THE AFTERMATH OF iCARLY

Sam: no sugar, no spice but everything is nice

The wedding ceremony was over. Finally.

It was okay, thought Sam. She hadn't exactly attended many weddings. Only one, and that was a little while ago - and she was wearing a hideous looking dress too. But that was for iCarly, and in particular an iCarly fan. It was a laugh if anything.

"Sam, you wanna dance?" Brad asks.

"Not really. Do you?" Sam replies.

"Nah. Thought I'd be polite and ask."

It was like they were just friends again. He was being polite and asking her to dance. She was politely refusing. She wanted to be with him right now and only him. As friends usually are. But her thoughts were constantly on Freddie and she didn't want them to be.

But it is what it is.

"Can we go somewhere that's not here?"

It wasn't just her mere request to him. To be polite or whatever.

More like a plea for gathering her sanity. Brad grins and nods at her, accepting the invite to escape more of the wedding chiz. Sam follows him outside, and they head down to the lake nearby the wedding reception place. It's a fancy looking hall thing, that's been all dressed up with the similar pink flowers and ribbons just like the chapel had been.

They both sat down and looked at the glassy water before them. It looked peaceful, and calm. Just like the still night, around them.

"Thanks for being my date today," says Brad.

"It's been fun."

"I know it hasn't. You don't like this sort of thing. You don't have to lie to me."

Sam was taken aback.

"Okay. So it hasn't been 'fun'. But-"

"No it hasn't."

"But you've made it a bit more bearable."

She looked at her hands placed nicely in her lap, and wished she'd nabbed a plate of chicken before coming out here. What? She was hungry! They'd already drunk some champagne along with eating some snacks along the way. They were fancy-looking. And tasted pretty good too. But the chicken looked extra tasty.

Along with some other things... that weren't food-related, if you catch my drift.

Sam tries to keep herself from blushing at the thought. She silently kicks herself for even thinking thoughts so dirty, especially when it didn't involve Freddie. Her thoughts are interrupted. Brad gently nudges his shoulder with hers. She laughs softly and nudges him back. They share a bit of a moment. It's a nice shared moment of something.

"Brad," says Sam, finally bringing the incident up. "You know how we kissed?"

"How could I forget?" Brad replies and she notices his beaming smile. She can't hold back her own grin. "It was phenomenal."

"Yeah."

I wouldn't go THAT far, she thought. Sam didn't really think that it was all that spectacular, to be honest. It was nice. Kissing him was very nice. She'd do it again... and again... and again. And it would still remain "nice". But there were implications. Such as... Freddie. Their "hypothetical engagement". And their love for each other. There would always BE those implications.

There didn't have to be. But they would still be there, no matter how you looked at it. She wanted to kiss him again to prove nothing else mattered (sounding awfully familiar). Badly.

"What about it?"

"Oh, nothing. I just was reminiscing." Haha, oh Sam. Who ARE you trying to impress here?

"Reminiscing? Fancy word."

"I know, right?"

There was silence. But it wasn't really awkward or anything. They just sat together, shoulder to shoulder, enjoying each other's company. It was a NICE silence. Everything about Brad or anything she did with Brad just screamed "nice". Nice, nice, nice, nice.

It could never be like this with Freddie, she thought.

All things NICE. But nice was boring. Nice wasn't phenomenal. Or spectacular. Nice was not the adjective to describe Freddie and Sam's relationship. Far from it. She didn't really know why that was. But something about the two of them didn't say "we like sitting together just because we're sitting together", you know? Sam knew that they were different. Their relationship was destined to be complicated.

Then there was Brad, the fudge-making legend with a nice smile and somewhat good-looking body. Body? Control yourself, girl!

"This is nice," says Sam. Again with the "nice" thing.

"Very nice." Brad agrees. Gaahhhh!

There's a moment where Brad looks at Sam. Sam looks at Brad. They share a bit of a smile and then look back at the lake.

"I could go for a swim," says the boy, stretching his arms out to the lake.

"Then let's go." Sam says, with a laugh and standing up.

"You're crazy!"

"Yes! And you brought it up! Come on! Or are you a chicken?"

They take off every item of clothing, aside from their underwear and grab each other's hands to race down to the edge of the lake.

