Palace
"Okay, so let me get this straight," Carly frowned, sipping her smoothie at the Groovy Smoothie. "You died your underwear magenta…"
"Yeah," Gibby nodded.
"And it…bled onto your skin?" Sam finished.
"And through my kakis!" Gibby exclaimed. "Lucky I had this kilt in my locker to wear over the stain." He pulled at the Scottish kilt that he currently had around his waist.
"I'm still not really clear on why you died your underwear in the first place," Carly said.
"Oh, well see," Gibby began. "I was reading this magazine, and-"
"No, no, I didn't ask you to give me more details," Carly said quickly.
"Yeah, don't make me puke up the smoothie I just bought," Sam frowned.
"Hey, you guys," Freddie said, walking into the Groovy Smoothie. He gave Sam a quick kiss and sat down next to her. "Sorry I'm late."
"Where were you, baby?" Sam asked.
"Being held up by my mom," Freddie sighed. "She just got this chain email that says denim causes boys to grow faulty facial hair or something, so I had to stop her from throwing away all my jeans and-Gibby? Are you wearing a kilt?"
"Yeah, I died my underwear," Gibby said.
"Uh-huh," Freddie said, giving him a strange look. "Okay, well I'm gonna go get my smoothie. Sam, I know you're probably hungry. Want me to get you some French fries or something?"
"Um, no, no," Sam said quickly. "I'm good."
Carly, Gibby and Freddie all stared at her.
"What?" Sam snapped. "I'm not allowed to be full once in awhile?"
"No, it's just I never thought I'd live to see the day when you were," Freddie chuckled. "Especially when I'm offering to buy the food for you."
"Well, my smoothie's enough for right now," Sam mumbled.
"Okay," Freddie shrugged. "I'll be back in a sec."
"You know?" Gibby said, wincing as he shifted in his seat. "I think I might be allergic to the dye…I think I might be getting a rash on my-"
"Gibby!" Sam and Carly yelled.
…
"Ugh, are we done making confetti yet?" Sam moaned, cutting up several pieces of colorful construction paper.
"Just about," Carly said.
"We've been at this for six hours," Freddie said, massaging his scissor hand.
"Yeah, why do we need this much confetti?" Gibby asked.
"Because we need enough to stuff six dozen teddy bears for iCarly tomorrow night," Carly explained, dumping the last of her confetti into the fourth large garbage bag the four teens had filled. "There…I think that's just about it."
"Finally!" Sam exclaimed. "I never want to cut anything again!"
"Hey you guys!" Spencer said brightly, coming into his apartment. "Whoa, what's with the trash bags?"
"They're filled with confetti for a bit we're doing on iCarly," Freddie told him.
"Yeah, we just spent six hours cutting construction paper into tiny little pieces," Gibby nodded.
"It was a nightmare," Carly said.
"You guys," Spencer laughed. "Why didn't you just use my confetti maker?"
The four teens looked up at him.
"Confetti maker?" Sam repeated.
"Yeah, that little shredder thing on the bottom shelf over there," Spencer said. "It was a gift from Socko's grandmother. You just stick in the construction paper, press a button, and BAM! You get a pound of confetti in about ten seconds."
"Spencer!" Carly exclaimed. "You heard me complaining about having to make all this confetti during breakfast this morning, and you didn't think to tell me about you little confetti maker then?"
"I-I thought you knew about it," Spencer said lamely.
"You're lucky I don't put you through it!" Sam snapped.
"Well, that's six hours we're never going to get back," Freddie sighed.
"I could've been trying to solve my rash problem," Gibby mumbled.
"Let's just go get dinner and try to save the rest of this day," Carly said, still glaring at her brother.
"Oh cool, I could go for some food," Spencer said. "Where are were going?"
"We are going to Pizza Palace," Carly said. "You can stay here and play with your confetti maker!"
"But I want pizza too," Spencer said sadly as Carly, Sam, Freddie and Gibby stormed out of the apartment. He sighed as they slammed the door shut. "Oh well," he said, picking up his confetti shredder and a leftover sheet of construction paper. He pushed the on button on the shredder and put the paper through it. "Looks like it's just you and me Mr. Confetti Maker. But that's okay, we'll still have a marvelous-Ah!"
The shredder suddenly burst into flames, and Spencer quickly dropped it and put the fire out with the nearby fire extinguisher.
"Well then," he said breathlessly once the flames were gone. "I guess I'm on my own."
…
"Okay, how good is the pizza here?" Freddie grinned, taking a bite of his perfectly seasoned slice.
"Delicious," Sam agreed. "They must use like eight different types of cheese!"
"There aren't even eight types of cheese," Gibby scoffed.
"Are you challenging my cheese knowledge?" Sam frowned, narrowing her eyes.
"Hold on, maybe he's got a point," Carly said. "Let's see, there's mozzarella, cheddar, American…"
"Gouda," Freddie added.
"And Swiss," Sam said.
"That's still not eight," Gibby pointed out.
"Excuse me," Carly said as their waiter appeared at their table. "Do you happen to know how many types of cheese there are?"
"No, but maybe if I did, I'd be making it big on Broadway right now instead of waiting tables in this dump!" he snapped, slamming their bill down on the table.
"Um…okay then," Carly said as their waiter stormed off. She reached for her purse. "We need to get going if we're gonna make our movie, so let's just pay and get out of here."
"Kay kay," Gibby said, pulling out his own wallet.
Sam reached into her bag and pulled out a few bills too.
"Sam?" Freddie whispered, looked down at the cash in her hand. "What are you doing?"
"Paying for my food?" Sam replied.
