Sam Puckett

I listened to Carly's thoughts over the past few weeks on the limo ride to LAX. I'd never expected to have someone blurt out to the public I was gay, never mind have my best friend do it. And even though I'd been embarrassed as hell, I wasn't exactly ready to let it get to me, right now.

"I'm sorry, Sam," she said, her hand holding mine. "Sam…I didn't actually realize I was gay until now. I mean, I'd had dreams about you finding out, but…those felt so real, I didn't know what was and what wasn't." She looked apologetically at me. "Sam…don't hate me."

I shook my head. "Carls, I couldn't hate you…ever." I looked at her. "You're such a beautiful, sweet, cute girl." I smiled.

"Sam, there's something else I have to tell you." She looked over at Freddie, who was looking confused, and a little scared. "It's about time we told her, Freddie. She'll find out sooner or later."

Freddie's eyes widened, and even though he looked like he was going to shake his head, he nodded instead. "Yeah. It's probably about time you knew. Carly told me she never keeps anything from you, but this one thing she has for a while." We stopped as Spencer started to come to.

"Olly! Olly, the flak's too heavy! Take us up to twenty-thousand!" He stirred, shook his head, and sat up quick as lightning. "Oh my God!" He put his hand to his head. "Oh, God! I just had the weirdest dream!"

"Olly the Ostrich, again?" I said, picking up a root beer Carly passed me.

"Olly…? No!" Spencer said, defensively. He looked around. "I had a dream Carly told half the country she was gay," he muttered.

"It's true," said Carly, quickly putting her arm around her brother, who looked like he couldn't take much at that moment.

"Anyway," I interrupted, looking from Carly to Spencer and Freddie. "What were you going to tell me, Carly? Freddie?"

"Well…" began Carly, patting her brother's hand. "When I'd just had my thirteenth birthday, you'd gone home and Spencer had gone to bed. Freddie and I…we…" Carly took a deep, shuddering breath and continued. "Freddie and I lost our virginity to one another."

Spencer shrieked at the top of his lungs, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fell back, unconscious again. As for me, I spat out the mouthful of soda I'd taken and started coughing all over. "Wait…wait, you…and you…?" I said, pointing first to Freddie, then to Carly. "Carly…you and Freddie…the two of you…? You seriously got tapped, Carls?" I'd finally been able to voice it, and Freddie and Carly both nodded.

"We've been doing it more recently, too," added Freddie, earning himself a pinch from Carly, who looked like she'd chop his dick off when she got the chance.

That was too much. I dropped my bottle of soda, which went all over the floor of the car, which was still rolling down the highway. "You…Carly, I used to think Freddie was gross." I looked menacingly toward Freddie, who recoiled. "You…you've seriously been fucking this boy bimbo the last…how long? Three months? Year? What?"

Carly muttered something, and I needed to lean in closer, but each time I did, she spoke more softly than the time before. "Goddammit, Carly, speak up!"

"We've been banging repeatedly since the day before you got out of the hospital, okay! God…dammit, Sam! I was confused about that kiss I gave you, and I was so sorry you'd lost your legs in that horrendous accident…I was scared for you, and it turns out I had good reason to be! I've seen those slices on your arm! You look like a fucking hamburger! But when I did it with Freddie again, I couldn't get enough! I did it because I needed comfort! I'd thought I'd fucking lose my friend, dammit!" Carly buried her face in her hands.

Freddie looked from Carly to me, and kept repeating the same motion. "Wait…the two of you kissed?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I realized she was confused, so I never said anything." I was beginning to feel like I'd gone wrong somewhere along the line.

Carly Shay

The moment the plane leveled off at thirty-seven thousand feet, I excused myself, making my way past Sam, who was attempting to comfort me. Yeah, I wanted to listen to her, I wanted to hear the soothing sound of her voice, but I couldn't. It's not that I didn't love her…I'd always loved her. I just needed some time to think things out for myself.

Locking the door behind me, I sat on the toilet and pulled down my skirt and panties, my hand hovering over my clit. For a moment, I just couldn't do anything. Dammit, Carly! You're a damn idiot! You've got to be crazy if you can't think of something to do to keep this friendship from ending! I was horny, and even though I looked down and saw that I was dripping, I couldn't play with myself…not right now, at least.

Putting my panties back on and pulling up my skirt, I washed my hands and looked in the mirror. My mascara had run and my foundation was a little awkward, so I wiped it all off and brushed my hair, which fell a little past my shoulders. There, Shay. A little more presentable. I tried to smile, but I couldn't pull it off. I unlatched the door and made my way back to my seat next to Sam. As I sat down, she put her arm around me and pulled me into a nice warm hug. "I'm sorry, Carly. It's gonna be okay."

I couldn't take the emotion in her voice. I buried my face in her shoulder and cried, unable to show my face. "I'm so sorry for yelling at you, Sam. I've been a bitch."

