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 29 (Change of Heart and Mind)
Rueben and Shannon stood outside the hotel where Shane and his friends had been in, they saw Freddie rush in. Shannon was tired because she knew Freddie had gone in for Sam. She crossed her arms and frowned, she knew she wasn't going to get Freddie's heart if Sam was there, so there wasn't much she could do about it.
"I guess I won't win his heart," Shannon said in a quiet voice. Rueben frowned and shrugged his shoulders. "What about you, Rueben, will you continue going after Sam?" Rueben blinked and glanced toward the sky as he crossed his arms over. "Well? What are you going to do? Do you seriously still think that you're going to win Sam's affections?" Shannon nearly scowled and Rueben closed his eyes. Shannon's words rang through his head over and over again. Sam, Shannon, and almost every other girl seemed to like Freddie. "Hey, butt face, I'm talking to you." Reuben opened his eyes and scoffed lightly.
"I don't want Sam," Rueben answered. Shannon raised his eyebrow and Rueben walked off slightly, he had stopped liking Sam as more than a friend years ago. Shannon tilted her head slightly and frowned, she felt bad because he actually looked dejected. "No way do I want her affections anymore. I start talking like normal, hoping to impress her, but I know fully that she isn't going to be impressed with me. Why? Well, the answer is simple, she likes Freddie. No, she loves Freddie, and I've gotten over her a long time ago." Rueben waved his hand through the air and continued walking.
"You must like someone then." He nodded and Shannon quickly followed after him, forgetting all about Freddie. He did not stop walking, nor did he look back. "Hey, hold up! I want to talk to you. You just nodded, so you do like someone, but who is it?" He shrugged and picked up his pace, waking faster and getting away from Shannon. "Rueben, come on. Tell me who it is! I want to know." He chuckled and she merely sighed. "You know, lately I've been feeling a little differently. Sort of like…maybe I've been trying to win a different man's heart and not Freddie's."
"Whatever you say, Shannon, I don't care anymore." Shannon's eyes widened slightly and she started to feel as though she was going to fall to her knees and cry. She didn't want Rueben to leave her behind; she wanted him to stay with her. Perhaps she did overdo it with her trying to get Freddie to like her; perhaps she truly did miss the obvious. She thought about Sam's words spoken to her once before, about it being possible the one for her was right under her nose. Her eyes widened more and her lip quivered. She whispered his name from her lips. "Rueben…"
"Hey, it's you!" A voice stated. Shannon turned around and gasped when she saw Brian staring at her, a smirk was graced onto his lips. "How is it going, babe, did you miss me?" Shannon gulped lightly and took a step back. Brian flashed a bright smile and took a step toward her. His hands were in his pockets and his eyes were narrow. "I've been missing you, babe." She looked past him and saw Shane and his two friends watching the scene, their eyes were wide.
"Get away from me!" She lifted her hand to slap him, but he quickly grabbed her wrist. "No…" She pulled back and grunted. "Help me! Save me!"
"It's no use, you know that we always get what we want." Shane narrowed his eyes and watched as Shannon struggled against her captor. He could see himself in the display. Shannon yelled and brought her other hand up, but Brian quickly grabbed it. Shannon couldn't free herself, so she continued to shout and struggle. She managed to turn around, but he held her wrists behind her back and pressed her against a wall.
"Let me go! I don't want to do this!" Of course, none of the girls wanted to go through this. Shane ran his fingers through his hair and groaned, for the first time in his life, he was starting to feel sick at the womanizing actions. Had this been happening? Had he been doing this before? Yes, of course. Even Sam begged him to stop, and Freddie came to stop him. Shane was only watching what he had done from another perspective. "Let me go! Please stop it, this hurts!" Carly, he had done it to Carly. It was different with her, but only slightly. Shane growled and took a step forward, he opened his mouth.
"Let her go!" Shane didn't shout it, but he was about to. Shannon's eyes widened and Brian froze, Rueben had shouted it. Brian looked to the right and saw Rueben charging toward him. "She said stop!" Brian gulped as Rueben clenched his fist and sent it flying through the air. He released Shannon in time to feel Rueben's fist cracking into his face.
"Crap!" Brian shouted as he fell to the ground. Shannon quickly ran to Rueben and sobbed into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Rueben, thank you," Shannon said through choked sobs. Jason and Vash quickly ran from Shane's side and helped Brian to his feet. Brian shrugged them off and glared at Rueben and Shannon, he scoffed and turned around, defeated. Rueben glared at Brian and kept his arms around the girl he was protecting. Just then, a police car parked in front of Brian. John and Emily Benson stepped out of the car and stared at Brian, he let out a small groan and sighed. Shannon sniffed and looked at them. "He tried to rape me!"
"We saw, it will be okay," Emily said in a calm and gentle voice. Emily turned her head toward Brian and narrowed her eyes as she stepped in front of him. "You, I've heard of you, you're a womanizer? So, you get a kick out of making women fear you, is that it? Do you enjoy controlling them? Guess what, you just picked the wrong day to tick me off."
