Author's Note: Hello, everybody! How are all you fine people out there? Grf, my week was pretty crap, just a ton of stuff weighing on my mind, not to mention my upcoming final exam for English. But the weekend's been good to me and drama-free so far (for now, there's still Sunday after all). I have to apologise if some of you have been getting email notifications about chapters being re-posted for this story more than once. I have re-posted some of the early chapters, but only because I added last minute song lyrics to a few chapters. So if I ever re-post certain chapters again, it'll probably be for that reason. But on the plus side, chapter 4 ('The Registration') now includes two songs that set the mood just right, especially for Tasha's entrance into the story ; ) Hope you all enjoy this new chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or the concept for 17 Again. And I solemnly swear that I am up to no good...
Freddie lay asleep in his bed around 5am that Wednesday morning, completely passed out. Gibby traipsed into his bedroom a few seconds later, wearing a bathrobe over his boxers and t-shirt, his brown hair dishevelled.
"Freddie, you gotta wake up." Gibby chided softly.
Freddie emitted a loud snore in response.
"You're supposed to be practising basketball drills with Matt before school today. Remember?" Gibby asked more impatiently.
Freddie grumbled something and turned over in his sleep, snoring even louder.
Gibby shook his head and retrieved a fog horn from behind his back. Then he squeezed it hard, causing Freddie to yelp in alarm before rolling out of bed and falling into a heap on the floor.
"It's show-time, Benson. Gotta get your game-face on!" Gibby barked, grinning evilly at his best friend.
Then he exited the bedroom, laughing manically to himself. Freddie groaned and picked himself off the floor, rubbing a spot on his head where it had collided with the wooden tiling. As much as he would've loved to get Gibby back for waking him up so unceremoniously, he knew that his best friend was right. If he was going to help Matt get onto the basketball team, then he had to get cracking. He groggily made his way to the bathroom and started getting ready.
Freddie and Matt began their routine off with some light jogging around the neighbourhood. Considering that Freddie had only exercised sporadically before his 'transformation', it was ironic that he was still outstripping Matt as they jogged together down the street. But each time that Freddie found himself sprinting ahead, he stopped and waited patiently for his son to catch up before they continued jogging together.
On Thursday morning, Freddie and Matt skipped jogging and met at Ridgeway before school so that they could practise their free-throw shots. Matt was doing fairly well, but was still missing a couple of key shots because of his wrist action when shooting. While Freddie coached Matt verbally through his shooting, he pulled out a fog horn and blasted it continuously to get Matt into the spirit of nailing his shots on the first effort. As annoying as the sound of the fog horn was in his ears, Matt gritted his teeth and did as Freddie instructed, concentrating with all his might on getting it right.
While Freddie helped Matt prep for the basketball try-outs, Gibby did some planning of his own to officially begin wooing Tasha Baxter. He made a call to a certain vehicular company and made a very special purchase.
When Tasha arrived in the parking lot at Ridgeway on Thursday morning, she frowned in confusion at a massive group of students all huddled together around a massive vehicle.
As part of the crowd thinned, she gaped in shock at the brand new yellow school bus that stood in the parking lot, with a huge red bow tied around the middle. And out of said vehicle hopped Gibby, dressed in blue jeans, a polo shirt, loafers and a cardigan tied deftly around his neck, carrying a large assorted bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. He grinned widely at the look on Tasha's face.
In-between helping Matt with basketball try-outs, Freddie was also helping Carly with remodelling the backyard every opportunity he got. On that particular Thursday afternoon, they were in the midst of hosing down the ground before laying out some cement for the deck that was to be built. A sly smirk appeared on Freddie's face and before he could stop himself, he began squirting Carly with water from the hose-pipe, laughing outwardly at her girlish shrieks.
"Felix!" Carly exclaimed, a wide grin on her face at his silliness.
"Sorry, Mrs. Benson!" Freddie called out, not sounding sorry in the least.
In answer to this, Carly flung her garden gloves at Freddie, hitting him square in the face. Freddie gaped in awe at Carly jogging away from him, a playful grin on her face. Freddie smiled even wider and squirted more water in Carly's direction as she sprinted towards the patio doors. While watching her go, Freddie caught sight of Corrie and Reed standing near Carly's car in the driveway.
