Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter Eight - 2009

May 13th

It had been four months since that eventful day on th fire escape. Not that Freddie had been counting or anything...

"Hi!" Carly said as she opened the door to the apartment to allow the three of them to enter.

"Hey guys. How was school?" Spencer asked as they walked through the living room.

"I got an A on my geometry test," Carly said as she went to help Spencer with some giant box he was carrying over to the kitchen table.

"I had fish sticks for lunch," Sam said as she dumped her backpack on the floor.

"Sam broke into my locker while I was in gym class and cut the sleeves off my shirt and the legs off my pants," Freddie spat. He saw the humour in this prank, sure. But, having to walk home in his cut up clothes? Not funny, what so ever.

"Why do fish sticks always make you rambunctious?" Carly asked Sam, a sweet smile playing on her pink lips.

"I think it's the tartar sauce," Sam shrugged. Freddie thought about this for a moment. She could be right... When she was younger she hated tartar sauce, and she was quite so rambunctious then.

"Your heads full of tartar sauce," Freddie snapped. He wasn't pleased. Just because she was feeling 'rambunctious' didn't mean she had to take it out on him, right?

"Watch it before I take your t-" Sam started but was cut off by Carly yelling at them to stop.

"Can we please remember we're all friends here?" Carly begged.

"This thing is not my friend," Freddie barked at Sam. If he hadn't been so angry at her he might have noticed the flash of hurt that crossed her pale face.

Carly rolled her eyes, "She is too."

"Wrong. And you are coming to my house right now, and explaining THIS to my mom!" He said, you could practically see the veins in his neck.

"Will that make you happy?" Sam asked putting on a baby voice.

"Kinda."

"Fine!" Sam spat, as she stormed back across the Shays apartment and out the door, Freddie following close behind.

"I can't believe you'd just break into my locker and violate my clothing," He grumbled. "My mom works really hard to make sure I have nice things to wear and she is not gonna be happy to find out - SAM!" Just as he had unlocked the door to let them in Sam had pushed him through and shut the door behind him. Leaving him to deal with his mother.

"Freddie!" Marissa shouted upon seeing her son in his ragged clothing.

Freddie groaned, "Mom, I can explain."

His Mom looked at him expectantly, her arms folded over her chest and her foot tapping impatiently. Freddie was unsure of what to do. If he did explain Sam would end up in trouble and his Mom would never let her over again. But if he didn't he would end up in trouble.

Freddie sighed, "The truth is, I cut up my clothes for a dare."

"Fredward Benson! What have I told you about dares?"

"That they're for morons who try to look cool when actually they just look like morons."

"Exactly! Go to your room. Leave your 'rags' by the door."

Freddie nodded and trudged towards his bedroom. The things he did for Sam.

May 14th - 11:00am

Although he had gotten in a heap of trouble with his Mom, by the next day Freddie had forgiven Sam and was prepared to forget about the previous days... events.

"Morning Puckett," He said as she swaggered on over to his locker.

"Sup Benson? So, how much trouble did you get in with Crazy?" She asked as she leant against the locker beside his.

Shutting his locker, he turned to her, "My Mom is not crazy."

Sam gave him a look and he sighed, "Okay, maybe she is. A little."

Sam laughed, "So what punishment did you get for arriving home in rags?"

Freddie frowned, "I got sent to my room and she took my galaxy wars memorabila, but otherwise she just lectured me on the importance of sensible clothes."

"Hmmm, I thought once you told her I did it she would have called my Mom and wigged out."

Freddie didn't answer and Sam's eyes widened, "You didn't tell her it was me did you?"

"No, I didn't," He stated before walking away.

Sam hurried after him, "Well, why not?"

Freddie ignored her and kept walking, until he spotted Mr Howard holding what appeared to be some sort of poster and a megaphone. Sam stopped beside him still wanting to question him but also interested in what Mr Howard was doing with a megaphone.

