Hello! Here comes a SUPER long chapter just for you! ^.^ I was planning to update last week but then an idea struck me and I had to change the chapter! Hehe

I'm gonna try and update on a bi-weekly basis from now on so that the story can progress further after iStart a Fanwar airs. ;)

But enjoy for now and remember to review!

Chapter Ten

No more secrets...really?

Five months and two weeks after their kiss on the fire escape Sam needed to go see a dentist. She had managed to lose one of her teeth during an iCarly sketch and Carly was insisting on having her see the damn tooth doctor. Sam was dead scared of going to the dentist; which explained why she hadn't had an appointment in years. Her mother had given up on taking her after she realized how much the check up's cost. Plus, it was difficult to find a dentist in town who would work on her since she always managed to bite them when they least expected it.

Not much had changed after Carly left her alone in the room with the dentist and his assistant. All he had to do was reach for the sharp suspicious looking object to make Sam spring at him and threaten his assistant with the very instrument. It took both Carly and the dentist to drag Sam off of her and pin her to the chair before the dentist managed to place a mask over her mouth and nose, giving her a heavy dose of "loopy gas".

Sam drifted off into dreamland so quickly after the mask was pressed to her face that not even she could believe it. She was normally able to fall asleep anywhere, in any position, but lately she had a lot of trouble feeling rested after sleeping. Her dreams were haunted by the feelings she was pushing deeper away day by day, and she had begun to feel ridden with guilt and paranoia. Being put under by the sleeping gas only intensified these dreams. Freddie's face was all that swam in front of her eyes; she remembered every laugh, every smile and every sweet moment they occasionally shared. She remembered when he would get frustrated with her, how they fought knowing she would win, but how he put up a fight anyway. The only thing that was present in her dreams more than Freddie was fried chicken, but even this didn't offer the same relief as it used to. Fried chicken had unconsciously become her code word for Freddie, and now whenever she mentioned or thought of it Freddie was right there along with it.

Even though her feelings for Freddie had been present since she first laid eyes on him they had never been this bad before. When she was little it was just a crush that she hid by bullying him as much as possible. It had remained this way up until a few months ago when she had realized that her feelings for Freddie had reached a much deeper level than she ever thought they could. She loved the stupid nub, and he had no idea. What could she do about it anyway? He could never return her feelings because he was convinced she didn't feel that way for him. How could you take back almost eight years of constant bullying in order to convince someone that you really had loved them all along? You just couldn't. Her sister had tried to convince her to let her do something about it; she was certain that there had to be something she could do to fix them up, but Sam refused her point blank. She left on the plane the night after her and Freddie's date without seeing him again, and Sam breathed a sigh of relief as her sister boarded the flight. She loved her sis, but she was a bit of a handful in her own way, and Sam was grateful that she would only be seeing her in a year again.

So Sam continued to love Freddie in secret as she tortured him on a daily basis; just the way it was supposed to be. He had grown almost as strong as she was now, but he never fought back, and she liked to think that this was his way of showing affection for her. He allowed her to push him around because he was a gentleman; he would never raise his hand to a girl, even if that girl was her. And so Sam slipped away into her dreamland as the dentist finally set to work on her teeth.

XXXXXXX

Freddie was cleaning the lens on his camera and listening to music on his iPod to fill the silence in the iCarly studio when Carly entered behind him. The current song on his playlist was one of those weird ones that weren't particularly good but were still fun to sing along to.

"I like the way you touch my head, so why would you choose him instead? The girl who cuts my hair..."

A sudden squirt of pressurized air near his ear made Freddie jump and shout in surprise, ripping the earphones from his ears. He turned to find Carly standing behind him, an innocent expression on her face as she held the pressured can in her hand.

"Why so jumpy?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because you just blasted me in the head with pressurized air!" Freddie retorted, taking a step back and rubbing at his ear.

"I was here, I know what happened," Carly jokingly denied her action, placing the can back on the table and heading over to Freddie's tech cart.

