Welcome to Creddietopia!

'Where the brightest stars are in her eyes.'

Population: 2

Carly arrived at the front door of the iCarly studio to find this blue sign attached to it. It resembled that of the road signs someone would encounter on the Interstate just as they reach the Seattle city limits. Carly's shock and confusion help her to forget her achingly tired feet and the fact that her uniform currently reeked of the Shrimp Loft's fried platter. The initial surprises allays after a moment and is followed by her laughter. Just as Freddie instructed via this afternoon's text, she had made sure to come straight to her Bushwell Plaza apartment after her late night shift, only stopping at the refrigerator to retrieve the first surprise, which was a meticulously packed picnic basket (which donned a crudely made, yet adorable, small cardboard hitchhiker's sign that read, "Creddietopia or Bust!"), then headed straight to the studio. Her curiosity now unbearable, she quickly opened the door.

Freddie stood in the middle of the studio, which was now decorated with inflated palm trees, beach balls, a small kiddie pool filled with water and plastic seahorses, and strings of blue and white party lights shaped like flip flops hung from the walls of the entire room. Surrounded by half a dozen large pillows and a pair of folded blankets, he stood with his arms outstretched, as if to be showing off the room in some big showcase, complete with a goofy smile plastered on his face. His flannel pajamas and fuzzy black slippers somehow added to the mirth of the mock beach paradise.

Carly's mouth remain agape as she padded into the studio. She set the picnic basket down and launched herself into Freddie's arms, the embrace almost knocking him off his feet. He chuckled as he held her to him, immensely grateful for the first physical contact their summer schedules have allowed them to have in almost two weeks. Her face pressed against the crook of his neck, she managed to find her voice.

"Creddietopia is amazing!"

"It should be," he replied. "You inspired it." He pulled back from their embrace to give her a gentle, lingering kiss on her lips. He reluctantly extracted himself in order to spread one of the blankets on the ground and position some of the pillows. He sits himself down and pats the space he's created next to him. Carly wastes no time and crawls into the space next to him, wrapping her arms around his torso as they lay against the pillows. Freddie proceeds to tell her fun facts about the "land," such as the official bird (the Not-So-Bald Eagle) and their national anthem ("Dude, Ur Freakin' Hott" by Ginger Fox), which amused her to no end. She looked up to find him gazing at her with the look he always gave her when he was just…content. It warmed her heart to know that she could bring that out in him, just as he did to her.

"So," Carly snuggled closer, "how did you come up with 'Creddietopia,' aside from trolling the forums on the iCarly site?"

He smiled, "Remember what you said three nights ago on the phone? You know, when work from my junior internship kept me from our movie night?"

Carly tried to recall the conversation. It had been pretty late in the evening and while she remembers being very disappointed, she can't place her exact words, so she's impressed that Freddie is able to remember.

"You said," he continued, "that you wished there was a place were we could get away from everything. You from your summer job, me from mine, where we can just be. Thus, welcome to Creddietopia. Our own little paradise."

Before she could stop it, a tear rolled down her cheek. Silliness aside, the sentiment was terribly sweet. She didn't know what to say, so she opted to lift her head and firmly kiss him instead. He brought a hand to her cheek, gently wiping the tear away. When they broke apart, he reached over her body to grab the big blue remote that they used for the show.

"Are you ready to see the second brightest stars in the land?" Freddie asked with a raised eyebrow. Before she could answer, he pressed a button on the remote and, immediately, the studio and party lights dimmed. Carly couldn't see what Freddie was talking about at first, but then she noticed the "twinkling' of a glow-in-the-dark star out of the corner of her eyes. She looked up at the ceiling and gasped.

Freddie had stuck what looked like a hundred glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling.

"Freddie," she barely managed to squeak out. "Freddie, this is so…oh, my God. I love this so much." She turned her head so that she was facing him once again. "And you. I love you very, very much."

To this day, that blue sign hangs over their bed as a reminder that they can always, always escape.

A/N: Thanks for reading! An additional thanks to those who have already reviewed! Hope you take a moment to review, as well!

Hollaatchyagirl,

Phunky