(A/N: This is a continuation of the last chap. Decided to put this one in Freddie's POV as well…fits the situation more. WARNING: contains extreme fluff. I'm on a Seddie kick right now, and that's always a good time. Also, this contains several references from another story of mine, which are connected. Sam's kind of OOC here, but like I said in an earlier chapter, I could see Sam being sweeter to Freddie in private.)

36.) History In The Making (Freddie's POV)

As soon as they reach the downstairs level, Freddie begins pulling Sam towards the door.

"Where are you guys going?" Melanie protests. "I thought we were—"

"Later." Is the only thing Freddie says. He hears Sam say something in protest but he isn't listening anymore. They move out into the hallway, and Freddie fumbles for his keys to his own apartment.

"Freddie, I told you it was cool." Sam keeps saying.

"Don't care," Once he got the keys through the keyhole, he swings around and looks at Sam. "It's clear that you need convincing, so I guess I'll have to do my best."

"You don't have—"

"Apparently I have to, since you doubted me."

Sam pouts, crossing her arms over her chest, looking frustrated. He loved making her angry. He loved pushing her buttons. Years ago it would have resulted in losing a finger, but now he knows this girl from head to toe. How she works. All of her.

He pulls her inside, not even bothering to check if his mother was home. "So, tell me." He says gently, moving his lips to her neck. "So you think I'm dating you just for kicks, is that it?"

Sam growls. "Sort of. I already explained it."

"Remember that time Spencer cornered us?" He asks gently. "When we first started dating, and before we broke up the first time? When he started telling us about how he knew it all along?"

(A/N: "Spencer Knew It All Along" reference.)

"Yeah." She says, biting back a moan when Freddie grazes his teeth against her neck. "He kind of went Adolf on us."

"Well, he didn't say my side of the story." Freddie stands back, his hands still on Sam's waist, staring straight at her.

"Oh…well, I guess not." Sam says, shrugging.

"Wanna know a secret?" He whispers close to her ear.

He can feel Sam trying to stay indifferent, but failing. "Sure."

"When I first met you…" He says softly. "I thought you were prettier than Carly."

"Pfft, okay." He can sense Sam rolling her eyes, clearly not believing him.

"No, honest." He says, pulling back.

"I looked like trailer trash back then." Sam protests.

"I thought you looked more real. Even if I had a crush on Carly then, I had never seen her once without wearing pink, or make-up. You seemed more rugged, and that's a compliment." He smirks. "And…I always had a thing for blondes."

She smiles back. "Carly had told me a lot about you…I was expecting someone wearing overalls and having a metal mouth. Let's just say…you were better looking than I expected." She gives a tiny cough before saying, "But, come on…you deserved that spitshake."

Freddie laughs, pulling her close. "And when I dated Valerie, and you said that I was important to the show…that's all I wanted to hear."

"Well, we did learn later that we needed you. It's a shame that Germy had to leave Ridgeway." Sam says.

"He's homeschooled now—he lives in a giant bubble so he doesn't get sick."

"Charming."

Freddie laughs. "It's a wonder how Gibby became cooler than him."

Sam gazes up at him. "And I hated Valerie."

"Because she stole me away from the show?"

"No. Because she messed with your heart." Sam gives him a dazzling smile. "And that was my job back then."

"I hated Jonah too." Freddie growls.

"Because he tried to take Carly?"

"No, because he screwed with you," He says, staring at her. "And no one deserves to be hit in the heart."

Sam meets his eyes. "I know that now. It's a shame that it took me so long to learn."

"No, no. Like I said before, it'd be too weird if you didn't make my life miserable all the time." He says with a smirk.

Sam smiles. "And then we talked about it…but you never finished your sentence."

"What was it?"

"Something along the lines of 'there are other ways to cure heartbreak'." Sam tells him. "But then Spencer cockblocked us. What were you going to say?"

"Not sure." Freddie says. "Usually, I would have done this—" Freddie quickly captures her lips with his before pulling away. "But back then, you would have ripped my balls off. I would have probably given you a bullshit speech about heartbreak and second chances that is very similar to the one I gave you at the lock-in."

"Good answer." Sam nuzzles his neck.

"And then Missy came." He gives a tiny laugh. "I totally blindsided her ass."

