Hola. Thank you all for the nice reviews. I didn't think I'd get some in the first place, since my English is still in improvement-mode, since I'm from Germany. xD Just so you know, if you find some mistakes in here. And again, thanks for the reviews and forgive me if this chapter is a little cheesy. :D Have fun reading!
Disclaimer: iCarly belongs to Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon.
The next morning Freddie Benson woke up by the smell of freshly fried bacon. He didn't want to open his eyes in the first place, but he wondered where the bacon came from. Last night Sam said the Shay household didn't have any more bacon.
He opened his eyes after all and massaged his stiff neck with the hand that didn't have a hold on the laptop that lay in his lap. Weird he held it the whole night in the same place.
Carefully placing his computer onto the couch table, he stood up and stretched his aching limbs. Now he understood why his mom always told him not to sleep on chairs.
Freddie looked over to the kitchen where he saw Carly's older brother staying in front of the stove with a duck apron on. He seemed to hum something since there was a quiet buzzing sound to be heard.
Freddie chuckled.
Both, Carly and Sam, were already up. He was only slightly surprised to see Sam awake. He figured she wouldn't sleep that much after the bet they made the night before. It was always like that with their bets.
He walked over and picked a grape out of the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter.
"Morning," he greeted.
"Good morning, Freddie," Carly said, a sleepy smile grazing her features.
Spencer turned around, smiling goofily. "May the force be with you, fellow Galaxy Wars lover!"
"You excited for the marathon?" Freddie chuckled.
"Shoosh yeah! I've been waiting for it over half a year!"
Freddie glanced over to Sam who bit on her lower lip as she tried to hold back a comeback to Spencer's geeky statement.
He sat down on the kitchen table next to her, a grin forming on his lips as she glared at him. "Good morning, Sam."
"Eh," she retorted.
This would be so much fun, Freddie thought. "Did you sleep well?"
Her blue eyes bore into his and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. This strange feeling came back again.
"No, I did not sleep well," she informed him with tensed jaw muscles. "I had nightmares, but thank you for your demand."
"Uh, nightmares," Carly chimed in, a little too enthusiastically. "What were they about?"
"About proton cruisers and hand lasers and geeks who tried to kill me with their little nub-nub plush toys and laser swords." Her steely gaze didn't leave Freddie's face.
The blonde girl clenched her teeth. "Sorry, if I offended you, Freddie, but I can't help for the dreams I'm having."
Freddie had to confess, he was pretty impressed by Sam's self-control. He'd expected her to explode by now, especially after what Spencer said.
"What's this weird tension between your sidekicks about, Carl's?" Spencer set some plates full of fried eggs and bacon on the table for everyone to eat and sat down himself, taking a sip of his milk.
Carly rolled her eyes. "I don't know, but I'm sure it has something to do with a bet. Why else would Sam say nothing to you Galaxy Wars love?"
"Uh, what bet is it?"
Freddie waited for Sam to answer, but when she continued to chew her meat with a deadly glare, he sighed. "Sam has to be nice to everyone for a week or else she has to go to the Galaxy Wars marathon with me."
"Oh, my god!" Carly looked genuinely shocked at her best friend. "How could you say yes to that? What if you lose?"
"Momma never loses."
"She will this time," Freddie retorted.
"Oh yeah? Well, you should-" Sam broke off. She had a almost tormented look on her face and Freddie felt a little pang of guilt. She seemed to gather herself. "It's a fair game, Freddie. May the one with the most self-control win."
Freddie frowned. "I don't need any self-control for this."
Sam cracked a mysterious smile. "Don't you?"
"Okay!" Spencer interrupted their little conversation with a strange look on this face. "You kids are confusing me, so please stop talking in riddles. What goes on today, kiddos?"
"Not much," Carly said, smiling thankfully to her older brother. "Griffin's coming over later to hang out a little."
Spencer screwed up his face. "And you two?"
Freddie and Sam shrugged simultaneously. Freddie couldn't help but chuckle a little and noticed how Sam smirked into her own glass of milk.
"Oh, okay. Too much information, kiddos." Spencer giggled. "Well, if you must know, what I'm up to today-"
Carly rolled her eyes and Freddie laughed lightly as Sam pressed her lips together.
"No one asked, Spence," Freddie snickered; his stomach relaxing by the kind of proud look Sam shot his way.
Spencer looked somewhat offended but quickly changed his mood. "Anyways, I am going on a date with Socko and-"
"Spencer! You never told me you're going this way now!" Carly interrupted in a high voice. "I know you don't have much luck with girls, but that doesn't mean, you have to switch-"
"Would you stop interrupting me?" Spencer pouted. "I was going to say, I'm going on a double-date with Socko and this two girls we met at the junk yard. So you don't have to wait for me tonight, okay?"
"This date takes the whole night?"
