AN: Welcome to the latest chapter of this story. Thanks as always go to everyone who has read and reviewed thus far; I am glad that so many of you are enjoying the journey with me.
Riotstarter – there is undoubtedly a place on FFnet for a Teddrina story; this however is not going to be it.
And we're home. Our flight landed safe and sound and we walked into the airport terminal, where my mom greeted us; Tori a little stiffly but me with the warmth one would expect a mother to show her only child. Thankfully my girlfriend had heeded my advice and wrapped up warm, we had left the comfortable climate of Los Angeles for snowy, freezing Seattle.
A short car journey was negotiated in silence. Mom was alone in the front and I noticed her eyeing us in the rear-view mirror more often than was necessary. Tori glanced (slightly nervously) at me; I squeezed her hand reassuringly and smiled at her.
Once we reached Bushwell Plaza I retrieved out bags from the trunk of mom's car and the three of us made our way to the 8th floor and into 8-D. It felt strange to be back after spending so long in Los Angeles. My prediction came true as Tori was chivvied towards my bedroom and I was informed that I'd be having use of the couch this Christmas (mom had put a small dresser in the living area for me to store some clothes in).
Tori and I unpacked quickly and made out way across the hall to see Carly and Spencer; predictably Sam was there too. Carly flung herself on me as soon as we'd walked through the door; a huge hug and her legendary smile welcoming me home to Seattle before she gave Tori the same treatment. Sam greeted me happily (and Tori rather more stiffly) before Spencer gave us a warm greeting too.
I selected a couple of bottles of Wahoo Punch from the Shays' fridge and joined Spencer and the three girls in sitting around the TV, rolling my eyes as Sam and Spencer argued over whether to watch Girly Cow or Celebrities Under Water. I saw that Carly looked similarly unimpressed with the viewing options and she invited me up to the old iCarly studio. I asked Tori if she was joining us but she "wanted to watch down here"; whether she meant the bickering of the TV show she didn't elaborate.
Carly slipped a DVD into her laptop before she and I settled into two of the bean bags that littered the floor of the 3rd level of apartment 8-C. We touched our drinks together and toasted to the holidays, being together back in Seattle and most importantly to our friendship being repaired after all the trials of the past year. Carly's smile was radiant as I made that part of the toast. Her smile turned to something more akin to a pout, however, when I rolled my eyes at her choice of a cheesy rom-com for movie night. I chuckled at the sight and she relented, restoring a grin to her face.
As the movie progressed she leaned closer to me, resting her head on my upper arm. My attention wandered far from the room; I thought back to our childhood, to the times when I would have given anything to have her this close to me, the two of us alone like this in our own little world. I smiled at the irony that now it had happened it was completely platonic; I was comfortable being this close to her because I had the most wonderful, beautiful girl in the world waiting for me two floors below.
"What are you smiling about?" Carly's curious tone sucked me from my musings.
"Just thinking about what I'd have given to be in this position when I was five years younger" I said lightly. She giggled as she thought back to our past. "You were right Carls" I turned to face her, "you said the perfect girl for me was out there somewhere; I'm so glad that I found her." I saw her expression change to a half-smile and curiosity got the better of me. "So how about you Carly? Has the guy of your dreams come into your life yet?"
"No" she said wearily, and with a hint of dejectedness. "I've been looking" I suppressed a smirk at this, knowing full well how Carly liked to be on the look-out for a potential love-interest "I've had a few dates but nothing really." Then she sighed. "Still, I'm a college girl now; looks like I'll have to open my legs to get and keep a guy" she continued, voice dripping with bitterness and resentment at the thought.
I was pretty stunned to hear her talk like that. "You don't need to do that Carls; not for any guy that's worth keeping."
She looked at me disbelievingly.
"No Carls." I shook my head. "Ok, Tori and I make love – any chance we get really" I chuckled, "but it was right for us; it was our time. I never pressured her, I never would do. I'm with her because I love her and she loves me." Hurt then replaced the anger bubbling up from her unspoken insinuation. "Do you really think that little of me Carly?"
"No" she said, eyes widening, "it's just…" she began awkwardly before trailing off. She looked at the floor then back at me. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to suggest that about you Freddie. I know you treat a girl well; I remember that you always did when I was the one who had your heart."
I slipped an arm around her and pulled her close. "He's out there Carls, you'll find him soon enough" and gently kissed the top of her head. She looked up to smile at me, something slightly unreadable in her eyes. "Are you ok?" I asked her. She nodded.