"Indeed you did." Sam grins. "I was proud of you then. You were like a mini-me."

"Mini? That was the year I got taller than you!" Freddie protests.

"Mini-me as in sabotaging, Freddie. You were like my apprentice. Especially after you got me with the Consuela thing." Sam chuckles.

"I just can't believe you said the word apprentice and used it properly in a sentence." He smirks.

"I think I heard that line before, somewhere." Sam says, frowning a bit as she thinks.

Trying to break her out of that haze, he says, "Well? Then what happened?"

Sam points in the direction of the fire escape. "That."

"How long did we go without speaking to each other?"

"…About three weeks."

"Yeah, I think that's about right."

Freddie presses her head against his chest. "Ever since that day…it was like a giant blur. I kept, uh, noticing things about you. Little things. Quirks, maybe. I kept almost, like, pushing myself towards Carly. It was almost as if…" He looks at her straight in the eye. "I was trying to convince myself that I liked Carly."

Sam stares up at him.

"But…doubt kept surfacing. Repeatedly. And all signs pointed to you." He gives her his signature half-smile. "Face it, Puckett. You crept up on me."

"Same for you." She says. "Cept' I had nowhere to hide. I couldn't hide behind Carly like you could. There was nowhere for me to run; no wonder you found out first."

"We didn't want to accept it." Freddie says sadly. "We were scared. We didn't want to see change."

"And then Spencer tricked us." Sam says bitterly.

"He did." Freddie rubs small circles over her hands. "I was so confused. Carly found out, and it brought all of those feelings I had hidden back to overwhelm me. I couldn't take it." He stares at her. "I needed your input. I wanted to know if you felt as choked up as I did. If you did feel the same way…" He trails off. "Then I would have accepted those feelings."

Shame fills her eyes. "But I lied…" She mutters. "I told you that it didn't matter."

"Imagine if we both confessed. What do you think would have happened?" Freddie asks her.

"I wouldn't have believed you."

"What? Why?"

"Well, would you have believed it if I admitted it?" Sam counters.

"…Well, I guess not."

"I can understand Spencer's frustration now."

Both of them chuckle softly.

"We frustrated a lot of people over time, sweetheart. They got tired of our bullshit after the first four days or so." Freddie says.

"Spencer only got annoyed that we didn't get together sooner." Sam's eyebrows furrow. "I guess I made the right choice…"

"What right choice?"

"When I talked to him, after I saw you and Carly dancing."

"Oh." Freddie pulls Sam closer, feeling her soft curls tickling his arms. "Now, you aren't going to believe this…but if you asked me to the Girls Choice, I wouldn't have said no."

"You said you wanted Carly to ask you!"

"I said I wanted a certain girl to ask me. I even tried buttering you up with bacon and it didn't work!"

"…You know me so well. I should have guessed you were using the bacon for something."

"The fastest way to your heart is bacon, isn't it?"

"And ham."

Freddie rolls his eyes. "So, Spencer, huh? I bet he was thrilled."

"He thought I was jealous. And maybe I was—a little. But it was mostly, like I said before, thinking that you and Carly would start ignoring me."

"As if. Don't be ridiculous, Sam, you and I didn't treat Carly like a third wheel. Why would we make you feel that way?"

"Maybe we are." Sam says distantly.

"Hmm…I really don't think so. We don't exclude her from much anymore."

"Good point." Sam trails off, thinking. "Spencer said you two wouldn't leave me. And you didn't, even when you two started dating."

"Ehh, it was only for three days. And a certain blonde girl told me the truth about it." He smirks. "So, were you jealous?"

He expects Sam to roll her eyes, gently smack his arm and say, "Undiscovered feelings, Freddie, so not really then." But she doesn't say that. She lowers her eyes and looks almost ashamed.

"I need to tell you somethin'." She murmurs.

"What, baby?"

"When…When I found out Carly kissed you, I did something…kind of bad."

Freddie tilts his head to one side. "What?"

