AN: I know usually in oneshots where the characters are college-aged, I have Sam and Freddie already dating. But in this one, they're not. Enjoy!

….

Phone

"Why are we watching gossip T.V.?" Freddie frowned as him and Sam lounged in Spencer's living room. Carly was visiting a few friends she had made her past year at Washington State and Spencer was on a fishing trip with Socko, so the two had the apartment to themselves.

"Because there's nothing else on, that's why," Sam snapped.

"What are you talking about? There was a Galaxy Wars movie on the other channel!" Freddie pointed out.

"Wow, your first year at MIT must've made you dumber if you thought we were watching that," Sam scoffed.

"Hey, Galaxy Wars is a lot better than watching people talk about Michael Seth and Jenna Simpson getting back together," Freddie mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Uh, haven't you even been paying attention to the show?" Sam said. "They're not back together, you nub."

"What? They just said that they've been spotted coming out of hotel rooms together for the past month!" Freddie said. "I know you always like to remind me how 'unhip' I am, but even I know what that means."

"Yeah, they're sleeping together, sure, but that doesn't mean they're back together," Sam said. "They're just friends with benefits I guess."

"Friends with benefits?" Freddie repeated blankly. "What's that?"

"Ugh, see, you are unhip," Sam smirked. "How could you have just finished a whole year away at college and not know what friends with benefits means?"

"Are you going to tell me or not?" Freddie said.

"It means that two people who have a little bit of a history together, friends, exes, maybe both, get together every once in awhile just to, you know, have sex," Sam explained. "Only there's nothing romantic or coupley about it, so after they finish, the two people just go back to their normal lives."

"So…it's just sex then?" Freddie frowned.

"Yes, genius," Sam nodded. "No commitment, no obligation, and no emotions."

"Huh…" Freddie said. "So, um, is this just something that celebrities can do?"

"How are you so stupid?" Sam said, shaking her head. "Anybody can do it! Lots of people do do it. I know about a dozen people up at Washington State who have a 'friend with benefits'. Sometimes people just have needs, especially when they haven't been in a relationship in a long time."

"Oh," Freddie said. "So…anybody?"

"Anybody," Sam said. "It's not that complicated."

"Okay, so, um, just-just to be sure I'm understanding this," Freddie continued. "If-If two people like, oh, I don't know, you and I were to, um, if we were to-"

"If we wanted to, sure, even you and I could be friends with benefits, I guess," Sam shrugged. "We have the criteria. We're friends…or, well, we've gotten better at tolerating each other. Plus we did use to date…we've done it together before…I guess that's not a requirement but it probably counts for something. I haven't dated anyone since we broke up, you sure as heck haven't…yeah, if we wanted to, we could have ourselves a typical 'friends with benefits' situation."

"Ah," Freddie said, looking down at his feet. "Well. That clears up some stuff then."

"Glad to help," Sam said, rolling her eyes.

An awkward silence fell over the two.

"So how do two people become friends with benefits?" Freddie suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

"You know, if they meet all the criteria," Freddie said. "Is there like a process? Or an interview period? Or-"

"Are you trying to ask if we can be friends with benefits, nub?" Sam cut him off.

"Umm…well I-If you wanted to-I was just-"

"Spit it out!"

"Fine!" Freddie exclaimed. "Could we, I mean, if you wanted to, do you want to be…friends with benefits?"

"Huh…" Sam said thoughtfully. "I don't know…"

"Never mind, it was a bad idea!" Freddie said quickly. "Just forget I-"

"Relax, Frederly, I was kidding," Sam laughed. "Look, like I said, this whole thing isn't that complicated. You and I haven't been with anyone since we were together, and that was over a year ago. We'll just meet up every once in a while and…do it."

"Okay, um, but-but are you sure it won't make things weird?" Freddie asked slowly.

"Dude, that's the beauty of this arrangement; it's so casual!" Sam said. "Nothing will be weird about it! It will be like two people meeting up for a-a study session!"

"A study session?"

"Well I was trying to use an example that your nerdy brain could get," Sam snapped.

"This won't be like any study session I've been to," Freddie mumbled. "But…alright, this-this arrangement could work. So we'll just meet up, um, once a week then?"