"Okay, listen up. I am going to post the sign up board for the 'School at Sea' drawing. If you are interested then sign your name and one of you little demons will get to spend the next six months pretending to study on a cruise around the world," He clicked off the megaphone and pinned the board on the wall beside the water fountain. "There. I want you all to form a neat, single file line -" They didn't get to hear the rest of the sentence for the man was bombared by a large group of teenagers, fighting to get their names on the board first. "ANIMALS!"

Freddie and Sam watched as chaos unleashed around the board. "Man, I wanna win that 'School at Sea' cruise so bad!" Freddie told her.

"Bad enough to penetrate that freakish mob?" She asked him.

Freddie pulled out his lucky pen and handed his bag to Sam, "I'm going in." And with that he charged towards the crowd and let loose a 'dorky' battle cry.

As he fought to get to the front, his mind wasn't really in it. He was actually thinking about all the things he'd miss if he did win the cruise.

He'd miss his Mom. Gosh, he couldn't even imagine his life with out his Mom. She was always there, night and day. Without fail. She was the one constant in his life, besides Sam of course. Then there was Carly. The 'Love of his life'. The girl he wanted to spend the rest of his days with. And what if he went away and she met some guy, fell in love with said guy, and forgot all about him. Huh? What was he supposed to do then? And obviously he'd miss Spencer and Gibby. Even if he did win, he'd also have to help Sam and Carly find a new technical producer for iCarly. And finally, there was Sam. Sam, his best friend. God, what would he do without her? He'd probably be brusied a lot less, and would have fewer detentions. Though in Sam's defence she'd didn't bruise him that bad, and heck! He'd only had a handful of detentions because of her... No! If he allowed himself to think like that, he'd start to care like before, and he'd just end up hurt again.

He was soon at the board, he quickly scrawled his name down and then crawled back on the floor and out of the mob. "Gah!" He groaned as he climbed to his feet.

The mob had really wrecked his clothes. His hair was a mess and his shirt looked so untidy. He shrugged it off and moved his arm to shake the pain in his shoulder. He noticed now that Sam was accompanied by Carly and Carly's friend Missy. He ignored the two girls and made his way to Sam, "I got my name on the list," He said in slight disbelief. Sam chucked him his bag and he turned to look back at the mob. "Animals." He kept on walking away from the girls, he barely realized he was limping thanks to the jerk who had kicked him while he was crawling on the ground through the crowd.

6:50pm

Freddie was setting up the camera for the nights iCarly when Sam entered the studio hugging a waste basket to her chest and practically coughing up a lung.

"Whoa, you look horrible," Freddie commented as Sam got closer.

"I'm sick," She hacked. "I feel like butt."

Freddie grimaced as she continued coughing.

She really didn't look that good, "Remember that time you dared me to lick the swing set?"

"No. I said 'Sam don't lick the swing set'. Then you said, 'Don't you tell me what to say Benson', then you licked the swing set."

"Whatever. I'm even sicker now than I was then," Gosh, she sounded like she was gonna cry. Freddie hated it when Sam cried, but instead of bursting into tears, Sam burst into another coughing fit. "Missy gave me rancid chocolate."

"Why would she do that?," He asked, crossing the room to his Tech cart.

"Cause she's tryin' to get rid of me!" Sam yelled/coughed.

So Sam was jealous. Part of Freddie, the cruel part of him, wanted to laugh in her face and yell, "Well, now you know how I felt. Now you know what I went through! How I was replaced!" but he didn't. Why? Because although he hated that he did, Freddie cared about Sam and did not have the heart to push her while she was down. So instead he said, "Oh come on, why would she do that?" He walked back over to his 'friend?'

Sam grabbed his shirt and pulled forward, so he was face to face with her. "Look at the facts! She sent me to a piñata factory," She coughed and spluttered in his face. "She wahoo'd my phone and she gave me rancid Pursian choc - agh-he-eh - late."

Freddie cringed as he felt droplets of Sam's spit hit his face.

Sam shoved him away coughing, "She's out to get me."

Freddie straightened his shirt and walked over to his laptop. Was Sam lying? She did seem awfully sure that Missy was trying to 'kill' her. Freddie din't have chance to say anything as Carly and Missy showed up, therefore ending his conversation with Sam.

