"Yoyoyo, Brad!" Sam Puckett, the blonde devilish iCarly co-host hopped towards the brunette boy.
"Hey Sam." He smiled at her and closed his locker.
"Nub." She greeted Freddie, who was standing next to Brad.
"Demon." He greeted back.
Brad grinned at them. They were so weird. He'd been hanging with them for only a couple of weeks and hadn't this whole frenemy-thing figured out yet.
"You ready to go?" Sam asked, pulling the light brunette boy out of his thoughts.
He nodded and smiled at her as he saw her excitedly hopping up and down in front of him.
"Sure, let's go."
"What? Go where?" Freddie asked, looking for and back between the two, a confused look on his face.
"Brad's teaching me how to make this awesome fudge of his!" Sam answered quickly, rolling her eyes and sighing happily. Then, she grabbed Brad's hand and pulled him with her. "Now let's go! See ya, Frednerd!"
Freddie looked after them as Brad waved back to him, while the blonde dragged him down the hall. He was... shocked. But on the other hand, he shouldn't be too surprised, that Sam was willing to learn how to make food. It meant a life-long supply of delicious fudge for her.
But still... there was something deep down in his gut that bothered him. Then he sighed. Maybe it was just the mass of homework waiting for him at home.
"Wow! Brad, this fudge is awesome! I can't believe I actually did this myself!" Sam said, her mouth full of the delicious treat.
Brad laughed at her. "You're so ladylike."
Sam shut her mouth immediately, swallowed and smiled at Brad, blushing a little. "Sorry."
Brad laughed again. This girl was the funniest he'd ever met. "No worries."
"Sooo. You've got a really nice kitchen. It's huge!" Sam said, hopping onto the counter.
Brad hopped next to her. "Well, my Mom, my Grandma and I like cooking, soo..."
"Nice."
"You wanna go see my room? It's nice, too."
Sam looked at him, furrowing her brows, trying to figure out if there was a deeper meaning, or if it was just a kind offer. She decided to play safe.
"Listen, Brad... I don't know how to put this, but... You're really cool and all, but-"
"Sam!" He interrupted her grinning. "I didn't mean it like that! I mean, you're awesome and everything and I really like you, but not in a romantic way."
"Oh geez, thank god!" Sam sighed. "I'm so relieved!"
"Excuse me?" Brad laughed, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh! Oh, not like that." The blonde girl laughed along with him, her curls were bouncing on her back. "I mean, we're getting along so well and I really like you, too, it would be a shame if something like that came in between."
"Yeah, you're right. So, you want to go see my room now, or not?"
"Sure." Sam smiled and hopped off the counter, following Brad through the apartment.
"What?!" The blonde exclaimed as they entered his room. "You're a Seahawk?!"
"Sure." Brad grinned. "Go Seattle!"
"But, but, but you're from California!" Sam looked at him wide-eyed.
"So? The Seahawks are amazing! Did you see that game against the Saints?!" He asked her back, all excitedly.
"How Lynch broke through?!" They both exclaimed, pointing with their fingers at each other.
This afternoon and evening they were lost in football-talk, lying on Brad's bed lazily until it was almost time for iCarly.
"Damn it! We're going to be late, if we don't hurry up!" Sam suddenly jumped into action.
"Come on, Sammy, jump on my motorcycle with me!" Brad grinned at her, faking a western-movie-voice.
Sam laughed and sprinted after him.
They reached the Shay's apartment just in time and burst into the studio, helmets in hand, panting heavily.
"We're here, we're here!" Sam managed to get out.
"Sorry." Brad panted.
"You guys! Where have you been? The show starts in-" Carly looked at Freddie, who picked up his camera and began to count down.
"5, 4, 3, 2-" He motioned towards Carly and Sam, who threw her helmet at Brad.
"Once, there was a girl named Carly!" Sam exclaimed happily into the camera, still a little out of breath.
"Who was always on time!" Carly said, grinning at her best friend's ability to jump into her show-self in a splitsecond.
"And then, there was me." Sam said.
"Who was only on time if there was free food involved." Carly smiled into the camera.
"But also when it was time for-"
"iCarlyyyy!" They screamed towards their audience.
