The Greatest Secret

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly

A/N: This story details what it would be like if Sam and Freddie were secretly together during the series. Read it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Chapter 32 (The Avenger)

The next week came around, Freddie was much better and energetic. Sam had been by his side for the duration of his sickness, she was more than happy to do so. Jonah and Valerie had visited him while he was sick, and even Carly stopped by a few times. Jake came around too, but Stephanie generally kept him busy.

Freddie smirked and walked into Mrs. Briggs's classroom, she looked up and raised her eyebrow as he walked to her desk. He sat there and though for a minute, thinking about what he might say to her. She narrowed her eyes and tapped the desk, waiting for him to talk. She seemed to be growing annoyed with the second, Freddie was loving this. He crossed his arms as he sat on the edge of his desk, causing Mrs. Briggs to let out a growl and ponder why he was resting his ass on her desk. She grabbed a ruler and Freddie quickly took it from her hand.

"Mr. Benson, why are you resting your bosom on my desk!" Mrs. Briggs exclaimed. "Not only that, but what the hell are you thinking by taking my ruler from my hands." Freddie smirked and pushed himself off, he walked around her desk and leaned against the board on the wall while crossing his arms. "Freddie Benson, if you do not tell me what you're doing, then I'm going to give you detention…" She eyed his hands and saw a brown folder in his hands, she raised her eyebrow and Freddie tossed the folder onto the desk. "What the hell is this?"

"Open it," Freddie said while glancing at his hand for a brief second. She followed his instructions and gasped when she saw a bunch of pictures of her closet, along with them was proof of it all belonging to her. Freddie quickly swiped the folder away from her and glanced at it. "Wow, there seems to be a lot of Randy Jackson in this. I guess you must be a stalker, is that correct? You and your sweaty little ass, I don't believe we appreciated that one." Mrs. Briggs growled and glared at Freddie.

"What do you want?"

"Let's talk Sam."

"Hah!" Freddie raised his eyebrow and turned completely toward the teacher, glaring into her eyes.

"I have proof that you give her detentions and poor grades for a reason that is inappropriate to the field of teaching." She raised her eyebrow and Freddie coolly walked around her desk, she kept her eyes fixed upon him. "In fact, it was in the Randy Jackson closet that I found it! It was the one thing that wasn't related to that weird and crazy obsession of yours. Tell me, who is Alice Puckett?"

"How should I know?" Freddie sighed and opened the folder, he took out a picture of a letter from Mrs. Briggs to Alice Puckett.

"Let me read this!" She groaned and Freddie gazed at the photo. "Dear Alice, how are you? I can't believe we get to see each other again after a whole year! I got your last letter about Reggie, I'm so glad that you found someone who loves you so much. He sounds so romantic and so sweet! I'm glad to hear you two got married, it was a shame I missed the wedding. I always wanted to go to the wedding of my best friend, but it looks like I missed out. Well, I'll send you a letter later, bye. Sincerely, your best friend, Francine."

"Okay, so what!"

"How come this letter never sent!" Mrs. Briggs fumed and her eyes turned dark

"I loved Reggie. I wanted him. Yet, he wanted nothing to do with me. I wrote that letter, but I was still too furious that I couldn't have Reggie. So she married him and I was furious with her." Freddie blinked and slipped the photo back into the folder, it seemed like a dumb reason to give Sam low grades.

"You give Sam low grades because your self esteem was so low since this Reggie guy married your best friend and not you? There are other men out there, Francine!"

"You may not call me-"

"I'll call you that if I want to, Briggs." Mrs. Briggs's mouth fell open and Freddie glared darkly at her. "Here's the deal, Mrs. Briggs. You start giving Sam the grades and treatment that she deserves and I won't post these pictures of Randy Jackson on the school walls, I won't tell our resident editor Tareen about this, and I won't email Randy about his 'fan.'"

"Y-You can't do that…"

"Oh I can do it." Freddie leaned forward and stared into Mrs. Briggs's eyes. "Don't test me. What I'm doing here is actually perfectly legal, I've checked. You see, I'm not profiting out of this, and Sam did not request this. I'm simply asking you to give Sam what she deserves and I won't put these around the school. What do you say, Briggs? Might I also say, that I wasn't 'trespassing' on any intent of burglary, I was entering the nearest place that could have saved my life."

"What?"

"I'm extremely allergic to bees, Mrs. Briggs. If I were to get stung by a bee, then there is the possibility that I could die. Therefore, entering your home in order to save my life was perfectly fine." The teacher clenched her fists and growled, she knew she was losing the battle. Freddie smirked and crossed his arms. "Well, make your decision, Briggs. What's it going to be?" The teacher grumbled and opened a drawer, there was a stack of tests in there, she was going to hand them back to the class.

