Chapter 12: Momentum

"Sam, come out of the dressing room!"

"I don't wanna!"

"Come on, it can't be that bad!"

"I look like a float in the Easter Parade!"

Carly tried not to laugh. They'd spent the last two hours in the mall trying, desperately and unsuccessfully, to find a prom dress for Sam. And for two hours it had been a steady procession of dresses, each more awful than the last. There was a hot pink taffeta with puffed sleeves, a bright yellow chiffon complete with light-up butterflies and even a turquoise dress with a mermaid train, rhinestones and feathers. She and Sam had all but given up hope and Sam was threatening to show up to prom in a pair of cargo shorts and a penny tee.

"Why did you wait until the last minute to get a dress? I told you to come with me weeks ago!"

"I wasn't planning on going to prom weeks ago." Sam called from the dressing room, "And if you weren't forcing me to go to this lame-o parade I could spend my night happily watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show." She peeked her head around the door, "Why am I doing this again?"

"Because, I'm your best friend and you want to make me happy."

"Meh" Sam groaned from behind the closed door. "Seriously Carly, we've been trying on dresses forever…we aren't going to find anything."

Sam hated this. Finding some fancy froo-froo dress that she'd have to wear while spending the evening around Freddie. Pain on top of pain – and Carly expected her to be excited about it.

"Ladies..." Carly turned to see the saleswoman who'd been helping them enter the dressing room area. The poor woman. She probably worked on commission and had been forced to spend the afternoon with two teenage girls in a store full of ugly dresses, and one of the girls had been openly hostile; threatening, at one point, to put her foot where feet were never meant to go if the woman dared to bring in one more dress. She looked terrified. Her voice lowered to a whisper as she glanced fearfully toward Sam's dressing room.

"I know she said no more dresses… but I think I may have found the perfect one."

"I said no more dresses lady!" Sam screamed from behind the door.

The saleswoman jumped and began to walk backward toward the exit. Carly stood and walked toward her, putting her hands out in front of her trying to calm the woman who'd found herself on the wrong end of Sam's wrath.

"It's okay…don't worry. Her bark is worse than her bite."

"She bites?"

Maybe that hadn't been the right thing to say.

Carly tried not to laugh as she peered around the woman's back, where she was holding the dress.

"Are you sure she's okay?"

"She's fine" Carly glanced toward Sam's door. "Believe it or not…" she lowered her voice, "this is actually pretty mild for her."

The woman brought the dress from behind her and Carly's breath caught.

It was perfect.

"It's gorgeous! Oh my God…"

"I know!" the woman said, confidence building at Carly's excitement. "It was being held for someone else but they didn't come pick it up! And it's just her size!"

"Carly… no more dresses!"

"Sam…just one more. I think this might be 'the one'!"

Carly walked toward the dressing room door, handing the dress to Sam over the top.

She waited. One minute, two minutes, three minutes. After five full minutes of waiting with no sight or sound of Sam, she knocked lightly on the door.

"Sam? Do you have it on?" She paused and moved back as the door opened slowly.

"Holy crap!" Carly said softly. "You look…amazing!"

Sam exited the room slowly, unsure of herself. She wasn't used to this level of girly frilliness.

Carly walked up to her, leading her by the shoulders to the three-way mirror.

"Sam…look at yourself" she said, coaxing Sam, who stood with her eyes closed tight, into looking into the mirror, "you're beautiful!"

Midnight blue chiffon draped softly from an empire waistline, ending above her knees. A strapless sweetheart neckline littered with rhinestones contrasted against the creamy white of her skin.

Sam was silent. She couldn't even think of something witty to say. She'd spent the better part of her teenage years comparing herself to Carly…to every girl really, and feeling as if she always fell short. But in this dress… well, she felt beautiful.

"Freddie is going to freak," Carly squealed into her ear.

The two girls stood together silently, smiles spreading slowly across their faces for different reasons.

'This is it' Carly thought. Prom would be a magical night, just as Principal Franklin had said. Freddie would take one look at Sam in this dress and remember that this girl loved him, regardless of what she said. And in this dress Sam would be confident and beautiful and realize that every princess deserved a prince; and that hers had been standing in front of her all along.

