Hey guys! I wrote this chapter later than originally intended, you can blame Sims 3, and my awesome friends for keeping me busy late at night when I would normally write!

Thank you sooooo much to KingxLeon21 for not only fixing all the little things about this chapter that bugged me, but for doing it so freaking quickly! Not to mention he caught a glitch the first time I posted this chapter!

Your support means a lot guys, so thank you too :) Tell me a favourite line if you have one!

The dull ache didn't go away when Carly showed up. It didn't go away when the girl he used to love wrapped her arms tightly around him and said how much he missed him. It didn't go away when Spencer suggested a trip to the beach. It didn't go away when: Carly, Sam, Spencer, Gibby, Tasha, and he, all piled into a car while simultaneously texting Brittany and Jeff to join them. Even when they were at the beach and everyone else, except for Brittany's lame fiancée; who had tagged along, had been running around like crazy, Freddie was just standing, wiggling his feet deeper into sand and wondering why the dull pain in his chest had not yet disappeared.

He unconsciously perked up at the sound of her voice, "Yo, Freddork, get in the water so I can drown your sorry butt!"

"Yeah, come on Freddie!" Carly called out, her message reaching him just in time before Spencer snuck up behind her and dunked her down under the ocean.

Jeff suddenly appeared at his side, "Come on Freddie, it's not polite to keep the ladies waiting," his tone was teasing and underneath that mass of shaggy black hair Freddie could see him smiling too.

Freddie still hesitated. He and Sam hadn't really talked to each other since the breakup of their fake relationship; what if being around her somehow made him even more depressed?

Before Freddie could figure out an excuse for not going in the water, his feet were no longer on the ground and his arms were instinctively flailing wildly in the air. Without warning, Jeff picked Freddie up and slung him over his shoulders as easily as if he were a sack of potatoes; crossing the short distance to the water very quickly.

"Jeff!" Freddie squirmed around, blushing when he heard the laughter of Sam, Carly, Brittany, Tasha, Gibby and Spencer getting very close.

"Sorry little guy, but you need to have some fun," Jeff's, not-very-apologetic, tone was the last thing Freddie heard before he was dropped into the ocean surf, water enveloping him and giving him no chance to protest.

When Freddie popped up Sam was the only one still laughing at him, everyone else, already distracted with trying to get Garret, Brittany's fiancée, into the water.

Before she stopped laughing enough to actually look at Freddie he tackled at her in the water, pushing them both under. His eyes were shut tightly, but he could feel her hand pushing on arms and her feet kicking at his shins. He let go of her biceps where he'd grabbed to push her under and backed away quickly, popping up beside Gibby and Tasha.

"Hey Freddie!" Gibby grinned at him, one arm casually resting around Tasha's shoulders.

At that moment Sam broke the surface of the water, screaming, "You're going to pay for that Freddoritto!"
"Bye Freddie!" Gibby said chirpily upon hearing Sam's threat. Freddie only wasted a second glaring at him before diving back underwater.

His mother always warned him to never open his eyes underwater in the ocean and it didn't seem like it'd be a pleasant experience, so Freddie felt along blindly, trying to swim in the opposite direction of where Sam had been. When he got to where the water was calm and he was no longer brushing up against anyone's feet or swimming into people's legs Freddie felt it was safe to return to the surface.

Upon being exposed to the sunlight Freddie noticed that the sounds of his friends weren't all that distant. He turned a little to left and saw Jeff and Spencer carrying Garret into the water while he had a complete hissy fit, and everyone else either helping or laughing. Everyone, except for Sam; she wasn't with them. Panicked, Freddie twisted around, his back now to the shore. Sure enough, there was Sam, arms crossed over her chest, a sinister smirk plastered across her face.

Freddie didn't know how the hell she got there so fast or quietly. All he knew was that there was no point in running. She slowly stepped forward, the sun blazing behind her, highlighting her body; making it look as if she were glowing. Her hair was soaked, sticking to her skin like a thick sugar coating. The fear faded, but the ache in his chest turned into sort of a burn. When, just, her hands touched him and made it feel as if his skin were on fire; it hit him. The full realization settled in when he was shoved underwater and held there; her nails piercing his skin.