"Once…twice…whatever," Sam shrugged.

"Cool, cool," Freddie nodded, his face bright red.

The two were silent once again.

"So, um, when exactly would this whole thing start?" Freddie asked.

"I've, um, got some time right now," Sam said.

"Oh. Well, me too," Freddie nodded.

"We-We could go over to my place then…" Sam suggested slowly. "You know…initiate this whole thing?"

"Um, sure," Freddie said, trying not to sound too eager. "Let's-Let's get to it."

….

"You see?" Sam said a couple weeks later as her and Freddie laid in her bed, both slightly out of breath. "This is a great arrangement."

"Oh yeah," Freddie nodded, wiping a few beads of sweat from his face. "Real great."

"We're both getting something out of this," Sam continued. "And we don't have to worry about any of that feelings junk like we would've had to if we were still a couple."

"Right," Freddie said. "We should've done this right after we broke up."

"Should've," Sam agreed. "But hey, remember, we're not telling anybody about this, right? I can just hear Carly now if she ever found out…"

"Nah, we'll keep it between us," Freddie said. He slowly sat up. "Well…guess I should be going. I'll see you tonight at Spencer's for spaghetti tacos, right?"

"When have I ever passed up spaghetti tacos?" Sam said.

"Good point," Freddie nodded, grabbing his clothes and quickly pulling them back on. He turned back to Sam. This was always the most awkward part, he felt. He never knew how to say goodbye. Back when they were dating, after they would have sex they would sit with their arms wrapped around one another four hours, just smiling to each other and exchanging small kisses until Freddie's mom began to call him every thirty seconds telling him to come home. But now that they were no longer engaging in any 'emotional' aspect of this, he felt that would be quite inappropriate.

"Well," he said, reaching over and clumsily patting her shoulder. "See you, Puckett."

"Bye, nub," Sam said.

"Oh, um, before I forget, my mom's work schedule got rearranged this week, so if we wanted to, next time we do this, we could meet at my place," Freddie said.

"Okay," Sam shrugged.

"Great, so maybe…Friday?"

"Friday works," Sam nodded. "Or you know, we could even meet sooner if you want…"

"Like…tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow's good," Sam said at once.

"Alright, well…then it's a date," Freddie said. "Er…no, um, not a date, because that would imply that we're dating, and we're not, we're just-"

"I got it," Sam smirked.

"Right…well bye," Freddie said quickly, turning and hurrying out of the room.

….

"Well," Sam said the next day as they lay underneath the covers in Freddie's bed. "Good work, nub."

"Thanks, you too," Freddie grinned.

"Was that a new move there at the end?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, did you like it?" Freddie asked.

"Actually, I did," Sam nodded. "How did you think of it?"

"It just came to me," Freddie shrugged.

Sam snickered.

"Oh grow up," Freddie said, gently shoving her shoulder. "Hey, um, so I was thinking this morning, um, about this arrangement…are we going to continue it while we're back at school?"

"We don't have to go back for another month," Sam pointed out.

"Oh, right, was I thinking too far ahead?" Freddie frowned. "Sorry, I-"

"No, no, it's fine," Sam said quickly. "Um, well I-I don't see any reason to not continue. Um, obviously these…appointments would be a bit more spread out, but, you know, over breaks and stuff…"

"Yeah, that-that would work," Freddie nodded.

"The thing we should discuss, while we're on the topic, is if we're going to, um, well, the thing is…normally in these arrangements, people-people can have more than one friend with benefits," Sam said, clearing her throat. "You know, since there is no emotional attachment involved."

"Oh, right," Freddie said. "I-I guess that makes sense."

"But sometimes," Sam said quickly. "People have exclusive friends with benefits."

"What's that mean?" Freddie asked.

"That you only have this arrangement with one person," Sam said. "So, you know, in our case, if we were to be exclusive, I wouldn't do this with any other guy and you wouldn't do it with any other girl."

"Oh," Freddie said. "Well…um, you know, it probably would be safer for us to limit the number of partners we have. You know, can't ever be too safe."

"Exactly," Sam said at once. "Really it would just be a precaution if we were to be exclusive."

