Author's Note: The events in this chapter is the big reason why I rated this a T. This is the longest chapter to date, and a big one in the Seddie relationship. I'm aware that this is still only their second full day as a couple. I hope you like the dialogue at the end, I felt it was important. – kwags74

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to iCarly. But if the network ever approves the spinoff, which is entitled iSeddie, I'm being hired to be 3rd Assistant Water Boy. Woo-Hoo!

Chapter 23

The school day finally came to a close, and Freddie and Sam got their book bags together and set out for Sam's place.

It wasn't all that much warmer outside walking home, as it was when the two ditched history class to go to the park earlier that morning. It had been an overcast day, but it hadn't rained.

The two really didn't have a lot to talk about, so they walked to Sam's house rather quietly. They didn't have very much homework to go through, so they chatted a little about hanging out after the study session.

They reached Sam's house, and to their surprise, Sam's mom was actually there. "Hey mom," Sam said somewhat startled, "I'm surprised to see you home this early."

"Well," her mom answered, "I do have to pay bills and get groceries some time." Her mom went into the kitchen and started getting things for dinner. "I'm having my boyfriend Maxwell coming over for dinner tonight, so I'll be busy in here."

"Okay," Sam answered in a tone that said 'like I really care'. She and Freddie went into the dining room, and took off their jackets. They got their English and health homework out, and began working together on the assignment.

As they began working on the health homework, Freddie stole glances of Sam's mother cooking. He looked to Sam and asked, "Have you told your mom about us yet?"

Sam gave Freddie an annoyed look, "Are you kidding?" She said back, "Mom doesn't even realize you're here right now. She didn't even say anything about you." She looked into the kitchen at her mom going about her business. Sam shook her head, turned back to Freddie and continued, "I've hardly seen her since you and I got together the other night. She's too into her 'boyfriends' to give a darn about my personal life." Sam turned away, and began working on the homework.

Just then, the house phone rang, and Ms. Puckett went to pick it up. Sam, quick as a cat, got up from her chair and stood by the kitchen doorway to eavesdrop on her mother.

After a few minutes, Sam returned to the dining room table in a foul mood. Her mother appeared in the kitchen doorway, "Yes Samantha, you heard it correctly," Ms. Puckett grinned at her sneaky daughter, "As soon as this food is ready, I'm heading out with Maxwell. But don't worry, I'll leave you a big bowl for you, so you can eat." She was about to go back into the kitchen when she acknowledged Freddie sitting next to Sam. "Is he staying for dinner?" She asked unenthusiastically.

"No ma'am…" Freddie had begun politely.

"Yes!" Sam interrupted, giving Freddie a look before turning back to her mother, "he is staying for dinner. Why can't you stay?"

"Well," Ms. Puckett answered, "Maxwell and I would like some alone time together at his place."

"And I'm too much of a bother to have around; so that's why you'd rather not eat here?" Sam snarled.

"Honey," Ms. Puckett tried to say sweetly, "Maxwell might be the one, and I'd like to find out for sure with a little one-on-one time."

"Yeah, you've been saying this to me fifteen or twenty times now with every other boyfriend you've brought home," Sam continued to argue.

Ms. Puckett shook her head, "Whatever," she said disgustedly before going back into the kitchen.

Sam got up, and in a huff, went into the living room and plopped down on the couch.

Freddie very cautiously followed her into the living room, and sat next to her on the couch. He sat there for a couple of minutes unsure of what to say. Sam was just sitting there staring off into space. Finally, Freddie spoke, "Is there anything I can get you Sam?" He asked softly.

Sam continued to stare ahead. She heard his question, and just shook her head.

Freddie thought a moment, "I might sound like a dork asking you this," he said plainly, "but, are you okay?"

Sam finally turned to face her boyfriend. She had calmed a bit, but she was still full of anger, "Freddie, anytime I'm in this house, I'm never okay," she said firmly, "and yeah, you do sound like a dork."

Freddie tried to grin, but he knew that Sam was probably not in the mood to joke, so he frowned again. To his surprise though, he saw Sam smirk a bit. He held out his hand for her to take.

Sam stared at his hand for a bit before she took it. She moved closer to him, and put her head on his shoulder. Freddie wrapped his arm around her.

