Sorry I haven't updated in so long, but with school back, and a (Not so great) social life to keep up with ;) I haven't been able to sit down long enough to pull out another chapter! And my cat was recently diagnosed with cancer. And I think we ALL know how hard it is to pick a Harry Potter book up and then put it down, near impossible I'd say. Plus writer's block, so there you have it, full fledge excuses :) TA-DA!

Who else was disappointed with iThink They Kissed? I wasn't expecting it to like end the show and have Sam and Freddie finally admitting their true deep passion for each other, but still is a little bit of awkwardness too much to ask?!

Thank you to everyone that sent me feedback for the questions I posted last chapter!

Now the dreaded agony of doom that unfortunately comes along with every chapter of every Fanfic: (Sigh) I do not own iCarly.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Sam woke up and laid in bed, staring at Carly's ceiling. She blinked a few times as the memories of the previous night flooded back into her head like a movie reel.

She saw Freddie's hurt face, and the way that he stormed out of the apartment, but then she heard Chase's dreamy voice from the night before's telephone call , and she felt herself getting warmer. She slid her covers off and groaned. She looked to her right and saw that Carly was still asleep.

Sam contemplated lying in bed until Carly woke up and got her up, but Carly didn't have last minute rehearsing to do, so Sam sighed and stood up from her guest bed.

She yawned and started down the stairs to the Shay's back room, where she had been keeping her sheet music so she could practice, detouring at the kitchen for a piece of cold bacon.
Sam played a few notes on the piano, but was mostly quite satisfied with her rehearsing.

After an hour or so of singing, Sam sat down, wondering what lines she would be reading, until she realized that through all of the nerves, she forgot that callbacks are just reading and the songs that the people conducting the callbacks would be choosing from the play, no rehearsed songs involved.

Sam sighed grumpily, hitting herself in the head, and wondering if Chase had thought of that yet.

"Carly!" Sam heard Freddie calling for Carly. Sam rolled her eyes and decided to just be quiet and ignore him.

Her plan was deflated when she heard footsteps coming back to the room she had been practicing in. she quickly ducked for cover underneath the tarp that Spencer had used to cover his latest sculpture.

"Carly?" he sighed miserably and sat down in the chair Sam had just left.

He ran his hands unemotionally across the keys of the piano. Sam rolled her eyes, aching to hit him in the head and call him dork, but she knew better than that, despite popular belief she had a lot of self control.

You're all I need

He started singing so quietly Sam strained her ears to hear him.

You're my everything

I want to make you mine

But you're his

Can't you see I love you

You're all I want

You're all I need

You're my everything

Wrapped in all that I see

I just want you here with me

But you're with him now

And my heart's on the ground

Aching for you, come back into my arms

Freddie stopped his whispered singing as he stood up and wandered around to the different sculptures back there.

Sam had never heard the song before, but she liked it. She would have to find out what it was later. Or if the dork wrote it. She shrugged and watched him as he examined the "Tinsel Tin-can" displays Spencer had made.

He started walking toward where Sam was, and she started sliding back trying to get out of sight. It was no use, the entire space behind her was blocked with art supplies. She struggled to get away from him before he pulled the tarp off. Just then his hand fell an inch from Sam's nose as he started pulling the tarp away. As he began to slowly slide it off, all of a sudden, "Freddie!" It was Carly.

Sam heaved a silent sigh of relief as Freddie's hand fell away from the tarp. As soon as he left the room she crawled from underneath and started out the door until, "Hold on, I left something in the back room."

Oh no Sam sighed and tried to make a break for it. She ran for the nearest sculpture but it was too late, Freddie saw her, mid-leap position.

"Sam?!" Freddie exclaimed, infuriated.

"What?" Sam asked in a very casual tone. It was times like these that she loved her lying abilities.

"What are you doing here?!" Freddie demanded.

"Oh you know, preparing for my callback. Or you would know, if you had talent enough for a callback." Sam turned on her heel and returned to Carly's living room, leaving a shocked Freddie behind. A few minutes later Freddie emerged with a worried look on his face.

"Sam?" How long were you in that back room?"

"Maybe one or two minutes," Sam fibbed.

"Oh." Freddie sighed, relieved.

"So, how did you sleep last night?" Carly inquired.

"Oh…Pretty good…" Freddie stammered, and Sam knew he was thinking about their argument, because she knew she was.

"That's good," Carly said, turning to look at Sam, "Did you ever go to sleep last night?" Carly teased, knowing that Sam stayed up way later than her.

