Hey everyone! Here's another little one-shot I recently got inspiration for. It's kinda an indirect spin-off of iOMG. I hope you all enjoy. And BTW, who's pumped for iParty With Victorious? Less than a week! And then we finally get the rest of season four. I can't wait!
And I don't own anything.
Okay. So you know how when you're going on your first date with the girl you absolutely love and adore, and everyone tells you leading up to it that it has to be perfect? Like, magical? All that lovey dovey babble. And it's not like you're just hanging out at the local smoothie shop like you always do, then sitting down at your collective best friend's house and watching TV all day and all night like lazy hobo's. No, it's your first 'real' date. It's what sets the meter for how long the relationship could last. And you're a nervous wreck, right?
Yeah. That's me. Freddie Benson; professional nervous wreck.
Tonight is my first date with Sam. Hard to believe, huh? It's been exactly a month since she confessed her love for me and kissed me at the school lock-in; our second kiss. And it only took me till last week to finally admit that I felt the same way towards her that she felt towards me. It wasn't easy, figuring out my feelings for Sam. It was the direct opposite of easy...it was rather hard. When she landed her lips on mine, I was in shock, I was in disbelief...most importantly, I didn't know what the chiz to do or say. After those awkward few words we shared, I noticed a tear in her eye as she walked away, and nonetheless, I felt like the biggest jerk in the world. Then Carly got a hold of me.
You can imagine how that conversation went.
After Carly made me feel like an even bigger jerk, I kept as far away from Sam as humanly possible...and that was probably the most difficult three weeks of my life. Do you know how hard it is to stay away from someone you see almost every waking moment of every day, AND do an insanely popular webshow with? Freaking hard! When I wasn't doing iCarly related bits with the girls, I was either locked in my room or going over to Carly's when Sam wasn't there...which wasn't a lot. So I was basically locked away in my room, where all I did was either update the website, do homework, or think about what the heck I had to do to figure out my true feelings for Sam. It wasn't until I watched a few clips from some old shows that the realization hit me.
I was in love with Sam Puckett. Which is why I'm here, right now, in Carly's apartment, getting the run down from her about tonight and how I need to act, yadda yadda. Again, you can imagine how this is going for me right now.
"Carly, I appreciate the help...but you aren't doing my nerves any favors right now."
"Well, I just want to make sure you know what you're doing when you go out there, that's all!"
"Jeez Carls, I almost shudder to think how you were with Sam when you were over her house."
She gave me a stern look and rolled her eyes. Yeah, she was probably twenty times worse with Sam, so at least I can be thankful for that. Poor Sam though...she must've wanted to die when Carls was over there. As Carly continued to ramble on about how I needed to treat Sam like a lady and what was also expected of me tonight, I saw Spencer walk into the living room out of the corner of my eye, and I saw the goofy grin on his face as he walked by, into the kitchen. The next thing I knew, I felt myself gravitate toward him as he sat down at the table. Thankfully Carly didn't notice.
"So Freddo, Carly whipping you into shape?", he asked as he took a swig of his orange juice. All I could do was weakly nod my head. He smiled before calling out to Carly. "Hey Carls. Mind if I borrow Freddie here for a couple of minutes?"
She turned to face us and walked over, placing her delicate hand on my shoulder. "Yeah, you can borrow Freddie. And listen, Freddie...sorry if I was being overbearing and pushy. I just want what's best for my two best friends. I want you two to be happy, that's all." I looked up at her smiling and nodding my head. And that is why I'm thankful to have her as my best friend. And thankful that I got over my crush on her a looooong time ago. I love her and all but it just felt so weird when we kissed...kinda like I was kissing my sister or my cousin. No thank you.
"Thanks Carly. I really appreciate all the help...I won't screw this up. And I'll make sure to tell you all about it when it's over."
She smiled and nodded her head, departing upstairs to her room, leaving just us two dudes alone in the kitchen. "So Freddo, I take it that you're very nervous right now. Can't say that I don't blame you. This is big for you and Sam."
"You're telling me", I muttered. "You're not the one who is actually going on the actual date, Spence."
"Ahh don't fret too much, kiddo. I mean, it's only Sam."
If that isn't the understatement of the century, then I don't know what is.