"The things we do for girls," Brad said, grabbing, uncomfortably, at the bowtie at his neck. "Seriously… could this be more uncomfortable?"

"What do you mean… this is awesome!" Gibby exited his dressing room, joining Freddie and Brad in front of the three way mirror. "The only way it could be better is if I could wear it…without the shirt!" He posed, James Bond style, in the mirror – winking at his reflection.

Freddie laughed and it occurred to him that it had been a long time since he'd done it. It felt good.

He adjusted his jacket and tie – he'd decided against a bow tie, going instead for a regular one in a deep blue.

'Like Sam's eyes' he thought and shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought.

This wasn't about Sam. He wasn't supposed to be considering her, thinking of her. But successfully telling himself not to think of her was about as likely as telling the sun not to rise…just wasn't going to happen.

"We look good!" Gibby said, draping his arms over Brad and Freddie's shoulders. "Look out ladies!"

Brad and Freddie laughed. Gibby's status as a 'ladies' man', even if it was in his own mind, was a never-ending source of amusement. But Freddie had to admit…they did look pretty good. They did goofy poses in the mirror, trying to outdo each other. Gibby was definitely the winner with his 'Zoolander' pose.

"Dudes…tonight is going to be epic! Just us and our ladies!" he raised his hand to high five Brad, turning to do the same to Freddie, dropping his hand at the stricken look on Freddie's face. "Man, Freddie…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said…"

"It's cool Gib." Freddie said, trying to sound much more confident than he felt. "It's still going to be epic. I can't let what happened with…" he couldn't bring himself to say her name, "with…her, to mess up our night." He plastered a smile on his face, trying to reassure his friends. "I'm gonna go change."

He walked into the dressing room, letting the fake smile fall from his face, changing back into his jeans and shirt. Gibby was right, tonight would be epic-an epic failure. He'd be forced to spend the entire evening watching Brad, Carly, Gibby and Tasha being happy and in love while he suffered in silence. Sam would show up looking gorgeous and acting unaffected and he'd have to stand there, watching her, filming her and pretending that he didn't want to wrap his arms around her, beg her to change her mind…and come back to him. Yeah, this night was going to be "epic," alright.

He grabbed his tux and took it to the register. Thankfully he didn't need any alterations; with only 4 days until prom there wasn't much hope of that happening. He waited at the register for Gibby and Brad to meet him and they all exited the store; Gibby and Brad talking about prom preparations, him listening wistfully.

Until a few short days ago, he had been planning an amazing night for Sam. He'd managed to find a fancy sit down restaurant that served ribs – Carne- and he'd planned to take her there, in a limo no less. Then they'd spend the night dancing and laughing with their friends before ending the night at The O'Haloran for a midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. His mom would be working the night shift so his earnest teenage-boy hope was that the evening would end with him and Sam in a tangled heap on his bed, reveling in the feel of her in his arms. Now he only hoped they'd get through the night without killing each other.

"Now for shoes…I'm thinking…black stilettos?"

Sam looked at Carly as if she'd suddenly grown a second head. Fancy dresses were one thing but she drew the line at hooker heels!

"Nuh uh, Carls, not a chance…it's bad enough that I'm spending a perfectly good night surrounded by the idiots at our school sweating and grinding against each other in a badly decorated gym but I'm not going to do it while trying to avoid breaking my neck in five inch heels!"

"Okay, okay!" Carly threw her hands up in surrender, "No heels…but at least promise me that you won't wear high tops." She looked at Sam who was giving her a non-committal shrug. "Sam…please?"

"Alright…no tennis shoes. Geesh… this night has too many rules already! No high tops, no boxer shorts, no heckling the entertainment… what can I do?"

Carly laughed, roping an arm around Sam's shoulders as the exited the mall, waiting on the curb for Spencer to pick them up.

"You can behave yourself and look beautiful in your new princess dress."

They sat quietly on a bench outside the mall entrance, Sam slurping loudly on her Fat Shake, dunking her pretzel sticks into it.

