Hello My little Fanfic Friends! Good news (I hope) I've decided to continute with this story, and turn it into a 3 shot. Thanks for your patience, and for those who put it on alert. Weren't you the smart ones!

My loverly laptop has been out seeing the country with my mama and is finally home! Since I've made you fine peoples wait this long, I don't think I shall wait any longer. Without Further ado, here is Chapter 2.

Wait...sorry there's one more ado. The ado that I don't do the the whole iCarly owning thing. Nickelodeon and Dan Schneider do. Understand? You do? Alright good! Now no more ado's. Adieu.

Sam stood outside Apt 8C with her knuckles raised toward the door, but she couldn't quite bring herself to actually knock. The truth was, this wasn't the first time she'd stood there in the last 10 minutes, and each time was exactly the same. She took a deep breath and raised her knuckles again, but at the last moment spread her fingers and laid her palm against the door. She rested her head against the wood, ashamed of herself. "You're such a Pansy, Puckett!" She could weaken men three times her size with just a stare, but she didn't have the courage face her best friends right now. She backed away from the door ready to turn toward the elevator, again, when she heard the door open behind her.

"Samantha? Is everything alright?"

Sam turned to see Mrs. Benson poke her head out the door. The woman usually exuded crazy, but now there was a look of soft concern on her face directed at Sam.

"Were you watching me just now?" The question lacked the venom it should have. She was definitely put off guard by the woman's demeanor.

Mrs. Benson adjusted the buttons on her cardigan in an attempt to display authority. "As a concerned tenant, I like to be aware of what goes on in the hallways outside my apartment!" She stepped out and leaned against the doorway. "Anyway, after watching you pace back and forth for a while, I thought maybe I should come see what was going on."

She let out a gentle smirk. Sam could actually see a bit of Freddie in her now. "You know, because I don't want to have to pay for the floor to be resurface after you've worn it out going back and forth between here and the elevator."

"And what makes you think anything is wrong?"

Mrs. Benson chuckled a bit. "Because, I've learned that doors don't seem to mean the same thing to you that they do to the rest of society, so the fact that you're standing on this side of this particular door suggests that all is probably not as it should be."

Sam's eyes quickly darted to the door and then down to her shoes. "Oh."

"Look, Sam." Mrs. Benson said softly. "I won't pretend to even begin to understand you...or sometimes even like you…but for some reason, you're important to Freddie. If you ever need to talk, I'm right across the hall."

Sam looked up in mild horror as she saw Crazy walking toward her. Ok so she's being sentimental, doesn't mean she actually gets to hug me. She quickly shirked away, then watched silently as Mrs. Benson reached up and knocked on Carly's door.

"I don't think I'm the one that you need to talk to right now, though." Sam could hear Spencer's muffled voice yell "coming" through the solid door.

"Waiting doesn't make things any easier, Sam." Mrs. Benson glided back through her door and shut it behind her. Sam didn't have much time to think about what Mrs. Benson said, because she heard the door open behind her.

"Hey, you came back!" A broad smile spread across Spencer's face as he grabbed her by the shoulders and guided her inside. Ready or not, Sam was suddenly standing in the middle of the Shay apartment.

"Hey Spencer," she managed a small smile back.

"So, you alright?" Spencer was frowning expectantly at her, as he closed the door. "I've never seen you so upset before, and then you just left." He gave her a gentle bop to the top of her head as he went back to his project. "We were worried about you, kiddo!"

"No Chizz!" She pulled out her phone. "Carly texted my about 30 times. She threatened to sick the entire armed forces on me if I didn't respond." She saw Spencer nod vigorously in agreement, neither one of them would put it past her. "So, is she here?"

"She's upstairs in the studio with Freddie. They're upgrading the monitor." He passed her a brush and a can of pinky-orange paint. "You know they're kind of mad at me for letting you go earlier."

"Sorry, I just needed time to think and sort some stuff out." She loved that Spencer understood her enough to know that keeping her hands busy would clear her mind to speak. She dipped the brush in the jar and started dabbing it onto the hunk of plaster in front of her. "So what is this thing anyway?"

