With a bowl of grapes an arm away and her soda on the coffee table, everything was in place. Carly sat on the couch, her legs tucked comfortably under her, and opened her PearBook. It was wonderful having been dismissed early. Now she had some alone time and she wanted to spend it studying. Alright maybe not studying as much as procrastinating by surfing the internet, but it could work. She rolled her shoulders, feeling and hearing the knots on her back pop, and clicked on the Surfari icon.

She was checking her messages on her SplashFace when she heard the door burst open. She assumed it was Spencer, but when she glanced at the door, it wasn't her older brother but a distracted younger boy who busied himself adjusting his collar.

"Spence can I-- oh, Carly.." Freddie stopped when he saw that it was Carly staring up at him from the couch. "I thought you had a meeting today," he continued while tugging at the collar of his button down shirt. He then fingered the lapels of his coat jacket, suddenly becoming aware of how overdressed he looked in the backdrop of the colorful apartment.

Carly closed her laptop and set it aside. "Why, you look mighty snazzy," she said as she walked up to him. She took it upon herself to fix his cluttered collar and jacket, then she turned her attention to his hair. Freddie moved his head to avoid her concerned hands, but to no avail.

"Yeah, well, um.." he said as Carly fussed over him, "I kind of need to borrow a tie." Carly made a sound of acknowledgment and continued with the mothering. When she deemed his appearance acceptable, she took a step back to admire her work.

"You look good and, unless you want duck covered ties care of Socko's brother, Tyler, then I suggest you keep the getup tie-less."

Freddie agreed. He adjusted his jacket once more while Carly assured him that he looked good. She asked him where he was supposed to be going. Freddie paused awkwardly, then told her was going to this fancy French restaurant with an unpronounceable name. After this, he motioned to the door, telling Carly that he had better get going.

"So who are you going with, your mom?" She asked as she opened the door for him.

Freddie didn't answer until he had his back turned to her and he was halfway out the door. "Sam," he replied, his tone as monotonous as possible. Suddenly his breath got caught in his throat. Carly had grabbed the back of his collar and used it as a leash to drag Freddie back in the apartment. She pulled him inside and slammed the door shut.

Freddie rubbed his neck and made a sound similar to an injured puppy.

Carly stared at him for a second before interrogating him with a single sentence, "Sam, what, when, why, how?"

Freddie shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. "We're trying authentic French food. For culinary," he tried to sound casual but his friend knew him better. You know how some guys try to sound cool and James Dean-ish when they're talking about something of importance yet pretending they don't care? Freddie was doing it and he was doing a pretty bad job.

"So you're on a date?" Carly smiled teasingly. This was going to be good.

"No," Freddie paused. He pursed his lips as he thought of the right word to describe this little rendezvous he was going to have with Sam in a few minutes. "It's... a field trip."

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't know you kids call dates 'field trips'," she said, complete with air quotes.

He denied it once more, "It's not a date ok?" he said with a lopsided smile. He explained that the week before, Sam, who was in the middle of explaining how escargot tasted, mentioned that learning about food wasn't enough, he had to eat some as well. She also let slip that her cousin had a part-time job as a busboy in this fancy, authentic French restaurant. Somehow, along the way, they found themselves agreeing on a day and time. However it was all for the sake of research and education. It was not a date, "SO not a date, so incredibly far from being a date that "date" is a foreign concept to me," Freddie assured Carly while she rolled her eyes and nodded sarcastically in the right places just to annoy him.

"But wait, do you... like Sam? In a going out to field trips but wishing it was more than that way?" She gestured with her eyebrows.

Freddie scoffed as if the idea was as far fetched as a hippo and a gorilla getting it on. "Carly," He started, but, at that exact moment, fate seemed to step in. The door creaked open and Sam's head popped in.

"Freddie?" She did the loft a quick once over and spotted her two friends. "Your mom said you were here..." her voice faded. She squeezed her way into the apartment and nodded, "Hehey, peoples." Sam raised her eyebrows and tucked the sides of her mouth deep into her cheeks, forming this reticent smile.

"I hear you're going to a fancy French restaurant?"

