Winning His Heart
Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, nor do I own the movie Gym Teacher
A/N: The characters are 16 in this story. Thoughts are once more in italics and regular speech in regular font.
Chapter 21 (A Heated Moment)
"Thanks for coming," Valerie said to Sam while giving her friend a hug. Her new webshow was starting up, and she wanted Sam to be here to see it. Sam, of course, was having a little trouble because Susie was there. Yet, there wasn't anything she could do about it, since it wasn't her call to make.
"You know I wouldn't miss it for the world," Sam replied. She smiled as Valerie walked toward the center of the room, standing next to Susie. Freddie was there as well. He was talking to Jonah, and giving him pointers about all the tech equipment. Sam looked over at Freddie and sighed, rolling her eyes in slight impatience. "Hey dork! How about you stop transforming your best friend into a geek like you, and let's watch them do their show!" Freddie stopped talking to Jonah and narrowed his eyes. Jonah merely gave a light laugh and shrugged his shoulders.
"They ask me why I love her," Freddie said in a quiet voice. He sighed and looked over at Sam; she was now watching Valerie and Susie talk. He felt a wave of emotion run through him. It was as though he were staring at the world's greatest piece of art. She was a beauty, perhaps the most ravishing creature on the planet. He loved the way her golden curls scraped on her back, and how everything about her accentuated her beautiful personality. Freddie took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "I love everything about her." Jonah lifted his hand and snapped his fingers, pulling Freddie back into reality.
"Hey, I hope you're not going to stare at her all day," Jonah said while laughing and patting his friend's shoulder. "Though I get why you would, I can't stop gazing at Valerie." Freddie nodded and Jonah looked toward Valerie, soon becoming intoxicated by her beauty. "My god she's beautiful. I don't deserve her. I don't deserve that second chance, but I can't help but think on just how beautiful she is, and how much I want that second chance to do right." Freddie smiled and patted Jonah's shoulder, trying to give him comfort.
"Hey, you can do it. You deserve every chance to be happy, and I believe it would make her happy. Don't you think she deserves to be happy?" Jonah nodded and Freddie started to walk over toward Sam. "Do what you have to do. Good luck on the technical stuff, I'll be watching." Freddie crossed his arms and smirked at Jonah. "You're my best friend and definitely smart, so let's see how well you are at this stuff. It's a tough job, so no pressure! I don't mean to scare you, but be careful about all those cables!"
"Okay Freddie, shut up, please!" Freddie laughed and Jonah walked over to the camera. Valerie and Susie were giggling at what had just happened. "Okay, no pressure girls, this is our first webcast! I'm the tech producer, and you two are the stars." Freddie laughed and nudged Sam in the side, smirking. She looked at him and raised her eyebrow, watching as Freddie put his hands up to his mouth.
"Come on Jonah, no one cares, get the show started! You know the countdown, or are you suffering from first time jitters?" Susie laughed and Jonah glared at Freddie. He coughed lightly and turned back to the girls.
"Okay, well then…" The door opened and everyone looked over as Shane and his friend, Vash, entered the basement. "Why are they here?"
"We're here for the live musical performance," Shane responded. Jonah raised his eyebrow and stared at the piano in the basement. "I am going to play the piano, while Vash here sings a song." Jonah looked at Valerie with confusion and she merely smiled, shrugging her shoulders.
"He can sing," Valerie stated in a quiet voice. "He wanted to sing, and he gave me thirty dollars, so I accepted. What could it hurt?"
"A lot, maybe my dignity or ego," Jonah thought while rolling his eyes back slightly. Freddie felt his hand tighten as he glanced over at Sam, she was staring at Shane.
"I didn't know you could play the piano," Sam stated, her voice showing how impressed she was.
"Of course you didn't," Freddie thought. He and Jonah both sighed, not really wanting to make it seem like they cared. Susie frowned and caught both of them in this act, she would have agreed if they asked for the other men to leave.
"They can play," Jonah said, defeated. "Let's begin, now."
"Okay!" Valerie said. Jonah started the camera and Valerie smiled widely at the camera. "I'm Valerie, and this is my new friend and co host, Susie!" Valerie pointed at Susie, who smiled and became energetic.
"I'm Susie! If you're wondering who I am, I'm an old friend of Freddie. No, Valerie and I aren't teaming up to try and take him down, either!" Freddie chuckled and Sam nearly fell over laughing. Though they did wonder why she didn't go ahead and say she was an old girlfriend of his. "So Valerie, what are we going to start off with?"
"Well, I'm glad you asked. Starting off, we have a musical guest, for our first ever webshow!" Valerie smiled as Shane and Vash walked in front of the camera, only Susie caught the scowls on the other boy's faces. Valerie clapped her hands together and chuckled nervously. "So…Shane, Vash, what song will you two be doing?"
"The song will be Because of you, by Tony Bennett," Vash stated while taking a microphone from his jacket.
"Ooh, you carry a microphone with you, how…handy." Vash laughed and slowly shook his head.
"No, I don't normally carry it with me, I'm just carrying it with me right now." His voice seemed naturally smooth and clear, it made Jonah want to puke.
"Why that song?" Jonah thought as he narrowed his eyes. "Couldn't you play a hard metal song, perhaps? Maybe something that isn't going to be sweet, romantic, and sweeping Valerie…oh damn." Jonah looked at Freddie with a fearful look, Freddie returned the look and swallowed lightly. He didn't think that Vash or Shane would possibly sweep the girls off their feet, but if they did, that would be their greatest fear.
"Great, so let's hear you play!" Valerie said with an energetic voice.
