Thank you so much to everyone who's still reading this story, and an extra thank you to those who comment/give me feedback. As MLoF comes to a close over the next several chapters, your support and encouragement mean the world to me!

Now, let's see what the iCarly gang can get up to in Vegas...

Chapter 32: My First Time in Vegas

It took about a month after walking in to find Freddie and me kissing for Carly to stop attempting to find out secrets that didn't even exist.

Trust me, I get where she's coming from. If my two best friends had feelings for each other, I'd definitely want to know what was up. If I had the constantly curious and slightly nosy mind of Carly, obviously I'd want every single detail beyond what was even humanly possible to answer.

Even so, I was super glad when we were finally able to go on with our days as if nothing was different.

I guess that's not totally accurate. Things had definitely changed. For one, I wasn't constantly antagonizing Freddie, as Carly put it. I was only sometimes getting on his case.

Then there was the small fact that he and I were sometimes kissing each other.

It wasn't a frequent thing. Or, I don't know; maybe it was. At first, everything happened way more slowly than I would have normally wanted. Yet somehow we both seemed to realize we needed to figure this out instead of just rushing headfirst as I love doing with most stuff.

After the first date came a second one and then a third. There wasn't a lot of kissing at first. Freddie was still a little unsure I wasn't going to suddenly decide I would rather punch him than hold his hand, and I wasn't good at the mushy thing and didn't know how to start giving it a try.

Unsurprisingly, Carly was the one who pointed out when that started to change. When Freddie was back at his apartment one day and Carly and I were lounging on her couch, she spoke up. "You've started holding hands a lot more."

"Huh?"

"You and Freddie. Well, you don't necessarily hold hands all the time. But you do like… that kind of stuff. Coupley stuff."

"Are you calling me mushy? Because I am not mushy, Carly Shay," I informed her, sitting up a little.

She shook her head, laughing and gesturing for me to lie back down. "No, I just mean you seem more comfortable together. You sit together without thinking about it and lean on each other sometimes when you're tired without then springing apart in terror at the end."

I could hear the amusement in her voice, and it kept me calm. "Isn't that just normal friend stuff?"

"It is, and you and I do that sort of thing all the time. But you and Freddie weren't like that at friends, which is I guess why I noticed." I heard a rustle, which was probably her shrugging against the pillow. "It's not a big deal, Sam. Just a fact. It's cute."

A groaning noise left my mouth, but I wasn't actually that annoyed at being called cute, no matter how directly or indirectly. Not when Carly was the one saying it and she was just being nice and trying to make me feel comfortable.

The part of that conversation that didn't happen because she wasn't there to see it was that, just as we were apparently sitting together more often, Freddie and I were also kissing more. Sometimes it was simple, like when we kissed after our second date or when he kissed my forehead when we had a moment alone after I got my cast off what felt like a bazillion years too late.

But while we were still just going on irregular dates and not really moving to define anything – probably because neither of us were ready to take that next step, even if I am definitely not a coward – there were occasions where it became clear we weren't just friends.

Maybe we kissed goodbye for a little too long in Freddie's car when he went to drop me off one evening. And maybe, just maybe, we made out for the first time on the couch in his apartment while his mother was away, in what felt like sweet, sweet vengeance against his germ-fearing mom and what was also one of the most enjoyable moments of my life so far.

But we would probably both deny that second one if asked.

Other than that, things were pretty much normal. Which was great, because the usual iCarly crew was just like it should've been, only with slightly less anger on my part most of the time.

That was the state of things when we got a phone call up in the studio one night.

From where I was flopped upside down on a beanbag chair, I could see Carly grope around on the floor to try to find her PearPhone for a few seconds before finally answering.

"Hello? Yes, this is she. May I ask who's calling?" After that, there was a long silence. "You want us to film there? Will the necessary technical items be provided and set up? You must understand that would not be easy for us to transport." Another pause. "Please send over all of the documents. We'll have our lawyer review then and then sent them back to you soon. Thank you for calling – we're very excited!"

By the time she hung up, all three of us were standing, with Freddie and me looking at Carly, practically bursting with curiosity.

"What is it, Carls?" I started bouncing on my feet a little, knowing it had to be huge if she had insinuated her lawyer (also known as Spencer, the several day law student) would review documents.