"So what were you guys doing today?" Carly asked Sam and Brad as they went downstairs after the show.
"Oh well..." Brad said, grinning at Sam as he plopped down the last few stairs. He remembered their weird, yet funny conversation about him liking her.
"Brad taught me how to make fudge and showed me his room." Sam said walking off towards the kitchen.
"And that's what took you so long?" Freddie asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sam shrugged and poured herself a glas of lemonade. "We lost... track of time, I guess."
Brad could see from the side, that Freddie's jaw clenched.
"Nice. I'm going home. Bye, guys." Freddie said quickly, turning and leaving the Shay's apartment.
Brad frowned. Weird.
But he didn't think too much of it. He didn't fully get them anyways.
Next day at school Sam was chatting with Carly and Freddie by their lockers.
Her eyes sparkled happily when she threw an insult at Freddie and he smirked at her, rolling his eyes.
Brad ran towards them at full speed.
"Samsamsamsamsamsamsamsam! - Hey, guys - SAM!"
The blonde laughed at his weird behaviour. "What?"
"My Mom just called and - guess what?"
She waited for him to continue and - from his lack of will to do so - punched him playfully.
"My Mom got me two tickets for the Seahawks tonight!"
"Shut up!" The blonde shouted at him. Brad nodded frantically.
"AAHHH!" Sam squealed and hugged Brad tightly. "You're the best!"
Brad laughed.
"I'd rather not." He said, remembering their weird conversation again.
Sam laughed at him and batted her eyelashes playfully at him. "Not?"
Brad smiled. "No, come on let's get going!"
"Sure! Bye, guys!" Sam screamed and ran off with the light brunette, leaving behind a stunned Freddie and Carly.
"W-What just happened here?" Carly asked in shock, staring after them.
Sam walked into school the next morning, the brightest smile on her face.
The game had been awesome. Brad's mom had taken them to dinner before the game and told them to have a fun time as she handed Brad some money for hotdogs and stuff like that.
Sam had had the best time. Brad was awesome. She had suspected as much, because it was not everyday that Samantha Puckett directly fell into friendship with someone on second sight.
"Hellooo, people of earth." Sam greeted Carly and Freddie at their lockers.
"Hey." Freddie muttered.
"Hey Sam! How'd your date with Brad go?" Carly smiled at her. It must've killed her that Sam hadn't texted her every detail before going to sleep last night.
"Awesome." She smiled. "Lynch broke my records! I would really like to know how he does that. Running with a 10000 pounds-guy on him!" Sam smiled excitedly.
Freddie sighed and rolled his eyes.
"I'm going to class, see you later, girls." He said and left quickly, a sour look on his face.
"Geez, what's wrong with him these days?" Carly wondered as she was looking after their technical producer.
"What do you mean?" Sam looked at her confused.
"He's all quiet when he's around and doesn't smile as much. He just clenches his jaw and looks angry." Carly shrugged. "I don't know what's bothering him."
"Well... you asked him?" Sam asked.
"Yes, but all he said was 'Nothing, duh' and remained looking angry." Carly sighed.
"Yeah, well, whatever." Sam shrugged.
"So, what exactely did you do on your date with Brad?" Carly returned to questioning her excitedly.
"Was there... some lip-contact?" The brunette wiggled her eyebrows.
Sam laughed. "No, Carls, sorry. I'm not into Brad like that."
"But-"
"And he's not into me like that." The blonde cut her off.
"What? Why not? You're gorgeous! I'm going to show him-"
"Carls!"
Carly turned around, she wanted to go hunt that boy down! "WHAT?!"
Sam looked at her funny.
"Carls, we're just friends! I thought he wanted more when he asked me if I wanted to see his room the other day and I was about to turn him down when he interrupted me and told me he just wanted to be friends and literally show me his room."
Carly looked thunderstruck. "B-But- why? He- he invited you to go to the football game and- and you said you two lost track of time in his room! I- I thought-"
"I know, Carly, sorry I didn't clear this up sooner. But... well we talked about the Seahawks and discovered how much we have in common!" Sam smiled. "He's like the twin I always wanted! Not like... Melanie."
