Author's Note: I'm sorry for the long wait! But chapter 25 is finally here! =D

By the way, I got a review for the previous chapter that I'd like to reply to, but since it's on anon, I'll have to do it here...

This is for lovepup33 (and anyone who wonders why I take so long to update).

I'm in the process of getting ready for college, and I'm what you could call a 'nerd', which makes me worry a lot more than I should about tests and grades. That leaves me with practically no free time to write, and it's honestly a mystery to me how I still manage to update at all. And on top of it all, I have six multi-chapter stories to write at the same time and I'm rewriting one of them. I'm definitely not complaining about having so many stories or anything (deciding to write each one of them was probably one of the best things I've ever done), but I just wanted to say that I would never abandon a story, it's just really hard for me to find time to write and update regularly, especially now that the end of the school year is appoaching.

Thank you for your feedback, though. I really appreciate it. =)

Okay, I'm done now XD

Disclaimer: I guess there's no point in trying to get Dan to hand iCarly over to me now, since the last episode will air next week... *sighs sadly* Well, I guess Bob will have to find a job as a lawyer somewhere else. XD

And for the slow ones, I don't own iCarly! XP

Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 25: Confessions

Normal POV

Sam rested each one of her hands on each side of Freddie's face and pulled him to her, connecting her lips with his.

Sam felt Freddie resist for a brief moment, since her sudden action had obviously shocked him greatly, but much to her surprise, his lips soon melted against hers, fitting perfectly against the shape of her own.

The feeling of having his lips pressed against hers again was amazing. She remembered the kiss they had shared one year ago perfectly, and it had indeed been one of the best things she had ever experienced, but there was no denying that this kiss was over a hundred times better than their previous one.

Her lips barely moved against his, but this time, the atmosphere wasn't so awkward it was even hard to breathe like it had been during their first kiss.

Even though the kiss was pretty short and shy, it still made Sam's stomach flip around and her heart race like crazy inside her chest, and when she was finally able to make herself pull away from him after a few seconds, she was breathing slightly heavier than before.

And just then Sam realized what she had just done.

Her eyes widened at the realization that had suddenly struck her, and she opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Her voice seemed to have suddenly vanished as tried to make her mind form some kind of coherent sentence, but she found herself unable to do so.

Freddie seemed to be just as speechless as she was as he stared at Sam with a shocked expression on his face, his lips slightly parted, which didn't help Sam figuring out what to say at all. She knew that she needed to say something – anything - but her brain seemed to have ceased functioning properly for the time being.

"Freddie, I…" she started, but her voice died down as she realized that she had no idea what she wanted to say. Apologize? Tell him that this never happened? She had no idea. "I'm sorry, I just… I shouldn't have…" Sam tried to say something anyway, but just like she had expected, she failed terribly at it.

"Sam…" Freddie seemed to be just as at a loss for words as she was.

"Just…" She shook her head, desperately trying to clear up her thoughts. "This never happened, okay?" she finally said, not finding anything better to say at that moment.

"What?" Freddie asked, disbelief clear in his voice. "You just kissed me, Sam, and now you want me to just pretend it never happened?"

Sam looked down, suddenly unable to hold Freddie's intense gaze with her own. "Just… Just forget it, please," she insisted.

"Sam," Freddie said, trying to make her look up at him, but much to his annoyance, she didn't. "Sam, look at me." He used the same firm yet calm tone he had used before, and just like the previous time, it worked.

Sam hesitantly made herself look up at Freddie, and she, more than ever, wished she could simply vanish from that elevator in that exact moment.

Sam had never been good at situations like this - being confronted by someone, with no way out. She felt cornered, and everything she wanted to do was to simply disappear, just so she wouldn't have to face Freddie like that. But she knew that wouldn't be possible.

"What is going on here?" Freddie's voice was almost pleading, and that only made it even harder for Sam to decide what to say next.

Sam opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. As she stared into his eyes, the eyes that were pleading for her to explain herself, an emotion she couldn't quite define at the moment suddenly took over her.

