A/N: Sorry this took so long, you all. I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me, so I broke it off with him and that was hard. Now my best friend is pregnant, which is worrisome because she A) has medical issues and B) we're only 17. So yeah, my life has been pretty busy. But I tried to make this extra long for you to make up for it.

Sometimes Sam hated being a Puckett. Sure, the blonde hair and pretty blue eyes were nice. Even the famous Puckett temper came in handy every once in a while. But the one thing that Sam inherited from her mother that she hated was the Puckett insecurity.

It had been three days since the pool incident. After the embarrassing stint discussing Freddie's manly parts, Gibby and Brad had decided to initiate a game of water football. The gang's version of water football was different than usual water football, the major change being that one member of the group was elected to be the 'football'. It was usually always Carly, because she was too weak to pick up any of the other players except Sam, and the only reason she could lift Sam was that Sam weighed notably less in water. That day, though, they had all decided to mix it up a bit. Spencer was nominated to be the football, which made things considerably more difficult. Spencer was a very fidgety football, always wriggling around in everybody's grasp and flailing wildly against the water, causing giant waves to splash against the face of whoever was holding him. The only person who was effectively able to control Spencer's childish antics was Gibby, and that was because Gibby was built like a linebacker.

After the rowdy game of water football, the gang had returned to the Shay apartment completely knackered. (A/N: I LOVE that word. Knackered. It gets me going lol). Brad and Gibby left as soon as Carly complained that her hair felt all chlorine-y and she was going to was also Spencer's cue to bow out, and he left to go play more video games with his boys.

As Carly was running upstairs to her shower, she shouted down at Sam and Freddie to go to the convenience store across the street from Bushwell and pick up some more microwave popcorn, because Sam had depleted their stock the previous day.

The walk to the convenience store was fine.

Buying the popcorn was fine.

It was the walk back to Bushwell that gave Sam some issues.

Sam knew that Griffin, Carly's creepy ex, had finally moved on and was with a new girl, some fiery redheaded ho-girl named Kelsey. Kelsey was a fangirl type of girl, the girl that you could clearly imagine having a full-size poster of Taylor Lautner on her bedroom wall that she kissed before going to sleep each night. Sam also knew that Kelsey was also the type of girl that wasn't always faithful to the men she dated, and was therefore unsurprised when, on the walk back to the Bushwell, she saw Kelsey's eyes appreciatively rake over Freddie's body.

Sam clenched Freddie's hand a little too forcefully in her effort to make Kelsey notice that Freddie was not available for her lecherous claws to sink into, and Sam saw Freddie wince from pain out of the corner of her eye. She rubbed her thumb over the back of Freddie's hand in apology.

These simple yet tender actions were not lost on Kelsey. The loose redhead backed off somewhat, but not enough for Sam's liking.

Like one of those sappy couples in a foreign romance movie, Sam wrapped her arm around Freddie's bicep and leaned into his side, sighing softly and putting a small smile on her face.

It was then that Kelsey spoke.

"Hey, you two. You guys are Sam and Freddie from iCarly, right? Griffin just loves you guys' show." Sam took note of the little marker of defeat in Kelsey's eyes, now confident that her relationship was not under pressure from Griffin's girlfriend. She knew that Freddie was unwaveringly faithful and would never do anything to hurt her, but Sam felt that Kelsey wasn't worth the jail time if she put her hands on Freddie.

"Yeah, that's us. Thanks, we love when fans come up to us. It's really rewarding to know that people appreciate our hard work." Freddie had noticed the somewhat hostile exchange between his Sam and the other girl whose name he didn't know. He saw the way the red-haired girl looked at him like he was something to eat. He felt Sam possesively grab his hand (painfully, too) and then lean against him like an old movie couple. Then he saw the other girl back off, of that he was grateful. Freddie loved Sam, and didn't appreciate any other girl trying to infringe on that happiness.

Freddie squeezed Sam's hand in what he hoped was a reassuring way, and watched the other girl dejectedly walk away.

"Sam, what was that about?"

"What do you mean, Benson?"

"Sam...you know what I mean. As soon as that chick came up to us, you started holding on to me."

Sam at least had the decency to look abashed. "She's just...I don't like her. Her name is Kelsey and she's Griffin's new girlfriend and she's not the nicest or most faithful person. Everyone knows that Kelsey will try to steal someone's boyfriend in a second if they aren't careful."

