Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. I'm sorry that I've been behind in this story, but as I mentioned in another update for another story, I haven't been feeling well lately. I've bounced back and getting back on the ball. I'm going to try to get back to my normal Tuesday/Thursday schedule in updating this story next week, but no promises (I have a really busy week next week). Thank you all for your continued readership, thoughtful reviews and spreading the word about the story.
Also, yes, I did see Jade Gets Crushed and Robbie's little secret in regards to Cat. It may or may not have a role in a future chapter. We shall see.
Chapter 28
Valentine Residence
Los Angeles, CA
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Freddie shook his head as he walked up the stairs to the second floor of the Valentine residence as it was approaching one in the morning. He couldn't believe how much trouble Robbie could get into with Rex. As the guys were finishing their meals, Rex had started up a conversation with a cute blonde at a neighboring table. The teenager had laughed and enjoyed the attention of the smooth talking puppet.
However, her boyfriend didn't appreciate the attention from ventriloquist.
It was humorous on one level watching Robbie trying to talk himself out of the situation while using Rex to get him deeper into trouble. Rex was eager to fight it out with the girl's tall and muscular boyfriend who was a football player from North Ridge High School despite the fact that Rex was barely three feet tall and couldn't actually move without Robbie's assistance (with the built in assumption that Rex was 'real'). Those facts just infuriated the football player more and he was ready to tear Robbie apart and shove Rex into Robbie, but the other guy back down after realizing he might have to take on André, Beck and Freddie if he wanted to go after Robbie... plus explaining that to Robbie, Rex wasn't a puppet to the curly haired teenager and wasn't an act.
The North Ridge student sort of felt sorry for Robbie at that point and decided to just walk away, but his girlfriend did look over her shoulder and gave a wink to the pair. Rex was outraged for letting the girl go, Robbie was thankful that he wasn't pounded into the ground and Freddie did his best not to laugh at the entire situation at how much they humored Robbie about Rex.
The Tech-Producer reached the second floor and headed through the hallway to the redhead's room to check on her before he planned to head for bed. He noticed a light still on and shining through the crack of the jarred door and the soft sound of a voice he didn't recognize, but assumed it was from a video or some such thing. He quietly pushed the door open to take a quick peak into the bedroom.
Freddie blinked several times as he looked on as it was somewhat of a surreal scene for him.
He was hoping the two most important females in his life (excluding his mother) would remain civil with one another during the visit, but he didn't expect them to actually go through with the cupcake slumber party Cat wanted to have with Carly or the sight of Cat was using Carly's shoulder as a pillow as the girls had fallen asleep on the redhead's bed. It wouldn't have been an odd scene for Carly and Sam to end up that way since Sam practically lived over at the Shays since she was eight, but for these two, it was odd to the brown eye teenager. The pair had set up a laptop at the foot of the bed and apparently watching episodes of 'Cupcake Wars' at the time they had dozed off as an episode continued to play on the laptop.
An ungentlemanly thought about the pair crossed his mind and he felt a momentary bit of disgust with himself for the thought. He shook his head to dispel the hormonal driven thinking that reminded him that he was still a teenager. He went over to the foot of the bed and closed the laptop and moved it over to Cat's desk. He turned his attention back to the girls and pulled the crumpled sheet at the end of the bed up and draped it over the sleeping pair.
He went back to Cat's desk to pick up the tray of remaining untouched and crumbs of eaten cupcakes that he reasonably guessed the girls had made earlier in the evening and pigged out on while watching the video on the laptop. He didn't see any point in letting them get stale and planned to go back downstairs. He braced the tray against his hip and smirked as a more innocent thought came to his mind and he reached into his pocket with his free hand to pull out his phone. He lifted it up and took a quick snapshot of the sleeping pair.
He let himself smile as he hoped that it would be one of many happy memories to be made during this trip and that everything would turn out alright.
Valentine Residence
Thursday, June 30, 2011
It was around nine in the morning when Carly yawned as she made her way down the stairs and scratched the back of her head. She had a pleasantly restful sleep despite how late she had stay up and a somewhat surprising discovery waking up.
She was use to waking up with Sam's feet somehow in her face whenever the pair would fall asleep watching marathons of Girly Cow or something during the weekend nights, so waking up to the bubbly, yet peaceful redhead resting her head on her shoulder was a pleasant surprise in comparison to smelly feet. However, the irony of having woke up previously beside Freddie and now Cat was not lost on her and she wasn't sure if she should laugh or kind of wig out about it.
That internal debate would have to wait as she entered the kitchen and tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes as her feet made pitter-patter sounds on the linoleum kitchen floor.
"Morning," Freddie greeted the brunette with a smile as he sat on the opposite side of the kitchen island to her entering the kitchen.
Carly dropped one of her balled fists from her eyes then looked to her friend. "Morning," she replied cautiously as seeing him first thing in the morning caught her off guard. She shouldn't have been surprised since she knew all too well he was staying here for the trip, but seeing him first thing in the morning was still somewhat a bit of a shock.