Instead of cleaning the car like Carly had asked them to, they were leaning against it and making out. With a casual flick of his wrist, Freddie opened up the faucet even more and began pelting his daughter and her sleazy boyfriend with copious amounts of water. Corrie shrieked indignantly and took off back to the house, Reed following closely behind her.
Freddie beamed with satisfaction.
On Friday morning, Freddie and Matt were practising their dribbling techniques at Ridgeway once again. They were situated on the school bleachers, climbing the stairs along the main entrance slowly while dribbling basketballs in-between their legs as they went. Matt was watching his friend intently and matching his movement bit by bit. In spite of the sweat dripping down his face and the ache in his calf muscles, Matt was actually enjoying himself for the first time in weeks since his parents had decided to call it quits on their marriage. Freddie glanced over at his son and smiled, feeling completely at ease while they exercised together.
Matt and Freddie were helping Carly in the yard once more, helping lay out the wood required to construct the deck in front of the living room door. In his excitement for Carly's current project, Spencer too had gotten into the spirit of things and constructed a sculpture that was quite abstract in itself, with large silver spoons sticking out from every corner. Feigning enthusiasm, Carly asked Matt and Freddie to carry the bizarre sculpture into the garage 'for safe-keeping' in her own words, which was actually code for keeping the sculpture as far away from the garden as possible.
Then Carly excused herself and walked along the driveway towards the house. Freddie's eyes were on her back the entire time, transfixed by her breathless beauty, a sly grin on his face while idly holding a water bottle in his hand. Then he was abruptly shaken back to reality by Matt pouring water from his plastic bottle all over his head. He gasped loudly, his hair, face and clothes completely wet.
"What?" he asked in confusion, while Matt shook his head.
Tasha made her way back to her office, carrying a stack of teacher evaluations in her hands. To her surprise, her office door stood slightly ajar. To her horror, she saw a portrait hanging on the wall that hadn't been there 5 minutes ago. It was a portrait of her dressed as Wonder Woman, holding Gibby in her strong arms. With wide eyes, Tasha surreptitiously skirted past the secretary's desk and looked in multiple directions before closing her office door and shutting herself in with her portrait.
A week later, after the first round of try-outs, Freddie was back at his and Carly's home once again, playing some one-on-one basketball with Matt in the driveway. He had excused himself briefly to go grab some drinks for him and Matt when he came across an unsettling sight in the living room. Spencer had gone to replenish his art supplies while Carly had gone out for lunch with Sam. Corrie was at home, but was currently engaged in making out with Reed on the sofa.
While the two teenagers were otherwise occupied, Freddie surreptitiously retrieved a lighter from a drawer located in the coffee table. Grabbing hold of a bulky scented candle atop that very table, Freddie carefully lit the candle and held it above his head underneath the fire alarm, which just happened to be located right above the sofa where Corrie and Reed lay.
Then he quickly blew out the candle and put it back on the coffee table, slipping slyly out of the living room as the fire alarm began ringing shrilly. Corrie detached herself quickly from Reed, her eyes going towards the fire alarm in surprise. Reed seated himself on the sofa, a disgruntled expression on his face from the interruption. Then Corrie furrowed her eyebrows in suspicion when she noticed Freddie exiting the kitchen at that particular moment with two energy drinks in his hand, idly wondering if he had just set off the fire alarm.
The day before the final round of basketball try-outs, Freddie and Matt were located within Ridgeway's bleachers once again. Only this time, they were jogging rapidly up the concrete stairway, dribbling their basketballs effortlessly beneath their feet as they progressed upwards. When Freddie occasionally shot surreptitious looks at his son out of the corner of his eye, he was pleased to see that Matt hadn't broken into a sweat yet nor complained about the toll that their exercise was taking on the muscles in his arms and legs. Freddie smiled secretly to himself while they continued with the drill.