"Yeah... for the dork's research."

"But I thought you hated French?"

"No, I hated The French, not French food. Hating any kind of food would be like blasphemy," Sam said. "And it's a free meal."

"Who said I was the only one paying?" Freddie asked in a voice that suggested he had no idea Sam planned not to pay.

"Do you really want to take this road, Fredward?"

"No," he instantly backed out.

"So Carly, how come you're not in school," Sam asked as she walked over to the sofa to pop some grapes into her mouth.

"Oh, we were dismissed early"

Sam nodded. Her lips moved from side to side as if her upper lip was having a debate with her lower lip. And then, "wanna come?"

Out of obligation, Freddie echoed the invitation, "Oh yeah, do you?"

Carly's eyes went back and forth from Sam to Freddie then back again. Obviously, she wanted to spend time with both and them, and, hell, she was in the mood for some weird French food that would most likely make her vomit if she knew what it was really made of. However, date or not, this was their time together. It would be like Carly joining them in Wake Up Spencer; Freddie going to Build-a-Bra with them; or Sam sitting in on a leadership conference. "I'll pass," she politely declined.

"Well," Freddie slapped his hands together and rubbed his palms a little too quickly, "We have 45 minutes, and we should plan on arriving fifteen minutes early so we have to--"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get excited," Sam waved her hand in the air as she used the other one to grab the last piece of grape. She made a move towards Freddie's direction.

"Hold on, is that what you're wearing?" Carly asked as she eyed the blonde's jeans and shirt. The pants fit her and her shirt was minimally appropriate, meaning it was ironed. However it was such a stark contrast to Freddie's proper garb.

"What? I'm not in shorts and I wore heels, see?" Sam raised her left foot and rolled her ankles to show off that, yes, her shoe will make her three inches taller.

"No, no, no. No. You have to look nicer! Freddie's in a coat jacket and slacks and you're in jeans,"

Sam blindly flung her arm to the side and hit Freddie on the nose, "Ow! Must you resort to violence?" he whined.

"You're making me look bad," Sam folded her arms to her chest and eyed him with a disapproving look.

"Don't pass the blame, young lady. Come on, it will only take 15 minutes. I'll let you borrow one of my dinner dresses and you can wear your heels,"

"But we don't have the same size!"

"You know fully well that the only two garments we have different sizes of are pants and bras. We can share everything else!" Freddie made a choking sound at this little revelation. "But choose not to on some things," Carly clarified.

Sam, stubborn that she is, stoically shook her head. "No."

Carly sighed disappointedly and peered at her through long lashes. She blinked twice, tilted her head, then blinked once more.

"No, don't you dare. It only works on Spencer and Freddie," Sam warned. Too late. Carly was about to unleash her secret weapon.

"Please, for me?"

For a moment the two girls stood there. One was fighting with intimidation, the other fighting with charm.

Freddie shifted, Carly swayed, and Sam huffed. Finally, "Geez, woman! How do you do it?!" the blonde snapped as she stomped her way up the stairs.

Carly chuckled, amused.

"Yes, how do you do that?" Freddie finally spoke up.

Carly shrugged. "I have my ways."

"CARLY HURRY UP!"

"Oi... be back in a few."

Carly walked down the steps fifteen minutes later. "I must warn you," she said, "Sam says she doesn't care if she's in heels. She'll flip you over if you comment on how girly she looks."

"Oh, she wishes I'll comment," he rolled his eyes. When Sam walked down-- narrowing her eyes at Carly, awkwardly tugging on the straps of her dress and almost tripping on the way down-- he visibly bit the inside of his lower lip and was obviously trying to stop himself.

"Well, well you..." Freddie trailed with a restrained smirk. Sam landed on the bottom of the stairway and stopped in front of him. She eyed him threateningly, daring him to continue. Carly was in the background, eyes wide open and shaking her head. "Look... absolutely awful."

He smiled teasingly, right before he had to use his forearm to block Sam's fist.

a/n: sorry this was late guys. comments, suggestions, criticism is very welcome. This fic is really slow. I need to figure it out.. But I'm glad that some people are still reading this. :)