A/N: Hey guys, xElectronicLuvr here. I hope you guys enjoy my story so far. Chapter 5 is here! I would like to thank seddie4thewin and Holeinone for reviewing. If you guys have any ideas, feel free to P.M. me or leave a review. All suggestions and reviews are welcomed! This chapter is a little longer if you guys don't mind. Hope you guys enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any characters portrayed within the story. All credit goes to Nickelodeon. There is one scene I do not own from iCarly.
Chapter 5: iReturn
Sam was walking towards the Groovy Smoothie place to meet up with Freddie and Carly. Knowing herself, she hates walking or anything that requires energy, but this time she wanted to walk. Why? She felt like appreciating every aspect of Seattle. Besides it had been over a year since she last saw her friends. When she turned the corner and stopped in front of the Groovy Smoothie entrance she glanced inside looking at Freddie and Carly at their usual sitting spot talking with their two smoothies in front of them and a smoothie cup in front of an empty seat waiting for her. Sam opened the door and made her way over to Carly and Freddie.
"Sup guys." Sam greeted.
"Sam! You're finally back" Carly put her smoothie down.
"I could say the same to you Carls." Sam responded.
"Nice to see you in the flesh once again Fredward." Sam looked towards Freddie.
"Right back at ya Princess Puckett." Freddie gestured back to her with his smoothie in his right hand.
"So how was Italy? Or should I say The Tour of Europe?" Sam asked Carly.
"It was awesome. The longest we stayed was the first trip to Italy. I didn't know there were over a hundred versions of pasta. It was ridiculous in a good way of course. Practically had pasta for breakfast, lunch, and dinner." Carly told.
"Ah, you're living mama's dream." Sam looked up and closed her eyes dreaming about pasta as she held her Blueberry Blitz smoothie.
"Where's Gibby?" Carly asked.
"GIBAAYY" Gibby slides over to Carly, Sam, and Freddie's table. "You called me?"
"Gibby! It's nice to see you." Carly was away for so long she even missed Gibby's weirdness.
"Nice to see you back Carly!" Gibby greeted Carly.
"How's it been?" Carly asked interested.
"It's been good. You know that arcade downtown Seattle?" Gibby replied.
"Pave and Clusters right?" Carly asked.
"Yeah! I got a job there and they're going to make me co-manager." Gibby broke the news.
"That's awesome! So free games for life huh?" Carly joked.
"That's what I said." Sam brought up.
Freddie chuckled and looked down at his drink remembering the determination Sam had when she was going to make Gibby give them discounts at the arcade.
Gibby and Carly looked confused.
"You're gonna hook us up Gibby?" Sam raised her eyebrow hinting at the discount
"Actually no I ca-" Gibby's expression changed when he saw Sam's death glare and she slowly pulled out a forty volt mini taser.
"I can, how do three freebies all you can play tickets sound?" Gibby quickly spat out and hushed up.
"That sounds better." Sam was pleased with herself and put back her mini taser back in her sock.
Gibby now frightened. Carly changed the subject.
"Thanks Gibby, anything else new with you."
"You remember Tasha?" Gibby asked.
"You mean the hot chick you dated two years ago?" Sam interrupted.
"Yeah her." Gibby gave Sam a glare still recovering from her threats. "Anyways, we got back together and you guys won't believe it. She's now a model, she got hired by Vivian's Hidden Devils. She gets paid for it traveling all over the states and globe to do magazine photo shoots for different designer brands."
"No way!" Carly was shocked.
"I mean it's not surprising." Sam said monotonously.
"Believable." Freddie commented.
"I know right! Man now I had time to sit down and think to myself. I'm one lucky man." Gibby tilted his head with a side smile looking into space thinking about his girlfriend.
CHIME CHIME
"Speaking of Tasha, that's her. She just got back from Talisburg. I'm gonna pick her up and spend some time with my lady." Gibby did a shoulder shimmy.
"Talisburg?" Freddy looked questioningly at Gibby. "Where is that?"
"Talisburg. Salzburg. Somewhere in Europe? Heck if I know. Same thing." Gibby shrugged. "Later guys! Nice to see you again Carly!" Gibby said before turning his back and running out.
"Bye Gibby! Nice to see you too!" Carly yelled back.
