(Carly's POV)
"So?" Carly asks Sam eagerly. Her blonde friend was putting things into her locker, and she rolls her eyes. "Tell me! How was it?"
"It was...you know." Sam says, clearly faking a smile.
"Well? What happened?" Carly demands.
"We just went to a movie. That's it." Sam tells Carly.
"Did you two kiss?" Carly almost squeaks.
Sam glares at her. "No. Stop it with that!"
"But I can't help but be-" Carly began to say, but then she sees Zack walking toward them. "Oh my God, he's coming."
"Wait! Don't leave me alo-" Sam begins, reaching her hands out, but Carly is already zipping away and hides behind the corner, watching secretly.
"Hey Sam." Zack greets Sam with a smile.
Sam shies away, but she manages to smile back. "Hi Zack. Thanks again for, uh, you know."
"Anytime. Do you want to...you know...go out again sometime?" Zack asks, his turn for being a bit shy.
Carly continues to watch, her fingers tightening against the wall. She hears someone walk behind her. "Hey Carly." It was Freddie's voice, but she doesn't turn around. "What are you-" His voice breaks off when he realizes what was happening.
"Um..." Sam seemed to be searching for words. "Uh, okay."
Zack smirks at her and Sam gives some kind of embarrassed smile. He gently grips her waist and pulls her close, and of course, kisses her. Carly smiles for her friend and lets out an aww.
"You're..." Freddie trails off. Carly turns around and sees Freddie standing rigid. His brown eyes were round and his mouth was dropped open. Carly blinks. Why would this bother him? Shouldn't he be happy for his friend...
Oh.
She gets it now.
"Freddie-" Carly takes a step closer to him, trying to think of a way to comfort him somehow.
"I can't do this." He says hoarsely. He moves away from Carly, almost stumbling backwards, and walks/runs quickly to the door. He simply walks out, ignoring anyone who tried to get his attention.
Carly wants to run after him, but she didn't want to violate school rules by leaving the property. She just waits until Zack and Sam parted before she approaches Sam.
"Hey," Carly says, almost awkwardly.
"Hey." Sam says, keeping a complete poker face. "Something wrong?"
"Well, to be quite honest..." Carly glances towards the ground. "I just saw Freddie storm out the door."
"What?" Sam blinks. "Is he gone?" She approaches the door.
"Wait, don't leave." Carly grasps Sam's shoulder. "I'll handle it later. Just tell me what happened."
Sam won't meet Carly's eyes. "He says he wants to go out again."
"Well, what did you say?" Carly demands.
Sam glances at the floor. "I said we could."
"He really likes you, Sam." Carly tells her gently. "I'm really happy for you."
Suddenly, Sam goes rigid. "Wait. You said Freddie stormed out the door." Her blue eyes widen until Carly was certain they were about to pop out of her head. "Oh, he didn't see, did he...!"
"No, he arrived after that." Carly lies. She'll tell her later. Sam needed some time. And she could deal with this herself. "Come on. Just get to class."
Sam looks terrified and hushed, but she drops her head. "Yeah. Yeah, okay." She walks away.
(Spencer's POV)
A week later:
Spencer hears his door open. Almost out of habit, he screams out, "Let me guess: Freddie and Sam are with you!"
"No, actually." Carly says. She walks into the apartment and puts her bookbag on the couch. "Just Gibby."
"Yes, and that's much better." Spencer scoffs. He brushes his hand against his hair. Oh God, was it falling out?
"You look stressed." Gibby observes.
"Yeah, a little bit." Spencer admits. "I keep getting texts from an unknown person."
"Still?" Carly asks. "Maybe you should call the cops."
"It's not like their actual threats." Spencer says warily. "He just keeps saying that we're going to meet, and he keeps mentioning something about how he needs to fix something."
Gibby's eyes widen. "Oh my God..." he whispers.
"What's wrong?" Carly asks.
"I'm getting texts like that!" Gibby shuffles for his phone and shows Spencer the text. Sure enough, it was from the same number. And it said:
We seriously have to meet again. As long as we don't meet in California.
"It's the same number!" Spencer splutters. "Oh my God!"
"Hey, guys, can I talk to you two about something?" Carly asks warily.
"What's wrong?" Spencer asks, still freaked out by the new discovery.
"Have you seen Freddie this past week?" Carly asks.
"No, I haven't. I hardly have seen Sam either." Spencer says. He begins comparing the texts from both his phone and Gibby's.
"Well, Sam's out with her new boyfriend." Carly tells him. "But Freddie's just been in his apartment. He's hardly come to school, and every time he does, he winds up ditching before the day's over."
