AN-For the purpose of this story, iOMG never happened.
…..
Band
"And his hair!"
"I know, how perfect is it?"
"Uh, extremely perfect," Carly grinned. "And his dimples?"
"Adorable!" Sam beamed. "They totally make him look like-"
"Ugh, could we please change the subject?" Freddie moaned as the three teens walked into the Shay's apartment.
"What's eating your butt?" Sam frowned.
"You two have been talking about this guy the entire way home from school!" Freddie exclaimed. "It's nauseating!"
"For your information, he's not just 'this guy'," Carly defended. "He's Owen Blackwell, the new transfer student from England who has already been made captain of the soccer team, is working on starting a new charity to feed sandwiches to orphans and-"
"-Has been mistaken for multiple boy band members eight times," Freddie finished, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I got it."
"You forgot that he also gave the Queen the Heimlich maneuver once," Sam added. "And he's met the entire fifth season cast of Stranded, which is my new favorite reality show. I mean they just put these ten random strangers on an island and leave them there! How awesome is that? And he knows how to skateboard, he likes to Scuba dive, he owns a Go-Kart, he-"
"And yet you can't even remember your homework once this entire year of trig," Freddie said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Well Owen's more important than some dumb triangles!" Sam retorted.
"Wow, Sam," Carly smiled. "It sounds like you like this guy."
"Duh, don't you?" Sam said.
"Sure, he's cute and nice, but you seem to really like him," Carly said knowingly. "Hey…I know! Why don't you ask Own to the spring dance this Friday?"
"What? No way," Sam said at once, her cheeks blushing crimson. "Besides, what happened to our rule? When we both like the same guy we both agree to not date him so we don't ruin our friendship."
"Well I'm willingly making Owen the exception," Carly chuckled. "What kind of friend would I be if I kept you from this guy who you really seem to click with?"
"Click with?" Freddie scoffed. "She hasn't said two words to the guy!"
"And no one has said any words to you, so shut it!" Sam snapped. She turned back to Carly. "You really wouldn't mind?"
"I insist," Carly assured her. "I don't think Owen's really my type anyway. But you two have loads in common."
"He moved here yesterday!" Freddie cried. "For all you know he could be a-a spy! Or-Or a-"
"And I think I saw him looking over at you in French class today," Carly continued, ignoring Freddie's comment. "And he was smiling. He was probably checking you out!"
"You think?" Sam asked, excited.
"Maybe he was just looking at that gravy stain on your shirt," Freddie mumbled, earning him a swift punch in the shoulder from Sam.
"I'm serious, Sam," Carly said. "Ask him out! This could be your chance to finally find a cool guy to date instead of some weird, disgusting loser."
"Well…maybe it wouldn't hurt," Sam said slowly. "You'll help me figure out what to say and everything?"
"Of course!" Carly nodded. "Come on, let's go upstairs and practice. Oh, and I'll find you something cute to wear. I have this new shirt that would look great on you."
"Yeah, that's fine, leave me here!" Freddie called after the girls as they rushed upstairs. "We don't have a web show to prep for or anything! You guys, come on! iCarly starts in five hours and we still need to finish going over-and I'm alone."
….
Freddie leaned against his locker the next day at school, glaring across the hall at Owen Blackwell, who was filling his bag with textbooks.
Couldn't this guy have just stayed in England? Freddie thought miserably.
The entire night last night, except for the short hour the teens performed their web show, Sam and Carly had gone on nonstop about this guy and their new idea of Sam asking him to the dance.
It irked Freddie beyond belief. He knew he didn't want Sam to do it. The thought of her going out with this new dude was just…unsettling. It would be weird! Him and Sam had been friends (well, frienimies) for years, and to suddenly have Owen around her all the time would just mess everything up. And, well…there was one other reason.
Freddie sighed and opened his locker.
The past few months, he had begun feeling something…different towards his blonde best friend. It had taken him some time to realize what those feelings were, but then one day it clicked; he liked her.