Carly, Sam, and Freddie continued to finish their drink before Sam spoke up.
"Seriously. What is wrong with that chick?" Sam referring to Tasha.
"Aww Sam be nice. I think it's cute for Gibby to have someone who really likes him. You know considering he's a little more on the Gibby side." Carly defended Gibby
"Ehh you got a point." Sam shrugged. "Anyways I finished my Blueberry Blitz. I'm going to get another one. I swear the cups aren't as big as they seem. You guys want another one?" Sam asked.
"Nah I'm good. Thanks" Carly simply replied.
"You Freddo?" Sam looked at him.
"No thanks. I'm all smoothied out." Freddie replied while his left hand touched his stomach and he stretched.
"Alright. Be. Right. Back." Sam gestured at them pointing both her index fingers with her thumbs up before turning around to wait in line and order.
Right when Sam went a few inches away from their table. Carly confronted Freddie.
"When are you going to do it?"
"I'm still trying to find out a way to ask her and I don't know if it's the right time yet." Freddie explained.
"What? To ask her out? It's been two weeks Freddie and I'm pretty sure you've been doing this for months. Staring at your saved pictures of you and her on your phone won't speed up the process." Carly pointed out.
Freddie was speechless, "How did you-"
Carly cut him off before he makes up an excuse,"Uh-huh I saw you. I have eyes."
Freddie was silent trying to think.
"Make a move. I know Sam really wants you back too. She may not be great at expressing it in the feelings department, but deep down I know she does." Carly told Freddie.
"I know. I just don't want to mess it up alright? I want this whole thing to be perfect. I don't want to freak her out." Freddie admitted.
"You're right. You shouldn't rush it." Carly agreed realizing rushing it without a plan would be a bad idea. Carly looked at Freddie and continued to ask, "I mean have you given it a thought of how you might want to ask her to be your girlfriend again?"
"I had one for a while, but I always put it off because I always thought there was always a better way to ask her. For a few months, there wasn't any other way but that and I think I'm going to stick to it." Freddie answered and continued to look at Carly. "Would you mind helping me?"
Carly smiled and excited for Freddie and Sam. "Of course, anything for my two favorite people."
Sam came back to the table, "Got my smoothie, anything I missed?" Sam looked at Carly?
"Uh- Freddie and I have been talking and since we're all back now. Why not start iCarly again? A "We're back!" Segment?" Carly attempts to change the subject and play it smoothly.
"Hey! That's a good idea! I was thinking about it earlier but I just thought it was too soon. But since you brought it up why the heck not?" Sam agreed.
"Yeah my tech bag is at your place, remember you wanted me to make an all around photo slide show of all the places you visited? Why not add that to the segment too?" Freddie suggested.
"Hey that's not so bad, wow we never came up with an iCarly idea this fast before." Carly commented.
"Well that's what happens when you go on hiatus for a while." Sam laughed.
"Want to head back to my place and do the rehearsal and air the "Welcome iCarly skit" next week?" Carly suggested.
"Yeah, let's do it!" Sam exclaimed.
"Sure." Freddie agreed.
Carly, Sam, and Freddie all walked out of Groovy Smoothie back to Bushwell Plaza.
As the three trio walked up the stairs onto Carly's and Freddie's apartment hall. They continued to catch up and fill each other in on what happened with each of them in the past year.
"Is it just me? Did Lewbert's wart increase in size?" Carly brought up.
"Nope it's not just you, that thing had started to move closer and closer to his nose." Sam answered.
"Gross" Carly shivered in disgust.
Carly pulled out her pink apartment key and opened the door for Sam and Freddie to walk in. When she opened the door they were greeted by Spencer working on a new sculpture.
"Yello" Spencer yelled out
"Whatcha making?" Carly asked while making her way to the kitchen to pour herself a Peach Berry Fruit Punch glass.
"I'm making a pie sculpture." Spencer simply answered.
"For what?" Sam asked.
"Remember Galini's Pie Shop?" Spencer asked.
"Yeah, who could forget? The classic coconut cream pie slice?" Freddie mentioned.
"Yep! And remember Trudy?" Spencer brought up.
"That psycho, gross looking chick that you went on a date with so we could get the pie recipe?" Sam asked sitting from the couch with her feet up.
