Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly.
Surprise, Surprise
You should never try to surprise Sam, the situation never ended well. Sam liked to be in control. She liked to know where she was headed or what she was going to do. The unknown was something no one had no control over it, making it something Sam hated. Being out of control was intimidating for Sam. That is what had scared her about being in a relationship with Freddie.
Freddie wasn't like other boys who had asked Sam out before. Freddie was an enigma to Sam. He liked Galaxy Wars, would stand in a line days at a time for a videogame, and drooled over technology but he didn't look or act like a totally, typical nerd. He didn't have glasses or braces, or even zits. He wasn't scrawny (well at least not so much anymore) for a nub. He didn't constantly drone on about his 'nerd fetishes', as Sam calls his hobbies, like other boys would. The greatest difference though was that Freddie challenged her. He didn't give in to Sam as easily as many others would.
While Sam hated surprises, Freddie loved them. He thought they added some spark into the day, something different from the same old, same old. The thought of surprises filled Freddie with keen interest and a tingle of anxiousness. Surprises filled Sam up with curiosity and a nagging need to know what said surprise was and it drove her crazy. Freddie had learned the hard way, as per usual, Sam didn't share the same opinion.
It was any customary day at Ridgeway High School. Carly and Sam were at there lockers talking about some random topic neither girl could remember the origin of. Today's topic seemed to be German robot pirates' children, if they would be half robot and what kind of accents they would have. It was this out of the ordinary subject that Freddie ears caught as he came up behind them that day.
They hadn't noticed his presence and Freddie thought it was the perfect opportunity to do something horrifically similar to a scene in some cheesy romance movie, like The First Kiss. Freddie quickly covered Sam's eyes with his hands and was about to speak when an elbow flew into his ribs causing him to stumble back a number of steps. As soon as his hands had blocked her vision she had reacted out of instinct. Sam was well versed in street smarts, and any reasonable person (according to Sam) would have immediately recognized that as a threat and thus reacted in a similar matter.
Sam didn't hold back and she didn't even think of what the situation was, she was in school at her locker and next to Carly not standing on a street corner or in an alleyway. Sam didn't take time to think the situation through or let an event unfold because of her initially response: to take care of the problem before it even started. It wasn't her fault Freddie had tried to surprise her. It wasn't Sam's problem that her gut said 'attack' when someone startled her like that.
When she turned around to look at her assailant she was only slightly surprised to see Freddie standing there. Of course Freddie would try to cover her eyes and whisper an airy 'Guess who?' in her ear as an attempting to recreate some cute scene. Freddie was just that kind of boy. The one who wanted to show public affection and do nice things for his girlfriend. Sam on the other hand was a bit more rough around the edges and didn't always respond in an appropriate (according to someone normal) way to these affections, charms, and kind offerings. It wasn't as if she was used to these things, it took some time to adapt to new things like a genuine boyfriend.
At Freddie's surprised face Sam rolled her eyes. As much as she loved the boy he could be so dumb at times (at least when it came to her). After her first assessment and eye roll of the situation Sam playfully, more than viciously, pushed Freddie's shoulders with a small smirk on her lips. Even though her push was weak, it had caused Freddie to take another step backwards.
"Sam!" Carly seemingly squawked, "What did I tell you about attacking people while we're at school?"
"Carly, I didn't attack him." Sam stated simply and brushing off the question.
"Sam you pushed him, don't you think that is attacking someone?" Carly retorted in her perfect nagging mother voice.
"He'd be on the floor if I attacked him and he is standing perfectly straight right now. Plus it isn't anything new. He can take a few pushes now and then Carly, he's a big boy after all." Sam said dignifying herself.
"Uh, guys," Freddie said, "You do know I am standing right here. You don't need to refer to me as if I'm on the other side of the school right now."
"You're fine, right?" Sam said turning her attention to the afore mentioned boy.
"Yeah, my ribs are just a little sore it's nothing new for me, I just caught her off guard and she reacted." Freddie said dismissing the occurrence.
"Problem solved. Let's go to class, baby." Sam instructed and pulled her boyfriend in for a quick kiss.
"Me gusta." Freddie uttered leaving the words hanging in the air as he and Sam went off to their next lesson, and the situation long passed.
After that little incident Freddie hadn't quite gotten the idea that Sam hated surprises just yet. He still believed that anyone was up for a good surprise. On their one year anniversary Freddie decided he would surprise Sam with a nice dinner at a high end expensive restaurant he knew Sam's pallet would appreciate. Sure she liked her ham and pie filling and chili but Sam also enjoyed rich food served in small portions and sold at high prices.
