Head
"Hey, Carls," Sam said, letting herself into the Shay's apartment. "What goes on?"
"Hey," Carly smiled, looking up from the magazine she was flipping through. "I thought you wouldn't be coming over until later; iCarly rehearsal isn't for another couple hours."
"I know," Sam said. "That's actually what I came by to talk to you about. You think it would be okay if we kind of pushed that back until tomorrow?"
"How come?" Carly frowned.
"Well, I-I kind of wanted to do something special for Freddie tonight," Sam said. "I was thinking last night and I realized that he's usually the one to plan all our dates and put together all this nice stuff for me. So I thought it would be kind of nice if, you know, I sort of changed things up. His mom is working a double shift tonight, so I thought it would be the perfect chance since she won't be able to call him every ten minutes asking if I got him arrested."
"Aw, that sounds really sweet," Carly chuckled. "Yeah, I guess we can move rehearsal back a day in the interest of romance."
"Thanks," Sam replied. "I owe you one, kid."
"So what are you going to do with Freddie?" Carly asked.
"Well, first I'm going to take him to this remote control boat show down at the park," Sam said. "The nub loves those things. Then I made us a really romantic picnic dinner, and after that we're going to go down to the boardwalk and I'm going to buy him some of that fancy coffee he really likes and we're going to sit by the ocean and just talk while we watch the moon. He's always tried to get us to do that, but I usually get bored and drag him off to the midway games instead. But not tonight."
"He's going to love all that," Carly said. "Wow, Sam, you've really put a lot of thought into this."
"I know," Sam said proudly. "I figure it's long overdue. I mean we have been going out for a while now."
"Well, have fun tonight," Carly told her.
"We will," Sam grinned, turning towards the door. "I'll see you later."
When she stepped out of the apartment, just as she had closed the door behind her, Freddie's front door opened and her boyfriend stepped out into the hall.
"Oh, hey!" Freddie said, surprised to see his girlfriend. "What are you doing over here, baby? I figured you'd still be over at your place."
He put his arms around her and leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "I was just going over to Carly's to set up some of the cameras for rehearsal tonight."
"Change of plans," Sam smiled. "Rehearsal is tomorrow night."
"Really? Why?" Freddie asked. "Did Spencer have another incident with the toaster oven?"
"No," Sam grinned, taking his hand and leading him back into his apartment. "I asked Carly to move it back."
"Why would you ask her to move rehearsal back?" Freddie asked, confused.
"Because," Sam, closing the door behind them as she laced her arms around his neck. "I planned the perfect evening for us. I know you always go to a whole bunch of trouble putting together all these great dates that you know I'll love, so this time I planned a whole night of stuff I know you'll love."
"Wait…you-you did?" Freddie said, a smile creeping onto his face.
"Uh-huh," Sam nodded, standing one her toes to kiss him deeply. "We're gonna go see some remote control boats, have a little picnic, and then sit around the boardwalk watching the moon and just talking like you always want to do. So hurry up and go get ready and-"
Just then there was a loud clasp of thunder that shook the entire apartment.
"Huh?" Sam frowned, pulling herself away from Freddie and hurrying over to the windows. She pulled back the curtains and saw that it was pouring down rain outside.
"Oh no!" Sam moaned just as there was a bright flash of lightening. "It's raining! This-This is horrible! Everything I had planned for us was outside!"
"Well, maybe-maybe it lighten up soon," Freddie said optimistically. "It's probably just a quick shower."
Another wave of thunder echoed through the apartment.
"Yeah, right," Sam mumbled, heading over to the plastic-covered couch and collapsing down onto it. "Man, I hate Seattle!"
"Come on, Sam, it can't rain forever," Freddie told her, sitting down next to her. "Hey, why don't we watch T.V. or something until it stops. I convinced my mom to unlock half of the channels, so we could watch-"
But before he could even finish his sentence, the lights suddenly flickered before going out entirely.
"The power's out!" Sam exclaimed.
"Hang on, I'll get some candles," Freddie said, going into the kitchen.
Sam sighed. Wasn't this just her luck? She spent all day planning the perfect date for Freddie, and of course, it had to go and get ruined.
"Here we go," Freddie said brightly, returning with two lit candlesticks. He carefully placed them down on the coffee table. "Kind of romantic, huh?"
"I guess," Sam agreed sadly. She looked back out the window, where it was still teaming down rain. "I'm really sorry, baby. I-This wasn't how tonight was supposed to work out."
"Sam, I told you, the rain can stop," Freddie said.
Another flash of lightning lit up the apartment.
Sam raised an eyebrow.
"Okay…maybe-maybe that won't be for a few hours," Freddie said lamely. "But-But that's okay. You can't control the weather, Sam. But maybe once this storm passes we'll have time to at least do one thing you planned. We'll just have to wait it out here. I know; let's play a game or something to pass the time."
