AN-Happy birthday to purpleseddielove! Hope you have a great one!
Also, this oneshot is a sequel to chapter 319, where Sam decided to leave Seattle after seeing Freddie and Carly kiss in iGoodbye.
…
Ordinary
Well then, Freddie thought to himself as he headed out of the Shay's apartment with his video camera. I guess it's really over then.
How could so much have happened in a matter of just a few hours? When he woke up this morning, everything was normal. And now…one of his best friends was on her way to her new home in Italy and the longest chapter of his life, iCarly, had just ended.
He slowly looked back at the Shay's door. He wondered how often he'd be going there now. Sure, he'd try and keep up with Spencer, but he figured the artist would try to take his mind off of things by maybe starting over; really focusing on his art and possibly even making a few friends his own age.
He sighed and turned to head back into his own apartment, which was completely empty. His mom was working the night shift at the hospital, and T-Bo had gone down to the Groovy Smoothie shortly after he had said goodbye to Carly to try and piece together some new fangled blenders he had ordered.
He dragged his feet into his room, ignoring his mother's note on the coffee table telling him to steam his pajamas for ticks, and fell back onto his bed.
He didn't know exactly how to feel right now…sad? Because iCarly had ended and Carly moved? Angry at her father for instigating the events? Happy for Carly, for getting to finally spend some real time with her dad, like he knew she had been wanting to for years?
He gave a soft chuckle. Maybe he should take a leaf from Sam's book and just burry all his feelings with meat.
Sam…he sat up, frowning. He had just realized that Sam had never come back up after riding down with Carly an hour ago; had she gone home? Probably. He was certain that as bad he felt right now, Sam's pain exceeded his. Carly meant more to her than he could ever comprehend; the two were practically sisters! And he knew that Sam was used to having things ripped away from her, but Carly? Carly was usually the one who got Sam through any tough times she had to go through.
She needs someone to talk to, Freddie decided, pulling out his Pearphone. And for any matter, he felt that talking to someone in the same boat as him wouldn't hut him either.
But just as he was about to dial Sam's number, he paused, remembering his last phone conversation with her…how he had made things very awkward. He couldn't believe he had just blurted that out to her. What kind of moron would ask his ex-girlfriend if she wanted to get back together over the phone?
"It's all Gibby's fault," Freddie mumbled, remembering his little conversation with his friend as they headed towards Get-A-Head at the mall earlier that day…
…
"You sure you don't want make a head?" Gibby asked as him and Freddie walked through the ordinary mall crowd.
"Quite," Freddie nodded. "My mom's already plastered our apartment with pictures of me. I don't need to see a replica of my head anywhere else around my place too."
"Yeah…you're not handsome enough for that kind of publicity," Gibby nodded.
"Well thanks," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"Whoa!" Gibby said, stopping in his tracks suddenly. "Look at those girls over there!"
He pointed to a couple of attractive girls standing over by a Churro cart.
"It's a couple of girls," Freddie shrugged. "So?"
"So? Look at how hot they are!" Gibby exclaimed. "Man…I'd like to go fishing with them."
"Fishing?" Freddie repeated, amused.
"It's a hot date idea!" Gibby defended. "Come on, let's go over them and see if we can get them to come to the pier with us."
"No," Freddie said. "I'm not really in the mood for that."
"But they're so hot!"
"Eh, I guess they're not really my type," Freddie shrugged.
"Dude, you've been bumming me out for the past couple of weeks with this little act of yours!" Gibby said. "You wouldn't help me talk to those girls at Hey Foods, you wouldn't be my wingman at the laundromat, and you wouldn't go through with my plan to get the cheerleaders at school to love us!"
"Because that was illegal!" Freddie hissed.
"I know what this is," Gibby said, crossing his arms and smiling at Freddie.
"What? Please enlighten me," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"You don't want to date any girls we see because you already found a chick you wanna date," Gibby said knowingly. "You're still into Sam, aren't you?"
"What?" Freddie yelped. "Are you crazy? I am not still into her! No way, uh-uh, not true. Nope."
"Um…I was kidding before," Gibby frowned. "But after that…maybe you do still like her."
"No I do not!" Freddie snapped, his cheeks flushing.
"No, no, Teen Chick magazine just released a list of the Ten Sure Signs of a Crush," Gibby said. "Blushing, nervousness…they're all on there."
"Will you drop this?" Freddie groaned. "For the millionth time, I don't still like her!"
"Denial's not just a river in Alaska."
"Egypt!" Freddie exclaimed. "The Nile is in Egypt! Honestly, did you and Sam just sleep through all of geography last year?"
"Wow, okay, I see," Gibby said, nodding. "After all we've been through, you don't trust me enough to tell me about your girl problems."