Carly looked still confused. "So you're just friends?"
"Yep."
"And you didn't say so, because?"
"You didn't ask." Sam shrugged nonchalantly.
Carly stopped dead for a second, thinking. Sam was right, she hadn't asked until now. She shrugged.
"Still, I think you should go talk to Freddie."
"What? Why?!" Sam exclaimed. They were friends, but it wasn't like she was interested in his weird behaviour. She was way too interested in spending time with Brad.
"You're friends, aren't you?"
"So?"
Carly sighed defeatedly. "Friends do this for each other. And since he wouldn't talk to me, I figured he'd maybe talk to you."
"Tse." Sam scoffed. "Sure. Talk to me about his girly-problems. Just give him a day or two, Carls, he'll recover from whatever's bothering him."
And with that, the blonde walked to Ms. Brigg's english class.
The next iCarly came and Sam and Brad were actually on time, although they had hung out all afternoon working on their science-project.
Sam really liked working with that boy. He was smart - although he wouldn't do all the work -, he was pushing her grades up a little more - Carly and Freddie had gotten her to Bs and Cs, but hanging with three intelligent and studious people made her focus more and learn more, even if only subconciously -, Brad even made her a great cook. She hadn't been too bad before, but cooking with Brad and his mom made hear learn more tricks and gain more confidence in her cooking-skills.
Carly walked in in her gymnastics-suit and purple leggins. "Hey! You're early. Sam, go put on your suit, will you?"
"Sure, Carly-o! See you, later, fudge-boy!" She waved at him and vanished around the corner. Carly giggled.
"You two are so weird." She said grinning at Brad.
"She's amazing." Brad grinned back, suddenly getting a rather nervous look on his face. "So, Carly, I was wondering-" He started only to be interrupted by a certain technical producer.
"Hola!" Freddie announced as he entered the room, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw Brad. He forced a smile.
"Hey." Carly greeted him and smiled at the brunette boy.
"So Brad, what where you going to say?" She turned back to the taller boy of the two.
"Er, Sam and I wanted to go grab smoothies after the show, you wanna come?" He quickly lied. Damn, hanging with Sam made him better with that kind of stuff. He actually wanted to ask Carly out. He came to like her pretty much. She was cute, intelligent and the nicest and - besides Sam - the funniest girl he had ever known. But asking Carly out with Freddie next to them, knowing that he (once) had a crush on her was just weird. Sam knew about his crush on her and would definitely leave the two alone after some time, if it was only them.
"Sure!" Carly exclaimed happily and Brad smiled.
"What about you, Freddie?" She asked hopefully. Brad looked at him, too, his eyes curious and begging to heaven that he would decline. His chances to go out with Carly were not the best, considering that almost all the boys in school were drooling over her.
"Nah, thanks, my mom wants me home to- er, to give me a tickbath." Freddie said and the other boy felt like shouting in celebration.
"Oh, okay." Carly said disappointment clear in her voice.
Brad clenched his jaw. He wanted to ask Carly out, why, why was she so after Freddie lately?
He couldn't think about this much more, because a certain blonde walked into the room, wearing a tight, firey red gymnastics-suit, without tights and made their jaws drop. Not only him and Freddie, but also Carly stared at her best friend.
"I- I didn't think you would wear it." Carly stuttered.
"Sure," she said and as she walked by her to stand beneath Brad, she nonchalantly added: "And by the way, your tights ripped."
"What? Aww, Sam, those were my favourites!" Carly whined.
Brad laughed, then nodded at Sam. "Not bad, pie-girl."
She grinned back at him, then her eyes wandered to the tech-producer.
He stood there at his tech-kart, a tight grip on his camera, his gaze wandering over her body, then to her eyes. He held her gaze for a second, then he turned away abruptly, announcing the show would start in 30 seconds.
Sam frowned. He acted weird for... about two weeks now. She sighed at the thought. She would have to talk to him eventually, so why not after the show.
They started the show off with a gymnastics-excercise for their rather lazy viewers, where Sam showed off her flexibility and sport-abilities, while Carly miserably failed at being graceful, but slumped down onto the mattress in a cute manor, as Brad thought.
