Don't Forget to Press the Button

by samflowers

A bad storm in Seattle prompts the residents of Bushwell Plaza to rush to the basement, bringing everything with them from a supersize first-aid kit to coolers of food and forgetting just two things - Sam and Freddie. Riding out the storm in a stopped elevator, their conversation leads to new territory for the pair. Seddie.

Disclaimer: I'm not sure if this is actually legally necessary but just in case, I do not own iCarly or these characters!

Snow whirled and screamed outside the studio windows as Carly, Sam, and Freddie finished their latest broadcast. Even on the wintery February evening it was uncharacteristically dark outside, and the girls found themselves raising their voices in order to be heard as they competed with the wind. Their nerves on edge, they nevertheless completed the show confidently -

"And that is why you should never use a lava lamp as a plunger," Carly exclaimed.

"This has been iCarly, the #1 rated web show for teaching children how NOT to plunge. Catch us next week to see Gibby demonstrating the wonders of donkeys!"

"Carly, don't you think that's a bit cryptic?" Sam gave a exaggerated glance to the camera, wagging her eyebrows.

"Maybe no one will notice if we show them how cute we are!" Carly jokingly responded, as she and Sam hopped towards the camera flipping their hair and play-flirting.

"See you next time!" they shouted in unison. Freddie grinned and lowered the camera.

"And... we're clear!"

The girls relaxed their faces before jumping around a little to shake out their nerves from the storm raging outside.

"Fred-head, how close were we to losing power during the show?" Sam asked, flopping down onto a beanbag and draining the water bottle she'd grabbed before the show.

"Honestly? Too close for my liking. I didn't want to worry either of you but I'm checking the weather now and it looks like we still might any minute."

Carly shook her head and sat on the floor next to Sam. "Shouldn't we be in the basement or something? In case the windows break?"

"Do you want to sit in that basement with Lewbert?"

The three of them sat in silence, all of them obviously comparing the risk of the storm outside to the risk of vomiting in the presence of Lewbert's mole in Bushwell's unkempt and dirty basement. A particularly loud moan from outside and the horrifying sound of bending glass made their decision for them as Spencer yelled up for the teens - "WE NEED TO GO DOWNSTAIRS! MRS. BENSON SAYS IF WE DON'T GET DOWN THERE IN THE NEXT 2 MINUTES WE'LL ALL DIE!"

After a pause: "OK SO SHE DIDN'T SAY THAT BUT SHE DID SAY IF I DON'T GET FREDDIE DOWN THERE IN THE NEXT 2 MINUTES THEN I'LL DIE! SO GET YOUR BUTTS DOWN HERE!"

Freddie sighed, wishing Spencer was exaggerating. The three quickly made their way downstairs where Mrs. Benson could be heard rocketing around the next-door apartment in a frenzy, packing up an industrial-sized first-aid kit and food. Sam, nonchalant as always, strode in the opposite direction towards the fridge unbothered by the ruckus surrounding her.

"Sam! We need to leave! This is no time for ham!" Carly yelled. Without turning around Sam dismissively waved her hand in Carly's direction.

"Who knows how long we'll be down there? I need provisions!"

"Well I'm heading downstairs!"

With that, Carly spun on her heel and followed Spencer out to the hallway, where three other eighth floor residents were trying to move Mrs. Benson away from the elevator. Despite the massive equipment she carried with her, she insisted that everyone accompany her on the stairs, where there was no fear of a power outage interrupting their escape to the basement. Finally accepting defeat and the fact that they all could have been downstairs by now, the two men of 8-F offered to unload her food cooler and jugs of water to begin the trek and the group began to move.

Freddie, watching the scene unfold from the Shay's peephole, gave another sigh as he watched his mother disappear in the stairwell. He loved her, for sure, but the moment of peace he had been gifted between now and her realizing he was still upstairs was to be carefully treasured.

"Whatcha lookin' at?"

Freddie whirled around, having forgotten Sam was still in the apartment. Willing his heart to slow down, he wondered if the beat it skipped was from the jump scare or, really, from how close she was to him. He decided not to think about it.

"My mom just somehow cajoled everyone into taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and I didn't want any part of that."

Another whistle from outside blew past the windows of the apartment, highlighting the sudden silence inside.

"...Do you think we should go down too?" Sam asked, a shadow of fear passing quickly on her face before returning to cocky indifference.

"It can't hurt. And anyways, I wouldn't want to be alone with you!"

Freddie threw the last sentence over his shoulder with a playful grin as he picked up his backpack and swung it around his shoulders. "Are you ready or do you want to take some food with you? I have some room in my backpack."

Sam stared at him as she tried to reply with a good comeback but realized there was no need for one.

"Um, no, I'm good. Thank you, though." The uncharacteristic apology hung awkwardly in the air, and Sam desperately tried to wave it away. "What do you say to a little rebellion?"