It's freezing cold in there. Brad laughs and Sam splashes him, playfully. They are pretty crazy, really. Their laughter echoes around the lake, and they splash each other with the ice-cold water. It's not long before Sam is attempting to dunk Brad under the water.

Until they get tired, and stop splashing. The two of them come closer together, staying afloat as much as possible.

"Now this is fun," admits Sam.

"See? I can be fun." Brad says, chuckling.

"I can see that."

Sam and Brad swim around, so they can keep warm. Not that it's too cold now, since they were mucking around before. The cold had mysteriously vanished.

"Let's race." Sam announces.

"To where? It's a lake, Sam."

"To the other side?"

"You're on. What's my prize for winning?"

"If YOU win..."

"When!"

"IF! If you win... Well what do you want?"

"A kiss."

Sam's heart skipped a beat. But regained composure.

"When I win, you have to buy me a yearly subscription of 'bacons of the world club'."

"No fair. I call a reinstatement of my prize."

"Go then."

"You have to wash my car for a year." Evil thing, you. Sam shook her head wildly.

"What! No way!"

"Scared you'll lose?"

He had a point there. She wasn't scared of losing. Sam was a person that never backed down from a race, a dare or anything really that required her to win a prize. And more often than not, she did win first place. This was going to be no exception.

Poor unsuspecting (nice) Brad.

"Are we going to race, or what?" Sam asks, getting ready to swim for her life.

"Ready, steady... go!" Brad announces.

They were off to a great start, both of them. Except Sam could feel her arms growing tired with every stroke she took. The boy beside her was skimming through the glassy water of the lake with ease. She cringed and pushed the thought of her washing Brad's car far away from her mind. But it didn't go away so easily.

If she were racing Freddie, she'd win hands down. She didn't know that Brad was such a great swimmer. She'd been "hustled", big time.

Brad seemed to slow down before reaching the end and looks back at her. Sam catches up to him finally. For all intents and purposes the race is pretty much over for the both of them. No bacon. No clean car. But that didn't change the fact that she wanted to kiss him again.

Right here. Right now.

"You don't want your bacon subscription?" Brad asks her.

"And you don't want your car washed." Sam says, with a little smile. "Nobody wins." And yet, everybody wins also.

The calm water surrounds them, as the silence settles between the both of them as they listen to the sounds of distant wedding dance music and people talking. They must have been the more sociable people that hadn't given up and left.

Sam wanted to leave. So did Brad.

That's exactly what they did. And here they were, standing close to one another, soaking wet from their lake escapade. It wasn't ending anytime soon. Unless she would do something kind of stupid... like suggest they kiss each other again, or something.

"I think I want to..." she stopped herself in time.

"Want to... what?" Brad asks, not missing a beat.

In the end, it was easier to tell him. She took the easy road. Sam wasn't one to over-complicate things. Apart from her "complicated" relationship with Fredward Benson. Which was undeniably crazy. But that's only because they were in constant denial. And they liked annoying the people around them. Especially Carly. Not that it was done on purpose or anything.

Maybe.

Sam looked at the boy standing before her, all shirtless. She remembered that they both were just in their underwear and they were in the middle of a lake. The middle of a lake. Classy. Really. Couldn't have done it better myself.

"You know."

"Actually, I don't. Unless you care to tell me?"

"Do I have to?"

"If you want to ... do whatever it is that-"

"Kiss me." Sam cuts him off instantly.

"What?"

"Yup."

"Yes."

"When?"

"Now?"

"Good call."

They kiss each other. His lips press against hers and hers move against his. Their eyes flutter closed, sharing the same moment. His fingers curl inside hers and hers fit into his. Her heart doesn't skip a beat but she assumes that his is pounding against his ribs. Sam was kissing Brad. The guilt surfaced until she pushed it down, forcing it to keep away.

You guessed it, folks. The kiss is just simply nice, like the last time it happened. No earth-shattering moment or anything. Just like being with Brad, their kissing is pretty much uncomplicated and easy to handle.

Nothing about being with Freddie is uncomplicated. Confused yet?

That's why she probably likes being with him so much. It makes it all the more interesting. Sam likes things that are interesting. Then again, who wouldn't? And when she kissed Freddie - sparks just flew in all directions almost causing an dangerous explosion.