Chapter 4:
The time had almost come for the final step of Spencer's plan- for Carly, Sam, Freddie and Gibby to be reunited. Spencer had never been too good at planning so he was extremely excited but also anxious as there were many things that could go right, but even more that could probably go wrong. He just hoped there wouldn't be any broken furniture or bones...at least in the first ten minutes; Sam Puckett was going to be in the room, after all.
Spencer's first priority was to get Carly and Charlie to the Groovie Smoothie so he was currently walking with them towards the door, trying to ignore Carly's complaining and questions.
"I really don't see why we need to come here, Spencer," Carly said, struggling to keep up with him.
"Because I said so," Spencer said. "Come on, it'll be fun, hurry!"
Spencer reached back and grabbed Carly and Charlie by the hands and pulled them along. Charlie shot Carly a worried glance over her brother's shoulder.
"Why is your brother holding my hand?" Charlie asked.
Carly shook her head, wondering how she still seemed to find herself in these situations. "I...I have no clue, just go along with it."
The finally reached the Groovie Smoothie and Carly took a deep breath before entering. She couldn't remember the last time she had been here and a thousand memories of the time she used to spend in here came flooding back. A part of her hoped it had changed so much that it wouldn't make her feel like she was 16 again...but a bigger part of her hoped that this one thing in her life hadn't changed at all.
The bigger part of her was happy as they walked inside and she realised it still looked exactly the same. Including...
"Carly Shay!"
Carly looked around and saw the owner of the Groovie Smoothie, T-Bo, walking towards her. She smiled as the man enveloped her in a hug. Like his store, T-Bo hadn't changed much either, he just looked a little older.
"T-Bo!" Carly exclaimed when they pulled back from their hug. "Wow, I can't believe it...you still work here?"
T-Bo laughed out loud causing Charlie to step backwards slightly in shock. "I'm qualified for nothing!" He said. "Of course I still work here! It's good to see you, little Shay."
"You too, T-Bo,"
Spencer took this pause in conversation to grab Carly and Charlie by the hands again and lead them over to a table. "Let's sit down," he said. "T-Bo, get us some smoothies?"
"On it," T-Bo said, pointing at them with a wink before disappearing behind the counter.
Carly and Charlie went to sit down but jumped straight back up when Spencer let out a loud noise that sounded like a scream.
"What?!" Carly exclaimed, looking around in alarm. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Spencer said, pulling her to the other side of the table. "You just...you just need to sit facing this way?"
"Why?" Carly asked sceptically, sitting down as he pushed her onto the chair.
Spencer sat down opposite them. "Because..." he said slowly, trying to think of an excuse for why they couldn't face the door as he went, "I want to...look at...both your pretty faces."
Carly and Charlie looked at each other before silently agreeing not to ask which was always the best thing to do with Spencer.
Meanwhile, and unbeknownst to those inside, Sam and Freddie were also making their way to the Groovie Smoothie, squabbling about something, as usual, as they did.
"Why has your mom got us doing all these errands?" Sam questioned. "If this is all she made us come down here for, I swear..."
"Come on, Sam," Freddie said, lacing his hand with hers. "It's not going to kill us to pick up a smoothie for her. And the sooner we do it, the sooner we can get back."
"Home?!" Sam asked hopefully.
Freddie shook his head. "To my mom's."
Sam sighed. "Fine, let's do it. What smoothie does your mother even drink?"
"I don't know," Freddie replied, "some weird feminine boost thing or something."
Sam shuddered at the thought.
"Besides," Freddie continued, "you're always saying how much you miss the Groovie Smoothie."
"True," Sam said. "I should have opened one of these in L.A instead of a diner."
As she said this, the two paused, seeing the building in front of them. This place had been like a second home to them growing up and it felt strange for them to be going back there, 10 years later when so much had changed.
"Is this going to be awkward?" Sam asked.
"Probably," Freddie answered. "Are you ready for this?"
"Not in the slightest."
There were moments in life where everything went perfectly and everything happened exactly the way it should be, where the stars seemed to align in order for this to happen.
You could call it fate, you could call it a coincidence, or you could call it the universe giving you a sign or a helping hand.
Whatever it was, this was one of those moments.
At the same moment that Gibby Gibson walked out of the bathrooms of the Groovie Smoothie, the door opened and Sam Puckett and Freddie Benson walked in, just as Carly Shay dropped a napkin on the floor and turned around to pick it up.
