Chapter 21: Am I Good Enough?

Disclaimer: Dan's not here, man. He took iCarly somewhere else, I swear. I've been here all night. I have an alibi!

Day 11 - Night

1

"No."

"Come on, Sam, it will be fun."

"No way, Carls. It's bad enough I'm going on a date with Freddork. There's no way I'm going on a double-date with you and the mermaid."

Carly pouted, but Sam remained steadfast. Carly had two reasons for making the request. One, she wanted to make sure Freddie and Sam didn't end up killing each other. They loved each other, that was obvious. But they also had an amazing capacity for ticking each other off, and she hoped to act as a buffer between the two. And, two, she was nervous about being alone with Gibby. She wasn't sure why; she had never been nervous about dates before. For all of her supposed prissiness, when it came to dating, Carly was almost never nervous.

"What are you going to wear?" she asked Sam.

"I don't know. Something like this." She waved her arms over what she was wearing, which consisted of of jeans and a sweater. Carly frowned.

"Sam, don't you think you should dress a little nicer? Don't you want Freddie to be overwhelmed by how beautiful you are."

Sam grabbed a piece of bacon and threw it in her mouth. She had spent over an hour after school tutoring with Reuben, and she needed something to get his nonsense out of her head. "His lips were all over me earlier. It seems he thinks I look good enough." Her words were matter-of-fact, but Carly saw a blush appear on Sam's cheeks. Sam was thinking of Freddie saying she was smart and beautiful.

"Sam..."

"Carly." Carly stopped. "This isn't going to work if Freddie can't accept me as I am. Or I can't accept him as he is...well, he'll have to change some, that goes without question. But I've done the pretending to be not me, and I don't want to be with somebody if he can't like me for me."

Carly wasn't used to Sam being open with her feelings so easily. She nodded. "Okay. Sorry."

"Not a problem, although you could make it up to me with some more bacon." She waved the empty plate at Carly.

2

Freddie opened his door to see Gibby. "What's up, Gibs?"

"I just brought this to give to you." He handed the object in his hand to Freddie.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." He paused, waiting, but Gibby just stood there. "Did you need anything else, Gibby?"

"I, uh, I..." To Freddie, Gibby looked completely lost.

"Would you like to come in and talk, Gibby?" Freddie said and held the door open.

Gibby visibly exhaled. "Thanks, man."

3

"What are you working on, Sam?" For a moment, Carly hoped that Sam had rededicated herself to her academic pursuits. Like Freddie, she also knew Sam was much smarter than she acted. Carly had tried to bring up college to Sam several times, with the possibility of the two of them being roommates, but Sam checked out whenever she did. Carly had voiced her frustrations to Freddie one day about it, and he had told her that Sam felt she didn't deserve to go to college, that she wasn't good enough. Carly had mocked him for that, but later she had thought about it and felt one of the reasons she had done so was because she was upset he knew more about her best friend than she did.

"Pranks. Tomorrow's the last day I can do them, so I have to really bust it to beat Rodney."

"Sam, seriously, don't you have anything better you could be doing?" Sam stared at Carly as if she had turned into a unicorn. "Sorry, but if you just did school work like you worked on these..."

"I am doing the school work, Carls. I'm tutoring with Boggle Boy, and my grades are better. I just need to do this."

"Why, Sam?"

Sam sighed. "Because I like the thought of being best at something, okay? I'm not good at school like Freddie is, or you are. I'm not as popular as you. But if I win this, I can make this prank something people will remember for years."

"Sam, you are smart. You can go to college."

"Don't start on this, Carly. If I went to college, I would just be a burden on you."

"Well, maybe I can't stand the thought of being at college without my best friend. And maybe I'm tired of my best friend doubting herself." Sam groaned.

They didn't talk for several minutes. Then Sam said something, but Carly didn't hear her. "What?"

"I said, I applied. I got into WSU. Which means they have to be a sucky college, and you really shouldn't go there."

"Sam!" Carly hugged her.

4

"What's the matter, Gibby?" Freddie asked. Gibby sat on the couch, while Freddie sat in the recliner. Mrs. Benson was working the late shift at the hospital, and Freddie had finished his school work a little before Gibby had knocked on the door. He had almost skipped it, wanting instead to go over to Carly's, so that he could spend time with Sam. But he knew if he did that, Sam would be upset. For all of her joking about his nerdiness and his intelligence, he had noticed that she really appreciated his dedication to his school work. He just didn't know why she didn't apply that same concern to herself.

