The Greatest Secret

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly

A/N: As you know, thoughts are in italics and speech is in regular font.

Chapter 129 (Discussing Trust Issues)

"I just wanted to visit," Carly responded as she slowly entered the door. She wanted to talk to Valerie about why Jonah didn't like her. Valerie wasn't exactly pleased with Carly's appearance as she had heard about the fight that she had with Jonah. Carly looked around the house in search of Jonah, she didn't really want him to be there. "Is Jonah here?" Valerie crossed her arms and sighed softly, Carly didn't seem to catch that Valerie was actually annoyed with her. She rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled nervously. "Sorry, it's just I wanted to talk to you."

"You do realize that you're not going to talk me out of loving him." Carly quickly shook her head, shocked that Valerie would assume something like that. She wasn't going to do that at all, she was just going to ask why he didn't like her. "Oh, and I did hear about that little fight you had, and you slapped my husband." Carly did feel a bit guilty for doing that, she wasn't sure why, she always wanted to slap him for trying to cheat on Sam. There were always so many things she wanted to do that she never did.

"I wouldn't try to talk you out of it. I mean, love who you want to love." Valerie raised her eyebrow and Carly smiled softly at her. "If he makes you happy and you are happy with each other, then there should be no problems." Valerie had to smile at that, it was amazing that Carly, of all people, would say something like that. Carly meant it of course, she didn't think anyone should be with someone that didn't make them happy in some way. Emily made Robert happy, so she was happy.

"So why did you slap him?"

"I did because he cheated on Sam." Sure, it was a long time ago, but Carly never did get a chance to pay Jonah back for that. Valerie sighed and lifted her eyes up, she was actually very annoyed with Carly in that one department. It wasn't her fault though, she never knew that Jonah didn't actually date Sam. Valerie moved to the couch and sat down, she took her notepad and began looking at the notes she wrote down from earlier. Carly sighed and took a step forward. "I'm sorry Valerie, I know how sick you must be from hearing about when Jonah tried to cheat on Sam…"

Valerie looked at Carly through the corner of her eyes and frowned. "Quite frankly, not to sound rude, but I really don't care." Carly's jaw fell, she felt like she'd just been slapped. How could Valerie not care? How could she not wonder if Jonah would ever do the same thing to Valerie? Sure there was that confidence, but how could Valerie act so confident that he wouldn't do the same thing again? Had he ever proven to her that he wouldn't? Had he ever done anything to show that he changed?

"When did he change and make you realize that he wouldn't cheat on you?" Valerie placed her notebook on her legs and groaned. She liked Carly, she did, but she did not like how Carly talked about Jonah all the time. In fact, she was closest to siding with Sam about giving Carly the benefit of the doubt. Carly saw that Valerie didn't seem to be in a very good mood and wondered if she should probably stop telling Valerie about Jonah's cheating ways. "I'm sorry Valerie, I don't mean to demean Jonah to you…it's just…I'm concerned about you."

"I know." Valerie slowly stood up and walked toward the kitchen, she was going to find the ingredients she already had. She opened her food cabinet and began to gather all the necessary items. She needed to do something in order to keep from yelling at Carly and risking Sam and Freddie's secret. "Jonah's at the hardware store, he's picking up some things for the house. He wants to hook up a ceiling fan in a few rooms and add a few outlets into the walls. Freddie's coming over later to help him out." Carly's eyebrows rose and a smile formed, she was glad to see Jonah caring about the house. It seemed to make Valerie happy, and that was a god thing.

"Well that's great." Carly tapped her chin, trying to think of a question to ask. She smiled and looked at Valerie. "If you don't mind me asking, how did Freddie and Jonah become friends?" Valerie blinked and glanced over, she wondered if it was okay to say they'd always been friends. It wouldn't blow the secret at all, but it might make things a little better if Carly knew that information. If Carly knew, then she might realize why Freddie trusted Jonah in the first place.

"They were always friends." Carly gasped lightly and her eyes widened, she was not expecting that response. "They knew each other when they were younger, so they've always been the best of friends. In fact, that's how I know Jonah." That was the truth, Freddie and Sam basically brought the two together. Carly didn't realize that, and now she felt bad for having started a big fight with Jonah earlier.

