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"You guys have no idea how much I need this night in," Carly sighed, carrying a bowl of popcorn out to the couch in the Shay's living room. "This week has really been tough for me. I didn't do too hot on my Physics test, I got detention for texting in Brigg's class, Spencer shrunk my favorite sweatshirt in the wash and-"

She stopped, catching sight of her two best friends caught up in a heavy make-out session. She rolled her eyes.

"You guys?" Carly sighed. "You guys!"

"Oh, you finished making the popcorn?" Sam asked, pulling away from Freddie. "Sweet."

"Are you guys going to make out through the whole movie?" Carly asked, setting the popcorn down on the coffee table as she sat down next to Sam. "You know, like you do every other time we watch something together."

"You okay Carls?" Freddie asked, sensing her tone.

"Yeah," Carly mumbled. "Sorry. I just-I just really want to enjoy a night with my best friends tonight and that is sort of hard to do when their lips are glued to each other's."

"Oh, right," Sam said, blushing slightly. "Well, don't worry about that, kid. Tonight is our night; all three of us."

"Exactly," Freddie nodded.

"Thanks, I really appreciate that," Carly smiled, grabbing the remote to start the movie.

Carly was sitting, perfectly content, for close half-an-hour, enjoying the comedy she had selected earlier that day.

"This movie's hilarious," she chuckled, popping a few popcorn kernels into her mouth. "I forgot how funny Jim-"

She turned over to her best friends, who were lips were once again pressed against the others.

"Hey!" Carly exclaimed.

"Huh? What?" Freddie sputtered as they quickly pulled apart.

"You told me that you weren't going to just sit around and make out tonight!" Carly said, exasperated.

"We-We didn't mean to," Sam said quickly. "We just sort of…We kind of-"

"Yeah, whatever," Carly said, shaking her head. "Now can we get back to the movie, please?"

"Absolutely," Freddie nodded.

Another twenty minutes had passed, and Carly was once again immersed in the film.

"Wow, how do you think the editors got the monkey to look that real," Carly said. "Do you think it was some new software, Freddie? Or maybe-Oh come on!"

"Sorry!" Sam exclaimed, dethatching her lips from Freddie's . "It-It was an accident!"
"How was it an accident?" Carly snapped. "Did your lips just gravitate towards each other?"

"Um…yes?" Freddie lied lamely.

"You guys," Carly sighed, pausing the movie. "I-I know you two are a couple and have those feelings and love kissing each other every chance you get, and I think that's great but I thought tonight was going to be like old times, you know, back when we were all just friends. Do you have any idea how awkward and unneeded it makes me feel to see you guys just ignore me so you can make out?"

"Okay," Sam nodded. "We got it. We promise this time, we're done kissing."

"We're all yours for the rest of the night," Freddie agreed.

"Aw," Carly smiled. "You guys really are the best.

She un-paused the movie, and popped some more popcorn into her mouth.

Things were going great for almost the rest of the movie. The three teens laughed together and Carly was thrilled to realize that it did almost feel like old times. She was happy that Sam and Freddie had begun dating; she knew they were perfect for each other, and she thought their relationship was adorable…most of the time. But there still were times when she felt like a third wheel.

"Oh man," Carly grinned, finishing up the last of her popcorn towards the end of the film. "I don't think I've ever laughed this hard in my life. I mean, a penguin, a caveman, and a pop icon? How do you even go wrong with-"

But suddenly, she began to choke as an unpopped popcorn kernel got caught in her throat. She began gagging, waiting for one of her friends to help her out, but after a few seconds, she realized that something was off, and she turned to see that in fact, Sam and Freddie had resumed their 'activity' again and were completely oblivious to her situation.

She continued to gag louder, hoping that they would hear her, but they seemed far too caught up to notice anything around them.

Carly quickly grabbed a couch cushion and hurled it at the couple, which luckily drew them back to reality.

"Hey!" Freddie said indignantly, massaging the side of his head where the pillow had hit him. "That hurt! Hey, Carls? What's wrong with you?"

"Are you choking or something?" Sam frowned.

Carly narrowed her eyes at the blonde.

