Here we go, another oneshot. Yes, it is another Sam-and-Freddie-trapped-in-an-elevator one, but I hope you like it anyway. I personally feel like it's not one of my best, but I have had it sitting here for a while, so I figured I might as well post it, even if I'm not particularly happy with it. Reviews make me happy :). Also, my biggest problem in writing these fics is that I have difficulty coming up with the plot, so if any one you have any story ideas that you don't mind me stealing, just let me know and I'll see what I can do. Muchas gracias, senores y senoras :).
Freddie's POV
"Okay, well I guess I'm gonna go home now" I said as the credits began rolling. Carly, Sam and I were in Carly's room having a movie marathon, but I figured I should probably get home before my mom had a panic attack.
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna split too" Sam said, scooting to the edge of the bed and getting to her feet. When there was no response, we both looked at Carly. The lights had been turned off for the ultimate movie experience, but in the dim, flickering light of the end titles, we could see that Carly was fast asleep. I turned off the movie and we tiptoed out of Carly's room. Once we were in the hall, Sam began rummaging through her pockets.
"Fredward, have you taken my phone?" she asked threateningly, patting me down.
"No, how stupid do you think I am?" I replied, shoving her hands away.
"Well-"
"Don't answer that"
"Ugh, well can I borrow yours for a minute?" she asked. I reached into my pocket to give it to her, knowing that if I didn't then she would just take it anyway, but I couldn't find it.
"Huh" I said, searching my pockets. "Have you stolen my phone? Is it once again en route to some godforsaken plain in the middle of the African savannah?"
"No, dork" she said rolling her eyes. "Where the hell are our phones?"
"Oh!" I said, suddenly remembering. "We emptied our pockets to change into the costumes for iCarly, remember? Our phones must still be up in the studio"
"Oh yeah. Well, let's go get them" Sam answered, pressing the elevator button. The elevator dinged as the doors opened and I followed her in. The doors shut and we were on our way up to the third floor when the elevator gave a sudden lurch and the lights went out. Suddenly, the yellowish emergency lights came on, making us both look jaundiced.
"Freddie, what did you do?" Sam yelled.
"Nothing!" I said defensively. "The power must have gone out"
"Yeah right, nub. You must have done something"
"Oh right, cause being trapped in a small, enclosed space with you is always a good time!' I retorted angrily.
"You better watch it, Fredward" she growled menacingly.
"Whatever" I said with a gusty sigh. "Just be quiet for a minute while I press the emergency button"
I knelt down, squinting in the dim light and trying to find the emergency button. I found it and pressed it, waiting for a response. There was silence for a moment, and then we heard Lewbert's shrieking through the speaker.
"WHAAAT?"
"Hey Lewbert, its Freddie Benson from 8D"
"WHO CARES? I WAS SLEEPING!"
"Sorry to wake you up, but the elevator in 8C is-"
"NYAAAAAH!"
And with that, Lewbert was gone. I looked over my shoulder at Sam, who was standing behind me.
"The fact that this man holds a job never ceases to astound me"
"Get out of my way" she muttered, shoving me aside. "Lewbert! LEWBERT! I'M TALKING TO YOU, YOU USELESS WASTE OF FLESH!"
"There's no point" I said, picking myself up off the floor and rubbing my shoulder where I had collided with the wall when Sam pushed me. She gave an unintelligible shriek of frustration, and then punched the wall. Hard.
"OW!" she cried, cradling her knuckles. "Motherf-"
"Well" I said, cutting her off. "What do you expect?"
"Don't go getting all logical on me, dork" she snapped. "I want sympathy, not sense"
"Oh no, you poor thing" I recited in a monotone.
"You need to work on that sympathy thing, nub" she said.
"Yeah, I know" I said, smiling slightly. "So what are we gonna do?"
"You're the nerd" she said. "You figure out a way to get us out of here"
"Get us out of here and go where?" I asked. "We're in the middle of the elevator shaft. Would you prefer to be in the elevator, sitting on top of it or falling to your death below it?"
