Author's Note:
Hello readers! Wow, thank you for reading my story. This is my first fanfic so I've been working out some kinks in my understanding of the website. Thank you to those who commented and who are following the story. Sorry it's been awhile in between updates. Life does seem to get in the way of these things. Hope you enjoy this new addition. Also, just to be clear: Dan Schneider gets all the credit for the show iCarly and these characters. I'm not making any money off this deal, so don't sue me! Please!

An hour and a half previously, at the supermarket:

Carly and Spencer made their way up and down the aisles at the market. Carly walked beside Spencer as he pushed the cart; she randomly picked up a few items and put them in the basket without looking at them. Spencer looked over at her with a raised eyebrow, but didn't say anything. They turned and walked down the next aisle, and Carly picked up a can of sardines and held it in her hand, looking at it blankly.
"Carly?" Spencer waved his hand in her face. "What are you staring at? You hate sardines."
"Oh," she said vaguely. "Yeah, I guess I do."

She put the can back on the shelf and walked around the corner. Head down, she didn't see the kiosk in the middle of the path. She ran headlong into it, knocking a display of several hundred cereal boxes down. There was a huge crash as they all tumbled to the shiny floor. Carly had fallen over after she ran into the display; she laid on the floor with a hand on her aching head. Spencer rushed over and helped her to her feet.
"What the Shay? Didn't you see that huge pile of 'cinnamon o' boxes sitting there all stacked up and beautiful?"
"I guess not," Carly mumbled, rubbing her forehead where she had hit it.
"I don't know what's wrong with you, but you need to get it together!"
"Spencer, don't act like a parent."
"I'm not. I'm just worried about you. Why have you been acting like this? All weird and kooky and somber-like?"
"I don't want to talk about it. Just leave me alone."
"Carly, come on. . . " He grabbed her arm, tried to get her to slow down as she made for the automatic doors of the grocery store.
She shook him off and left him to pay. Waiting outside on a bench, she buried her head in her hands, tried to get her thoughts together.

I can't go back and do the webshow. I just can't. I'm all frazzled and crazy right now. She smacked herself, and grimaced in pain. Idiot. That's where you ran into the display. UGHH! Ok. I can do this. Just act normal, everything will be okay.
But everything is NOT okay! Freddie said he had an idea who it was Sam was in love with. I can't stop thinking about who it is. What if it's me? What if it's not me? He said I needed to figure it out by myself. I can't face her, I'm too nervous. She took a deep breath. Oh shut up, crazy, you can do it. Be normal.

Her inner dialogue came to a halt when Spencer walked up to the bench carrying several grocery bags. He looked apprehensive, like he didn't want to push any more of her buttons.
"You ready?" He asked.
"Yeah. Let's go. I've got a webshow tonight."

Spencer and Carly arrived at the door to their loft. Spencer carried a tray of deli meats for everyone to snack on; He opened the door with his free hand and walked into the apartment. Carly hung back in the living room while Spencer started up the stairs to the top floor. Spencer turned when he got halfway up and looked at Carly. She was frozen to the floor, staring up at the stairs.
"Carly. Let's go, you gotta get ready for the webshow."
Carly snapped out of her stupor, put the rest of the groceries on the kitchen counter and followed Spencer up the stairs.

When they reached the glass door that led to the iCarly studio, Spencer once again led the way and Carly came in behind him. He set the deli meats on the table and greeted Freddie and Sam. Carly stayed behind Spencer as long as she could without making it seem too obvious that she was hiding. He went over to talk to Freddie and look at a video he had pulled up on the laptop. Carly was exposed. She could feel Sam's eyes on her, knew that she was following her every move. Carly couldn't look up. But she knew she had to. As soon as she looked up, she found herself gazing into Sam's piercing blue eyes.

As soon as they made eye contact, Sam knew. She knew when she looked into those round, doe-like eyes, those deep brown eyes that seemed to be endless pools of chocolate, those eyes that melted her well-constructed defenses, that she wanted to be with Carly. She knew that there was no other way she could be happy. No longer could they just be friends, they had come too far, been through too much together. Sam was in love with her and had to do something about it. She had been hesitant and melancholy about her feelings for too long; she was sick of being scared and depressed.

At that exact moment, Carly accidentally brushed her hip on the table holding the deli meats. For the second time that evening she knocked everything to the floor.
"Shit!" she yelled, putting her hands in her hair and pulling.
"Carly! What is WITH you tonight? You've knocked over everything in sight! And you cursed! You never curse!" asked Spencer from across the room.
Carly didn't say anything. Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned and threw open the door. She took off down the hallway towards the stairs.