Now it was Carly's turn to bounce excitedly, and she clenched her hands, looking between us for a few seconds as if she didn't even know the words to use. "You know Tom Ransom?"

"The lead singer of Cuddlefish?" It was Freddie's turn to urge Carly to reveal what the chizz was happening.

"Yes, him," she pointed at Freddie, clearly still trying to process whatever the person had said. "His twenty-fifth birthday is next week!"

Freddie and I both nodded but started to look a little confused. "Okay?" I prodded, knowing there must be more to it than that. The internet could've told us the dude's birth date.

"Well, to celebrate half a century of life, Tom decided he's going to hold a huge, extravagant, weekend-long party in Vegas!"

"That's awesome!" It really did sound super cool. "But… what does that have to do with us? You mentioned filming… Does that mean-"

"Yes!" Carly practically exploded. "His agent just called and invited us to film a special iCarly, featuring an hour or so of Tom's party!"

The room filled with a combination of happy noises from all of us, and at some point we started hugging and all talking at once. We didn't quiet down and sort things out until the door was flung open and Spencer entered the studio.

"Woah there, young children. What's with all of this hullabaloo?" He looked between all of us, acting stern but seeming more curious than anything. "I could hear it from downstairs, where I was trying to figure out the secrets of the pear-apple hybrid and also see what cottage cheese could do to augment its flavor. Is there a sale at the Groovy Smoothie I don't know about?"

It was Carly who found an answer first, and she just ran over to him and shouted, "we're going to Las Vegas!"

First, Spencer started jumping and shouting. Then, he settled down and put on his most mature stance possible. "Wait a minute. What do you mean 'we're going to Las Vegas'? Who is involved in this? What are these activities? You're all still in high school."

"We were invited to film iCarly at Tom Ransom's huge, several day, twenty-fifth birthday party!" Carly told him, with Freddie and me eagerly nodding along behind her.

"Tom Ransom as in… that dude from Cuddlefish with the beautiful, beautiful hair and the voice of a scratchy angel?"

"Yep, that's him," we all confirmed.

"Well, you're going to need an adult to escort you on this trip. Three teenagers should not be allowed to roam free in Sin City. It's wildly inappropriate and I won't hear of it!"

"You want us to take Freddie's mom?" I asked, slumping and groaning just at the thought.

"What? No, of course not," Spencer shook his head. "She can't sanitize that many casinos. I'll go with you. I'll just have to rearrange that appointment I made to plant trees with KWHAPWJOL."

"KWH- what?" Freddie gave Spencer a weird look.

"Kids Who Have a Parent with Just One Leg," Spencer told him, as if we had all heard of that organization.

"But, Spence… you don't have a parent with just one leg."

"That doesn't mean I don't sympathize."

"Alright," she held up her hands, giving in and not asking more questions.

Before we knew it, we were all in Las Vegas. The actual city of Las Vegas – not just a green screen background of it or anything like that.

Tom was so excited about what we were doing (or his agent was, at the very least) that we were put up in a fancy hotel room. My favorite part was how the bell guy had brought up a ton of snacks we hadn't even asked for. Carly ate some of the fruit but everyone else stepped back and let me devour most of it. We'd get plenty more food later.

Like the mature chaperone he was, Spencer disappeared almost immediately to find the hot tub with the colored lights he'd read about, merely warning us not to gamble or do anything Carly wouldn't like.

As it turned out, Carly was pretty enthusiastic, so her adventurous level was at about a five instead of a one and a half.

With Tom's people paying for any and all of our expenses, Carly suggested we grab lunch and then relax in the room as we planned out iCarly stuff, before maybe watching a movie.

By the time we were back in the room, we were so stuffed that we all piled onto the bed that Carly and I were going to share that night and stared at the ceiling.

"So, iCarly," Freddie finally got our attention and tried to start getting us on topic.

"iCarly," the show's namesake repeated.

"That sandwich was like a gift from above," was all I contributed.

I heard a snort in reply, and then someone's stomach grumbled in digestion, and before long, all three of us were laughing while also grabbing our stomachs because we were too full to really enjoy that.

When we could finally breathe again, it was Carly who reminded us we needed to plan what we wanted to shoot this weekend. Ultimately, we decided to post a little segment the next morning to let people know about the upcoming special. We also came up with a list of ideas of stuff we wanted to get at the party, which we sent over to Tom's agent.