On Friday morning, just a few hours before the final round of try-outs, Freddie and Matt were practising their free throws on an empty basketball court in the school grounds. Freddie had placed six basketballs next to each other, drawing each one underneath his foot before balancing it on the tip of his foot. Then he kicked each ball at waist-level with Matt, who caught each one deftly in his hand and aimed a perfectly executed shot at the hoop. Accompanied with his whistle, Freddie squeezed sharply on his fog horn while Matt landed every single one of his shots until he had reached an unnumbered amount of flawless free throws. Then Freddie blew on his whistle, ending the drill momentarily. Matt watched warily as Freddie circled around him, an indiscernible expression on his face.
"You hit every single one of your shots without breaking your stride once. You're gonna knock Coach Lennox flat on his back." Freddie praised sincerely, a wide smile on his face.
Freddie laughed heartily when Matt heaved a loud sigh of relief at the prospect.
"Really?" Matt asked softly, hunched over to catch his breath.
"Absolutely. You're ready for today." Freddie answered, matching his tone.
"Good. You mind if I take a look at this for a second?" Matt asked curiously, gesturing to his friend's fog horn.
Freddie handed over the fog horn, but had to retreat immediately when Matt began chasing him around the basketball court, holding the fog horn close to Freddie's ear. He squeezed hard on the device, which unleashed the irritating sound he had been subjected to for close to two straight weeks.
Matt and Freddie entered his house just after 6pm, the sun having set nearly an hour ago. After try-outs were complete, they had changed back into casual attire: Matt wearing a yellow and blue rugby shirt, blue jeans and Adidas sneakers. Freddie was wearing a short-sleeved button-down black shirt, black jeans and white Lacoste sneakers. They entered the living room, talking animatedly together, plonking themselves down onto the sofa.
"Didn't I say it? I told you we could do it!" Freddie exclaimed eagerly before fist-bumping Matt.
"Dude, you were right! Did you see the look on Reed's face?" Matt asked ecstatically while Freddie laughed appreciatively.
Carly entered the living room a few seconds later while the two teenage boys were still laughing merrily together. She frowned in confusion when they immediately fell silent at her appearance.
"Hey, guys. What's…going on?" she asked curiously.
"Nothing," the two of them replied in unison, causing Carly to raise an eyebrow in response.
"O-kay. How were the try-outs?" Carly questioned pointedly.
"Well Felix had a really great try-out, he's on the team. He really impressed Coach Lennox." Matt responded soberly with a meaningful look in Freddie's direction.
"Felix, that's terrific. Congratulations." Carly declared genuinely with a polite smile on her face.
"Thank you, Mrs. Benson. I appreciate that," Freddie replied politely.
"And so did I, Mom. I made the team." Matt added devilishly, dropping his sombre demeanour immediately.
Carly's eyes widened in amazement and she began shrieking with delight.
"Matt, that's fantastic. Oh, I'm so proud of you!" she gushed happily.
Matt joined in his mom's obvious excitement, getting off the sofa and hugging her tightly. To both their surprise, Felix got off the sofa too and enveloped the two of them in a tight bear hug as well.
"Me too, Matt. You did great out there," Freddie gushed softly with his eyes closed.
"Um, Felix…that's super inappropriate." Carly murmured uncomfortably.
"Sorry," Freddie replied hurriedly and sat himself back down onto the sofa.
While Matt and Carly continued hugging each other, Freddie satisfied himself with pumping his fist abashedly in the air from his position on the sofa.
"Good job today," he mumbled lamely.
"Oh, I just remembered! Do you guys wanna see the backyard?" Carly asked quickly.
"It's finished already?" Matt asked in amazement.
"Uh huh, Uncle Spencer helped me with it while Felix was helping you prep for basketball try-outs." Carly explained happily to her son.
"I can't believe it. We only started on it two weeks ago. How did you finish?" Felix inquired eagerly.
"Like I said, my kooky brother is surprisingly handy when he puts his mind to it. And then he enlisted the help of a couple of hobos – just come and see!" Carly implored with impatient laughter.
Matt and Freddie followed her out of the living room and through the sliding glass door. The entire backyard was shrouded in darkness, the moon giving off the only form of light. Then Carly flipped a switch on the wall, causing Freddie and Matt to gape in awe.
