Author's Note: Hey, everyone! Happy 2011 to all of you out there in the big wide world! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and New Year's celebrations with your family and friends. I spent my New Year's at the cinema yesterday, catching a double-feature of "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and "Tron 3D", which were both awesome : ) A big thank you to the following people for reviewing chapter 15 last week:

baronvonmilo, TooPiAr, Carl Rahl, Fanfic-Reader-88, damnreality, sockstar, ItWasByMe97, RemDiamond, aisforangelaaa and The Earl Of Sandwich. You guys and everyone else who reviews my stories keep me motivated and writing, you guys are the best.

This is a relatively short chapter, but packed to the brim with Creddie. Happy reading : )

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or 17 Again or the varying characters and settings.

The flickering of pink and orange fluttered against Carly's heavy lids before they eventually opened of their own accord. And when they did, it still took Carly over a minute to figure out what had happened and where she was.

She rubbed at her tired eyes and assessed her surroundings carefully. This appeared to be hers and Freddie's bedroom, although it looked untidier than usual. All of the bed's throw pillows lay scattered on the floor along with several items of clothing strewn across the wooden tiles. Carly frowned in confusion when her eyes stayed on what appeared to be a basketball uniform, which lay at the foot of the bed.

That's when the memories of the day before came rushing back as clearly as if it had just happened a moment ago. A part of Carly was still confused as to how she and Freddie had come full-circle so dramatically in the space of 24 hours. But then she remembered when they had gotten home from Ridgeway and her confusion was replaced with dazed euphoria.

It had been incredible.

Freddie had been incredible.

But it wasn't merely the act itself or even the several occurrences of that same act which transpired soon afterwards that had brought Carly to her peak more than once. It had been Freddie himself. And it ranged from everything he had done, from the way he had held her close all the while: dragging his fingers through her hair as if in a trance.

Freddie had worshipped her body with every inch of his own. The first time, it had begun with simple desire encased in a maddened frenzy of limbs locked together in the throes of ecstasy. But somewhere in the middle of it all, Freddie had simply stopped and just stared at Carly for the longest time, like he was staring right down into her soul.

And then the simple caresses had begun: his lips brushing lovingly against every portion of her skin, clammy from sweat and rain. Carly remembered trembling with nervousness and pleasure when Freddie's fingertips had glided along her inner thighs, as if this was all completely new to him and her. But in some ways, it had been a first for both of them. They hadn't looked and held each other like that in a long time. And when Carly had finally gone over the edge, she had never felt closer to Freddie in her life than in that particular moment.

The lingering memories brought a smile to Carly's face. But then she glanced around the room again and realised that she was completely alone. For a moment, she toyed with the idea that it had all been an elaborate dream, from the moment that Freddie had stopped her from leaving the gym yesterday. But it couldn't have been. The emotions she was feeling right now were far too intense to be anything but reality.

But where was Freddie?

With a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach, Carly toyed with the idea that he might've had second thoughts about wanting to be with her again and left while she had been asleep. A lump began bubbling in Carly's throat as all the misery and confusion she had been feeling lately threatened to rise to the surface. But she forced it back down just as quickly. Even if Freddie had made a mistake, she wasn't going to let the matter drop that easily. Whatever happened after this, Carly knew that she wanted some answers and that she and Freddie needed to have a long conversation about everything that had happened between them lately.

But the dull throb in her head reminded her that she wouldn't be able to do anything rational without first having a strong cup of coffee.

Carly got out of bed and covered her naked torso with a white silken gown with pink flowers embroidered on it that the kids had given her for Mother's Day years ago. She padded out of the bedroom en route to the kitchen, her bare feet making no sound against the wooden floors. Her abstract thoughts almost stopped her from hearing the evident commotion in the kitchen.

Carly heard a clutter of plates on the marble countertop and someone cursing under their breath before water from the faucet began hitting the metal sink below it with a metallic drone. She stepped over the threshold and came across Freddie running his finger underneath the cold water faucet in the kitchen with his back to her. He was wearing an old pair of grey sweat pants and a faded white short-sleeved vest. He too was barefoot. From this vantage point, Carly could see that Freddie's short brown hair was still tousled from their activities the night before. A sly grin crept on her face at the thought before abruptly pulling herself back to the present moment.