Spencer almost freezes and looks at Carly.
"What?" Carly asks.
"Don't you get it?" Spencer says simply.
"No..." Carly looked confused.
"Sam and Freddie broke up." Spencer says, his voice almost becoming a baby voice. "Sam has a new boyfriend. And now Freddie refuses to leave his apartment." He pauses, hoping Carly will get it, but she just has a blank expression. "Duh!"
"I still don't get it." Carly says, sounding flustered. "How does this help?"
"Oh, forget it." Spencer pulls away.
"Oh, he texted me again!" Gibby gasps. Spencer huddles around and gets a glimpse at the text:
Tell me the location of Mrs. Benson.
"Mrs. Benson?" Spencer echoes. "Freddie's mom?"
"Why does he want to know where Mrs. Benson is?" Carly asks, her eyes widening.
"I don't know!" Gibby says. "This is starting to get weird."
Carly sits down on the couch, resting her chin on her palm. She looked distant and worried. "I don't know what to do." She says hopelessly. "Freddie seems really upset."
"Try to lure him over here." Spencer says simply. "How hard can it be?"
(Carly's POV)
She decided to take Spencer's words and put them into action. She wouldn't call herself nosy, well no one would call themselves nosy, but she needed to know what the big issue was.
She knocks on Freddie's door.
"Who's there?" Came Freddie's voice.
"It's Carly." She responds. "Come over, okay?"
"Uhm...I'm sick." He replies without opening the door.
"Please? It'll only take a moment." Carly promises.
"I'd rather not." He admits.
"Please?" Carly half-begs. "This is really important."
Finally, Freddie opens the door. Carly knew he was lying about being sick, but he looked sick in a different way. His hair was uncared-for and messed up. His eyes were round and hollow. He gives Carly an exasperated look. "What do you want?"
"Is something wrong?" Carly asks sweetly.
He's already closing the door.
"Wait, no! Stop!" Carly grips the door to keep it open. "We need to talk."
"Why?" He whines.
"Something is troubling you." Carly says, putting it out there quickly. "What is it?"
Freddie looks like he wants to argue more, but nothing was coming out of his mouth. He rolls his eyes then says, "Don't play stupid. You know."
"No, I don't." Carly says, folding her arms over her chest.
"Yes, you do. Why are you making me say it?" Freddie hisses.
"Just tell me!" Carly begs.
Freddie looks ready to burst. "It's just...that Zack guy."
"What about him?"
"As if you don't know. It's just, he..." Freddie grips the door, and then lets go. "He..."
"Oh my God," Carly whispers.
"Don't say it." Freddie warns.
"You..." Carly's voice rises to a shriek. "You're upset because he's with Sam!"
Freddie sighs, causing his ungroomed hair to flutter. "Do you blame me?"
"Freddie, you and Sam broke up a few months ago." Carly says gently. "You really haven't moved on?"
"We agreed"-Freddie's eyes flare up and he begins to look angry-"that we still loved each other. I thought we were just taking a break. She betrayed me!"
"She didn't!" Carly protests. "And this entire time, she seems kind of shaky on the whole Zack thing!" She takes a deep breath and says, "If you wanted Sam back, then why didn't you step up before?"
"Because, I-" Freddie cuts himself off and he looks defeated. "I didn't want to try anything and just find out that she wants to stay friends. The whole break-up thing hurt enough. And now this whole thing with Zack happened, and I...I..." He glances downward, then looks up and meets Carly's eyes. "I miss her."
(A/N: This is where a "aww" track would cut in. Awwwww.)
"Okay, Freddie." Carly claps her hands together and tries to execute this in an organized matter. "You had plenty of time to realize this. But now Zack has Sam. If you really loved her you would be happy for her!"
Freddie just stops and remains silent. His mouth is slightly open and his mind is trying to process all of this. He looks hopeless and confused. "Y-You're right." Freddie swallows. "I should just forget about her, shouldn't I?"
Carly stares at her friend for a while. "Will you be okay?"
"No, I won't be. I feel like I got hit by a truck." Freddie says wirily. "No matter. You're completely right. Doesn't mean I'm happy about it."
Carly is silent. Finally she says, "I'm sorry."
"It's fine." Freddie steps inside his apartment and shuts the door without saying goodbye.
Carly was bothered by Freddie's sadness, but she knew she was right. He had to get over Sam. Carly's gotten over so many guys. Freddie managed to get over Carly herself. He could easily do the same with Sam.
Well, that's what she thought.
Until on Saturday morning, she was rewarded with a text from Freddie that said:
I quit iCarly.
