So, yeah. It's about 11:30 at night right now and I figure that I should probably write. I'm not even going to lie, people. I seriously lost my mojo there for a little while. But today I saw a few episodes of iCarly and got it back. Hence, me writing.

Guys, this is Chapter 20. Let it be known that I have NEVER lasted this long on a fanfic before, and there's still a loooooooooong time to go before I'm done with iCHTA because I plan to follow this baby beyond their graduation and whatnot. :D

Things had calmed down since the promotional gig, as much as things could ever be calm in their respective lives. Mrs. Benson and Gunsmoke had returned, and Mrs. Benson was delightfully surprised to see everyone (including Sam) not in prison. Today was Independence Day, and everyone was doing their part to make that nights' iCarly the best ever. The city had cleared them for launching Bernie's special fireworks, they were broadcasting from the rooftop, and it seemed as if everything was going to go swimmingly.

"Carls?" Per usual, Sam and Carly were lounging around in her room. Carly was laying on her bed, toying with her PearPad. Sam had been fishing in Carly's coffee table until a question flew across her brain and once Sam got something into her head, it was pretty much guaranteed that it would be said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, shoot."

"Why did you pick those songs the other day? Well, not 'Girlfriend'. I know why you chose that one, you had a built-in routine and peppy songs like that are always crowd pleasers. But the other one, the one about being suddenly in the spotlight? Why that one?"

Carly placed her PearPad down on her bedside table and pulled herself up into a sitting position, clutching a pillow to her chest. "I'm not really sure. It's just, that song kind of stuck with me. It came up on my Pandora playlist one day when I was doing my homework and caught my attention. When she's singing about going from being nobody to being somebody, having all of her dreams suddenly coming true, it's kind of like the position we're in now. I know that this time next year I could put the fact that I'm in iCarly on a college application and it will really help me get into a great school, which is also something that can work for you. So when Mr. Reichner tols us to come up with a few performance options, that song was the first thing to come to mind."

"Oh." While Sam understood where Carly was coming from, she had unintentionally touched a sore subject.

College.

Sam had never thought of herself as someone who would further her education. Hell, most days it was her dream to get kicked out of class so she could take a nap in Principal Franklin's office. But this year, with Freddie and all, Sam started to realize that maybe she could do something awesome with her life. Melanie wasn't the only Puckett who could make something of herself. Sure, she would probably never do what Melanie was planninf to do and become a real estate agent with a nice but bland husband and two point five adorable kids in a house with a yard and a dog and a white picket fence, but she could still be successful. Carly and Freddie had opened her eyes to the possibility of becoming a kick-ass gourmet chef one day while they were all making spaghetti tacos. The idea was rather enticing. And Sam didn't really want to be left here alone with her mother while Carly and Freddie were off doing something with their lives...

"Well now I'm going to flip it back over to you: why did you do 'Sister Rosetta' and "Give Your Heart A Break'?" Carly queried, grinning in anticipation. "

"Kind of the same reasons you chose yours. 'Sister Rosetta' is just an amazing song and I love it. But 'Give Your Heart A Break' was my shout-out to Freddie, I guess. The parts where she wrote about not wanting to hurt him, that was for Freddie. The parts where it talked about never really wanting to be in love, but a dude changing that, that was for me. It's still hard to believe that the nub is mine, if you can understand me there."

"I think I can understand where you're coming from. But in all honesty, you two are perfect for each other, like Mario and Luigi."

"Did you just compare me and Benson to two Mexican/Japanese adventurer brothers?"

"...Maybe."

"Shay, you're messed up. Now come on, we've got to do the show in an hour and I know that you aren't going to let me go in front of that camera without being all pretty-fied since tonight is our special 4th of July webisode and all." Sam was right. Carly spent most of the hour making Sam look almost heartbreakingly beautiful. Her hair was curled to perfection, not that it usually needed it. Carly had forced her into a white eyelet lace halter sundress that stopped a few inches above the knee, paired with a pair of Carly's favored heels. Carly had worked some freaky girly magic with her eyes and now they were rimmed with a charcoal liner and shimmery brown eyeshadow, making the various shades of blue sparkle like the ocean on a sunny day.

It was all Sam could do to escape when Carly neared her with a bottle of bright purple nail polish and a pair of tights.

"No. Nuh-uh. Not a chance, Shay. It's way too hot out there for pantyhose, and you know that I'm only going to bite off my nails anyway, so what's the point in painting them?" Sam said, standing with her hands on her hips and glaring at the offending tools of beauty.

Carly sighed, defeated. "Fine. But just stay here for a sec, I need to go downstairs and get my straightener from Spencer. Can you get the back of my head? I can never reach this one spot."

"Wait, what? Why does Spencer have your straightener?"

"Because he's convinced that the girl at Skin Deep has a crush on him and he's scared that if he walks up to the register and buys a hair straightener, she's going to think that he doesn't play for her team. So he's been jacking mine."

Sam chuckled. "Only Spencer."

