"Dude, you take like forever to get ready."
"Relax, Sam, it's not like anyone is awaiting us at Julian's party." Carly said and pulled up her tights, giving her a stern look.
"Erm, hello?! We're waiting, right out here!" Brad could be heard from outside the door.
Carly huffed and opened the door for the boys. "Yeah, yeah, you can come back in."
Freddie, Brad and Gibby grumbled something and went over to the couch.
Carly sat down on her desk and started applying her make-up.
Sam groaned and rolled over on Carly's bed.
She wore a black t-shirt and a red high-waisted skirt with a tiny black belt, black heels that Carly made her wear and burning red lips. Yes, cheering and having other girly friends made her girlier in her dressup, too. If only by a bit. She looked gorgeous, all three boys couldn't deny that.
Carly wore a glittery, dark blue, tight dress and another pair of black heels.
"Carly we know you take this serious, but... well it's not like Shane is going to be there all night." Freddie said, trying to reason with his brunette friend.
She shot him a look. "I have to look perfect, Freddie, perfect, you understand that?"
He opened his mouth but didn't say a thing. Carly threw her hands in the air.
"Of course not, you're a boy!"
Brad growled and Sam slapped her hand onto her forehead.
That was so Carly. Freddie should know by now that it wasn't a good idea to question Carly's handling with boys.
"Okay." She said after fifteen additional minutes in which her friends were lounging half asleep in her room. "I'm ready, let's go, I gotta impress someone special tonight."
Sam rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Naah, I don't wanna."
Brad and Freddie were slowly standing up, stretching, Gibby was drooling on the couch, he had already fallen asleep.
"Aww, look what you did to your couch by taking so long!" Freddie said and pointed to Gibby.
Carly made a disgusted face and went over to slap Gibby awake with her purse.
"Ew! Gibby! Wake! Up! Now!"
Gibby bolted awake and looked around furiously, awaiting Sam to torture him.
Brad chuckled. He thought it was highly amusing how sweet, innocent little Carly Shay was turning into violent-Sam-mode when it was about boys. Unfortunately, this was not about him.
"Sam, come on now, we're leaving." Carly reminded the lazy blonde.
"Naah, just go without me, I lost interest." Sam retorted.
Carly looked to Freddie with a demanding and pleasing look. The brunette boy sighed.
"I'll get her." He said, walking over to her.
"No, Benson, what are you doing? Bensooon!" Sam screeched as Freddie simply picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She hated that he was a stong football player now.
"Benson! Put me down! If someone can look up my skirt, I will kill you and only you, you heard me?!" She yelled.
Freddie pulled her skirt a little more towards her knees.
"No worries, Puckett. I'll watch out for you demonic butt."
She growled and hit his shoulder once more.
Brad, Gibby and Carly laughed and followed their bickering friends down the stairs.
Spencer awaited them in the living room. It was their own little tradition to take a picture whenever they would leave for a party.
"Let me dooooown!" Sam yelled and pounded onto Freddie's back again. He winced at her loud voice in his ear.
Spencer didn't hesitate and took a quick photo of the little parade that was coming down the stairs and grinned at them.
"You ready?"
Carly nodded at him and Freddie put Sam down next to him.
She punched his chest, hard and Freddie winced.
"I hate you!" She growled and glared at him.
Freddie rubbed the spot where Sam had hit him. "Yeah, yeah. Now make a smily face."
"The girls between the guys!" Spencer commanded and Sam hurried to Freddie's other side to stand beside him and Brad.
The boys put their arms around them, Brad and Freddie towering over Sam to both sides. They smiled a few seconds while Spencer took photos, some nice and smiling, some goofy.
"Can we go now?" Sam groaned after what felt like the hundredth set of flashlights.
"Yes, the cab should be here, too." Carly smiled and hopped to the door.
"Bye, Spencer!" She chirped and waved to her brother.
"Bye Carly, behave yourself!"
"Yeah, yeah!" She vanished through the door.
Sam groaned and followed after her. "Bye Spence."
Spencer's brows furrowed and he looked worriedly at the boys that were left in his living room.
"You will look after them, won't you?" He asked earnestly.
Freddie patted him on the back.
"We will, Spence, no worries."
"Yeah, we'll look after them and bring them back safe." Brad assured.
"Good. Have fun, guys."