The show ended with Carly and Sam telling the viewers to keep on rolling up hills and beware of apples falling down on their heads - it may make them smart and god beware of that!
"Great show, guys!" Freddie said and smiled at the girls slightly.
Brad stood up from his chair at the tech-kart. "Yeah, that spaghetti-bit! Hilarious!"
He high-fived the girls, which laughed at the memory. Filling a head with Spaghetti and making Gibby wear it as a hat in their play had been a great idea.
"So, smoothies are waiting for us!" Carly cheered.
"Let's get changed and then let's get going!" Sam yelled and started dancing around her brunette best friend.
"You sure, you don't want to come, Freddie?" Carly asked a last hopeful smile on her face.
"N-No, thanks." Freddie said lamely, biting his inner cheek.
Carly sighed. "All right then, no smoothies for you tonight, tech-boy!"
She started to exit through the door, casting Sam a look that said Talk to him! and Sam sighed, following her out.
"Okay, Carls, I won't go to the Groovy Smoothie with you. I'm gonna go talk to Freddie." Sam sighed after they had changed and walked down to meet Brad.
"Thanks, Sam. I hope you can cheer him up." Carly sighed and turned to Brad. "Let's go, Brad."
The brunette boy opened the door for Carly and turned to Sam, mouthing a Thank you. Sam smiled at him and started over to the Benson's fire escape.
After the show, Freddie sat on his fire escape. He was depressed. More than depressed. Sam and Brad had been dating for two weeks now and he didn't like it one bit.
At first, he had been confused about the strange burning feeling in his stomach. But, being the smart boy he was, he had figured out the reason for this after two days.
He bit his lip. He was in love with Samantha Puckett, blonde headed she-devil, his personal arch-nemesis, his frenemy for years and years. How had this happened?
You don't have to question that. You know exactely how it happened.
Said a voice in the back of his head.
He sighed in defeat to the voice. Yes, he knew perfectly well, when he had started to fall for her. It had been right there on this fire escape, when she had come to apologize and cheer him up and - when they had kissed. He hadn't realized it until last week, but looking back, he could see the changes in their relationship over the years and how his oppinion of her had changed, how he had started to appreciate her presence and her person and how they had started to emerge a relationship that was so weird and at the same time so lovingly that it amazed him all the more.
He bit his lip harder. Tears started to glaze his eyes.
Why, oh why hadn't he seen it before? It wasn't like he thought she would like him back, but still, there was this little, tiny spark of hope, that maybe, just maybe she would like him back. Or at least, if they only still had that special bond that had connected them for the past years, but it hadn't been there lately. Now, Sam spent all her time with Brad. They were developing that special connection, he was sure of it. They were dating after all.
He liked Brad. He was nice, he was cool, he was smart, good behaved and made awesome fudge. But he was with Sam. He was with the girl that he realized he was madly in love with. And now he was burning with jealousy.
He knew Carly had noticed something, but shouldn't Sam have noticed, too? Anything? She was the one that knew him better than Spencer, better than Carly, better than his mother. He thought she understood him in a way that no one else could. But he seemed to have been wrong all along.
A tap on the window roughly pulled him out of his thoughts and made him jump slightly. He spun around, not aware of the fact that his cheeks were host of two single tears, racing each other to his chin.
At the window stood Sam, watching him with big eyes, frozen in shock. She had been sure something was bothering him, but she hadn't expected to see him sitting crying on the fire escape.
"F-Freddie?" She coaxed.
He spun around and stood up from his chair, walking to the corner of the escape.
"What?" He said emotionlessly, not facing her. He was surprised that he had his voice under control like that.
"W-What's wrong?" Sam whispered quietly as she stepped onto the escape. She was seriously worried, seeing him like this. And even more, she was angry with herself. She had been so wrapped up in her new friendship with Brad, that she hadn't noticed how bad he felt. They always had that special connection and she thought she would notice immediately, if he had any worries, but she hadn't noticed. She had brushed it off as nothing. She had been a terrible friend. A terrible best friend.
Freddie didn't answer her right away. She could tell he was trying to regain his composure.
"Nothing." He tried eventually.
