Conceal
"I hate the beach," Freddie mumbled to himself as he sat on his towel in the middle of the sandy shore. "I hate the beach!"
"Dude, will you stop ranting to yourself?" Gibby frowned, looking up from his magazine. "You're killing the vibe."
"What vibe?" Freddie scoffed. He glanced at his phone. "When can we just leave this stupid place?"
"I dunno, I guess whenever Spencer's ready to leave," Gibby shrugged. "He's the one who drove."
Freddie let out a groan.
"What's your deal?" Gibby asked. "Why do you hate the beach all of the sudden? We've been here a million times before and you've never complained."
"Yo, nubs!"
The boys looked up and saw Sam walking over. She had just gotten out of the ocean, the sun was shining off of her tanned body, which was shown off by a solid black bikini.
That's why, Freddie thought to himself, taking a deep breath as Sam reached the towels.
"Carly sent me up here to ask if you two are planning on going in the ocean at any point today," Sam said, sitting herself down on the edge of Freddie's towel, grabbing his water bottle and helping herself to some.
"Nah, I don't want my toes to prune," Gibby said. "Besides, I don't want to take off my shirt."
"Um…you've taken your shirt off in public at least a thousand times," Sam frowned. "The beach is the one place where people won't think you're a freak for doing it. Well…a total freak."
"Hey, I made a promise to my mom that'd I keep my shirt on this whole month, and I'm not going back on my word!" Gibby said firmly.
"Whatever," Sam said, rolling her eyes. She looked over at Freddie, who was staring determinedly down at the sand. "What about you?"
"Huh?" Freddie said, not looking up, though he could feel himself getting warmer, and it had nothing to do with the sun shining down on him.
"You coming in the water?" Sam asked.
Why? So I can see you bouncing around in that amazingly sexy bikini and practically die? Freddie thought to himself.
"Um, no, I, um, just ate a sandwich," Freddie said lamely. "So you know…gotta wait thirty minutes and all…"
"Pfft, way to up your geekiness rating," Sam smirked, moving onto her own towel, which was conveniently laid out next to Freddie's.
"Er, what are you doing?" Freddie asked as Sam laid down flat on her back.
"Working on my tan, what's it look like?" Sam said. "Hey, hand me that tanning oil, will you? I need to rub some on myself. Oh, and you can make yourself useful and get my back."
You've got to be kidding me, Freddie thought, quickly scrambling to his feet. "Actually, on second thought…I'm going in the ocean."
"But you just said you ate a-" Sam started.
"Yeah, well, I'll take my chances," Freddie said, already darting off towards the ocean.
When he entered the cool water, he instantly felt a sense of relief as his heart slowed and his breathing resumed a normal rate.
This is cruel, Freddie thought, frustrated. It's bad enough having to hang around her every single day since the break up…now I have to see her in that insanely hot bikini? It's like the universe hates me or something.
"Hey, you decided to come in the water!"
Freddie looked over his shoulder and spotted Carly and Spencer swimming over to him.
"Oh, yeah," Freddie nodded.
"Well where's Sam?" Carly asked. "She didn't come back in?"
"No, she's, um, back by the towels," Freddie said, trying to sound nonchalant. "Tanning or something."
"Ah," Carly said. "Well Spencer and I were going to try to find a picnic table over by the snack stand to set up lunch. Want to come with us?"
"Um…I'll be up in a minute," Freddie said, still trying to forget about the image of Sam laying on the beach, the sun shining down on her…
"Cool," Spencer nodded. "Well hurry up or Sam will eat all of the spaghetti tacos."
"Okay," Freddie said weakly.
Once Carly and Spencer headed off towards the shore, Freddie took another deep breath.
I hate the beach, he thought for the hundredth time that day. Absolutely hate it.
….
Later that afternoon Sam sat at the picnic table where the iCarly group had set up their picnic, taking hasty bites of her spaghetti taco.
The beach sucks, she thought to herself. Why'd I let myself get dragged here?
"Hey," Carly said brightly, sitting down next to her friend. "You having a good time on our little beach day?"
"When are we leaving?" Sam mumbled, taking another bite of her spaghetti taco.
"Probably not for another hour," Carly frowned. "Spencer's pretty invested in his sandcastle right now. Why do you want to leave? You love the beach!"
"Hey, are there any more napkins over here?" Freddie asked, walking over to the girls.
Sam had to bite her bottom lip and quickly look away to keep gawking at the sight of Freddie, standing shirtless in front of her, his formed muscles and abs out for the world to see.
That's why, Sam thought bitterly.
"Here you go," Carly sand, handing Freddie a few napkins. "Hey, you guys want to go for a walk and look for seashells? We can use them for that mermaid bit on iCarly."
You mean you want me to have to hang around with muscles over there and not lose my mind? Sam said silently. Fat chance.
"Um, no I'm actually gonna go…to the boardwalk," Sam said lamely. "You know…check out the stores."
"You're going to go shopping?" Carly said, giving her a strange look. "Willingly?"
"Yeah, you know, I hear there's cool stuff," Sam mumbled, trying hard not to stare at the way the sun was bouncing perfectly off of Freddie's toned arms.
"Well okay, why don't we all go?" Carly suggested.
"No, um, I think I'll go take a nap," Freddie said at once. "You two go ahead."
"You sure?" Carly asked.
"Yeah," Freddie nodded quickly, grabbing his bottle of sunblock and adding another layer. Sam had to use all her will power to suppress a low moan at the sight. "You two have fun."
"Uh-huh…" Sam said softly, staring down hard at the table. "We will…"
…
"Well that was fun!" Spencer said later that evening as the group piled back into his car. "We really needed a good beach day!"
"I'll say," Carly agreed, hopping into the front seat. "We should come again soon!"
"Not too soon," Freddie mumbled as he finished loading the cooler into the trunk of the car.
"Yeah," Sam nodded as she finished dusting the sand off of her flip-flops. "Let's wait until winter or something…"
Sam and Freddie, who were the only two left outside of the car now, avoided eye contact as they made to load into the vehicle. Gibby was asleep in the middle row, and the seat next to him was covered in everybody's bags and towels, leaving only the cramped back seat for the two.
"You guys in?" Spencer called back as Sam and Freddie reluctantly situated themselves in their seats.
"Um, yeah," Freddie said, trying not to react to the sensation of Sam's bare leg pressing against his own, sending shivers up his spine.
"Just hurry up and drive," Sam snapped, trying to ignore the fact that she could feel Freddie's bulging biceps against her side.
This is going to be a long drive home, she thought to herself, looking out the window and hoping Freddie couldn't see how red her face was.
Yup, the universe definitely has it out for me, Freddie thought miserably, looking out the opposite window. Because this is more than cruel…it's pure torture.