"I'm fine, maybe just a little envious of you and Tori; wishing that I had that. Maybe wondering just a little about what might have been if I HAD felt like that about you" she said; a trace of regret in her voice. I raised my eye-brows at this and she quickly amended "Oh no, I'm not trying to come between you two…"
"Unlike Sam" I interjected. Carly gave a neutral look and continued
"I just see what you have and I want to have it too."
"Well we can't play 'what if?' Carls" I said sympathetically. "You'll find it eventually. Just keep on looking until you find what you've been searching for."
Further discussion was curtailed by the door opening and Sam entering the room.
"Aww" she teased with an amused tone.
"Nothing's going on" said an exasperated Carly as she extricated herself from my arm.
"I know; still – " she leaned close and whispered "you're lucky mama caught you and not Tori."
We both rolled our eyes at this.
"Tori and I trust one another" I told her. She raised her eyes slightly but dropped it; to ensure it stayed dropped I changed the subject quickly. "So what do you guys have planned for tomorrow?"
"Nothing really" said Carly.
"Mama's heading to the Derschlitz's to throw more balls at Gibby" Sam told me.
"He's still stuck up Nora's chimney?" I was surprised by this news. "Hasn't anyone got him out yet?"
"Nah, the local kids are having too much fun using him for target practice."
Tori chose this moment to join us in the studio and slid into the bean bag on the other side of me from Carly and draped an arm around my shoulders.
"You two didn't like the choice of TV viewing down there?" Carly asked the newcomers.
"Nah Spencer was watching his Celebrities Underwater marathon; I got bored" Sam complained.
"Trina's the reality TV junkie in our household and I was missing my man" Tori squeezed my shoulders as Carly beamed at us. I turned to my girl to give her a soft peck on the lips; she firmed her hold on my shoulders and deepened the kiss, oblivious to our audience (or maybe she wasn't; she certainly isn't blind to Sam's feelings on the matter). We eventually broke apart and I looked around to see Carly still with a huge smile on her face; she was facing the big screen but was clearly shooting furtive glances at us from the corner of her eye. Sam, meanwhile, was looking pointedly at the screen and making her way over to a pile of bean bags before dragging one to the other side of Carly and flopping into it.
"So how about you guys?" Carly asked after a couple of minutes in which we'd watched the movie in silence, "do you have any plans for tomorrow?"
"Only the Grand Tour of Seattle" I announced exuberantly "We'll be taking in some of the main sights of the city during the day. Maybe we could meet you guys for a smoothie around 7 and begin planning the Christmas special of iCarly?"
Carly glanced at Sam; the blonde nodded curtly. The plan for the day was set so we watched the remainder of the movie, chatting amiably about mutual friends (mostly it was Tori filling the girls in on the latest news in the lives of the HA gang) and generally talking about anything and everything (the more mundane the better).
"How will work cope without you over the holidays?" Carly asked curiously.
"Well there won't be too many people on camps over the next few weeks; I think they've actually closed the campus branch until term starts again" I explained. "When we're in town tomorrow I'm going to call in on the branch there; my boss told me he'd put in a call and see if they had any shifts available that I could do while I'm here – if it fits in with any other plans we may have of course" I addressed the last part specifically to Tori, though I glanced to my old friends too; I wasn't sure if they had anything they wanted to do while we were briefly reunited.
"Well we'll want some 'Freddie time'" Carly remarked "but sign up for whatever you want and we can work around it" she proposed generously.
"Yes, Fredwardo needs a nice fat wallet to keep mama in ham this Christmas" Sam said, maybe half-jokingly. Tori and I just looked at one another and shook our heads.
The movie had ended by now. We all trooped downstairs, I retrieved another drink for everyone from the fridge and we joined Spencer on the couches, where we hung out a little longer before Tori and I headed across the corridor for the night. Mom was home and waiting for us so unfortunately all we could manage was a bit of a make-out session in my room; she insisted that we leave the door open and it was clear that she was not going to go to bed before Tori did. With more than a little regret I wished my girl goodnight before returning to the living area to make up my bed for the night.
I awoke to the sound of my mom clattering around the kitchen preparing breakfast. I struggled groggily to disentangle myself from the bedding on the couch, stretching and kneading my shoulders to work out some of the kinks from sleeping on an unusual, unconventional and makeshift bed as I walked towards the kitchen. Tori happened to emerge as I was doing so; she kissed me good morning and whispered a promise of a massage after breakfast to soothe my tortured muscles.
