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Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

Sam's P.O.V:

The next few days weren't the most exciting. They consisted of greeting retired couples and ushering them into an old lighthouse. Freddie and I were so tired by the end of the day there was no time to do much talking or planning. Finally, it was time to leave.

Freddie and I had only been back to the information center once to get instructions for our job. Tweezer was at the counter, and he smiled at me. He was extremely hot, but I knew I didn't truly like him. He actually kind of bothered me. I mean, Tweezer? What kind of name is that? I could tell Freddie didn't really like him.

The fat guy paid Freddie one-hundred dollars, which I guess we were supposed to split. That really wasn't necessary because Freddie bought me everything anyways. Freddie thanked the man, and Eric cleared his throat.

"Hey Sam, can I talk to you?" he asked, and winked at me.

I shrugged. "Sure."

Freddie looked at me. His look told me to be careful. I glared at him and followed Tweezer outside.

"Sam, I was just wondering if I could call you after you leave?" he asked.

I started to get a little uncomfortable. He look was creepy. "Well, I don't know you very well."

"You could get to know me," he said quietly, moving closer to me.

"No thanks," I said, pushing him back. I could tell he was strong. Maybe stronger than I was. He kept pushing me back, and I struggled against him. "Stop it," I seethed.

Before I realized what was happening, Tweezer fell backwards and Freddie was standing there. I could see blood gushing out of Tweezer's nose. Freddie must have punched him.

Tweezer was still on the ground, and Freddie grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the truck. "Let's get out of here," he said.

We jumped in the car, since Tweezer was coming after Freddie, blood still pouring down his face. Freddie slammed the car into drive and screeched out of the parking lot. He still looked angry. I was mad too, at Freddie.

"You know, I can take care of myself," I said angrily.

Freddie glared at me. "Sam, I had to step in back there. He was trying to kiss you."

"I could've protected myself!" I yelled, and Freddie looked just as mad as I did.

"Obviously not. Sam, you've just got to accept that some guys are stronger than you," his voice was raised above its normal level.

"Well, stop trying to protect me all the time," I complained.

"Sam, I know you're strong. I just thought you looked like you could use some help," Freddie said, and I could tell that he was calming down. He never stayed mad long, especially at me.

I didn't feel like talking to him anymore, so I just sunk down in my seat and glared out the window. I could tell Freddie was getting desperate to talk to me.

Finally, he said, "Sam, I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to get hurt. I am your best friend, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled. I turned away from the window and saw Freddie's grin. I knew he was happy that things were normal again.

Freddie turned on the radio and we didn't say much for a while. I glanced over at him, and he still had a slightly worried look on his face. I knew he was thinking about what would've happened to me if he hadn't been there. Freddie always thought about the what if's. I decided to take his mind off of it.

"I bet Tweezer's nose is broken, with how hard you threw that punch at him. It looked painful," I said, smiling at Freddie.

A smile made its way onto his face. "Yeah, it did look like it hurt pretty bad."

"Maybe you could've beaten Gibby that one time he wanted to fight you," I said, and it was the truth. I didn't realize back then how strong Freddie really was.

"I don't know," Freddie looked doubtful, "Like you guys said, Gibby's... thick."

I laughed. Talking about fighting suddenly reminded me of something. "Who would win in a fight, a duck or a large toad?" I asked Freddie.

This led to a long conversation about ducks and toads, which led to other topics until we realized we were coming up on the bridge that was inbetween Washington and Oregon. The drive was short to the next town, and by that time Freddie and I were both getting tired. Freddie pulled over at a Mallmart.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"Well, I think we should buy a tent," Freddie said.

I raised my eyebrows. "Why?"

"Because, we can't afford hotels. We have about $125.00 right now, and we need to make it last. I think we can afford campgrounds for a while. Is it okay with you?" he asked.

I shrugged. "As long as I get food."

Freddie laughed. "We'll have plenty of food, trust me."

After the buying of a tent, two cheap sleeping bags, and two even cheaper pillows, the two of us pulled into the nearest campground. It was pretty cheap, which was good, but when Freddie had to go to the bathroom, he reported back that they were disgusting. I told him he should go in the woods anyways.

We pulled up to our campsite. Freddie opened the box that the tent was in, and pulled out the directions.

"Great," he mumbled.

"What?" I asked, while digging in our cooler for some leftover fat-cakes that I got out of the vending machine at Cape Disappointment.

"The directions are in Korean," he said, and I laughed.

"Have fun with that," I said, biting into a fat-cake.

"You could help me, you know," he said, looking over at me.

I sighed, "I guess I could help you."

I walked over to him. It was almost completely dark, and it was hard to see all the parts. Somehow, we put it together and we stepped back to look at our work.

"It's not very big," I said, glancing at Freddie.

"No, it's not. But it'll work," he said, glancing at me, "Right?"

"I guess so."

I put my pajamas on inside the tent, while Freddie put his on in the truck. I crawled into my sleeping bag. I picked out a bright red one, while Freddie's was a deep blue. It was fairly warm, but I still felt a little chill from the night air. A few seconds later, Freddie climbed into the tent, and zipped up the door behind him. He crawled into his sleeping bag too. We were pressed up against each other since the tent was so small. Freddie glanced over at me.

"So what did you want to do when we get to San Francisco?"

"I want to ride a street car," I said. For some reason, I had always wanted to see San Francisco. It sounded like a city that I would love, with all of its character and things that other cities didn't have, like the Fisherman's Wharf.

"Oh," Freddie said softly, and I glanced at him.

His face wasn't very far from mine, and he was looking at me. His eyes were gleaming in the soft moonlight that fell over the tent. I felt a crazy urge to kiss him, but I didn't.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"For what?" Freddie whispered back.

"For stopping him," I answered him softly.

Freddie didn't say anything else, but he took my hand. He squeezed it, and I rubbed little circles in his hand with my thumb. We held hands the whole night.

A/N: I'm so sorry for the extremely long time it took me to update this. There's really no excuse for it. But now, since it's summer, I'll be able to update more often. Thank you so much for keeping up with this story, and please continue to read it and review! Again, thanks for reading. :)