Sam raised an eyebrow and put her hand on her hip. "Oh really? You expect me to believe this after I found you sitting here, all alone on the fire escape and crying?"
"I could try." He said silently.
She waited a few moments, then tried to push further.
"Will you tell me what's wrong now?"
"I'd rather not." He said and frowned at the memory of Brad saying exactely those words to Sam.
There was silence.
They could hear the cars under them speeding on the streets, the wind blowing through their hair. Freddie tried to breathe in and out to calm himself. He hadn't planned for Sam to see him cry. He hadn't thought that seeing her now at this place would mess his emotions up more than ever. It was hard for him to try and hold his tears back by biting his bottom lip again.
Suddenly, Sam stepped forward and softly hugged him from behind. He was surprised to say the least. He hadn't expected her to be so gentle and soft towards him. She had never really shown him how much she cared. At least not in such a... normal way.
"I'm worried about you." She whispered quietly. Her fingers grabbed his shirt over his stomach.
"And I'm sorry I've been such a terrible friend lately. I should have noticed that something was bothering you. I mean, Carly noticed and that must make you very happy, but-"
"I'm not into Carly anymore." He said quietly. "I've gotten over her a long time ago."
Sam loosened her grip on him a little in surprise, then she continued to speak.
"But still. I should have noticed, too. Maybe I should have noticed even before Carly..." There was a short pause. "I'm sure I should have. And I am sorry for that."
Freddie nodded slightly, he forgave her the second he saw her standing at the window. He couldn't stay mad at her. He had never been able to be mad at her for more than half an hour. And now, finally, he knew why.
Sam grabbed him tighter and squeezed him a little. "I care about you, you know that, right? And I don't want you to be sad."
He smiled a little and put his hands on hers, slightly squeezing them back reassuringly.
"It's okay." He whispered into the wind. He could feel her sigh in relief against his back.
There were a few moments of silence, in which the two seventeen year olds just stood there, enjoying each other's warmth and company in the cold Seattle night.
"You can tell me everything, you know that, too, right?" Sam asked quietly and felt Freddie stiffen in her arms.
"I can't tell you this, Sam." He said, a lump forming once again in his throat. He was scared, scared to death to scare her off and lose her forever.
"Why not?" She asked sadly. He could imagine her eyes clouding with sadness and it killed him.
"You'd hate me maybe."
She did something he didn't expect at all. She laughed.
"Frednub, I couldn't hate you! Except you cancelled all the meat-selling in the world and, believe me, even for your tech-nerdy abilities, that's pretty hard to manage." She giggled behind his back.
He stayed quiet at this, paralyzed by fear.
As he didn't laugh along, Sam furrowed her eyebrows. She was getting a little scared now.
The blonde loosened her grip on him.
"Freddie?" No response.
"Freddie, please look at me."
He hesitated and bit his bloody lip once again, he reluctantly turned around to face her.
She stared at him with her big blue eyes. They showed concern and even - and god forbid it, because this was Samantha freaking Puckett - fear.
Her hands lingered lightly on his waist, grabbing his shirt.
"What is it?" She asked. He just shook his head.
Sam's grip on his shirt tightened.
"You're scaring me." She whispered, looking at his eyes desperately. "It can't be that bad, right? Right? What did you do? Please, tell me."
She was stepping closer to him, intimidating him more and more.
He sighed upon seeing her eyes and the clear desperation on her face. He tore his gaze from her face and looked into the Seattle night.
"Y-You promise you won't hate me?" He whispered slightly.
"I promise."
"And we will go back to being friends again, no matter what I'm telling you? Nothing will change between us?" He asked. He knew it was stupid, but he needed to know and he needed to at least try and believe in her words.
"I swear on ham." She said quietly, tightening her grip on his waist with her little hands even more.
"Fine." He said and exhaled deeply.
"I-I don't like the idea of you and Brad dating." He said darkly.
"But-" Sam tried to interrupt him.
"No, let me talk. Sooner or later this would have to come out anyway. I don't like the idea of you and Brad, because-" He looked around for help, but found none. He looked straigt into Sam's eyes and said the words he dreaded to say for those past two weeks. The brunette boy put his hands on his friend's shoulders.
