Author's Note: Hey, everybody! I hope you've all had a splendid week. Honestly, it hasn't been that productive a week for me. Don't know if that's a good thing or not, what with exams coming up in a month's time (hmmm). So this chapter is longer than last week's offerings, so that should appease Fanfic-Reader-88 (lol, just kidding, bro). CGK0113, I hope you like this new chapter, I thought of you while writing : )

Disclaimer: Still don't own 17 Again, iCarly or the awesome romantic pairing that is Creddie ; )

After reaching the second floor where his first class of the day was located, Freddie ended his montage of cool walking and posing quite abruptly. Without warning, class doors opened all around him and students began flooding the hallway, hemming Freddie in from every side. The hustle and bustle threw Freddie off completely as he struggled to find his way to his home-room. Where were all these students going? Why the rush?

Freddie ended up knocking into a security guard, who gave him the 'evil-eye' in return.

"What are you looking at, punk?"

In his haste to get away, Freddie ended up colliding with a series of burly-looking football players, who began pushing him about.

"Watch where you're going, tool-bag!"

When Freddie finally got away from them, a door in front of him opened abruptly and hit him in the face.

"Sorry!" a young teenage girl apologised meekly.

Freddie mumbled a gracious reply and blinked several times to relieve the ringing in his head. To his intense relief, he finally made his way into his home-room.

"No cellphones, no texting." Mr. Harris, Freddie's home-room teacher, droned in a monotone, his eyes glued to the book he was reading.

Naturally, the students simply ignored him and continued chatting amongst themselves and texting relentlessly on their cellphones. Freddie found himself a seat somewhere in the centre of the room along the aisle and placed his backpack down at his feet. His heart skipped a beat when he caught sight of Corrie sitting a few paces away with her three best friends. He idly wondered what class Matt was in and whether he would see his younger son at all during the course of the day. While contemplating this, his new Pear-phone began ringing shrilly in his ears. Groping around in each of his pockets, Freddie eventually retrieved his cellphone and answered it.

"Hello?" he asked blankly.

"Freddie, where the hell are you?" Carly demanded angrily on the other end.

Freddie's eyes widened and he remembered that he was supposed to meet with his and Carly's legal representation to discuss the terms of their divorce, particularly custody of the children. He clapped a hand to his forehead and sunk lower in his seat, inwardly berating himself for forgetting such an important day.

"Oh…the thing." Freddie murmured weakly, the receiver pressed close to his ear.

"You mean, our divorce?" Carly demanded incredulously, glancing at her lawyer in disbelief at her husband's flippancy.

"I can't believe you forgot," she hissed furiously over the speaker-phone of the phone she was currently speaking through.

"I didn't forget, I swear! I had to uh…leave the country suddenly. Yeah, very urgent business with the company. We think we may be on the verge of finding the newest…Rogaine." Freddie lied rapidly, hoping that Carly bought his story.

"What's all that noise in the background? Are you with a woman?" Carly questioned shrilly on the other end.

"No, of course not. I'm seated in the same row as a group of cheerleaders on the plane." Freddie responded as dismissively as possible.

Just then, a young teenager girl approached Freddie's table and asked him a very inappropriate question.

"So, tell me…would you ever consider dating a 10th grader?" she asked seductively while biting her bottom lip.

Unfortunately for Freddie, Carly heard that very question on the other end and stared furiously at her lawyer.

"I think we could go for full custody." Carly's lawyer remarked assuredly, which Freddie unfortunately heard through the receiver.

"No! You can't take my kids away from me!" he fumed indignantly.

"And since when do you care about the kids, Freddie?" Carly demanded, matching his tone.

Freddie caught sight of Corrie chatting animatedly with her friends and felt his heart deflate bit by bit with every second that passed.

"Look, I'm a lot closer to them than you think, Carly. Let's reschedule, okay?" he asked as gently as possible.

With that, he hung up his cellphone before giving Carly a chance to refute his proposal. Then with renewed courage, he tried to get Corrie's attention by waving at her in a friendly way.

