Thank you so much for reading! I love you all!
August flew by, and before they knew it, Carly, Sam and Freddie were entering their junior year of high school. Things were going better than ever for the web show, and for the two relationships that ran it. Sam even accompanied Freddie to a Galaxy Wars convention, but also forced him to go to 'Build a Bra' with her. But he still mentioned her situation often, and with each time, Sam seemed to lose a little more patience with him. He tried not to push her, but one day in mid October, her condition took a turn for the worse.
They had been on a date, getting pizza, when Freddie noticed how tired his girlfriend looked, and her voice sounded hoarse.
"I'm thinking we've been staying up a little too late…you look really tired." He eyed her.
"No," She said, "It's just this cold I have. I think I'm losing my voice or something."
"It could be the flu. In which case you'd have to see a doctor…who would want to know about your mom."
"It's nothing, babe. Just drop it." She looked annoyed, but he persisted.
"Sam if you're sick you have to go to the doctor."
"Why don't you just get me some Tylenol? It'll be fine in a day or two."
"But Sam—"
"Freddie," She said sharply. Every time he mentioned her mom, there was an edge in her voice that did not go unnoticed by him. "Just don't worry about it. I can take care of myself."
"I'm not trying to start a fight. I'm just saying you should go to a doctor. That's it. I can take care of you too, you know." He fondly nudged her foot with his under the table.
"I never said you were trying to start and fight. I just don't want to see a doctor, okay?"
"Fine, but if it gets any worse…"
"Yeah, whatever." She looked away, but not before he caught the exasperated expression in her eyes.
The bug subsided within a few days, but that only brought them to the next problem: homecoming. Freddie wanted to take Sam, but she would rather go bowling than 'dance with a bunch of freaks', as she put it. But as usual, Carly was able to convince her that it would be fun, and even offered Sam her dress she wore last year, since Sam didn't have the money to buy a new one. She was usually able to mooch some cash off her mother, although she barely had any either, so Carly questioned the abnormality, but Sam brushed her off, saying her mom was just tired of giving her money.
In the week leading up to the dance, things were tense between Sam and Freddie. They hardly even spoke, and when they did their words were strained and filled with frustration. Everyone was used to their arguments, and just assumed they'd get over it. But nobody knew what they were fighting about this time.
Of course, Carly helped Sam get ready for the big night. Somehow, she even convinced her to wear a little more makeup than usual, some blue eye shadow that matched the dress she was wearing. Carly, noticing her friend was being quiet, asked her what was wrong.
"I just don't really like dances." Sam replied shortly, frowning at herself in the mirror.
"Yeah but it's your first time going to one with Freddie. Aren't you a little excited?"
"Well Carly, in case you haven't noticed, the boy and I are barely speaking these days. That might make things just a tad awkward."
"So? It's you and Freddie. You fight. It's what you're good at. It's your gift." She said, smiling at Sam.
"Yeah, great gift…" Sam muttered.
Carly put her hands on her hips. "Come on. Give me a smile."
"I don't want—"
"Give me a smile!" Carly attacked Sam's stomach with tickles, and soon they were both laughing.
After they had both settled down again, Carly spoke. "So…I'm going to the dance with Brad, but I think Gibby thinks he's going with me…" She laughed a little and glanced at Sam.
"Seriously?" Sam pictured the two together, and surprisingly, it seemed kind of…cute.
"Yeah…I tried to tell him I already had a date but he wouldn't really take no for an answer."
"And what does Brad think about this?"
"He's okay with it, actually. He and Gibby have gotten to be pretty good friends and he wants this night to be special for everyone."
"Wow, that's…fair."
"It should be interesting," Carly smiled, and reapplied her lipstick.
While her friend finished up, Sam walked over to the full length mirror and looked at herself. She saw a blond, hazel eyed girl wearing a blue and black, strapless dress, and black high heels, both belonging to her best friend. But on the inside she was scared to death that her own boyfriend was going to tell the world her biggest secret, or at the very least, drive her crazy while trying. Downstairs, they heard Spencer answering the door, and they both knew their dates had arrived.
"Are you ready?" Carly asked, standing up.
Sam sighed. NO, she wanted to scream. No, I am not ready! But instead she said, "Yeah. Let's do it." And so the longest night of her life began.
