Hi guys! Okay, you guys are seriously the most awesome reader EVER! You all got me up to 106 reviews for only six chapters! You have no idea how flattered I am that you all like my story enough to review. :) Sorry, I had to get the silly, high-pitched girly voice out of me. Also, my other fanfic 'Something Weird' is one review away from a hundred AND it got put into the iBest of Seddie Community by veeheart914 and I don't know how those work or anything but thank you so so so much! Anyway, on more important matters… iOMG! Two days to go! Well, three for me because I'm in London and I have to stream at 5AM on Sunday morning :( Which I might not even be able to do anyway! Time zones frustrate me. So, in the last couple of chapters, Carly has found out that the Seddie lurrrve has arrived. Yay for realisations! What to do now…? :D

Disclaimer: Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a girl who dreamt of owning iCarly… Doesn't mean she did.

Previously on iPause:

I was about to call out to Freddie until I realised what he was doing. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed with a photo album in his lap, flicking through the pages. From the angle that the camera was set, I could just about see the different pictures as he turned the pages. They were of all of us: me, Freddie, Sam, Spencer and even Gibby. There was one of Sam and I painting a very shirtless Gibby, Freddie laughed at that one. And there was one of me, Sam and Freddie in the park. Spencer had made us get in the picture because he wanted to 'capture the moment.' Freddie was in the middle of Sam and me, with his arms thrown across both of our shoulders. Sam had one of her arms wrapped around his back, as did I, but her other hand was entwined with his near her shoulder. Huh. Freddie was leaning into Sam, his cheek resting on the top of her head as he pulled her closer. I never noticed that before… I didn't have time to think about it anymore because Freddie had already turned the page onto a more memorable picture. It was a photo of Sam sleeping upside-down in my room. That had to be one of the most awkward positions to sleep in ever, but Sam seemed totally comfortable. Freddie laughed out loud and shook his head amusedly.

"…Weirdo." He said quietly as he smiled at her fondly. He had a weird yet kind of familiar look in his eyes that I couldn't place. I was sure I'd seen it before, but this time it was more intense or… something. Wait a minute… I knew where I'd seen that look before. I'd seen it hundreds of times, only, the times I'd seen it seemed bland compared to now. Freddie likes Sam! What is this, opposite day…?

Chapter 7:

Protection.

Carly's POV

Where did we leave it? Ah, yes, I remember now. I was freaking out over finding out that Sam and Freddie LIKE each other! I couldn't believe that I didn't see that coming. Looking back, it now seems pretty obvious, but I didn't want to dwell on it for fear of making my head explode. I didn't want to put Spencer through the torture of having the scrape the Carly off of the walls. Anyway, after finally calming down from that I decided that I'd let things play out naturally for a bit, seen as Sam and Freddie had got a LOT closer without my help recently, I thought maybe time would do some justice. If not, and both of them are too stubborn or just plain blind and it's making them miserable, then I will intervene. I will NOT stand by and let my best friends be all depressed when they could be so much happier with each other. So it was back to school the next morning. Sam is really fast at getting over illnesses; it's quite amazing to watch. I mean, I was ill for about four days and I was still sniffling a bit after that. But Sam had that flu gone and out of the window in a day. Her immune system must be awesome. Well, Sam was eating her 'morning ham' by our lockers as I was emptying my books for the day into mine when Freddie came up from behind Sam.

"Hola chicas." He greeted smiling at both Sam and I. Hmmm… He's not usually this happy. Don't get me wrong, Freddie isn't all grumpy in the mornings but that day he sounded genuinely happy. Huh.

"Hey Freddie."

"Sup nub."

Freddie smirked and looked playfully at Sam. She saw his expression and frowned, completely confusion. She even stopped eating! Then her expression changed to the annoyed yet bored expression that she so gracefully wears.

"Why are you looking at me all weird like that, Sir Dorkalot?" Sam questioned, her eyebrows lifting up in curiosity. Freddie chuckled and shook his head.