The backyard was completely unrecognisable from the pitiable state it used to be not too long ago. The wooden deck stretched out in front of them, sleek and shiny. And in front of that was the pond, serene and as black as the night sky overhead. A host of plants and flowers had been planted around the pond, surrounding the flagstone patio. And around the trees and the wooden ceiling above the patio Carly and Spencer had hung white and yellow baubles, which illuminated the entire backyard.
"Wow," Matt and Freddie murmured in awe.
"You hung the lights," Freddie said with appreciation.
"I did, I wanted you guys to be the first to see it. You like it?" Carly asked self-consciously.
"Mom, this is so sick." Matt answered sincerely, a big smile on his face.
"Yeah?" Carly questioned happily.
"Absolutely, it's so good." Matt added genuinely before enveloping Carly in a warm hug.
"Felix, we should go practice some more. The game's this Friday. I'm gonna go find Uncle Spencer quick,"
With that, Matt jogged back into the house, leaving Carly and Freddie standing alone on the deck together.
"What do you think?" Carly asked softly of him.
"This is really amazing, Mrs. Benson." Freddie murmured earnestly, staring straight ahead at their surroundings.
"When people see what you've done with the backyard...when they see how talented you are…you could be designing gardens all over the city." he mused seriously.
"That's the general idea. Thank you, Felix." Carly answered, a small smile etched on her face.
Then they turned to face one another, their eyes glued to each other for a few silent seconds.
"Oh my gosh, I'm running late! I have a date tonight!" Carly announced abruptly after checking her wrist watch.
"You have a date?" Freddie asked laughingly, suddenly feeling extremely queasy.
"Uh huh, the first one in…a long time. I'm going dancing, which is just crazy because I'm a terrible dancer." Carly confessed abashedly.
"You're an amazing dancer," Freddie mumbled under his breath.
"What?" Carly asked in bewilderment.
"You just, uh…look like you can…move." Freddie elaborated sheepishly.
Freddie fought hard to keep a straight face while Carly openly spluttered in surprise at his words.
"Ok then. I need to start getting ready. Have fun tonight, Felix."
"Night." Freddie greeted slowly.
And with that, Carly strolled casually past Freddie back to the sliding doors and disappeared inside. Once she was gone, Freddie dropped his nonchalant stance and groaned loudly, slapping his forehead in exasperation.
"What the hell was that?" he demanded of himself in a self-deprecating tone.
Freddie wandered inside again after standing pensively in the backyard for nearly 15 minutes when he heard soft music coming from somewhere in the house. Curious, he followed the sound of the stereo coming from the sitting room, located next to the living room. Freddie grinned when he saw Carly inside, swaying softly to the scintillating sounds of the music playing out of the speakers.
As it turned out, she was already dressed for her date that night. She was wearing a simple black cocktail dress which went down to her knees, which showed off her pale shapely legs and black stilettos on her feet. She had tied a showy black belt around her waist, which accentuated her curvaceous figure even more. She had worn her hair down for the evening and styled it into luxurious curly waves, which cascaded past her shoulders. She had her back to him and to Freddie's intense amusement, she was dancing in front of the mirror, clearly in her own world.
He cleared his throat loudly to notify her to his presence. Carly gave a start when she saw Felix leaning against the doorway to the sitting room, his arms folded across his chest.
"Geez, Felix, you scared me." Carly murmured hoarsely.
"Sorry. Nice dancing, Mrs. Benson." Freddie complimented smoothly.
Carly frowned slightly at the twinkle in the young man's eye, as if he was silently making fun of her. A challenging grin appeared on her face while she studied him.
"Hey, be nice. I was doing 'the snake'. That was a very hot dance when you were still in diapers." Carly retorted in an endearingly patronising manner.
"Would you teach it to me?" Freddie asked meekly, taking Carly by surprise when he stepped forward slightly, entering the sitting room.
"I don't think so, these are some pretty advanced moves. Which I'm sure is hard to believe, because I make it look effortless. That's the secret to all great dancers." Carly remarked knowingly.