Scoffing and rolling my eyes, I look Spencer dead in the eyes as I speak. "Only Sam? Only Sam? Yeah, that's a great way of looking at it, Spencer. It's only Sam...only the girl who'll break every bone in my face if tonight doesn't go well at all."
"Don't look at it that way, Freddie. Look at it like this...do you love Sam?", he asks while I nod my head. "Would you be willing to do anything for her to make her happy? Would you be there for her in a second if she needed you?"
I nod my head to every question and he's got a satisfied smile on his lips. "Look, I know that the prospect of going on your first date with the girl you really like is daunting...you don't wanna mess it up, want everything to be just perfect. You wanna make sure you look good, that you treat her like she's supposed to be...you just don't want to screw up. I know how it is. I was in your position once upon a time."
"How'd your first date go?", I asked, hopeful that he'd say something to calm me down a bit...
"I got smacked in the face with a fish."
...of course he did.
"But I'm not saying that Sam's gonna do that to you! Listen...you just gotta be yourself tonight, Fredman. Don't act all cool and whatnot. Be yourself. Sam obviously likes you and your techie-ness...if that's even a word...and you obviously dig Sam for all her meat loving abrasiveness. You're gonna be fine, Freddie. Just think of you and Sam, and nothing else. Tonight is your guys night."
Wow. That totally came out of left field. Who knew Spencer had it in him to give out good advice like that? I didn't think he did. That whole talk was actually calming and much needed. Who knew?
"Thanks Spence...where did you learn to give out speeches like that? That was so...unlike you, yet really cool at the same time..."
"Teenage little sister", he said simply, and I replied with an 'ahhhh' and a nod of the head. Well that makes sense. I'm pretty sure he's had a lot of these kinds of talks with Carly over the past year or two...which makes me feel bad for him, because I'm sure he had more than his fair share of Carly freak outs during said conversations.
"Well, look at the time...I think it's time that Carls made some last minute adjustments and gave me a few more pointers before I head out...Sam's expecting me at eight o' clock. And thanks again, Spencer. I really appreciate it. I just hope Sam does too."
Carly came bounding back down the steps and began the final process of making me presentable to Sam. Spencer got up and waved goodbye, giving me a final parting pat on the shoulder before he disappeared into his room, his words swimming around in my head as Carly too saw me off to the biggest night of my young life so far. Hopefully I won't be sweating all over the place and acting like a freak.
Hopefully.
Alright. This is bad. Really bad. Really really bad. Like, end of my life bad.
I haven't even seen Sam yet and I'm already at the point where the first words out of my mouth are going to be pure gibberish. And then she'll either laugh at me or smack me. Knowing her, she'll do both. I gotta calm down. But I can't! I was fine when I left Carly's! What the chiz happened in fifteen minutes? God, Sam's gonna take one look at me and want to kill me. I've been standing here in front of her front door, debating on whether to knock or run the heck away...why would I stand Sam up? Not only would she kill me (literally), she'd probably never ever love anyone ever again. I can't stand the sight of her being hurt. So leaving is a no-go.
But before I could even go to knock on the door (where'd I suddenly get the courage?), it swings open and for a second, I felt my heart stop; she looked amazing. Her hair was down in cascading blonde curly waves. She had the right amount of make-up on (which Carly obviously forced her to wear), and she was wearing a light red sundress and ballet flats (again, which I'm sure Carly made her wear instead of her Converses)...then again, she could have been dressed in a burlap sack for all I care, and she still would've looked great to me. I'm trying very hard to keep the word vomit to a minimum right now. I think I'm sweating too. Greaaaaaat.
"Hi Freddie...you look good in blue."
And now she's complimenting me without so much as a thump on the head or without it sounding forced? Oh. My. God. I'm going to be such a wreck tonight.
"You...look...great! Awesome! Wonderful! Now ?"
Smooth, Freddie. Real smooth. She looked at me and gave me a weird look, but she smiles and grabs my hand forcefully as we walk to and then enter the cab. We were silent the entire trip, but her hand never left mine, even after my palm began to sweat profusely thanks to my nerves. Either she didn't notice or she didn't care. I hope it was the latter. It was weird though. Right before we got to the restaurant, she glanced over at me and, I dunno, I guess she could tell that I was nervous about this whole thing...all she did was smile at me.
