A/N: Phew! I'm not really sure why this one took me as long as I did, but yeah. More 'past' to get you caught up on 'the present'. Lots of emotional turmoil to come, so look out for that.

The Last Summer

Carly. Sam. Sam. Carly.

Stupid feelings.

"Sup, Freddie?" Gibby asked as Freddie started to slam his head into the back wall of his locker. "Is everything okay?"

"What makes you think something's wrong?"

"Well, you're slamming your head into your locker and there's no Sam present and no Carly to stop her."

The mention of both of their names made his stomach churn and he made out a little noise in between a moan and a groan. "Gibby, am I sick?"

"That depends, do you have a fever?"

"No…"

"Then you're not sick."

Well, there went that stupid possibility, Freddie sighed mentally. Too bad, it would have made stuff in his head make sense. Now he just had a bunch of facts in his head that led to a conclusion that had to be impossible.

"Say, Gibby… How did you know you liked Tasha?"

"I just knew." He said slowly, thinking about it. "Anyways, tell all your problems to Grand Master Gibby with his down B magic."

"Alright… But you can't tell this to either Carly or Sam. Under the Unbreakable Vow."

"Oho, I see it's serious. Grand Master Gibby is all ears."

"There's a girl. It's really stupid- I shouldn't like her because of everything that's happened, but I know that when someone who might break our friendship is there I get this pit feeling in my stomach. And well… there's kind of another girl. And I don't know. I think she might also be something that'll break us, but she's still a really good friend, though she hasn't always been 'a friend'."

"Sounds like deep stuff, man. Why am I not telling Carly or Sam again?"

Freddie blinked at him.

"Nevermind."

She hadn't meant to hear it. Really. She was just heading over to Freddie's locker to ask him about the French homework when he heard him tell Gibby 'not to tell Carly or Sam'. And really, it wasn't her fault she was curious. The last time he kept something from her… Well, was what they called 'the unmentionable'.

And now… She could have sworn that he had felt the same way about that kiss they had shared in the studio. Thinking back about it, she felt a little guilty about not telling Sam about it. It almost felt as if they were drifting apart, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. But that kiss- it was just another kiss. No butterflies. It wasn't a bad kiss… just not something extraordinary.

"Hey Carly, I came by to calibrate the- Is something wrong?" Freddie asked. She had been staring at his face, as if it would help her read his thoughts, and she hadn't realized how intense her stare was.

"I heard you talk to Gibby." She blurted out as he almost dropped the harddrive he was carrying. "Can we talk about it?"

Freddie hesitated,

"Can we just not talk about it?"

"No, we can't just not talk about it! I thought you felt the same way about the kiss! We need to talk about what I overheard, Benson."

"But my mom is waiting for me to…"

"I don't care! Are you in love?"

"So. What was in that chicken pot pie? I mean, I know chicken obviously, but what other-?"

"Are you in love or not?" Carly demanded, impatient.

"Yes." Freddie finally muttered, inaudibly. Carly's stomach dropped- this had been her worse case scenario- she could have sworn that he was indeed, not in love with her, had not felt anything from their kiss, and was in fact, in love with Sam.

"But you promised that you wouldn't fall in love in me-"

"I didn't say I was in love with you."

"Then… Sam?"

"I- I don't know." He replied honestly. "Maybe. Am I crazy, Carly? I mean, Sam and I fight like cats and dogs. I shouldn't like her, let alone be her friend, but I haven't left yet and it makes me think that something's seriously wrong with me. And there are times where I feel bad for putting her down even though she does it to me all the time. Like that stupid Sea-At-School thing. I told her I didn't believe her and she made a face and I couldn't think of doing anything else but help her even though I said she wasn't my friend earlier. I'm not supposed to like her, Carly and it's messing me up."

"Maybe…" Carly hesitated. "Maybe it's just unconditional love."

Dear Diary,

This is something that I can never tell Sam and Freddie. The truth is, I'm afraid of them going out. We've been a trio for so long, I don't want to be a third wheel. It scares me, because I'm so not used to all of the change that's going on. I'm so used to Freddie adoring me; even though I acted indifferent, I'm not going to lie and pretend I didn't like the attention. I'm used to Sam and Freddie pretending to hate each other, when they really- well, maybe not liked each other, but were friends none the less.

That's the biggest selfish part of me. I'm afraid of being left behind. When we were at Catalina the first time, and I saw Freddie and Sam so far out in the water, I was so afraid it started. When Griffin started flirting with Sam and Freddie got mad, I realized it had started a long time ago, and all that tension was just growing and growing.

I don't think they've noticed their feelings for each other. On one hand, I want to scream at them, telling them to get together, but on the other hand, I want to live in the blissful ignorance that we've just had for so long. I don't know what scares me more- the idea of them getting together or the idea of something happening and them breaking up.