THE AFTERMATH OF iCARLY

Freddie: the boy who becomes an official hero of this story

That was weird, he thought. But kind of awesome, all wrapped into one tight little ball.

He was making his way home and events of last night swam through his brain. He couldn't really explain it, even if he tried. Like if some random came up to him right that very second and held a gun to his temple and asked what had happened between him and Sam... well, I'm sure you can fill in that blank.

Speaking of randoms.

"Hey! Gibby!" Freddie yells, giving the boy a fright.

"Dude! Not cool!" Gibby yells back. "Whoa, talk about one eighty degrees. What happened?"

If your mathematical, like Freddie is, you'd get what Gibby just said. And I just gave you a hint. You're welcome.

"I..." he couldn't finish the sentence.

The phrase 'he was completely and utterly dumbfounded' would apply perfectly here. Freddie and Gibby stared at one another awkwardly in silence until one of them broke it.

"Sam's got a date with Brad."

"I know, Gibby."

"Aren't you like 'in love with her' or something?"

"Yes, Gibby."

"So, what are you doing here?"

Freddie opened his mouth, and closed it again, not knowing what to say. Yet again, "dumb-founded". The kid had a point. What was he doing here, when he could be spying on her at Brad's sister's wedding. There was only one little problem.

"I don't know where the wedding is."

"Leave it to me."

Gibby quickly gave him a thumbs up and ran around a corner. Next thing Freddie saw, shocked him- if he wasn't already shocked enough. It was a red shiny car. Red was a fast colour, he thought. You can hear the slow applause now, of pointing this out.

"Gibby-"

"Hop in, I'll explain on the way. Oh and by the way... you may call me "Super Gibby". Cause I'm officially the hero." Keep thinking that, Gib.

"Not yet," replies Freddie, jumping in the front passenger seat. "We have to get there first."

"Geez. Who invited Negative Nancy to this party. C'mon, bro. We're gonna go get Sam!"

"Yay," says the boy, half-heartedly.

"Close enough."

And so (you need to imagine this said in a loud announcer guy voice that they have in movies sometimes) And so, Super Gibby and Freddie were off in their fast red car to go an save the precious Princess Puckett from the evil... or, not so evil fudge-making dude. Who is overlord of all the fudge kingdom. Will they make it in time? Or will they be too late? Muahahahaha ha ha ha ha (starts choking and coughing and spluttering) Sorry about that folks. On with the story.

Freddie sat there, whilst Gibby drove him what seemed like miles out of town. Maybe this was going to be a "secret" wedding, he thought.

The other boy beside him chatted happily about how he borrowed the car from some guy he met on the street and promised to give it back. Sounded like a dodgy deal, but okay. In the name of Seddie, it was highly recommended. (Not that I condone "borrowing cars from strangers", kids)

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here," says Gibby. "Did something happen with you and Sam last night?"

He couldn't just lie to the guy. Even though that sentence just rhymed. However, the things between him and Sam were kind of personal. And Gibby had a tendency to... what was that icky word that high-schoolers love to hate? Oh yeah, GOSSIP. He was the biggest gossiper in all of Seattle. That may have been taking it to the extreme - but then again, it was Gibby. And Gibby was... I don't know, Gibby? What IS a Gibby anyway?

"Not a lot," he lied.

"And by THAT you mean..." Freddie knew that his friend was fishing for a good response.

"Nothing."

There was a lull of silence. Freddie could almost hear the ticking going on inside Gibby's mind. It was ticking over, and over and over... tick, tick, tick, tick...

DING!

"You guys did it!"

What! Where! What! When! How! Whaaaaat? Just... whaaaaaaat!

Why would THAT be the first thing that springs into his thoughts? It was creepy that he'd come to THAT conclusion. The boy folded his arms and glared at Gibby, who laughed it off like he was joking. Until he gasped, loudly. He almost choked. That would have been... disastrous, thought Freddie.

"You guys kissed... again!" Not that it was earth-shattering, or anything. So Freddie didn't really know why he gasped at all.

I proposed, he almost blurted. But that was a bad idea. Telling Gibby meant the whole world - including Carly, who was living with pizza and spaghetti, would find out almost instantly. He couldn't let that happen. He let the Gibby suffer in his silence, and the sound of the car, whirring along.

