There should be a little more intensity in this chapter, and a little more interaction between Carly, Sam, Spencer, and Freddie as a group, as well as extraneous other characters. Enjoy. Please review!
Inspirations: Backyard Baseball; Cyclone - Baby Bash.
Chapter Two: iAm Here Whenever You Need Me
The night came much sooner than we wanted it to. Freddie was called home by his mother, something about that shampoo contract he has with her and how he violated it for the last time. That alone made me chuckle. But I was scolded by my brunette friend, who gave me a light punch to the shoulder. I was used to her subtly abusive methods of whipping me into shape. Though lately, she had been taking my side more and more often. I liked that.
Spencer hadn't felt up to cooking, and Carly wasn't either. So I took the initiative and ordered in some pizza, two pies, which Spencer gratefully paid for. I told him I would cough up some money for him somewhere down the road and he sort of blew me off. I was completely serious, though. It was hard trying to get a job in a declining economic state, but I'm sure he knew how that went.
When the elevator door chimed and the doors opened to show a young man with two boxes of pizza, I perked up. Spencer had shuffled off into his room and Carly and I were left alone in the living room, the television practically blaring. I don't even know what we were watching, since I had somewhat dozed off. But she seem enthralled by whatever was on the television set. I grabbed the crumpled cash and handed it over to the delivery boy, giving him a slack smile. He returned the same gesture and disappeared into the elevator.
"How many slices you want, Carls?" I called to her, opening one of the boxes after I set them down on the kitchen's island. I took out a slice and took a huge bite. I wasn't going to wait for a plate or anything. My stomach was growling!
"Uh, huh?" She answered back, turning down the volume of the television. Then she perked up a bit. "Oh, pizza's here." She chirped, hopping off the couch and moving into the kitchen. I wasn't even paying attention to where, but she pulled a paper plate from somewhere and started to dish out a slice onto the plate. There was that smile of hers that I had missed the whole day.
It was almost as if pizza felt uneventful. Carly ate her usual, two slices, while I finished off a good solid six slices before letting lose a very unladylike belch. I was momentarily scolded by my best friend, but by now, I was just used to it. So, I excused myself. Very unlike me, but for Carly, eh it's all right. Though she was a little taken by it.
"You excused yourself?" She asked, a slight smirk pulling at her features.
"I guess I did, weird." I noted, shrugging my shoulders weakly. As I moved towards the sink to grab a paper towel to wet - I had grease like, all over my mouth and today, it was bugging me a lot - and I turned on the sink, I felt arms snake around my waist and hug me tightly from behind. I also felt a cheek rest on my shoulder. The corners of my lips turned into a slight smile, too. Oh, I couldn't help it. It was like I turned to mush in Carly's hands whenever we were alone. And lately, she was starting to catch onto that, too.
I wiped my mouth and balled up the wet towel, reaching for a dry one to dry my hands, my mouth, and then crumple up around the wet one to toss in the garbage can more easily. But she just wouldn't let me move, not unless I turned to face her. So I did that. Her head lifted. We were practically eye to eye, nose to nose, mouth to mouth, face to face. We were a lot closer than I even thought we would be in reality. But I smiled. She smiled back. It was all so surreal.
"I just wanted to throw this out," My words sounded whispered, and weak. I hope she couldn't tell that my knees were threatening to buckle beneath me. But even if they did, I had the counter behind me to grab onto. I would not bring Carly down with me if I was going to possibly hurt myself. No way, no how.
"Throw it out later," She took the towel from my hand with one of hers, set it on the counter behind me and grabbed onto my waist again. I didn't know what was coming over her, but hey, I wasn't complaining about it.
"Carls, you're acting weird." I stated flatly, but I was keeping my voice down just in case. I was being so cautious. I didn't know if Spencer was awake or asleep. If he was awake, he could very easily just come out into the kitchen and catch us and throw me out and this would be such a mess... I didn't want that to happen.