"I don't have girl problems!" Freddie said, exasperated.
"Come on, dude, if you want to get back together with Sam, why don't you just ask her to?" Gibby said.
"I don't-" Freddie started, but then he shook his head. "You know what? You're just being impossible right now. And anyway…in the hypothetical situation that I did still have feelings for Sam, which I don't, it wouldn't be as simple as just asking her if she wanted to get back together. I mean, there's no way she'd want to go out with me again."
"You never know," Gibby said. "I mean, she could. She's been a little nicer to you latterly, hasn't she? Or, well, nicer for Sam."
"I guess…maybe a little. But that doesn't mean she wants to be a couple again," Freddie replied.
"Fine, be a chicken with your love life," Gibby shrugged. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go get my rubber head made."
…..
Freddie remembered how Gibby's words kept circling his mind for the rest of the mall trip. While the man at Get-A-Head showed him and Gibby his weasel, while he was buying his purse-like phone case…They were still circling when Sam had called him later, which he figured was the reason he had unceremoniously blurted out what he did to her.
But the second the words left his mouth, he realized that it had been a mistake. Maybe Gibby could get girls just by asking them to go out with him, but Gibby has some weird charm that no one could understand.
Sam seemed like she had been caught completely off guard; not swept off her feet, so Freddie quickly changed the subject, hoping Sam wouldn't think he was some total freak. Or, well, more of a total freak than she already thought he was.
For the rest of the day, up until Carly had announced that she was going to Italy, Freddie had been trying to figure out what to do about the situation he had gotten himself into.
Did he truly want to get back together with Sam? His first instinct answer had been yes, of course. Sam was beautiful, she was funny, spontaneous, and that month they had been together had been on of the best times of his life.
But then the more rational side of him reminded himself that even though that month had been filled with plenty of fun, it had also been felt with countless arguments and clashes that came as a result of their two very different personalities. Maybe getting back together would just be more of a strain than anything…Maybe he'd be better off with a girl more like him. Someone like…like Carly.
That had been a new thought for him. He hadn't thought of Carly in a romantic sense since they broke up over two years ago. She had always been more of a platonic sister figure, but maybe…maybe she was meant to be more than that to him.
And so a new debate began in his already churning mind; did he want to be with Sam, the total opposite of him? Or someone more along the lines of Carly.
But then, the miracle came; his question was answered! As he had been cleaning up his iCarly supplies after their last web show, Carly had come in and kissed him. And from the second her lips touched his, he knew. He knew that there was a reason him and Carly never officially got together again after that whole taco truck incident. He felt nothing from the kiss. Sure, it was nice; sort of a way of saying goodbye to one of the best friends he would ever have, but in a romantic sense, the kiss was empty. And when she pulled away from him, he could tell that Carly felt the same way.
He had been so thrilled to have the feud in his head drawn to an end; so happy that as he and Carly headed out of the studio he threw his hands up in victory. He knew what he really wanted now.
So here he was, an hour later, sitting on the bed with his phone out. Now he just had to work up the courage to call Sam.
He didn't want to bring anything up to her about the possibility of rebuilding their relationship just yet; he knew she was hurting, and right now he just wanted her to know that he was there for her. So taking a deep breath, he dialed Sam's number.
But she didn't pick up.
He tried again. And then again, but he still got her voicemail. He sent her texts, but nearly half-an-hour later he still hadn't gotten a response.
"Sam," Freddie sighed. He should've figured that it wouldn't be this easy. She was probably at home now, lying in her bed, where no one would have to see the invincible Sam Puckett shed a few tears.
He quickly got to his feet and headed out of his apartment.
He reached Sam's house about twenty minutes later, and knocked on her door, but was met with the same response his phone calls received.
He was just about to knock again, when suddenly, he noticed that there was no light coming from the windows at the front of the house. Nor were there any lights coming from any of the lights, even Sam's room.
He trudged through the grass and rapped at Sam's window, trying to peer into it, but all he could see through the grime and dirt was an empty room.
Freddie frowned. Where would Sam be at this hour? It was nearly two in the morning! He hoped she wasn't out roaming the streets of Seattle.
At least she has that motorcycle now, he thought to himself, sitting down on the front steps of the Puckett house. So she won't have to walk, wherever she is…But still, where the heck-
Suddenly he jumped to his feet as cold realization flooded his body. Sam had that motorcycle. iCarly had just ended. Her best friend was on her way to a new continent. What else would Sam Puckett, who may play a brave front, but was secretly just as afraid of change as anyone else, if not, more, do, besides runaway from the things causing her the pain.
"She-She wouldn't-" Freddie whispered, almost desperately. "No…she wouldn't…"
But deep down, he knew the truth. Sam Puckett had run away. She had left Seattle, and it looked as if he had lost her.
