AN-This takes place after #KillerTunaJump, I know there's a bunch of these out there, but I couldn't help it! Besides, I've been getting a few requests, so here it is. Speaking of requests, I'm still taking them! I'm actually almost caught up, so if you have any new ones, please don't hesitate to send them to me!

Nickname

Sam let out an audible groan as she stared at her closet, which she had been standing in front of for the last half-hour.

"I can't believe I have nothing to wear!" Sam moaned.

"What are you talking about?" Cat asked, looking up from her laptop on her side of the room. "You have tons of clothes!"

"Yeah, but nothing that seems right for me to wear tonight," Sam pointed out.

"What's tonight?" Cat asked.

"I told you," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "Freddie gets out of the hospital tonight."

"Oh…I don't get it," Cat said.

"Come on, you know him and I agreed to hang out when he got released," Sam told her.

"Well haven't you hung out a million times before back in Seattle?" Cat shrugged. "Can't you just wear what you would wear back then?"

"Ugh, this is different!" Sam explained. "This isn't just a 'hang out'. It's a hang out."

"I still don't get it," Cat said. "Wait, sometimes my brother liked to hang out with the voices in his head…is that the same thing?"

"No!" Sam said, frustrated. "We're going to hang out, but, well, we-we may be hanging out as more than friends. You get what I'm saying?"

"But I thought you and Freddie weren't boyfriend and girlfriend anymore," Cat frowned.

"Yeah, we broke up," Sam sighed. "But…I dunno, we've been texting a lot while he's been in the hospital, and he did come all the way down and-and I don't know, okay! That's why tonight's so important! I'll figure out what the heck is going on and get the nub to pay for dinner at the same time."

"Well why can't you just ask Freddie if it's a date?" Cat asked innocently. "That way you'll know."
Sam laughed. "Yeah, sure. Like I can just ask Fredifer if we're going out on a date. Real funny, Cat."

"I don't think I told a joke…" Cat said slowly.

"Look, I can't just ask Freddie if we're going on a date," Sam said. "It's just-It's just not how we do stuff."

"Why not?" Cat asked.

"Because, we-we're not really normal friends," Sam admitted. "We have a system. I hit him, he acts like a nub, I steal his food…That's how its been for years."

"That's a weird system," Cat said.

"Nah, it works fine for Fredlump and me," Sam smiled.

"But…friends are supposed to be nice to each other," Cat pointed out. "Not hit each other."

"It's just how our relationship is," Sam shrugged. "Now help me figure out what I'm wearing for this date that's not a date but could be leading to date in the future, okay?"

"I can't, my head hurts now," Cat said, shaking her head as she got up and headed out of the room.

"Ugh! Thanks for nothing!" Sam yelled after her.

She fell back on her bed. Her and Freddie were supposed to be meeting in an hour, and at the rate she was going, she was going to have to go out in her pajamas.

Suddenly, Sam sat up.

"Carly!" she exclaimed, grabbing her laptop. Of course…why hadn't she thought of this earlier? This situation wasn't something Cat could help her out with. Sam loved the hopelessly stupid red head, but there were some things only a best friend could be trusted to handle.

Quickly pulling up a chat window, Sam turned on her webcam and waited for Carly's face to appear.

"Sam?"

"Hey Carls," Sam grinned as Carly's groggy face appeared on her screen.

"Sam, it's three in the morning here," Carly yawned, slowly sitting up. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry kid, forgot Italy's in a different time zone," Sam said.

"It's okay, I don't have school tomorrow, I'll just sleep in," Carly said. "So what's going on?"

"I sort of need some help," Sam explained.

"Did you get arrested again?" Carly groaned.

"No, mother," Sam smirked. "It's-It's about a boy."

"Oh!" Carly gasped, suddenly wide-awake. "You met someone in L.A? What's he like? Is he cute? What's his name?"

"Um, well, you-you sort of know all the answers to those questions," Sam said. "The boy, um, is Freddie."

"Freddie?" Carly repeated in shock. "What? But-But he's not in L.A!"