"So you mean I'm stuck in here with you until someone finds us?"
"Uh…basically, yeah. Or until the power comes back on"
"Someone up there hates me"
"Like I'm thrilled about this"
"Easy, dork" she said, thumping me on the forehead.
"I know that this is like asking the sun to put itself out for a little bit, but could you please refrain from excessive violence until we get out of here?"
"Why would I do that?" she asked, thumping me again.
"Well…" I said, thinking fast. "It's too easy. We're trapped in a six-by-five box with nowhere for me to run. Is that really going to be any fun?"
"Eh, you're right" she conceded. "But if you piss me off, I retain the right to hit you"
"Sure" I said, surprised that she had decided not to spend the night whaling on me.
I was facing the wall when I heard a huge clap of thunder echo through the tiny elevator.
"Well, that explains the power outage" I said. "The lightning must have blown the…"
I trailed off as I turned around and saw Sam curled up in a ball on the floor. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and her head was down, resting on her knees, and I could see the blond curls that cascaded over her shoulders and down her back shaking as she sobbed. I stood watching in shock, unable to process what I was seeing. Sam Puckett, the violent, tough, sarcastic demon whose favourite hobby was making other people hurt, was sobbing because of a thunderstorm. Another clap of thunder rumbled, louder than the last. At the sound of the thunder, Sam curled into a tighter ball and began sobbing harder. Slowly, tentatively, I walked towards her. I had never even imagined I would be in this situation, and I had no idea how to handle it. As I got closer I could hear Sam's sobs as she gasped for breath. I approached quietly, and she didn't look up. I knelt next to her and I leaned my head towards her.
"Sam?" I whispered hesitantly.
She looked up and I could see that her nose was red and her eyes were bloodshot.
"Go away, nub"
Go where? I thought, but I knew better than to ask.
"Sam, what's wrong?"
"I said go away" she said quietly, her voice wobbly. "Leave me alone"
I said nothing, simply sat down next to her, stretching my legs out in front of me. Another clap of thunder followed, causing Sam to once again curl up tighter and sob harder. The storm was getting closer, which meant that whatever was upsetting Sam was going to get worse before it got better. I hesitantly put my hand on Sam's arm, and she didn't shrug it away, so I slipped it around her thin shoulders, feeling them shake underneath my arm. She stayed still for a moment, and then leaned slowly against me, resting the side of her head on my chest. Confident in the knowledge that she wouldn't kill me for it, I tightened my grip on her shoulders, hugging her and rubbing her arm comfortingly. Without looking up she swivelled, resting her feet on the floor between my open legs and leaning into my torso. I wrapped both arms around her in a hug, and I felt her relax completely into my chest. I rested my cheek on her head, shushing her softly as she sobbed violently. We sat there on the floor, Sam flinching with every clap of thunder, until she eventually swivelled back to her original position next to me, making me let go of her. The thunder wasn't gone but it was getting quieter, so the worst was over. I wasn't entirely sure what to say, since I had never really been in this type of situation with Sam, so we stayed silent, just looking at each other. Every so often Sam would wince at a clap of thunder, but she never took her eyes off mine. Eventually the silence became uncomfortable, and I knew I had to say something.
"Sam, are you okay?"
She gave a gusty sigh and leaned her head back against the wall.
"Yeah, I just…don't like thunder"
"Why?"
She straightened her head, looking at me, and I could see that she was debating whether or not to tell me.
"When I was ten, my mom had taken Melanie to a ballet recital, so I went out for dinner with my dad and my older brother"
"I didn't know you had a brother" I said, unable to keep myself from interrupting. She silenced me with a look, and I apologized.