Somehow I managed to get out of her arms, to move towards the garbage can and deposit my trash inside of it. I just don't know how I didn't keep myself in her clutches and let anything slip at all. How did Carly know I liked her that way? I had never told anyone; I had only just recently come to terms with it last year. I guess she just... knows me that well, to be able to read me like a book sometimes, even at times when I just wished she couldn't do that.
A yawn left my lips and I tried to cover it up, clamping a hand over my mouth. "Mmn, I think I'm ready for bed." I confessed, keeping my eyes shut as I stretched my arms out above my head.
"It's not even eight o'clock and you're tired? Gee, and you think something's wrong with me," I heard her mumble back at me. So I took the chance to playfully sneer in her direction. She noticed my sneer and stuck her tongue out at me. Oh, what I would do to get her arms around my waist again. Maybe this time I could actually enjoy it, as opposed to being overly confused about why she was acting the way I just wished she would act towards me. I had to pinch myself to ensure that I wasn't dreaming, to ensure this was my reality.
"Yeah. Rough day trying to keep your spirits up when I only found out what was troubling you when we got home." I was calling Carly's apartment home a lot more than usual. I was here almost all the time. And the nights I told her that I had gone home? Sometimes I did, sometimes I walked down to the bus station and slept there. Sometimes I camped out in the hallways of this building. And other times, I just stayed here, crashing on the couch, the kitchen floor, under the kitchen table, and sometimes, right next to Carly in her bed. Those were my favorite nights, when I could fall asleep with my face half buried in a pillow that smelled so sweet, like the strawberries and cream shampoo that she typically used. (Sometimes she switched it up with tropical coconut, but that hadn't been for awhile.)
"Touche," I heard the word easily roll out of her mouth, and I nodded slightly.
"Where am I sleeping tonight?" I asked, just about ready to slump into the couch for the night. That's when she grabbed my hand again and started pulling me upstairs.
"Race car bed, with me." She informed brightly. Our feet moved up the staircase in unison, each step we took leading us closer to something I was both enjoying and regretting. It was hard to be in any kind of slump when she was holding my hand, leading me up to her room like this. Well, the room we called a studio and she seemed to be taking over as a bedroom lately.
"Isn't that bed like.. a single?" My voice sounded weak again. She squeezed my hand and shook her head.
"No, it's a twin. And I put yellow sheets on it," She chuckled softly. She seemed to be so much less nervous than I was. But why? Probably because she was Carly, always overwhelming with confidence, unlike myself. Sure, I had that gruff exterior and I was very protective of my friends, but I was shy when it came to the intimate stuff. I just... was not comfortable with it at all. Why? Because I don't get experience. I've had, what... one boyfriend to date? And hell, I don't even like guys anymore. I've preferred girls since entering high school. I'm sure that Carly was the one that sparked that interest.
"Because a twin is so much larger..." I teasingly mused.
"I guess you'll just have to be extra close to me." She giggled and I shook my head some. It was hard finding reasons why I should let go of her hand. I was losing an uphill battle here and my reinforcements were absolutely nowhere to be found. Psh, probably off doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. I needed something to save me, something to distract me from the way my heart was starting to pick up the pace from her squeezing my hand.
"Uh, bathroom..." I muttered, letting go of her hand and running back down the stairs and into the bathroom across the hall from Spencer's bedroom. His door was shut. So he probably had been sleeping that whole time. Great. Thanks. Just when I need you to wake up, Spencer, you're crashed out in your bed, sound asleep and awkwardly snoring into your soggy pillow.
I closed the bathroom door behind me and turned the knob so I was locked in. Flipping on the light, I moved to stand in front of the sink and its mirror. There was no way that I could do this. Why tonight. Why did Carly have to have the worst day ever and ask me to spend the night? I splashed cold water on my face and looked up, staring back at my reflection. The water droplets rolled off my nose and down my cheekbones, dripping into the sink almost without a sound. I took a deep breath and exhaled smoothly. That's when I heard a knock on the door. I quickly wiped off my face and flushed the toilet, making it seem as if I actually went to the bathroom and wasn't just trying to slow my speeding heart.