He was in love with Sam, even if she was trying to kill him.

Freddie opened his eyes to the bright glare of the sun, groaning and rolling over onto his stomach to shield himself from the rays.

Upon realizing he was in love with Sam, Freddie bolted out of the water and onto shore, quickly becoming part of the movement to get Garret into the water. Ever since then he'd been avoiding her, however possible. Starting up random conversations with Gibby, complimenting Carly excessively on her sunglasses or presuading Brittany to talk about the trials of working at the Groovy Smoothie. The whole time, though, a chant ran through on a constant loop in Freddie's head.

...

Nothing could distract Freddie from the words racing through his brain, so eventually, when things died down, he settled down on the towel for a snooze. Sleep had provided him relief with a sweet, dreamless hour or two but now the sun was setting and his body was forcing him awake. He'd be lucky if he even slept at all tonight; just another damage that Sam had caused to him this summer.

Freddie had always thought of himself as pretty smart. However, considering the fact that he had, not only, fallen for a girl who liked to torment him and make his life miserable, he had also taken a pathetically long time to realize that he loved said girl. And now, there was nothing he could do about it. She'd just told him their friendship was more important, and why would she ever feel the same way about him anyways? She'd always made it clear her feelings for Freddie ran in one direction and that was not love.

Freddie turned his head from resting on his left cheek to his right cheek, hoping to catch a glimpse of his friends. Instead he saw a sleeping Sam, stretched out like a cat in a sunny spot on a carpet. Her head was facing his, as was the rest of her body, almost as if she was curling towards him. Still, her face was what was closest to him and Freddie was caught off guard by the fascinating idea that he could kiss her and she might not ever find out.

Like a periscope Freddie raised his head slightly above her sleeping form and saw that all their other friends were occupied with building a fire. He could literally get away with kissing Sam and having no one but him know.

The idea captivated him. He moved closer, also using his time to gaze at her face and appreciate all the beautiful features he'd never really noticed before.

Her thick eyelashes, soft pink lips, the lightest splash of freckles across her cheeks, and then, suddenly… electric blue eyes.

Freddie tumbled back, letting out a small, and incredibly girly, squeal as he did so.

"You know," Sam started, sitting up and stretching her arms above her head, "Just because you played a vampire on iCarly doesn't mean watching me sleep isn't creepy."

"I was not watching you sleep!" Is the first thing that comes to Freddie's mind unfortunately, and his brain forced it out.

"Oh, really?" She asked knowingly, tilting her head to smile at him.

He was a bit distracted by that smile, so you can't blame him for just nodding like a moron at her question.

"SUPPER!" Spencer's shout reached them from across the sand and without further questioning; Sam was on her feet and dashing across the sand in record time. Freddie breathed a sigh of relief and followed.

Everyone was seated in the sand by the time Freddie arrived, leaving him stuck between Gibby and Garret. Luckily, right before he sat down, Spencer took notice and quickly scooted closer to Jeff, leaving room for Freddie beside Sam. All, including Freddie now, were cooking up hotdogs, and chatting. Except for Garret who, kind of, seemed to suck at life and was eating cucumbers and glaring at Jeff instead. The girl who was practically the life of the party, Brittany, sat laughing next to him, with Carly on her other side giggling away. Sam was intensely roasting a hot dog to the right of Carly, and then of course sat Freddie, Spencer, and Jeff. Next to Jeff, Gibby and Tasha were simutaneously kissing as well as cooking their hot dogs. Teenagers accomplish big things these days.

Somehow, Sam had already cooked her hot dog and got it into a bun. Freddie watched her as she started the walk from the picnic table holding their food, to her spot, hoping she wouldn't notice that he'd moved jut a tad closer to where she would be sitting. Gibby and Tasha had stopped kissing, and were now professing their love for each other. At the exact moment that Gibby threw out his arms to show Tasha just how big his affection for her was, Sam walked by and Gibby's hand collided with her hot dog, sending it up into the air, then down into the fire.