"Anyway, my dad took my brother and me out for dinner, and we were walking home. Alex, my brother, and I were walking a little ahead, and we had just turned a corner when we heard some guy say 'You. Hand over your wallet'. We looked around the corner and saw a guy pointing a gun at my dad. My dad saw us peek around the corner and he looked at us as though he was saying to stay where the guy couldn't see us. My brother didn't listen, he tried to help. He jumped on the guy, and he shot my dad by accident. Then he shot my brother…" she trailed off, tears returning to her eyes.
"The gunshots…they sounded like a really loud clap of thunder. Every time I hear thunder the whole thing replays in my head"
"Oh, Sam…"
"Whatever. Its fine" she said brusquely, shaking her head as though to clear the memories out. I instinctively kissed the top of her head, inhaling the fruity scent of her hair before scooting over and leaning against one of the walls perpendicular to the one that Sam was leaning on. I knew Sam, and I knew that she hated to show any kind of vulnerability whatsoever, so crying in front of me must have killed her. Moving away from her was an attempt to bring some semblance of normalcy back to the situation, and it worked slightly. Sam uncurled and spread her own legs in front of her. Unfortunately the elevator wasn't big enough for both of us to spread our legs out, and she kicked my foot out of the way to make room for hers. I looked up, catching her eye, and she smirked at me challengingly. I rose to the challenge and shoved her foot out of the way, putting mine back. This sparked an epic fifteen minute war for foot space, which culminated in us both sharing the space and giggling uncontrollably. The giggles died down and we both sat in comfortable silence. Wait… I thought. Did I just play footsie with Sam? The thought was terrifying and at the same time gave me a sort of warm, happy feeling, which was weird. I knew that I didn't hate Sam and she didn't hate me, but I didn't like her. Did I? Ever since we kissed, our relationship had progressed past acquaintances into friends – I mean, the whole episode not three minutes ago proved that- and now she knew me better than anyone else. Our teasing and fighting had taken on a much more friendly nature, and now I considered her my best friend. Carly was still my friend as well, but she didn't know me the way Sam did. Around Carly, I still felt like I was…not pretending, but holding back. There were certain things that I would think, but I wouldn't say or do in case Carly thought it was lame. Around Sam, I was totally and completely myself and I loved that freedom. I loved just blurting out whatever popped into my head and saying whatever I felt like. Sam still teased me, but I knew she was just joking. Sam didn't have that problem, and I envied her for it. She was who she was, and the hell with everyone else. I was pulled out of my musings by Sam nudging my foot with hers.
"Freddie, I'm bored" she whined. I knew she didn't want to talk about what had happened with the thunder, so I let it go.
"What do you want me to do about it, Princess Puckett?"
"Entertain me"
"Oh okay, hold on. Just let me get my tutu and do my warm-ups" I said sarcastically.
She giggled a little and then sat up.
"Okay then. Truth or dare"
"Um…" I weighed my options, but figured that in such an enclosed space, dare was probably safer. "Dare"
She raised her eyebrows at me, impressed. "Risky"
"Just hit me"
"Hmm. Okay…" she said, thinking about it. "Oh, I've got one. Lick my foot"
She kicked off her shoe and pulled off her sock before shoving her foot in my face.
"Really?" I asked, peering at her over the top of her foot.
"Really" she said poking my cheek with her toe. I took her foot in my hand, surprised by how dainty it was. Sam was so strong and violent that I sometimes forgot that she was actually quite petite, with tiny, feminine hands and feet. I held it gently in my hand and looked up at Sam. She nodded, and I leaned down and very softly licked the top of her foot.
"Satisfied?"
"Very" she said, patting the side of my face with her foot.
"Okay, your turn" I said.
"Hmm… okay, dare"
"Dare? Alright then…" I said, racking my brain for a dare to give her. Suddenly, I thought of one that she would hate doing, and was also a little for my own gratification. "Say you love me. And say it like you mean it"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Tell me that you love me and make me believe it" I replied. I knew that it was stupid, but I wanted to hear her say it, just once. Even if she didn't mean it.
"Ugh. Fine" she grumbled. She sat up a little straighter and looked at me.
"Freddie…" she began hesitantly.