After breakfast mom headed for work, as did T-Bo, and Tori made good on her promise. Our full itinerary meant that we went no further than a massage and a make-out before leaving for our first port of call, the Pike Place Market. Tori enjoyed the bustling place, took in the ambiance and we picked up some produce from the farmers' market for lunch before moving on to the Waterfront, where Tori got to admire the views of our Olympic Mountains and Elliott Bay before we hit the Olympic Sculpture Park for an enjoyable walk; Spencer has always loved coming here for inspiration.
Having toured the park we found a vacant bench near the entrance and sat down for lunch; the stuff we'd bought from the market was excellent, definitely superior to what you could get in most of the big stores in town.
Next stop for us, back in town, was the local branch of the Pear Store; my boss had called ahead so they were expecting me to drop in. A list of times where they needed extra help was given to me and I had a quick discussion with Tori as to exactly how many shifts I should be looking to take; on the one hand I wanted to work and earn a bit more cash, on the other I was here with my girlfriend over Christmas; while she could hang with Carly (and Sam I guess), it kinda defeated the object of us spending the holidays together if I was working all the time. We decided a good compromise would be if I worked a 4 hour shift every other day. I put my name on the lists and we headed out for our next destination, one of my favourite haunts in the whole city; the Pacific Science Center.
Tori wasn't really interested in the seasonal exhibits so we moved on to the permanent features; my all-time favourite is Science on a Sphere, using computers and video projectors to display the atmosphere and oceans on a ball. I loved it; Tori showed enough interest to watch it with me for a few minutes (I could literally have watched it all day) before she wandered off to the dinosaur exhibit. I caught up with her as she was leaving it and we looked at the more current parts of it; a look at current research going on in the area and The Studio, exhibiting some of the health-related research taking place; something I made a note to talk to my mom about later
Tori loved the 3D demonstrations and some of the more interactive parts of the building (including the so-called "Science Playground") while we also took advantage of a rare non-rainy day in Seattle to sample some of the outdoor exhibits; spinning a huge granite ball with our bare hands was something that gave her a new appreciation for some of my more geeky tendencies.
Regretfully it was time to leave the center, though there was more science to see at the EMP museum; I was in heaven today even though Tori's interest here was centred more on the musical exhibits in the museum than the scientific; we went our separate ways and met up in the gift shop afterwards (she would never hear the end of it if she returned to LA without an armful of gifts for her elder sister).
The afternoon exhausted we made our way to the main event, Seattle's piece de resistance if you will, the Seattle Center complete with the famous Space Needle. One look at the restaurant prices convinced us to wait until we met the girls in an hour or so at the Groovy Smoothie (though I made a mental note that we WOULD give it our patronage one day); instead we headed for the Observation Deck where, from a height of 520 feet, I showed her another view of Seattle, pointing out Bushwell Plaza, Ridgeway and a whole host of other sights from my home city.
With the time approaching 7 we returned to Terra Firma and headed to meet the girls.
"So how was Gibby" I asked Sam as we joined her and Carly at a table in the Groovy Smoothie.
"Ok" she said "though he wishes more people would throw food to him instead of tennis balls at him" she finished with a wicked grin. I smirked and shook my head.
Neither Carly nor Sam had eaten (though in Sam's case that was irrelevant; she would always be happy to eat again) so we ordered burgers and fries with our smoothies (T-Bo declined to offer me a "flatmate's discount"; hey I may as well ask, right?). We sipped our Strawberry Splats while our food cooked (at least I know T-Bo will make sure our food's done properly; mom would kill him if I got food poisoning from his establishment!) and bounced ideas around for the iCarly Christmas Special. That Gibby was… indisposed… meant there would be no sketches involving him; maybe we could rope Spencer into one or two of them. Sam, meanwhile, was lobbying for me to sing again "because it would be funny and would embarrass you" was her argument. Carly had smiled and said I could if I wanted to; she suggested that I duet with Tori (if we do then maybe it should be something cheesy enough that I wouldn't embarrass her with it). Tori herself wanted to do a bit of acting; she suggested extended specials of one or two of our infamous 'pathetic plays'. Our planning was interrupted by the arrival of our food, which was promptly devoured (to no-one's surprise Sam finished first and made a start on 'helping' Carly finish her fries). I ordered another round of smoothies (Apple Assault for Tori and I, Blueberry Blast for Carly and Sam) and we turned our attention back to the show, jotting down a few more ideas over the ensuing half-hour or so.
