Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly.

Chapter 21

Carly couldn't sleep that night. Her head kept circling itself over and over again. Did Freddie have a point? And she knew that, yeah, Sam would like her to like her boyfriend, but this was something so completely different that her having another boyfriend…

Spencer did pretty much raise her, but…

But Spencer couldn't even take care of a goldfish, for God's sake! Things always tended to burst into flame around him… If she wasn't mostly self-sufficient when she was younger, she probably would've starved… not that Sam has a problem with starving.

No, things between Sam and Spencer couldn't continue. And as she sat on the family room couch, the thought of the two of them sleeping in the same bed in just one room over gave her a migraine.

Spencer's bedroom door swung open, and he ran out, pulling a jacket on as he did. He went by Carly without a word until she yelled, "Where are you going?"

"Pudding run!" he called back over his shoulder before disappearing through the front door.

Carly just shook her head. Only her brother would run out at two in the morning for pudding. Some things about Spencer would never change.

But then there were things that did change. Like how he felt about long-term, serious relationships. Like how he felt about Sam… And maybe that was what freaked Carly out the most; the thought that he was going to be responsible for the happiness of one of the most important people in her life kind of scared her.

Sam was tough, Carly knew that. But she knew that Sam could also be very fragile at times, when nobody else was around. The thought of Spencer being the one to take care of her, or the thought of him being the one who could keep her on Cloud 9 or be the one to break her heart: those thoughts really, really scared Carly. She wondered if he was even capable of taking care of her… If he'd be able to help her when no one else could…

A scream pierced the still air of the apartment. Carly had been so lost in thought that she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound. Was that Sam?

Carly got to her feet hesitantly and crept toward the bedroom door. If she hadn't seen Spencer leave just seconds before, she could've sworn it was one of those screams… which it wasn't, she was sure…. She pushed the door open slowly and stepped in, keeping all of her weight on her toes.

Sam's sleeping form had curled itself up in the blankets and sheets of Spencer's bed, tossing and turning. She was muttering something Carly couldn't really understand, only hearing every few words like "don't" or "help."

The muttering grew louder. "No… I won't tell… Stop! Leave me alone!"

Carly was shocked. She had no idea that Sam had been screaming in her sleep. The muttering continued. "Please… Help…. Help me!" Another scream erupted from her mouth, Then another and another.

Carly Shay had never felt so frozen in her life. Here her best friend was, screaming bloody murder in her sleep, and she couldn't bring herself to step forward and wake her. What was wrong with her?

Luckily, she didn't have to do anything; the tall form of her brother brushed by her, shoving a 12-pack of pudding into her hands as he went by.

Carly watched in awe as her brother reacted. He didn't even hesitate to wake her up. He wasn't at all shocked when she shot up into a sitting position, gasping for air as though she had been deprived of it. His arms scooped her up, and the two of them sat there, him rocking her gently.

"Go get some popcorn and three cans of peppy cola," he instructed Carly, speaking to her for the first time.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Just do it," he demanded impatiently.

Carly did as she was told. What did these things do to help Sam? She didn't understand….

But when she walked back into the bedroom, it became apparent that Spencer knew exactly what he was doing. He sat there with Sam in his arms, just rocking back and forth, whispering into her ear, "Shh, it's okay," as she cried onto his shoulder. Carly had never seen a sight that seemed so right.

"Pick out a Kung Fu movie," Spencer told Carly, causing her to jump. She hadn't expected him to say anything else. "Oh, okay," she replied, setting the food and drinks down before running over to Spencer's TV.

They all settled down on Spencer's bed as the movie started up. Carly realized throughout the movie that Sam became happier as time went on. And by the end of it, she was fast asleep.

"Hey, Spence," Carly whispered to her brother.

He shushed her with a finger to his lips and gestured toward the living room. Sliding Sam gently from her place on his chest, he stood and left the room.

Carly followed and said immediately, "I was wrong."

His face contorted into confusion. "What?"

"About you being irresponsible," she explained, pacing a little.

Spencer did his best to hide a smirk. "Really?" he asked, his arms folding over his chest.

"I mean, yeah, things do tend to catch on fire when you're around and you thought it was a good idea to take advice from a magic meatball and you fell asleep on a bus and woke in Canada and you've killed like a hundred fish…"

"Your point?" Spencer interrupted. This list could go on for a while if he didn't stop her now…

"My point is," she continued, "that you are actually responsible when you really care about something. Or someone. I forgot how much you took care of me when I was little, the fact that you kept my inhaler for years after I stopped needing it, and the fact that…. You really do care about Sam, don't you?"

He nodded.

"Then everything will be fine," she finished, hugging her brother.

He hugged her in return and said, "Thanks, Sis. Go to bed now."

Spencer went back to his room and laid down next to Sam, enveloping her in his arms.

"She's okay with it now?" Sam asked softly.

He kissed her earlobe and whispered, "I think so."

AN: I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so SO sorry that this took so long. But things have been hectic and I wrote this chapter down in two separate notebooks. So I found one notebook and typed what was in that one, but I couldn't find the other one…. Then when I found that notebook, I realized that I didn't finishing writing the chapter! So now I finally finished and I'm FINALLY updating. So sorry this took so long… Anyways, this is not the last chapter, however next chapter is. So please R&R!