They heard the main closet door shut, and they both got up to see what was going on. Ms. Puckett had grabbed her jacket and she was holding a big casserole dish.

"Maxwell is here," she said to them, "Your meal is sitting in the kitchen. I'm outta here." With that said, Ms. Puckett went out the front door and to the car of her waiting boyfriend.

Sam headed for the kitchen, "C'mon Fredward," she called to him, "let's eat."

Incredibly enough, Ms. Puckett had left two bowls of her ham and cheese casserole sitting on the stove. Sam grabbed both bowls, and walked over to the table. Freddie went to the fridge and got a couple of sodas; then went to the cupboard to get a couple of cups.

They both sat down to eat. It was still rather early to eat. The clock only read 4:30, but the two teens were hungry for a warm meal.

While Freddie was busy chowing the food down, Sam was surprisingly eating slower. Her mind was racing.

Off goes my mother again to spend the night at a man's house, she thought intensely as she tried to eat. My mom doesn't fool me; I know what she and her boyfriends really do. Sam really didn't want to picture her mother that way, but it was hard sometimes not to. Yet, her thoughts continued, she sure can keep the guy around for a while. She seems to think that's what love is, and that's why she doesn't want me around when she's with her man.

Sam glanced over at Freddie. He was quietly eating his food and being calm. I wonder if I'm going to have to put out for Freddie to stay with me. I know what we talked about yesterday, but I'm curious if he meant it. Her mind continued to race, most guys usually want to do it, and I'd be a little surprised if Freddie isn't the same way. He says he loves me, and I have to think that means we should move forward in our relationship. I don't want him to leave me.

Sam barely felt like eating anymore. She got up from the table, and walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

Freddie hadn't noticed that Sam wasn't eating, because he's use to Sam being done before him all the time. He got up to put his empty dish in the sink. He walked by Sam's dish, and noticed it was barely touched. He walked into the living room and said to Sam, "Are you feeling all right? You hardly ate any of your food."

"I guess I wasn't as hungry as I thought," she answered softly. She patted the spot on the couch next to her; beckoning for him to come and sit next to her.

"Oh, okay," Freddie said surprised, wrinkling his brow as he sat down next to Sam.

Sam was very nervous. She couldn't believe in her mind was she was about to do. She grabbed his hand gently; then bent over and kissed him softly on the lips.

Freddie was a little worried about the way Sam was being when she sat next to him, but when her lips touched his, be ignored his gut feeling, and kissed her back.

They continued to kiss one another, and it was slowly intensifying. Their mouths opened and tongue action began. They were really feeling passion now. Sam moved from her seat on the couch to sitting on top of Freddie's legs facing him.

Sam released her lips from Freddie's mouth and moved them to his neck. Freddie breathed heavily with his eyes closed; then he moved his lips down to Sam's neck. She closed her eyes, and she too was breathing very heavily. She shifted her head around to catch Freddie's lips with hers.

The kissing continued to arouse them. Sam pushed Freddie onto the couch to where his head lay near the arm rest. She quickly hopped off, and tossed his legs to the other side of the couch, so that he was completely lying down. Then she, just as quickly, climbed on top of him.

Freddie had never felt this way before; it was getting to be a little overwhelming. "Sam," he tried to call, but his lips were full of hers again as she laid on top of him.

Sam was busy with her hands. She began to reach up into Freddie's shirt to touch his chest.

"Sam," Freddie tried to call again while he was feeling Sam touching his chest through his shirt. He felt that things were beginning to get a bit out of control.

Sam was methodically rubbing his chest with her hands. This continued to arouse her. Her breathing began to turn to panting as she continued to kiss Freddie. She couldn't hear Freddie calling to her. She finally just grabbed Freddie's shirt and was about to try to take it off.

"Sam!" Freddie yelled as he pulled away from his girlfriend. His jerking action forced him to fall onto the floor. He stood up off the floor a little disturbed, "What are you doing, Sam?"

Sam was so shocked by the way Freddie reacted, she felt like she wanted to cry. She bolted from the couch embarassed, and ran into the kitchen ashamed of what she did. "I'm sorry," she cried as she disappeared through the kitchen.