And for the first time in a long time, the former iCarly gang found themselves face to face.
"Carly?" Sam asked in disbelief, locking eyes with her childhood best friend. "Carly Shay?"
"Sam, Freddie, Gibby?" Carly also asked, breathlessly, not believing what she was seeing.
"Yo, T-Bo, can I get a large blueberry banana blitz?" Gibby asked, seemingly having no clue what was happening at that moment. Everyone turned around to look at him and it was then he noticed, jumping slightly. "Whoa, Sam, Carly, Freddie! What are you guys doing here?"
"I think that is a question we all want to know the answer to," Freddie said accusingly, crossing his arms across his chest and looking towards Spencer.
"We planned all this," Spencer said, addressing them all. "We planned all this to..."
Sam held up a hand, interrupting him and said, "wait, wait, wait...we?"
It was then Mrs Benson appeared from a nearby table and walked over to them. Freddie did a double take upon seeing his mother.
"Mom?" He asked. "You were in on this?"
"Yes, Freddie," Mrs Benson answered. "That's why I called you here."
There was the sound of applause and everyone looked around to see Sam applauding. "Alright, way to go, Mrs B! I didn't know you could be this devious."
Mrs Benson looked pleased with herself before catching the look Spencer was giving her and signalled for him to continue.
"Thank you," he said. "We planned this and called you all here because we needed to get you all in the same room."
Gibby piped up with, "so you lied to us?"
"Yes," Spencer said, then shook his head. "Although, I didn't lie to you, technically. I invited you here for smoothies."
"True. So, are you paying?"
"Sure, I guess."
"YES!"
"Can we focus here please?" Carly asked, trying to restore order to situation she didn't understand in the first place. She turned to face Spencer and raised her eyebrows. "You didn't lie to Gibby...but you lied to me. There's no art show?"
Spencer laughed out loud, much like T-Bo did earlier. Charlie once again looked shocked. "Of course not!" Spencer said. "Fancy art shows don't like my work! But I had to lie or I would have never gotten you here." Spencer paused. "Do any of you realize what day it was yesterday?"
There was silence. No one was willing to admit they knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Ten years ago yesterday, you all did the last episode of iCarly," Spencer answered for them, "and nothing has been the same since. You've basically not seen each other since! I'm going to change that. You're all here now and in the same room, and you are going to sit and talk to each other about what happened to you over these past years, because I sure don't know what did."
Sam laughed humourlessly and held her hands up, slowly beginning to back up towards the door. "No way, I can't do this," she said, trying to leave.
"T-Bo!" Spencer shouted, and as Sam reached the door, T-Bo stepped in front of it, blocking her exit.
"Get out of my way," Sam said menacingly.
T-Bo shook his head and Sam looked ready to pounce. Freddie noticed this and dashed over to her, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her off the ground slightly before she could.
"Let me go!" Sam said, trying to wriggle out of his arms.
"No, come on, Sam, let's just...let's just see what happens, okay?" Freddie asked her.
Sam sighed as he put her down on the floor, taking her hand and leading her back over to the group. T-Bo breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to have his eyes scratched out or worse and dashed back behind the counter and out of the way.
"Now, here's what we're going to do," Spencer said, trying to take charge. "The four of you are going to sit around in a circle and each of you is going to say what has been happening with you for the past however many years."
Sam scoffed. "This sounds a lot like circle time. You can't treat us like kids, Spencer."
"Yes, I can," Spencer said firmly. "Now sit."
Spencer began pulling out chairs and moving tables so the four former friends and Charlie could sit in a circle. They all sat down grudgingly, no one knowing what to say and no one wanting to start.
The silence caused Carly to sigh and look up at Spencer, saying, "Spencer, I don't think this is going to work..."
"Why?" Freddie asked, sounding bitter. "Because you know you're in the wrong and you're scared?"
Carly at least had the decency to look embarrassed.
"We're doing this," Spencer said. "Now...Gibby, why don't you start?"
"Alright," Gibby said with a shrug. "I umm...I went to college in New York but came back to Seattle when I'd finished because I got an offer for a job with a music company. I moved my way up slowly and now I am the manager of the most successful music company in Seattle."
Freddie let out a slow breath. He knew Gibby had done well for himself and was some sort of manager of a company, but he didn't expect that. Although now he thought about it, he would have paid good money to bet Gibby would be the one out of them to be rich. The world was just strange that way.