"Er, yeah, he kind of is," Sam replied. "He's getting out of the hospital today and-"

"The hospital?" Carly repeated. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, he's fine," Sam said dismissively. "Just some broken bones, a possible phobia of tuna…Anyway, him and I agreed to 'hang out' after he's released today and the thing is…"

"You don't know if he wants to hang out or 'hang out'," Carly nodded understandingly. "Gottcha."

"I mean…he did fly all the way down here when he thought I got hit by a Sports Utility Vehicle," Sam sighed.

"Um…I feel like there's some backstory I'm missing here," Carly frowned.

"-And he seemed kind of peeved off when I kissed Robbie," Sam continued, ignoring her friend.

"Robbie?"

"I just don't know what to do," Sam moaned.

"Look," Carly said comfortingly. "I get how confusing this all must be for you. You and Freddie never exactly had a traditional relationship."

"That's what I've been saying!" Sam said, relieved to finally be talking to someone who understood her and Freddie's past.

"Between your love-hate friendship and you guys actually dating…it's a lot to process," Carly continued. "Honestly, Sam, I think I'd be just as lost as you if I was in your position."

"Great, so what should I do?" Sam asked.

"Well, do you remember that lock-in last year?" Carly said. "Where you, you know, kissed Freddie out of the blue?"

"I mean, that's not something you can really forget," Sam mumbled.

"Well, that was one of the first times you actually listened to your emotions," Carly pointed out. "And look how that turned out!"

"I was locked in a mental hospital for three days, Carls," Sam reminded her, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, yes," Carly agreed. "But after…you and Freddie got together! Don't you see? Sometimes if you just listen to your heart-"

"Ugh, I think me not being around you all the time anymore has made you even more of a daffodil," Sam cringed.

"-If you listen to your heart, things may just work out for you," Carly finished.

Sam didn't reply.

"Sam, you want this to be more than a 'hang out', don't you?" Carly said softly.

Sam gave her a small nod. "A little bit."

"Well then, you know what you need to do," Carly said. "Now...do you know what you're going to wear yet?"

"Um, no, not really," Sam admitted.

"That's okay, we'll figure it out," Carly assured her. "When are you meeting Freddie?"

"In about forty-five minutes," Sam replied.

"Forty-five-Sam!" Carly gasped. "That's practically no time at all! Okay, let's not waste any more time. Move this laptop to your closet now so I can see what I'm working with."

"I've missed you, kid," Sam grinned.

….

Freddie parked his car in front of Sam's building, sighing as he turned off the engine. Well, this was it.

He had just been released from the hospital a few short hours ago, and though his jaw was still sore and he could faintly feel the sting of the bite marks from the tuna up and down his body, his physical injuries had very little to do with how nervous he was feeling right now.

All Sam had said to him that day in the hospital was that they should 'hang out'. But what exactly did 'hang out' mean for him and Sam? Back in Seattle, it would mean meeting up at the Shay's apartment to help Spencer out with his latest sculpture or listen to Carly drone on about her latest crush. Now it was just the two of them…

They had hung out alone before, of course. But then they began going out, and after they broke up, well, neither of them seemed too eager for one-on-one time.

But after thinking for almost twenty-four hours that Sam was hurt, and that he hadn't been there for him…he realized something. Something that had been floating around in his head since the night both Carly and Sam left Seattle.

He loved Sam Puckett.

But he could love her all he wanted to…that didn't mean she would feel the same way.

She had seemed upset when she thought he was into Cat, but that didn't necessarily mean she was in love with him (he had gotten hopeful when she had told Cat he was the only boy she ever loved, though apparently that was just an exaggeration).

And since there was no way he could ask Sam if this was a date or not (the very thought made him laugh), and since he was the always-ready Freddie Benson, he had decided to prepare for anything.

Whether this was a date, a hang out between old friends, or anything else, he was set for it. He was wearing one of his standard button down shirts, but if he saw Sam was dressed for a date, he had a dinner jacket in his back seat. He had flowers hidden back there as well, but also a bag of bacon to present Sam with in a 'friendly' manner. He had reservations at local sandwich place and an elegant restaurant.

There was no way he was going to mess this up.

"Alright, Benson," Freddie said to himself. "You can do this. You aren't going out with a stranger, you're going out with Sam. Sure, she's caused you an insurmountable amount of bruises, welts, wounds, and other various traumas, but she's still Sam. You're either going to hang out with her as a friend tonight, which is something you've been missing for months, or you'll hang out with her as more than friends, which is something you've missed even more."