Having drunk our second smoothies we decided that it was time to leave (though Carly did rush back to the counter, remembering that Spencer wanted a Blueberry Blast bringing back) and made the short journey back to Bushwell Plaza. I parked up and joined the girls in the elevator, returning to the 8th floor and Carly's apartment.
Spencer was sat on the couch, watching TV with his arm around a blonde girl; she seemed more interested in watching him than the movie they had on; I think it was that recent big-budget action drama, wall-to-wall explosions and similar stuff. Tori hadn't been even remotely interested in going to see it at the cinema so I'd gone with some of the guys from my dorm and course; it had been pretty good. The four of us ignored the scene on the couch and made our way upstairs to Carly's room. Sam flopped down on her bed, Carly perched on the edge of it next to her while Tori and I made our way to the love seat.
"Who was the girl?" asked Tori in a curious tone.
"No idea" said Carly calmly. Tori's forehead contracted as her eye-brows headed for her hairline in evident surprise. My chuckle at her reaction brought her attention to me.
"You get used to that sort of thing happening with Spencer" I explained
"So, iCarly" said my brunette friend, bringing our focus back to the show. "We want to air it on Christmas Eve, which gives us a few days to spread the word on the internet and do a little bit of a rehearsal for the pathetic plays." Tori and I nodded at her, Sam didn't respond; it's possible she's already fallen asleep, a thought that gained credence as Carly glanced over her shoulder and her expression changed to one of frustration mingled with mild disgust. She persisted "Sam and I will do some improv for the introduction and between the plays, maybe we'll think up a quick sketch or two to slip in there as well, then you two are going to sing us out so you need to practise the song" and she cast an amused eye at us.
"We will" Tori assured her while I enthusiastically nodded my agreement.
"Ok then" she clapped her hands "It looks like we have it just about planned."
"No 'Messing with Lewbert'?" I asked suddenly. "It's been way too long since we pulled a good prank on him." Then I addressed my girl "It's a shame we don't have that snow machine Cat bought from Sky Store; dumping a load of fake snow on him would have been great."
Tori laughed but Carly's eyes lit up at the suggestion.
"Great idea Freddie!" she enthused. "I'll talk to Sam…" and she looked at the blonde-headed demon "…when she eventually wakes up and we'll see if we can rig something up." Then she looked around at us again and asked "So do you guys want to grab some drinks and watch a movie or something up in the studio?"
We exchanged glances before agreeing. I made the trip downstairs for a round of refreshments before joining the two in the studio (they must have left Sam asleep on Carly's bed) and prepared to sit through another of Carly's chick flick collection; though at least tonight I could spend the entire film cuddling with Tori.
The next few days passed quickly; holidays always do. Working at the Pear Store in Seattle was a different experience to my usual store on campus. It was an enjoyable enough atmosphere but with a much more varied clientele; at UCLA it was, inevitably, almost exclusively college kids who came in whereas here it was a broad cross-section of the population, ranging from pre-teens (usually accompanied by parents) all the way up to retirees. I was put to work on the shop floor, not the best place for me but I did my best; recognition from iCarly, and the good reception of the Thanksgiving episode, meant that I had a steady stream of people wanting to talk to me. I did a reasonable job in sales which kept the boss happy. I did campaign to be deployed in upgrades and repairs but to no avail, although I hope that pester power will win the day if I keep asking.
My usual post-work ritual was to meet the girls at the Groovy Smoothie for a meal and a chill-out session. Their days were seemingly not consisting of anything particularly exciting; occasionally they would call by the Pear Store to say hello, much to the boss's chagrin as they felt they were a distraction, both to me and (in the case of Carly and Sam) to the customers. Tori would later confide in me that things were still very frosty between her and Sam when they were alone in the room although Sam would don a smile when Carly, or anybody else, was around as well. She was utterly unconcerned by Sam's attitude but it was beginning to bother me and I made a mental note to have a private talk with Sam before we returned to LA.
The store closed early on Christmas Eve and I made the short drive back to Bushwell Plaza singing to myself; a final rehearsal of the song Tori and I were performing in a couple of hours on the show. I entered our apartment and greeted my mom and girlfriend; mom was just finishing up making dinner so I joined Tori at the table (not before mom reminded me to wash and sanitise my hands of course). We ate, talked about our days (mom and I traded stories of our shifts at work, Tori talked about the latest thing Spencer had set fire to; fortunately it wasn't their Christmas tree this year nor was it the TV, sadly two of his sculptures had gone up in smoke). Again I explained it away to her as "these things happen when Spencer is around."