"So how'd Sam do at the dentist?" Freddie asked her, following her to the cart and grabbing a piece of equipment that needed cleaning.

"As you'd expect," she replied.

"She bit him?" Freddie asked, already knowing the answer.

"Four times!" Carly confirmed his thoughts, "He may lose part of his finger. But then the dentist gave Sam some of that wacky gas," she continued.

"Nitrous oxide?" he supplied her with the correct term, to which she mumbled an unimpressed agreement.

"And then..." she carried on, pausing to giggle at what seemed like a memory from their trip at the dentist.

"What?" Freddie said, still polishing the camera lens and enjoying the bit of alone time he had with Carly. They didn't often have time to hang out together alone since Sam was always around, so Freddie treasured the Sam-free moments as much as he could these days. It didn't help that the memory of his kiss with Sam popped up every now and then when they were alone together, so he welcomed the times when he could just focus on Carly instead. His feelings for her hadn't disappeared at all; he still got jealous when she dated or crushed on other guys. He still hated the time she had spent with Griffin earlier on that month and was happy when they ended it. He didn't feel guilty about being happy about their break up either since Carly seemed just as relieved. He still laughed at the fact that "bad-boy" Griffin collected Pee-wee babies.

"Oh, she started saying some...pretty weird stuff..." Carly continued her story, and Freddie snapped his attention back to her. She seemed awkward for some or other reason, and he was confused by her behaviour.

"Weird how?" he asked, curious to know what Sam had said. She must have said something really embarrassing for Carly to be so awkward...if Sam really was the cause of it at all.

"Like, she thought her thumb was missing," she said.

"Was it?" he asked jokingly, heading back to the table he had been working at earlier.

"No!" she replied forcefully, giving him reason to believe that she had been asked this before. No doubt by Spencer.

"And, um...then..." Carly said uncertainly as Freddie bent down to pick up the lens cover he had dropped earlier in surprise. He returned it to the table just as Carly said something that made his heart jump into his throat.

"She said that you two kissed..."

He froze in shock as she watched for his reaction. All sorts of different cover stories were rushing through his mind as he saw Carly's expression turn from uncertainty to suspicion. He was certain that the guilt was all over his face; he had romantic feelings for Carly after all and he felt like a cheating boyfriend who had just been caught. Even though he and Carly weren't together he still felt loyal to her and harbored the hope that one day she might feel the same way for him. As he thought all this he tried to fill the awkward silence without really thinking about what he was saying.

"So she...really thought her thumb was missing? That's so crazy!"

"And," Carly emphasized, abandoning his tech cart and making her way towards him "She said that you two kissed!"

"Uh, I'm coming mom!" Freddie called to the empty studio, stepping to the right and trying to make a hasty exit via the elevator.

"Your mom didn't call you!" Carly retorted, stepping in front of him and blocking his way out.

"I heard the whistle!" Freddie said unconvincingly. Actually, he was sure it wouldn't surprise Carly to find out that his mother really did have a special whistle for him, being as overprotective of him as she was.

"Is what Sam said true?" Carly asked him sternly.

"No," he protested, avoiding the real question, "I'm sure she has both her thumbs!" He held his thumbs up to demonstrate, but she grabbed both of his hands to keep him from running away and moved in closer.

"Did you and Sam kiss?" she asked him directly, and he averted his eyes from her anxious expression. There was no way that he could deliberately lie to her about this. Yes, he had sworn to Sam that they would speak to no one about it, but he still felt a lot of loyalty towards Carly. If she was this upset by suspecting their secret she would be even more upset if she found out they had lied blatantly about it. He would still try to avoid her finding out at all costs though.

He tore his hands from her grip and veered to the left this time, trying to run for the door, but Carly was hot on his heels and she managed to grab him from behind and force him to the ground. Sam wasn't the only one who could be physical with him; Carly had always managed to overpower him when need be, but he had grown more since the last time she had done it. He fought against her, not wanting to hurt her, but trying to gain the advantage nonetheless. She managed to pin him from above, his arms on either side of his head, and a flash of memory came to the forefront of his mind as he saw her dark hair form a curtain around their faces.

