The alarm clock's dull beeping noise woke Freddie up at 10:30 A.M like it did every Saturday; he rolled out of bed and yawned. He headed to the bathroom across the hall and turned on the sink, the cold water making a familiar sound as it poured out of the faucet, and he cupped his hands to collect some. He brought the collected water up to his face and splashed himself to wake himself up.
The water to the face was a jolt to his senses and his eyes opened all the way, he was awake now, and sighed. He'd stayed up half the night thinking of different ways the plan he and Carly Puckett had come up with yesterday afternoon. Would his mom be mad? Would Carly's mom be mad and not allow them to be friends? Would it all work out? His mind had been like a tornado of ideas until about 3:30 A.M.
Going back to his room he dressed in a Nirvana T-shirt and jeans, remembering to grab his phone to text Carly, before heading downstairs for breakfast. His mom was already downstairs cooking breakfast "Morning sleepyhead" she teased as she looked up at him. "Did you sleep well?" she asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah Mom, slept great" he said with a smile as he sat at the table "what's for breakfast?" he asked curiously.
"French Toast, Bacon, and Eggs" she said as she went back to her cooking, she usually made them a nice breakfast on Saturday because it was the only day both of them didn't have work or school.
"So Mom" he said slowly, trying to keep the nervousness out his voice, "Can we go to the mall today?"
Without looking up she nodded "I need to look at the pear store anyway" she said, "I need a new car charger."
Freddie grinned and pulled out his phone, sending a text to Carly Mom says it's okay, what time do you want to meet? and hit send. He had set his phone on vibrate so his mom wouldn't get suspicious and ask who it was, he hated lying to his mother, and he picked it up the second it vibrated Meet us at 3 in front of the Pear store. Freddie grinned, that was convenient, replied back with a simple K and put his phone in his pocket.
He looked up just as his Mom put a plate with two pieces of French Toast, two pieces of Bacon and two eggs in front of him "thanks Mom, it looks and" he paused as the aroma of the food hit him. "and smells amazing."
She nodded and set her own plate down "I think I've out done myself this time" she teased as she began to eat. He loved his mother's food, she was a really good cook, but whenever he told her she should have became a chef she just told him she wasn't cut out for it and she loved her current job.
After breakfast they watched a little TV and then talked about their weeks, the usual routine on a Saturday, and finally at Noon she began fixing lunch, usually Kurt would drop by and hang out with them but he was still out of town until tomorrow so it was just Freddie and his Mom.
Lunch consisted of bologna sandwiches and then it was off to the mall. They got there about 1:30 and Freddie dragged her to the comic book store, the video game store, then the movie store hoping to stall for time. Glancing at his phone he noticed it was 2:59 so he looked up at his mother "Want to go to the Pear Store now?" he asked.
Carly looked down at him, obviously tired from walking all over the mall, and nodded "Yeah, let's go" she said and pretended not to notice him pulling out his phone and texting someone. She couldn't help but be curious about whom he was texting, Kurt maybe, but she figured if it was important he'd tell her. She kept her eye on him, noticing he looked nervous as they approached the pear store and she knew something was up, he only looked nervous when he was planning something.
She stopped as she realized what it was, and he looked up as he noticed she had stopped and took a nervous breath, because standing in front of the store was Sam and her daughter Carly. Carly Shay looked down at her son and frowned, realizing she had been set up.
She walked slowly over to Sam and cleared her throat, smiling nervously as Sam turned around and looked at her, the surprise and caution evident in her eyes. They just stood there for a moment, both had known each other long enough that they didn't need to say a word to each other; Sam could read the look in Carly's eyes. Finally Carly spoke and sighed "Freddie, why don't you and your new friend go play" she said, "Sam and I have a lot to talk about" she said softly, her careful to leave her voice emotionless.
Freddie nodded to his Mom then glanced at Carly and motioned for her to follow. She opened her mouth to protest but he glared at her and she sighed, following him. "What do you think they're talking about ?" Carly asked after they were out of ear shot.
Freddie looked back and shrugged "They haven't seen each other in years" he said, "So they have a lot to catch up, and I'm sure there's an awkwardness there."
"Why would it be awkward?" she asked, "They were best friends..." she trailed off as a light went off in her head "Were being the keyword here" she said.
Freddie nodded "What do you say to a best friend whom you haven't seen in over thirteen years?" he asked.
Carly could only reply with a slow nod as they walked "you're right" she said, looking back up at him and smiling softly "You're pretty smart" she said, her smile turning playful.