She knew that she would never be able to get Freddie to forget about that kiss, so what else could she do except for telling him the truth? She couldn't just not tell him anything; he would never let her get away with what she had just done that easily.

I mean, it's not like I have anything to lose now, she thought to herself, opening her mouth to speak once again.

"You really want to know what's going on?" Sam started, the volume of her voice suddenly raising, which clearly took Freddie aback for a moment. "Fine, I'll tell you." She had no idea where all that courage had suddenly come from, but she knew that she had to say what she wanted to say quickly, or else she might end up chickening out once again. "Imagine yourself thinking you hate someone for over three years, and then you suddenly start feeling something for them. Imagine watching this someone run after your best friend like a lost puppy, claiming to be in love with her. Imagine finding out that this someone didn't actually love your best friend, but apparently, they're falling for someone else. That is what's going on!"

Freddie was silent during Sam's whole outburst, and when she was done, he remained silent. Shock had taken over his features as he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, but no words came out.

"Wait," he said, finally regaining his ability to speak. "Are you saying that... that you have feelings for me?" Freddie asked, disbelief clear in his voice. Sam suddenly looked away, but she somehow made herself nod in response, not trusting her own voice. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" Freddie asked.

Sam couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at him. "Isn't it pretty obvious?" she asked, and when Freddie didn't reply, she went on. "You've claimed to be in love with Carly for the past four years. Do you really think I was willing to tell you something like this when I knew what would happen?" She made a short pause. "And it doesn't really matter anyway," she added, looking down once again.

"Of course it does!" Freddie said.

"No, it doesn't," Sam said before he could say anything else. "You're falling for another girl anyway," she added under her breath, but Freddie still heard it.

"Are you really that blind?" Freddie asked, shaking his head lightly at her.

Sam looked up at him, frowning in confusion. "What…?" she started, but before she could finish that, or even process what was going on for that matter, Freddie suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips lightly against hers.

Sam was the one who was shocked this time, but she didn't hesitate at all before she began to kiss Freddie back eagerly.

The kiss didn't last long, though. Sam's eyes instantly shot open when she was finally able to process what was happening, and she quickly pulled away from Freddie.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, obviously surprised by what Freddie had just done.

Freddie simply stared at her for a moment, clearly not sure what he should say. "I just…" He fell silent, unable to form any kind of coherent sentence.

"You just told me that you're falling for some random girl, and when I tell you that I like you, you go and kiss me?" Sam asked in disbelief. She hated to have her emotions played with, and to make it even worse, Freddie was the one who was doing it.

Freddie simply chuckled lowly in disbelief, shaking his head lightly. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" Sam asked, annoyed.

"The girl I was talking about earlier?" Freddie asked, and Sam simply raised an eyebrow in response. "I'm looking at her right now."

Sam was frozen, her voice suddenly gone once again. Had she heard him right?

"You… I…" She shook her head lightly, as if trying to clear up her thoughts. "Stop it," she said finally, abruptly looking away from Freddie.

"Stop what?" Freddie asked, frowning at her in confusion.

"I don't want your pity, Freddie," she told him, her tone suddenly firm and determined.

"What are you talking about?" Freddie asked her, eyeing her like she had gone mad.

Sam refused to look up at him as she spoke, as if afraid to meet his gaze. "There's no way you'd ever feel anything for me, Freddie, and nothing you say will change my mind."

"And what makes you think that?" Freddie asked, suddenly annoyed by the fact that Sam wouldn't look at him in the eye.

Sam couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. "Isn't it obvious?" She finally looked up at him. "Freddie, I've made your life a living hell every single day of the past four years. I cause you both physical and emotional pain on a daily basis! How the hell could you ever feel anything for someone like that? You should hate me," Sam explained, and Freddie couldn't help but shake his head at her in disbelief.