That feeling in his stomach he got whenever she smiled, the warm sensation that seemed to spread through him when she would touch him, the hypnotizing trance her eyes seemed to hold him in…it had suddenly all made sense to him.
At first this realization terrified him. How could it not? This was Sam Puckett, the girl who had given him more wedgies than he could keep track of! And then slowly that fear transformed into confusion. How was it possible that he'd fall for Sam? Carly at least made sense; she was always so nice to him. Was it her spunk? Her sense of humor? Her fearlessness and independence? A combination of all those things? And then gradually, the fear and confusion morphed into acceptance. He liked Sam…he really liked Sam. She was always on his mind, and it no longer bothered him. So he fell for the untraditional girl…so what? There was no use forcing himself to get rid of his feelings, right?
And so for the past month, he had been willing himself to work up the courage to do something about his newfound acceptance. This part, of course, was easier said than done. Every time he thought about approaching Sam and telling her his feelings, he'd chicken out at the last minute, afraid of how she'd react.
And then, it seemed, that the perfect opportunity had arisen; the school dance! He could ask her to go with him! He had been figuring out exactly how he was going to do this for the past week. He spent hours awake at night going over exactly what he would say to her, and today was the day he had been planning on asking her.
That is, until Owen came into the picture.
He reached into his locker and pulled out the small bouquet of roses. She had once made a comment during one of their iCarly rehearsals about how they were one of the few flowers that didn't make her want to vomit. He was planning on giving them to her when he asked her to the dance.
He slowly walked over to the nearby trashcan and tossed them in. He didn't need them anymore.
It was a stupid idea, Freddie told himself. Of course she'd like a guy like Owen over me. I'm just her nubby friend. Why would she even consider-
"Hey."
Freddie turned around to see Sam approaching him.
"Hey," Freddie said, trying to keep his voice sounding normal as possible, and not as though he had just suffered his first true heartbreak. "What's up? You, um, ask Owen to the dance yet?"
"No, I-I was gonna do it now," Sam said, somewhat nervously. Freddie knew this was the most courageous thing she had ever done in the romance department. She might willingly watch hours of horror movies, but put actual feelings into the equation, and Sam's bravery level certainly shifted downward.
"Oh, well…great," Freddie said lamely.
"You don't think it's weird for the girl to ask the guy to the dance, do you?" Sam asked.
"Nah," Freddie said. "It's the twenty-first century, girls can ask guys out."
"Oh right…that's what that suffrage thing was that we learned about in history the other day was about."
"Er…close enough," Freddie said. He looked back across the hall at Owen. "Well, there's your chance."
"Oh, yeah," Sam said, taking a deep breath. "Well…here I go I guess."
"Good luck," Freddie said, pulling a smile on his face.
Freddie knew it would only make him feel worse to watch, but he didn't seem to have enough will left in him to move. So he stood there as he watched Sam walk over to Owen.
"Um, hey there, Owen," Sam said.
"Oh, hey," Owen answered in his British accent. "It's Sam, right? We have French class together."
"Yeah," Sam smiled. She looked down at the skateboard at his feet. "That's a really cool skateboard you have."
"Thanks, it's autographed by Tony Hawk himself," Owen replied.
Freddie rolled his eyes.
"That's really neat," Sam grinned. "I used to skateboard a little myself when I was younger."
"No kidding? That's really impressive," Owen said.
Aw great, they're bonding, Freddie thought.
"Thanks," Sam said. "Um, anyway, listen….I-I was wondering if maybe-"
"Hey, I've been meaning to talk to you," Owen interrupted.
Sam blinked. "You have?"
"Yeah," Owen said. "In our French class, you know that friend of yours, what's her name…Carly?"
"Oh, um, yeah," Sam nodded. "What about her?"
"Well I wondering if she's seeing anybody," Owen explained. "She's really cute, you know, with her little nose and those gorgeous eyes."
Freddie saw Sam's face drop, and even though he had been against this from the beginning, her couldn't help but feel bad.
"Oh," Sam said slowly. "Um…y-yeah, she's single."