"Freddie?" Carly asked in confusion, stepping closer.

Freddie whipped around sharply on the balls of his feet, not having heard Carly's quiet entrance. He quickly shut off the kitchen faucet and hastily grabbed a dish cloth to dry his finger with. Then his eyes travelled over Carly's voluptuous form and the silken gown which clung to her body and traced every curve and line with careful perfection.

It took him another second before he finally looked over the rest of Carly's appearance. Her brown eyes were puffy and she looked tired; her rain-sodden hair from the previous day had finally dried into a wavy clump. But she still looked as impossibly beautiful as the first day that Freddie had laid eyes on her. He couldn't stop his eyes from just feasting on all of her for a few seconds.

"Hey, you're awake." He greeted with a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, I am. What's going on? I heard noises." Carly offered simply.

"Oh. I burnt my finger taking the pan off of the stove. I made some scrambled eggs," Freddie explained quickly with a gesture of his eyes.

Carly followed his gaze and saw two plates with scrambled eggs, bacon and toast on them along with two mugs of steaming coffee sitting atop the kitchen counter. She turned back to face Freddie with astonishment flickering in her eyes.

"You made breakfast?" she asked slowly.

"Well, yeah. I first started putting the dishes in the sink into the dishwasher. Then I thought you might be hungry afterwards, so I started cooking. I was gonna bring it into the room before you woke up. I'm sorry about all of the noise." Freddie apologised meekly, looking a little crestfallen.

"No, that's ok. You didn't wake me. I woke up on my own and came to see if…everything was alright in the house." Carly offered cautiously, changing her mind mid-way on what she had meant to initially say.

"So…do you want to eat this food in the bedroom? I don't want it to get cold." Freddie stated awkwardly after a few seconds of silence.

"Actually, I was hoping we could talk first. Do you mind if we go sit out on the patio?" Carly asked carefully.

"Sure." Freddie replied slowly.

Carly nodded and began walking ahead. She opened up the sliding doors, folding her arms across her chest and shivering slightly from the early morning breeze which drifted along the wooden porch. Freddie came up behind her a few seconds later with a tray in his arms laden with their breakfast plates and coffee mugs. Then he placed it gingerly down onto the patio table before moving towards the newly constructed hammock.

To Carly's surprise, Freddie bent over and pulled the hammock by its two front legs along the deck till it stood right behind Carly. Then after gesturing to her to sit, he placed the breakfast tray beside her on the hammock and grabbed another chair a few centimetres away, placing it just in front of Carly. Then he sat down in turn, sitting so close to Carly that their knees were touching.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Freddie asked in a decidedly calm voice.

Carly bowed her head ever so slightly before beginning.

"About everything. I guess I just need to know what yesterday was…what 'this' is…" she trailed off slowly, gesturing between her and Freddie.

"Well…I meant what I said yesterday, at the gym and afterwards. I wanna be with you again, Carly. I know I've made some mistakes in the past, but I wanna try and make it up to you as best as I can from here on out." Freddie declared sincerely.

"I want to believe that you're being sincere, Freddie." Carly stated in a small voice.

"What's stopping you?" Freddie questioned seriously.

"I don't know. I guess it's this whole situation, Freddie. It's just so strange, I'm not sure that I really understand it." Carly confessed awkwardly.

"To be honest, it's a little weird for me too, Carly. Something like this has never happened to me before," Freddie admitted softly.

"Maybe it might help if you told me more about it. What you know about what happened at least," Carly offered sensibly.

Freddie regarded Carly intently for a moment, trying to think of where to start.

"Well, if I'm gonna tell you what happened when I 'transformed', I guess I have to go back to two months ago, when I dropped Corrie and Matt here after school and you and I got into that big fight." Freddie began uncomfortably.

A knot formed in Carly's stomach at the mention of that fight. No matter how hard she had tried, she hadn't been able to shake the unpleasant memories of that day from her mind ever since.