Freddie rolled his eyes at Carly's remark. Sometimes she could be so dull. "Carly, would you just leave it to this?"
"Thanks, Freddie-o." Spencer patted the technical producer on the shoulder. "I'm going to get some doughnuts, you guys want some?"
Carly frowned. "We just had breakfast, Spencer."
"So?" He stood up, shrugging his shoulders. "There's always some place for doughnuts."
"I want some," Sam piped up.
Freddie watched her standing up and going over to the couch. She didn't say much during breakfast and he was just slightly worried. Sure, she wouldn't be talking much after she wasn't allowed to be her normal self, but not talking at all?
"Behave, kiddos!" With that last exclamation, Spencer ran out the apartment, jacket and purse in hand.
Carly giggled and picked up plates and forks. Freddie got up, too.
"You need help, Carly?"
"No, I got this. Thanks." She shot a smile his ways and went to the washer's machine to put in the dishes. It wasn't really much, so Freddie went to the couch, sitting next to Sam whose eyes were glued on the TV.
"What's on?"
"Celebrities Underwater," She replied. "Man, I wonder how many stars died already in this stupid show."
Freddie chuckled, noticing how Sam's unruly curls fell down her shoulders, tickling his skin where the sleeve of his shirt ended. Did he sit this close to her?
"Guys? I'm taking a shower. You two behave, okay?" Carly was heard from somewhere behind them.
"Yeah, mommy," Sam answered, a bored expression on her face.
Freddie looked over the back of the couch to see their brunette friend running upstairs. "She's after Griffin again?"
"Yeah, since she realized it's not that bad to collect pee wee babies, she wants him again." Sam turned on another channel where they showed some new band. "I'd be weirded out by a bad boy who collects fuzzy dollies."
"So you say you'd reject Griffin if he was after you?" Freddie looked at her incredulous.
"Who knows?"
Freddie eyed Sam suspiciously. Her gaze wasn't planted on the TV anymore but at her hands with the remote in them. Her feet rested on the couch table, still her demolished converse on. She wore a dark ripped jeans and a black Led Zeppelin Shirt and looked like the complete opposite of Carly who was always dolled up. Still it was Sam who took Carly's place in his mind.
Quickly Freddie shook these thoughts off, tearing his gaze off of Sam and planting it onto the TV screen. He must've gone crazy to even muster the confidence to look at the blonde devil this look.
"Would you reject me?" he asked without thinking.
He watched Sam wide eyed as she slowly turned her head to him, her look careful and curious. Maybe, if he did it carefully, he could show her that he wanted to tick her off, so she would lose the bet.
"You?" She repeated.
"Me."
"That's the stupidest question you ever asked." Her facial expression didn't change.
Freddie gathered himself together. His voice was just slightly trembling as he said, "That's not a nice thing to say."
Sam furrowed her eyebrows. "Freddie, really, it's bad enough for me not to mock Spencer for what he said earlier, but this? Let's keep this bet fair, won't we?"
"You're about to lose, if you keep this going, Sam," Freddie replied plainly.
Sam took a deep breath before looking him straight in the eye. "You know why I haven't been sleeping well this night?"
Freddie was surprised by the serious expression in her face and earnest tone in her voice. She wasn't acting like herself at all. Actually she wasn't acting like herself the whole morning and Freddie started having mixed feelings towards this bet.
"Why?" he croaked.
"Because I was thinking about why you would want to change me so badly."
"I don't want to change you."
"Yeah, you do," she looked determined. "With this bet you want me to be someone I'm not. You already have a Carly in your life, do you need another one?"
"What? Another Carly?"
"Ugh, forget it. After this bet, I'm done with you."
Freddie was sincerely shocked. Why would she think he wanted to change her? Why would she cancel their friendship?
"You're cancelling our friendship because of a stupid bet?"
She turned to him again, this time sitting crosswise on the couch, her whole body turning to him. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he saw the upset look in her blue eyes. It was weird to see her like that and he didn't understand what he did wrong.
"Even though this bet comes from you, it's not stupid. This is serious chizz, Benson. Look at the facts, you want me to act like Carly, don't you?"
"Sam, this is just a bet. We're always having these. It's just to tick you off, this is how we work."
A smirk appeared on the blonde's face. "We don't work at all, Benson. We're pretty whacked."
As strange this conversation was for Freddie, he had to confess to himself that he like the way she said 'we'. It sounded like something serious and not like the odd relationship they had. After all they made the confession that they are friend after all.
"But that's just how we-"
"Drop it, Benson," Sam interrupted, before turning to the TV again. "After all, I would reject you kindly if you were after me. At least as long as we have this bet rolling."
Freddie was certainly confused. As much as he knew about girls and how complex they were, Sam Puckett would always be the most complex girl he'd ever know.