"Sam…wait," Freddie called as he tried to catch up with her. She wasn't in the kitchen, so he went into the dining room and found she wasn't there either. He walked through the house until he came to her bedroom, and saw it was locked.

Freddie stood at her locked door and calmed down. He saw how upset she was, and he wanted to give Sam time to take a breather, and collect her thoughts. He needed a few minutes himself to reflect on what just happened.

After about five minutes, he softly tapped on Sam's bedroom door, "Hey," he said just loud enough for her to hear him through the door, "what just happened back there?"

He didn't get a response. He tried to apologize, "Sam, I'm sorry I overreacted or scared you."

Still no response. Freddie wasn't sure how he would get Sam out of her room. "I'm not sure what to say, except that I love you, and I hope we can talk." Freddie left her doorway and walked back into the dining room.

He sat at the table and began reviewing the history homework that he was supposed to have turned in this morning had he and Sam not cut class. He was sitting so quietly, that he barely heard Sam walk into the room.

Her eyes were puffy red from crying. She looked like she was going to be sick. She stood there looking a little lifeless as though a breeze could knock her over right now.

Freddie gazed at her, and slowly stood up from his chair. He saw that she was looking down like she was ashamed of herself for what happened. He spoke softly, "What almost happened on the couch?"

"Wasn't it obvious?" She answered upsettingly.

Freddie cocked his head slightly, "Were you trying to seduce me?" He asked gently.

"Duh," she answered harshly; then she mumbled, "I must have been stupid to think that any guy would ever want me."

"Sam," Freddie nearly cried out, "that's not true. I want you. I just thought that we agreed yesterday to take it slowly is all."

"Never mind Freddie," she said softly, "just forget about it."

"I just can't believe you thought that we were going to have sex or something." He said simply.

"I said don't worry about it," Sam said raising her tone. She still refused to look him in the eye.

"Wait," he cried taking a step towards her. She backed up a step; so Freddie paused where he was, "it's not so much that I didn't want to, or anything. It's just that I got scared, and I didn't understand why you wanted to do this."

Sam paused for a moment. She really didn't want to tell him why she came on to him, but she saw that Freddie was trying to explain his actions; so she thought she owed it to him to tell him what she was feeling. "I guess I just thought that all guys wanted to," she said finally.

"Well, I'm not all guys," Freddie replied gently, "heck; after all, sometimes you barely even refer to me as a guy."

Sam normally would've smiled at this, but the way she was feeling she only slightly grinned for a second.

"Sam, I do want to," he continued taking another step towards her, "but I just want our first time to be something special, not something we feel we have to do."

Sam didn't back off this time when Freddie moved forward. The hurt she was feeling inside from being rejected was slowly easing. She nodded at him.

"What made you think we had to do this now?" He asked patiently. Sam only shrugged.

He thought about the last couple of days. There was nothing he could think of that would suggest Sam's behavior. She had really been happy the entire time. The only time she seemed to get upset was when…

"Does this have to do with your mom and her always going out with her boyfriends?" He asked.

Again, Sam just shrugged. Freddie saw her body language though, and realized that he hit a chord with her. He took another step towards her. Now he was standing in front of her. She was still facing downward.

"Sex isn't love," he said to her, "love, in my mind, is wanting to spend every moment with the person I love. We've known each other for such a long time now. I'm sorry it took me so long for me to realize the feelings I had for you. I had the silly notion that I thought Carly was the one I loved, but I realized the concern and compassion you had over me as our friendship grew showed me what true love was."

Freddie put his hands out in front of him hoping that Sam would take them. Even though he couldn't see her face, he knew she was crying again because he saw tears fall on the floor from her eyes.

"When I got over my crush for Carly," he continued, "and our friendship blossomed, it really got me thinking about what it was that I wanted in a woman. I wanted some girl to have fun with; some girl to challenge me and make me want to be my best. I really wanted some girl who would give me the time of day to really want to be with me."

Sam finally raised her head to face him. The tears were continuing to fall softly. He reached over to take her hands, and held them in his; massaging her hands gently. Freddie was also getting emotional as he was speaking, and his eyes were getting red as well.