"I have a date with Carly tomorrow." Gibby looked miserable. Freddie didn't understand that. He knew Gibby, as well as a lot of other guys at Ridgeway, had a crush on Carly. Freddie had himself at one point.

"I know, Gibby. Isn't that a good thing?"

"I guess. But I'm worried that she won't, you know, like me. "Cause I'm Gibby." Freddie laughed.

"Gibby, you've always been Gibby. Gibby." Freddie laughed again, and then shook his head at Gibby staring at him. "Sorry. Seriously, thought, you're Gibby, yeah, but Carly knows that, and she still likes you."

"You don't think she's too good for me?" Gibby asked.

"Sure, I do." Gibby hung his head. Freddie laughed again, and then stood up, clapping Gibby on the shoulder. "Gibby, she's too good for you. But she's too good for anybody else at the school, and if she's going to be with someone she's too good for, it should be you."

Gibby thought about this, and then smiled. "Thanks, man." His smiled died away again. "Are you sure you don't still like her?"

"I do like her, Gibby, but just like she's my best friend. She and I tried it, and it didn't work out. I thought at first it was because of all that saving her life stuff, but, you know, after I got out of the cast and everything, I realized that I just didn't like her the way I thought I liked her."

"Okay. So, what do you think I should do on this date tomorrow? I don't want her to be freaked out."

"Gibby, just be yourself."

"Freddie, are you sure that's really wise?"

"Gibby, you can't spend your life pretending to be something that's not you. If it turns out that Carly doesn't like that Gibby, isn't it better to find out now? But trust me, she likes you, okay?"

"Okay, thanks again."

5

"Stop, Sam!"

Sam was on the floor, having fallen off the couch from laughing. Carly had asked Sam if she wanted Carly to help with the pranks.

"I'm sorry. It's just I can't think of anybody worse to help with a prank."

"What about Freddie? Freddie thinks raisins in a hat is a good prank." Carly actually thought it was a good prank, too, but she knew Sam didn't.

"Freddie's a good foot soldier, though. He's great at lookout. As long as he leaves the heavy thinking to me, we're a great team." Sam stopped, thinking about that-talking about Freddie and her as a team.

"Wow, you really are in love, aren't you?" Carly asked.

"Shut up." Carly smiled at her. "Hey, Carly, do you think Spencer could help..."

"No, he is not pranking. Don't you remember how horrible it was last time? He was out of control. I'm not going through that again."

"Fine, but if I lose this, I'm going to get you, Shay."

"I'll just have Freddie throw his lips in front of me. That will stop you."

Sam threw a pillow at her.

6

Freddie was trying to decide whether to call Sam or not. He knew she was at Carly's, but he didn't know if it was all right if he called. If he did, she might feel he was being too possessive or something. It was difficult enough being somebody's boyfriend, not that he had that much experience, but it was doubly so being Sam Puckett's boyfriend.

In the middle of taking a drink of Peppy Cola, he nearly choked. I'm Sam Puckett's boyfriend. It was still going to take a while to get used to that. It was like being on a roller coaster, both thrilling and terrifying at the same time.

He took out his phone, deciding to call Sam, when there was a knock on the door. He opened the door, and she was there.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she said, shyly. He didn't like that. He didn't like the thought of Sam Puckett being shy. That wasn't the girl he fell in love with. He was feeling dangerous tonight, so he reached out and thumped her on the head, as she had him thousands of times.

"What the hey, Fredward?" And before he knew it, she was behind him and had his arm twisted behind his back.

"That's my girl," he said. She gave him a small push on his arm, making him wince, and then let go.

"What did you do that for?"

"I'm tired of us starting anew every time we see each other, Sam. You're not some shy schoolgirl. You're Sam Puckett. Act like it." His voice was steady, but inside he felt nervous. She stepped closer to him, so that their faces were only inches apart.

"You don't want me to be girlier?"

"Nope."

"Don't want me to be more like Carly?"

"Nope."

She nodded. "Fine." And she kissed him.

Two minutes later, she pulled back and said, "hey, is your mom home?"

He laughed. Only Sam could come to the door shyly and then make out with him, before asking if his mom was home. "No, she's working."

"Oh."

He took her by the hand. He lay down on the couch, and gestured for her to lie next to him.

"What's up, Sam?"

She turned slightly and rested her head on his chest. "Do you think I could go to college, Freddie?"

"Of course."

She looked at him. "Of course? What do you mean, of course? Have you seen my grades?"

"You know I have. But I also know that WSU isn't Harvard. And Principal Franklin sent them a recommendation."

"He what?"