Since Tom was turning 25 and his people could get in a lot of trouble for letting us get too involved at a party in Vegas when we were still teenagers, we had to figure out how to live it up the rest of the time we were here. I was the one who came up with an idea, which Carly miraculously didn't shut down.

That was how, after posting our video notice to iCarly, we found ourselves running around the hotel and shushing one another. After all, the best pranks mean you carry them out without shrieking the whole time you're running away from the site of your accomplishment.

"I can't believe you poured a smoothie into that guy's shoes that had just been shined!"

"Hey, at least I'm not the one who died that rich lady's runaway dog pink!"

"That wasn't even remotely as good as that disgusting smelling piece of cheese I hid under the concierge desk!"

"Oh, yeah, that was nasty!"

We were all falling onto each other in laughter by the time we burst through the door of our hotel room. The sad thing was we couldn't post about the pranks in case we got caught. The great thing was, it was Vegas, so they were pretty mild compared to some stuff that happened.

Once the door was closed, we turned around, only to find Spencer sitting on the couch in the sitting room, wearing a bathrobe, slippers, and head towel, which the hotel had clearly provided. He had a purple mask of some sort drying on his face.

"Why hello there. Carly. Fredward. Samantha," he addressed each of us one by one, as if processing the scene was weirder for him than for us. "How goes it?"

"Uhhhhhh…" one of us started to reply. It didn't take us long to recover since we'd seen far weirder from the eldest Shay child.

"Where have you been?"

"We were just walking around and-"

Freddie's attempt to say something casual was interrupted by the ever honest and loyal Carly. "We were out pranking people."

"I see. And were you doing these pranks because you felt that was the mature thing to do while in a city full of people much older than you?"

At that, Carly just crossed her arms, clearly not wanting to say she was being immature. Before things went much further, Spencer hopped up from the couch and smoothed down his robe. "Are you planning any more pranks?"

"I mean, we were, but we don't have to…"

"No, no. Nonsense. As your adult chaperone, I will simply have to insist I accompany you. For the sake of… responsibility."

"Spence, if you wanna join in the pranking, just say so," Freddie told him with a shrug.

"Really?" he lit up. "Okay, just let me wash my face, get dressed, and grab my pineapples! I'll be right there!"

Day one of Tom Ransom's was amazing. I think I heard Carly say "holy crab" about ten times more than usual just because of how awesome it was. There was cool music, funky lighting, crazy activities, and even an ice sculpture of Tom with his favorite dog, Tomato.

Carly had somehow gotten me to sing a song with her on one of the stages set up in there, which the iCarly fans loved, and after that we did a contest to see which one of us could have more sour apple juice in a minute. It was gross, but worth the effort when I won.

Over an hour of filming later, Freddie carefully packaged up all of the equipment they were lending us for the weekend, and then we just got to join in the party for a while. None of us had any idea what time it was because Carly announced her watch didn't match her party outfit, and none of us thought to look at our phones. But it didn't matter; we were having the best time ever.

When a super cute guy I thought may have been a famous singer whose name I forgot came over, I gave up Carly as my dance partner and let the two of them dance, instead, making my way through the crowd to find Freddie.

It was a good thing I didn't smack the person who grabbed my shoulder, because it turned out Freddie had found me while I was searching for him. "Hey," I spun around, and he let go, smiling at me.

"Wanna dance?" he asked, and I nodded, moving closer both on purpose and because of the sheer amount of people around us.

After a moment, I couldn't focus on much other than the loud thumping of the music and the familiar feeling of Freddie's arms around me. And not in a mushy way. It was just the only easy thing to focus on with all of the lights and the people I'd never seen before.

Time passed, and suddenly I could hear him trying to speak loudly enough for me to hear. "Where'd Carly go?"

"She's dancing with a cute boy," I shouted back, moving to my toes so my voice would make it to him. Freddie pulled a face and I rolled my eyes, patting his chest. "Not my type, don't worry."

He grinned cheekily and leaned down again. "Wanna get out of the crowd?"

I nodded, taking his hand and using my aggressive elbows to maneuver us away from what seemed like millions of dancing people. Freddie paused to catch his breath and ran a hand through his hair once we got to the edge of the room.

"I think this place has more rooms that way," he pointed. I looked at him, implying he could lead the way since it was hard to hear or even think in the busy room. Freddie did just that, until finally we came to a halt in what seemed like the room where they were keeping all of the drink and decoration refills.