"And do you really think I'd put up with something like that if I hated you?" Freddie asked. "Sam, this whole… bickering thing we've had going on for the past few years has kinda become… our thing. I can't imagine us being us without it. I guess I could even say that I kinda enjoy it sometimes."

Sam simply stared at him, shock clear on her features as she heard the words that left Freddie's mouth. Her heart was racing inside her chest, since she wanted to believe him with everything she had in her, but there was still a part of her that was hesitant and didn't seem willing to give in so easily.

Realizing that Sam still wasn't fully convinced, Freddie went on.

"Sam, you're beautiful, you're strong, you're full of light, you're determined, you're smart, you're funny, and…" Freddie trailed off for a moment. "Every time I'm with you, everything just seems… brighter, you know? You've got the most beautiful eyes and smile I've ever seen, and I swear your laugh is so ridiculously cute I can't stop myself from smiling whenever I hear it." Freddie made a short pause, watching Sam carefully, but she was doing her best to try to hide what she was feeling inside. "I just… I don't know what I can say to you to prove to you that I'm telling you the truth when I say that what I feel for you is definitely not pity. No matter how many times you've punched me or yelled at me, I still fell for you. But I can't prove that to you if you won't even give me the chance to."

Sam was speechless. Not ever, at any point of her life, had she ever thought someone would ever say something like that to her, let alone Freddie. But as she looked into Freddie's deep chocolate brown eyes, the sincerity she found in them made all of her doubts suddenly vanish. No matter how insane and impossible all that seemed, it was true after all. Freddie did feel something for her, and he was more than willing to prove that to her.

"You really mean all that?" Sam found herself asking just to be sure that this wasn't some kind of joke.

"Every word of it," Freddie replied.

A smile broke out on Sam's lips at his words, to which Freddie replied with one of his own.

Sam suddenly found herself being drawn to him, and she slowly began to lean forward, brushing her lips lightly against his and secretly wishing that whoever was fixing that elevator would take a little longer to be done with it.

"But why did you tell me that Melanie wasn't real, then?" Freddie asked as he ran his hand through Sam's golden curls. She had her head rested against his chest, and he had one of his arms wrapped around her waist, both of them sitting on the elevator floor.

"Well, you were just so sure that she wasn't real, and I knew that you probably wouldn't change your mind any time soon, no matter how many times I told you that she was real, so I kind of got the easy way around, you know?" Sam told him, shrugging lightly. "I wasn't in the mood for arguing around that time because Melanie had been chewing on my nerves and I knew that you'd find out the truth later anyway, so I just let it go."

Silence then fell upon the newly formed couple, but unlike all the other similar moments that had happened in that elevator that day, this one was pretty comfortable. They simply sat there, too lost in each other's embrace to care about anything else but that moment, and being like that just felt so... right.

"Right now, I kinda hope that whatever is keeping this elevator stuck, it takes as much time as it needs," Sam said, suddenly breaking the silence. Her voice was low as she smiled lightly at Freddie, and he chuckled at that, agreeing with her.

"Yeah, well, but that will depend on Carly's will," Freddie said after a brief moment of hesitation, in which he decided that, now that Sam knew the truth, he might as well share what he believed about Carly's plan with her.

"Uh... wait, what?" Sam asked, confused as she looked up at him.

"Do you remember what we were talking about earlier? About how that whole story about Lewbert shutting down the power seemed pretty... weird and stuff?"

"Yeah..." Sam replied, sitting up and turning around to stare at him expectantly.

"Well, Carly found out about how I feel about you some time ago and, well, you know Carly. She loves to come up with crazy plans to get whatever she wants, and I'm assuming she thought that she should intervene, so she got us stuck in here together so we'd finally admit our feelings to each other," Freddie explained, and Sam stared at him in disbelief for a moment, as if processing what she had just heard.

"So... this was all Carly's idea, then? This whole 'elevator getting stuck' thing, I mean," she asked, and Freddie simply nodded at her. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that," she admitted, shrugging lightly. "I wonder what she's going to do when she finds out that her plan worked."

