2. Carly.
Carly had just started making herself an after-school snack, when she heard a knock at the apartment door. Thinking that it must be Sam or Freddie getting to her place early to start preparing for iCarly, she called out for them to come in, and was a little surprised to see a head of bright red hair peeking around the door.
"Hi Carly."
"Wendy! Hi! Come on in." Carly put down the sandwich she was making and made her way over to meet the redhead. "What's up?"
"Sam left this behind after art class this afternoon." Wendy produced Sam's sketchbook. "I'm not sure if she's gonna want it over the weekend, and I won't be seeing her again 'til Monday, but I know she's coming over here tonight. So I thought I'd drop it off, since I come past here on the way home anyway."
"Oh, thanks," said Carly, taking the book.
"You should have a look at some of her work, if you get the chance. I'm sure Sam won't mind. She's pretty good, but I think she lacks a bit of confidence - it's like you can see there's a lot of emotion there that she wants to express, but she's not quite sure she should let it show."
Carly smiled fondly. "Sounds like Sam. I don't know much about art myself, but maybe my brother could give his opinion..."
"Oh, I think it'll mean more coming from you!" Wendy quickly interjected. "I mean, you don't need to be a genius or a professional art critic to know whether or not you like something, right? Just tell her what things about her - about her work - you like the most."
"I guess... if you think it'll help, then of course I will."
"Oh, I know it'll help," replied Wendy.
Carly Shay sat at her dresser, brushing out her long, dark hair. She was freshly-showered and dressed for bed in boxers and a T-shirt. It was late Friday evening, another successful webcast had been completed, and Sam was staying the night, as usual.
Carly lay down the hairbrush on her dresser with a sigh, eyes sliding sideways towards the closed bathroom door, from which emanated the faint sound of running water. Just on the other side of that door, Sam was finishing up her own shower, and Carly was trying hard not to think too much about her beautiful blonde friend, all naked and wet and glistening. She probably hasn't even locked the door...
Carly had spent the last couple of months coming to terms with the fact that her feelings for her BFF had grown beyond just friendship. Somewhere along the line - Carly wasn't sure exactly when - the affection she had for Sam had blossomed into a very real and very beautiful romantic love. The realisation brought equal parts hope and sadness - there had been a few tantalising hints that Sam might feel something similar for the brunette, but then there were other times when Carly thought there was no chance of them ever being together 'like that.' And she wasn't prepared to risk the great friendship she already had with Sam by escalating things, unless she was entirely sure it wouldn't backfire. Most of the time, Carly was happy to just be around the other girl. Other times - like right now, when an unlocked door was all that separated her from a hot, sexy, slippery encounter with her hot, sexy, and beloved best friend - she had to battle against herself to avoid throwing all caution to the wind and giving in to temptation. Just open the door quietly - she won't even hear - slip off your clothes, and step into the shower behind her...
Carly tore her eyes away from the bathroom door, shaking her head, and stood up. She needed something to distract herself. Grabbing Sam's sketchbook from where she'd left it earlier, she flopped down on her bed and started leafing through it.
The first few sketches were just basic objects; probably drawing exercises set by the teacher to demonstrate the basics of drawing. Then these became interspersed with more original content - drawings of food and animals were particularly popular. Some of those animals were shown attacking a person who looked and dressed suspiciously like Freddie - there were pictures of 'Freddie' being eaten by a tiger; Freddie being eaten by a crocodile; Freddie being torn apart by a pack of wolves; Freddie being swallowed whole by a T-rex...
Wow! Guess Sam really doesn't like Freddie!