"You got a girlfriend, Gibby?" Sam asked.
"We're not exclusive," Gibby answered dismissively.
Sam nodded. Freddie was reminded of the time Gibby said that same thing about him and Tasha while he was dressed as a werewolf and stealing his date, Patrice. But then the silence ensued once more. Spencer stepped into the circle, ready to get the conversation going again.
"Okay, so now we know that Gibby is a millionaire who lives like a rockstar," he said, causing everyone to chuckle, despite themselves, "let's move on. Carly, why don't you go next?"
Carly nodded but now felt a little nervous. She never imagined she would be in this situation, explaining the past nine years of her life to the people she basically abandoned. She looked to Charlie for support and he nodded, smiling sweetly at her.
"Umm, well, first of all, this is my boyfriend, Charlie," Carly said, her voice sounding shaky.
"Huh," Gibby laughed to himself, "Charlie and Carly. That's funny."
"GIBBY!"
"Sorry!"
Some things never changed, clearly.
"We met while I was in college," Carly continued. "I obviously went to college in Italy and studied fashion and now I work for a fashion magazine in Italy."
"Good for you, Carly," Gibby said, smiling at her.
That smile gave her a little more confidence. "Thanks, Gibby."
"Freddie, how about you go next?" Spencer asked.
Freddie nodded. For some reason, he felt himself getting a little annoyed. This situation seemed a little too friendly considering the situation. "Well, I umm...I went to college in L.A. and now I'm a director."
"Awesome!" Gibby exclaimed. "Have you done anything we'd know?"
"Not really," Freddie said, shaking his head. "Just a few tv shows and commercials. I'm hopefully doing a movie later this year, though."
Everyone in the room noticed the way Sam smiled over at Freddie with an almost proud expression on her face. Freddie smiled back over at her and they laced their fingers together once more as though they didn't even realise they'd done it- like it was a reflex.
Spencer spoke up again and congratulated Freddie on the possible movie he could be involved with and turned the attention to Sam. No one really knew what Sam was going to do when she grew up, if she ever properly did grow up. For most of her life she had wanted to be an invisible ninja although that wasn't a profession that probably brought in a good amount of money, so it would have been sensible to have a back up plan. Before Sam began to speak, Carly remembered sadly that she didn't even know if Sam had gone to college. When they were teenagers, Carly and Freddie were always trying to convince Sam to at least try and apply to some colleges and see where it got her, but she always gave them a vague answer and didn't want to talk about. Sam never wanted to talk about the future. But the future was here now and Carly was anxious to hear what she had done.
"I'm sure you'll all be surprised to know that I actually did go to college," Sam said, reclining in her chair slightly. "Only community college though, in L.A. But it turned out okay because now I live there and own an awesome diner with my friend, Cat and..."
"Best friend," Freddie interrupted.
Sam turned to Freddie and shook her head slowly. "Freddie, don't..."
"No, Sam, Cat is your best friend," Freddie said, suddenly getting angry. "I get that Carly was your best friend but it's been nine years now, I'm sure she can deal with hearing you've got a new best friend. Cat is the one who has been there for you all these years."
Sam blinked a few times before speaking once more. "I own a diner with my friend Cat," she said firmly. What Freddie was saying was true- she knew nothing about Carly, Cat was the friend who had been there for her, but she still couldn't bring herself to say it out loud and she didn't know why.
Carly felt a sudden rush of affection for the blonde haired girl in front of her. Sam Puckett was a puzzle and a half. She had every right to hate Carly but she couldn't figure out why she didn't seem to.
"So, you and Freddie are together, right?" Carly asked, indicating their joined hands.
"Of course," Sam said dismissively.
"How long has it been?"
"About nine years now."
Without even realising, Carly gasped out loud. Sam turned to look at her fiercely.
"What?" Sam questioned. "Didn't think we'd last? Or shocked that Sam Puckett was actually able to maintain a relationship?"
"I'm not shocked, I promise," Carly said, almost pleadingly. "I always had a feeling you guys were meant to be, it's just...nine years is a long time." It was then that Carly realised something and she had to ask, "You're not married, are you?"
Sam shook her head but held up her left hand, revealing a diamond ring. Carly's eyes grew wide.
"No, but we're engaged," Sam said, a small smile appearing on her face just at the thought of it. "Clearly we did something right this time around."