Surely they'd be at the - well wherever this wedding was at. Church? Garden? Uhmm... a tree house? Freddie crossed the last one off immediately.

Gibby kept driving. Freddie leaned his head against the window and wondered what Sam was doing right now. Yes, that's right, his thoughts were all consumed by one particular blonde-headed demon. Much to his dismay, he didn't hate thinking about her almost constantly. He was completely in love.

"You are completely in love," says Gibby, finally.

"Stop doing that!" Freddie replies. "It's creepy!"

"Doing what?" Obviously oblivious to his "creepiness".

"Reading my mind." Pointing it out, slowly. Perhaps Gibby will get it.

"Huh?" Or not.

There were trees passing them or rather, the car passed the trees, since trees certainly do not move. Unless you've had a little bit of what the Italians call "el vino", then they do. Fortunately for both of them, Freddie nor Gibby had been drinking any form of alcohol. El vino, or otherwise. This would be a completely different story, and quite possibly rated higher than it currently is if the trees were moving.

They must be somewhere in the country, thought Freddie. Classy. Perhaps it's a garden wedding, after all.

The rest of the drive was in complete silence. Gibby was afraid of upsetting Freddie. Freddie just didn't want to blurt out anything for fear of saying something he wasn't meant to. You know like asking Sam to marry him and all that drama. That's what it was right now, drama, drama, drama.

"I think this is the place," assumes the guy who's driving.

"You think?" Freddie says. "You mean you don't KNOW where it is?"

That was a typical Gibby move. Do something and not think about consequences. Actually, he thought, it was more like a Sam-ish thing. But right now, it wasn't cute. He could have spit angrily. But he'd save that for later. Maybe. Luckily for Gibby, a group of people, looking like a wedding party was walking to where the "ceremony" would be held. It hadn't even started yet. He couldn't see Sam... or Brad. Maybe they were running late. What was he doing here? He had no idea. Really.

Since he figured that the bride resembled a female version of Brad, he assumed that this was the correct place, and that Brad and Sam would be here soon.

"Where do you think they are?" Gibby asks, out loud.

"How should I know?" Freddie fires back, feeling pissed off by now. "Am I psychic?"

"Freddie, Freddie, Freddie." He's shaking his head and Freddie resists the violent approach, with everything he's got. "You know that psychics foretell your future. I think the word you're looking for is..."

Gibby's voice trails off as he notices the shades of red that Freddie's face is now turning. Not embarrassed, but sheer anger and irritation. He knew that face, and decided to just shut up. A smart move, I must say, Gibby Gibson. Well done. Crisis, averted. All in a day's work for a hero.

Freddie slumps in the seat of the car that Gibby had "temporarily borrowed and was gonna return" and sighs uber dramatically. The other boy copies him.

There was really only one thing that was circling Freddie's brain at the moment, and that was the fact that Sam and Brad could be somewhere, private, waiting for the wedding ceremony to be over so they could just attend the reception afterwards. But what were they doing by themselves? He dreaded to think about it. Typical Samantha Puckett, he thought. Ignore the important stuff and move straight onto the fun stuff - which of course included food. A whole variety of food.

He hoped that Brad kept all parts of himself to HIMSELF. Or he may just have to resort to punching him in the throat. Which, by his own experience, is not a pleasant thing.

Part of him held onto the fact that the fudge dude was actually a good guy. He had just kissed Sam. Once. To his knowledge, anyway. Sam had kissed him, herself, after he had quickly pecked her lips. That's all he saw, anyway. Nothing to really stress over, right? Besides, he thought. The girl is somewhat in love with him, whether she believes it herself or not is another matter entirely, however it should count for something at least.

Freddie would have to just sit here, partially listening to a crazy person who was now telling him the importance of liquid soap versus bar soap, and... just wait it out. It was kind of painful, actually.

What if she never shows up? What if she's decided that Brad's better than what he is? What if she doesn't love him as much as he originally thought?

"Hey, do you think Brad and Sam will kiss?"

"They..." he stops himself and then continues. "You know what, Gib. I don't think that's an appropriate question."

"I thought it was very appropriate considering the situation you are in. Shutting up now."

Gibby closed his mouth as Freddie glared at him the whole time. They were sitting in silence, and hoping that soon, Sam and Brad would soon show up.