iWill Survive

A/N: This shall be an interesting chapter. There's a chick with blue hair. And there's gonna be some PDA. Woot XD

BTW, I realize I haven't been saying just when these chapters are taking place, so I'll tell you that the part of this past the line there is about a week before Thanksgiving. Yeah, it's February (well now it's March...) and I'm writing about something in November. Oh well. It's 2018 here too so I'm allowed to be irrelevant XD

Disclaimer: Yeah. Maybe I did get a mustache necklace and Freddie-esque Converse for my birthday. But not iCarly rights. Darn.

Chapter 26: Good Times Never Last

(Freddie's POV)

"Come on, Sam! It'd be fun!" Carly giggled as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

Sam groaned, "I don't want some stupid party with a buncha people bowing down to me like I'm frickin' Taweret or something!"

I laughed, "And you know who Taweret is because...?"

"Your nerdiness is rubbing off on me!"

Carly looked between us for a moment before asking, "Is it bad that I have no idea what you're talking about?"

Sam rolled her eyes, "It's bad that I know what I'm talking about. But it's Freddie's fault. He was the one who was helping me study for that stupid mythology test at the end of senior year. Why I still remember that is beyond me."

I poked her side playfully and snickered, "Must be 'cause I'm such an awesome teacher." She responded by flicking my forehead.

Carly broke the silence that was beginning to form as she pleaded with Sam again, "You have to do this! Come on, you'll get free stuff from people!"

Sam rolled her eyes, "Yeah, 'cause they're sympathetic. I don't like sympathy."

I sighed, "Sam, it's not sympathy; they're happy for us."

Carly rested a hand on Sam's shoulder before giving her a small smile, "It won't be bad, Sam. You'll probably even get to see people you can't normally!"

Sam shook Carly's hand from her shoulder and walked into the kitchen, calling back to us, "I don't care what either of you say! I don't need a frickin' baby shower!"

At some point between then and these two weeks later, Carly had somehow managed to convince me that no matter how many times Sam disagreed with the idea of a baby shower, throwing a surprise one for her was a good idea. I have no clue how she got me to agree, but she did.

So it was now two weeks since Carly had first suggested the idea to Sam. And now I was expected to somehow bring Sam to this baby shower she didn't want in the first place. I hoped she wouldn't kill me for it.

Not long after she had woken up, I walked up to Sam, smiling, "What would you say if I offered to take you to the Groovy Smoothie?"

She grinned, "That'd be awesome!" before quickly pecking my cheek. I felt kind of bad tricking her when she was being this nice to me, but I was hoping she'd end up liking this.

I laughed lightly, "Okay, go get dressed and we'll go."

Her mood seemed to suddenly change and she pouted, "Why can't I just wear my pajamas? It's not like T-Bo wouldn't do something weirder."

I hadn't thought about what would happen if she reacted like this, even though I should've after what happened the last time I tried to plan something for her...

Despite this, I did my best to stay calm as I sighed, "Sam, do you really want random strangers to see you like this?" Her pajamas certainly weren't something you'd see the average person wearing in public. She had on a pair of my sweatpants which were rolled up at the ankles so she wouldn't trip and they barely fit her at the waist due to her baby bump. Topping it all off was a t-shirt that was probably five sizes too big on her.

She gave me a blank stare, "Do I look like I give a damn?"

I sighed. Her stubbornness was not going to help me in the slightest. Still, I tried to convince her again, "Come on, Sam, it'll take you five minutes! Please?"

She rolled her eyes, "And just why do you care so much about what I'm wearing?"

I struggled to find a reasonable explanation, but finally settled on, "Because I don't want you feeling embarrassed?" It sounded a lot more like a question than it did a reason.

She sighed melodramatically, "Fine!" before returning to the bedroom.

A few minutes later, she came back, now wearing clothes that actually fit her. She didn't look overjoyed, but she wasn't completely pissed, either...

In a few minutes, we were across the street and I was about to have no problems getting Sam to comply, when she saw the smirk that I hadn't even realized was on my face.