Carly sighed, glancing sideways at Sam. She felt conflicted and only hoped it didn't show on her face. On one hand she was so excited for prom, looking forward to spending an evening with all her friends… and Brad, wrapped in his arms, dancing slowly. She looked forward to seeing the look on Brad's face when he saw her in her dress. But she felt guilty for her happiness when she considered how her best friends must be feeling. She wanted so badly for Sam and Freddie to be spending prom night together, happy – even making her sick with their PDA…but after the way they'd fought in Principal Franklin's office even she, the eternal optimist, had doubts that the night would hold anything beyond thinly veiled contempt between the two of them.

It was all so stupid. They obviously loved each other…she'd never seen Sam look at any other boy like that, like she didn't even notice that anyone else was around. Those kinds of feelings didn't just go away. And she understood, in some ways, how Sam was feeling. It was a scary thing to love someone…to give them all of you and trust that they wouldn't hurt you, or, worse yet… leave. But Sam was letting her fear take control of her mind and ruin her chance at real happiness. She was letting her fear tear her and Freddie apart.

"Sam…" Carly said softly. She had to be cautious; choose her words carefully. She needed Sam to hear her, really hear her. She couldn't afford to put her on the defense immediately. "I want to talk to you about something."

Sam put her pretzel down resolutely into her Fat Shake, turning a suspicious gaze on Carly.

"Carls, if this is about Freddie, I don't…"

"Just listen. Please?" Her eyes pleaded with Sam, who sighed and slumped back onto the bench.

"Do you know that when I first moved to Seattle you were the only person who tried to make friends with me? After…after my mom died, it seemed like everyone treated me like I was made of glass; like I'd break if they said the wrong thing. But you… you never did. You treated me like I was normal. You were there for me. And over all of these years there isn't anyone else who's been there for me the way you have. I don't think I've ever told you how much that means to me. I love you Sam."

"Carls…" Sam raised a hand to Carly's shoulder. "You know I'm not big on all that mushy stuff but… I love you too."

"I know you do. And I know that you've had some really hard things to deal with too. Your mom…your dad. I can see how all of those things have made it really hard for you to trust people, to believe that there are people who care about you, and who accept you…just like you are. I want you to be happy Sam…really happy. I want you to look at yourself and see all the amazing things I see in you. And it makes me so sad to realize that you don't; you don't see those things. You don't understand just how much you mean to the people who care about you. To me, to Spencer…and to Freddie."

"Carly…" Sam's voice cracked and she tried with all her might to hold back the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Just let me finish." She turned to Sam, looking her directly in the eyes. "He loves you Sam. I think that on some level he's always loved you. And I know how hard it is for you to believe that, to believe that he's not going to do what you dad did, but Sam you have to trust me… trust Freddie. He wouldn't ever hurt you."

"You don't know that he won't," Sam said softly.

"And you don't know that he will! You're driving him away because of what might happen. You're giving up on what could be the best thing that ever happened to you, Sam!"

Sam sat staring into her cup, shaking her head. "I'm scared."

"I know Sam. I'm scared too. I'm scared to think that you'll spend the rest of your life running from all the good things you could have. Never believing that you deserve them. But you do deserve them. You deserve to be happy." She grabbed Sam's hand, "Give him the chance to make you happy."

Sam was quiet, her shoulders shaking in silent sobs. She didn't want to hear this but the truth in Carly's words filled her with an ache that threatened to consume her. She'd fought so hard, tried so hard to protect herself. The thought of Freddie leaving her, the idea that one day he could wake up and not love her anymore had shaken her to the core. She'd let that fear pull her away from him, she'd let it make her break his heart.

She was saved from responding to Carly by the sound of Spencer's car horn.

"Just promise me you'll think about what I said." Carly squeezed her hand as they both stood to walk to the car.

Sam knew she'd think about it. She'd likely think of nothing else.

Prom night.

As much as she hadn't been looking forward to it, Sam's stomach was still filled with butterflies as she pulled her dress from the closet and started to get ready. She was supposed to meet Carly, Brad, Gibby, Tasha and Freddie at Carly's house by 6:30. The thought of seeing Freddie was nerve wracking in itself, but it wasn't the reason for her jitters.

After she'd come home from the mall with Carly she'd done just as Carly asked and really given some thought to what they'd talked about. She turned the situation over and over in her head. The longer she thought about it the more she realized just how wrong she'd been. She thought about how Freddie must have felt; left standing on a darkened fire escape, watching as she ran away. She knew what it felt like for someone you loved to leave with no explanation. To leave you wondering what you'd done to make them stop loving you. The pain she felt at his absence from her life was nothing compared to the pain of realizing what she'd done to him.