Dinner having been consumed Tori and I made the short trip across the hallway and up to the iCarly studio (a different girl, a brunette this time, was watching TV with Spencer; the charred remains of his work sat smouldering behind them by the staircase). Sam cast a surly look as we entered the studio hand-in-hand, she tried to hide it by quickly plastering a smile on her face but fooled nobody, least of all Carly; she wore a worried expression as she looked from us to her blonde best friend. With the start time for the show quickly drawing in on us I hooked my small, hand-held camera up to Carly's lap-top, logged in to the administrator's area of the iCarly site and engaged the live feed.
"In 5, 4, 3, 2…" and I pointed to Carly and Sam, who had taken their customary position in the middle of the studio floor.
"I'm Carly" she announced.
"And I'm Sam". The girls had donned Santa hats for the duration of the show.
"And this is the iCarly Christmas Special" they cried, Sam then pressing the cheer button on the blue remote.
"And since it's Christmas we've got a special present for our nasty doorman, Lewbert. Freddie?"
"Going live to the Lewbert Cam" I said, tapping a few buttons, the screen swung out, displaying a shot of the Bushwell Plaza lobby; Lewbert was sat behind his desk scowling.
"Now Sam if you will?"
Sam obediently drew out her Pear phone and dialled the lobby.
"What?" snarled our surly doorman.
"Merry Christmas" she screamed down the phone while pushing a button on a special remote she'd rigged up.
Lewbert shrieked at the loud voice in his ear, dropping the phone and falling on to the desk. As he did Sam's surprise was revealed as a load of white objects rained down on him (we would later learn that they were tissues soaked with sour milk; it must have taken him hours to clean the lobby and get rid of the smell afterwards.
"Ah, Christmas at Bushwell Plaza" Carly told the camera with a smile. "Ok, now it's time for the first of our 'pathetic plays' this evening with our special guest star: the amazingly talented Tori Vega." To her credit Sam did press the cheer button for Tori as she entered the frame. I put up the titles for the play and Tori began a short soliloquy about the vampire boy (specially written in so that Sam, Carly and I could get into our costumes). I mounted the camera and stepped into the frame myself as we began the skit.
The plays went well; Carly and Sam managed their amusing banter and improv and we rounded the show off with Tori and I singing our love song duet. I had rehearsed enough to ensure that I didn't embarrass her (she whispered "well done" to me at the end and Carly and even Sam commended me on my performance). Later on in the evening the comments from the fans were generally positive (although the more hard-core Creddies and Seddies continued to lament Tori's status in my life) and while we perused the comments we hung out in Carly's room (Spencer and his date were still downstairs). Again Tori and I occupied the love seat and again Sam appeared to have fallen asleep; Carly confirmed that she was staying over tonight again. We talked a little more, joked and laughed like old times until finally it was time for us to head home.
"Oh!" I said, remembering something. "I left presents for you, Sam and Spencer under the tree. Good night Carly."
"Good night you two" she replied. "I'll drop your gifts round in the morning."
We returned to my apartment; mom was still up so I walked Tori to my room and kissed her, and my mom, good night before re-making my bed on the couch.
"Merry Christmas Tori" I greeted her with a kiss and handed her a small box.
"Merry Christmas Freddie" she replied and handed me a parcel.
She unwrapped the bracelet I had bought her while I opened her gift; to my surprise she had bought me some new software for my laptop; the very thing I'd mentioned that I needed for the project I needed to do next term.
"Wow Tori!" I exclaimed.
"Now when you do your work you'll be thinking of me" she said.
"I always do anyway" I admitted before leaning in to kiss her again.
"Thank you for the bracelet; it's beautiful" she whispered and kissed me again.
We crossed the hallway to see Carly and Spencer. They were busily opening their own presents when we walked in. Carly flung herself on me, thanking me for the Cuddlefish CD I'd bought her. Spencer shook my hand and thanked me for the art book I got for him. Carly then handed me her gift (a Plain White T's CD) before she glanced idly at the ceiling.
"Mistletoe" she said casually, pointing directly above us.
I glanced over at Tori who smirked casually so I leant in and gave Carly a peck on the cheek.
"Merry Christmas Carly"
"Merry Christmas Freddie"