remember. But really Carls, what does this have to do with-"

"Shh!" She screamed at me. I rolled my eyes and let her continue. "Why'd you make more of an objection to the Creddiers than the Seddiers?"

"Cause, I... cause..." I looked at her face and she had the biggest smile plastered on.

"Cause you liked the idea of people thinking you and Sam were together." I nodded my head. Again, this girl was right. "Okay, last one." I nodded my head, waiting for her to go on and finish with this speech. "What was the first thought that ran through your head when you saw Sam's mood?"

"It was..." The first thing I thought was 'I lost her.' The reason I thought this was inexplainable then, but now, now I know why. Because I love her. I have loved her. God only knows when this happened, but it's there. And Carly knew all along, that was the point of this trip down memory lane: She was trying to get me to realize it. "I gotta go, Carls."

I started running to the door, and she screamed "Go get 'em tiger!" I looked back and raised an eyebrow at her. She was shaking her head. "I've always wanted to say that, and now that I have, I wish I hadn't." I started laughing, and ran out of her room, down the stairs and out of her apartment. I need to get Sam back.

00000000000

I ran the short 2 blocks to Sam's house, although I'm not sure why. It was barely 6:15 in the morning and I knew there was no chance of her being awake. I guess this realization just hit me hard. I don't want to spend another moment not being with Sam. I love her and she needs to know that. And I know that she loves me too.

When I got to her house, I contemplated my next move. I could just knock on her door, but that would wake up her mom, which I definitely didn't want to do. I could call her and tell her to come down, but I was in such a rush to get here, I forgot my phone. I studied the ground and saw a couple of pebbles in the driveway. A smile came across my face as I quickly scooped them into my hand and walked around the house so that I was standing in front of her window.

I picked one up and lightly threw it at her window, smiling in success as I saw it hit dead on. I waited a moment and nothing happened, so I threw another. And another. And another. Until finally, I saw a light turn on. I dropped the remaining pebbles and waited for her to peek her head. Suddenly I was nervous.

I saw her open the window and she stuck her head out. I smiled at her, the sight of her, even with her hair messed up and no makeup on, takes my breath away. "Are you crazy, Benson? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" I asked, my voice a little shaky.

"No." She answered bluntly.

I figured it wouldn't be easy. I noticed the flower vines that worked its way up to her window. I don't care how cliche this is, I just need a way to get up to her. I ran over and started climbing up the vine, it was a lot harder than it looked. "Benson, what the hell! You're gonna get yourself killed!" I didn't answer. Partly because I didn't know how to respond, but also because I was scared that if I said anything, I would fall. I was almost there, all I had to do was reach over and I would be able to pull myself in. Thank god her window's not that high up.

I climbed up high enough so that I could put my feet in first, making it easier to pull myself in. I put them both down and slid my hands down the vine until I was sure I was safely in. Once I felt my feet touch her floor, I dropped the vine. To my surprise, I felt a pair of hands wrap around me. "You could've gotten yourself killed." She said, obviously scared.

"It would've been worth it." I whispered. She pulled back and looked into my eyes. As quickly as the hug had happened, it had ended. She walked to the other side of the room.

"What are you doing here?" She asked me, trying not to look me in the eyes.

"We're not breaking up." I said matter-of-factly.

The look on her face changed from emotionless to anger. "You don't call the shots here, Benson. I broke up with you."

I gave a little chuckle, which only made her angrier. "I know you did. You say we're hurting Carly, she cares more about our relationship than any of hers. You say you hate my mom and she hates you, screw that. She'll come around eventually. And I just realized-"

"Stop it, okay? We need to break up, it's going to end soon anyway, so it might as well be now." The vulnerable Sam was out again. I'd seen her 4 times in my life. The first was the night of our first kiss. The second was the time she kissed me at the lock-in. The third was the night at troubled waters when she though I was going to humiliate her. And the fourth is now. Sam in a vulnerable state was a rare sight.

"No, we're not, Puckett." I started walking towards her, but she put her hands up to stop me.

"Yes we are! I'm not good for you! Your mother's been saying it for years! Ask anybody and they'll all say that. Soon you'll be going off to college and I'll be going who knows where. Probably jail." I walked up to her, she finally allowed me to, and put my hands on her waist.

Shockingly, she obliged, putting her arms around my neck. "I'm not going off to college, Sam."

This time she laughed, but it wasn't humorous, it was more nervous. "Uh, yes you are. You're like number 2 in our class, you can't just not go, you'll ruin your life!"

"I don't care about that Sam! All I care about is you. Don't you get it?" I walked away from her and started pacing the room, suddenly nervous again. "I just got down talking to Carly, and she helped me realize so much." She started talking but I stopped her. "Just let me say this, okay?" She nodded and I continued. "We looked back on our past and she asked me all of these questions. At first I didn't understand the point of it, but once it was over it did. Carly's been there all along, through our entire relationship. And she's seen more than I have, that's for sure. She made me realize that I've liked you for a long time now. But what's most important is that she made me realize that I love you." I looked at her and her eyes were wide. "I don't know when it happened, I don't know why I didn't see it before, but the point is that I see it now. And I'm not going to run off to college, we're not going to break up any time soon. I can't picture my life without you Sam. I love you. I love you, I love you, I love-" I was cut off as she crashed her lips onto mine. I hadn't even seen her walk towards me, I was so engrossed in my speech. I instantly kissed her back. But she pulled back when I did.

"You mean that." My mind flashed back to the moment after I kissed her at Troubled Waters when she said the same thing.

"Of course." She gave me the biggest smile ever, a wide toothy grin, which would've looked silly, had it not been on her face.

"You're not so bad yourself, nub." I smiled and kissed her again. Even if she won't exactly say 'I love you,' I know she still does. And that's good enough for me.

The ending isn't quite what I wanted. But hopefully you enjoyed this! I worked really hard on this. Alllll day yesterday and the ending today. So review and tell me what you think(: