Sam sees things deeper than others do.

Freddie was on cloud nine.

He was finally going out with Carly Shay, the girl of his dreams and the girl he has been pinning after since he was eleven. Sure, he got hit by a truck and break his arm and leg but hey, he was finally dating Carly. To be able to have her by his side and her lips on his face like all the time and her liking him in that way. You know, the good way.

His mother did ban Carly from their apartment because she didn't want that yuck to exist anywhere near her house. But he could see her at her apartment because his mother wasn't going to not let him work on iCarly and he sees her at school all the time anyway.

After he was allowed to go back to school, he was swarmed with girls swooning over the fact that he saved Carly's life and almost died. The boost in popularity at school was nice along with the fact that, oh yeah, he's dating Carly freaking Shay!

Freddie was on cloud nine. Until Sam came in and set in the rain on his parade. Sam made a lot of comments about him and Carly after it was revealed that they kissed and is steadily going out. Most of her comments were of disgust and teasing as usual. But this time it felt different.

"Carly's not in love with you. She's in love with what you did." She said with a serious look on her face and a tone that sounded like she was stating the obvious. Like "no duh this isn't real love."

Because Freddie was allowed to leave class early due to his injuries and Sam doesn't like going to class, he was able to catch up with her before the last bell rang.

"Hey," He greeted as he walked over to her locker. She heard him before his greeting due to his crutches and turned around with a Fat Cake between her teeth. She lifted her brows to signal him to continue talking. "Do you…really think she only likes me because of some hero complex?"

Sam takes a big bite of her Fat Cake and chewed slowly, the anticipation for her response growing by the second. She swallowed finally. "I dunno. It just seemed weird that all of a sudden she's all up on you when she clearly wasn't interested in you before." Ouch that hurt him a bit.

"So what should I do then?"

"Whatever you wanna do. It's none of my business," She shut her locker and started walking over to the door. "For all I care, you can keep dating her but sooner or later, when that cast comes off and you start to see it, don't come crying your little nerd tears to Mama." Then she was gone, leaving him in the hall alone in his crutches and a sense of doubt that started to grow.

Freddie went home that day with Sam's words replaying in his mind.

Carly's not in love with you. She's in love with what you did.

Was Carly only with him because he saved her from a taco truck?

Though they were all best friends, Freddie knew Sam was far superior when it comes to Carly. They were closer to each other and been friends since they were little, long before he came into the picture. And despite the crass and tomboy personality, Sam was still a girl and there was no doubt that Sam knows Carly's feelings a lot more than he ever could. Heck, he might even go as far as to say that Sam knows Carly better than Carly knew herself.

Maybe it was true that Carly was only dating him because she feels like owes him for saving her life. But those feelings could turn into genuine feelings for him, right?

Freddie was running through the possible outcomes and how things could go his way. If he was going to be quite honest, he didn't want this paradise to end. But it wasn't fair.

For him, it was not fair that all the trouble that he went through and the pain he endured, that he was doubting the relationship that he had hoped for. He had reached his goal in his mind but the seed of doubt was growing in his head and the pain at the base of his chest was telling him that it wasn't right.

For Carly, she was not being honest with herself. She was making this romanticized scenario in her head that she truly loved Freddie. She spent years shutting down his attempts to woo her and all of sudden, the accident has made her realize that she did love him all this time? That wasn't possible.

It would be selfish of Freddie to continue to play along and act like nothing was wrong with their relationship. He even entertained the idea but Freddie wasn't selfish. He couldn't do that to Carly. At the end of the day, he cared about her as a friend before anything else.

So Freddie made his decision and hopped on the elevator to go the studio.

Sam was a beauty pageant girl. As crazy as that sounds.

Freddie didn't mean to laugh when Sam confessed that she used to participate in beauty pageants. He's sorry but the image of the rude and abrasive Samantha Puckett eating a large piece of ham while wearing a gown popped in his head and he couldn't help but snicker.

That resulted in a lentil being blown into his eye.

Well, after he got the lentil out of his eye and the pain subsided, he could kind of see how Sam could possibly be a beauty pageant girl.

Freddie isn't blind (one eye was close, though). Sam wasn't an ugly girl. She was violent and lack manners but she was pretty with golden locks on her and bright blue eyes that would drawn anyone's attention. And from what they say in the boy's locker room, she has blossomed in the curves department.

From the very few videos online of mini Sam Puckett, she was almost an all rounder if it wasn't for the question portion.

Though he was quite impressed by Sam's secret past, he wasn't interested in whatever plan the girls were planning to ruin another girl's winning streak. So he agreed to go on that double date with Spencer since the girls were going to that pageant and he'll be home all day anyway.

He was not expecting them to get so invested in a game, however.

Growing frustrated of the game they have been playing for hours, Spencer tossed his headband and the card to the other side of the room and declared that he needed a shower to wash the frustration off. There was something about the Shays and their love for showering.

"Finalllllyyyy." Sam groaned from where she was on the living room couch. She was sprawled on the couch with that large tiara still plopped on her head to smoother herself with her glory of finally beating her rival.

Freddie chuckled and made his way to sit on the edge of the couch where her body was not on. "Still flaunting that tiara, Princess Puckett?" He lifted an eyebrow.

She took a sip of her Peppy Cola from the straw. He wanted to tell her that she should sit up to drink but she'll only brush him off and call him names. "Yep, gotta rub it in that Mama won," She smirked. "You should've seen the look on Le-Ann's face though. So worth it. Oh, and Quinn Pensky totally cried afterwards."

He rolled his eyes. "You're totally and completely evil."

"You just met me?" She laughed.

Sam doesn't like to talk about her dad.

It was Saturday morning and they were set to do iCarly that night. Carly was super excited because her dad will be watching it live and made rehearsed multiple times and had every single skit and bit ready to make the show enjoyable for her dad. Her enthusiasm was contagious and Freddie was excited to do the show and try to impress his future father-in-law (still hopeful).

He was getting ready that morning to head over to the Shay's apartment and set up for the show when he gets a call. He rarely gets calls on weekends so curious, he picked up his PearPhone to see it was from a certain blonde headed demon that he knows a little too well. Sliding to answer the call, he placed the phone up to his ear.

"Hey Fredweird."

Freddie rolled his eye at one of the various nicknames she has given him. He muttered. "Hey Sam. What do you want?"

He could hear shuffling from the other side. "Look, I'm not coming to shoot iCarly tonight. So just tell Carly for me, okay?"

Freddie shot up. "Wait, what! No way you can't do iCarly. Carly's dad is going to be watching it live for the first time. This is very important to Carly, you can't just leave." Freddie was furious! How can Sam be so selfish and completely ditch the iCarly show? Oh, he couldn't wait to hear her excuse this time.

"Yeah, I know and I'm sorry but I can't do it tonight."

"What kind of excuse do you have? What is so important that you're going to ruin the show for Carly?" Freddie started pacing as he was thought about how he is supposed to break the news to Carly.

He heard a sigh. "Look, I got my own problems right now and I'll be so bummed that I'll ruin the show. Just...come up with something. Tell her I got arrested or something. I don't car. I'm not coming tonight. Bye." And with that she hung up and the line went dead.

So Freddie comes up with the dumbest reason why Sam got "arrested" and was pleasantly surprised when they bought the whole "stuffed chili down the Mexican ambassador's pants" story. It did sound like something Sam would do and his acting was very good (if you asked him). All those skits they've done for iCarly had helped in some way.

The show wasn't a complete disaster as they initially lead to believe. It was quite successful despite the fact that Spencer ruin his date with that pretty sophisticated lady. Freddie thought she was way too uptight for the quirky and fun artist anyway.

After eating dinner at the Shay's apartment, he went across the hall to his apartment. His mom was out because she was covering a night shift so he'll be alone that night.

When he entered his room, he was not expecting a certain Samatha Puckett to be in his room, sitting in his computer chair with her legs propped up on his desk. He released a little yelp at the sight before the information processed.

"Sam?"

"What's up, Freddo?" She smirked as she turned to face him.

He dropped his things next to the door. "So you want to tell me why you ditched tonight's show and why you're in my apartment, in my room?"

"I picked the lock." Sam shrugged.

Freddie rolled his eyes and placed his hands on his hips. "That's how you got in. Not why?"

"I just didn't want to be home, okay? Too much chiz is going on."

"What do you mean?"