"Tell me!" she shouted in frustration, and he responded with a confident "No!" rolling her off of him and pinning her to the ground instead.

"Whoa," she exclaimed as he forcefully pinned her, "When did you get so strong?"

"Same time the voice got lower," he answered, and his thoughts temporarily left the current situation to reclaim the memory that had troubled him during their squabble.

"Pass the crisps Freddork," Sam muttered incoherently, her eyes trained on the television and a bottle of cream soda clutched tightly in her hand. There was an MMA fight on, and the two of them had decided to use the empty Shay apartment to indulge in their secretly shared pleasure. Carly and Spencer had gone to visit their dad for a few days; he was taking a short holiday away from the submarines and ships he was used to and he wanted to treat his children with a trip to Miami. So Carly had taken off school and she and Spencer had flown to meet their dad a few days ago. Sam and Freddie (mostly Freddie) had been left to take care of their apartment while they were gone, and it was a welcome escape from home.

Sam was constantly there after school and at night; she and her mother were squabbling about something again so she enjoyed the freedom to stay at Carly's place at her leisure. Freddie was there from after school until early evening, which was when his mother called him for supper. Some nights he came back after supper to spend some more time with Sam, but he mostly stuck to his room after dark .It was one of these nights where he and Sam had talked, really talked, for the first time.

"Did you and Sam kiss!" Carly asked again, more aggressively this time, and Freddie was brought back to reality. He had no choice; Carly would hound him until she got an answer out of him and she would be able to tell if he was lying or not – he really was a terrible liar.

"Ok, yes, it's true...Sam and I kissed!" he admitted to her, sighing and admitting defeat.

"Oh my God!" Carly said in disbelief. Freddie let go of her hands and hoisted himself up, holding out his hand to her in order to help her up. She accepted it cautiously and he pulled her to her feet.

"I was bummed about never kissing anyone," he explained exasperatedly, embarrassed that he now had to indulge Carly in the whole story, "I was out on the balcony and Sam came out...and she said she never kissed anyone either, and we ended up kissing!"

"Oh my God!" Carly said again, this time sounding more shocked than the last. The kiss with Sam swam before Freddie's eyes, and a panic rose in his chest at Carly's tone. He knew now that his feelings for Sam were nothing compared to what he felt for Carly, and he was scared that he would lose her now that she knew he and Sam had kissed.

"It was just one time!" he tried to reassure her, but then another memory prodded at his consciousness, "Except for that other time..." he added uncertainly.

Carly furrowed her brow at his remark before eying him with a strong sense of betrayal.

"But that might have been Sam's twin sister!" he tried to redeem himself, "I'm still fuzzy on the whole Melanie thing!" he said, confused himself now as to how many times he had actually kissed Sam Puckett.

"You guys are my best friends!" Carly started quietly, "How come neither one of you told me?"

"We promised each other we'd never speak of it again," he explained. Then reality hit him. Crap! If Sam found out that he had told Carly she would kill him!

"Aw, man! I've been speaking of it again!" he shouted, forcing his hands into his hair before throwing his arms out in even further defeat.

"I'm calling Sam right now!" Carly said, taking her phone from her pocket.

"No!" he lurched forward and grabbed Carly's hands, preventing her from calling her best friend. "If you tell Sam I told you she'll kick me in places that should never be kicked!"

His fear was genuine; she had threatened him about this before hadn't she? His mind brought the memory of when Spencer and Carly were out of town to the front again, but he pushed it away; he would think on it later when he wasn't trying to prevent Carly from ending his life.

The two of them argued for a minute about whether to call Sam or not, but Carly eventually gave in after Freddie's insistence.

XXXXXXX

Freddie returned to his apartment soon after his confrontation with Carly. He had managed to calm her down a little before he left, but she was still anxious to talk to Sam when he gave his hasty goodbye. He had at least convinced her to talk to Sam and get the secret out of her instead of confronting her about it, but he was doubtful as to whether she would succeed or not.