"Only Spencer." Carly agreed. She left the room, letting Freddie in on her way out.

Sam didn't see Freddie come in, but she sure as heck heard him when he dropped his phone on the floor once he caught sight of her.

Whatever Carly had done to her was magical. Her normally curly hair now had a bounce and shine that it usually lacked due to Sam's penchance for laziness in the shower. She had on this white dress that did wonders for the tan color of her skin and made her hair look like a golden halo.

But her eyes, her eyes were the most striking part. They peeked out from behind blonde strands of hair like two sapphire lighthouse beams, calling him home.

Only one thought resonated within Freddie's brain: Sam was beyond beautiful, and Freddie didn't deserve someone as fiery and amazing as her.

Sam watched as her boyfriend gave her a once-over and laughed, but her laughter died on her lips as she saw the awe in his eyes be replaced with apprehension, and then sad resignation.

"Nub? What's wrong? We have a show to do in less than ten minutes, this is no time for unhappy nerds." Instead of making him smirk or chuckle, like Sam's meaningless insults usually did, now they only deepened the wrinkle between his eyebrows.

Frowning, Sam nudged him into a sitting position on Carly's bed. She placed herself down sideways on Freddie's lap and hooked her arms around his neck, turning his head and forcing his eyes to meet hers. "Babe. Either tell me what's wrong or lose a few vital body parts."

Freddie sighed. "It's just...I don't know. I just feel sometimes that you and I don't make sense as a couple, because you're all beautiful and I'm an A/V nerd. We shouldn't even work, but we do. And I just feel confused some of the time, like I don't deserve you."

Instead of consoling him, like he had expected Sam to do, she burst out in giggles. The chuckles turned into body-shaking peals of laughter as Sam caught Freddie's bewildered expression, her jolting body causing her to slip off Freddie's laugh and fall to the floor. She jumped off the floor and catapulted herself back in Freddie's lap, peppering his face with kisses.

"You-insecure-idiot-how-many-times-do-I-have-to-tell-you-that-I-love-you?" berated Sam inbetween each kiss. "Now come on. We have a webshow to do in a few minutes and Carly can't do it all by herself. We're kind of important too, you know."

Freddie immediately halted in his tracks, which had previously been following his girlfriend out of Carly's room. "Sam?"

"What? Didn't you just hear me? We have to get going!"

"Sam, you just said I was important to the show." Freddie said, beaming.

"Huh. I guess I did."

"And you didn't give me a wedgie this time, either."

"Huh. Guess I didn't." Sam shrugged. Freddie closed the three-step distance between himand Sam and wrapped his arms around her in a bone-crushing bear hug. He thought he was in the clear and was about to pull away (but hey, who could blame him for wanting a longer-than-normal hug with a beautiful girl that was all his?) when he felt Sam's tiny but strong hands sneak just under his belt and yank his boxer briefs up to uncomfortable heights.

"Sam!"

"Keeping you on your toes, Benson. Someone has to remind you who wears the pants in this relationship."

Twenty-five minutes later, iCarly was in full swing. Carly and Gibby were introducing a game of What Am I Licking when the roof door opened and Spencer walked towards them, followed by two uniformed police officers. Spencer gestured for Sam to come over, seeing that the camera was occupied by Gibby licking a bundle of radishes.

"What's up, Spence? What's with the feds? I swear, I haven't done anything illegal in months."

"We know, Sam. This isn't about anything that you've done. Um, I don't know how to tell you this, but..."

"You are Miss Samantha Joy Puckett, daughter of Pamela Puckett?" Cop Number One asked.

"Yeah, that's me. Oh god, did my mom indecently expose herself again? I'm so sorry, dudes. If you just give me enough time to finish this webcast, I'll be down at the station with some coffe and a decent outfit for my mom-"

"Miss Puckett-"

"Sam. Don't call me Miss Puckett, I'm not a kindergarten teacher."

"Miss Puckett, your mother has been involved in an accident. She's in intensive care in Seattle Memorial Hospital."

Freddie barely made it to Sam in time to catch her body before she hit the ground.

To Geekquality, Arocksprl2, DannySamLover20, Daisy215: Thanks, guys. Supremely. Your reviews warm the cockles of my heart. :D

To renzooboi: Your review was...interesting. Not that I don't appreciate the effort, but I think something got lost in translation maybe? All I got was a bunch of letters and a repetitive sequence of 3s. I'm hoping that maybe the awesomeness of the chapter turned your brain to mush or something, that way I don't feel as silly for not being able to comprehend it...

To SeDdIeLuVeR13: Really? You packed this thing away in three hours? I'm simutaneously astonished and incredibly flattered that you would take three hours out of your life to read my story. And it's wonderful to hear that you love it :)

Okay, people. How about we make a deal; This being the 20th chapter and all, how about we have a super review extravaganza? I'll chill off on asking for reviews until the 40th chapter rolls around if you as my loving readers just drop me a line down there, in honor of Chapter 20.