"Yes, Sam?" I said cheerfully, enjoying every moment of her discomfort.
"Freddie, I…" she trailed off, looking into my eyes. "Freddie, I love you"
She was gazing intently into my eyes, and she spoke so softly that I barely heard her. I sat there staring at her, looking deep into her eyes, and in that moment I felt as though the world was no longer three-dimensional. The third dimension fell away, then the second dimension and all I was left with was one dimension, and that dimension was Sam. Then she broke the eye contact and looked into her lap, and the magic was gone. She had to mean that. There was no way she was that good. My pulse quickened as I realized what that meant. Sam liked me. Sam liked me.
"Wow" I managed to say. "Not bad, Puckett. I almost believed you there for a second"
"Yeah, I'm good eh?" she said. She said it flippantly, but somewhere in the back of her eyes I could have sworn I saw a glimpse of sadness, but then it was gone.
Sam's POV
Oh damn, that was close. Of all the things in the world that Freddie could have made me do, he picked that. At first I thought it was too good to be true – a chance to tell Freddie how I felt without actually telling him how I felt. I tried my hardest to get the point across, to impress upon him that it wasn't just the dare, and for a moment I could have sworn that he got it. But then, just as soon as it appeared, the magic was gone. The moment had passed and I now knew for sure that he didn't like me back. If he had, then he wouldn't have just let that moment go by. That's what you get for putting yourself out there, idiot I scolded myself. Especially now that you cried in front of him. Way to go, Sam.
"Okay, dork. Truth or dare?"
"Let's go with truth this time"
"Okay, truth. Let's see. Have you ever… cried at a movie?"
"Honestly? Yes" he said without a moment's hesitation.
"Really?" I said, surprised that he had shared this information with me so easily. "Which one?"
"Uh uh, that wasn't part of the question. Your turn"
"Oh, come on. Is wittle Fweddie scared that he'll start cwying again?" I teased.
"Yes. Just mentioning the movie reduces me to tears, you caught me" he said sarcastically. "Come on, truth or dare?"
"Uh, okay….truth"
"Okay. Um…okay, have you ever gone commando for a whole day?"
"Oh" I stammered. I didn't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. "Yeah. My mom isn't renowned for her laundry skills, and no way am I wearing dirty underwear"
"Fair enough"
"Okay, you now"
"Uh, truth?"
"You know what? There isn't really any room for dares, so let's just play truth" I said. "Either I ask you a question or you tell me a secret. Any secret"
"What? No!"
"Oh come on, nub. Quit being a wimp"
"Why would I tell you one of my secrets?"
"Because if you tell me one of yours, then I'll tell you one of mine"
"Okay, but whatever is said in this elevator, stays in this elevator. Swear?"
"Swear"
"Hmm" he said, pondering. "Okay then"
"Okay. Tell me a secret. And make it a good one" I finished threateningly.
"Okay" he said, thinking for a moment. "Okay. When I was twelve, my mom made me go with her to a convention on hygiene for pubescent boys"
My laughter filled the elevator, echoing around the tiny space.
"And what did they teach at this convention?" I asked, stifling my giggles.
"Trust me. You don't want to know" he said, shuddering at the memory.
"Okay, my secret" I said. I racked my brain for something to tell him. "Oh, here's one. When I was eight, just after I got kicked out of the pageant circuit, I went on a tour of the country as the lead ballerina in a kid's version of The Nutcracker"
"Really?" he said in shock. I knew that Carly had told him that my talent in the beauty pageants was dancing, but I guess he found it hard to imagine vicious, violent Sam as a graceful ballerina.
"Really"
"When was the last time you danced?"
"When Melanie was here. We used to take lessons together, and whenever she comes back we take at least one lesson together. You know, for old time's sake"
"Speaking of Melanie" he said. "Remember when she visited and I thought that you made her up and you were pretending to be her?"
"Yeah…" I said, wondering where he was going with this.