Some of the pages of the sketchbook had been divided into panels, like a comic book. Each series of drawings on these pages told a story. The first one was similar to what had come before - the Freddie look-alike was gored by a rhinoceros, then trampled by a herd of elephants, then his corpse devoured by hyenas and vultures. The following comic strips, however, began to change. In these ones, other figures appeared which resembled, by looks and manner of dress, Carly and Sam. Some of these were set in the iCarly studio, presumably during the filming of an episode, and involved Carly and Sam humiliating or playing some trick on Freddie for the whole internet to see. Another couple of comic strips involved the Cowboy and the Idiot Farm Girl; usually the Cowboy was protecting the Idiot Farm Girl from Indians, highway robbers, or just her own stupidity. Damn! That Idiot Farm Girl really does manage to get herself into some ridiculous situations! Other stories came entirely from Sam's imagination. In one, a pirate (who looked like Freddie wearing an eye-patch and pirate hat) was forcing a damsel-in-distress (who looked like Carly in a pretty dress) to walk the plank, until a daring and rakish swashbuckler woman (who - unsurprisingly - looked like Sam) swung in on a rope, long blonde hair streaming behind her in the wind, and shot Freddie with a flintlock before decapitating him with a cutlass and throwing him overboard to feed the sharks. Again with the animals eating Freddie! Carly thought, chuckling to herself. A second series of drawings seemed to come straight from Greek myth - Damsel (or maybe Princess, this time) Carly tied to a rock as Evil King Freddie prepared to sacrifice her to a Monster (a Soup Monster? Hmmh... I wonder...), until Amazon Warrior Sam rode in on a winged horse and slew both Monster and King, then rode off into the sunset with Carly to make her co-queen of the Amazon Kingdom and live happily ever after in royal luxury. Why do I always have to be the damsel-in-distress? Carly wondered. But I guess it's okay, if Sam saves me every time...
The drawings towards the end of the book were of the more standard types - objects, people, landscapes. But Carly noticed a couple of things. Many of the landscapes were drawings of places that had some significance to Carly and Sam. That makes sense, I guess. Since she and Sam spent so much time together, it was only natural that they were both familiar with the same places. Carly didn't want to read too much into that. But the other thing that she noticed was that almost all of the people Sam had drawn looked like her: Carly Shay. She began to feel warm and fuzzy inside. She was so flattered that Sam seemed to always be thinking of her. She's so sweet! She really seems to care for me. But again, as much as Carly hoped that it meant Sam was harbouring some more-than-friendly feelings towards her, she didn't want to misinterpret Sam's work. It doesn't necessarily have to mean anything...
As Carly continued to flick through the pages, getting towards the end, she came across one picture that did make her think there might be something there. Two girls - a short and curvy light-haired girl who dressed like Sam, and a taller, thinner dark-haired girl dressed in typical Carly clothes - were sitting on a blanket by the seashore, apparently having a picnic. Plates and bowls of food lay all about them (Yep! It's definitely meant to be Sam!), and sea birds flew against a background of sandy beach and breaking waves and setting sun. The girls sat close to each other, knees touching, and gazing into each others' eyes, smiling and laughing easily as if one of them had just told some joke. Although they weren't doing anything blatantly romantic like holding hands, the entire scene had a very romantic feel to it.
Looking at Sam's creation, Carly felt her heartbeat begin to speed up a little. Was that the type of scene Sam imagined the two of them in? Did Sam really want to have romantic seaside picnics with Carly? Could she - did she - have the same sort of feelings that Carly had?
Carly quickly flicked through the remaining sketches. There were a few more in a similar vein, though nothing quite as suggestive as that one of them (it had to be them, right?) by the seashore. Then there were some blank pages, and then Carly had reached the end of the book. Just as she was about to lay the sketchbook to one side, something written inside the back cover caught her eye. Down in one corner, not terribly large, but not particularly small either, were the initials 'S.P.' and 'C.S.' written inside a love-heart.
"Oh... my..." Carly breathed, eyes going wide.
At that exact moment, the bathroom door opened and Sam came into the bedroom. Carly slammed the sketchbook shut and quickly threw it under the bed, then sat up and tried to look normal, despite her racing heart and sweaty palms. Ohmigod! Sam likes me - 'like that!' There was no way she could misinterpret a love-heart with her and Sam's initials in it - there was really only one thing it could mean. But just knowing that Sam returned her feelings didn't automatically mean she knew what to do next. Sam took the decision out of her hands.
"You okay kid?" Sam asked, throwing her toiletries back in her backpack. "You look really nervous or stressed out for some reason. Something about the show you weren't happy with?"
"No. Show was fine. I'm just..." Carly went with the first thing that popped into her mind. "...tense... I guess." She realised that didn't really make sense, since she had just had a hot shower that should have relaxed her. "Tired!" she amended. Sam just looked at her strangely. "Tense and tired!" she tried again. "Which is a problem... because if I'm tense I can't get to sleep to overcome my tiredness!" Carly hoped that she had recovered quickly enough that Sam hadn't noticed her brain-meltdown.