"That's her, well Galini's pie shop is renovating and Trudy called me and asked me to build a pie sculpture to put outside the shop." Spencer explained.
"She called you? I thought you never wanted to see her again?" Carly looked at Spencer with a bewildered expression.
"I did, but guess how much she offered me? More than my asking price." Spencer gave a smirk.
"How much did she offer to pay you?" Carly turned the kitchen counter corner and stood in front of the living room computer.
Spencer walked over to Carly and whispered in her ear to tell her the price. Carly's eyes went wide and she dropped her glass of fruit punch.
"What!? That much!? You know you can buy hundreds and hundreds of whole coconut cream pies with that!" Carly exclaimed.
"I know! But I'm not gonna. I'm saving it.. For once." Spencer's gaze trailed off.
"You're going to attempt to buy as many coconut cream pie boxes as you can right?" Carly asked with an monotone expression.
"Yuh-huh" Spencer admitted.
Carly rolled her eyes and chuckled at Spencer while cleaning up her fruit punch spill with a mop. She turned to Freddie and Sam. "You guys want to and head up to the studio and rehearse?"
"Yup" Freddie answered.
"Bout time." Sam answered wanting to get to the studio.
Carly, Sam, and Freddie headed up the stairs and Carly unlocked the studio door.
"It feels good to be home." Sam went and plopped down on Carly's purple bean bag chair.
"Okay where do we start first?" Freddie asked.
"Oh! Remember the USB of all my travel pics? Want to pull that out first?" Carly suggested.
"Sure it's right-" Freddie stopped mid sentence realizing where he left it. "Shoot. I left it back at my place on top of my dresser. I'll be right back." Freddie opened the studio door and ran to go get Carly's USB.
Carly saw this opportunity to find out if Sam loves Freddie back. She walked to the door and peeked out to ensure Freddie was gone. She closed the door and turned around to Sam who was looking directly at her with a confused look on her face before she excitedly assumed.
"Oh chiz, are we pranking Freddie!? That would be a great comeback script for iCarly!"
"No we're not pranking Freddie. Actually Sam. That's not what I want to talk about. I need to ask you something." Carly suddenly became serious.
"Is this about me taking ten dollars from your wallet?" Sam asked.
"Wha-?" Carly took out her wallet and looked inside. "Sam!"
"Oh. Can I keep the ten dollars then?" Sam asked, pulling out a ten dollar bill.
"No!" Carly took the bill back and shoved it into her wallet. "Seriously Sam I need to talk to you about something?"
"What is it?" Sam is now curious about what Carly has to say.
Carly took a deep breath before asking Sam the question, "Do you still love Freddie?"
Sam was shocked at what Carly had asked and took a second to stare Carly deep in the face before answering. "What? No! You're crazy why would I?" Sam scoffed.
"First of all, you hesitated." Carly pointed out.
"No I didn't, you just caught me off guard." Sam defended.
"Second of all, you haven't insulted Freddie once since we hung out. You never miss a chance to make fun of him." Carly stated.
"It's been a while. Mama's been a little rusty. Just give me more time to adjust and I'll be back on it in no time." Sam argued.
"Sam you're never rusty." Carly brought up.
"I-" Sam started to say but Carly cut her off. "Third, when you thought no one was looking you were checking Freddie out. I pretended not to notice and saw you do so in my peripheral vision."
"No I wasn't" Sam denied.
Carly raised her eyebrows and looked at Sam.
He looked different from how I remembered okay?" Sam weakly argued.
"Or it's because you love Freddie?" Carly smiled and teased Sam.
"Stop saying that!" Sam covered her ears.
"I'll stop saying it if you admit you love Freddie." Carly gave her an ultimatum.
"Fine!" Sam yelled.
Carly quickly shut up and looked at Sam. She was expecting Sam to put up a fight like she did when they were at Troubled Waters Mental Institution. But she didn't.
"So what if I do? It wouldn't make a difference anyway." Sam admitted.
"Sam. If you feel something for Freddie you should talk to him." Carly encouraging Sam.
"And tell him what? How I have these stupid feelings for him? You don't know how bonkers I would sound. Plus he probably doesn't feel the same way. There's no point." Sam stated.