And with that, Freddie got out of the car and slowly walked towards Sam's door. He took a deep breath before knocking, praying his legs wouldn't give out from underneath him.

A few seconds later, Cat opened the door. "Hi!" she said brightly.

"Hey Cat," Freddie said politely. "Is Sam here? Her and I are, um, we're getting lunch."

"Yeah, she's here," Cat nodded, letting him into the apartment.

"Cool," Freddie said. "So, um, what are you up to?"

"Nothing, just trying to figure out a way to boil water without any heat," Cat smiled happily.

"Isn't that a little…impossible?" Freddie frowned.

"Oh no, not if you use the right water," Cat replied.

"But it's still-you know what, never mind," Freddie said.

"Hey Cat, you know why there's a jar of green olives in the-oh…" Sam had just walked into the room and caught sight of Freddie. "You're here."

"Yeah, you know, I like to be on time," Freddie said. He looked at what she was wearing and cursed in his head. He couldn't tell if she was dressed for a date or not. She looked nice, but it was still impossible to tell what she thought of their outing.

"Yeah, that was always one of your dorky habits," Sam smirked.

"Well excuse me for not showing up to iCarly rehearsals twenty minutes late," Freddie chuckled.

"That was, like, five times at the most!"

"Try fifty!"

"At least I never-"

"Guys, stop!" Cat shrieked, covering her ears with her hands. "No fighting! I thought you were friends!"

"We weren't fighting," Sam said, giving Cat a strange look. "We were just having a normal conversation."

"Normal?" Cat sputtered. "That wasn't normal! That was-Aw, forget it! I'm going to go boil this water in our room!"

"Um, there's no stove in there," Sam called after her.

"Exactly!"

"So…she must be interesting to live with," Freddie commented.

"You get used to her," Sam shrugged, grabbing her purse. "Now come on, Fredwad, Mama's starving."
Freddie smiled at the sound of his old nickname as he followed Sam out of the apartment.

"Okay," Freddie said, unlocking his car. "Where do you want to eat?"

"Um…I don't know," Sam said. "Where do you want to eat. I'm up for anything. We could go somewhere chill, foreign, fancy, quick…food's food to me."

"Well, um, I don't really know if I'm in the mood for sandwiches or some fifty dollar salad…" Freddie said. "So I'll just leave it up to you."

"No, no," Sam said quickly. "We're already using the money I stole from your wallet to pay, you pick where we go."

"But you know more about the restaurants around here," Freddie pointed out. "So wouldn't it make more sense to-"

"Freddie," Sam suddenly sighed, cutting him off. "What are we doing?"

"Um…sitting in a car?"

"No, I mean with this," Sam said, looking down at her lap. She took a deep breath. "So is this a date or are we hanging out as friends?"
Freddie blinked, taken aback at Sam's bluntness. At least she had finally asked the question that had been on his mind for so long now.

"I mean, not that I care," Sam continued. "I just wanted to clear it all up so I can enjoy my free food in peace and-"

"Okay, Sam," Freddie said, cutting her off. "The truth is…I've been wondering the same thing."

"You have?" she asked softly.

"I have," he nodded. "And, well…do you want it to be a date?"

Sam gave him a look. "I asked you the question first."

Freddie sighed. She had been the brave one and put her feelings out there the night at the lock-in. Now was his turn.

"Ever since you left," Freddie told her. "I-I've missed you. And I realized, I still love you, Sam. I don't think I ever stopped. But you were in L.A., I was in Seattle…But now we're both here and-and yes. Yes, I-I do want this to be a date."

Sam stared back at him, not saying a word.

"But if you want us to just hang out today as friends, that's fine," Freddie said quickly. "I-I can handle that. I just don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or-"

He was interrupted as Sam crashed her lips to his, lacing her arms around his neck.

Freddie eagerly responded, deepening the kiss as he ran his fingers through her hair.

When the two finally pulled apart, they stared into the other's eyes, slightly out of breath.

"That was-" Freddie whispered, a bit shocked.

"Very nice," Sam grinned. "Good work."

"Thanks," Freddie chuckled. "You too."