Ship

"Carly, I can't thank you enough for doing this," Freddie said as him, Sam, and Carly sat around the Shay's kitchen table.

"It's no problem," Carly said. "Filling in for you on the student conduct board will be fun."

"Fun is a weird word to use to describe that," Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, still, I appreciate you doing it," Freddie said. "There's no way I can get out of this dentist appointment. My mom's got them doing like, seven cleanings. Ever since I started dating Sam again she says my mouth needs to be extra-sanitized."

"I'd be kind of offended but his lips taste super minty after he gets back from the dentist," Sam shrugged. "So I'll deal."

"Also, this meeting is kind of going to be a long one," Freddie continued. "I'd plan on being there for three hours."
"Three hours?" Carly repeated.

"Well we have to discuss the proper disciplinary action for Dough McCoy," Freddie explained. "He dumped three pounds of fish in the vents of the teacher's lounge!"

"Go easy on him," Sam said. "I've been going to detention with that kid for years. He's alright."

"Look, let me do something to repay you this," Freddie said.

"No, it's fine," Carly said. "You don't have to-"

"You should buy her a smoothie," Sam spoke up. "Right now."

"And let me guess," Freddie smirked. "While I'm down there you want me to pick you up one too?"

"You know me well, baby," Sam nodded.

"I wouldn't say no to a smoothie, actually," Carly shrugged. "Hey, I'll go down with you. I need to yell at T-Bo anyway."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"He came over last night and used up all my fancy soap!" Carly snapped. "I had just gotten that stuff; it smelt like lavender!"

"Alright, let's go then," Freddie said. "He turned to Sam. "Are you going to come too?"

"No, just bring my smoothie up to me," Sam said, kicking her feet up onto the table. "I'm too tired to move."

"Yes…you must be so worn out from a long day of doing nothing," Freddie chuckled.

"I really am," Sam said as Freddie gave her a quick kiss.

"See you in a few minutes then," Freddie told her.

"There's a fresh pack of bacon in the fridge if you get hungry," Carly added.

"And this is why you're my best friend," Sam grinned, jumping up and heading to the fridge.

"Why can't I use your soap? Are you telling me I'm not good enough for your precious soap?" T-Bo snapped down at the Groovy Smoothie.

"No, you can use it sparingly," Carly said as T-Bo handed Freddie two smoothies. "You used the whole bottle!"

"Well my hands were dirty," T-Bo defended. "And Mrs. Benson doesn't buy the nice scented soap."

"It's true," Freddie sighed. "She says nice scents aren't the point of soap. The point is killing germs, and flowery smells just distract the soap from its real job."

"That-That makes no sense," Carly frowned.

"Welcome to my life," Freddie sighed as him and Carly sat down at their usual table. He handed her one of the smoothies. "There you go. One Blueberry Blitz."

"Thanks," Carly smiled. "Hey, you forgot Sam's smoothie."

"Nah, I got it," Freddie said. "I surprised her and ordered one of those giant, overpriced Love Smoothies. T-Bo will bring it out soon."

"Aw, that's sweet," Carly nodded. "She'll love that."

"I know," Freddie said proudly.

"Oh my God!" a voice behind the two suddenly cried. "It's Carly and Freddie from iCarly!"

Two girls hurried up to Carly and Freddie's table.

"Um, hi there," Carly smiled politely.

"You're from iCarly!" one of the girls said again.

"Yup, that's right," Freddie nodded. "Do you guys watch the show?"

"Every week!" the second girl said eagerly. "You guys are so hilarious!"

"Aw, thanks," Carly beamed.

"Would you mind if we took a few pictures?" the first girl asked, pulling out her phone.

"Um, I guess that would be okay," Freddie shrugged.

"Awesome! You guys are totally-"

"One Love Smoothie!" T-Bo announced, setting the large beverage down between Carly and Freddie. "That will be thirty-six bucks."

"I already paid you!" Freddie frowned.

"Oh…yeah," T-Bo said lamely, turning away and heading back to the counter.

"A Love Smoothie?" the first girl gasped. "No way! Are you two out on a date?"

"Oh no," Freddie said quickly. "This Love Smoothie is for Sam. I bought it for Sam."

"Aw," the second girl sighed sadly. "I was always hoping you two would wind up together."

"Well…sorry," Carly said awkwardly. "Freddie and I are just buds."

"Yeah, the two of us don't have anything romantic going on between us," Freddie said firmly.

"Oh, all right," the first girl said. "Too bad…"

"Um, so how about those pictures?" Carly said quickly.

"Okay!" the girls nodded, both perking up.