"Thanks" he said with a grin, "You're pretty smart yourself" he said, the comic book store catching his eye just in time to miss her face go a soft shade of pink.
"Thanks" she whispered with a soft sigh as she followed him into the comic book store, "But do we have to stay here?" she asked "This is like... Nerd central"
He smirked "These are my people" he said, raising his arms and pointing around him. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, walking over to a row of comics and pretended to be interested while Freddie went to check on the Galaxy Wars section.
While Freddie and Carly were in the comic shop Sam was sitting there, looking at her old friend with a mix of curiosity, anger, and Carly could swear there was a bit of fear in her old friend's eyes. The idea of Sam Puckett looking afraid baffled Carly, all her life Sam had been the brave on.
"Listen.." Carly began but Sam held up her hand to interrupt her.
"No, I know what you're going to say and... I'm sorry" Sam began, "I knew you would have mixed emotions about seeing me again after all these years" she paused for a moment, obviously thinking of what to say next, "I spring all that on you too soon" she said with a soft sigh "I do miss you Carls" she said.
Carly smiled softly, a tear appearing in her eye "Sam I was going to tell you that I've been thinking" she paused to take a breath before continuing, "I miss you Sam.. You've come back into my life and now it seems everything that I'd thought was behind me is coming back and... I could use my best friend" she said.
Sam smiled softly and hugged her friend "You know I'll always be there for you Carls."
Carly closed her eyes and for the first time in what seemed a year her mind was at ease "Thank you" she whispered as she pulled away "It feels like a burden's been removed from my shoulders"
Sam smiled and shook her head "Same here, Life has been... Different since I left, I swear for the first few months all I did was watch old episodes of iCarly and sulk."
"Did you see our final episode, a tribute to iCarly, we did just after you left?" Carly asked, "That was an emotional moment for me"
Sam smiled "I could tell, I was happy you and Freddie finally got together, when we were together all he did was talk about you, and look out for you.. I knew it would never work out in the end."
Carly smiled softly and looked down, the mention of Freddie Sr. brought up a swirl of emotions. Sam put an arm around her friends shoulders and frowned "I'm sorry I didn't..." she trailed off as Carly shook her head.
"I just... I miss him so much, and I can't help but play that moment over in my head, wonder if there was anything I could have done to keep him alive"
Sam shook her head "There was nothing you could have done" she said softly, "Spencer told me the entire story."
Carly looked up at that "When did Spencer see you?" she asked curiously.
"I came back for the funeral, but I missed the actual funeral, so I made the viewing... I wanted to desperately to come talk to you but I couldn't" Sam sighed and put her hands in her lap, "So I gave Spencer a way to contact me and made him swear not to tell you."
Carly didn't say anything at first "Okay.. That's in the past, So..." she trailed off, she had told Sam it was in the past but she resolved to talk to Spencer about him being in contact with Sam all these years. She looked at her phone and sighed "It's almost 4 now" she said as she put her phone into her pocket. "I have to go get dinner ready" she said, "Do you wanna come over for dinner?" she asked "Give us a better chance to catch up"
Sam shook her head "Nah.. I think we need to catch up a little more before we're coming over to each other's houses" she said.
Carly nodded and looked surprised "Since when were you the sensible one?" she asked.
Sam shrugged "I've grown up Carls, I'm not the little demon I was., well at least not totally" she said with a smirk, "I still fight as well as I ever did"
Carly got up and yawned a bit "how about we meet at Starbucks tomorrow for Coffee? Exchange stories, catch up... You know"
Sam nodded "That sounds like a good idea" she said, "Do we bring the kids?"
Carly sighed "Um, I've left Freddie alone before so... I think he'll be alright if I go out for Coffee, or he can go to Spencer's."
"You named him Freddie?" she asked, a look of understanding on her face, "I think he would have liked that... My daughter's name is Carly"
Carly smiled "That's ironic really" she said "you realize we were set up right?"
Sam nodded "Of course, it wasn't chance we were both at the mall, going to the pear store." she said softly "Every Freddie Benson needs his Carly" she said dryly.
Carly blushed softly and shook her head "Don't even start, they're only thirteen too young for that"
"He was eleven when he started chasing you" Sam reminded her.
"I know... And look what happened" she retorted
Sam sighed "point taken, now let's go find our kids, shall we?"
Carly nodded and looked around "I'll check the video game and movie store, you check the comic book store."
Sam rolled her eyes "Nerd central" she complained.
"Freddie's just like his Dad" she said, a certain amount of pride entering her voice before she headed to the comic store to see if her son and Sam's daughter were there.