"It was a bad day on the whole. The kids were mad at me because of everything that had happened between the two of us. I quit my job…"

"Wait, you quit your job? Freddie, why didn't you tell me?" Carly intercepted in alarm.

"With everything that's happened lately, it genuinely slipped my mind. I really wanted that promotion. But when I think back on it, I'm glad that I don't work there anymore. I was never really passionate about pharmaceutical products and stuff. I blamed everything else around me just because I wasn't happy with where I wanted to be in my life. But it was me holding myself back the entire time, all because I was afraid to take a risk on something I really cared about. It's kind of a hard pill to swallow." Freddie explained pensively.

"I can imagine," Carly remarked softly.

"I'm sorry, I interrupted what you were saying before. What happened after you left the house…after we fought?" she asked tentatively, steering the conversation back to its original point.

"I was a mess after that conversation. I knew right then and there I messed up badly with our marriage, but it was too late to take it back. The storm had already hit when I got back into my car and I started driving back towards Gibby's. And then something happened when I got to the bridge. I was fiddling with the radio because the frequency was all messed up and I saw this man standing on the edge of the railing across. He looked like he was about to jump."

"Oh my God! What happened?"

"Well, this is the weird part. I recognised him from afar. It was this old man that I had been speaking to at Ridgeway during the day, when I was waiting for Corrie and Matt to get out of class. This was right after I packed up my belongings at work."

"Wait, so this man you saw at the bridge…he was at the school too?" Carly questioned in alarm.

"Yeah, he was. I thought he was the janitor because he had a mop and he just looked the part. I was standing near the trophy case in the hallway near our old lockers, just feeling nostalgic about the good old days. And he started talking to me, asking me questions like whether if I could have a 'do-over', would I want it? I said of course without really thinking about it. And when I saw him standing on the bridge that night, looking like he was about to jump, his words came screaming back to me…" Freddie trailed off, his mind's eye taking him back to the night in question.

Carly involuntarily cupped her mouth with her hand while she listened to Freddie's story. But she didn't interrupt this time, only anxious to hear more.

"I thought he was gonna jump, so I got out of the car and started calling out to him. He looked right at me, Carly, and he smiled, like he was having fun up there. At the exact moment, a bus drove past me on the road, blocking me from seeing the old man. And when it passed, I looked at the railing and saw that the old man had disappeared. I panicked and I started running like crazy to get to him. I'm not even sure what I had in mind to do; all I knew for certain was that I had to get to the edge of the bridge and peer over to see if he had fallen in the water."

"The storm was really crazy at this point. There was rain pouring down all around me and the water below the bridge was swirling around like a giant whirlpool. And while I was looking for any sign of the old man, that's when I saw another face in the water. It was a young teenage boy and he had his hand up like he was waving at me. When I think about it now, I realise that it was my own face that I was looking at, but from back when I was 17. It was like I was staring into a giant mirror of the kid I used to be."

"I don't think I meant to lean further over the railing. But I guess I did, and the next minute, I'm falling down into the river below me. The water closed all around me and I thought I was gonna drown. But somehow, I managed to get above the surface and start swimming to shore. I must've collapsed onto the shallow bank and passed out, because when I finally came to a few hours later, the sun was already rising. I managed to drag myself to the car and somehow I made it back to Gibby's in one piece. The only thing on my mind at that point was to take a hot shower because I was freezing and my clothes were caked in mud. I got into the shower with my clothes on and started siphoning off as much of the dirt as I could. I only noticed my 'transformation' when I got out of the shower and looked into the bathroom mirror. I thought I was having a nightmare or a heart attack or both, because I started screaming like crazy. Naturally, that woke Gibby up and he tried to attack me-"

"Gibby attacked you?" Carly exclaimed in horror.

"Tried to. He thought I was an intruder because he didn't recognise me at first. He stopped freaking out after he caught sight of a picture of the two of us on graduation day taken outside Ridgeway. That's when he finally calmed down and the two of us sat down together trying to figure out what had happened to me." Freddie continued patiently.

"So Gibby's known from the start?" Carly asked curiously.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I couldn't have enrolled into Ridgeway if he hadn't agreed to be my fake dad. I owe Gibby a lot for these past two months for having my back throughout all this craziness." Freddie mused sincerely while he thought warmly about his best friend.