"Sam, you're the first thing I think about in the morning, and the last thing I think about before I sleep," he concluded, "what I feel in my heart for you right now, sex will never make better."

Sam wanted to bawl. Her heart was pounding so hard; she thought it would leap out. "You really mean that don't you, Freddie?"

"Duh," he smirked softly. He smiled brightly at her. She giggled a little, before she threw herself on Freddie in an embrace.

Freddie held his woman tightly. He had tears flowing too, as they gently fell down the back of her shirt. Sam was sobbing in his chest. She was beginning to understand now what love was, and she knew she would be happier than her mother would ever be. Sam also understood now how much Freddie had been right. He wasn't like other guys, he was a gentleman. How lucky was she?

They held each other for a long time. They didn't want to be anywhere else; they were content. They were going to be just fine.

An alarm went off on Freddie's phone. They broke their hug as Freddie reached over to shut it off.

"Do you have to go?" Sam moaned as she grabbed Freddie's hand and began to swing it.

"Soon," he replied as he walked with Sam back into the living room. They sat back down on the couch.

"Sam," he said softly to her as they got seated, "another reason I didn't want to do it earlier was because I'm ashamed of my body."

Sam laughed, "What are you talking about?"

"I guess I wanted to look more like those guys in those magazines," he smiled. Then they both began to laugh.

"Oh, Freddie," she giggled, "only my dork would think about something like that." She messed with his hair.

He reached down and tickled under her armpit. She squealed. "This is why I go to the gym," he smiled as he continued to try to tickle her, "by the time I'm eighteen, I want to have a six pack…"

"You mean down here," she giggled as she grabbed at his abdomen to tickle. He squirmed in his seat laughing. He grabbed for her hands. They wrestled around for a second until they moved away from each other's advances. They were both sitting as far away from each other on the couch as possible. They were both grinning at each other.

"I guess I would like to be a little more developed too," Sam said self-consciously.

"Oh, yeah," Freddie smirked, nodding at her, "senior prom will probably be when you and I will be fully developed. It's a date."

"Yes," she thought loudly, "and who will be the guy that'll take me to the prom?" She teased.

Freddie smirked back, "It'll have to be a tech nerd, I'm sure."

Sam nodded. She scratched her chin, "You're right…I wonder if Jeremy will want to go with me?" She wondered with a big smirk on her face.

"He'll be busy…" Freddie replied back grinning. He had a twinkle in his eye as he prowled his way across the couch to where his girl was sitting, "…and I'll be busy with one Sam Puckett!"

He pounced on her and locked his lips with hers. She was giggling the whole time as she laughed at his goofiness. He jumped up suddenly, and said, "Okay my dear lady, it is time for me to depart!"

Sam rolled her eyes at him, and got off the couch. They walked into the dining room as Freddie got his book bag together. Sam handed him his jacket, and they walked together to the front door.

"So, we're cool right?" Freddie said softly as he was about ready to open the door.

"Yeah, we're cool," Sam replied as she stood beside him at the door.

Freddie took Sam's right hand with his left, "I meant everything I said," he said gently, "I love what we have right now. I wouldn't want to lose that for anything. I certainly don't ever want to lose you. I'd be lost without you now, Sam."

Sam brought Freddie's hand to her lips and kissed it. She brought it back down, "I don't want to lose you either Freddie. I guess I just get a warped sense of what I think love is from my mom. I know now that you will love for who I am, and not for what I do."

Freddie smiled. He opened the door and looked out into the night. He turned back to face Sam, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Call me later before you go to bed," she replied shivering a little as the cold air was seeping in from outside.

He bent down and softly kissed her lips. She grabbed his neck to deepen the kiss. He finally released her and began to walk out, "I love you Sam," he smiled.

"Good night Freddie," she smiled back, "I love you too."

Author' Note: I hope this chapter wasn't too much. They are making great strides in their first few days as a couple to really understand one another.

Now I propose a challenge to you the viewer for the first time. I got a lot of reviews about the Carly/Danny relationship yesterday. I don't discuss the relationship much until the end of the story. I want your thoughts as to rather I should keep them together, or have them break up. It appears either way that I'm going to have to work on the final chapter a little anyway, but I want your comments on what I should do. Please review!