Just after iSpace Out

Freddie was somewhere between sulking and recuperating in his room. After passing all of the other tests to see if they'd get to go into space, "The iCarly Trio" had really lost it in the final test and blown their chance.

But he wasn't really sulking about that. He'd behaved almost as badly as Carly and Sam, so he couldn't really sit there blaming them for it all. Well, not for losing their chance at legendary status as the first to do a web show in space.

But he could sit there (lay there, really) wondering if his friendship with Sam was indeed that. Her smacking him across the face with the slim silver bag of nuts had hurt more than he let on, worse, it left him feeling humiliated, and that had left him angry at her. It scared him a little how angry it had left him.

Why was it so uncomfortable with her? One of the things he sometimes liked about her was that she wasn't like "normal" girls but sometimes, he wished she didn't get so excited. Sometimes he wished the emotion she most easily expressed was not anger.

Carly had once tried to explain to him that Sam's actions stemmed at least as much from fear, and he supposed that was true, but it didn't change the fact that she hardly ever complimented him, or showed him any appreciation in spite of all the work he did, much of it with her, on iCarly.

Something has to change, he thought. It is time. He couldn't keep up the face of Freddie the long – suffering tech boy, who put – downs just rolled off the back of. What he needed was some reassurances, or...The "or" was depressing to think about.

He'd closed his eyes and was interrogating his feelings about her; not for the first time, when he heard a light knocking at his window. He opened his eyes and she was there outside his room, a look on her face he couldn't read. Sighing inwardly he got up and dragged his feet over to the window. She was probably going to "borrow" some money or wanted to copy his science homework or something. He opened the window, taking in the scene outside as he did so.

She was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans and her backpack was at her feet. Shadows were beginning to fall, but there was still a warm brightness to the air that he had to admit, played over her face and lit her hair in a most becoming way. Inwardly, he shook himself. None of that.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he returned expectantly. Just tell me what you want so I can either give it to you or-

"Is your face okay?"

"What?" He honestly wasn't sure he'd heard her right.

"I was thinking, I really hit you hard today."

"That's true..." Where was this going?

"And I didn't...I know you must feel bad about us all blowing this big opportunity, and I was at my mom's house and I wondered if me hitting you was making you feel even worse about that so I came over here to see if your face was okay."

Wait...is Sam Puckett...expressing regret? I mean no, she hasn't apologized or used any "feely"- type words but you'd almost think -

"Anyway," she said, briskly dropping down to open her backpack. "I brought you some ice cream."

As she pulled out a pint of Ben & Jerry's followed by a spoon, Freddie actually thought to himself that for the first time in his life he really understood what "could've knocked me over with a feather" meant. She handed him the carton, then seemed to be waiting for something. Whatever it was, she didn't get it so she asked,"Well?"

"Well what?" He was holding the carton but had still not looked at it.

"Am I going in, or are you coming out?"

"Oh! ...I'll come out."

She shrugged, turned and sat on the fire escape steps as he climbed out the window and leaned against the sill. There, for the first time, he picked up and really looked at the ice cream in his hands, reading the label aloud.

"Ice Cream Sammie.' Oh, that's very cute."

She tapped him on the nose with the spoon, but she did it gently and with a smile that was somehow both sheepish and defensive. "Hey, I happen to like cookies and cream. It's not my fault they named the flavor after me."

"I think it's a play on the words "ice cream sandwich."

"Nope! After me."

"Of course." After he picked the cellophane off and pulled up the lid, she handed him the spoon; he sank it into the ice cream and raised it to his lips. When he brought it down again, enjoying the sweet taste in his mouth, she was looking offended. "What?" He asked.

"I know you don't think you're eating that all by yourself, Benson." He realized she had a second spoon in her hand he hadn't seen her produce. Maybe she can pull them from the air, he thought.

"How foolish of me" he said, handing her back the carton, which she fell on like a wild dog.

And they spent the next 20 minutes passing it back and forth, laughing and talking. Talking about music, Carly's latest crush and everything except what they had done on another part of that very fire escape a year and change ago.

When they had finished, Sam reclaimed his spoon and put it along with hers in her backpack and zipped up. As she was preparing to crawl back down the stairs mounted to the outside of the building, he said, "Y'know, I know you're just going to keep messing with me."

"Yes. And I know you wouldn't have it any other way."

God help me, you might be right.

Before vanishing from sight she gave him a jaunty wave, fanning her fingers.

"See you tomorrow, nerd."
"'Bye, demon."

Freddie climbed back in and carried the now empty carton to the trash can by his bed. About to drop it in, the legend on the label pulled his attention and he paused to read it.

"This flavor is a mystery wrapped in an enigma... Confusing? Maybe. Totally delicious? You better believe it."

Looking up, he said in wonderment,

"Maybe they did name it after her."

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter...