A/N: Happy fourth of July! So, I figured I'd post today because I haven't in a while and well, it is a holiday. This chapter is one of my favorites that I have written ever for any story. Why? Well, I guess you'll have to read and find out ;)
Disclaimer: All rights for iCarly go to Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon.
Chapter 4: Either Way I Turn
There is a moment in every person's life that they feel every second is a minute, every minute is an hour, every hour is a day, every day is a week, every week is a month, and every month is a year. The time feels slower, and the heartbeat grows quicker.
"I love you, too."
This was that moment. I was so terrified of what I had said. Not only was it bad timing, but it was so complicated; our relationship had always been that way.
The silence that filled the room was deafening.
Benson had stopped walking away, but would not turn around to face me. I knew the consequences of telling him the truth, which is exactly why I didn't want to say it, but it just...came out, and it was too late to take it back.
Finally, he turned toward the direction of my voice and said, "What?"
I felt my cheeks getting hotter as I started to regret saying anything, but I knew I couldn't run away, "When you were in the hallway at the hospital, sitting with Carly and Spence, I was there. That's when this whole out-of-body thing began."
"So...you heard about..." Benson often tried to avoid talking about his dad because it hurt too much. Every time the subject of his dad came up, the pain haunted him; you could see it all over his face.
"Yeah, every word," He looked as if he were trying to put together a thousand piece puzzle, "Listen, I know that this is a difficult and strange situation. Either way I turn, there's something new that I have to figure out; I have to connect all of things together to figure out how to wake up and be me again. It's crazy, I know, and I promised myself I wouldn't tell you the truth about how I felt until I woke up because of how crazy this is," I let out a heavy sigh, "I guess I'm not so good at keeping promises."
I walked up to him, his back still to me and continued, "I mean it though; I love you."
He looked in the direction of my voice. We were only a foot away from each other. I grabbed his shoulders and kissed his cheek.
Benson looked toward the ground; his face full of sadness.
"What?" I asked him.
"It's so hard to see you like this," He held it together, but I could tell it was difficult for him, "or not see you as the case may be."
My hand grabbed his, "Did you feel that?" He nodded and I added, "This...what we have can beat anything."
"You know if I could see you," Benson said, his tone lowering, "I would kiss you."
My eyes looked at his as I said, "Yeah, you're right, you can't kiss me."
This was probably the worst idea I'd ever had, but I didn't care. It was the worst and best timing.
My hands rested on his face as the heels of my feet slowly came off the ground. I didn't know what would happen, but I figured that, I was about to find out.
My lips finally met his and to my surprise, he kissed back.
At that moment, I knew this was part of my 'unfinished business'.
For the next hour, I had sat and explained to Freddie what had happened. I told him about every experience I had. The thing that shocked him the most was the fact that I could communicate with someone who was dead.
"And she told you about the 'senses' thing?" My head nodded as I said yes. He had tried to make sense of it all, which I couldn't blame him for. I mean I was still trying to make sense of it all, "Are you sure she knows what she's talking about?"
That question had rattled in my head at first too, but after talking to Melody, I knew that she was telling the truth.
"Benson, she's been dead and stuck here for eighteen years," I reminded him, "I think she knows what she's talking about."
"Did she tell you how she...?" I nodded, knowing what the last word was going to be.
"She died in a C section," Pain had clouded her face when she told me that. I really felt bad that she never got to meet her child, "but you know what's so weird? She looked familiar, like I had seen her somewhere before."
"But that's impossible," He said, slightly talking with his hands, "She died around the time you were born."
"I know, which is why it's weird," Maybe she just looked like someone I knew. Maybe I was just losing my mind, maybe she's-
My eye caught a picture that sat on a side table in the living room, "What is this?"
"What?" I had forgotten momentarily that he couldn't see me.
"On this side table...this picture." My eyes were glued to the two women in the picture; one of which had caught my attention.
"That's Carly's mom and my mom," He got up and took a few steps toward the picture, "They were really good friends. My mom moved here with my dad and they had me. Carly's mom-"
"Moved here with her husband and they had Carly and Spencer," He nodded as I finished for him. Everything had become an equation and had started to add up.
"Yeah, and they became friends, until..." Freward gulped. There was no need for him to finish, I knew what he would've said.
"...Carly's mom died," My eyes grew wide, as I turned to look at Benson, "in childbirth."
Benson looked confused, "Yeah she died in a..." He grew as wide-eyed as mine, "You don't think?"
"That's exactly what I think," I kissed Freddie's cheek and said, "I'm going to need to borrow this picture. I have to go. I'll come by tomorrow and I'll bring it back."
"Be careful, Sam," He said, a worried expression slightly present on his face.
"I will," Seeing his expression made me hug him. After he realized what I was doing, he hugged back, "Besides, I'm a ghost; whatever comes will go right through me."
He smiled as I walked out the door. It was then that he hoped it hadn't all been a dream.
The hospital creeped me out at night. A lot of the lights were off, but one was always on by my room and it flickered. It was so quiet that you could've heard my breathing. I stepped into my room to see my body untouched, but just the person I was looking for just happened to be sitting beside it.
"Melody," As I said her name, a chill came over me and my shoulders tensed. It all made sense now: the brown hair and the eyes...
"Oh, hey, Sam," Another thing that made sense, her smile; it looked so much like...
"I need to ask you a question," I snapped myself out of all of my thoughts, feeling too creeped out.
"Shoot," Too many puzzle pieces were fitting together, and I knew it was now or never.
"What's your name?" She looked confused.
"I already told y-" I realized I had to be specific.
"Your full name," At that moment, my breathing stopped. This couldn't be happening. Is this possible?
She looked at me, still confused, but she said,
"Melody Shay."
A/N: And all the pieces fall into place! Please review; it shortens the time between updates ;)