The three boys waved and called their goodbyes to him.
Sam stretched and yawned. She was still lying on the bench under Carly's window in her room. She looked at the clock on the brunette's bedside table. 11:29 AM.
Sam scratched her head and got up, sneaking out of the room quietly, only led by the snoring sounds of her friends.
She walked down the stairs only to hear Carly's door close once again. Sam turned and saw Gibby walk down the stairs behind her, his hair badly messed up.
"Morning." He said.
"Morning, Gib." Sam replied and continued to walk down the stairs.
"Hey, you're up early." Spencer greeted them. "How was the party?"
Sam and Gibby sat at the counter, while Spencer put two cups in front of them.
"Coffee?" He asked, the two seventeen year olds nodded.
"Awesome." Gibby said.
"Until Carly caught Shane kissing another girl." Sam added.
"Oooh." Spencer inhaled sharply.
"Oh yes." Sam sipped her coffee.
"She drank two shots and it was over." Gibby said.
"Over?" Spencer asked, sounding worried.
"You know how well Carly takes alcohol." The blonde answered from behind her cup.
"Yeaaah, I do..." Spencer said, obviously remembering the first time that Carly had gotten drunk. After going to a cocktailbar with Sam, Freddie and himself. She had only drunk two cocktails and was totally over the top.
Spencer shuddered.
"What about Freddie and Brad?" He asked instead.
Sam snorted into her beverage.
"Ohh... you know... those football players... People like them... They like to drink with them on the last game..." Gibby stumbled, trying to cover up for his friends.
"They were so drunk we had to almost carry them."
"Thanks, Sam." Gibby said sarcastically. She stuck her tongue out at him.
Spencer grinned. "Oh kids... Don't worry, I won't tell their Moms."
"Yeah, well... You got anything to make some waffles?" Sam asked and stretched again.
"Nah, but I can run to the grocery-store... They won't be up for a while, right?" Spencer said.
"Definitely not."
"We came home at 5:30 AM."
"Okay, probably not." Spencer agreed and shook his head again at his little sister and her friends.
"I'll be off then, see you guys later!" He chirped and left the apartment.
"You wanna watch some girly cow?" Sam asked as she walked towards the couch.
Gibby shrugged and followed ensuite. "Sure."
Three hours later Sam put three mugs and a thermos jug of steaming hot coffee on a tray.
"I'll wake them up, can you handle the waffles, Gib?" She asked and turned towards the boy with the rose apron in the kitchen.
"Sure."
"And don't let Spencer near that, he'll just make it burst into flames."
"I HEARD THAT!" Came Spencer's voice from the couch.
"Yeah, yeah." Sam waved him off and started making her way up the stairs.
Sam tip toed towards Carly's door, opening it quietly and walking through. She turned on Carly's light only the slightest bit to wake her friends as gentle as possible.
"Caaarlyyyy..." She whispered in a melodic voice. It had gotten their tradition, too, that the one who hadn't drunk the night before and was up first would wake the other gently. The waffles... well, they were a little extra because Sam was in a good mood and she wanted waffles.
"Carly, wake uuuup! I've got coffee!" Carly groaned and turned in her bed.
Sam set Carly's mug onto her bedside table and walked over to Freddie and Brad.
"Braaaad. Hey, Braaad! Fudge-boy, wake up!" She shook the boy lying on the floor with one foot up on the ice-sandwich-couch slightly. "I've got coffee."
Brad shot up almost immediately.
"I'm up, I'm up, where's my coffee?!" He was still half asleep, but the smell of coffee was to him, what the smell of bacon in the morning was to her.
Sam chuckled at him. "I'll set it on the couch table."
"Benson!" Eventually she stepped over to the couch table, set the tray down and turned around to wake the boy lying on the couch, still sound asleep.
"Bensoooon! Wake up!" She poked his face with her finger. He only slapped her hand away.
"Nub, come on, wake up!" She shook him gently, but he just turned on his back.
Brad had sat up by now and taken his coffee, chuckling at her attempts to wake the school's quarterback up. Then he frowned when his murder headache hit him.
"Suits you right, boy. You were so drunk you would've made out with that weird hair-bow-girl."
"What? Really?!" Brad shuddered.
Sam nodded and gave him "the look".
"You called her 'Carly'. Maybe you should watch out what you say, even when you're drunk, if you don't want her to find out."
