Attention

"And that answers the popular question of whether a Gibby is smarter than an aardvark," Carly grinned into the camera during yet another iCarly web session.

"The answer is no!" Gibby said happily.

"As if it wasn't already obvious," Sam added.

"And unfortunately, that's all we have for tonight," Carly said. "So until next week, make sure all your pancakes are forty-one decimeters in diameter-"

"-And donate your old socks to the President of Laundry," Sam finished.

"And we're clear," Freddie said, stepping over to his tech cart to turn off his equipment. "Nice show tonight."
"Thanks," Carly said brightly.

"I'm hungry," Sam said simply, heading towards the door. "That box of Food Pockets still in your freezer?"

"Yeah," Carly nodded. "But there's only one left and Freddie already called dibs on it, so-"

But Sam had already sprinted out the door.

"Oh man!" Freddie moaned, quickly placing down his camera. "She's gonna eat my Food Pocket! Sam! Sam!"

"I told Spencer he should've bought that second box of Food Pockets," Carly sighed as Freddie ran out of the room after the blonde.

"Yes!" Gibby cheered suddenly, looking down at his phone.

"What?" Carly inquired, turning towards the boy.

"My mom put new sheets on my bed!" Gibby explained excitedly. "I've got to get home and see how they look with my special Gibby Pillowcases!"
"What are Gibby pillow-" Carly began, but Gibby was already on his way downstairs. Carly shook her head. She definitely had some…unusual friends. She was just about to make her way downstairs to join them when suddenly something caught her attention out of the corner of her eyes.

Freddie's backpack was lying on the floor of the studio near the beanbag chairs. It was half open on its side and a few of his notebooks had spilled out.

Figuring her and Sam probably knocked it over during the web show, Carly bent down to clean up the mess. As she was sliding the notebooks back into the bag, though, she spotted a small bounded book. She picked it up and examined it.

Hang on, Carly thought slowly to herself. Is this…is this Freddie's journal?

Carly knew that Freddie kept a journal. His mother had let that slip about a year ago in front of her and Sam. Sam, of course, had mocked him relentlessly about it, saying how it was totally lame and that only girls wrote down their feelings. And while Carly had done her best to bring peace to the situation, Sam would still sometimes bring up the journal to get one over on Freddie.

Neither girl had even actually seen the journal, though. That is, until right now.

Okay Carly, put it back, Carly told herself, staring down at the small book. You know you can't read Freddie's journal. That's completely inappropriate! It's an invasion of privacy, it's dishonest, it crosses so many lines, it-it…Oh heck! One page can't hurt!

Carly looked over her shoulder to make sure that the close was clear before opening the book.

I don't know how much longer I can take this, she read. I wish I could tell her how in love I am with her, but I know it wouldn't end well. If I were to tell her, she would only turn me down. I just wish I didn't have to see her almost everyday; it makes it so much harder for me to try and ignore these feelings. But then sometimes I get the crazy idea that maybe, just maybe, she COULD feel the same way about me-

"Freddie's in love?" Carly whispered, closing the book, her eyes wide. "With a girl he sees everyday…Oh no. Oh no, oh no!"

I shouldn't have read this, Carly thought miserable. Because now I know that Freddie is still in love with me. Aw man! What do I do? I don't want to hurt his feelings, but I have to let him that we'll always just be friends. Dang it! Why'd I have to go snooping!

"Well," Freddie said suddenly, walking back into the studio. Carly quickly crammed his journal back into his backpack as she jumped to her feet. Luckily, Freddie didn't seem to notice what she had been ding. "Sam got the Food Pocket and is now downstairs devouring it like a wild animal."

"Oh, um, that's nice," Carly said offhandedly.

"Well I wouldn't say it's nice for the empty feeling in my stomach," Freddie mumbled.

What do I do? Carly thought to herself. Do I just ignore this and let Freddie keep this up? No. I need to tell him. It will be best for everyone if I'm just blunt with him now so he can move on and not dwell on this.

"Um, Freddie?" Carly said slowly. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure," Freddie shrugged. "What's up?"

"Well, you-you know how you keep a journal?"

"Ugh, are you going to start ripping on me for that too?" Freddie moaned. "I swear, I wish my mom could've just kept her mouth shut about that and-"

"I'm not going to rip on you," Carly said quickly.

"Oh," Freddie said. "Well okay then. What about the journal?"

"Okay…don't get mad at me," Carly began. "But, well…I-I may have sort of…read one page of it."

Freddie blinked. "What?"

"I'm sorry! But I was picking up your backpack over there and it was just staring up at me!" Carly said. "And I know I shouldn't have read it but I couldn't help myself."

Freddie sighed. "Well…okay. I guess it's not too big of a deal. I mean, better you read something from it then Sam, right? Besides, most of that stuff in there is just Galaxy Wars doodles."

"Um, see…that's not what I read in there," Carly said. "I actually read the part where you talked about…where you talked about being in love."

Freddie did a double take. "You read what?!"

"I'm sorry!" Carly said again. "But-But-"

"How could you, Carly?" Freddie exclaimed. "That was private!"

"I thought you weren't mad at me!" Carly said.

"That's when I thought you just saw the doodles!"

