Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly. I'd tell you, trust me.

Author's Note: So, you all still with me after that last chapter? I'm afraid the road is still going to be pretty bumpy before it can get better. Thank you all for reading and reviewing, it means a lot to me.

Also, this chapter kind of jumps around a little bit, but I hope it's okay. We get a little Carly perspective in this chapter. :D

Also, this picks up literally seconds after the fight.

Chapter Four: iHave A Sick Friend

Freddie pulled at the door with all his strength, but Sam must have been on the other side holding it shut because it wouldn't budge.

"Sam!" He groaned.

He hadn't wanted it to go like that. He'd wanted to stop Hutchins from hurting her and in the process had said some really awful things. He hadn't meant to. But Sam's words had cut him quickly and brought him to his breaking point. As they had gotten older, Freddie had thought that he'd become kind of mature when it came to his responses to Sam, but all the sudden her insults got to him in a way they hadn't even as a kid.

They weren't just annoying or rude anymore it…It…. Hurt.

He hadn't wanted to hurt her back. But he couldn't help but feel like she had picked that fight. Even if he should have ended it before it got out of hand.

He heard a door slamming across the hall and realized Sam had released her grip on the other side of the door. He pulled it open and rushed to Carly's door, but it was securely locked. He let out a loud frustrated sigh, and kicked the door, hard.

"Ouch! Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch." He said, gripping his foot in his hand.

He stood there in the hallway for a long moment, trying to decide what he wanted to do now. He seriously considered pounding on the door until Carly opened it up and then he would insist on speaking to Sam.

He had just lifted his fist to knock when his hand froze, and a thought occurred to him.

Hadn't the argument been started by Sam? Sure, he had said some nasty stuff, and he really did feel bad about it, but he had tried to make peace and she had tried to start an argument. In the end, she was to blame. So why did he still feel guilt gnawing at his stomach?

Wasn't it Sam who constantly insulted him? Wasn't it Sam who considered 'beating up Freddie' to be the best possible sport? Wasn't it Sam who made it her goal to make his life miserable all the time?

He was constantly looking after her. Because, for some, strange reason, he actually cared about her. And for a long time he'd tried to convince himself that somewhere, deep down, she cared about him too. They were friends, weren't they? That's what he'd always really thought, but now…

Well, now he wasn't so sure.

With the way she treated him all the time, maybe they weren't friends. Maybe his affection for her was some twisted confusion. Maybe after years of abuse from her, he'd convinced himself there was something more to her. And maybe…Well, maybe there just wasn't. Maybe he was just a glutton for punishment. Because really, what sane person would stick around for years after all she'd put him through?

So, fine, he did care. Against all common sense, he cared about her. But he didn't need to sit there and just take chiz from her all the time. If she wanted to come to him and apologize for picking a fight, that was fine. Or, even, if at school the next day she wanted to pretend nothing happened, that would be fine too. He could forgive the fight. He could forget the fight.

But he could not apologize for it.

So with that thought in mind, he reentered his apartment, slamming the door shut behind him.

00000

After falling sleep on the Shay's couch, Sam awoke at 3 A.M. startling awake though she could not remember having a nightmare. (What had actually happened was about as bad as it could get for her at that moment.) Her eyes were sticky from crying herself to sleep, and her head pounded mercilessly.

She lay in the darkness of the apartment for some time. She could hear Spencer snoring loudly in the other room, and had to resist the urge to go beat him over the head with a pillow for keeping her awake. Her mind was still ringing with the sound of her and Freddie's fight, and her anger hadn't faded, but it was misery that was her prevailing emotion.

Sam finally sat up and slowly pushed herself to her feet. One thing was for sure. She would not go to school the next day. And that meant she needed to convince Carly she was really sick. She grabbed the tissue box Carly had left on the table and, one by one, tore out pieces of tissue, crumpled them up, and littered them over the floor and the coffee table, until there were only a couple left in the box.

She pulled the kitchen trash can beside the couch so it would look like she was ready to throw up at any moment. Then she was hungry, so she found the fat cakes Carly had buried in a cabinet, and stuffed one into her mouth, trying to ignore how completely unhappy she felt.

When she finished her snack she lay back down on the couch, and slowly fell into another fitful sleep.

00000

Carly found Sam sprawled out on the couch the next morning, her head hanging off the side and one leg propped up against the back of the couch. It couldn't have been very comfortable, but Sam appeared to be out cold. The area surrounding her was littered with Kleenexes and her eyes were puffy and red, while the rest of her face was extremely pale. She really did look sick.

Carly didn't want to wake her friend if she needed to spend the day resting, but she didn't know what to do. Should she stay home and look after Sam? Should she send Sam to her mom? There was no way her blond friend was getting to school that day.

"Sam?" Carly asked tentatively, reaching out to shake her awake.

Sam woke with surprising ease; Carly didn't even have to mention fried chicken one time. "Hmm? Whatzit?" She mumbled groggily, lifting her head an inch and looking around, squinting.

"Do you want to stay here today?"

Sam just nodded and dropped her head again.

"Do you want me to stay home and take care of you?"

"No. Go to school." Sam murmured, drawing her blanket over her head.

"I can stay Sam, really, it's no—"

"No. Just go. I'm fine." Sam said, with surprising clarity.

Carly hesitated but finally agreed, "Okay… But Spencer's here. I'll tell him to heat up soup for your lunch. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

Sam made a sound that must have been a noise of consent, or, at least, Carly assumed it was. She watched her friend guiltily for a moment before hurrying to get breakfast and get ready for school. She left Sam orange juice and crackers on the coffee table, but her friend had already gone back to sleep.

