Bikini

"You know," Carly said as her, Gibby, Sam and Freddie walked along the beach. "I think we really needed a beach day, don't you, guys?"

"Yeah, I can finally take my shirt off without being judged," Gibby said. "Do you know how hard its been to not do that at inappropriate times anymore?"

"Why don't you anymore?" Sam asked.

"Because Gibby matured," Carly answered. "He realized that he's not some goofy kid anymore, and that in a civilized society, people stay clothed in public."

"No, actually, I was at the mall one time, and I had just taken off my shirt, when out of nowhere I bump into this cactus!" Gibby explained. "My shoulder got all scratched up! So really it's more a matter of personal safety."

"Why was there a cactus in the mall?" Carly frowned.

"How should I know?" Gibby shrugged. "I'm not the cactus police."

"Well you know what, Carls? I'm so glad you decided that we should spend the day at the beach," Freddie said, draping his arm around Sam.

"Since when do you like the beach so much?" Carly asked. "You usually complain that it's just a hot pit of sand surrounded by salty, dirty water."

"He just wants to see Sam in a bikini," Gibby said.

Sam grinned up at her boyfriend. "Really, nub? What if I told you I was just going to keep my t-shirt on all day?"

"Well I'd probably cry," Freddie said simply.

"Hey, let's go set up our towels over by the lifeguard stand," Carly said. "That way we'll have a nice view."

"Why do we want to stare at life guards?" Gibby asked.

"Because they're cute and shirtless!" Carly hissed.

The four headed over to the lifeguard stand and laid out their towels.

"Um, Carly, I think you picked the hottest spot on the beach for us to sit," Freddie commented, pulling off his t-shirt.

"Yeah," Sam nodded, shrugging off her shorts and t-shirt. "It's a million degrees here!"

"Oh man, I'm gonna turn into a lobster," Gibby said. "I burn like a baby's bottom!"
"Well then let's go into the ocean," Carly suggested, pulling off her sundress. "We can cool down there."

"Alright," Gibby agreed.

"I guess that will work," Freddie nodded. He turned to Sam. "You ready baby?"

"You guys go in," Sam said, settling down on her towel. "I'll stay up here."

"Why?" Carly frowned. "You were just complaining how hot it is here."

"I know," Sam said. "But then I realized it would be the perfect opportunity to work on my tan."

"Come on, just come into the ocean with us," Freddie said. "You're plenty tan."

"No," Sam said, laying down on her towel and closing her eyes. "Besides, you should want someone to stay up here with your stuff. That lifeguard up there looks pretty suspicious."

"Our stuff will be fine, Sam," Carly said. "Now will you just get your butt up and come in the ocean with all of us?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Maybe she can't swim," Gibby chuckled.

Sam narrowed her eyes and sat up, reaching for one of her discarded flip-flops and chucking it hard at him. "I can swim, Gibwad."

"Yeah, we've seen her swim at the pool a million times," Freddie pointed out.

"Exactly!" Sam said. "So why can't you guys go into the ocean and leave me alone up here to relax?"

"We've seen you swim in the pool," Freddie said again slowly. "But that's it."

"Huh?" Carly frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Just go already," Sam snapped.

"I mean," Freddie said. "That we've seen her swim in pools, but every time that we come to the beach, she won't swim in the ocean. She'll always work on her tan or hang out by the snack stand."

"Sam?" Carly said, a small smile creeping onto her face. "Are you afraid of the ocean?"

"No!" Sam scoffed.

"Wow, this makes my fear of fruit stands seem not so bad, doesn't it?" Gibby said.

"No, that's still pretty bad," Freddie said. He turned to his girlfriend. "Baby, why are you afraid of going in the ocean? I mean, like we said, we know you can swim, so what's the big deal?"

"I told you, I'm not afraid!" Sam said.

Freddie gave her a knowing look.

"Well there's sharks in there!" Sam conceded. "And jellyfish, and stingrays, and those fish with the teeth, and dolphins-"

"Dolphins?" Carly repeated, amused.

"They can be vicious!" Sam defended. "And you can't even see if one of those things is sneaking up on you because the dang water's so murky from the sand! Plus there's drop offs everywhere, and huge waves that pull you out to see, and don't even get me started on the seaweed."

