AN: Hey, guys! I've posted this first chapter of It All Started With A Dare to celebrate my one year anniversary of posting fanfiction! I'm beyond excited to post this new story. It's an alternate universe, so for the purpose of this story, iCarly never happened. Sam and Carly have been living together since the beginning of high school, Freddie lives across the hall from them, Alison is the school's mean girl, there's a stupid thing called the 'division' between the populars, and it all starts with a game of Truth and Dare - hence the name. So, this story starts five weeks after the game, but it flashbacks that night and days before throughout the entire story. I'm not sure how long I'm planning for this to be yet. This story was originally an idea for a book, but it's very overused, and I thought it was right for Sam and Freddie to have their own version of the story. So, I hope you enjoy Chapter 1 of It All Started With A Dare! x

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, or any Pretty Little Liars and Mean Girls references. x

….

It had been five weeks of whatever kind of relationship they had developed. Sam never expected to fall for the boy next door, and Freddie never expected to fall for Sam Puckett. Ever since his and Alison's breakup, he felt like something was missing, even maybe someone was missing. He first thought it was because Alison was gone, and she made it clear she'd never come back, but he then realised he was chasing something - someone - who wasn't worth chasing.

He confronted Sam one day when she snuck through his bedroom window to complete a dare. She had been attending a sleepover with her housemate and best friend, Carly, along with her friends who were the popular, plastic 'bitches' in school - Alison included.

"What are you doing?" he'd asked Sam, as she began to go through his underwear drawer. She smirked at the pair of labelled underwear; she was pre-warned by Carly who had been their neighbour for years that his mother was insane, but not this insane.

"What does it look like?" she'd smirked, looking at me with a devious glimpse in her eyes. "I'm completing a dare if you must know - so, just let me get away with it and we'll never talk about it again." He shrugged, sitting back down on his bed. "So, how's your relationship with Alison going?"

He decided not to question how she knew about his and Alison's relationship. It was all over the school, and it was no surprise that she had found out. He was just puzzled at how she didn't know the latest news over the 'happy couple'. "We broke up," he'd told her bluntly.

"Oh, right," she'd said dumbly, not knowing the right thing to say. She found the most embarrassing pair of underwear she could find - which turned out to be an old pair of Galaxy Wars boxers - and she returned to the window. "Yeah, well, nice talk, Benson. Thanks for letting me go through your drawers."

"No problem, Puckett," he'd smiled. "Hey, you know you could use the door, right? You live, like, right across the hall."

"Somebody's learnt their facts," she'd smirked, raising her eyebrows. She was generally surprised; she had no idea he even knew she existed. She was known through Carly to most of the student body. "And climbing out the window is more fun, dude. Don't ruin my only entertainment for the night. I've been stuck doing manicures and watching romantic comedies, which weren't even funny. So hey, leave me to have my fun, Freddie."

He loved the way his name rolled off her tongue, it was bittersweet. "Well, um, I might have a way to save you."

She'd almost jumped up at the opportunity. "What are you thinking in that twisted mind of yours?"

He'd grinned. "I'm not twisted, and you know that," he'd said to her. "And how would you like to go out to dinner?"

She'd crossed her arms over her chest, her smirk twisting into a small smile. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you're asking me out on a date."
He'd smiled sheepishly, flushing red.

"Well, you've got yourself a deal," she'd finally said. "Anything to get out of that apartment full of annoying teenage girls. They're driving me crazy. Just give me five minutes to give them these, and then I'll meet you in the lobby, alright?"

He'd nodded. "Can't wait. See you then."

Once she'd climbed out the window, and she'd hit the floor, she couldn't help but question why she was going through with this. Yes she needed an escape from the hell which was her best friend's sleepover, but she didn't know why she was agreeing to a date with the boy next door. She'd seen him around school and heard all the latest gossip which related to him, but she hadn't talked to him much - maybe between lessons, or the occasional times they'd run into each other while on their way to and from school.

And she never expected to feel butterflies in her stomach at the mere thought of him kissing her at the end of the night. Or did she expect for him to actually kiss her at the end of the night. She felt the familiar butterflies escape and use her stomach as a playground once again.
The two became closer over the next few weeks, but only ever in private. They went back to pretending to not know each other during school hours, and Sam was beginning to think that Carly was getting suspicious as to where she was sneaking off to every day after school. Of course she had been escaping to Freddie's. She spent the night sometimes, but nothing ever happened between them apart from sharing a few light kisses. Nothing too intense, yet also nothing too boring. It was Sam and Freddie, after all.

So when she began to feel vulnerable, weak, and affectionate around him, she started to question everything.