She followed the brunette down the stairs, to find all the guys in the living room, looking dapper in their tuxes. The mood changed as soon as Freddie made eye contact with Sam, while she was trailing behind Carly, wishing she could disappear. Sam had been right. It was uncomfortable, the two staring at each other, after a week of almost complete silence between them. But neither of them could deny the fact that their eyes had missed one another. They instinctively made their way over to each other, as the odd threesome of Carly, Gibby and Brad conversed, while they waited for Spencer, Mrs. Benson, Mrs. Gibson, and Brad's parents and grandmother to get their cameras ready. Obviously, Sam's mom was absent.
"You look really pretty." Freddie set his gaze on his girlfriend.
She gave him a halfhearted smile and shrugged. "Carly forced makeup upon me."
"Yeah, I bet she did," he said chuckling. They were both painfully aware of how forced it sounded. There were a few seconds of penetrating silence, until Freddie spoke up.
"So, what's up with the love triangle?" He said, gesturing to their three friends, who were all laughing at something Gibby had said.
This time Sam laughed for real. "I know, it's hilarious, right?"
Freddie just shook his head, grinning. "Oh, I almost forgot," He turned to the coffee table beside them and grabbed a clear, plastic bag, containing a corsage.
"Here, give me your wrist." He took it out of the package.
She was not the type of girl to accept a corsage from a guy, much less let him put in on her. But because it was Freddie, Sam, without saying a word, extended her arm out to him. Jolts of electricity seemed to penetrate both their senses the instant their skin touched. It had only been a week since they'd had any physical contact, but it seemed like a month. Barely able to control his nearly shaking hands, he fastened the flower onto Sam, and released her hand, but held onto it a second longer than necessary.
"There." He said softly. Their eyes locked for a split second before Spencer yelled "Ready!" and they were jolted out of the stare.
"Okay, boys on one side, girls on the other," Mrs. Benson instructed, literally yanking Freddie away from Sam.
"Mom…" Freddie warned her.
"Oh, alright. Touch each other. Break your mother's heart. Go ahead." Freddie rolled his eyes, and moved in front of the door, lining up with everyone else. First, they did the group photos, the classic "boys behind girls" pose. Sam tucked her self into Freddie, fitting like a glove, as she always had. He wrapped his arms around her waist, his hands covering hers, intertwining their fingers. He rested his chin on the top of her head and breathed deeply. He could feel that Sam was just as tense has he, so he murmured for only them to hear, "I know this is weird," he paused and felt her shift in his arms, "But we'll get through it. I swear." She only needed to squeeze his hand, and lean into him a little more to let him know how she felt.
To their right, Brad and Carly were in the same position, though less intimate, and poor Gibby was next to them, attempting to cuddle himself, like only Gibby could. The first few pictures were like that, and in most of them Freddie was not looking at the camera, but down at the girl in his arms. Then some of just Carly and Sam were taken, and at this, Freddie reluctantly released the blonde from his arms, and walked off to the side with the other guys. The girls did a few different poses, most of them for humorous purposes, but Sam, not having much comedy in her at the moment, just tried to do her best to even smile. Afterwards, they did couples photos, first Freddie and Sam, in the same pose as before, then Carly and Brad, and even some of Carly and Gibby. Carly definitely noticed something was not right with Sam. And she knew it was beyond just being in an ordinary argument with Freddie. Then it was the guy's turn, so Carly took that as an opportunity to try to talk to her friend.
"Something's wrong, Sam," She said. "You're never like this."
Sam crossed her arms, and said through gritted teeth, "Nothing's wrong. We're all having a jolly good time, here." She lifted her wrist, "Like my corsage?" She asked tersely, rolling her eyes.
"It's…it's a nice corsage," Carly swatted her hand away. "Lie all you want Sam, but something's not right. And eventually you know I will find out what it is."
"Yeah, yeah, nothing gets past you Carls…" Sam muttered lamely.
When picture taking was finally over, Sam and Freddie found each other once more, so they could walk out the door side by side. As everyone headed for the elevators, they both hung back for a moment.
Freddie gently tilted her chin up, so she was looking at him. "Sam, if you really don't want to go, we don't have to. I don't want you to be miserable." He was slightly insulting himself, suggesting that attending a dance with him would make a person miserable, but when it came to Sam, he always said what had to be said.
"We've already gone to this much trouble, so we may as well just go through with it." She mumbled, averting her eyes to the floor.
"Hey, that's the spirit!" He said in a falsely jolly tone, getting a laugh out of her.
"I love you," She said through her laughter.
"Love you more," He said, drawing out the last word, making her giggle again. He was the only guy who could ever make Sam Puckett giggle like the girly girl she most definitely was not. As if the moment hadn't been sappy enough, they walked hand in hand, down the hall to catch up with their friends, not really knowing what they were doing, but nonetheless, doing it together.