"Uhm... okay. How about I give you a back rub to help you relax," offered Sam.
"Okay, " Carly squeaked almost immediately. The idea of her girl-crush rubbing her hands all over her body sounded pretty appealing to Carly - or at least to those parts of Carly's body currently working in league with her hormones. Though about a second after she had agreed, the rational part of her brain not in league with her hormones pointed out that it might be a little awkward to have said girl-crush rubbing her hands all over her body, just moments after Carly had become aware that Sam was also crushing on her. But backing out now would just look even stranger than she had already been acting. So Carly lay down on her stomach, and buried her face in the pillows to try and hide her blush. It's just a back rub, she told herself. We've done those before. I can handle it.
Sam's small, strong hands went to work on Carly's neck and shoulders, expertly kneading the muscles. But instead of relaxing her, they seemed to have almost the opposite effect. Carly's breathing picked up and her heartbeat got faster.
"Wow. You really are tense," remarked Sam.
All Carly could do was whimper, unable to stop thinking about Sam kneeling next to her on the bed, dressed in only a skimpy singlet top and pair of boxers, so close that she could feel her body-heat. Sam's hands began working their way down Carly's back, and when Sam shifted slightly so that her leg touched against Carly's thigh just below the hem of her boxers, Carly felt her nipples harden, pushing into the mattress beneath her through the thin material of her T-shirt, and couldn't help but let out a moan. I can't handle this!
Carly quickly sat up, breaking contact with the other girl. Folding her arms across her chest, she looked at Sam's puzzled face and said, "Sam, we need to talk!"
"Um... okay. What about?"
"This." Carly leaned over and slid the sketchbook out from under her bed. "Wendy dropped it over this afternoon because you left it at school."
"Oh..." Sam was beginning to look vaguely uncomfortable. "Did you happen to look at it?" She tried to sound casual.
"Yeah..."
Now Sam was definitely looking uncomfortable. "Oh..." When Sam didn't add anything, Carly hesitantly continued.
"So... um, I think you're really good," she started.
"Thanks," Sam said warily, like she was expecting a 'but.'
"Some of your drawings are really funny," Carly continued. "And some are quite beautiful. And I noticed that many of the people you draw are very lifelike, almost like you can recognise who they're meant to be..." By now, Sam had a panicked look in her eyes, like she was about to bolt any second, and still hadn't said anything. Carly opened the sketchbook to the drawing of the two girls by the sea, holding it so Sam could see. "I particularly like this one. I think it's very... romantic. Is it supposed to be us?"
Sam stood up and backed a couple steps away from the bed. "Carls, they're just dumb sketches that I did. They don't have to mean anything. They're not supposed to be anyone in particular."
"I think you're lying," Carly said. "I can tell by how you're acting." Sam was breathing fast, eyes darting nervously around the room, like she was trying to figure out an escape strategy. Carly knew that if Sam ran away and hid now, most likely neither one of them would be able to get up the courage to confront these feelings again. Do or die, Shay! Carly hopped up off the bed and walked slowly towards the other girl, still clutching the book in her hands. She stopped just in front of Sam. The blonde looked down, refusing to meet her gaze. "Sam, if you can honestly tell me that these drawings aren't supposed to be of us, or me, I'll never mention them again. But if they are meant to be us, it's okay. I'm flattered that you include me in your sketches so often. And glad that you care about me and think about me. And... the idea of us - you and me - doing... romantic stuff... It may have crossed my mind once or twice." Sam's eyes snapped up to meet her own, mouth agape. Mingled expressions of confusion, disbelief, fear, hesitancy, vulnerability, and hope chased each other across her face in quick succession. The brunette took a second to appreciate the fact that she, Carly Shay, had apparently just rendered Samantha Puckett completely and utterly speechless, before taking mercy on her friend. "Sam, do you have feelings for me? Romantic feelings? Because... I think I may have those sorts of feelings for you, too." There was a sharp intake of breath, and Sam finally found her voice again.
"Carls... are you saying you... like me? 'Like that?'" There was a sense of awe and wonder about the way she said it.
Carly took a deep breath. No going back now. She nodded her head.
