THE AFTERMATH OF iCARLY

Sam: the damsel not in distress

They were not lost. At least that's what she kept saying to herself. Brad had just forgotten where they were actually meant to be driving. This was surprising considering that the boy had been trained as a boy-scout - and boy-scouts were always prepared. Especially when they were with a girl whom they liked. Sam happened to be that girl whom he liked. Poor guy.

The fact of the matter was, she was secretly hoping for Fredward Benson to come and rescue her from the wedding. Not that it was HER own wedding. God forbid!

Oh chiz, she thought.

Freddie had proposed to her only yesterday... and she thought it over. The idea itself seemed kind of okay. But as she kept rethinking over and over again, it was absolutely positively unbelievably ludicrous. Yeah, she'd been saving that word for this occasion.

It's just a fancy word that means 'very crazy sounding'. Because it was totally inevitable that Benson would one day propose to her. Ha, yeah right.

So it was ludicrous.

Don't say that I don't teach you things in these fanfiction stories. Not that you do say that... oh whatever.

"I think I should call my sister," says Brad.

"Good call." Sam replies, picking her teeth with her fingernails. A gross habit she hasn't grown out of yet.

Brad dialled a number, pressed the phone to his ear awaiting a response. Sam watches him, also waiting kind of patiently. The two of them sit there in silence. Sam hated waiting in complete silence. And when he pushed the hang up button, she sighs.

"No answer. Maybe she switched her phone off."

"Great."

"I could try my dad..."

"Or you could just take me home, and forget about this whole shemozzle."

"Shemozzle?"

"It means... oh never mind."

"So is that what you want?"

Is that what I want, she asks herself this time. Sam had never been so unsure in her life - aside from wanting to not marry Freddie... aside from not wanting to date him... to fall in love... to... Okay! So there were many moments she'd been unsure. That is not the point here.

Brad stares, waiting for an answer. Sam starts to say something, but changes her mind and shakes her head 'no'. He smiles softly, and her heart skips a beat. Oh that smile!

"Try your dad," she finally suggests.

"Good call." Brad replies, in a similar fashion that she had done a few minutes ago.

While Brad talks to his father, finding out where in the world this wedding ceremony was being held, Sam occupies herself with a box of... you guessed it, fudge. He had done it again and brought her some delicious home-made sweets. There was nothing better.

Well maybe a few things. Bacon. Fredward. An email from Carly. Wait. Did she just put Freddie Benson in that category?

"Okay. It's not far from here, which is good news. All we have to do is follow the tree lined road."

"Brilliant. I like your fudge. It's just so... perfect."

"Most people like perfect fudge."

"I know, right?"

They continued the random conversation about people liking fudge and people who were crazy enough to not like it, whilst admiring trees as they drove through the small forest.

Sam took note of all the trees that they passed and wondered if any wolves were lurking anywhere near by. The girl always had had a strong imagination. Plus, those vampire and werewolf movies that Carly had dragged her to, even though they were complete torture, had some merit to them. The actors who played the characters for one who were super hot - particularly the werewolf dude.

Hence the side thought about forest wolves.

"We're here!" Sam announces, not really knowing why she felt the need to say it out loud.

"Thanks for pointing it out," says Brad, enthusiastically.

They hop out of Brad's car, Sam stretches automatically. You know like when you go on long car trips and you get out and just feel the need to stretch the stiffness from your arms, legs and back? Yeah, that's what happened to Sam right now.

Plus, high-heels weren't exactly her thing. And neither were pretty dresses - or make-up. Or anything that she was wearing, to be honest. Needless to say, she felt kind of uncomfortable. Brad was none the wiser and offered her his arm, like a complete gentleman. She took it and a thought flashed in the forefront of her mind.

Freddie.

Nothing in particular - just Freddie, in general.

"You okay, Sam?"

"Yeah. Fine."

Brad and Sam walk over to the front of the chapel. It's decorated with beautiful pink flowers and matching ribbons. He escorts her to a seat in the front pew next to his mother and grandmother. After brief introductions, he leaves her to go and find his sister, the bride.

"You are a pretty young thing," says the old lady. "My grandson is a lucky man."