But even after that she still couldn't find a way to tell him. She'd seen him at school and while he wasn't being openly hostile anymore, his reception was chilly at best. She'd tried a million times to open her mouth and tell him how she felt, to tell him that she was sorry, that she was wrong. But every time she looked in his eyes all she saw was disappointment and her pride sealed her mouth shut.

'Maybe today'. She'd said it to herself every day, and every day she'd crawl into bed at night and fall asleep angry at herself for her stubbornness.

She walked over to her bed, sitting down lightly as she picked up a baby blue envelope from her nightstand. She hadn't had the courage to say to him all that needed to be said, so she'd try another tactic.

On her way home from school yesterday she'd passed the arcade. She thought she'd go in a play a few games, take her mind off of Freddie; try to forget what a coward she was.

Inside there'd been a 'Grab It' machine just like in Toy Story with a bunch of grubby faced little kids crowded around it, each trying to get the machine to grab something…anything. She'd watched them for a while thinking how crazy people where to spend their money on a game that no one ever won.

That's when she'd decided. If she couldn't make the decision about her and Freddie's fate, she'd leave it to a game of chance. The odds were against her winning – she was used to those kinds of odds. If she won something she'd talk to Freddie, if not – well that'd be the end of it.

She'd thrown her quarters into the slot and begun to maneuver the mechanical arm. Predictably it skimmed the surface of all of the little plastic balls without picking up one. She'd been ready to give up and go home when it happened.

As the arm began to slow down, signaling the end of her turn it grasped onto a tiny clear ball in the very corner; Sam bit her lip in concentration, pulling slowing on the handle to lift it. 'This is crazy' she thought, I'm getting all excited about a stupid plastic ball filled with some cheap toy made in Taiwan. But the thought didn't keep her from moving the handle, carefully, diligently until the small ball dropped into the prize slot.

She scrambled to grab it before it rolled to the floor. Opening the cover she tipped the ball into her hands to grab the treasure from inside, throwing the empty ball over her shoulder.

Lying in her hand was a small silver pendent. A winged running shoe. She'd known then what she had to do.

She opened the envelope and unfolded the white paper from inside. The pendant she'd won lay in the paper's crease. Just below it, she'd carefully written three words that she hoped would change her life:

I'm done running

Prom night had only been underway for an hour and already Freddie had a headache.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, squinting against the throbbing in his head as he stood in the center of the Shays' living room. All around him was chaos; Gibby was busy trying to convince Tasha that his tux would look so much better if he lost the shirt, Brad was trying to convince Carly that the shoes she was wearing, the third pair in thirty minutes, were fine and no, she didn't need to change them. His mother had been fussing over his tie, telling him to make sure it wasn't too tight or it might cut off his circulation and on top of all that Spencer was trying to find a new camera for pictures after his last one had burst into flames.

Everyone was talking at once – and loudly. Freddie thought his head might just explode and the thought was strangely comforting; at least then, he wouldn't have to go.

Carly, Brad, Gibby and Tasha had all gone to dinner together before meeting back at Carly's, an event Freddie had, thankfully, not been expected to join. They seemed to understand that right now he could only handle couples in small doses.

It was 7:15 and they were due at the school by 7:30 so they could get final instructions from Principal Franklin and start setting up for the iCarly broadcast. But they were still one person short. Sam had yet to show up.

"Where is she?" Carly frowned, grabbing Brad's arm to look at his watch. "She was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago!"

"Maybe she's not coming" Gibby offered.

Freddie could only hope. While he'd been getting ready his stomach had been in knots thinking about how he was going to make it through tonight. This week at school had been bad enough. He'd tried so hard to just act normal but every time he saw her or heard her voice he had to swallow past the lump in his throat. A few times she'd looked as if she was going to say something to him and he'd had to beat back hope; make his face like stone. Her words were like salt in an open wound…everything she said, or didn't say…hurt.

The door opened and shattered his idea of an evening without Sam. But his mind had no time to register that fact as he felt his heart stop and his breath catch in his throat.