"What?"

"LAST ONE TO ELEVATOR WILL NEVER GET CARLY TO LOVE THEM!"

Sam dashed out of the apartment with a grin, blonde curls flying around the front door as she wrenched it open and sprinted down the now-silent hallway. She reached the elevator in under a minute and smacked the down button, expecting Freddie to be rounding the corner with a huff and an angry flush at her Carly-love goading. When the elevator dinged a few seconds later and Freddie still hadn't showed up, she peered around the corner to see him standing calmly with the Shay's keys in his hand, smirking at her.

"You insult me, Puckett. You should know that doesn't work on me anymore." He strolled past her bewildered face to the now open elevator. "Coming?"

Sam recovered quickly. "Well thank God for that - I was getting tired of swallowing my own bile every time I saw the way you drooled over her."

Shoving past Freddie with a light elbow to his side, she was satisfied to see his eyes roll.

"Sam!"

There it was. There was something about the way he said her name that made her stomach flip-flop. She had found herself, more and more, teasing him so that he would roll his eyes and say that, say her name, in that exasperated, slightly disapproving way that made her feel even more mischievous. She couldn't help but notice, too, that this reaction was pretty new. She couldn't imagine a Freddie of three years ago even daring to be in an empty elevator with her, let alone roll his eyes and reprimand her in one.

Indignant, and for some reason wanting to prove himself to Sam, Freddie stared at her, waiting for what he thought was an inevitable punch, or at least a withering glare. The small, almost invisible smile caught him by surprise, and he caught himself involuntarily relaxing his defensive pose. Her eyes sparkled when she smiled, he thought. He liked to think that he knew her better than most people, but she didn't let a lot of people look so closely at her - both physically and emotionally. He soaked up the opportunity to take in the light in her eyes, the warmth and crackling energy that was uniquely Sam shining underneath her bangs and cascading curls. She seemed to be lost in thought, but a happy thought.

It was a good minute before the pair snapped out of their reverie, startled ironically not by a sudden movement, but the realization that there was none.

"Are we moving?"

Sam jumped up once, testing the feeling.

"I don't think we are."

"Oh great! My mom SAID this would happen! What do we do? Is there an emergency line in here? You just HAD to use the elevator and go against reason!"

Freddie was pacing around the elevator, gesticulating wildly.

"Everyone is in the basement right now and has no idea where we are! What if we run out of oxygen? What if we KILL each other? Remember what happened in that space pod? Jesus, why do we always end up in claustrophobic locations together? If Carly wasn't there you would've murdered me over those stupid space nuts! Sam, I swear, I am going to -"

"Freddie!" Sam grabbed his wrists in the air, forcing him to face her. "If I promise not to kill you will you calm down? Carly, Spencer, and your mom all knew we were on the eighth floor and it's not like there's a lot of places we could've gone. They'll find us soon!"

Noticing his expression at their contact, she dropped his wrists, but looked at him cautiously. After all, if they were going to be stuck in here together, she'd rather a Freddie in his right mind than a Freddie mid panic-attack.

Freddie sighed and slid to the ground against the wall opposite her, throwing his backpack beside him. "Sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"It's fine. I'm sorry I suggested the elevator thing. I guess it was pretty stupid."

Tilting his head up, Freddie gave a small smile. "Sam Puckett giving an apology? Maybe I should be worried."

For the second time today, Sam couldn't think of any remarkable comeback, so instead opting for shrugging and flopping onto the ground with him.

"Anyways, it's fine. And you don't need to apologize - it's not like I didn't agree to it. And you're right, we're not in any danger. Maybe it'll be worth seeing my mom's expression when she sees what happened."

The silence stretched comfortably over them as they made peace with the situation. Sam, wanting something to do with her hands, reached over for Freddie's backpack and pulled out a Fat Cake. Pulling back the plastic wrapper, she chewed the cake slowly and savored the sugar on her tongue. Mutely, she passed the second cake in the package over to Freddie, who took it almost automatically before registering what happened. Looking up with surprise at the blonde voluntarily giving up her food, Sam just gave a small shrug, and Freddie cautiously bit into the cake. The pair finished their cakes at almost the same time, wiping off the remaining pink particles on their jeans and returning to the quiet.

"You wouldn't happen to have like, a pack of cards in here or something? This is really boring," Sam said, rifling through the rest of Freddie's backpack.

"I don't think - Sam! Give that back!"

Grinning wickedly, the girl had pulled out a red journal and leapt up, brandishing it in the air.

"You don't seem to have any other school supplies in here, so what's this? Or are you doing calculus homework for fun?"

Freddie pulled at her leg, "Stop it! It's not calculus but it's nothing interesting so just give it back!"

"I'll be the judge of that!"

