Stripping

"It was so nice of Socko's cousin to let us stay in his cabin," Carly said as her, Spencer, Sam and Freddie sat around the fireplace in the large cabin at the ski lodge they were staying at. "I can't believe she owns such a great place. What was her name again?"

"Summer," Spencer replied.

"Ironic…" Freddie commented, pulling his thick coat closer around his body.

"Dude, we're inside," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "Do you really need that giant jacket your mom made you bring right now?"

"It's cold!" Freddie defended. "I don't know how your managing in just a t-shirt, but you're crazy. You're going to get hypothermia, you know."

"Sure," Sam scoffed. She was wearing a short-sleeve t-shirt and a pair of old sweatpants.

"Um, Sam, he may have a point," Carly said. "Aren't you even a little cold? I know we're inside but still, it's about five degrees outside. The cold seeps through the cabin."

"I'll be fine, Carls," Sam said. "Besides, I have a jacket." She held up a red hoodie.

"Sam, that won't keep you warm!" Carly said. "Didn't you bring a real winter jacket? You're going to need one when we go skiing tomorrow."

"She's right," Spencer nodded. "If you need one, there's a gear store a few streets down from here we can go to and pick you up one."

"What? No, that's dumb," Sam scoffed. "Pucketts have thick blood; we don't let something like the temperature slow us down. I'll wear my jacket tomorrow when we're skiing, and maybe I'll throw on some gloves, and I'll be good to go."

"Um…I really think we should get you an actual jacket," Spencer frowned. "You could get frost bite. I had that once…not as much fun as you would think."

"I'm telling you, I can take the cold!" Sam said. "I'm not some whimp like Freddifer over there."

"Hey!" Freddie snapped.

"You're wearing eight pairs of socks," Sam said.

"Well…shut up!" Freddie said lamely.

That evening Freddie was still sitting by the fireplace, working on editing an iCarly segment to air when the teens got back to Seattle. Sam was lounging on her bed across the room, snacking on the beefy jerky she had brought as she absentmindedly flipped through a magazine.

"Hey, Freddie," Carly said softly as her and Spencer stepped over to him. "We'll be back. We're going to run out for a little bit."
"Where are you going?" Freddie asked.

"The gear store," Spencer replied.

"We're getting Sam a functional coat for tomorrow," Carly said. "She's too stubborn to admit it, but she'll freeze her butt off without one."

"Don't tell her though, or she'll throw a fit," Spencer said.

"I won't," Freddie chuckled.

"Anyway, we should be back soon," Carly said. "Just don't let Sam go outside with her 'jacket'. We don't need her getting a cold or hypothermia or anything."

"I'll do my best," Freddie promised.

"Bye Sam!" Carly called over to her best friend.

"Huh? Where are you going?" Sam asked, looking up.

"Um, just out to, um, fill the car with gas," Carly said.

"But we did that right when we got up here," Sam frowned.

"Um…it-it's a new type of gas," Spencer said. "Yeah, um…it's made from, um-"

"Well bye!" Carly said quickly, grabbing her brother's wrist and pulling him out of the cabin before he could blow everything.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked Freddie.

"Um, no clue," Freddie said.

"Whatever," Sam shrugged, getting to her feet. "So what are you up to, Nub?"

"Just working on some iCarly stuff," Freddie replied.

"Why? We're on vacation," Sam scoffed. "You're supposed to be relaxing."

"Working on tech stuff is relaxing for me," Freddie said simply, tossing another piece of firewood into the fire.

"Ugh, do you hear yourself?" Sam scoffed, plopping herself down on the couch next to him. "This is why I have to constantly mock you; you just give me too much material. Now put your computer away and entertain me."

"Entertain yourself," Freddie said. "There's plenty to do around here."

"Like what?"

"I dunno, you can…you can…"

"Exactly!" Sam smirked victoriously. "There's nothing! Man, I can't wait to go skiing tomorrow; at least that will be fun."

"Why don't you go read a book or something?" Freddie suggested, reaching for the basket of firewood. "There's plenty to choose from on that bookshelf over there. Or you can-oh no!"

"What?" Sam asked.

"We're out of firewood," Freddie moaned.

"Ha, is wittle Freddie gonna freeze now?" Sam sneered.

"I'll just have to go get some more wood," Freddie said, pulling on his boots. "There's a whole bin of it on the other side of the resort."

"Cool, I'll come too," Sam said.

"No, you can't," Freddie said at once.

"Why not?"

"Uh, because you have no jacket," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.

"I have a jacket," Sam said, holding up her red hoodie. "And there's nothing better to do so I'm going with you to get the firewood."

"Sam, that thing wouldn't even keep you warm in an air-conditioned school, let alone twelve inches of snow," Freddie said.