Freddie Jr. looked over at Carly and smiled as they browsed the movie store, they'd skipped the video game store because he couldn't afford anything in there, and walked over to her "What's that?" he asked.
"Oh some show, Girly Cow or something, my Mom used to talk about it" she said, "I was considering buying it to watch it"
Freddie shrugged "If you got the money for it what's the harm in it?"
Carly nodded "Point taken" she said walking up to the desk to check out. Freddie watched her for a moment before looking at his watch, knowing his mother would want to fix dinner soon followed Carly up to the counter.
Carly looked back and smirked "What's wrong? Miss me too much?" she asked playfully.
Freddie rolled his eyes, but he was smiling, and didn't say anything. Carly's smirk turned to a warm smile and she looked away as her face again turned pink, though a brighter shade of pink, as she realized he hadn't said no.
Finally he heard his name being called and he looked up as his mother waved him to him. "Hey Carly, come on" he said, nudging her gently, and walked towards his mother "Dinner time?" he asked curiously "I'm starving"
"Yeah, do you wanna eat out or go home and I can fix dinner?" she asked Freddie.
"Um.. go out and eat, I want a hamburger" he said "with extra Ketchup." Both Carly's looked disgusted at the idea but before they could say anything he spoke up "Can Carly come eat with us Mom?"
Carly looked at him for a moment, obviously surprised at the question, before looking at the younger Carly "If her Mom says it's okay then she can."
Freddie and the younger Carly shared a look that the older Carly remembered all too well and she shook her head, wondering if Sam had been right. "C'mon love birds" she said, smirking as they both looked away in embarrassment.
They found Sam by the comic book store, obviously waiting for them, and she smiled "I see you found em" she said.
The older Carly nodded "They were at the movie store" she said.
"I found that show you were talking about Mom" The younger Carly said to Sam, "Girly Cow." Sam looked at it and grinned, looking like a child for a moment, while the older Carly rolled her eyes.
"Anyway" the older Carly began, "Would it be okay if Carly had dinner with us?" she asked. "Freddie seems to be rather attached to his new friend" her tone went from normal to amused as she glanced at the two teenagers.
Sam nodded knowingly "of course um.. Carly you'll tell them how to get to our house?" she asked.
The younger Carly nodded "of course" she said, "I've gone with friends before" she reminded her mother.
Sam raised her hands in surrender and shook her head "Well, then I guess I'll see you guys later, it was nice meeting you Freddie.. See you Carls" she said, looking at the older Carly.
"I'll see you tomorrow Sam" she said softly with a smile.
The two Carly's and Freddie headed to her car and Freddie glanced at the younger Carly "I wonder what our Mom's are doing tomorrow" he mouthed.
Carly glanced at him and shrugged in response. For dinner they decided on McDonald's and Carly got the Chicken nugget while Freddie and the younger Carly got cheeseburgers. "I love meat" the younger Carly muttered loud enough for the older Carly to hear.
"Just like your Mom" the older Carly teased and smiled softly. Freddie glanced at his Mom and Carly and shook his head. "What?" his Mom asked, sounding amused "Trust me, I know Sam and you are just like her" Carly said, looking at the younger Carly.
They ate mostly in silence after that, the younger Carly and Freddie chatted about school and homework assignments they had due on Monday while the older Carly pretended not to listen. After they all finished the older Carly ushered them to the car and stopped at Freezie Queen for Ice Cream. As they drove she turned back to look at the younger Carly and smiled "So where do you live?" she asked.
"Oh right!" the younger Carly said as she finished her choclate ice cream cone, "Take a right here" she instructed. It took about 15 minutes to get to Sam's house, the clock read 6:00 when they finally pulled up to the house and Freddie glanced at Carly "See you tomorrow?"
As the younger Carly climbed out of the car she nodded "Maybe, text me" she said as she headed into her house.
Once they were alone his Mom looked up at her "I think she likes you" she teased.
Freddie squirmed in his seat "Mom!" he said.
Carly let out a small giggle as she teased her son "I'm just teasing, how about we go home and watch a movie or two, have some popcorn.. Then I'm going to bed, today has been exhausting"
Freddie nodded "Sounds good" he said excitedly, he still loved spending time with his Mom even though he was entering his teens.
As Carly drove she tapped her thumbs on the wheel nervously, dreading and looking forward to tomorrow "Please let it go okay" she muttered as they headed home
Note: Thanks as always to dg31 for beta reading this and correcting my errors. Thanks to MixItUp, Cutesy Bunny, Cajunhost, bellaculen445. And SirRay for leaving me reviews. As always I don't own anything in this story, etc. Please leave me more reviews!