Sam flipped her hair over her shoulder and opened the journal dramatically, with a flourish.

"Ahem, ahem - To-Do List." She paused. "Dude, why don't you use your Notes app to write down lists like the rest of us? Anyways. 1. Calculus homework. Ha! 2. Filter iCarly comments after webcast. 3. - ok never mind, this is boring."

Sam sat down again, this time next to Freddie, and idly flipped the page. A yellow paper fluttered out of the journal, which she immediately recognized upon unfolding - the picture she'd drawn when Freddie was helping her with , a cartoon of the boy being eaten by a tiger. "Why do you still have this?"

Freddie laughed, albeit a little nervously. "Honestly, I don't know. It was a good drawing, and even if you didn't draw it with the friendliest intentions it made me laugh, so I kept it to remember that."

The journal lay forgotten next to Sam, who was studying the picture intensely. "I remember this week too. That was when Carly was dating Griffen, right? That was a crazy week."

She then tensed up a little and gave Freddie a questioning look. "Can I confess something to you? You have to swear not to tell Carly."

Freddie was taken aback but agreed instantly, curious as to what she could say to him that she wouldn't to her best friend.

"I don't think Carly treated him very well. One day she was completely over the moon and the next he was the weirdest person on the planet, just because he liked Pee Wee Babies. I love her and I think she's grown a lot since then, but it felt really judgemental and I was super uncomfortable being in the room when they broke up."

"Yeah... I think I have to agree with you there. I mean, I didn't like him much anyways, but that whole situation was really weird." Freddie hesitated, obviously thinking about what he was going to say next. "Can I confess something to you too?"

Sam turned her head from where she staring straight forward to turn to him, only to find herself staring directly in his eyes. When standing, Freddie had gotten significantly taller than her, but sitting down they were more or less at eye-level. Almost forgetting the question, she quickly replied affirmatively with a crude "sure".

"I kind of like it when Carly is dating someone."

"What?" That wasn't what she was expecting.

"I don't know. You know how when you decided we should take the elevator instead of the stairs and challenged me with something about how Carly will never love me? I just don't care about that anymore. Actually, it's not that I don't care, it's that I know she loves me now - as a friend. I love her too but just as a friend, and a sister. I want her to be happy, and she gets so happy when she's dating someone and she deserves the attention."

He continued, "Also, and I'm sorry if this comes across as weird, when Carly's dating someone we tend to spend more time just the two of us. I think we tend to view our friendship as just offshoots of our friendship with Carly, but we have a lot in common. Like when we were building that website? I know I was getting frustrated with all the corrections but I honestly got really into the project, even though the videos were gross. You gave a lot of really good notes, too. If I didn't know how lazy you are I'd think you could've built the website yourself."

He finished with a light smile, letting her know the small jab was a joke. He noticed a hint of a blush rise in her cheeks, before clearing his throat and ducking his head, slightly embarrassed at how much he had shared. When a few seconds had passed without a response, he braced himself for a punch and looked up again.

"Sam?"

She hadn't thought what he confessed was weird at all. In fact, she was embarrassed that he had gotten so close to the truth - she could've built the website herself. It wasn't laziness that prompted her to ask for his help, though.

"I only asked you help me so that we could spend more time together!"

The thought had come out as if by accident, blurted in one quick rush. Her cheeks colored even more.

"I mean, so I wouldn't have to get smoothies all by myself while Carly was off with Griffen, obviously." Internally, she groaned. These kinds of conversations weren't like her.

At the same time, though, backing down from difficult things wasn't like her, either.

Sam sighed, feeling supremely awkward. "Never mind. For better or for worse, you're one of my best friends. As long as we're alone I suppose I can tell you that I like spending time with you, too."

Freddie smiled at his knees and it was his turn to blush slightly. "Thanks. That means a lot."

Suddenly he felt a tickle on his right arm. Sam, feeling brave, had scooted towards him a few inches, her long curls swinging and brushing his arm in response to the movement. It was clear that neither of them were entirely sure of what was happening, but the quiet had become warm and comfortable as they settled down with mere inches between them. Freddie could feel goosebumps where her soft hair had grazed his arm and an electric pull on his right side where the owner of the curls sat. He looked at her in wonder, only to find her already staring at the space in between them, head tilted down as if in deep thought.

"Freddie?"

"Yeah?"

"I have one more thing to confess."

In one fluid motion, she leaned forward and placed a surprisingly gentle kiss on Freddie's cheek.

"That's it." she whispered softly.

Freddie could only stammer incoherently for a few seconds, breath caught in his throat. The energy in the elevator was suddenly vibrantly charged, reflecting the teen's racing heart and surprisingly clear mind. He did the only thing he could think of, and reached over once again to bridge the gap between them, this time capturing Sam's lips, whose own breath hitched. Freddie cradled the side of her head with his hand softly before leaning back again, staring at the blonde whose eyes remained half shut, drinking in the sparks that had flown between them. Freddie didn't know if magic existed, but in that moment he would have believed it without question.

