Schneider Air Force Base, Milan, Italy

Carly Shay was bored. She'd been in school for a week, and she'd made friends, but none were close enough that she wanted to hang out with them after school. Worse, many of the people at school seemed to be intimidated by her, or more specifically by her father. To Carly, he might be dad, but to everyone else around here, he was "The Colonel", Steven Shay, Base Operations Commander for the 141st Air Wing. Reporting directly to the base's commanding general, Colonel Shay wielded a lot of power around here, and with great power came great responsibility. Carly had come to Italy expecting to spend time with her dad, but the fact is that she barely saw him. He was so busy that he hadn't come home from the office before 9PM since she'd gotten here. She saw him before school in the morning and before bed at night. This was a sharp contrast to Spencer, who was always around the house.

Sam had taken to calling Carly when she first got up in the morning. Since there was a 9 hour time difference between Milan and Seattle, that worked out well. Sam's voice was, indeed, the last thing Carly heard before going to bed. While she wasn't thrilled that she had to keep those calls secret from her dad, at least they kept her sane. She didn't feel right keeping her concerns secret from Sam, either. She should be able to tell her girlfriend (that term was becoming strangely comfortable to her) anything, but she was still worried about Sam's reaction. Sam and her dad had always gotten along and she didn't want to ruin that.

Now it was 7PM, and Sam was surely asleep at the moment. Carly knew her blonde partner slept like a rock, and she certainly didn't want to wake her unnecessarily. She really wanted someone to talk to, though. As though through sheer force of will caused it to manifest, her cell phone rang at that exact moment. She looked at the caller ID – Freddie Benson. Oh my God, she'd been so distracted thinking of Sam, she'd completely neglected her other best friend since she'd left. Come to think of it, she hadn't even called her brother, just texted him. Jeez, she was obsessed.

"Hey Freddie," she answered, as if she was right across the hall, not halfway across the world.

"So," Freddie started, with all of the awkwardness that a nerdy teenaged boy can muster. "How's Italy?"

"It's nice, I guess," she shrugged. "Besides school, I really haven't gotten out that much."

The former tech producer of iCarly had something he wanted to talk to her about, but that comment surprised him enough to hijack his train of thought. "Oh? I would have thought your dad was showing you all the sights."

"Yeah, my dad," Carly snorted, and Freddie could see the look on her face from Seattle, "he works a lot. He's got a lot of men under him, so he has to work long hours. He promised this weekend, though. He said we'd go shopping in the fashion district and he'd buy me whatever I wanted."

"That should cheer you up," he offered.

"Yeah, I hope so," she said in a somewhat dreamy voice. Then her voice sobered, "Who am I kidding, Freddie? I'm miserable. This place is so bland. It's all drab and gray and everyone's so strict and regimented. It's like a military base around here."

"It is a military base, Carly," Freddie reminded her.

"Shut up, Freddie!" she commanded. "School is so boring. All the teachers speak in monotone, and they all sound the same. I miss Principal Franklin. Heck, I'd settle for Briggs or Howard just to have someone different."

"They're different, all right," Freddie mumbled.

Carly ignored him. "The kids, they're all afraid of me because my dad's a high ranking officer. The ones that do talk to me, well, I think they only like me because I'm famous for iCarly. I miss you and Gibby, and Wendy. I miss rainy Seattle, and my gummy bear chandelier. I miss Spencer and his wild sculptures and random fires." She sounded like she was about to cry, and it broke Freddie's heart. "But mostly, I miss…"

"Your girlfriend," Freddie cut her off.

"What? How did you…" Carly stammered.

"Sam told me. Kind of to rub it in, I think, but mostly because she misses you as much as you miss her."

Carly was still stammering. "Freddie, I… I didn't mean to lead you on with that kiss. I wanted you to have something to remember me by, and maybe to convince myself that I could have feelings for you when I get back."

"But you don't?" he asked gently.

"Not more than just friendship, I'm afraid," she answered, honestly. "Then in the elevator, Sam was so close and it just seemed so right."

This time Freddie was a little more blunt. "How do you know it wasn't just the emotion of the moment? How do you know you really love her?"

"I can't explain it, Freddie. I just know that she's the one. I know that sounds stupid and silly. I haven't even kissed her yet, and it means more than any kiss I've ever had with the boys I've dated." She paused a second, "I'm sorry Freddie, but that includes you."

Freddie chuckled, "Sam basically told me the same thing when I walked home with her the other day. I'd be offended if it wasn't so obvious that you two belong together. I'll tell you what I told her. You're both my friends, and I love both of you. If you ever hurt her, I'll have to come to Italy myself and kick your ass."

Carly was aghast, "You said that to Sam and she let you live?"

"She went easy on me since I was defending your honor," he explained. "It only took me an hour to get the wedgie out."

Carly giggled with the visual. She was enjoying talking to Freddie. She hadn't realized how much she missed him, too, until now. They continued bantering about pointless subjects, much as they would have over smoothies at T-Bo's until Freddie brought up a sore subject.

"So what'd your dad say when you told him?"

"I haven't told him yet," Carly mumbled.

"Huh?"

"I haven't told him yet," she repeated more loudly, "and you can't tell Spencer, either!"

"What's the matter?" Freddie asked, concerned.

"You know it's been a long time since I lived with my dad?" She paused, and she could practically hear Freddie nodding. "There were some subjects that we never talked about when I was little."

Picking up on her train of thought, Freddie completed the thought, "So you don't know how he feels about gays and lesbians?"

"I wish I didn't," she replied.

"Uh-oh," Freddie responded. "I don't like the sound of that. Did you tell him?"

"Heck no," she answered. "The first day we were here, we ran into a lesbian couple on base. Let's just say my dad didn't have anything nice to say about the situation. He seemed pretty disgusted by it."

"Oh, man, Carly, what are you going to do?" Freddie asked.

She sighed heavily. "Dang if I know."