Why did she feel like this?

How did she know it was love?

Since when did she ever fall in love?

She tried to tell herself to calm down as she headed down the stairs of her and Carly's shared apartment, but she ended up freaking out even more. She raised her fist to smack the wall but caught sight of her best friend sitting on the sofa, a questioning look present on her face.
"You're early for once, Puckett," Carly teased, deciding to ignore the blonde's sudden anger. She was used to Sam's mood swings, especially lately. She just suspected she was having a tough week of revision with the entrance exams for Senior Year coming up shortly. But the trips across the hall hadn't gone a miss to Carly, and she was ready to question it whenever Sam was willing enough to listen. "How long have you been awake?"
"Not long," Sam shrugged, helping herself to a carton of orange juice from the fridge. She spotted a letter addressed to her on the side. "When did this come?" She pointed to the letter.

Carly's lips parted, and she put down the Fashion World magazine she was reading. "Oh, yeah. It arrived yesterday while you were out; hey, where have you been going lately?"

"Nowhere important," Sam dismissed with a flick of her hand. She ripped open the letter and was surprised to see all the enclosed money from her trust fund. She had requested a week ago for her money to be sent to her in cash instead of the usual cheque, but she was sure it would take months for her request to evaluated.

"So it wouldn't have anything to do with Freddie next door?" Carly asked innocently, taking a sip of her iced tea as she began to sort through a pile of binders for school.

"Nope," Sam said. "That's what that guy's name is?"

Carly rolled her eyes. "How long have we been living next door to him?"

"What? Was I supposed to keep count?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

Carly didn't push for an answer any further. She instead focused all her attention on the pile in front of her which was yet to be sorted through and placed into category. But she was sick of the sight of it, so she pushed it off the coffee table. "You know what? We're going out for smoothies before school - come on, bestie. It's been so long since we've hung out."

Sam hated to admit it, but Carly was right. She couldn't remember the last time the two had hung out alone without any of the bitches being there, too. She usually spent as much time as she could with Freddie since they were still trying to figure out a way to make whatever they had work, but she didn't realise how much she was isolating her friend in the process. "Alright," she sighed. "Let's go."

Carly squealed, looping her arm around Sam's. "Groovy Smoothie here we come!"

….

It was part of Carly's plan. She sat down at a table with her blonde friend, who was now focusing all her attention on the table across the restaurant. Where Freddie and his friends were sat. He hadn't seen her yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time before she went crazy from being around him and not being able to do anything apart from act like they were strangers.

"Did you know they'd be here?" Sam hissed, anger evident in her voice.

Carly smirked to herself - her best friend was breaking, just like she wanted. She quickly smiled, though, and placed her hand on Sam's arm. "Calm down," she said. "I had no idea they were here." Lie. That was a lie. She used to hang out with them herself, along with her group of friends, but she stopped recently after realising she still wasn't over her ex-boyfriend who also sat with them. "Seriously, I didn't."

"Alright," Sam frowned. "But can we just get our smoothies and go? I don't want to be late for first class today. Briggs will have a fit; I already have to ask her if I can resit my language test."

"'Kay, let's go then."

….

"Good day?"

Sam dropped her backpack down beside the door, glaring at Freddie. "Idiot," she huffed, plopping down next to him. "Stop with your sarcasm."
Freddie put his hands up in defensive. "I was only asking," he pouted. He had missed her all day, since he wasn't able to go to school because his mother was obsessing over the small cold he had woken up with that morning. "There's no need to be salty over a question. What happened today, Sam?"

"My best friend happened," she mumbled, deciding to ignore his cute, childish pout. "She's insisted that I sit with her and the bitches - no offense to your ex, she happens to be a nice human-being and one of the only tolerable girls in that group - and they keep making snide remarks about me. I'm sick of it."

"Tell your best friend you don't want to sit with them," he told her. "She'll have to understand, right?"

Sam scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She leaned into Freddie's side and got comfortable in his embrace. "You're not still contagious, are you?" she asked quietly.

He gave her a look. "You're worse than my mother."

"Hey!" she exclaimed indignantly. "I'm not! That comment was uncalled for."

"I know," he said to her. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you better be," she smirked. "Now, since I don't need to worry about catching some nub disease anymore, give mama some sugar."

"I'd love to," he beamed, leaning over and teasing her with a brief kiss. She pouted, before wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer. She pressed their lips back together without a second thought.

….

AN: So, what did you think? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Will you be waiting for next chapter? I don't know when I'll next update, but I'll update soon. I hope you liked the chapter, and I'd appreciate it if you clicked that review button to tell me what you think. I love you all! x

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