Looking over, I saw Freddie seemed to be trying to adjust to being somewhere with slightly less noise and fewer people smashing into him.

With a teasing expression, I leaned back against the wall and let out a breath. "What would Mrs. Benson say if she knew her little Freddiekins was partying it up with a celebrity in Vegas?" I didn't actually care what Mrs. Benson had to say about anything, but it was fun to get under Freddie's skin.

Freddie rolled his eyes, but he turned toward me and stepped closer. "I'm hoping he bought my story about Spencer taking us on an educational road trip to learn about the plants that grow out in this desert."

"Just be glad she doesn't watch iCarly."

"Can we maybe… not talk about my mom right now?" he suggested. When he leaned forward, bracing his hands on the wall around my head, I decided I was more than fine to let that topic go.

When I tilted my face up to him and he kissed me, moving so that I was pressed back against the wall, I might have forgotten the conversation entirely.

It was probably early the next morning already when I found myself standing in a room full of empty pews next to an Elvis impersonator.

Considering it was a wedding ceremony, nothing felt very wedding-y aside from the fact that someone had stuck an obnoxious giant, fake white flower in my hair somehow.

Across from me was Spencer.

Both of us were looking at each other in confusion, but every couple seconds, one of us would start laughing as if we'd actually lost our minds because of how little sleep we'd gotten and how tired everyone was aside from Elvis man.

"Hold on, I've got this!" Carly shouted, and I looked over to see her holding up her barely charged PearPhone. "Yes, we're live! I think…" Technology wasn't her job for a reason, so I wasn't totally sure what she was doing. The guy she'd danced with when I left her was nowhere to be found.

"Can we get this show on the road, ladies and gentlemen?" Fake Elvis asked, doing some weird thing with his leg I think was supposed to be a dance move.

There was a sob from the aisle, and I looked over to see Carly wiping tears from her face. "I'm sorry, I just… My big brother's getting married! I wasn't sure this would ever happen."

"Hey," Spencer looked mildly offended and touched all at once.

Before the ceremony could start or I could pause to try to figure out what the chizz was happening, the doors burst open, and there was Freddie, half-jogging up to where Carly was standing. "I OBJECT!"

"Kid, we haven't gotten to that part of the ceremony yet," Elvis said, seeming somewhat annoyed we kept interrupting him.

I started laughing and rolled my eyes. "No need to get dramatic, Fredward. This isn't even a legal wedding; it's all for show. Carly's streaming. I think."

Freddie looked all sorts of confused and turned to Carly. "You figured out how to put it on iCarly?" When he leaned over, he nodded, impressed. He'd tried to show her many times without any luck. Apparently it'd stuck at last.

"Wait, not the point! Why are you two getting married? And are you sure this isn't an actually binding wedding ceremony?"

"It's a real marriage, girly," Fake Elvis informed me, leaning over to me. "By the way, I love iCarly." He winked as he said it, which made me feel weird inside and Carly pulled a face she never would have made if she wasn't so loopy at the moment.

Without warning, Spencer started freaking out, making all sorts of noises we couldn't understand and taking off to run around the room. He ended up laying down on a pew. "I can't get married! I'm not ready! All I have is my occasional job at the art gallery! And Sam… Sam's my other little sister. I thought it was all a joke! Forgive me, Carly! I'm so sorry, Freddie. And Dad. I'm sorry, Dad. I thought it was just a funny thing!"

Before he could melt down any more than he already had, Gibby was suddenly at his side, patting him and saying reassuring things that would only make sense to those two weirdos.

"Wait… I thought Gibby was still in Seattle," I frowned, looking at Carly, who nodded to agree.

Freddie walked over to me, glancing between Carly and me. "This is so not the issue at hand. Sam, why were you and Spencer getting married?"

"I dunno," I replied. It was the truth. I couldn't really remember anything that led up to this moment, but it seemed funny while it was happening, so we'd just gone along with it. "I think it was supposed to be a bit. Marvin suggested it or something."

"Marvin can't suggest things. He's an ostrich!"

"An ostrich with feelings!" Spencer called over, somehow hearing the conversation despite what Gibby was saying to him.

"Right," Freddie sighed, running his hand over his face. "Anyway, what was that?"