"And you know I love precautions," Freddie nodded. "So…we're agreed then? We won't do this with other people?"

"Agreed," Sam said. She looked down at her Pearphone on the bedside table. "Ugh, it's almost four. I promised Carly I'd go to the mall with her. She's going to start calling if I don't get over there."

"Oh, okay," Freddie said. "Well see you later then."

Sam stared at him.

"Er…what?" Freddie asked.

"Well close your eyes so I can get my clothes back on," Sam snapped.

"Does it really matter?" Freddie frowned. "We just-"

"Yes it matters!" Sam said.

"Fine, fine," Freddie conceded, squeezing his eyes shut.

Sam quickly scrambled out of the bed and threw her clothes back on.

"Okay, later ba-nub," Sam said, clearing her throat.

"Bye," Freddie echoed after her.

Sam hurried out of his room and out of the apartment. She was just about to let herself into the Shay's apartment across the hall when the door of apartment 8C suddenly flew open and Carly stepped out.

"There you are," Carly said. "Where were you? You were supposed to be here half-an-hour ago."

"Well…I've never been on time before, have I?" Sam said. "Why would I start now?"

"Hey, were you just coming out of Freddie's apartment?" Carly asked.

"What? No!" Sam said quickly. "No, why would I-"

"Why's your hair all messed up too?" Carly frowned. "And your clothes are wrinkled up too; you even missed a button on your shirt…"

"Um…this-this-"

"What were you doing over at Freddie's?" Carly asked slowly.

"Nothing," Sam said. "Um, I just-"

"Ugh, Sam! You weren't giving Freddie another atomic wedgie, were you?" Carly sighed. "I told you, you could seriously hurt him!"

"Er…sure, that-that's what I was doing," Sam nodded.

"Oh, now I have to check on him," Carly said, stepping over and letting herself into Freddie's apartment.

"No! No, Carly, don't do that!" Sam said, sprinting back into the apartment she had just left. "Um…Carly! Carly, you can't just barge into Freddie's apartment!" She said the last part of her sentence loudly, hoping to alert Freddie that Carly had just arrived.

Thankfully, Freddie had heard her warning, for he came stumbling out of his bedroom, fully dressed. Sam cringed though as she noticed that his hair was also messed up, and he had thrown on his shirt backwards.

"Freddie, are you okay?" Carly asked.

"Um…what?" Freddie said, confused. He glanced over at Sam.

"Sam, look what you did to him, he's a mess!" Carly said. "And jeez, did you punch his neck or something? Look at all those little bruises?"

"Well, what can I say?" Sam said. "Look, you can lecture me about not beating up the doof on the way to the mall. Let's go and-"

"Hold on, those bruises look way too small to be from you punching him," Carly frowned. "In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd think they were from hick-"

"They-They're from my mom's new vacuum!" Freddie said quickly. "Yeah, that's it!"

"A vacuum?" Carly frowned.

"Yeah, um, I was doing a little cleaning this morning and the little sucky part got a little out of control," Freddie nodded. "It attacked my neck."

"Oh," Carly said. "Well are you alright?"

"Oh yeah, I'll be fine," Freddie assured her.

"Hey, how come your shirt is on backwards?" Carly suddenly asked.

"Huh? Oh!" Freddie said, looking down. "Oh, um…well, that-that's the style now. For guys, that is."

"Really?" Carly said skeptically.

"Yeah, um, all the dudes at MIT where their shirts backwards now," Freddie nodded.

Carly looked back and forth from Sam to Freddie. "Okay, I feel like something weird is going on here, but I can't-"

"Carly, why don't we go to Frills and Ribbons while we're at the mall?" Sam cut in.

"You hate that store, though," Carly pointed out. "All they sell are super girly dresses."

"Well, I-I know you've been telling me I should get a few more pieces of 'sophisticated' clothing now that I'm in college so…let's do that now!" Sam said. "Frill me up, Carly!"

"Really?" Carly grinned.

"Sure, but we have to leave right now, no questions," Sam said firmly.

"Well alright, who am I to argue about Frills and Ribbons?" Carly said excitedly. She turned to Freddie. "I'll see you around, Freddie. Come on, Sam. You'll see, you'll love this store!"