"Cereal?" he offered raising his own bowl of cereal he was apparently finishing.
She nodded and replied casually as she took a seat on the other side of the kitchen island, "Yes, thank you."
"'kay…" He sat his bowl down and got off the stool to head for one of the cabinet's behind him. "Sleep well?" he asked as he pulled out a bowl from the cabinet then reached towards the top of the refrigerator for a box of cereal.
Carly raised an eyebrow as she replied, "Ah... slept fine."
Freddie snorted out with a smirk as he passed by one of the kitchen drawers to pick her up a spoon then sat the bowl and spoon in front of her and the box beside it.
"What?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
The brown hair teenager shook his head as he retook his seat across from her. "Nothing," he replied with stifled laugh, "I'll get you some milk. Orange juice?"
"Thanks," Carly acknowledged with a hint a confusion playing on her face then poured herself some FiberNuts cereal.
He returned a few moments later with a glass of orange juice and the milk which she eagerly accepted and poured some into her bowl. She immediately started on the cereal after putting the milk down and enjoyed the familiar taste in her mouth.
They shared a smile as they turned to their respective cereals. Carly enjoyed the peaceful respite with her friend that reminded her of morning two Mondays ago of them enjoying breakfast together; however it didn't last long enough for Carly as Cat walked into the kitchen.
Cat grinned and happily spoke to Freddie as she walked behind the island and towards him, "Good morning." She gave Freddie a soft kiss on the cheek.
Freddie smiled as he replied, "Morning." He also replied with a kiss of his own on one of her cheeks that brought a laugh out of her.
Carly shoved a bit of cereal in her mouth to prevent herself from speaking or frowning as she chewed the wheat cereal. If the conflicting emotions she were feeling was anywhere near what Freddie had felt while watching her with other guys then it must have been torture for him.
The redhead turned to Carly and greeted just as happily, "Morning."
Carly swallowed the bit of cereal in her mouth then replied pleasantly, "Morning."
Cat headed over to the cabinet to get her own cereal bowl and spoon then quickly returned to have a seat next to Carly. The brunette was surprised once again by the redhead with sitting beside her instead of Freddie, but suppressed her reaction by covering it with passing the cereal to the redhead. Cat looked curiously to the brunette as she took the box and poured her own cereal while asking, "Do you know what happened to the rest of the cupcakes?"
Carly shrugged a shoulder between spoonfuls of cereal then replied, "I don't know. When I woke up they were gone."
Freddie spoke up, "I put up the cupcakes last night. I stopped by to check on you before going to bed." He tried to stifle a smirk as he continued, "I didn't want to disturb you two."
Cat giggled and commented, "She makes a nice pillow."
Carly blinked with a mix of shock and horror at the statement. She realized that was such a loaded question at their ages, especially since she wasn't Sam, but apparently Cat did not realize it.
Freddie closed his eyes and shook his head as he started laughing.
Cat's brow furled and her mouth remained an even line as she looked to Freddie, utterly perplexed on why he was laughing. "What?" she asked in sincere confusion.
He opened his eyes and tilted his head to the side as he replied, "It's just how you said it that's all. I think Sam would probably share the same opinion… but I think she uses Carly's feet instead."
Carly closed her eyes and frowned as she shook her head.
Freddie covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he tried to stifle a laugh, but broke into a full, hearty laugh anyway. "It made an adorable picture."
The brunette's eyes snapped opened to look at the teenager sitting across from her. "Picture? Please tell me you didn't take a picture," Carly stated with a hint of blush forming on her cheeks and a sinking feeling in her stomach.
The teenager let out a sigh with a big grin plastered on his face then replied, "What? It's a cute picture?"
Carly mumbled to herself for a moment before replying in a defeated tone, "Well… at least it was a shoulder and a top of a head instead of usually Sam's feet. That's always disturbing to wake up to even though I should be use to it."
A moment later, Cat and Freddie started laughing which Carly couldn't help be dragged into it with them filling the kitchen with their laughter.
Once Cat caught her breath, she asked with a bright smile, "So how was your guys' night?"
Freddie finished chewing some of the grain cereal then replied, "Oh… it was interesting."
Carly chuckled and raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Care to elaborate?" She was always eager for some good deets on just about anything and maybe put him on the spot for a moment. If he can have a little harmless fun with her, she didn't see why she couldn't do the same with him.
He grinned as he replied, "Well, it started off fine. The food's great at Karaoke Dokie and they do have some pretty good singers, so it was a relaxing time."
"Wait? How was that interesting?"
Freddie smirked as he paused with his spoon in his cereal bowl. "It was what happened when we were finishing our meal. It seemed that we were getting hit on by every girl that passed by us, except for Robbie, but Rex was really popular… that's just weird."
"That's expected," Cat replied casually as she looked down at her cereal.
They both looked to her with conflicting emotions: Freddie one of surprise and Carly looking uncomfortable.
She looked up at them with a somewhat puzzled expression. "I mean for you. You have a lot of fans remember?"