He entered his room while deep in thought, kicking the door closed and collapsing onto his bed with a groan. He placed his palms over his eyes, blocking out the sun that was streaming through his open windows. He could feel a headache starting and he began rubbing his temples in frustration while keeping his palms pressed over his closed eyes. Why did Sam have to be violent with the dentist? If she had been a little more in control of herself then the dentist would have given her a normal dose of nitrous oxide and then she wouldn't have been so loopy afterwards. Then their secret could still be safe and they would all be able to get along as they normally did. Now that he was alone he absorbed himself fully in the memory that had bothered him during his and Carly's confrontation.

"Pass the crisps Freddork," Sam said incoherently, causing Freddie to raise his head from his notes.

"Hm?" he voiced so that Sam could hear him, "Did you say something Sam?"

"Yeah," she replied, her eyes not leaving the screen, "I asked you to remove the stupid from your ears and pass me the crisps Freducation."

Freddie shook his head at her rudeness, but leaned over and grabbed the half eaten packet of crisps from the other side of the table and tossed them lightly to her. She didn't say thank you, but instead gathered a handful and shoved them all into her mouth at once. Freddie rolled his eyes at her and returned to the notes he was studying for a quiz the next day.

The two of them had fallen into a workable routine by now; they walked home from school together every day, sometimes getting a ride from either Freddie or Sam's mother and immediately headed to Carly's. The fridge was still full of food that the Shay's had left behind, and Sam made it her duty to make sure that everything was devoured before it reached its expiry date. Freddie made sure to dust the house almost every evening before he went to have supper with his mother so that it remained clean and he had even managed to get Sam to at least fold her blanket up after she spent the night on the couch.

The first few days he and Sam squabbled like they normally did over petty things, such as sharing some of the food and who got to watch their favourite shows on the television. Sam won all of these, of course, but Freddie soon learnt how to get his way.

"America Sings is on!" Sam announced on their fourth day in the apartment, flopping down on the couch and snatching the remote from Freddie.

"Hey!" Give it back!" he protested, but she held the remote out of reach and proceeded to nudge him away with her foot.

"It's Momma's T.V time Freddio!" she said, changing the channel just in time to see David Archuleta perform.

"I was watching that Sam, come on!"

"Make me!" she said threateningly, kicking him further away so that they were now on separate ends of the couch, her leg holding him firmly in place. Carly was retuning tomorrow morning so that she could be in time for the next iCarly show, and Freddie couldn't wait for her return. Sam was becoming more and more frustrating by the day.

"Fine!" Freddie admitted in defeat, "I'll just go study for Ms. Briggs quiz tomorrow."

"Q-Quiz?" Sam repeated, the strength in her leg faltering, allowing Freddie the opportunity to escape from her hold, "What quiz?"

"You know, the Science quiz? The one worth half of our grade?"

"Aw, man I forgot about that!" Sam said, gritting her teeth.

"If you fail this test you'll have to take extra classes during the summer you know?" Freddie said, making Sam's eyes widen with fright. An idea occurred to him then.

"Hey," he said softly, taking a step toward her and smiling slyly, "I'll let you borrow my study notes if you want?"

Sam's eyes brightened all of a sudden and she smiled widely in thanks, jumping up to stand in front of him.

"Really?"

He nodded, and her smile grew wider as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"It'll cost you though..." he said slyly, and the smile dropped from her face. She sighed again.

"What do you want?" she breathed out, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Let me watch what I want, when I want to, with no complaints?"

She groaned, "Ah, no! You're going to watch all these boring nub shows then!"

Freddie shook his head.

"Do you want to stay in school all summer?" he asked her, and he saw her bite her lip in thought. He waited for her answer, his eyes roaming along her bottom lip, recalling how those lips had felt against his. He shook his head again, clearing the image from his mind. It kept coming up whenever he looked at her, and he was trying his best to forget it.

"Fine!" Sam gave in, "But no Discovery Channel, okay? Unless it's wild animals tearing things apart or experiments in which they blow stuff up."

