Haii guys! I am back with another chapter of iPause. Hopefully you will enjoy this as much as the first. Even though it was short, the first chapter got a lot of positive feedback from you guys so I wanted to thank you and let you know that I appreciate all of your kind words and the time taken to read my stuff. I haven't updated my other fanfic 'Something Weird' for quite a while, but I have all the ideas whirling around in my brain I just need the will to write it at the moment. So, what better than to continue iPause? Let's do this :)
Disclaimer: Dan Schneider owns iCarly. My name's Charlie. Dan is a man. I am a girl. I guess that makes him Dan the man. And me the.. oh shut up.
Previously on iPause:
Anyway, that particular incident was a long time ago. The things I want to share with you started to occur not so long ago. And it's something I don't quite understand. So you'll have to bear with me as I explain this.
I am going to tell you a little story about a little quirk I have noticed that Sam and Freddie do quite often now. It is called the Pause. Are you ready people? 'Cause this is one heck of a journey.
Chapter 2:
Here we go.
Carly's POV
Okay people, so last time I told you about Sam and Freddie's… strange friendship. All about how they act and how they think which is often what I don't get. The logic of their dynamic is so twisted and warped and fractured that it shouldn't work. It should never work. But it does. Do you wanna know why? Because it's Sam and Freddie. They make it work.
Friendship for me has always been a steady line on a page, at least that's how I picture it. You know, the line represents the closeness level. Each time you get closer to each other, the line raises. And yeah, there are times in my friendship with Sam that things have not gone so smoothly. Like the Fleck and Dave incident. I don't even want to think about that. These times make the line quiver and curve, so that there are bumps in it. Every friendship has them, those little bumps, but the friendship Sam and I have make those little bumps insignificant in the long line. And obviously, the line is never-ending, for if it were to stop, that's where the friendship stops. And with it goes the half of my life I have spent with Sam as my best friend, and Freddie too. The best half of my life. Oh, look at me! I'm getting all teary.
Sam and Freddie's friendship, on the other hand… Well, that's another story. I always imagined it as a complete circle. Because the friendship they have is repetitive. Especially since I'm with them everyday. They'll make fun of each other, they'll bicker, they'll actually even physically fight sometimes, they'll ignore each other, then they'll get to the part- haven't I gone through this already? Anyway, you know what they're like. And then, near the very top of the circle, there's the part where they let each other know they do actually care about the other, in their weird, cryptic, god-knows-how kind of way. No matter what, they circle never ends, because they keep coming back to each other. Oh my, you probably want to know what started my ramblings, right? Okay, it all started a couple weeks ago when Sam, Freddie and I were rehearsing for iCarly…
FLASHBACK!
"Okay guys," I started, "We need to get moving with these ideas 'cause we're running a little behind." Looking up at the pair, I saw Freddie give Sam a scowl, which she returned with a bored expression and a slap round the face. Freddie, his scowl deepening, clutched the now brilliant red side of his face and turned to face me.
"It's all her fault!" he exclaimed, pointing an angry finger towards Sam.
"You wanna lose that finger, Benson?" she threatened. "'Cause I know your not trying to blame me are you?" It wasn't a question; it was a challenge.
"Yes, Puckett, I am blaming you! If you hadn't started beating up that waiter at the Cheesecake Warehouse, we wouldn't be behind!" Freddie's face had turned a shade darker as he shouted at her.
"Well, he shouldn't have taken away my food! You know how mama gets!" Sam hissed at him, her eyes shone daggers as she spoke. If looks could kill…
"He was clearing the table! That was his JOB!" Freddie spat back, his face turning another shade darker. Maybe I should intervene…
"Guys-" My feeble attempt at distracting them was thrown aside when Sam took one menacing step closer to Freddie.
"I was still eating!" she yelled, her eyes fogging over, no doubt thinking about the food. Freddie laughed maniacally and turned yet another shade darker. Surely, that can't be healthy. Is he gonna have an aneurism?
"Your plate was EMPTY" he bellowed.
"Oh, so now you got an answer for everything, do you?" Sam snapped.
They carried on like this for a while until the room was a gurgle of insults mixed with my increasingly impatient attempts at peace. During the process, Sam and Freddie had got so caught up in their argument that they hadn't realised the position they were in.