Oh, man. I wasn't supposed to say that, Freddie thought. "Yeah, he told me about it when we were discussing your tutoring."

"Oh." She lowered her head again. "What if I can't handle it, Freddie?"

He laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Just the thought of you not being able to handle anything. Sam, I know if you really tried, you could give me a run for my money for valedictorian."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'd still whip your butt. You would make it close, though." She smacked his cheek lightly.

"Thanks, Freddie."

Ten minutes later, she was asleep on his chest. He stayed awake for another hour, before maneuvering her so that he could lift her. He preferred not to, but he didn't really want to explain to his mom what was going on. That is if he even had a chance before she died of a heart attack.

He lightly rapped on the Shay door with his forehead. Spencer opened the door and looked at the sleeping girl in Freddie's arms.

"She fell asleep," Freddie said, shrugging his shoulders. This caused Sam's head to fall back, and a snort came from her throat. Freddie and Spencer laughed quietly, and Spencer opened the door wider.

Freddie put Sam on the couch, propping a pillow under her head. He turned to Spencer, who was holding a blanket out to him. He put it on top of Sam and kissed her on her forehead.

"Could you do that again, Freddie? I want to take a picture."

"Shut up, Spencer." He started to leave. "Are we ready?"

"Yeah, but this is it, right?" Spencer looked frightened, probably thinking of what Sam might to him if things went wrong.

"This is it. And don't worry, Spence. Live a little." He left.

That sounded a little too much like Sam to me, Spencer thought. He looked at the blonde girl, who was smiling in her sleep.

He shook his head and went to his room.

A/N: This was a little filler-y, but I can't just write chapter after chapter of them kissing, right? Right? Hello, is this thing on?

Don't worry, the next two chapters cover the last day of pranks and the dates, so things should be pretty interesting.

Thanks for reviews from: Julefor, UnderxGravity, Moviepal, kiyokoseddie, sangergirl123, PurpleJerkWarrior, Geekquality, Penny Tee13, cynthiarox99, SeddierFTW, and clarksonfan.

Julefor: Pranks are going to be the name of the game tomorrow.

UnderxGravity: Skating? I don't skate. No skating here. *Whiiiish* And I've already covered (in other stories) the weirdness, so I thought it would be nice to have them actually being together not be that strange for them (not that there won't still be issues). This is Sam and Freddie we're talking about.

kiyokoseddie: I hope this chapter covered what I've been saying. Freddie. Is. Not. Good. At. Pranks.

rangergirl123: Sam gave him a wedgie for smashing the pie in his face. He went into the restroom to extract and rearrange, therefore no more limping.

PurpleJerkWarrior: I don't remember reading that anywhere before, although I might have and forgot. I'll just go with "brilliant minds think alike."

SeddierFTW: True, but she wouldn't be the first person who didn't realize they were practically in a relationship without knowing it (actually, if you squint your eyes tightly enough, you could point out several Sam and Freddie scenes from the show that would suggest it for them, also).

clarksonfan: Hey, this is a K+ story. Cut it out with all the rubbing.

Note: the following includes a few things I just wanted to get off my chest that have nothing to do with this story. If you agree with me, I appreciate it. If not, please just ignore my mad ramblings.

I write because I love to write. I have been using fanfiction as a way to get back into writing (sort of with a safety net of not using my own characters), and I will probably start writing my own stuff soon. I appreciate anybody who has left a review, whether it be complimentary or critical. I will never, however, write that I have to have so many reviews before I post another chapter (after all, those of you who have read all my stories realize by now that I'm a bit of a chapter whore, and that even when I say I might not get the next chapter out for a week, I will likely put out the next day). I'm sorry for criticizing those of you who do this, but I can't stand the "no chapter if I don't get enough reviews". I just saw that on somebody who had almost 300 reviews already. That's on one story. I only have about 1 and a half times that for all my stories. So write because you love to write and appreciate the reviews you get.

Oh, also, please review, everybody!

Second, I know Sam is generally the favorite character of most people, but if I read another story where Sam constantly harasses and hits Freddie, and then Freddie says something harsh, causing not only Sam, but Carly and Spencer (and sometimes his mother) to turn against him, I'm going to rip my hair out. I hate that. And the last story I read this in really bothered me, because up until then it was actually a great story (actually, series of oneshots).

And this one is just more me being a little puzzled: what's with the Alternate Universe stories? I guess I just don't understand the purpose of using these characters if they're not actually related in some way. I understand expanding on the characters (obviously, I have done this myself), but completely changing them, I don't get that. Okay, I'm done. I have just read some stories that made me cranky.