The Greatest Secret

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 161 (Friends and Lovers)

Freddie, Carly and Sam were hanging in the living room at Sam's place, Melanie was brushing her hair in the mirror on the vanity set near them. They all had the television on and was watching Restaurant: Impossible. In this, Robert Irvine, a great chef, would have just two days and $10,000 to turn a dying restaurant into a lively one again. He had a design team and was very proficient in reviving dying establishments. It was a good show, but the group preferred Chefs vs. City.

In that show, Aarón Sanchez and another chef named Chris would go up against other chefs with three challenges in various places off a particular city. He was also sometimes a judge on the show Chopped. He had his own cooking show as well, he enjoyed Mexican peppers quite often. "Just fast forward through the decoration parts, those are kind of boring," Melanie said as she set her brush down and walked over. She stared at the television and chuckled, Chef Irvine was scolding a waitress who was rude to a customer. "You should never be rude to a customer, they might not come back and they'll tell all their friends not to come back."

"Yeah, I don't get it," Carly said while waving her hand in the air. "If you think you're better than the customer, that's one thing, but just flat out ignoring them and treating them like trash…" She too enjoyed watching Chef Irvine dealing with the restaurant owners and employees more than the design crew. "I don't know that we can fast forward. Can we?" She looked to Sam, who was sitting on the floor with her back against the couch. Freddie was sitting on the cushion of the couch in front of her. Sam rolled her head to the side and grabbed the remote.

"Yeah, this is on recording. We should be just fine to forward ahead. In fact, I'm watching this while recording Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals, which Valerie's going to be on. Carly smiled and felt a bit of excitement inside, she was looking forward to seeing how Valerie was doing. "Speaking of the design part of this show, here we go…" She pressed the fast forward button and watched as the show sped right on by the décor. Now it was back to Chef Irvine discussing another issue with the servers and owners. "I know Valerie wants to start her own restaurant up, do you think Chef Irvine might help out? I wonder just how many of the chefs on the Food Network she talks to."

"Probably all of them, actually." Melanie sat down next to Freddie on the couch, as he was in the center. Carly was on the right side. She watched the show and hummed gently. "Kyle should be here soon, I don't want him to miss 30 minute meals!" Carly chuckled and Sam leaned her head back on the couch, gazing at her sister.

"You want him to see what she looks like, huh?"

"Yeah, because she's like…a big part of our lives! Or at least yours…"

"True." Carly gazed once more at Sam and Freddie, she was still wondering about those two. She was going to miss Sam when Christmas started. She had a three hour and thirty minute drive to Richland, Washington. Her grandmother lived on 2209 Putnam St, right across from the First Baptist Church. Her grandmother had a two story home, Carly had never seen it and wanted to, but she really wanted to be with her family. She was in the same shoes as Sam was, in the sense that she was getting the opportunity to spend Christmas with her family for the first time. Although, unlike Sam, she never had a choice because she never knew who her family was.

"Man, I can't believe you and Melanie are leaving tomorrow." It was Monday the 19th of December. Sam and her family would leave early on the 20th and stay until January 1st, making it home just in time to be there for Marissa and Robert's wedding. "I still say it isn't fair." Sam laughed once and reached up, patting Carly's knee.

"It's okay Carly, it's just a couple weeks. Besides, I really want to see what Grandma and Grandpa's house looks like. I'm really enjoying my family, I never actually knew they cared so much." Carly was happy for her friend. Sure, she knew the same as Sam, that at the time, it would have been better for her to be with Marissa than her family. "I feel like, if I didn't spend this year with them, it's like telling them I don't want to be with them, and that's entirely not the case."

"True. My family is great and I think I'm finally starting to come to terms with everything I've learned about them." Freddie and Sam both smiled at her when she said that, she felt a sense of pride when she met their eyes. She wanted them to know that she was never truly worried about her family, not now at least. She loved Marissa and really wanted to see her real grandpa. "Maybe this year I'll get the chance to meet my grandpa. Freddie, do you know if Mom has any siblings? I'd love to have cousins!" Freddie chuckled and responded with a brisk nod, giving Carly a feeling of pure elation. "Yay! Tell me about them! Please?"

He laughed and held his hand up. "Okay, okay, I will. Aunt Jennifer, Mom's older sister by like, seven years. She's a really nice person and is amazing smart! Unfortunately her husband died in 2008." Carly frowned and heaved a heavy sigh, she felt horrible that she wouldn't know her Uncle, but at least she might be able to know her Aunt. "Aunt Jennifer has two daughters, Erin was born in 1980 and Stephanie was born in 2007. I think you've seen Stephanie, she was the baby that no one could make laugh." Carly thought back and recalled that moment Marissa brought the baby into the home. She laughed heartily and Freddie took a slow breath. "Yeah, well she'll be starting kindergarten next year and I'm pretty sure people will still try, unsuccessfully, to make her laugh."

"I can see that happening. Do you think I'll meet them this year?"

"Probably, you might meet Grandpa too."