"Okay, now why couldn't my mom be here to hear that?" Freddie chuckled. "You would've gone up so much in her mind; she's always wanted someone to bond over irrational beach fears with."

Sam glared at him and threw her bottle of sunscreen at him, hitting him at the exact spot no boy would want hit.

"Ow!" Freddie gasped, clutching Gibby's shoulder for support.

"You deserved that!" Sam said. "And those aren't irrational beach fears!"

"Sam, the odds of you being attacked by a shark are like, ten thousand to one," Carly explained. "And we've never seen any jellyfish or stingrays any other time we've been to the beach, and I promise, dolphins are harmless…unless you did what Spencer did that one time at the aquarium, but that's another story."

"And seaweed can actually be a great face mask," Gibby added.

Carly gave him a strange look.

"What? You think this smooth face just happens?" Gibby frowned.

"Sam," Freddie said gently, sitting down next to her. "Why don't you just try going in the ocean?"

"Because I don't want to," Sam mumbled, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

"You might like it," Freddie reasoned, putting his arm around her.

"Um, no, I won't," Sam said.

"Just give it a chance," Freddie said softly. "For me?"

Sam looked down at her lap.

"I'll hold your hand the entire time," Freddie whispered so only she could hear him.

Sam sighed. "Will you all get off my back if I go in?"

"Yup," Carly nodded.

"Then fine, whatever," Sam surrendered, getting to her feet, gripping Freddie's hand tightly. "I'll go in the stupid ocean."

"I'm proud of you, baby," Freddie smiled, giving her a long kiss.

"I better be getting two ice cream cones from the snack stand for this," Sam muttered under her breath.

"You got it," Freddie told her.

The four teens headed towards the ocean.

"Alright, time to go make some fish friends," Gibby said, pulling on a snorkel mask and wading into the water.

"And I promised Spencer I'd bring him back some cool seashells for his sculpture, so I'd better start looking around here," Carly said, knowing Sam would feel more comfortable just being with Freddie right now.

"You know," Sam said as her and Freddie stood right at the shore line, their feet getting washed over by the waves. "I hope you'll feel really bad when I get mauled by a dolphin."

"You're not going to get mauled by a dolphin," Freddie said. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "You ready?"

"Let's get this over with," Sam moaned.

Freddie began to lead the two into the ocean.

"Okay, okay, I'm in, now can I go back?" Sam asked.

"Sam, we're in like, three inches of water," Freddie said.

"And I can already feel weird things around my feet," Sam said.

"Let's just go up to our waists," Freddie said.

"Our waists?" Sam exclaimed. "Are you kidding me? What are you trying to do here, Benson? Get back at me for eating all your fries at the Groovy Smoothie yesterday?"

"No, I'm trying to help you conquer your fears," Freddie told her.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Alright! Let's go deeper…slowly!"

Freddie had to admit, he liked seeing this scared, more vulnerable side of his usually fearless girlfriend.

"What was that?" Sam asked, clutching Freddie's hand so tight that he could feel it going numb.

"Relax, baby, it's just a little fish," Freddie told her.

"Freddie…I don't like this," Sam said softly.

Freddie looked down at her face and saw how upset she looked.

"Do you want to go back?" he asked her gently.

Sam nodded.

"Okay," Freddie said. "Let's go back."

The couple quickly waded back to the sand. Sam sat down on her towel. "I hate the beach."

"No you don't," Freddie said, sitting down next to her and wrapping his bare arms around her. "You still love the sand and the sun, don't you? You're just not the biggest fan of the ocean."

Sam didn't reply.

"I'm sorry I forced you in," Freddie continued. "You-You were clearly afraid, and I should've just left it at that."

"It's not your fault," Sam sighed. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm pathetic, aren't I?"

"Why? Because there's one thing you're afraid of?" Freddie said. "That doesn't make you pathetic, Sam. That makes you human."

"But it's such a stupid thing to be afraid of," Sam said.

"So?" Freddie shrugged. "It's not stupid to you. Besides, everyone has weird things that freak them out. Gibby has fruit stands and bongos, Carly has that weird thing with birds, and we both know I'm a mess. Let's see, I'm afraid of spiders, mechanical pencils, hamsters, scary movies-"

"Yeah, you are a freak," Sam agreed, grinning up at her boyfriend.

"And you're still the toughest chick around," Freddie told her, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

AN-Still going strong for Seddie ;)