"So you didn't leave town at all then? You were here the entire time, at Ridgeway." Carly surmised shrewdly.

"I'm sorry I lied to you about that, and about missing that appointment with the lawyer's. I think it would've been a dead giveaway if I had showed up at that meeting as 'Felix'. I needed time to figure out what I was going to do and how I was going to change back. That's when I decided to enrol into Ridgeway." Freddie replied meekly.

"You did that to be close to the kids?" Carly questioned seriously.

"Not at first. Gibby told me that a lot of his comic books said that most people undergo a dramatic transformation like mine because there's some kind of life lesson that they need to learn, and they can only change back once they've learned the lesson and passed the test given to them by their mentor, or a 'spirit guide'. When it first happened, I thought that I was given a do-over so I could go back to high school to try for a basketball scholarship, like I would've done before you told me you were pregnant all those years ago. But that changed when I befriended Matt at school and found out he was being bullied." Freddie replied morosely.

Carly's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at this announcement.

"Matt was being bullied? By whom?" she demanded hotly.

"Reed and the other jocks on the basketball team. But it was mostly Reed." Freddie answered gravely.

"That ass-hat! And Corrie dated him too! Oh my God, how could she date someone who was bullying her own brother?" Carly demanded angrily.

Then to Freddie's surprise, she suddenly changed tact and slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Oh my God, how could I not have known? I'm Matt's mom." Carly lamented mournfully.

"Carly, this isn't your fault," Freddie chided softly, rubbing her knee reassuringly.

"Yes it is. I've been so wrapped in everything happening to me these past few months like the pending divorce that I haven't been paying any attention to Corrie and Matt. They were my responsibility and I dropped the ball," Carly responded sadly.

"Listen to me, Carly. You're not to blame for what happened. You weren't the one who dropped the ball here, I am. If I hadn't messed up with you and the kids, if I'd been around these past few months, I could've been there for Matt like I was supposed to. Everything's better now, I promise. Matt's on the basketball team and those guys on the team are treating him better. I suspect that they were only mean to him before because of Reed's influence. I think they finally see what a great kid he is." Freddie explained reasonably.

"You think so?" Carly asked softly, daring to look Freddie in the eye.

"Yeah, I do. I've spent enough time in the locker-room with those guys to know that they like our son. Matt's a lot happier and more settled at school now. And he has Nicole too, and she seems like a nice girl." Freddie stated with a reassuring smile.

Carly smiled at this, feeling most of her anxiety dissipating as she prepared to hear more of Freddie's story.

"So what happened after you found out about Reed bullying Matt?"

"I went to pieces, kind of like you did a few seconds ago. I couldn't believe Reed's audacity to pick on my boy. I wanted to protect Matt. Things came to a head one day in the cafeteria and I went out of my way to humiliate Reed in front of the whole school. After that day in the cafeteria, I didn't want to be at high school just doing things for myself, I wanted to be there for Matt and Corrie, the way a dad is for their kids. From that day onwards, Matt and I were inseparable. I got to know our son, Carly. He's really opened up to me these past few months in a way he wouldn't have otherwise done if it were me, his dad. He treated me like a friend, Carly; someone he trusted with everything he had. And that meant everything to me. It was a lot harder trying to get close to Corrie because of Reed and because it was obvious that she was on the defensive because she was hurting over our pending divorce. But I did what I could to keep an eye on her and make sure that she was alright while I stuck close to Matt at school."

"Corrie really didn't like you at first. But after Reed broke up with her, she mentioned how sweet you'd been to her on the day you invited her to your party at Gibby's house. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that our daughter had a crush on you…" Carly trailed off with a scintillating giggle.

Freddie laughed in return, albeit slightly more nervously and high-pitched. This didn't go unnoticed by Carly at all while she regarded Freddie with a raised eyebrow.

"Freddie…did something happen with Corrie?" Carly pressed suspiciously.

"Define 'happen'," Freddie declared hurriedly, playing for time.

"Freddie." Carly remonstrated in a stern voice.