"Sam, are you okay?" I heard her overly concerned voice and I started to panic. Shit. Why was she worrying about me? Why?
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be out in a sec..." I could hear her jiggling the doorknob, so I unlocked it and she popped her head inside.
"I brought you a t-shirt and shorts, if you didn't want to sleep in your jeans and stuff." She offered gently, handing over a red t-shirt and black shorts. I felt a toothy smile creep onto my face.
"Thanks, Carls." I took the clothes, ignoring the way my stomach dropped when her fingertips grazed the back of my hand. And she did it on purpose. She had to be catching on to the effects she had over me.
"See you upstairs," She closed the door behind her and her footsteps disappeared up to the studio room. I changed into the clothes she had given me, smirking a little when I saw how short the shorts were. They barely covered my ass. Oh, she was totally doing this for her own personal enjoyment. What a sick, twisted, and beautifully intelligent best friend I have. The t-shirt was the right size, though.
Ten minutes later, I climbed the stairs unceremoniously. I had found some ham in the fridge and munched on that, working up the courage to go upstairs in this embarrassing get-up Carly had me wearing to bed. And there she was, happily playing her Violin Hero game or whatever when I walked in. It was payback time.
I set my clothes aside, next to the beanbag chairs, and I snuck up behind her. She was dancing a little bit to the music, her hips swaying some, so I held them, and I rested my chin on her shoulder.
"I don't like the shorts." She jumped and paused her game, setting the violin down. When she turned to face me, a smirk had pulled across her face.
"I do. They're cute on you," She confessed, shrugging. She easily moved out of my grasp on her hips and went to the violin, to shut the game off and she turned off the television, too. I still don't even know why she loved that game so much. I couldn't even play the damn thing.
"You're terrible. I think you have a hidden agenda, trying to get me in next to nothing." I teased her and she shrugged, her smirk growing.
"Huh, maybe I do." She noted back at me. That's when my jaw nearly dropped. Was she... oh my chiz. I didn't expect that from Carly Shay.
"You're sneaky, Carls." I informed. "I like this different side of you. She's still polite and yet... very devious, too."
She curtsied to me and chuckled. "Why thank you. I like to think of it as my hidden sick talent." She sunk down onto the bed, leaning back into the pillows after peeling away the blankets. "Aren't you coming to bed?"
"Yeah. The lights are still on, though." I turned them off and climbed into the other side of the bed with her. It was rather dark in the room. I was on my back, my eyes ready to close, when I heard her shift. I turned my head and Carly was lying on her side, her head propped up by her elbow and hand. I smirked. "What,"
"You've been really off since we got home from school. What's wrong?" Her voice sounded so sweet and my eyes were tricking me. Her brown eyes were so dark in the room, and yet the little ounce of light coming in through the window made them glow a dark amber-orange color. And her skin was subtly dancing in the moonlight, giving my heart an extra flutter that it just didn't need right now.
"Off like how?"
"You wouldn't let me hold your hand. You tried to get away from me when I gave you a hug at the sink..."
"I was trying to wipe my face off and you hugged me. That's awkward."
"Point taken. And then you scared me half to death when you ran away to the bathroom. I thought you were sick or nervous or something."
"I had to pee like a race horse," My brow raised curiously. She dropped her head onto her pillow, but she was still facing me.
"But something is still bugging you. What is it?" I know I tell her just about everything, but this time, I couldn't let her in on this secret. Instead, I flashed her a smile and turned on my side, my back facing her front.
"Good night, Carly." I told her. "Please try to get some sleep. If you can't sleep, then wake me up with the ham in your fridge."
"We have bacon in the freezer." She mumbled. I felt the bed move and she scooted closer to me, shyly moving an arm around my waist. I couldn't even refuse her at this point, partially because my mind was focused on the thought of bacon. Mm, bacon.