Freddie nodded in acknowledgement while Carly spoke, moving silently towards the CD player. Knowing full well which CD's were currently stacked next to the CD player, it didn't take him long to find one particular album. Then after opening the CD shuttle, he removed the CD Carly had been listening to before he arrived and replaced it with the CD in his hand. Then he turned to face Carly once more.
"Try me," he implored gently, a smoldering look etched on his face while placing his hands in his pockets.
A new song filled the speakers and Carly glanced curiously at the CD player before looking at Felix once more.
"Why did you pick this song?" she questioned seriously.
"Hmm? Oh, I don't know. It just kinda…spoke to me." Freddie offered, feigning nonchalance while moving closer to Carly.
"Oh really? 'Cause this is the song that my husband and I danced to at our wedding." Carly replied pointedly.
"Sounds like a man with great taste." Freddie praised cleverly.
"Do you want me to show you some dance moves?"
"I would love to see some dance moves."
"Great. I actually learnt this one on the day of my wedding, at the reception. It was a pretty small reception: just family and my close friends from school. Ok, I'll stand here and you stand there." Carly commanded gently, being sure to keep a safe distance between her and Felix.
Then Carly began to slowly take Freddie through the steps, bit by bit. She moved two steps backwards, then made several quick steps to her right, where her feet criss-crossed each other. Freddie followed her movements and repeated her actions perfectly.
"Great job, Felix. Now I'm gonna twirl to the left and then you-"
But Freddie didn't need to be told the next part, his hands instinctively moving to Carly's waist and catching her hand in mid-air as he began leading them around the small space.
Maybe it's the chemistry
The sparks that fly from you to me
Carly watched in fascination as Freddie twirled her around on the spot a second time before bringing her expertly back towards him again, her other hand coming to rest on his arm.
I touch your skin and feel alive
Been searching for you every night
Carly subtly moved Freddie's hand back up towards her arm instead of where it had previously been resting, creeping down slowly towards the small of her back while they continued dancing together.
Where am I supposed to go?
I'm hoping that you won't say no
We've got all the time in the world
Carly was having a very difficult time avoiding Felix's penetrating stare while they danced together. She didn't even know him and yet…he was so familiar in the way he spoke to her and interacted with everyone else in her family. Even keeping his subtle advances in check was becoming a trial in itself, especially when it felt like her skin was igniting right beneath her each time he touched her. What was going on here? Carly felt like she was slowly losing her grip on reality.
It must be the chemistry
Tonight
"Wow, you really picked up on that dance move quickly," she stammered rapidly, trying to keep her voice steady and calm.
"Mrs. Benson, do you think there's any chance that you and your husband will ever get back together?" Freddie asked unexpectedly.
And I hope that you know
I won't let you go this time
It must be the chemistry
Between you and I
Carly goggled slightly at this question. While Felix had that familiar air to him, she also acknowledged just how mysterious he really was. One minute, it would seem like he was going out of his way to compliment her and even flirt with her to an extent. And in the same breath, he would suddenly mention Freddie, her soon-to-be ex-husband. Carly really was having a hard time reading this man-child before her.
Underneath the starry sky
You can bring me back to life
"Um…no." Carly answered after a second or two of deliberation.
Now it was Freddie's turn to goggle at his wife while he held her close.
"No? How can you be so sure?" he questioned seriously, his hand slipping down towards the small of Carly's back once more.
Carly was quick to move Freddie's hand higher up her body once again while she studied his face. Any sensible woman would have already left the room and yet…she was having a difficult time feeling any sensation in her legs.
I touch your skin and feel alive
Been searching for you every night
"Isn't there something he could do to fix things?" Freddie asked gently.
"I love my husband, and I care about him a lot. But sometimes, it's just not enough." Carly answered truthfully while she and Felix continued swaying together.
Freddie nodded soberly, understanding where Carly was coming from by saying that.
"Well, he definitely blew it with you," he answered sincerely, his eyes locked on Carly.
"Jump," he commanded suddenly, spinning Carly away from him.
"What?" Carly asked in confusion as she moved back towards Felix.