"Um, guys. Why is the new kid waving at me?" Corrie asked out of the corner of her mouth while subtly avoiding Freddie's eyes.

Like everyone else at school, she too had noticed the new kid's grand entrance in Ridgeway's parking lot with his splendid car. But she had been subsequently distracted by Reed getting checked by a security guard for weapons and drugs for the umpteenth time in his high school career in the parking lot.

"I don't know. But if that boy were an apple, he'd be delicious." Lalita replied demurely while eyeing Freddie with continued interest.

Corrie shrugged in a nonplussed manner. Then she averted her eyes and went right back to her conversation as if there hadn't been any interruption. Freddie finally stopped waving at her, suddenly feeling self-conscious. He turned away from his daughter and groaned loudly, feeling like this was going to be a very long day.

Freddie perked up significantly for his second period class, which happened to be Gym class. For the first time all day, Freddie got to test out his new body to its limits without even breaking into a sweat. The dramatic transition from decrepit to robust caused him to erupt into startling euphoria and sudden gratitude while the class ran several basketball drills.

"Oh man, this is so great! You guys, I'm telling you, you've got to savour this time as teenagers. 'Cause this body right here, you're gonna lose all your muscles and metabolism. And you'll develop a pot belly after just a couple of keg parties through college, I'm telling you." He continued while jogging around on the spot.

Then he stopped short when he caught sight of a chubby-looking kid with an overt pot-belly.

"You know what? Forget what I just said. Gimme the ball," Freddie instructed haphazardly.

One of the boys in the vicinity obliged and tossed him a basketball. Freddie caught it on a reflex and began dribbling effortlessly, stepping in a circle while he moved forward.

"He goes left, he fakes right. Then with a quick wrist flick, Benson's three-point shot is heading towards the basket…" Freddie trailed off dramatically, the ball leaving his hands.

It sailed through the air for about two seconds before making contact, swishing gracefully through the hoop.

"…And it's good!" Freddie cheered happily, pumping his fist eagerly in the air.

Coach Lennox, who'd been standing a few feet away with a clipboard in his hand, hadn't been slow in noticing this perfect shot either.

"Hey, kid!" he called out boisterously, waving for Freddie to come over.

Freddie dropped the ball and jogged over to where Coach Lennox stood.

"Wow, Coach Lennox! You're still here?" Freddie questioned incredulously, looking his old basketball coach up and down.

"Excuse me?" Coach Lennox barked, throwing Freddie off for a second.

"You're a legend." Freddie added smoothly, inwardly relieved when Coach Lennox began grinning self-consciously at the compliment.

"Yeah, it's my last year before I retire. I like the look of those shots of yours, kid. I'm looking for a new point-guard. Why don't you stop by for basketball try-outs this Friday afternoon at 3pm?" Coach Lennox offered stoically through a wad of chewing gum in his mouth.

"Yeah, absolutely." Freddie agreed while nodding readily.

"We're done here now." Coach Lennox noted two seconds later when Freddie didn't move away from him.

"Right, of course." Freddie concluded rapidly before jogging away from Coach Lennox.

Freddie dressed the quickest out of everyone in the locker room. Then he changed back into the clothes he'd been wearing all morning and hurried to the bathroom. He took out his Pear-Phone and began dialling Gibby's home number frantically.

Gibby, who was lying stretched out on a leather sofa in the living room, was playing a game of online chess when his cordless phone began ringing next to him. Without skipping a beat on his game, Gibby pressed a button on the headset he was currently wearing and answered the phone.

"You're now online with the Gib-meister. Talk to me," Gibby greeted in a crooning voice while continuing his game of chess.

"You know you're a dork right, Gibby?" Freddie teased lightly while checking his reflection in the mirror.

"Says the guy pretending to be a teenager to recapture his illustrious past." Gibby returned snidely.

"Touché," Freddie returned easily.

"So what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected phone call?" Gibby asked conversationally.

"Things are looking up for me, Gib-meister. My new look is working well for me. Plus, Coach Lennox practically put me on the basketball team as the new point-guard. Yip, things are definitely moving along the right path." Freddie explained eagerly.