"How long?"
"I'm not even really sure. I've been aware of it for a couple months now, but I think the feelings were there long before..." Carly frowned. Hang on a minute! Only a few seconds ago, she had been trying to force a confession of love from Sam, and now Sam had somehow turned it around so that Carly was the one baring her soul, still unsure of Sam's own feelings. Damn her and her sneaky Puckett ways! "Hey! You still haven't owned up to your feelings yet, Puckett!"
Sam grinned. "Well duh! Of course I have feelings for you, Cupcake! I thought you'd figured that out already from spying a look at my sketchbook."
"I wasn't spying! Well... not exactly. You didn't say I couldn't look... Wait..." Carly's brain finally caught up to her mouth. "You have feelings for me? Like the same sort of romantic feelings I have for you?"
"Like the sort of feelings where I want to hold you close to me forever, protecting you from danger, and give you all the wonderful things you deserve. Like I want to hold hands with you and gaze lovingly into your eyes as we have romantic picnics by the sea. Those sorts of feelings."
"Wow. Sounds nice. I didn't know you were so good with words, Sam," Carly teased gently.
"Guess I've discovered a wonderful muse, " Sam grinned.
"So... What else do you want to do with me?" Carly asked softly, a coy expression on her face, tongue darting out to wet her lips.
Never being one to ignore an invitation, Sam had no problem formulating an answer. "I want to run my fingers through your silky hair, press my lips against yours, and kiss you until you swoon." Sam then proceeded to attempt just that, tangling one hand in Carly's dark locks, placing the other on her shoulder, and drawing the brunette down so that their lips melded together in a deep kiss, gentle at first, but then becoming more passionate and intense as their tongues met and begun exploring each other's mouths. There was a dull thud and rustle of pages as the sketchbook landed on the floor, unnoticed by either girl. Carly's arms snaked around Sam's waist, pulling her closer, pressing the curves and planes of their bodies tightly against each other, the flimsy cotton of their sleep wear doing nothing to diminish the heat they felt radiating from each other's flushed skin. Both girls moaned at the contact, breaking the kiss. They'd hugged each other before, but never had they held each other so tightly whilst wearing so little, nor whilst being so aware of the feel of each other's bodies. It was intoxicating.
"Well, I didn't swoon, exactly," murmured Carly, as they both tried to regain their breath. "But it was still amazing."
Sam gave a sultry smile, full of promises of things to come. "Well, I guess we'll just have to keep practicing, over and over, until I can make you swoon..."
"Sounds like a good idea," agreed Carly. "Lots of practice... Who knows, maybe I'll make you swoon first..."
Sam arched a blonde eyebrow. "Oh really? I hope that wasn't a challenge. You know how Mama likes to win!"
Carly just smiled and shrugged, and then it was her turn to initiate a searing kiss, every bit as intense as the previous one.
As their tongues duelled, and they once again began running short on oxygen, Sam trailed one of her hands down Carly's side, over her hip, and down the outside of her thigh, then back up to linger around the hem of her boxers. She reached around to gently cup Carly's backside. A second later Carly's own hands drifted down to firmly grab Sam's ass. It was Sam's turn to break the kiss and let out a gasp that almost became a moan.
"Do we wanna take this to the bed, Cupcake?" Sam asked huskily. Carly looked into her eyes for a few seconds, fully realising the significance of what Sam had proposed, and where it might lead, and seeing that Sam was aware of it as well. She considered for a minute, then nodded. Although it was a big step, and it was a little scary, she was absolutely certain of her feelings for the other girl.
"I love you Sam. Whatever else happens from here, and however it turns out, you'll always be my best friend."
"I love you too, Cupcake. As a best friend, and more, if you want. No pressure. Let's just see where this takes us."
Carly smiled and nodded, and allowed Sam to walk her backwards until her legs hit the bed, and she fell back onto the sheets, pulling Sam down with her.
In the middle of the bedroom floor, forgotten by the two girls, Sam's sketchbook lay open to the last page. The love-heart drawn on the inside back cover was facing upwards and clearly visible. Had Sam not had her hands full of Carly Shay at that particular moment, she may have noticed something odd about the initials 'S.P.' and 'C.S.' written inside the heart - they were not even in her own handwriting.