"It's a Banded Piglet Squid" Spencer smiled. "So did you? Think stuff out?"

Sam dipped her brush in, and started dabbing more paint. "I don't know. I mean I'm still a little freaked out about it," she shrugged. She stood back and looked at her handy work. "A Piglet Squid, huh?"

"Yep. Cute little cephalopod, isn't he?" Spencer explained. "This is actually a lot bigger than the real thing. It's for the aquarium's deep sea exhibit in a couple weeks. So why are you still freaked out?"

She busied herself with the painting job in front of her while she continued to talk. Spencer noticed the concern in her eyes as he went to switch brushes. "I know I pretend to be independent and don't really need anyone, but the truth is Spencer…I really need them."

"Aww." He gave her a quick gentle rub to her back

Sam gave a frustrated sigh. "I don't know if, or when they'll start dating, or what will happen if they do. I only know that if I worry about what bad things might happen, I'm going to miss out on all the good things that could happen in the meantime." She shrugged. "I guess there's really no point in missing them until I have to."

Spencer stopped and looked at her in awed amazement. "Sam, that's not only smart, that's completely wise." He smiled as he went back to work. "You're kind of amazing that way. No matter how much garbage you get handed, you rarely let anything beat you for long." He pretended not to notice her blushing beside him.

He pulled the stool around to brush the loose plaster off the eyes. He glanced up at her as she continued distractedly painted the squid's bulbous body. "You remember, how you asked this morning why they should keep you around? Maybe it's because of that. You make them stronger, Sam. Together you guys can take on the world. I mean, look what you guys have accomplished together already: you've bested cops in a supposed pirated movie sting, thwarted Japanese kidnappers, and taken on major network writers. Not to mention Carly being the only person to last a full round with an MMA Champ and coming out as friends" He looked at her as her frown seemed to soften a little bit. "Nobody does these things. You guys are like superheroes!"

There it was, the first real smile he'd seen on her in the past 24 hours. "Yeah, I am Commander Awesome…and I'd so pay a million dollars to see Dork Boy in a pair of tights!" The vision of Freddie in tights set them both off in a fit of laughter.

Spencer wiped the tears from his eyes, and walked over to the stool to get a can of black paint. "Spencer, when I said there's some people I need around…you know you're included in that, right?" She turned around to catch his eye. "Carly is really lucky to have you for a big brother."

Spencer smiled warmly at her. He always felt it, but it was nice to know. "Well, I'm here whenever you need me, kid. Kind of like your unofficial Big Bro." He grabbed her in a headlock and began to lightly rub his knuckles against her head. This action probably would have gotten anyone else a week in traction at the local hospital, but Sam just giggled as she playfully tried to remove his hands. She just managed to get them undone when they heard someone coming down the stairs.

"SAM!!!" Carly screamed and ran down the last few stairs to tackle her in a tight hug. "Are you alright? Why did you go? Where did you disappear to all day? Why didn't you call me back?"

Spencer gave Sam a playful grimace and disappeared into his room, leaving her to fend of Carly's barrage of questions alone. Sam let out a deep sigh, and tried peeling her friend off of her.

"Carly, Carly, it's ok!" Sam finally got Carly to let go. "I'm fine!"

"Good!" Carly let out a calm breath, then hysterically started smacking her friend." How dare you make us worry so much! I was about ready to send out a search party for you!"

Sam ducked to avoid getting hit, "Whoa, Carly Chill!"

Carly finally stopped slapping at her, but she was far from chill. "You blow off the dance, don't show up to meet us afterward, and then you just disappear this morning without a so much as a word, and all you can say is 'Chill?'"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I just…had a lot of stuff on my mind."

Carly finally started to calm down. She wanted to get to the bottom of what was bothering Sam. "Spencer said you got freaked out about something last night. You wanna talk about it?"