Brad gulped. "Yeah... Thanks."
Sam nodded and turned to look at Freddie. She frowned.
"Benson, wake up or I'll make you!" She said in a normal voice that sounded like thunder to Brad's ears.
"Go away, Sam." Freddie mumbled and slapped his arm over his face.
"You will stand up or I will sit on you." The blonde threatened.
All she got was grumbling.
Sam shrugged, turned and simply sat on Freddie's stomach with full force.
A yell and an escaping breath could be heard from the boy as he shot up in shock with Sam sliding into his lap.
"Morning." She grinned at him.
"What the hell did you do that for?!" He yelled, but before Sam could answer a groan could be heard from Carly's bed and a pillow hit Freddie right in the face.
Sam and Brad almost toppled over from laughing.
"Nice hit, Shay." Sam gasped for air.
"Yeah, thanks for waking me so gently, you two." Freddie grumbled as he took his cup of coffee from Brad who was still sitting on the floor, shaking violently.
Sam, who was still sitting in Freddie's lap turned back towards him.
"Hey, I was trying to wake you all genlty, but you were sleeping like a dead man!"
He gave her a look over his cup.
"Ask Brad! He's my witness!"
"She really tried, dude." Brad grinned at him and Freddie sighed.
"Fine."
"What do you say to nice people who serve you coffee?" Sam raised her eyebrow at him.
Freddie groaned. He had just woken up and there Sam was, sitting in his lap, making his life miserable already. Hold on a second... Sitting in his lap?! ... Oh whatever. He had coffee.
"Thank you, Sam." He said and she grinned even more.
Sam slowly got up and walked over to Carly.
The brunette had sat up and was sipping her coffee quietly.
"You want some aspirin?" Sam asked, brushing some of Carly's hair out of her face.
"Yes, please." She croaked.
Sam nodded and turned to get some.
"You boys want some, too?"
Brad and Freddie nodded. "Please."
Sam smirked. She liked to be thanked.
She returned only two minutes later and tossed each of them their aspirin.
"Go and take a shower, Spencer's sharing his. Gibby's making waffles for us, so hurry up, Momma's hungry." Sam announced and left the room.
Sam was just setting the kitchentable as she heard a scoff behind her. She turned and saw no other than Fredward Benson standing in the living room. Shirtless. And watching her. Well, she had to admit that playing quarterback had him gain a great body. He had muscles on his arms and chest and even a sixpack.
"Like what you see, Puckett?" He grinned at her, toweling his hair dry.
"Tss. You wish. Now go put a shirt on, before I do it for you." Sam replied smoothly.
"Why? Your eyes say you like it just the way it is right now." He grinned at her.
"Oh well," She said walking over towards him and stopping a few steps away.
"Your body isn't too bad." She said smiling at him.
Freddie grinned contentedly, then Sam's smile vanished and a mean smirk appeared.
"If only your face wasn't on top of it."
Freddie's grin disappeared and he grimaced at her.
At that moment Brad stepped out behind him, a towel over his shoulder, as well, no shirt on.
"See," Sam motioned towards him, "Brad here looks much better, because he has a hot body and hasn't got your face over it, Benson."
Brad walked past Freddie and chuckled at them.
"Good one, honey pie." He told Sam and high fived her. Sam and Brad had been cooking together in and out of home economics class for the past year and had developed nicknames for each other. As always, Brad made awesome fudge, so he was Sam's fudge-boy. As they all came to know since Carly's last birthday, Sam was an amazing confectioner and therefore became Brad's honey pie. Actually, her honey pie was what he liked best.
Brad held Sam's hand a little longer and kissed the top of her head.
"And thanks for making breakfast." He mumbled and left for the kitchen.
Sam smiled and looked after him for a brief second, before she turned back to Freddie.
His frown was deeper than before, Sam wondered, was he really angry with her?
She stepped over to him and took his hand and tugged at it, smiling slightly up at him.
"Come on, you know I didn't mean it that way. Let's go get you some breakfast, 'kay? The world will be brighter after you ate, I promise." She squeezed his hand and he squeezed back after a moment, his face brighter than before.
Sam lead Freddie towards the kitchen were they sat side by side with Brad and Gibby.
Carly came down a few seconds later, throwing the boys shirts they had installed in her cupboard several days before and sat down with them.