A huge thank you, once again, to all of you readers for the progress you've helped Seddie make in the poll. Not only did we meet our last goal, but we passed it by 1,000 votes. We are so close to Smallville now, so close to taking third place. Now let's get there!
Now what?
Those words echo in Freddie's head, over and over.
His shoulders slump as he slips out of the apartment. Not too much though; he needs the support. He grips his crunches and moves himself along, into his own apartment.
His mother isn't home. What? Why isn't his mother home? Usually she would be at a time like this. She's probably with her therapist, trying to get her through the rough time.
He limps through his kitchen, and into his room. He's sick and tired of these crutches; he cannot wait until he gets the walking thing and his hand out of the cast. He cannot wait. He's never broken anything before this. It's quite irritating.
He looks around the dark room. Well, it's kinda dark. The flickering lights of his technology light the room up with flashes of color. The low humming sound fills the air, followed by an occasional click or beep.
It's comforting, but it's not enough.
He sits down on his bed, casting the crutches aside. He grips the picture he was given. Well, he thinks he was given. The first person he talked to about the break-up was Spencer. Spencer surprisingly was very skilled when it came to relationships. Very skilled. He simply told Freddie that Carly didn't know much about relationships, but that he shouldn't get his hopes up. He then asked him if he was okay, which Freddie answered with a "I think I'll be just fine."
But that wasn't before he dropped the picture. Spencer was carelessly looking through some pictures, all of them of him and the rest of the group, and one of them dropped onto the ground. Freddie doesn't know if it was incidental or intentional, but it fell to the ground with a pwwp sound, catching his attention.
The picture was of Freddie and Sam together. Sam was on Freddie's back, with her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. Both of them were smiling. Freddie remembers the day it was taken; Carly really hadn't been around, and Spencer hadn't even taken the picture. Freddie is aware that he is smiling as he gazes at the picture.
He realizes that he has somethin' else to do. He pulls out his phone, and swiftly types up the message. He is surprised that she hasn't texted him yet. Very surprised. He expected a "Stupid boy I told you so!" from her, but no, she was silent.
He sends the message, and he feels something deep inside him shift.
"You were right."
He doesn't bother to wait for a response. The reason why she hasn't texted yet is probably because she was asleep or something. And then in the morning she'll reticule him. Whatever. What's the difference?
Think.
He doesn't want to.
What did you do?
"I didn't do jack," He tells himself. But he knows the truth. I broke up with Carly Shay.
He did? He did? He always knew that Carly would someday date him, but like this? For three days? And only after he breaks himself up?
What is this?
This is life. He hears a bitter voice say. He's heard that voice before, in a dream, perhaps? His mother was never that harsh with him.
Rewind. Carly is in the street. A taco truck comes. Freddie only had milliseconds to react before he leaps out into the street and saves the girl's life.
Then what? Oh, yes, she comes over bearing cupcakes. The two speak. Carly does the unthinkable—kisses him, on the lips. He'll never get over the shock. He's only ever kissed two girls—no, wait, he's kissed one girl, and the other…might be a person. He'll never know if Melanie is real unless the two stand beside each other, proving her existence.
Then Sam comes in. Sam. It's easy to say that Carly and Sam are the most important girls in Freddie's life. He loves both of them; in different ways of course. But in which way? That line is beginning to blur. What guy walks away from the girl he loves?
Love? Is he sure? No, he isn't. Because you don't walk away from love. Right?
He's almost certain that right now, the girl he purposively "loves" is sitting in her room right now, perfectly fine. She was fine when she left him. But so was he. Is he fine now?
My God, he thinks to himself. Maybe I am.
What? This isn't supposed to happen! He was supposed to marry Carly someday. Right? Is that what you want?
He decides to ask himself a mental question. Can't hurt, right?
If you got your cast off and Carly asked you out again, what would you do?
Well, it'd prove that Carly still liked him. But for some reason, a nagging feeling in the back of his head tells him that it isn't going to happen.