"You forgot." He replied smugly, nudging Sam's arm with his own, clearly having fun at Sam's lapse in memory.

"Forgot what?" Sam snapped, annoyed that she couldn't think of any reason why she had to remember… well, anything. Freddie changed his expression from smug into false innocence.

"Oh, nothing." He sang, in a higher voice than his own whilst rocking back and forward on his heels. Sam took one last bite of the ham she was eating and threw the rest in her locker. Then she turned and punched Freddie in the arm. She looked bewildered when Freddie didn't even flinch.

"Dude, just tell me." She gave up, although her eyes seemed to keep wandering away from his face and down to his bicep. She did this a few times before she caught herself and flashed her eyes back to his face in a furious attempt to concentrate. Aww. Sam thinks Freddie's hot. Freddie rolled his eyes and the playful look vanished to be replaced with his normal smile.

"Our history assignment." He explained. "The presentation is today." Sam's eyes widened in horror as she came to the realisation.

"Aw, man! I forgot." She whined. Freddie scoffed.

"Yeah, no chiz." He said, but quickly shut up after receiving a death glare from Sam.

"What time is it?" Sam asked, frustrated at herself.

"First period. Like now." Freddie replied, the school bell sounding in the middle of his answer. Sam sighed heavily and threw her head back.

"Come on, nub," she said as she grabbed the front of Freddie's shirt and dragged him off behind her. "Let's get this over with. Later Carls."

Freddie turned his head and waved at me whilst trying not to fall over Sam as she dragged him away with her. I laughed to myself and closed my locker, heading for Calculus. On my way, I heard some noise coming from down the hallway that I needed to pass through. When I rounded the corner, I saw Tommy Beckford and his friends in a group in the middle of the hall. His friends were harmless, but Tommy is known for being a bit of a trouble-maker, so I tried to keep my head down, walking fast and as far away as possible. All almost got away when Tommy called out my name.

"Yo, Shay!" he called out. I stopped and turned to face him, a mask of politeness on my face. He smiled widely at me. I have to admit, he was pretty good-looking, but I wasn't really interested. "Do you wanna go out some time?" he asked, his friends patting him on the back with respect. "I'll let you have a piece of this?" he bargained, gesturing to himself. The minions laughed.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks." I said shortly, turning my back and walking away. His friends burst out laughing at his rejection and I turned to see the scowl on his face as he shoved off his friends' remarks. I had got away with no harm done. Until later…

After Calculus, I was walking back to my locker with my books when I was roughly pulled into the janitor's closet. I was plummeted into darkness, my pupils dilating in desperation for light as I felt around for the switch. Only, I came into contact with a person. They pushed me violently against the wall, trapping my neck with their hand and pressing up against me, their breath making the hairs on my neck stand on end.

"Why are you doing this?" I cried, terrified of being hurt even more then I already was. I couldn't understand.

"You humiliated me!" the speaker growled into my ear. That was Tommy's voice. There's no way I could have mistaken it.

"And now you're going to pay for it." He growled again. I began to hyperventilate, the tears streaming down my face as I sobbed. Tommy forced his lips against mine for a few seconds then pulled back. "Better watch out Shay…" were his final words before he pushed me back again and left the closet, slamming the door behind him. I sank to the ground as the reality of what just happened washed over me. And then I cried into the darkness. And cried, and cried… until about ten minutes later when the closet door flung open. I shrunk into myself again, protecting my head with my arms and the light blinded me.

"Carly?" Sam's voice. Worried. I sighed in relief and broke down again. How much more could I cry? "What happened?" Sam questioned, kneeling beside me and wrapping her arm around me, pulling me close to her.

"H-how did y-you find m-me?" I sniffed.

"I came looking for you when you didn't meet me at our lockers and I heard the crying. But that's not important. Tell me what's wrong?" Sam said in a calm voice. I told her everything. Being taken, choked, kissed, threatened. All of it. I got to the end of my story and Sam flipped out.