For a second, everything went quiet. All that could be heard was the crunching of cucumbers being eaten by an oblivious Garret, and Sam's heavy breathing, no one else even dared to take in oxygen.

"My. Hot. Dog," Sam growled, putting extra emphasis between each word. Instantly Gibby went paler and stood up on shaking legs.

"Please Sam! It was an accident!" He pleaded, started to slowly make his way around the inside of the circle while she followed him outside.

"You hit Mama's meat into the fire," she hissed, apparently not giving a chiz if it was an accident. That didn't surprise Freddie in the least. Everyone watched with interest now that her anger was focused on him, only. Minus Tasha, who was petrified.

"Please don't hurt his beautiful face!" Tasha begged, leaping up to get behind Sam.

"Oh it won't be beautiful after I'm done with it!" Was Sam's promise before she sprung at Gibby, in the same fashion a lion would chase down a gazelle.

"No!" Wailed Tasha, helplessly, as the hunt began. Quickly, Carly and Freddie were on their feet, leaving their hot dogs burning in the fire for the greater purpose of saving a Gibby.

"She's aiming for my beautiful face!" Gibby called out desperately, having hopped to the outside of the mostly dismantled circle to run as fast as possible. Fate was against him and Tasha, once again, screamed in horror as Gibby fell to the sand. In the background Freddie could hear Brittany, Jeff and Spencer all laughing at the situation which really didn't seem amusing to him.

Sam now straddled Gibby's back, a position that ticked Freddie off a little, even if it was just Gibby. Oh llamas, he was so whipped.

"Get Sam!" Carly called to him. He went for a place that his hands seemed to fit perfectly, feeling pleased when it was almost easy to pull her off by her hips.

"Let go of me you loser!" Sam stomped repeatedly on his foot, Freddie just drew her closer, forcing her body against his and wrapping his arms fully around her waist. Was he completely taking advantage of the situation? Yes, probably, but he might not have many more chances like this, and besides, it had slowed her foot stomping.

Not stopped though, as proven by Sam's heel that again pounded into Freddie's bare foot. As her foot made, possibly bone breaking contact it occured to him that he was in love with a girl who practically just killed someone over a hot dog. A someone who was now being comforted by his girlfriend and checked for bruises by Carly.

It was weird though, kind of crazy even, but that just made him fall harder. She was totally outrageous, and he loved that about her. Yes, he stepped in to save Gibby, only because he didn't want to see his beautiful face get ruined, plus it'd led to this position so he wasn't complaining. Freddie wasn't embarassed by her behavior though, as he might have been in the past.

No, what he had to worry about was her. Besides the painful injuries she could give up if she ever found out, something bigger was at stake; their relationship. One slip up from him and the preciously piled stack of jenga blocks, that was their relationship, would all come crashing down. Then, he wouldn't have her at all. That scared him more than anything. Even more than his actual feelings for her. The thought that he might never get a funny text from Sam, or a punch, or a smile, or hear her laugh and mock him. Not only would it be weird, it'd be a sad and miserable existance too.

He, then, acknowledged that, at the moment, he did have her, tightly wound in his arms. She'd given up curb stomping his feet and now just laid against him, bored but calm looking.

"Look I'll cook you another hot dog," he bargained.

"Kay."

"So that means if I let you go you won't maul Gibby," he added sternly.

"Fine."

He, then, let her go, ignoring the cold feeling in his arms, accepting the hot dogs she handed him and crouching closely to the fire. He had hoped the fire would warm the icy spot she'd left with him, but in the warm summer air he still shivered.

The moon's reflection on the water caught his eye. She was like that. Beautiful, and seemingly so easy to catch and hold. In reality, Freddie knew that if he tried to get the moon resting on the water's surface all he'd end up was a lack of oxygen and a cold emptyness in his arms.

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