"Maybe it wouldn't keep you warm, but I can deal with a little cold," Sam said firmly, pulling the hoodie on. "So I'm going."

"Sam…" Freddie sighed. "Can't you just not be stubborn for once in your life? You're going to get sick!"

"My immune system isn't as fragile as yours," Sam said. "How many times do I have to say it; Pucketts can handle anything!"
She stepped over to the front door and pulled it open, sending an immediate chill into the cabin. "Now I'm going. You can either come with me or you can keep sitting around here doing work."

And with that she headed out the door.

"Sam!" Freddie moaned as he hurried after her. "Ugh! Stubborn!"

"Well, at least we got a good amount of firewood," Freddie said as him and Sam headed back to their cabin. "Hopefully this will last us until tomorrow morning."

"Hopefully," Sam mumbled.

Freddie glanced over and saw the Sam was clutching her thin hoodie to herself and was visibly shivering.

So much for Pucketts having thick blood, he thought to himself. Well…we're almost to the cabin at least. And tomorrow hopefully now she won't give anybody a hard time about wearing that coat.

"Let's just hurry up and get back," Sam said, quickening her pace through the snow.

"Why?" Freddie smirked. "Are you cold?"

"Shut it!" Sam hissed.

"Well," Freddie chuckled as they started up the front steps of the cabin. "Lucky for you we'll be back inside the nice, warm cabin in just a few-uh-oh."
He pulled the handle of the front door, but it didn't budge.

They were locked out.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, her teeth chattering.

"We, um, we're locked out," Freddie said slowly.

"You didn't bring the key?" Sam frowned. "You moron!"

"You didn't bring it either!" Freddie defended.
"You were the last one out the door!"

"Okay, well, Carly and Spencer should be back any minute," Freddie said.

"They better be," Sam said, hugging her jacket even closer to her body.

Freddie opened his mouth to gloat, but as he did, he caught sight of Sam's face. Her nose was right red, there were little flakes of ice on her eyelashes, and her cheeks were colorless. Her bare hands were a light shade of blue and she was shivering violently.

"You're freezing," Freddie said. He wasn't rubbing it in; he was stating a simple fact.

Sam didn't even have the energy to refute this claim.

She can't wait until Carly and Spencer get back, Freddie decided, unzipping his own coat.

"Here," Freddie said, stripping off his coat and draping it over Sam. He helped her sit down on the steps. "Let's try to get you warmed up."

"But what about you?" Sam mumbled as she clung to Freddie's coat.

Freddie gave a small smile. "I have plenty of layers. I'll be fine. Um…here, it-you might get a little warmer if you move closer to me. I've read that if people, well, embrace out in these conditions, they'll share body heat with one another."

Sam must've really been cold, because she didn't say one word as she scooted closer to Freddie and let him wrap his arms around her.

The two didn't say a word to each other as they waited for Carly and Spencer returned. Maybe it was because they were simply too cold to speak, or maybe it was because of their current position. They waited nearly another thirty minutes before Spencer and Carly finally pulled up in front of the cabin.

"Oh my God, what are you two doing just sitting out here? It's freezing!" Carly exclaimed as she hopped out of Spencer's van.

"We-We got locked out," Freddie explained. "Hurry up and open the door; Sam needs to get by the fire."

Spencer quickly pulled out the key and Freddie helped Sam into the cabin. He tossed a few logs of firewood into the fireplace and gently sat Sam down in front of the flames.

"I'll go put on some cocoa," Spencer said, hurrying over to the small stove.

"Is she okay?" Carly asked, concerned. "What where you doing out there?"

"We went to get wood," Freddie sighed. "I tried to keep her inside, but, well, that was a lost cause."

He grabbed a few blankets and wrapped them around Sam. "You warming up?"

"Yeah," Sam mumbled weakly, still shaking slightly.

"I think she'll be fine," Freddie told Carly. "She just needs to stay by the fire for the rest of the night."

"Good," Carly said. "And Sam, now that you realize just how cold it is out here, maybe you won't give us a hard time about wearing this tomorrow."
She pulled out a bright red, very thick, coat from her bag and set it by Sam.

"Oh sweet chiz, thank you," Sam breathed.

"You're welcome," Carly chuckled, getting to her feet. "Well, I'm going to go take a shower. Sam, when I'm done maybe you should sit in a hot bath or something."

"Alright," Sam nodded.

As Carly walked away, Sam looked up at Freddie. "So, um, do you want your coat back now? I-I think I'm starting to get feeling in my arms back."

"Hang onto it for a little longer," Freddie told her. "I think you still need it."

Sam nodded. She looked away and stared intently into the fireplace. "Well, um…thanks. You know, for not letting me freeze out there."
Freddie smiled. "No problem, Puckett."