Just seeing her smile calmed me down considerably. She's got that kind of effect on me.
When we entered, I told the hostess about my reservation there and she got all gooey eyed and asked if it was our first date (am I really making it that obvious?) Sam just looked at me and I nervously nodded my head as she led us to our table. I pulled out Sam's seat for her, and though she smiled, she still punched me on the arm and sat herself down in the chair. Some things will never change. Not that I'd want them to. Things between me and Sam are...perfect the way they are.
Soon enough though, my nerves started coming back. After our waiter left to grab us our drinks, I started sweating again and this time it was really noticeable, to the point where Sam's eyes grew kinda wide at the severity of it. This was going as well as I had expected. Not.
"Fredhead? You alright? You don't seem like yourself. You aren't acting all dorky. And I'm really not trying to insult you there. Is something wrong?"
"Uh...no?"
All it took was one eye roll from her and I was sputtering out the truth before I knew it.
"I'm nervous...I don't want anything to go wrong...I just want you to be happy and comfortable with the idea of going out with me..."
I didn't dare look her in the eye, for fear that she might want to punch my head off. When I felt her hand on mine, though, I opened one eye and saw that she was blushing and had a grin on her lips. That trademark Puckett grin. Which normally would mean pain and suffering for me any other time...but not tonight.
"You are such a dork. A cute, adorable, caring and loving dork. But a dork nonetheless. You realize that, right?"
We both start laughing hysterically at her bluntness, garnering a few looks from some of the older guests but what do we care? The jokes continued to fly as our food arrived and over the course of the night, my nerves slowly disappeared. By the time we left to conclude our evening, I was feeling like I was on top of the world.
Yeah, that changed quickly. We were walking around the nearby park...at night...all alone...and she had grabbed my hand in hers again. The moon and the stars were out and did I mention how great she looked under the moon light? They were slowly beginning to creep back in, and this time she didn't notice. Not good. Not good at all! I can not afford a meltdown now! Don't freak out Freddie, don't freak out hey she's looking at me funny again oh great.
"You're doing it again, Freddie."
"I'm sorry Sam, it's just I can't help-"
"Just be yourself, Frednerd. That's all I ask of you."
Just be yourself. Spencer's words rang through my head and now Sam's words were swimming in there as well. Just be yourself. I didn't know how to respond to that or what to do...instinctively, I wrapped my arm around Sam's shoulder and pulled her closer to my body, and she didn't object like I thought she would have. I started conversation with her...and it wasn't forced. We talked and talked about things, about iCarly, her love of ham, my love of computers, Brad's chizzin' awesome fudge, Carly's small crush on Gibby and vice versa (oh it's so there whether any of them will admit it), and a whole bunch of random things. It felt...nice. But I still felt bad about acting like such a loser.
Soon enough, we were back at Sam's front door, and the night was about to end. We stopped before she went inside and I figured now was as good a time as any to apologize profusely for my absolutely idiotic behavior tonight.
"Listen Sam, I'm sorry about everything. I didn't want this night to be suckish but I feel it was and it's all my fault..."
"Freddie."
"And I told myself that I wasn't gonna get all nervous and I promised Carly that I'd treat this like the most important night of my life and it's just that I-"
"Freddie!"
"Yeah?"
She looks up at me, that radiant smile on her lips and the stars glowing in her eyes. Now I knew why I was so in love with this girl in the first place. She's positively beautiful.
"Just shut up for a few seconds and kiss me, nerd."
Of course. It wouldn't be a sweet moment without Sam calling me a nerd. But I obliged and closed the distance, our lips touching gently. Ahhh, I love the fireworks I feel whenever we do this. After kissing for a few seconds, we pulled apart and both had goofy grins on our lips, though Sam quickly replaced hers with a smirk as she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly.
"This was the best night of my life, Freddie. Thanks for the most perfect first date a girl like me could ask for. I...I love you, Freddie."
It's the first time she's ever said it aloud, and I know it took a lot for her to say it...but it sounded so natural coming from her mouth. I smiled, knowing that Sam was willing to accept me for who I was, nerves, idiot impulses, imperfections and all. And I was willing to do the same with her, too. She was worth everything to me.
"Your welcome, Sam...I love you too."
Best. First. Date. Ever.