"But…I usually pay for you when we go out like this," Freddie said. "You don't have to worry about it."
"No, it's fine, I got it," Sam said, giving him a small smile.
"Well are you sure? Because I-"
"Freddie…leave it, okay?" Sam said firmly.
"Alright," Freddie conceded, giving his girlfriend a strange look.
…
"Okay, we have ten minutes before the movie starts," Carly said as they all walked into the theatre lobby. "I'm gonna run to the bathroom real quick."
"I'll come with you," Sam said.
"Man, girls really do always go to the bathroom together," Gibby said, shaking his head as Sam and Carly headed towards the restrooms.
"Yeah, it's a chick thing," Freddie shrugged. "Come on, there's no line at the concession stand."
"Oh sweet, I can get some gummy bears," Gibby said happily.
"Hi," Freddie said to the cashier behind the counter. "Can I get two medium sodas and two large popcorns? Oh, and a box of those Ju Ju bees."
"You know, I was thinking," Gibby frowned as Freddie paid for the snacks. "Why do you never buy me food? You always buy Sam food."
"Because Sam's my girlfriend," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"So? That makes her so much more important than me?"
"Just buy your bears!" Freddie snapped.
Once Gibby had purchased his snack, the boys went back to meet the girls, who were waiting for them by the theatre entrance.
"Here you go, baby," Freddie said, handing Sam her snacks.
"Oh…you-you didn't have to do this," Sam said, looking at the food with an odd expression.
"It's what I always buy you when we go to the movies," Freddie shrugged.
"Well here," Sam said, reaching into her pocket and handing him a few bills.
"Sam? Why are you giving me money?" Freddie asked.
"For the popcorn and stuff."
"No, you don't have to pay me for that," Freddie said.
"I want to," Sam said.
"But you already paid for your dinner-"
"So? I can pay for this too."
"But you-"
"Just take the money, will you?" Sam snapped.
"Um…Sam?" Carly frowned. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Sam mumbled.
"Sam…baby, what's wrong?" Freddie asked.
"Nothing!"
Freddie glanced over at Carly.
"Um, Gibby and I will wait for you two in the theatre," Carly said, grabbing Gibby's wrist.
"No! This was just about to get interesting!" Gibby moaned as Carly yanked him away.
"Nothing's wrong, Freddie," Sam said firmly once they were alone.
"Then why have you been acting so weird lately?" Freddie asked.
"I haven't been acting weird."
"Yes you have," Freddie nodded. "It's like whenever I go to pay for something for you, you freak out. The other day at the smoothie you refused to let me buy you fries. Last night when we were hanging out at the mall, you didn't want me to get you a Churro even though you love them. You paid for yourself at the pizza place, and now you want to give me money for your popcorn?"
"So I'm crazy for spending my own money? Is that right?" Sam asked.
"Well…yeah," Freddie said. "I mean, you've never been one to turn down an offer for someone to buy you something."
"Just because you're my boyfriend doesn't mean you have to buy me everything," Sam said softly, looking down at her shoes.
"No, I guess not," Freddie agreed. "But I don't mind getting you food when you're out; I know you really like it."
"Well I don't want you to anymore," Sam said firmly.
"Why not?" Freddie frowned.
"Because."
"Because isn't an answer, Sam," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "Just tell me why you really don't want me to buy you-"
"Because I'll become my mother!" Sam exclaimed.
Freddie looked at her, confused. "Um…wanna back up there and explain?"
"Look, you know my mom's dating agenda," Sam sighed. "She dates a guy and just gets him to buy her a bunch of stuff without really caring about him. It's pathetic…I already have a prison record like her, I don't want to have that reputation too."
"Sam," Freddie smiled, putting his arms around her. "Baby, that's ridiculous."
"Is it?" Sam mumbled. "We've been back together for about five months now…I bet you that within that time you've spent half your savings just buying me food."
"I highly doubt that," Freddie said.
"Well you've spent a lot!" Sam snapped.
"Sam," Freddie said gently. "First of all, I may spend a lot on you, but…it's not like you're forcing me to. Believe it or not, if there ever comes a time where I can't afford to buy you a third muffin because my mom cut off my allowance again, I know how to tell you that. But for the time being, you're not exactly hacking away at my savings. And second, you're not becoming your mother."
"Yes I-"
"You said that when you mom dates guys, she gets them to get her all this stuff without really caring about them," Freddie continued. "But you care about me, right?"
Sam gave him a small smile. "Well yeah."
"Exactly," Freddie grinned. "And besides, you buy me stuff too. You paid the bill when we went out for my birthday last month, and you ordered that model train I really wanted online."
"I know," Sam said. "But…I just don't want people to think that I'm using you."
"No one thinks that you're using me, Sam," Freddie told her. "And if they think they do? Who cares! You just told me yourself that you care about me, I know you're not using me, what else matters?"
Sam didn't reply.
"Sam, I don't mind buying you things because I love you," Freddie said. "And you know I wouldn't be spending my money on just anyone…even I'll admit I'm pretty stingy."
Sam laughed. She looked up at her boyfriend. "You'll promise you'll let me know if my food habits can't keep up with your wallet?"
"I promise," Freddie nodded. "So how about we go find Carls and Gib in the theatre and you start on some of that popcorn that I'm pretty sure has had you drooling since you got it?"
Sam playfully swatted his shoulder. "I was not drooling over the popcorn."
"Oh, well then I guess you must've been drooling over me then," Freddie smirked.
"In your dreams, Fredbutt," Sam said chuckled, taking his hand as they walked into the theatre.