She searched through the papers and pulled out Sam's paper. It was perfectly clean, there were no red marks on it, signaling that Sam's paper had been checked and she had gotten all of the problems correct. Freddie tilted his head slightly and smiled as he raised his eyebrows. Mrs. Briggs grumbled as she took her red marker from her desk. On the top of the page was a large and red 'F' signaling that Sam had failed despite getting all the problems correct. "Oh yeah, you could get fired for this information, Mrs. Briggs. I could easily go to Principal Franklin about this. Guess what, I also recorded this conversation."

"What!" Freddie smirked as several students started to walk into the class. Mrs. Briggs grumbled and marked a large line on the side of the F, turning it into an 'A+' like it should have been. She wrote the number 100 on the top and drew a large circle around it. "Why am I doing this? This shouldn't be fair, only because of a disagreement between old friends."

"Of course, you're right, it is unfair. It is unfair to Sam that you should give her failing grades because you had that disagreement with her grandmother. A best friend should be supportive of their friend when that person meets someone they love, even if that person is the object of the other friend's affections. Meaning, you should have supported Alice for her marriage and love for Reggie Puckett rather than becoming a bitter old hag and failing their granddaughter!"

"Fine, I fixed the goddamn grade! Just as long as you don't put that stuff up, I'll be fine, right?"

"Sure…" Freddie closed his eyes and shrugged. "Your reputation will still be intact. However, I do recommend trying to be nicer to everyone else rather than being a stuck up bitch that didn't get someone she loved because he was already taken by another. Stop taking your vengeance out on the students! It isn't their fault that you couldn't have him! Most likely it wasn't yours! Did you ever consider maybe he would have had to marry her for a reason and he fell in love with her? Did you ever consider that he loved her and not you? Why the hell should your students take blame for that? Why should Sam take blame for that?" Mrs. Briggs looked taken aback and quickly stood up.

"Is it even your place to talk like that?!" It was, but he wasn't about to tell her why. He wasn't going to admit the truth, she didn't need to know he loved Sam and was going to get married to her. That could be a problem.

"Yes it is, damn it!" All the students were sitting in their seats and watching Freddie and Mrs. Briggs with wide and surprised eyes. Both student and teacher did not realize anyone was watching, they were in their own world. "Because you had a dispute with your best friend over a man who didn't love you to begin with, you subject your students to your wrath and hate. They've done nothing to deserve it. Also, don't serve them the crap you call bagpipes, maybe you like them, but none of the students do!"

"It isn't my fault, it's theirs! They just don't know culture."

"What you're doing to the students is something that is illegal for teachers to do!" Both voices were rising at incredible levels, both were trying to win the other out. "Teachers are not allowed to bring their personal lives to the classroom. They can, but it is not allowed to let the personal issues influence the way teachers grade their students. This test!" Freddie grabbed Sam's test and held it up. "Has no wrong answers on it at all! Yet, you've attempted to fail it only because of your selfish, personal issues."

"Well I…uh…it's just…" Mrs. Briggs clenched her fists and Freddie knew immediately that he had won. He crossed his arms and his eyes narrowed while his smirk deepened.

"I have another surprise for you, Mrs. Briggs."

"Oh great, what could that be?" Freddie pulled a small radio from his pocket and talked into it.

"Puckett, come in." Mrs. Briggs raised her eyebrow and looked toward the door. It opened and her eyes widened, an elderly woman with graying blonde hair stepped in. Mrs. Briggs couldn't believe who she was seeing, it was Alice. "Hello Granny Puckett."

"H-How the hell…"

"It wasn't easy." Freddie walked over to Alice and took her wrist, he carefully led her over to Mrs. Briggs's desk. "She was standing right out the door the entire time, she can't see very well. Not even Sam or her family really knew where she was…she was actually in a nursing home not far from her, and much forgotten." Mrs. Briggs's mouth shook as she walked over to her old friend, it was hard to believe that Alice was in a nursing home. Alice couldn't have been that old, if anything, Alice was at least seventy five.

"A-Alice, why are you in a nursing home? You were always so carefree and energetic, how did you get put into a home?" Alice stared at Mrs. Briggs with silent eyes, as though she was trying to remember her. "Y-You remember me, don't you? Francine…your…your best friend." Freddie sighed and crossed his arms.

"I wonder if she remembers you, you two haven't actually talked in fifty years. I know she remembered that hate filled letter you sent her. In fact, she has it posted on her wall and tells the nurses there to never remove it."

"Why, why would she keep it all these years? I don't understand, she would hate me too, wouldn't she?"

"Don't ask me, you're the one who is failing her granddaughter because of a dispute. I guess you know that Sam gets her side from Alice, the softer side. It seems Reggie wouldn't have been a man that would have benefited you"

"He didn't love me," Alice said in a quick voice. Mrs. Briggs appeared to be shocked at Alice's first words. "He said he did, but he didn't love me, Francine. He didn't love you either." Alice was looking past Francine, as if recalling a memory or a dream.

"What do you mean, how can you say that?" Mrs. Briggs asked while taking a step forward.

"He left me Francine, and he would have left you. I was pregnant."

"W-What do you mean?"