A few days prior Freddie had told Sam he wanted to take her out and as soon as he told her she wanted to know where. She had asked and bribed and even pleaded but he refused to tell her. It's a surprise, was all he told her and they were the three words that had been haunting Sam for four days straight now. Sam had eventually gotten sick of asking with no such luck of finding out the location of their date and pushed the surprise to the back of her mind, until she couldn't anymore.
Sam sat in her room on Saturday night worried. Where was he taking her? Her mind was searching and screaming for answers as she stared at herself in her bedroom mirror. She had tried numerous ways to get the date's whereabouts out of Freddie. She had even cleverly asked for the place so she knew how to dress for the occasion, a tactic that had sadly (for Sam) lead nowhere. Freddie knew her too well, he knew her little deceptions and sneak maneuvers and had worked around them only telling her she needed to dress nice for the date.
She was dressed and ready to leave but that didn't mean she wasn't nervous about it. Her legs were restless, constantly shaking and swinging them back and forth. She would play with her hands in her lap. Her head turned to look out of the window every few moments or so. Then she would look at the clock on her nightstand checking the time. What had this boy done to her? In trying to surprise her he had created a nervous wreck of a girl.
Finally Sam saw headlights through her window. She turned to look out the window and saw Marissa Benson's small car in her driveway. She figured that Freddie had switched cars with his mother because his rundown and rusting clunker wasn't sufficient for the location of their date. His mother had a new prim and polished black Volkswagen Jetta. Sam had been in it a few times before and knew that Marissa Benson kept her car in perfect condition not a speck of dirt or piece of trash in sight.
Sam grabbed her bag off of her dresser and a jacket for the very likely chance of rain that night (it was Seattle after all). She closed her door and ran down the stairs before Freddie had the chance to ring her doorbell. Yanking the door open she found Freddie in a dress shirt, pants, and tie waiting. He smiled at her as she step out and locked the house up.
"I guess you're ready to go." Freddie stated.
"Yeah, are you finally going to tell me where we're going?" She questioned.
"You'll see when we get there Sam." He took that moment to kiss her lips that were pouted in frustration at the boy. At first she didn't reciprocate the kiss, irritated that he still wouldn't tell her. She knew he wasn't setting her up for something horrible, he wasn't that kind of guy. She just wanted to know where they were going something she didn't think was unreasonable.
After a few minutes of making out, after Sam had forgotten her irritation, they broke apart. He gave her another small smile and she sighed and offered a small smile in return. Freddie put his hand on the small of Sam's back and started leading her to the car. He opened the door for her and she stepped into the car setting her things in her lap as Freddie walked around to the driver's side of the sedan. He started the car and pulled out of the driveway and onto the street. They drove in silence for a few minutes before Sam cracked.
"Where are we going?" she asked simply.
"I told you it's-"
"It's a surprise I know! I don't care tell me where we're going right now Frednub." Sam demanded cutting Freddie off.
"No." He retorted refusing to give in to Sam.
"No? Freddie tell me." She stated again still calm.
"Sam I'm not going to tell you." He said standing his ground.
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not."
"Baby," she whined, "Why won't you just tell me?"
"Sam I want it to be a surprise, I've told you this a thousand times."
"And I hate surprises!" She screamed.
"Sam look we'll be there in a few minutes so just rela- Sam!" Unhappy with Freddie's response Sam started to smack his arm.
"Tell me."
"No, Sam. And stop hitting me I'm driving."
"Not until you tell me." Sam demanded continuing to smack Freddie's arm as he drove. Freddie was sure the girl was going to get them both killed if she didn't stop soon. It would be quite difficult for anyone to drive a car with someone smacking their arm like it was a hunk of meat. Freddie was attempting to steer the car and stop Sam from attacking his arm.
"Sam you are going to get us both murdered." he said starting to swerve a tiny bit on the road.
"Freddie!" She said her slaps and hits becoming more vicious causing Freddie's driving to become more reckless. It wasn't until they nearly crashed into a building that Freddie finally gave in to Sam's demands.
"We're going to Lechetti! Can we get their with out anymore near death experiences tonight?" Freddie nearly screamed causing Sam to stop hitting him and to shoot a bright smile happily at him.
"Awww baby, you're taking me to Lechetti? That's so sweet." She said kissing his cheek. Freddie just closed his eyes for a second and sighed. He fixed his grip on the wheel and concentrated on the road until they finally arrived at the restaurant.
That night Freddie had learned an important lesson, when it came to Sam and surprises. If you tried to surprise Sam you would end up being yelled at, coming close to dying in a car crash multiple times, and end up with bruises on the arm nearest in reach.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Let me know if you have any suggestions for Things She Hated, I would love to hear them. I might be updating only on the weekends now because of school, this is a very important busy year for me and as much as I enjoy writing this fic I might not always have time. Anyway I hope you stick around to read more.
Thanks a ton!
Lyss