Freddie was slightly surprised. Was Sam really worried that he would leave her, especially for someone like that Kelsey girl? She had to know by now how Freddie felt about her.

But then...Sam was a Puckett. And it's not like Pam provided any sense of emotional stability for Sam when she was growing up. So for Sam to be even the slightest bit insecure over her relationship with him, or unsure of his feelings for her, it had to be expected.

"Sam, some girl is NOT going to come between us. I promise. I love you, you know that."

Sam smiled haltingly, still not sold.

Freddie sighed, slightly exasperated. How could he prove to his silly, beautiful, precious girlfriend that he wouldn't trade her for the most beautiful supermodel in the world?

The duo crossed the street and walked into the lobby of the Bushwell, ignoring Lewbert's hysterical screams. Deciding the stairs would be too jostling for the sodas they had also acquired (and also having been hit by a sudden burst of inspiration), Freddie pulled Sam towards the elevator.

The two laughed when Lewbert tried to unsuccessfully force them from entering the elevator. The thirty-something year old man had sprawled himself across the elvator doors, then fell on his back when the door has opened due to the pressure. Sam merely grabbed him by the ankles and dragged the unconscious man behind his desk.

Freddie smirked and held open the elevator doors for his girlfriend, who was nearly doubled over laughing at the sight of Lewbert's body laying spread-eagled on the floor.

"This nub is such a lightweight! I mean really, all he did was fall backwards. He didn't even hit the ground that hard, and yet he's totally knocked out! I can see why his only girlfriend was that psycho Marta." Sam skipped into the elevator, still chuckling. But behind the mask of humor, Freddie could just barely detect the smothered signs of needing to be accepted, wanting to be loved.

It nearly killed him.

Freddie took the bags that were in his hands and set them on the floor in the corner of the elevator. Sam looked at him, not even bothering to hide the curiosity in her expression.

"Sam, look. For some reason., you let that Kelsey chick get to you. I don't know why, because quite honestly, it's going to take a lot more than some glorified Barbie doll to get me away from you. Sorry to tell you this, but for the time being you're kind of stuck with me."

Sam broke out in an exultant grin and took the three steps to cross the close confines of the elevator and hug her boyfriend. Somehow, he seemed to know exactly what she needed to hear, and knew that he hadn't been lying, either. Sam, however, wasn't content with merely a hug. Because nearly all of their time was spent in the company of Spencer, Carly, Gibby, Brad, or a combination of the four, solitary moments with Freddie were few and far between.

Not breaking the hug, Sam gently pushed Freddie against the walls of the elevator and pushed the emergency stop button.

"Uh, Sam? What's going on?"

"Freddie, I've missed you." She laughed quietly at the adorable expression of confusion on Freddie's face.

"But Sam, we've seen each other nearly every day since school let out."

"That's not what I meant."

Before Freddie could open his mouth for further questions, Sam pressed her lips on his.

Apparently Freddie had missed her too, because he caught up to her mood in less than a second. One of his hands wound itself in the curls at the base of Sam's neck, the other wrapped around her waist. Both of Sam's arms intertwined up over his shoulders, pulling herself closer to him.

In a flash of speed that Sam didn't know Freddie was capable of, their positions were reversed. Sam was now the one breathlessly pinned against the tan walls of the elevator and Freddie was holding her up several inches off the ground with his hands on her hips, making it easier for him to kiss her without getting a neck ache later. Sam used her hands to curl Freddie's dark brown hair around her fingers and bring his face back to hers.

It took them several minutes to make it back up to Carly's apartment.

DannySamLover20, ccQTccQT, iMaximumSeddie, lovelovelove898, Geekquality: Aww, thanks! :)

Arocksprpl2: Right? I can just see her hankering down on the couch, settling in for a marathon of watching people going crazy over saving massive amounts of money while buying in humorously large amounts of bulk.

SeddieSpaghetti: I totally get what you mean by it being too perfect. There will be more water romance, I promise. But every relationship has trials and tribulations, so don't worry, those'll be in here too. And I absolutely adore how random your reviews are, they're like my brain.

Kind of disappointed by how little reviews I got, but oh well.

Please review.