Freddie nodded. He headed over to his bag and took out his study notes, handing them to Sam.

"Take care of those!" he cautioned as she whipped around and planted herself on the couch again, "I still need them to revise later."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Sam said, already pouring over them.

A few hours later their roles had been reversed; Sam was now watching an MMA fight while Freddie sat on the floor, studying at the coffee table. Sam's feet were propped up on the table next to him, her surprisingly clean sneakers moving along to the beat of the background music while the fight continued. She was steadily munching on the packet of crisps that he had passed her earlier, completely focused on the fight. Freddie's stomach twitched at the smell of the crisps and he cursed himself for not adding food into the bargain for his study notes.

"Come on Jackson!" Sam shouted all of a sudden, and he looked up from his notes again to see the two fighters sprawled out on the floor, caught in a death lock.

"How much time is left?" Freddie asked excitedly, He actually enjoyed the MMA fights when he got to see them; his mother never allowed it of course, but every now and then he got to watch it with Sam at either her or Carly's place.

"Fifteen seconds!" Sam yelled, removing her feet from the table and standing up now, "Colt's got the advantage, now all he has to do is break free!"

"Come on Jackson!" Freddie stood up and joined in with her cheering.

The ten second marker flashed on the screen, counting down the seconds until the end of the fight, and he and Sam joined in. With three seconds remaining Jackson Colt broke free of his opponents grip and pushed him to the floor, kneeing him squarely in the gut.

"Ooooo!" Freddie and Sam cringed together, just as the buzzer sounded.

"Yes, he won!" Sam exclaimed, jumping up and extending her arms above her head. Freddie threw his arms out in victory as well, turning to face her. Her jump appeared to be more violent than she had anticipated, and Sam landed right into Freddie's outstretched arms, her arms automatically wrapping around his neck. The force of her landing caught Freddie off guard, and he toppled backwards as her body collided with his chest. They landed hard on the ground, still laughing from Jackson's win and the air got knocked out of Freddie for a moment.

He lay breathing heavily, his arms wrapped around Sam's waist, her mess of blonde hair covering his face as her head rested in the crook of his neck. He smelt a flowery scent in her hair from her shampoo, and it reminded him of roses. He only managed to inhale her scent once before Sam lifted her head and pushed herself up with her arms. Her hair travelled along with her and fell in a thick scented curtain around them both as they caught their breaths. She hovered over him uncertainly, her eyes still sparkling with excitement, and they met his innocently. He felt her stomach pressed tightly against his as he held her waist, and it rose and fell with her breathing, matching her quick heartbeat. His heart was throbbing in his ears from the fall, and the current situation only made it worse. The blood was pumping quickly through his veins and he couldn't help but feel a little turned on by having Sam's body so close to his.

Seconds passed, and their breathing steadied. His eyes never left hers, and he watched the sparkle fade slowly from them as she calmed down and began to fully realize what was happening. Freddie hadn't realized it yet himself, but he was pulling her closer to him, their faces closing the small space between them. It was at this moment that Sam pulled her gaze from his and forcefully pushed herself off of him.

"What are you doing?" she said calmly, but her voice was a few bars higher than what he was used to. Her face was flushed, but she hid it behind her blonde locks so that he wouldn't see it.

"I..." Freddie started, not knowing what to say.

"Damn Freddie, you really are no man," Sam said, standing up and heading back to the couch, "You have no muscle at all! You're worse than Spencer!"

"Sam!" he retorted, not having much more to say and sitting up himself. His head throbbed a little from when it made contact with the floor, and he put a hand to his head. What had just happened? He seemed to be asking himself that a lot these days and he could no longer stand the confusion.

"Sam!" he said again, standing up, "What was that?"

"Hm?" she responded, her mouth full of crisps again, "Wa' you 'ean?" She swallowed. "What do you mean?"

"That!" he motioned towards the floor where they had fallen, "What were you doing?"

"Being pulled down by a nub who falls over his own two feet?"