She stopped in her tracks and put her hands on her hips, boring her eyes into me, "What the hell are you up to now?"

I stuttered, "N-nothing, dear..."

"You most certainly are up to something. Just 'cause I'm blonde doesn't mean I'm stupid."

"Sam! When did I say you were stupid?"

"You thought I would honestly believe you weren't up to anything!"

I sighed, "Fine. But just think about it this way; you liked the last time I was up to something for you..."

She laughed lightly, "True. But I don't see how that will help your case now."

I gently grasped her fingers, giving a small smile, "Come on. I think you'll like this."

"From the look on your face, I seriously doubt that."

I sighed, "Sam, will it kill you to just listen to me?"

She rolled her eyes, "Fine."

After that, she followed me as I entered the Groovy Smoothie. The moment we were inside and she saw what was happening, she turned to me angrily, and it was made evident that this might not have been the smartest idea.

If there's one thing I've learned in the thirteen years that I've known Sam, it's that there's only two ways to avoid getting punched by her. You either comply with her wishes, or you have to save your face at the last second. Given that I'd broken the former, I had to go with the latter, and grabbed her fist just as it neared my face before bringing my lips to hers, causing her to melt and give up all ideas of hurting me.

We didn't really notice just how carried away we were getting until we heard someone clearing their throat loudly, and we quickly pulled apart, looking to see that it was Carly. She rolled her eyes, "Guys, we already know how Dru came to be; we don't need a demonstration."

Sam crossed her arms over her chest, "Awesome. I get a baby shower I didn't want and I'm not allowed to kiss my husband."

I laughed a little, "Come on, Sam, this isn't that bad; at least nothing's all frilly and pink."

Besides that, it really wasn't a giant party. Carly had figured that Sam would probably be happier with just a smaller sort of get-together with just a few close friends, and I had agreed when she suggested this.

Sam still looked slightly annoyed as she complained, "But I told you guys specifically that I didn't want this!"

I kissed her cheek before giving a hopeful smile, "It'll be fun. Besides, there's a bunch of food, which I'm sure you'll be okay with."

When I said that last sentence, she seemed to perk up a little. I was hoping at least the food would make her not hate us, and it seemed like this would thankfully be the case.

Before Sam could complain more, Melanie came up to us and hugged her from behind. She seemed to like doing that, as if she figured Sam would try to hurt her if she hugged her from the front.

After a little while, Sam rolled her eyes, "Mel, you can stop hugging me now."

She took the smart choice in listening to her sister, pulling away from her and smiling, "Sorry... But I haven't seen you in so long! I don't even think you were showing the last time I saw you!"

Sam rolled her eyes, "Thanks for making me feel fat."

I slipped my arm around her shoulders gently and squeezed her shoulder, reassuring, "Sam, you aren't fat, honestly! It's just obvious you're pregnant, that's all. You're still beautiful."

She blushed as she pushed herself away from me, "Shut up..."

Melanie giggled, "Well, on the positive side, I don't think anyone will get us confused."

Sam gave her a blank stare, "Gee, thanks, captain obvious."

Carly cut in, "Sam, you haven't seen Melanie in forever, do you really have to be mean to her? She is your sister after all..."

Melanie laughed, "Carly, she's just kidding around, it's fine."

After a little while of talking to Melanie, Carly seemed to get a little bit impatient with waiting for the one guest who would be here via video chat, and I decided it was probably a good time to call him. It didn't take long, and I managed to get his image up on the TV screen so that everyone could see him. When he picked up the call, Carly looked delighted. I felt kinda bad for them, living so far apart. You could tell they really loved each other.

Brad was the first to speak when his face came onto the screen, "So there's this crazy rumor that Carly told me... She was saying that Baby Benson's almost here... Is that true?" The smirk on his face and the sarcasm in his voice told us he was just messing with us rather than honestly having no idea.

Sam rolled her eyes, "Don't remind me."

I playfully poked her side and gave a hopeful smile, "Come on, Sam, it'll be fine."

