The Story

a/n: okay so I know the last chapter was pretty harsh and ill apologize if my potty mouth offended anybody because I don't mean to. I also forgot to mention that each chapter title comes from whatever song I'm listening to as I write and it generally gets incorporated into the chapter as well. So all credit to Jason Derulo and Bruno Mars for the first three chapters and to Sara Ramirez for this one. Her rendition of the song The Story is truly breath taking and I have been dying to write to it for months now.

Life moved on after that, they no longer had run ins with Carly and the rest of their junior seemed to fly by without a hitch, Sam even made the honor roll last marking period. That got the high education ball rolling for our resident slacker. Having proved to herself that she could in fact obtain grades like Freddie, Sam made the decision that she wanted to go to college and was set on busting her ass all senior year. With that in mind, Sam, Freddie, Brad and his girlfriend Lexi planned to spend their summer visiting prospective colleges that they could attend together.

Freddie was thankful for Brad and Lexi, he feared once Sam and Carly stopped being friends that Sam would shut down completely. But Lexi complimented Sam in a way Carly never did, she never reprimanded Sam for being a nut case or begrudge her meat for being violent. She embraced Sam and accepted her for who she was and in return Sam was Lexi's voice of reason and laughed with her when she did something idiotic but never laughed at her. Both blondes were strong willed, hard headed and had spunk but they never battled for dominance against each other, just their boyfriends.

But no matter how much time passed Freddie still noticed a part of Sam was missing, a part that would forever be with Carly. Carly had been such a huge part of Sam's life, and Freddie's too, that it was still an adjustment not having her there with them all the time. There were plenty of times both were guilty of picking up their phones in excitement because Gibby had done something that Carly just had to know about but then reality would set in right before they hit the send button. They couldn't make that call anymore, they couldn't laugh about it for hours together, fuck they couldn't even write it into an iCarly script and that realization hit them hard in the gut every time. He had lost count as to how many times he comforted Sam, holding her close in his arms, stroking her golden locks as she cried herself to sleep over the loss of her best friend. And many nights he spent staying up staring at her wondering if the last conversation he had with Carly is what caused them to never reconcile. Logically he knew that the damage had been done by Carly herself but what if he was the icing on the cake? His intentions were pure, he was protecting his girlfriend, and he just wanted her to be happy again but was it too much? He knew he owed her an apology but his ego told him that she had to be the one to make the first step. Childish, I know, but he just couldn't swallow his pride and approach her.

Carly, though she appeared all sweet and innocent, had a wicked tongue on her. Her words could bring you to your knees faster than Sam's double fist dance to your face. To call your friend a two cent hooker, a whore, a street walker, trailer trash slut and many more colorful insults because you had a bruised ego was disgusting. It wasn't as if Freddie and Carly were dating and he cheated on her with Sam. Nor was it the case in which Carly was responsive to all his advances years ago. She had made it very clear nothing romantic would ever happen between them until he saved her life that one day but even then she didn't love him for him, she loved him for saving her. Carly had no grounds to act so cruelly when they announced their relationship, she was being nothing more than a spoiled little brat and he wasn't going to stand by and let her throw one of her infamous temper tantrums while his girlfriend was the target. Nobody deserved to be treated that way especially Sam.

Sam had seen and been through enough in her short 17 years of life and Freddie swore he would protect her from any harm just as she had promised to do the same in return. If that made him an asshole then so be it. They may have fought all the time (okay, they still do), and she may have abused him at any given opportunity but they truly were made for each other. When you pulled back the layers and dug deeper into the lives of Freddie Benson and Sam Puckett they weren't all that different. When Sam's dad left her mother became a raging alcoholic, when Freddie's dad died his mother became crazy overprotective. Where Sam protected herself by building a wall and rebelling, Freddie hid behind a computer and threw himself into his school work. They understood each other like no one else did, they knew what lay behind the façade each one upheld yet they loved each other because of it not in spite of it. They don't see the scars that mark the others' body as deformities but as memories. Each scar tells a story; stories of where they each had been, who they were with and how they got to where they are today. For the first time in both their lives their stories actually had meaning, all because they had each other. And Carly, having known the basis of their lives and what they had been through, should've been glad her friends had found happiness and were at ease. Was that too much to ask?

Thank you every one who reviewed and follows this story!I'm sorry there was no dialogue in this chapter but there was a lot I needed said and I feel that trying to explain some situations through talking tends to go on forever and it becomes too much back and forth and in the end you still need these long internal monologues to clear things up. I also felt that all I've really given you is dialogue and I know I have more to offer then that and I don't want you getting bored with me.

As always….

Love

ladyy