We ate our bacon and eggs in silence. Once we were done, we went and sat on the couch and turned on the television. Since it was only seven am on a Saturday, there wasn't much on to watch. We turned a news station on softy in the background. Freddie put his arm around me and I flinched.
"What's wrong?" He asked quickly.
"Nothing." I said shakily. I could feel the tears again. I sighed.
"Saaaam. Please tell me." He said softly.
"Fine. But this isn't something I tell. This is something I show." I said as I started to pull off my shirt. Freddie's eyes were huge.
"Um Sam..?" He began to say as I cut him off.
"I've got a tank top on under this shirt, don't worry nub." I said quickly. I threw my shirt onto the floor and sighed. I pulled back my hair to reveal my shoulders. Freddie gasped. My shoulders were super black from bruises.
"Who did that to you?" He asked as he carefully put his arms around my waist.
"That's not important." I said a little too quickly.
"Saaam." He said. I sighed.
"My mom." I whispered, barely audible. I started to cry again. Freddie pulled me closer.
"Well we have two whole weeks where you can stay away from her, okay?" He said softly. I couldn't hold back the tears any longer.
"But she'll come looking for me." I said.
"We don't have school for the next two weeks, so she can't find you there." He said, obviously trying to calm me down. It wasn't working.
"But she knows that I would be with Carly." I said.
"Exactly. She knows that you'll be with Carly. Not with me. And don't worry Sam, I'll protect you." He said. I hugged him tightly.
"Do you wanna go over to Carly's?" He asked me, obviously changing the subject. I nodded. Freddie took my hand and pulled me out the door and across the hall.
"Wait!" I said, as Freddie was about to knock. "I don't wanna tell Carly yet."
"Okay. But she may be suspicious." He said slowly.
"Why, noob?" I asked.
"Because... She asked me to the girl's choice dance a few months ago as her last choice. So I kinda had to explain why I was saying no." He said as he stared at his shoes.
"That was three months ago." I said, thinking. "So Carly's known that you liked me for three months?" I asked. I could feel my voice raising, but I didn't care.
"Look, Sam. I didn't let her tell anybody because I thought I was insane for liking you. And I thought if you found out you would beat me up." He said. "But now I know differently." He said with a smile.
"I don't beat people up anymore." I said looking down at my shoes. Freddie put him arms around my waist and kissed me.
"I'm sorry for yelling." I said quietly. Freddie just nodded.
"Do you wanna go inside now?" He asked me. I nodded. He knocked and opened the door. Spencer was sitting on the couch coloring a picture.
"Hey guys!" Spencer said, obviously surprised. "I was just watching some football." He said, pointing at the tv. Freddie and I just nodded.
"Where's Carly?" Freddie asked, looking around the room.
"Oh, she's at some tutoring thing or something at school. She won't be back until this afternoon. But you guys are welcomed to hang with me." He said as he patted the couch next to him. Freddie sat next to him and motioned me to sit next to him.
"So what's up?" He asked us as he turned off the television.
"I sorta have a secret I need to tell Carly." Freddie said.
"That you two are dating?" He asked as he looked at both of us.
"How'd you know?" I asked.
"Well Carly told me that Freddie liked you, Sam. And you came in together. And you're sitting way too close to not be fighting. I think it's totally cool, though, and Carly told me the same thing. So don't be afraid to tell her." He said. Freddie intertwined his hand with mine, obviously confused.
"Carly told you?" He asked. Spencer nodded.
"She said I was never allowed to mention it. But I figured now was okay." He said. I sighed.
"Everybody knew that Freddie liked me except me." I said. "if I had known, that would have saved me a lot of trouble."
The door opened, stopping our conversation. Carly walked in. I saw he jaw dropped and I remembered that Freddie was holding my hand. .
"What happened?" She asked confused.
"Umm... We can explain." Freddie said. I sighed.
"You better." She said. Spencer stood up and Carly sat down.
"I'll leave you kids to your business." He said as he ram to his room.
"So?" Carly asked, staring at us.
"Well yesterday after we left the Groovy Smoothie I walked with Sam and she told me how she felt. And thats about it." He said. I realized that he didn't tell her that I was staying at Freddie's house. Carly would think too much of that. Even if we did tell her nothing happened, she wouldn't believe us.
"Really? Where you just telling Spencer?" She asked, motioning towards Spencer's room.
"We asked him how we should tell you a big secret." I said. "He actually figured it out by himself. Because apparently everybody knew that Freddie liked me except me." Carly sighed.
"I didn't mean to tell Spencer. It just slipped out when I was telling him how perfect y'all would be together." She said. "I'm sorry. But I think you two dating is super awesome. So do y'all wanna go practice for iCarly?" Freddie and I nodded and all three of us walked up the stairs.