"I don't like it, because I like you. Ever since our kiss on this exact fire escape, I found myself falling for you. But I was dumb and blind and realized it only when I saw you with Brad." He lowered his eyes from hers. Freddie looked away through the night and exhaled a shaky breath. He had said it. He ran his hand through his dark hair and felt the lump form in his throat and the tears return to his eyes. He knew what was coming now. She would reject him and it would hurt like hell. The only question was, if she would do it with words or push him off the escape.
"I-I'm sorry I'm making this all hard for you. I know you're happy with Brad and-"
"WILL YOU SHUT UP NOW!" Sam suddenly yelled at him.
"What?"
"You're babbling on and on about me dating Brad." She exclaimed unnerved.
"But-"
"Shut it, Benson." Sam snarled at him. "Your time to talk is up."
Freddie swallowed hard. She would push him off the escape every second now.
Sam sighed deeply, regaining her composure.
"I am not dating Brad." She said, looking up at him again.
Freddie looked surprised and relieved at the same time.
"We're just friends. He likes Carly." Sam explained to her friend slowly, as if talking to a toddler.
"But- you're always together! You went on dates with him!"
Sam laughed. "Those aren't dates. Well, maybe they were, if we were anything more than friends. But we're not. He and his mom teach me how to be a better cook and they are the nicest and most talented people I know, apart from you, Carly and Spencer." The blonde smiled.
"B-But you have cute nicknames for each other! And he was gawking at you in your gymnastics-suit!" Freddie babbled on.
"Well, who wouldn't gawk at Mama's amazing body in a nice little gymnastics-suit." Sam grinned mischievously. She knew he had been gawking, too.
"And the nicknames?" Freddie asked quietly.
"He makes fudge, as you may have noticed and it's awesome. But nobody tells Mama how to make a good pie. So I'm the pie-girl and he's the fudge-boy. Just as you are the tech-boy and Carly is... well okay, Carly is just Carly." She laughed and Freddie couldn't help but to laugh with her a little.
"So... you're just friends." Freddie stated after their laughter died down.
"Yeah."
"Sorry I misinterpreted." He stuck his hands in his jeans pockets awkwardly.
"No prob." She said, playing her hands in front of her. "Sooo... what you said after that... Is it true?"
Freddie looked down at her. Her eyes were demanding absolute honesty about this.
He sighed. "Yes."
Then something happened, that Freddie had never believed possible.
Sam smiled. She gave him the most dazzling smile in the world. He wondered if Seattle was suffering from a blackout, because he had never seen her glow from happiness like at this exact moment.
Gently, she stepped forward, placed her hands on his chest and kissed him fully on the lips.
Freddie was thunderstruck for a moment. Then he closed his eyes, placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer into him, sliding his arms around her in a close embrace. He put all his love, all his desperation and all the sadness he had felt into that kiss and hoped for her to realize that he really meant it. That he did love her and he was sorry that it took him so long figuring it out.
They slowly pulled apart and Sam smiled at him again.
"I kinda like you, too, nub."
Then she giggled. "Okay, I know I'm a great kisser, but I didn't know I was so good, it would make you cry."
Freddie was confused. Then Sam reached up with her small hand, smiling softly at him and stroked something wet off his cheek. He reached up himself to discover that Sam was right, he had started crying again.
"Sorry." He said embarrassed, wiping the tears away.
"It's okay. It's kinda... cute." Sam frowned at the cheesyness of her words, then smiled at him and cuddled into his chest.
"So... you think Brad will get Carly?" Freddie asked after a few moments.
"Actually, I do." Sam smiled into his chest. "You want to go and look how their smoothie date went?"
"Sure, let's go."
As they entered the Groovy Smoothie, they found Carly and Brad snuggling and kissing over fudgeballs and smoothies. Sam and Freddie smiled at each other and joined them, grinning from ear to ear. Of course Carly squealed as they told her they were dating and Brad high-fived first Sam and then Freddie. Sam sighed contentedly and leaned back into Freddie's chest, smiling. This could become the most amazing year in their iCarly-friendship, considering it was only January 3rd, and she was determined to make that happen.