"What? You think I care?" Brian asked. Apparently they had been on patrol and saw what was happening. "It's just another girl, so what." Emily sneered and swiftly slapped her hand across Brian's face, hitting him hard. "Ah! Damn it, I thought cops weren't supposed to do that!"
"Emily will do it," John said as he smirked and moved Brian's wrists behind his back. "You're under arrest for the attempted rape of this young woman. Do you have anything you want to say?"
"I shouldn't have done it…out in the open." John sighed and Emily rolled her eyes.
"Well where you are going, you won't be doing it again." John walked Brian to the car and opened the back door. "You don't know how much trouble you're in." Brian shrugged as John shoved him into the back seat and slammed the door shut. Shane narrowed his eyes as he watched that, it could have been him. It should have been him, he knew it. Emily shifted her eyes toward Vash and Jason, she narrowed them and crossed her arms.
"Hey, we're not with him!" Vash said in a quick voice.
"No, but I do believe Freddie has told me that you two are womanizers as well," Emily said in a quiet voice.
"No! We've never done anything to the extent of Brian," Jason said in a quiet and low voice.
"This is true," Vash replied. "In fact, we'll never do this again! We promise!" Emily narrowed her eyes and the two people sunk back and gulped.
"If we ever hear anything more about you two, we'll take you in," Emily stated. She looked over at the car and saw Brian glaring out at everyone. "I'm sure your friend would love your company."
"No, not at all, we won't be doing anything like what he did, we promise!"
"You better not." Emily entered the passenger side of the car while John entered the driver's side. Vash and Jason watched as the car sped off, taking their friend away. They turned around and looked at Rueben and Shannon.
"Are you okay?" Rueben asked in a quiet voice. He lifted his hand and brushed Shannon's hair back. She nodded and he let out a soft sigh. "Good, I don't know what I'd do if you were hurt."
"You saved me, Rueben, I don't know how to thank you," Shannon replied. She closed her eyes and felt a tear roll down her face.
"Maybe a kiss would work." He was joking, but it didn't matter. Shannon lifted her head up and kissed his lips, taking him by surprise. He closed his eyes and tightened his grasp around her waist. It was the most pleasurable feeling that they ever experienced. It felt as if they were meant for each other. Shannon broke the kiss and looked into his eyes. "Shannon…"
"Will that work, Rueben?" He was speechless, he had never expected her to do that. "I don't want someone that doesn't feel the same for me that I feel for them, and that's why I know Freddie is wrong for me. Then there's you, you've cared for me all along…I can't believe I didn't see it…"
"So, you're over him?" Shannon nodded her head and Rueben smiled as he gently kissed her forehead. "I'm glad. Does this mean you will go out with me on Saturday?"
"Rueben, say it like you would back before!" She just wanted to hear it, and he was unsure of whether he should.
"Um, do you want to…ride pigs…across the prairie with me on Saturday?" Shannon giggled and gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"Of course I do, and for the record, I think that's cute what you just said. Just don't talk like that all the time." Rueben smirked and shrugged his shoulders, he wouldn't do that.
Shane sighed and walked toward his friends, Vash and Jason, he wasn't sure what he was going to tell them. They looked at him and grabbed his arms, pulling him away. "Shane, we can't do this anymore!" Vash said in a quick voice. He knew that, he knew what he was doing was wrong. He needed to change the way he acted, or else he was going to end up like Brian.
"Do you want to be like Brian?" Jason asked while raising his eyebrows. "That was Freddie's mom and Dad, I'm surprised they didn't arrest us. That means Freddie didn't call them."
"He should have," Shane said in a quiet voice. He fell to the ground and placed his hands to his face. "I know I'm a bastard, I'm a goddamn bastard. Why did they not arrest me as well?"
"You have a reason to continue," Vash said while crossing his arms. "You can change. There's an opportunity for you to take a second chance, and you need to take it." Shane raised his eyebrow and looked up at his friends. "Don't you have a baby along the way?"
"Carly!" Shane's eyes widened and he quickly stood up. He frowned and made a groaning sound. "She doesn't want anything to do with me, though. That baby inside of her…she doesn't want me to go near them."
"You need to try." Vash placed his hands on Shane's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Jay and I will back you up, but we can't do this anymore."
"I realize that!" Shane pushed Vash off of him and sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "What I just saw, I saw myself…Womanizing isn't a game, it's a crime."
"If you promise to change, then I'm sure Carly will accept you. If you promise never to do what you have been doing…think of that baby, too."
"I love children."
"Then go to Carly. It's better than the alternative." Shane nodded and quickly turned to run off, he knew he didn't deserve a second chance, but he had to be a man. He had to be there for Carly, he had to be there for her baby.
So we see that Shane is changing. Will Carly give him a second chance? What will happen? Stay tuned.