"That's great, Freddie. Glad to see you're exploiting high school for everything it has. A-ha, take that, in your face! Checkmate, Zamir!" Gibby roared unexpectedly, having beaten his online opponent.

Freddie chuckled at Gibby's antics and glanced around to see if there was an available urinal.

"Since we're on the topic of school, I need you to do me a solid. If you can arrange it, I need you to get in trouble at school sometime in the near future. Nothing too serious, okay? Just enough trouble that'll land you in the Principal's office, so that Papa Gibby can have a one-on-one session with Principal 'Good Vibes'." Gibby explained in a seedy voice, thinking of Ridgeway's vivacious principal.

"Yeah, sure. I'll get right on that." Freddie retorted sarcastically.

"Hello? Is anybody out there?" a boy's voice called out from one of the stalls.

Freddie raised an eyebrow, idly wondering why the voice sounded so familiar to him. Then it finally clicked in his head and he leant closer to the wall in front of him so he could hear better.

"If anyone's out there, I need some help please." the voice pleaded.

Freddie managed to scramble up the wall and peer over into the cubicle below him.

"Matt?" he asked in alarm.

Sure enough, his youngest son sat atop the toilet seat. But instead of the usual posture that accompanied such a setting, Matt was still fully clothed and duck-taped to the toilet lid upon which he sat, looking politely abashed. Without thinking twice about it, Freddie climbed the rest of the way up and over the edge to stand in front of his son.

"Oh my God! Who did this to you?" Freddie asked in horror, surveying the damage.

"The stupid basketball team." Matt grumbled.

"But why? You're one of them, Matt." Freddie declared seriously, thinking back on all of their previous conversations together.

"Look, man. No offence, but this is kind of an embarrassing situation as is and I don't know you. Who are you? And how do you know my name?" Matt snapped defensively.

Freddie's eyes widened and he forced himself to remember his cover story.

"I'm Felix Gibson, Gibby's son. I've met your dad." Freddie explained hastily.

Now it was Matt's turn to widen his eyes in amazement.

"Uncle Gibby's your dad?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yip, true story. You can't make this stuff up." Freddie offered facetiously.

"Wow, that is so weird. If you're Uncle Gibby's son, then how come this is the first time we're meeting? He's practically family." Matt stated matter-of-factly.

"My uh, mom…didn't want anyone to know that she had a kid with Gibby." Freddie responded casually.

"That makes sense." Matt remarked simply.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Freddie agreed, matching his tone.

"I'd shake your hand, but it's taped to my ass, so…" Matt trailed off pointedly.

"Oh, right! Here, uh…let me…see if I can pull this off." Freddie suggested uneasily while deciding where best to start with the insidious duck tape.

Matt nodded rapidly and braced himself. Freddie could see that his son was freaking out, so he tried his best to put him at ease.

"Look, we're just gonna rip and tear, alright? Like a band-aid." Freddie declared steadily with a reassuring smile on his face.

"Like a band-aid." Matt repeated hollowly, trying his best to smile at the kind stranger.

"Ok, here goes. 1, 2…3!"

With one quick motion, Freddie ripped one piece of the duck-tape off Matt's arm. What followed next was an ill-disguised yelp of protest from Matt that most likely only dogs could hear.

"One down, 300 more to go…" Freddie trailed off with a grimace.

After the odious task of removing his son from his duck-tape prison, Freddie and Matt became fast friends soon after, walking down the hall together. They were talking together in animated tones while en-route to the cafeteria at the start of lunch period.

"So you're living with Uncle Gibby now?" Matt asked curiously of his new friend.

"Yeah, basically till I graduate at the end of the year. My mom thought it was high time that I got to know my dad…and your dad." Freddie ended off with a wry chuckle.

"I'm glad somebody wants to get to know my dad." Matt quipped sardonically with an unkind chuckle of his own.

"Yeah. Your dad seems ok in my books, but a little self-absorbed I guess. Then again, I just met the guy, so…" Freddie trailed off lightly, trying his best not to let his son know how much his comment had hurt him.