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before sighing, "I'm gonna try not to flip. But it'd be great if you could refrain from mentioning anything having to do with the whole labor process. I'm not looking forward to it."

The tone in her voice made everyone drop that subject and awkwardly attempt to pick up another. However, before another word could be spoken, Muriel came up to us, dragging with her an unfamiliar girl who looked to be nearly half a foot taller than her and had bright blue hair. I was confused until Muriel introduced her.

"Guys look! Remember how I told you my friend Taylor would be moving here by Christmas? Well this is her! Turns out she got to come here an entire month earlier than she thought!"

Taylor didn't say anything, but she waved at us and smiled.

After a moment, Sam asked, "Can she not talk or what?"

I sighed, "Sam, you don't need to be rude."

Muriel laughed, "No, but she doesn't really like talking much." I really wondered how someone who rarely talked could get along so well with someone who never stopped talking. I guess neither of them would have to worry about trying to talk over the other...

Just when I thought Muriel was going to walk away, she started yammering again, "So guess what! Back in Maine, me and Taylor used to do all kinds of stuff together! Like, Taylor's uncle owned this big ranch, and we always used to ride horses! Of course that was when we were pretty little. He moved away from there probably five or six years ago... But it was fun when he was there! But after he moved we still did all kinds of stuff! Actually just a little while before I moved here, Taylor took me to this concert, and it was crazy! There were like a gazillion people there and it was so loud! I think it was My Chemical Romance or something, I dunno if that's the right name, but I do know that Taylor's still obsessed with them." I noted that Taylor rolled her eyes at this, probably because her friend seemed to be pretty unsure of what her favorite band was.

After about five more minutes of all this pointless information spewing from Muriel's mouth, I glanced at Sam and saw that her face made it evident that she was annoyed. I really wasn't surprised.

Just as Muriel dove into her seemingly thirtieth topic, Sam sighed exasperatedly, "Okay, awesome! Thank you for the whole life story!"

I looked at her, scolding lightly, "Sam, be nice."

Muriel kept a smile on her face, apologizing, "No, it's alright. I guess I kinda did get carried away... Sorry!"

I sighed, "Muriel, it's okay. Sam was-"

"I swear to God, Freddie, if you say so much as one wrong word, I will kick your ass personally, pregnant or not."

This made me decide that it would be in my best interest if I were to shut up, and so I did.

It was then that Muriel and Taylor walked awkwardly away.

Carly shook her head lightly, "Sam, do you really have to be so mean to her?"

Sam rolled her eyes, "Yes. Her voice is annoying and she uses it way too much."

Carly just sighed, "You're gonna have to learn to deal with her eventually... Anyway, guys, there's someone I think you should meet..." With that, she grabbed both of our wrists and dragged us toward Spencer and an extremely short, brunette girl who he was talking to.

Sam looked at me, asking, "What's up with all these people we've never met before?"

I simply shrugged in response. Carly had taken care of inviting everyone, so I wasn't actually fully sure of just who was supposed to be here. I was really only put in charge of making sure Sam showed up and getting the video chat with Brad to work.

When Carly got the girl's attention, she introduced her, "Guys, this is Mabel, she's Spencer's girlfriend!" The tone in her voice made it evident that she was happy for her brother, probably meaning this was Spencer's first steady girlfriend in longer than any of us could remember.

Mabel smiled as she pushed her seemingly oversized green glasses up higher on her face. She then waved at us, "Hey guys! Spencer's told me a lot about you!"

I was still trying to wrap my brain around how she and Spencer even so much as talked. When I said short, I meant barely-more-than-five-feet-tall short. And we all know Spencer's somewhere over six feet tall. The height difference between Sam and me is one thing, but Spencer and Mabel's was ridiculous.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Mabel repeatedly snapped her fingers in front of my face, asking, "Why are you staring at the top of my hea- Oh..." When she was nearly finished with her sentence, Spencer wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on top of hers. She rolled her eyes, "Look, I'm even wearing heels today and people think I'm short... So what of I'm four foot eleven?"

Spencer laughed, "Isn't it great how she's not even five feet tall?"