They were pressed up against each other with no space between their bodies. Freddie, the taller of the two, was staring down angrily at Sam, whose face was tilted upwards with a vicious scowl printed across her features. From afar, they could have been mistaken as lovers, in the build-up for a kiss. Then you get closer and see the murderous expressions on the faces that would send Mr. T running home to his mama. Yeah, it was pretty scary stuff. That's when I lost it.
"ENOUGH!" I screeched, so loud that both of them jumped away from each other, clamping their hands to their ears. "I have HAD it with the fighting!" Sam and Freddie's expressions softened towards me, but then they had to glimpse at each other and bring back the death stares. "How can you hate each other so much?" They look up at me in surprise at the hopelessness that dripped from my voice. "You two have known each other since forever. You are my best friends. How do you think it makes me and everyone else feel when we see you fighting? I hate it! It's a horrible sight." Freddie took a nervous glance at Sam, who was staring at the floor guiltily. She lifted her head to meet his remorseful gaze and they both sharply looked away.
"I can't do this." I whispered, my voice cracking as the tears rolled down my cheek. Sam and Freddie's wide eyes were following the tears flowing down my face and I gave them one last defeated look as I turned on my heel and ran for my room…
END OF FLASHBACK!
Now I can't tell you what happened between them in the next few hours, because I honestly don't know. But this is where the weird part comes in.
Of course, I couldn't stay mad at them for long, especially when they came and apologized. I could see in their eyes that they truly meant it. That wasn't the weird part. That came the next day when we were setting up the iCarly studio for a new segment.
So as usual, Sam and Freddie were back to bickering, this time about books. I kid you not.
"Oh please, Boogie Bear 3 is not the greatest book of all time." Freddie stated.
"Take that back!" Sam shrieked. Apparently she gets very defensive about Boogie Bear. Here we go.
"It's not even a real book." Freddie snapped, "Its all pictures," Sam's face became indifferent.
"I happen to like the pictures." Sam's voice was quieter now, speaking in more defiant tones.
"That's because you can't read." Freddie muttered under his breath, whilst I sincerely hoped Sam did not hear that.
"What did you say?" She heard. Her fingers curled up into fists and she took a threatening step towards Freddie, whose eyes had snapped up in realisation at what he had said. I breathed a long exasperated sigh and shrunk into my seat, expecting more of the violence ahead. When it didn't come I looked up to what once was a heated argument to find a very solemn-looking Sam and Freddie, who were both looking straight at me. The trace of guilt from the day before flashed in their eyes as they turned back towards each other.
"Pause?" Sam asked quietly, looking up at Freddie with unsure eyes.
"Pause." Freddie nodded in response, his tone oozing finality. Their unsure faces were replaced with casual ones, as if nothing had even happened. Sam made her way over to the fridge.
"Hey, can you get me a Peppi-Cola?" Freddie called over to Sam, who replied with a simply put, "Sure." I must be dreaming… I thought.
"There's only one left." Sam lifted the one can in the directed of Freddie to show him, "You want it?" she added. I am definitely dreaming… Sam doesn't share, especially with Freddie.
"Nah, it's cool. I'll just get something from the Groovy Smoothie." Freddie replied, grabbing his coat and heading for the door. Sam grabbed hers and made her way over to Freddie.
"I'll come with." She said. "You coming Carls?" It took a few moments to process that she had actually been talking to me.
"N-No. I'm fine." I think. I still wasn't sure if this was real.
"Well, okay then. We'll bring you back something." Sam looked at Freddie for assurance. He smiled at her and nodded. "Let's go Fredifer." She tapped him twice on the shoulder and walked through the open door he was holding open.
"Of course, Princess Puckett." Freddie finished with a chuckle as he followed her out of the door. "Later Carls." He added, and the door swung shut to leave me on my own once again. What in the HELL just happened…?
A/N: Okay, so hopefully you know what the Pause is now and I hope you enjoyed that. I tried to keep the fight scenes as true to character as possible, so let me know what you think! Thank you to all my lovely reviewers also, every review means a heck of a lot to me.
THANKSSBYEE! :)