Sam entered the room to whistles and clapping. Somewhere in the distance he heard Carly squealing and Spencer telling Sam how pretty she looked. But the longer he looked at her the farther away the voices were until there was no one in the room but him and… a blond-headed angel.

Her dress was of a deepest blue and hugged every curve, the light from the room shimmered on its surface, reflecting the blue of her eyes. Her hair, normally an untamed mass of curls, had been swept to the side and twisted into a bun at the nape of her neck, where a thin silver necklace lay, a diamond pendent resting at her chest. He'd never seen anything more beautiful.

"Hey peoples," she said, obviously uncomfortable at all the attention, "you act like you've never seen a girl in a fancy dress before" she laughed, "let's get going…I hear there's a prom going on tonight."

"Not before I get more pictures," Freddie's mother said, gathering their little group together. "All right now, everyone say 'Safety First!' They all looked at Freddie, who gave a shrug of apology for the weirdness that was his mother.

'Safety First!' they cried in unison. Sam and Freddie stood on the outer edges of the group, away from each other. He watched her as they took more pictures; she leaned against Carly and smiled into the camera. He missed that smile.

'Alright kiddos…limo's here" Spencer said.

Freddie, Brad and Gibby started grabbing the equipment they'd be taking with them as the girls led the way out the door.

"Now remember… no drinking… or rowdy behavior… or inappropriate touching!" His mother called after them as they entered the elevator.

"Mom!" he said, willing the doors to shut before she decided to come with them. He wished he had to worry about "inappropriate touching" tonight.

"I love you Freddie Be…" her words were mercifully cut off by the closing door.

"Dude… your mom is nuts!" Gibby said

"Stuff it, shirtless wonder!" Sam said, "It's not as if your family isn't filled with freaks and mutants!" Sam said, glancing quickly at Freddie.

They all laughed and around him the conversation continued but once again the world went silent for Freddie as one thought filled his mind.

She'd defended him. Maybe this night wouldn't be so bad after all.

"So you can set up here near the stage, that way you can talk to the performers before they go on." Principal Franklin gestured wide at the stage, keeping an eye on the gymnasium doors as large groups of prom goers began to enter.

He'd loved prom as a kid. A chance to dress up and strut your stuff. He'd even gone all out for the occasion tonight, complete with rented tux and a cheesy corsage for his wife, who he'd brought as his date.

"So do you have any questions, guys?"

Freddie looked up from his cart where he was arranging his equipment.

"So you want Carly and Sam to introduce the acts as they go on? And they're all okay with being broadcast live on the internet?"

"They've all signed consent forms and they're very excited to be a part of iCarly. I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate you doing this. Have fun!"

Carly smiled at Principal Franklin and his wife as they walked away…old people were so cute. She turned to Sam, Freddie, Gibby and Brad.

"Alright guys, we'd better get started, people are starting to arrive." She shouted to be heard over the loud music that had begun to play. Already groups of kids were dancing…some better than others, Sam pointed out.

Freddie picked up his portable camera, tossed Carly a microphone and Sam her blue remote, both of which had been rigged up to play over the gym's loudspeaker.

"In five…four…three…two…"

"Hello people of the universe! I'm Carly…"

"I'm Sam…"

"And this is a special edition of iCarly live from…"

"The Seattle zoo!" Sam pressed a button and the sounds of wild animals filled the room.

"We're not at the zoo…"

"But we are surrounded by animals!"

"That's true Sam, but these animals are joining us live…."

"From the Ridgeway High School Prom!" Sam and Carly screamed in unison, joined by the shouting and cheers of the prom goers.

"Tonight we've got a great iCarly for you. We've got music" Carly gestured toward the stage, "live performances and…."

'Random dancing'

The gymnasium erupted as the heavy beats filled the room.

Sam, usually wild in her dancing, was decidedly more subdued. 'Good thing' Freddie thought. In that low cut dress, one false move could prove…dangerous. He watched her dancing and laughing with Carly, surrounded by rowdy students, each trying to get close enough to be on the camera. He noticed that the circle around Sam was all male…and they seemed more interested in getting close to Sam than to the camera. His first reaction was to put the camera down, walk up to those perverts and tell them to get their eyes off his girl. There was just one problem.