"Yeah, me too," Freddie replied. "She'll probably shoot fireworks and throw a huge party," Freddie joked, and Sam laughed lightly at that.

"Yeah..." Sam seemed to drift off for a moment, and a devious smile suddenly began forming on the corner of her lips.

"Uh... what are you thinking about?" Freddie asked, fearing what he'd hear next, but the curiosity sure overcame that fear.

"What if... we played a little with her mind before telling her what really happened? Like a little... prank," she said, smirking a little.

"But what exactly do you have in mind?" Freddie asked, and he could see that Sam had suddenly got excited with the idea of pranking Carly.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do..."

"But why did you throw him into the lake, anyway?" Carly asked her older brother the same question for the hundredth time in the last twenty minutes.

Spencer had come back home from his walk in the park with Fluffy a lot earlier than she had thought he would, and turns out that he had had a little... argument with a police officer that had been walking around the park.

According to Spencer, the officer didn't want to let him walk Fluffy around the park, since it - okay, she - wasn't a normal pet, and as they began to argue, Fluffy had somehow broken herself free from her leash and started to run around the grass. Both Spencer and the police officer started to chase her around the park, but they just couldn't catch up with the baby giraffe.

After a few minutes, the police officer finally managed to make the pet calm down and stop running, but when he did it, he didn't want to give the leash back to Spencer because he thought that Spencer wasn't responsible enough to take care of her and because Spencer couldn't show him his license to have wild animals at home - which Spencer actually didn't have, but he didn't feel the need to tell the officer that.

Panicking at the thought of losing Fluffy, Spencer pushed the man inside the lake and ran away from there, taking the giraffe with him and going straight back home.

"I've already told you, I panicked!" Spencer exclaimed, and Carly simply shook her head at him, rolling her eyes.

"Spencer, pushing police officers into lakes is never the answer to any problem!" she told him.

"But the guy was really scary and-" Spencer was interrupted by the sound of Carly's PearPhone's alarm going off, which came from the coffee table in the center of the living room. "What's that for?" Spencer asked quickly, suddenly grateful that he had a chance to change the subject of the conversation.

"It's the alarm I set to remind me it's time to get Sam and Freddie out of the elevator," Carly answered as she turned off the alarm.

"How long have they been in there?" Spencer asked, now more relaxed, since it seemed that Carly hadn't realized that he had been eager to change the subject all along.

"Three hours," she replied, avoiding his gaze as she began making her way toward the stairs.

"Okay, well... THREE HOURS?" Spencer's eyes widened in shock at his sister's words, and the event with Fluffy at the park suddenly vanished from his mind. "Whoa, don't you think you pushed things a little too far?"

"You're not helping," she said, sounding annoyed, since she was pretty nervous about how her plan had turned out herself. Now that she really thought about it, she had to admit that maybe she really had actually exaggerated on how long she should leave them stuck in there.

What if it really had been too much time? What if she had been wrong, and it turned out that Sam didn't actually feel anything for Freddie? If that was the case, what could have happened in there? She just now realized how much danger she had put Freddie into.

Carly sighed, trying to push those thoughts away. She was about to pull up the lever that would turn the power of the elevator back on when Spencer suddenly spoke up.

"Wait!" Spencer exclaimed from behind her.

"What?" Carly asked as she abruptly turned around, getting more nervous at each second that went by.

"Let me get out of here first. If they get mad at you, I don't want to be in the middle of it!" Spencer explained as he ran out of the living room and toward his bedroom. When the door of his room was closed shut and locked, Carly heard the muffled sound of his voice coming from inside. "Okay, I'm ready!"

Carly simply rolled as her eyes at her older brother, before taking in a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, but that didn't really work the way she had hoped it would. Giving up on trying to make herself grow at least a tiny bit less nervous than she was, she pulled up the lever and turned the power of the elevator back on.

Author's Note: I wonder what Sam has in mind... Hehe ;P

Review! =D

xxiCarlyFanxx