"I'm so happy for you guys," Carly gushed.
It was then something snapped in Freddie. He sat forward, angrily and shook his head.
"Yeah, Carly, clearly we lasted this time because we didn't have you interfering," he said, bitterly. There was a collective intake of breath at his harsh comment. "We were ourselves this time and didn't have you around trying to get us to be the perfect couple and like the same things as each other, because ultimately, that is what broke us up. That was your fault."
"I was trying to help!" Carly insisted. "I cared about you guys, I was trying to help you make your relationship better!"
"We didn't need help!" Freddie yelled. "And cared as in past tense, right? Because you clearly didn't care enough not to cut us out of your life like we didn't even matter!"
Suddenly, something also snapped in Charlie, and needing to defend Carly, he spoke up. "Hey, man," he said, turning to Freddie. "Don't talk to her like that."
Freddie stood up and laughed bitterly. "Oh, he speaks! I'd forgotten you were here."
Charlie also stood up and Carly sighed, putting her head in her hands. Even Sam looked worried and she was always up for watching a fight.
"Look, if you've got a problem with me, fair enough," Charlie said, stepping closer to Freddie. "But don't take it out on Carly, do not talk to my girlfriend like that."
Freddie closed the gap even more and stood right in front of Charlie. Charlie was strong but Freddie was stronger. He was also taller and could look down at Charlie in an intimidating way but Charlie didn't seem affected.
"You're protecting your girlfriend, I'm protecting mine," Freddie said simply. "That's what I do. If someone hurts Sam, I don't take too kindly to it, and that's exactly what Carly did. I'm not going to stand by and act like that's okay. She may seem like a perfect little angel to you, but I've seen differently."
The two boys seemed to lunge at one another simultaneously as though it had been rehearsed. Luckily, before Spencer's earlier hope of no broken bones and broken furniture could come crashing down, Gibby and Spencer had the sense to step in between them.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Spencer said, holding Charlie back while Gibby did the same to Freddie. "It's getting a little crazy in here, maybe you two should go outside and cool down, talk it out."
Freddie and Charlie glared at each other and the two other boys let them go when they were sure they weren't going to attack. Charlie leaned down to talk to Carly and Freddie did the same to Sam.
"Sam, are you going to be alright if I..." Freddie started.
Sam nodded and cut him off. "Yeah, yeah, go cool down or something. I'd normally be all for fighting but..." she paused and took his chin between her fingers, moving his head from side to side playfully and continuing in a teasing tone, "wouldn't want anyone to mess up that pretty face."
Freddie laughed and batted Sam's hands away.
"Seriously," she said, looking up at him, "I'm fine, baby. Besides...I want to talk to Carly alone."
Carly's head shot up, looking alarmed. She was glad to see that Sam didn't look angry and as though she wanted to finish what Freddie started.
"Come on, you two," Spencer said to Freddie and Charlie. "Let's go outside. Gibby, you can come too."
"Yes!" Gibby shouted, pumping the air. "I love guy talk!"
Spencer shook his head in confusion and began to lead the boys outside. Charlie leaned down to kiss Carly on the head and Freddie also leaned down to kiss Sam before leaving too. Mrs Benson conveniently made herself scarce too. Once they had gone, Carly and Sam sat in silence, not being able to look at each other and not knowing what to say.
"So..." Sam said, twirling her engagement ring around on her finger. She still wasn't used to it being there and it made her smile every time she saw it.
"So..." Carly echoed, then took a deep breath. "Look, Sam, I get that you're probably angry with me, and you have every right to be but..."
"I'm not angry."
"What?"
"I'm not angry," Sam repeated. "I should be though, I should hate you. But...I can't. I don't know how I feel. You were the one person I could never stay angry at, Carly. Now, things have changed and I am just so confused and was not expecting to see you today, or ever for that matter."
And then there was silence again.
"You look happy," Carly said quietly. "You seem really, really happy. And I'm so pleased for you and Freddie."
"I am happy," Sam replied. "You seem happy too. Charlie seems awesome...you know, when he's not trying to fight with my fiancé."
The two girls laughed and there was a sudden feeling of how things used to be. But it was wrong. They shouldn't be feeling like that, they shouldn't be suddenly sharing pleasantries and laughing with each other. Freddie was right- Carly had done a horrible thing, Sam shouldn't be okay with that.