"He did WHAT?" She screamed, jumping up and clenching her fists in anger. I knew that look. There was no stopping her. She pulled out her phone and fiddled with it before shoving violently back into her pocket. She bent down again and continued to ask me if I was okay and rubbing my back sympathetically. A minute later the door burst open again to a confused and concerned Freddie standing in the doorway.

"I got your message, what's up?" He asked Sam, and she told him everything I had said to her. Apparently, Sam and Freddie have this codeword or something and whenever either of them gets it they stop what they're doing and find each other, no questions asked. Freddie had just dropped his guitar and walked out of music at Sam's word. When Sam had finished, Freddie was equally as angry. They shared a look for a second before picking me up and taking me home. I didn't care about school just then. I only wanted Spencer and my best friends. I needed to feel safe.

The next day, I was reluctant to go into school, but Sam dragged me along, saying something along the lines of not letting him see my fear. We were at our lockers again when Tommy rounded the corner and I stiffened at the sight, my mind freezing in panic. Sam noticed this changed in posture and glanced over to where I was looking, her eyes narrowing when she found him. She nudged Freddie and nodded over to Tommy. Freddie looked and then wore an identical expression to Sam's.

"You ready?" Sam asked Freddie.

"Let's do it." He replied, not taking his eyes off Tommy. The both of them turned to face him.

"You take left, I'll take right." Sam ordered. Freddie nodded in response. They waltzed right up to Tommy, Freddie on the left, Sam on the right. Each of them grabbed hold of either of his shoulders and pushed him forcefully back into the lockers behind. Tommy scowled at them and tried to get away, but their grip was like iron on his shoulders.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Sam growled at him, her eyes screaming murder. Tommy rolled his eyes at her.

"Shut your mouth, Puckett." He spat at her, not afraid to get in her face.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Freddie slammed Tommy back into the lockers again as I watched in horror. Tommy laughed cynically.

"Oh please, what are you going to do, dork?" Tommy joked darkly. Sam flared up again.

"Hey! I'm the only one who picks on the nub, got it? And he could take you down with one shot to the jaw so you better think about who you're messing with." Tommy just laughed in Sam's face again.

"Whatever, Puckett." He said and he pushed Sam away, hard, so that she tripped and fell backwards. That when Freddie went ballistic. He clasped his hand around Tommy's throat and slammed him down to the floor; twisting the arm he pushed Sam with back in an unnatural way. Tommy squealed in agony. Freddie bent low next to Tommy's face and whispered menacingly, "Don't you DARE touch Sam. Don't you DARE." Tommy was visibly scared now, his eyes flitting around in panic as his breathing became heavier. Sam had gotten up by now and moved to stand over Tommy, resting her foot on the place that should never be kicked. She had him in the palm of her hand now.

"Now, listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once." She started, increasing the pressure of her foot slightly. Tommy squirmed uncomfortably. "You will not threaten Carly. You will not talk to Carly. You won't even look at Carly again. 'Cause if you do, you'll have us to deal with." She increased the pressure with every sentence and now Tommy had tears in hears eyes, rolling around in pain under Freddie's hold.

"Got it?" Freddie asked forcefully shaking Tommy violently. Tommy nodded his head furiously and Sam and Freddie retreated. Tommy got up quickly and ran off through the crowd. That's when I noticed the herd of people watching what had happened. Sam and Freddie fist bumped and people burst into applause. They walked over to me smiling and I stared back at them, shocked.

"You okay?" Freddie asked concerned. Sam wore the same expression.

"No." They looked confused.

"I'm not fine," I explained, "I'm perfect." I smiled at them and they grinned at each other and hugged me. How did I manage to get the most awesome friends in the world?

Okay, I hope you liked it! It's a little too violent to be on the show but it's my story so nyeehhh! Hehe :) I loved the Seddie teamwork in the chapter. Also, big shoutout to my friend meteor prime! Check out her stuff, she's a Trekkie and she is awesome! I don't have time to write the reviewers for last chapter right now but I will do both chapters in the next one. Review! PEACE!