After a few quick snapshots, the girls said goodbye to Carly and Freddie and headed out of the restaurant.

"I can't believe people are still waiting around for me and you to get together," Carly said, rolling her eyes. "You and Sam have been together almost a whole year."

"Eh, people are weird," Freddie said. "Still, I wish they would just accept the fact that I'm in love Sam, not you. Um, no offense."

"None taken," Carly chuckled, sipping her smoothie. "So you ready to head back up? You should get that smoothie to Sam while it's still cold."

"Yeah, let's go," Freddie nodded.

…..

"I'm really on the fence about this new editing system," Freddie sighed later that evening as the three teens lounged in the iCarly studio. "On one hand, it's supposed to be the fastest program out there currently, but on the other…there's nothing really wrong with the system I'm using now."
"Aw, nerd problems," Carly laughed playfully.

"See what I have to deal with?" Sam smirked, looking up from her Pearpad. "Baby…just pick whichever editing chiz you think will make your dorky little self the happiest."

"But I don't know which one will make me the happiest!" Freddie moaned. "Ugh, I need to make a pro-con list!"

"So, you two have any plans tomorrow?" Carly asked.

"No," Freddie replied, pulling a pad of paper out of his backpack. "Why? What were you thinking?"

"Well I thought it might be fun for the three of us to maybe hang out down at the mall," Carly said. "We can look for cool props to use on iCarly since some of ours are getting a little old and broken."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Freddie nodded. "Sam, you in?"

"Um…sure," Sam said slowly. "But hey, question for you two…how long have you guys been secretly dating?"

"What?" Carly exclaimed.

"Secretly dating?" Freddie frowned.

Sam held up her Pearpad which showed a picture of Freddie and Carly sitting at the Groovy Smoothie with a giant Love Smoothie in between them. The caption underneath the picture read: 'Creddie lives on!'.

"Oh no," Carly sighed. "Those two girls we ran into earlier today must've posted that."

"Dang it!" Freddie said, shaking his head. He turned back to Sam. "Sam, baby, you know that picture means nothing. It's from earlier today; that Love Smoothie was for you!"

"We ran into a couple of fans who still have the delusional idea that me and Freddie are supposed to be together," Carly explained. "But we set them straight right away. You don't have to worry about that."

"Yeah, I-I know," Sam said. "I was just messing with you two."

"I can try to take the photo down," Freddie said.

"No, don't bother," Sam said. "There's plenty of people out there on the Internet posting stuff about you and Carly. You can't control the crazies on the web."

"Well they can't change the fact that we're together," Freddie said, putting his arm around her.

"Exactly," Carly nodded, getting to her feet. "Hey, I'm gonna go run and get some iced tea. Do you two want any?"

"Did you make it?" Sam asked.

"No, it's from the store," Carly said, rolling her eyes.

"Then we'll take two glasses," Freddie said.

Once Carly left Freddie turned back to Sam. "Seriously, don't let one picture get to you. You know I don't like Carly that way."

"I know," Sam mumbled. "I know that you wouldn't ever do anything with Carly behind my back like that. That's not what bothers me."

"Then what is it?" Freddie asked.

"I just wish people would stop going on about how the two of you make more sense as a couple than us," Sam sighed. "That's always what these 'Creddie' shippers say. They say a nice, normal guy like you should be with a sweet, normal girl like Carly. They say that I'm too mean and crazy for you."

"That's ridiculous," Freddie said at once.

"Is it really?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow. "I know you love me, but if you were some third-party, wouldn't you agree that you and Carly make a lot more sense than me and you?"

"Look, Sam, all these Internet people have to base their arguments for me and Carly off of is what they see of us for thirty-minutes a week when we do iCarly," Freddie said. "That's nothing! Everybody who actually knows us, they always say we are meant for each other. Carly, Spencer, Gibby, Wendy, Melanie, T-Bo…they can actually see how happy we make each other and how in love we are. And you know what? Even if our closest friends couldn't see that we do make sense together, that wouldn't matter either because we know that we're perfect for each other. And in the end, that's all that really matters."

Sam didn't reply, but she rested her head on his shoulder.

Freddie knew that the idea of him and Carly as a couple was one of her biggest insecurities. She had to deal with him proclaiming his love for the brunette for years, after all. Even though she knew full well how much he loved her and that her best friend would never do anything to hurt her, it was definitely still a touchy topic for her.

"I love you," Freddie said softly, kissing her temple. "There's nobody out there who is more perfect for me than you."

Sam looked up at him and gave him a small smile. "You're the only one for me too.