As promised...

Couple of notes:

-I reread the story, realized there was no Franklin, and that made me sad :(

-I've taken some liberties with the Sam/Freddie relationship; nothing that goes against canon (I don't think), just some fleshing out

Enjoy :)

When Freddie and Carly entered the teachers' lounge a half-hour later (she'd insisted on giving them 'time') Sam and Brad were speaking in hushed tones over the laptop, presumably so the other kids in the room couldn't hear.

Carly grabbed Freddie's arm to stop him before they were noticed. "Aw! They're so cute together!" she hissed quietly.

Huh? They were just standing next to each other – Freddie failed to see what was so 'cute' about it. "If you say so," he hissed back mockingly.

Ugh. Boys were so unromantic. Elbowing him in the side she called out, "Hi!"

Sam stopped talking mid-sentence and Brad watched as her face went from agitated to completely blank in seconds. Whoa.

Muttering 'show time' under her breath Sam turned to nod at the newcomers. "Carls, Fredbag."

"Hey," Brad added, still looking at Sam curiously.

Carly wasted no time, sidling up to the blonde to loudly whisper, "Did you do it?"

Sam rolled her eyes at her best friend. "I just got here – give me a minute, will ya?" Carly was about as subtle as a bulldozer.

"Oh? Where were you then?" Freddie asked suspiciously, making his way to the computer.

Moving out of his way Sam easily lied, "I was talking to Franklin." She spent enough time in his office that it wasn't outside the realm of possibility.

Freddie's eyes narrowed. "Why would you go see Franklin now?" Something wasn't adding up.

"None of your business, Benson…" She should have just told him that to begin with; she didn't owe him the time of day much less a detailed account of her whereabouts.

"It's my business if you're trying to take credit for our project," he bit off, her tone putting him on the defensive. If anyone had a right to be upset he'd say it was him.

"Guys…" Carly interjected with a nervous laugh. They were going to scare Brad away if they kept at it.

Sam wanted nothing to do with their God-forsaken project; she wished she'd never gotten involved with it in the first place. No good deed goes unpunished... "Speaking of projects," she said pointedly to the brunette, "shouldn't you be getting back to your own?"

Glad Sam hadn't continued the fight Carly shrugged innocently, "I've got time."

Of course she did. Then let the games begin. "So, Intern Boy…" Sam looked up at Brad with feigned nervousness. "I was thinking once we get paroled from this unofficial prison we could go get some breakfast."

"Sure."

Intern Boy? Sure?

Okay, that wasn't the way it was supposed to go. "Just the two of us…" Sam clarified with a wave of a hand between them.

Brad nodded. "I know."

Arching an eyebrow Sam tried to get the boy to take the hint. "I don't have a two-headed frog…" Just say 'no.'

"That's okay," Brad soothed, giving her a charmed smile, "I think you're way more impressive than a two-headed frog."

Carly had been celebrating silently but couldn't help the "Aw!" that escaped her lips. That was so sweet. If a little disturbing…

Freddie made a gagging sound and waited for Sam to laugh in Brad's face. She may have a thing for the boy but she wasn't one to go all 'floppy' for the first cheesy line…

And there went Sam's plan to forget today had ever happened; it had hinged on Brad saying no, and she couldn't back out now without arousing (more) suspicion. Pasting a pleased smile on her face she clapped her hands together. "Well, okay then."

"Yay!" Carly gave the blonde a hug, not caring that she barely returned it. Sam would forgive them for interfering when she and Brad fell madly in love, got married, and had vicious nerd babies.

"Happy?" Sam eyed Freddie over the brunette's shoulder.

Squeezing her tighter Carly sighed, "Very!"

"Good." At least someone was... She batted Carly away when she'd had enough.

Freddie gave Sam a teasing smile. "See what happens when you use your words?"

Sam's mask almost cracked but she was able to turn the grimace into a dazzling grin at the last second. "You were right – thanks, Nub." She'd even managed to sound grateful. Bully for her.

Suddenly Freddie didn't feel like being thanked. His smile faltered and he nodded tightly in return.

Carly silently patted herself on the back for a job well done before remembering she had another job to do. "I better get back before Gibby accidentally kills Spencer," she sighed, making her way to the door.

