A/N: Hey all :) Back from holidays, and wrote a shiny new chapter from Carly's POV. I did a chapter with Carly because in Seddie stories, people tend to leave her out of everything. So I'm going to have Carly involved in this story a lot. I know lots of people don't enjoy heaps of POV switching, but I'm going to have a Sam chapter, then a Freddie, then a Carly. Thanks for your reviews, it does mean a lot to me! One more thing: Sam and Freddie may seem slightly out of character in this chapter. Enjoy!
Sam still hadn't come back. It had been ages. I sighed, and got up from the couch. Girly Cow really wasn't that much fun without Sam. I pushed the apartment door closed, when two hands wedged themselves in the gap and ripped the door open.
"Sam?" I pulled her inside. She was breathing heavily, and her eyes were red from crying. "Sam!"
"I…I… Carly, I..." she struggled. Instead of helping her finish, I wrapped her into a tight hug, and pulled her to the couch.
"Sam, what happened with Freddie?" I asked. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I added quickly.
"Carly, I want to tell you, I just don't know how to." She pulled away from me, and put her head on my shoulder instead.
"I'm not going to judge you, Sam. You can tell me anything." I ran a hand through a strand of her messy hair, trying to untangle some of the knots.
"Everything just happened so… quickly! Freddie was being all cold to me so I told him that if it made him happy I'd leave, so I did, then he found me, and… and…" she gushed. I rubbed her shoulder.
"Then what happened, Sam?"
"Well, I told him that I… I told him I had feelings for him." Sam stared at her feet. I gasped.
"Sam… what did Freddie, you know, say back?" I put a hand over my mouth. I shouldn't push her to tell me everything. "Wait, Sam, are you… ashamed?"
She nodded silently.
"Why are you ashamed, Sam?" I asked quietly.
"Because… he's Freddie… and I'm Sam… and everyone knows we hate each other…"
"But… you don't, do you?"
"No, I… I don't hate Freddie."
"I know." I whispered. I always knew that Sam didn't hate Freddie, and Freddie didn't hate Sam. She was wrong. Everyone who watched iCarly, everyone at our school, they all knew that my two best friends did not hate each other. I looked over at Sam. She was fidgeting, playing with the pocket zips on her jeans and brushing her hair back more often than she normally would. Sam noticed me staring at her, and looked down quickly. She kept opening her mouth to say something, but snapped it shut as soon as she saw me giving her a questioning look. Finally, Sam spoke.
"Um, Carly, I...I want to go home. Could you ask Spencer to take me?" There were more tears in her eyes. I didn't reply. I patted her shoulder, and ran into Spencer's room.
"Spencer? I knocked on the open door. "You in here?"
"Uh-huh, kiddo, I'm just under my bed. You remember that sandwich I lost last month? I found it."
"Ew, don't eat it!" I exclaimed. His head popped up from under the bed.
"I wasn't gunna…" he said sheepishly.
"Right." I rolled my eyes. Spencer gave me his serious face, and then slid out from under his bed.
"Carls, can I… can I just, uh, tell you, uh, something?"
"Well, make it quick. Sam needs a ride."
"Okay, um…" he put his hands on my shoulders and steered me to his bed. I sat down, and looked at him questioningly. "Freddie just called me."
"And?"
"He said that… he said that he um, kissed… Sam." He mumbled.
My mouth dropped open. "Spencer, please don't mess with me."
"It's the truth, ask either one of them."
"Oh... um… well, Sam needs a lift. Can you take her? I need time to think." I glanced around uncomfortably. Freddie kissed Sam? How was it possible? I thought Freddie still loved me! Sure, it got annoying sometimes, but it makes you feel special when someone else considers you special to them. I suddenly felt like I wanted to cry. I felt jealous, that Freddie had found someone special that wasn't me. Me and him, we'd dated for a while, but I knew then that I really did not love him, and that I didn't feel anything for him. I shouldn't be feeling jealous. It made me seem selfish. And I wasn't a selfish person. Was I turning into one?
"Sure thing, kiddo." Spencer replied. He rubbed my shoulder, and ran out the door, tripping on numerous objects on the way out. I heard him calling out to Sam. I needed time to be alone. Instead of hovering in Spencer's bedroom, I trudged up the stairs and into the iCarly studio.
"Freddie… Sam… love… stupid…" I muttered incoherently. I pulled up a beanbag and instead of sitting on it, I laid on my chest, flicking through the feathers, burst balloons, and iCarly ideas cards on the floor that we just couldn't be bothered cleaning away. I got up from the beanbag, and made my way slowly around the room, observing each little decoration on the wall, every little button on Freddie's tech cart. I panicked when I heard the lift coming up. I didn't know whether to hide, or run, or stay where I was. I decided to stay. The lift opened, and the sight of my best tech friend shocked me. He noticed my expression.
"I can go." Freddie's face was tear-stained, and his eyes were red. His clothes were wet from running in the rain. His hair was messy and matted, just like Sam's.
"Freddie. We have to talk."
"About what." His voice was deadpan.
"Uh… sit with me?" I motioned to the beanbags on the ground.
"I'm fine."
"O…kay. Um…"
"Look, I don't have all day, Carly." Freddie's voice was suddenly angry.
"It's… it's about Sam." I sighed. The expression on his face changed, and his lower lip started trembling. He put his hands over his face and turned his back to me.
"I don't wanna talk about Sam."
"Well, we're going to. Sit!"
"No! Let's talk about something else! What's Spencer building?" His voice got loud and cracked in places.
"Eh! Sit!"
"But, I…"
"I said sit!" I commanded. He turned and sat diligently on the hood of the car. I stood in front of him, and put my hands on his shoulders. "Freddie. We are going to talk about Sam, and there is nothing you can do about it. Talk!"
Freddie sighed, and opened his mouth.