It wasn't even an hour later and the arm around my waist was gone. Somehow, I hadn't quite managed to fall asleep. But Carly did. She was sound asleep, her back to mine. So I boldly moved. I turned onto my other side, a mirror image of what we had been in only sixty minutes ago. It was time to face the music, I decided. I cautiously moved so my face rested in the crook between her shoulder and her neck, my eyes closing. I wrapped an arm around her waist and felt her arm move to rest on top of mine. So she was awake. She had to be.
"I'm here if you want to talk." I whispered into her skin, keeping my eyes closed. At this point, I just hoped she was sleeping and her movements were involuntary. Nope. I couldn't get anything right today.
"Good night, Sam." She whispered back to me. Her fingers slid into the spaces between mine and she curled her fingers around until her fingertips just gently touched my palm. It was hard to fall asleep, but eventually, I did. I managed. She fell asleep before I did. How did I know? I could hear her even breaths being drawn in and exhaled. She didn't breathe heavily, but she did breathe a little loud. It's all right, though. She didn't keep me awake.
"What, you're actually going to sleep?" I kept my face buried in the crook of her neck and I heard her giggle. But she didn't move very much.
"I was going to try," She informed me, keeping her voice just above a whisper. But I felt her body start to turn, her hand leaving mine. So I reluctantly lifted my head from the crook of her neck and opened my eyes.
"I can't see you, it's too dark in here." I mumbled to her. She giggled again and leaned towards me. I knew she leaned closer because her lips just carefully grazed mine. I don't think that's what she meant to do. "I found you," My lips barely moved when I spoke. I was almost scared to move them. My arm was still around her waist, my hand resting over the small of her back, just above her butt. She had a cute butt.
I felt her pull back, but we were still very close. "I didn't mean to kiss you." She whispered, and I shook my head.
"No, it's fine. Just an accident," I nodded slightly to her. But my eyes were adjusting to the darkness. She was still really close to me. I was practically breathing in her carbon dioxide. But I was not complaining. So I leaned my forehead on hers. I felt her fingertips graze along my jaw, then her palm settled on my cheek.
"Okay, maybe I did mean to kiss you, but not like that." Her whispered words were followed by a nervous chuckle. She was so cute when she was nervous. No, she was always cute, even when she was angry. Before she could form another coherent word, I pressed my lips lightly to hers, and I could feel her smiling into the brief kiss that we shared. I tilted me head slightly and my nose brushed against hers. I could feel my confidence starting to build up. I suppose hers did as well, because it was her tongue that I felt trying to pry my lips open. I was reluctant, but I let her. I let her in.
It was like I was stuck in a dream and one that I did not want to wake up from. We had engaged in some kind of casual make out, when she tugged at my bottom lip. I smirked to her when she did, too.
"Why are oo iting me," I whispered to her and she released my lip, keeping her forehead on mine. It was as if we had been glued at the forehead for the past ten minutes.
"Because I like biting your lip, Samantha," She replied. But when she said my full name, I was cautious to respond to her, but I groaned.
"Please don't call me that." I mumbled to her, tugging at her lip gently, until she kissed me again. But I felt an ounce of guilt wash over me. As we continued kissing, I had released her lip, until she tugged slightly at mine again. "Nng, what?" I questioned softly. Now that I had the opportunity to kiss her like this, I didn't want to stop. It was mildly addicting.
"It's actually getting late and we have school tomorrow." She argued, daring to move her forehead from mine, but just a fraction of an inch away. I whined a little and she shook her head to me. My protesting ceased, but I rolled my eyes. She had me wrapped around her little finger already; damn you, Carly Shay.
"Ah, fuck school." That earned me no kiss, but a firm grasp on my chin. "I'll go wash my mouth out with soap." I started to get up, but she wouldn't let me go. She pulled my arm around her waist more firmly and she curled against me, resting her head just under my chin.
"Don't go anywhere because you're warm and I'm cold." I looked down into her hair. It was messy and wavy and the smell of strawberries and cream was filling my nostrils.
"Fine. But are we actually going to sleep, or...?"
"No, we're going to sleep."
I guess I'm not sleeping naked tonight.