Once she had regained her composure, Sam straightened and cautiously asked what she was afraid to hear the answer to.

"What does this mean?"

Freddie covered her hand with his own and thought for awhile before answering. "Whatever we want it to mean. Sam, you're my best friend. I could never stop loving you no matter what happens between us. But if you'll give me a chance, I think I'd like to find out what it means to be in love with you, too."

Sam could swear the elevator was echoing the beating of her heart, because there's no way it could be beating that loudly on its own. Nevertheless, she smiled at him.

"I like that idea."

And she leaned forward again to kiss him, a little deeper than the first one. It wasn't the kind of kiss that would make innocent Carly's cheeks go red, but the kind they talk about in romance novels - close, passionate, and giving, each person surrendering more and more of themselves to the other. It was awhile before they broke apart, finding themselves entangled on the floor of the elevator, arms wrapped around the other.

Sam grinned widely. "Not that I'm not enjoying this, but don't you think we should try to get some help? It's been a pretty long time, and now that we're... this, I don't think it would be productive for your mom to kill me for trapping you in a broken elevator."

Freddie, still a little woozy from the events of a few minutes ago and the feel of Sam's hands resting on his shoulders, nodded.

"Sure - let me look at the panel here."

The two moved towards the elevator's buttons, and simultaneously let out a cry of laughter. The problem was clear - they had forgotten to press any of the buttons when they first stepped into the elevator. With everyone clustered in the basement due to the storm, no one else had tried using it, and the elevator had been idling on the eighth floor for the entirety of their time in there. Freddie sheepishly pressed the "open door" button, and the doors slid smoothly open.

Staring out into the still-deserted hallway, Sam and Freddie turned to look at each other.

"I thought -"

"Didn't you -"

"I thought you had pressed the button!"

"I thought you had pressed the button!"

"Well," Freddie said, starting to smile, "I guess my mom was wrong about the elevator after all."

As if summoned, Mrs. Benson burst through the door coming from the stairs, panting after walking up nine flights.

"FREDDIE! WHERE WERE YOU?"

She pulled him out of the elevator and into a hug, Sam pulled along for the ride as he grabbed her hand.

"Mom!" he complained, nevertheless happy to see her. A few moments later, Carly and Spencer came through the door, shooting glares at Mrs. Benson but softening at the sight of Sam and Freddie.

"Where were you guys?" They both exclaimed, Carly rushing over and stopping suddenly when she noticed their clasped hands, raising an eyebrow.

"If someone - " Sam gave a pointed look to Mrs. Benson, who was still fretting over her son " - would quiet down for a second, it's really not an interesting story, we just... got stuck in the elevator. We're out now, so it's all good."

"YOU GOT STUCK IN THE ELEVATOR? OH, FREDDIE!"

"How did you get stuck? The electricity never went out and the service elevator is working perfectly fine," Carly asked.

"We - "

"Well - "

"Ok, so maybe not stuck exactly, but we thought we were! Fredward here forgot to press the button so we thought we were - "

" - Sam forgot to, "

"WE forgot to press the button, so we thought we were stuck." Sam finished with an amused glance at the boy next to her.

Carly didn't miss the lack of heat in their exchange or the playful glance her best friend had shot Freddie. She'd question them later, she thought. Not in front of Mrs. Benson.

"Alright, well I'm glad you're ok. Do you guys want to come upstairs and watch something in the studio now that the storm died down?"

Freddie looked at his mom for confirmation that she would let him go and and nodded. Sam squeezed his hand and he smiled down at her as she said "Sure! As long as you guys have an extra Fat Cake - someone here stole one of mine."

"You GAVE it to me!"

"As if anyone will believe that!"

Carly laughed as she followed them, still bickering, into her apartment, not knowing what had happened in that elevator but grateful for the way her friends were almost glowing with happiness. It was now just Spencer and Mrs. Benson outside, left standing in the hallway, bewildered at what had just happened. Mrs. Benson recovered first, snapping back into a business-like demeanor.

"Spencer, follow me. We need to collect my first-aid kit from downstairs now that I know Freddie's alright. We'll take the elevator."

Spencer groaned internally but followed her into the waiting elevator obediently.

"Please don't forget to press the button."

A/N

Thank you so much for reading! This is my first fanfiction ever (even though I've been reading it for years) so please let me know what you thought and how I can improve. I know iCarly has been off the air for almost 10 years, but given the revival and the show being added to Netflix I've gotten into it again as I'm sure a lot of people have. Please feel free to send me your recommendations as well because I'm always looking for new things to read!

Thanks again,

samflowers