Sam watched as the meat fell in slow motion to the ground. To her surprise, she didn't care. Wow, she thought, I must be truly whipped. I don't even care about the meat anymore.
She turned and looked over at Freddie. He gave her a knowing look and said, "Why are you still standing here? Follow her. Go get her."
She nodded and ran out the door.

Flying down the stairs, Sam rounded the corner in the hallway, skidding around it and hitting her shoulder on the opposite wall. She didn't feel any pain, just adrenaline. Just hope and nervous excitement. She couldn't help but expect Carly to shut her out. She simply couldn't wrap her mind around the possibility that Carly might share her feelings. Why else would she be acting this way?
She slowly opened the door to Carly's room, taking a deep breath as she went.
She took in the smell and thought about how weird it was that she would notice something like that at this critical point. It smelled like Carly, like laundry and her shampoo. Sam remembered suddenly how much she loved that smell. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She looked around. The room was empty, and Sam assumed that Carly had gone into her bathroom. Looking over to her right, she saw a strip of light from under the bathroom door.

Sam knocked on the door; Carly didn't answer. She knocked again . . . nothing. She tried the doorknob. Locked, naturally.
"Carly. Please open the door."
There was no answer from inside the bathroom.
"Carly. Open the door now or I'm going to bust it down. You know that I can, so don't make me break your door."
Still nothing.
"Ok, here I come. Stand back."
Before she could step back and take a front snap kick to the door, it flew open.

Carly stood there with her hand on the doorknob, her dark hair messy, eyes red, and tears streaking down her face. Sam thought she still looked gorgeous, even with tears and slightly smeared eye makeup.
Sam took a tentative step towards her. "What's wrong, Carls?
Carly backed away a step, "I think you should go."
"I'm not going anywhere. You're my best friend, and I'm not leaving you."
Sam looked down at her feet. "I'll never leave you," she said quietly.

"I can't do this anymore, Sam. Something is wrong with me, I'm acting crazy and knocking stuff over; I'm having weird feelings, uncontrollable feelings, and I don't know what to do about it."
Sam looked into Carly's eyes but she looked away, "Feelings about what?"
"I don't know. I haven't been able to sort out my thoughts. I need time."
Sam took another step towards her, and this time when she mimicked Sam's movement, Carly's back was against the sink, the cold porcelain sent goosebumps down her arms and legs. Or is that because Sam is so close to me right now? Carly asked herself.

"Carly, you told me at my house that we were best friends, that we could talk to each other about anything. So tell me. What feelings are you talking about?"

Carly continued to look anywhere except into Sam's eyes. She pushed past Sam out of the bathroom and tried to walk towards her bedroom door. Sam caught up to her before she could reach it. She grabbed Carly's arm and pulled her back.
Carly noticed vaguely as she was being spun around that her world seemed to now be moving in slow motion.
Sam pulled Carly towards her. She had one hand wrapped around the back of her neck, the other moved around her lower back, pulling her in close
To Sam, it was fast and aggressive. To Carly, though, time stopped.

She saw Sam's face coming towards hers, her eyes were closed and her lips were parted slightly. Carly thought vaguely to herself that Sam's face was at that moment the most beautiful thing in the world: Sam Puckett vulnerable and open.
More tears ran down her face as their lips met. They finally met in an earthshattering moment. Carly's stomach dropped and she felt a rush of adrenaline and arousal course through her body. Her toes and fingertips tingled, and her brain was filled with a rushing water sound.
Wow. Just Wow.

Carly could think of no other words.
The only thing she could think of was the softness of the mouth on hers. The hot wetness as it covered her own, Sam's tongue pushing into her mouth. Carly let her in, welcoming the new sensation. Their mouths moved perfectly together.
Carly at first hadn't known what to do what her hands, but at the touch of their lips, she felt a strange sensation: this was what kissing was supposed to feel like. This was right. Carly's hands made their way around Sam, feeling the muscles of her back, pulling her closer. Their bodies melded together.

The boys she had kissed held nothing to this, to Sam, to this girl who she had grown up with. They knew each other better than anyone else, and Carly wondered weakly how they could have gone so long without this.

"Are those the feelings you were talking about?" asked Sam when they finally separated for air, resting with their foreheads touching.

Carly couldn't speak. She simply smiled shyly.