"Yeah." Matt agreed stoically before falling silent once more.

"Since I'm gonna be around for a while and you might need someone to unravel you from any other duck-taped hot spots around the school in the near future, we should totally look out for each other, you know? I mean, that's what my dad says at any rate." Freddie continued on in a casual manner.

"Yeah, totally. Is this your first time coming to Seattle?" Matt inquired politely while they entered the cafeteria and made their way to the front to get some food.

"Technically, no. I've passed through here a couple times. But everything's still pretty new to me, so you're definitely gonna have to give me the guided tour to all the cool and happening places around here." Freddie advised in a friendly manner.

"Absolutely." Matt agreed readily with a smile not unlike Freddie's.

After packing their food onto trays, Freddie and Matt made their way towards a table in the middle of the large room. While they began eating their food, Freddie noticed Matt chomp on half of a French-fry before stopping mid-way, a goofy expression on his face. Freddie grinned and turned around to see what Matt was staring at. To his complete lack of surprise, there was a pretty brunette talking and laughing with her friends not too far from where they sat.

"Who's that?" Freddie asked laughingly.

Matt's goofy expression dropped immediately and he began clearing his throat loudly.

"Oh, her? That's just um…Nicole." He muttered nonchalantly.

"Nicole, huh? Nice name. Is she your girlfriend?" Freddie pressed with a seedy grin on his face, causing Matt to chuckle nervously.

"Yeah, I wish. She's a cheerleader and way out of my league." Matt replied assuredly.

"Come on, Matt. I'm sure that's not true. I mean, I remember the first time I met your mom way before we started going out, I was so nervous, I couldn't even…" Freddie rambled on before realising his mistake.

Matt screwed up his face in confusion while staring at Freddie.

"Dude, you know my mom?" he questioned in amazement.

"What? Wait…did I just say your mom?" Freddie asked hesitantly, playing for time to come up with yet another lie.

"Uh, yeah you did." Matt offered slowly.

"Wow, really? That is so weird. Is your mom hot?" Freddie asked with a wink, causing Matt to roll his eyes.

"Dude, shut up. That's my mom you're talking about." Matt returned with a grin on his face.

"Right, of course. My bad." Freddie teased back, enjoying himself thoroughly.

While Freddie continued laughing about his little joke, the grin was wiped instantly off of Matt's face at the sight of more arrivals entering the cafeteria. Freddie followed his son's gaze and saw a crowd of teenage boys, all dressed in matching Varsity jackets.

"Who's that?" Freddie asked curiously, already knowing part of the answer.

"That's Reed Atwood. I hate that guy." Matt replied with loathing evident in his tone.

"Is he the guy who duck-taped you to the toilet lid?" Freddie asked slowly, not taking his eyes off Reed, long after he had bypassed their table en-route to another table near the back wall.

"Yeah, him and his friends did it. You think that's bad? Once he tried to put me in a washing machine on spin-cycle in my own house." Matt scoffed disbelievingly.

"What the hell was that jerk doing at your house?" Freddie demanded heatedly.

"He's Corrie's boyfriend." Matt answered, surprised that Freddie didn't already know.

Something shifted deep inside of Freddie at this revelation. He felt a sudden insurmountable fiery heat coursing right through his bones. It swept across his skin and reverberated through his Adam's apple, making him tremble all over.

"Corrie has a boyfriend?" he asked more of himself than of his son, his eyes locked on Reed standing next to Corrie while she sat down at the table.

Freddie felt his insides literally disintegrate within him when Reed leant over his eldest daughter and engulfed her lips in a searing kiss, tongues duelling in a way that was almost abrasive in its intrusion.

"Yeah, she does." Matt replied carefully, puzzled by his friend's response.

"Wow. I'm very disappointed in your sister." Freddie admitted solemnly, his hands pursed under his chin.

In the midst of locking lips with his girlfriend, Reed caught sight of two pairs of eyes looking at him from across the room.