Sam slowly walked away from Carly, still not wanting to face her. "It's just…I went to the Groovy Smoothie last night, and saw…"

"And saw …?" Carly tried wracking her brain to remember anything out of the ordinary about last night, and it suddenly dawned on her."…Freddie and me dancing."

"Yep."

"And that's what got you all upset?" Carly frowned sympathetically at her friend as she tried to explain. "Sam, that was nothing. We both just had a really bad night. It was just a dance."

"Well, I had a really bad night too., and that's not what it looked like. It looked like…"

"Like what?"

"Like you both were really into it." Sam finally turned to face her. "Carly, do you like Freddie?"

Carly was a caught a little off guard by the question. "You mean Like, Like? No!" Her answer was shot out as a reaction, but she paused to think about it for a moment and then wasn't sure. "At least I don't think so, I mean, it wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. It was kind of nice, actually."

She was still lost in thought and didn't see Sam's shoulders slump and her eyes dart to the floor. "I mean he's sweet, and funny, and he did pin me to the ground in the studio the other day…" Sam eyes went wide, and she looked at her with shock as she continued. "But we're still just Buds for now."

"Why would that upset you, anyway?" Carly prodded. "It's not like you're into him…are you?"

Sam quickly shot Carly a dirty look. "The reason I was upset is because I was worried that if you two started dating, you wouldn't want me around anymore." The frown had returned to her face. "I don't think I could stand it if you guys started making excuses to get rid of me."

Carly suddenly had a look of realization. "That's what this is all about?" She gave a big smile and wrapped her arms around Sam. "Sam, that would never happen. You're my best friend in the world. We're supposed to grow old together, remember? We were going to play shuffleboard with old men's teeth…or at least you were. I still think that's gross." She shuddered before pulling away and looking into Sam's eyes.

"Don't you know I need you around? You're the first one I call when I go on a date, or if I get my heart broken. You have no idea how excited I am that I have you to share the juicy details with…and I totally expect the same from you. Maybe that's why I was upset that you kept your kiss with Freddie a secret. I would never give you up for Freddie, or any guy." She searched Sam's face for a connection to what she was saying.

A smile slowly spread across Sam's face. "Good!" Carly laughed and grabbed her in a tight hug. "Except…if you do decide to date Freddie, would you mind keeping some of those juicy details a secret? If I have to envision Freddork doing certain things, my head just might explode."

Carly pulled back in shock. "SAM!!!!"

Spencer came out of his room and was excited to see the girls laughing in front of him. "Yay! So are we all in one piece?"

Carly smiled and threw her arm around Sam's shoulders. "Yeah, for now."

"Great!" Spencer clapped. "How about some dinner?"

Sam jumped up and gave a little cheer. "Woo! My second favorite word!"

Spencer looked at her a little curiously. "Second favorite? What's your first?"

"Poughkeepsie!"

"Oh, yeah, that is a good one!" Spencer nodded in agreement.

"Hey, we can still rent that movie if you want to." Carly suggested excitedly. "Freddie should be done in a few minutes. We can go with Spencer to pick it out."

"That's a great idea." Sam said as she looked back up the stairs." But would you guys mind going without me? I think there's one more person here I need to talk to tonight." She gestured up the stairs.

"Yeah sure, we know what food you like, and I'll try not to get anything too girly." Carly said sarcastically.

"Cool,"

Carly started putting on her coat, and stopped Sam before she headed up the stairs. "Oh, I actually came down to get him something to drink. Would you mind taking one up to him when you go?"

Sam nodded and waved as they walked out the door. "See you guys in a few." She went to the refrigerator, and grabbed two bottles of cream soda. She stood at the foot of the stairs. "It's now or never." She sighed as she started up the stairs.

Well, Sam still has one more person to face. The good news is the next chapter is written, the bad news is it's not totally finished being edited. I should have this up in a very short while, though.

So, Until next time...hug your friends! Actually don't hug them the whole time, that might get a little awkward. Once should be enough, unless they're smelling extra good and you wanna get a little closer. Um, again...awkward. Whatever maybe a nice handshake. Just let them know you care.