Mabel rolled her eyes and 'accidentally' stepped backwards onto Spencer's toes with one of her heels. His face was pretty entertaining.

Carly suddenly piped up, "Ooh! Tell them how you met! The story's pretty funny..."

Mabel chuckled, "Okay, okay!" She looked at Spencer, asking, "You wanna tell it or should I?"

Spencer's face grew slightly red as he laughed nervously, sounding a bit embarrassed, "Why don't you go ahead..."

She grinned, "So I was at the art store, looking for some paint for this big painting I was planning, and I was just standing there in the paint isle, when Spencer here comes up to me and asks, 'Hey, little missy, where are your parents?' So I turn around, and you know, I've got these giant boobs here, so it's just kinda obvious I'm not some little kid, and when he sees me from the front his face is red as a tomato. Of course I was all ready to yell at him that I was thirty-six, but then I looked into his eyes..." she slowed down the speed of her words before laughing lightly, "I was a bit too awestruck to say anything. But then Spencer here decides to flirt with me, and before you know it, here we are; this total item, and I love every minute of it. Most guys think I'm weird, but Spencer here is just crazy enough to deal with that." She laughed as she finished her story and tickled Spencer's stomach, making him join her laughter.

I laughed a little as I shook my head lightly, "I never thought I'd see the day when Spencer Shay would have a steady girlfriend."

Spencer frowned, "Hurtful..."

Mabel rolled her eyes, "Come on, Spencie Boo, we've been together since August. You really care if your little friend here thinks you can't get a girl? 'Cause he's wrong."

I raised my eyebrows, "August? How did we miss that‽"

Spencer shrugged, "You guys have been so wrapped up in baby chiz I almost never talk to you anymore."

It was true. There were a lot of days when Carly would come to our apartment and spazz over how adorable Dru would be and things of the like, but Spencer never seemed quite as interested. The only times we really even saw him were the nights we did iCarly, and even then, it was only for a minute or two before we were web casting and Sam was usually pretty exhausted after the show so we just went home and didn't have much time to discuss anything with him.

Mabel nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I'm actually kinda surprised that I haven't met you two until now..."

Sam looked around for a moment before awkwardly stating, "Well... I'm Sam."

Mabel laughed, "I figured that much. It's not like I've never seen that little web show of yours before. Besides, if there were a chick named Freddie, I'd be just a bit concerned."

Sam snickered, "Anyone named Fredward is concerning enough."

I crossed my arms, defending, "It's not like I chose that name. Why do you think I've always gone by Freddie?"

She just playfully shoved me a couple inches back, obviously not wanting to admit defeat.

Mabel smirked at this behavior, "You two really are insane. I guess Spencer wasn't wrong when he told me that."

Cary giggled, "They are insane. But it's pretty obvious that they love each other so it really doesn't matter how they decide to show that."

Before either Sam or I could retort, I felt a pair of eyes on the back of my neck, and when I turned around, my mom was standing there, an almost condescending smile on her face.

"Hi, Mom..." I greeted awkwardly.

Sam appeared to be about to walk away until my mom asked seemingly-casually, "So, Miss Samantha, the big day is coming up soon. Are you ready for it?"

Sam seemed to bite back a more explicit comment before sighing heavily, "Mrs. Benson, I don't know if you heard me earlier, but it's be awesome if you could just drop this, so-"

"But you really need to think about this. You have to be prepared for-"

I instinctively slipped my arm around Sam's waist before cutting my mother off, "Mom, stop. Sam doesn't want to think about this right now. That's her decision to make. Just please let her be..."

She looked at me somewhat angrily as she scolded, "Fredward Benson! I was talking! You can't just cut me off! Besides, Samantha should be able to speak for hersel-"

"Mom! You cut her off! And her name is Sam."

I glanced at Sam, and from the look on her face, I could tell she was about to start freaking out if I didn't do something. I just wasn't so sure I could do something.