"Yeah, but I had this annoying pain that kept bothering me…" Sam returned shooting Freddie a nasty look, he glared back and Carly looked from one to the other.

"No secrets, remember?" Carly inquired, referring back to when she so abruptly found out about Sam and Freddie's kiss.

Sam sighed, "There is no secret" she assured Carly. Freddie was relieved until "That I am going to tell you. Go on Fredward, tell her about you so rudely breaking into Carly's apartment last night."

"That is a lie!" Freddie shouted at Sam.

"Sure it is," Sam rolled her eyes.

"IF you don't want to tell me the latest fight between the two of you, then I really don't care to know. y'all always fight. So just whatever" Carly sighed and let it go, as Sam and Freddie continued to glare, Sam was inching toward Freddie in an intimidating way. She got 2 inches from his face and hissed venom in his face, "Momma doesn't lie."

"Then what do you call that?" Freddie replied in a fearful voice, "Not truthing?" Freddie flinched and ran behind Carly's chair. Carly looked frightened and chose to just ignore the fight for that moment, planning to stop it if it got too out of hand.

Fortunately it stopped there, because the doorbell rang. Carly bounded over to the door and pulled it open revealing Chase, looking even better than he did when Sam first met him.

"Hey," he said to Carly, making his way over to Sam, and kissing her cheek.

Sam blushed slightly and then looked at Chase, "Wow you look great."

"You do too," Chase chuckled, and Sam turned beet red as she noticed she had not changed from her pajamas yet.

"I'll be right back," she said, and dashed up the stairs.

She grabbed her nice jeans and a Paramore band shirt and threw them on. She brushed on some makeup and quickly did a half way decent job of straightening her hair, no wanting it completely straight.

She took off back down the stairs and saw Chase sitting down, focusing on the Gummy Bears that were adorning the down stairs, and Freddie's eyes locked on him, eyes narrowed with his arms folded tightly across his chest.

"Hold on there, Freddie before you pee your pants," Sam laughed menacingly and turned to Chase, "I'm back."

He smiled and stood up, "Finally," Chase said, "But I don't see why you changed from what you were wearing. It was very flattering." Chase teased, and Sam punched him in the arm, lightly, of course.

"Ready to head out?" Chase inquired.

"AS I'll ever be…" Sam rolled her eyes and followed Chase out of the Shays' apartment, waving to Carly and sticking her tongue out at Freddie.

"Bye," they shouted after them.

"How do you think Sam's going to do?" Carly nudged Freddie's arm.

"Fine, I guess. How should I know?" Freddie returned.

"Well you talked to her about it last night…"

"How did you-?"

"Sam has a slight problem with sleep talking."

"Ohh…"

"But really," Carly continued, "How do you think she'll do?"

"I'm sure she'll do great. She's been in this stuff for a while, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Carly looked down. "Look Freddie. I know you aren't happy about this, but why do you hate Chase so much?"

Freddie didn't know what to say, so he remained silent waiting for her to continue, and unfailingly,Carly continued, " He treats Sam nicely, I don't see why you hate him so much. He's the perfect guy for Sam."

"Yeah. Sam's perfect guy," Freddie replied sadly, not 100% sure why it upset him so much.

*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*

Meanwhile
*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*

"Galinda. Come with me to the Emerald City," Sam said as Elphaba.

"Oh, I;ve always wanted to see the Emerald City" piped up a blonde haired, tall actress named Leslie with a scrunched up face, and long legs. With an ego to match.

Sam and Leslie sang the song One Short Day and exited the stage.

"So," Leslie began in her squeaky voice, and Sam noticed her Brooklyn accent, "How long have you been in the business?"

"Most of my life, I guess," Sam replied and shrugged.

"Ohh…" Leslie smirked a little and said, "My great-grandmother was the original Annie… in the Broadway musical Annie."

"Yeah I figured that that was the show you meant…"

Leslie's scrunched up little face dimmed slightly for a moment or two until Chase walked up, "That was amazing Sam! Leslie." He added nodding toward her.

Her chin shot straight into the air and she eyed Chase with a hungry desire dancing in her pupils.

Sam saw this and quickly distracted Chase's attention by pointing to the stage where they were about to call him up.

"Chase?"

Chase stood up and whispered in Sam's ear before leaving, "Wish me luck."

"Break a leg," she breathed.

Chase smiled and walked to the stage, with the joking manner fallen from his face, for the first time since Sam met him.

"Leslie Piper?" The woman called out from the stage.

"Leslie you will be reading Elphaba and Chase, you will be reading Fiyaro." She began, then looked over at Sam, "Miss Puckett, could you please read our Galinda part? This is the I'm Not That Girl reprise, and As Long As You're Mine."