"Sam!" Freddie said again, "Listen, I know you don't want to talk about it, but I really am sorry for the other night when we kissed..."

"You're...sorry?" Sam said softly.

"Yes!" Freddie continued. He wanted to tell Sam that he didn't mean to hurt her feelings, and that he was only too shy to admit that he might feel something for her. He wanted to kiss her again; he had been thinking about it the whole day and every day after their kiss as well.

"You're...sorry that you kissed me?" Sam said, standing back up with anger flashing in her eyes now.

"What? Wait, no, I-" he started, but was soon cut off by Sam.

"At least you can say you've kissed somebody now!" she said matter-of-factly, "You just don't want anyone to know that it's me, right?"

"Sam-"

"Well, I'm not too thrilled that I kissed you either Frednub, but it's done and out of the way now, so don't bring it up again!"

"Sam, that's not what I meant by-" Freddie was cut off get again by Sam grabbing him by the front of his shirt and holding her fist at his face threateningly.

"Never again, alright?"

He kept quiet, staring into her glaring eyes. She was always so violent with him for no reason at all and he couldn't stand it.

"Sam..." he started again, but she shoved him back and let go of his shirt.

"No more questions and conversations about that night, alright?" she said forcefully, "We just did it to get it over with and we'll never bring it up again. No one will ever find out about it and we'll never speak of it again. It was nothing, right?"

He stared at her as she stood across from him, her arms folded and her foot tapping, waiting for his answer. His mind screamed at him "No, no, no! It was not nothing!" but Sam's cold denial of there being something more made him doubt that little voice.

"Right..." he muttered in defeat.

He never noticed the brightness of her eyes and the threatening tears that never fell until he thought back on it later.

Freddie sighed and retreated further into the comfort of his bed. Carly had returned two days later from her holiday to find nothing different between him and Sam. They still squabbled and teased each other as usual, pushing their conversation from two days prior to the back of their minds. After all these months Freddie had honestly forgotten about it; he focused on his feelings for Carly instead and refused to believe that he had ever felt anything more than friendship towards Sam. But having Carly pin him to the ground earlier had reminded him of that day, and now his mind was a jumble of confusion once more.

If Sam had so readily told their secret to Carly once her defenses were weakened did it mean that she often thought about it? The only time it had ever been mentioned again was when Sam was trying to get Pete to like her, and her reaction to Freddie bringing it up was much the same as the last time he did it. He sighed and sat up, checking the clock on his nightstand. He had been lying there for over an hour already and being alone wasn't helping much. He stood up and grabbed a set of cables he had been meaning to install in studio and headed next door for some company.

XXXXXXXXX

"Why didn't you tell me that you and Freddie kissed?" Carly half shouted at her, and Sam's mouth dropped open in shock. Carly knew. The little nub spoke! Carly knew...but did she suspect her feelings? No...She couldn't, could she? Wait...Carly knew...Freddie must've told her!

"Uh..." was all that managed to escape her mouth.

At that moment the door swung open and in walked the villain himself, a set of cables in his hand and an innocent air about him.

"Hey, can I run upstairs for a second and install these ca-" he started, but he cut himself short when he saw her standing there. Sam was positive that she did not look happy; she felt betrayed and angry, and the sudden urge to jump Freddie violently overcame her.

He gulped and tried to say something that looked like "Oh", but no sound escaped from his mouth.

"You spoke of it..." she spit through her teeth, her menacing tone surprising even herself. Never before had she felt so angry.

A terrified scream filled the room as Freddie threw his cables aside and ran for it, heading into his apartment and shutting the door. She bounded after him, meeting the closed door and forcing it open; he had no time to lock it and he didn't have the strength to bar it with his body either, so she broke through easily.

"Leave me alone Sam!" he yelled desperately as she grabbed his left arm, bent down, grabbed his left leg and threw him over her shoulder.

"No!" he shouted in protest but it was no use.

She didn't want his mother interrupting the beating she was about to give him, so she turned around and carried him back into Carly's apartment as quickly as she could.