"I'm guessing that means since Jonah's your husband…he's probably friendly with Sam too, right?" Valerie nodded and Carly winced, she felt terrible. Sam and Freddie both must have really disliked her because of that fight. "My god, and I accused him of being a bad person to them, that they shouldn't trust him." Valerie remained silent as she pulled placed a bottle of olive oil on the table. As it turned out, she did have the kind that Rachael said was needed. "They must hate me now! Or at least you might…" Valerie shrugged and walked over to another set of cabinets, she opened the door and looked in to see if there was anything she needed for anything else.

"I don't hate you, I'm just a little bit mad about what you said to him. I know for a fact that Sam and Freddie don't hate you either." Carly thought Valerie seemed a bit distracted, and she was, that was no surprise. She figured Valerie probably didn't want anything to do with her at the moment, especially since she acted so badly toward Jonah. "I just think that you could have done better to not hassle him in front of Sam and Freddie." Carly nodded as Valerie looked toward Aaron's room, the baby had just woken up. She moved toward his room while Carly followed. "For the record, you really don't know anything about the situation and you don't have the right to talk to Jonah like that."

"What do you mean? Sam's my friend, I care about her."

"I realize that, but think about it." Valerie reached in and scooped Aaron into her arms. "Mommy's here Aaron." Carly smiled as she watched Valerie rock Aaron and carry him out of the room while patting his back, she seemed like a great mother. She looked at Carly and smiled. "My mom helps me out a lot with childcare."

"You make a great mother."

"Jonah makes a great father too. You should see how he acts with Aaron." Valerie smiled and sat down on the couch. Jonah always loved to play with the baby, there was never a dull moment in the house. "He's so loving and gentle with this child. I swear, if he wasn't the happiest father alive, I would be shocked." Carly chuckled and sat down next to Valerie. She was glad to know that Jonah was a good father and clearly he was a good husband. If she didn't know better, she'd think Jonah was never the type to want an affair, his family life was just so great.

"He loves Valerie, I could see that the other day when we fought…" Carly had to question if perhaps there was something she was missing, something she was forgetting. "I know he dated Sam, that couldn't have possibly been faked, could it? Then again, he said himself that he didn't like me then…he was only trying to kiss me just to freak me out…" Maybe he was a good boyfriend when he dated Sam, maybe since he didn't like her and for some reason didn't trust her then, perhaps he just wanted to creep her out. Was there any chance that Sam or Freddie would have allowed that? "Why doesn't he trust me?"

"What?" Valerie looked over and Carly slowly shook her head.

"He said he didn't like me, he didn't trust me. He doesn't now and he didn't then." Valerie hummed and closed her eyes, she knew exactly what the reason was for that dislike, but she didn't know if she should tell Carly. Though half of it probably wouldn't be so bad, maybe telling her that Jonah didn't like her because of the threat she posed for Freddie was good.

"Think about it, who is his best friend?" Carly blinked and frowned as she stared at the blank television screen. His best friend was Freddie, people kept saying her grandfather hated Freddie and his family, and she was the one that tended to spill information to him. "With Tyrone trying to cause harm to Freddie, and you don't believe it for a second…Jonah's pissed that he has to worry about you telling Tyrone something incriminating and causing some trouble for his friend."

"I wouldn't do that, though! I mean, I'm going to be Freddie's stepsister, I am his cousin…there's no reason for me to tell Tyrone anything about him." Valerie shrugged and slowly stood up, she needed to go to the store.

"Well you wouldn't do it intentionally, that's for sure." Carly paused to contemplate the meaning behind that. She was loose-lipped at times, and Tyrone definitely had ways of getting her to say things. Perhaps she truly was a threat. She bowed her head and began to shake, she couldn't bear it, she felt so guilty. "Anyway, I don't mean to rush you out, but I have to go to the store. I have some shopping to do, then I'm going to make some supper. Then…it's a busy day at work tomorrow…" Valerie gave a deep sigh and Carly nodded her head.

"Okay, I'm sorry if I bothered you. I hope you have a good rest of the day…"

"Thanks, see you around, Carly."

"Bye." Carly walked out the door and Valerie set Aaron in his high chair, she would have to feed him before going to the store. She wouldn't see Jonah until a little later, she'd have to tell him what she talked to Carly about later.

IMPORTANT: ON MY OTHER ACCOUNT, KING NATE, I HAVE LEFT A VERY IMPORTANT SPECIAL NOTICE AT THE TOP OF THE PROFILE, PLEASE READ.