"I was pregnant with triplets and he left me. He left me for those gold mines and another woman. They committed a crime together and got put in jail. He's the reason my children are in jail. Dave, only Dave was a good boy. He was the only one that I never let visit his father."

"You're in luck, Briggs, she remembers," Freddie said in a quiet voice. "It comes back to her every now and then. Then after some time, she will forget. It seems she likes to forget, she wants to forget. Forgetting eases her pain."

"W-What pain?" Mrs. Briggs asked. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Why don't you still want to be my friend?" Alice asked. Her body shook, as did Mrs. Briggs. "Why did you hate me, Francine? He promised me that I would be happy. I wasn't happy. I lost my husband and I lost my best friend. Sam! My granddaughter…she's a good girl. She's an honest and a good girl. Why do you hate her? Why do you hate my own flesh and blood?"

"I-I didn't know…"

"I never stole him from you. I already had him. I wanted you to be happy, I wanted to help you find someone else who would make you happy." Freddie looked at Alice and frowned, he knew it was a painful memory for her. It was said that every night when she went to sleep, she would call out Francine's name and ask why it was Francine hated her and if she would forgive her.

"I think you could consider her to be slightly asleep right now," Freddie said in a quiet voice. Mrs. Briggs raised her eyebrow and looked toward him with confusion. "It's the only time she remembers you. Of course, selective remembering. She doesn't want to remember the pain of you hating her, she doesn't want to remember her best friend leaving her only because of some asshole who left her shortly after. This is what her pain has reduced her to. I suspect if she didn't have that pain and depression for most of her life, she would be as happy and energetic as ever in her old age. Just like you, full of energy and capability to take care of herself."

"You can't mean…this is my fault?" Mrs. Briggs asked.

"Fifty years," Alice said while lifting her hand up. "Fifty years I didn't want to remember, but I remembered. Fifty years, the pain disabled me. I didn't want you to think I stole him from you, Francine. I didn't steal him from you, honestly I didn't. You were my best friend, I could never steal a man away from you. I'm sorry Francine, honestly I am." Mrs. Briggs had tears in her eyes, she couldn't be mad at Alice, it was impossible.

"Alice, I'm not mad at you. Honestly! I could never be mad at you. I was just…"

"All these children, why do they suffer because of us? Aren't we supposed to be role models for the newer generation? Why do they fight and pick up the pieces of our battles?"

"No, you're right, you're right. I'm sorry Alice, I'm not mad at you, I forgive you!"

"Why do I have to feel so cold? I haven't felt warmth in years." Alice was still looking past Mrs. Briggs, it was as though she wasn't really there. "Please forgive me."

"I forgive you. It was just a silly crush, really. It wasn't any reason to be mad at you. I'm sorry!"

"Francine, how many years can hate last? Why must you hold a grudge? Why must you place your hate on the children?"

"I said I forgive you…" Freddie crossed his arms and the class continued to stare with a baffled look in their eyes. They were still stunned by what was going on.

"Dave was a good boy, you would have loved him. The others are not so great, it was a shame, I lost Dave…"

"No, you didn't lose everything. You…You still have me." Mrs. Briggs wrapped her arms around Alice and pulled her into a hug, giving a tearful sob. Alice blinked once and turned her head to look at Mrs. Briggs.

"Francine?"

"Alice, I'm sorry. I know I was wrong. Please, don't blame yourself, you weren't at fault. Forgive me."

"You forgive me, Francine?"

"I just told you, you're not at fault. I was the one being stubborn."

"Then, we're still friends, Francine?"

"Yes, yes, we're best friends. We always were." For the first time, Alice smiled and wrapped her arms around Mrs. Briggs. She closed her eyes and tears ran down her cheeks.

"What will happen to my granddaughter, and the other students? My granddaughter, I want her to be happy."

"No, I won't be cruel to them, they didn't do anything to deserve it. Sam will get the grades she deserves, I promise."

"My granddaughter has found her one, the one that will make her happy and treat her right, I feel as though she has." Freddie couldn't help but to smile, fortunately nobody saw the smile. "I'm happy for her. Do I deserve to be happy?"

"Yes. Yes, more than anything you deserve happiness. Sam is doing well, I'm sure of it. She even has a webshow with two great friends. Be happy, Alice."

"Then I will be, and I can die happy." Freddie looked up at the clock and back to Alice.

"Alice, it's time to get you back to the home," Freddie said quietly while patting her back. He sighed and looked over at Mrs. Briggs. "Keep in mind the things I said earlier." Mrs. Briggs nodded as Freddie took Alice's arm and carefully led her out of the room. Mrs. Briggs then sat in her seat as the class stared with stunned and confused eyes.

"What the hell just happened?" Jeremy asked while raising his eyebrow. A brunette girl to his left sighed and smiled.

"Freddie…he's so dreamy."

"Yeah, and you think you're going to get him, Shannon?" Rueben asked while scoffing.

"Yes!" Rueben rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever."

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Also, Merry Christmas!