"Look, Sam, I can't cope with this role reversal thing!" Carly blurted out.
"Huh?" Sam asked, scrunching her face up in confusion.
"You, sitting there calmly and Freddie needed to go outside to cool down after almost being in a fight!" Carly continued. "It's all changed and I need you to yell at me, I need you to be angry because you can't just be okay with it, it's too weird!"
Sam took a deep breath. "Yeah, well. It wouldn't be a surprise to you that I'm not as intense as I used to be if you'd been around."
As strange as it seemed, Carly was extremely happy that Sam was getting angry.
"Okay, that's good!" Carly said. "Keep it coming. Everything you feel, tell me right now, I deserve it. Don't hold back. You can even hit me if you want, I won't stop you."
Sam laughed, shaking her head. "I've never hit you, Carly, and I'm not going to change that now. I just..." She paused and ran her hands through her hair. "How could you do it? How could you just abandon us like that? You, of all people knew that I had issues with people abandoning me and that's why I didn't get close to people. I always thought you would be the one person who would never do that to me because you knew how much it hurt me when my dad left and when Melanie left and the fact that my mom was never around...you just became one of them, Carly."
Carly saw that Sam was getting upset so tried to talk but Sam continued over the top of her.
"No, I'm on a roll now, let me continue," she said. "You promised me that when you left for Italy, nothing would change. You promised that we would still be best friends, you'd just be in another country for a while. You even said it wouldn't be the last episode of iCarly. You told our fans that! It lasted for a while. We coped with being away from each other but then you started ignoring our calls and not replying to our texts and it hurt, Carly. It really hurt."
"Sam..."
"And you know what else hurt? You kissed Freddie, Carly!" Sam exclaimed, sounding extremely upset. Sam didn't cry often so when she almost did, you knew it was serious. "You knew how I felt about him. You knew I loved him and you kissed him before you left! How could you do that to me? From the start, you never wanted him and I did and you kissed him and then just cut us out of your lives! I don't understand how it was so easy for you to do that."
"It wasn't!" Carly cried. "It wasn't like I planned it, I just got so busy and then more time passed and I just knew you'd be so angry with me that I didn't feel like I could talk to you."
Carly stopped put her head in her hands.
"But you weren't completely innocent," Carly mumbled. "You stopped trying too."
Sam scoffed. "Because I got tired of waiting. You'd clearly moved on with your life and I needed to do that too. And I did! I'm happy right now, I am so, so happy with my life. Freddie and I are better than ever, I'm getting married! I have an awesome job and awesome friends..."
Her voice trailed off and turned into a tone just above a whisper.
"But I miss you," she said. "I miss how it used to be and I hate that we aren't even friends anymore."
"I miss you too," Carly said, tears now in her eyes. "I'm so, so sorry for everything that I've done. I should not have cut you out of my life, I should have tried harder and picked up the phone. I just got scared...and now we're here."
"And now we're here."
Carly got up out of her seat and sat down in the one next to Sam. "Do you ever think you could forgive me? Do you ever think we could be friends again?"
"I don't think we could be like before," Sam mumbled, looking at her lap. "But...maybe we could start fresh."
"Really?" Carly asked hopefully.
Sam shrugged. "We'll just have to see what happens. Maybe...maybe you could come to the wedding or something? That could be a start and we could see where we go from there."
Carly nodded enthusiastically. "I would love that."
And before either of them knew what they were doing, the two girls were hugging each other tightly, crying.
"I love you, Sam," Carly muttered through her tears. "I love you and I hate myself for what I've done and just hope I can at least try to make it up to you somehow."
Sam sniffed and hugged Carly tighter. "You've always meant so much to me, Carly. That will never change."
They pulled back and looked at each other. Never did either of them think they would be in this position. But things change and life takes courses you don't think it will. You can't erase the past but you can try and fix it and move forward. And that's what they needed to do.
"Maybe we should go and make sure Freddie and Charlie haven't killed each other," Sam joked.
Carly and Sam looked at each other, and even though they were both still crying, they began to laugh.
"That might be a good idea," Carly said, wiping under her eyes to remove the tears there. "They might have taken Spencer and Gibby with them."
The girls laughed again and gave each other one more hug before going to survey the scene outside. Hopefully Freddie would see things from Sam's point of view and try to forgive Carly the way Sam planned to...
If not, it was going to be one heck of a interesting wedding.