"Lemme go, lemme go!" he shouted as she threw him onto the couch before turning and running up to the open front door. She slammed it shut and secured it with the chain lock so that he wouldn't escape, then turned to him in anger.

"You swore you'd never tell anyone we kissed!" she shouted at him accusingly.

"I didn't!" he blatantly lied, and her anger increased.

"You told me!" Carly shouted behind her, and she turned to her friend in order to defend herself.

"I never told you anything about-" she started.

"Yeah, you did!" Carly cut her off, and Sam bit her tongue in shock, "When you were all hopped up on wacky gas!"

"Oh..." Sam muttered, stepping back in shame and finding Freddie standing right next to her. He provided a bit of comfort now that they were facing Carly together, but it didn't lessen her guilt.

Carly made her feel even guiltier by pointing out that she told them everything and that she felt betrayed that they never told her this. She didn't use the word kiss, but "make-out" instead, causing Sam to quickly set her straight.

"We didn't make-out!" she stopped Carly midway through her monologue.

"It wasn't like that," Freddie added from the side.

"We just did it to do it, you know?" Sam confirmed.

This didn't deter Carly in the slightest though, and she continued her speech, pacing back and forth for emphasis. She suddenly paused however, staring at something behind Sam and Freddie, and they turned to find two escaped prisoners staring back at them.

Half an hour later they found themselves duct taped to Carly's kitchen chairs, their hands, feet and bodies bound tightly together.

"Why did you tell him where the duct tape was?" Freddie said, his voice strained with the effort of not shouting at her.

"I don't know!" Carly responded, "I was trying to be helpful!"

"Yeah, you helped them alright!" Sam replied sarcastically, the irritation just as clear in her voice as it was in Freddie's.

"It's Freddie's fault! When you see prisoners escaping you don't announce that you're going to call the cops! Well you do realize we have to call the police," she imitated Freddie's voice with a sarcastic bite to it, causing him to glare at her.

"Man this duct tape is really strong!" Sam grumbled from the other side of Freddie.

"I hate being restricted!" he added.

"Don't worry," Carly started sarcastically, "Soon we'll all be free, then I can turn my back and you guys can resume kissing behind it!"

"We promise no more secrets!" Sam promised.

"Never again," Freddie agreed.

"From now on we all tell each other everything," Sam added.

"Alright?" Freddie asked Carly, reminding himself of when Sam had used the same tone of voice when asking him if everything was 'alright'.

Carly looked away, and Sam and Freddie thought that she was being stubborn and still wouldn't forgive them.

"You'll tell me everything?" they heard her say.

"Yeah," Freddie answered.

"We swear," Sam added.

"How long was it?"

"What?" Sam leaned forward to stare at her best friend, confused as to what she meant.

"How long did you guys kiss?" she specified.

Sam and Freddie looked at each other awkwardly, both too afraid to answer. Neither of them was sure; for Freddie it had felt really long, but for Sam it had felt too short. How could they know?

"I don't know..." Freddie mumbled, shaking his head slightly.

"S-Seven seconds?" Sam answered hesitantly.

"Seven, eight," Freddie agreed with her.

"Oh," Carly shrugged, "And was it fun?"

"Fun?" Sam repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah," Carly urged them to answer, "I mean, did you guys...you know...like it?"

Sam and Freddie stared at each other, their eyes avoiding contact as they both spluttered inside. This was not a question that they wanted to answer, but not answering would be worse because it meant that they each had something to hide.

Luckily, at that moment, Spencer burst in and seemed to make Carly temporarily forget her question. Their hour long struggle to escape their bonds while Spencer chatted up a girl across the street also rinsed the question from her mind. She felt no need to ask it again though; her friends didn't seem to know the answer themselves considering how they had silently asked each other with their eyes whether the other had liked it or not.

So now all the secrets were out, and every secret from now on had to be shared with best friends – just as nature intended it. But little did Carly know that she had only discovered one secret that day...there were many more secrets about Sam and Freddie that all three of them would never know.

XXXXXXXX

Please review!