"Let's not…"Vash nodded as Shane walked over to the piano and began playing the music. Vash shook his arms in front of him and flashed a smirk at Valerie, causing her to blush. "Disgusting, don't make her blush!" Vash then took a breath and began singing the smooth lyrics.
"Because of you, there's a song in my heart." Valerie smiled as Vash sung, she had always loved the song. Susie merely sat on a stool and crossed her arms, smiling, but still not liking what was going on. "Because of you, my romance had its start."
"God this is disgusting," Jonah thought as he clenched his teeth together.
"Because of you, the sun will shine, the moon and stars will say you're mine…Forever, and never to part." Jonah watched with wide eyes as Vash took Valerie's hand in his and gazed into her eyes, continuing to softly sing. "I only live for your love and your kiss…" Valerie blushed once more and shook her head, trying to rid herself of the blush. "It's paradise to be near you like this."
"Get your grimy hands off of her!" Freddie felt sick as well, seeing that Sam too was getting lost in the song. He looked at Jonah, as if to tell him to just relax and try to grin and bear it.
"Because of you, my life is now worthwhile. And I can smile, because of you." The instrumental break came, and Vash softly kissed Valerie's hand, causing Jonah's eyes to widen. Susie winced slightly and glanced toward the side, she knew this wasn't going to go over well. Jonah felt the rage starting to seep through his body, but he knew there wasn't anything that he could do but watch as someone tried to sweep Valerie off her feet.
It wouldn't be a bad thing, and he could try to be happy, if only he didn't know Shane and his friends could probably have several girlfriends at once. Now it was Shane's turn to finish up the song, he switched places with Vash, and the two never missed a note.
"Wow, that's impressive and talented," Sam said in a quiet voice. Freddie shifted his eyes over and frowned as Shane continued to sing. It seemed that Shane was singing to Sam, and gazing deeply into her eyes. Freddie personally felt sick. He was ready to punch Shane out, but he knew it would be wrong to do such a thing.
Soon the song was over. Both boys stood straight and bowed, taking in the applause from everyone in the room, as half hearted as it was. The girls appeared quite taken by the performance while the boys were feeling rather horrible. "That was wonderful, a great job," Valerie said while smiling politely. She turned to the camera and grinned. "What did you think? Did you not think that was just perfect? Come on, let's give them another bit of applause." Everyone cheered awkwardly and applauded, hoping to be done with it.
"Thank you for having us," Shane said while smiling. He looked over to Sam and flashed his smile once more, causing the heat in her body to rise up. Freddie rolled his eyes and glanced toward the side, still hating what was happening. "So Sam, I'll see you Friday?"
"Yeah, see you at five," Sam responded. Freddie's mouth dropped and his eyes widened. Everyone else stared in shock as Shane and Vash smirked and walked out of the room. Freddie turned toward Sam and stared at her with a look of disbelief. "What? It's called a date, dork…I have my reasons." Sam looked toward the ground and sighed. "You're always with Susie, you wouldn't love me, and Shane was the first one to ask me out. Though, I can not really say it feels right, but I think my heart won't break this time."
"Sam, you don't know him!" Freddie exclaimed. His fear of her getting hurt rose through his body, he knew that if she dated Shane, she would get hurt.
"Oh come on, what does it matter, it's not like anything's going to happen."
"Sam, he's a bloody Casanova! He's a ladies man, a flirt, a pervert, and not someone you should hang out with!" By now, everyone was watching with concerned looks. They didn't want to see a fight break out. Sam shook her head and closed her eyes, keeping in the tears that threatened to come out.
"He asked me on a date, I couldn't refuse. Besides, can't you just be happy for me, Dork! I mean, what should it matter to you? It's not like you're ever going to care about me. Shane cares, he can make me happy."
"No he won't! He isn't capable of that! He can't make you happy, he doesn't know what you want."
"Like you do!" Sam's voice was reaching a new bout of anger. All of her pent up frustration was now starting to blow up. "Who are you to say what will make me happy all of a sudden? You can't know, you don't know! You think you're so smart, but in reality, you're the biggest idiot on earth! Leave me alone, Freddie. Don't worry about me."
"If you date him, he's going to hurt you worse than Jonah did!" Sam gasped and took a step back, Jonah winced at the memory and Susie mirrored Valerie's saddened look.
"You're so sure of yourself, Benson. Why don't you just try to be happy for me? Like I'm trying to be happy with you and your girlfriend…"
"Girlfriend? What? Sam, I'm just concerned, I'm trying to tell you, don't fall for his tricks! He's sly, he will hurt you! Don't get involved with him!"
"Don't tell me what to do!" Freddie raised his eyebrow and Sam quickly shoved Freddie to the side, nearly catching him off balance. "Leave me the hell alone. I know how to handle myself, and Shane probably won't hurt me more than…" She wanted to say 'you' but she stopped herself, she didn't want to bring up the fact that she ever liked him. Instead, she turned around and quickly left the basement, leaving the others in shock.
"Uh…maybe it's best to stop the…stop the recording, Jonah," Valerie said while moving her hand across her neck. "I'm sorry viewers, we'll start over again next week, I promise. We're just having some trouble right now, but don't worry…" Valerie sighed as Jonah quickly ended the show and turned toward Freddie. Freddie was still staring at where Sam left, shocked by what had just happened. He had no clue how he was going to get through to Sam, or if he even would. He knew he had to, though. He loved her, and he didn't want to see her hurt, not again. If he knew one thing, Shane would hurt her, and it wasn't going to be like Jonah, because Freddie was friends with Jonah and not Shane. That fact alone had to amount for something, and Sam just didn't see it.
Well, Sam has a date with Shane, and an argument appears to have taken place here. Hmm, stick around for the next chapter.