The brown haired teenager gave a soft laugh as he replied, "Right… they almost tore me apart at WebiCon. That was kind of fun in an odd way."
Carly frowned as in the back of her mind she didn't approve to the added attention he was getting from other girls. She already had problems with one girl and didn't need others trying to stake a claim.
The redhead continued in a disappointing tone, "About Rex, he likes every girl… except for me."
"That just tells me that Rex lacks taste… what am I saying? Rex doesn't have taste because it's Robbie talking and he likes…" Freddie trailed off and frowned as he thought on Robbie's confession of liking Cat through Rex. He already had enough trouble worrying about the possibility of Sam trying to sabotage his relationship without having to worry about Robbie attempt anything or worst yet them conspiring to do something together. Enemy of my enemy…
Cat blinked and gave him a slight frown as she asked, "What?"
Carly looked perplexed as well and just as curious as to the rest of that statement. Who could Robbie be interested in that would cause Freddie to just stop speaking? Could it be…?
Freddie blinked and realized that they noticed that he had trailed off and was caught up in his own thoughts for a few moments. He cleared his throat and focused on the red velvet haired teenager. "Never mind, 'Rex' was talking to a girl from North Ridge, Beck and André told me, but her boyfriend didn't appreciate it. It almost turned into a brawl, but decided that he didn't want to mess with the rest of us."
Carly let out a breath then commented, "At least it didn't end up in a fight."
Cat smirked as she asked, "So who won?" then took a spoonful of cereal in her mouth.
Freddie gave her a perplex look as he asked, "Pardon?"
She swallowed the mouthful then softly laughed as she asked, "Don't tell us you weren't keeping count of the girls flirting with you?"
Freddie gave a boyish grin to the pair. "I think I won last night by one girl. I actually beat out Beck," he finished with a laugh. "We might not want to tell Jade about the girls flirting with him… she might kill him."
Cat smirked and shook her head as she replied, "No, she wouldn't be too happy."
"Should you have just told Cat that?" Carly replied still hoping for a smidgen of payback for the picture comment.
Freddie jutted out his jaw slightly and ran his tongue inside his lower lip as he looked towards Cat who playfully smirked back at him. The brown eye boy commented glibly, "Maybe, maybe not…"
The brunette shook her head with a smirk then turned back to her cereal. She was somewhat surprised at how comfortable he was with his flirting with Cat as she knew how badly he was at it with her in the past. That thought stung at her for a moment as she realized that it was in the past and he apparently was learning from his mistakes with her or the redhead was far more understanding and patient than she had been in the past.
The trio finished their cereal with a sense of comfortable silence. Once Carly was finished, she spoke, "I need to get back to the hotel and check on Sam. I want to make sure she isn't running up the room service bill."
Cat nodded then looked to Freddie. "After you take Carly back, do you want to go out? There's still plenty of the city I haven't gotten to show you?"
Freddie nodded along with a grin and replied, "I would love that."
Carly gave a polite smile to the both of them then took over her bowl to the sink before heading back upstairs to gather her things.
About fifteen minutes later of changing and making sure she had everything Carly was at the door waiting for Freddie to change and Cat to bid her goodbye. Carly pulled her bag tighter to her shoulder as she turned away from the door and looked to the approaching redhead and her traveling companion. She smiled towards the shorter girl and commented, "Thank you for the cupcakes and the night. It was fun."
"You're welcome. I hope we can do it again before the summer's done," Cat replied genuinely happy and sincere from what Carly could tell from the shorter girl.
"Me too," the brunette replied with a nod and not as much of a force smile as she expected from herself.
Freddie regretfully interrupted the pairing's speaking as he looked to Cat, "I'll see you in about an hour?"
Cat laughed then gave him a quick cheek kiss and replied, "Okay, I'll be ready."
It took a great deal of effort on Carly's part to maintain a smile at hearing that statement. She realized that this was going to harder than she thought during this trip, especially now that she realized how kind and sweet Cat could be as a person. She could see how easy it was for Freddie to want to be with the other girl and made her feel even more regretful of her past behavior in regards to Freddie.
Cat raised a finger and shouted, "Oh, one last thing—" She dashed back to the kitchen leaving the pair perplexed for the few moments for her to come back. She held up one of the leftover cupcakes to Carly and stated, "One for the road?"
Carly smiled as she was touched by the gesture and took the cupcake from the eager redhead. "Thank you," she whispered as she looked to the shorter girl with a thankful expression.
Cat just smiled in return and gave a slight nod of her head.
The Seattle pair headed out the door and towards Freddie's rental car that he picked up just as the guys were heading out last night. They entered their respective side of the vehicle and quickly fastened their seat belts (which Carly found slightly tricky balancing her cupcake). Freddie smirked as he started the engine and spoke, "I have an idea where we could have this week's iCarly. I'll tell you on the way back to your hotel… how do you feel about a location shoot?"
Carly raised a curious eyebrow intrigued with his potential suggestion.