"I'll take that as a yes," Sam said. She quickly got to her feet and began hitting Carly's back hard, and a few seconds later, the kernel dislodged itself from Carly's throat.

"I-I almost choked!" Carly gasped, glaring at Sam and Freddie. "Because you two were too busy smooching to notice your best friend dying!"

"We're sorry-" Freddie started.

"Oh, save it!" Carly snapped. "It's clear that you two would rather just smash your lips together than spend two hours watching a movie with me! I wanted one night with my best friends, who are always spending time with each other now, and I couldn't even get that!"

"Carly, we-" Sam began, but Carly had already begun stomping upstairs.

"Were are you going?" Freddie called after her.
"To take a bubble bath!" Carly yelled. "Because that's what lonely girls do when they realize they're best friendless!"

"Man," Sam sighed as Carly disappeared. "She's really wazzed off."

"I can't say I blame her," Freddie mumbled. "I mean…we have been sort of treating her like a third wheel lately. It's not fair."

"I know," Sam nodded. "She is still our best friend…Even though we haven't been treating her like one."

"What are we going to do?" Freddie asked. "We have to make things right."

"Well," Sam said slowly. "I may have an idea."

….

The next day, Carly sat alone in the iCarly studio, working on some homework, still fuming about the previous night.

Just then, the studio door opened and Sam and Freddie sheepishly walked in.

"Hey," Sam said, giving her best friend a small smile.

"Hello," Carly said coldly. "Can I help you two?"

"Um, here," Freddie said, pulling a DVD out of his bag and handing it to her.

"What's this?" Carly frowned.

"The best looking romantic comedy we could find at the store," Sam replied.

"Romantic comedy?" Carly repeated.

"Your favorite," Freddie nodded. "We, um, we thought you might want to watch it."

"Oh, great, thanks," Carly said. "I'll go pop it in downstairs and you two can knock yourselves out up here!"

"No, we-we want to watch it together," Sam said.

"Oh, like how you agreed to watch a movie with me last night but wound up playing tonsil hockey?"

"We swear, we're not going to kiss each other at all during the movie," Freddie said.

"Yeah," Carly scoffed. "Like I haven't heard that before."

"No, it's going to be true this time," Sam said. "We made sure of that."

"How?" Carly asked suspiciously.

"Well, since my mom wasn't home," Freddie explained. "Sam and I just spent the morning at my place making out. For a long time. We broke our record."

"So?" Carly snapped. "What's that going to do? That just means your lips are all warmed up and ready!"

"Oh on the contraire, Carls," Sam smirked. "Our lips are worn out."

"Huh?"

"Don't you see how chapped our lips are now?" Freddie grinned, pointing at his own very red and chapped lips. "They hurt like crazy!"

"Yeah, I couldn't even finish the bag of chips I was eating!" Sam nodded. "I had to throw the bag away!"

"How long did you two kiss?" Carly asked, looking at their practically destroyed lips.

"You probably don't want to know," Sam said. "But the point is that there is no way we can kiss now for at least a day without feeling excruciating pain."

"Wow," Carly said softly. "That-That was really-"

"Wait, there's more," Freddie cut her off. "As sort of extra insurance…"

"I ate three pounds of garlic," Sam said proudly. "And Fredward at two containers of pickled sardines."

"That's what that smell was?" Carly gasped, covering her nose. "I thought Spencer was giving his garbage sculpture another go!"

"Nope, that's all us, kid," Sam said. "So between our chapped lips and terrible breath, there's no chance of us kissing each other while the three of us go down to enjoy this movie. Or well, enjoy it as much as I can for a romantic comedy."

"You guys," Carly said, her face breaking out into a smile as she threw her arms around them. "That is the sweetest thing you have ever done for me. Thank you. And-And I know I was a little…dramatic last night, but-"

"Hey, you were right, we were sort of…ignoring you," Freddie said. "And we're sorry. We really are. Sam and I are going to try and work on that."

"That means a lot," Carly said sincerely. "So come on! Let's go pop this sucker in! Oh, and um, no offense or anything, but I think I'm gonna sit on the chair down in the living room. I love you both and all, but your breath really stinks."