"Hey guys," Carly said, with a smile on her face and a skip in her step. "Who's ready for a little iCarl -" She was cut off by Sam's coughing. "Ew! Sam you look horrible."

"I've heard," Sam groaned.

"Did you lick another swing set?" Carly demanded.

"No."

"Well, what happened?" Missy asked, looking at Sam with... concern?

Sam glared at her threateningly, "Like you don't know." Before once again starting up another coughing fit.

"Alright, there's no way you can do iCarly tonight," Carly told her.

"I can do the show. I'll be fi - Oh man." Sam ran off into the back room, and Freddie and the girls could hear her gagging from the main room. "Ugh, that's not pretty." Freddie grimaced, part of him feeling sorry for her, though he couldn't help but think that this was just karma getting back at her for tormenting him yesterday. Sam came out of the back room a look of disgust gracing her pretty features. "Does anyone have a mint?"

Freddie's laptop beeped, telling him they needed to start iCarly now. "Guys, thirty seconds to show."

"C'mon, in five, four - " Sam fell to the floor coughing.

"Alright that's it, we're cancelling the show," Carly said crouching down beside Sam as Freddie walked over to help Sam up.

"No," Sam argued.

"D'you want me to do the show?" Missy asked excitedly.

Carly turned to the red head, "Would you?"

This just set Sam off once more, "I can do it!" Although she was trying to act strong, she sounded so broken. It almost broke Freddie's heart to see her like this. Almost.

"You're to sick! Now go down stairs and lie down on the couch," Carly instructed.

Sam gave a few more pathetic coughs but she reluctantly made her way out of the studio.

"I'll be down as soon as the shows over to take care of you," Carly called after her. "You know what to do?" She asked Missy.

"Sure, I've seen iCarly a bunch of times."

Carly and Missy positioned themselves infront of the camera and Freddie got ready to start the show. "Ready? In five, four, three, two."

"I'm Carly!"

"I'm Missy!"

"And this is iCarly!" The girls said in unison.

"Sam isn't feeling well tonight."

"But no worries the show must on."

Carly pushed a button on Sam's remote and a voice blared, "RANDOM DANCING!" The music started up and the show was soon in full swing, but Freddie couldn't help but feel like witout Sam there was no point in the show. Sure, Missy was kinda cute like Carly, but that was just it. Missy was another Carly and it didn't work. At least not for the show. iCarly was made up of Sam and Carly, to polar opposites who some how made it work. But now there were two Carly's and the show wasn't working as well as it did with Sam. Missy was an unfunny version of Carly.

May 15th - 4:23pm

"Freddie bear! Will you get the door? I'm trying to sleep," Marissa asked her son from her bedroom.

"Yeah," He sighed, gettnig up from his comfy position on the couch. He walked over to the door and opened it to reveal Sam. "Um, hi?" He wasn't sure what to do. Invite her in, send her away...?

"Can we talk?" She asked, though she sounded a little unsure of herself.

"Uh... yeah. Sure," He stepped out into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him. "What's up?"

"Missy's trying to get rid of me."

Freddie groaned, "Not this again!"

"I was right though! We were at the Groovy Smoothie, Carly went to go get smoothies and then Missy was all 'Carly was my best friend first and I'm taking her back'"

"I don't believe you," Freddie told her bluntly.

"Okay one more time. 'Carly was my best friend first and I'm taking her back'" Sam said in her 'best' Missy impression.

"There's no way Missy said that," Freddie couldn't believe her. Sure, Missy may not have been the funniest of people, but she was a lot like Carly, and Carly was way to sweet, nice, and innocent to ever do something like that. Therefore, Missy would never do something like that, right?

"She did!" Sam said desperate for Freddie to believe her.

"You know, maybe Carly's right. Maybe you're just jealous of Missy."

Sam looked hurt, and this look, for some reason, made Freddie's stomach tie itself up in knots. "Okay, just forget it." The hurt was even evident in her voice. "Don't believe me." The knots tied themselves tighter and tighter, all seeming to be pulling themselves in different directions. Sam gave him a fleeting look and walked away.