"Remember Matt? Well, he'd been after me since the day me and my friends found him wandering the streets, fresh out of juvy. Well, I didn't take him up on anything, until that day. I kind of pounced on him…"

Freddie's eyes were wide. His pulse was thumping and thumping until it was almost vibrating. "Sam…you didn't—"

"I almost did. He's rough as fuck, Freddie, let me tell you. He was trying to get my clothes off about two minutes into it. Doesn't matter, though, because something weird happened…"

"Tell me." His voice is thick with disbelief.

"It's almost as if I could…hear you. Hear your voice, almost. Telling me that I was worth more than this. And that I couldn't give myself to this gutter guy."

"So…nothing further than making out?" The end of his sentence comes out as a desperate squeak.

"No. I didn't lie to you, Freddie—you were my first, and you are my only. And it's going to stay that way." She promises.

"Good." He fights off the urge to kiss her; he wants to prove his point first. "Remember how me and Spencer talked after I broke up with Carly…and he dropped the picture?"

"Yes…"

"And then you comforted me right after it? Remember, you weren't mean about it?"

"Yes…"

"Well, that was actually…really important to me. For once, it's like I didn't have to hide. For once, you were there beside me, cheering me up, and I didn't have to think about anything else. There was nothing to hide, nothing to worry about. Just you there, being kind, yet still yourself. For once… I thought of other things. Other options. Other girls. I forgot Carly in a matter of hours, Sam." He grabs her wrists and stares intensely into her eyes. "Do you know what kind of impression that is?"

He can see a ghost of a blush on Sam's cheeks. "Some kind, I assume…"

"And do you know how frustrated I was when you said you liked Spencer?" He asks, watching her look up at him. "Even more so Brad. He was just like me, and yet…and yet you found him more appealing?"

"But I never liked him!"

"I know that now, but I didn't know it then. I didn't want to help Carly at all. It wasn't fair, but if you were in love, I'd accept it. You deserved someone. I had to let you know, with certainty that you needed to let your feelings out. And…you did."

"Well…I did."

"You scared me so much, disappearing like that." He murmurs tenderly.

"I was so sure that you were going to use me." Sam half-whispers "Use this opportunity to get back at me for all the pain I've put you through."

"See? That's the thing. I could have tortured you all I wanted, and I didn't. And you know why?" He gently takes Sam's hands into his. "I realized I was not alone. All these feelings I refused to consider—you had them too. What was there to hide? There was no reason to hide—not anymore. I could have you all to myself without any of the extra baggage. I didn't realize this because I was so worried about getting you back home—I didn't see what I was given until we were doing iCarly from Troubled Waters. And you were right, Sam, you were crazy. But I was crazy too."

Sam is silent for a while. Then she whispers, "That's why."

"What?"

"That's why I doubt it, sometimes. Will you listen to yourself, for one minute? You're as sweet as can be. You're kind and gentlemen-like and hell, you're even cute. And that's why I doubt it! I make your life hell, and yet you always come back!" She looks up at him. "How?"

He gazes back at her, almost smitten. "You give me too much credit. You're adorable, and you're quirky, and you aren't afraid to be yourself. You're rough around the edges, sure, but look at you now! You only insult me in public, and I can take that."

"Maybe I shouldn't even do that." She says, furrowing her eyebrows together, focusing on the floor.

"Like I said before, you don't have to hold back. I love that about you; you aren't afraid to be yourself. And you don't insult me that much anymore, and you don't even hit me in the face anymore!"

"…I guess that's a plus." Sam turns her head away, looking sad. "You know, no one deserves you. Not me, not anyone."

"Come on…"

"I'm being straight up honest here. I don't understand why Carly rejected you so many times…"

"Well, I'm glad she did." Freddie takes her into his arms again, kissing her gently. "I don't want that girl, not even a little. And there's no doubt in my mind."

"Even after we broke up, we still belonged to each other." Sam says softly. "Like a code…"

"We don't need to think about it." Freddie tells her gently. "We've fought so hard to get to this point, and there's nothing else to worry about. Okay? Don't doubt me, babe. I love you."

"I love you too." She murmurs, laying her head against his chest. "More than you'll ever know."

"I don't think so."

"Yep." She responds.

"Sam!" He protests. "I just spent the last hour explaining how I love you to pieces. You seriously don't think I love you as much?"

A teasing glint enters her eyes. "I didn't say I played fair." She smirks before pulling him down to kiss her.