It was obvious that my mom noted Sam's expression, but she still continued, "You can't simply push this thought aside. You need to be prepared for everything! If you aren't prepared-"

Carly seemed to catch the look in Sam's eyes as well and stepped into the conversation, "Mrs. Benson, they've both asked you to stop. Would you please take that to heart? I don't wanna see Sam upset, and neither does anyone else."

"You didn't care that I was upset when my precious little angel got hit by a truck thanks to you!"

"Mom, will you drop the grudge already‽ It's been eight years! And it wasn't her fault! I was the one who-"

"I don't care! She is not part of this discussion! You and Samantha need to listen to me!"

That was when Sam nearly lost it, "Sam! My name is Sam! No one calls me Samantha! Could you at least do so much as get my name right‽"

"Fine, Sam. But you really need to put thought into this. Labor is not an easy process!"

"Mom, please sto-"

"Fredward Benson! Haven't I told you that it's rude to interrupt others‽ I'm trying to explain to the two of you how you must prepare for this!"

Before she could rant any more, I heard a strange sound come from Sam, and when I looked at her, it was evident she was doing every last thing in her power to choke back tears, but I could tell this wasn't going to help her for long. I simply wrapped my other arm around her, and when I felt my shoulder grow wet, I knew that she had lost it. She was the strongest person I would ever know, but the past eight months had so far proved that even our unborn daughter could bring her to her knees.

At first her tears were completely inaudible, so most of the people standing around us seemed to be completely confused. But with the first audible cry to escape her lips, I had the feeling that everyone suddenly understood. I was glad that my mom stopped talking at this point. I had a feeling that things would only have been worse if she had continued to talk.

I attempted to calm her down by whispering in her ear softly, "Sammy, honey, it's gonna be okay. Please try to cheer up a little..."

Her voice was muffled by my shoulder, but I could still make out her words, "I can't be calm! Look what your insane mother has done this time! And I even tried to be nice!"

I stroked her hair gently, doing my best to keep my cool despite the fact that every person in the room was staring at us. I kissed the top of her head before giving a hopeful smile, "Just don't think about this right now. It'll make you feel better..."

She shook her head lightly, "No! I can't just not think about it now! And it's not even my fault!"

I saw from the corner of my eye that Carly looked like she was about to cry, probably because she really hated to see her best friend upset.

I just loved how badly this day was turning out.

As if things weren't bad enough already, just then, Melanie walked up to us, sounding concerned as she asked, "Hey, what happened?"

Carly sighed heavily, "Exactly what Sam asked not to happen."

Melanie quickly came to Sam's side, wrapping her arms around her. Sam wiggled away from both of us, sniffling, "I don't need your sympathy! For someone who's known me for the entirety of both of our lives, I'd think that should be obvious!" It seemed she was more bothered by her sister than she was by me, and I was a little thankful she didn't hate me.

In a matter of seconds, Mrs. Puckett showed up next to us, asking loudly, "What happened here? Why is my daughter crying?" She then turned to me, accusing, "Did you do this to her‽"

I quickly threw my hands in front of my face in defense, shouting, "No! Why would I ever want to hurt her‽" I honestly wondered why it would come to her mind that I would make Sam cry. I hated seeing her like this, and I know that if I ever caused something that would make her cry, I would be beating myself up.

I noticed then that my mom had walked away at some point. Figures; she realized that she had caused this and then she left.

Sam looked at me, tears in her eyes as she asked, "Can we just go home? I know you didn't mean for this to go badly, but it did."

I sighed. I had honestly hoped something good would come from this, but things seemed to have turned upside down.

I only nodded my response, and we both quickly said our goodbyes to everyone before heading for home.

A/N: I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A MONTH! You can thank Chinua Achebe. He wrote a book that my teacher made us read and annotate and that pretty much ate my life. Other than that I had writer's block.

Anyway, there at the beginning, Freddie mentioned something about having surprised Sam one other time. Can you guess what that is? If you can would you want me to see if I could fit in a flashback to that somewhere? 'Cause I know what happened ;D

Ooooh! AND, Rubinrot is my new beta! So thank you SO MUCH to her for betaing this :)