Carly left for school, still feeling reasonably cheerful, despite her best friend being sick on her couch. She was, of course, worried about Sam. She felt bad that her friend was sick, of course she did! But she had no reason to believe that there was anything seriously wrong physically or emotionally. Sam probably just had a cold or something, and would feel better after some rest.

She met Freddie outside her locker before class had begun, and he glanced around for a moment after he saw her. "Where's Sam?" He asked, curiously. If she hadn't known better she'd have thought there was a hint of apprehension in his voice.

"She's home sick." Carly said, and watched as Freddie's face fell.

Okay, that was sweet. That was really sweet. She fought back a smile. "She'll be alright."

"Yeah, I'm sure… Uh, I'm just going to head to class early." He said, before turning his back on her and hurrying away. She was confused, but decided to let him go. She could interrogate him about his odd behavior later.

Freddie wasn't the only one who noticed Sam's absence. Jack Hutchins approached her right after lunch to ask her where Sam was.

"Home sick." She told him, glancing around for Freddie. She hadn't seen him since earlier that morning when he hurried away, and now she was starting to wonder if there might be something going on beyond just simple worry for his friend.

Hutchins called her attention back to himself, "When you say, 'home sick' you mean she's playing hooky, right?" He smirked.

Carly frowned. "No! As if I'd encourage that!" She shook her head, "She's really sick."

Hutchins' smirk faded, "At your house or hers?"

"Mine."

He nodded and slung his backpack over his shoulder as he prepared to walk away, "Cool. I'll stop by later to check on her, then."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea-"

"Catch you later, Carly." Jack said, walking down the hall and ignoring her last comment.

Carly frowned. People just kept walking away from her in the middle of conversations. It was getting old pretty quickly.

00000

When Carly got home from school, Sam was awake, but she looked tired with dark shadows under her bloodshot eyes, and she was in an obviously bad mood.

"Hey, Sam. How do you feel?"

"Oh, I feel great! About as bright as the sunshine!" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, as she stuffed a piece of ham into her mouth. "How do you feel?"

"No need to get snappy." Carly said, her voice disapproving but patient, "Maybe you shouldn't eat a lot of that right now… Soup would be better." She suggested, tentatively, but the glare Sam gave her silenced her on the subject.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the couch…" She muttered, making her way to the kitchen for a snack.

She opened the refrigerator door to grab the carton of orange juice so she could pour her friend another glass, only to discover that Sam had the carton on the coffee table in front of her and had just been drinking out of it.

Carly suppressed an exasperated sigh and decided to just let it go. Her friend was sick, after all. She joined her friend on the couch and turned the TV on.

"Girly Cow?" She suggested to Sam, who only nodded in response.

They sat in silence for about half an hour. It had been a particularly long day at school, with a math test and a presentation to give in History, Carly was worn out. So, trying to start a conversation with a grumpy and sick Sam, who very obviously didn't want to talk, was not that appealing of an idea.

There was a knock on the front door and it opened. Carly looked up to see Freddie poking his head through the door, "Can I come in?"

"Of course." Carly said, getting to her feet and glancing at Sam who appeared to have fallen asleep.

Freddie stepped inside and glanced at Sam. When he saw her asleep on the couch, his whole countenance fell. Carly wanted to think it was all concern for their friend, but she was starting to think maybe there was something else going on between the two of them. But now didn't seem the right time to ask.

"How is she?" He asked, quietly.

"Fine, I think. Sort of in a bad mood, but I think she'll be better soon."

His frown deepened, "Right."

She couldn't resist anymore. "Okay… What's wrong?"

"Everything's fine. Is there anything I can do to help?" Freddie motioned to Sam. Carly was very aware of the subject change, but she let it go. Now wasn't a good time to argue with him, with Sam asleep right there.

"No. I think she's okay." Carly said, shaking her head.

"Okay, see you later."

"You don't have to leave, you know."

"Yeah, but my mom is waiting for me. I just wanted to drop in and see if she was okay."

"Okay…" Carly smiled, "See you later, Freddie."

"Yep. Bye." He said, his face still solemn.

Carly remembered Jack saying he might turn up later, and so, as Freddie walked out the door, she locked it behind him. She didn't want Hutchins barging in and waking up Sam. She didn't hate him, or anything, but she didn't think he was the best person to have around Sam when she was sick. She needed rest, and he would probably want to laugh and joke and tease. That wasn't a great idea right now.

She rejoined Sam on the couch, and when, a minute later, Sam's head lifted from the pillow and she rubbed at her eyes as if just waking up, Carly began to wonder if she had ever really been asleep in the first place.

Now she was sure there was something more going on than a little illness. Something had happened between Sam and Freddie, and if it didn't blow over soon, Carly would step in.

Author's Note: So, this chapter took a little different direction then I expected it to. It was actually supposed to span a larger amount of time, but I really didn't want to rush over it, so I decided to save the rest of what was meant to happen for the next chapter.

I'd like to say, I think Freddie not apologizing was the wrong thing to do. But I also think Sam did the wrong thing as well. All I can do is beg you to excuse them both, because they are both hurting. Frankly, I'm on both of their sides in the argument. Sam was unduly rude to Freddie when he was just trying to help, but Sam is hurting from Freddie's 'rejection' of her. They are both sad. I hope you can forgive them.

Anywayyy. There was that long explanation. Please do review. I always appreciate constructive criticism, and I love to hear what everyone thinks!