A/N: I'm back! I know you probably didn't miss me, but I thought I'd post this anyway ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner.

Chapter 8: The Rise And The Fall

I had met Freddie the same year I had met Carly. One day, Carly and I went to the local park. It was so green and full of life. It was absolutely beautiful. Although, I really didn't want to go that day, Carly convinced me to with her groveling voice.

We'd been there for about an hour when Carly had decided to go to the bathroom. A moment later, a short-brunette kid walked up to me, "Are you friends with Carly?"

He looked a little shorter than me, but he reminded me of Carly, his face eager and perky. I gave him a questioning look, "Who's askin'?" He responded with, "I'm Fredward, but I liked to be called Freddie." I laughed lightly at the name and he gave a stern look, going on to tell me he lived across from Carly. I wondered why I hadn't seen him around, after all I had known Carly for a month.

"And you are?" He curiously asked, his right eyebrow rose a bit.

"Samantha, but I like to be called Sam," To my surprise he didn't laugh, but he smiled. I told him I was Carly's best friend. Freddie and Sam sat awkwardly for a moment.

Then, Freddie said, "You want to see something?" I nodded and followed him. He led me to a large, wooden gazebo. I gave him a questioning look.

"My dad built it," He explained. I saw that there was an engraving on the side.

"LOVE WHAT YOU HAVE BEFORE IT'S GONE"

It was so beautiful. Just then, Carly saw us, looking frantic, "Sam! Where have you-oh, hey, Freddie." She swallowed, "Have you met Sam?"

"Yeah," After that, Carly told me we had to go. She started to walk away. Freddie waved goodbye to us, and turned around.

I gave a quick, "Bye, Benson." He grinned and replied with, "Later, Puckett."

That was one nice moment we had. Then, he started to show his feelings for Carly, and I turned invisible. I started being mean to him and he did the same.

"The park? How'd you get that to work?" I asked the brunette who was slightly grinning at her accomplishment. I had seen her this proud of herself before, but not for a good reason. The park was shut down for years because they were going to put up a new office building in its place. They had never gone through with it. Unfortunately, the wooden gazebo was scheduled to be removed from the property. It could have been anywhere by then.

"Mrs. Benson is paying for it," Freddie looked stunned. That was understandable because she wasn't exactly a big fan of me. His head tilted a bit, his mouth hung open, and his face silently asked for an explanation, "she told them she'd pay extra because she wants her son and future daughter-in-law to have the 'best wedding ever'." Now I was shocked. She got the park and Mrs. Benson is okay with paying? She wants me to have a good wedding? Okay, I was shocked about her being okay with us engaged, but this?

"She's really jumped on the bandwagon, hasn't she?" Freddie said, finally able to contain his astonishment.

"I guess so," After that, Freddie's phone beeped. He grabbed it out of his right pocket and looked at the screen.

"Speaking of my mom," Freddie started, "I guess we're going shopping for my tux." He hugged me gently, as if I could break at any second. Sometimes, it seemed as if he thought he'd hurt me if he did something slightly wrong. Maybe I was overanalyzing it, but he was in the same boat I was. We were both scared and uncertain.

Realizing this, I hugged him a little tighter, and murmured into his shoulder, "Tell her thank you."

He pulled back as his pupils widened showing less and less of the brown in his eyes. Then, he nodded and left, he knew what she meant, but was too taken aback to say another word.

Carly had finally come out and said, "Today is 'All About The Bride Day'." Okay, one of two things could happen. Either I would love what she has in mind or I would want to rip her head off by the end of the day.

She stepped out of the room and came back only minutes later with a black bag. She pulled out something that made me smile.

"Carly, how-?" I could not have been more thankful at that moment. That is how I wanted to picture my wedding. I didn't want to look like this.

The object was blonde and Carly grinned wide as she studied my expression.

It was a blonde wig.

"I had an exact replica of your hair style put on a wig," I gestured for further elaboration, "I sent them the last couple of iCarlys we did."

That was the other thing I had completely forgotten about. We hadn't done iCarly since we found out about my condition. What were we going to tell the fans? Did they hate us?

"Sam?" I raised my eyebrows as I turned my attention towards my best friend, "You alright?"

Then, realization washed over me, "Wait, why are you giving me that today?" She smiled widely. I'm pretty sure all of her teeth were visible, and I wondered if her mouth hurt from doing so much smiling all the time.

She took two steps to the right, and breathed deeply, "I do believe you're in need of a white dress."

The hospital only allowed us two hours out of there, angering me, but Carly said we'd just have to hurry. She was better at handling this than I was.

We'd gone through five dresses in a half an hour, all of them hideous. Carly and I looked through the racks, "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner started playing softly in the bridal store. I started dancing slightly, and Carly looked at me weird. I just laughed and continued searching.

Within the first hour, we'd found eleven dresses, but none of them were what I wanted.

Then, I tried on one that I was completely prepared to hate, but I loved it.

It was a white dress with the lightest blue tint. It was strapless and ball gown style. I put on the wig with it and a slightly tinted veil of the same color. I walked out, a bouquet of dark red roses in my hands, and Carly's hand covered her face.

"This is the one." Carly hugged me. She was as happy as I was that all of the elements of the wedding were finally coming together.

March 1st,

Although my life seems to be running away from me, I have never been happier. My only problem is iCarly. How will I tell the fans? The truth is, if I die, I just don't want to say that we'll be back soon if I'm dying. I guess I'll just have to come out and say it; they do deserve to know.

Sam

Freddie had come into my room. He told me the tortures of shopping with his mother. Afterwards, I said, "Can you do something for me?"

"Anything." He smiled. I grinned at the thought of him doing that for me, but it faded as quickly as it came when I realized what I was about to do...

"Are you sure about this?" Freddie said, positioning the camera on me. I was sitting upright in my hospital bed.

"Yup, go ahead." I said, I felt as if there was a rock in my throat as I found it hard to swallow.

"In 5,4,3,2-" He pointed and I began.

"Hey, everyone," I took a moment, "it's me, Sam. I have an explanation for not having done iCarly for the past few months. I've been diagnosed with Leukemia. I don't want anybody to be alarmed, but I want you all to know that this may be the last time you ever see me on iCarly dot com. We all know what the outcomes could be. Whatever happens, I want you to know, that you guys are amazing for being so supportive. Thank you, and another announcement, Freddie and I have been in a relationship and we've decided that we want to be with each other as long as we can. So, we're engaged. I just thought you should know that, but really, thank you. Goodbye, iCarly fans. Let's hope this will not be the last time you ever hear me say that." I smiled and Freddie turned the camera off. He walked up to me as he saw me tearing up. He held me as I started to cry into his shoulder, "I got you, Sammy."

A/N: Anybody catch the Dawson's creek reference? The whole last paragraph was kind of referencing to Jen's speech in the series finale. Anyway, I really love this chapter, it's just building up to the main event of the wedding. This chapter is a big deal, you'll find out later why... ;)