"I swear, it was the worst three hours of my life," Sam said as her and Freddie sat up in the old iCarly studio later that evening, waiting for Carly to start watching their movie. "Carly made me try on about thirty different dresses, and all of them were the most uncomfortable things I had ever had on."

"Did you wind up buying one?" Freddie asked.

"I had to; it was the only way I was getting out of that store," Sam mumbled darkly.

Freddie chuckled. "Nice."

"It won't be when she forces me to wear it," Sam sighed.

The two were sitting right next to each other on their beanbag chairs, and Sam's hand was carelessly sitting just a few inches from Freddie's. Freddie looked down at it and had a sudden urge to take her hand in his and give it a comforting squeeze. But then he reminded himself that despite their current arrangement, they were not a couple. He wasn't supposed to hold her hand or comfort her or do any typical 'boyfriend' things.

No matter how much he wanted to.

"Well, at least by going to the mall, you kept Carly from figuring stuff our earlier," Freddie said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sam said. "That was way too close today. We should be more careful."

"Agreed," Freddie nodded. "Maybe we should just stick do your place then?"
"Alright," Sam said.

The two were silent for a few minutes.

"It was kind of funny, though," Sam smirked, looking up at him. "I can't believe Carly bought that lame story about the vacuum cleaner. Er, sorry about your neck though. Do you want some make-up or something to cover them up? Before your mom gets back?"

"That's probably a good idea," Freddie nodded.

Sam reached into her bag and pulled out a container of concealer. She moved her seat over so that she was now even closer to Freddie. She leaned in and gently began dabbing the make-up over the marks.

"You'll barely be able to see them now," Sam said. "This is what I had to do last week after you did this to my neck."

"Oh yeah, I wondered how it cleared up so quickly for you," Freddie said. "Er, sorry about that, by the way…"

"Eh, you got your payback," Sam grinned. "Alright, I think I'm just about done…yup! Good as new."

"Thanks," Freddie smiled.

The two were now just a few centimeters apart, and their eyes were locked. All Sam wanted to do was move forward and fill the gap between them, but she couldn't.

According to the 'friends with benefits' arrangement, any physical contact like that wasn't allowed outside of the bedroom, after all.

Thankfully, Carly choose that moment to return to the studio with a large bowl of popcorn.

"Alright, who's ready to watch our movie?" Carly asked cheerfully, oblivious to what she had just interrupted.

"Me!" Sam said quickly, moving back away from Freddie. "And hand over that popcorn too, Shay. I need to refuel after spending so long in that stupid store."

"You wanted to go," Carly reminded her. "And besides, you looked totally hot in the dress you wound up with. You wear that next semester at Washington State and you'll land yourself a cute boyfriend in no time."

"That dress is stupid," Sam mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"No way, you look amazing in it," Carly said. "Here, Freddie. I took a picture of Sam after she put the dress on in the fitting room. Will you please tell her how great she looks?"

Freddie looked down at Carly's phone where he saw a picture of Sam wearing a very flattering dark-blue dress. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Why does the universe have to do things like this to me? he thought as he jumped to his feet.

"Very nice," he said quickly.

"Where are you going?" Carly frowned. "We're just about to start the movie?"

"Start without me," Freddie said quickly as he turned and hurried towards the door. "I-I'll be back in a sec!"

….

A few days later, Freddie let himself into Sam's house, as he normally did. She had texted him earlier in the morning to come over for an 'appointment', and after he had finally gotten his mom to let him go (she had been checking his hair for lice), he had come right over.

"Hey," he said as he stepped into Sam's room. "Sorry I'm so late. My mom was being extra insane this morning."

"Huh? Oh…hey," Sam said from her bed, where she was sitting with her laptop open. She was still fully dressed; normally when Freddie would come over she would already be in her bra and underwear. They found that if they started things quickly, it made the transition slightly less awkward.

Freddie also noticed that Sam had an almost sad expression on her face.

"You alright?" Freddie asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam said quickly, shutting her computer. "Sorry, I forgot you were coming over."

"Oh," Freddie said. "Well that's okay. I-I can leave and we can do this some other time if you want."