"Nothing happened, I swear. But at Gibby's party, I got into a fight with Reed before you came looking for Matt. He kinda knocked me out cold and Corrie brought me back to my own bedroom to lay me down. Then she started talking to me about how she figured out why I didn't like Reed – she thought it was because I liked her. And maybe it was because I'd been nice and concerned after Reed broke up with her that Corrie thought she liked me on any level. But it was perfectly innocent, I promise you. I made it perfectly clear that we could never be together and that I was in love with somebody else. You have to believe me," Freddie explained vehemently.

He knew that telling Carly anything about what had transpired between him and Corrie was probably the stupidest thing he could possibly do. But if they were gonna try again with their marriage, he didn't want to lie to her about anything, even something as disturbing as this.

"You really told Corrie that you were in love with somebody else? What exactly did you say?" Carly questioned softly, the curiosity picking away at her.

"Well, I don't remember my exact words. But I basically told Corrie that I've been in love with the same girl ever since I was 17 years old." Freddie explained sincerely while staring deeply into Carly's eyes.

Carly's literally jumped in her chest at Freddie's words. She had wanted to hear him say those words all along, just like he used to when they were younger. And now that he had finally said, it still managed to take her completely by surprise.

"You still love me, Freddie? After everything we've been through?" Carly asked in a small voice.

Freddie wordlessly reached for Carly's hands and held them gently in his own.

"Of course I do, Carly. I never stopped loving you. I've made a lot of mistakes lately and done a lot of things in the past that I regret so much. But I never could and never will regret you, Carly. Anything I say or do, anything I ever accomplish in my life, it's absolutely nothing without you. The only thing I can honestly take any pride in is that you chose me and gave me so much more than I could've ever hoped for, like our kids. I know it's not gonna be easy to gain your trust back after everything I've done. But I want you to know that I'm gonna try my hardest to make this right." Freddie stated seriously.

Several tears slipped from Carly's eyes, which Freddie hastily reached towards to wipe away with his thumbs.

"You shouldn't have to take responsibility for everything that went wrong between us, Freddie. I'm also to blame, I've been so stubborn these past few months. I only wanted to see how you've hurt me and not how I haven't been there for you either. I still love you so much," Carly declared vehemently.

A shuddering chuckle escaped Freddie's throat, his hands moving to Carly's face to cup her cheeks.

"You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that to me after all this time," he murmured softly.

He was leaning in closer than ever so their noses were grazing. He began tracing her cheeks with his fingertips before leaning in and kissing her softly. Carly closed her eyes at the contact and tilted her head to meet his every kiss, their lips moving together feverishly. Freddie's hands moved towards Carly's knees as he leant in more, the two of them sitting together and kissing in the stillness of the morning on the porch. When they finally broke apart, the two of them were smiling intimately at one another. Carly blushed when Freddie continued stroking her cheek with light touches.

"Now how 'bout some breakfast?" he asked gently with a furtive look at the breakfast tray beside Carly.

Carly looked down at the tray before looking up at Freddie and nodding. The rest of the time after that was mostly spent in silence. Carly giggled a few times when Freddie kept insisting on feeding her some of his toast with his fingers. As they finished drinking their coffee, Carly frowned when Freddie began smirking ever so slightly.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing," Freddie answered quickly, but continued smiling.

"Come on, tell me." Carly begged.

"I was just wondering…what you thought about 'Felix' on the whole." Freddie stated mischievously.

Carly's breath caught in her throat and she sincerely hoped that Freddie hadn't noticed how flushed she had become at the mention of the teenage boy who had invaded her dreams lately.

"I thought that Felix was…nice." Carly offered lamely.

"Just 'nice'?" Freddie asked in confusion.

"Well, he was Matt's best friend. What else was I supposed to think about him?" Carly asked somewhat defensively.

"I don't know, I guess I was just curious about whether you saw any of me in him," Freddie noted quietly.

"Are you done with your plate and mug? I'm gonna put these in the dishwasher," Carly announced abruptly.

She was suddenly on her feet and taking the tray off of the hammock before strolling rapidly through the sliding doors and into the kitchen. Freddie smirked to himself as he began following her.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

"Knew what?" Carly questioned, feigning distraction.