"Yes!" She squealed happily and hugged Freddie's neck, taking him by surprise. Sam laughed and flipped off the recording they were watching. The show was over and Rachael Ray was starting up. The theme started and faded in as Rachael and Valerie appeared standing at the counter in Christmas seasonal wear.

"Guys, guys, they're on!" The others quickly stopped what they were doing and watched with eager anticipation.

"Hey guys, my apprentice and I are here today to show you a quick and easy meal you can make for the family during a busy Christmas day. First, I want to introduce my assistant again." Rachael smiled as Valerie's looked to her with admiration. "Valerie Williams. As you know, she comes from an Italian family, and I recently found out that her family's legal family name actually isn't Williams."

"It's not?" Melanie asked with curiosity. Sam and Freddie shook their heads while Carly pondered the same thought. Sam cleared her throat and pointed at the screen.

"Her last name is basically the English equivalent of her Italian name, Guglielmo. It's always been hard to pronounce and people constantly mess it up, so they use Williams instead."

"Oh wow…That's actually pretty creative."

"Valerie, what is your surname, again?" Valerie chuckled nervously and closed her eyes.

"It's the Italian equivalent of Williams: Guglielmo. Hard to pronounce, really."

"You think it's hard to pronounce?"

"Yeah, my family's gone by Williams because of that." Rachael tapped her chin and quickly shook her head.

"Nah, I bet I could pronounce it just fine." Valerie smirked and challenged her, though Rachael was already trying. "Giligymundo-how you say-it's easy." She grinned nervously and Valerie gave a triumphant nod.

"Uh huh, see what'd I tell you? Pronounce it like this, Geg-lee-moh. Until then, just say Williams and you're gold."

"I will keep that in mind." The two women laughed for a second, then looked to the dishes, then at the camera. "Okay, so, let's get started with that meal!"

"So that's how to say her name," Griffin's voice came from behind and the group jumped up in fright. Sam cleared her throat and glared at him as he chuckled nervously. "Sorry, I knocked and no one answered, so when I tried the door, it was unlocked. Although, I did end up opening the door just as Aunt Maggie came walking by, so I might have spooked her."

"Griffin!" Sam sighed and smacked her forehead, what was it with the men constantly getting themselves in trouble with her Aunt and Uncle? Carly managed to resist the urge to run over to him and kiss him, but it was hard enough considering she'd not seen him in a while. Everyone was busy preparing for their performance this weekend at the Groovy Smoothie.

"Good to see you, Griffin." She smirked smoothly as he looked over at her with a cheesy smile.

"And hello to you Miss Shay."

"Ah-uh, it's Benson now, remember?" She'd recently changed it since both her dad and brother had done it. She didn't want to feel like she was out of the loop there. "Dad and Spencer changed theirs, so it was only fair."

"Yeah I know, but I still think Shay's good. So what am I missing? Anything important besides Valerie being on the show?"

"Other than Valerie, not much…Although…" She scanned him over and debated taking him in the other room and making out for a minute, but she knew that would be a bad idea. If Morris or Maggie caught them, they'd be in trouble. If Freddie and the others saw them, then they'd know they were together. Realizing the inevitability of the situation, she took a deep breath and shook her hand. "No, nevermind."

"Aw, are you sad about something?"

"No. No I'm not." She folded her arms over as Griffin smirked. She could see in his eyes he wanted to kiss her, to hold her. She pressed her lips together and felt her heart sink. She knew he hated the secrecy just as much as she did, but was there really any other way? "Griffin…" Maybe she could just tell Sam or someone, but what if by doing that, everything just went to hell? She knew they might like him better now that he was a part of the band. She heard Freddie clear his throat and felt him put his hand on her shoulder, perhaps comforting her for some reason. When she looked to him, his eyes were soft and caring.

"You know Carly, Mom and dad, as of January 1st, they're going to start looking at all the guys in your life. Do you have anyone you might want to suggest they look at?" Carly swallowed hard and bowed her head, what was he getting at? He didn't know, did he? No, he couldn't know. If he did know, why wouldn't he say something?

"By the way guys." Carly and Freddie looked back at him as Sam paused the television show. "I think I saw someone parked outside the house while driving up here." Carly's brow furrowed as she looked back to Sam, who stared out at the front door.

"Do you think they're still out there?"

"If they are, I could go run them off."

"No, don't do that." She walked past him and grabbed the crème curtains from the window next to the front door. Her eyebrows rose when she saw Shane walking to the door. His hair was slicked back and he had a bouquet of roses in his right hand. "What the hell is Shane doing here?"

Carly paused for a moment and looked over as Freddie's eyebrow arched. "Shane?" The last time Shane came around, he caused a lot of problems. Freddie hadn't even seen the guy since then, but Tyrone had some sort of involvement. Sam was almost taken from him back then, it was Spencer who showed up at just the right time and saved the day. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"He's got roses." Sam knew Freddie wasn't good when it came to other men flirting around with her, so she really hoped Shane wasn't about to do what she thought he was going to do.

Here we go, something big happening next chapter. Stick around!