"What kind of game?" Sam asked slowly. "I've seen the ones your mom has. They're totally lame."
"Well think up a different one," Freddie shrugged.
Sam thought for a moment. "I guess we could play Would You Rather…"
"What's that?"
"You've never played?" Sam asked, shocked. "Oh baby, you've been missing out! That's one of my favorite games. Carly and I play it at sleepovers all the time."
"Will you teach me?" Freddie smirked.
"Sure," Sam laughed. "Basically what you do is just go back and forth giving the other two crazy, insane situations, and you have to choose which you'd rather pick. It's fun, you'll see. I'll go first. Let's see…okay, I got one for you! Would you rather spend a month in prison or six months on a cruise with your mom?"
"Prison," Freddie grinned at once.
"Really?" Sam said. "I hate to break it to you, Fredgut, but I don't think you'd do too well in there."
"Probably not," Freddie agreed. "But could you imagine being stuck in the middle of the ocean with my mother? After three days the entire ship would be trying to chase her overboard."
"That's true," Sam laughed. "I guess prison is the lesser of two evils."
"Okay, I see how this game works," Freddie said. "So now I can give you two things to choose between?"
"Yup," Sam nodded. "And make them good."
"Oh I will," Freddie assured her. "I've already got one. Would you rather give up fried chicken or bacon for one full year?"
Sam's eyes widened. "What?"
"You heard me," Freddie chuckled.
"That-That's just cruel!" Sam sputtered. "That's like asking a mom to pick between her two children! I-I can't give up one!"
"I thought that was the point of the game," Freddie said. "You have to answer."
Sam glared at him. "You're a monster."
"That's not gonna keep you from answering," Freddie grinned. "So which is it? Are you giving up bacon or fried chicken?"
"I-I don't know!" Sam moaned. "I-I guess there are more alternatives to bacon…but-but nothing really compares to hearing that sweet crackling sound when you're cooking it. Oh, but-but fried chicken is so economical! You can get it anywhere! But-But without bacon, my breakfast meats choices are really limited. But I guess without fried chicken that really causes my pre-lunch options to take a hit. Oh, I-I guess it would be…bacon! No, fried chicken! No, bacon! No, I-I-"
"And we're gonna go with the final answer of bacon," Freddie laughed.
"That was the hardest decision I ever had to make," Sam said, her voice shaking. "I can't believe you, Benson! I'm gonna get you back good for that one!"
…
So as the rain continued to fall down outside, Sam and Freddie lost all track of time as they simply sat together on the couch, going back and forth giving each other more and more bizarre situations to choose between.
"I can't believe you said you'd rather have three root canals back-to-back-to-back than stay awake during one of Briggs' lectures," Freddie exclaimed as Sam wiped a tear of laughter from her eye.
"Well that's how painful it is to hear her talk!" Sam defended. "Besides, if we're gonna talk about stupid decisions, let's talk about how you said you'd rather eat nothing but crackers for a month than go to Mall of America with Carly and a credit card with no limits."
"It would be a month by the time I'd get out of there," Freddie pointed out. "She takes long enough in a normal mall!"
"That's fair, I guess," Sam agreed, giving Freddie a small peck on the lips. Freddie quickly reciprocated the kiss, pulling Sam even closer.
When the two broke apart, Sam glanced over at the window.
"Hey," she said. "Look! It stopped raining finally."
"Oh yeah, it did," Freddie nodded. "Well maybe we still have time to go to the boardwalk then. What time is it?"
Sam looked at her phone.
"Holy chiz!" she exclaimed. "It's almost two in the morning! Everywhere is closed by now!"
"Whoa, guess we really let time get away from us," Freddie said.
Sam let out a soft sigh. "Too bad we didn't get to do anything. I-I really wanted to finally give you the perfect date night. But once again everything got screwed up…"
"Hey," Freddie said gently. "Listen Sam, I really appreciate you going to all that trouble, and what you had planned did seem like a lot of fun. But-But you know all I need is this right here to have an amazing time. Just me and you spending time together, laughing and enjoying each other…that's better than anything in my book. Trust me, Sam, as long as you're there, any date is the perfect date."
Sam smiled at him. "Really?"
"Really."
Sam leaned forward kissing him again while at the same time shifting so she was now straddling his lap. "What time does your mom get home when she works a double shift?" she whispered.
"Not until ten in the morning," Freddie replied.
"Well then," Sam smirked. "I have one more question for you. Would you rather stay out here, or would you rather we move this into your bedroom?"
Freddie laughed, getting to his feet and lifting Sam up with him in his arms. He craned his neck down and kissed her once more. "What do you think?"