I shrugged. "No idea. But it was pretty funny. Plus, you and Gibby bursting in made it even better. Great comedic timing, Frednub. Never thought I'd say that. As they say: what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. I don't expect to say it ever again."

Freddie still didn't seem too pleased, and I let out a sigh. "Don't get your undies in a twist." I refused to say the p-word. Panties… It was so gross. "It's not like we're a couple, anyway. So does it really matter what we do for entertainment?" I paused, realizing that didn't sound as true as I thought it was. I just assumed we weren't a couple because we'd never talked about it and we'd only gone on some dates.

"Are we?"

Freddie nervously ruffled the hair at the back of his head and looked around for a minute at nothing in particular. "I mean… do you want to be?"

Swallowing, I shrugged, feeling uncomfortable in a way I wish I could deny. This was a decision I'd rather he could just make and then tell me. I don't like having to think about my feelings.

"Well, we already do sort of coupely things. You know, like, go on dates. That sort of thing. And like the sort of stuff that happened in that room we found after the dancing."

Out of nowhere, someone whistled, and everyone looked over at Gibby who'd apparently been the one to make the noise.

Spencer shot up into a seated position and waved his hands, shaking his head frantically. "There are children here!" he shouted over to us. I think he meant the four of us, but we were only a year away from legal adulthood, so it was a bit of an exaggeration. "I am guessing there was just hugging involved! A side hug! That's all any of you do! Side hugging! I won't hear of anything else."

Carly let out a snort and looked over to her brother. "Yes, Spencer. Side hugging. Our favorite pastime."

He seemed to relax even if he knew she was lying.

"So," I continued, realizing I'd never answered Freddie's question. "We could… if you want to, that is… we could be a couple."

Freddie smiled and walked over to where Spencer was once standing so we could actually look at each other and not be so far apart. "I'd definitely like that. If you want to."

"I could be okay with that," I admitted, smiling a little.

"Then it's official." Freddie grinned and stepped over to me, grabbing my waist and leaning down. He pulled the dumb fake flower out of my hair and threw it aside, knowing I hated the thing. The second we kissed, Carly squealed from across the room, but I ignored it in favor of kissing my now official boyfriend.

Freddie and I pulled apart and probably looked at each other like idiots, but I let it go for the moment. At least until Carly suddenly made panicking noises.

"Um, guys, I think I'm still filming… I don't know how to stop it," she looked up apologetically. Everyone seemed to pause nervously, realizing that every part of what happened was streaming on iCarly. For once, we actually seemed to recognize that the last several hours had been complete insanity and we made some very questionable choices.

Before Freddie could go help Carly stop the video, Fake Elvis spoke up, reminding us of his unfortunate presence. "So, are you getting married to him now?"

It took me a moment to realize his raised eyebrows were focused on me and he was gesturing toward Freddie.

"What? No!" I looked at him angrily. "Absolutely not! He's just my boyfriend."

Without pausing, I grabbed Freddie's hand and shouted, "let's get out of here!" Just like that, all five of us left Fake Elvis on the altar and bolted out of the weird chapel thing.

By the time we reached the waiting room, we were all tired, and we stopped to laugh and look at each other.

"I can't believe any of that just happened," Carly admitted, seeming more entertained than any of us had been in a long time.

"You're going to have an insane amount of viewers for that one," Gibby pointed out, and Freddie fished his phone out of his pocket, revealing a crazy number of notifications meaning people had emailed or messaged the website about the broadcast.

"Can you show me how to turn this off?" Carly asked, looking at Freddie. He happily did just that, and I moved over to my best friend, linking my arm through hers. Carly put her head on my shoulder and I patted her now super messy yet still somehow perfect looking hair.

"Can we go find a snack?" I asked.

"And a place to sleep?" Spencer suggested.

"Room service," Carly offered, meaning we could have both at once.

"Hey, I just got a text from Socko. He said he's having a sock party on the Strip," Spencer told us.

Carly groaned. "I thought New York was supposed to be the city that never sleeps."

I yawned, nodding against her head. "Can he take his socks to our hotel room?"

Spencer nodded and began typing on his phone as we all set out to find our hotel.

There you go - 32 chapters later, Sam and Freddie are finally a real couple (but not married, thank goodness)! Please leave a comment or message me to let me know your thoughts!

Up next, Carly encourages Sam to make some preparations for the future, and Carly meets someone.