And would he be okay with that?
He hears a knock on his door. He lifts his head up. Who is that? His mother?
"Mom?" He gets out.
"Not quite." The voice is husky and sarcastic. It can only belong to one person.
He closes his eyes briefly. "Don't kick me while I'm down." He warns.
"I'm not." Sam opens the door and steps inside. "I got your text. Tell me."
"Carly didn't tell you?" He says with disbelief. She didn't tell her brother; that's one thing. But she couldn't even tell her best friend? Her absolute best friend?
"Nope." Sam says. In the dim light, she's silhouetted by a bright computerized light.
"Then why are you here?" He's dumbfounded, really. Why would Sam come to see him?
"Happened to be in town." Sam walks over to his bed. "So, how did it go?"
"Well," Freddie brushes some hair away from his forehead. It was all neatly done in his signature comb-over style, but now it was all messy and un-presentable. "You were right. It's all 'hero worship'."
Sam stares at him. "She broke up with you?"
"Nope." Freddie coughs, trying to clear up something. "I broke up with her."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh."
"Why?"
Freddie snaps his gaze over to Sam. Her blue eyes are filled with exasperation. He knows that she believes she knows what the answer is. She expects him to say, "Well, I wouldn't use the one I love!" but he doesn't. Because it isn't true.
"I just did." Freddie says simply. "There's no point, is there?"
"You're taking this surprisingly well." Sam observes.
"Well, there's no use crying over it." Freddie pulls something out of his pocket. "Candy?"
"Sure." Sam takes the hard candy from him. "So, you're cool?"
"I dunno." Freddie shrugs. "For now, I'm kinda shifty, but you never know…"
"Well, yeah…" Sam rubs her shoulders. "Um…"
Freddie suppresses a small chuckle. "Why haven't you insulted me yet?"
"Huh?"
"You aren't being the Sam I know and—" He stops himself, very abruptly.
Was I really going to say love?
"Remember Jonah?" Sam asks him.
"He dropped out of highschool."
"I know. But remember him? Remember how he dated me just so he could be close to Carly?" Sam says to him.
"Yeah…?"
"Well, you didn't mock me then." Sam points out. "You were gentle about it."
"Well, yeah." Freddie stares at her. "No one deserves to be hit in the heart."
"Well, consider this payback." Sam smiles and begins to walk out his door.
He tries to think. Right before Sam walked in, he reflected on how much he loves the girls. He loves Carly, but is he in love? Like he said before, you don't just walk away from the one you truly love unless making sure that you will start again. But he doesn't think they will.
What about Sam? Sammy Puckett, the terror of his life? He loves her; she's one of his best friends, for God's sake? But watching her walk away, he feels something inside him jolt up.
He let one girl walk away tonight. He won't let this one go.
"Wait!" He bursts out. Sam turns around and stares at him quizzically. "I downloaded something new for iCarly. Wanna see it?"
"No offense, but I'd rather watch water dry." She responds.
"Come on," Freddie says, grabbing his crutches and getting up. "Please?"
Sam rolls her eyes. "Well, okay, but you owe me a fatcake for this."
"There's fatcakes in the kitchen…" Freddie says.
"Ah, no way!" She makes a beeline for the door. "Be right back!"
Freddie grins as she leaves, because he knows she'll come back in five minutes. As long as she doesn't discover the bacon. As he loads up the server, he remembers as he walked into the elevator. He walked away. He walked away with his head held high.
As Sam returns with a fatcake shoved in her mouth, he can't help but laugh. As he loads up the new feature, he tries to imagine what will happen next. He's not that upset about the breakup. So now what? Is he free to like others?
He glances over at Sam, and something warm flutters in his chest.
Today's writer: Oceanmistsupporter
Today's goal: Get us to 234,000 votes before the next chapter. Let's pass Smallville!
Link: http:/ www. portraitmagazine. net/
