iCarly – iWant To Kiss #2 – iRealise
[After an iCarly segment that wasn’t fully thought through, "just friends" becomes nearly impossible for the girls.]
Freddie couldn’t help but smile at the girls’ dancing routine. At one of the rehearsals earlier that week, they had decided that Random Dancing wasn’t as random as it could be. Hence the duct tape binding their ankles together, and the pillows for the many times they fell over. In Freddie’s opinion, it was an improvement, and not just because Sam missed the pillows at one point.
But like all good things, it had to come to an end. Freddie gave the girls a hand signal, and prepared the video they had shot a few days ago. Sam took the lead in addressing the camera.
"Alright, we’re almost done for today."
"But before we depart, we have one more thing to show you."
"Freddie, play it back!"
"Playing back…"
The screen came out, and on it, the recording of Carly and Sam’s almost-kiss was shown. Again, Freddie couldn’t hold back a smile, followed immediately by a blush when he realised where his thoughts were heading. He loved one of them, and hated the other. The last he should want was for them to kiss. But if he forgot for a moment that they were Carly and Sam, and just saw them as two attractive girls…
Sam, too, was watching the playback with a smile, though hers was more devious in nature. This would be all over the internet, and might even make it to TV. The thought of being mentioned on a gossip show was quite hilarious to her. Next to her, Carly started breathing a lot heavier and faster when the kiss approached. Nervous, probably. When Sam tried to put her arm around Carly, the brunette flinched and shied away from her touch. Sam frowned. Carly wasn’t one to avoid physical contact. Not with her, anyway. Come to think of it, Carly had been acting strange for a few days now… Maybe she was having her period.
After Carly and Sam bid farewell to their audience, Spencer barged into the studio.
"Hey Spencer," Sam greeted. Spencer didn’t answer, he just lined the three teens up. He opened his mouth, closed it again, walked left to right and back. When Sam tried to ask what he was doing, he raised his hand and interrupted her. She tried again, but with the same result. After about a minute of pacing, he finally talked.
"What was that about?" he asked, in an unusually angry voice.
Sam wasn’t intimidated. "I and Carly wanted to tease the audience. Cool idea, right?" She grinned widely at him.
Spencer apparently couldn’t appreciate it. "Uh, no, not a cool idea. That’s my baby s*ster. Was this your idea, Carls?"
Carly just looked at the ground and softly said "no".
Her br*ther’s face softened up a bit. "Carly, Freddie, could you wait downstairs? I want to talk to Sam."
They both left, and a surprised Sam was left alone with Spencer. Suddenly, she didn’t feel quite as confident. Not only was she by herself now, but Spencer also didn’t seem angry anymore. Just upset. Sam preferred angry. When he talked to her, his calmness was in sharp contrast with his words.
"What the hell, Sam?"
"Eh?"
"This was your idea, right?"
"Yeah, but…"
"Why did you do it?"
"I… for shock value. It’s not a big deal…"
"Maybe not to you."
"We didn’t even kiss! Not really!"
"But it still made her uncomfortable."
Sam wanted to argue, but she did see Spencer’s point. Subconsciously, she had picked up on it, but ignored it for the sake of the show and for her own, selfish reasons.
"Should I go talk to her?" she asked, the feelings of guilt clearly reflected in her voice.
Spencer shook his head. "Probably not right now." He said it almost apologetically, and Sam looked away.
He was probably right. If it was the kiss that made Carly uncomfortable, Sam wouldn’t be much help.
Spencer continued: "Why don’t you come by tomorrow? I’ll see what I can do."
Sam nodded slowly, uttered a quiet "thanks" and started walking towards the elevator.
* * *
"Do you want something to drink?" Freddie asked her.
Carly simply shook her head ‘no’.
"Something to eat?"
Same response.
"Do you want to talk?"
Carly was about to shake her head again, but after a moment of consideration, she gave Freddie a single nod. It couldn’t be good to keep her feelings bottled up, and Freddie would be there for her. He sat down next to her, and she started talking.
"Sam is my best friend, and we used to be so close. I mean… not just emotionally. We held hands and slept in the same bed… And it all felt so natural. But kissing is just too close. It’s definitely a romantic thing, not a best friend thing. And I know it was just for iCarly and that it wasn’t real, but I wanted it to be real… I wanted to kiss Sam! And now I’m worried that every time I touch her, it’ll feel that way. All romantic. And if she doesn’t want that, then it’ll be one-sided and f*rced and awkward and I don’t think I can keep it secret from her…"
It wasn’t until after she finished that she realised whom she was talking to. Freddie, the boy who’d had a crush on her for ages – and now she was telling him that she had a crush on Sam, who was not even of the right gender. Or would that soften the blow? In either case, his answer was surprisingly accepting.
"Well… maybe it felt natural because it’s meant to be that way? Maybe you two were always somewhat romantic? But you just didn’t realise it?"
She hadn’t considered that. It felt like a new development, but if she thought about it, her feelings for Sam hadn’t really changed. She just saw them in a different light. And if that was the case for her, it could very well be the case for Sam. A smile appeared on her face. Maybe this would work out after all. The thought of Sam becoming her girlfriend made her feel all giggly.
She looked at Freddie. Admitting that he might not be the right person for her… His loyalty was moving. She leaned towards him, and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Freddie."
His surprised look was funny enough to warrant more giggling. Even when Spencer came down and informed her that Sam had left, her good mood persisted. It wasn’t like Sam to be so bashful, but under the circumstances, she could understand. Besides, she wanted to talk to Freddie right now. Sweet, loyal Freddie.
"…Sam and you really held hands?"
"Don’t tell her I said that."
"She’d kill me to keep it secret."
"Probably."
* * *
If there was one thing certain about today’s society, it was that news spread fast. The almost-kiss became one of the most viewed videos on YouTube, theories and debates erupted on message boards everywhere, and comments on the iCarly website seemed to concern themselves with only one question: were Carly and Sam lesbians?
Sam Puckett had mixed feelings about the whole thing. An internet debate was what she had intended to set off, but not at the cost of her best friend’s feelings. The first thing she’d do tomorrow was go over to the Shays and straighten it all out. She went to bed early, but had trouble sl*eping – too guilty.
Carly Shay, on the other hand was completely unaware of it. She didn’t bother viewing the comments that night, and the question of her sexual orientation hadn’t even occurred to her; the mere fact that she liked Sam occupied her mind. When she finally went to bed, she simply couldn’t sl*ep – too excited.
Freddie Benson was up all night, actively following the discussion, and even participating in it. If Carly were a lesbian, it would ruin his chances forever. If she were bisexual, he’d still be in the picture. And while he knew how she felt right now, he was hoping that those feelings were as temporary as her other crushes. Even if he’d gone to bed, he probably wouldn’t get any sl*ep – too worried.