"I'm gonna go watch Gibby accidentally kill Spencer," Sam announced with affected eagerness. At the very least she could use the distraction. "You boys want me to bring you back anything?"

Brad contemplated giving her some cheesy follow-up line like 'Just you' but decided against it. He figured he'd already pushed his luck far enough for one night. "No, thanks."

"K." Winking, Sam promised, "I'll see you later." If she had to go through with this chiz she might as well milk it for all it was worth. Starting with a free breakfast.

Freddie didn't even get a chance to answer before the girls were gone, their laughter echoing down the hall. Turning to the computer he said, "You know, we wouldn't have fired you from iCarly if you'd said no." After a beat he revised, "Well, Sam might have tried…"

"What are you talking about?" Brad asked, genuinely confused.

"You don't have to pretend with me, man – I know Sam's not your typical girl." She wasn't your typical anything.

Brad shrugged and started fiddling with the camera. "I like that about her – she's not uptight and boring like most girls."

Freddie opened his mouth to defend Carly, then shut it when he realized Brad hadn't said anything about her. "Whatever. It's your choice."

The sharpness of his tone had Brad apologizing. "Sorry, man. I didn't mean to step on any toes…"

"What? There's no toe-stepping," Freddie quickly denied. "Sam and I are barely friends on a good day."

Right… Before the interview Brad had done his homework, perusing the website and catching up on older episodes. The way Sam and Freddie interacted, especially when they were alone, had made him think they had something going on. And then he'd met them and figured it was just something they did for the fans. Now he wasn't so sure. "Still… I should have checked with you first."

Freddie burst out laughing. Check with him? That was absurd. When he could breathe again he assured Brad, "Don't worry, Intern Boy – you're doing me a favor: if she's focused on you she won't be making my life miserable."

Brad didn't really buy it but he'd take it. "So we're cool?"

Why wouldn't they be? "Piece of advice? No one tells Sam what she can or can't do." Least of all him. If she found out they'd even had this conversation she'd probably kill them both on principle.

"Anything else?" Brad wasn't above asking for help – over the last couple of weeks he'd begun to realize that as well as he 'knew' iCarly Sam, real-life Sam was a very different creature. A lot darker somehow. It was intriguing but also a little daunting.

Freddie wasn't sure he wanted to hand over five years of hard-earned wisdom (or spend the whole night going over the intricacies of Sam's personality for Brad's benefit) but he didn't want to give the guy reason to think he was upset, either. "Yeah – just because she asked you out doesn't mean you're off the hook; you still have to plan it." Raising an eyebrow he supplied, "And pay." Poor guy didn't know what he'd signed himself up for.

"I don't mind paying…" Where to take her, though… he knew she'd eat just about anything but what she preferred for breakfast was beyond him. A plateful of bacon? Green eggs and ham?

Telling himself he was just trying to help (it wasn't at all to prove how well he knew her) Freddie shared, "She likes the chocolate chip waffles at that little diner on the boardwalk. With whipped cream." At Brad's confused look he explained, "If you order for her, the right thing, your stock goes up. Your stock goes down if you order anything fruit for either of you." Fruit is not a meal as she'd say.

"Thanks, man." For 'barely' friends he seemed to know her well enough but if Freddie said there was nothing going on then Brad wasn't going to let it bother him.

Freddie was checking the algorithm when he thought of something. "Do you have your license?"

Brad tilted his head curiously – Sam didn't strike him as the materialistic type. "Yeah, but I don't have a car…" His family had two but it was rare he had access to them.

"Doesn't matter – she'll have you drive her car so she can do all the criticizing and none of the work." Freddie didn't mind, really – her driving worried him. His mom may have taught them how but she still had her mom's DNA.

"Seriously?" Brad knew he should probably find it off-putting but it just made her more fascinating.

Freddie nodded. "Oh, yeah. One time she made me take the bus to her house just to drive her back to mine." His mom'd had the Prius that day so he couldn't pick her up; he'd been silly to suggest she take the bus. "She swore she'd drive with her eyes closed if I didn't."

Brad couldn't help but smile at the quirkiness. "Definitely not like other girls…"

"No, she's not," Freddie agreed, forcing a smile.