She wasn't his girl anymore.

The headache from earlier in the evening threatened to return.

He watched the crowd of guys staring at her – leering at her. She was oblivious to it all, whispering something into Carly's ear as they laughed and danced. She had no idea the reaction she…and that dress, were causing in the male population of Ridgeway High.

He walked closer to the girls, zooming his camera in on them, close enough now to hear the conversation of Sam's crowd of admirers.

"Damn…Puckett is looking hot tonight."

"I'd hit that…and I wouldn't even be mad if she hit back!"

Idiots. He felt himself flush with the effort to remain calm. He steadied the camera on his shoulder, following Sam and Carly as they began to walk through the crowd. He couldn't even focus on what Carly was saying, he was so tuned to the reactions of the crowd to Sam.

Sure, it was a difference. Sam never dressed up, or attended school dances, or went this long without throwing a punch or an insult. People were understandably shocked. But he couldn't help himself from being pissed off as he watched her smiling at the salivating morons, accepting compliments… gracefully even! None of the non-committal grunts and eye rolls he'd got when he told her she was beautiful. He'd noticed her before any of these yahoos in here did and yet here they were, raking their eyes over her like the last steak in a meat locker and there she was smiling like she was enjoying it!

"Freddie! What's wrong with you?"

He hadn't even noticed Carly go off camera or walk up to him. He continued to stare at Sam, his face twisted into what he knew must be a look of disgust. He tried to calm down.

"Nothing. It's just…loud in here." He hoped the lie sounded more believable than it felt.

"Freddie?"

"Seriously Carly. I'm fine…really." He smiled in an effort to ease the look of concern on her face. "Where's Brad? I thought you two would be in a dark corner somewhere by now."

"Um…" Carly looked around for him, "He went with Gibby to grab some kind of cord form the A/V room. He said you might need it to preserve the battery on your camera. She looked toward the stage, where the first performer of the evening was nervously wringing her hands as she prepared to ascend the stairs. "Crap…we gotta go."

She grabbed Sam and gestured for Freddie to follow them.

Sam's hand was currently in the hand of a tall, blond jock that Freddie recognized as Pete. Sam's first crush. And Pete's lips were attached to the back of Sam's hand as Carly pulled her in the opposite direction.

"Save a dance for me Sam" Pete called after her.

Freddie wondered how far down Pete's throat he could realistically shove his camera.

Carly grabbed Sam's free hand and they ran up the steps to the stage. Sam pushed a button, filling the gym with the sound of applause.

"Tonight we've got some really great music for you, courtesy of your fellow Ridgeway students!" Carly smiled brightly.

"We really hope that they don't suck!"

"Sam!"

"What? I'm just saying" Sam said innocently, catching the eye of Miss Briggs who shook a threatening finger at her, "Alright Briggsy…don't get your bag pipes in a twist."

"First up we have Rachel Simonsen singing 'California Girls' by Katy Perry!"

"Give it up for Rachel!" Sam pushed the applause button as she and Carly exited the stage.

"Alright guys… we don't have another performer for thirty minutes. I'm going to find Brad." Carly glanced between Sam and Freddie, "Please try not to kill each other!" she pleaded, tossing a worried glance over her shoulder as she walked away.

Freddie walked back toward the corner of the stage to his cart, vaguely aware that Sam was following him.

"Freddie…" she started, reaching into the small black bag she'd deposited on his cart at the beginning of the night.

He ignored her. Terrified of what she might be going to say.

I'm in love with Pete.

We're going to run away together

There's never going to be a 'you and me'

"So" he said, louder than he intended, trying to drown out his thoughts. "You and Pete were getting pretty cozy there."

She looked at him with confusion.

"We were just talking"

"Oh… and talking now involves him putting his lips all over you!"

"His lips were not all over me! They were on my hand"

"Technicality. Trust me…he wanted them on more than your hand."

He was being an ass. He was fully aware of how big an ass he was being but he couldn't stop himself.

Sam glanced around the room nervously, the envelope growing wet from her sweating palms. She hadn't really figured an angry Freddie into the equation. Nonchalant, maybe but out right, red faced, screaming at her angry … nope, she hadn't planned on that.