Sam gasped, knowing that this scene ended in Fiyaro and Elphaba kissing. Sam swallowed her shock and joined the others on stage. Chase cast her a small, apologetic smile, which was somewhat reassuring to Sam.

…

I'm not that girl

Sam finished her song and ran off the stage crying, as Galinda was scripted to do.

As Long as You're Mine started, and Sam glared at the stage with pure loathing and disgust. She watched the scene and felt almost physically sick, but that was nothing until, "It's just…For the first time I feel…wicked" and Leslie and Chase broke out into a passionate kiss, and Chase looked less willing to quit than even Leslie, who looked like she was a five year old throwing a tantrum when they pulled away.

Acting. acting. acting. acting. Sam chanted to herself.

After a few more hours of Sam and Leslie, mostly, switching between Galinda and Elphaba, callbacks were finally over and Sam was climbing into the front of Chase's shiny black Volvo.

Sam and Chase seemed to not have had as much to say, and it had been awkward since the on-stage kiss with Leslie. Sam told herself over and over that it was all just acting, but she had this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach.

They pulled into the Bushwell Plaza and made their way up the stairs until finally they were back in the company of Carly and Freddie.

"Hey!" Carly jumped up.

"How did y'all do?!"

"Good I guess," Chase replied dryly, "Sam did great."

"He's being modest," Sam threw in, "he did great."

"Thanks, but I have a tongue," Chase said.

Sam stared at him, wide-eyed and chuckled nervously, and he kind of smiled.

"Okay," Chase said, "They'll be posting the list in an hour, I have to head out. Bye, Sam, Carly…Freddie" he nodded toward Freddie and left the building. Sam stared after him.

"What's his problem? Did you put him in a Texas wedgie or something?" Freddie asked Sam.

"No, but if you don't shut up you'll be wishing that was what I was doing to you."

Freddie gulped and Sam sat next to Carly. Carly was staring at the computer screen, waiting for the cast list to pop up. "Carly there's still," Sam checked her watch, "A good 45 minutes until it's posted."

"Fine…let's check user comments on iCarly-dot-com." Carly suggested.

"Sure," Sam and Freddie replied.

They read over it and the vast majority of them were on how hot Chase was. Sam smirked as she read them, some of her confidence in him returning.

Finally the hour had passed and Carly scrolled to the cast list before Sam had time to blink.

"Sam!!!!!!!! You got Galinda!!!!" Carly shrieked. She screamed loudly and tackled Sam to the floor in a hug.

"What did Chase get?!" Sam sounded way more anxious than she had intended.

"Fiyero!" Carly shouted excitedly, "Some girl named Leslie is playing Elphaba. Sorry you didn't get the part you wanted, but still Galinda is a great part."

Sam's smile faded.

"What?" Carly inquired.

"I met Leslie at the callbacks," Sam replied stiffly.

"And?" Freddie pushed.

"And she's a low-life, double-crossing, backstabbing, little snake that deserves to be left out in the sun to dry out." Sam replied menacingly.

"Sam's made a new friend, Carly!" Freddie shouted.

"Shut up! She tried to steal my bo-"

"Ham? Leslie tried to steal Sam's ham!" Freddie mocked.

"No! boyfriend! And I never want to hear that witches name again! So shut up and I won't punch you in the face!"

"Yes ma'am! I mean, Sam."

"Well y'all start rehearsal tomorrow," Carly interrupted. "Probably because of the week delay y'all had before hearing about callbacks."

"I guess so. First rehearsal, wow. It all seems like it's gone so fast, I mean it feels like just yesterday I was Gabriella, and now I-I have a boyfriend and…An amazing part…and it's just crazy."

"I know what you mean, Sam." Carly replied, smiling.

"Well Carly, Sam, one month until both of our opening nights." Freddie added.

"One month," Carly replied, raising her glass of punch, "One month," Freddie repeated, raising his as well, they both look at Sam. She sighed, "Oh okay, fine. One month," Sam added and raised her glass too.

That day turned into night, and everyone celebrated Sam's great part, Carly, Freddie, Sam, and Spencer, just like it was before Chase ever entered their lives.

Freddie left after a few hours, and Carly and Spencer both headed for bed not too long after, leaving Sam alone on the couch, watching Girly Cow.

Sam reached up and hit the off button on the remote and turned over to her side, looking for a message from Chase, none came. "Night Chase," she said to her phone and closed it, sending one last message before she would drift away into a dreamless sleep.