"After our date, I knew it wasn't you"
"Liar, you totally thought it was me"
"No, I just pretended I did" he said sheepishly.
"Why the hell would you do that?" I wondered out loud.
"Well…the reason I knew it wasn't you?"
"Yeah…"
"When I kissed her, or rather when she kissed me, I knew it wasn't you"
"Oh really? And how did you know that?"
"You two…" he trailed off, sounding embarrassed. "Well, you two feel different. And…taste different"
"Ew, gross!" I exclaimed. "Oh, that's nasty"
"Well, it's true"
There was a beat of silence, and then I spoke.
"What do we taste like?"
"Beg pardon?"
"You said we tasted different, so what did we taste like?"
"Well, you tasted like… meat. And strawberry" he began. That made sense – I tasted like meat for obvious reasons and my lip gloss was strawberry-flavoured. "Melanie tasted like mint and papaya. Which you hate"
I pondered that for a moment. Freddie knew what I taste like. Freddie could tell between me and Melanie because we tasted different. For some reason, that made me feel all tingly in the stomach area.
"So who tasted better?" I asked. I paused for a moment, thinking about what I just said. "Well, there's a question I never thought I'd ask"
Freddie laughed before looking straight at me. "Honestly?" he said, pretending to look around conspiratorially. "I hate papaya too" he whispered with a wink.
We laughed for a moment before he looked at me.
"Okay, your turn. Tell me a secret, Puckett"
"Nah, give me a question"
"Okay" he said, thinking. "Have you kissed anyone other than me?"
"Yeah" I said, not looking at him. "Pete"
I could have sworn I saw a flash of jealousy, but then it was gone.
"Okay nub" I said. "Your turn. Secret or question?"
"Um...question" he decided.
"Okay" I thought of a question that was purely selfish and very reckless on my part. "Remember that time we were duct-taped to the chairs by those prisoners?"
"Yeah"
"And we made that little pact with Carly to tell each other everything?"
"Mhm" he said, his confusion clear in his voice.
"And she asked us how long we kissed, and then if it was fun? Before Spencer ran in looking for that damn banjo?"
"Yeah, I remember"
"Since we never answered that question... did you enjoy it? Was it, you know, fun?" I asked, quoting Carly.
Freddie laughed before looking at his hands, which were twined together in his lap.
"Yeah, it was fun. Kissing in general is a rather enjoyable activity"
"Unless it's with a stranger, someone gross or someone you don't like" I said, subtly sneaking that last one in there to see if he would say anything.
"Precisely" he said, winking at me and making my stomach feel all tingly again.
"Alright Puckett, your turn. Question or secret?"
"Secret" I decided.
"Alright, shoot"
"Hmm…" I said, trying to think of something to tell him. I searched my brain, and I could only come up with one thing. One thing that I had never told anyone.
"I'm waiting" he said, jostling my foot.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking" I said, kicking him back. "I can only think of one thing, though"
"So tell me"
"No. I've never told anyone before"
"Sam" he began incredulously. "I just told you that when Melanie kissed me, I knew it wasn't you because you tasted different. Come on, tell me"
"Okay, okay" I conceded. "Well...I've always been kind of jealous of Melanie"
"Jealous?" Freddie asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "Why?"
"Well, she always has clean hair, and clean teeth, and perfect grades, and perfect clothes, and she's always so sweet and nice and happy. Ever since I can remember, my mom has told me that I should be more like Melanie. She's perfect" I finished, trying to keep the sadness out of my voice.
"Sam" began Freddie in a surprisingly gentle tone. "Can I tell you a secret? Perfect is boring"
My stomach erupted in butterflies. Perfect was boring? That meant that he didn't like perfect, which meant that maybe he liked me, cause I sure as hell wasn't perfect.
"You shouldn't be jealous of Melanie" he continued softly. "You're smart, and funny, and interesting, and creative. You're… you're special, Sam"
"If perfect is boring, then why have you been in love with Carly for the past million years?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him and trying to conceal the fact that my heart rate had increased tenfold.