"Sam you don't sound stupid at all. It's the opposite of that. It's sweet that you still love Freddie. Who knows, he might still feel the same way about you, you have to give it a shot and find out." Carly reasoned.
Sam stayed silent and pondered about what Carly just said.
"Sam, you're my best friend. I really want to see you and Freddie happy. Especially you. You deserve happiness. I don't want to see you constantly hurting yourself by not confronting your feelings. I see the way you look at him and you may not fully admit it but we both know how much you feel for him." Carly softly told Sam.
Freddie opened the studio door holding the small silver USB, "Found it! Sorry it took me a while. I had to get my mom to stop trying to clean my ears. She was chasing after me with it."
Carly looked at Sam indicating that the conversation will be continued later.
"No it's fine. We were wondering where you were." Carly answered Freddie.
"Did I miss anything important?" Freddie asked.
"Well Carly and I were debating whether or not the iCarly web show special should last an hour or not?" Sam attempts to reduce the awkwardness from moments before.
"I mean I'm cool with anything you guys want to do. It's our first webshow back. Let's come back with a big bang." Freddie opted.
"Sounds like a good idea, should we get rehearsing?" Carly asked while looking at Sam.
Freddie picked up his camera and pulled up the iCarly website to prepare for a pre-recording for the show.
"In five, four, three, two…" Freddie counted down and clicked the spacebar on his computer.
"I'm Carly! And I'm Sam!"
"This iCarly and we're back!" Carly and Sam yelled synchronously. Sam clicked the button and initiated the crowd cheer.
After rehearsing, adding, and removing some things as practice for the show next week. Carly, Sam, and Freddie decided to call it a day.
"And we are clear!" Freddie stopped the recording.
"That was great! I can't wait til we go live next week." Carly exclaimed.
"Yeah it has been forever since we were able to wing it for rehearsals and it actually turned out good on the first try." Sam mentioned pointing the water bottle to Carly before opening the cap and taking a sip.
"We did a good job tonight." Freddie commented before pulling out his phone looking at the time, "Speaking of time, I think I'm going to call it a night. I'll see you guys at school tomorrow. Adios." Freddie bid his goodnight before packing up and leaving out the studio door.
As Carly and Sam watched the door slowly close shut. Carly immediately turned to Sam looking at her. Sam pretended to not notice Carly and let a moment of silence pass by.
"Sam.." Carly started.
"Look I get it Carls okay? I know if I keep it in. It's going to eat me inside. It hasn't been the first time." Sam acknowledged what Carly was saying.
"I care about you Sam. I just don't want to sit by watching you hurt yourself." Carly explained.
"I know, I just need time… Alright?" Sam sighed.
"Alright. If you need to talk or anything. Just know I'm always here for you." Carly smiled at Sam.
"Thanks kid, I know I can always count on you." Sam smiled back. "Well I'm going to call it a night. I'll see you back at school tomorrow." Sam said as she was grabbing her backpack and putting her water bottle inside.
"Tomorrow? I thought you were still going to do online classes?" Carly asked confused.
"Yeah, staying home and doing online classes was all fun for a while, but I'm starting to kinda miss the outside world. I sent an email to the school requesting to finish my classes in person and they emailed me back and said I could come back. Also I can't torture Gibby while I'm at home right?" Sam replied.
"Well I'm glad you're coming back. I would have dragged you to school in person regardless. It would've been weird without you there." Carly explained.
"Yeah I figured you would. On the bright side, I get to eat Tacos on Tuesdays again." Sam put her left hand on her stomach. "Well I'm gonna head out, night Carls."
"Okay night!" Carly yelled out as Sam left through the studio door.
Sam closed the door and ran downstairs to exit out Carly's apartment. Once she slowly closed the door and took a small step and suddenly stopped. Her eyes locked with Freddie's apartment door. She stood there for a moment and her brain quickly thought about Freddie. Sam turned and went towards his apartment door. His door was unlocked, she opened it and went inside and closed the door.
A/N: Chapter 5 Done! I want to thank the people who followed and favorited my story! Thank you for reading and giving my story a chance. Here are some honorable mentions:
- Saphirabrightscale
- mconsdiaz
- Postman97
- 134435OOO
- scoobyfanatic33
- CptSheridan
- DavidWalker30
The next chapter will be out soon! Thank you guys again! ~xElectronicLuvr out