"Felix! Reed's very temperamental. Don't make eye-contact with him, don't look at him!" Matt warned in a low voice.

"Oh, I'll look at him." Freddie murmured in a dangerously low voice, succumbing to recklessness while he deliberately eye-balled Reed to get his attention.

"Felix, Felix!" Matt hissed indignantly.

But it was too late. The damage had already been done when Reed began striding over towards Matt and Freddie's table, a basketball tucked underneath his arm.

"And just what do you think you're doing here, Twinkle-Douche?" Reed asked in an ominous whisper while leaning over Matt in an intimidating stance.

Matt said nothing in response, but continued looking down, his knuckles clenched together in his lap.

"If I wanted you in the cafeteria, I would've duck-taped you to the lunch-lady." Reed sneered before bouncing his basketball off of the side of Matt's face.

A millisecond later, Freddie was on his feet, his hands balled into fists, his jaw clenched tightly.

"You punk. You don't talk to him that way." He declared in an ominously low voice, his eyes looking strangely moist under the glare of sunlight pouring through the windows all around them.

Tittering and soft chuckles arose from the crowd, particularly from the group of jocks and even Reed himself.

"Oh yeah?" Reed asked with a wide grin on his face.

Then without warning, he slammed his basketball down hard onto the table top beside Matt, his eyes locked on Freddie. Even Corrie jumped slightly, worried that a fight was about to break out right there in the cafeteria.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Reed asked softly, his malevolent eyes locked on Freddie.

"What am I gonna do?" Freddie returned, echoing Reed's tone.

"First off, I'm gonna call your parents." He declared dramatically.

Much of the cafeteria erupted into raucous laughter at this, including Reed himself. As Reed turned away, he decided to make his point clear by tossing his basketball savagely at Freddie's head. With quick reflexes, Freddie's arm shot forward, blocking the imminent shot and catching the ball in the palm of his hand in one fell swoop. Numerous people gasped loudly in surprise, including both Corrie and Matt, whose eyes were glued on Freddie the whole time. Even Reed's smile faltered ever so slightly.

Without missing a beat, Freddie idly twirled the ball around on his pinkie finger, beginning to pace around Reed in a predatory manner, his eyes locked on the ball all the while.

"You know, I really feel sorry for you." Freddie began calmly while circling around Reed at a steady pace.

"You don't know me." Reed countered coldly.

Freddie snickered in response before turning to face Reed once more.

"Oh, but I do know you." Freddie murmured seriously, his face inches away from Reed's.

"You're Reed Atwood: captain of the basketball team. You take the winning shots and you date the pretty girls. You're the big man around campus. High school is your kingdom. But Reed's much more than that, people. Reed's a bully." Freddie countered solemnly, talking to the cafeteria at large.

Reed rolled his eyes at this, waiting for Freddie to make his move.

"It's way too easy to say that Reed preys on the weak simply because he's a dick…" Freddie trailed off matter-of-factly.

Several people in the vicinity laughed heartily at this, including Matt. But Reed's face was contorted into fury, standing with his hands balled into fists at his side.

"No, people. Reed…is much more complex than that." Freddie declared dangerously, pointing the basketball at arm's length back towards Reed in an accusing stance.

Then Freddie came back towards Reed once again, the ball twirling on a lone finger the entire time.

"According to leading psychologists, recent studies show that Reed is a bully for one of three reasons. One: underneath all that male bravado is a little girl banging her fists on the inside, just kicking and screaming to get out of the closet." Freddie began with a malicious smile on his face.

The other students began whooping and laughing heartily at this while Freddie continued his tirade.

"Two: Reed's brain is…underdeveloped." Freddie continued in an apologetic tone, inciting more laughter within the claustrophobic cafeteria.

"And like a caveman, Reed has no control over his bodily functions and erratic behaviour."

"And three…" Freddie trailed off, pausing for effect, knowing that all eyes were on him now.

"Reed has a small wiener." He concluded triumphantly.