"You liked Felix!" Felix pointed out victoriously.

"What's not to like? He was an All-American teenage boy: charming and sweet." Carly noted in somewhat of a huff.

"You had a crush on Felix."

"Did not!" Carly fumed indignantly while opening the dishwasher door with a loud thump.

Freddie instantly regretted annoying Carly when she began putting in the dishes into the various slots.

"Carls, are you mad at me?" Freddie asked in concern, coming behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I didn't mean to upset you; I shouldn't have pried," he added uncomfortably.

"No, it's not that, Freddie. I'm not mad. I'm just embarrassed." Carly answered truthfully after closing the dishwasher and turning to face Freddie.

Embarassed? What do you have to be embarrassed about?"

"Because…I'm a grown woman who may or may not have had a tiny crush on her son's best friend, who was a teenage boy. And that was only because he reminded me so much of you on top of everything. It's not the easiest thing in the world to admit to."

"I can understand that. Personally, I think it's kinda hot that you had a crush on a younger guy." Freddie declared seedily.

"Only because it was you!" Carly exclaimed exasperatedly.

"True. But if it was really as bad as you say it was, I really have to admire you for keeping me at a safe distance each time, especially on those occasions when I was trying to get a reaction out of you."

"You didn't exactly make it easy on me. I had to keep reminding myself that I was the adult in the situation, therefore I had to act responsibly. Anything I was feeling had to be put to the side…"

"Well, I can safely say that you don't have to pretend anymore. Felix isn't here right now, it's just me." Freddie replied softly, stepping even closer to Carly till he was leaning over her lithe frame.

"You're right, it's just you, Freddie. And you're all I'll ever want." Carly declared seriously, her eyes boring into Freddie's.

She got on her tiptoes just as Freddie bent forward at the same time, their lips crashing together for what seemed like the hundredth time. Carly was fully convinced now: the boy of her dreams was nothing compared to the man that Freddie had grown up to be. She knew that they still had a long way to go. But for the first time ever, Carly was actually hopeful about the future. Not just for their marriage, but for their family too.

When they eventually broke apart, Carly was panting and her cheeks were flushed with pleasure.

"I had dreams about Felix," she confessed heatedly.

"Really?" Freddie asked in intrigue.

"Most of them started in the kitchen and always ended up…somewhere else in the house." Carly continued with a pointed smirk on her face.

"Uh huh," Freddie noted, feigning pensiveness.

Then he surprised Carly by hoisting her up onto the kitchen counter, much like the day before.

"Did he ever put you up here in your dreams?" Freddie asked softly.

"All the time," Carly replied without blinking.

Freddie grinned at this and began kissing Carly passionately, his tongue slipping in and tasting the inside of her exquisite mouth.

"Did he ever tickle you in your dreams?" he asked playfully, his mouth a few millimetres away from Carly's ear.

Before Carly could answer, Freddie's fingertips danced across her waist and thighs while he began tickling her mercilessly. Carly tried her hardest to fight Freddie off, but she was laughing too hard till unshed tears began forming in her eyes.

"F-F-Freddie…"

"Did he?"

"Freddie, c-cut it o-ha ha…"

They would've continued on in this fashion for several minutes if not for the sound of two voices suddenly breaking into their playful endeavours.

"Mom?"

"Dad?"

Carly and Freddie stopped their shenanigans and stared in alarm in front of them. Standing at the entrance to the kitchen were none other than Corrie and Matt, staring back at them in horror.

Author's Note: Ain't I a stinker? The kids will be back next chapter for a full-on exploration of this extremely strange tale ; ) I hope this chapter was ok, I'm not good with very serious conversations even in reality, so it's a lot harder to infuse the right kind of emotion into that of a married couple in Carly and Freddie's particular situation : S To anyone who was expecting a recap of the lemon last chapter, I'm sorry if I've disappointed you. This is a T-rated story, so my first priority is to the kiddies out there reading this, hope you understand ; ) There are about two more chapters after this before I hopefully wrap up this story, thanks for reading. Till next week, I bid you adieu. Snapplelinz out!