Sam picked up a small envelope that sat on his desk and threw it at him, landing on his chest. The pointy end hitting him first. "Ow!" He picked it up. It looked pretty crabby, a bit beaten up. Freddie looked at her and she gestured him to open it up as she starts to pick at his Galaxy Wars collectable.

Freddie opened letter and read the first few words before looking back at the girl who was dirtying his figurines.

Freddie inspected her a bit and noticed the tinge of pink on her cheeks and the way she was slightly swaying. "Are you...drunk?"

"Tipsy." Sam corrected.

"You do know that you're not of age, right?"

"You do know that I don't really care, right?"

Sam finally left his figurines alone and walked over to his bed and plopped down, her arm over her eyes.

"Chiz. I hate him so much."

"You don't actually mean that." Freddie made his way over to the bed and sat on the edge.

"Actually I do. When you leave your six year old daughter and the last words you give her was 'I'm going to buy a bucket of chicken see ya later' that you deserve hate."

Freddie wasn't sure what to say. Her father was a sensitive topic and Carly rarely mentions it because she knew how Sam would react if she so much as hear about it. Freddie could understand in a way. He was raised by a single mother and his father was across the country with his own family and they rarely contact each other. But at least Freddie knew where his dad was. Unlike Sam, who was left to guess where her dad is or ended up.

"He didn't even say sorry. He just sends a letter every so often and pretends everything is alright. That everything will be okay. Holy chiz. What a fudging idiot."

Freddie sat there as he let Sam continue her rant. A part of him was scared that she was going to release her angry onto him and another part of him sympathized with her. He obviously wasn't going to tell her that he pitied her because he actually likes life.

"My mom and Melanie will always forgive him. They have this fantasy in their mind that he'll change and come back and we'll be one big happy family again. As if we ever were."

"Sam," Freddie broke the long silence. "Why are you here?"

She was silent for a while before she replied. "Because Carly wouldn't understand. She has a happy family and she won't be able to relate." She sat up so she was right next to him. "Besides, she's probably so happy about her dad. She doesn't need to hear about my crabby dad and ruin her night."

"She's your best friend. She would understand." Freddie said as he nudged her arm lightly. She looked up at him before returning her gaze on the floor. It was strange for there to be silence between the two. A silent Sam was usually a dangerous one but this time, there wasn't any attacks or mean comments. The uncomfortable silence was making the atmosphere tight and tense. He was telling himself that he should say something.

"It'll get better," he reassured. "I mean, my dad left—"

"Because your mom is insane." He shrugged at that. She wasn't wrong.

"But he still left. He's on the other side of the country with his new family, away from all this crazy. But my mom made it work and I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for everything that happened."

"As whacky as your mom may be," Sam remarked. "At least she doesn't bail on you and come back with a new boyfriend and a new tattoo."

"Yeah, my mom doesn't any of those. Boyfriend or tattoos."

"Yep. She'd probably freak out about how much bacteria is on needles and then go to the pharmacy for antibacterial ointment."

"Wow, you really know my mom. I'm impressed." Freddie snickered.

"Well don't tell her any of that. She'll probably think I admire or something which is gross by the way." Sam shuddered at the thought.

"You know that you have people who care about you, right? Carly loves you." Sam's eyes trailed to the floor again. "You know...you know, you also have me." Sam looked at him with brows furrowed in questioning. "And Carly and Spencer, of course." He tried to save himself from making the conversation even more awkward.

"Of course." Sam nodded slowly.

Freddie wasn't sure what he should do at that moment. He wasn't one to comfort people, it was usually him who needed the comforting. But as they sat on his bed, he steadily placed his arm over her shoulders. He expected her to push him away and kick him in the shin for trying to get too close to her. But he was surprised to see that she slowly lowered her head until her forehead was against his shoulder. He awkwardly patted her arm, counting every two seconds before each pat.

"Thanks, Freddork."

"No problem."

They sat there for a while in still silence. And he didn't say anything when he felt a wet spot on his shoulder where her eyes would be.

A/N: The ending wasn't exactly my fave but I had to end it somewhere or else, it would've dragged on. I actually had most of this chapter done back in August but now decided to finish it. Sorry about that! I tried my best to have a mix of emotional, feelings moments with light fun-ish moments. I tried my best with angst but I'm not too much into it so I hope I did alright.

But hope you enjoyed it!