"Tell me one reason why I should believe you?" He said loudly.

He listened to the sound of her footsteps as they returned. The blonde looked him directly in the eye, with her hurt filled, icy blue eyes and said, "Cause I came here."

Freddie shrugged as though this meant nothing to him, when in reality those words had already begun making their affect.

"Have I ever come to you for help before?" She asked. "For anything?"

No. Not really. Unless you count homework when we were kids.

He licked his lips, wondering what to say next but before he had chance to open his mouth she walked away from him, leaving him standing alone in the hallway feeling like a complete jerk.

He sighed and turned back to his apartment. He turned the door knob only to discover he was locked out. "Oh no. No! No! No! No!" He groaned pulling the door handle. "OH! Butter!" He gave the door one last whack before turning and sinking down to the ground and processing the conversation he had just had with Sam.

May 16th - 12:41pm

"Austria," Carly said dumbly, as she pointed to the textbook that Freddie and she were sharing betwen them.

Freddie looked closer at the print, "Australia."

"Oh same thing," She frowned.

"Okay Benson, you are too nice," Freddie looked up to see Wendy stood in front of the bench he and Carly were sat on.

"Huh?"

"Why?" Carly asked, itching to find out what Freddie had done. "What'd he do?"

"You know that 'School at Sea' contest last week?" Wendy explained.

"Yeah?"

Realisation as to what Wendy was talking about hit Freddie like a freight train. OH No! Carly could not find out about this! "Uh... Wendy."

"What?" Carly asked getting up with Freddie.

"Uh... Bye Wendy," Freddie said waving the girl away, hoping she'd catch on to the fact that he didn't want Carly to know.

Unfotunately Wendy was oblivious. "Freddie won it."

"No. No, I didn't," He said shaking his head like Wendy was insane.

"Yeah you did," Wendy said confused.

"No. Missy Robinson won it," Carly told her.

"Noooo. Freddie won it and then he told Principal Franklin he wanted to give it to Missy," Freddie groaned inwardly. Wendy got closer and he squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain, she grabbed his cheek and coo'ed "Sweet boy," Before leaving him to clean up the mess she had just created for him.

Carly turned to him a smirk making it's way to her glossy lips, "You gave up that cool trip just to get rid of Missy."

"I was protecting iCarly," He lied lamely.

"No. You care about Sam."

Freddie sighed in defeat, "Well, she was really upset..."

"And you said Sam wasn't your friend."

"Yeah whatever."

"Yeah whatever," Carly mimicked in her 'Freddie' voice, as she poked him playfully in the ribs.

"Ahh stop," He said batting her hands away, though he couldn't help but smile. He picked up his bag and vented to Carly, "I just hate that that nasty Missy gets to live it up on a six month cruise."

Carly collected her things and nodded in agreement, "I know. Well, when we were little she used to get really sea sick, but she probably got over that..."

"Too bad."

11:37pm

Freddie lay awake later that night thinking about the sacrafice he had made for Sam. He had given up a six month cruise. He picked up the leaflet Principal Franklin had handed him. It advertised the cruise itself.

Had Freddie gone he would have been attending 'Seven Seas High' for the next six months aboard the S.S Tipton a luxury cruise liner. The ship featured a grand dining room, gym, ballroom, bar, swimming pool, hot tub, bingo room, lifeboats, and stroll deck like many other ships. The ship's passenger capacity was about 2,000 people. The ship's weight was at least 87,000 tons and it was 13 stories high above sea level. The ship also had the largest shopping center ever floating. The ship was around 250-300 meters long and ìt drove on heating water which means it was environmental friendly. Just the thought of it made Freddie want to drool.

But he had given it all up for Sam. His 'Ex-bestfriend'.

Freddie tossed the brochur across the room and rolled over onto his stomach. What were he and Sam now anyway?

Although he would deny it he couldn't (or he could) ignore the longing feeling he felt when he thought of the way their friendship used to be. He missed it. No doubt about that. He just didn't know how to get it back...