The entire cafeteria erupted into laughter at this suggestion, including Matt, who had covered his mouth with his hand. Even Corrie looked like she was holding back giggles. Then Freddie began doing a series of tricks with the basketball: looping it through his legs before spinning it on each hand, the ball eventually coming to rest in his palm. Then he began running forward, dribbling the ball towards Reed, like he was about to charge him. He stopped just short of Reed and flung the ball right at his face, causing everyone around to yell and gasp in horror. To everyone's surprise and amazement, the ball hadn't even left Freddie's hand, but remained tightly encased in his palm while he eye-balled Reed with a steady gaze.

"Don't hurt yourself there, Big Boy." Freddie concluded snidely, an evil grin situated on his face.

Gibby entered the kitchen in his house just after 3pm and was surprised to find the kitchen table littered with a host of assorted foods and beverages. Then he looked to his right and found Freddie standing with his head buried inside the refrigerator, scrounging for more food. Just as Freddie cracked open a can of beer, Gibby deftly took it from him.

"Unless the fake teenager has a fake I.D. too, the beer's mine." Gibby remonstrated calmly while sipping on the beer.

Freddie scowled momentarily before shrugging and sitting down at the kitchen. Gibby watched in morbid fascination while Freddie made himself the strangest meal ever: a hot dog roll with two pickles placed on the bottom followed by Freddie crushing potato chips on top of that. Then Gibby watched as Freddie scooped a generous helping of chocolate paste out of the jar and began smearing it over the pickles, followed by a dollop of mayonnaise before placing the top half of the bun over it.

"What are you eating?" Gibby asked in revulsion.

Freddie grabbed a can of cheese-whip and began shaking it vigorously.

"I don't know, man. All I know is that I'm hungry…all the time." Freddie responded simply, spraying a sizable amount of cheese spray into his waiting mouth while he spoke.

"Ok, you know what? That's not very sanitary, Freddie. We're labelling that can as yours from now on." Gibby declared in a nauseated tone, grabbing the can by the tips of his fingers.

"So…how was school today? Did you learn anything?" Gibby inquired conversationally.

Freddie stopped momentarily while eating his sandwich to stare off into space.

"Yeah, that I'm a bad dad, Gibby." He answered sadly.

"Come on, Freddie. You're not a bad dad." Gibby returned loyally.

"No, Gibby, I really am. My son is getting bullied by the jocks and my daughter is dating a psychopathic jackass." Freddie went on in defeat.

"Isn't high school delightful?" Gibby asked with sympathetic sarcasm evident in his tone.

"I was wrong about the path, Gib. It's all wrong."

"See? I told you high school wasn't the right path."

"No, that's not what I mean, Gib. High school's the right path, but it's not about me." Freddie answered more confidently.

"It's not?" Gibby questioned in disbelief.

"No, it's not. It's about helping Corrie and Matt. They need me, Gib. It's time I started acting like a real dad to them." Freddie declared vehemently, getting to his feet abruptly.

"Whoa, where are you going, Freddie?" Gibby asked in confusion.

"My kids need their dad. I'm going over to Carly's right away, don't wait up, Gib."

Then Freddie playfully smacked Gibby on the cheek, put on his jacket and skipped cheerily out of the kitchen, leaving Gibby standing exactly where he left him, more confused than ever.

Author: Yahoo, Freddie is finally on the right path: super-dad to the rescue. Everyone, stand up with me and do a victory dance!

*dances in a goofy manner*

Oh, you want me to sit down again? Ok then *bows head in shame*. But seriously, I hope you all liked this chapter and its promise of Freddie Benson no longer acting like a total wang when it comes to his family. I hope you all liked the minimal Creddie interaction, there's more to come. A lot more ; ) I hope you all liked the cafeteria scene too, that's easily my favourite scene in the entire movie, so I hope I did it justice. And it didn't hurt that Zac Efron looked like a total babe either. No agreement? Just me then, alrighty-then, shutting up now. I'm off to go read 'The Pact' by purpleheart 10 now. If you haven't read that story yet, then you are not a die-hard Creddie fan, that's all I'm sayin'. Cheerio, folks!