She shrieked in surprise when Freddie's hand moved under the backs of her thighs and hoisted her high into the air, his other hand moving towards her back to steady her. With the sudden elevation, Carly's hands instinctively wrapped around Freddie's neck, drawing him in even closer to her while he swayed on the spot with her in his arms.
Take me somewhere I don't know
Watch all the people down below
We've got all the time in the world
All of Carly's former misgivings about Matt's new best friend seemed to vanish completely out of the window at this particular juncture in the dance. She was staring transfixed into Felix's hazel-brown eyes, fluctuating between the swirling of a black dress to a white dress as she thought back to the day of her wedding reception.
It must be the chemistry
Tonight
Everyone was cheering and clapping all around them, waving flutes of champagne high in the air. But Carly wasn't focused on anyone else but Freddie, whose lips had curled into his signature smirk while he held her close. She had been feeling self-conscious leading up to the day because of the bulge on her belly, which was finally beginning to show. But the way that Freddie was looking at her in the moment, his hand caressing her belly gently through her wedding dress, made Carly feel more beautiful than she had ever felt in her whole life. They were swaying in time to the soft music playing through the speakers, Carly's arms draped around Freddie's neck, their foreheads touching, alone to everyone but each other.
And I hope that you know
I won't let you go this time
Carly and Freddie continued spinning around on the spot, Freddie holding Carly tightly in his arms. They hadn't taken their eyes off of each other since he had lifted her in the air; he idly wondered if she could hear how hard his heart was thumping in his chest in the moment.
"Mom?"
"Yeah?" Carly asked, clearly still in a daze.
Then she snapped out of it when she realised that Matt was now standing in the doorway to the sitting room, wearing a puzzled expression on his face at her and Felix dancing together. Carly immediately hopped back down onto the ground, out of Freddie's arms till she stood a few centimetres away from him.
"Hi, Matt." Carly squeaked sheepishly while Freddie looked like a deer caught in headlights.
Matt made no response save to gesture between the two of them, confusion still rampant on his face.
"I'm your Mom. I'm Matt's mom, Felix." Carly declared, gazing reproachfully at Freddie.
"Yeah," Freddie agreed stupidly, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.
"Your date's here." Matt announced slowly.
"Huh?" Carly asked in bewilderment, her eyes still on Felix as she walked slowly towards the sitting room door.
"Your date's at the front door." Matt repeated patiently.
"Right…awesome. Ok, see you later, honey." Carly greeted vaguely before exiting the room.
Freddie snapped out of his stupor and grinned to himself, wondering idly if he had actually gotten to Carly as much as he had initially perceived during their dance. He stopped smiling when he caught sight of Matt's puzzled expression.
"Your mom was nervous about her date, I was just helping her…relax. That's creepy, right?" Freddie questioned haphazardly.
"A little bit." Matt replied matter-of-factly.
"She's so old. Not even like 'cougar old', just 'old', just like somebody's…mom." Freddie ventured lamely, hoping that Matt took the bait.
Then he gave up and strolled out of the sitting room.
"Do you dance with all of your friend's moms like that?" Matt questioned suspiciously, exiting the sitting room and following closely behind Felix.
"Pretty much," Freddie answered dryly.
Musical References:
1) "Chemistry (acoustic)" by One Night Only (recorded especially for 'Burberry Acoustic' for the Vogue Fashion Night Out, London)
Author's Note: Alright, what's the verdict? I hope you all enjoyed Freddie helping Matt with basketball and Gibby's attempts to woo Tasha. As for my favourite part, it's definitely the Creddie dance. I've said it before, I can't seem to write a story that doesn't involve dancing (save for 'Manhunt', which is a cross-over slasher fic). Meh, what are you gonna do? Even though I downloaded 'Chemistry' by One Night Only a few days ago, it already has a special place in my heart. If any of you want to listen to it to get a feel for this chapter, look up the 'acoustic' version online, you'll find a video link with George Craig (the lead singer) walking through the streets of London and playing his guitar. It's soooo romantic : D Alright, enough fan-girl squeeing. I'm off to take a now, cheerio!