"Great," Owen said excitedly. "I was thinking of asking her to the school dance. I've never been to an American dance before, and I'd love my first time to be with someone like her."
"Well," Sam said, pulling on what Freddie knew to be a forced smile. "You should definitely ask her."
"I will," Owen said. "Thanks a lot, Sam. I really owe you one."
"Yup…" Sam said awkwardly. "No problem. Um, anyway, I'll see you around. I have a thing at a place with a person…."
And with that Sam spun around and hurried off.
Sam…Freddie thought sadly. Oh man.
….
Freddie spent the next hour searching for Sam. He was actually starting to get a bit worried. He was just about to call Carly and see if she knew where she was when he suddenly spotted a blonde figure sitting out on the school's patio.
He knew Sam probably wanted to be left alone, but he didn't want to just leave her. So fully aware that she'd probably try to throw something at him, Freddie stepped out onto the patio.
"Hey," he said gently, causing Sam to look up.
"Oh, it's you," Sam mumbled. "What do you want?"
"School ended an hour ago," Freddie said. "And this one of the few days you don't have detention…I just think it's kind of weird you'd stay here any longer than you're supposed to."
Sam shrugged.
"So, um…" Freddie started. "You okay?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "You saw what happened."
"Er, yeah," Freddie nodded. "But Sam, come on, I know you thought Owen was such a perfect guy, but I'm sure he had a ton of flaws."
"Well I'll never know, will I?" Sam snapped. She looked down at her lap. "I knew I shouldn't have done that. I should never trust Carly with guy advice!"
"Well I-"
"I should've seen this coming," Sam went on. "I mean, what guy in his right mind would actually pick me over Carly? I can't even blame Owen…that would be like someone choosing the cafeteria's mystery meat over a Thanksgiving meal."
"Okay, first of all, I don't think it's fair for you to compare yourself to mystery meat," Freddie said.
"I just thought I actually had a chance with a decent guy," Sam sighed, resting her chin on her knees. "But I guess I'll just have to get used to this."
"Sam, don't say that," Freddie said, sitting down next to her. "It's not true."
"How is it not true?" Sam exclaimed. "Name one guy who has ever preferred me over Carly! Jonah sure liked Carly, we all know that Shane guy would've picked Carly in the end if he hadn't fallen down that elevator shaft, I used to constantly catch Pete staring at her, and now Owen! I'm telling you, there isn't one guy out there who'd ever want to go out with me over Carly."
"Well what about me?" Freddie asked softly.
Sam stared at him. "What?"
"What about me?" he repeated.
Sam scoffed. "You? You've spent your whole life practically drooling over Carly. You have your whole wedding with her planned out!"
"Yeah, maybe when I was twelve," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "We're sixteen now. A lot has changed. The idea of dating Carly…it's weird. She's almost my sister. Plus, let's be honest, she'd be real difficult to have as your girlfriend. She has all these expectations and isn't happy unless things go exactly her way. She's one of my best friends, but I hope whoever she winds up with has a good supply of Aspirin on him."
Sam couldn't help but give a small smile.
"But with you…you're, well, perfect," Freddie said, looking down at his feet. "I feel like I can actually be myself around you and not have to worry about every little thing. If you were to go on a date, I bet you wouldn't spend the whole night obsessing about how the tablecloth doesn't perfectly match the curtains at the restaurant; you'd actually enjoy the date. You can make me laugh without even trying, you light up a room the second you walk in…I know you don't think so, Sam, but you're definitely a girl any guy would be lucky to have."
Sam stared at him. "No one has ever said that to me…"
"Well they should," Freddie said. "You deserve to hear it."
He moved closer to her. "Just know…if someone gave me a choice, I'd always pick you over Carly. Always. Because Carly doesn't make me feel even close to the way you do."
And with that he leaned over and gently placed his lips on hers.
She kissed him back at once, and Freddie had never felt anything more right in his whole life.
When the two finally pulled away, Sam stared at him, a look of confusion and excitement on her face.
"You mean that?" she whispered.
"I've never meant anything more in my life," he responded.