Freddie watched her as her eyes scanned the crowd.

"Looking for someone? Don't let me stop you from your rendezvous with 'Pete.'" he spat angrily. Why was he mad? He closed his eyes and breathed slow and deep, trying to calm himself.

She hadn't done anything. He knew her well enough to know that she wasn't the type of girl to encourage the kisses of random guys. But Pete wasn't exactly random. She'd liked him once. Enough to change how she looked and acted. And even though he never would have asked her to, or expected her to, she hadn't been willing to make those kinds of changes for him. So Pete could get 'soft, girly, let you kiss me in public' Sam and what did he get? He got 'love 'em and leave 'em, hide you like a dirty secret' Sam.

He was angry all over again.

"Just go Sam"

She paused and looked at him. If she walked away now, she didn't know if she'd ever have the courage to come back, to say what needed to be said. She gripped the envelope, the pendant poking into her skin. She had to make him listen.

"Freddie… I need to talk to you. About what happened."

"You need? Once again, you need! Dammit Sam is that what it's always going to be about? What you need? What you want? Did you ever think that maybe I don't want to talk to you? Maybe I'm over all this bullshit and I don't want to deal with it anymore?"

As he spoke he saw the pain in her eyes. His anger and bitterness reveled in that pain; in the fact that now, he wasn't the only hurting.

"I already said it once Sam. I'm done. Do you get it? Done! With you, with us, with whatever fantasy we were living in." his eyes narrowed as he looked at her. "Please. Leave."

She flinched; his words were like acid, melting away her hope and any courage she'd had.

Without another thought she turned on her heel and ran from the gymnasium. He started to run after her but his pride kept him rooted to the spot. He'd hurt her… on purpose, and the shame of that fact took his breath away.

'What the hell have I done?'

He leaned over, placing his hands on his knees in an effort to catch his breath. On the floor where Sam had been standing was a small envelope. As he reached to pick it up he saw his name scrawled on the front in Sam's handwriting. He didn't want to open it. As stupid as he felt, something in him knew that whatever was in that envelope would make it worse. But he opened it anyway, and a small piece of metal fell from inside. A tiny silver shoe with wings attached. He took a deep breath and opened the paper.

I'm done running

He lost, completely, his ability to breathe.

"Freddie!" He turned his head as he saw Carly approaching, her eyes wide in confusion. "What's going on? I just saw Sam run out of here! Where's she going? What did you do, Freddie?"

He couldn't stop himself, tears of frustration spilled over onto his cheeks.

"Oh my God Freddie, are you okay?" Carly who was, thankfully, alone came to stand at his side, putting a hand out to arm. "Did something happen between you and Sam?"

"God Carly… I'm such an idiot!" He slammed his fist down onto his cart, sending cables flying. "I ruined it! She… she was trying to talk to me…trying to…" regret overwhelmed him; he couldn't form words. He handed Carly the pendant and the letter.

Her face fell as she read it. She'd listened to her, Sam had listened to her. She'd taken a step toward Freddie, toward making things right. But if Freddie's face was any indication, it hadn't gone well.

"Oh Freddie, please tell me you didn't do anything stupid."

Freddie lowered his head in shame. "I told her to leave. I didn't open the letter until after she left."

Carly folded the letter, placing it and the pendant back in their envelope. This had to end. Tonight. Sam and Freddie couldn't go on hurting each other like this.

"Listen to me…" she said sternly. Softening her voice she reached out to grab Freddie's hand. "When you liked me you never took no for an answer, never quit chasing me, never quit going after what you wanted. That was just a crush, it wasn't real. What you have with Sam is real. And it's worth fighting for."

Freddie looked up at her. "What do I do Carly? I really screwed things up. She'll never listen to me."

"Make her listen! Don't take no for an answer. Don't give up on her Freddie."

Freddie looked anxiously toward the gymnasium exit and then back at Carly.

"Go ahead you nub! Brad can film and I guess Gibby will have to do as a co-host…" She smiled at him, handing him the envelope. "Go get your girl."

With no further encouragement necessary Freddie ran for the exit, out the doors and onto the street.

He'd had doubts about a lot of things in the last week. But there was one thing he knew. He loved Sam.

And he was going to get her.