"Okay, Freddie," Carly sighed. "Let's just both agree that I was in the wrong here. But we do sort of need to talk about what I read-"

"Nope. No way," Freddie said firmly. "Let's just drop it."

"Freddie, this isn't exactly something I can forget about," Carly said. "It's something the two of us need to discuss."

"We don't need to discuss anything," Freddie said.

"Come on," Carly said, rolling her eyes. "I think we're both mature enough to deal with this like adults."

"Carly, it's really none of your business," Freddie told her.

"None of my business?" Carly repeated. "I think it is too my business. It involves me, after all."

"Huh?" Freddie frowned, looking confused.

"Freddie, I know that it sucks when the person you have feelings for doesn't return how you feel," Carly started. "But-But I thought you were over your feelings for me. I thought that you realized that the two of us were best off just staying friends. Yes, we did have that little…er, thing a few years ago when you saved me from that taco truck, but didn't you-"

"Carly," Freddie cut her off. "You've got this all wrong."

"No Freddie, just listen," Carly said. "I'm sorry, but I just don't love you the same way that you love me. You're one of my closest friends, and I love you like a brother, but romantically, I-"

"Carly!" Freddie said again. "I'm not in love with you."

"What?" Carly said. "I read it in your journal, Freddie. You don't have to hide it anymore."

"You only read that I said I was in love with someone," Freddie sighed.

"Exactly," Carly nodded.

"But I didn't say it was with you."

Carly blinked. "Wait…you're in love with someone else? Who?"

"Don't do this," Freddie moaned.

"Just tell me," Carly pleaded. "Do I at least know her? Maybe I can help you out!"

"No!" Freddie said quickly. "I-I'm not going to tell her. It wouldn't work out. And I'm not going to tell you who she is either. So you can just-"

"Hang on," Carly said slowly, everything beginning to click in her head. "You wrote that you see this girl everyday…If it's not me, then it has to be…Oh my God!"

"Carly…" Freddie said warningly. "Don't-"

"You're in love with Sam!" Carly exclaimed.

"Shh!" Freddie hissed.

"Well am I right?" Carly pressed.

"N-No," Freddie said weakly, not making eye contact.

"I am, aren't I?" Carly said, putting her hands on her hips knowingly.

"I-Okay, yes," Freddie conceded. "I-I think I'm in love with Sam."

"Wow," Carly said. "That's so-I mean, that's great an all. It's just you and Sam seem like such an…unusual couple."

"I know. I told you; it would never work," Freddie said heavily, walking over to his tech cart.

"I didn't say that," Carly said. "It's just, well, you and Sam have been at it for years. But hey, love-hate relationships can work! In fact, I think they're sort of cute."

"You're just saying that," Freddie mumbled, fiddling with his laptop.

"No I'm not," Carly said sincerely. "Look. You need to talk to Sam. I know she loves making fun of you and all, but she's not heartless. She wouldn't tease you about this or-"

"Yes she would," Freddie said. "Which is why, for the millionth time, I'm not going to talk her."

"Freddie-"

"And you have to promise me you won't say anything to her either," Freddie said.

"But can't I just-"

"Carly, promise me," Freddie said firmly.

Carly sighed. "Okay," she nodded. "I won't talk to her about this. But I still really think you should do it yourself. It won't be as bad as your expecting it. Besides, if you really love her, you're going to drive yourself crazy by keeping everything bottled up."

"I'll be fine," Freddie said. He grabbed his backpack from the floor and headed towards the studio door.

"Where are you going?" Carly asked.

"Home," Freddie said. "I sort of want to be alone right now."

"Okay," Carly said understandingly.

Just as Freddie was about to exit the studio, Sam walked in, chewing her Food Pocket with her mouth open.

"You sure missed out on this, Benson," Sam smirked. "This is one good Food Pocket. But hey, Spencer claims he was saving this Food Pocket for his pre-sculpting snack, so he ran to the store to get another box, so you still have a chance. If I don't devour all those too."

"I'm not hungry," Freddie said simply, walking past her.

"Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the nub train," Sam chuckled, walking over to Carly.

"He-He's not feeling to great," Carly shrugged.

"Really?" Sam said. "Why? Did they push back the release of that new Galaxy Wars movie?"

"No, he-he's a little upset about…something," Carly told her.

Sam frowned. "Is he okay?"

Carly noted the concern in her voice. She knew how rare it was for Sam to be genuinely worried about someone.

I know I'm right, Carly thought to herself, studying her best friend's face. All Freddie has to do is talk to Sam. I know Sam wouldn't reject him; he's afraid for nothing. If he would just man up, he could actually gets what he wants here…

"Carly," Sam said, snapping Carly out of her thoughts. "Is Freddie okay?"

I could tell Sam, Carly told herself. And then she could talk to Freddie. That would end this whole thing and make them both happy. But I promised Freddie…But it would be so easy and it's what's best for both of them…

"Carly?" Sam said again. "You still with us?"

"Huh, oh…right," Carly said. She took a deep breath. "Yeah. Freddie's okay. He's just stressed about a test he has coming up."

Sam's concerned face faltered and she rolled her eyes. "Typical."

"Y-Yeah," Carly said, pulling on a fake smile. "Typical."