"Oh." was all that Sam could manage to say. "Excuse me, I think I need some air."

The girl got up and walked, kind of quickly over to a side-entrance, dodging some kids that were all dressed up for the special occasion. As soon as she reached a nearby tree, she leant against it and took some deep breaths. It wasn't a huge deal, really.

She was doing him a favour.

From one friend to another. That's what friends are for, arent' they? Friends help each other out all the time. But "friends" don't go around kissing each other for the heck of it. Friends also don't ask if you want to get married. Friends are just that. Friends. It will stay that way, if she could help it.

As she got her thoughts in order, she nodded to reiterate that she was okay again, and went to find her seat. Not before bumping into Gibby.

Gibby! What the?

"Hello Sam. Nice dress."

"Gibby? Uhmm, what are you doing here?"

"I'm actually on a mission."

She didn't have time for his dumb pranks. She had a wedding date to attend, and he was holding her up for no good reason. It was making her a little irritated. The moment she tried to move one way, he moved in front of her the same way. He was doing it on purpose, she knew it.

Sam wasn't stupid. At least she didn't think she was.

"Look, I have to get back. Brad is-"

"A good guy. But he's not for you."

"Huh?"

Where on earth did THAT come from? Sam eyed him suspiciously, and folded her arms, waiting for some other explanation. It wasn't coming. Gibby had this habit of saying something but then not following it with an actual explanation as to why it was like it was.

There was silence.

Except that of arriving guests and organ music - it was the wedding song - the one they play for the bride as she walks down the aisle.

"There's someone here that needs to speak to you." Gibby finally says.

"Can it wait?"

Gibby shakes his head and quickly grabs her arm, leading her right away from the church. Sam attempts to bite his fingers, but he keeps walking and holding onto her, tightly. She hated being treated like a child. Gibby was being annoying.

But since when was Gibby NOT annoying?

"Can it wait?" Sam repeats, as she's being dragged along. "I'm kind of supposed to be inside the chapel."

"Nope."

"What's going on?"

"You'll see soon enough."

Sam groans and rolls her eyes. Always with the mysterious behaviour, she thought. And Gibby was kind of famous for it. His way with keeping secrets was actually kind of scary. He was scarily good at keeping secrets - especially not his own secrets. Exhibit A - Sam's feelings for Freddie. Exhibit B - Freddie's feelings for her.

Oh come on, she wasn't dumb.

She knew Freddie liked her as much as she liked him. Denial was the only annoying thing that got in the way of their "blossoming" ... whatever it was meant to be. Now Gibby's behaviour, strange as usual, just made her angry. Then they stopped walking suddenly.

Gibby looked around and made a weird bird noise - well Sam hoped that's what it was meant to be. She saw Freddie walking towards them. Freddie? Oh no! Why? Sam gave Gibby a death glare. If only looks could kill.

"Gibby, I told you the bird noise wasn't necessary," says Freddie.

"Oh dude," he replies, placing one hand on his friend's shoulder. "You and I both know that it was TOTALLY necessary." And with that, he left them to it.

"Well that was weird, I almost thought-"

"What the hell are you doing here, Benson?"

She wasn't in the mood for chit-chat. She was never in the mood for chit-chat, coming to think of it. She just wanted the factual information and then get back to what she came here for - to help Brad with his wedding date problem. At the moment, she wasn't doing a good job. Seeing as she wasn't even in there! The girl folded her arms, impatiently.

"I just thought-"

"No, you didn't."

"Okay, I didn't think. But Gibby thought-"

"Listen, Fredward. I have something important to do. So you either tell me what's going on here, or I leave right now."

The silence came over both of them. A gentle breeze rustled the trees around them. If they weren't having a little spat right now, it'd actually be a peaceful place. That aside, she could feel the awkwardness as Freddie's face went from normal coloured - normal for him, anyway - to a kind of normal tomato colour.

"We uhmm... we need to talk," he finally says.

"Oh."

There they were. Standing in front of one another, with those forbidden words just spoken out of Fredward's mouth. No one liked hearing those precise words. No one. Least of all, Sam.

Yes, you could literally feel the awkward.