"I haven't been" he answered. "I just thought I was"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I thought I was in love with Carly, but I wasn't. When we dated after I saved her life, I realized that Carly is sweet and beautiful and everything, but that gets old pretty quick. You need a few flaws to keep things interesting"
"Hmm" I said, digesting this piece of information. "By the way, that doesn't count as a secret"
"Okay. Here's one then. Remember when you told me that I was just bacon, so I broke up with Carly?"
"Mhm"
"Well, I dunno if she told you, but I didn't really break up with her. I told her that I didn't want to be bacon, so we should wait until all the hype about the accident wore off. If, after it all died down, she still wanted to be my girlfriend then that would be awesome"
"Yeah, she told me"
"Did she tell you that she came back to me?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked slowly.
"About a month and a half after I got my cast off, she came to me and said that all the hype was gone and she still wanted to be with me"
"Seriously?" I asked in shock.
"Yep. I told her that although she was one of my best friends, I didn't feel anything when she kissed me. Nothing"
"What did she say?"
"She was surprised, I'm not gonna lie. And she was a little upset, but she understood"
"Wow" I said, pondering this new piece of information.
"Yeah"
"So" I began, a devious smile creeping across my face. "Who is a better kisser, me or Carly?"
"Huh?" he asked, still distracted.
"From a strictly technical perspective, who is the better kisser, me or Carly?"
"Is this a truth question?"
"You betcha"
"Hmm. I honestly don't remember"
"Yeah, okay" I scoffed. "If it was Carly then you can tell me. I won't get offended"
"No, I honestly can't remember" he insisted.
Suddenly, I couldn't take it anymore. He liked me, didn't he? He didn't like Carly, he said all those amazing things about me… he just had to like me. And all of a sudden, I couldn't take not knowing anymore. The suspense, the tiptoeing around each other…I had enough. My pulse began to race as I did the craziest, stupidest thing I had ever done in my life.
"Well, maybe you just need to refresh your memory" I said, looking straight at him. His eyes met mine, and in them I saw nervousness, disbelief and panic, but an enormous, exultant smile stretched across his face. It was the happiest I had ever seen him look.
"Perhaps that would be wise" he said, a quaver barely detectable in his voice. I inched over until I was sitting right beside him. I began to lean forward, my heart beating as though I had just run a few miles. I gently placed one of my hands on Freddie's neck, just under his jaw. The tip of my middle finger was just below his ear, and although my touch was light, I could feel his pulse racing. I leaned in slowly, unable to believe what was happening. I closed my eyes and felt Freddie press his lips ever so gently against mine. I leaned forward some more, deepening the kiss, and I felt his pulse go even faster. I don't know how long we kissed like that, but eventually my neck began to hurt from being turned the way it was. I reluctantly broke the kiss and pulled away slightly, laughing a little as I saw Freddie pouting in disappointment. I hoisted myself onto my knees and swung one leg over Freddie's lap, kneeling above him. I sat back onto his lap and got myself comfortable before putting my arms around his neck and pulling his face back down to mine. He wrapped his arms securely around my waist, pulling me even closer and pressing me against his torso. Alright, maybe it won't be so bad being stuck in here all night I thought.
Spencer's POV
"Carly, have you seen my banjo?" I asked, searching through the living room.
"Yeah, it's upstairs in the iCarly studio" she said. "You left it there after the last show"
"Oh yeah" I said, pushing the elevator button. The elevator dinged open and I was about to get in when I stopped in shock.
"Uh, Carly?" I called. "Come here a sec"
"What?" she said, walking over from the kitchen. "Don't tell me you…"
She trailed off in shock as she saw the elevator. Inside the elevator were Sam and Freddie. They were both lying on the floor, Sam's head on Freddie's shoulder and her arm draped over his stomach, and Freddie's arm wrapped around Sam's waist. And they were both fast asleep. Carly and I looked at each other in shock.
"I think I'll take the stairs…"