"Um, no, you-you can all the way over," Sam shrugged, pulling her shirt up over her head. "Let's do this."

"Sam…" Freddie said, sitting down next to her. "Seriously, is something bothering you?"

"It's dumb," Sam said. "Really, don't worry about it."

"I want to worry about it," Freddie said before he could stop himself. "Come on, just tell me."

Sam sighed. "I got some disappointing news, that's all."

"What about?" Freddie asked.

"I told you, it's dumb," Sam said, shaking her head.

"And I told you, I don't care," Freddie said. "What happened?"

Sam looked down at her lap. "Before the semester ended in May, my creative writing professor talked me into submitting a short story I had written for his class into this national competition. But, um, I just got an email and-and well…I didn't win. I didn't even break the top one hundred."

"Oh Sam, I'm sorry," Freddie said.

"No, it's no big deal," Sam said quickly. "I mean I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up, right?

"Sam, you have every right to be bummed about this," Freddie told her. "And it wasn't stupid to get your hopes up."

"Yes it was," Sam said. "I mean this was a national competition. I'm not some amazing writer…I didn't even have a shot."

"Sam, you're writing is-is unbelievable," Freddie said. "You're a fantastic writer. Just because some judges at one competition couldn't see that doesn't change the fact."

He put an arm around her. "Don't doubt yourself, okay? You hear of writers who get denied from publisher after publisher and then wind up become big-shot writers all the time. You'll get your break. I know it."

Sam gave him a small smile. "It still sucks, though."
"Well, like I said, you have a right to be upset," Freddie said. "Just don't dwell on it too much."

"Thanks," Sam mumbled. She cleared her throat. "Um, sorry I bored you with all of that. Not why you came over here, right? So, um, you want to, um, get to it then?"

Freddie gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "How about…How about we hold off on that right now? I know you're not exactly in the mood."

"Yeah but-"

"Can I read your story?" Freddie cut her off.

"My story?" Sam repeated.

"The one you entered into this competition," Freddie nodded. "Would you mind?"

"But it lost," Sam pointed out. "It's obviously not good."

"You wrote it," Freddie said simply. "So that right there already makes it a winner to me."

Sam cheeks flushed slightly, but she opened her laptop back up and handed it over to him.

He was silent for several minutes, immersed in the writing in front of him.

"Well?" Sam said. "Bad, right?"

"No, Sam, this is-this is great," Freddie said.

"You're just saying that…"

"No, I'm not," Freddie said honestly. "I-I seriously have no idea why that competition didn't see that. You know, MIT has a small literary magazine. One of the editors lived a few doors down from me in my dorm last semester…would you mind if I forwarded this to him to maybe use in the magazine?"

"But I don't go to MIT," Sam frowned.

"The magazine publishes pieces from other university writers all the time," Freddie said. "So what do you say?"

"Um, sure, I guess that's cool," Sam said.

"Awesome," Freddie beamed. "I'll be sure to send you a copy of the magazine when it comes out. Hey, we should go out and celebrate? Lasagna at Pini's? My treat?"

"Um…I dunno," Sam said slowly. "Going out to one of Seattle's prime date spots together? That kind of breaks every 'friends with benefits' rule there is, doesn't it?"

"Oh, yeah," Freddie nodded. "I-I guess it does…"

The two were quiet for a moment.

"Well would me taking you out to Pini's break any boyfriend rules?" Freddie asked slowly.

Sam looked up at him. "Um, no…No it wouldn't."

"Ah," Freddie said. "Well…Well do you want to try out those rules then?"

"Wouldn't you have to be my boyfriend to go by those rules?" Sam asked.

"I-I guess that would make sense," Freddie said. "So…So, um…You know, should we maybe try-try out that arrangement? Since we're apparently not too great at the whole 'friends with benefits' one?"

"Hmm…I dunno," Sam said.

Freddie's face instantly dropped. "Okay, um, sorry, just forget I-"

"Relax, nub," Sam grinned. "I was kidding."

"Oh," Freddie said, relieved. "You've got to stop doing that, though."

Sam chuckled, as she leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on his lips.

"So…when do we start this new arrangement?"

"How about…now?" Freddie suggested.

Sam squeezed his and. "Now works for me."