Sam shushed me and stroked my hair, kissing my head. "No. No, you haven't. You've just been confused." I felt her hot breath on my head. Then I turned and she was there, her warm breath on my face. "Carly…Carly Shay, I love you. I'd like it if…you'd go out with me. Be my girlfriend."

I smiled, happy she'd asked. "What about Aura? Won't she disappointed that you've decided to start dating your best friend instead of her?" Sam had told me all about how Aura had popped her cherry, but even though I'd been pissed the first five minutes, the moment I'd stepped on the plane, it was all the pent-up emotion from the passed few weeks that came bubbling up out of me.

Sam smiled. "Yeah. She'll be disappointed. But she told me once that if I ever wanted to break if off with her because I'd met someone else, she wouldn't hold it against me, even if she wanted to." Sam continued to smile, even though I was clearly confused. "She's not the type to hold a grudge," she elaborated, earning herself a giggle from me. "Besides, Carls…you're such a nice girl and I'm sure Aura's seen that if you were gay, you'd be far more compatible for me than she is."

I furrowed my brow. "But I am gay," I said, defensively.

Sam said, "Well, I was speaking past-tense educated guess," and turned away, grabbing a soda from a passing stewardess' cart.

"Excuse me," said a voice I vaguely remembered from television. I looked forward and saw a face with near-perfect skin and red hair. At first I didn't recognize the girl, who was hot as hell, but then I looked at her red hair and put freckles on her face. "I couldn't help but notice your conversation with your friend…girlfriend…" Lindsay smiled awkwardly.

"Who the chiz are you, carrot-top?" said Sam, taking another swig of her soda and crushing the can with her bare fist.

"Lindsay Lohan," said Lindsay, holding out her hand. "TV actress, movie actress, and singer." Lindsay smiled, and Sam took her hand suspiciously. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"It's fine," I interjected before Sam could reply. "It's a public plane, so it's likely you'll hear just about anything on this flight." Lindsay laughed and nodded.

"Yeah. Got that right." She leaned toward me, against the back of her seat, and rested her head on her hands. "I like the webshow, by the way. Not bad." She paused before continuing. "I heard you in L. A. yesterday, and I've got to hand it to you…you've got something a lot of people would kill for. I was wondering…have you thought about singing…in your future, I mean?"

I shook my head. "Not really."

Lindsay smiled. "Well, if you do, just give me a call." She handed me a slip of paper with her cell phone on it, then sat forward again and didn't say another word.

Sam Puckett

When the plane landed, I turned my cell on and called Aura, who answered immediately. "Hey, Sam," she said. "I've been thinking…I saw your kiss on TV." My stomach dropped. I could tell she really wasn't upset about it, but I'd been dreading this moment the whole flight. "Meet me for coffee tomorrow at eleven at the karaoke place?" she said, sounding a bit nervous.

I nodded, then remembered she couldn't see me. "Yeah, Aura. Yeah." I sighed, then decided I should say something else. "I was only silent this long because I had a few things to think about, and the flight…"

"I know," she said, cutting across me. "It's okay, Sam. There's really no need to explain." I heard a sigh on the other end. "Well…I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. See you, babe."

"See you. Bye." Aura hung up, and I put the phone in my pocket and wheeled myself after Carly, Spencer and Freddie, who were waiting for me and watching for a cab.

"She didn't make it easy," I said to Carly. "I didn't really expect it to be, anyway."

Carly nodded. "Yeah. It's probably best she doesn't, anyway. You learn more that way."

As much as I hated it when people got all philosophical on me, I just let it roll off my shoulder that time.

* * *

When we got to Carly's place, she immediately went to the computer sitting on the island and logged into the iCarly account, checking a few things for the next show. "Oh my God!" she shrieked when I was just about to punch Freddie in the shins.

"What!" Spencer and me said at the same time. "What is it!"

"There're all these derogatory comments on our site!"

I wheeled myself over quicker than Spencer could run, and I looked at the screen, horrified.

"They're saying how we should be shut down for promoting something inappropriate and ignorant!" She scanned the webpage and continued her continuous breath of "Oh my God."

My heart was in my toes at that point. I'd never seen anything like it. I'd never actually thought someone might shut down iCarly. I'd never been worried about it, until now.

My heart leaped into my head when Carly let out her loudest scream yet. "The iCarly fans have come through for us!" she said, immediately jumping up and down where she stood. "Oh my God! They've rallied to defend us! They've…Sam…!" She looked down at me and kissed me, and I couldn't help but kiss her back. After all, she was my best friend. Soon, I let my tongue enter her mouth, but it took a lot of effort to make me pull myself away. She was breathless but she was still smiling. "Sam…they've put up an online petition! They've posted it on the iCarly comment page. Look!" Carly pointed to the screen. "Three hundred thousand signatures! There're more every minute! We might not lose iCarly!"

Even though I was excited as her, to an extent, I said, "Carls…just because they've got signatures doesn't mean there won't be someone along to ruin it. I mean, d'you remember Neville? You remember how much trouble that mofo's caused you?" Carly nodded, but she bent down and hugged me.

"I know, Sam. I know."